THE RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY
THEY parted from the Dacotah brave with what was doubtless intended to
be grateful gestures on his part.
"He seems to understand that we have played the part of friends," said
Roger, "and I think if the chance ever comes up he will stand by us."
"I am of the same opinion," declared Dick, "though for that matter I
hope we may never need his help. After all, we did not lose much time,
and it was worth while to save a life."
They pushed on diligently for a long time. Dick was not in doubt as to
his course, for he had taken particular pains to notice as they came
along on the preceding day, in the company of the Indians.
When Roger happened to ask once if he were quite sure the river lay
directly ahead of them, Dick answered confidently.
"Unless it makes a great sweep to the north somewhere above us we will
run upon the river by nightfall, take my word for it;" and Roger,
accustomed to depending fully on his comrade, never doubted after that
moment.
Something else was soon upon his mind, however, and he voiced his
thoughts by appealing to Dick.
"Do you think it would be dangerous if you shot your gun off just once,
in case we sighted some game? I feel very hungry, for that supper the
Indians gave us didn't seem to do me much good. And breakfast is one of
my best meals, you know."
Dick laughed at seeing the appealing look on his chum's face.
"I don't think the danger of the shot's being heard is one-half as
great as you think you are of starving to death," he told Roger.
"Then you agree, do you?" demanded the other, eagerly. "I'll keep my
eyes peeled for sight of a deer, and I do hope it isn't going to be
long before we get a chance at one."
As luck would have it, before another ten minutes had passed the
opportunity he was hoping for came their way. Dick was ready, and with
the report of his gun a yearling doe fell in a heap, just when in the
act of plunging into the dense thicket.
Of course Roger would not think of any delay in getting a fire going
and some of the tender meat broiling before the flames. While he looked
after the fire Dick cut up the game, and it was not long before an
appetizing odor began to make both boys wishful for the feast to begin.
"We can make up for this stop," said Roger as he sat there devouring
piece after piece of the half-cooked venison, "by not halting at noon
for a rest. Then again, we can hurry our steps at times and so get
along faster."
"No trouble about that," Dick assured him, "for I figure that we have
plenty of time to get there by dark. You remember that we were only on
the move some six hours yesterday, and we have the whole of to-day for
tramping."
"Do you know, Dick, this reminds me of how we chased after the
expedition for weeks and weeks when determined to find Jasper Williams,
and get that paper signed for our parents. Hundreds of miles we
followed the trail as it ascended the Missouri River, until at last we
overtook them."[4]
"What we did once we can do again, this time on a small scale," Dick
assured him. "I was just watching those crows over there in that
tree-top. They seem to be holding a regular caucus, and keep on
scolding like everything."
"Yes," added the other boy, "and sometimes crows turn out to be a pest
in lots of ways besides eating the settler's corn. Old hunters have
told me they hide from crows whenever they find themselves in hostile
territory, because through their cawing the birds tell the Indians
strangers are in the woods."
"There, the whole lot has flown away, and making all sorts of noises
in the bargain," Dick went on to say. "I don't like crows myself any
too much. They are too noisy, and seem to think every one is trying to
creep up on them for a shot."
"When we do strike the river, Dick, can we easily tell whether the
expedition has passed or not?"
"All we have to do is to examine the ground, for their horses would
leave a plain trail, you know, Roger."
"And if, after searching, we do not find any sign, we will know they
haven't come along yet. In that case all we have to do will be to sit
down, and take things easy until they show up."
Roger seemed to have left most of his troubles behind, after making a
good breakfast on the deer meat. With the intention of chiding him for
displaying any eagerness for food when there was none to be had, Dick
took up the subject again as they trudged manfully onward.
"It's very plain to be seen that you'd never make a good Indian
brave, Roger," was what he told the other, and this excited the boy's
curiosity just as Dick knew would be the case.
"Tell me why," he demanded. "I always thought I could stand pain
without flinching as well as any Indian boy; and I've learned a lot
about wild life in the bargain. Where do I fall short, Dick?"
"It's just this way," his cousin told him. "An Indian boy is taught
never to display his feelings, no matter what he suffers inwardly. If
he were struck by a poisonous rattlesnake, and could feel his body
swelling, not a whimper would come from his lips."
"Well, what has that to do with me, Dick? So far I have never been
attacked by a rattlesnake, though I've killed plenty of the ugly
varmints, I wager."
"But you did put on a long face, and you complained because for once
you missed your breakfast. Now, an Indian boy would never have said a
word, but held in grimly to the end. Not that I blame you, remember,
for I was hungry myself, and ready to use my gun, even before you
mentioned it."
They both laughed at that.
"We were born 'paleface' boys," said Roger, "and it's hard for the
leopard to change its spots, they say. When we're hungry we know it,
yes, and we don't mind letting other people know it, too, if that will
help things along."
Noon came and went.
They kept persistently moving forward. Occasionally they came to open
places in the forest where the grass grew green, and often did they
glimpse deer feeding in these glades. Once they even saw a small herd
of buffaloes trooping off, having apparently winded the boys.
But Dick made no motion to use his gun again. They had all the fresh
meat they required, and powder and balls were too precious to be
needlessly wasted. So the afternoon came and found them keeping up that
determined pace. If either of them felt tired they failed to mention
the fact, which in itself was pretty positive evidence that they
possessed many of the best traits of the Indian character, after all.
From long habit they were accustomed to such exercise as this, and
would not have complained had the tramp kept up far into the coming
night.
It was about the middle of the afternoon when Roger gave a low
exclamation of delight.
