It is one thing to chase a horse; it is another thing to catch it.
Little consideration and less sagacity is required to convince us of the
truth of that fact.
The reader may perhaps venture to think this rather a trifling fact. We
are not so sure of that. In this world of fancies, to have _any_ fact
incontestably proved and established is a comfort, and whatever is a
source of comfort to mankind is worthy of notice. Surely our reader
won't deny that! Perhaps he will, so we can only console ourself with
the remark that there are people in this world who would deny
_anything_--who would deny that there was a nose on their face if you
said there was!
Well, to return to the point, which was the chase of a horse in the
abstract; from which we will rapidly diverge to the chase of Dick
Varley's horse in particular. This noble charger, having been ridden by
savages until all his old fire, and blood, and metal were worked up to a
red heat, no sooner discovered that he was pursued than he gave a snort
of defiance, which he accompanied with a frantic shake of his mane, and
a fling of contempt in addition to a magnificent wave of his tail; then
he thundered up the valley at a pace which would speedily have left Joe
Blunt and Henri out of sight behind if--ay! that's the word, _if_! what
a word that _if_ is! what a world of if's we live in! There never was
anything that wouldn't have been something else _if_ something hadn't
intervened to prevent it! Yes, we repeat, Charlie would have left his
two friends miles and miles behind in what is called "no time," _if_ he
had not run straight into a gorge which was surrounded by inaccessible
precipices, and out of which there was no exit except by the entrance,
which was immediately barred by Henri, while Joe advanced to catch the
runaway.
For two hours at least did Joe Blunt essay to catch Charlie, and during
that space of time he utterly failed. The horse seemed to have made up
his mind for what is vulgarly termed "a lark."
"It won't do, Henri," said Joe, advancing towards his companion, and
wiping his forehead with the cuff of his leathern coat. "I can't catch
him. The wind's a-most blowed out o' me body."
"Dat am vexatiable," replied Henri, in a tone of commiseration. "S'pose
I wos make try?"
"In that case I s'pose ye would fail. But go ahead an' do what ye can.
I'll hold yer horse."
So Henri began by a rush and a flourish of legs and arms that nearly
frightened the horse out his wits. For half an hour he went through all
the complications of running and twisting of which he was capable,
without success, when Joe Blunt suddenly uttered a stentorian yell that
rooted him to the spot on which he stood.
To account for this, we must explain that in the heights of the Rocky
Mountains vast accumulations of snow take place among the crevices and
gorges during winter. Such of these masses as form on steep slopes are
loosened by occasional thaws, and are precipitated in the form of
avalanches into the valleys below, carrying trees and stones along with
them in their thundering descent. In the gloomy gorge where Dick's
horse had taken refuge, the precipices were so steep that many
avalanches had occurred, as was evident from the mounds of heaped snow
that lay at the foot of most of them. Neither stones nor trees were
carried down here, however, for the cliffs were nearly perpendicular,
and the snow slipping over their edges had fallen on the grass below.
Such an avalanche was now about to take place, and it was this that
caused Joe to utter his cry of alarm and warning.
Henri and the horse were directly under the cliff over which it was
about to be hurled, the latter close to the wall of rock, the other at
some distance away from it.
Joe cried again, "Back, Henri! back _vite_!" when the mass _flowed over_
and fell with a roar like prolonged thunder. Henri sprang back in time
to save his life, though he was knocked down and almost stunned, but
poor Charlie was completely buried under the avalanche, which now
presented the appearance of a _hill_ of snow.
The instant Henri recovered sufficiently, Joe and he mounted their
horses and galloped back to the camp as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, another spectator stepped forward upon the scene they had
left, and surveyed the snow hill with a critical eye. This was no less
than a grizzly bear which had, unobserved, been a spectator, and which
immediately proceeded to dig into the mound with the purpose, no doubt,
of disentombing the carcase of the horse for purposes of his own.
While he was thus actively engaged, the two hunters reached the camp
where they found that Pierre and his party had just arrived. The men
sent out in search of them had scarcely advanced a mile when they found
them trudging back to the camp in a very disconsolate manner. But all
their sorrows were put to flight on hearing of the curious way in which
the horses had been returned to them with interest.
