A SUDDEN ALARM--WHITE DOG NEARLY ROASTED--CONTINUE OUR MARCH--MY YOUNG
FRIENDS GOG AND MAGOG--DISAPPEARANCE OF SHORT AND OBED--I DESCEND TO
SEARCH FOR THEM--A MAGNIFICENT ICE CAVERN--CROSS A FROZEN LAKE--INDIANS
AHEAD--FRIENDS--A SCENE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--CAMP, AND FORTIFY
OURSELVES--APPROACH OF FLINTHEADS--DESPERATE CONFLICT--AN AVALANCHE
COMES THUNDERING DOWN ON US.
I was describing how I was fast asleep in our first night's encampment
on our winter's journey across the Rocky mountains, when I was awoke by
the most terrific cries, whence proceeding I could not tell. I thought
a whole host of the Flintheads were upon us, and, seizing my rifle,
sprang to my feet. When I was really awake, however, I found that the
sounds came from under the platform, and a large hole near me soon
showed what had happened. I had left our friendly old chief,
Wabassem-Mung, or the White dog, fast asleep there. He had selected it
from being the warmest place and nearest the fire. The consequence was
that the snow had there melted more rapidly, and a deep chasm of seven
or eight feet having been formed, he had glided into it, and only awoke
when he found the hot ashes coming showering down on his head and
burning the tip of his long nose. For once, in his astonishment and
fright, he forgot his dignity, and shrieked out as heartily as any
paleface. Laban and I and Short, who were nearest, stooping down, soon
dragged him out of his uncomfortable position, and except that his nose
was a little burned, and his feathers were singed, and his cloak was a
hue or two darker, he was not much the worse for his adventure. He took
it very good-naturedly, and seemed somewhat ashamed of having expressed
his terror in the noisy way he had done.
Even before dawn we were on foot, and, having taken our morning meal,
harnessed the horses and began our march. Our great object was to get
to a certain elevation, to which we knew the Indians of the plain could
never attempt to mount, even for the sake of glutting their revenge on
us. We hoped also, should they attempt to follow us, to be better able
to defend ourselves in the mountain passes than, from the smallness of
our numbers, we could in the more open ground. In the hurry of
describing more stirring events, I forgot to mention my two young bears.
I did not like to desert them, as I might not have an opportunity of
capturing any others.
Laban at first objected to my dragging them along with me; but at length
he consented, observing, "Well, you know, Dick, if we get hungry, we'll
eat 'em."
Of course I could not but consent to this arrangement. Although the
full-grown grizzly bear is the most ferocious of the ursine race, these
little creatures in a few hours became comparatively tame and contented
with their lot. They trotted alongside of me very willingly, and at
night lay coiled up together like a ball of wool, to keep each other
warm. I gave them a small piece of fat and a little meal porridge, and
that was all they seemed to want, besides sucking their paws, which they
did as babies do their fists when they are hungry. Poor little things!
they seemed to know that they had nobody else but me to look to as their
friend. My friends, the Raggets and their companions, were very kind
people, but they had a decidedly practical turn, and would have eaten my
pets forthwith if I would have let them. I called one Gog and the other
Magog, names about which the honest backwoodsmen, who had never heard
even of Guildhall, knew nothing.
In appearance there was very little difference between them, but there
was a considerable amount in their characters. Gog became much sooner
tame, and was of a more affectionate, gentle, and peaceable disposition.
Magog would sit and growl over any thing given him to play with, and
run off with it away from his brother, while Gog would frisk about and
seem to take pleasure in getting the other to join in his sports. Of
course Gog became the favourite with all hands, and even the children
were not afraid of playing with him, whereas Magog would snap at them,
and very often tumbled them over and hurt them.
"I say, Dick," said Obed to me, "if we want food, we'll eat that Magog
of yours up first."
That is what Magog got for his surliness and ill-temper.
We continued to push on over the mountain-range. It was not all ascent.
Sometimes we came to a level on a wide open space where there was not
much snow, and then we got on rapidly. Our only passage through one
part of the route was up the bed of a torrent frozen hard and covered
with snow. It was very heavy work, but Short assured us that it would
not last long, so we pushed on.
