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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dog Crusoe and His Master
+by Robert Michael Ballantyne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Dog Crusoe and His Master
+       A Story of Adventure in the Western Prairies
+
+Author: Robert Michael Ballantyne
+
+Release Date: February 4, 2004 [EBook #10929]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DOG CRUSOE AND HIS MASTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dave Morgan, Bradley Norton and PG Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+
+THE DOG CRUSOE
+
+AND
+
+HIS MASTER
+
+A Story of Adventure in the Western Prairies
+
+By
+
+ROBERT MICHAEL BALLANTYNE
+
+Author of "The Coral Island," "The Young Fur-Traders," "Ungava,"
+
+"The Gorilla-Hunters," "The World of Ice,"
+
+"Martin Rattler."
+
+&c
+
+1894
+
+_CONTENTS_.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+_The backwoods settlement--Crusoe's parentage and early history--The
+agonizing pains and sorrows of his puppyhood, and other interesting
+matters_.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+_A shooting-match and its consequences--New friends introduced to the
+reader--Crusoe and his mother change masters_.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Speculative remarks with which the reader may or may not agree--An
+old woman--Hopes and wishes commingled with hard facts--The dog
+Crusoe's education begun_.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_Our hero enlarged upon_--_Grumps_.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_A mission of peace--Unexpected joys--Dick and Crusoe set off for the
+land of the Redskins, and meet with adventures by the way as a matter
+of course--in the wild woods_.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_The great prairies of the far west--A remarkable colony discovered,
+and a miserable night endured_.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_The "wallering" peculiarities of buffalo bulls--The first buffalo
+hunt and its consequences--Crusoe comes to the rescue--Pawnees
+discovered--A monster buffalo hunt--Joe acts the part of ambassador_.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+_Dick and his friends visit the Indians and see many wonders--Crusoe,
+too, experiences a few surprises, and teaches Indian dogs a lesson--An
+Indian dandy--A foot-race_.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+_Crusoe acts a conspicuous and humane part--A friend gained--A great
+feast_.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+_Perplexities--Our hunters plan their escape--Unexpected
+interruption--The tables turned--Crusoe mounts guard--The escape_.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+_Evening meditations and morning reflections--Buffaloes, badgers,
+antelopes, and accidents--An old bull and the wolves--"Mad
+tails"--Henri floored, etc_.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+_Wanderings on the prairie--A war party--Chased by Indians--A bold
+leap for life_.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+_Escape from Indians--A discovery--Alone in the desert_.
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+_Crusoe's return, and his private adventures among the Indians--Dick
+at a very low ebb--Crusoe saves him_.
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+_Health and happiness return--Incidents of the journey--A buffalo
+shot--A wild horse "creased"--Dick's battle with a mustang_.
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+_Dick becomes a horse tamer--Resumes his journey--Charlie's
+doings--Misfortunes which lead to, but do not terminate in, the Rocky
+Mountains--A grizzly bear_.
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+_Dick's first fight with a grizzly--Adventure with a deer--A
+surprise_.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+_A surprise, and a piece of good news--The fur-traders--Crusoe proved,
+and the Peigans pursued_.
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+_Adventures with the Peigans--Crusoe does good service as a
+discoverer--The savages outwitted--The rescue_.
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+_New plans--Our travellers join the fur-traders, and see many strange
+things--A curious fight--A narrow escape, and a prisoner taken_.
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+_Wolves attack the horses, and Cameron circumvents the wolves--A
+bear-hunt, in which Henri shines conspicuous--Joe and the
+"Natter-list"--An alarm--A surprise and a capture_.
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+_Charlie's adventures with savages and bears--Trapping life_.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+_Savage sports--Living cataracts--An alarm--Indians and their
+doings--The stampede--Charlie again_.
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+_Plans and prospects--Dick becomes home-sick, and Henri
+metaphysical--The Indians attack the camp--A blow-up_.
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+_Dangers of the prairie--Our travellers attacked by Indians, and
+delivered in a remarkable manner_.
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+_Anxious fears followed by a joyful surprise--Safe home at last, and
+happy hearts_.
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+_Rejoicings--The feast at the block-house--Grumps and Crusoe come out
+strong--The closing scene_.
+
+
+
+THE DOG CRUSOE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+_The backwoods settlement--Crusoe's parentage, and early
+history--The agonizing pains and sorrows of his puppyhood, and other
+interesting matters_.
+
+The dog Crusoe was once a pup. Now do not, courteous reader, toss your
+head contemptuously, and exclaim, "Of course he was; I could have told
+_you_ that." You know very well that you have often seen a man above
+six feet high, broad and powerful as a lion, with a bronzed shaggy
+visage and the stern glance of an eagle, of whom you have said, or
+thought, or heard others say, "It is scarcely possible to believe that
+such a man was once a squalling baby." If you had seen our hero in
+all the strength and majesty of full-grown doghood, you would have
+experienced a vague sort of surprise had we told you--as we now
+repeat--that the dog Crusoe was once a pup--a soft, round, sprawling,
+squeaking pup, as fat as a tallow candle, and as blind as a bat.
+
+But we draw particular attention to the fact of Crusoe's having once
+been a pup, because in connection with the days of his puppyhood there
+hangs a tale.
+
+This peculiar dog may thus be said to have had two tails--one in
+connection with his body, the other with his career. This tale, though
+short, is very harrowing, and as it is intimately connected with
+Crusoe's subsequent history we will relate it here. But before doing
+so we must beg our reader to accompany us beyond the civilized
+portions of the United States of America--beyond the frontier
+settlements of the "far west," into those wild prairies which are
+watered by the great Missouri River--the Father of Waters--and his
+numerous tributaries.
+
+Here dwell the Pawnees, the Sioux, the Delawarers, the Crows, the
+Blackfeet, and many other tribes of Red Indians, who are gradually
+retreating step by step towards the Rocky Mountains as the advancing
+white man cuts down their trees and ploughs up their prairies. Here,
+too, dwell the wild horse and the wild ass, the deer, the buffalo, and
+the badger; all, men and brutes alike, wild as the power of untamed
+and ungovernable passion can make them, and free as the wind that
+sweeps over their mighty plains.
+
+There is a romantic and exquisitely beautiful spot on the banks of one
+of the tributaries above referred to--long stretch of mingled woodland
+and meadow, with a magnificent lake lying like a gem in its green
+bosom--which goes by the name of the Mustang Valley. This remote vale,
+even at the present day, is but thinly peopled by white men, and is
+still a frontier settlement round which the wolf and the bear prowl
+curiously, and from which the startled deer bounds terrified away. At
+the period of which we write the valley had just been taken possession
+of by several families of squatters, who, tired of the turmoil and the
+squabbles of the _then_ frontier settlements, had pushed boldly into
+the far west to seek a new home for themselves, where they could have
+"elbow room," regardless alike of the dangers they might encounter in
+unknown lands and of the Redskins who dwelt there.
+
+The squatters were well armed with axes, rifles, and ammunition. Most
+of the women were used to dangers and alarms, and placed implicit
+reliance in the power of their fathers, husbands, and brothers to
+protect them; and well they might, for a bolder set of stalwart men
+than these backwoodsmen never trod the wilderness. Each had been
+trained to the use of the rifle and the axe from infancy, and many of
+them had spent so much of their lives in the woods that they were more
+than a match for the Indian in his own peculiar pursuits of hunting
+and war. When the squatters first issued from the woods bordering the
+valley, an immense herd of wild horses or mustangs were browsing on
+the plain. These no sooner beheld the cavalcade of white men than,
+uttering a wild neigh, they tossed their flowing manes in the breeze
+and dashed away like a whirlwind. This incident procured the valley
+its name.
+
+The new-comers gave one satisfied glance at their future home, and
+then set to work to erect log huts forthwith. Soon the axe was heard
+ringing through the forests, and tree after tree fell to the ground,
+while the occasional sharp ring of a rifle told that the hunters were
+catering successfully for the camp. In course of time the Mustang
+Valley began to assume the aspect of a thriving settlement, with
+cottages and waving fields clustered together in the midst of it.
+
+Of course the savages soon found it out and paid it occasional visits.
+These dark-skinned tenants of the woods brought furs of wild animals
+with them, which they exchanged with the white men for knives, and
+beads, and baubles and trinkets of brass and tin. But they hated the
+"Pale-faces" with bitter hatred, because their encroachments had at
+this time materially curtailed the extent of their hunting-grounds,
+and nothing but the numbers and known courage of the squatters
+prevented these savages from butchering and scalping them all.
+
+The leader of this band of pioneers was a Major Hope, a gentleman
+whose love for nature in its wildest aspects determined him to
+exchange barrack life for a life in the woods. The major was a
+first-rate shot, a bold, fearless man, and an enthusiastic naturalist.
+He was past the prime of life, and being a bachelor, was unencumbered
+with a family. His first act on reaching the site of the new
+settlement was to commence the erection of a block-house, to which the
+people might retire in case of a general attack by the Indians.
+
+In this block-house Major Hope took up his abode as the guardian of
+the settlement. And here the dog Crusoe was born; here he sprawled in
+the early morn of life; here he leaped, and yelped, and wagged his
+shaggy tail in the excessive glee of puppyhood; and from the wooden
+portals of this block-house he bounded forth to the chase in all the
+fire, and strength, and majesty of full-grown doghood.
+
+Crusoe's father and mother were magnificent Newfoundlanders. There was
+no doubt as to their being of the genuine breed, for Major Hope had
+received them as a parting gift from a brother officer, who had
+brought them both from Newfoundland itself. The father's name was
+Crusoe, the mother's name was Fan. Why the father had been so called
+no one could tell. The man from whom Major Hope's friend had obtained
+the pair was a poor, illiterate fisherman, who had never heard of the
+celebrated "Robinson" in all his life. All he knew was that Fan had
+been named after his own wife. As for Crusoe, he had got him from a
+friend, who had got him from another friend, whose cousin had received
+him as a marriage-gift from a friend of _his_; and that each had said
+to the other that the dog's name was "Crusoe," without reasons being
+asked or given on either side. On arriving at New York the major's
+friend, as we have said, made him a present of the dogs. Not being
+much of a dog fancier, he soon tired of old Crusoe, and gave him away
+to a gentleman, who took him down to Florida, and that was the end of
+him. He was never heard of more.
+
+When Crusoe, junior, was born, he was born, of course, without a name.
+That was given to him afterwards in honour of his father. He was also
+born in company with a brother and two sisters, all of whom drowned
+themselves accidentally, in the first month of their existence, by
+falling into the river which flowed past the block-house--a calamity
+which occurred, doubtless, in consequence of their having gone out
+without their mother's leave. Little Crusoe was with his brother and
+sisters at the time, and fell in along with them, but was saved from
+sharing their fate by his mother, who, seeing what had happened,
+dashed with an agonized howl into the water, and, seizing him in her
+mouth, brought him ashore in a half-drowned condition. She afterwards
+brought the others ashore one by one, but the poor little things were
+dead.
+
+And now we come to the harrowing part of our tale, for the proper
+understanding of which the foregoing dissertation was needful.
+
+One beautiful afternoon, in that charming season of the American year
+called the Indian summer, there came a family of Sioux Indians to the
+Mustang Valley, and pitched their tent close to the block-house. A
+young hunter stood leaning against the gate-post of the palisades,
+watching the movements of the Indians, who, having just finished
+a long "palaver" or talk with Major Hope, were now in the act of
+preparing supper. A fire had been kindled on the greensward in front
+of the tent, and above it stood a tripod, from which depended a large
+tin camp-kettle. Over this hung an ill-favoured Indian woman, or
+squaw, who, besides attending to the contents of the pot, bestowed
+sundry cuffs and kicks upon her little child, which sat near to her
+playing with several Indian curs that gambolled round the fire. The
+master of the family and his two sons reclined on buffalo robes,
+smoking their stone pipes or calumets in silence. There was nothing
+peculiar in their appearance. Their faces were neither dignified nor
+coarse in expression, but wore an aspect of stupid apathy, which
+formed a striking contrast to the countenance of the young hunter, who
+seemed an amused spectator of their proceedings.
+
+The youth referred to was very unlike, in many respects, to what we
+are accustomed to suppose a backwoods hunter should be. He did
+not possess that quiet gravity and staid demeanour which often
+characterize these men. True, he was tall and strongly made, but no
+one would have called him stalwart, and his frame indicated grace and
+agility rather than strength. But the point about him which rendered
+him different from his companions was his bounding, irrepressible
+flow of spirits, strangely coupled with an intense love of solitary
+wandering in the woods. None seemed so well fitted for social
+enjoyment as he; none laughed so heartily, or expressed such glee in
+his mischief-loving eye; yet for days together he went off alone into
+the forest, and wandered where his fancy led him, as grave and silent
+as an Indian warrior.
+
+After all, there was nothing mysterious in this. The boy followed
+implicitly the dictates of nature within him. He was amiable,
+straightforward, sanguine, and intensely _earnest_. When he laughed,
+he let it out, as sailors have it, "with a will." When there was good
+cause to be grave, no power on earth could make him smile. We have
+called him boy, but in truth he was about that uncertain period of
+life when a youth is said to be neither a man nor a boy. His face was
+good-looking (_every_ earnest, candid face is) and masculine; his hair
+was reddish-brown and his eye bright-blue. He was costumed in the
+deerskin cap, leggings, moccasins, and leathern shirt common to the
+western hunter. "You seem tickled wi' the Injuns, Dick Varley," said a
+man who at that moment issued from the blockhouse.
+
+"That's just what I am, Joe Blunt," replied the youth, turning with a
+broad grin to his companion.
+
+"Have a care, lad; do not laugh at 'em too much. They soon take
+offence; an' them Redskins never forgive."
+
+"But I'm only laughing at the baby," returned the youth, pointing to
+the child, which, with a mixture of boldness and timidity, was playing
+with a pup, wrinkling up its fat visage into a smile when its playmate
+rushed away in sport, and opening wide its jet-black eyes in grave
+anxiety as the pup returned at full gallop.
+
+"It 'ud make an owl laugh," continued young Varley, "to see such a
+queer pictur' o' itself."
+
+He paused suddenly, and a dark frown covered his face as he saw the
+Indian woman stoop quickly down, catch the pup by its hind-leg with
+one hand, seize a heavy piece of wood with the other, and strike it
+several violent blows on the throat. Without taking the trouble to
+kill the poor animal outright, the savage then held its still writhing
+body over the fire in order to singe off the hair before putting it
+into the pot to be cooked.
+
+The cruel act drew young Varley's attention more closely to the pup,
+and it flashed across his mind that this could be no other than young
+Crusoe, which neither he nor his companion had before seen, although
+they had often heard others speak of and describe it.
+
+Had the little creature been one of the unfortunate Indian curs, the
+two hunters would probably have turned from the sickening sight with
+disgust, feeling that, however much they might dislike such cruelty,
+it would be of no use attempting to interfere with Indian usages. But
+the instant the idea that it was Crusoe occurred to Varley he uttered
+a yell of anger, and sprang towards the woman with a bound that caused
+the three Indians to leap to their feet and grasp their tomahawks.
+
+Blunt did not move from the gate, but threw forward his rifle with a
+careless motion, but an expressive glance, that caused the Indians to
+resume their seats and pipes with an emphatic "Wah!" of disgust at
+having been startled out of their propriety by a trifle; while Dick
+Varley snatched poor Crusoe from his dangerous and painful position,
+scowled angrily in the woman's face, and turning on his heel, walked
+up to the house, holding the pup tenderly in his arms.
+
+Joe Blunt gazed after his friend with a grave, solemn expression of
+countenance till he disappeared; then he looked at the ground, and
+shook his head.
+
+Joe was one of the regular out-and-out backwoods hunters, both in
+appearance and in fact--broad, tall, massive, lion-like; gifted with
+the hunting, stalking, running, and trail-following powers of the
+savage, and with a superabundance of the shooting and fighting powers,
+the daring, and dash of the Anglo-Saxon. He was grave, too--seldom
+smiled, and rarely laughed. His expression almost at all times was a
+compound of seriousness and good-humour. With the rifle he was a good,
+steady shot, but by no means a "crack" one. His ball never failed to
+_hit_, but it often failed to _kill_.
+
+After meditating a few seconds, Joe Blunt again shook his head, and
+muttered to himself, "The boy's bold enough, but he's too reckless for
+a hunter. There was no need for that yell, now--none at all."
+
+Having uttered this sagacious remark, he threw his rifle into the
+hollow of his left arm, turned round, and strode off with a long, slow
+step towards his own cottage.
+
+Blunt was an American by birth, but of Irish extraction, and to an
+attentive ear there was a faint echo of the _brogue_ in his tone,
+which seemed to have been handed down to him as a threadbare and
+almost worn-out heirloom.
+
+Poor Crusoe was singed almost naked. His wretched tail seemed little
+better than a piece of wire filed off to a point, and he vented his
+misery in piteous squeaks as the sympathetic Varley confided him
+tenderly to the care of his mother. How Fan managed to cure him no one
+can tell, but cure him she did, for, in the course of a few weeks,
+Crusoe was as well and sleek and fat as ever.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+_A shooting-match and its consequences_--_New friends introduced to
+the reader_--_Crusoe and his mother change masters_.
+
+Shortly after the incident narrated in the last chapter the squatters
+of the Mustang Valley lost their leader. Major Hope suddenly announced
+his intention of quitting the settlement and returning to the
+civilized world. Private matters, he said, required his presence
+there--matters which he did not choose to speak of, but which would
+prevent his returning again to reside among them. Go he must,
+and, being a man of determination, go he did; but before going he
+distributed all his goods and chattels among the settlers. He even
+gave away his rifle, and Fan and Crusoe. These last, however, he
+resolved should go together; and as they were well worth having, he
+announced that he would give them to the best shot in the valley. He
+stipulated that the winner should escort him to the nearest settlement
+eastward, after which he might return with the rifle on his shoulder.
+
+Accordingly, a long level piece of ground on the river's bank, with
+a perpendicular cliff at the end of it, was selected as the
+shooting-ground, and, on the appointed day, at the appointed hour, the
+competitors began to assemble.
+
+"Well, lad, first as usual," exclaimed Joe Blunt, as he reached the
+ground and found Dick Varley there before him.
+
+"I've bin here more than an hour lookin' for a new kind o' flower that
+Jack Morgan told me he'd seen. And I've found it too. Look here; did
+you ever see one like it before?"
+
+Blunt leaned his rifle against a tree, and carefully examined the
+flower.
+
+"Why, yes, I've seed a-many o' them up about the Rocky Mountains, but
+never one here-away. It seems to have gone lost itself. The last
+I seed, if I remimber rightly, wos near the head-waters o' the
+Yellowstone River, it wos--jest where I shot a grizzly bar."
+
+"Was that the bar that gave you the wipe on the cheek?" asked Varley,
+forgetting the flower in his interest about the bear.
+
+"It wos. I put six balls in that bar's carcass, and stuck my knife
+into its heart ten times, afore it gave out; an' it nearly ripped the
+shirt off my back afore I wos done with it."
+
+"I would give my rifle to get a chance at a grizzly!" exclaimed
+Varley, with a sudden burst of enthusiasm.
+
+"Whoever got it wouldn't have much to brag of," remarked a burly young
+backwoodsman, as he joined them.
+
+His remark was true, for poor Dick's weapon was but a sorry affair. It
+missed fire, and it hung fire; and even when it did fire, it remained
+a matter of doubt in its owner's mind whether the slight deviations
+from the direct line made by his bullets were the result of _his_ or
+_its_ bad shooting.
+
+Further comment upon it was checked by the arrival of a dozen or more
+hunters on the scene of action. They were a sturdy set of bronzed,
+bold, fearless men, and one felt, on looking at them, that they would
+prove more than a match for several hundreds of Indians in open fight.
+A few minutes after, the major himself came on the ground with the
+prize rifle on his shoulder, and Fan and Crusoe at his heels--the
+latter tumbling, scrambling, and yelping after its mother, fat and
+clumsy, and happy as possible, having evidently quite forgotten that
+it had been nearly roasted alive only a few weeks before.
+
+Immediately all eyes were on the rifle, and its merits were discussed
+with animation.
+
+And well did it deserve discussion, for such a piece had never before
+been seen on the western frontier. It was shorter in the barrel and
+larger in the bore than the weapons chiefly in vogue at that time,
+and, besides being of beautiful workmanship, was silver-mounted. But
+the grand peculiarity about it, and that which afterwards rendered it
+the mystery of mysteries to the savages, was that it had two sets of
+locks--one percussion, the other flint--so that, when caps failed,
+by taking off the one set of locks and affixing the others, it was
+converted into a flint rifle. The major, however, took care never
+to run short of caps, so that the flint locks were merely held as a
+reserve in case of need.
+
+"Now, lads," cried Major Hope, stepping up to the point whence they
+were to shoot, "remember the terms. He who first drives the nail
+obtains the rifle, Fan, and her pup, and accompanies me to the nearest
+settlement. Each man shoots with his own gun, and draws lots for the
+chance."
+
+"Agreed," cried the men.
+
+"Well, then, wipe your guns and draw lots. Henri will fix the nail.
+Here it is."
+
+The individual who stepped, or rather plunged forward to receive the
+nail was a rare and remarkable specimen of mankind. Like his comrades,
+he was half a farmer and half a hunter. Like them, too, he was clad in
+deerskin, and was tall and strong--nay, more, he was gigantic. But,
+unlike them, he was clumsy, awkward, loose-jointed, and a bad shot.
+Nevertheless Henri was an immense favourite in the settlement, for
+his good-humour knew no bounds. No one ever saw him frown. Even when
+fighting with the savages, as he was sometimes compelled to do in
+self-defence, he went at them with a sort of jovial rage that was
+almost laughable. Inconsiderate recklessness was one of his chief
+characteristics, so that his comrades were rather afraid of him on the
+war-trail or in the hunt, where caution and frequently _soundless_
+motion were essential to success or safety. But when Henri had
+a comrade at his side to check him he was safe enough, being
+humble-minded and obedient. Men used to say he must have been born
+under a lucky star, for, notwithstanding his natural inaptitude for
+all sorts of backwoods life, he managed to scramble through everything
+with safety, often with success, and sometimes with credit.
+
+To see Henri stalk a deer was worth a long day's journey. Joe Blunt
+used to say he was "all jints together, from the top of his head to
+the sole of his moccasin." He threw his immense form into the most
+inconceivable contortions, and slowly wound his way, sometimes on
+hands and knees, sometimes flat, through bush and brake, as if there
+was not a bone in his body, and without the slightest noise. This sort
+of work was so much against his plunging nature that he took long to
+learn it; but when, through hard practice and the loss of many a
+fine deer, he came at length to break himself in to it, he gradually
+progressed to perfection, and ultimately became the best stalker in
+the valley. This, and this alone, enabled him to procure game, for,
+being short-sighted, he could hit nothing beyond fifty yards, except a
+buffalo or a barn-door.
+
+Yet that same lithe body, which seemed as though totally unhinged,
+could no more be bent, when the muscles were strung, than an iron
+post. No one wrestled with Henri unless he wished to have his back
+broken. Few could equal and none could beat him at running or leaping
+except Dick Varley. When Henri ran a race even Joe Blunt laughed
+outright, for arms and legs went like independent flails. When he
+leaped, he hurled himself into space with a degree of violence that
+seemed to insure a somersault; yet he always came down with a crash on
+his feet. Plunging was Henri's forte. He generally lounged about the
+settlement when unoccupied, with his hands behind his back, apparently
+in a reverie, and when called on to act, he seemed to fancy he must
+have lost time, and could only make up for it by _plunging_. This
+habit got him into many awkward scrapes, but his herculean power
+as often got him out of them. He was a French-Canadian, and a
+particularly bad speaker of the English language.
+
+We offer no apology for this elaborate introduction of Henri, for
+he was as good-hearted a fellow as ever lived, and deserves special
+notice.
+
+But to return. The sort of rifle practice called "driving the nail,"
+by which this match was to be decided, was, and we believe still is,
+common among the hunters of the far west. It consisted in this: an
+ordinary large-headed nail was driven a short way into a plank or a
+tree, and the hunters, standing at a distance of fifty yards or so,
+fired at it until they succeeded in driving it home. On the present
+occasion the major resolved to test their shooting by making the
+distance seventy yards.
+
+Some of the older men shook their heads.
+
+"It's too far," said one; "ye might as well try to snuff the nose o' a
+mosquito."
+
+"Jim Scraggs is the only man as'll hit that," said another.
+
+The man referred to was a long, lank, lantern-jawed fellow, with a
+cross-grained expression of countenance. He used the long, heavy
+Kentucky rifle, which, from the ball being little larger than a pea,
+was called a pea-rifle. Jim was no favourite, and had been named
+Scraggs by his companions on account of his appearance.
+
+In a few minutes the lots were drawn, and the shooting began. Each
+hunter wiped out the barrel of his piece with his ramrod as he stepped
+forward; then, placing a ball in the palm of his left hand, he drew
+the stopper of his powder-horn with his teeth, and poured out as much
+powder as sufficed to cover the bullet. This was the regular _measure_
+among them. Little time was lost in firing, for these men did not
+"hang" on their aim. The point of the rifle was slowly raised to the
+object, and the instant the sight covered it the ball sped to its
+mark. In a few minutes the nail was encircled by bullet holes,
+scarcely two of which were more than an inch distant from the mark,
+and one--fired by Joe Blunt--entered the tree close beside it.
+
+"Ah, Joe!" said the major, "I thought you would have carried off the
+prize."
+
+"So did not I, sir," returned Blunt, with a shake of his head. "Had
+it a-bin a half-dollar at a hundred yards, I'd ha' done better, but I
+never _could_ hit the nail. It's too small to _see_."
+
+"That's cos ye've got no eyes," remarked Jim Scraggs, with a sneer, as
+he stepped forward.
+
+All tongues were now hushed, for the expected champion was about to
+fire. The sharp crack of the rifle was followed by a shout, for Jim
+had hit the nail-head on the edge, and part of the bullet stuck to it.
+
+"That wins if there's no better," said the major, scarce able to
+conceal his disappointment. "Who comes next?"
+
+To this question Henri answered by stepping up to the line, straddling
+his legs, and executing preliminary movements with his rifle, that
+seemed to indicate an intention on his part to throw the weapon bodily
+at the mark. He was received with a shout of mingled laughter and
+applause. After gazing steadily at the mark for a few seconds, a broad
+grin overspread his countenance, and looking round at his companions,
+he said,--"Ha! mes boys, I can-not behold de nail at all!"
+
+"Can ye 'behold' the _tree_?" shouted a voice, when the laugh that
+followed this announcement had somewhat abated.
+
+"Oh! oui," replied Henri quite coolly; "I can see _him_, an' a goot
+small bit of de forest beyond."
+
+"Fire at it, then. If ye hit the tree ye desarve the rifle--leastways
+ye ought to get the pup."
+
+Henri grinned again, and fired instantly, without taking aim.
+
+The shot was followed by an exclamation of surprise, for the bullet
+was found close beside the nail.
+
+"It's more be good luck than good shootin'," remarked Jim Scraggs.
+
+"Possiblement," answered Henri modestly, as he retreated to the rear
+and wiped out his rifle; "mais I have kill most of my deer by dat same
+goot luck."
+
+"Bravo, Henri!" said Major Hope as he passed; "you _deserve_ to win,
+anyhow. Who's next?"
+
+"Dick Varley," cried several voices; "where's Varley? Come on,
+youngster, an' take yer shot."
+
+The youth came forward with evident reluctance. "It's of no manner o'
+use," he whispered to Joe Blunt as he passed, "I can't depend on my
+old gun."
+
+"Never give in," whispered Blunt, encouragingly.
+
+Poor Varley's want of confidence in his rifle was merited, for, on
+pulling the trigger, the faithless lock missed fire.
+
+"Lend him another gun," cried several voices.
+
+"'Gainst rules laid down by Major Hope," said Scraggs.
+
+"Well, so it is; try again."
+
+Varley did try again, and so successfully, too, that the ball hit the
+nail on the head, leaving a portion of the lead sticking to its edge.
+
+Of course this was greeted with a cheer, and a loud dispute began as
+to which was the better shot of the two.
+
+"There are others to shoot yet," cried the major. "Make way. Look
+out."
+
+The men fell back, and the few hunters who had not yet fired took
+their shots, but without coming nearer the mark.
+
+It was now agreed that Jim Scraggs and Dick Varley, being the two best
+shots, should try over again, and it was also agreed that Dick should
+have the use of Blunt's rifle. Lots were again drawn for the first
+shot, and it fell to Dick, who immediately stepped out, aimed somewhat
+hastily, and fired.
+
+"Hit again!" shouted those who had run forward to examine the mark.
+"_Half_ the bullet cut off by the nail head!"
+
+Some of the more enthusiastic of Dick's friends cheered lustily, but
+the most of the hunters were grave and silent, for they knew Jim's
+powers, and felt that he would certainly do his best. Jim now stepped
+up to the line, and, looking earnestly at the mark, threw forward his
+rifle.
+
+At that moment our friend Crusoe, tired of tormenting his mother,
+waddled stupidly and innocently into the midst of the crowd of men,
+and in so doing received Henri's heel and the full weight of his
+elephantine body on its fore paw. The horrible and electric yell that
+instantly issued from his agonized throat could only be compared, as
+Joe Blunt expressed it, "to the last dyin' screech o' a bustin'
+steam biler!" We cannot say that the effect was startling, for these
+backwoodsmen had been born and bred in the midst of alarms, and were
+so used to them that a "bustin' steam biler" itself, unless it had
+blown them fairly off their legs, would not have startled them. But
+the effect, such as it was, was sufficient to disconcert the aim of
+Jim Scraggs, who fired at the same instant, and missed the nail by a
+hair's-breadth.
+
+'Turning round in towering wrath, Scraggs aimed a kick at the poor
+pup, which, had it taken effect, would certainly have terminated the
+innocent existence of that remarkable dog on the spot; but quick as
+lightning Henri interposed the butt of his rifle, and Jim's shin met
+it with a violence that caused him to howl with rage and pain.
+
+"Oh! pardon me, broder," cried Henri, shrinking back, with the
+drollest expression of mingled pity and glee.
+
+Jim's discretion, on this occasion, was superior to his valour; he
+turned away with a coarse expression of anger and left the ground.
+
+Meanwhile the major handed the silver rifle to young Varley. "It
+couldn't have fallen into better hands," he said. "You'll do it
+credit, lad, I know that full well; and let me assure you it will
+never play you false. Only keep it clean, don't overcharge it, aim
+true, and it will never miss the mark."
+
+While the hunters crowded round Dick to congratulate him and examine
+the piece, he stood with a mingled feeling of bashfulness and delight
+at his unexpected good fortune. Recovering himself suddenly, he seized
+his old rifle, and dropping quietly to the outskirts of the crowd,
+while the men were still busy handling and discussing the merits of
+the prize, went up, unobserved, to a boy of about thirteen years of
+age, and touched him on the shoulder.
+
+"Here, Marston, you know I often said ye should have the old rifle
+when I was rich enough to get a new one. Take it _now_, lad. It's come
+to ye sooner than either o' us expected."
+
+"Dick," said the boy, grasping his friend's hand warmly, "ye're true
+as heart of oak. It's good of 'ee; that's a fact."
+
+"Not a bit, boy; it costs me nothin' to give away an old gun that I've
+no use for, an's worth little, but it makes me right glad to have the
+chance to do it."
+
+Marston had longed for a rifle ever since he could walk; but his
+prospects of obtaining one were very poor indeed at that time, and it
+is a question whether he did not at that moment experience as much joy
+in handling the old piece as his friend felt in shouldering the prize.
+
+A difficulty now occurred which had not before been thought of. This
+was no less than the absolute refusal of Dick Varley's canine property
+to follow him. Fan had no idea of changing masters without her consent
+being asked or her inclination being consulted.
+
+"You'll have to tie her up for a while, I fear," said the major.
+
+"No fear," answered the youth. "Dog natur's like human natur'!"
+
+Saying this he seized Crusoe by the neck, stuffed him comfortably into
+the bosom of his hunting-shirt, and walked rapidly away with the prize
+rifle on his shoulder.
+
+Fan had not bargained for this. She stood irresolute, gazing now to
+the right and now to the left, as the major retired in one direction
+and Dick with Crusoe in another. Suddenly Crusoe, who, although
+comfortable in body, was ill at ease in spirit, gave utterance to a
+melancholy howl. The mother's love instantly prevailed. For one moment
+she pricked up her ears at the sound, and then, lowering them, trotted
+quietly after her new master, and followed him to his cottage on the
+margin of the lake.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+_Speculative remarks with which the reader may or may not agree--An
+old woman--Hopes and wishes commingled with hard facts--The dog
+Crusoe's education begun_.
+
+It is pleasant to look upon a serene, quiet, humble face. On such a
+face did Richard Varley look every night when he entered his mother's
+cottage. Mrs. Varley was a widow, and she had followed the fortunes of
+her brother, Daniel Hood, ever since the death of her husband. Love
+for her only brother induced her to forsake the peaceful village of
+Maryland and enter upon the wild life of a backwoods settlement.
+Dick's mother was thin, and old, and wrinkled, but her face was
+stamped with a species of beauty which _never_ fades--the beauty of a
+loving look. Ah! the brow of snow and the peach-bloom cheek may snare
+the heart of man for a time, but the _loving look_ alone can forge
+that adamantine chain that time, age, eternity shall never break.
+
+Mistake us not, reader, and bear with us if we attempt to analyze this
+look which characterized Mrs. Varley. A rare diamond is worth stopping
+to glance at, even when one is in a hurry. The brightest jewel in the
+human heart is worth a thought or two. By _a loving_ _look_ we do not
+mean a look of love bestowed on a beloved object. _That_ is common
+enough; and thankful should we be that it is so common in a world
+that's overfull of hatred. Still less do we mean that smile and look
+of intense affection with which some people--good people too--greet
+friend and foe alike, and by which effort to work out their _beau
+ideal_ of the expression of Christian love they do signally damage
+their cause, by saddening the serious and repelling the gay. Much less
+do we mean that _perpetual_ smile of good-will which argues more of
+personal comfort and self-love than anything else. No; the loving look
+we speak of is as often grave as gay. Its character depends very much
+on the face through which it beams. And it cannot be counterfeited.
+Its _ring_ defies imitation. Like the clouded sun of April, it can
+pierce through tears of sorrow; like the noontide sun of summer, it
+can blaze in warm smiles; like the northern lights of winter, it
+can gleam in depths of woe;--but it is always the same, modified,
+doubtless, and rendered more or less patent to others, according to
+the natural amiability of him or her who bestows it. No one can put
+it on; still less can any one put it off. Its range is universal; it
+embraces all mankind, though, _of course_, it is intensified on a few
+favoured objects; its seat is in the depths of a renewed heart, and
+its foundation lies in love to God.
+
+Young Varley's mother lived in a cottage which was of the smallest
+possible dimensions consistent with comfort. It was made of logs, as,
+indeed, were all the other cottages in the valley. The door was in the
+centre, and a passage from it to the back of the dwelling divided it
+into two rooms. One of these was sub-divided by a thin partition,
+the inner room being Mrs. Varley's bedroom, the outer Dick's. Daniel
+Hood's dormitory was a corner of the kitchen, which apartment served
+also as a parlour.
+
+The rooms were lighted by two windows, one on each side of the door,
+which gave to the house the appearance of having a nose and two eyes.
+Houses of this kind have literally got a sort of _expression_ on--if
+we may use the word--their countenances. _Square_ windows give the
+appearance of easy-going placidity; _longish_ ones, that of surprise.
+Mrs. Varley's was a surprise cottage; and this was in keeping with the
+scene in which it stood, for the clear lake in front, studded
+with islands, and the distant hills beyond, composed a scene so
+surprisingly beautiful that it never failed to call forth an
+expression of astonished admiration from every new visitor to the
+Mustang Valley.
+
+"My boy," exclaimed Mrs. Varley, as her son entered the cottage with a
+bound, "why so hurried to-day? Deary me! where got you the grand gun?"
+
+"Won it, mother!"
+
+"Won it, my son?"
+
+"Ay, won it, mother. Druve the nail _almost_, and would ha' druve it
+_altogether_ had I bin more used to Joe Blunt's rifle."
