THE RED-SKIN PROVES TO BE A FRIEND--HE AND OBED LEAVE ME ALONE IN MY
GLORY--I FORTIFY MYSELF FOR THE WINTER--VISITED BY WOLVES--A TERRIFIC
STORM--THE WOLVES MY NIGHTLY VISITORS--I KILL SOME AND EAT THEN, BUT
FIND THEM O'ER TEUCH--AN OBJECT MOVING IN THE DISTANCE--RED-SKINS AND
ENEMIES--I PREPARE FOR THEIR RECEPTION--I KILL ONE OF THEM--A FEARFUL
STRUGGLE--I ENDEAVOUR TO OBLITERATE THE SIGNS OF THIS VISIT--MY TERRIBLE
SOLITUDE--MORE WOLVES AND MORE INDIANS--I PREPARE A BANQUET FOR THEM--
THE SUSPICIONS OF MY GUESTS AROUSED--THE UNPLEASANT TERMINATION TO OUR
FEAST.
Obed and I were not easily taken by surprise. Our hands instinctively
clutched our rifles, and in a moment the breast of the Indian was
covered by their muzzles. The eye of the red-skin did not quail--not a
limb trembled. He gazed on us calmly, and his hand continued to hold
aside the skin which formed the door of our tent, while he spoke a few
words in a low, quiet voice. I did not understand them, but Obed did.
"Don't fire, Dick," said Obed; "he is a Delaware, a friend to the white
men. Come in, friend Delaware, take your seat by our fire, and tell us
what has brought you here," continued Obed, addressing the Indian.
The Delaware, letting drop the skin door, came in, and, stirring up the
embers of our almost extinguished fire, sat himself down on a log of
wood placed before it. He spoke a jargon which he thought was English,
and which both Obed and I understood, but which I cannot now repeat, any
more than I could convey an idea of the deep guttural tones of his
voice. They seemed to come from the very depths of his inside.
"I travel alone," said the red-skin. "I have a long journey to perform,
to carry a letter I have undertaken to deliver at Fort Grattan. I was
beginning to despair of accomplishing it, for my powder has been
destroyed, and thus food was difficult to obtain. When I first saw the
smoke of your fire, I thought it might come from the wigwams of some
Pawnees, and my heart bounded when I saw from its appearance that your
tent must belong to white men." From this hint given, Obed at once
placed a supply of food before the Indian, who did ample justice to it.
We then lighted our pipes, and all three sat smoking over the fire. The
Delaware urgently advised us not to attempt to spend the approaching
winter in that place, but to accompany him to the fort. I saw the
soundness of his council, but assured him that I could not attempt to
walk half a dozen miles, much less could I hope to make so long a
journey.
"Then it is better that one should come and bring back succour to the
other than that both should perish," urged the Delaware. To this I
agreed, and told Obed he must go. He had been ready to go alone when
the risk was greater; but now he did not like to leave me. I met all
his arguments, and telling him that if he wished to save my life, as
well as his own, he must go. I ultimately made him consent to accompany
the Indians. Before starting, they took every means to increase my
comforts. They filled the water-casks, collected a quantity of herbs,
and a supply of firewood, and shot as much game as I could consume while
it was fresh. The Delaware lay down to sleep that night in our tent. I
was convinced from his manner and mode of speaking that he was honest.
I never saw a man sleep more soundly--not a limb stirred the whole night
through; he looked more like a dead person, or a lay figure, than a
being with life. Suddenly, as the morning light broke through the tent,
he sprang up, and, shaking himself, in a moment was all energy and
activity. "Ugh! I have not slept so soundly for many a night, and may
not sleep so soundly for many a night more!" he exclaimed, in his
peculiar dialect. We lighted our fire, boiled our kettle, and then all
three sat down to a hearty breakfast. It was the last I should probably
take in company for many a weary day; still I resolved not to be
down-hearted, and especially to preserve a serene and contented
countenance.
The Delaware replenished his powder-flask, and taking a small supply of
provisions, he and Obed bade me farewell. I could only wring the
latter's hand; I don't think we exchanged a word at parting. I watched
them as their figures grew less and less, and finally disappeared in the
distance, and then indeed I felt very lonely. Perhaps there was not a
human being within a hundred miles of me except the two who had just
gone away; or should there be, he was very likely to prove an enemy.
