THE END OF THE LONG TRAIL
IT was just at that critical moment that something wholly unexpected
happened. As long as they lived Dick and Roger believed that the
Providence that had so long watched over their fortunes, seeing their
terrible distress, had come to the rescue.
They heard a sudden sound that bewildered them at first. It was
a horrible sucking noise, and both lads actually felt the ground
quivering under their feet.
Instinctively they came to a pause, as the yells back of them changed
to cries of great fear, some of which seemed to be half-muffled. There
was, accompanying these sounds, a strange splashing, and the crash of
trees going down.
As the boys whirled around, stunned by all these remarkable sounds,
they looked upon one of the most terrifying spectacles that had ever
come before them. A large section of the bank of the river, where
they had found it so wet in passing, had suddenly let go while the
Indians were crossing it, and, together with a number of trees, had
slipped into the deep river. Fully half of the Flat Head Indians went
with the landslide, together with both of the renegades.
[Illustration: "FULLY HALF OF THE FLAT HEAD INDIANS WENT WITH THE
LANDSLIDE"]
Dick plainly discovered Lascelles throwing up his arms in an agony of
fear, as he found himself being dragged along, with those tons and tons
of earth, into a watery grave. Then a great tree smashed down directly
over him and that was the last that human eyes ever saw of the French
trader.
The rest of the Indians stood there spellbound, just as the two boys
did. Superstitious to the core, those who were left must have believed
this calamity could only be looked on as a manifestation of anger on
the part of the Great Manitou, who doubtless held the strange boys,
with the white skins, under his protection.
They made not the slightest attempt to rescue their unfortunate
comrades, but, uttering cries of terror, vanished in the depths of the
forest, doubtless carrying to their village a terrible story of what
had occurred, to cause weeping and wailing among the lodges of the Flat
Heads.
Still watching, the boys saw several figures climb up out of the
agitated waters. They were in every instance the copper-colored
natives, who went limping away, looking back in abject terror.
Though they watched closely, the boys could discover not the slightest
trace of either of the renegades. The trees floated off, or remained
there sunk in the water; but a close examination of the scene of the
landslide convinced Dick and Roger they had surely seen the last of
their bitter enemies.
The two boys could not express their emotion except by clasping each
other's hands and squeezing them fiercely. Their safety had been
brought about through no mortal agency; and it was not singular that
they always looked upon the landslide as a miracle wrought in their
interest.
Shortly afterwards, when Dick had taken his own gun, and Roger managed
to get a load in his weapon, they heard the sound of voices, and some
of the men from the camp appeared. Just as the boys had anticipated,
they were led by brave Captain Clark.
Great was their amazement when they heard the wonderful story the lads
had to tell. It seemed almost unbelievable, and yet there was the
evidence before their very eyes, the gap in the river bank, the fallen
trees, and even some of the Indian tomahawks on the ground where they
had been cast when the remainder of the band fled in dismay from the
fatal spot.
When Captain Lewis was told about it, he declared it to be the judgment
of Heaven upon the heads of those two wicked men. They had sought to
stir up the resentment of the Flat Heads against the little party, and,
had their plans succeeded, the members of the expedition would be in
constant danger of their lives during the whole of the coming winter.
As it was, the Indians must believe the white wanderers were under the
protection of Manitou, and should not be harmed. Captain Lewis could
see how a peace could be made with their leading chiefs, so that, for
the months that were to come, the red men and their "paleface" brothers
should live together as friends.
After all their trials and tribulations things seemed to be working in
the boys' favor at last. With the disappearance of the scheming trader
their greatest source of uneasiness had vanished. The future looked
bright once more, and the boys felt they could sleep without fearing
that something terrible hung over their heads.
That night was really the happiest they had all known for many months.
The fact that they were close to the goal that had tempted them across
the continent did much to bring smiles to the careworn faces of the
voyagers.