+
+Mrs. Varley's heart beat high, and her face flushed with pride as she
+gazed at her son, who laid the rifle on the table for her inspection,
+while he rattled off an animated and somewhat disjointed account of
+the match.
+
+"Deary me! now that was good, that was cliver. But what's that
+scraping at the door?"
+
+"Oh! that's Fan; I forgot her. Here! here! Fan! Come in, good dog," he
+cried, rising and opening the door.
+
+Fan entered and stopped short, evidently uncomfortable.
+
+"My boy, what do ye with the major's dog?"
+
+"Won her too, mother!"
+
+"Won her, my son?"
+
+"Ay, won her, and the pup too; see, here it is!" and he plucked Crusoe
+from his bosom.
+
+Crusoe having found his position to be one of great comfort had fallen
+into a profound slumber, and on being thus unceremoniously awakened he
+gave forth a yelp of discontent that brought Fan in a state of frantic
+sympathy to his side.
+
+"There you are, Fan; take it to a corner and make yourself at
+home.--Ay, that's right, mother, give her somethin' to eat; she's
+hungry, I know by the look o' her eye."
+
+"Deary me, Dick!" said Mrs. Varley, who now proceeded to spread the
+youth's mid-day meal before him, "did ye drive the nail three times?"
+
+"No, only once, and that not parfetly. Brought 'em all down at one
+shot--rifle, Fan, an' pup!"
+
+"Well, well, now that was cliver; but--." Here the old woman paused
+and looked grave.
+
+"But what, mother?"
+
+"You'll be wantin' to go off to the mountains now, I fear me, boy."
+
+"Wantin' _now_!" exclaimed the youth earnestly; "I'm _always_ wantin'.
+I've bin wantin' ever since I could walk; but I won't go till you let
+me, mother, that I won't!" And he struck the table with his fist so
+forcibly that the platters rung again.
+
+"You're a good boy, Dick; but you're too young yit to ventur' among
+the Redskins."
+
+"An' yit, if I don't ventur' young, I'd better not ventur' at all. You
+know, mother dear, I don't want to leave you; but I was born to be a
+hunter, and everybody in them parts is a hunter, and I can't hunt in
+the kitchen you know, mother!"
+
+At this point the conversation was interrupted by a sound that caused
+young Varley to spring up and seize his rifle, and Fan to show her
+teeth and growl.
+
+"Hist, mother! that's like horses' hoofs," he whispered, opening the
+door and gazing intently in the direction whence the sound came.
+
+Louder and louder it came, until an opening in the forest showed the
+advancing cavalcade to be a party of white men. In another moment
+they were in full view--a band of about thirty horsemen, clad in the
+leathern costume and armed with the long rifle of the far west.
+Some wore portions of the gaudy Indian dress, which gave to them a
+brilliant, dashing look. They came on straight for the block-house,
+and saluted the Varleys with a jovial cheer as they swept past at full
+speed. Dick returned the cheer with compound interest, and calling
+out, "They're trappers, mother; I'll be back in an hour," bounded off
+like a deer through the woods, taking a short cut in order to reach
+the block-house before them. He succeeded, for, just as he arrived at
+the house, the cavalcade wheeled round the bend in the river, dashed
+up the slope, and came to a sudden halt on the green. Vaulting from
+their foaming steeds they tied them to the stockades of the little
+fortress, which they entered in a body.
+
+Hot haste was in every motion of these men. They were trappers, they
+said, on their way to the Rocky Mountains to hunt and trade furs. But
+one of their number had been treacherously murdered and scalped by a
+Pawnee chief, and they resolved to revenge his death by an attack on
+one of the Pawnee villages. They would teach these "red reptiles" to
+respect white men, they would, come of it what might; and they had
+turned aside here to procure an additional supply of powder and lead.
+
+In vain did the major endeavour to dissuade these reckless men from
+their purpose. They scoffed at the idea of returning good for evil,
+and insisted on being supplied. The log hut was a store as well as
+a place of defence, and as they offered to pay for it there was no
+refusing their request--at least so the major thought. The ammunition
+was therefore given to them, and in half-an-hour they were away
+again at full gallop over the plains on their mission of vengeance.
+"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." But these men knew
+not what God said, because they never read his Word and did not own
+his sway.
+
+Young Varley's enthusiasm was considerably damped when he learned the
+errand on which the trappers were bent. From that time forward he gave
+up all desire to visit the mountains in company with such men, but he
+still retained an intense longing to roam at large among their rocky
+fastnesses and gallop out upon the wide prairies.
+
+Meanwhile he dutifully tended his mother's cattle and sheep, and
+contented himself with an occasional deer-hunt in the neighbouring
+forests. He devoted himself also to the training of his dog Crusoe--an
+operation which at first cost him many a deep sigh.
+
+Every one has heard of the sagacity and almost reasoning capabilities
+of the Newfoundland dog. Indeed, some have even gone the length of
+saying that what is called instinct in these animals is neither more
+nor less than reason. And in truth many of the noble, heroic, and
+sagacious deeds that have actually been performed by Newfoundland dogs
+incline us almost to believe that, like man, they are gifted with
+reasoning powers.
+
+But every one does not know the trouble and patience that is required
+in order to get a juvenile dog to understand what its master means
+when he is endeavouring to instruct it.
+
+Crusoe's first lesson was an interesting but not a very successful
+one. We may remark here that Dick Varley had presented Fan to his
+mother to be her watch-dog, resolving to devote all his powers to the
+training of the pup. We may also remark, in reference to Crusoe's
+appearance (and we did not remark it sooner, chiefly because up to
+this period in his eventful history he was little better than a ball
+of fat and hair), that his coat was mingled jet-black and pure white,
+and remarkably glossy, curly, and thick.
+
+A week after the shooting-match Crusoe's education began. Having fed
+him for that period with his own hand, in order to gain his affection,
+Dick took him out one sunny forenoon to the margin of the lake to give
+him his first lesson.
+
+And here again we must pause to remark that, although a dog's heart is
+generally gained in the first instance through his mouth, yet, after
+it is thoroughly gained, his affection is noble and disinterested. He
+can scarcely be driven from his master's side by blows; and even when
+thus harshly repelled, is always ready, on the shortest notice and
+with the slightest encouragement, to make it up again.
+
+Well; Dick Varley began by calling out, "Crusoe! Crusoe! come here,
+pup."
+
+Of course Crusoe knew his name by this time, for it had been so often
+used as a prelude to his meals that he naturally expected a feed
+whenever he heard it. This portal to his brain had already been open
+for some days; but all the other doors were fast locked, and it
+required a great deal of careful picking to open them.
+
+"Now, Crusoe, come here."
+
+Crusoe bounded clumsily to his master's side, cocked his ears, and
+wagged his tail,--so far his education was perfect. We say he bounded
+_clumsily_, for it must be remembered that he was still a very young
+pup, with soft, flabby muscles.
+
+"Now, I'm goin' to begin yer edication, pup; think o' that."
+
+Whether Crusoe thought of that or not we cannot say, but he looked
+up in his master's face as he spoke, cocked his ears very high, and
+turned his head slowly to one side, until it could not turn any
+farther in that direction; then he turned it as much to the other
+side; whereat his master burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter,
+and Crusoe immediately began barking vociferously.
+
+"Come, come," said Dick, suddenly checking his mirth, "we mustn't
+play, pup, we must work."
+
+Drawing a leathern mitten from his belt, the youth held it to Crusoe's
+nose, and then threw it a yard away, at the same time exclaiming in a
+loud, distinct tone, "Fetch it."
+
+Crusoe entered at once into the spirit of this part of his training;
+he dashed gleefully at the mitten, and proceeded to worry it with
+intense gratification. As for "Fetch it," he neither understood the
+words nor cared a straw about them.
+
+Dick Varley rose immediately, and rescuing the mitten, resumed his
+seat on a rock.
+
+"Come here, Crusoe," he repeated.
+
+"Oh! certainly, by all means," said Crusoe--no! he didn't exactly
+_say_ it, but really he _looked_ these words so evidently that we
+think it right to let them stand as they are written. If he could have
+finished the sentence, he would certainly have said, "Go on with that
+game over again, old boy; it's quite to my taste--the jolliest thing
+in life, I assure you!" At least, if we may not positively assert that
+he would have said that, no one else can absolutely affirm that he
+wouldn't.
+
+Well, Dick Varley did do it over again, and Crusoe worried the mitten
+over again, utterly regardless of "Fetch it."
+
+Then they did it again, and again, and again, but without the
+slightest apparent advancement in the path of canine knowledge; and
+then they went home.
+
+During all this trying operation Dick Varley never once betrayed the
+slightest feeling of irritability or impatience. He did not expect
+success at first; he was not therefore disappointed at failure.
+
+Next day he had him out again--and the next--and the next--and the
+next again, with the like unfavourable result. In short, it seemed at
+last as if Crusoe's mind had been deeply imbued with the idea that he
+had been born expressly for the purpose of worrying that mitten, and
+he meant to fulfil his destiny to the letter.
+
+Young Varley had taken several small pieces of meat in his pocket each
+day, with the intention of rewarding Crusoe when he should at length
+be prevailed on to fetch the mitten; but as Crusoe was not aware of
+the treat that awaited him, of course the mitten never was "fetched."
+
+At last Dick Varley saw that this system would never do, so he changed
+his tactics, and the next morning gave Crusoe no breakfast, but took
+him out at the usual hour to go through his lesson. This new course of
+conduct seemed to perplex Crusoe not a little, for on his way down to
+the beach he paused frequently and looked back at the cottage,
+and then expressively up at his master's face. But the master was
+inexorable; he went on, and Crusoe followed, for _true_ love had
+now taken possession of the pup's young heart, and he preferred his
+master's company to food.
+
+Varley now began by letting the learner smell a piece of meat, which
+he eagerly sought to devour, but was prevented, to his immense
+disgust. Then the mitten was thrown as heretofore, and Crusoe made a
+few steps towards it, but being in no mood for play he turned back.
+
+"Fetch it," said the teacher.
+
+"I won't," replied the learner mutely, by means of that expressive
+sign--_not doing it_.
+
+Hereupon Dick Varley rose, took up the mitten, and put it into the
+pup's mouth. Then, retiring a couple of yards, he held out the piece
+of meat and said, "Fetch it."
+
+Crusoe instantly spat out the glove and bounded towards the meat--once
+more to be disappointed.
+
+This was done a second time, and Crusoe came forward _with the mitten
+in his mouth_. It seemed as if it had been done accidentally, for he
+dropped it before coming quite up. If so, it was a fortunate accident,
+for it served as the tiny fulcrum on which to place the point of that
+mighty lever which was destined ere long to raise him to the pinnacle
+of canine erudition. Dick Varley immediately lavished upon him the
+tenderest caresses and gave him a lump of meat. But he quickly tried
+it again lest he should lose the lesson. The dog evidently felt that
+if he did not fetch that mitten he should have no meat or caresses. In
+order, however, to make sure that there was no mistake, Dick laid the
+mitten down beside the pup, instead of putting it into his mouth, and,
+retiring a few paces, cried, "Fetch it."
+
+
+Crusoe looked uncertain for a moment, then he picked up the mitten and
+laid it at his master's feet. The lesson was learned at last! Dick
+Varley tumbled all the meat out of his pocket on the ground, and,
+while Crusoe made a hearty breakfast, he sat down on a rock and
+whistled with glee at having fairly picked the lock, and opened
+_another_ door into one of the many chambers of his dog's intellect.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+_Our hero enlarged upon--Grumps_.
+
+
+Two years passed away. The Mustang Valley settlement advanced
+prosperously, despite one or two attacks made upon it by the savages,
+who were, however, firmly repelled. Dick Varley had now become a man,
+and his pup Crusoe had become a full-grown dog. The "silver rifle," as
+Dick's weapon had come to be named, was well known among the hunters
+and the Redskins of the border-lands, and in Dick's hands its bullets
+were as deadly as its owner's eye was quick and true.
+
+Crusoe's education, too, had been completed. Faithfully and patiently
+had his young master trained his mind, until he fitted him to be
+a meet companion in the hunt. To "carry" and "fetch" were now but
+trifling portions of the dog's accomplishments. He could dive a fathom
+deep in the lake and bring up any article that might have been dropped
+or thrown in. His swimming powers were marvellous, and so powerful
+were his muscles that he seemed to spurn the water while passing
+through it, with his broad chest high out of the curling wave, at a
+speed that neither man nor beast could keep up with for a moment. His
+intellect now was sharp and quick as a needle; he never required a
+second bidding. When Dick went out hunting, he used frequently to drop
+a mitten or a powder-horn unknown to the dog, and after walking miles
+away from it, would stop short and look down into the mild, gentle
+face of his companion.
+
+"Crusoe," he said, in the same quiet tones with which he would have
+addressed a human friend, "I've dropped my mitten; go fetch it, pup."
+Dick continued to call it "pup" from habit.
+
+One glance of intelligence passed from Crusoe's eye, and in a moment
+he was away at full gallop, nor did he rest until the lost article was
+lying at his master's feet. Dick was loath to try how far back on his
+track Crusoe would run if desired. He had often gone back five and six
+miles at a stretch; but his powers did not stop here. He could carry
+articles back to the spot from which they had been taken and leave
+them there. He could head the game that his master was pursuing and
+turn it back; and he would guard any object he was desired to "watch"
+with unflinching constancy. But it would occupy too much space and
+time to enumerate all Crusoe's qualities and powers. His biography
+will unfold them.
+
+In personal appearance he was majestic, having grown to an immense
+size even for a Newfoundland. Had his visage been at all wolfish in
+character, his aspect would have been terrible. But he possessed in an
+eminent degree that mild, humble expression of face peculiar to his
+race. When roused or excited, and especially when bounding through the
+forest with the chase in view, he was absolutely magnificent. At other
+times his gait was slow, and he seemed to prefer a quiet walk with
+Dick Varley to anything else under the sun. But when Dick was inclined
+to be boisterous, Crusoe's tail and ears rose at a moment's notice,
+and he was ready for anything. Moreover, he obeyed commands instantly
+and implicitly. In this respect he put to shame most of the boys of
+the settlement, who were by no means famed for their habits of prompt
+obedience.
+
+Crusoe's eye was constantly watching the face of his master. When Dick
+said "Go" he went, when he said "Come" he came. If he had been in the
+midst of an excited bound at the throat of a stag, and Dick had called
+out, "Down, Crusoe," he would have sunk to the earth like a stone. No
+doubt it took many months of training to bring the dog to this state
+of perfection, but Dick accomplished it by patience, perseverance, and
+_love_.
+
+Besides all this, Crusoe could speak! He spoke by means of the dog's
+dumb alphabet in a way that defies description. He conversed, so to
+speak, with his extremities--his head and his tail. But his eyes, his
+soft brown eyes, were the chief medium of communication. If ever the
+language of the eyes was carried to perfection, it was exhibited in
+the person of Crusoe. But, indeed, it would be difficult to say
+which part of his expressive face expressed most--the cocked ears of
+expectation, the drooped ears of sorrow; the bright, full eye of
+joy, the half-closed eye of contentment, and the frowning eye of
+indignation accompanied with a slight, a very slight pucker of the
+nose and a gleam of dazzling ivory--ha! no enemy ever saw this last
+piece of canine language without a full appreciation of what it meant.
+Then as to the tail--the modulations of meaning in the varied wag
+of that expressive member--oh! it's useless to attempt description.
+Mortal man cannot conceive of the delicate shades of sentiment
+expressible by a dog's tail, unless he has studied the subject--the
+wag, the waggle, the cock, the droop, the slope, the wriggle! Away
+with description--it is impotent and valueless here!
+
+As we have said, Crusoe was meek and mild. He had been bitten, on the
+sly, by half the ill-natured curs in the settlement, and had only
+shown his teeth in return. He had no enmities--though several
+enemies--and he had a thousand friends, particularly among the ranks
+of the weak and the persecuted, whom he always protected and avenged
+when opportunity offered. A single instance of this kind will serve to
+show his character.
+
+One day Dick and Crusoe were sitting on a rock beside the lake--the
+same identical rock near which, when a pup, the latter had received
+his first lesson. They were conversing as usual, for Dick had elicited
+such a fund of intelligence from the dog's mind, and had injected such
+wealth of wisdom into it, that he felt convinced it understood every
+word he said.
+
+"This is capital weather, Crusoe; ain't it, pup?"
+
+Crusoe made a motion with his head which was quite as significant as a
+nod.
+
+"Ha! my pup, I wish that you and I might go and have a slap at the
+grizzly bars, and a look at the Rocky Mountains. Wouldn't it be nuts,
+pup?"
+
+Crusoe looked dubious.
+
+"What, you don't agree with me! Now tell me, pup, wouldn't ye like to
+grip a bar?"
+
+Still Crusoe looked dubious, but made a gentle motion with his tail,
+as though he would have said, "I've seen neither Rocky Mountains nor
+grizzly bars, and know nothin' about 'em, but I'm open to conviction."
+
+"You're a brave pup," rejoined Dick, stroking the dog's huge head
+affectionately. "I wouldn't give you for ten times your weight in
+golden dollars--if there be sich things."
+
+Crusoe made no reply whatever to this. He regarded it as a truism
+unworthy of notice; he evidently felt that a comparison between love
+and dollars was preposterous.
+
+At this point in the conversation a little dog with a lame leg hobbled
+to the edge of the rocks in front of the spot where Dick was seated,
+and looked down into the water, which was deep there. Whether it did
+so for the purpose of admiring its very plain visage in the liquid
+mirror, or finding out what was going on among the fish, we cannot
+say, as it never told us; but at that moment a big, clumsy,
+savage-looking dog rushed out from the neighbouring thicket and began
+to worry it.
+
+"Punish him, Crusoe," said Dick quickly.
+
+Crusoe made one bound that a lion might have been proud of, and
+seizing the aggressor by the back, lifted him off his legs and held
+him, howling, in the air--at the same time casting a look towards his
+master for further instructions.
+
+"Pitch him in," said Dick, making a sign with his hand.
+
+Crusoe turned and quietly dropped the dog into the lake. Having
+regarded his struggles there for a few moments with grave severity of
+countenance, he walked slowly back and sat down beside his master.
+
+The little dog made good its retreat as fast as three legs would carry
+it; and the surly dog, having swum ashore, retired sulkily, with his
+tail very much between his legs.
+
+Little wonder, then, that Crusoe was beloved by great and small among
+the well-disposed of the canine tribe of the Mustang Valley.
+
+But Crusoe was not a mere machine. When not actively engaged in Dick
+Varley's service, he busied himself with private little matters of his
+own. He undertook modest little excursions into the woods or along the
+margin of the lake, sometimes alone, but more frequently with a little
+friend whose whole heart and being seemed to be swallowed up in
+admiration of his big companion. Whether Crusoe botanized or
+geologized on these excursions we will not venture to say. Assuredly
+he seemed as though he did both, for he poked his nose into every bush
+and tuft of moss, and turned over the stones, and dug holes in the
+ground--and, in short, if he did not understand these sciences, he
+behaved very much as if he did. Certainly he knew as much about them
+as many of the human species do.
+
+In these walks he never took the slightest notice of Grumps (that
+was the little dog's name), but Grumps made up for this by taking
+excessive notice of him. When Crusoe stopped, Grumps stopped and sat
+down to look at him. When Crusoe trotted on, Grumps trotted on too.
+When Crusoe examined a bush, Grumps sat down to watch him; and when he
+dug a hole, Grumps looked into it to see what was there. Grumps never
+helped him; his sole delight was in looking on. They didn't converse
+much, these two dogs. To be in each other's company seemed to be
+happiness enough--at least Grumps thought so.
+
+There was one point at which Grumps stopped short, however, and ceased
+to follow his friend, and that was when he rushed headlong into the
+lake and disported himself for an hour at a time in its cool waters.
+Crusoe was, both by nature and training, a splendid water-dog. Grumps,
+on the contrary, held water in abhorrence; so he sat on the shore of
+the lake disconsolate when his friend was bathing, and waited till he
+came out. The only time when Grumps was thoroughly nonplussed was when
+Dick Varley's whistle sounded faintly in the far distance. Then Crusoe
+would prick up his ears and stretch out at full gallop, clearing
+ditch, and fence, and brake with his strong elastic bound, and leaving
+Grumps to patter after him as fast as his four-inch legs would carry
+him. Poor Grumps usually arrived at the village to find both dog and
+master gone, and would betake himself to his own dwelling, there to
+lie down and sleep, and dream, perchance, of rambles and gambols with
+his gigantic friend.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+_A mission of peace--Unexpected joys--Dick and Crusoe set off for the
+land of the Redskins, and meet with adventures by the way as a matter
+of course--Night in the wild woods_.
+
+
+One day the inhabitants of Mustang Valley were thrown into
+considerable excitement by the arrival of an officer of the United
+States army and a small escort of cavalry. They went direct to the
+blockhouse, which, since Major Hope's departure, had become the
+residence of Joe Blunt--that worthy having, by general consent, been
+deemed the fittest man in the settlement to fill the major's place.
+
+Soon it began to be noised abroad that the strangers had been sent by
+Government to endeavour to bring about, if possible, a more friendly
+state of feeling between the Whites and the Indians by means of
+presents, and promises, and fair speeches.
+
+The party remained all night in the block-house, and ere long it was
+reported that Joe Blunt had been requested, and had consented, to be
+the leader and chief of a party of three men who should visit the
+neighbouring tribes of Indians to the west and north of the valley as
+Government agents. Joe's knowledge of two or three different Indian
+dialects, and his well-known sagacity, rendered him a most fitting
+messenger on such an errand. It was also whispered that Joe was to
+have the choosing of his comrades in this mission, and many were the
+opinions expressed and guesses made as to who would be chosen.
+
+That same evening Dick Varley was sitting in his mother's kitchen
+cleaning his rifle. His mother was preparing supper, and talking
+quietly about the obstinacy of a particular hen that had taken to
+laying her eggs in places where they could not be found. Fan was
+coiled up in a corner sound asleep, and Crusoe was sitting at one side
+of the fire looking on at things in general.
+
+"I wonder," remarked Mrs. Varley, as she spread the table with a pure
+white napkin--"I wonder what the sodgers are doin' wi' Joe Blunt."
+
+As often happens when an individual is mentioned, the worthy referred
+to opened the door at that moment and stepped into the room.
+
+"Good e'en t'ye, dame," said the stout hunter, doffing his cap, and
+resting his rifle in a corner, while Dick rose and placed a chair for
+him.
+
+"The same to you, Master Blunt," answered the widow; "you've jist
+comed in good time for a cut o' venison."
+
+"Thanks, mistress; I s'pose we're beholden to the silver rifle for
+that."
+
+"To the hand that aimed it, rather," suggested the widow.
+
+"Nay, then, say raither to the dog that turned it," said Dick Varley.
+"But for Crusoe, that buck would ha' bin couched in the woods this
+night."
+
+"Oh! if it comes to that," retorted Joe, "I'd lay it to the door o'
+Fan, for if she'd niver bin born nother would Crusoe. But it's good
+an' tender meat, whativer ways ye got it. Howsiver, I've other things
+to talk about jist now. Them sodgers that are eatin' buffalo tongues
+up at the block-house as if they'd niver ate meat before, and didn't
+hope to eat again for a twelvemonth--"
+
+"Ay, what o' them?" interrupted Mrs. Varley; "I've bin wonderin' what
+was their errand."
+
+"Of coorse ye wos, Dame Varley, and I've comed here a purpis to tell
+ye. They want me to go to the Redskins to make peace between them
+and us; and they've brought a lot o' goods to make them presents
+withal--beads, an' knives, an' lookin'-glasses, an' vermilion paint,
+an' sich like, jist as much as'll be a light load for one horse--for,
+ye see, nothin' can be done wi' the Redskins without gifts."
+
+"'Tis a blessed mission," said the widow; "I wish it may succeed. D'ye
+think ye'll go?"
+
+"Go? ay, that will I."
+
+"I only wish they'd made the offer to me," said Dick with a sigh.
+
+"An' so they do make the offer, lad. They've gin me leave to choose
+the two men I'm to take with me, and I've corned straight to ask
+_you_. Ay or no, for we must up an' away by break o' day to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Varley started. "So soon?" she said, with a look of anxiety.
+
+"Ay; the Pawnees are at the Yellow Creek jist at this time, but I've
+heerd they're 'bout to break up camp an' away west; so we'll need to
+use haste."
+
+"May I go, mother?" asked Dick, with a look of anxiety.
+
+There was evidently a conflict in the widow's breast, but it quickly
+ceased.
+
+"Yes, my boy," she said in her own low, quiet voice; "and God go with
+ye. I knew the time must come soon, an' I thank him that your first
+visit to the Redskins will be on an errand o' peace. 'Blessed are the
+peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of God.'"
+
+Dick grasped his mother's hand and pressed it to his cheek in silence.
+At the same moment Crusoe, seeing that the deeper feelings of his
+master were touched, and deeming it his duty to sympathize, rose up
+and thrust his nose against him.
+
+"Ah, pup," cried the young man hastily, "you must go too.--Of course
+Crusoe goes, Joe Blunt?"
+
+"Hum! I don't know that. There's no dependin' on a dog to keep his
+tongue quiet in times o' danger."
+
+"Believe me," exclaimed Dick, flashing with enthusiasm, "Crusoe's more
+trustworthy than I am myself. If ye can trust the master, ye're safe
+to trust the pup."
+
+"Well, lad, ye may be right. We'll take him."
+
+"Thanks, Joe. And who else goes with us?"
+
+"I've' bin castin' that in my mind for some time, an' I've fixed
+to take Henri. He's not the safest man in the valley, but he's the
+truest, that's a fact. And now, youngster, get yer horse an' rifle
+ready, and come to the block-house at daybreak to-morrow.--Good luck
+to ye, mistress, till we meet agin."
+
+Joe Blunt rose, and taking up his rifle--without which he scarcely
+ever moved a foot from his own door--left the cottage with rapid
+strides.
+
+"My son," said Mrs. Varley, kissing Dick's cheek as he resumed
+his seat, "put this in the little pocket I made for it in your
+hunting-shirt."
+
+
+She handed him a small pocket Bible.
+
+"Dear mother," he said, as he placed the book carefully within the
+breast of his coat, "the Redskin that takes that from me must take my
+scalp first. But don't fear for me. You've often said the Lord would
+protect me. So he will, mother, for sure it's an errand o' peace."
+
+"Ay that's it, that's it," murmured the widow in a half-soliloquy.
+
+Dick Varley spent that night in converse with his mother, and next
+morning at daybreak he was at the place of meeting, mounted on his
+sturdy little horse, with the "silver rifle" on his shoulder and
+Crusoe by his side.
+
+"That's right, lad, that's right. Nothin' like keepin' yer time," said
+Joe, as he led out a pack-horse from the gate of the block-house,
+while his own charger was held ready saddled by a man named Daniel
+Brand, who had been appointed to the charge of the block-house in his
+absence.
+
+"Where's Henri?--oh, here he comes!" exclaimed Dick, as the hunter
+referred to came thundering up the slope at a charge, on a horse
+that resembled its rider in size and not a little in clumsiness of
+appearance.
+
+"Ah! mes boy. Him is a goot one to go," cried
+
+Henri, remarking Dick's smile as he pulled up. "No hoss on de plain
+can beat dis one, surement."
+
+"Now then, Henri, lend a hand to fix this pack; we've no time to
+palaver."
+
+By this time they were joined by several of the soldiers and a few
+hunters who had come to see them start.
+
+"Remember, Joe," said one, "if you don't come back in three months
+we'll all come out in a band to seek you."
+
+"If we don't come back in less than that time, what's left o' us won't
+be worth seekin' for," said Joe, tightening the girth of his saddle.
+
+"Put a bit in yer own mouth, Henri," cried another, as the Canadian
+arranged his steed's bridle; "yell need it more than yer horse when ye
+git 'mong the red reptiles."
+
+"Vraiment, if mon mout' needs one bit, yours will need one padlock."
+
+"Now, lads, mount!" cried Joe Blunt as he vaulted into the saddle.
+
+Dick Varley sprang lightly on his horse, and Henri made a rush at his
+steed and hurled his huge frame across its back with a violence that
+ought to have brought it to the ground; but the tall, raw-boned,
+broad-chested roan was accustomed to the eccentricities of its master,
+and stood the shock bravely. Being appointed to lead the pack-horse,
+Henri seized its halter. Then the three cavaliers shook their reins,
+and, waving their hands to their comrades, they sprang into the woods
+at full gallop, and laid their course for the "far west."
+
+For some time they galloped side by side in silence, each occupied
+with his own thoughts, Crusoe keeping close beside his master's horse.
+The two elder hunters evidently ruminated on the object of their
+mission and the prospects of success, for their countenances were
+grave and their eyes cast on the ground. Dick Varley, too, thought
+upon the Red-men, but his musings were deeply tinged with the bright
+hues of a _first_ adventure. The mountains, the plains, the Indians,
+the bears, the buffaloes, and a thousand other objects, danced wildly
+before his mind's eye, and his blood careered through his veins and
+flushed his forehead as he thought of what he should see and do, and
+felt the elastic vigour of youth respond in sympathy to the light
+spring of his active little steed. He was a lover of nature, too, and
+his flashing eyes glanced observantly from side to side as they swept
+along--sometimes through glades of forest trees, sometimes through
+belts of more open ground and shrubbery; anon by the margin of a
+stream or along the shores of a little lake, and often over short
+stretches of flowering prairie-land--while the firm, elastic turf sent
+up a muffled sound from the tramp of their mettlesome chargers. It was
+a scene of wild, luxuriant beauty, that might almost (one could fancy)
+have drawn involuntary homage to its bountiful Creator from the lips
+even of an infidel.
+
+After a time Joe Blunt reined up, and they proceeded at an easy
+ambling pace. Joe and his friend Henri were so used to these beautiful
+scenes that they had long ceased to be enthusiastically affected by
+them, though they never ceased to delight in them.
+
+"I hope," said Joe, "that them sodgers'll go their ways soon. I've no
+notion o' them chaps when they're left at a place wi' nothin' to do
+but whittle sticks."
+
+"Why, Joe!" exclaimed Dick Varley in a tone of surprise, "I thought
+you were admirin' the beautiful face o' nature all this time, and
+ye're only thinkin' about the sodgers. Now, that's strange!"
+
+"Not so strange after all, lad," answered Joe. "When a man's used to a
+thing, he gits to admire an' enjoy it without speakin' much about it.
+But it _is_ true, boy, that mankind gits in coorse o' time to think
+little o' the blissin's he's used to."
+
+"Oui, c'est _vrai_!" murmured Henri emphatically.
+
+"Well, Joe Blunt, it may be so, but I'm thankful _I'm_ not used
+to this sort o' thing yet," exclaimed Varley. "Let's have another
+gallop--so ho! come along, Crusoe!" shouted the youth as he shook his
+reins and flew over a long stretch of prairie on which at that moment
+they entered.
+
+Joe smiled as he followed his enthusiastic companion, but after a
+short run he pulled up.
+
+"Hold on, youngster," he cried; "ye must larn to do as ye're bid, lad.
+It's trouble enough to be among wild Injuns and wild buffaloes, as I
+hope soon to be, without havin' wild comrades to look after."
+
+Dick laughed, and reined in his panting horse. "I'll be as obedient as
+Crusoe," he said, "and no one can beat him."
+
+"Besides," continued Joe, "the horses won't travel far if we begin by
+runnin' all the wind out o' them."
+
+"Wah!" exclaimed Henri, as the led horse became restive; "I think we
+must give to him de pack-hoss for to lead, eh?"
+
+"Not a bad notion, Henri. We'll make that the penalty of runnin' off
+again; so look out, Master Dick."
+
+"I'm down," replied Dick, with a modest air, "obedient as a baby, and
+won't run off again--till--the next time. By the way, Joe, how many
+days' provisions did ye bring?"
+
+"Two. That's 'nough to carry us to the Great Prairie, which is
+three weeks distant from this. Our own good rifles must make up the
+difference, and keep us when we get there."
+
+"And s'pose we neither find deer nor buffalo," suggested Dick.
+
+"I s'pose we'll have to starve."
+
+"Dat is cumfer'able to tink upon," remarked Henri.
+
+"More comfortable to think o' than to undergo," said Dick; "but I
+s'pose there's little chance o' that."
+
+"Well, not much," replied Joe Blunt, patting his horse's neck, "but
+d'ye see, lad, ye niver can count for sartin on anythin'. The deer and
+buffalo ought to be thick in them plains at this time--and when the
+buffalo _are_ thick they covers the plains till ye can hardly see the
+end o' them; but, ye see, sometimes the rascally Redskins takes it
+into their heads to burn the prairies, and sometimes ye find the place
+that should ha' bin black wi' buffalo, black as a coal wi' fire for
+miles an' miles on end. At other times the Redskins go huntin' in
+'ticlur places, and sweeps them clean o' every hoof that don't git
+away. Sometimes, too, the animals seems to take a scunner at a place,
+and keeps out o' the way. But one way or another men gin' rally manage
+to scramble through."
+
+"Look yonder, Joe," exclaimed Dick, pointing to the summit of a
+distant ridge, where a small black object was seen moving against the
+sky, "that's a deer, ain't it?"
+
+Joe shaded his eyes with his hand, and gazed earnestly at the object
+in question. "Ye're right, boy; and by good luck we've got the wind
+of him. Cut in an' take your chance now. There's a long strip o' wood
+as'll let ye git close to him."
+
+Before the sentence was well finished Dick and Crusoe were off at full
+gallop. For a few hundred yards they coursed along the bottom of a
+hollow; then turning to the right they entered the strip of wood, and
+in a few minutes gained the edge of it. Here Dick dismounted.
+
+"You can't help me here, Crusoe. Stay where you are, pup, and hold my
+horse."
+
+Crusoe seized the end of the line, which was fastened to the horse's
+nose, in his mouth, and lay down on a hillock of moss, submissively
+placing his chin on his forepaws, and watching his master as he
+stepped noiselessly through the wood. In a few minutes Dick emerged
+from among the trees, and creeping from bush to bush, succeeded in
+getting to within six hundred yards of the deer, which was a beautiful
+little antelope. Beyond the bush behind which he now crouched all was
+bare open ground, without a shrub or a hillock large enough to conceal
+the hunter. There was a slight undulation in the ground, however,
+which enabled him to advance about fifty yards farther, by means of
+lying down quite flat and working himself forward like a serpent.
+Farther than this he could not move without being seen by the
+antelope, which browsed on the ridge before him in fancied security.
+The distance was too great even for a long shot; but Dick knew of
+a weak point in this little creature's nature which enabled him to
+accomplish his purpose--a weak point which it shares in common with
+animals of a higher order--namely, curiosity.
+
+The little antelope of the North American prairies is intensely
+curious about everything that it does not quite understand, and will
+not rest satisfied until it has endeavoured to clear up the mystery.
+Availing himself of this propensity, Dick did what both Indians and
+hunters are accustomed to do on these occasions--he put a piece of
+rag on the end of his ramrod, and keeping his person concealed and
+perfectly still, waved this miniature flag in the air. The antelope
+noticed it at once, and, pricking up its ears, began to advance,
+timidly and slowly, step by step, to see what remarkable phenomenon
+it could be. In a few seconds the flag was lowered, a sharp crack
+followed, and the antelope fell dead upon the plain.
+
+"Ha, boy! that's a good supper, anyhow," cried Joe, as he galloped up
+and dismounted.
+
+"Goot! dat is better nor dried meat," added Henri. "Give him to me; I
+will put him on my hoss, vich is strongar dan yourn. But ver is your
+hoss?"
+
+"He'll be here in a minute," replied Dick, putting his fingers to his
+mouth and giving forth a shrill whistle.
+
+The instant Crusoe heard the sound he made a savage and apparently
+uncalled-for dash at the horse's heels. This wild act, so contrary to
+the dog's gentle nature, was a mere piece of acting. He knew that the
+horse would not advance without getting a fright, so he gave him one
+in this way, which sent him off at a gallop. Crusoe followed close at
+his heels, so as to bring the line alongside of the nag's body, and
+thereby prevent its getting entangled; but despite his best efforts
+the horse got on one side of a tree and he on the other, so he wisely
+let go his hold of the line, and waited till more open ground enabled
+him to catch it again. Then he hung heavily back, gradually checked
+the horse's speed, and finally trotted him up to his master's side.
