I HAVE CAUSE TO REJOICE THAT I DID NOT AVENGE MYSELF--MY GREAT MEDICINE
WORK--I RISE IN THE ESTIMATION OF MY NEW FRIENDS--AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT--
AM OFFERED A WIFE, BUT COMPELLED TO DECLINE THE HONOUR--JOHN PIPESTICK--
SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES--A FIERCE ATTACK--WE FIGHT WITH DESPERATION, AND
RESOLVE TO DIE LIKE BRAVE MEN.
The disappointment of my Ottoe friends was very considerable when they
found all their enemies killed, and not even a scalp remaining to carry
off as a trophy; besides which, a large portion of the property
contained in the tent had been destroyed. There was still enough,
however, to be looked upon as a valuable prize by the red-skins, and I
accordingly begged them to appropriate it. This they, without any show
of reluctance, did, and immediately set to work to hollow out a large
hole under the snow where they might bury it. How thankful I felt that
my hand had refrained from slaughtering those poor wretches when they
lay in my power.
As I considered the subject, I had no doubt of the cause of the
catastrophe. After the savages had consumed the cask of spirits they
had fallen on the barrel of gunpowder, probably hoping that it might
contain more of their favourite fire-water. They were very likely
smoking at the time, and perhaps all bending round the cask in their
eagerness to get some of its contents. A spark from one of their pipes
must in an instant have finished their business. I cannot say that I
indulged in any sentimental grief at what had occurred. It was
vexatious to lose so many things which might have been of use, but the
most serious loss was that of the gunpowder. Fortunately, however, I
had a good supply, which would last for some time. I never was addicted
to burning gunpowder uselessly.
The warriors proposed to await the arrival of the rest of the party
where we were, but I entreated them to return to meet their friends. I
pointed out to them that perhaps other bands of Pawnees might be moving
about--probably, as I found was the case, suffering from hunger; and
that first their wives and those with them, and then we ourselves, might
be overpowered. John Pipestick translated what I said, and finally they
were persuaded to follow my advice. They laughed very much when I
proposed to bury the remains of the dead men, and replied that it would
be just as well to let the wolves perform that office, which in the
course of another night they certainly would do. They found quite
enough labour, indeed, in concealing the remains of my property. After
they had dug the hole they deposited all the articles within, and then
built up a pile of logs over it, which even an inquisitive bear would
have had some difficulty in pulling to pieces.
My chief anxiety was now about Obed. I got the Ottoes to describe to me
exactly the position of their village, about a hundred miles to the
south-east of where we then were. Then I took one of the sticks which
had served me for a crutch, and making a split in one end, I stuck the
other deep into the ground. On a leaf which I tore from my pocket-book,
I wrote a brief account of what had occurred and where I was going, and
putting it into the cleft of the stick, bound the whole securely up.
The Ottoes looked on with intense wonder at my proceedings, till John
told them I was performing a great medicine work, which satisfied them.
Having thus done my best to enable Obed to join me, I set off with my
friends to return to their camp. I paused again for an instant when I
reached the summit of the hill, to take what I hoped might be a farewell
look at the place which had been the scene of so much suffering to me,
and lately that of so dreadful a catastrophe. A small black patch on
the dazzling white plain alone was perceptible to mark the spot. I
turned from the contemplation of the melancholy scene, and hastened
after my friends. I found them moving very leisurely along. I urged
John to persuade them to go faster. I could not cast from my mind the
notion that more parties of Pawnees, Dacotahs, or other hostile tribes
might be about, driven out by hunger to forage in the neighbourhood, and
were very likely to attack them. I had, therefore, what I might have
called a presentiment that my friends were in danger. I am not
generally influenced much by such sensations. Certainly I was more
liable to be so at the present moment than at any other. I do not deny
the existence of such an influence, but still I cannot help thinking
that it is caused by our reason, which tells us that such a thing is
likely to happen. Sometimes it does happen, but often probably we find
that we are mistaken. My red friends had an idea that the stick I had
placed in the ground had something to do with the matter, and that I was
positively informed of what was about to occur, so hurried on faster
than I found agreeable.
