It was well that we had been warned not to go beyond the camp, for there
happened at that time to be abroad on the prairies a band of miscreants
who would certainly have shot whoever they had caught straying. The
band was composed of white men--that class of white men who, throwing
off all moral and social restraints, give themselves up to the practice
of every species of iniquity, fearing neither God nor man. They were,
in short, a band of robbers and cut-throats, whose special business at
that time was hunting buffalo, but who were not averse to sell their
services to any nation that chanced to be at war, or to practice simple
robbery when opportunity offered.
These men held the opinion that Indians were "vermin," to exterminate
which was commendable. When, therefore, they discovered our camp by the
light of the fires, they rode towards it with the utmost caution, taking
advantage of every bush and knoll until our sentinels observed them.
Then they rushed upon us like a hurricane, sending a volley of bullets
before them.
Several of our men fell, mortally wounded. Our sentinels ran in, and a
wild attempt at defence was made; but it was in vain, we had been taken
completely by surprise, and, as the only chance of safety, our party
scattered in all directions, each man making for the nearest woods.
Only Big Otter, Salamander, and I remained beside the camp-fires,
resolved to defend our helpless females or die with them. This brought
about a most unexpected turn of affairs, for the villains were so eager
to hunt and kill the flying Indians, that every man went in hot pursuit
of a fugitive, leaving us for the moment absolutely alone!
We were not slow in taking advantage of this. Although at the onset
some of our terrified horses broke their fastenings and galloped away,
others remained quiet. Among these last I observed, were my own horse
and that of Salamander, which I have already said were splendid animals.
Scarcely believing our good fortune, we all bounded towards these. In a
moment I had mounted. Eve seized my hand, put her foot on my toe, and,
with a light spring, seated herself behind me. Big Otter, vaulting on
Salamander's steed, swung Eve's mother up behind him.
"Catch another horse--there are plenty good enough for a light weight
like you, Salamander," said I, as I put my horse to its utmost speed.
Salamander was not slow to obey, but had scarcely mounted when a loud
halloo told that our action had been observed. I did not look back.
One consuming idea filled my mind, and that was to save Eve Liston.
That the miscreants who now thundered after us would show us no mercy I
felt well assured, and plied the heavy thong I carried with all my
might. The noble steed did not require that. It strained every muscle
to the uttermost.
I felt cheered to observe that Big Otter kept well up with me, and could
hear that Salamander was not far behind.
We now felt that our only hope, under God, lay in the superiority of our
horses, and for some time we listened to the pattering of the hoofs
behind us with intense anxiety. Soon I began to fancy that we were
distancing them, and ere long we became sure of this, at least as to the
most of our pursuers, but there was one who kept drawing closer and
closer.
Presently a shot was fired and a bullet whizzed close past my head.
At that moment Big Otter reined up so violently as to throw his horse
almost on its haunches. I checked my speed but did not rein up.
Looking back, I saw my Indian friend wheel round, raise his gun to his
shoulder and fire. The moon was bright, and I could see that the man
who had been closing with us dropped to the ground. Whether he was
killed or only wounded we did not wait to ascertain, but dashed on again
as fast as ever. We soon drew rein, however, on observing that the fall
of our pursuer had checked his companions. On reaching him they halted,
dismounted, and finally gave up the chase. We soon left them out of
sight behind us, but still we held on at a hand-gallop, resolved to put
as much distance as possible between us before encamping.
During all this exciting chase Waboose's mother had clung to her
stalwart support with the uncomplaining patience of Indian women; but we
were deeply concerned to find on halting that she was too much exhausted
to dismount and that blood was trickling from her lips. Indeed, she
would have fallen to the ground if Big Otter had not caught her in his
arms.
"Are you wounded, mother?" exclaimed Eve, going down on her knees,
seizing one of the poor woman's hands and kissing it tenderly.
"No, Waboose, but I think there is something wrong here." She pressed
her breast gently and coughed up some blood.