+
+"'Tis a cliver cur, good sooth," exclaimed Joe Blunt in surprise.
+
+"Ah, Joe! you haven't seen much of Crusoe yet. He's as good as a man
+any day. I've done little else but train him for two years gone by,
+and he can do most anything but shoot--he can't handle the rifle
+nohow."
+
+"Ha! then, I tink perhaps hims could if he wos try," said Henri,
+plunging on to his horse with a laugh, and arranging the carcass of
+the antelope across the pommel of his saddle.
+
+Thus they hunted and galloped, and trotted and ambled on through wood
+and plain all day, until the sun began to descend below the tree-tops
+of the bluffs on the west. Then Joe Blunt looked about him for a place
+on which to camp, and finally fixed on a spot under the shadow of a
+noble birch by the margin of a little stream. The carpet of grass on
+its banks was soft like green velvet, and the rippling waters of the
+brook were clear as crystal--very different from the muddy Missouri
+into which it flowed.
+
+While Dick Varley felled and cut up firewood, Henri unpacked the
+horses and turned them loose to graze, and Joe kindled the fire and
+prepared venison steaks and hot tea for supper.
+
+In excursions of this kind it is customary to "hobble" the
+horses--that is, to tie their fore-legs together, so that they cannot
+run either fast or far, but are free enough to amble about with a
+clumsy sort of hop in search of food. This is deemed a sufficient
+check on their tendency to roam, although some of the knowing horses
+sometimes learn to hop so fast with their hobbles as to give their
+owners much trouble to recapture them. But when out in the prairies
+where Indians are known or supposed to be in the neighbourhood, the
+horses are picketed by means of a pin or stake attached to the ends
+of their long lariats, as well as hobbled; for Indians deem it no
+disgrace to steal or tell lies, though they think it disgraceful to
+be found out in doing either. And so expert are these dark-skinned
+natives of the western prairies, that they will creep into the midst
+of an enemy's camp, cut the lariats and hobbles of several horses,
+spring suddenly on their backs, and gallop away.
+
+They not only steal from white men, but tribes that are at enmity
+steal from each other, and the boldness with which they do this is
+most remarkable. When Indians are travelling in a country where
+enemies are prowling, they guard their camps at night with jealous
+care. The horses in particular are both hobbled and picketed, and
+sentries are posted all round the camp. Yet, in spite of these
+precautions, hostile Indians manage to elude the sentries and creep
+into the camp. When a thief thus succeeds in effecting an entrance,
+his chief danger is past. He rises boldly to his feet, and wrapping
+his blanket or buffalo robe round him, he walks up and down as if he
+were a member of the tribe. At the same time he dexterously cuts the
+lariats of such horses as he observes are not hobbled. He dare not
+stoop to cut the hobbles, as the action would be observed, and
+suspicion would be instantly aroused. He then leaps on the best horse
+he can find, and uttering a terrific war-whoop darts away into the
+plains, driving the loosened horses before him.
+
+No such dark thieves were supposed to be near the camp under the
+birch-tree, however, so Joe, and Dick, and Henri ate their supper in
+comfort, and let their horses browse at will on the rich pasturage.
+
+A bright ruddy fire was soon kindled, which created, as it were, a
+little ball of light in the midst of surrounding darkness for the
+special use of our hardy hunters. Within this magic circle all was
+warm, comfortable, and cheery; outside all was dark, and cold, and
+dreary by contrast.
+
+When the substantial part of supper was disposed of, tea and pipes
+were introduced, and conversation began to flow. Then the three
+saddles were placed in a row; each hunter wrapped himself in his
+blanket, and pillowing his head on his saddle, stretched his feet
+towards the fire and went to sleep, with his loaded rifle by his side
+and his hunting-knife handy in his belt. Crusoe mounted guard by
+stretching himself out _couchant_ at Dick Varley's side. The faithful
+dog slept lightly, and never moved all night; but had any one observed
+him closely he would have seen that every fitful flame that burst from
+the sinking fire, every unusual puff of wind, and every motion of the
+horses that fed or rested hard by, had the effect of revealing a speck
+of glittering white in Crusoe's watchful eye.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+_The great prairies of the far west_--_A remarkable colony discovered,
+and a miserable night endured_.
+
+Of all the hours of the night or day the hour that succeeds the dawn
+is the purest, the most joyous, and the best. At least so think we,
+and so think hundreds and thousands of the human family. And so
+thought Dick Varley, as he sprang suddenly into a sitting posture next
+morning, and threw his arms with an exulting feeling of delight round
+the neck of Crusoe, who instantly sat up to greet him.
+
+This was an unusual piece of enthusiasm on the part of Dick; but the
+dog received it with marked satisfaction, rubbed his big hairy cheek
+against that of his young master, and arose from his sedentary
+position in order to afford free scope for the use of his tail.
+
+"Ho! Joe Blunt! Henri! Up, boys, up! The sun will have the start o'
+us. I'll catch the nags."
+
+So saying Dick bounded away into the woods, with Crusoe gambolling
+joyously at his heels. Dick soon caught his own horse, and Crusoe
+caught Joe's. Then the former mounted and quickly brought in the other
+two.
+
+Returning to the camp he found everything packed and ready to strap on
+the back of the pack-horse. "That's the way to do it, lad," cried Joe.
+"Here, Henri, look alive and git yer beast ready. I do believe ye're
+goin' to take another snooze!"
+
+Henri was indeed, at that moment, indulging in a gigantic stretch and
+a cavernous yawn; but he finished both hastily, and rushed at his poor
+horse as if he intended to slay it on the spot. He only threw the
+saddle on its back, however, and then threw himself on the saddle.
+
+"Now then, all ready?"
+
+"Ay"--"Oui, yis!"
+
+And away they went at full stretch again on their journey.
+
+Thus day after day they travelled, and night after night they laid
+them down to sleep under the trees of the forest, until at length they
+reached the edge of the Great Prairie.
+
+It was a great, a memorable day in the life of Dick Varley, that on
+which he first beheld the prairie--the vast boundless prairie. He had
+heard of it, talked of it, dreamed about it, but he had never--no, he
+had never realized it. 'Tis always thus. Our conceptions of things
+that we have not seen are almost invariably wrong. Dick's eyes
+glittered, and his heart swelled, and his cheeks flushed, and his
+breath came thick and quick.
+
+"There it is," he gasped, as the great rolling plain broke suddenly on
+his enraptured gaze; "that's it--oh!--"
+
+Dick uttered a yell that would have done credit to the fiercest chief
+of the Pawnees, and being unable to utter another word, he swung his
+cap in the air and sprang like an arrow from a bow over the mighty
+ocean of grass. The sun had just risen to send a flood of golden glory
+over the scene, the horses were fresh, so the elder hunters, gladdened
+by the beauty of all around them, and inspired by the irresistible
+enthusiasm of their young companion, gave the reins to the horses and
+flew after him. It was a glorious gallop, that first headlong dash
+over the boundless prairie of the "far west."
+
+The prairies have often been compared, most justly, to the ocean.
+There is the same wide circle of space bounded on all sides by the
+horizon; there is the same swell, or undulation, or succession of long
+low unbroken waves that marks the ocean when it is calm; they are
+canopied by the same pure sky, and swept by the same untrammelled
+breezes. There are islands, too--clumps of trees and
+willow-bushes--which rise out of this grassy ocean to break and
+relieve its uniformity; and these vary in size and numbers as do the
+isles of ocean, being numerous in some places, while in others they
+are so scarce that the traveller does not meet one in a long day's
+journey. Thousands of beautiful flowers decked the greensward, and
+numbers of little birds hopped about among them.
+
+"Now, lads," said Joe Blunt, reining up, "our troubles begin to-day."
+
+"Our troubles?--our joys, you mean!" exclaimed Dick Varley.
+
+"P'r'aps I don't mean nothin' o' the sort," retorted Joe. "Man wos
+never intended to swaller his joys without a strong mixtur' o'
+troubles. I s'pose he couldn't stand 'em pure. Ye see we've got to the
+prairie now--"
+
+"One blind hoss might see dat!" interrupted Henri.
+
+"An' we may or may not diskiver buffalo. An' water's scarce, too, so
+we'll need to look out for it pretty sharp, I guess, else we'll lose
+our horses, in which case we may as well give out at once. Besides,
+there's rattlesnakes about in sandy places, we'll ha' to look out for
+them; an' there's badger holes, we'll need to look sharp for them lest
+the horses put their feet in 'em; an' there's Injuns, who'll look out
+pretty sharp for _us_ if they once get wind that we're in them parts."
+
+"Oui, yis, mes boys; and there's rain, and tunder, and lightin',"
+added Henri, pointing to a dark cloud which was seen rising on the
+horizon ahead of them.
+
+"It'll be rain," remarked Joe; "but there's no thunder in the air jist
+now. We'll make for yonder clump o' bushes and lay by till it's past."
+
+Turning a little to the right of the course they had been following,
+the hunters galloped along one of the hollows between the prairie
+waves before mentioned, in the direction of a clump of willows. Before
+reaching it, however, they passed over a bleak and barren plain where
+there was neither flower nor bird. Here they were suddenly arrested by
+a most extraordinary sight--at least it was so to Dick Varley, who
+had never seen the like before. This was a colony of what Joe called
+"prairie-dogs." On first beholding them Crusoe uttered a sort of half
+growl, half bark of surprise, cocked his tail and ears, and instantly
+prepared to charge; but he glanced up at his master first for
+permission. Observing that his finger and his look commanded
+"silence," he dropped his tail at once and stepped to the rear. He did
+not, however, cease to regard the prairie-dogs with intense curiosity.
+
+These remarkable little creatures have been egregiously misnamed by
+the hunters of the west, for they bear not the slightest resemblance
+to dogs, either in formation or habits. They are, in fact, the marmot,
+and in size are little larger than squirrels, which animals they
+resemble in some degree. They burrow under the light soil, and throw
+it up in mounds like moles.
+
+Thousands of them were running about among their dwellings when Dick
+first beheld them; but the moment they caught sight of the
+horsemen rising over the ridge they set up a tremendous hubbub of
+consternation. Each little beast instantly mounted guard on the top of
+his house, and prepared, as it were, "to receive cavalry."
+
+The most ludicrous thing about them was that, although the most timid
+and cowardly creatures in the world, they seemed the most impertinent
+things that ever lived! Knowing that their holes afforded them a
+perfectly safe retreat, they sat close beside them; and as the hunters
+slowly approached, they elevated their heads, wagged their little
+tails, showed their teeth, and chattered at them like monkeys. The
+nearer they came the more angry and furious did the prairie-dogs
+become, until Dick Varley almost fell off his horse with suppressed
+laughter. They let the hunters come close up, waxing louder and louder
+in their wrath; but the instant a hand was raised to throw a stone or
+point a gun, a thousand little heads dived into a thousand holes, and
+a thousand little tails wriggled for an instant in the air--then a
+dead silence reigned over the deserted scene.
+
+"Bien, them's have dive into de bo'-els of de eart'," said Henri with
+a broad grin.
+
+Presently a thousand noses appeared, and nervously disappeared, like
+the wink of an eye. Then they appeared again, and a thousand pair of
+eyes followed. Instantly, like Jack in the box, they were all on the
+top of their hillocks again, chattering and wagging their little tails
+as vigorously as ever. You could not say that you _saw_ them jump out
+of their holes. Suddenly, as if by magic, they _were_ out; then Dick
+tossed up his arms, and suddenly, as if by magic, they were gone!
+
+Their number was incredible, and their cities were full of riotous
+activity. What their occupations were the hunters could not ascertain,
+but it was perfectly evident that they visited a great deal and
+gossiped tremendously, for they ran about from house to house, and sat
+chatting in groups; but it was also observed that they never went far
+from their own houses. Each seemed to have a circle of acquaintance in
+the immediate neighbourhood of his own residence, to which in case of
+sudden danger he always fled.
+
+But another thing about these prairie-dogs (perhaps, considering their
+size, we should call them prairie-doggies), another thing about them,
+we say, was that each doggie lived with an owl, or, more correctly, an
+owl lived with each doggie! This is such an extraordinary _fact_ that
+we could scarce hope that men would believe us, were our statement not
+supported by dozens of trustworthy travellers who have visited and
+written about these regions. The whole plain was covered with these
+owls. Each hole seemed to be the residence of an owl and a doggie,
+and these incongruous couples lived together apparently in perfect
+harmony.
+
+We have not been able to ascertain from travellers _why_ the owls have
+gone to live with these doggies, so we beg humbly to offer our own
+private opinion to the reader. We assume, then, that owls find it
+absolutely needful to have holes. Probably prairie-owls cannot dig
+holes for themselves. Having discovered, however, a race of little
+creatures that could, they very likely determined to take forcible
+possession of the holes made by them. Finding, no doubt, that when
+they did so the doggies were too timid to object, and discovering,
+moreover, that they were sweet, innocent little creatures, the
+owls resolved to take them into partnership, and so the thing was
+settled--that's how it came about, no doubt of it!
+
+There is a report that rattlesnakes live in these holes also; but we
+cannot certify our reader of the truth of this. Still it is well to
+be acquainted with a report that is current among the men of the
+backwoods. If it be true, we are of opinion that the doggie's family
+is the most miscellaneous and remarkable on the face of--or, as Henri
+said, in the bo'-els of the earth.
+
+Dick and his friends were so deeply absorbed in watching these curious
+little creatures that they did not observe the rapid spread of the
+black clouds over the sky. A few heavy drops of rain now warned them
+to seek shelter, so wheeling round they dashed off at full speed for
+the clump of willows, which they gained just as the rain began to
+descend in torrents.
+
+"Now, lads, do it slick. Off packs and saddles," cried Joe Blunt,
+jumping from his horse. "I'll make a hut for ye, right off."
+
+"A hut, Joe! what sort o' hut can ye make here?" inquired Dick.
+
+"Ye'll see, boy, in a minute."
+
+"Ach! lend me a hand here, Dick; de bockle am tight as de hoss's own
+skin. Ah! dere all right."
+
+"Hallo! what's this?" exclaimed Dick, as Crusoe advanced with
+something in his mouth. "I declare, it's a bird o' some sort."
+
+"A prairie-hen," remarked Joe, as Crusoe laid the bird at Dick's feet;
+"capital for supper."
+
+"Ah! dat chien is superb! goot dog. Come here, I vill clap you."
+
+But Crusoe refused to be caressed. Meanwhile, Joe and Dick formed a
+sort of beehive-looking hut by bending down the stems of a tall bush
+and thrusting their points into the ground. Over this they threw the
+largest buffalo robe, and placed another on the ground below it, on
+which they laid their packs of goods. These they further secured
+against wet by placing several robes over them and a skin of
+parchment. Then they sat down on this pile to rest, and consider what
+should be done next.
+
+"'Tis a bad look-out," said Joe, shaking his head.
+
+"I fear it is," replied Dick in a melancholy tone.
+
+Henri said nothing, but he sighed deeply on looking up at the sky,
+which was now of a uniform watery gray, while black clouds drove
+athwart it. The rain was pouring in torrents, and the wind began to
+sweep it in broad sheets over the plains, and under their slight
+covering, so that in a short time they were wet to the skin. The
+horses stood meekly beside them, with their tails and heads equally
+pendulous; and Crusoe sat before his master, looking at him with an
+expression that seemed to say, "Couldn't you put a stop to this if you
+were to try?"
+
+"This'll never do. I'll try to git up a fire," said Dick, jumping up
+in desperation.
+
+"Ye may save yerself the trouble," remarked Joe dryly--at least as
+dryly as was possible in the circumstances.
+
+However, Dick did try, but he failed signally. Everything was soaked
+and saturated. There were no large trees; most of the bushes were
+green, and the dead ones were soaked. The coverings were slobbery, the
+skins they sat on were slobbery, the earth itself was slobbery; so
+Dick threw his blanket (which was also slobbery) round his shoulders,
+and sat down beside his companions to grin and bear it. As for Joe and
+Henri, they were old hands and accustomed to such circumstances. From
+the first they had resigned themselves to their fate, and wrapping
+their wet blankets round them sat down, side by side, wisely to endure
+the evils that they could not cure.
+
+There is an old rhyme, by whom composed we know not, and it matters
+little, which runs thus,--
+
+  "For every evil under the sun
+  There is a remedy--or there's none.
+  If there is--try and find it;
+  If there isn't--never mind it!"
+
+There is deep wisdom here in small compass. The principle involved
+deserves to be heartily recommended. Dick never heard of the lines,
+but he knew the principle well, so he began to "never mind it" by
+sitting down beside his companions and whistling vociferously. As the
+wind rendered this a difficult feat, he took to singing instead. After
+that he said, "Let's eat a bite, Joe, and then go to bed."
+
+"Be all means," said Joe, who produced a mass of dried deer's meat
+from a wallet.
+
+"It's cold grub," said Dick, "and tough."
+
+But the hunters' teeth were sharp and strong, so they ate a hearty
+supper and washed it down with a drink of rain water collected from a
+pool on the top of their hut. They now tried to sleep, for the night
+was advancing, and it was so dark that they could scarce see their
+hands when held up before their faces. They sat back to back, and
+thus, in the form of a tripod, began to snooze. Joe's and Henri's
+seasoned frames would have remained stiff as posts till morning; but
+Dick's body was young and pliant, so he hadn't been asleep a few
+seconds when he fell forward into the mud and effectually awakened the
+others. Joe gave a grunt, and Henri exclaimed, "Hah!" but Dick was too
+sleepy and miserable to say anything. Crusoe, however, rose up to show
+his sympathy, and laid his wet head on his master's knee as he resumed
+his place. This catastrophe happened three times in the space of an
+hour, and by the third time they were all awakened up so thoroughly
+that they gave up the attempt to sleep, and amused each other by
+recounting their hunting experiences and telling stories. So engrossed
+did they become that day broke sooner than they had expected, and just
+in proportion as the gray light of dawn rose higher into the eastern
+sky did the spirits of these weary men rise within their soaking
+bodies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+_The "wallering" peculiarities of buffalo bulls--The first buffalo
+hunt and its consequences--Crusoe comes to the rescue--Pawnees
+discovered--A monster buffalo hunt--Joe acts the part of ambassador_.
+
+Fortunately the day that succeeded the dreary night described in the
+last chapter was warm and magnificent. The sun rose in a blaze of
+splendour, and filled the atmosphere with steam from the moist earth.
+
+The unfortunates in the wet camp were not slow to avail themselves of
+his cheering rays. They hung up everything on the bushes to dry, and
+by dint of extreme patience and cutting out the comparatively dry
+hearts of several pieces of wood, they lighted a fire and boiled some
+rain-water, which was soon converted into soup. This, and the exercise
+necessary for the performance of these several duties, warmed and
+partially dried them; so that when they once more mounted their steeds
+and rode away, they were in a state of comparative comfort and in
+excellent spirits. The only annoyance was the clouds of mosquitoes and
+large flies that assailed men and horses whenever they checked their
+speed.
+
+"I tell ye wot it is," said Joe Blunt, one fine morning about a week
+after they had begun to cross the prairie, "it's my 'pinion that we'll
+come on buffaloes soon. Them tracks are fresh, an' yonder's one o'
+their wallers that's bin used not long agone."
+
+"I'll go have a look at it," cried Dick, trotting away as he spoke.
+
+Everything in these vast prairies was new to Dick Varley, and he was
+kept in a constant state of excitement during the first week or two
+of his journey. It is true he was quite familiar with the names and
+habits of all the animals that dwelt there; for many a time and oft
+had he listened to the "yarns" of the hunters and trappers of the
+Mustang Valley, when they returned laden with rich furs from their
+periodical hunting expeditions. But this knowledge of his only served
+to whet his curiosity and his desire to _see_ the denizens of the
+prairies with his own eyes; and now that his wish was accomplished, it
+greatly increased the pleasures of his journey.
+
+Dick had just reached the "wallow" referred to by Joe Blunt, and had
+reined up his steed to observe it leisurely, when a faint hissing
+sound reached his ear. Looking quickly back, he observed his two
+companions crouching on the necks of their horses, and slowly
+descending into a hollow of the prairie in front of them, as if they
+wished to bring the rising ground between them and some object in
+advance. Dick instantly followed their example, and was soon at their
+heels.
+
+"Ye needn't look at the waller," whispered Joe, "for a' tother side o'
+the ridge there's a bull _wallerin_'."
+
+"Ye don't mean it!" exclaimed Dick, as they all dismounted and
+picketed their horses to the plain. "Oui," said Henri, tumbling off
+his horse, while a broad grin overspread his good-natured countenance,
+"it is one fact! One buffalo bull be wollerin' like a enormerous hog.
+Also, dere be t'ousands o' buffaloes farder on."
+
+"Can ye trust yer dog keepin' back?" inquired Joe, with a dubious
+glance at Crusoe.
+
+"Trust him! Ay, I wish I was as sure o' myself."
+
+"Look to yer primin', then, an' we'll have tongues and marrow bones
+for supper to-night, I'se warrant. Hist! down on yer knees and go
+softly. We might ha' run them down on horseback, but it's bad to wind
+yer beasts on a trip like this, if ye can help it; an' it's about as
+easy to stalk them. Leastways, we'll try. Lift yer head slowly, Dick,
+an' don't show more nor the half o't above the ridge."
+
+Dick elevated his head as directed, and the scene that met his view
+was indeed well calculated to send an electric shock to the heart of
+an ardent sportsman. The vast plain beyond was absolutely blackened
+with countless herds of buffaloes, which were browsing on the rich
+grass. They were still so far distant that their bellowing, and the
+trampling of their myriad hoofs, only reached the hunters like a faint
+murmur on the breeze. In the immediate foreground, however, there was
+a group of about half-a-dozen buffalo cows feeding quietly, and in the
+midst of them an enormous old bull was enjoying himself in his wallow.
+The animals, towards which our hunters now crept with murderous
+intent, are the fiercest and the most ponderous of the ruminating
+inhabitants of the western wilderness. The name of _buffalo_, however,
+is not correct. The animal is the _bison_, and bears no resemblance
+whatever to the buffalo proper; but as the hunters of the far west,
+and, indeed, travellers generally, have adopted the misnomer, we bow
+to the authority of custom and adopt it too.
+
+Buffaloes roam in countless thousands all over the North American
+prairies, from the Hudson Bay Territories, north of Canada, to the
+shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+The advance of white men to the west has driven them to the prairies
+between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, and has somewhat
+diminished their numbers; but even thus diminished, they are still
+innumerable in the more distant plains. Their colour is dark brown,
+but it varies a good deal with the seasons. The hair or fur, from its
+great length in winter and spring and exposure to the weather, turns
+quite light; but when the winter coat is shed off, the new growth is
+a beautiful dark brown, almost approaching to jet-black. In form the
+buffalo somewhat resembles the ox, but its head and shoulders are much
+larger, and are covered with a profusion of long shaggy hair which
+adds greatly to the fierce aspect of the animal. It has a large hump
+on the shoulder, and its fore-quarters are much larger, in proportion,
+than the hind-quarters. The horns are short and thick, the hoofs are
+cloven, and the tail is short, with a tuft of hair at the extremity.
+
+It is scarcely possible to conceive a wilder or more ferocious and
+terrible monster than a buffalo bull. He often grows to the enormous
+weight of two thousand pounds. His lion-like mane falls in shaggy
+confusion quite over his head and shoulders, down to the ground. When
+he is wounded he becomes imbued with the spirit of a tiger: he stamps,
+bellows, roars, and foams forth his rage with glaring eyes and
+steaming nostrils, and charges furiously at man and horse with utter
+recklessness. Fortunately, however, he is not naturally pugnacious,
+and can be easily thrown into a sudden panic. Moreover, the peculiar
+position of his eye renders this creature not so terrible as he would
+otherwise be to the hunter. Owing to the stiff structure of the neck,
+and the sunken, downward-looking eyeball, the buffalo cannot, without
+an effort, see beyond the direct line of vision presented to the
+habitual carriage of his head. When, therefore, he is wounded, and
+charges, he does so in a straight line, so that his pursuer can
+leap easily out of his way. The pace of the buffalo is clumsy, and
+_apparently_ slow, yet, when chased, he dashes away over the plains in
+blind blundering terror, at a rate that leaves all but good horses
+far behind. He cannot keep the pace up, however, and is usually soon
+overtaken. Were the buffalo capable of the same alert and agile
+motions of head and eye peculiar to the deer or wild horse, in
+addition to his "bovine rage," he would be the most formidable brute
+on earth. There is no object, perhaps, so terrible as the headlong
+advance of a herd of these animals when thoroughly aroused by terror.
+They care not for their necks. All danger in front is forgotten, or
+not seen, in the terror of that from which they fly. No thundering
+cataract is more tremendously irresistible than the black bellowing
+torrent which sometimes pours through the narrow defiles of the Rocky
+Mountains, or sweeps like a roaring flood over the trembling plains.
+
+The wallowing, to which we have referred, is a luxury usually indulged
+in during the hot months of summer, when the buffaloes are tormented
+by flies, and heat, and drought. At this season they seek the low
+grounds in the prairies where there is a little stagnant water lying
+amongst the grass, and the ground underneath, being saturated, is
+soft. The leader of the herd, a shaggy old bull, usually takes upon
+himself to prepare the wallow.
+
+It was a rugged monster of the largest size that did so on the present
+occasion, to the intense delight of Dick Varley, who begged Joe to
+lie still and watch the operation before trying to shoot one of the
+buffalo cows. Joe consented with a nod, and the four spectators--for
+Crusoe was as much taken up with the proceedings as any of
+them--crouched in the grass, and looked on.
+
+Coming up to the swampy spot, the old bull gave a grunt of
+satisfaction, and going down on one knee, plunged his short thick
+horns into the mud, tore it up, and cast it aside. Having repeated
+this several times, he plunged his head in, and brought it forth
+saturated with dirty water and bedaubed with lumps of mud, through
+which his fierce eyes gazed, with a ludicrous expression of
+astonishment, straight in the direction of the hunters, as if he meant
+to say, "I've done it that time, and no mistake!" The other buffaloes
+seemed to think so too, for they came up and looked on with an
+expression that seemed to say, "Well done, old fellow; try that
+again!"
+
+
+The old fellow did try it again, and again, and again, plunging, and
+ramming, and tearing up the earth, until he formed an excavation
+large enough to contain his huge body. In this bath he laid himself
+comfortably down, and began to roll and wallow about until he mixed up
+a trough full of thin soft mud, which completely covered him. When he
+came out of the hole there was scarcely an atom of his former self
+visible!
+
+The coat of mud thus put on by bulls is usually permitted by them to
+dry, and is not finally got rid of until long after, when oft-repeated
+rollings on the grass and washings by rain at length clear it away.
+
+When the old bull vacated this delectable bath, another bull, scarcely
+if at all less ferocious-looking, stepped forward to take his turn;
+but he was interrupted by a volley from the hunters, which scattered
+the animals right and left, and sent the mighty herds in the distance
+flying over the prairie in wild terror. The very turmoil of their own
+mad flight added to their panic, and the continuous thunder of their
+hoofs was heard until the last of them disappeared on the horizon. The
+family party which had been fired at, however, did not escape so well,
+Joe's rifle wounded a fat young cow, and Dick Varley brought it down.
+Henri had done his best, but as the animals were too far distant for
+his limited vision, he missed the cow he fired at, and hit the young
+bull whose bath had been interrupted. The others scattered and fled.
+
+"Well done, Dick," exclaimed Joe Blunt, as they all ran up to the cow
+that had fallen. "Your first shot at the buffalo was a good un. Come,
+now, an' I'll show ye how to cut it up an' carry off the tit-bits."
+
+"Ah, mon dear ole bull!" exclaimed Henri, gazing after the animal
+which he had wounded, and which was now limping slowly away. "You is
+not worth goin' after. Farewell--adieu."
+
+"He'll be tough enough, I warrant," said Joe; "an' we've more meat
+here nor we can lift."
+
+"But wouldn't it be as well to put the poor brute out o' pain?"
+suggested Dick.
+
+"Oh, he'll die soon enough," replied Joe, tucking up his sleeves and
+drawing his long hunting-knife.
+
+Dick, however, was not satisfied with this way of looking at it.
+Saying that he would be back in a few minutes, he reloaded his rifle,
+and calling Crusoe to his side, walked quickly after the wounded bull,
+which was now hid from view in a hollow of the plain.
+
+In a few minutes he came in sight of it, and ran forward with his
+rifle in readiness.
+
+"Down, Crusoe," he whispered; "wait for me here."
+
+Crusoe crouched in the grass instantly, and Dick advanced. As he came
+on, the bull observed him, and turned round bellowing with rage and
+pain to receive him. The aspect of the brute on a near view was so
+terrible that Dick involuntarily stopped too, and gazed with a mingled
+feeling of wonder and awe, while it bristled with passion, and
+blood-streaked foam dropped from its open jaws, and its eyes glared
+furiously. Seeing that Dick did not advance, the bull charged him with
+a terrific roar; but the youth had firm nerves, and although the rush
+of such a savage creature at full speed was calculated to try the
+courage of any man, especially one who had never seen a buffalo bull
+before, Dick did not lose presence of mind. He remembered the many
+stories he had listened to of this very thing that was now happening;
+so, crushing down his excitement as well as he could, he cocked his
+rifle and awaited the charge. He knew that it was of no use to fire at
+the head of the advancing foe, as the thickness of the skull, together
+with the matted hair on the forehead, rendered it impervious to a
+bullet.
+
+When the bull was within a yard of him he leaped lightly to one side
+and it passed. Just as it did so, Dick aimed at its heart and fired,
+but his knowledge of the creature's anatomy was not yet correct. The
+ball entered the shoulder too high, and the bull, checking himself as
+well as he could in his headlong rush, turned round and made at Dick
+again.
+
+The failure, coupled with the excitement, proved too much for Dick; he
+could not resist discharging his second barrel at the brute's head as
+it came on. He might as well have fired at a brick wall. It shook its
+shaggy front, and with a hideous bellow thundered forward. Again Dick
+sprang to one side, but in doing so a tuft of grass or a stone caught
+his foot, and he fell heavily to the ground.
+
+Up to this point Crusoe's admirable training had nailed him to the
+spot where he had been left, although the twitching of every fibre in
+his body and a low continuous whine showed how gladly he would have
+hailed permission to join in the combat; but the instant he saw his
+master down, and the buffalo turning to charge again, he sprang
+forward with a roar that would have done credit to his bovine enemy,
+and seized him by the nose. So vigorous was the rush that he well-nigh
+pulled the bull down on its side. One toss of its head, however, sent
+Crusoe high into the air; but it accomplished this feat at the expense
+of its nose, which was torn and lacerated by the dog's teeth.
+
+Scarcely had Crusoe touched the ground, which he did with a sounding
+thump, than he sprang up and flew at his adversary again. This time,
+however, he adopted the plan of barking furiously and biting by rapid
+yet terrible snaps as he found opportunity, thus keeping the bull
+entirely engrossed, and affording Dick an opportunity of reloading his
+rifle, which he was not slow to do. Dick then stepped close up, and
+while the two combatants were roaring in each other's faces, he shot
+the buffalo through the heart. It fell to the earth with a deep groan.
+
+Crusoe's rage instantly vanished on beholding this, and he seemed to
+be filled with tumultuous joy at his master's escape, for he gambolled
+round him, and whined and fawned upon him in a manner that could not
+be misunderstood.
+
+"Good dog; thank'ee, my pup," said Dick, patting Crusoe's head as he
+stooped to brush the dust from his leggings. "I don't know what would
+ha' become o' me but for your help, Crusoe."
+
+Crusoe turned his head a little to one side, wagged his tail, and
+looked at Dick with an expression that said quite plainly, "I'd die
+for you, I would--not once, or twice, but ten times, fifty times if
+need be--and that not merely to save your life, but even to please
+you."
+
+There is no doubt whatever that Crusoe felt something of this sort.
+The love of a Newfoundland dog to its master is beyond calculation or
+expression. He who once gains such love carries the dog's life in his
+hand. But let him who reads note well, and remember that there is only
+one coin that can purchase such love, and that is _kindness_. The
+coin, too, must be genuine. Kindness merely _expressed_ will not do,
+it must be _felt_.
+
+"Hallo, boy, ye've bin i' the wars!" exclaimed Joe, raising himself
+from his task as Dick and Crusoe returned.
+
+"You look more like it than I do," retorted Dick, laughing.
+
+This was true, for cutting up a buffalo carcass with no other
+instrument than a large knife is no easy matter. Yet western hunters
+and Indians can do it without cleaver or saw, in a way that would
+surprise a civilized butcher not a little. Joe was covered with blood
+up to the elbows. His hair, happening to have a knack of getting into
+his eyes, had been so often brushed off with bloody hands, that his
+whole visage was speckled with gore, and his dress was by no means
+immaculate.
+
+While Dick related his adventure, or _mis_-adventure, with the bull,
+Joe and Henri completed the cutting out of the most delicate portions
+of the buffalo--namely, the hump on its shoulder--which is a choice
+piece, much finer than the best beef--and the tongue, and a few other
+parts. The tongues of buffaloes are superior to those of domestic
+cattle. When all was ready the meat was slung across the back of the
+pack-horse; and the party, remounting their horses, continued their
+journey, having first cleansed themselves as well as they could in the
+rather dirty waters of an old wallow.
+
+"See," said Henri, turning to Dick and pointing to a circular spot of
+green as they rode along, "that is one old _dry_ waller."
+
+"Ay," remarked Joe; "after the waller dries, it becomes a ring o'
+greener grass than the rest o' the plain, as ye see. Tis said the
+first hunters used to wonder greatly at these myster'ous circles, and
+they invented all sorts o' stories to account for 'em. Some said they
+wos fairy-rings, but at last they comed to know they wos nothin' more
+nor less than places where buffaloes wos used to waller in. It's often
+seemed to me that if we knowed the _raisons_ o' things, we wouldn't be
+so much puzzled wi' them as we are."
+
+The truth of this last remark was so self-evident and incontrovertible
+that it elicited no reply, and the three friends rode on for a
+considerable time in silence.
+
+It was now past noon, and they were thinking of calling a halt for a
+short rest to the horses and a pipe to themselves, when Joe was heard
+to give vent to one of those peculiar hisses that always accompanied
+either a surprise or a caution. In the present case it indicated both.
+
+"What now, Joe?"
+
+"Injuns!" ejaculated Joe.
+
+"Eh! fat you say? Ou is dey?"
+
+Crusoe at this moment uttered a low growl. Ever since the day he
+had been partially roasted he had maintained a rooted antipathy to
+Red-men. Joe immediately dismounted, and placing his ear to the ground
+listened intently. It is a curious fact that by placing the ear close
+to the ground sounds can be heard distinctly which could not be heard
+at all if the listener were to maintain an erect position.
+
+"They're arter the buffalo," said Joe, rising, "an' I think it's
+likely they're a band o' Pawnees. Listen an' ye'll hear their shouts
+quite plain."
+
+Dick and Henri immediately lay down and placed their ears to the
+ground.
+
+"Now, me hear noting," said Henri, jumping up, "but me ear is like me
+eyes--ver' short-sighted."
+
+"I do hear something," said Dick as he got up, "but the beating o' my
+own heart makes row enough to spoil my hearin'."
+
+Joe Blunt smiled. "Ah! lad, ye're young, an' yer blood's too hot yet;
+but bide a bit--you'll cool down soon. I wos like you once. Now, lads,
+what think ye we should do?"
+
+"You know best, Joe."
+
+"Oui, nodoubtedly.'
+
+"Then wot I advise is that we gallop to the broken sand hillocks ye
+see yonder, get behind them, an' take a peep at the Redskins. If they
+are Pawnees, we'll go up to them at once; if not, we'll hold a council
+o' war on the spot."
