THE CHASE.
When Natah Otann entered the lodge inhabited by the white men, under
pretext of warning them to prepare for the chase, his searching eye in
a few seconds had explored every corner of the building. The Indian
Chief was too clever to omit noticing the Count's constraint and
embarrassment: but he understood that it would be impolitic to show the
suspicions he had conceived. Hence he did not in the slightest degree
affect to notice the annoyance caused by his presence, and continued
the conversation with that politeness the Redskins can display when
they choose to take the trouble. On their side the Count and Bright-eye
at once regained their coolness.
"I did not hope to find my White brother already risen," Natah Otann
said with a smile.
"Why not?" the young man replied; "a desert life accustoms one to
little sleep."
"Then the Palefaces will go and hunt with their red friends?"
"Certainly, if you have no objection."
"Did I not myself propose to Glass-eye to procure them a true chase?"
"That is true," the young man said, with a laugh; "but take care,
Chief, I have become uncommonly fastidious since I have been in the
prairie; there is hardly any game I have not hunted, as it was the love
of sport alone that brought me into these unknown countries; hence, I
repeat, I shall expect choice game."
Natah Otann smiled proudly.
"My brother will be satisfied," he said.
"And what is the animal we are about to follow?" the young man asked.
"The ostrich."
The Count made a sign of amazement.
"What, the ostrich?" he exclaimed, "that is impossible, Chief--"
"Because?"
"Oh, simply because there are none."
"The ostrich, it is true, is disappearing; it fled before the white
men, and becomes daily rare, but it is still numerous on the prairies;
in a few hours my brother will have a proof of it."
"I desire nothing better."
"Good, that is settled: I will soon come and fetch my brother."
The Chief bowed courteously and retired, after taking a parting look
around. The curtain had scarcely fallen behind the Chief ere the pile
of furs that covered the young girl was thrown off, and Prairie-Flower
ran up to the Count.
"Listen," she said to him, seizing his hand, which she pressed
tenderly, "I cannot explain to you now, for time fails me; still,
remember, you have a friend who watches over you."
And before the Count could reply, or even think of replying, she fled
with the bound of an antelope. He passed his hand several times over
his brow, his eye being fixed on the place where the Indian girl had
disappeared.
"Ah!" he at length murmured, "have I at last met with a true woman?"
"She is an angel," the hunter said, replying to his thought. "Poor
child! she has suffered greatly."
"Yes; but I am here now, and will protect her!" the Count exclaimed,
with exaltation.
"Let us think of ourselves first, Mr. Edward, and try to get away from
here with whole skins; it will not be an easy task, I assure you."
"What do you mean, my friend?"
"It is enough that I understand it all," the hunter said, shaking his
head; "let us only think now of our preparations: our friends, the
Redskins, will soon arrive," he added, with that derisive smile which
caused the Count to feel increased embarrassment.
But the impression caused by the Canadian's ambiguous language was
promptly dissipated, for love had suddenly nestled in this young, man's
heart; he only dreamed of one thing, of seeing the woman again whom he
adored with all his strength.
In a man like the Count, who was gifted with a fiery organization,
every feeling must necessarily be carried to an excess; and it was the
case in the present instance. Love is born by a word, a sign, a look,
and scarcely born, suddenly becomes a giant. The Count was fated to
learn this at his own expense.
Scarcely half an hour after Natah Otann's departure, the gallop of
several horses was heard, and a troop of horsemen stopped in front of
the cabin. The three men went out, and found Natah Otann awaiting them
at the head of sixty warriors, all dressed in their grand costume, and
armed to the teeth.
"Let us go," he said.
"Whenever you please," the Count answered.
The Chief made a signal, and three magnificent horses, superbly
caparisoned in the Indian fashion, were led up by children. The whites
mounted, and the band set out in the direction of the prairie.
It was about six in the morning, the night storm had completely swept
the sky, which was of a pale blue; the sun, fully risen in the horizon,
shot forth its warm beams, which drew out the sharp and odoriferous
vapours from the ground, The atmosphere was wondrously transparent, a
slight breeze refreshed the air, and flocks of birds, lustrous with a
thousand hues, flew around, uttering joyous cries. The troop marched
gaily through the tall prairie grass, raising a cloud of dust, and
undulating like a long serpent in the endless turnings of the road.
The spot where the chase was to come off was nearly thirty miles
distant from the village. In the desert all places are alike, tall
grass, in the midst of which the horsemen entirely disappear; stunted
shrubs, and here and there clumps of trees, whose imposing crowns rise
to an enormous height;--such was the road the Indians had to follow up
to the spot where they would find the animals they proposed chasing.
