AN INDIAN WAR PARTY.
When Hugh and Jack started next morning the sky was overcast, and a cold
wind blew from the north. Before they had travelled far, it began to
rain. Soon the rain changed to snow and it grew very cold. They put on
their coats and slickers, and for an hour or two travelled through a
howling snow-storm. Suddenly the wind ceased, the snow stopped falling,
the sun came out, and it grew very warm. The snow which had covered the
ground speedily melted, and again they travelled along over a summer
prairie.
It was near mid-day when Hugh suddenly drew up his horse, and motioned
to Jack to ride up beside him. He pointed to the ground, where Jack saw
many old tracks of horses, and besides these, a half dozen ruts in the
soil, like those made by wagon wheels, but irregular, moving from side
to side as they proceeded, and looking as if something had been dragged
along the ground, following in some degree the inequalities of its
surface. Jack could see that these marks, as well as the hoof prints,
had been made a good while before, yet after the grass had begun to grow
in the spring. The trail pointed nearly in the direction which they were
following, so that by keeping on, they would cross it at an acute angle.
"There, son," said Hugh, "there's been a camp of people along here."
"Indians?"
"Yes, quite a bunch of 'em. There was quite a band of horses, and the
lodge poles and travois, as you see, make a pretty big trail. I expect
there must be a dozen lodges of 'em at least; maybe more."
"Oh," said Jack, "I was wondering what those queer marks were; those are
the travois, are they?"
"Yes, them and the lodge poles. You know, when they're moving over the
prairie they tie a bunch of lodge poles on either side of the horse,
over his withers, and the big ends of the poles drag on the ground;
that's what's cut the prairie up this way. Them people are going pretty
near the same way we're going, but it's three or four weeks since
they've passed. I've a notion we'll follow this trail for a while, and
see which way they're going. If they seem to be going the same way we
are, we'll branch off and travel closer to the mountains, where the
country is rougher and there's more timber."
Hugh rode on, close by the trail, and Jack followed, driving the pack
horses. A mile or two further along, Hugh stopped again, and Jack rode
up to him. Hugh pointed again to the ground before him, and then got off
and carefully inspected a moccasin track in the trail that looked much
fresher than the others. "Well," said he, as he stood up after looking
carefully at it, "I don't like that very much. Somebody's been along
here quite a while after the bulk of these people passed. It's hard to
tell much about that track, because it's been rained on, but it looks to
me as if it wa'n't more'n a day or two old. You go back and drive the
horses on slowly, and I'll see whether I can make anything out of this
fresh trail or not."
For an hour or two Jack followed Hugh, who went on quite slowly,
frequently dismounting and looking at a track, and then sometimes going
on foot for some little distance before mounting again. At length the
trail bore off considerably to the right, and here Hugh left it and
struck off sharply to the left. A little later, he called Jack up to him
and said, "There seems to be seven or eight men following that trail on
foot, and I expect likely it's a war party that's going to try to catch
that camp and steal their horses. If that's so, you and me want to get
as far away as we can, and I expect the best thing we can do is to
strike off toward the mountains, and when we camp to-night to cache as
well as we can; and maybe we'll take an early start to-night, after the
horses have fed and got rested, and make a quick drive, camping pretty
early in the morning, and starting out again just before night, and ride
half the night. I don't want to get mixed up in no squabbles between any
Indians that we're likely to meet here a way."
They rode on pretty rapidly. Down in a little hollow they stopped,
looked carefully over the packs, tightened all the saddles, and then
remounting, started at a still better pace, trotting wherever it was
level or down hill, and only walking the horses on the steeper slopes.
By this time it had become very hot. Jack had tied his slicker and coat
on behind the saddle, but was still uncomfortable under the broiling
rays of the sun.
It was late in the afternoon when they reached the valley of a stream,
and instead of camping in the broad open bottom, which offered a good
place to picket the horses, Hugh rode up the stream to where the valley
was dotted with frequent clumps of willows, and riding in among these,
halted at the edge of a thick clump, midway between the stream and the
bluffs.