+
+Having arranged this, they mounted and hastened towards the hillocks
+in question, which they reached after ten minutes' gallop at full
+stretch. The sandy mounds afforded them concealment, and enabled them
+to watch the proceedings of the savages in the plain below. The scene
+was the most curious and exciting that can be conceived. The centre of
+the plain before them was crowded with hundreds of buffaloes, which
+were dashing about in the most frantic state of alarm. To whatever
+point they galloped they were met by yelling savages on horseback, who
+could not have been fewer in numbers than a thousand, all being armed
+with lance, bow, and quiver, and mounted on active little horses. The
+Indians had completely surrounded the herd of buffaloes, and were now
+advancing steadily towards them, gradually narrowing the circle, and
+whenever the terrified animals endeavoured to break through the line,
+they rushed to that particular spot in a body, and scared them back
+again into the centre.
+
+Thus they advanced until they closed in on their prey and formed an
+unbroken circle round them, whilst the poor brutes kept eddying and
+surging to and fro in a confused mass, hooking and climbing upon each
+other, and bellowing furiously. Suddenly the horsemen made a rush, and
+the work of destruction began. The tremendous turmoil raised a cloud
+of dust that obscured the field in some places, and hid it from our
+hunters' view. Some of the Indians galloped round and round the
+circle, sending their arrows whizzing up to the feathers in the sides
+of the fattest cows. Others dashed fearlessly into the midst of the
+black heaving mass, and, with their long lances, pierced dozens of
+them to the heart. In many instances the buffaloes, infuriated by
+wounds, turned fiercely on their assailants and gored the horses to
+death, in which cases the men had to trust to their nimble legs for
+safety. Sometimes a horse got jammed in the centre of the swaying
+mass, and could neither advance nor retreat. Then the savage rider
+leaped upon the buffaloes' backs, and springing from one to another,
+like an acrobat, gained the outer edge of the circle; not failing,
+however, in his strange flight, to pierce with his lance several of
+the fattest of his stepping-stones as he sped along.
+
+A few of the herd succeeded in escaping from the blood and dust of
+this desperate battle, and made off over the plains; but they were
+quickly overtaken, and the lance or the arrow brought them down on the
+green turf. Many of the dismounted riders were chased by bulls; but
+they stepped lightly to one side, and, as the animals passed, drove
+their arrows deep into their sides. Thus the tumultuous war went on,
+amid thundering tread, and yell, and bellow, till the green plain was
+transformed into a sea of blood and mire, and every buffalo of the
+herd was laid low.
+
+It is not to be supposed that such reckless warfare is invariably
+waged without damage to the savages. Many were the wounds and bruises
+received that day, and not a few bones were broken, but happily no
+lives were lost.
+
+"Now, lads, now's our time. A bold and fearless look's the best at all
+times. Don't look as if ye doubted their friendship; and mind, wotever
+ye do, don't use yer arms. Follow me."
+
+Saying this, Joe Blunt leaped on his horse, and, bounding over the
+ridge at full speed, galloped headlong across the plain.
+
+The savages observed the strangers instantly, and a loud yell
+announced the fact as they assembled from all parts of the field
+brandishing their bows and spears. Joe's quick eye soon distinguished
+their chief, towards whom he galloped, still at full speed, till
+within a yard or two of his horse's head; then he reined up suddenly.
+So rapidly did Joe and his comrades approach, and so instantaneously
+did they pull up, that their steeds were thrown almost on their
+haunches.
+
+The Indian chief did not move a muscle. He was a tall, powerful
+savage, almost naked, and mounted on a coal-black charger, which he
+sat with the ease of a man accustomed to ride from infancy. He was,
+indeed, a splendid-looking savage, but his face wore a dark frown,
+for, although he and his band had visited the settlements and
+trafficked with the fur-traders on the Missouri, he did not love the
+"Pale-faces," whom he regarded as intruders on the hunting-grounds of
+his fathers, and the peace that existed between them at that time was
+of a very fragile character. Indeed, it was deemed by the traders
+impossible to travel through the Indian country at that period except
+in strong force, and it was the very boldness of the present attempt
+that secured to our hunters anything like a civil reception.
+
+Joe, who could speak the Pawnee tongue fluently, began by explaining
+the object of his visit, and spoke of the presents which he had
+brought for the great chief; but it was evident that his words made
+little impression. As he discoursed to them the savages crowded round
+the little party, and began to handle and examine their dresses
+and weapons with a degree of rudeness that caused Joe considerable
+anxiety.
+
+"Mahtawa believes that the heart of the Pale-face is true," said the
+savage, when Joe paused, "but he does not choose to make peace. The
+Pale-faces are grasping. They never rest. They turn their eyes to the
+great mountains and say, 'There we will stop.' But even there they
+will not stop. They are never satisfied; Mahtawa knows them well."
+
+This speech sank like a death-knell into the hearts of the hunters,
+for they knew that if the savages refused to make peace, they would
+scalp them all and appropriate their goods. To make things worse, a
+dark-visaged Indian suddenly caught hold of Henri's rifle, and, ere
+he was aware, had plucked it from his hand. The blood rushed to the
+gigantic hunter's forehead, and he was on the point of springing at
+the man, when Joe said in a deep quiet voice,--
+
+"Be still, Henri. You will but hasten death."
+
+At this moment there was a movement in the outskirts of the circle
+of horsemen, and another chief rode into the midst of them. He was
+evidently higher in rank than Mahtawa, for he spoke authoritatively to
+the crowd, and stepped in before him. The hunters drew little comfort
+from the appearance of his face, however, for it scowled upon them.
+He was not so powerful a man as Mahtawa, but he was more gracefully
+formed, and had a more noble and commanding countenance.
+
+"Have the Pale-faces no wigwams on the great river that they should
+come to spy out the lands of the Pawnee?" he demanded.
+
+"We have not come to spy your country," answered Joe, raising himself
+proudly as he spoke, and taking off his cap. "We have come with a
+message from the great chief of the Pale-faces, who lives in the
+village far beyond the great river where the sun rises. He says, Why
+should the Pale-face and the Red-man fight? They are brothers. The
+same Manitou[*] watches over both. The Pale-faces have more beads, and
+guns, and blankets, and knives, and vermilion than they require; they
+wish to give some of these things for the skins and furs which
+the Red-man does not know what to do with. The great chief of the
+Pale-faces has sent me to say, Why should we fight? let us smoke the
+pipe of peace."
+
+[Footnote *: The Indian name for God.]
+
+At the mention of beads and blankets the face of the wily chief
+brightened for a moment. Then he said sternly,--
+
+"The heart of the Pale-face is not true. He has come here to trade for
+himself. San-it-sa-rish has eyes that can see; they are not shut.
+Are not these your goods?" The chief pointed to the pack-horse as he
+spoke.
+
+"Trappers do not take their goods into the heart of an enemy's camp,"
+returned Joe. "San-it-sa-rish is wise, and will understand this. These
+are gifts to the chief of the Pawnees. There are more awaiting him
+when the pipe of peace is smoked. I have said. What message shall we
+take back to the great chief of the Pale-faces?"
+
+San-it-sa-rish was evidently mollified.
+
+"The hunting-field is not the council tent," he said. "The Pale-faces
+will go with us to our village."
+
+Of course Joe was too glad to agree to this proposal, but he now
+deemed it politic to display a little firmness.
+
+"We cannot go till our rifle is restored. It will not do to go back
+and tell the great chief of the Pale-faces that the Pawnees are
+thieves."
+
+The chief frowned angrily.
+
+"The Pawnees are true; they are not thieves. They choose to _look_ at
+the rifle of the Pale-face. It shall be returned."
+
+The rifle was instantly restored, and then our hunters rode off with
+the Indians towards their camp. On the way they met hundreds of women
+and children going to the scene of the great hunt, for it was their
+special duty to cut up the meat and carry it into camp. The men,
+considering that they had done quite enough in killing it, returned to
+smoke and eat away the fatigues of the chase.
+
+As they rode along, Dick Varley observed that some of the "braves," as
+Indian warriors are styled, were eating pieces of the bloody livers
+of the buffaloes in a raw state, at which he expressed not a little
+disgust.
+
+"Ah, boy! you're green yet," remarked Joe Blunt in an undertone.
+"Mayhap ye'll be thankful to do that same yerself some day."
+
+"Well, I'll not refuse to try when it is needful," said Dick with a
+laugh; "meanwhile I'm content to see the Redskins do it, Joe Blunt."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+_Dick and his friends visit the Indians and see many wonders--Crusoe,
+too, experiences a few surprises, and teaches Indian dogs a lesson--An
+Indian dandy--A foot-race._
+
+The Pawnee village, at which they soon arrived, was situated in the
+midst of a most interesting and picturesque scene.
+
+It occupied an extensive plain which sloped gently down to a creek[*],
+whose winding course was marked by a broken line of wood, here and
+there interspersed with a fine clump of trees, between the trunks of
+which the blue waters of a lake sparkled in the distance. Hundreds of
+tents or "lodges" of buffalo-skins covered the ground, and thousands
+of Indians--men, women, and children--moved about the busy scene. Some
+were sitting in their lodges, lazily smoking their pipes. But these
+were chiefly old and infirm veterans, for all the young men had gone
+to the hunt which we have just described. The women were stooping over
+their fires, busily preparing maize and meat for their husbands and
+brothers; while myriads of little brown and naked children romped
+about everywhere, filling the air with their yells and screams, which
+were only equalled, if not surpassed, by the yelping dogs that seemed
+innumerable.
+
+[Footnote *: In America small rivers or rivulets are termed "creeks."]
+
+Far as the eye could reach were seen scattered herds of horses. These
+were tended by little boys who were totally destitute of clothing,
+and who seemed to enjoy with infinite zest the pastime of
+shooting-practice with little bows and arrows. No wonder that these
+Indians become expert bowmen. There were urchins there, scarce two
+feet high, with round bullets of bodies and short spindle-shanks, who
+could knock blackbirds off the trees at every shot, and cut the heads
+off the taller flowers with perfect certainty! There was much need,
+too, for the utmost proficiency they could attain, for the very
+existence of the Indian tribes of the prairies depends on their
+success in hunting the buffalo.
+
+There are hundreds and thousands of North American savages who would
+undoubtedly perish, and their tribes become extinct, if the buffaloes
+were to leave the prairies or die out. Yet, although animals are
+absolutely essential to their existence, they pursue and slay them
+with improvident recklessness, sometimes killing hundreds of them
+merely for the sake of the sport, the tongues, and the marrow bones.
+In the bloody hunt described in the last chapter, however, the
+slaughter of so many was not wanton, because the village that had to
+be supplied with food was large, and, just previous to the hunt, they
+had been living on somewhat reduced allowance. Even the blackbirds
+shot by the brown-bodied urchins before mentioned had been thankfully
+put into the pot. Thus precarious is the supply of food among the
+Red-men, who on one day are starving, and the next are revelling in
+superabundance.
+
+But to return to our story. At one end of this village the creek
+sprang over a ledge of rock in a low cascade and opened out into a
+beautiful lake, the bosom of which was studded with small islands.
+Here were thousands of those smaller species of wild water-fowl which
+were either too brave or too foolish to be scared away by the noise
+of the camp. And here, too, dozens of children were sporting on the
+beach, or paddling about in their light bark canoes.
+
+"Isn't it strange," remarked Dick to Henri, as they passed among the
+tents towards the centre of the village--"isn't it strange that them
+Injuns should be so fond o' fightin', when they've got all they can
+want--a fine country, lots o' buffalo, an', as far as I can see, happy
+homes?"
+
+"Oui, it is remarkaibel, vraiment. Bot dey do more love war to peace.
+Dey loves to be excit-ed, I s'pose."
+
+"Humph! One would think the hunt we seed a little agone would be
+excitement enough. But, I say, that must he the chiefs tent, by the
+look o't."
+
+Dick was right. The horsemen pulled up and dismounted opposite the
+principal chief's tent, which was a larger and more elegant structure
+than the others. Meanwhile an immense concourse of women, children,
+and dogs gathered round the strangers, and while the latter yelped
+their dislike to white men, the former chattered continuously, as they
+discussed the appearance of the strangers and their errand, which
+latter soon became known. An end was put to this by San-it-sa-rish
+desiring the hunters to enter the tent, and spreading a buffalo robe
+for them to sit on. Two braves carried in their packs, and then led
+away their horses.
+
+All this time Crusoe had kept as close as possible to his master's
+side, feeling extremely uncomfortable in the midst of such a strange
+crowd, the more especially that the ill-looking Indian curs gave him
+expressive looks of hatred, and exhibited some desire to rush upon him
+in a body, so that he had to keep a sharp look-out all round him. When
+therefore Dick entered the tent, Crusoe endeavoured to do so along
+with him; but he was met by a blow on the nose from an old squaw, who
+scolded him in a shrill voice and bade him begone.
+
+Either our hero's knowledge of the Indian language was insufficient to
+enable him to understand the order, or he had resolved not to obey it,
+for instead of retreating, he drew a deep gurgling breath, curled his
+nose, and displayed a row of teeth that caused the old woman to draw
+back in alarm. Crusoe's was a forgiving spirit. The instant that
+opposition ceased he forgot the injury, and was meekly advancing, when
+Dick held up his finger.
+
+"Go outside, pup, and wait."
+
+Crusoe's tail drooped; with a deep sigh he turned and left the tent.
+He took up a position near the entrance, however, and sat down
+resignedly. So meek, indeed, did the poor dog look that six
+mangy-looking curs felt their dastardly hearts emboldened to make a
+rush at him with boisterous yells.
+
+Crusoe did not rise. He did not even condescend to turn his head
+toward them; but he looked at them out of the corner of his dark eye,
+wrinkled--very slightly--the skin of his nose, exhibited two beautiful
+fangs, and gave utterance to a soft remark, that might be described
+as quiet, deep-toned gurgling. It wasn't much, but it was more than
+enough for the valiant six, who paused and snarled violently.
+
+It was a peculiar trait of Crusoe's gentle nature that, the moment any
+danger ceased, he resumed his expression of nonchalant gravity. The
+expression on this occasion was misunderstood, however; and as about
+two dozen additional yelping dogs had joined the ranks of the enemy,
+they advanced in close order to the attack.
+
+Crusoe still sat quiet, and kept his head high; but he _looked_ at
+them again, and exhibited four fangs for their inspection. Among the
+pack there was one Indian dog of large size--almost as large as Crusoe
+himself--which kept well in the rear, and apparently urged the lesser
+dogs on. The little dogs didn't object, for little dogs are generally
+the most pugnacious. At this big dog Crusoe directed a pointed glance,
+but said nothing. Meanwhile a particularly small and vicious cur, with
+a mere rag of a tail, crept round by the back of the tent, and coming
+upon Crusoe in rear, snapped at his tail sharply, and then fled
+shrieking with terror and surprise, no doubt, at its own temerity.
+
+Crusoe did not bark; he seldom barked; he usually either said nothing,
+or gave utterance to a prolonged roar of indignation of the most
+terrible character, with barks, as it were, mingled through it. It
+somewhat resembled that peculiar and well-known species of thunder,
+the prolonged roll of which is marked at short intervals in its
+course by cannon-like cracks. It was a continuous, but, so to speak,
+_knotted_ roar.
+
+On receiving the snap, Crusoe gave forth _the_ roar with a majesty and
+power that scattered the pugnacious front rank of the enemy to the
+winds. Those that still remained, half stupified, he leaped over with
+a huge bound, and alighted, fangs first, on the back of the big
+dog. There was one hideous yell, a muffled scramble of an instant's
+duration, and the big dog lay dead upon the plain!
+
+It was an awful thing to do, but Crusoe evidently felt that the
+peculiar circumstances of the case required that an example should be
+made; and to say truth, all things considered, we cannot blame him.
+The news must have been carried at once through the canine portion of
+the camp, for Crusoe was never interfered with again after that.
+
+Dick witnessed this little incident; but he observed that the Indian
+chief cared not a straw about it, and as his dog returned quietly
+and sat down in its old place he took no notice of it either, but
+continued to listen to the explanations which Joe gave to the chief,
+of the desire of the Pale-faces to be friends with the Red-men.
+
+Joe's eloquence would have done little for him on this occasion had
+his hands been empty, but he followed it up by opening one of his
+packs and displaying the glittering contents before the equally
+glittering eyes of the chief and his squaws.
+
+"These," said Joe, "are the gifts that the great chief of the
+Pale-faces sends to the great chief of the Pawnees. And he bids me say
+that there are many more things in his stores which will be traded for
+skins with the Red-men, when they visit him; and he also says that if
+the Pawnees will not steal horses any more from the Pale-faces, they
+shall receive gifts of knives, and guns, and powder, and blankets
+every year."
+
+"Wah!" grunted the chief; "it is good. The great chief is wise. We
+will smoke the pipe of peace."
+
+The things that afforded so much satisfaction to San-it-sa-rish were
+the veriest trifles. Penny looking-glasses in yellow gilt tin frames,
+beads of various colours, needles, cheap scissors and knives,
+vermilion paint, and coarse scarlet cloth, etc. They were of priceless
+value, however, in the estimation of the savages, who delighted to
+adorn themselves with leggings made from the cloth, beautifully worked
+with beads by their own ingenious women. They were thankful, too, for
+knives even of the commonest description, having none but bone ones of
+their own; and they gloried in daubing their faces with intermingled
+streaks of charcoal and vermilion. To gaze at their visages, when
+thus treated, in the little penny looking-glasses is their summit of
+delight!
+
+Joe presented the chief with a portion of these coveted goods, and
+tied up the remainder. We may remark here that the only thing which
+prevented the savages from taking possession of the whole at once,
+without asking permission, was the promise of the annual gifts,
+which they knew would not be forthcoming were any evil to befall
+the deputies of the Pale-faces. Nevertheless, it cost them a severe
+struggle to restrain their hands on this occasion, and Joe and his
+companions felt that they would have to play their part well in order
+to fulfil their mission with safety and credit.
+
+"The Pale-faces may go now and talk with the braves," said
+San-it-sa-rish, after carefully examining everything that was given
+to him; "a council will be called soon, and we will smoke the pipe of
+peace."
+
+Accepting this permission to retire, the hunters immediately left the
+tent; and being now at liberty to do what they pleased, they amused
+themselves by wandering about the village.
+
+"He's a cute chap that," remarked Joe, with a sarcastic smile; "I
+don't feel quite easy about gettin' away. He'll bother the life out o'
+us to get all the goods we've got, and, ye see, as we've other tribes
+to visit, we must give away as little as we can here."
+
+"Ha! you is right," said Henri; "dat fellow's eyes twinkle at de
+knives and tings like two stars."
+
+"Fire-flies, ye should say. Stars are too soft an' beautiful to
+compare to the eyes o' yon savage," said Dick, laughing. "I wish we
+were well away from them. That rascal Mahtawa is an ugly customer."
+
+"True, lad," returned Joe; "had _he_ bin the great chief our scalps
+had bin dryin' in the smoke o' a Pawnee wigwam afore now. What now,
+lad?"
+
+Joe's question was put in consequence of a gleeful smile that
+overspread the countenance of Dick Varley, who replied by pointing to
+a wigwam towards which they were approaching.
+
+"Oh! that's only a dandy," exclaimed Joe. "There's lots o' them in
+every Injun camp. They're fit for nothin' but dress, poor contemptible
+critters."
+
+Joe accompanied his remark with a sneer, for of all pitiable objects
+he regarded an unmanly man as the most despicable. He consented,
+however, to sit down on a grassy bank and watch the proceedings of
+this Indian dandy, who had just seated himself in front of his wigwam
+for the purpose of making his toilet.
+
+He began it by greasing his whole person carefully and smoothly over
+with buffalo fat, until he shone like a patent leather boot; then he
+rubbed himself almost dry, leaving the skin sleek and glossy. Having
+proceeded thus far, he took up a small mirror, a few inches in
+diameter, which he or some other member of the tribe must have
+procured during one of their few excursions to the trading-forts of
+the Pale-faces, and examined himself, as well as he could, in so
+limited a space. Next, he took a little vermilion from a small parcel
+and rubbed it over his face until it presented the somewhat demoniac
+appearance of a fiery red. He also drew a broad red score along the
+crown of his head, which was closely shaved, with the exception of the
+usual tuft or scalplock on the top. This scalplock stood bristling
+straight up a few inches, and then curved over and hung down his back
+about two feet. Immense care and attention was bestowed on this lock.
+He smoothed it, greased it, and plaited it into the form of a pigtail.
+Another application was here made to the glass, and the result was
+evidently satisfactory, to judge from the beaming smile that played on
+his features. But, not content with the general effect, he tried the
+effect of expression--frowned portentously, scowled savagely, gaped
+hideously, and grinned horribly a ghastly smile.
+
+Then our dandy fitted into his ears, which were bored in several
+places, sundry ornaments, such as rings, wampum, etc., and hung
+several strings of beads round his neck. Besides these he affixed one
+or two ornaments to his arms, wrists, and ankles, and touched in a few
+effects with vermilion on the shoulders and breast. After this, and
+a few more glances at the glass, he put on a pair of beautiful
+moccasins, which, besides being richly wrought with beads, were soft
+as chamois leather and fitted his feet like gloves. A pair of leggings
+of scarlet cloth were drawn on, attached to a waist-belt, and bound
+below the knee with broad garters of variegated bead-work.
+
+It was some time before this Adonis was quite satisfied with himself.
+He retouched the paint on his shoulders several times, and modified
+the glare of that on his wide-mouthed, high-cheek-boned visage, before
+he could tear himself away; but at last he did so, and throwing
+a large piece of scarlet cloth over his shoulders, he thrust his
+looking-glass under his belt, and proceeded to mount his palfrey,
+which was held in readiness near to the tent door by one of his wives.
+The horse was really a fine animal, and seemed worthy of a more
+warlike master. His shoulders, too, were striped with red paint, and
+feathers were intertwined with his mane and tail, while the bridle was
+decorated with various jingling ornaments.
+
+Vaulting upon his steed, with a large fan of wild goose and turkey
+feathers in one hand, and a whip dangling at the wrist of the other,
+this incomparable dandy sallied forth for a promenade--that being his
+chief delight when there was no buffalo hunting to be done. Other men
+who were not dandies sharpened their knives, smoked, feasted, and
+mended their spears and arrows at such seasons of leisure, or played
+at athletic games. "Let's follow my buck," said Joe Blunt.
+
+"Oui. Come 'long," replied Henri, striding after the rider at a pace
+that almost compelled his comrades to run.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Dick, laughing; "we don't want to keep him company. A
+distant view is quite enough o' sich a chap as that."
+
+"Mais you forgit I cannot see far."
+
+"So much the better," remarked Joe; "it's my opinion we've seen enough
+o' him. Ah! he's goin' to look on at the games. Them's worth lookin'
+at."
+
+The games to which Joe referred were taking place on a green level
+plain close to the creek, and a little above the waterfall before
+referred to. Some of the Indians were horse-racing, some jumping,
+and others wrestling; but the game which proved most attractive was
+throwing the javelin, in which several of the young braves were
+engaged.
+
+This game is played by two competitors, each armed with a dart, in an
+arena about fifty yards long. One of the players has a hoop of six
+inches in diameter. At a signal they start off on foot at full speed,
+and on reaching the middle of the arena the Indian with the hoop rolls
+it along before them, and each does his best to send a javelin through
+the hoop before the other. He who succeeds counts so many points; if
+both miss, the nearest to the hoop is allowed to count, but not so
+much as if he had "ringed" it. The Indians are very fond of this game,
+and will play at it under a broiling sun for hours together. But a
+good deal of the interest attaching to it is owing to the fact that
+they make it a means of gambling. Indians are inveterate gamblers, and
+will sometimes go on until they lose horses, bows, blankets, robes,
+and, in short, their whole personal property. The consequences are, as
+might be expected, that fierce and bloody quarrels sometimes arise in
+which life is often lost.
+
+"Try your hand at that," said Henri to Dick.
+
+"By all means," cried Dick, handing his rifle to his friend, and
+springing into the ring enthusiastically.
+
+A general shout of applause greeted the Pale-face, who threw off' his
+coat and tightened his belt, while, a young Indian presented him with
+a dart.
+
+"Now, see that ye do us credit, lad," said Joe.
+
+"I'll try," answered Dick.
+
+In a moment they were off. The young Indian rolled away the hoop,
+and Dick threw his dart with such vigour that it went deep into the
+ground, but missed the hoop by a foot at least. The young Indian's
+first dart went through the centre.
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Joe Blunt to the Indians near him, "the lad's not used
+to that game; try him at a race. Bring out your best brave--he whose
+bound is like the hunted deer."
+
+We need scarcely remind the reader that Joe spoke in the Indian
+language, and that the above is a correct rendering of the sense of
+what he said.
+
+The name of Tarwicadia, or the little chief, immediately passed from
+lip to lip, and in a few minutes an Indian, a little below the medium
+size, bounded into the arena with an indiarubber-like elasticity that
+caused a shade of anxiety to pass over Joe's face.
+
+"Ah, boy!" he whispered, "I'm afeard you'll find him a tough
+customer."
+
+"That's just what I want," replied Dick. "He's supple enough, but he
+wants muscle in the thigh. We'll make it a long heat."
+
+"Right, lad, ye're right."
+
+Joe now proceeded to arrange the conditions of the race with the
+chiefs around him. It was fixed that the distance to be run should
+be a mile, so that the race would be one of two miles, out and back.
+Moreover, the competitors were to run without any clothes, except a
+belt and a small piece of cloth round the loins. This to the Indians
+was nothing, for they seldom wore more in warm weather; but Dick would
+have preferred to keep on part of his dress. The laws of the course,
+however, would not permit of this, so he stripped and stood forth, the
+_beau-ideal_ of a well-formed, agile man. He was greatly superior in
+size to his antagonist, and more muscular, the savage being slender
+and extremely lithe and springy.
+
+"Ha! I will run too," shouted Henri, bouncing forward with clumsy
+energy, and throwing off his coat just as they were going to start.
+
+The savages smiled at this unexpected burst, and made no objection,
+considering the thing in the light of a joke.
+
+The signal was given, and away they went. Oh! it would have done you
+good to have seen the way in which Henri manoeuvred his limbs on this
+celebrated occasion! He went over the ground with huge elephantine
+bounds, runs, and jumps. He could not have been said to have one style
+of running; he had a dozen styles, all of which came into play in the
+course of half as many minutes. The other two ran like the wind; yet
+although Henri _appeared_ to be going heavily over the ground, he kept
+up with them to the turning-point. As for Dick, it became evident in
+the first few minutes that he could outstrip his antagonist with ease,
+and was hanging back a little all the time. He shot ahead like an
+arrow when they came about half-way back, and it was clear that the
+real interest of the race was to lie in the competition between Henri
+and Tarwicadia.
+
+Before they were two-thirds of the way back, Dick walked in to the
+winning-point, and turned to watch the others. Henri's wind was about
+gone, for he exerted himself with such violence that he wasted half
+his strength. The Indian, on the contrary, was comparatively fresh,
+but he was not so fleet as his antagonist, whose tremendous strides
+carried him over the ground at an incredible pace. On they came neck
+and neck, till close on the score that marked the winning-point. Here
+the value of enthusiasm came out strongly in the case of Henri. He
+_felt_ that he could not gain an inch on Tarwicadia to save his life,
+but just as he came up he observed the anxious faces of his comrades
+and the half-sneering countenances of the savages. His heart thumped
+against his ribs, every muscle thrilled with a gush of conflicting
+feelings, and he _hurled_ himself over the score like a cannon shot,
+full six inches ahead of the little chief!
+
+But the thing did not by any means end here. Tarwicadia pulled up the
+instant he had passed. Not so our Canadian. Such a clumsy and colossal
+frame was not to be checked in a moment. The crowd of Indians opened
+up to let him pass, but unfortunately a small tent that stood in the
+way was not so obliging. Into it he went, head foremost, like a shell,
+carried away the corner post with his shoulder, and brought the whole
+affair down about his own ears and those of its inmates, among whom
+were several children and two or three dogs. It required some time to
+extricate them all from the ruins, but when this was effected it was
+found that no serious damage had been done to life or limb.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+_Crusoe acts a conspicuous and humane part_--_A friend gained_--_A
+great feast_.
+
+When the foot-race was concluded the three hunters hung about looking
+on at the various games for some time, and then strolled towards the
+lake.
+
+"Ye may be thankful yer neck's whole," said Joe, grinning, as Henri
+rubbed his shoulder with a rueful look. "An' we'll have to send that
+Injun and his family a knife and some beads to make up for the fright
+they got."
+
+"Ha! an' fat is to be give to me for my broke shoulder?"
+
+"Credit, man, credit," said Dick Varley, laughing.
+
+"Credit! fat is dat?"
+
+"Honour and glory, lad, and the praises of them savages."
+
+"Ha! de praise? more probeebale de ill-vill of de rascale. I seed dem
+scowl at me not ver' pritty."
+
+"That's true, Henri; but sich as it is it's all ye'll git."
+
+"I vish," remarked Henri after a pause--"I vish I could git de vampum
+belt de leetle chief had on. It vas superb. Fat place do vampums come
+from?"
+
+"They're shells--"
+
+"Oui," interrupted Henri; "I know _fat_ dey is. Dey is shells, and de
+Injuns tink dem goot monish, mais I ask you _fat place_ de come from."
+
+"They are thought to be gathered on the shores o' the Pacific," said
+Joe. "The Injuns on the west o' the Rocky Mountains picks them up and
+exchanges them wi' the fellows hereaway for horses and skins--so I'm
+told."
+
+At this moment there was a wild cry of terror heard a short distance
+ahead of them. Rushing forward they observed an Indian woman flying
+frantically down the river's bank towards the waterfall, a hundred
+yards above which an object was seen struggling in the water.
+
+"'Tis her child," cried Joe, as the mother's frantic cry reached his
+ear. "It'll be over the fall in a minute! Run, Dick, you're quickest."
+
+They had all started forward at speed, but Dick and Crusoe were far
+ahead, and abreast of the spot in a few seconds.
+
+"Save it, pup," cried Dick, pointing to the child, which had been
+caught in an eddy, and was for a few moments hovering on the edge of
+the stream that rushed impetuously towards the fall.
+
+The noble Newfoundland did not require to be told what to do. It seems
+a natural instinct in this sagacious species of dog to save man or
+beast that chances to be struggling in the water, and many are the
+authentic stories related of Newfoundland dogs saving life in cases
+of shipwreck. Indeed, they are regularly trained to the work in some
+countries; and nobly, fearlessly, disinterestedly do they discharge
+their trust, often in the midst of appalling dangers. Crusoe sprang
+from the bank with such impetus that his broad chest ploughed up
+the water like the bow of a boat, and the energetic workings of his
+muscles were indicated by the force of each successive propulsion as
+he shot ahead.
+
+In a few seconds he reached the child and caught it by the hair. Then
+he turned to swim back, but the stream had got hold of him. Bravely he
+struggled, and lifted the child breast-high out of the water in his
+powerful efforts to stem the current. In vain. Each moment he was
+carried inch by inch down until he was on the brink of the fall,
+which, though not high, was a large body of water and fell with a
+heavy roar. He raised himself high out of the stream with the vigour
+of his last struggle, and then fell back into the abyss.
+
+By this time the poor mother was in a canoe as close to the fall as
+she could with safety approach, and the little bark danced like a
+cockle-shell on the turmoil of waters as she stood with uplifted
+paddle and staring eyeballs awaiting the rising of the child.
+
+Crusoe came up almost instantly, but _alone_, for the dash over the
+fall had wrenched the child from his teeth. He raised himself high up,
+and looked anxiously round for a moment. Then he caught sight of a
+little hand raised above the boiling flood. In one moment he had the
+child again by the hair, and just as the prow of the Indian woman's
+canoe touched the shore he brought the child to land.
+
+Springing towards him, the mother snatched her child from the flood,
+and gazed at its death-like face with eyeballs starting from their
+sockets. Then she laid her cheek on its cold breast, and stood like a
+statue of despair. There was one slight pulsation of the heart and
+a gentle motion of the hand! The child still lived. Opening up her
+blanket she laid her little one against her naked, warm bosom, drew
+the covering close around it, and sitting down on the bank wept aloud
+for joy.
+
+"Come--come 'way quick," cried Henri, hurrying off to hide the emotion
+which he could not crush down.
+
+"Ay, she don't need our help now," said Joe, following his comrade.
+
+As for Crusoe, he walked along by his master's side with his usual
+quiet, serene look of good-will towards all mankind. Doubtless a
+feeling of gladness at having saved a human life filled his shaggy
+breast, for he wagged his tail gently after each shake of his dripping
+sides; but his meek eyes were downcast, save when raised to receive
+the welcome and unusually fervent caress. Crusoe did not know that
+those three men loved him as though he had been a brother.
+
+On their way back to the village the hunters were met by a little boy,
+who said that a council was to be held immediately, and their presence
+was requested.
+
+The council was held in the tent of the principal chief, towards which
+all the other chiefs and many of the noted braves hurried. Like all
+Indian councils, it was preceded by smoking the "medicine pipe,"
+and was followed by speeches from several of the best orators. The
+substance of the discourse differed little from what has been already
+related in reference to the treaty between the Pale-faces, and upon
+the whole it was satisfactory. But Joe Blunt could not fail to notice
+that Mahtawa maintained sullen silence during the whole course of the
+meeting.
+
+He observed also that there was a considerable change in the tone
+of the meeting when he informed them that he was bound on a similar
+errand of peace to several of the other tribes, especially to one or
+two tribes which were the Pawnees' bitter enemies at that time. These
+grasping savages having quite made up their minds that they were
+to obtain the entire contents of the two bales of goods, were much
+mortified on hearing that part was to go to other Indian tribes. Some
+of them even hinted that this would not be allowed, and Joe feared at
+one time that things were going to take an unfavourable turn. The hair
+of his scalp, as he afterwards said, "began to lift a little and feel
+oneasy." But San-it-sa-rish stood honestly to his word, said that it
+would be well that the Pale-faces and the Pawnees should be brothers,
+and hoped that they would not forget the promise of annual presents
+from the hand of the great chief who lived in the big village near the
+rising sun.
+
+Having settled this matter amicably, Joe distributed among the Indians
+the proportion of his goods designed for them; and then they all
+adjourned to another tent, where a great feast was prepared for them.
+
+"Are ye hungry?" inquired Joe of Dick as they walked along.
+
+"Ay, that am I. I feel as if I could eat a buffalo alive. Why, it's my
+'pinion we've tasted nothin' since daybreak-this mornin'."
+
+"Well, I've often told ye that them Redskins think it a disgrace to
+give in eatin' till all that's set before them at a feast is bolted.
+We'll ha' to stretch oursel's, we will."
+
+"I'se got a plenty room," remarked Henri.
+
+"Ye have, but ye'll wish ye had more in a little."
+
+"Bien, I not care!"
+
+In quarter of an hour all the guests invited to this great "medicine
+feast" were assembled. No women were admitted. They never are at
+Indian feasts.
+
+We may remark in passing that the word "medicine," as used among the
+North American Indians, has a very much wider signification than it
+has with us. It is an almost inexplicable word. When asked, they
+cannot give a full or satisfactory explanation of it themselves. In
+the general, we may say that whatever is mysterious is "medicine."
+Jugglery and conjuring, of a noisy, mysterious, and, we must add,
+rather silly nature, is "medicine," and the juggler is a "medicine
+man." These medicine men undertake cures; but they are regular
+charlatans, and know nothing whatever of the diseases they pretend
+to cure or their remedies. They carry bags containing sundry relics;
+these are "medicine bags." Every brave has his own private medicine
+bag. Everything that is incomprehensible, or supposed to be
+supernatural, religious, or medical, is "medicine." This feast, being
+an unusual one, in honour of strangers, and in connection with a
+peculiar and unexpected event, was "medicine." Even Crusoe, since his
+gallant conduct in saving the Indian child, was "medicine;" and Dick
+Varley's double-barrelled rifle, which had been an object of wonder
+ever since his arrival at the village, was tremendous "medicine!"
+
+Of course the Indians were arrayed in their best. Several wore
+necklaces of the claws of the grizzly bear, of which they are
+extremely proud; and a gaudily picturesque group they were. The chief,
+however, had undergone a transformation that well-nigh upset the
+gravity of our hunters, and rendered Dick's efforts to look solemn
+quite abortive. San-it-sa-rish had once been to the trading-forts of
+the Pale-faces, and while there had received the customary gift of
+a blue surtout with brass buttons, and an ordinary hat, such as
+gentlemen wear at home. As the coat was a good deal too small for him,
+a terrible length of dark, bony wrist appeared below the cuffs. The
+waist was too high, and it was with great difficulty that he managed
+to button the garment across his broad chest. Being ignorant of the
+nature of a hat, the worthy savage had allowed the paper and string
+with which it had been originally covered to remain on, supposing them
+to be part and parcel of the hat; and this, together with the high
+collar of the coat, which gave him a crushed-up appearance, the
+long black naked legs, and the painted visage, gave to him a _tout
+ensemble_ which we can compare to nothing, as there was nothing in
+nature comparable to it.