The idea of being thus alone in a wilderness was grand, but it was
somewhat appalling and trying to the nerves. How long would Obed be
absent? I thought to myself. Three weeks or a month at shortest.
Could I manage to preserve existence for that length of time? I was
still weak and ill, and could scarcely crawl about, so I spent the
greater portion of my time on my couch. I placed my firearms close at
hand around me, so that I might seize them in a moment. My fire-place
was a hole in the middle of the tent, almost within reach of my
skin-covered couch; there were no linen sheets to catch fire; my tub of
water was near it, and my stock of provisions hung overhead. The sky I
saw when I looked out had for some days been giving indications of a
snow-storm. It came at last, and winter set in. The drifting snow
quickly found its way through the minutest hole in the tent skins. To
prevent this, I beat it down firmly all round the edge, stopping every
crevice, and I raised a pile of logs before the door. "I don't think I
should mind a fight with a dozen red-skins," I thought to myself; "but
those wolves--I don't like them." The wolves I dreaded (and not without
reason) found me out at last. The wind was roaring and whistling among
the leafless trees, the snow was beating against my tent, and the night
was as dark as Erebus, when a low, distant howl saluted my ears--heard
even above the tempest. It continued increasing, till it broke into a
wild chorus of hideous shrieks. I had no dread of ghostly visitors. I
would rather have faced a whole array of the most monstrous hobgoblins,
than have felt that I was surrounded, as I knew I was, by a herd of
those brutes--the wolves.
Till almost morning they continued their ugly concert; but they have a
natural fear of man, and it is only when pressed by hunger that they
will attack him. The ground, however, was now completely covered with
snow, and I knew that they would find but little food. As I could not
venture out, most of the day passed away in a half-unconscious dreamy
state; part of it I slept. The next night I was awoke soon after dark
by the wolfish chorus; it was much nearer than before. The sounds
formed themselves into words to my disordered senses. "We'll eat you
up; we'll eat you up ere long," they appeared to say. A third night
came. The pack seemed increased in numbers, as if they had been
collecting from every quarter. I fancied that I could hear their feet
crackling on the crisp snow as they scampered round and round the tent.
That night they brought their circle closer and closer, till I fully
expected that they would commence their attack. Still they held off,
and with the morning light took their departure. I watched the next
night setting in with a nervous dread. As soon as darkness spread over
the snow-covered face of the country, on the horrid pack came,
scampering up from all quarters.
Nearer and nearer approached the cries and howls. They commenced as
before, scampering round the tent, and every time it seemed narrowing
the circle. I knew that they must be closer to me. I stirred up my
fire with a long stick I kept by me for that purpose, and I felt sure I
saw the impression of their noses as, having smelled me out, they
pressed them against the sides of the tent in their endeavours to find
an entrance. I looked for the biggest bump, and took aim with my
revolver. There was a loud snarl and cry, and then a shrieking and
howling as the horrid pack scampered off into the distance. I had to
get up and patch the hole made by my bullet, but I did not look out to
see what had become of the wolf I had hit. I heard the animals howling
away the livelong night in the distance. They did not, however, venture
back again that night.
I had now been ten days alone, as I knew by a small bag I kept, into
which I every day, when I awoke, put a bean. I should completely have
lost all count of time without some such contrivance. The cold was
becoming very bitter; still my health was improving, and I felt myself
stronger than I had been since I was wounded. The perfect rest had
tended to cure me. I thought that I would get up and walk about, to
recover more completely the use of my limbs. It was necessary to
replenish my stock of water before the stream was completely frozen
over, as snow-water is not considered wholesome for a continuance. I
had plenty of clothes and skins, and I required them, for a piercing
wind blew across the wild prairie, which, unless thus protected, I could
not have faced. The exercise did me good. I now went out every day,
constantly returning to feed my fire and to warm myself. I replenished
my stock of water, and got a further supply of wood, that I might not
run short of that necessary article. I was most concerned about my
provisions, which were diminishing sadly. I therefore always took my
rifle out with me, in the hopes of getting a shot at a stray buffalo or
deer going south, but all had gone; none passed near me. The woods,
too, were now deserted; not a bird was to be seen; even the snakes and
the 'coons had hid themselves in their winter habitations. A dead
silence reigned over the whole country during the day. I wish it had
equally reigned during the night. Daylight and the smoke of my fire
kept the wolves away, but night after night they came back and howled as
before. I used at last to sleep some hours every day, and sit up all
night with my pistols by my side, ready to shoot them. Now and then the
grinning jaws of one of them would force its way in at the entrance of
the tent. I seldom passed a night without killing one or two of these
intruders. I every morning cut off what I thought would prove the
tenderest portion, and dragged the rest of the carcass away. I would
not, however, advise anybody to feed upon wolf's flesh if they can get
anything better. More tough and nauseous morsels I never attempted to
swallow; but it was necessary to economise the rest of my provisions.