"If all the accounts we've been able to pick up are correct," Dick told
Roger that night, while they sat near the fire, the camp being well
guarded every minute of the time, "we ought to reach our destination by
the end of the second day, perhaps sooner."
"Which means we will be able to look out into the west and see nothing
but the vast ocean," Roger added, with a contented sigh. "Well, I feel
glad--yes, doubly glad, for Captain Lewis and Captain Clark."
"I understand why you say that, Roger. To us it means only that our
curiosity will be satisfied; but think what they have risked to carry
out the plan of the President! It will be the greatest day in their
lives when they reach that ocean they have come thousands of miles to
look upon."
"And think of all they have braved to win their end," added the other
boy, his whole expression speaking his deepest admiration for the bold
leaders of the exploring expedition.
Well might the boys say what they did. A thousand perils had waylaid
those daring spirits, yet never once had they dreamed of giving up
their plan. Over unknown trails, through dark canyons, across trackless
plains and burning deserts, up mighty rivers with their strong currents
and swirling rapids--all these and uncounted other dangers had spread
out before them, but without daunting their souls.
No wonder then that the boy of to-day, who reads of this most wonderful
journey ever undertaken in our great country, reveres the names of
those two bold spirits who conducted the expedition to a successful
finish.
With the coming of another day the journey was resumed. Even the
weather seemed to have undergone a fit of repentance, for the skies
were now as clear as crystal, and the rainy spell had evidently passed.
Early in the morning several of the men hastened to the place where the
boys had been deceived by the decoy deer. They brought back the game,
since none of the thoroughly alarmed Flat Heads had dared return for
the carcass.
It was easily seen just how cleverly the animal's head had been fixed
by means of stout sticks and deerskin thongs. The men also judged that
it had been made to stand erect by the aid of other sticks skillfully
concealed. On the whole, the boys concluded they had a story to relate
that would arouse the greatest interest among the home folks, if ever
they were fortunate enough to rejoin the family circle again.
Roger was glad that the remainder of the journey was to be made in the
canoes, for his ankle pained him exceedingly, and he would have been
unable to walk any distance without feeling much distress.
"You will have to take things easy for a while, after we get to our
journey's end," Dick told him. "A sprained ankle is a bad job, and you
may feel it for many weeks. I can look back and remember how long it
took me to get over a wrenched ankle some years ago."
At that Roger laughed aloud.
"I haven't forgotten that time, either, let me tell you, Dick. We
were off on a hunt when you tripped. How your ankle did swell up; it
frightened me, I tell you! But that cold spring water helped a lot to
take the swelling down."
"Yes, and I can see you now, staggering along with me on your back,"
continued Dick, bending a look of sincere affection upon his cousin.
"That was the heaviest load you ever undertook to tote, I wager."
"But I got there, didn't I?" demanded the other, proudly, "winded
though I was. And I made you a pretty fine crutch which you hobbled
around on for weeks, not being able to put your foot on the ground."
Many times, as they talked, did these fond memories of the past arise
to haunt them. The further they went from their well-loved homes the
sharper the pictures seemed to become in their minds. Their dreams were
mostly of those dear ones whose faces were forever before them, in the
clear waters, while threading the mazes of the forest, or even looking
out upon the glittering sands of the burning desert.
When, that afternoon, a halt was made, Captain Lewis cheered them with
the announcement that there could be little doubt they would reach the
mouth of the big river by the following night at the latest. Indeed, as
the men had already discovered that the water was strongly impregnated
with salt, they hardly needed this assurance to convince them that
their long journey was on the eve of termination.
They gave the commander a hearty cheer, however, when he told them this
welcome fact, then set about making what was certainly one of the
happiest camps of the entire trip.
As usual the two boys talked things over while they sat resting after
supper had been dispatched. Roger had sniffed the air several times,
and he finally broke out with a declaration.
"There seems to be something queer in the air, Dick; something I've
never before noticed in all my life. And to tell you the truth, I can
make nothing of it."