Obed, Short, and I, with others, were clearing the way with our spades,
when suddenly, without the slightest warning, the two first, who were
ahead of me, went right through the ice and disappeared. Horror almost
overcame me, for I knew that the torrent would have the power of
sweeping them down in an instant far out of our sight. Obed was my
greatest friend. Short's loss to all the party was irreparable. The
three other men with me and I shouted to our friends, several of whom
had long poles to assist their progress, to hasten to our aid.
Fastening four of these together, two and two, I secured a rope round my
body, which the others held, and then worked myself forward till I was
over the hole. Another rope was made fast to the poles; by this I
descended. I was surprised to find the chasm so deep, for I thought
that I should see the water rushing down a little below the surface.
Instead of that, there was below the hole a hard, very nearly smooth,
floor, I lowered myself gently, and found it perfectly firm and strong;
but, alas! neither Obed nor Short were to be seen.
Under other circumstances I should have been delighted with the
appearance of the place in which I found myself. It was like a
magnificent cavern of the purest white marble, ornamented with glass
stalactites of the most brilliant rainbow hues. I should call it rather
a gallery, because it extended up and down to an indefinite distance.
No work of art could be more light or graceful.
But my thoughts were with my friends, and all the beauty which
surrounded me seemed only to mock my anxiety for their fate. I heard
those above, Laban Ragget and his sons, asking eagerly if I had found
them, and I had to answer mournfully, "No." Still I saw that they could
not have gone through the ice into the stream itself, for that
everywhere appeared unbroken. Then it struck me that, as the floor was
an inclined plane, they had probably slipped down over the smooth
surface without meeting anything to stop them. This was a solution of
the problem of the cause of their disappearance, but it did not relieve
my anxiety as to their fate. I sung out to my friends above to lengthen
the rope as far as they could, for I had no inclination to proceed
without it, and slid down to as great a distance as its length would
allow me to move. I shouted and shouted, but there was no answer. I
began truly to despair. "Poor fellows, they must be gone," I thought.
"It will be a sad report I must take to Laban."
I began to ascend to get under the hole again. I found that I could
easily crawl up the incline on hands and knees. I turned to rest for an
instant, and thought that I would give one shout more. There was a
roaring, rumbling noise of the water underneath, which made it necessary
to sing out very sharply to be heard at any distance. I therefore
shrieked out this time at the very top of my voice.
A few instants passed while the echoes died away, and then a faint cry
came up from far, far down the long ice gallery. It was repeated.
There could be no doubt that it was from my friends. I waited to
consider whether I should return and get others to come down with more
ropes, so that should Short and Obed have fallen into an ice-pit, we
might help them out; or whether it was best to wait and see if they were
working their own way up, as I found from experience they might be able
to do. It was while thus waiting for them that I was able to admire the
beauty of the scene. The floor was dark blue, the sides were white, and
the ceiling was of every variety of green and red and yellow, and in
some places so transparent that it seemed surprising that any person,
much less a horse or sleigh, could have passed over it without breaking
through; then there were in the distance arches and columns, and whole
buildings and statues, of every grotesque form imaginable, at least so
my imagination carved out the excrescences and masses of ice I saw piled
up in a long vista before me. I did not stay long without shouting
again, and once more the voices of my friends assured me that they were
drawing near. My heart was now much lighter, and at length I caught
sight of their heads as they crawled up like two four-footed creatures
in the distance. I was truly glad when they got up to me; they had
been, they owned, not slightly alarmed, and were, they showed, very
tired and out of breath.
On breaking through the ice, the impetus they got sent them sliding down
the sloping floor at so great a rate that they could not stop
themselves. On, on they went, not knowing when their journey would end;
but dreading that it might be into some deep hole, or perhaps the
torrent itself. They were well pleased, therefore, when they were
brought up suddenly against a mass of rock which rose out of the bed of
the stream; and doubly grateful were they when, on looking beyond it,
they saw that on the other side there was a deep fall, through which the
water itself was forcing its way.