"Let's unsaddle here," he said, "and tie up the horses among these
willows; they ain't so likely to be seen, if anybody happens to look
into the creek bed. We'll just build a little fire here, and cook, and
then put it right out. I don't want to make no smoke if I can help it."
The loads of the horses and the camp were well concealed, and after the
animals had drunk, they tied them rather short to the clumps of brush,
intending to move them from time to time to fresh grass.
Although the sun was low now, it was still intensely hot; and down in
the bottom, shut in by the bluffs, there was no air stirring. The willow
brush, too, cut off what little wind blew up or down the creek, and Jack
felt as if he were almost choked. They cooked and ate, and after they
had done that, Hugh said, "I'm going up this ravine, back of camp, to
get on a hill and take a look. You'd better stay here and watch the
horses. Don't move around much, and if you see anybody, just keep out of
sight all you can. Of course if anybody tries to take any of the horses,
why you'll have to shoot, but I don't expect you'll see no one. I'll be
back here pretty quick." Putting his pipe in his pocket, Hugh picked up
his gun and disappeared in the willows, and Jack sat and sweltered in
the heat.
Presently, he thought he would go down to the brook and get a drink; so
he walked down there, and stood on a little gravelly beach, over which
the water poured with a cool, merry rattle. In the stream there were
little fish, and as his shadow fell upon it, they darted in all
directions, in great alarm. He drank of the water, but it was not so
cool as it looked, and then he wet his hands and his wrists and his
head. This gave him some relief, and he thought he would take off his
clothes and wet his body all over in a pool a foot or two deep, at the
foot of the ripple. He put his gun down at the edge of the willows,
quickly stripped off his clothes, stepped into the pool, and lay down in
it. This was delicious. In a moment he forgot how hot he had been just
before, and the water almost reminded him of the morning's ride through
the snow storm. Still, as soon as he raised his body out of the stream
he was warm enough again. After ducking under two or three times, he
happened to look toward his clothes, and as he did so his heart almost
stopped beating.
Standing by his clothing and gun, was a tall half-naked man with a robe
hanging from his waist and an eagle feather tied in his head. He stood
leaning on his gun and looked at Jack with a broad grin of triumph,
which showed his white teeth. He did not have the long straight hair of
an Indian; it was crisp and curled tight to his head, and his skin was
not brown, but was black; in fact, he looked like a negro. All this Jack
saw, but he had no time to reason about it. He realised only the one
thing, that the man was standing over his gun and cartridge belt, while
he was naked and unarmed. Jack cast a glance over his shoulder, with a
half formed idea of running away, but in this direction there was no
hope, for standing on the opposite bank of the stream, and within a few
yards of him was an Indian. About this one, there could be no mistake;
his brown trunk was naked, crossed by a belt which held a quiver, the
feathered arrows projecting above his left shoulder; on either side of
his face, his long hair hung down in braids, and in his right hand he
carelessly held a bow and a sheaf of arrows. Crossing his body, over the
right shoulder and under the left arm, was a coil of raw hide rope. Jack
was surrounded. There was no escape.
Jack did not know what to do. He had never before felt so utterly
helpless. He wished he had stayed at camp as Hugh had told him to, but
it was all so quick that he was conscious of nothing except a horrible
sinking of the heart, and this feeling that he was helpless. These men
could kill or capture him. He could make no resistance. Before he had
time to think, the man standing by his clothes raised his open right
hand above his head, and moved it toward Jack, at the same time saying:
"Keep quiet, don't be scared, sonny, you ain't agoin' to be hurt. I want
to talk to you."
The sound of these words, spoken in English, gave Jack a tremendous
sense of relief; it didn't seem that any one that spoke so good
naturedly could wish to harm him. At that moment the Indian behind him
called across to the other, and two or three sentences were exchanged
between them. Then the negro, for such he proved to be, called out,
"Come ashore, sonny, and put your clothes on. Don't be scared, you
won't get hurt. I'll just move your gun a little, though, so it won't be
in your way and then we'll talk." Saying this, he moved the gun and
cartridge belt a few yards from the pile of clothing, and standing
between Jack and his weapons, motioned towards the clothes which Jack
began to put on. Then he said, "Where ye goin'?"