"I may be wrong," Dick told him; "but, from all I've heard grandfather
say, I think that must be the salty taste they say one can notice when
the air comes straight off the sea. If that is so, it proves we are
close to the mouth of the river right now."
After that Roger amused himself by sniffing the air many times. It
seemed to give him fresh encouragement to have a silent but powerful
proof carried by the night breeze to their river camp.
Taken in all, it was a rather restless night for some of the
adventurers, and the boys in particular awoke many times, to sit up and
listen. Once Dick even fancied he could hear a far-off, dull, booming
sound that could hardly be thunder, since the stars were out, and not
a cloud as big as his hand in sight.
"I wonder," the boy said softly to himself, with a feeling almost of
awe, "if that can be the sea pounding on the shore. Grandfather has
often told us how it makes a great noise when the tide is coming in,
each wave running along and turning over as it breaks on the sand."
He even sat there for a long while listening, though thinking it best
not to arouse Roger, who chanced to be sleeping at the time. Only when
the strange sound died out, owing to a change of wind, or the turn of
the tide, Dick consented once more to drop back in his blanket. But,
when he did get to sleep again, his dreams were of the glorious triumph
that awaited them close at hand.
The last day dawned, and the camp was early astir. Breakfast was
hastily eaten, the small amount of boat packing attended to, and after
that a start was made.
To-day the paddles were seldom idle. Spurred on by the hope of reaching
their goal before darkness again intervened, the men were only too
willing to work their passage. The swift current might be very well
under ordinary conditions, but on this particular day it proved all
too slow for their eager hearts.
They glimpsed Indians several times, but, strange to say, none of them
manifested the antagonistic manner of those they had seen earlier in
their trip down the Lewis and the Columbia rivers.
Roger, who had noticed the change in the demeanor of the natives,
wondered what was the cause of it, and as usual applied to Dick for his
opinion.
"They are of the same tribe," he remarked, "for by now I know the Flat
Head way of wearing feathers in their scalp-locks. But they seem now to
be afraid of us, for those in that dugout paddled frantically for the
shore; and never an arrow comes our way now. Can you make it out, Dick?"
"The only thing I can think of," Dick replied, "is that word has been
sent out everywhere that the 'paleface people' in the hide canoes are
under the protection of Manitou, and that no harm must be done to them."
"Well," observed Roger, with a happy smile, "if we're going to be
guarded by the Indian Manitou all winter, we needn't be afraid of
anything. When you come to think of it, Dick, that landslide was the
greatest thing that ever happened to us. It held back just long enough
to let us pass, and then swallowed our enemies up."
Noon came and went.
The men were so eager now they hardly wished to land to have something
to eat, though Captain Lewis insisted on it, for he knew they needed a
rest.
Slowly the long afternoon passed, and, constantly on the move, the
canoes swept along the current, urged by the muscles that seemed
never to tire. Hope fought with a growing disappointment. Were they
then, after all, to be cheated out of the anticipated triumph they
had arranged for that night? Perish the thought! and, with that, the
paddlers would dip deeper, and run a race to see which could hold the
van.
The sun sank lower and lower, and every eye watched its race with
almost the same anxiety as was shown when, centuries back, Joshua
commanded the heavenly luminary to stand still in order that his army
might wholly destroy the Philistines.
Dick and Roger concluded that, unless something happened inside of
another hour, they would have to give up all hope of seeing the glad
sight that day.
"We are about to turn a bend in the bank right below," Dick told Roger,
"and, if all is well, perhaps we may see what we are yearning to look
upon."
All possible speed was made in order to turn the point of land covered
with trees, that jutted out into the river. Then from every throat
arose a joyous shout that made the echoes ring. It was the very first
white man's hurrah that was ever heard on the western side of the great
American continent, north of the isthmus, since time began.
There lay the mouth of the Columbia River, and, looking beyond, they
could see the boundless expanse of the Pacific, with the sun, that had
beckoned them on all these thousands of miles, setting in a red blaze
of glory.