We were all soon dragged up again to the surface, and though I described
the magnificence of the icy gallery, no one seemed inclined to pay it a
visit. We had now to drag our sleighs up a steep bank, and to proceed
with the greatest caution, our progress being very slow. At last we
once more got on level ground, and soon reached a long narrow lake, out
of which the torrent descended. This accounted for there being water
under the ice. Many of the torrents we came to were frozen completely
through.
It may seem in theory very pleasant work walking in snow-shoes over the
smooth surface of the snow, often high up among the boughs of trees, and
level with the roofs of cottages; but when a person is not accustomed to
the proceeding, it becomes painful in the extreme.
Snow-shoes are frames of light wood from four to six feet long, pointed
at both ends like a boat. The intermediate space is filled up with
network. They are secured to the feet by leathern thongs, and there is
a hole in which the heel works. From their shape and size they present
a very wide surface to the snow, and prevent the walker from sinking in.
Great care is required in fastening the thongs, which must be tight; but
if they are too tight, when they get wet, as they frequently do, and
shrink, they cut into the ankles and cause serious injury. Often the
feet are so benumbed with the cold that, at the time, no pain is felt,
and it is only when the sufferer comes to take off his shoes, that he
finds the thongs have disappeared in a mass of swelling. We had no
fears as to the ice on the lake bearing us, so we merrily slid on to it,
and proceeded faster than we had done since we left the camp. The
horses especially seemed to enjoy the ease, with which they dragged on
the loads which had before seemed so heavy, while the rest of us, taking
off our snowshoes, glided over the smooth surface as rapidly as they
did. Fortunately, but little snow had fallen in this region, and the
wind had blown it off the ice. This was the first, and indeed only,
advantage we gained by travelling before the frost broke up. Had we not
begun our journey as we were now doing, we should have had to wait
several weeks longer, till the snows had melted from the mountain-tops,
and the streams had subsided to their usual level. Still we could not
conceal from ourselves that we had many dangers to encounter, even
should we not be pursued by the red-skins.
I was generally in the van with Obed and Short and my two bears. I did
not venture to let the Masters Bruin go loose, but yoked them together,
and had a rope fastened to them besides. Thus united they waddled on;
not lovingly, for very often they grumbled and growled, and seemed to be
making far from pleasant remarks to each other. They kept on all fours,
it must be understood. Bears only stand on their hind legs when they
have learned to dance, or are going to eat a man, or at all events are
standing at bay. On reaching the end of the lake we found that a
considerable portion of the day had been spent, but still we had some
distance to go before we could reach the spot proposed for our
camping-ground. However, it was thought advisable to push on. I
suggested to Short that it might have been better to camp on the shore
of the lake.
"So it would, Dick, if we hadn't to guard against these cunning
red-skins. But old White Dog has heard, and I believe that he is right,
that there is another path over the mountains, which leads to the very
spot near where we propose camping; at least a little to this side of
it. Now, if our enemies know of this, and it's not likely they'll be
ignorant, and they make chase after us, some of the cunning varmints
will take that path to cut us off, depend on't. We haven't told the
women of it, nor the men generally, because there's no use making them
anxious till the time comes; and then there's no fear but that they'll
all behave as they ought."
I could not but admire the calm self-possession of my friends, who, in
expectation of so fearful an event, could show so little concern, and at
the same time placed such implicit confidence in the nerve courage of
their companions. I must own that I felt very anxious, and carefully
examined the lock of my rifle, and assured myself that I had properly
loaded it. Soon after this we entered a broad defile with high broken
rocks on either side of us, beyond which towered up to the sky the white
masses of mountain-tops. The defile as we advanced gradually narrowed,
till I found that we were approaching a narrow gorge with cliffs rising
on each side almost perpendicularly above it. Just then I thought that
I saw something moving among the rocks before us. I asked short. His
quick eye had detected the movement.
"Indjens!" he exclaimed. "Oh! the treacherous varmints."