Jack had to swallow two or three times before he could speak aloud then
he answered in a voice that shook a good deal, "We're going up north to
the Piegan camp."
"What ye goin' to do there?" came next.
"We're going to visit John Monroe, and stay in the camp all summer."
"Who's them Piegans ye're talkin' about?" said the negro.
"Why," said Jack, "they're a tribe of Indians up north."
"Who's John Monroe, ye was speaking of?" said the negro.
"He's a half breed, Hugh says, that was raised in the Piegan camp;
always lived with them. He was down last summer to our ranch, and he
asked Hugh and me to come up this summer and visit him."
On receiving this reply, the negro thought for a little while, and then
talked in the unknown tongue to his companion, who had now crossed the
stream and was standing near Jack. After the two had spoken for a few
moments, the negro again turned to Jack, and said, "Who's that old man
ye're travellin' with?"
"That's Hugh Johnson," said Jack; "he works on my uncle's ranch, down
south."
Suddenly the negro threw back his head and laughed very heartily for a
long time; then he said to Jack, "Come on, sonny, and get your gun;
we'll go to your camp with you. Seems queer, you all goin' up to see the
Piegans, meet a Piegan war party down here. I'm a Piegan, myself. This
here's young Bear Chief, and there's five other young men in this brush
all around us. We see you when you come down, and young Bear Chief see
the old man, and knowed him; but I thought we'd better make sure, and
when he went upon the hill, and you come down here and went in swimmin',
I thought we'd talk to you. You see, we're friendly," and he stepped up
to Jack and shook hands with him heartily, and the Indian did the same.
"My name's Hezekiah Alexander," said the negro. He seemed delighted to
have an opportunity to talk English. "I have been with the Piegans
more'n twenty years. I was raised down in Tennessee, myself. I belonged
to old Marster Alexander. One day the overseer give me a terrible hard
whipping and I run. I was only thirteen years old. I smuggled myself on
board a Memphis packet, and got across to the Illinois side, and worked
north mighty quick. I came up into this country as boy for Mr.
Culbertson, of the American Fur Company, but I didn't stay long with
him, but joined these Indians, and been with 'em ever since. I got a
wife and four babies in the camp: you'll see 'em this summer."
Jack had passed so quickly from despair to joy, and from joy to
confidence that he had hardly recovered his self-possession or his voice
as yet. Carrying his gun he led the way up to the camp, where, as soon
as he came in sight of it, he saw Hugh standing, frowning, as if angry
or puzzled, and holding his gun in the hollow of his left arm. As soon
as they were close to camp, Jack called out, "It's all right, I guess,
Hugh; these are Piegans;" but Hugh's expression did not alter until the
Indian stepped up to him, and tapping his own breast, as he said,
"_Nínnah okyaíyu_," stretched out his hand toward him. Then Hugh's face
changed, and he smiled in recognition as he said, "Why, so it is," and
shook hands very heartily with the young man.
While Hezekiah and Bear Chief talked eagerly to Hugh in the Piegan
tongue, Jack had time to recover his equilibrium, and when he had done
this he stared at the two strangers with all his eyes. They were dressed
almost alike, but while Bear Chief's face was painted, Hezekiah's was
not, and showed a thin mustache, but no beard. Bear Chief's scalplock
hung down to between his shoulders, and was ornamented by a large flat
pink shell, two inches in diameter. Hezekiah, of course, had no side
braids, but he had a little short scalplock, which stuck straight out
behind from his woolly head, and at the base of this, an eagle's feather
was tied. Jack noticed that as the two talked with Hugh, Hezekiah
frequently laughed loudly, while Bear Chief's face was always grave and
earnest. Presently the Indian rose to his feet, and strode off into the
brush, while the negro turned to Jack, and said, with a broad grin, "I
expect you was pretty scairt, sonny, when you see me standing by your
gun just now."
"Yes," said Jack, "I was. I never was so badly scared in my life, and I
didn't know what to do. I tell you," he added, turning to Hugh, "I
wished I'd stayed in camp, as you told me to."