My feet had become very sore from my previous exercise, and whenever we
came to soft places they sunk into the snow, the thick cake of ice above
cutting my ankles almost to the bone. Sometimes I felt that I must
stop, but I was anxious to help my new friends, and I knew that it would
never do even to appear to flag on such an occasion. I had won their
good opinion by the powers of endurance I had hitherto exhibited. They
especially admired me for killing the two Pawnees, and for escaping from
their comrades; though they could not understand why I had not destroyed
the whole gang when I had the power of doing so, and of adorning my belt
with their scalps. I saw, therefore, that it would be very
disadvantageous to me to run any risk of being lowered in their
estimation. John Pipestick and one of the Indians remained with me,
while the others went on faster ahead; but, exerting myself to the
utmost, we pushed on to overtake them. Besides the idea which I had
originated that their friends might be attacked, hunger induced them to
move at a rapid rate; for they had brought but a scanty supply of
provisions with them, and they had no means of cooking the rice found in
the tent. We were passing a wood when I stopped my companions, for my
eye had fallen on several prairie-fowls sitting on the boughs of one of
the outer trees a little way off.
"We should have no chance of hitting at this distance," said John
Pipestick.
"Stay then, I will try what my rifle can do," I answered; and creeping
carefully up till I got them within easy range, I settled in my mind
which bird I should fire at with my first, and which with my second
barrel. I let fly; down tumbled a bird, and the next barrel was even
more fortunate than the first, for two birds were brought to the ground.
Both my companions warmly expressed their delight. I had established
my fame as a first-rate shot, and had, moreover, provided the whole
party with a meal. Knowing how welcome we should be, my companions
helping me along, we pushed on, and at length overtook our friends,
preparing to camp for half an hour or so in the thicket, that they might
be the better able afterwards to pursue their course.
I need not say that the game I brought was thankfully welcomed, and very
quickly cooked and consumed. I found that the Indians were growing
anxious at not by this time meeting with the rest of their party, and
they were about, while resting, to hold a consultation as to what course
to pursue. We were soon again in motion; night or day made no
difference to us. On we pushed. It was about noon when, on reaching a
height, we saw a thin light smoke curling up into the pure, intense blue
sky, from the bottom of a pine-clad ravine below us. All appeared to
rest in perfect peace and quietness, and I began to be ashamed of my
nervous anxieties. I was greatly afraid that I should lose my influence
with my friends, and as my predictions, or rather warnings, had not been
verified, I should in future be looked on as a false prophet.
"There are our friends, most probably," said John Pipestick; "but we
don't proceed as carelessly as you people from the East are apt to do.
We shall send out scouts and approach cautiously, lest our enemies
devise some means to destroy us. Such a thing has been done before now.
Those left in an encampment while the rest have been out hunting have
been attacked and slaughtered, while their enemies have taken possession
of their tents, and dressed and painted themselves like those they have
killed. There they have remained till the hunting-party have
unsuspiciously returned, perhaps a few at a time, and thus all in detail
have fallen victims. It was a clever trick, but we should deserve to
die if we allowed it to be repeated on us."
While John was speaking, three of our party, making a wide circuit,
crept cautiously forward towards the edge of the ravine, so that they
might look down and see what was going on below. We, meantime, lay down
behind some bushes so as to be completely concealed, the chief only
keeping watch, that he might direct us to act according to
circumstances. I could not help admiring their caution, though it was
very tiresome to wait in the cold instead of being within their warm
tents. At last the chief gave the sign for us to proceed. I started
up, prepared to meet the enemy I expected. We advanced towards the edge
of the ravine and began to descend, when we caught sight of the tents
pitched at the bottom of it, the smoke issuing forth from the apertures
in their summits. I inquired of John Pipestick if all was right.
"Yes, all right," he answered; "no enemies have come; they may perhaps
though; but we shall not remain here many hours."
The scene was very different from any I had, for many weeks, set eyes
on. By the side of what I knew was a stream were three tents. Each was
formed of some eighteen or twenty long, slender rods, the butt-end stuck
in the ground, in a circle, and the tops bent over to meet each other,
forming the framework of the habitation. Over this was stretched a
covering of buffalo-skins, very neatly sewed together with thin strips
of leather, and secured so firmly at the foot with pegs, that it was as
tight as a drum, and capable of throwing off any amount of rain, or the
snow melting from the heat within. The hides, being tanned white, had a
very neat and tent-like look. I cannot say much for the cleanliness
inside, but I have been compelled in my wanderings to put up in dirtier
places, and that is all I can say in their favour.
These habitations are much more substantial than the wigwams of the
Canadian Indians, which are formed in a conical shape by uniting at the
top a dozen straight poles stuck in a circle in the ground, and by
covering them thickly with birch-bark. In both cases a hole is left at
the top to serve as a chimney. Inside the tents of my present friends
the ground was spread with mats all round the edges, except in the
centre, where a bare spot was left for the fire-place. Many of the
tribes differ in the way of forming their cooking-place, and often the
only means of ascertaining whether friends or foes have encamped on the
spot, is by an examination of the place where they have lit their fires.
