TRANSFORMATION
Four years were passed by John Ermine in the cabin of the old man of the
mountains, varied by visits to the Absaroke, which grew less frequent as
he progressed along the white man's road, rude though the hermit's was.
In the reflected light of the prophet he had a more than ordinary
influence with the Indians. As his mind expanded, he began to comprehend
their simplicity, and exactly why Crooked-Bear, who did not violate
their prejudices, could lead them by better paths.
The relationship of the two lonely men grew closer, and under the
necessity of the case the hermit took Ermine to a mountain ravine some
little distance from his camp. Here he operated a sluice, in connection
with a placer, in a desultory way, by which he was able to hive up
enough gold dust to fill his wants from the traders. He exacted a
promise from the lad that come what would he must never, by word or
action, reveal the existence of this place. The hermit wanted only
enough to cover his wants during his lifetime, and if no one located the
place, Ermine could use it as he saw fit in after years. It would
always supply his needs, and when the white men came, as they surely
would, the boy might develop the property, but all would be lost without
absolute secrecy. Even the Indians did not know of the placer; they
always explained to the traders, when questioned concerning the hermit's
gold dust, that he made it himself; his medicine was strong, etc. This
they believed, and no trader could get farther. Beyond the understanding
that gold dust represented the few things necessary to their simple
lives, John Ermine cared no more for it than did the blue jays or the
Arctic hares. The thing did not interest him beyond a rather intense
dislike of the work entailed.
The hermit had often told him the story of himself and his gold. Years
ago he had left the States, following the then gentle tide of
adventurers who sought fortunes or found death in the unknown hills. He
wanted forgetfulness, but his fellows craved gold. On one occasion he
formed an alliance with a prospecting miner and an old trapper, relict
of the fur-trading days, to go to a place in the Indian country, where
the latter had in his wanderings discovered a placer. They outfitted in
Lewiston, Idaho, and guided surely by the hunter, had reached the
present scene of the hermit's domicile without accident. Finding their
hopes realized, they built the log cabin against the rock wall.
As he told it: "We found the quartz-float, and the miner followed it
with a gold-pan. We were surprised to find we obtained colors almost
from the first. We built the cabin, and put in our spare time in
turning the water from the creek to one side of the gulch, so that we
could get the sluice-boxes in place, and a proper flow for them, and, at
the same time, work the gravel in the bottom of the creek without being
inconvenienced by too great a flow of water. All this time we followed
the trail to and from the cabin along the rock ledge, where no one but a
goat would be apt to find it; and in every way we were careful not to
attract wandering Indian hunters to ourselves.
"The miner worked slowly up the creek to where the gold became richer,
until it finally petered out. He was then at a loss to account for the
disappearance of the metal. This set him to thinking that he must have
been working below a ledge where the gold originated. He then began to
prospect for the lode itself, which, after due disappointment and
effort, we found. It is the ledge which I have shown you, Ermine. The
thing was buried in _débris_, and a discoloration of iron stains had
confused the miner. He told me that the quartz would go a hundred
dollars to the ton, and would make us all rich some day. Of course we
did nothing with that, being content, for the present, with the gravel.
"We were high up on the range, away from any divides, and felt safe from
wandering Indians. They could discover us only by chance, but by chance
they did. One morning, when we had nearly completed the cabin, and were
putting on the finishing touches, I was cooking at the fire when I
heard a number of gunshots on the outside. I sprang to the half-opened
door, and saw my two friends on the ground; one was dead, and the other
was rolling about in agony on the pine-needles. A half-dozen Indians
rushed out of the timber and soon finished their bloody work. I was so
overcome, so unnerved, by the sudden and awful sight, that I could not
move my hands or feet. Strangely enough, the Indians did not immediately
advance on the cabin, fearing hostile shots. Since then I have found out
that they knew by our tracks there were three of us. Taking positions
behind trees, they waited. In the still air I could hear them talk to
each other. I considered my situation hopeless, but very gradually
regained my nerve. Knowing I could not defend the cabin, my mind acted
quickly, as often a man's will when he is in such desperate straits.
Often I had heard the trapper, who had lived among Indians a great deal
during his career, tell of their superstition, their reverence for the
unusual, and their tolerance toward such things. At this time I cannot
analyze the thought that came to me, but being only half dressed, I tore
off my clothes, and getting on all fours, which the unusual length of my
arms made possible, I ran out of the cabin, making wild noises and
grotesque gestures. My faculties were so shattered at that time that I
cannot quite recall all that happened. The Indians did not fire at me,
nor did they appear from behind the trees. Growing weary of these
antics, and feeling it was best not to prolong the situation, I worked
my way toward them. If before this I had been frightened, when I came
near two or three of these savages, and could look at them, it was
easily seen that they were out of their minds. They were prepared for a
man, but not for me. Straightening up, I walked directly to one of them
and glared into his eyes. If I looked as wild as I felt, I do not wonder
at his amazement. He dropped his gun, and bawled out in his native
tongue, which, of course, at that time I did not understand. I answered
in a soft voice, which chimed in well with his harsh howling. Presently
the others came and gathered round me. I spoke in a declamatory manner
for a long time, and one of them addressed some broken English to me.