"She is quite worn out," said I. "Come, Big Otter, let us carry her to
a more comfortable place, and make a fire. A cup of tea will soon
revive her."
I spoke cheerily, with a view to comfort Eve, but I confess that great
anxiety filled me when I looked at the poor woman's wan face and
emaciated frame. The blood, too, appeared to me a fatal symptom, though
I had but a hazy idea of everything relating to disease.
The place we had selected for our encampment was a dense mass of forest
which covered the prairie in that part to an extent of about two square
miles. Near the outer margin of this patch there was a curious steep
mound which rose so high that from the top of it one could see over the
surrounding trees. It rose somewhat in the form of a cone with a flat
space at the apex of not more than twenty feet in diameter. On the
outer rim of this apex was a fringe of rocks and low bushes. It was, in
fact, a natural fortress, which seemed so suitable for us in our
circumstances that we at once set about making our camp on the top of
it. We took care, however, to kindle our fire in the lowest-lying and
densest thicket we could find at the foot of the mound. We also made
the fire as small and free from smoke as possible, for fear of
attracting any one to the spot.
While I was busy down in the dell preparing the tea, Salamander having
been left to take care of the camp on the mound, Big Otter came to me.
I was alarmed by the solemn expression of his face.
"Nothing wrong, I hope?" said I, anxiously.
"The wife of Weeum the Good is dying," said the Indian, mournfully.
"Oh! say not so," I exclaimed, "how dreadful to poor Waboose if this
were to happen just now! You must be mistaken."
"Big Otter may be mistaken. He is not a medicine-man, but he saw a
young girl of his tribe with the same look and the same flow of blood
from the mouth, and she died."
"God forbid!" I exclaimed, as I took up the kettle in which the tea was
being made. "See, it is ready, I will take it to her. It may at least
revive her."
I hurried to the top of the mound, where poor Eve sat by the couch of
brush we had spread, holding her mother's hand and gazing into her face
with painful anxiety. She looked up hastily as I approached, and held
up a finger.
"Does she sleep?" I asked, in a low voice, as I seated myself beside
the couch and set down the kettle.
"Yes--I think so--but--"
She stopped, for at the moment her mother opened her eyes, and looked
wistfully round.
"Weeum!" she murmured, in a faint voice. "I thought I heard him speak."
"No, dear mother," said Eve, beginning to weep silently. "Your spirit
was in the land of dreams."
"See," said I, pouring some hot tea into a cup and stirring it. "I have
brought you some of the pale-faces' sweet-water. I always carry a
little of it about with me when I go hunting, and had some in my wallet
when we started on this wild race. Was it not fortunate? Come, take a
little, it will strengthen you, mother."
It was the first time I had called her mother, and I did so from a
feeling of tenderness, for she seemed to me at the time certainly to be
dying; but she misunderstood my meaning, for she looked at me with
pleased surprise, and then laughed very softly as she glanced at Eve. I
perceived, however, from the innocent look of inquiry returned by the
latter, that she did not understand her.
After taking some of the tea, the poor woman revived, and I whispered to
her daughter,--"Don't you think it might please her to see the little
picture?"
"Perhaps. I am not sure. Yes, give it to me. I will show it, but say
nothing about my father's writing or wishes. I have not yet been able
to speak to her."
To our disappointment she could make nothing of the portrait. Perhaps
the moonlight was insufficient, though very bright, but it is more
probable that her sight was even then failing.
"What is that?" said Eve, with a startled look, pointing at something
behind me.