The cots for the babies, and the pots and pans, and bows and arrows,
and fishing-spears, and buffalo tongues, and bears' hams, with
numberless other articles, are hung up to the tent rods, and often
garnish them rather oddly.
As we approached the tents, men, women, and children hurried out to meet
us, and welcomed us warmly, all eager to hear our adventures. But
Indians are not addicted to rattling out news, as is our habit in the
old country, so they had to wait till various ceremonies were first gone
through.
The old chief invited me into his tent, an honour John advised me not to
refuse, and then having sat down before his fire, and taken off my outer
coat and my torn moccasins, his women-kind hooked out of a huge pot
hanging from the centre over the fire, a lump of bear's flesh, and
several other dainties, the exact nature of which I could not at first
learn. Curiosity prompted me to inquire, by holding up a piece of the
meat between my thumb and fingers, when a respectable old dame, whom I
took to be his spouse, replied by a "_bow-wow-wow_," by which I guessed
rightly that it was a bit of a young puppy.
A few days afterwards a deep "bow-wow-wow" showed me that I was dining
off an older animal of the same species. I cannot say that I had any
repugnance to the meat, for after living on wolves' flesh for so long it
was to me a delicate luxury. I objected rather to the quantity
than the quality of the food placed before me, for the old
chief--_Waggum-winne-beg_ was his name, at least it sounded like that--
wishing to do me unusual honour, gave me a double allowance each time he
stuck his stick into the pot. I expressed my gratitude as well as I
could, and pointed first to my chest and then to my throat, to show him
that I thought the food must have got thus high; but he only laughed,
and kept on helping me as before. At last I stuck a piece in my mouth,
and pretended that I could not get it down further; but he was too good
an anatomist to be so taken in, and offered to get a ramrod to help me
down with it.
"Now, old fellow," said I, getting savage, "it may be a very good joke
to you; but more I will not eat, and that's enough."
Luckily John Pipestick coming in, explained that though Englishmen eat
as much as any red-skins, they were in the habit of taking several
moderate meals during every day throughout the year, and that the Indian
fashion of one day gormandising, and for many days starving, would not
suit them. I was not sorry to find that my friends were almost as much
tired as I was, and that they would remain another whole day to rest.
During the day, however, I received a piece of information from John
Pipestick, which somewhat discomposed me. I found that the old chief,
my host Waggum-winne-beg, proposed bestowing on me one of his daughters
to become my wife. Now, although I had no dislike to the notion of
matrimony, I had a decided preference for a wife of my own colour and
style of education. Miss Waggum-winne-beg was a very charming young
lady, I had no doubt, and could dress a puppy-dog to perfection, and
could manufacture moccasins unsurpassed by those of any other young
damsel in the tribe, and embroider with coloured grass, or make mats of
great beauty; indeed, I cannot enumerate all her accomplishments and
attractions. Still she had not won my heart, and indeed, a wife,
whether white, or red, or black, would have been very inconvenient while
I was leading my present wandering style of life. I gave this as the
best reason I could think of for not accepting my host's generous offer;
but he laughed at my scruples, and replied that I should find a wife
very useful, as she could work for me, and carry my gun and baggage of
every description; that she would also cook my food and make my
moccasins and tent covering, and weave fringe for my leggings and other
garments, and manufacture the mats and various requisite utensils.
Indeed it would be difficult to find, in any part of the world, so
accomplished a young lady, or one more industrious and obedient; that I
might always beat her as much as I liked, if I found her either idle or
disobedient.
I begged Pipestick to explain that, however good the customs of the
red-skins were--a point I did not wish then to dispute--those of the
English differed from them; that there were a few idle, lazy,
good-for-nothing fellows in England, among the chiefs, who looked out
for wives with fortunes, and among the lower classes, who made their
wives work for them, but it was the pride and endeavour of all true
braves to secure the means of supporting their wives, either through
inheriting a fortune from their ancestors, or by the exertion of their
own strength and talents, and that this latter way was considered the
most honourable. This was the method I proposed to follow, and before I
could accept the peerless daughter of the chief, I must procure the
means of supporting her. Pipestick did not exactly understand the
reasons I gave for declining the chief's offer, but he explained them as
well as he could. I was rather thunder-struck when the chief remarked
that, though he approved of them highly, he would waive all such
arrangements in my case, and that he would supply his daughter with
ample goods and chattels for our use. To this I could only reply that I
was highly flattered by his preference, but that it was against my
medicine to avail myself of his offer; that I was an Ottoe at heart;
that I loved the Ottoes, and would fight for the Ottoes, and that the
time might come when I should be an Ottoe indeed; but that, at present,
my medicine did not show me how that was to be accomplished.
