THE TRADING POST
There being neither moon nor stars, Hawk Eye could no longer make out
the shore line, but as he softly dipped his paddle, his ears caught the
sound of a faint wheeze close at hand, followed by a muffled bark.
Dropping the paddle, he leaned over the side of the canoe and lifted in
his faithful dog. As he laid the animal down, the feathered end of an
arrow brushed his cheek. Gently feeling with his fingers, he found that
the barb had only slantingly penetrated the fleshy part of the dog's
thigh. A short, deft stroke of his knife made it easy to pull out the
arrow. Picking up his paddle, he turned the canoe midstream, and after a
few strokes came alongside Raven Wing who had been holding his canoe
from floating away with the current.
"Come in with me," said Hawk Eye in a low voice. "We must keep together
or we may become separated in the darkness."
Raven Wing climbed into Hawk Eye's canoe and held on to his own while
Hawk Eye bent to his paddle. In a short time they were far down stream.
At early dawn they came across the two Chippeway canoes. Fastening to
each a long strip of buffalo hide, they easily towed them down the
river.
It was pleasant paddling as the beautiful Minnesota twisted and turned
in its broad and sunny valley. Cottonwood and willow bordered its banks,
which rolled back in gentle slopes of pale green, dotted with tree
clumps, to the broad prairie. Blooming wild rose vines crept close to
the water which sparkled in the sunshine or reflected the tints of the
sky.
At its mouth, where it emptied into the Mississippi, the Minnesota
spread out around a great flat island.
"We will not beach our canoes here," said Hawk Eye. "Fearless Bear
advised me to see the trader on that little island yonder. He is known
to deal justly with the red men. The Sioux call him Walking Wind."
Running their own canoes gently up on the sandy beach, they pulled the
empty Chippeway canoes a little further up on shore and looked about
them.
"Come, we will go to the post," said Hawk Eye, pointing to a building
made of native limestone, with shutters and doorways of wood painted
white.
As the boys drew near, they noticed groups of Indians with their squaws
and Canadian boatmen with pipes in their mouths, gathered in front of a
great wing, which on entering they found to be the company store.
Blankets, traps, sleigh bells, scarlet cloth, beads, silk handkerchiefs
and earbobs lay spread upon long counters. On others, already sorted
and packed for shipment, lay pelts of muskrat, fox, wolf, beaver and
mink, together with skins of deer and hides of buffalo.
"You need not look for a gun," said Hawk Eye in a low voice, noticing
that Raven Wing paid little attention to the display on the counters.
"You already have Slow Dog's gun; it is a fine one. But you are in need
of powder and bullets, as I am."
As he finished speaking, a white man of about thirty, tall and muscular,
came forward and asked them in the Sioux language what they wanted.
Both boys held up their guns and answered that they wished ammunition
for their weapons.
"What have you in exchange?" asked the trader.
[Illustration: "WHAT HAVE YOU IN EXCHANGE?" ASKED THE TRADER.]
"We have pelts; they are in our canoes on the beach," said Hawk Eye.
"Bring them here and we will trade," smiled the trader.
As the boys turned to go back to the river, the trader asked; "How
came you by the fresh scalps at your belts?"
"We killed two thieving Chippeways," answered Hawk Eye. Here he paused,
thinking it best not to mention Slow Dog, for he was a Sioux and the
tribe must not be humiliated by the telling of his treachery. "We took
their canoes. Will you trade also for canoes?" Hawk Eye continued after
a brief silence.
"I will go with you and look at them," answered the trader. Beckoning to
three Indians, he accompanied the boys to the river.
"My Indian brothers will help you carry the pelts," he explained as they
went along.
On arriving at the shore, the trader's eyes glittered as he looked at
the beautifully built Chippeway canoes. "I will take them in trade," he
said.
"We would rather part with our own canoes," answered Hawk Eye. "We would
be proud to return to our village in our enemy's canoes and with their
scalps at our belt."
The trader smiled at the boy's words. "In that case I will be content to
take the Sioux-built craft," he said. "The Sioux excels the Chippeway in
horsemanship, but does not equal them in canoe building."
In the meantime the three Indians had shouldered most of the cargo. When
Hawk Eye and Raven Wing had shouldered the balance, they all set off for
the post.
The trader had shown much generosity, agreed the boys as later on they
loaded their purchases in the Chippeway canoes. How delighted would be
Light Between Clouds with the scarlet cloth, thought Hawk Eye. Bending
Willow will appear even more beautiful with the necklace of bright beads
at her throat, thought Raven Wing.