+
+Those guests who assembled first passed their time in smoking the
+medicine pipe until the others should arrive, for so long as a single
+invited guest is absent the feast cannot begin. Dignified silence was
+maintained while the pipe thus circulated from hand to hand. When the
+last guest arrived they began.
+
+The men were seated in two rows, face to face. Feasts of this kind
+usually consist of but one species of food, and on the present
+occasion it was an enormous caldron full of maize which had to be
+devoured. About fifty sat down to eat a quantity of what may be termed
+thick porridge that would have been ample allowance for a hundred
+ordinary men. Before commencing, San-it-sa-rish desired an aged
+medicine man to make an oration, which he did fluently and poetically.
+Its subject was the praise of the giver of the feast. At the end of
+each period there was a general "hou! hou!" of assent--equivalent to
+the "hear! hear!" of civilized men.
+
+Other orators then followed, all of whom spoke with great ease and
+fluency, and some in the most impassioned strains, working themselves
+and their audience up to the highest pitch of excitement, now shouting
+with frenzied violence till their eyes glared from their sockets and
+the veins of their foreheads swelled almost to bursting as they spoke
+of war and chase, anon breaking into soft modulated and pleasing tones
+while they dilated upon the pleasures of peace and hospitality.
+
+After these had finished, a number of wooden bowls full of maize
+porridge were put down between the guests--one bowl to each couple
+facing each other. But before commencing a portion was laid aside and
+dedicated to their gods, with various mysterious ceremonies; for here,
+as in other places where the gospel is not known, the poor savages
+fancied that they could propitiate God with sacrifices. They had never
+heard of the "sacrifice of a broken spirit and a contrite heart." This
+offering being made, the feast began in earnest. Not only was it a
+rule in this feast that every mouthful should be swallowed by each
+guest, however unwilling and unable he should be to do so, but he
+who could dispose of it with greatest speed was deemed the greatest
+man--at least on that occasion--while the last to conclude his supper
+was looked upon with some degree of contempt!
+
+It seems strange that such a custom should ever have arisen, and one
+is not a little puzzled in endeavouring to guess at the origin of it.
+There is one fact that occurs to us as the probable cause. The Indian
+is, as we have before hinted, frequently reduced to a state
+bordering on starvation, and in a day after he may be burdened with
+superabundance of food. He oftentimes therefore eats as much as he can
+stuff into his body when he is blessed with plenty, so as to be the
+better able to withstand the attacks of hunger that may possibly be
+in store for him. The amount that an Indian will thus eat at a single
+meal is incredible. He seems to have the power of distending himself
+for the reception of a quantity that would kill a civilized man.
+Children in particular become like tightly inflated little balloons
+after a feast, and as they wear no clothing, the extraordinary
+rotundity is very obvious, not to say ridiculous. We conclude
+therefore that unusual powers of gormandizing, being useful, come at
+last to be cultivated as praiseworthy.
+
+By good fortune Dick and Joe Blunt happened to have such enormous
+gluttons as _vis-à-vis_ that the portions of their respective bowls
+which they could not devour were gobbled up for them. By good capacity
+and digestion, with no small amount of effort, Henri managed to
+dispose of his own share; but he was last of being done, and fell in
+the savages' esteem greatly. The way in which that sticky compost of
+boiled maize went down was absolutely amazing. The man opposite Dick,
+in particular, was a human boa-constrictor. He well-nigh suffocated
+Dick with suppressed laughter. He was a great raw-boned savage, with a
+throat of indiarubber, and went quickly and quietly on swallowing mass
+after mass with the solemn gravity of an owl. It mattered not a straw
+to him that Dick took comparatively small mouthfuls, and nearly choked
+on them too for want of liquid to wash them down. Had Dick eaten none
+at all he would have uncomplainingly disposed of the whole. Jack the
+Giant-Killer's feats were nothing to his; and when at last the bowl
+was empty, he stopped short like a machine from which the steam had
+been suddenly cut off, and laid down his buffalo horn-spoon _without_
+a sigh.
+
+Dick sighed, though with relief and gratitude, when his bowl was
+empty.
+
+"I hope I may never have to do it again," said Joe that night as they
+wended their way back to the chief's tent after supper. "I wouldn't be
+fit for anything for a week arter it."
+
+Dick could only laugh, for any allusion to the feast instantly brought
+back that owl-like gourmand to whom he was so deeply indebted.
+
+Henri groaned. "Oh! mes boy, I am speechless! I am ready for bust!
+Oui--hah! I veesh it vas to-morrow."
+
+Many a time that night did Henri "veesh it vas to-morrow," as he lay
+helpless on his back, looking up through the roof of the chief's tent
+at the stars, and listening enviously to the plethoric snoring of Joe
+Blunt.
+
+He was entertained, however, during those waking hours with a serenade
+such as few civilized ears ever listen to. This was nothing else than
+a vocal concert performed by all the dogs of the village, and as they
+amounted to nearly two thousand the orchestra was a pretty full one.
+
+These wretches howled as if they had all gone mad. Yet there was
+"method in their madness;" for they congregated in a crowd before
+beginning, and sat down on their haunches. Then one, which seemed to
+be the conductor, raised his snout to the sky and uttered a long, low,
+melancholy wail. The others took it up by twos and threes, until the
+whole pack had their noses pointing to the stars and their throats
+distended to the uttermost, while a prolonged yell filled the air.
+Then it sank gradually, one or two (bad performers probably) making
+a yelping attempt to get it up again at the wrong time. Again the
+conductor raised his nose, and out it came--full swing. There was no
+vociferous barking. It was simple wolfish howling increased in fervour
+to an electric yell, with slight barks running continuously through it
+like an obbligato accompaniment.
+
+When Crusoe first heard the unwonted sound he sprang to his feet,
+bristled up like a hyena, showed all his teeth, and bounded out of the
+tent blazing with indignation and astonishment. When he found out what
+it was he returned quite sleek, and with a look of profound contempt
+on his countenance as he resumed his place by his master's side and
+went to sleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+_Perplexities_--_Our hunters plan their escape_--_Unexpected
+interruption_--_The tables turned_--_Crusoe mounts guard_--_The
+escape_.
+
+
+Dick Varley sat before the fire ruminating. We do not mean to assert
+that Dick had been previously eating grass. By no means. For several
+days past he had been mentally subsisting on the remarkable things
+that he heard and saw in the Pawnee village, and wondering how he was
+to get away without being scalped. He was now chewing the cud of this
+intellectual fare. We therefore repeat emphatically--in case any
+reader should have presumed to contradict us--that Dick Varley sat
+before the fire _ruminating_!
+
+Joe Blunt likewise sat by the fire along with him, ruminating too, and
+smoking besides. Henri also sat there smoking, and looking a little
+the worse of his late supper.
+
+"I don't like the look o' things," said Joe, blowing a whiff of smoke
+slowly from his lips, and watching it as it ascended into the still
+air. "That blackguard Mahtawa is determined not to let us off till
+he gits all our goods; an' if he gits them, he may as well take our
+scalps too, for we would come poor speed in the prairies without guns,
+horses, or goods."
+
+Dick looked at his friend with an expression of concern. "What's to be
+done?" said he.
+
+
+"Ve must escape," answered Henri; but his tone was not a hopeful one,
+for he knew the danger of their position better than Dick.
+
+"Ay, we must escape--at least we must try," said Joe. "But I'll make
+one more effort to smooth over San-it-sa-rish, an' git him to snub
+that villain Mahtawa."
+
+Just as he spoke the villain in question entered the tent with a bold,
+haughty air, and sat down before the fire in sullen silence. For
+some minutes no one spoke, and Henri, who happened at the time to be
+examining the locks of Dick's rifle, continued to inspect them with an
+appearance of careless indifference that he was far from feeling.
+
+Now, this rifle of Dick's had become a source of unceasing wonder to
+the Indians--wonder which was greatly increased by the fact that no
+one could discharge it but himself. Dick had, during his short stay at
+the Pawnee village, amused himself and the savages by exhibiting his
+marvellous powers with the "silver rifle." Since it had been won by
+him at the memorable match in the Mustang Valley, it had scarce ever
+been out of his hand, so that he had become decidedly the best shot in
+the settlement, could "bark" squirrels (that is, hit the bark of the
+branch on which a squirrel happened to be standing, and so kill it
+by the concussion alone), and could "drive the nail" every shot. The
+silver rifle, as we have said, became "great medicine" to the Red-men
+when they saw it kill at a distance which the few wretched guns they
+had obtained from the fur-traders could not even send a spent ball to.
+The double shot, too, filled them with wonder and admiration; but that
+which they regarded with an almost supernatural feeling of curiosity
+was the percussion cap, which, in Dick's hands, always exploded, but
+in theirs was utterly useless!
+
+This result was simply owing to the fact that Dick, after firing,
+handed the rifle to the Indians without renewing the cap; so that when
+they loaded and attempted to fire, of course it merely snapped. When
+he wished again to fire, he adroitly exchanged the old cap for a new
+one. He was immensely tickled by the solemn looks of the Indians at
+this most incomprehensible of all "medicines," and kept them for some
+days in ignorance of the true cause, intending to reveal it before he
+left. But circumstances now arose which banished all trifling thoughts
+from his mind.
+
+Mahtawa raised his head suddenly, and said, pointing to the silver
+rifle, "Mahtawa wishes to have the two-shotted medicine gun. He will
+give his best horse in exchange."
+
+"Mahtawa is liberal," answered Joe; "but the pale-faced youth cannot
+part with it. He has far to travel, and must shoot buffaloes by the
+way."
+
+"The pale-faced youth shall have a bow and arrows to shoot the
+buffalo," rejoined the Indian.
+
+"He cannot use the bow and arrow," answered Joe. "He has not been
+trained like the Red-man."
+
+Mahtawa was silent for a few seconds, and his dark brows frowned more
+heavily than ever over his eyes.
+
+"The Pale-faces are too bold," he exclaimed, working himself into a
+passion. "They are in the power of Mahtawa. If they will not give the
+gun he will take it."
+
+He sprang suddenly to his feet as he spoke, and snatched the rifle
+from Henri's hand.
+
+Henri being ignorant of the language had not been able to understand
+the foregoing conversation, although he saw well enough that it was
+not an agreeable one; but no sooner did he find himself thus rudely
+and unexpectedly deprived of the rifle than he jumped up, wrenched it
+in a twinkling from the Indian's grasp, and hurled him violently out
+of the tent.
+
+In a moment Mahtawa drew his knife, uttered a savage yell, and sprang
+on the reckless hunter, who, however, caught his wrist, and held it as
+if in a vice. The yell brought a dozen warriors instantly to the spot,
+and before Dick had time to recover from his astonishment, Henri was
+surrounded and pinioned despite his herculean struggles.
+
+Before Dick could move, Joe Blunt grasped his arm, and whispered
+quickly, "Don't rise. You can't help him. They daren't kill him till
+San-it-sa-rish agrees."
+
+Though much surprised, Dick obeyed, but it required all his efforts,
+both of voice and hand, to control Crusoe, whose mind was much too
+honest and straightforward to understand such subtle pieces of
+diplomacy, and who strove to rush to the rescue of his ill-used
+friend.
+
+When the tumult had partly subsided, Joe Blunt rose and said,--"Have
+the Pawnee braves turned traitors that they draw the knife against
+those who have smoked with them the pipe of peace and eaten their
+maize? The Pale-faces are three; the Pawnees are thousands. If evil
+has been done, let it be laid before the chief. Mahtawa wishes to have
+the medicine gun. Although we said, No, we could not part with it, he
+tried to take it by force. Are we to go back to the great chief of the
+Pale-faces and say that the Pawnees are thieves? Are the Pale-faces
+henceforth to tell their children when they steal, 'That is bad;
+that is like the Pawnee?' No; this must not be. The rifle shall be
+restored, and we will forget this disagreement. Is it not so?"
+
+There was an evident disposition on the part of many of the Indians,
+with whom Mahtawa was no favourite, to applaud this speech; but the
+wily chief sprang forward, and, with flashing eyes, sought to turn the
+tables.
+
+"The Pale-face speaks with soft words, but his heart is false. Is he
+not going to make peace with the enemies of the Pawnee? Is he not
+going to take goods to them, and make them gifts and promises? The
+Pale-faces are spies. They come to see the weakness of the Pawnee
+camp; but they have found that it is strong. Shall we suffer the false
+hearts to escape? Shall they live? No; we will hang their scalps in
+our wigwams, for they have _struck a chief_, and we will keep all
+their goods for our squaws--wah!"
+
+This allusion to keeping all the goods had more effect on the minds of
+the vacillating savages than the chief's eloquence. But a new turn
+was given to their thoughts by Joe Blunt remarking in a quiet, almost
+contemptuous tone,--
+
+"Mahtawa is not the _great_ chief."
+
+"True, true," they cried, and immediately hurried to the tent of
+San-it-sa-rish.
+
+Once again this chief stood between the hunters and the savages, who
+wanted but a signal to fall on them. There was a long palaver, which
+ended in Henri being set at liberty and the rifle being restored.
+
+That evening, as the three friends sat beside their fire eating their
+supper of boiled maize and buffalo meat, they laughed and talked as
+carelessly as ever; but the gaiety was assumed, for they were at the
+time planning their escape from a tribe which, they foresaw, would
+not long refrain from carrying out their wishes, and robbing, perhaps
+murdering them.
+
+"Ye see," said Joe with a perplexed air, while he drew a piece of live
+charcoal from the fire with his fingers and lighted his pipe--"ye see,
+there's more difficulties in the way o' gettin' off than ye think--"
+
+"Oh, nivare mind de difficulties," interrupted Henri, whose wrath at
+the treatment he had received had not yet cooled down. "Ve must jump
+on de best horses ve can git hold, shake our fists at de red reptiles,
+and go away fast as ve can. De best hoss _must_ vin de race."
+
+Joe shook his head. "A hundred arrows would be in our backs before we
+got twenty yards from the camp. Besides, we can't tell which are the
+best horses. Our own are the best in my 'pinion, but how are we to
+git' em?"
+
+"I know who has charge o' them," said Dick. "I saw them grazing near
+the tent o' that poor squaw whose baby was saved by Crusoe. Either her
+husband looks after them or some neighbours."
+
+"That's well," said Joe. "That's one o' my difficulties gone."
+
+"What are the others?"
+
+"Well, d'ye see, they're troublesome. We can't git the horses out o'
+camp without bein' seen, for the red rascals would see what we were at
+in a jiffy. Then, if we do git 'em out, we can't go off without our
+bales, an' we needn't think to take 'em from under the nose o' the
+chief and his squaws without bein' axed questions. To go off without
+them would niver do at all."
+
+"Joe," said Dick earnestly, "I've hit on a plan."
+
+"Have ye, Dick--what is't?"
+
+"Come and I'll let ye see," answered Dick, rising hastily and quitting
+the tent, followed by his comrades and his faithful dog.
+
+It may be as well to remark here, that no restraint whatever had yet
+been put on the movements of our hunters as long as they kept to their
+legs, for it was well known that any attempt by men on foot to escape
+from mounted Indians on the plains would be hopeless. Moreover, the
+savages thought that as long as there was a prospect of their being
+allowed to depart peaceably with their goods, they would not be so
+mad as to fly from the camp, and, by so doing, risk their lives and
+declare war with their entertainers. They had therefore been permitted
+to wander unchecked, as yet, far beyond the outskirts of the camp, and
+amuse themselves in paddling about the lake in the small Indian canoes
+and shooting wild-fowl.
+
+Dick now led the way through the labyrinths of tents in the direction
+of the lake, and they talked and laughed loudly, and whistled
+to Crusoe as they went, in order to prevent their purpose being
+suspected. For the purpose of further disarming suspicion, they went
+without their rifles. Dick explained his plan by the way, and it was
+at once warmly approved of by his comrades.
+
+On reaching the lake they launched a small canoe, into which Crusoe
+was ordered to jump; then, embarking, they paddled swiftly to the
+opposite shore, singing a canoe song as they dipped their paddles in
+the moonlit waters of the lake. Arrived at the other side, they hauled
+the canoe up and hurried through the thin belt of wood and willows
+that intervened between the lake and the prairie. Here they paused.
+
+"Is that the bluff, Joe?"
+
+"No, Dick; that's too near. T'other one'll be best--far away to the
+right. It's a little one, and there's others near it. The sharp eyes
+o' the Redskins won't be so likely to be prowlin' there."
+
+"Come on, then; but we'll have to take down by the lake first."
+
+In a few minutes the hunters were threading their way through the
+outskirts of the wood at a rapid trot, in the opposite direction from
+the bluff, or wooded knoll, which they wished to reach. This they did
+lest prying eyes should have followed them. In quarter of an hour they
+turned at right angles to their track, and struck straight out into
+the prairie, and after a long run they edged round and came in upon
+the bluff from behind.
+
+It was merely a collection of stunted but thick-growing willows.
+
+Forcing their way into the centre of this they began to examine it.
+
+"It'll do," said Joe.
+
+"De very ting," remarked Henri.
+
+"Come here, Crusoe."
+
+Crusoe bounded to his master's side, and looked up in his face.
+
+"Look at this place, pup; smell it well."
+
+Crusoe instantly set off all round among the willows, in and out,
+snuffing everywhere, and whining with excitement.
+
+"Come here, good pup; that will do. Now, lads, we'll go back." So
+saying, Dick and his friends left the bluff, and retraced their steps
+to the camp. Before they had gone far, however, Joe halted, and
+said,--
+
+"D'ye know, Dick, I doubt if the pup's so cliver as ye think. What if
+he don't quite onderstand ye?"
+
+Dick replied by taking off his cap and throwing it down, at the same
+time exclaiming, "Take it yonder, pup," and pointing with his hand
+towards the bluff. The dog seized the cap, and went off with it at
+full speed towards the willows, where it left it, and came galloping
+back for the expected reward--not now, as in days of old, a bit of
+meat, but a gentle stroke of its head and a hearty clap on its shaggy
+side.
+
+"Good pup! go now an' fetch it."
+
+Away he went with a bound, and in a few seconds came back and
+deposited the cap at his master's feet.
+
+"Will that do?" asked Dick, triumphantly.
+
+
+"Ay, lad, it will. The pup's worth its weight in goold."
+
+"Oui, I have said, and I say it agen, de dog is _human_, so him is. If
+not, fat am he?"
+
+Without pausing to reply to this perplexing question, Dick stepped
+forward again, and in half-an-hour or so they were back in the camp.
+
+"Now for _your_ part of the work, Joe. Yonder's the squaw that owns
+the half-drowned baby. Everything depends on her."
+
+Dick pointed to the Indian woman as he spoke. She was sitting beside
+her tent, and playing at her knee was the identical youngster who had
+been saved by Crusoe.
+
+"I'll manage it," said Joe, and walked towards her, while Dick and
+Henri returned to the chief's tent.
+
+"Does the Pawnee woman thank the Great Spirit that her child is
+saved?" began Joe as he came up.
+
+"She does," answered the woman, looking up at the hunter. "And her
+heart is warm to the Pale-faces."
+
+After a short silence Joe continued,--
+
+"The Pawnee chiefs do not love the Pale-faces. Some of them hate
+them."
+
+"The Dark Flower knows it," answered the woman; "she is sorry. She
+would help the Pale-faces if she could."
+
+This was uttered in a low tone, and with a meaning glance of the eye.
+
+Joe hesitated again--could he trust her? Yes; the feelings that filled
+her breast and prompted her words were not those of the Indian just
+now--they were those of a _mother_, whose gratitude was too full for
+utterance.
+
+"Will the Dark Flower," said Joe, catching the name she had given
+herself, "help the Pale-face if he opens his heart to her? Will she
+risk the anger of her nation?"
+
+"She will," replied the woman; "she will do what she can."
+
+Joe and his dark friend now dropped their high-sounding style of
+speech, and spoke for some minutes rapidly in an undertone. It was
+finally arranged that on a given day, at a certain hour, the woman
+should take the four horses down the shores of the lake to its lower
+end, as if she were going for firewood, there cross the creek at the
+ford, and drive them to the willow bluff, and guard them till the
+hunters should arrive.
+
+Having settled this, Joe returned to the tent and informed his
+comrades of his success.
+
+During the next three days Joe kept the Indians in good-humour by
+giving them one or two trinkets, and speaking in glowing terms of the
+riches of the white men, and the readiness with which they would part
+with them to the savages if they would only make peace.
+
+Meanwhile, during the dark hours of each night, Dick managed to
+abstract small quantities of goods from their pack, in room of which
+he stuffed in pieces of leather to keep up the size and appearance.
+The goods thus taken out he concealed about his person, and went off
+with a careless swagger to the outskirts of the village, with Crusoe
+at his heels. Arrived there, he tied the goods in a small piece of
+deerskin, and gave the bundle to the dog, with the injunction, "Take
+it yonder, pup."
+
+Crusoe took it up at once, darted off at full speed with the bundle in
+his mouth, down the shore of the lake towards the ford of the river,
+and was soon lost to view. In this way, little by little, the goods
+were conveyed by the faithful dog to the willow bluff and left there,
+while the stuffed pack still remained in safe keeping in the chiefs
+tent.
+
+Joe did not at first like the idea of thus sneaking off from the camp,
+and more than once made strong efforts to induce San-it-sa-rish to let
+him go; but even that chief's countenance was not so favourable as it
+had been. It was clear that he could not make up his mind to let slip
+so good a chance of obtaining guns, powder and shot, horses, and
+goods, without any trouble; so Joe made up his mind to give them the
+slip at once.
+
+A dark night was chosen for the attempt, and the Indian woman went off
+with the horses to the place where firewood for the camp was usually
+cut. Unfortunately, the suspicion of that wily savage Mahtawa had been
+awakened, and he stuck close to the hunters all day--not knowing what
+was going on, but feeling convinced that something was brewing which
+he resolved to watch, without mentioning his suspicions to any one.
+
+"I think that villain's away at last," whispered Joe to his comrades.
+"It's time to go, lads; the moon won't be up for an hour. Come along."
+
+"Have ye got the big powder-horn, Joe?"
+
+"Ay, ay, all right."
+
+"Stop! stop! my knife, my couteau. Ah, here I be! Now, boy."
+
+The three set off as usual, strolling carelessly to the outskirts
+of the camp; then they quickened their pace, and, gaining the lake,
+pushed off in a small canoe.
+
+At the same moment Mahtawa stepped from the bushes, leaped into
+another canoe, and followed them.
+
+"Ha! he must die," muttered Henri.
+
+"Not at all," said Joe; "we'll manage him without that."
+
+The chief landed and strode boldly up to them, for he knew well that
+whatever their purpose might be they would not venture to use their
+rifles within sound of the camp at that hour of the night. As for
+their knives, he could trust to his own active limbs and the woods to
+escape and give the alarm if need be.
+
+"The Pale-faces hunt very late," he said, with a malicious grin. "Do
+they love the dark better than the sunshine?"
+
+"Not so," replied Joe, coolly; "but we love to walk by the light of
+the moon. It will be up in less than an hour, and we mean to take a
+long ramble to-night."
+
+"The Pawnee chief loves to walk by the moon, too; he will go with the
+Pale-faces."
+
+"Good!" ejaculated Joe. "Come along, then."
+
+The party immediately set forward, although the savage was a little
+taken by surprise at the indifferent way in which Joe received his
+proposal to accompany them. He walked on to the edge of the prairie,
+however, and then stopped.
+
+"The Pale-faces must go alone," said he; "Mahtawa will return to his
+tent."
+
+Joe replied to this intimation by seizing him suddenly by the throat
+and choking back the yell that would otherwise have brought the Pawnee
+warriors rushing to the scene of action in hundreds. Mahtawa's hand
+was on the handle of his scalping-knife in a moment, but before he
+could draw it his arms were glued to his sides by the bear-like
+embrace of Henri, while Dick tied a handkerchief quickly yet firmly
+round his mouth. The whole thing was accomplished in two minutes.
+After taking his knife and tomahawk away, they loosened their gripe
+and escorted him swiftly over the prairie.
+
+Mahtawa was perfectly submissive after the first convulsive struggle
+was over. He knew that the men who walked on each side of him grasping
+his arms were more than his match singly, so he wisely made no
+resistance.
+
+Hurrying him to a clump of small trees on the plain which was so far
+distant from the village that a yell could not be heard, they removed
+the bandage from Mahtawa's mouth.
+
+"_Must_ he be kill?" inquired Henri, in a tone of commiseration.
+
+"Not at all," answered Joe; "we'll tie him to a tree and leave him
+here."
+
+"Then he vill be starve to deat'. Oh, dat is more horrobell!"
+
+"He must take his chance o' that. I've no doubt his friends'll find
+him in a day or two, an' he's game to last for a week or more. But
+you'll have to run to the willow bluff, Dick, and bring a bit of line
+to tie him. We can't spare it well; but there's no help."
+
+"But there _is_ help," retorted Dick. "Just order the villain to climb
+into that tree."
+
+"Why so, lad?"
+
+"Don't ask questions, but do what I bid ye."
+
+The hunter smiled for a moment as he turned to the Indian, and ordered
+him to climb up a small tree near to which he stood. Mahtawa looked
+surprised, but there was no alternative. Joe's authoritative tone
+brooked no delay, so he sprang into the tree like a monkey.
+
+"Crusoe," said Dick, "_watch him!_"
+
+The dog sat quietly down at the foot of the tree, and fixed his eyes
+on the savage with a glare that spoke unutterable things. At the same
+time he displayed his full complement of teeth, and uttered a sound
+like distant thunder.
+
+Joe almost laughed, and Henri did laugh outright.
+
+"Come along; he's safe now," cried Dick, hurrying away in the
+direction of the willow bluff, which they soon reached, and found that
+the faithful squaw had tied their steeds to the bushes, and, moreover,
+had bundled up their goods into a pack, and strapped it on the back of
+the pack-horse; but she had not remained with them.
+
+"Bless yer dark face!" ejaculated Joe, as he sprang into the saddle
+and rode out of the clump of bushes.
+
+
+He was followed immediately by the others, and in three minutes they
+were flying over the plain at full speed.
+
+On gaining the last far-off ridge, that afforded a distant view of the
+woods skirting the Pawnee camp, they drew up; and Dick, putting his
+fingers to his mouth, drew a long, shrill whistle.
+
+It reached the willow bluff like a faint echo. At the same moment the
+moon arose and more clearly revealed Crusoe's cataleptic glare at the
+Indian chief, who, being utterly unarmed, was at the dog's mercy. The
+instant the whistle fell on his ear, however, he dropped his eyes,
+covered his teeth, and, leaping through the bushes, flew over the
+plains like an arrow. At the same instant Mahtawa, descending from
+his tree, ran as fast as he could towards the village, uttering the
+terrible war-whoop when near enough to be heard. No sound sends such a
+thrill through an Indian camp. Every warrior flew to arms, and vaulted
+on his steed. So quickly was the alarm given that in less than ten
+minutes a thousand hoofs were thundering on the plain, and faintly
+reached the ears of the fugitives.
+
+Joe smiled. "It'll puzzle them to come up wi' nags like ours. They're
+in prime condition, too--lots o' wind in' em. If we only keep out o'
+badger holes we may laugh at the red varmints."
+
+Joe's opinion of Indian horses was correct. In a very few minutes the
+sound of hoofs died away; but the fugitives did not draw bridle during
+the remainder of that night, for they knew not how long the pursuit
+might be continued. By pond, and brook, and bluff they passed, down
+in the grassy bottoms and over the prairie waves--nor checked their
+headlong course till the sun blazed over the level sweep of the
+eastern plain as if it arose out of the mighty ocean.
+
+Then they sprang from the saddle, and hastily set about the
+preparation of their morning meal.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+_Evening meditations and morning reflections--Buffaloes, badgers,
+antelopes, and accidents--An old bull and the wolves--"Mad
+tails"--Henri floored, etc._
+
+There is nothing that prepares one so well for the enjoyment of rest,
+both mental and physical, as a long-protracted period of excitement
+and anxiety, followed up by bodily fatigue. Excitement alone banishes
+rest; but, united with severe physical exertion, it prepares for it.
+At least, courteous reader, this is our experience; and certainly this
+was the experience of our three hunters as they lay on their backs
+beneath the branches of a willow bush and gazed serenely up at the
+twinkling stars two days after their escape from the Indian village.
+
+They spoke little; they were too tired for that, also they were too
+comfortable. Their respective suppers of fresh antelope steak, shot
+that day, had just been disposed of. Their feet were directed towards
+the small fire on which the said steaks had been cooked, and which
+still threw a warm, ruddy glow over the encampment. Their blankets
+were wrapped comfortably round them, and tucked in as only hunters and
+mothers know _how_ to tuck them in. Their respective pipes delivered
+forth, at stated intervals, three richly yellow puffs of smoke, as if
+a three-gun battery were playing upon the sky from that particular
+spot of earth. The horses were picketed and hobbled in a rich grassy
+bottom close by, from which the quiet munch of their equine jaws
+sounded pleasantly, for it told of healthy appetites, and promised
+speed on the morrow. The fear of being overtaken during the night was
+now past, and the faithful Crusoe, by virtue of sight, hearing, and
+smell, guaranteed them against sudden attack during the hours of
+slumber. A perfume of wild flowers mingled with the loved odours of
+the "weed," and the tinkle of a tiny rivulet fell sweetly on their
+ears. In short, the "Pale-faces" were supremely happy, and disposed to
+be thankful for their recent deliverance and their present comforts.
+
+"I wonder what the stars are," said Dick, languidly taking the pipe
+out of his mouth.
+
+"Bits o' fire," suggested Joe.
+
+"I tink dey are vorlds," muttered Henri, "an' have peepels in dem. I
+have hear men say dat."
+
+A long silence followed, during which, no doubt, the star-gazers were
+working out various theories in their own minds.
+
+"Wonder," said Dick again, "how far off they be."
+
+"A mile or two, maybe," said Joe.
+
+Henri was about to laugh sarcastically at this, but on further
+consideration he thought it would be more comfortable not to, so he
+lay still. In another minute he said,--
+
+"Joe Blunt, you is ver' igrant. Don't you know dat de books say de
+stars be hondreds, tousands--oh! milleryons of mile away to here, and
+dat dey is more bigger dan dis vorld?"
+
+Joe snored lightly, and his pipe fell out of his mouth at this point,
+so the conversation dropped. Presently Dick asked in a low tone, "I
+say, Henri, are ye asleep?"
+
+"Oui," replied Henry faintly. "Don't speak, or you vill vaken me."
+
+"Ah, Crusoe! you're not asleep, are you, pup?" No need to ask that
+question. The instantaneous wag of that speaking tail and the glance
+of that wakeful eye, as the dog lifted his head and laid his chin on
+Dick's arm, showed that he had been listening to every word that was
+spoken. We cannot say whether he understood it, but beyond all doubt
+he heard it. Crusoe never presumed to think of going to sleep until
+his master was as sound as a top, then he ventured to indulge in that
+light species of slumber which is familiarly known as "sleeping with
+one eye open." But, comparatively as well as figuratively speaking,
+Crusoe slept usually with one eye and a half open, and the other half
+was never very tightly shut.
+
+Gradually Dick's pipe fell out of his mouth, an event which the dog,
+with an exercise of instinct almost, if not quite, amounting to
+reason, regarded as a signal for him to go off. The camp fire went
+slowly out, the stars twinkled down at their reflections in the brook,
+and a deep breathing of wearied men was the only sound that rose in
+harmony with the purling stream.
+
+Before the sun rose next morning, and while many of the brighter stars
+were still struggling for existence with the approaching day, Joe was
+up and buckling on the saddle-bags, while he shouted to his unwilling
+companions to rise.
+
+"If it depended on you," he said, "the Pawnees wouldn't be long afore
+they got our scalps. Jump, ye dogs, an' lend a hand, will ye?"
+
+A snore from Dick and a deep sigh from Henri was the answer to this
+pathetic appeal. It so happened, however, that Henri's pipe, in
+falling from his lips, had emptied the ashes just under his nose, so
+that the sigh referred to drew a quantity thereof into his throat and
+almost choked him. Nothing could have been a more effective awakener.
+He was up in a moment coughing vociferously. Most men have a tendency
+to vent ill-humour on some one, and they generally do it on one whom
+they deem to be worse than themselves. Henri, therefore, instead of
+growling at Joe for rousing him, scolded Dick for not rising.
+
+"Ha, mauvais dog! bad chien! vill you dare to look to me?"
+
+Crusoe did look with amiable placidity, as though to say, "Howl away,
+old boy, I won't budge till Dick does."
+
+With a mighty effort Giant Sleep was thrown off at last, and the
+hunters were once more on their journey, cantering lightly over the
+soft turf.
+
+"Ho, let's have a run!" cried Dick, unable to repress the feelings
+aroused by the exhilarating morning air.
+
+"Have a care, boy," cried Joe, as they stretched out at full gallop.
+"Keep off the ridge; it's riddled wi' badger--Ha! I thought so."
+
+At that moment Dick's horse put its foot into a badger-hole and turned
+completely over, sending its rider through the air in a curve that an
+East Indian acrobat would have envied. For a few seconds Dick lay flat
+on his back, then he jumped up and laughed, while his comrades hurried
+up anxiously to his assistance.
+
+"No bones broke?" inquired Joe.
+
+Dick gave a hysterical gasp. "I--I think not."
+
+"Let's have a look. No, nothin' to speak o', be good luck. Ye should
+niver go slap through a badger country like that, boy; always keep i'
+the bottoms, where the grass is short. Now then, up ye go. That's it!"
+
+Dick remounted, though not with quite so elastic a spring as usual,
+and they pushed forward at a more reasonable pace.
+
+Accidents of this kind are of common occurrence in the prairies. Some
+horses, however, are so well trained that they look sharp out for
+these holes, which are generally found to be most numerous on the high
+and dry grounds. But in spite of all the caution both of man and horse
+many ugly falls take place, and sometimes bones are broken.
+
+They had not gone far after this accident when an antelope leaped from
+a clump of willows, and made for a belt of woodland that lay along the
+margin of a stream not half-a-mile off.
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Dick, forgetting his recent fall. "Come along,
+Crusoe." And away they went again full tilt, for the horse had not
+been injured by its somersault.
+
+The antelope which Dick was thus wildly pursuing was of the same
+species as the one he had shot some time before--namely, the
+prong-horned antelope. These graceful creatures have long, slender
+limbs, delicately-formed heads, and large, beautiful eyes. The horns
+are black, and rather short; they have no branches, like the antlers
+of the red-deer, but have a single projection on each horn, near the
+head, and the extreme points of the horns curve suddenly inwards,
+forming the hook or prong from which the name of the animal is
+derived. Their colour is dark yellowish brown. They are so fleet that
+not one horse in a hundred can overtake them; and their sight and
+sense of smell are so acute that it would be next to impossible to
+kill them, were it not for the inordinate curiosity which we have
+before referred to. The Indians manage to attract these simple little
+creatures by merely lying down on their backs and kicking their heels
+in the air, or by waving any white object on the point of an arrow,
+while the hunter keeps concealed by lying flat in the grass. By these
+means a herd of antelopes may be induced to wheel round and round an
+object in timid but intense surprise, gradually approaching until they
+come near enough to enable the hunter to make sure of his mark. Thus
+the animals, which of all others _ought_ to be the most difficult to
+slay, are, in consequence of their insatiable curiosity, more easily
+shot than any other deer of the plains.
+
+May we not gently suggest to the reader for his or her consideration
+that there are human antelopes, so to speak, whose case bears a
+striking resemblance to the prong-horn of the North American prairie?
+
+Dick's horse was no match for the antelope, neither was Crusoe; so
+they pulled up shortly and returned to their companions, to be laughed
+at.
+
+"It's no manner o' use to wind yer horse, lad, after sich game.