I one day went out as usual to exercise my limbs and look for a chance
shot. There was a fine clear sky overhead, not a breath of air was
stirring, and my blood was soon in circulation. I felt more up to
anything than I had done for a long time. I reached the only elevation
in the neighbourhood, near the bank of the creek, when, turning my
glance round on every side, I saw in the far distance towards the
north-west, two specks on the surface of the dazzling expanse of white
spread out before me. I watched--the specks were moving, they might be
deer, or they might be wolves, but from the way they progressed I had
little doubt they were men. They came from a quarter I did not like,
inhabited by Dacotahs and Pawnees--treacherous, thievish rascals, who
will take the scalp of an old woman if they can catch her asleep, and
make as much boast of it as if they had killed a warrior in open fight.
Still it was necessary to be on my guard against them. I waited till I
ascertained without doubt that they were human beings, and then hastened
back to my tent, made up my fire so that the smoke might be seen coming
out at the top, put a buffalo robe inside my bed to personate myself,
and loaded myself with all my fire-arms. I then carefully closed the
entrance of the tent, and stepped back over the marks I had previously
made, till I reached the bank of the stream, where I found ample shelter
behind a clump of thick bushes. I there lay between two heaps of snow
with my rifle ready, perfectly concealed, but having a clear view of my
tent and the country beyond. If the strangers should prove to be
friends, as the precautions had given me but little trouble it was wiser
to take them, but if enemies they were very necessary. When they were
still a long way off, I made out that the strangers were red-skins.
Their costume showed me that they belonged to the tribes I have
mentioned, and I had no doubt that they had come with hostile intent.
They stopped, and I saw by their gestures that they were forming their
plan of proceeding. One was an oldish man, the other was a tall, active
lad; either would give me considerable difficulty to manage if it came
to a hand-to-hand struggle.
They were armed only with bows and arrows and spears. They pointed to
the smoke, and the elder signified that I was asleep within, or cooking
my dinner. He then fixed an arrow in his bow, and by his gestures I
suspected that he was saying he would shoot me through the tent covering
before I had time to seize my fire-arms or see my enemies. "I'm much
obliged to you for your good intentions, but I will try and frustrate
them, my friends," said I to myself. The elder of the two red-skins now
approached the tent with his bow drawn, ready to send an arrow into the
inmate should he appear at the entrance; the other searched carefully
round the tent, and examined the traces of my feet in the snow. He
seemed apparently satisfied that the owner had gone to the stream and
returned, and was within. The two now got still nearer to the tent,
with their bows drawn; so cautiously did they tread that not a sound
could be heard. They stopped, and eagerly shot several arrows through
the covering, one after the other, as rapidly as they could fix them to
the strings of their bows. "And so you think that you have killed your
prey," said I to myself; but at the same time a sickening sensation came
over my heart. I had never shot at a human being with the intention of
taking away life; I must do so now or become the victim myself. The
savages listened. Of course no sound from within reached their ears.
The elder stooped forward to draw aside the curtain to look in, while
the other stood ready with his spear to transfix the person who they
might expect would attempt to spring out if he had not been killed. Now
I thought I must fire. I took aim at the older Indian. In doing so the
barrel of my rifle touched a twig. The younger savage in a moment
detected the sound; he turned round full on me. His quick eye caught
sight of my rifle as I instantly brought it to bear on him. He uttered
an exclamation of astonishment. It was his last. I fired, and he fell
with his face forward. His companion sprang up, and was about to rush
towards me, but I pulled the trigger of my second barrel, and he too
fell writhing in agony on the snow. Oh! how wretched I felt at what
stern necessity had compelled me to do. How must Cain have felt when he
had killed his brother? I rushed up to my tent. The younger savage was
quite dead: the elder glared at me fiercely. Though badly wounded,
still he might live. I leaned over him, and made signs that I would
take him into my tent and try and heal him. A gleam of satisfaction
came over his countenance--I thought it was from gratitude at my mercy.
