Castle Howard
Albert agreed with Dick that they should begin to more at once,
and his imagination was greatly stirred by Dick's narrative.
"Why, it's an enchanted valley!" he exclaimed. "And a house is
there waiting for us, too! Dick, I want to see it right away!"
Dick smiled.
"Sorry, but you'll have to wait a little, Al, old man," he said.
"You're not strong enough yet to carry stores over the big range,
though you will be very soon, and we can't leave our precious
things here unguarded. So you'll have to stay and act as
quartermaster while I make myself pack mule. When we have all
the things over there, we can fasten them up in our house, where
bears, panthers, and wolves can't get at them."
Albert made a wry face, but he knew that he must yield to
necessity. Dick began the task the next morning, and it was
long, tedious, and most wearing. More than once he felt like
abandoning some of their goods, but he hardened his resolution
with the reflection that all were precious, and not a single
thing was abandoned.
It was more than a week before it was all done, and it was not
until the last trip that Albert went with him, carrying besides
his gun a small pack. The weather was still propitious. Once
there had been a light shower in the night, but Albert was
protected from it by the tarpaulin which they had made of the
wagon cover, and nothing occurred to check his progress. He ate
with an appetite that he had never known before, and he breathed
by night as well as by day the crisp air of the mountains tingling
with the balsam of the pines. It occurred to Dick that to be
marooned in these mountains was perhaps the best of all things
that could have happened to Albert.
They went slowly over the range toward the enchanted valley,
stopping now and then because Albert, despite his improvement,
was not yet equal to the task of strenuous climbing, but all
things continued auspicious. There was a touch of autumn on the
foliage, and the shades of red and yellow were appearing on the
leaves of all the trees except the evergreens, but everything
told of vigorous life. As they passed the crest of the range and
began the descent of the slope toward the enchanted valley, a
mule deer crashed from the covert and fled away with great
bounds. Flocks of birds rose with whirrings from the bushes.
From some point far away came the long, whistling sound that made
Albert cry out in wonder. But Dick laughed.
"It's the elk," he said. "I saw one when I first came into the
valley. I think they are thick hereabout, and I suspect that
they will furnish us with some good winter food."
Albert found the valley all that Dick had represented it to be,
and more. He watched the regular eruptions of the geysers with
amazement and delight; he insisted on sampling the mineral
springs, and intended to learn in time their various properties.
The lake, in all its shimmering aspects, appealed to his love of
the grand and beautiful, and he promptly named it "The Howard
Sea, after its discoverer, you know," he said to Dick. Finally,
the cabin itself filled him with delight, because he foresaw
even more thoroughly than Dick how suitable it would be for a
home in the long winter months. He installed himself as
housekeeper and set to work at once.
The little cabin was almost choked with their supplies, which
Dick had been afraid to leave outside for fear that the
provisions would be eaten and the other things injured by the
wild animals, and now they began the task of assorting and
putting them into place.
The full equipment of the wagon that Dick had found in the gully,
particularly the tools, proved to be a godsend. They made more
racks on the walls--boring holes with the augers and then
driving in pegs--on which they laid their axes and extra rifles.
In the same manner they made high shelves, on which their food
would be safe from prowling wild beasts, even should they succeed
in breaking in the door. But Dick soon made the latter
impossible by putting the door on strong hinges of leather which
he made from the gear that he had cut from the horses. He also
split a new bar from one of the young ash trees and strengthened
the hasps on the inside. He felt now that when the bar was in
place not even the heaviest grizzly could force the door.
The task of mending the roof was more difficult. He knew how to
split rude boards with his ax, but he had only a few nails with
which to hold them in place. He solved the problem by boring
auger holes, into which he drove pegs made from strong twigs.
The roof looked water-tight, and he intended to reenforce it
later on with the skins of wild animals that he expected to
kill--there had been no time yet for hunting.
Throughout these operations, which took about a week, they slept
in the open in a rude tent which they made of the wagon cover and
set beside the cabin, for two reasons: because Dick believed the
open air at all times to be good for Albert, and because he was
averse to using the cabin as a dormitory until it was thoroughly
cleansed and aired.
Albert made himself extremely useful in the task of refurbishing
the cabin. He brushed out all the dust, brought water from the
brook and scrubbed the floor, and to dry the latter built their
first fire on the hearth with pine cones and other fallen wood.
As he touched the match to it, he did not conceal his anxiety.
"The big thing to us," he said, "is whether or not this chimney
will draw. That's vital, I tell you, Dick, to a housekeeper. If
it puffs out smoke and fills the cabin with it, we're to have a
hard time and be miserable. If it draws like a porous plaster
and takes all the smoke up it, then we're to have an easy time of
it and be happy."