+They're not much worth, an', if I mistake not, we'll be among the
+buffalo soon. There's fresh tracks everywhere, and the herds are
+scattered now. Ye see, when they keep together in bands o' thousands
+ye don't so often fall in wi' them. But when they scatters about in
+twos, an' threes, an' sixes ye may shoot them every day as much as ye
+please."
+
+Several groups of buffalo had already been seen on the horizon, but as
+a red-deer had been shot in a belt of woodland the day before they
+did not pursue them. The red-deer is very much larger than the
+prong-horned antelope, and is highly esteemed both for its flesh
+and its skin, which latter becomes almost like chamois leather when
+dressed. Notwithstanding this supply of food, the hunters could not
+resist the temptation to give chase to a herd of about nine buffaloes
+that suddenly came into view as they overtopped an undulation in the
+plain.
+
+"It's no use," cried Dick, "I _must_ go at them!"
+
+Joe himself caught fire from the spirit of his young friend, so
+calling to Henri to come on and let the pack-horse remain to feed, he
+dashed away in pursuit. The buffaloes gave one stare of surprise, and
+then fled as fast as possible. At first it seemed as if such huge,
+unwieldy carcasses could not run very fast; but in a few minutes they
+managed to get up a pace that put the horses to their mettle. Indeed,
+at first it seemed as if the hunters did not gain an inch; but by
+degrees they closed with them, for buffaloes are not long winded.
+
+On nearing the herd, the three men diverged from each other and
+selected their animals. Henri, being short-sighted, naturally singled
+out the largest; and the largest--also naturally--was a tough old
+bull. Joe brought down a fat young cow at the first shot, and Dick was
+equally fortunate. But he well-nigh shot Crusoe, who, just as he was
+about to fire, rushed in unexpectedly and sprang at the animal's
+throat, for which piece of recklessness he was ordered back to watch
+the pack-horse.
+
+Meanwhile, Henri, by dint of yelling, throwing his arms wildly about,
+and digging his heels into the sides of his long-legged horse,
+succeeded in coming close up with the bull, which once or twice turned
+his clumsy body half round and glared furiously at its pursuer with
+its small black eyes. Suddenly it stuck out its tail, stopped short,
+and turned full round. Henri stopped short also. Now, the sticking out
+of a buffalo's tail has a peculiar significance which it is well to
+point out. It serves, in a sense, the same purpose to the hunter that
+the compass does to the mariner--it points out where to go and what to
+do. When galloping away in ordinary flight, the buffalo carries his
+tail like ordinary cattle, which indicates that you may push on. When
+wounded, he lashes it from side to side, or carries it over his back,
+up in the air; this indicates, "Look out! haul off a bit!" But when he
+carries it stiff and horizontal, with a _slight curve_ in the middle
+of it, it says plainly, "Keep back, or kill me as quick as you can,"
+for that is what Indians call the _mad tail_, and is a sign that
+mischief is brewing.
+
+Henri's bull displayed the mad tail just before turning, but he didn't
+observe it, and, accordingly, waited for the bull to move and show his
+shoulder for a favourable shot. But instead of doing this he put his
+head down, and, foaming with rage, went at him full tilt. The big
+horse never stirred; it seemed to be petrified, Henri had just time to
+fire at the monster's neck, and the next moment was sprawling on his
+back, with the horse rolling over four or five yards beyond him. It
+was a most effective tableau--Henri rubbing his shins and grinning
+with pain, the horse gazing in affright as he rose trembling from the
+plain, and the buffalo bull looking on half stunned, and evidently
+very much surprised at the result of his charge.
+
+Fortunately, before he could repeat the experiment, Dick galloped up
+and put a ball through his heart.
+
+Joe and his comrades felt a little ashamed of their exploit on this
+occasion, for there was no need to have killed three animals--they
+could not have carried with them more than a small portion of one--and
+they upbraided themselves several times during the operation of
+cutting out the tongues and other choice portions of the two victims.
+As for the bull, he was almost totally useless, so they left him as a
+gift to the wolves.
+
+Now that they had come among the buffalo, wolves were often seen
+sneaking about and licking their hungry jaws; but although they
+approached pretty near to the camp at nights, they did not give the
+hunters any concern. Even Crusoe became accustomed to them at last,
+and ceased to notice them. These creatures are very dangerous
+sometimes, however, and when hard pressed by hunger will even attack
+man. The day after this hunt the travellers came upon a wounded old
+buffalo which had evidently escaped from the Indians (for a couple of
+arrows were sticking in its side), only to fall a prey to his deadly
+enemies, the white wolves. These savage brutes hang on the skirts of
+the herds of buffaloes to attack and devour any one that may chance,
+from old age or from being wounded, to linger behind the rest. The
+buffalo is tough and fierce, however, and fights so desperately that,
+although surrounded by fifty or a hundred wolves, he keeps up the
+unequal combat for several days before he finally succumbs.
+
+The old bull that our travellers discovered had evidently been long
+engaged with his ferocious adversaries, for his limbs and flesh were
+torn in shreds in many places, and blood was streaming from his sides.
+Yet he had fought so gallantly that he had tossed and stamped to death
+dozens of the enemy. There could not have been fewer than fifty wolves
+round him; and they had just concluded another of many futile attacks
+when the hunters came up, for they were ranged in a circle round their
+huge adversary--some lying down, some sitting on their haunches to
+rest, and others sneaking about, lolling out their red tongues and
+licking their chops as if impatient to renew the combat. The poor
+buffalo was nearly spent, and it was clear that a few hours more would
+see him torn to shreds and his bones picked clean.
+
+"Ugh! de brutes," ejaculated Henri.
+
+"They don't seem to mind us a bit," remarked Dick, as they rode up to
+within pistol shot.
+
+"It'll be merciful to give the old fellow a shot," said Joe. "Them
+varmints are sure to finish him at last."
+
+Joe raised his rifle as he spoke, and fired. The old bull gave his
+last groan and fell, while the wolves, alarmed by the shot, fled in
+all directions; but they did not run far. They knew well that some
+portion, at least, of the carcass would fall to their share; so they
+sat down at various distances all round, to wait as patiently as they
+might for the hunters to retire. Dick left the scene with a feeling
+of regret that the villanous wolves should have their feast so much
+sooner than they expected.
+
+Yet, after all, why should we call these wolves villanous? They did
+nothing wrong--nothing contrary to the laws of their peculiar nature.
+Nay, if we come to reason upon it, they rank higher in this matter
+than man; for while the wolf does no violence to the laws of its
+instincts, man often deliberately silences the voice of conscience,
+and violates the laws of his own nature. But we will not insist on the
+term, good reader, if you object strongly to it. We are willing to
+admit that the wolves are _not_ villanous, but, _assuredly_, they are
+unlovable.
+
+In the course of the afternoon the three horsemen reached a small
+creek, the banks of which were lined with a few stunted shrubs and
+trees. Having eaten nothing since the night before, they dismounted
+here to "feed," as Joe expressed it.
+
+"Cur'ous thing," remarked Joe, as he struck a light by means of flint,
+steel, and tinder-box--"cur'ous thing that we're made to need sich a
+lot o' grub. If we could only get on like the sarpints, now, wot can
+breakfast on a rabbit, and then wait a month or two for dinner! Ain't
+it cur'ous?"
+
+Dick admitted that it was, and stooped to blow the fire into a blaze.
+
+Here Henri uttered a cry of consternation, and stood speechless, with
+his mouth open.
+
+"What's the matter? what is't?" cried Dick and Joe, seizing their
+rifles instinctively.
+
+"De--grub--him--be--forgat!"
+
+There was a look of blank horror, and then a burst of laughter from
+Dick Varley. "Well, well," cried he, "we've got lots o' tea an' sugar,
+an' some flour; we can git on wi' that till we shoot another buffalo,
+or a--ha!"
+
+Dick observed a wild turkey stalking among the willows as he spoke. It
+was fully a hundred yards off, and only its head was seen above the
+leaves. This was a matter of little moment, however, for by aiming a
+little lower he knew that he must hit the body. But Dick had driven
+the nail too often to aim at its body; he aimed at the bird's eye, and
+cut its head off.
+
+"Fetch it, Crusoe."
+
+In three minutes it was at Dick's feet, and it is not too much to say
+that in five minutes more it was in the pot.
+
+As this unexpected supply made up for the loss of the meat which
+Henri had forgotten at their last halting-place, their equanimity was
+restored; and while the meal was in preparation Dick shouldered his
+rifle and went into the bush to try for another turkey. He did not
+get one, however, but he shot a couple of prairie-hens, which are
+excellent eating. Moreover, he found a large quantity of wild grapes
+and plums. These were unfortunately not nearly ripe, but Dick resolved
+to try his hand at a new dish, so he stuffed the breast of his coat
+full of them.
+
+After the pot was emptied, Dick washed it out, and put a little clean
+water in it. Then he poured some flour in, and stirred it well. While
+this was heating, he squeezed the sour grapes and plums into what Joe
+called a "mush," mixed it with a spoonful of sugar, and emptied it
+into the pot. He also skimmed a quantity of the fat from the remains
+of the turkey soup and added that to the mess, which he stirred with
+earnest diligence till it boiled down into a sort of thick porridge.
+
+"D'ye think it'll be good?" asked Joe gravely; "I've me doubts of it."
+
+"We'll see.--Hold the tin dish, Henri."
+
+"Take care of de fingers. Ha! it looks magnifique--superb!"
+
+The first spoonful produced an expression on Henri's face that needed
+not to be interpreted. It was as sour as vinegar.
+
+"Ye'll ha' to eat it yerself, Dick, lad," cried Joe, throwing down his
+spoon, and spitting out the unsavoury mess.
+
+"Nonsense," cried Dick, bolting two or three mouthfuls, and trying to
+look as if he liked it. "Try again; it's not so bad as you think."
+
+"Ho-o-o-o-o!" cried Henri, after the second mouthful. "Tis vinégre.
+All de sugare in de pack would not make more sweeter one bite of it."
+
+Dick was obliged to confess the dish a failure, so it was thrown out
+after having been offered to Crusoe, who gave it one sniff and turned
+away in silence. Then they mounted and resumed their journey.
+
+At this place mosquitoes and horse-flies troubled our hunters and
+their steeds a good deal. The latter especially were very annoying to
+the poor horses. They bit them so much that the blood at last came
+trickling down their sides. They were troubled also, once or twice, by
+cockchafers and locusts, which annoyed them, not indeed by biting,
+but by flying blindly against their faces, and often-narrowly missed
+hitting them in the eyes. Once particularly they were so bad that
+Henri in his wrath opened his lips to pronounce a malediction on the
+whole race, when a cockchafer flew straight into his mouth, and, to
+use his own forcible expression, "nearly knocked him off de hoss." But
+these were minor evils, and scarcely cost the hunters a thought.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+_Wanderings on the prairie_--_A war party_--_Chased by Indians_--_A
+bold leap for life_.
+
+For many days the three hunters wandered over the trackless prairie in
+search of a village of the Sioux Indians, but failed to find one, for
+the Indians were in the habit of shifting their ground and following
+the buffalo. Several times they saw small isolated bands of Indians;
+but these they carefully avoided, fearing they might turn out to be
+war parties, and if they fell into their hands the white men could not
+expect civil treatment, whatever nation the Indians might belong to.
+
+During the greater portion of this time they met with numerous herds
+of buffalo and deer, and were well supplied with food; but they had to
+cook it during the day, being afraid to light a fire at night while
+Indians were prowling about.
+
+One night they halted near the bed of a stream which was almost dry.
+They had travelled a day and a night without water, and both men and
+horses were almost choking, so that when they saw the trees on the
+horizon which indicated the presence of a stream, they pushed forward
+with almost frantic haste.
+
+"Hope it's not dry," said Joe anxiously as they galloped up to it.
+"No, there's water, lads," and they dashed forward to a pool that had
+not yet been dried up. They drank long and eagerly before they noticed
+that the pool was strongly impregnated with salt. Many streams in
+those parts of the prairies are quite salt, but fortunately this one
+was not utterly undrinkable, though it was very unpalatable.
+
+"We'll make it better, lads," said Joe, digging a deep hole in the
+sand with his hands, a little below the pool. In a short time the
+water filtered through, and though not rendered fresh, it was,
+nevertheless, much improved.
+
+"We may light a fire to-night, d'ye think?" inquired Dick; "we've not
+seed Injuns for some days."
+
+"P'r'aps 'twould be better not," said Joe; "but I daresay we're safe
+enough."
+
+A fire was therefore lighted in as sheltered a spot as could be found,
+and the three friends bivouacked as usual. Towards dawn they were
+aroused by an angry growl from Crusoe.
+
+"It's a wolf likely," said Dick, but all three seized and cocked their
+rifles nevertheless.
+
+Again Crusoe growled more angrily than before, and springing out of
+the camp snuffed the breeze anxiously.
+
+"Up, lads! catch the nags! There's something in the wind, for the dog
+niver did that afore."
+
+In a few seconds the horses were saddled and the packs secured.
+
+"Call in the dog," whispered Joe Blunt; "if he barks they'll find out
+our whereabouts."
+
+"Here, Crusoe, come--"
+
+It was too late; the dog barked loudly and savagely at the moment,
+and a troop of Indians came coursing over the plain. On hearing the
+unwonted sound they wheeled directly and made for the camp.
+
+"It's a war party; fly, lads! nothin' 'll save our scalps now but our
+horses' heels," cried Joe.
+
+In a moment they vaulted into the saddle and urged their steeds
+forward at the utmost speed. The savages observed them, and with an
+exulting yell dashed after them. Feeling that there was now no need
+of concealment, the three horsemen struck off into the open prairie,
+intending to depend entirely on the speed and stamina of their horses.
+As we have before remarked, they were good ones; but the Indians soon
+proved that they were equally well if not better mounted.
+
+"It'll be a hard run," said Joe in a low, muttering tone, and looking
+furtively over his shoulder. "The varmints are mounted on wild
+horses--leastways they were wild not long agone. Them chaps can
+throw the lasso and trip a mustang as well as a Mexican. Mind the
+badger-holes, Dick.--Hold in a bit, Henri; yer nag don't need drivin';
+a foot in a hole just now would cost us our scalps. Keep down by the
+creek, lads."
+
+"Ha! how dey yell," said Henri in a savage tone, looking back, and
+shaking his rifle at them, an act that caused them to yell more
+fiercely than ever. "Dis old pack-hoss give me moche trobel."
+
+The pace was now tremendous. Pursuers and pursued rose and sank on the
+prairie billows as they swept along, till they came to what is termed
+a "dividing ridge," which is a cross wave, as it were, that cuts the
+others in two, thus forming a continuous level. Here they advanced
+more easily; but the advantage was equally shared with their pursuers,
+who continued the headlong pursuit with occasional yells, which served
+to show the fugitives that they at least did not gain ground.
+
+A little to the right of the direction in which they were flying a
+blue line was seen on the horizon. This indicated the existence of
+trees to Joe's practised eyes, and feeling that if the horses broke
+down they could better make a last manful stand in the wood than on
+the plain he urged his steed towards it. The savages noticed the
+movement at once, and uttered a yell of exultation, for they regarded
+it as an evidence that the fugitives doubted the strength of their
+horses.
+
+"Ye haven't got us yet," muttered Joe, with a sardonic grin. "If they
+get near us, Dick, keep yer eyes open an' look out for yer neck, else
+they'll drop a noose over it, they will, afore ye know they're near,
+an' haul ye off like a sack."
+
+Dick nodded in reply, but did not speak, for at that moment his eye
+was fixed on a small creek ahead which they must necessarily leap or
+dash across. It was lined with clumps of scattered shrubbery, and he
+glanced rapidly for the most suitable place to pass. Joe and Henri did
+the same, and having diverged a little to the different points chosen,
+they dashed through the shrubbery and were hid from each other's view.
+On approaching the edge of the stream, Dick found to his consternation
+that the bank was twenty feet high opposite him, and too wide for any
+horse to clear. Wheeling aside without checking speed, at the risk of
+throwing his steed, he rode along the margin of the stream for a few
+hundred yards until he found a ford--at least such a spot as might be
+cleared by a bold leap. The temporary check, however, had enabled an
+Indian to gain so close upon his heels that his exulting yell sounded
+close in his ear.
+
+With a vigorous bound his gallant little horse went over. Crusoe could
+not take it, but he rushed down the one bank and up the other, so that
+he only lost a few yards. These few yards, however, were sufficient
+to bring the Indian close upon him as he cleared the stream at full
+gallop. The savage whirled his lasso swiftly round for a second, and
+in another moment Crusoe uttered a tremendous roar as he was tripped
+up violently on the plain.
+
+Dick heard the cry of his faithful dog, and turned quickly round, just
+in time to see him spring at the horse's throat, and bring both steed
+and rider down upon him. Dick's heart leaped to his throat. Had a
+thousand savages been rushing on him he would have flown to the rescue
+of his favourite; but an unexpected obstacle came in the way. His
+fiery little steed, excited by the headlong race and the howls of the
+Indians, had taken the bit in his teeth and was now unmanageable. Dick
+tore at the reins like a maniac, and in the height of his frenzy even
+raised the butt of his rifle with the intent to strike the poor horse
+to the earth, but his better nature prevailed. He checked the uplifted
+hand, and with, a groan dropped the reins, and sank almost helplessly
+forward on the saddle; for several of the Indians had left the main
+body and were pursuing him alone, so that there would have been now no
+chance of his reaching the place where Crusoe fell, even if he could
+have turned his horse.
+
+Spiritless, and utterly indifferent to what his fate might be, Dick
+Varley rode along with his head drooping, and keeping his seat almost
+mechanically, while the mettlesome little steed flew on over wave and
+hollow. Gradually he awakened from this state of despair to a sense
+of danger. Glancing round he observed that the Indians were now
+far behind him, though still pursuing. He also observed that his
+companions were galloping miles away on the horizon to the left, and
+that he had foolishly allowed the savages to get between him and them.
+The only chance that remained for him was to outride his pursuers, and
+circle round towards his comrades, and this he hoped to accomplish,
+for his little horse had now proved itself to be superior to those of
+the Indians, and there was good running in him still.
+
+Urging him forward, therefore, he soon left the savages still farther
+behind, and feeling confident that they could not now overtake him he
+reined up and dismounted. The pursuers quickly drew near, but short
+though it was the rest did his horse good. Vaulting into the saddle,
+he again stretched out, and now skirted along the margin of a wood
+which seemed to mark the position of a river of considerable size.
+
+At this moment his horse put his foot into a badger-hole, and both of
+them came heavily to the ground. In an instant Dick rose, picked up
+his gun, and leaped unhurt into the saddle. But on urging his poor
+horse forward he found that its shoulder was badly sprained.
+
+There was no room for mercy, however--life and death were in the
+balance--so he plied the lash vigorously, and the noble steed warmed
+into something like a run, when again it stumbled, and fell with
+a crash on the ground, while the blood burst from its mouth and
+nostrils. Dick could hear the shout of triumph uttered by his
+pursuers.
+
+"My poor, poor horse!" he exclaimed in a tone of the deepest
+commiseration, while he stooped and stroked its foam-studded neck.
+
+The dying steed raised its head for a moment, it almost seemed as
+if to acknowledge the tones of affection, then it sank down with a
+gurgling groan.
+
+Dick sprang up, for the Indians were now upon him, and bounded like an
+antelope into the thickest of the shrubbery; which was nowhere
+thick enough, however, to prevent the Indians following. Still, it
+sufficiently retarded them to render the chase a more equal one than
+could have been expected. In a few minutes Dick gained a strip of open
+ground beyond, and found himself on the bank of a broad river, whose
+evidently deep waters rushed impetuously along their unobstructed
+channel. The bank at the spot where he reached it was a sheer
+precipice of between thirty and forty feet high. Glancing up and
+down the river he retreated a few paces, turned round and shook his
+clenched fist at the savages, accompanying the action with a shout of
+defiance, and then running to the edge of the bank, sprang far out
+into the boiling flood and sank.
+
+The Indians pulled up on reaching the spot. There was no possibility
+of galloping down the wood-encumbered banks after the fugitive; but
+quick as thought each Red-man leaped to the ground, and fitting an
+arrow to his bow, awaited Dick's re-appearance with eager gaze.
+
+Young though he was, and unskilled in such wild warfare, Dick knew
+well enough what sort of reception he would meet with on coming to the
+surface, so he kept under water as long as he could, and struck out as
+vigorously as the care of his rifle would permit. At last he rose for
+a few seconds, and immediately half-a-dozen arrows whizzed through the
+air; but most of them fell short--only one passed close to his cheek,
+and went with a "whip" into the river. He immediately sank again, and
+the next time he rose to breathe he was far beyond the reach of his
+Indian enemies.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+_Escape from Indians--A discovery--Alone in the desert_.
+
+Dick Varley had spent so much of his boyhood in sporting about among
+the waters of the rivers and lakes near which he had been reared, and
+especially during the last two years had spent so much of his leisure
+time in rolling and diving with his dog Crusoe in the lake of the
+Mustang Valley, that he had become almost as expert in the water as a
+South Sea islander; so that when he found himself whirling down the
+rapid river, as already described, he was more impressed with a
+feeling of gratitude to God for his escape from the Indians than
+anxiety about getting ashore.
+
+He was not altogether blind or indifferent to the danger into which he
+might be hurled if the channel of the river should be found lower down
+to be broken with rocks, or should a waterfall unexpectedly appear.
+After floating down a sufficient distance to render pursuit out of the
+question, he struck into the bank opposite to that from which he had
+plunged, and clambering up to the greensward above, stripped off the
+greater part of his clothing and hung it on the branches of a bush to
+dry. Then he sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree to consider what
+course he had best pursue in his present circumstances.
+
+These circumstances were by no means calculated to inspire him with
+hope or comfort. He was in the midst of an unknown wilderness,
+hundreds of miles from any white man's settlement; surrounded by
+savages; without food or blanket; his companions gone, he knew not
+whither--perhaps taken and killed by the Indians; his horse dead; and
+his dog, the most trusty and loving of all his friends, lost to him,
+probably, for ever! A more veteran heart might have quailed in the
+midst of such accumulated evils; but Dick Varley possessed a strong,
+young, and buoyant constitution, which, united with a hopefulness
+of disposition that almost nothing could overcome, enabled him very
+quickly to cast aside the gloomy view of his case and turn to its
+brighter aspects.
+
+He still grasped his good rifle, that was some comfort; and as his eye
+fell upon it, he turned with anxiety to examine into the condition of
+his powder-horn and the few things that he had been fortunate enough
+to carry away with him about his person.
+
+The horn in which western hunters carry their powder is usually that
+of an ox. It is closed up at the large end with a piece of hard wood
+fitted tightly into it, and the small end is closed with a wooden peg
+or stopper. It is therefore completely water-tight, and may be for
+hours immersed without the powder getting wet, unless the stopper
+should chance to be knocked out. Dick found, to his great
+satisfaction, that the stopper was fast and the powder perfectly dry.
+Moreover, he had by good fortune filled it full two days before from
+the package that contained the general stock of ammunition, so that
+there were only two or three charges out of it. His percussion caps,
+however, were completely destroyed; and even though they had not
+been, it would have mattered little, for he did not possess more than
+half-a-dozen. But this was not so great a misfortune as at first
+it might seem, for he had the spare flint locks and the little
+screw-driver necessary for fixing and unfixing them stowed away in his
+shot pouch.
+
+To examine his supply of bullets was his next care, and slowly he
+counted them out, one by one, to the number of thirty. This was a
+pretty fair supply, and with careful economy would last him many days.
+Having relieved his mind on these all-important points, he carefully
+examined every pouch and corner of his dress to ascertain the exact
+amount and value of his wealth.
+
+Besides the leather leggings, moccasins, deerskin hunting-shirt,
+cap, and belt which composed his costume, he had a short heavy
+hunting-knife, a piece of tinder, a little tin pannikin, which he had
+been in the habit of carrying at his belt, and a large cake of maple
+sugar. This last is a species of sugar which is procured by the
+Indians from the maple-tree. Several cakes of it had been carried off
+from the Pawnee village, and Dick usually carried one in the breast of
+his coat. Besides these things, he found that the little Bible, for
+which his mother had made a small inside breast-pocket, was safe.
+Dick's heart smote him when he took it out and undid the clasp, for he
+had not looked at it until that day. It was firmly bound with a brass
+clasp, so that, although the binding and the edges of the leaves were
+soaked, the inside was quite dry. On opening the book to see if it
+had been damaged, a small paper fell out. Picking it up quickly, he
+unfolded it, and read, in his mother's handwriting: "_Call upon me in
+the time of trouble; and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
+me. My son, give me thine heart_."
+
+Dick's eyes filled with tears while the sound, as it were, of
+his mother's voice thus reached him unexpectedly in that lonely
+wilderness. Like too many whose hearts are young and gay, Dick had
+regarded religion, if not as a gloomy, at least as not a cheerful
+thing. But he felt the comfort of these words at that moment, and he
+resolved seriously to peruse his mother's parting gift in time to
+come.
+
+The sun was hot, and a warm breeze gently shook the leaves, so that
+Dick's garments were soon dry. A few minutes served to change the
+locks of his rifle, draw the wet charges, dry out the barrels, and
+re-load. Then throwing it across his shoulder, he entered the wood
+and walked lightly away. And well he might, poor fellow, for at that
+moment he felt light enough in person if not in heart. His worldly
+goods were not such as to oppress him; but the little note had turned
+his thoughts towards home, and he felt comforted.
+
+Traversing the belt of woodland that marked the course of the river,
+Dick soon emerged on the wide prairie beyond, and here he paused in
+some uncertainty as to how he should proceed.
+
+He was too good a backwoodsman, albeit so young, to feel perplexed as
+to the points of the compass. He knew pretty well what hour it was, so
+that the sun showed him the general bearings of the country, and he
+knew that when night came he could correct his course by the pole
+star. Dick's knowledge of astronomy was limited; he knew only one star
+by name, but that one was an inestimable treasure of knowledge. His
+perplexity was owing to his uncertainty as to the direction in which
+his companions and their pursuers had gone; for he had made up his
+mind to follow their trail if possible, and render all the succour his
+single arm might afford. To desert them, and make for the settlement,
+he held, would be a faithless and cowardly act.
+
+While they were together Joe Blunt had often talked to him about the
+route he meant to pursue to the Rocky Mountains, so that, if they had
+escaped the Indians, he thought there might be some chance of finding
+them at last. But, to set against this, there was the probability that
+they had been taken and carried away in a totally different direction;
+or they might have taken to the river, as he had done, and gone
+farther down without his observing them. Then, again, if they had
+escaped, they would be sure to return and search the country round for
+him, so that if he left the spot he might miss them.
+
+"Oh for my dear pup Crusoe!" he exclaimed aloud in this dilemma; but
+the faithful ear was shut now, and the deep silence that followed his
+cry was so oppressive that the young hunter sprang forward at a
+run over the plain, as if to fly from solitude. He soon became so
+absorbed, however, in his efforts to find the trail of his companions,
+that he forgot all other considerations, and ran straight forward for
+hours together with his eyes eagerly fixed on the ground. At last he
+felt so hungry, having tasted no food since supper-time the previous
+evening, that he halted for the purpose of eating a morsel of maple
+sugar. A line of bushes in the distance indicated water, so he sped on
+again, and was soon seated beneath a willow, drinking water from the
+cool stream. No game was to be found here, but there were several
+kinds of berries, among which wild grapes and plums grew in abundance.
+With these and some sugar he made a meal, though not a good one, for
+the berries were quite green and intensely sour.
+
+All that day Dick Varley followed up the trail of his companions,
+which he discovered at a ford in the river. They had crossed,
+therefore, in safety, though still pursued; so he ran on at a regular
+trot, and with a little more hope than he had felt during the day.
+Towards night, however, Dick's heart sank again, for he came upon
+innumerable buffalo tracks, among which those of the horses soon
+became mingled up, so that he lost them altogether. Hoping to find
+them again more easily by broad daylight, he went to the nearest clump
+of willows he could find, and encamped for the night.
+
+Remembering the use formerly made of the tall willows, he set to work
+to construct a covering to protect him from the dew. As he had no
+blanket or buffalo skin, he used leaves and grass instead, and found
+it a better shelter than he had expected, especially when the fire was
+lighted, and a pannikin of hot sugar and water smoked at his feet; but
+as no game was to be found, he was again compelled to sup off unripe
+berries. Before lying down to rest he remembered his resolution, and
+pulling out the little Bible, read a portion of it by the fitful blaze
+of the fire, and felt great comfort in its blessed words. It seemed
+to him like a friend with whom he could converse in the midst of his
+loneliness.
+
+The plunge into the river having broken Dick's pipe and destroyed his
+tobacco, he now felt the want of that luxury very severely, and, never
+having wanted it before, he was greatly surprised to find how much he
+had become enslaved to the habit. It cost him more than an hour's rest
+that night, the craving for his wonted pipe.
+
+The sagacious reader will doubtless not fail here to ask himself the
+question, whether it is wise in man to create in himself an unnatural
+and totally unnecessary appetite, which may, and often does, entail
+hours--ay, sometimes months--of exceeding discomfort; but we would
+not for a moment presume to suggest such a question to him. We have a
+distinct objection to the ordinary method of what is called "drawing a
+moral." It is much better to leave wise men to do this for themselves.
+
+Next morning Dick rose with the sun, and started without breakfast,
+preferring to take his chance of finding a bird or animal of some kind
+before long, to feeding again on sour berries. He was disappointed,
+however, in finding the tracks of his companions. The ground here was
+hard and sandy, so that little or no impression of a distinct kind was
+made on it; and as buffaloes had traversed it in all directions, he
+was soon utterly bewildered. He thought it possible that, by running
+out for several miles in a straight line, and then taking a wide
+circuit round, he might find the tracks emerging from the confusion
+made by the buffaloes. But he was again disappointed, for the buffalo
+tracks still continued, and the ground became less capable of showing
+a footprint.
+
+Soon Dick began to feel so ill and weak from eating such poor fare,
+that he gave up all hope of discovering the tracks, and was compelled
+to push forward at his utmost speed in order to reach a less barren
+district, where he might procure fresh meat; but the farther he
+advanced the worse and more sandy did the district become. For several
+days he pushed on over this arid waste without seeing bird or beast,
+and, to add to his misery, he failed at last to find water. For a day
+and a night he wandered about in a burning fever, and his throat so
+parched that he was almost suffocated. Towards the close of the second
+day he saw a slight line of bushes away down in a hollow on his right.
+With eager steps he staggered towards them, and, on drawing near,
+beheld--blessed sight!--a stream of water glancing in the beams of the
+setting sun.
+
+Dick tried to shout for joy, but his parched throat refused to give
+utterance to the voice. It mattered not. Exerting all his remaining
+strength he rushed down the bank, dropped his rifle, and plunged
+headforemost into the stream.
+
+The first mouthful sent a thrill of horror to his heart; it was salt
+as brine!
+
+The poor youth's cup of bitterness was now full to overflowing.
+Crawling out of the stream, he sank down on the bank in a species of
+lethargic torpor, from which, he awakened next morning in a raging
+fever. Delirium soon rendered him insensible to his sufferings. The
+sun rose like a ball of fire, and shone down with scorching power on
+the arid plain. What mattered it to Dick? He was far away in the shady
+groves of the Mustang Valley, chasing the deer at times, but more
+frequently cooling his limbs and sporting with Crusoe in the bright
+blue lake. Now he was in his mother's cottage, telling her how he had
+thought of her when far away on the prairie, and what a bright, sweet
+word it was she had whispered in his ear--so unexpectedly, too. Anon
+he was scouring over the plains on horseback, with the savages at his
+heels; and at such times Dick would spring with almost supernatural
+strength from the ground, and run madly over the burning plain; but,
+as if by a species of fascination, he always returned to the salt
+river, and sank exhausted by its side, or plunged helplessly into its
+waters.
+
+These sudden immersions usually restored him for a short time to
+reason, and he would crawl up the bank and gnaw a morsel of the maple
+sugar; but he could not eat much, for it was in a tough, compact cake,
+which his jaws had not power to break. All that day and the next night
+he lay on the banks of the salt stream, or rushed wildly over the
+plain. It was about noon of the second day after his attack that he
+crept slowly out of the water, into which he had plunged a few seconds
+before. His mind was restored, but he felt an indescribable sensation
+of weakness, that seemed to him to be the approach of death. Creeping
+towards the place where his rifle lay, he fell exhausted beside it,
+and laid his cheek on the Bible, which had fallen out of his pocket
+there.
+
+While his eyes were closed in a dreamy sort of half-waking slumber, he
+felt the rough, hairy coat of an animal brush against his forehead.
+The idea of being torn to pieces by wolves flashed instantly across
+his mind, and with a shriek of terror he sprang up--to be almost
+overwhelmed by the caresses of his faithful dog.
+
+Yes, there he was, bounding round his master, barking and whining, and
+giving vent to every possible expression of canine joy!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+_Crusoe's return, and his private adventures among the Indians--Dick
+at a very low ebb--Crusoe saves him_.
+
+The means by which Crusoe managed to escape from his two-legged
+captors, and rejoin his master, require separate and special notice.
+
+In the struggle with the fallen horse and Indian, which Dick had seen
+begun but not concluded, he was almost crushed to death; and the
+instant the Indian gained his feet, he sent an arrow at his head with
+savage violence. Crusoe, however, had been so well used to dodging the
+blunt-headed arrows that were wont to be shot at him by the boys of
+the Mustang Valley, that he was quite prepared, and eluded the shaft
+by an active bound. Moreover, he uttered one of his own peculiar
+roars, flew at the Indian's throat, and dragged him down. At the same
+moment the other Indians came up, and one of them turned aside to the
+rescue. This man happened to have an old gun, of the cheap sort at
+that time exchanged for peltries by the fur-traders. With the butt of
+this he struck Crusoe a blow on the head that sent him sprawling on
+the grass.
+
+The rest of the savages, as we have seen, continued in pursuit of Dick
+until he leaped into the river; then they returned, took the saddle
+and bridle off his dead horse, and rejoined their comrades. Here they
+held a court-martial on Crusoe, who was now bound foot and muzzle
+with cords. Some were for killing him; others, who admired his noble
+appearance, immense size, and courage, thought it would be well to
+carry him to their village and keep him. There was a pretty violent
+dispute on the subject, but at length it was agreed that they should
+spare his life in the meantime, and perhaps have a dog-dance round him
+when they got to their wigwams.
+
+This dance, of which Crusoe was to be the chief though passive
+performer, is peculiar to some of the tribes east of the Rocky
+Mountains, and consists in killing a dog and cutting out its liver,
+which is afterwards sliced into shreds or strings and hung on a pole
+about the height of a man's head. A band of warriors then come and
+dance wildly round this pole, and each one in succession goes up to
+the raw liver and bites a piece off it, without, however, putting his
+hands near it. Such is the dog-dance, and to such was poor Crusoe
+destined by his fierce captors, especially by the one whose throat
+still bore very evident marks of his teeth.
+
+But Crusoe was much too clever a dog to be disposed of in so
+disgusting a manner. He had privately resolved in his own mind that
+he would escape; but the hopelessness of his ever carrying that
+resolution into effect would have been apparent to any one who could
+have seen the way in which his muzzle was secured, and his four paws
+were tied together in a bunch, as he hung suspended across the saddle
+of one of the savages!
+
+This particular party of Indians who had followed Dick Varley
+determined not to wait for the return of their comrades who were in
+pursuit of the other two hunters, but to go straight home, so for
+several days they galloped away over the prairie. At nights, when they
+encamped, Crusoe was thrown on the ground like a piece of old lumber,
+and left to lie there with a mere scrap of food till morning, when he
+was again thrown across the horse of his captor and carried on. When
+the village was reached, he was thrown again on the ground, and would
+certainly have been torn to pieces in five minutes by the Indian curs
+which came howling round him, had not an old woman come to the rescue
+and driven them away. With the help of her grand-son--a little naked
+creature, just able to walk, or rather to stagger--she dragged him to
+her tent, and, undoing the line that fastened his mouth, offered him a
+bone.