"Yes," said Hugh, gravely, "that's what you ought to have done. If these
fellows had been anything else but Piegans, you'd have been killed,
likely, and me, too. These men made the tracks we was looking at this
morning; they followed that trail that we was on, until they came to
where the people had camped, and then they saw that they'd been gone so
long, it wa'n't no use to follow 'em, and they left the trail and struck
up toward the mountains, to rest. They've been out quite a long time.
Where was the camp," he continued, turning to Hezekiah, "when you left
it?"
"They was camped on the Mussel-shell," answered the negro, "but they
talked of moving up north onto the Marias before long. I expect you'll
find 'em there; or, maybe further north, either near the Sweet-grass
Hills, or maybe over close to the mountains; maybe over by Chief
Mountain, or on some stream near it."
A moment later, Bear Chief returned accompanied by another Indian, and
after speaking a few words to Hugh, sat down, and taking his fire bag
from his belt, drew out a large, curiously carved, black stone pipe and
its stem, fitted them together, and drawing his knife, commenced to cut
some tobacco. One by one, other Indians came marching into camp, until,
including Hezekiah, there were seven there. They were a stalwart group
of men, all young, yet full grown, except two, who were boys, one of
them about Jack's age, and the other a little older. As they talked,
Hezekiah gave Jack a hasty sketch of what they had done since they left
the Piegan camp. They had seen no enemies, and made no war. Once, as
they were travelling along, they saw, far off, people coming, making a
great dust. They hid on top of a high butte, and watched these people,
who passed within a half mile of where they were. They were soldiers,
and the Indians kept very close until they had passed out of sight, and
then started on to put as great a distance as possible between
themselves and the troops. Their food gave out at one time, and they
were two days without anything to eat; then, one of the young men killed
an elk, and they feasted, and dried a little of the meat. The next day a
buffalo bull was killed, and they dried more meat; and since then had
had plenty to eat. Now they were thinking of turning their steps
northward, following close along the foot-hill of the mountains, hoping
to find some camp of enemies, and take some horses.
While they were talking, Hugh built a fire, and gave half an antelope to
two of the young men to roast, while he baked some bread and made a pot
of coffee. Then the Indians were invited to eat, and feasted on the
unwonted luxuries. Again, Bear Chief filled the pipe, and as they sat
around in a circle, it passed from hand to hand, each one, except Jack,
drawing in several whiffs of the smoke; and each one, also, holding the
stem in succession toward the sky, the earth, and the four points of the
compass, and speaking a few words. Jack at the time did not understand
what this meant, but Hugh afterward explained to him that they were
offering prayers. After this was over, Bear Chief stood up and
tightened his belt about his waist, and all the others did the same;
then, after a few words with Hugh, all gravely shook hands with the two
whites, and they filed into the brush. Hezekiah remained a moment behind
the others, and said, "Well, good-bye, Mr. Johnson, good-bye, sonny;
you'll get to camp before we do, but we'll be pretty close behind you. I
don't expect we're goin' to make no war this trip; I dreamed we
wouldn't. Don't feel hard toward me, sonny, 'cause I scared you to-day.
I wouldn't o' done it, only I was afraid ye might run for your gun, and
shoot some of us, if I didn't get there first. Good-bye," and he
followed the Indians into the willows. A little later, Hugh and Jack
caught a glimpse of them, walking in single file up the valley, their
brown bodies glistening in the sun, and the feathers in their heads
nodding as they walked.
"Well, son," said Hugh, "I don't know which of us was the most scared
this afternoon, but if you was scared as bad as I was, I'm mighty sorry
for ye."
"Well, Hugh, nobody could have been scared as badly as I was. I expected
to feel the arrows going through me every second, for a little while.
Why, when I first saw Hezekiah standing there I thought I'd die. If he
hadn't spoken right away I don't know what I'd have done. It don't seem
as if I could have stood it. It seemed the longest time after I'd seen
him before he spoke, and yet it couldn't have been more than half a
minute. When I first saw him standing there smiling, I thought he was
just laughing because he'd got me, but when he made that sign and spoke
English I felt like crying, I was so glad."
"Well," said Hugh, "you've got to be more careful; you hadn't no
business to go away from camp to-day, and if you'd got killed, I don't
know what I'd have done."