Both watched anxiously as Albert touched the match to some pine
shavings which were to form the kindling wood. The shavings
caught, a light blaze leaped up, there came a warning crackle,
and smoke, too, arose. Which way would it go? The little column
wavered a moment and then shot straight up the chimney. It grew
larger, but still shot straight up the chimney. The flames roared
and were drawn in the same direction.
Albert laughed and clapped his hands.
"It's to be an easy time and a happy life!" he exclaimed. "Those
old beaver hunters knew what they were about when they built this
chimney!"
"You can cook in here, Al," said Dick; "but I suggest that we
sleep in the tent until the weather grows bad."
Dick had more than one thing in mind in making this suggestion
about the tent and sleeping. The air of the cabin could be close
at night even with the window open, but in the tent with the flap
thrown back--they never closed it--they breathed only a fresh
balsamic odor, crisp with the coolness of autumn. He had watched
Albert all the time. Now and then when he had exerted himself
more than usual, the younger boy would cough, and at times he was
very tired, but Dick, however sharply he watched, did not see
again the crimson stain on the lips that he had noticed the night
of the flight from the massacre.
But the older brother, two years older only, in fact, but ten
years older, at least, in feeling, did notice a great change in
Albert, mental as well as physical. The younger boy ceased to
have periods of despondency. While he could not do the things
that Dick did, he was improving, and he never lamented his lack
of strength. It seemed to him a matter of course, so far as Dick
could judge, that in due time he should be the equal of the older
and bigger boy in muscle and skill.
Albert, moreover, had no regrets for the world without. Their
life with the wagon train had been far from pleasant, and he had
only Dick, and Dick had only him. Now the life in the enchanted
valley, which was a real valley of enchantments, was sufficient
for him. Each day brought forth some new wonder, some fresh and
interesting detail. He was a capable fisherman, and he caught
trout in both the brook and the river, while the lake yielded to
his line other and larger fish, the names of which neither boy
knew, but which proved to be of delicate flavor when broiled over
the coals. Just above them was a boiling hot spring, and Albert
used the water from this for cooking purposes. "Hot and cold
water whenever you please," he said to Dick. "Nothing to do but
to turn the tap."
Dick smiled; he, too, was happy. He enjoyed life in the
enchanted valley, where everything seemed to have conspired in
their favor. When they had been there about a week, and their
home was ready for any emergency, Dick took his gun and went
forth, the hunting spirit strong within him. They had heard the
elk whistling on the mountain side nearly every day, and he
believed that elk meat would prove tender and good. Anyway he
would see.
Dick did not feel much concern about their food supply. He
believed that vast quantities of big game would come into this
valley in the winter to seek protection from the mighty snows of
the northern Rockies, but it was just as well to begin the task
of filling the larder.
He came out into the main valley and turned toward the lake.
Autumn was now well advanced, but in the cool sunshine the lake
seemed more beautiful than ever. Its waters were golden to-day,
but with a silver tint at the edges where the pine-clad banks
overhung it. Dick did not linger, however. He turned away
toward the slopes, whence the whistling call had come the
oftenest, and was soon among the pines and cedars. He searched
here an hour or more, and at last he found two feeding, a male
and a female.
Dick had the instinct of the hunter, and already he had acquired
great skill. Creeping through the undergrowth, he came within easy
shot of the animals, and he looked at them a little before
shooting. The bull was magnificent, and he, if any, seemed a fit
subject for the bullet, but Dick chose the cow, knowing that she
would be the tenderer. Only a single shot was needed, and then
he had a great task to carry the hide and the body in sections to
the cabin. They ate elk steaks and then hung the rest in the
trees for drying and jerking. Dick, according to his previous
plan, used the skin to cover the newly mended places in the roof,
fastening it down tightly with small wooden pegs. His forethought
was vindicated two days later when a great storm came. Both he
and Albert had noticed throughout the afternoon an unusual warmth
in the air. It affected Albert particularly, as it made his
respiration difficult. Over the mountains in the west they saw
small dark clouds which soon began to grow and unite. Dick
thought he knew what it portended, and he and his brother quickly
taking down the tent, carried it and all its equipment inside the
cabin. Then making fast the door and leaving the window open,
they waited.
The heat endured, but all the clouds became one that overspread
the entire heavens. Despite the lateness of the season, the
thunder, inexpressibly solemn and majestic, rumbled among the
gorges, and there was a quiver of lightening. It was as dark as
twilight.
The rain came, roaring down the clefts and driving against the
cabin with such force that they were compelled to close the
window. How thankful Dick was now for Albert's sake that they
had such a secure shelter! Nor did he despise it for his own.