+
+Although lying in a position that was unfavourable for eating
+purposes, Crusoe opened his jaws and took it. An awful crash was
+followed by two crunches--and it was gone! and Crusoe looked up in the
+old squaw's face with a look that said plainly, "Another of the same,
+please, and as quick as possible." The old woman gave him another,
+and then a lump of meat, which latter went down with a gulp; but he
+coughed after it! and it was well he didn't choke. After this the
+squaw left him, and Crusoe spent the remainder of that night gnawing
+the cords that bound him. So diligent was he that he was free before
+morning and walked deliberately out of the tent. Then he shook
+himself, and with a yell that one might have fancied was intended for
+defiance he bounded joyfully away, and was soon out of sight.
+
+To a dog with a good appetite which had been on short allowance for
+several days, the mouthful given to him by the old squaw was a mere
+nothing. All that day he kept bounding over the plain from bluff to
+bluff in search of something to eat, but found nothing until dusk,
+when he pounced suddenly and most unexpectedly on a prairie-hen fast
+asleep. In one moment its life was gone. In less than a minute its
+body was gone too--feathers and bones and all--down Crusoe's ravenous
+throat.
+
+On the identical spot Crusoe lay down and slept like a top for four
+hours. At the end of that time he jumped up, bolted a scrap of skin
+that somehow had been overlooked at supper, and flew straight over the
+prairie to the spot where he had had the scuffle with the Indian. He
+came to the edge of the river, took precisely the same leap that his
+master had done before him, and came out on the other side a good deal
+higher up than Dick had done, for the dog had no savages to dodge, and
+was, as we have said before, a powerful swimmer.
+
+It cost him a good deal of running about to find the trail, and it was
+nearly dark before he resumed his journey; then, putting his keen nose
+to the ground, he ran step by step over Dick's track, and at last
+found him, as we have shown, on the banks of the salt creek.
+
+It is quite impossible to describe the intense joy which filled Dick's
+heart on again beholding his favourite. Only those who have lost and
+found such an one can know it. Dick seized him round the neck and
+hugged him as well as he could, poor fellow! in his feeble arms; then
+he wept, then he laughed, and then he fainted.
+
+This was a consummation that took Crusoe quite aback. Never having
+seen his master in such a state before he seemed to think at first
+that he was playing some trick, for he bounded round him, and barked,
+and wagged his tail. But as Dick lay quite still and motionless, he
+went forward with a look of alarm; snuffed him once or twice, and
+whined piteously; then he raised his nose in the air and uttered a
+long melancholy wail.
+
+The cry seemed to revive Dick, for he moved, and with some difficulty
+sat up, to the dog's evident relief. There is no doubt whatever that
+Crusoe learned an erroneous lesson that day, and was firmly convinced
+thenceforth that the best cure for a fainting fit is a melancholy
+yell. So easy is it for the wisest of dogs as well as men to fall into
+gross error!
+
+"Crusoe," said Dick, in a feeble voice, "dear good pup, come here."
+He crawled, as he spoke, down to the water's edge, where there was a
+level patch of dry sand.
+
+"Dig," said Dick, pointing to the sand.
+
+Crusoe looked at him in surprise, as well he might, for he had never
+heard the word "dig" in all his life before.
+
+Dick pondered a minute then a thought struck him.
+
+He turned up a little of the sand with his fingers, and, pointing to
+the hole, cried, "_Seek him out, pup_!"
+
+Ha! Crusoe understood _that_. Many and many a time had he unhoused
+rabbits, and squirrels, and other creatures at that word of command;
+so, without a moment's delay, he commenced to dig down into the sand,
+every now and then stopping for a moment and shoving in his nose, and
+snuffing interrogatively, as if he fully expected to find a buffalo at
+the bottom of it. Then he would resume again, one paw after another
+so fast that you could scarce see them going--"hand over hand," as
+sailors would have called it--while the sand flew out between his hind
+legs in a continuous shower. When the sand accumulated so much behind
+him as to impede his motions he scraped it out of his way, and set to
+work again with tenfold earnestness. After a good while he paused and
+looked up at Dick with an "it-won't-do,-I-fear,-there's-nothing-here"
+expression on his face.
+
+"Seek him out, pup!" repeated Dick.
+
+"Oh! very good," mutely answered the dog, and went at it again, tooth
+and nail, harder than ever.
+
+In the course of a quarter of an hour there was a deep yawning hole
+in the sand, into which Dick peered with intense anxiety. The bottom
+appeared slightly _damp_. Hope now reanimated Dick Varley, and by
+various devices he succeeded in getting the dog to scrape away a sort
+of tunnel from the hole, into which he might roll himself and put down
+his lips to drink when the water should rise high enough. Impatiently
+and anxiously he lay watching the moisture slowly accumulate in the
+bottom of the hole, drop by drop, and while he gazed he fell into a
+troubled, restless slumber, and dreamed that Crusoe's return was a
+dream, and that he was alone again, perishing for want of water.
+
+When he awakened the hole was half full of clear water, and Crusoe was
+lapping it greedily.
+
+"Back, pup!" he shouted, as he crept down to the hole and put his
+trembling lips to the water. It was brackish, but drinkable, and as
+Dick drank deeply of it he esteemed it at that moment better than
+nectar. Here he lay for half-an-hour, alternately drinking and gazing
+in surprise at his own emaciated visage as reflected in the pool.
+
+The same afternoon Crusoe, in a private hunting excursion of his own,
+discovered and caught a prairie-hen, which he quietly proceeded to
+devour on the spot, when Dick, who saw what had occurred, whistled to
+him.
+
+Obedience was engrained in every fibre of Crusoe's mental and
+corporeal being. He did not merely answer at once to the call--he
+_sprang_ to it, leaving the prairie-hen untasted.
+
+"Fetch it, pup," cried Dick eagerly as the dog came up.
+
+In a few moments the hen was at his feet. Dick's circumstances could
+not brook the delay of cookery; he gashed the bird with his knife and
+drank the blood, and then gave the flesh to the dog, while he crept
+to the pool again for another draught. Ah! think not, reader, that
+although we have treated this subject in a slight vein of pleasantry,
+because it ended well, that therefore our tale is pure fiction. Not
+only are Indians glad to satisfy the urgent cravings of hunger with
+raw flesh, but many civilized men and delicately nurtured have done
+the same--ay, and doubtless will do the same again, as long as
+enterprising and fearless men shall go forth to dare the dangers of
+flood and field in the wild places of our wonderful world!
+
+Crusoe had finished his share of the feast before Dick returned from
+the pool. Then master and dog lay down together side by side and fell
+into a long, deep, peaceful slumber.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+_Health and happiness return_--Incidents of the journey_--_A buffalo
+shot_--_A wild horse "creased"_--_Dick's battle with a mustang_.
+
+Dick Varley's fears and troubles, in the meantime, were ended. On the
+day following he awoke refreshed and happy--so happy and light at
+heart, as he felt the glow of returning health coursing through his
+veins, that he fancied he must have dreamed it all. In fact, he was so
+certain that his muscles were strong that he endeavoured to leap up,
+but was powerfully convinced of his true condition by the miserable
+stagger that resulted from the effort.
+
+However, he knew he was recovering, so he rose, and thanking God for
+his recovery, and for the new hope that was raised in his heart, he
+went down to the pool and drank deeply of its water. Then he returned,
+and, sitting down beside his dog, opened the Bible and read long--and,
+for the first time, _earnestly_--the story of Christ's love for sinful
+man. He at last fell asleep over the book, and when he awakened felt
+so much refreshed in body and mind that he determined to attempt to
+pursue his journey.
+
+He had not proceeded far when he came upon a colony of prairie-dogs.
+Upon this occasion he was little inclined to take a humorous view of
+the vagaries of these curious little creatures, but he shot one, and,
+as before, ate part of it raw. These creatures are so active that they
+are difficult to shoot, and even when killed generally fall into their
+holes and disappear. Crusoe, however, soon unearthed the dead animal
+on this occasion. That night the travellers came to a stream of fresh
+water, and Dick killed a turkey, so that he determined to spend a
+couple of days there to recruit. At the end of that time he again set
+out, but was able only to advance five miles when he broke down. In
+fact, it became evident to him that he must have a longer period of
+absolute repose ere he could hope to continue his journey; but to do
+so without food was impossible. Fortunately there was plenty of water,
+as his course lay along the margin of a small stream, and, as the arid
+piece of prairie was now behind him, he hoped to fall in with birds,
+or perhaps deer, soon.
+
+While he was plodding heavily and wearily along, pondering these
+things, he came to the brow of a wave from which he beheld a most
+magnificent view of green grassy plains decked with flowers, and
+rolling out to the horizon, with a stream meandering through it, and
+clumps of trees scattered everywhere far and wide. It was a glorious
+sight; but the most glorious object in it to Dick, at that time, was a
+fat buffalo which stood grazing not a hundred yards off. The wind was
+blowing towards him, so that the animal did not scent him, and, as he
+came up very slowly, and it was turned away, it did not see him.
+
+Crusoe would have sprung forward in an instant, but his master's
+finger imposed silence and caution. Trembling with eagerness, Dick
+sank flat down in the grass, cocked both barrels of his piece, and,
+resting it on his left hand with his left elbow on the ground, he
+waited until the animal should present its side. In a few seconds
+it moved; Dick's eye glanced along the barrel, but it trembled--his
+wonted steadiness of aim was gone. He fired, and the buffalo sprang
+off in terror. With a groan of despair he fired again--almost
+recklessly--and the buffalo fell! It rose once or twice and stumbled
+forward a few paces, then it fell again. Meanwhile Dick reloaded with
+trembling hand, and advanced to give it another shot; but it was not
+needful--the buffalo was already dead.
+
+"Now, Crusoe," said Dick, sitting down on the buffalo's shoulder and
+patting his favourite on the head, "we're all right at last. You and I
+shall have a jolly time o't, pup, from this time for'ard."
+
+Dick paused for breath, and Crusoe wagged his tail and looked as if to
+say--pshaw! "_as if!_"
+
+We tell you what it is, reader, it's of no use at all to go on writing
+"as if," when we tell you what Crusoe said. If there is any language
+in eyes whatever--if there is language in a tail, in a cocked ear, in
+a mobile eyebrow, in the point of a canine nose,--if there is language
+in any terrestrial thing at all, apart from that which flows from the
+tongue, then Crusoe _spoke!_ Do we not speak at this moment to _you?_
+and if so, then tell me wherein lies the difference between a written
+_letter_ and a given _sign?_
+
+Yes, Crusoe spoke. He said to Dick as plain as dog could say it,
+slowly and emphatically, "That's my opinion precisely, Dick. You're
+the dearest, most beloved, jolliest fellow that ever walked on two
+legs, you are; and whatever's your opinion is mine, no matter _how_
+absurd it may be."
+
+Dick evidently understood him perfectly, for he laughed as he looked
+at him and patted him on the head, and called him a "funny dog." Then
+he continued his discourse:--
+
+"Yes, pup, we'll make our camp here for a long bit, old dog, in this
+beautiful plain. We'll make a willow wigwam to sleep in, you and I,
+jist in yon clump o' trees, not a stone's-throw to our right, where
+we'll have a run o' pure water beside us, and be near our buffalo at
+the same time. For, ye see, we'll need to watch him lest the wolves
+take a notion to eat him--that'll be _your_ duty, pup. Then I'll skin
+him when I get strong enough, which'll be in a day or two, I hope, and
+we'll put one-half of the skin below us and t'other half above us
+i' the camp, an' sleep, an' eat, an' take it easy for a week or
+two--won't we, pup?"
+
+"Hoora-a-a-y!" shouted Crusoe, with a jovial wag of his tail, that no
+human arm with hat, or cap, or kerchief ever equalled.
+
+Poor Dick Varley! He smiled to think how earnestly he had been talking
+to the dog; but he did not cease to do it, for although he entered
+into discourses the drift of which Crusoe's limited education did not
+permit him to follow, he found comfort in hearing the sound of his own
+voice, and in knowing that it fell pleasantly on another ear in that
+lonely wilderness.
+
+Our hero now set about his preparations as vigorously as he could. He
+cut out the buffalo's tongue--a matter of great difficulty to one in
+his weak state--and carried it to a pleasant spot near to the stream
+where the turf was level and green, and decked with wild flowers. Here
+he resolved to make his camp.
+
+His first care was to select a bush whose branches were long enough to
+form a canopy over his head when bent, and the ends thrust into the
+ground. The completing of this exhausted him greatly, but after a rest
+he resumed his labours. The next thing was to light a fire--a comfort
+which he had not enjoyed for many weary days. Not that he required it
+for warmth, for the weather was extremely warm, but he required it to
+cook with, and the mere _sight_ of a blaze in a dark place is a most
+heart-cheering thing, as every one knows.
+
+When the fire was lighted he filled his pannikin at the brook and put
+it on to boil, and cutting several slices of buffalo tongue, he thrust
+short stakes through them and set them up before the fire to roast. By
+this time the water was boiling, so he took it off with difficulty,
+nearly burning his fingers and singeing the tail of his coat in so
+doing. Into the pannikin he put a lump of maple sugar, and stirred it
+about with a stick, and tasted it. It seemed to him even better than
+tea or coffee. It was absolutely delicious!
+
+Really one has no notion what he can do if he makes believe _very
+hard_. The human mind is a nicely balanced and extremely complex
+machine, and when thrown a little off the balance can be made
+to believe almost anything, as we see in the case of some poor
+monomaniacs, who have fancied that they were made of all sorts of
+things--glass and porcelain, and such like. No wonder then that poor
+Dick Varley, after so much suffering and hardship, came to regard that
+pannikin of hot sirup as the most delicious beverage he ever drank.
+
+During all these operations Crusoe sat on his haunches beside him and
+looked. And you haven't, no, you haven't got the most distant notion
+of the way in which that dog manoeuvred with his head and face. He
+opened his eyes wide, and cocked his ears, and turned his head first a
+little to one side, then a little to the other. After that he turned
+it a _good deal_ to one side, and then a good deal more to the other.
+Then he brought it straight, and raised one eyebrow a little, and then
+the other a little, and then both together very much. Then, when Dick
+paused to rest and did nothing, Crusoe looked mild for a moment, and
+yawned vociferously. Presently Dick moved--up went the ears again, and
+Crusoe came, in military parlance, "to the position of attention!" At
+last supper was ready and they began.
+
+Dick had purposely kept the dog's supper back from him, in order that
+they might eat it in company. And between every bite and sup that Dick
+took, he gave a bite--but not a sup--to Crusoe. Thus lovingly they
+ate together; and when Dick lay that night under the willow branches,
+looking up through them at the stars, with his feet to the fire and
+Crusoe close along his side, he thought it the best and sweetest
+supper he ever ate, and the happiest evening he ever spent--so
+wonderfully do circumstances modify our notions of felicity.
+
+Two weeks after this "Richard was himself again."
+
+The muscles were springy, and the blood coursed fast and free, as was
+its wont. Only a slight, and, perhaps, salutary feeling of weakness
+remained, to remind him that young muscles might again become more
+helpless than those of an aged man or a child.
+
+Dick had left his encampment a week ago, and was now advancing by
+rapid stages towards the Rocky Mountains, closely following the trail
+of his lost comrades, which he had no difficulty in finding and
+keeping now that Crusoe was with him. The skin of the buffalo that he
+had killed was now strapped to his shoulders, and the skin of another
+animal that he had shot a few days after was cut up into a long line
+and slung in a coil round his neck. Crusoe was also laden. He had a
+little bundle of meat slung on each side of him.
+
+For some time past numerous herds of mustangs, or wild horses, had
+crossed their path, and Dick was now on the look-out for a chance to
+_crease_ one of those magnificent creatures.
+
+On one occasion a band of mustangs galloped close up to him before
+they were aware of his presence, and stopped short with a wild snort
+of surprise on beholding him; then, wheeling round, they dashed away
+at full gallop, their long tails and manes flying wildly in the air,
+and their hoofs thundering on the plain. Dick did not attempt to
+crease one upon this occasion, fearing that his recent illness might
+have rendered his hand too unsteady for so extremely delicate an
+operation.
+
+In order to crease a wild horse the hunter requires to be a perfect
+shot, and it is not every man of the west who carries a rifle that can
+do it successfully. Creasing consists in sending a bullet through the
+gristle of the mustang's neck, just above the bone, so as to stun the
+animal. If the ball enters a hair's-breadth too low, the horse
+falls dead instantly. If it hits the exact spot, the horse falls as
+instantaneously, and dead to all appearance; but, in reality, he is
+only stunned, and if left for a few minutes will rise and gallop away
+nearly as well as ever. When hunters crease a horse successfully they
+put a rope, or halter, round his under jaw and hobbles round his feet,
+so that when he rises he is secured, and, after considerable trouble,
+reduced to obedience.
+
+The mustangs which roam in wild freedom on the prairies of the far
+west are descended from the noble Spanish steeds that were brought
+over by the wealthy cavaliers who accompanied Fernando Cortez, the
+conqueror of Mexico, in his expedition to the New World in 1518. These
+bold, and, we may add, lawless cavaliers were mounted on the finest
+horses that could be procured from Barbary and the deserts of the Old
+World. The poor Indians of the New World were struck with amazement
+and terror at these awful beings, for, never having seen horses
+before, they believed that horse and rider were one animal. During the
+wars that followed many of the Spaniards were killed, and their
+steeds bounded into the wilds of the new country, to enjoy a life of
+unrestrained freedom. These were the forefathers of the present race
+of magnificent creatures which are found in immense droves all over
+the western wilderness, from the Gulf of Mexico to the confines of the
+snowy regions of the far north.
+
+At first the Indians beheld these horses with awe and terror, but
+gradually they became accustomed to them, and finally succeeded in
+capturing great numbers and reducing them to a state of servitude.
+Not, however, to the service of the cultivated field, but to the
+service of the chase and war. The savages soon acquired the method of
+capturing wild horses by means of the lasso--as the noose at that end
+of a long line of raw hide is termed--which they adroitly threw over
+the heads of the animals and secured them, having previously run them
+down. At the present day many of the savage tribes of the west almost
+live upon horseback, and without these useful creatures they could
+scarcely subsist, as they are almost indispensable in the chase of the
+buffalo.
+
+Mustangs are regularly taken by the Indians to the settlements of the
+white men for trade, but very poor specimens are these of the breed
+of wild horses. This arises from two causes. First, the Indian cannot
+overtake the finest of a drove of wild mustangs, because his own steed
+is inferior to the best among the wild ones, besides being weighted
+with a rider, so that only the weak and inferior animals are captured.
+And, secondly, when the Indian does succeed in lassoing a first-rate
+horse he keeps it for his own use. Thus, those who have not visited
+the far-off prairies and seen the mustang in all the glory of
+untrammelled freedom, can form no adequate idea of its beauty,
+fleetness, and strength.
+
+The horse, however, was not the only creature imported by Cortez.
+There were priests in his army who rode upon asses, and although we
+cannot imagine that the "fathers" charged with the cavaliers and were
+unhorsed, or, rather, un-assed in battle, yet, somehow, the asses got
+rid of their riders and joined the Spanish chargers in their joyous
+bound into a new life of freedom. Hence wild asses also are found in
+the western prairies. But think not, reader, of those poor miserable
+wretches we see at home, which seem little better than rough door-mats
+sewed up and stuffed, with head, tail, and legs attached, and just
+enough of life infused to make them move! No, the wild ass of the
+prairie is a large powerful, swift creature. He has the same long
+ears, it is true, and the same hideous, exasperating bray, and the
+same tendency to flourish his heels; but for all that he is a very
+fine animal, and often wages _successful_ warfare with the wild horse.
+
+But to return. The next drove of mustangs that Dick and Crusoe saw
+were feeding quietly and unsuspectingly in a rich green hollow in the
+plain. Dick's heart leaped up as his eyes suddenly fell on them,
+for he had almost discovered himself before he was aware of their
+presence.
+
+"Down, pup!" he whispered, as he sank and disappeared among the grass,
+which was just long enough to cover him when lying quite flat.
+
+Crusoe crouched immediately, and his master made his observations of
+the drove, and the dispositions of the ground that might favour his
+approach, for they were not within rifle range. Having done so he
+crept slowly back until the undulation of the prairie hid him from
+view; then he sprang to his feet, and ran a considerable distance
+along the bottom until he gained the extreme end of a belt of low
+bushes, which would effectually conceal him while he approached to
+within a hundred yards or less of the troop.
+
+Here he made his arrangements. Throwing down his buffalo robe, he took
+the coil of line and cut off a piece of about three yards in length.
+On this he made a running noose. The longer line he also prepared with
+a running noose. These he threw in a coil over his arm.
+
+He also made a pair of hobbles, and placed them in the breast of his
+coat, and then, taking up his rifle, advanced cautiously through the
+bushes--Crusoe following close behind him. In a few minutes he was
+gazing in admiration at the mustangs, which were now within easy shot,
+and utterly ignorant of the presence of man, for Dick had taken care
+to approach in such a way that the wind did not carry the scent of him
+in their direction.
+
+And well might he admire them. The wild horse of these regions is not
+very large, but it is exceedingly powerful, with prominent eye,
+sharp nose, distended nostril, small feet, and a delicate leg. Their
+beautiful manes hung at great length down their arched necks, and
+their thick tails swept the ground. One magnificent fellow in
+particular attracted Dick's attention. He was of a rich dark-brown
+colour, with black mane and tail, and seemed to be the leader of the
+drove.
+
+Although not the nearest to him, he resolved to crease this horse. It
+is said that creasing generally destroys or damages the spirit of the
+horse, so Dick determined to try whether his powers of close shooting
+would not serve him on this occasion. Going down on one knee he aimed
+at the creature's neck, just a hair's-breadth above the spot where he
+had been told that hunters usually hit them, and fired. The effect
+upon the group was absolutely tremendous. With wild cries and snorting
+terror they tossed their proud heads in the air, uncertain for one
+moment in which direction to fly; then there was a rush as if a
+hurricane swept over the place, and they were gone.
+
+But the brown horse was down. Dick did not wait until the others
+had fled. He dropped his rifle, and with the speed of a deer sprang
+towards the fallen horse, and affixed the hobbles to his legs. His aim
+had been true. Although scarcely half a minute elapsed between the
+shot and the fixing of the hobbles, the animal recovered, and with a
+frantic exertion rose on his haunches, just as Dick had fastened the
+noose of the short line in his under jaw. But this was not enough. If
+the horse had gained his feet before the longer line was placed round
+his neck, he would have escaped. As the mustang made the second
+violent plunge that placed it on its legs, Dick flung the noose
+hastily; it caught on one ear, and would have fallen off, had not the
+horse suddenly shaken its head, and unwittingly sealed its own fate by
+bringing the noose round its neck.
+
+And now the struggle began. Dick knew well enough, from hearsay, the
+method of "breaking down" a wild horse. He knew that the Indians choke
+them with the noose round the neck until they fall down exhausted and
+covered with foam, when they creep up, fix the hobbles, and the line
+in the lower jaw, and then loosen the lasso to let the horse breathe,
+and resume its plungings till it is almost subdued, when they
+gradually draw near and breathe into its nostrils. But the violence
+and strength of this animal rendered this an apparently hopeless task.
+We have already seen that the hobbles and noose in the lower jaw
+had been fixed, so that Dick had nothing now to do but to choke his
+captive, and tire him out, while Crusoe remained a quiet though
+excited spectator of the scene.
+
+But there seemed to be no possibility of choking this horse. Either
+the muscles of his neck were too strong, or there was something
+wrong with the noose which prevented it from acting, for the furious
+creature dashed and bounded backwards and sideways in its terror for
+nearly an hour, dragging Dick after it, till he was almost exhausted;
+and yet, at the end of that time, although flecked with foam and
+panting with terror, it seemed as strong as ever. Dick held both
+lines, for the short one attached to its lower jaw gave him great
+power over it. At last he thought of seeking assistance from his dog.
+
+"Crusoe," he cried, "lay hold, pup!"
+
+The dog seized the long line in his teeth and pulled with all his
+might. At the same moment Dick let go the short line and threw all
+his weight upon the long one. The noose tightened suddenly under this
+strain, and the mustang, with a gasp, fell choking to the ground.
+
+Dick had often heard of the manner in which the Mexicans "break" their
+horses, so he determined to abandon the method which had already
+almost worn him out, and adopt the other, as far as the means in his
+power rendered it possible. Instead, therefore, of loosening the lasso
+and re-commencing the struggle, he tore a branch from a neighbouring
+bush, cut the hobbles, strode with his legs across the fallen steed,
+seized the end of the short line or bridle, and then, ordering Crusoe
+to quit his hold, he loosened the noose which compressed the horse's
+neck and had already well-nigh terminated its existence.
+
+One or two deep sobs restored it, and in a moment it leaped to its
+feet with Dick firmly on its back. To say that the animal leaped and
+kicked in its frantic efforts to throw this intolerable burden
+would be a tame manner of expressing what took place. Words cannot
+adequately describe the scene. It reared, plunged, shrieked, vaulted
+into the air, stood straight up on its hind legs, and then almost as
+straight upon its fore ones; but its rider held on like a burr. Then
+the mustang raced wildly forwards a few paces, then as wildly back,
+and then stood still and trembled violently. But this was only a brief
+lull in the storm, so Dick saw that the time was now come to assert
+the superiority of his race.
+
+"Stay back, Crusoe, and watch my rifle, pup," he cried, and raising
+his heavy switch he brought it down with a sharp cut across the
+horse's flank, at the same time loosening the rein which hitherto he
+had held tight.
+
+The wild horse uttered a passionate cry, and sprang forward like the
+bolt from a cross-bow.
+
+And now commenced a race which, if not so prolonged, was at least as
+furious as that of the far-famed Mazeppa. Dick was a splendid rider,
+however--at least as far as "sticking on" goes. He might not have come
+up to the precise pitch desiderated by a riding-master in regard to
+carriage, etc., but he rode that wild horse of the prairie with as
+much ease as he had formerly ridden his own good steed, whose bones
+had been picked by the wolves not long ago.
+
+The pace was tremendous, for the youth's weight was nothing to that
+muscular frame, which bounded with cat-like agility from wave to wave
+of the undulating plain in ungovernable terror. In a few minutes the
+clump of willows where Crusoe and his rifle lay were out of sight
+behind; but it mattered not, for Dick had looked up at the sky and
+noted the position of the sun at the moment of starting. Away they
+went on the wings of the wind, mile after mile over the ocean-like
+waste--curving slightly aside now and then to avoid the bluffs that
+occasionally appeared on the scene for a few minutes and then swept
+out of sight behind them. Then they came to a little rivulet. It was a
+mere brook of a few feet wide, and two or three yards, perhaps, from
+bank to bank. Over this they flew so easily that the spring was
+scarcely felt, and continued the headlong course. And now a more
+barren country was around them. Sandy ridges and scrubby grass
+appeared everywhere, reminding Dick of the place where he had been
+so ill. Rocks, too, were scattered about, and at one place the horse
+dashed with clattering hoofs between a couple of rocky sand-hills
+which, for a few seconds, hid the prairie from view. Here the mustang
+suddenly shied with such violence that his rider was nearly thrown,
+while a rattlesnake darted from the path. Soon they emerged from this
+pass, and again the plains became green and verdant. Presently a
+distant line of trees showed that they were approaching water, and
+in a few minutes they were close on it. For the first time Dick felt
+alarm. He sought to check his steed, but no force he could exert had
+the smallest influence on it.
+
+Trees and bushes flew past in bewildering confusion. The river was
+before him; what width, he could not tell, but he was reckless now,
+like his charger, which he struck with the willow rod with all his
+force as they came up. One tremendous bound, and they were across, but
+Dick had to lie flat on the mustang's back as it crashed through the
+bushes to avoid being scraped off by the trees. Again they were on the
+open plain, and the wild horse began to show signs of exhaustion.
+
+Now was its rider's opportunity to assert his dominion. He plied the
+willow rod and urged the panting horse on, until it was white with
+foam and laboured a little in its gait. Then Dick gently drew the
+halter, and it broke into a trot; still tighter, and it walked, and in
+another minute stood still, trembling in every limb. Dick now quietly
+rubbed its neck, and spoke to it in soothing tones; then he wheeled it
+gently round, and urged it forward. It was quite subdued and docile.
+In a little time they came to the river and forded it, after which
+they went through the belt of woodland at a walk. By the time they
+reached the open prairie the mustang was recovered sufficiently to
+feel its spirit returning, so Dick gave it a gentle touch with the
+switch, and away they went on their return journey.
+
+But it amazed Dick not a little to find how long that journey was.
+Very different was the pace, too, from the previous mad gallop, and
+often would the poor horse have stopped had Dick allowed him. But this
+might not be. The shades of night were approaching, and the camp lay a
+long way ahead.
+
+At last it was reached, and Crusoe came out with great demonstrations
+of joy, but was sent back lest he should alarm the horse. Then Dick
+jumped off his back, stroked his head, put his cheek close to his
+mouth and whispered softly to him, after which he fastened him to a
+tree and rubbed him down slightly with a bunch of grass. Having done
+this, he left him to graze as far as his tether would permit; and,
+after supping with Crusoe, lay down to-rest, not a little elated with
+his success in this first attempt at "creasing" and "breaking" a
+mustang.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+_Dick becomes a horse tamer--Resumes his journey--Charlie's
+doings--Misfortunes which lead to, but do not terminate in, the Rocky
+Mountains--A grizzly bear_.
+
+There is a proverb--or a saying--or at least somebody or book has told
+us, that some Irishman once said, "Be aisy; or, if ye can't be aisy,
+be as aisy as ye can."
+
+Now, we count that good advice, and strongly recommend it to all and
+sundry. Had we been at the side of Dick Varley on the night after his
+taming of the wild horse, we would have strongly urged that advice
+upon him. Whether he would have listened to it or not is quite another
+question; we rather think not. Reader, if you wish to know why, go and
+do what he did, and if you feel no curious sensations about the region
+of the loins after it, we will tell you why Dick Varley wouldn't have
+listened to that advice. Can a man feel as if his joints were wrenched
+out of their sockets, and listen to advice--be that advice good or
+bad? Can he feel as though these joints were trying to re-set and
+re-dislocate themselves perpetually, and listen to advice? Can he feel
+as if he were sitting down on red-hot iron, when he's not sitting down
+at all, and listen to advice? Can he--but no! why pursue the subject.
+Poor Dick spent that night in misery, and the greater part of the
+following day in sleep, to make up for it.
+
+When he got up to breakfast in the afternoon he felt much better, but
+shaky.
+
+"Now, pup," he said, stretching himself, "we'll go and see our horse.
+_Ours_, pup; yours and mine: didn't you help to catch him, eh, pup?"
+
+Crusoe acknowledged the fact with a wag and a playful
+"bow-wow--wow-oo-ow!" and followed his master to the place where
+the horse had been picketed. It was standing there quite quiet, but
+looking a little timid.
+
+Dick went boldly up to it, and patted its head and stroked its nose,
+for nothing is so likely to alarm either a tame or a wild horse as any
+appearance of timidity or hesitation on the part of those who approach
+them.
+
+After treating it thus for a short time, he stroked down its neck,
+and then its shoulders--the horse eying him all the time nervously.
+Gradually he stroked its back and limbs gently, and walked quietly
+round and round it once or twice, sometimes approaching and sometimes
+going away, but never either hesitating or doing anything abruptly.
+This done, he went down to the stream and filled his cap with water
+and carried it to the horse, which snuffed suspiciously and backed a
+little; so he laid the cap down, and went up and patted him again.
+Presently he took up the cap and carried it to his nose. The poor
+creature was almost choking with thirst, so that, the moment he
+understood what was in the cap, he buried his lips in it and sucked it
+up.
+
+This was a great point gained: he had accepted a benefit at the hands
+of his new master; he had become a debtor to man, and no doubt he felt
+the obligation. Dick filled the cap and the horse emptied it again,
+and again, and again, until its burning thirst was slaked. Then Dick
+went up to his shoulder, patted him, undid the line that fastened him,
+and vaulted lightly on his back!
+
+We say _lightly_, for it was so, but it wasn't _easily_, as Dick could
+have told you! However, he was determined not to forego the training
+of his steed on account of what _he_ would have called a "little bit
+pain."
+
+At this unexpected act the horse plunged and reared a good deal, and
+seemed inclined to go through the performance of the day before over
+again; but Dick patted and stroked him into quiescence, and having
+done so, urged him into a gallop over the plains, causing the dog to
+gambol round in order that he might get accustomed to him. This tried
+his nerves a good deal, and no wonder, for if he took Crusoe for a
+wolf, which no doubt he did, he must have thought him a very giant of
+the pack.
+
+By degrees they broke into a furious gallop, and after breathing him
+well, Dick returned and tied him to the tree. Then he rubbed him down
+again, and gave him another drink. This time the horse smelt his new
+master all over, and Dick felt that he had conquered him by kindness.
+No doubt the tremendous run of the day before could scarcely be called
+kindness, but without this subduing run he never could have brought
+the offices of kindness to bear on so wild a steed.
+
+During all these operations Crusoe sat looking on with demure
+sagacity--drinking in wisdom and taking notes. We know not whether any
+notes made by the canine race have ever been given to the world, but
+certain are we that, if the notes and observations made by Crusoe on
+that journey were published, they would, to say the least, surprise
+us!
+
+Next day Dick gave the wild horse his second lesson, and his name.
+He called him "Charlie," after a much-loved companion in the Mustang
+Valley. And long and heartily did Dick Varley laugh as he told the
+horse his future designation in the presence of Crusoe, for it struck
+him as somewhat ludicrous that a mustang which, two days ago, pawed
+the earth in all the pride of independent freedom, should suddenly
+come down so low as to carry a hunter on his back and be named
+Charlie.
+
+The next piece of instruction began by Crusoe being led up under
+Charlie's nose, and while Dick patted the dog with his right hand he
+patted the horse with his left. It backed a good deal at first and
+snorted, but Crusoe walked slowly and quietly in front of him several
+times, each time coming nearer, until he again stood under his nose;
+then the horse smelt him nervously, and gave a sigh of relief when he
+found that Crusoe paid no attention to him whatever. Dick then ordered
+the dog to lie down at Charlie's feet, and went to the camp to fetch
+his rifle, and buffalo robe, and pack of meat. These and all the other
+things belonging to him were presented for inspection, one by one, to
+the horse, who arched his neck, and put forward his ears, and eyed
+them at first, but smelt them all over, and seemed to feel more easy
+in his mind.
+
+Next, the buffalo robe was rubbed over his nose, then over his eyes
+and head, then down his neck and shoulder, and lastly was placed on
+his back. Then it was taken off and _flung_ on; after that it was
+strapped on, and the various little items of the camp were attached to
+it. This done, Dick took up his rifle and let him smell it; then he
+put his hand on Charlie's shoulder, vaulted on to his back, and rode
+away.
+
+Charlie's education was completed. And now our hero's journey began
+again in earnest, and with some prospect of its speedy termination.
+
+In this course of training through which Dick put his wild horse, he
+had been at much greater pains and had taken far longer time than is
+usually the case among the Indians, who will catch, and "break," and
+ride a wild horse into camp in less than _three hours_. But Dick
+wanted to do the thing well, which the Indians are not careful to
+do; besides, it must be borne in remembrance that this was his
+first attempt, and that his horse was one of the best and most
+high-spirited, while those caught by the Indians, as we have said, are
+generally the poorest of a drove.
+
+Dick now followed the trail of his lost companions at a rapid pace,
+yet not so rapidly as he might have done, being averse to exhausting
+his good dog and his new companion. Each night he encamped under the
+shade of a tree or a bush when he could find one, or in the open
+prairie when there were none, and, picketing his horse to a short
+stake or pin which he carried with him for the purpose, lit his fire,
+had supper, and lay down to rest. In a few days Charlie became so
+tame and so accustomed to his master's voice that he seemed quite
+reconciled to his new life. There can be no doubt whatever that he had
+a great dislike to solitude; for on one occasion, when Dick and Crusoe
+went off a mile or so from the camp, where Charlie was tied, and
+disappeared from his view, he was heard to neigh so loudly that Dick
+ran back, thinking the wolves must have attacked him. He was all
+right, however, and exhibited evident tokens of satisfaction when they
+returned.
+
+On another occasion his fear of being left alone was more clearly
+demonstrated.