Scarcely had Dick Varley, however, congratulated himself on the recovery
of his gallant steed, when he was thrown into despair by the sudden
arrival of Joe with the tidings of the catastrophe we have just related.
Of course there was a general rush to the rescue. Only a few men were
ordered to remain to guard the camp, while the remainder mounted their
horses and galloped towards the gorge where Charlie had been entombed.
On arriving, they found that Bruin had worked with such laudable zeal
that nothing but the tip of his tail was seen sticking out of the hole
which he had dug. The hunters could not refrain from laughing as they
sprang to the ground, and standing in a semicircle in front of the hole,
prepared to fire. But Crusoe resolved to have the honour of leading the
assault. He seized fast hold of Bruin's flank, and caused his teeth to
meet therein. Caleb backed out at once and turned round, but before he
could recover from his surprise a dozen bullets pierced his heart and
brain.
"Now, lads," cried Cameron, setting to work with a large wooden shovel,
"work like niggers. If there's any life left in the horse it'll soon be
smothered out unless we set him free."
The men needed no urging, however. They worked as if their lives
depended on their exertions. Dick Varley, in particular, laboured like
a young Hercules, and Henri hurled masses of snow about in a most
surprising manner. Crusoe, too, entered heartily into the spirit of the
work, and, scraping with his forepaws, sent such a continuous shower of
snow behind him that he was speedily lost to view in a hole of his own
excavating. In the course of half an hour a cavern was dug in the mound
almost close up to the cliff, and the men were beginning to look about
for the crushed body of Dick's steed, when an exclamation from Henri
attracted their attention.
"Ha! mes ami, here am be one hole."
The truth of this could not be doubted, for the eccentric trapper had
thrust his shovel through the wall of snow into what appeared to be a
cavern beyond, and immediately followed up his remark by thrusting in
his head and shoulders. He drew them out in a few seconds, with a look
of intense amazement.
"Voila! Joe Blunt. Look in dere, and you shall see fat you will
behold."
"Why, it's the horse, I do b'lieve!" cried Joe. "Go ahead, lads."
So saying, he resumed his shovelling vigorously, and in a few minutes
the hole was opened up sufficiently to enable a man to enter. Dick
sprang in, and there stood Charlie close beside the cliff, looking as
sedate and unconcerned as if all that had been going on had no reference
to him whatever.
The cause of his safety was simple enough. The precipice beside which
he stood when the avalanche occurred overhung its base at that point
considerably, so that when the snow descended, a clear space of several
feet wide was left all along its base. Here Charlie had remained in
perfect comfort until his friends dug him out.
Congratulating themselves not a little on having saved the charger and
bagged a grizzly bear, the trappers remounted, and returned to the camp.
For some time after this nothing worthy of particular note occurred.
The trapping operations went on prosperously and without interruption
from the Indians, who seemed to have left the locality altogether.
During this period, Dick, and Crusoe, and Charlie had many excursions
together, and the silver rifle full many a time sent death to the heart
of bear, and elk, and buffalo, while, indirectly, it sent joy to the
heart of man, woman, and child in camp, in the shape of juicy steaks and
marrow-bones. Joe and Henri devoted themselves almost exclusively to
trapping beaver, in which pursuit they were so successful that they
speedily became wealthy men, according to backwood notions of wealth.
With the beaver that they caught, they purchased from Cameron's store
powder and shot enough for a long hunting expedition and a couple of
spare horses to carry their packs. They also purchased a large
assortment of such goods and trinkets as would prove acceptable to
Indians, and supplied themselves with new blankets, and a few pairs of
strong moccasins, of which they stood much in need.
Thus they went on from day to day, until symptoms of the approach of
winter warned them that it was time to return to the Mustang Valley.
About this time an event occurred which totally changed the aspect of
affairs in these remote valleys of the Rocky Mountains, and precipitated
the departure of our four friends, Dick, Joe, Henri, and Crusoe. This
was the sudden arrival of a whole tribe of Indians. As their advent was
somewhat remarkable, we shall devote to it the commencement of a new
chapter.