A FULL CORRAL
Two arrows was a born horseman. About the earliest memory he had was of
riding rather than walking. The pony he was now on was one which had
carried him many a time. As soon as he had cut and trimmed a very long
and serviceable tree-branch all the other ponies and the mules perfectly
understood what it was for.
He was in a serious hurry. It was the most important affair of his life.
So far as he could see, the only ponies now missing from the drove were
the ones which had not been stampeded, but had remained in camp to be
eaten. All the rest had been rescued and kept in good order by the
genius and generalship of the wicked old mule. Two Arrows could but wish
that a dozen or so of the best dogs had been stampeded at the same time.
He rode busily hither and thither, shouting vigorously and lashing his
charges away from every tuft of grass they lingered over. He knew
exactly where to find his people, and he meant to find them quickly. The
distance was nearly the same that had been travelled the day before by
the mining party, but the loaded wagons had taken more time upon it
than loose ponies would, followed by an excited boy with a long "gad."
The fact that he had eaten no breakfast was one which hardly occurred to
Two Arrows, in his eager determination to get his runaways home in the
shortest possible order. Once they were headed in the right direction
there was but little difficulty in guiding them rightly, and now the old
mule took his accustomed place in the advance. It was as if he had
repented and was even willing to get some credit for leading his
reformed command in the way they should go.
The Nez Perce community had all eaten a good breakfast that morning;
there had been no vegetables, to be sure, but not a soul had missed
them. With plenty of fish and fresh meat they had all that red Indians
expect to be provided with, and they asked for no more. Their kind of
human life can be kept a-going upon a very narrow diet. The laziest
brave in camp was well fed, but for all that there was a general air of
dejection and despondency. Long Bear himself sat in front of his lodge,
cross-legged and moody, all the forenoon: his children were away from
him, on a visit to the pale-faces; his ponies were away upon another
visit, he could not guess with whom; his dogs, with the solitary
exception of One-eye, had all visited the camp-kettles. His only
remaining consolation seemed to be his pipe, and he was rapidly and
extravagantly using up all the tobacco he had obtained from Yellow Pine.
The shadow of the mighty maple near him grew shorter until it had little
more left to lose and could almost announce the arrival of midday. Just
then there arose, at the edge of the woods, a long, ear-piercing howl,
followed by such a volley of yelps and barking as can only be fired off
by a very remarkable dog. One-eye was informing the camp that something
great was drawing near, and was doing his best to make up for the
absence of the other dogs.
The Nez Perce warriors went for their weapons instinctively but somewhat
listlessly, until they heard a tremendous whoop join in with the barking
of One-eye and recognized the powerful voice of the Big Tongue. He could
out-whoop any other brave he knew of, and he was now doing his best. He
had been strolling out towards the open country when One-eye began, and
had found and seized upon a sudden heap of unexpected glory.
Away in advance of his command, farther and farther, had wisely trotted
the long-legged, long-eared, long-absent wicked old mule. Not another
quadruped was in sight when One-eye gave the alarm. The Big Tongue
bounded forward as if he were charging upon a beaten enemy, and the mule
did but whinny affectionately when he caught the remains of the lariat
at the place where it had been gnawed asunder, and sprang triumphantly
upon the back of the recaptured mule.
Whoop followed whoop as the happy warrior rode his prize towards the
camp, and the entire band, squaws and children included, poured out
under the trees to rejoice that they now had a mule as well as a dog.
Long Bear came among the rest. Ha-ha-pah-no was not there to make
unpleasant remarks, but the old chief knew that mule very well and he
knew that by no chance had he returned to his owners of his own free
will. He would have remained more contentedly with a man who had found
or stolen him. Long Bear was positive that he had not followed his
masters lovingly across the mountains, and that he need not make any
pretence of having done so. He could hardly have believed that the mule
was there at all but that he could see him, with the Big Tongue sitting
upon him to be admired.
The old chief turned and looked keenly and wistfully across the grassy
rolls, and so did several others of the wiser warriors. There was quite
a rise of ground at a little distance and One-eye was making for it as
fast as his legs could carry him. Suddenly, as if by a common impulse,
all the woods rang with a full chorus of whooping. Over the crest of
that green ridge came galloping pony after pony and mule after mule, in
a confused rush, and then a shrill shout arose beyond, and they could
shortly see Two Arrows, gayly ribboned, ornamented, mounted, dashing
madly back and forth and lashing forward the rear-guard of that
battalion.
Long Bear folded his arms and stood erect and still, as if he were
trying to hold himself in. His own boy, and therefore he himself, had
done another mighty deed.