I turned sharply round, and beheld a column of bright flame shooting
high up into the night-air. An exclamation of bitter chagrin escaped
me, for I knew well what it was. After I had got the fire kindled down
in the thicket on our arrival, I had noticed that I had laid it close to
the roots of a dead fir-tree, the branches of which were covered to the
top with a species of dried moss. At the time I knew that there was
danger in this, but as our fire was to be very small, and to be
extinguished the moment we were done with it, I had allowed it to remain
rather than be at the trouble of shifting and rekindling it. I
afterwards found that Big Otter had left the fire in charge of
Salamander, and gone to shift the position of the horses; and Salamander
had left it to fetch water from a neighbouring spring. Thus left to
itself, the fire took advantage of the chance to blaze up; the moss on
the dead tree had caught fire, and the instantaneous result was a blaze
that told of our whereabouts to whoever might be on the look-out within
ten or fifteen miles of us in every direction.
Immediately afterwards Big Otter and Salamander came leaping into our
fortress.
"What is to be done now?" I asked, in a tone of deep mortification.
"I would say mount and fly," replied the Indian, "if it were not for
_her_." He pointed to the dying woman as he spoke.
"It is quite out of the question," said I. "She cannot be moved."
"The pale-face talks wisdom," said Big Otter. "We must put the place in
a state of defence, and watch instead of sleep."
A deep sigh from Salamander told that the proposed mode of spending the
night was most unsatisfactory.
Having no other resource left, however, we at once set about our task.
A number of large loose stones lay about on the little plateau that
crowned our mound. These we rolled close to the edge of it, and ranging
them in line with those that were already there, formed a sort of
breastwork all round. Our three guns we had of course brought with us,
as well as ammunition, and as mine was a double-barrelled fowling-piece
we had thus four shots at command at any moment. The weapons being
already charged, we placed ourselves at three points of our circle and
prepared for a weary watch.
The blaze of the burning fir-tree soon went out, and there were
fortunately no other dead trees at hand to be kindled by it. The moon
had also become obscured with clouds, so that we were left in
comparative darkness. The dead silence which it was needful to
maintain, and the occasional murmur of the dying woman rendered our
position eerie and sad in the extreme.
At such times, when danger threatens and everything that is calculated
to solemnise surrounds one, thought is apt to be very busy; and often,
in such circumstances, the mind is more prone to be occupied with
distant scenes and persons than with those near at hand. Ere long the
sick woman appeared to have fallen asleep, and her daughter was seated
in perfect silence by her side. No sound whatever fell upon my
listening ear, for the night was intensely calm, and in spite of my
efforts to resist it, my thoughts strayed away to the home in "the old
country"; to scenes of boyhood, and to the kind old father, who used, as
a term of endearment, to call me "Punch."
A slight motion on the part of Salamander recalled me, and, by way of
rousing myself to the necessity of present watchfulness, I examined the
priming of my gun. Then it occurred to me that a bullet, if fired at a
foe in the dark, would be very unlikely to hit; I, therefore, drew both
charges, and loaded with buckshot instead. You see, thought I, there is
no absolute necessity to kill any one. All I can possibly wish to do is
to disable, and big shot is more likely to do that without killing, than
bullets.
While thus engaged the clouds rolled off the moon, and I saw my
companions clearly, sitting like statues at their posts. In a few
minutes I heard the sweet, low voice of Eve. She was speaking to her
mother. As I sat there and observed her fair hair and skin, and
recalled (for I could not just then see) her blue eyes, I found it
difficult to believe that there was even a drop of Indian blood in her
veins. "Not that I object to Indian blood," I said to myself, mentally,
in self-justification, "by no means. Indians are God's creatures as
well as white men, and many of them are a great deal better creatures
than many white men, but--"
At this point my mental remarks ceased, for I observed, to my surprise,
that Eve opened a small book, and from the continuous tone of her voice,
I knew that she was reading.
"It must be the Testament," thought I, "which poor Liston mentioned in
his manuscript as having been obtained from a hunter."
The voice became more distinct as she proceeded, and I could make out
that she read the English slowly and with great difficulty, and then
translated it into Indian to her mother.
"God so loved the world," she read with peculiar emphasis, and paused,
as if wishing to impress the blessed truth, "that He gave his
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life."
She closed the book at this point and I observed that she bent over the
sick woman a long time.