I was preparing to drag him into the tent, and to place him on my own
couch. I felt that I was doing what was right. I should gain a
companion in my solitude, perhaps make a friend, who would enable me to
escape from my perilous position. His eye followed me as I moved about
making the necessary preparations. He beckoned me to come and lift him
up. I was putting my arm behind him, when his right hand drew a long
knife with a flash from his belt, and before I could spring back he had
struck twice with all his force at my breast, wounding me severely. It
was not his fault that he did not pierce me to the heart. So firm a
grasp did his other hand retain of my collar that I could not escape
him. I had my own hunting-knife beneath my buffalo robe, my fingers
clutched it, and, as catching his right arm I pressed it to the ground,
I struck two or three blows with all my might at his throat and chest; I
felt his fingers relaxing; his arm fell back--he too was dead. I would
rather not dwell on that awful moment. The horrors of my solitude were
increased ten-fold. Still. I was obliged to rouse myself to action. I
knew not how many of the tribe to which the dead men belonged might be
in the neighbourhood.
That evening, however, I could do nothing. Night was coming on, and the
blood which trickled down my breast reminded me that I must attend to my
own wounds. If my former nights had been full of horrors, this was far
more dreadful. The wolves howled louder than ever, and came round me in
great numbers, and though I was continually firing my pistols out into
the darkness, I could scarcely keep them at bay. I will not dwell on
that dreadful time. The morning did come at last. The first thing I
did was to drag the bodies of the savages down to the river, and to
force them through a hole in the ice whence I had been accustomed to
draw water. The current quickly carried them down into far-off regions.
Then I made a fire over the spot where their blood had been spilt, and,
happily, during the day a heavy fall of snow coming on obliterated all
the remaining traces of their fatal visit to my tent. Still for many a
day I could not drive the picture of their hideous countenances out of
my head, as they lay stark and stiff on the ground, killed by my hand--
yet never was homicide more justifiable. I had, as I believed, got rid
of all the traces of the savages outside the tent. When I found the
arrows sticking inside it in my bed, it did not occur to me that it
would be equally necessary to get rid of them. The whim seized me of
keeping them as a memorial of my escape. Instead, however, of
concealing them under the bed, I arranged them in the form of a star on
the tent covering just above my head, and every time I looked at them I
felt grateful that they were not sticking in my body. I have a dislike
to dwell on the horrible sensations which came over me during those long
winter nights and scarcely less dreary days. Had I possessed any books
they would have served me as companions, and helped me to pass the time;
but I had none.
My own thoughts and feelings were my only associates, and they often
were far from pleasant ones. I had a great temptation also, which, had
I given way to it, would have made matters worse.
Among the articles which had fallen from the wagon, and which Obed and I
afterwards picked up, was a small cask of brandy. We were both of us
very abstemious, or we should not have been the strong, hearty fellows
we were. The cask, therefore, had not even been broached. The tempter,
however, now came suggesting to me that I might soon forget all my
miseries if I would but occasionally take a taste of the fire-water. I
resisted him, however. I knew that if I once began I might go on, and
not know when to stop. I was sure that I was better and stronger
without liquor of any sort, so I let the cask remain as it was in a
corner of the tent. I had a pipe and a small quantity of tobacco, which
I mixed with sumach leaves and willow bark to make it go further.
Smoking this was my greatest animal pleasure. My usual dinner, eked out
with fried wolf's flesh, indeed required a smoke to make it digest
properly. After this adventure with the Indians, I found my nerves much
shaken. I stayed in bed for a couple of days, but whenever I dropped
asleep I found myself acting the whole scene over and over again. At
night I had, as usual, to sit up, wrapped in my buffalo robes, with my
feet at the fire, and my pistols in my hands, keeping the wolves at bay.
Oh, how I wished they would cease their horrid serenade. The old year
passed away, and the new year began, but there was no change in my
condition. I was growing seriously alarmed about Obed. He ought to
have been back by this time, I thought. I was afraid some accident
might have befallen him, for I was very certain that he would not have
deserted me. By degrees I recovered my composure, and took my exercise
with my rifle in my hand as usual. My tent also, by being almost
covered up with snow, had become a very warm and comparatively
comfortable habitation, as I could always keep up a good fire within it.
When I returned from my walks I had a cup of warm tea ready, which
tended to keep up the circulation which the exercise had established.