Scarcely had he uttered the word than from behind the rocks in our front
up sprang a numerous band of Indians in war-paint and feathers, uttering
the most terrific shrieks and cries, and dancing and leaping about in
the most extraordinary manner. Our rifles were in a moment in our
hands. I was on the point of firing at an Indian whom I had covered,
when old White Dog rushed to the front, exclaiming what Short
interpreted to mean, "Don't fire; they are friends, my people."
This was satisfactory information, for, however pleasant fighting may be
to some people, in our case it would not bring either honour or plunder.
The fact was that, posted as they were, they might, had they been
enemies, have picked us off, supposing they had rifles, without our
being able in any way to get at them, except by climbing up the rocks,
when, of course, they would have picked us off in detail. After White
Dog's followers had amused themselves sufficiently with dancing and
shrieking, they came down from their position, and paid their respects
to their chief, who inquired how it was they happened to be where we had
found them. They all seemed to be very eager to tell him, but he
selected one as the spokesman, and told him to narrate what had
occurred. It appeared that after their chief had left them they got
notice that the Flintheads purposed to attack their lodges and destroy
them. To avoid this result they had packed up their goods and fled from
the spot, merely leaving some scouts to watch the proceedings of their
enemies. They had not to wait long before they observed a party of
warriors approaching. This party seemed very much disappointed at
finding their lodges deserted. Having set fire to everything that would
burn, they continued their route towards our camp, followed closely by
the scouts. When these saw them enter within the intrenchments, they
instantly set off back to their companions. A council was then held,
when it was agreed that it was their duty to set off to help their
chief, who might be in danger.
Old White Dog had, I found, left directions outside our camp, which they
would clearly understand, telling them to follow him. On reaching the
camp they found that we had deserted it, but before going on, they very
naturally took a glance round inside. There they found the unfortunate
Flintheads whom we had left bound.
"I hope, Short," said I, "that they respected our intentions, and left
them there unhurt."
"They left them there, you may be sure, Dick," answered Sam quietly.
"But you may be equally sure that they cut the throats of every mother's
son of them."
"Cruel, murderous wretches!" I exclaimed.
"It's their way of doing things," said Sam. "As they are taught in
their youth, so they act now they've grown up. If you had been taught
to scalp your enemies when you were a boy, you'd do the same with
pleasure now, whenever you had a chance!"
I could not deny that this would too probably have been the case, and
therefore made no further remarks on the subject, only feeling thankful
that I had been born in a Christian land, and brought up with Christian
principles.
The meeting with these Indians caused another short delay, and they and
their wives, and children, and dogs, falling into the rear of our party,
we all proceeded together. The women and children, I ought to have
said, had been hid away among the rocks, and were only produced at the
last moment, as we were moving on. We could not object to White Dog's
tribe accompanying us, but as they came but scantily furnished with
provisions, we were under some considerable apprehension that they would
create a famine in our camp.
A strong party of us, consisting of Short and Noggin, and some of the
Raggets, and myself, with old White Dog and several of his tribe, now
pushed on to occupy the pass which led into the one through which we
were travelling. We soon reached it, and, climbing up the surrounding
heights, looked around. As far as the eye could range, not a moving
obstacle was visible; all was silent and solitary. We had purposely
concealed ourselves in case an enemy should be approaching, and as I
stood on that mountain height looking out into the distance over
interminable snow-covered ranges of rock, I was more sensible than I had
ever before been of the sensation of solitude; never before had I
remarked silence so perfect. Truly it seemed as if Nature was asleep.
So she was: it was the sleep of winter.
In England, where birds are constantly flying about, and often insects
humming, even at Christmas, we have no conception of the utter want of
all appearance of life in the mountain regions in which I was now
travelling. We waited on the watch till the main body of our party came
up, and then, seeing no enemies, pushed on to our camping-ground. I
must say that I was very glad to get there without meeting with the
Flintheads. I felt sure that as soon as they found out the fate of
their friends, they would track us, and, if they could, not leave one of
our party alive. Probably Laban and others thought the same, but wisely
kept their thoughts to themselves.