The rain, driven by a west wind, poured heavily, and the air
rapidly grew colder. Albert piled dry firewood on the hearth and
lighted it. The flames leaped up, and warmth, dryness, and cheer
filled all the little cabin. Dick had been anxiously regarding
the roof, but the new boards and the elk skin were water-tight.
Not a drop came through. Higher leaped the flames and the rosy
shadows fell upon the floor.
"It's well we took the tent down and came in here," said Albert.
"Listen to that!"
The steady, driving sweep changed to a rattle and a crackle. The
rain had turned to hail, and it was like the patter of rifle fire
on the stout little cabin.
"It may rain or hail or snow, or do whatever it pleases, but it
can't get at us," said Albert exultingly.
"No, it can't," said Dick. "I wonder, Al, what Bright Sun is
doing now?"
"A peculiar Indian," said Albert thoughtfully, "but it's safe to
say that wherever he is he's planning and acting."
"At any rate," said Dick, "we're not likely to know it, whatever
it is, for a long time, and we won't bother trying to guess about
it."
It hailed for an hour and then changed to rain again, pouring
down in great steadiness and volume. Dick opened the window a
little way once, but the night was far advanced, and it was
pitchy black outside. They let the coals die down to a glowing
bed, and then, wrapping themselves in their blankets, they slept
soundly all through the night and the driving rain, their little
cabin as precious to them as any palace was ever to a king.
Albert, contrary to custom, was the first to awake the next
morning. A few coals from the fire were yet alive on the hearth,
and the atmosphere of the room, breathed over and over again
throughout the night, was close and heavy. He threw back the
window shutter, and the great rush of pure cold air into the
opening made his body thrill with delight. This was a physical
pleasure, but the sight outside gave him a mental rapture even
greater. Nothing was falling now, but the rain had turned back
to hail before it ceased, and all the earth was in glittering
white. The trees in the valley, clothed in ice, were like lace
work, and above them towered the shining white mountains.
Albert looked back at Dick. His brother, wrapped in his blanket,
still slept, with his arm under his head and his face toward the
hearth. He looked so strong, so enduring, as he lay there
sleeping soundly, and Albert knew that he was both. But a
curious feeling was in the younger boy's mind that morning. He
was glad that he had awakened first. Hitherto he had always
opened his eyes to find Dick up and doing. It was Dick who had
done everything. It was Dick who had saved him from the
Sioux; it was Dick who had practically carried him over the first
range; Dick had found their shelter in the pine alcove; Dick had
labored day and night, day after day, and night after night,
bringing the stores over the mountain from the lost train, then
he had found their new home in the enchanted valley, which Albert
persisted in calling it, and he had done nearly all the hard work
of repairing and furnishing the cabin.
It should not always be so. Albert's heart was full of gratitude
to this brother of his who was so brave and resourceful, but he
wanted to do his share. The feeling was based partly on pride
and partly on a new increase of physical strength. He took a
deep inhalation of the cold mountain air and held it long in his
lungs. Then he emitted it slowly. There was no pain, no feeling
of soreness, and it was the first time he could remember that it
had been so. A new thrill of pleasure, keener and more powerful
than any other, shook him for a moment. It was a belief, nay, a
certainty, or at least a conviction, that he was going to be
whole and sound. The mountains were doing their kindly healing.
He could have shouted aloud with pleasure, but instead he
restrained himself and went outside, softly shutting the door
behind him.
Autumn had gone and winter had come in a night. The trees were
stripped of every leaf and in their place was the sheathing of
ice. The brook roared past, swollen for the time to a little
river. The air, though very cold, was dry despite the heavy rain
of the night before. Albert shivered more than once, but it was
not the shiver of weakness. It did not bite to the very marrow
of him. Instead, when he exercised legs and arms vigorously,
warmth came back. He was not a crushed and shriveled thing.
Now he laughed aloud in sheer delight. He had subjected
himself to another test, and he had passed it in triumph.
He built up the fire, and when Dick awoke, the pleasant aroma of
cooking filled the room.
"Why, what's this, Al?" exclaimed the big youth, rubbing his
eyes.
"Oh, I've been up pretty near an hour," replied Albert airily.
"Saw that you were having a fine sleep, so I thought I wouldn't
disturb you."
Dick looked inquiringly at him. He thought he detected a new
note in his brother's voice, a note, too, that he liked.
"I see," he said; "and you've been at work sometime, Do you feel
fully equal to the task?"
Albert turned and faced his brother squarely.
"I've been thinking a lot, and feeling a lot more this morning,"
he replied. "I've been trying myself out, as they say, and if
I'm not well I'm traveling fast in that direction. Hereafter I
share the work as well as the rewards."
Albert spoke almost defiantly, but Dick liked his tone and manner
better than ever. He would not, on any account, have said
anything in opposition at this moment.
"All right, Al, old fellow. That's agreed," he said.