"I can see the river ahead of us, Dick!" he cried, with a vein of deep
satisfaction in his voice.
"Yes, I have been waiting to hear you say that, Roger, for I glimpsed
it five minutes back. So you see after all we have made good time. We
shall be there long before sunset."
"I must say I am glad to know it," Roger admitted; and then hastily
added: "Not that I doubted your word a bit, but then, 'seeing is
believing,' you know, Dick."
"Yes, and, confident as I was myself, I am relieved to see the river
glimmering in the sunlight before us," Dick frankly admitted.
"It can hardly be more than two miles or so away from here, wouldn't
you say?" questioned Roger, always ready to have any assertion he might
make backed up by the word of his chum, in whom he had such positive
faith.
"About that," the other told him, as they once more started ahead.
When finally they stood on the high bank of the river, no longer the
mighty stream they knew it down near their home, and looked at the
opposite shore, the sun was still more than an hour high.
"Now to find out if they have passed by, and whether we will have to
keep on up the river," said Dick, as he began to look about him.
A brief search convinced them that no horses had passed that point.
They saw the marks of deer, and buffaloes, as well as some very large
imprints made by cloven hoofs, that startled the boys, for they did not
know what sort of strange animal had made them; but it was sure that
horses had not been present.
"That settles it then," said Roger, with a sigh of relief, for he would
much rather just sit there and wait for the expedition to come along,
than be compelled to follow for miles after it.
"We will make camp here to-night if they fail to show up," asserted
Dick, which piece of information pleased Roger, his pleasure showing in
the broad smile of contentment that broke over his face.
With plenty of good venison to last them through many days, what
need had they to worry? They knew the exploring party bound for the
other side of the mountains was sure to come along, sooner or later;
when they could once more join their good friends, and take their
accustomed places as though nothing unusual had happened.
Dick selected a certain spot on which to settle and wait for the
exploring party. In doing this he had in mind the fact that it afforded
them a clear view down the river. A bend lay just a quarter of a mile
below their position, around which they could expect the boats to
appear, sooner or later.
Lying at their ease the boys talked of many things as they awaited the
coming of the expedition. Their recent experience of course came in
for a good share of attention, for it still thrilled them to compare
notes of the night attack, when those hideous whoops were ringing in
their ears, together with the heavy percussion of blows as the fierce
Shoshones invaded the camp of the Dacotahs and struggled hand-to-hand
for the supremacy.
The sun was sinking lower and lower, so that it really began to look as
though, after all, the boys would have to make camp where they were.
Apparently the expedition had spent some little time looking for the
lost ones, and Dick had struck the river further up than they had as
yet penetrated.
Suddenly Roger discovered a moving object down the river. Then, around
the bend, a boat came in sight, in which they could see white men, some
of them soldiers.
At the same time voices from the shore reached their ears, and they
caught fugitive glimpses of moving figures advancing along a buffalo
trail close to the edge of the bank. These latter they realized must be
the party mounted on the horses, and who always kept near the boats for
mutual protection and company.
"That settles it then, Dick. We will not have to camp by ourselves
to-night; and, after all, I'm glad of it. Not that I don't enjoy being
off with you alone, but up here, so far away from the settlements, it
makes me feel better to know I am in company with some dozens of other
whites."
"I think there's still another reason why you are glad they are
coming," ventured Dick, shrewdly; "you keep on hoping they may not have
devoured all of those fine trout we caught yesterday, and that you can
still have a chance to taste some of them."
Roger would neither admit nor deny the accusation, but only laughed and
prepared to wave his cap toward the men in the leading boat a minute
later.
It could be seen that quite some excitement followed the discovery
that the two missing boys were above, waiting for the boats to arrive.
Voices were heard conveying the intelligence to the other boats, and
loud shouts attested to the fact that the men rejoiced over the safe
return of the lost ones.
The spot offered very good accommodations for stopping over night, and
so, upon arriving opposite the lads, the boats made for the shore. Dick
and Roger soon found themselves being heartily greeted by all their
good friends. Most of the men had really given them up for lost when
they learned the fact that they had been carried off by the Dacotahs,
after being so treacherously led into a trap by the seemingly friendly
brave who had loitered so long about the camp.
The two captains were among the first to shake the hands of the pioneer
boys, and assure them of their deep satisfaction at seeing them again.
Of course every one was anxious to know what had happened to them, and
the boys were compelled to tell their story again and again as the
tents were being pitched and preparations made for the night camp.
It was admitted by all that they had been exceedingly lucky. At the
same time, every one knew that the boys deserved great credit for their
clever escape from the hands of the Dacotahs. Dick had planned it all
very cleverly so as to make their escape possible even though there
had been no midnight attack on the part of the Shoshones, though, of
course, they might have been followed and had further trouble.
As darkness set in, the bustling scene gave the two lads much pleasure
and contentment. They could not but compare this night with the one
that had gone just before, when they had sat in the midst of their
dusky captors, not knowing what lay in store for them in the near
future.
No sooner was supper set before them than Roger turned a beaming face
toward Dick, as he voiced his feelings of delight.
"You see, they didn't make way with those fish after all, Dick, because
they were not found until late in the evening. So they just cleaned
and salted them down, and we're to have the greatest treat you ever
tasted to-night. It sometimes pays to wait patiently for things to come
along," and, seeing Dick smiling, he winked knowingly, after which he
bustled off to watch the process by means of which the fish were to be
prepared for the coming meal.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] See "The Pioneer Boys of the Missouri."