The name of the young lady, the subject of this long conversation, was,
I found, the "Firefly"; and certainly, as I watched her light figure,
decked with red feathers and garments with red trimmings, I thought she
was very appropriately so called; at the same time, I did not for one
moment indulge the base idea of accepting the chief's offer. My earnest
desire was to find my way back, as soon as possible, to the society of
civilised men. I was heartily glad, then, when, once more, our tents
were struck, and we continued our journey. As we travelled with women,
children, and a wagon, our progress was very much slower than when we
had gone alone. Often it was hard work getting the wagon through the
snow. Generally the poor women had to drag it; and I rather scandalised
the red warriors by putting my shoulder very frequently to the wheel and
by pushing on behind. Pipestick said that it was considered very
derogatory to the dignity of a warrior. I said that I thought it might
be disagreeable to the inclinations of an idle rascal; but that chiefs
in my country never let their wives do any hard work at all, and that I
could not bear to stalk on ahead with only my rifle at my back, while
the poor creatures were toiling away in that fashion. I suppose
Pipestick translated my remarks correctly, for the chiefs tossed their
heads and afterwards had a very long talk about the matter. I saw that
they began to look on me as a sad republican, and to suspect that I
purposed introducing mutiny into their camp.
At last we reached the spot where I had spent so many weeks of suffering
and anxiety. Scarcely a particle of the remains of the Indians were to
be seen, but a few scattered bones and torn bits of garments. The
things hidden by the Ottoes were untouched, so they dug them up, and I
having added a few words to the paper in my medicine stick, as I called
it, we proceeded on our way. We encamped four or five miles off that
night, and the next day made good very nearly fifteen miles. The tents
were pitched on the lee side of a wood, where there was but little snow,
and the air was comparatively warm. All hands, that is to say the women
and children, were soon employed in gathering sticks for our fires, and
in digging up hickory nuts. It was the chief occupation of the men in
the evening, as they sat round the fire, to crack and chew these nuts:
the taste indeed was pleasant. The camp was not left altogether without
some fortification. The wagon was placed in front, and some logs of
half rotten timber were dragged out, and served to fill up the space
left open in the little nook in which the tents were ensconced.
John Pipestick had a tent of his own, but he came to the old chiefs
tent, where I had been asked to take up my abode, to act as interpreter.
We sat up till a late hour, cracking nuts and telling very long-winded
stories, which, as Pipestick occasionally interpreted them for my
benefit, took up a double portion of time, and were not especially
interesting. I was not sorry, at last, to find myself comfortably
covered up by a pile of buffalo-skins, with the prospect of a sound
sleep till daylight.
How long I had slept I do not know, when I was awoke by the barking of
one of the dogs, then by another and another, till the whole tribe were
in full yelp, in every key, from full bass to double treble. The old
chief sprang off his couch, so did I, and as we rushed out of the tent,
we found all the warriors standing on the alert, and with their rifles
in their hands, peering out into the darkness. Two or three advanced
cautiously into the wood, the dogs following at their heels yelping
furiously, till they were summoned back by those in the camp. I tried
to discover the cause of the alarm, but could discover nothing over the
white plain spread out before us. If there were enemies, they were in
the wood; but to see them was impossible. We waited for the return of
the scouts. There was a complete silence: the howl of the wolves had
ceased; not a night-bird disturbed the quiet of the night. Suddenly a
piercing, terror-inspiring, unearthly shriek was heard ringing through
the quiet wood. Directly afterwards the feet of one of the scouts, as
we supposed, were heard rushing through the wood. It was one of our
companions. The whirl of a dozen tomahawks flying after him showed how
closely he was pursued, as he broke into the encampment, crying out,
"The enemy are upon us, the enemy are upon us!" What made the suspense
more trying was, that not a foe could be seen. We had no doubt that
they were there in strong force, and that the two other scouts had been
surprised and slaughtered by them. Probably the wood swarmed with them,
yet I did not see a sign of fear among any of my friends. Old
Waggum-winne-beg was in his element, and he was ably seconded by John
Pipestick. To send any more scouts into the wood would have been
perfect madness; so, each man sheltering himself as best he could behind
trees and bushes, and logs of fallen timbers, we waited in silence for
the attack. Some time passed away.
"I wonder if it is a false alarm," thought I. "Still, if it is so, what
has become of the scouts?" I whispered to Pipestick that I thought it
might be a mistake.
"Not at all," was the answer; "wait a bit. It you ever shot well, shoot
well now, if you care for your scalp."