In the prairies of Arkansas and the Upper Missouri, at the time of
our story, ostriches were still numerous, and their chase one of the
numerous amusements of the Redskins and wood rangers. It is probable
that the successive invasions of the white men, and the immense
clearings effected by fire and the axe, have now compelled them to
abandon this territory, and retire to the inaccessible desert of the
Rocky Mountains, or the sands of the Far West.
We will say here, without any pretence at a scientific description, a
few words about this singular animal, still but little known in Europe.
The ostrich generally lives in small families of from eight to ten,
scattered along the banks of marshes, pools, and streams. They live
on fresh grass. Faithful to their native soil, they never quit the
vicinity of the water, and in the month of November lay their eggs in
the wildest part of the plain, fifty to sixty at a time, which are
brooded, solely at night, by male and female in turn, with a touching
tenderness. When the incubation is terminated, the ostrich breaks the
barren eggs with its beak, which are at once covered with flies and
insects, supplying nourishment to the young birds. The ostrich of the
Western prairies differs slightly from the _Nandus_ of the Patagonian
prairies and the African species. It is about five feet high, and four
and a half long, from the stomach to the end of the tail; its beak is
very pointed, and measures a little over five inches.
A characteristic trait of the ostriches is their extreme curiosity.
In the Indian villages, where they live in a tamed state, it is of
frequent occurrence to see them stalking through groups of talkers,
and regarding them with fixed attention. In the plain this curiosity
is often fatal to them, for it leads them to look unhesitatingly
at everything that seems strange or unusual to them. We will give a
capital Indian story here in proof of this.
The jaguars are very fond of ostrich meat, but unfortunately, though
their speed is so great, it is almost impossible for them to run the
birds down; but the jaguars are cunning animals, and usually obtain
by craft what they cannot manage by force. They, therefore, employ
the following stratagem. They lie on the ground as if dead, and raise
their tails in the air, where they wave them in every direction; the
ostriches, attracted by this strange spectacle, approach with great
simplicity--the rest may be guessed; they fall a prey to the cunning
jaguars.
The hunters after a hurried march of three hours, reached a barren
and sandy plain; during the journey, very few words were exchanged
between Natah Otann and his white guests, for he rode at the head of
the column, conversing in a low voice with White Buffalo. The Indians
dismounted by the side of a stream, and exchanged their horses for
racers, which the chief had sent to the spot during the night, and
which were naturally rested and able to run for miles. Natah Otann
divided the hunting party into two equal troops, keeping the command
of the first himself, and courteously offering that of the second to
the Count. As the Frenchman, however, had never been present at such
a chase, and was quite ignorant how it was conducted, he courteously
declined. Natah Otann reflected for a few moments, and then turned to
Bright-eye:--
"My brother knows the ostriches?" he asked him. "Eh!" the Canadian
replied, with a smile; "Natah Otann was not yet born when I hunted
them on the prairie."
"Good," the chief said; "then my brother will command the second band?"
"Be it so," the hunter said, bowing: "I accept with pleasure."
On a given signal, the first band, under Natah Otann's command,
advanced into the plain, describing a semicircle, so as to drive the
game towards a ravine, situated between two moving downs. The second
band, with which the Count and Ivon remained, was echelonned so as
to form the other half of the circle. This circle, by the horsemen's
advance, was gradually being contracted, when a dozen ostriches showed
themselves; but the male bird, standing sentry, warned the family of
the danger by a sharp cry like a boatswain's whistle. At once the
ostriches fled in a straight line rapidly, and without looking back.
All the hunters galloped off in pursuit.
The plain, till then silent and gloomy, grew animated, and offered the
strangest appearance. The horsemen pursued the luckless animals at full
speed, raising in their passage clouds of impalpable dust. Twelve to
fifteen paces behind the game, the Indians, still galloping and burying
their spurs in the flanks of their panting horses, bent forward,
twisted their formidable clubs round their heads, and hurled them
after the animals. If they missed their aim, they stooped down without
checking their pace, and picked up the weapon, which they cast again.
Several flocks of ostriches had been put up, and the chase then assumed
the proportions of a mad revel. Cries and hurrahs rent the air; the
clubs hurtled through the space and struck the necks, wings, and legs
of the ostriches, which, startled and mad with terror, made a thousand
feints and zigzags to escape their implacable enemies, and buffeting
their wings, tried to prick the horses with, the species of spike
with which the end of their wings is armed. Several horses reared,
and, embarrassed by the ostriches between their legs, fell with their
riders. The ostriches, profiting by the disorder, fled on, and came
within reach of the other hunters, who received them with a shower of
clubs.
