I FIND POOR PABLO, AND ASSIST HIM--ROASTED SQUIRREL--PABLO'S REASON FOR
DESIRING TO JOIN THE ENGLISH--WE STALK A BUFFALO--PABLO'S TERROR AT THE
APPROACH OF INDIANS--MY SURPRISE AT BEING WELCOMED BY MANILICK--MIKE'S
JOY AT SEEING ME ALIVE--WE AGAIN START IN THE DIRECTION OF THE
WAGGON-TRAIN--OLD SAMSON, REUBEN, AND SANDY NEARLY ROASTED ALIVE BY THE
APACHES--QUAMBO'S CARE OF "DE FIDDLE"--LILY'S RELATIONSHIP TO OLD
SAMSON--KEPENAU AND MANILICK--CONCLUSION.
I had been trudging on for some hours, directing my course by the sun,
which shone brightly from an unclouded sky, when, feeling weary, I sat
down to rest under the shade of a tree not far from the river's brink.
Scarcely had I stretched out my legs, when I heard a voice, in a tone of
suffering, calling to me; and going in the direction from whence it
proceeded, what was my surprise to see, among the branches of a tree, my
late companion Pablo!
"Misericordia, Senor Roger!" he cried out. "I am starving, and too weak
to get down of myself."
I climbed up and gave him some of the beaver-flesh, which soon revived
him. He told me how he had been frightened up the tree by the wolves,
and that, having lost his gun and his flint, he had no means of
defending himself, or of lighting a fire, and should certainly have
perished had I not come to his aid. Having assisted him down, I led him
towards the river, where he quenched his thirst.
We made but little progress that day, for Pablo was ill able to walk;
so, having reached a spot where we could obtain sufficient bark and wood
to build a hut and keep up a blazing fire all night, we encamped.
Leaving Pablo to finish the hut, I set off in search of game. I brought
down two black squirrels; and I afterwards came upon several bushes of
berries, which would add a variety to our meal.
On my return to the camp, I found that Pablo had finished all the
arrangements, and we soon had one of the squirrels roasting before the
fire.
Pablo opened his heart to me. I had been the means, he said, of saving
his life, and he should ever be grateful. The reason, he told me, of
his being so anxious to join the English, was, that he had met with a
missionary--who proved to be no other than our friend Martin Godfrey--
and that his object, therefore, was to live with those who held the same
opinions, for he was sure that they were the right ones. He cared
nothing for all the fatigue and danger he might have to go through,
provided that he gained his wishes at last.
We travelled on for several days, sometimes having to encamp in the open
prairie, where we were more especially exposed to the risk of being
attacked by wolves, or run over by a stampede of buffalo--though we did
not trouble our heads much on that score. Our chief risk lay in
encountering any bands of hostile Indians who might be traversing the
open prairie, as it would be scarcely possible to conceal ourselves from
them. I could only hope that, in the event of our being seen, they
would not attack two wayworn travellers who could not injure them.
Pablo, however, observed that there were some tribes who would murder us
for the sake of our scalps, so as to be able to boast that they had
killed two enemies in battle. He had no affection for the Indians, and
was inclined to doubt whether they possessed any good qualities.
How we should have got across the wide extent of prairie we traversed I
know not, had we not been able to stalk a buffalo, by getting well to
leeward of it, whereupon I brought it down with my rifle. Its stomach
was full of water, with which we quenched our thirst; and the flesh
afforded us food for many days--partly eaten fresh, and partly dried in
the sun, and turned into a coarse description of pemmican. We were
hoping soon to strike another river, where we could obtain water. This
kept up our spirits; and we certainly needed something to do that, for
we were growing weary of our long tramp across the open country. As may
be supposed, too, we kept our eyes about us as we walked along; for
should we espy any suspicious horsemen, our best chance of escaping, we
agreed, would be to fall flat on the ground, where we might be hidden by
the grass.
The sun was already verging towards the west, when Pablo, who happened
at the moment to be looking eastward, exclaimed, "Here come Indians!
here come Indians! Down--down!"
We both dropped to the ground, hoping that we had not been seen, and
that they would pass by on one side or the other. I could catch sight,
as I lay, of their feather, metal, and shell ornaments glittering in the
sun, and of their spear-heads with long tufts waving in the wind. They
were pushing rapidly across the prairie; but at the distance they still
were from us I could not distinguish the tribe or nation to which they
belonged. They might be Apaches or Comanches, deadly foes; or a tribe
keeping up a friendly intercourse with the white men.
At first I was doubtful in what direction they were going, but I was
soon convinced that they were riding directly towards the spot where we
lay, and that our chance of escape from their eagle-eyes was small
indeed. I observed their leader at length stand up in his stirrups and
gaze around. From this I felt nearly sure that we had been seen, and
that he was looking for us.
"We are sure to be discovered," I whispered to Pablo. "Our wisest mode
of proceeding will be to stand up and face them boldly. It will be
better to die on our feet, than to be speared like skulking foxes."
"Do as you think best," answered Pablo.
I immediately rose, and, with outstretched hand, advanced towards the
Indians. Their leader galloped forward, then, greatly to my surprise,
threw himself from his horse as he got up to me, and putting out his own
hand, took mine.
"I have been searching for you! Don't you know me?" he exclaimed.
As he spoke I recognised Manilick, the young chief, Ashatea's lover.
"I happily met the friend of my tribe, Samson Micklan, who, with his
companions, are anxious about you," he continued. "Confident of your
courage and hardihood, they would not believe that you were lost; and
they urged me to make a circuit to the south, in the possibility of
coming on your trail. Glad I am to have fallen in with you, for I had
almost given you up as lost. Right heartily will our aged friend
rejoice that you have been found."
I thanked Manilick warmly for the interest he had taken in me, and
inquired whether the waggons had turned back or continued their course
westward, and whether they had been overtaken. He replied that Samson
had discovered their trail, but, in his search for me, he had lost so
much time, that he had not yet been able to come up with them.
As the party had several spare horses, Pablo and I were at once provided
with steeds. We then pushed on at a quick rate, Manilick observing that
he wished to reach the camp of a friend the following day.