Thus I soon got into very good health again.
My chief occupation when out was looking for game. What was my delight
one morning to see a flight of prairie-hens sitting on some boughs not
far from my tent. I stopped like a pointer. I knew that the slightest
movement might scare them away; and lifting my rifle to my shoulder, I
selected a fine cock. I fired, and over he tumbled. I ran forward, and
securing him to my belt, I marked where the others settled, and followed
them up. Thus I went on. I had killed three, I think, which would
prove a most satisfactory addition to my larder. When I looked about me
I found that I had got a long way from my tent. I walked briskly back.
When I got to the top of the bank near the river, what was my dismay, on
looking northward, to see several persons approaching my tent! They
could not have failed to have discovered me. I watched them with
intense interest. They were red-skins--Dacotahs probably; I could not
possibly avoid encountering them. I felt that my only prospect of
safety was to put a bold face on the matter, and go and meet them
frankly.
Hurrying to my tent, I loaded myself with all my fire-arms, resolving to
sell my life dearly, and then walked forward towards them. I counted
the strangers. There were ten of them, all painted and dressed for war;
and a very ferocious set they looked. They seemed very much astonished
and puzzled at seeing me. In an instant they all had their arrows fixed
in their bows, and, forming a line, they thus advanced slowly and
cautiously, keeping an eye on the tent, and evidently expecting to see a
number of people emerge from it. Their demonstrations were so hostile
that I now began to repent that I had not made an attempt to defend
myself; at the same time I felt that a contest with ten cunning savages
would have been a very hopeless one. Flight, too, over the snow, with
little knowledge of the country, was not to be thought of. As the
savages advanced I retreated, resolving to make a stand at my tent door.
At the same time I tried to show by signs that I could, if I liked,
kill two or three of them, but that I was ready for peace if they were.
At last I lowered my rifle from my shoulder, and they unstrung their
bows and advanced with outstretched hands towards me. Knowing their
treacherous character, however, of course I could not depend on them. I
bethought me that the best way to win their friendship was to offer them
food, as is practised in civilised communities with some success; so I
showed them the birds I had just killed, and intimated that I was going
to dress them for their entertainment. I produced several other
dainties, and my dried wolf's flesh. I also brought out some of my
mixed tobacco, though it was with intense reluctance I parted with it.
They expressed their satisfaction by several loud grunts, and then
squatted round in a circle outside the door of my tent. I made up my
fire, and soon had the prairie-hens and several pieces of meat roasting
on sticks before it, and a savoury stew cooking in my pot. I trusted
that I might be able to replenish my scanty stock of provisions, but I
knew, that, had I not given them with a good grace, my guests would
probably have taken them by force. I had begun to serve the banquet, at
which the red-skins were smacking their lips, and they were casting
approving and kindly glances at me, when I remembered my cask of brandy.
I knew that this would completely cement our friendship, but I intended
to give them only a little at a time to run no risk of intoxicating
them. I retired, therefore, to the back of the tent for the purpose of
drawing off a little in a bottle. While I was thus employed, one of
them put his head into the tent to see what I was about. As he did so,
his eye fell on the star of arrows over the head of my couch. A loud
exclamation made me turn round. I saw where his glance was directed.
My folly and want of forethought in a moment flashed across my mind.
All was lost, I perceived. The savages sprang up, and seizing me,
pointed to the arrows. I had nothing to say. Perhaps the expression of
my countenance betrayed me. Several held me tight while the others
spoke. Though I did not understand a word of their language, I could
not fail to comprehend the tenor of their speeches. Their action, the
intonation of their voices, their angry glances, showed it. "Our
friends came here, and this man killed them. We came to look for them,
and by the same arts with which he destroyed them he had endeavoured to
destroy us. There are the proofs of his guilt. How else did he become
possessed of those arrows?" Such, I have no doubt, is a very concise
abridgment of their harangues.
They continued speaking for an hour or more, till they worked each other
up into a perfect fury. Their eyes gleamed at me with malignant hatred.
They foamed at the mouth; they gnashed their teeth at me. I thought
they would have torn me limb from limb; but they were reserving me for a
far more refined system of torture. Having condemned me to death, they
lashed my hands behind me, and my feet together, and placed me in a
sitting position on my bed, there to await my doom, while they all
crouched down round the fire, where, stern and grim, they finished the
repast I had prepared for them in horrible silence.