We fortified ourselves as usual, and kept a strict watch during the
night. The weather was much less cold than it had been; indeed, there
were evident signs of the coming of spring, and it became more than ever
evident that we must push on before the frozen-up torrents should again
burst forth, and render many spots impassable. After a hurried
breakfast, we were once more on our way; we marched in true military
order, with an advanced and a rear guard; the first carried spades, and
acted as a pioneer corps. This morning I was in the rear guard, with
Obed and Short, and all the Indians with their old chief. We had
marched about a mile, and had just entered one of the defiles I have
spoken of, with lofty cliffs on each side, and the mountains rising, it
seemed, sheer up above our heads for thousands of feet, when I saw the
Indians prick up their ears; then they stopped and bent down to the
ground as if to listen. There was a great talking among them, and old
White Dog called to Short: and Short announced to us the unpleasant
information that we were pursued by a large body of Flintheads. They
could not have overtaken our party in a position more advantageous to
us; for, from the narrowness of the pass, even should they be very
superior in numbers, we could show as good a front as they could. While
our main body moved on with the women and children and goods, I and
about a dozen young men remained with the Indians to defend the pass,
and to drive back, if we could, our enemies.
"There's one thing we may look for," observed Sam Short; "they'll fight
to the last gasp, rather than lose the chance of their revenge; only
don't let any of us get into their hands alive, that's all; they'd try
our nerves in a way we should not like, depend on that."
Every man among us looked to his rifle, and felt that his hunting-knife
was ready to his hand in his belt. We advanced a little farther, and
then halted at a spot where it seemed impossible that the Indians could
scale the heights to get at us. We had not long to wait. Suddenly
before us appeared a band of Indians just turning an angle of the pass.
On they came at a rapid pace till the whole road, as far as the eye
could reach, seemed full of them. As soon as they perceived us, they
set up the most terrific yells, and rushed frantically forward. We
waited for them steadily, but I feared, by the very force of their
charge, that our people would be overthrown and driven back.
"Now, lads," exclaimed Laban, as they came on, "be steady. Wait till I
give the word. Fire low. Don't let the bullets fly over their heads.
Bring down the leading men. Now ready--Fire!"
All obeyed our brave leader, and several in the front ranks of the enemy
fell. Yet it did not stop the rest, but rushing on with the fiercest
shrieks, they threw themselves madly upon our party. The White Dog's
followers bore the brunt of the charge, and very gallantly did they
behave. Again and again the Flintheads were driven back, and again and
again they came on. They seemed resolved to conquer or die. There must
have been nearly a hundred warriors among them. The air was at times
darkened with their arrows, besides which a number had rifles. Four or
five of our Indian allies had been killed, as had one of our people, and
numbers had been wounded. We kept up at them a hot fire all the time,
and many of them fell. Still, in proportion to our numbers, we had lost
more men than they had. Once more the whole column rushed on together.
I fully thought that we were lost, when, as I glanced my eye upward, I
saw what I fancied was the mountain-top bend forward. Yes, I was not
mistaken! Down it came with a wild, rushing noise directly towards us,
shaking the very ground on which we stood. The Indians saw it too, but
it did not stop them, as with headlong speed they were rushing towards
us, about to make another onslaught. They and White Dog's people met,
and the last I saw of them they were dashing their tomahawks into each
other's brains.
I shouted frantically to Laban and the rest to retreat. It was a mighty
avalanche, a vast mass of snow and ice. As it descended it increased in
size, gathering fresh speed. As one mast of a ship drags another in its
fall, so did one mountain-top seem to lay hold of the one next to it,
and bring it downwards into the valley. Down, down came the mountains
of snow, thundering, roaring, rushing. My brain seemed to partake of
the wild commotion. I cannot attempt to describe the effect. I was
leaping, running, springing back from the enemy, with every muscle
exerted to the utmost, in the direction the women and baggage had gone.
Laban and his sons were near me, I believed, but already dense showers
of snow, or rather solid masses, the _avant-coureurs_ of the avalanche,
were falling down on us and preventing me seeing anything many feet from
where I was. Unearthly shrieks and cries of terror and despair reached
my ears; a mass of snow struck me, and brought me to the ground deprived
of consciousness.