"Ugh! Two Arrows! Young chief! Find pony all alone."
The Big Tongue tried hard to look as if he had found the mule, but it
did not seem to fit, somehow, and twice he opened his mouth widely and
shut it again in silence; there was no whoop ready to come. Every other
brave had a score or more quite ready, but Two Arrows grew silent as he
came nearer and rode more sedately. There was almost an air of
stateliness about him when at last he followed the trail of his
important cavalcade in under the shadows of the forest.
It was not becoming for him to volunteer, in boyish haste, an
explanation of his utterly unlooked-for exploit. Even the gray-heads
felt that he was entitled to a respectful and dignified reception, and
Long Bear himself stepped forward and inquired, in due form, precisely
how that wonderful rescue had been accomplished. Now that the question
was asked of him, Two Arrows was willing enough to tell the entire
story, and to point to all the animals as witnesses to the truth of it.
As fast as he told it, the more or less distorted facts went swiftly
round from lip to lip among the squaws and younger people. It was almost
unlucky for the Big Tongue to remark, dignifiedly,
"Boy find pony. Warrior ride him;" for a half-grown warrior near him
added,
"Boy _there_. Big Tongue _here_. Same way hunt buffalo."
It sounded a little like Ha-ha-pah-no, and the Big Tongue was silenced.
He and the rest now listened to the answers of Two Arrows as to his
visit, and he gave a full account of the good treatment he had received.
It looked as if honors had fairly been heaped upon him and Na-tee-kah,
and, for their sakes, upon Ha-ha-pah-no. Some of the older squaws
shortly picked up the annoying fact concerning the latter that she had
learned how to make coffee, and that her hair was now brushed and combed
and made shiny. They knew what combs were. She would probably wear one
now. She would never again be the same woman in her own estimation, they
were sure of that. She had always held her head high enough, for her
husband was a renowned brave and her tongue was always in good order.
The drove of ponies and mules was the centre of attraction, after Two
Arrows had finished his recital, and every Nez Perce searched it
eagerly for his own. It was decided to send off several braves at once,
with some squaws and pack-ponies, to bring through the pass the lodges
and other materials they had hidden near the camp of their starvation.
Two Arrows ate his breakfast and dinner in one meal, and was then bidden
to mount a pony at once and ride away after his pale-face friends, with
the strongest assurances that the Nez Perces regarded them as so many
brothers. Long Bear also sent a handsome cougar-skin to Sile, as a
proper acknowledgment of the fact that he had been a looker-on at the
rescue of the quadrupeds from the misguiding leadership of the bad old
mule. Two Arrows rode gladly away upon his errand, and some of the
braves set out at once after the "left baggage." All whom they left
behind them had now abundant subject-matter for conversation and for
unlimited "Ughs!" The entire future suddenly brightened up for that band
of Nez Perces, and they were entirely confident of their ability to
procure a new supply of dogs. As for One-eye, that sagacious brute
wandered around the corral, from hoof to hoof, until he knew the facts
of the case thoroughly. He would have followed Two Arrows, but for the
stern refusal of Long Bear. He was needed at home all the more now that
there would be additional watching and barking to be done. On the whole
he was as well satisfied to have it so, for his accumulation of bone
treasures was becoming an affair for any dog to think about seriously.
Sile was not exactly a hero when he reached camp, but he was an
uncommonly hungry boy. It seemed to him that he could eat as many trout
as Ha-ha-pah-no could broil for him, and he certainly worked at it
steadily for a long time. Every other human being in camp did the same,
although some had already made a fair beginning upon venison cuts and
coffee. All had room for some fresh trout, and all said they would be
glad of a little bear-meat for a change. Sile was in the saddle promptly
enough after breakfast, to go and see his bear brought in. He would not
willingly have missed that, and was only afraid lest it should have been
stolen in his absence, in spite of the care taken by Yellow Pine to
throw bushes over it, and give any roving coyote an idea that a trap was
there. Said Pine, in answer to a question,
"Them critters is too cunnin' for their own good. One on 'em'd sit down
in front of that there, and howl all day and all night before he'd make
up his mind to scratch at the brush."
"How'd he guess at a trap?"
"Oh, they're laid on kind o' reg'lar, and he'd smell the b'ar too, and
he'd know it was somethin' more than ordinary. There's jest one thing
they ain't cunnin' enough for, and that's a rifle-bullet. They'd dodge
that if they could see it a comin'."
The bear was found all safe and was brought in and skinned, and Sile
said to himself,
"Now I've got something better than a deer to tell of when Two Arrows
gets back again."