It may seem strange that on the face of so forcible a demonstration of
the treacherous disposition of their guest, yet a couple of hours after
sunrise should see our friends starting in his company for the Sioux
villages. But the incident of the night, which might have had so tragic
a termination, impressed these men not one whit. It was "all in the
day's journey," they said, while admitting that they had been a trifle
too confiding. That, however, was a fault easily remedied. But to men
who habitually carry their lives in their hands, one peril more or less
matters nothing.
As they threaded the mountain defiles nothing could be more good
humoured and genial than the young warrior's manner. He chatted and
laughed, sang snatches of songs in a high nasal key, bantered Vipan on
the poor condition of his nag, and challenged him to a race as soon as
they were domiciled in the village. He wanted to know why Golden Face
had not followed the example of other white men in the matter of squaws.
Red Cloud's village could furnish some famous beauties. Golden Face
was rich--he could take his choice. There would be great festivities in
his honour, and the prettiest girls would be only too glad to be chosen
by a man of his prowess. Thus the genial War Wolf--who amid shouts of
laughter extended, or, to be more accurate, "broadened" this vein of
fun. Now all this was very jolly, very entertaining; but on one point
our two friends were of the same mind. Under no circumstances whatever
should the sportive young barbarian be suffered to ride behind. When he
stopped, they stopped; and one or two crafty attempts which he made to
fall back, they, with equal deftness, resolutely defeated.
It was a lovely morning, crisp and clear. A thin layer of snow lay
around, diminishing as the altitude decreased. The frosted pines
sparkling in the sun, the great crags towering up to the liquid blue;
here the ragged edges of a cliff shooting into the heavens, there a long
narrow canon, whose appalling depth might well make the wayfarer's head
swim as his horse slipped and stumbled along the rugged track which
skirted its dizzy brink--all this afforded a scene of varied grandeur,
which, with the strong spice of danger thrown in, was calculated to set
the blood of the adventurously disposed in a tingle.
They struck into a tortuous defile, whose lofty sandstone walls almost
shut out the light of day. High above, soaring in circles, a couple of
eagles followed the trio, uttering a harsh yell, but otherwise the
voices of Nature were still. Vipan found an opportunity of chaffing the
Indian, whom he challenged to bring down one or both of the birds with
his bow--a proposal which was met by the suggestion that he could do so
with a rifle--would Golden Face let him try with his? Then a wide
valley, into which boulders and rocks seemed to have been hurled in
lavish confusion. Oak and box elder, dark funereal pines and naked
spruce, lay dotted in clumps about a level meadow, through which rushed
a half-frozen stream. Suddenly a white shape darted through the
leafless brake.
Flash--bang! A snap shot though.
"Get to heel, Shanks! Darn yer hide, you've become so tarnation fat and
skeery you ain't worth a little cuss, you ain't," cried the scout,
dropping the smoking muzzle of his piece. The dog thus apostrophised
was a mangy and utterly useless Indian cur, which the scout had picked
up in the woods, and which Vipan was continually urging upon him to
shoot. "Sho! you gavorting jack-rabbit! A white wolf 'll make a
mouthful of you. And he ain't touched," went on Shanks's master,
disgustedly, as the dog slunk to heel. Better not to fire at all than
to miss in the presence of an Indian. Then something seemed to strike
him.
A raven rose from the ground, uttering a plethoric croak, then another,
and the pair flopped heavily up to a limb overhead. A plunge or two
through the leafless thicket and they were in a small open space. The
wolf--the ravens--each had been disturbed in a hideous repast. There,
in the midst of their ravaged camp, the remnants of its fire strewn
around them, lay the corpses of two white men, half-charred, frightfully
mangled, and--scalped.
Looking upon this doleful spectacle the scout was able to locate the
war-whoop he had heard the night before. Vipan, for his own part,
cherished a shrewd conviction that he could restore the missing scalps--
though too late--merely by the simple process of stretching forth an
arm. But the matter was no concern of his. On the other hand, to seize
and hold on to the chance of monopolising the search after the precious
metal here, pre-eminently was.
The unfortunate men were evidently miners. The implements of their
calling lay around, together with their modest baggage; but their
weapons had disappeared. Both had been shot to death with arrows, and
that at very close quarters, probably while they were asleep. They were
rough looking fellows, one red-haired and red-bearded, the other
hatchet-faced, but both with skins tanned to parchment colour.
"Reckon we'll give the poor boys a hoist under the sod," said the scout,
shortly. Then as for a moment his steady gaze met that of War Wolf, the
latter said:
"Wagh! Bad Indians are about. The white men were too reckless. When
they come to find wealth in the country of the Dahcotah they should
sleep warily. The Beaver is going to bury his friends. Good. When the
shadow is there" (about half an hour) "War Wolf will return."
If there was the faintest satirical gleam in the warrior's eyes as he
uttered these words, there would be nothing gained by noticing it.
Smokestack Bill, seizing one of the murdered men's picks, began to dig,
lustily and in silence, every now and again shaking his head ominously.
Vipan, who thought this voluntary sextonship a bore, lent a hand to
oblige his friend. These two unknown miners were no more his kin than
the savage Sioux who had slain them. He had no kin. All the world was
an enemy, to be turned to advantage when possible, and defeated at any
rate when not. Had he been alone he would merely have looked, and
passed on his way.
By half an hour a hole of adequate dimensions received the two mangled
and mutilated corpses. Then, having trodden down the last spadeful of
earth, the scout, with a knife, marked a couple of rude crosses upon the
trunk of the nearest tree. His companion, consistently callous, said
nothing.
As they turned to leave this lonely grave in the wilderness, they were
rejoined by the young warrior. He had not been idle. A brace of
ruff-grouse, shot by arrows, dangled from his saddle, and the three
moved forward in silence, seeking a suitable midday camp.