The advice had scarcely been given, when there arose a sound close to
us, more hideous and terrific than I ever before heard in my life. The
red-skin's war-whoop was heard above all. I turned my head for an
instant to the east. The first faint streaks of dawn were appearing in
the sky. Through the pale light thus afforded I could see a number of
dark forms flitting about among the trees, while they kept up a
continued discharge of arrows and darts. Now and then a musket-ball
came whizzing by us; but it was very evident that the greater number of
our assailants were armed only with bows and arrows; at the same time
there could be no doubt that they very far outnumbered us. This would
prove of serious consequence should they come to close quarters.
Red-skins, however, are not fond of close quarters, unless they can take
an enemy by surprise, which our dogs and scouts had prevented them doing
in our case. I do not think it is fair to call them cowards. Their
notions are altogether different to ours, and they consider stratagem
and deceit as the chief art of warfare. They have no notion of risking
their own lives, if they can by any other way destroy their enemies, and
they consider white men as committing the height of folly when they
stand up and exchange shots with similar weapons in a duel. I don't
know that they are far wrong.
Our assailants, having tried to shake our nerves by their shrieks and
showers of arrows, appeared to retire, and again the whole wood was
wrapped in perfect silence. It was but of short continuation. Once
more those unearthly shrieks and cries broke forth, and this time they
were echoed by our people, who kept their muskets ready, and the moment
an enemy appeared flitting from one tree to another, did not fail to
fire--with what effect I had not time to observe. I felt that I was
bound, on every account, to take an active part in the fight, and
kneeling down behind a log of timber, I loaded and fired as rapidly as I
could, whenever my eye caught sight of the dusky form of an Indian
warrior. I did not often miss, but I suspected that I inflicted more
wounds on the limbs than on the bodies of our enemies.
"Who are they, think you?" I asked of Pipestick, who was at my side.
"Dacotahs or Pawnees," he answered. "They have had scouts on our trail
for some time probably. When they discovered that their friends were
destroyed, they thought that we had done the deed, and have come in
force resolved to be revenged."
It appeared to me that we might as well have tried to shoot down all the
trees in the wood, as to destroy our enemies. They swarmed round us
like hornets, seemingly resolved, as John observed, to cut us off to a
man. I turned my eye to the right; a band was just emerging on that
side from the wood, and the same minute I saw another coming out on the
left, in a long line, evidently for the purpose of surrounding us. I
picked off two or three fellows as they flew over the snow, but so rapid
and eccentric were their movements, that it was no easy matter to get a
fair shot at them, especially as all the time we were assailed with
showers of arrows. Some were sent from too great a distance to do us
much harm; but at the same time they not a little distracted us. Others
again had more deadly effect. Some of our people were struck down; two
were killed outright, the arrows passing right through their bodies;
while several were more or less injured. I, happily, had hitherto
escaped unhurt, and so had Pipestick; but the old chief was wounded in
the arm, and one of the poor little children was killed, in spite of the
protection its mother attempted to afford it. This made me feel more
bitter than anything else, and yet such an incident is but a too common
consequence of warfare.
The old chief proved himself well worthy of the dignity bestowed on him.
By word and gesture he animated his people to fight bravely, and to
resist to the last; and every time they raised one of their war-whoops,
he led the chorus, which these returned with no less vehemence. Still,
as I considered the matter, I began to apprehend that we were completely
in the power of our vindictive enemies. While we were inside our
entrenchments, they knew that it was more prudent not to come to the
hand-to-hand encounter; but if we attempted to move onward, we should be
instantly surrounded and cut down. The Dacotahs had enough men to keep
watch and watch, and to tire us out. Had we been a party of men alone,
we might have cut our way through them; but, of course, with the women
and children that was impossible. As long as the powder lasted we might
keep them at bay; and thus all we could do was to hold out bravely, and
to hope that some turn might occur in our favour.
The cold grey dawn was just breaking, when with shrieks and whoops
louder, more terrific than ever, numbers of the savages rushed out of
the wood, closely pressing round us. To count how many there were was
impossible, for they flew here and there, and sprang about in a most
wonderful way, and then on they came in a body towards us. Several of
our people were knocked over, and as I saw the hideous fellows
flourishing their tomahawks and scalping-knives, I began to feel a most
painful sensation round the top of my head. The old chief stood boldly
at his post, picking off his enemies as they drew near, while John
Pipestick did no dishonour to his father's land or the men of Kent, I
did my best to reduce the number of our foes, but it was of little
avail, and in another instant we were engaged, with overwhelming
numbers, in a desperate hand-to-hand conflict. I looked round; not a
ray of hope appeared, and thus like brave men we resolved to make our
foes pay a heavy price for our lives.