Suddenly there arose on the still night-air a low wail, so deep--so
suggestive of a breaking heart, that I sprang up and leaped to the
girl's side.
There was no occasion to ask what had occurred. The mother lay there
dead, with the jaw dropped and the glazing eyes staring at the sky.
Kneeling down I gently closed the eyes, and with a napkin bound up the
face. Big Otter glided towards us, followed by Salamander. One glance
sufficed. They cast a look of pity at the orphan, who, with her face on
her knees, sobbed as if her heart would break. Then, without a word,
they glided back to their posts. I turned to Eve and took her hand.
"Dear girl," I began--but she checked me.
"Go," she said, "danger may be near; your post is unguarded."
Raising her hand to my lips I left her without a word, and resumed my
watch. Again profound silence reigned around, broken only now and then
by an irrepressible sob from Eve.
Some hours afterwards--I knew not how many, for I had been half asleep--
Big Otter came to me.
"We may not stay here," he said. "Come, I need your help."
Without reply I rose and followed. It was still very dark. He went to
where the body of the Indian woman lay. It was cold and stiff by that
time. In passing I noticed that poor Eve acted as sentinel for Big
Otter--occupied his post and held his gun.
I found that a shallow grave had been hollowed out close to where the
corpse lay.
Understanding at once the purpose for which I had been called, I kneeled
at the head while the Indian kneeled at the feet. Grasping the
shoulders carefully I waited for a word or look from Big Otter, but
instead he turned his head to one side and uttered the single
word,--"Come!"
Eve glided instantly towards us, went down on her knees, and printed a
long passionate kiss on the cold forehead. Then the Indian looked at
me, and we lifted the body into the grave. Eve spread a blanket
carefully over it, and at once left us to resume her post at the
breastwork, while we covered in the grave with earth and dead leaves.
We had barely accomplished this duty when a loud report rudely broke the
silence of the night, and a rushing of feet was heard at the foot of the
mound. Leaping to my post, I instantly fired one of the barrels of my
gun. Several fierce cries followed, showing that the buckshot had taken
effect, and from the nature of the cries we at once perceived that our
assailants were white men. I purposely reserved my second barrel, for
my comrades, having also fired, were swiftly reloading, and, therefore,
defenceless.
It was well that I did so, for two men, who had not been in the first
rush, now came up the mound at a run. Aiming right between them, I
fired and shot them both. They fell with hideous cries, and, rolling
head over heels down the steep ascent, went crashing into the bushes.
"They are the men from whom we have just escaped," said I to Big Otter;
but my Indian friend was so elated by the success of my shot and withal
so excited by the fray, that instead of answering, he gave vent to a
terrific war-whoop in true Indian style.
The attacking party had come on in front from the direction of the
plains. To my consternation, Big Otter's war cry was replied to in our
rear. Turning quickly, I saw the dark forms of several savages running
up the slope of our fortress. These, like the white men, had been
attracted to us by our column of fire. I was going to send a charge of
buckshot amongst them, when my Indian friend stopped me.
"Let them come," he said, quickly. "They and the white men are sworn
foes. Be ready to follow me."
This last was said to all of us, for we had instinctively drawn to the
centre of our plateau with the idea of fighting back to back with the
foes who surrounded us. Again we heard the white men charging up the
front of our little hill, but, before they reached the top, a dozen
savages had leaped into our enclosure.
"Help! against the pale-face dogs," cried Big Otter, pointing his gun,
and firing at them as they came up.
A wild war-whoop rang out from the Indians, who were only too ready to
accept the invitation to fight the pale-faces. A defiant cheer burst in
reply from the white men, who were equally eager for the fray.
"Come!" whispered Big Otter at this point.
We had no difficulty in slipping away at the rear unperceived amid the
din and smoke, and ran to where our horses had been tied. Mounting,
like squirrels, we went off like the wind in the direction of the open
prairie, and soon left our little fortress far behind us, with the
redskins and the pale-faces fighting on the top of it like wild cats!