That man was Half-Moon, whom you know; there is French blood in him, and
he had been with the traders, where he had picked up barely enough
English to make himself understood.
"He asked me if I was a man, and I said, 'No, I was sent here by the
Great Spirit.' I pointed to the sky, and then patted the earth, saying I
lived in both places, and that when I had seen them kill white men I had
come out of the ground to tell them that the Great Spirit was angry, and
that they must not do it again. Oh, when I saw the weather clearing
before me, I piled in my trumps; I remembered an actor named Forrest,
whom you do not know, of course, but he had a way with him which I
copied most accurately.
"The upshot of it all was that I gained their confidence, and felt they
would not molest me so long as I could retain it. It was impossible for
me to get out of their country, for there was no place in the world that
suited me better. All of my worldly possessions were here, and once over
the shock of the encounter, I did not especially value my life. You know
the rest; no Crow comes near me, or even into this particular locality,
except for reasons of Church and State. They have been good to me, and I
mean to return it in so far as I can by my superior understanding of the
difficulties which beset the tribe. My crooked back served me its only
good turn then."
The Sioux and Cheyennes were pressed by the white tide from the south.
It came curling in, roller after roller, despite the treaties with their
government and in spite of the Indians who rode the country, hunting,
shooting, burning, and harassing the invaders. The gold under their feet
drew the huge, senseless, irresistible mass of white humanity upon them.
It surged over the white soldiers who came to their aid; it flooded
around the ends and crept between the crevices. Finally the reprisals of
the Indians fused the white soldiers with the gold-hunters: it was war.
Long columns of "pony soldiers" and "walk-a-heaps" and still longer
lines of canvas-topped wagons trailed snakelike over the buffalo range.
The redmen hovered and swooped and burned the dry grass ahead of them,
but the fire-spitting ranks crawled hither and yon, pressing the Sioux
into the country of the Crows, where great camps were formed to resist
the soldiers. The poor Crows fled before them, going into the mountain
valleys and inaccessible places to escape the war-ardor of the now
thoroughly enraged enemy. These were lean years in the Absaroke lodges.
Crooked-Bear and John Ermine dared cook their food only in the midday,
fearing their smoke might be more readily seen in the quiet light of
morning and evening. They trembled after every shot at game, not knowing
to whose ears the sound might carry.
Crows came sneaking into their camp, keen, scared, ghostlike creatures
who brought news of the conflict. Bands of Crows had gone with the white
men to ride the country in front of them. The white men could not make
their own ponies run; they were as dull as buffalo; they travelled in
herds, but when they moved forward, no Indians could stop them.
One day, through the shimmering heat, came Wolf-Voice, one of the
messengers, with the tale how the Sioux had made a "surround" of pony
soldiers on the Ease-ka-poy-tot-chee-archa-cheer[7] and covered a hill
with their bodies. But said this one: "Still the soldiers come crawling
into the country from all sides. The Sioux and the buffalo run between
them. I am going down the Yellowstone to help the white men. The
soldiers make a scout rich."
[7] Little Big Horn.
Crooked-Bear spoke: "John Ermine, now it is time for you to play a
man's part; you must go with Wolf-Voice to the soldiers. I would go
myself but for my crooked back and the fact that I care nothing for
either belligerents; their contentions mean nothing to me. My life is
behind me, but yours is in front of you. Begin; go down the valley of
the Yellowstone with Wolf-Voice; if the Sioux do not cut you off, you
will find the soldiers. Enlist as a scout. I am sure they will take
you."
[Illustration: WOLF-VOICE.]
The young man had felt that this hour would arrive, and now that it had
come he experienced a particular elation. Early evening found him at
the door of the cabin, mounted on one horse and leading his war-pony
beside him. The good-by word was all; no demonstration on the part of
either man to indicate feelings, although they both were conscious of
the seriousness of the parting. The horses disappeared among the trees,
and the hermit sat down before his hut, intent at the blank space left
by the riders. The revolt of his strong, sensitive nature against his
fellows had been so complete that he had almost found happiness in the
lonely mountains. While always conscious of an overwhelming loss, he
held it at bay by a misanthropic philosophy. This hour brought an acute
emptiness to his heart, and the falling shadows of the night brooded
with him. Had he completed his work, had he fulfilled his life, was he
only to sit here with his pale, dead thoughts, while each day saw the
fresh bones of free and splendid animals bleach on the hillsides that he
might continue? He was not unusually morbid for a man of his tastes, but
his thoughts on this evening were sour. "Bah! the boy may come back; he
has the habits of an Indian; he knows how to glide through the country
like a coyote. The Sioux will not catch him, and I must wait and hope to
see my good work consummated. Nature served that boy almost as scurvy a
trick as she did me, but I thwarted her, d---- her!"