Each hunter leaped from his horse, killed the victim he had felled,
cut off its wings as a sign of triumph, and renewed the chase with
increased ardour. Ostriches and hunters rushed onwards like the
_cordonazo_, that terrible wind of the Mexican deserts, and forty
ostriches speedily encumbered the plain. Natah Otann looked round him,
and then gave the signal for retreat; the birds which had not succumbed
to this rude aggression, ran off to seek shelter. The dead birds were
carefully collected, for the ostrich is, excellent eating, and the
Indians prepare, chiefly from the meat on the breast, a dish renowned
for its delicacy and exquisite savour. The warriors then proceeded to
collect eggs, also highly esteemed, and secured an ample crop.
Although the chase had scarce lasted two hours, the horses panted and
wanted rest before they could return to the village; hence Natah Otann
gave orders to stop. The Count had never been present at so strange
a hunt before, although ever since he had been on the prairie he had
pursued the different animals that inhabit it; hence he entered into it
with all the excitement of youth, rushing on the ostriches and felling
them with childlike pleasure. When the signal for retreat was given by
the Chief, he reluctantly left off the amusement, which at the moment
caused him such delight, and returned slowly to his comrades. Suddenly
a loud cry was raised by the Indians, and each ran to his weapons. The
Count looked around him with surprise, and felt a slight tremor. The
ostrich hunt was over; but, as frequently happens in these countries, a
far more terrible one was about to begin--the chase of the cougar.[1]
Two of these animals had suddenly made their appearance. The Count
recovered at once, and, cocking his rifle, prepared to follow this
new species of game. Natah Otann had also noticed the wild beasts;
he ordered a dozen warriors to surround Prairie-Flower, whom he had
obliged to accompany him, or who had insisted on being present; then,
certain that the girl was, temporarily at least, in safety, he turned
to a warrior standing at his side.
"Uncouple the dogs," he said.
A dozen mastiffs were let loose, which howled in chorus on seeing the
wild beasts. The Indians, accustomed to see the ostrich hunt disturbed
in this way, never fail, when they go out for their favourite exercise,
to take with them dogs trained to attack the lion. About two hundred
yards from the spots where the Indians had halted, two cougars were
now crouching, with their eyes fixed on the Redskin warriors. These
animals, still young, were about the size of a calf; their heads bore
a strong, likeness to a cat's, and their soft smooth hide of silvery
yellow was dotted with black spots.
"After them!" Natah Otann shouted.
Horsemen and dogs rushed on the ferocious beasts with yells, cries,
and barks, capable of terrifying lions unused to such a reception.
The noble animals, motionless and amazed, lashed their flanks with
their long tails, and drew in heavy draughts of air; for a moment they
remained stationary, then suddenly bounded away. A party of hunters
galloped in a straight line to intercept their retreat, while the
others bent over their saddles, and guiding their horses with their
knees, fired their arrows and rifles, without checking the cougars
which turned furiously on the dogs, and hurled them ten yards from
them, to howl with pain. Still the mastiffs, long habituated to this
chase, watched for a favourable moment, leaped on the lions' backs,
and dug their nails in their flesh; but the latter, with one stroke
of their deadly claws, swept them off like flies, and continued their
flight.
One of them, pierced by several arrows, and surrounded by the dogs,
rolled on the ground, raising a cloud of dust under its claws, and
uttering a fearful yell. This one the Canadian finished by putting a
bullet through its eye, but the second lion remained still unwounded,
and its leaps foiled the attack and skill of the hunters. The dogs,
now wearied, did not dare assail it. Its flight had led it a few paces
from the spot where Prairie-Flower stood: it suddenly turned at right
angles, bounded among the Indians, two of whom it ripped up, and
crouched before the young girl, ere making its leap. Prairie-Flower,
pale as a corpse, clasped her hands instinctively, uttered a stifled
cry, and fainted. New cries replied to hers, and at the moment the lion
was about to leap on the maiden, two bullets were buried in its chest.
It turned to face its new adversary; it was the Count de Beaulieu.
"Let no one stir!" he exclaimed, stopping by a sign Natah Otann and
Bright-eye, who ran up, "this game is mine--no other than I shall kill
it."
The Count had dismounted, and with his feet firmly planted, his rifle
at his shoulder, and eyes fixed on the lion, he waited. The lion
hesitated, cast a final glance at the prey lying a few paces from it,
and then rushed on the young man with a roar. He fired again: the
animal bit the dust, and the Count, hunting knife in hand, ran up
to it. The man and the lion rolled together on the ground, but soon
one of the combatants rose again--it was the man. Prairie-Flower was
saved. The maiden opened her eyes again, looked timidly around her, and
holding out her hand to the Frenchman.
"Thanks!" she exclaimed, and burst into tears.
Natah Otann walked up to her.
"Silence!" he said, harshly; "what the Paleface has done Natah Otann
could have achieved."
The Count smiled contemptuously, but made no reply, for he had
recognized a rival.
[1] The _felis discolor_ of Linnæus, or American lion.