+
+Dick had been unable to find wood or water that day, so he was obliged
+to encamp upon the open plain. The want of water was not seriously
+felt, however, for he had prepared a bladder in which he always
+carried enough to give him one pannikin of hot sirup, and leave
+a mouthful for Crusoe and Charlie. Dried buffalo dung formed a
+substitute for fuel. Spreading his buffalo robe, he lit his fire, put
+on his pannikin to boil, and stuck up a piece of meat to roast, to the
+great delight of Crusoe, who sat looking on with much interest.
+
+Suddenly Charlie, who was picketed a few hundred yards off in a grassy
+spot, broke his halter close by the headpiece, and with a snort of
+delight bounded away, prancing and kicking up his heels!
+
+Dick heaved a deep sigh, for he felt sure that his horse was gone.
+However, in a little Charlie stopped, and raised his nose high in the
+air, as if to look for his old equine companions. But they were gone;
+no answering neigh replied to his; and he felt, probably for the first
+time, that he was really alone in the world. Having no power of smell,
+whereby he might have traced them out as the dog would have done, he
+looked in a bewildered and excited state all round the horizon. Then
+his eye fell on Dick and Crusoe sitting by their little fire. Charlie
+looked hard at them, and then again at the horizon; and then, coming
+to the conclusion, no doubt, that the matter was quite beyond his
+comprehension, he quietly took to feeding.
+
+Dick availed himself of the chance, and tried to catch him; but he
+spent an hour with Crusoe in the vain attempt, and at last they gave
+it up in disgust and returned to the fire, where they finished their
+supper and went to bed.
+
+Next morning they saw Charlie feeding close at hand, so they took
+breakfast, and tried to catch him again. But it was of no use; he was
+evidently coquetting with them, and dodged about and defied their
+utmost efforts, for there were only a few inches of line hanging to
+his head. At last it occurred to Dick that he would try the experiment
+of forsaking him. So he packed up his things, rolled up the buffalo
+robe, threw it and the rifle on his shoulder, and walked deliberately
+away.
+
+"Come along, Crusoe!" he cried, after walking a few paces.
+
+But Crusoe stood by the fire with his head up, and an expression on
+his face that said, "Hallo, man! what's wrong? You've forgot Charlie!
+Hold on! Are you mad?"
+
+"Come here, Crusoe!" cried his master in a decided tone.
+
+Crusoe obeyed at once. Whatever mistake there might be, there was
+evidently none in that command; so he lowered his head and tail
+humbly, and trotted on with his master, but he perpetually turned his
+head as he went, first on this side and then on that, to look and
+wonder at Charlie.
+
+When they were far away on the plain, Charlie suddenly became aware
+that something was wrong. He trotted to the brow of a slope, with his
+head and tail very high up indeed, and looked after them; then he
+looked at the fire, and neighed; then he trotted quickly up to it, and
+seeing that everything was gone he began to neigh violently, and at
+last started off at full speed, and overtook his friends, passing
+within a few feet of them, and, wheeling round a few yards off, stood
+trembling like an aspen leaf.
+
+Dick called him by his name and advanced, while Charlie met him
+half-way, and allowed himself to be saddled, bridled, and mounted
+forthwith.
+
+After this Dick had no further trouble with his wild horse.
+
+At his next camping-place, which was in the midst of a cluster of
+bushes close beside a creek, Dick came unexpectedly upon a little
+wooden cross which marked the head of a grave. There was no
+inscription on it, but the Christian symbol told that it was the grave
+of a white man. It is impossible to describe the rush of mingled
+feelings that filled the soul of the young hunter as he leaned on the
+muzzle of his rifle and looked at this solitary resting-place of one
+who, doubtless like himself, had been a roving hunter. Had he been
+young or old when he fell? had he a mother in the distant settlement
+who watched and longed and waited for the son that was never more to
+gladden her eyes? had he been murdered, or had he died there and been
+buried by his sorrowing comrades? These and a thousand questions
+passed rapidly through his mind as he gazed at the little cross.
+
+Suddenly he started. "Could it be the grave of Joe or Henri?" For an
+instant the idea sent a chill to his heart; but it passed quickly, for
+a second glance showed that the grave was old, and that the wooden
+cross had stood over it for years.
+
+Dick turned away with a saddened heart; and that night, as he pored
+over the pages of his Bible, his mind was filled with many thoughts
+about eternity and the world to come. He, too, must come to the grave
+one day, and quit the beautiful prairies and his loved rifle. It was a
+sad thought; but while he meditated he thought upon his mother. "After
+all," he murmured, "there must be happiness _without_ the rifle, and
+youth, and health, and the prairie! My mother's happy, yet she don't
+shoot, or ride like wild-fire over the plains." Then that word which
+had been sent so sweetly to him through her hand came again to his
+mind, "My son, give me thine heart;" and as he read God's Book, he met
+with the word, "Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee
+the desire of thine heart." "_The desire of thine heart_" Dick
+repeated this, and pondered it till he fell asleep.
+
+A misfortune soon after this befell Dick Varley which well-nigh caused
+him to give way to despair. For some time past he had been approaching
+the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains--those ragged, jagged,
+mighty hills which run through the whole continent from north to south
+in a continuous chain, and form, as it were, the backbone of America.
+One morning, as he threw the buffalo robe off his shoulders and sat
+up, he was horrified to find the whole earth covered with a mantle
+of snow. We say he was horrified, for this rendered it absolutely
+impossible any further to trace his companions either by scent or
+sight.
+
+For some time he sat musing bitterly on his sad fate, while his dog
+came and laid his head sympathizingly on his arm.
+
+"Ah, pup!" he said, "I know ye'd help me if ye could! But it's all up
+now; there's no chance of findin' them--none!"
+
+To this Crusoe replied by a low whine. He knew full well that
+something distressed his master, but he hadn't yet ascertained what
+it was. As something had to be done, Dick put the buffalo robe on
+his steed, and mounting said, as he was in the habit of doing each
+morning, "Lead on, pup."
+
+Crusoe put his nose to the ground and ran forward a few paces, then he
+returned and ran about snuffing and scraping up the snow. At last he
+looked up and uttered a long melancholy howl.
+
+"Ah! I knowed it," said Dick, pushing forward. "Come on, pup; you'll
+have to _follow_ now. Any way we must go on."
+
+The snow that had fallen was not deep enough to offer the slightest
+obstruction to their advance. It was, indeed, only one of those
+occasional showers common to that part of the country in the late
+autumn, which season had now crept upon Dick almost before he was
+aware of it, and he fully expected that it would melt away in a few
+days. In this hope he kept steadily advancing, until he found himself
+in the midst of those rocky fastnesses which divide the waters that
+flow into the Atlantic from those that flow into the Pacific Ocean.
+Still the slight crust of snow lay on the ground, and he had no means
+of knowing whether he was going in the right direction or not.
+
+Game was abundant, and there was no lack of wood now, so that his
+night bivouac was not so cold or dreary as might have been expected.
+
+Travelling, however, had become difficult, and even dangerous, owing
+to the rugged nature of the ground over which he proceeded. The
+scenery had completely changed in its character. Dick no longer
+coursed over the free, open plains, but he passed through beautiful
+valleys filled with luxuriant trees, and hemmed in by stupendous
+mountains, whose rugged sides rose upward until the snow-clad peaks
+pierced the clouds.
+
+There was something awful in these dark solitudes, quite overwhelming
+to a youth of Dick's temperament. His heart began to sink lower and
+lower every day, and the utter impossibility of making up his mind
+what to do became at length agonizing. To have turned and gone back
+the hundreds of miles over which he had travelled would have caused
+him some anxiety under any circumstances, but to do so while Joe and
+Henri were either wandering about there or in the power of the savages
+was, he felt, out of the question. Yet in which way should he go?
+Whatever course he took might lead him farther and farther away from
+them.
+
+In this dilemma he came to the determination of remaining where he
+was, at least until the snow should leave the ground.
+
+He felt great relief even when this hopeless course was decided
+upon, and set about making himself an encampment with some degree of
+cheerfulness. When he had completed this task, he took his rifle, and
+leaving Charlie picketed in the centre of a dell, where the long, rich
+grass rose high above the snow, went off to hunt.
+
+On turning a rocky point his heart suddenly bounded into his throat,
+for there, not thirty yards distant, stood a huge grizzly bear!
+
+Yes, there he was at last, the monster to meet which the young hunter
+had so often longed--the terrible size and fierceness of which he had
+heard so often spoken about by the old hunters. There it stood at
+last; but little did Dick Varley think that the first time he should
+meet with his foe should be when alone in the dark recesses of the
+Rocky Mountains, and with none to succour him in the event of the
+battle going against him. Yes, there was one. The faithful Crusoe
+stood by his side, with his hair bristling, all his formidable teeth
+exposed, and his eyes glaring in their sockets. Alas for poor Crusoe
+had he gone into that combat alone! One stroke of that monster's paw
+would have hurled him dead upon the ground.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+_Dick's first fight with a grizzly_--_Adventure with a deer_--_A
+surprise_.
+
+
+There is no animal in all the land so terrible and dangerous as the
+grizzly bear. Not only is he the largest of the species in America,
+but he is the fiercest, the strongest, and the most tenacious of
+life--facts which are so well understood that few of the western
+hunters like to meet him single-handed, unless they happen to be
+first-rate shots; and the Indians deem the encounter so dangerous that
+to wear a collar composed of the claws of a grizzly bear of his own
+killing is counted one of the highest honours to which a young warrior
+can attain.
+
+The grizzly bear resembles the brown bear of Europe, but it is larger,
+and the hair is long, the points being of a paler shade. About the
+head there is a considerable mixture of gray hair, giving it the
+"grizzly" appearance from which it derives its name. The claws are
+dirty white, arched, and very long, and so strong that when the animal
+strikes with its paw they cut like a chisel. These claws are not
+embedded in the paw, as is the case with the cat, but always project
+far beyond the hair, thus giving to the foot a very ungainly
+appearance. They are not sufficiently curved to enable the grizzly
+bear to climb trees, like the black and brown bears; and this
+inability on their part is often the only hope of the pursued hunter,
+who, if he succeeds in ascending a tree, is safe, for the time at
+least, from the bear's assaults. But "Caleb" is a patient creature,
+and will often wait at the foot of the tree for many hours for his
+victim.
+
+The average length of his body is about nine feet, but he sometimes
+attains to a still larger growth. Caleb is more carnivorous in his
+habits than other bears; but, like them, he does not object to indulge
+occasionally in vegetable diet, being partial to the bird-cherry, the
+choke-berry, and various shrubs. He has a sweet tooth, too, and revels
+in honey--when he can get it.
+
+The instant the grizzly bear beheld Dick Varley standing in his path,
+he rose on his hind legs and made a loud hissing noise, like a man
+breathing quick, but much harsher. To this Crusoe replied by a deep
+growl, and showing the utmost extent of his teeth, gums and all; and
+Dick cocked both barrels of his rifle.
+
+To say that Dick Varley felt no fear would be simply to make him out
+that sort of hero which does not exist in nature--namely, a _perfect_
+hero. He _did_ feel a sensation as if his bowels had suddenly melted
+into water! Let not our reader think the worse of Dick for this. There
+is not a man living who, having met with a huge grizzly bear for the
+first time in his life in a wild, solitary place, all alone, has
+not experienced some such sensation. There was no cowardice in this
+feeling.
+
+Fear is not cowardice. Acting in a wrong and contemptible manner
+because of our fear is cowardice.
+
+It is said that Wellington or Napoleon, we forget which, once stood
+watching the muster of the men who were to form the forlorn-hope in
+storming a citadel. There were many brave, strong, stalwart men there,
+in the prime of life, and flushed with the blood of high health and
+courage. There were also there a few stern-browed men of riper years,
+who stood perfectly silent, with lips compressed, and as pale as
+death. "Yonder veterans," said the general, pointing to these
+soldiers, "are men whose courage I can depend on; they _know_ what
+they are going to, the others _don't!_" Yes, these young soldiers
+_very probably_ were brave; the others _certainly_ were.
+
+Dick Varley stood for a few seconds as if thunderstruck, while the
+bear stood hissing at him. Then the liquefaction of his interior
+ceased, and he felt a glow of fire gush through his veins. Now Dick
+knew well enough that to fly from a grizzly bear was the sure and
+certain way of being torn to pieces, as when taken thus by surprise
+they almost invariably follow a retreating enemy. He also knew that
+if he stood where he was, perfectly still, the bear would get
+uncomfortable under his stare, and would retreat from him. But he
+neither intended to run away himself nor to allow the bear to do so;
+he intended to kill it, so he raised his rifle quickly, "drew a bead,"
+as the hunters express it, on the bear's heart, and fired.
+
+It immediately dropped on its fore legs and rushed at him. "Back,
+Crusoe! out of the way, pup!" shouted Dick, as his favourite was about
+to spring forward.
+
+The dog retired, and Dick leaped behind a tree. As the bear passed he
+gave it the contents of the second barrel behind the shoulder, which
+brought it down; but in another moment it rose and again rushed at
+him. Dick had no time to load, neither had he time to spring up the
+thick tree beside which he stood, and the rocky nature of the ground
+out of which it grew rendered it impossible to dodge round it. His
+only resource was flight; but where was he to fly to? If he ran along
+the open track, the bear would overtake him in a few seconds. On the
+right was a sheer precipice one hundred feet high; on the left was an
+impenetrable thicket. In despair he thought for an instant of clubbing
+his rifle and meeting the monster in close conflict; but the utter
+hopelessness of such an effort was too apparent to be entertained for
+a moment. He glanced up at the overhanging cliffs. There were one or
+two rents and projections close above him. In the twinkling of an eye
+he sprang up and grasped a ledge of about an inch broad, ten or twelve
+feet up, to which he clung while he glanced upward. Another projection
+was within reach; he gained it, and in a few seconds he stood upon a
+ledge about twenty feet up the cliff, where he had just room to plant
+his feet firmly.
+
+Without waiting to look behind, he seized his powder-horn and loaded
+one barrel of his rifle; and well was it for him that his early
+training had fitted him to do this with rapidity, for the bear dashed
+up the precipice after him at once. The first time it missed its hold,
+and fell back with a savage growl; but on the second attempt it sunk
+its long claws into the fissures between the rocks, and ascended
+steadily till within a foot of the place where Dick stood.
+
+At this moment Crusoe's obedience gave way before a sense of Dick's
+danger. Uttering one of his lion-like roars, he rushed up the
+precipice with such violence that, although naturally unable to climb,
+he reached and seized the bear's flank, despite his master's stern
+order to "keep back," and in a moment the two rolled down the face of
+the rock together, just as Dick completed loading.
+
+Knowing that one stroke of the bear's paw would be certain death to
+his poor dog, Dick leaped from his perch, and with one bound reached
+the ground at the same moment with the struggling animals, and close
+beside them, and, before they had ceased rolling, he placed the muzzle
+of his rifle into the bear's ear, and blew out its brains.
+
+Crusoe, strange to say, escaped with only one scratch on the side. It
+was a deep one, but not dangerous, and gave him but little pain at the
+time, although it caused him many a smart for some weeks after.
+
+Thus happily ended Dick's first encounter with a grizzly bear; and
+although, in the course of his wild life, he shot many specimens of
+"Caleb," he used to say that "he an' pup were never so near goin'
+under as on the day he dropped _that_ bar!"
+
+Having refreshed himself with a long draught from a neighbouring
+rivulet, and washed Crusoe's wound, Dick skinned the bear on the spot.
+"We chawed him up that time, didn't we, pup?" said Dick, with a smile
+of satisfaction, as he surveyed his prize.
+
+Crusoe looked up and assented to this.
+
+"Gave us a hard tussle, though; very nigh sent us both under, didn't
+he, pup?"
+
+Crusoe agreed entirely, and, as if the remark reminded him of
+honourable scars, he licked his wound.
+
+"Ah, pup!" cried Dick, sympathetically, "does't hurt ye, eh, poor
+dog?"
+
+Hurt him? such a question! No, he should think not; better ask if that
+leap from the precipice hurt yourself.
+
+So Crusoe might have said, but he didn't; he took no notice of the
+remark whatever.
+
+"We'll cut him up now, pup," continued Dick. "The skin'll make a
+splendid bed for you an' me o' nights, and a saddle for Charlie."
+
+Dick cut out all the claws of the bear by the roots, and spent the
+remainder of that night in cleaning them and stringing them on a strip
+of leather to form a necklace. Independently of the value of these
+enormous claws (the largest as long as a man's middle finger) as an
+evidence of prowess, they formed a remarkably graceful collar, which
+Dick wore round his neck ever after with as much pride as if he had
+been a Pawnee warrior.
+
+When it was finished he held it out at arm's-length, and said,
+"Crusoe, my pup, ain't ye proud of it? I'll tell ye what it is, pup,
+the next time you an' I floor Caleb, I'll put the claws round _your_
+neck, an' make ye wear em ever arter, so I will."
+
+The dog did not seem quite to appreciate this piece of prospective
+good fortune. Vanity had no place in his honest breast, and, sooth to
+say, it had not a large place in that of his master either, as we may
+well grant when we consider that this first display of it was on the
+occasion of his hunter's soul having at last realized its brightest
+day-dream.
+
+Dick's dangers and triumphs seemed to accumulate on him rather thickly
+at this place, for on the very next day he had a narrow escape of
+being killed by a deer. The way of it was this.
+
+Having run short of meat, and not being particularly fond of grizzly
+bear steak, he shouldered his rifle and sallied forth in quest of
+game, accompanied by Crusoe, whose frequent glances towards his
+wounded side showed that, whatever may have been the case the day
+before, it "hurt" him now.
+
+They had not gone far when they came on the track of a deer in the
+snow, and followed it up till they spied a magnificent buck about
+three hundred yards off, standing in a level patch of ground which was
+everywhere surrounded either by rocks or thicket. It was a long shot,
+but as the nature of the ground rendered it impossible for Dick to get
+nearer without being seen, he fired, and wounded the buck so badly
+that he came up with it in a few minutes. The snow had drifted in the
+place where it stood bolt upright, ready for a spring, so Dick went
+round a little way, Crusoe following, till he was in a proper position
+to fire again. Just as he pulled the trigger, Crusoe gave a howl
+behind him and disturbed his aim, so that he feared he had missed; but
+the deer fell, and he hurried towards it. On coming up, however,
+the buck sprang to its legs, rushed at him with its hair bristling,
+knocked him down in the snow, and deliberately commenced stamping him
+to death.
+
+Dick was stunned for a moment, and lay quite still, so the deer left
+off pommelling him, and stood looking at him. But the instant he moved
+it plunged at him again and gave him another pounding, until he was
+content to lie still. This was done several times, and Dick felt his
+strength going fast. He was surprised that Crusoe did not come to his
+rescue, and once he cleared his mouth and whistled to him; but as the
+deer gave him another pounding for this, he didn't attempt it again.
+He now for the first time bethought him of his knife, and quietly drew
+it from his belt; but the deer observed the motion, and was on him
+again in a moment. Dick, however, sprang up on his left elbow, and
+making several desperate thrusts upward, succeeded in stabbing the
+animal to the heart.
+
+Rising and shaking the snow from his garments, he whistled loudly to
+Crusoe, and, on listening, heard him whining piteously. He hurried
+to the place whence the sound came, and found that the poor dog
+had fallen into a deep pit or crevice in the rocks, which had been
+concealed from view by a crust of snow, and he was now making frantic
+but unavailing efforts to leap out.
+
+Dick soon freed him from his prison by means of his belt, which he
+let down for the dog to grasp, and then returned to camp with as much
+deer-meat as he could carry. Dear meat it certainly was to him, for
+it had nearly cost him his life, and left him all black and blue
+for weeks after. Happily no bones were broken, so the incident only
+confined him a day to his encampment.
+
+Soon after this the snow fell thicker than ever, and it became
+evident that an unusually early winter was about to set in among the
+mountains. This was a terrible calamity, for if the regular snow of
+winter set in, it would be impossible for him either to advance or
+retreat.
+
+While he was sitting on his bearskin by the camp-fire one day,
+thinking anxiously what he should do, and feeling that he must either
+make the attempt to escape or perish miserably in that secluded spot,
+a strange, unwonted sound struck upon his ear, and caused both him
+and Crusoe to spring violently to their feet and listen. Could he be
+dreaming?--it seemed like the sound of human voices. For a moment he
+stood with his eyes rivetted on the ground, his lips apart, and his
+nostrils distended, as he listened with the utmost intensity. Then he
+darted out and bounded round the edge of a rock which concealed
+an extensive but narrow valley from his view, and there, to his
+amazement, he beheld a band of about a hundred human beings advancing
+on horseback slowly through the snow.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+_A surprise, and a piece of good news--The fur-traders--Crusoe proved,
+and the Peigans pursued_.
+
+
+Dick's first and most natural impulse, on beholding this band, was to
+mount his horse and fly, for his mind naturally enough recurred to the
+former rough treatment he had experienced at the hands of Indians. On
+second thoughts, however, he considered it wiser to throw himself upon
+the hospitality of the strangers; "for," thought he, "they can but
+kill me, an' if I remain here I'm like to die at any rate."
+
+So Dick mounted his wild horse, grasped his rifle in his right hand,
+and, followed by Crusoe, galloped full tilt down the valley to meet
+them.
+
+He had heard enough of the customs of savage tribes, and had also of
+late experienced enough, to convince him that when a man found himself
+in the midst of an overwhelming force, his best policy was to assume
+an air of confident courage. He therefore approached them at his
+utmost speed.
+
+The effect upon the advancing band was electrical; and little wonder,
+for the young hunter's appearance was very striking. His horse, from
+having rested a good deal of late, was full of spirit. Its neck was
+arched, its nostrils expanded, and its mane and tail never having been
+checked in their growth flew wildly around him in voluminous curls.
+Dick's own hair, not having been clipped for many months, appeared
+scarcely less wild, as they thundered down the rocky pass at what
+appeared a break-neck gallop. Add to this the grandeur of the scene
+out of which they sprang, and the gigantic dog that bounded by his
+side, and you will not be surprised to hear that the Indian warriors
+clustered together, and prepared to receive this bold horseman as if
+he, in his own proper person, were a complete squadron of cavalry. It
+is probable, also, that they fully expected the tribe of which Dick
+was the chief to be at his heels.
+
+As he drew near the excitement among the strangers seemed very great,
+and, from the peculiarity of the various cries that reached him, he
+knew that there were women and children in the band--a fact which, in
+such a place and at such a season, was so unnatural that it surprised
+him very much. He noted also that, though the men in front were
+Indians, their dresses were those of trappers and hunters, and he
+almost leaped out of his saddle when he observed that "_Pale-faces_"
+were among them. But he had barely time to note these facts when he
+was up with the band. According to Indian custom, he did not check his
+speed till he was within four or five yards of the advance-guard, who
+stood in a line before him, quite still, and with their rifles lying
+loosely in their left palms; then he reined his steed almost on its
+haunches.
+
+One of the Indians advanced and spoke a few words in a language which
+was quite unintelligible to Dick, who replied, in the little Pawnee he
+could muster, that he didn't understand him.
+
+"Why, you must be a trapper!" exclaimed a thick-set, middle-aged man,
+riding out from the group. "Can you speak English?"
+
+"Ay, that can I," cried Dick joyfully, riding up and shaking the
+stranger heartily by the hand; "an' right glad am I to fall in wi' a
+white-skin an' a civil tongue in his head."
+
+"Good sooth, sir," replied the stranger, with a quiet smile on his
+kind, weather-beaten face, "I can return you the compliment; for when
+I saw you come thundering down the corrie with that wonderful horse
+and no less wonderful dog of yours, I thought you were the wild man o'
+the mountain himself, and had an ambush ready to back you. But, young
+man, do you mean to say that you live here in the mountain all alone
+after this fashion?"
+
+"No, that I don't. I've comed here in my travels, but truly this
+bean't my home. But, sir (for I see you are what the fur-traders call
+a bourgeois), how comes it that such a band as this rides i' the
+mountains? D'ye mean to say that _they_ live here?" Dick looked round
+in surprise, as he spoke, upon the crowd of mounted men and women,
+with children and pack-horses, that now surrounded him.
+
+"'Tis a fair question, lad. I am a principal among the fur-traders
+whose chief trading-post lies near the Pacific Ocean, on the west side
+of these mountains; and I have come with these trappers and their
+families, as you see, to hunt the beaver and other animals for a
+season in the mountains. We've never been here before; but that's a
+matter of little moment, for it's not the first time I've been on
+what may be called a discovery-trading expedition. We are somewhat
+entangled, however, just now among these wild passes, and if you can
+guide us out of our difficulties to the east side of the mountains,
+I'll thank you heartily and pay you well. But first tell me who and
+what you are, if it's a fair question."
+
+"My name is Dick Varley, and my home's in the Mustang Valley, near
+the Missouri River. As to _what_ I am--I'm nothin' yet, but I hope to
+desarve the name o' a hunter some day. I can guide you to the east
+side o' the mountains, for I've comed from there; but more than that I
+can't do, for I'm a stranger to the country here, like yourself. But
+you're on the east side o' the mountains already, if I mistake not;
+only these mountains are so rugged and jumbled up, that it's not easy
+tellin' where ye are. And what," continued Dick, "may be the name o'
+the bourgeois who speaks to me?"
+
+"My name is Cameron--Walter Cameron--a well-known name among the
+Scottish hills, although it sounds a little strange here. And now,
+young man, will you join my party as guide, and afterwards remain as
+trapper? It will pay you better, I think, than roving about alone."
+
+Dick shook his head and looked grave. "I'll guide you," said he, "as
+far as my knowledge 'll help me; but after that I must return to look
+for two comrades whom I have lost. They have been driven into the
+mountains by a band of Injuns. God grant they may not have bin
+scalped!"
+
+The trader's face looked troubled, and he spoke with one of his
+Indians for a few minutes in earnest, hurried tones.
+
+"What were they like, young man?"
+
+Dick described them.
+
+"The same," continued the trader. "They've been seen, lad, not more
+than two days ago, by this Indian here, when he was out hunting alone
+some miles away from our camp. He came suddenly on a band of Indians
+who had two prisoners with them, such as you describe. They were
+stout, said you?"
+
+"Yes, both of them," cried Dick, listening with intense eagerness.
+
+"Ay. They were tied to their horses, an' from what I know of these
+fellows I'm sure they're doomed. But I'll help you, my friend, as well
+as I can. They can't be far from this. I treated my Indian's story
+about them as a mere fabrication, for he's the most notorious liar in
+my company; but he seems to have spoken truth for once."
+
+"Thanks, thanks, good sir," cried Dick. "Had we not best turn back and
+follow them at once?"
+
+"Nay, friend, not quite so fast," replied Cameron, pointing to his
+people. "These must be provided for first, but I shall be ready before
+the sun goes down. And now, as I presume you don't bivouac in the
+snow, will you kindly conduct us to your encampment, if it be not far
+hence?"
+
+Although burning with impatience to fly to the rescue of his friends,
+Dick felt constrained to comply with so reasonable a request, so
+he led the way to his camping-place, where the band of fur-traders
+immediately began to pitch their tents, cut down wood, kindle fires,
+fill their kettles with water, cook their food, and, in fact, make
+themselves comfortable. The wild spot which, an hour before, had been
+so still, and grand, and gloomy, was now, as if by magic, transformed
+into a bustling village, with bright fires blazing among the rocks and
+bushes, and merry voices of men, women, and children ringing in
+the air. It seemed almost incredible, and no wonder Dick, in his
+bewilderment, had difficulty in believing it was not all a dream.
+
+In days long gone by the fur-trade in that country was carried on in a
+very different way from the manner in which it is now conducted. These
+wild regions, indeed, are still as lonesome and untenanted (save by
+wild beasts and wandering tribes of Indians) as they were then;
+but the Indians of the present day have become accustomed to the
+"Pale-face" trader, whose little wooden forts or trading-posts are
+dotted here and there, at wide intervals, all over the land. But in
+the days of which we write it was not so. The fur-traders at that time
+went forth in armed bands into the heart of the Indians' country, and
+he who went forth did so "with his life in his hand." As in the case
+of the soldier who went out to battle, there was great probability
+that he might never return.
+
+The band of which Walter Cameron was the chief had, many months
+before, started from one of the distant posts of Oregon on a hunting
+expedition into the then totally unknown lands of the Snake Indians.
+It consisted of about sixty men, thirty women, and as many children
+of various ages--about a hundred and twenty souls in all. Many of the
+boys were capable of using the gun and setting a beaver-trap. The men
+were a most motley set. There were Canadians, half-breeds, Iroquois,
+and Scotchmen. Most of the women had Indian blood in their veins, and
+a few were pure Indians.
+
+The equipment of this strange band consisted of upwards of two
+hundred beaver-traps--which are similar to our rat-traps, with this
+difference, that they have two springs and no teeth--seventy guns, a
+few articles for trade with the Indians, and a large supply of powder
+and ball; the whole--men, women, children, goods, and chattels--being
+carried on the backs of nearly four hundred horses. Many of these
+horses, at starting, were not laden, being designed for the transport
+of furs that were to be taken in the course of the season.
+
+For food this adventurous party depended entirely on their guns, and
+during the march hunters were kept constantly out ahead. As a matter
+of course, their living was precarious. Sometimes their kettles were
+overflowing; at others they scarce refrained from eating their horses.
+But during the months they had already spent in the wilderness good
+living had been the rule, starvation the exception. They had already
+collected a large quantity of beaver skins, which at that time were
+among the most valuable in the market, although they are now scarcely
+saleable! Having shot two wild horses, seven elks, six small deer, and
+four big-horned sheep the day before they met Dick Varley, the camp
+kettles were full, and the people consequently happy.
+
+"Now, Master Dick Varley," said Cameron, touching the young hunter on
+the shoulder as he stood ready equipped by one of the camp-fires,
+"I'm at your service. The people won't need any more looking after
+to-night. I'll divide my men--thirty shall go after this rascally band
+of Peigans, for such I believe they are, and thirty shall remain to
+guard the camp. Are you ready?"
+
+"Ready! ay, this hour past."
+
+"Mount then, lad; the men have already been told off, and are
+mustering down yonder where the deer gave you such a licking."
+
+Dick needed no second bidding. He vaulted on Charlie's back, and along
+with their commander joined the men, who were thirty as fine, hardy,
+reckless looking fellows as one could desire for a forlorn-hope.
+They were chatting and laughing while they examined their guns and
+saddle-girths. Their horses were sorry looking animals compared with
+the magnificent creature that Dick bestrode, but they were hardy,
+nevertheless, and well fitted for their peculiar work.
+
+"My! wot a blazer!" exclaimed a trapper as Dick rode up.
+
+"Where you git him?" inquired a half-breed.
+
+"I caught him," answered Dick.
+
+"Baw!" cried the first speaker.
+
+Dick took no notice of this last remark.
+
+"No, did ye though?" he asked again.
+
+"I did," answered Dick quietly. "I creased him in the prairie; you can
+see the mark on his neck if you look."
+
+The men began to feel that the young hunter was perhaps a little
+beyond them at their own trade, and regarded him with increased
+respect.
+
+"Look sharp now, lads," said Cameron, impatiently, to several dilatory
+members of the band. "Night will be on us ere long."
+
+"Who sold ye the bear-claw collar?" inquired another man of Dick.
+
+"I didn't buy it. I killed the bear and made it."
+
+"Did ye, though, all be yer lone?"
+
+"Ay; that wasn't much, was it?"
+
+"You've begun well, yonker," said a tall, middle-aged hunter, whose
+general appearance was not unlike that of Joe Blunt. "Jest keep clear
+o' the Injuns an' the grog bottle, an' ye've a glor'ous life before
+ye."
+
+At this point the conversation was interrupted by the order being
+given to move on, which was obeyed in silence, and the cavalcade,
+descending the valley, entered one of the gorges in the mountains.
+
+For the first half-mile Cameron rode a little ahead of his men, then
+he turned to speak to one of them, and for the first time observed
+Crusoe trotting close beside his master's horse.
+
+"Ah! Master Dick," he exclaimed with a troubled expression, "that
+won't do. It would never do to take a dog on an expedition like this."
+
+"Why not?" asked Dick; "the pup's quiet and peaceable."
+
+"I doubt it not; but he will betray our presence to the Indians, which
+might be inconvenient."
+
+"I have travelled more than a thousand miles through prairie and
+forest, among game an' among Injuns, an' the pup never betrayed me
+yet," said Dick, with suppressed vehemence. "He has saved my life more
+than once though."
+
+"You seem to have perfect confidence in your dog, but as this is a
+serious matter you must not expect me to share in it without proof of
+his trustworthiness."
+
+"The pup may be useful to us; how would you have it proved?" inquired
+Dick.
+
+"Any way you like."
+
+"You forgot your belt at starting, I think I heerd ye say."
+
+"Yes, I did," replied the trader, smiling.
+
+Dick immediately took hold of Cameron's coat, and bade Crusoe smell
+it, which the dog did very carefully. Then he showed him his own belt
+and said, "Go back to the camp and fetch it, pup."
+
+Crusoe was off in a moment, and in less than twenty minutes returned
+with Cameron's belt in his mouth.
+
+"Well, I'll trust him," said Cameron, patting Crusoe's head. "Forward,
+lads!" and away they went at a brisk trot along the bottom of a
+beautiful valley on each side of which the mountains towered in dark
+masses. Soon the moon rose and afforded light sufficient to enable
+them to travel all night in the track of the Indian hunter who said he
+had seen the Peigans, and who was constituted guide to the party. Hour
+after hour the horsemen pressed on without check, now galloping over a
+level plain, now bounding by the banks of a rivulet, or bending their
+heads to escape the boughs of overhanging trees, and anon toiling
+slowly up among the rocks of some narrow defile. At last the moon set,
+and the order was given to halt in a little plain where there were
+wood and water.
+
+The horses were picketed, a fire kindled, a mouthful of dried meat
+hastily eaten, the watch was set, and then each man scraped away the
+snow, spread some branches on the ground, and wrapping himself in his
+blanket, went to sleep with his feet presented towards the fire.
+
+Two hours were allowed for rest; then they were awakened, and in a few
+minutes were off again by the gray light of dawn. In this way they
+travelled two nights and a day. At the end of that time they came
+suddenly on a small party of nine Indians, who were seated on the
+ground with their snow-shoes and blankets by their sides. They had
+evidently been taken by surprise, but they made no attempt to escape,
+knowing that it was useless. Each sat still with his bow and arrows
+between his legs on the ground ready for instant use.
+
+As soon as Cameron spoke, however, in their own language they felt
+relieved, and began to talk.
+
+"Where do you come from, and what are you doing here?" asked the
+trader.
+
+"We have come to trade with the white men," one of them replied, "and
+to hunt. We have come from the Missouri. Our country is far away."
+
+"Do Peigans hunt with _war-arrows?_" asked Cameron, pointing to their
+weapons.
+
+This question seemed to perplex them, for they saw that their
+interrogator knew the difference between a war and a hunting
+arrow--the former being barbed in order to render its extraction from
+the wound difficult, while the head of the latter is round, and can be
+drawn out of game that has been killed, and used again.
+
+"And do Peigans," continued Cameron, "come from a far country to trade
+with the white men _with nothing?_"
+
+Again the Indians were silent, for they had not an article to trade
+about them.
+
+Cameron now felt convinced that this party of Peigans, into whose
+hands Joe Blunt and Henri had fallen, were nothing else than a war
+party, and that the men now before him were a scouting party sent out
+from them, probably to spy out his own camp, on the trail of which
+they had fallen, so he said to them:--
+
+"The Peigans are not wise men; they tell lies to the traders. I
+will tell you that you are a war party, and that you are only a
+few warriors sent out to spy the traders' camp. You have also two
+_Pale-face_ prisoners in your camp. You cannot deceive me. It is
+useless to try. Now, conduct me to your camp. My object is not war; it
+is peace. I will speak with your chiefs about trading with the white
+men, and we will smoke the pipe of peace. Are my words good?"
+
+Despite their proverbial control of muscle, these Indians could not
+conceal their astonishment at hearing so much of their affairs thus
+laid bare; so they said that the Pale-face chief was wise, that he
+must be a great medicine man, and that what he said was all true
+except about the white men. They had never seen any Pale-faces, and
+knew nothing whatever about those he spoke of.
+
+This was a terrible piece of news to poor Dick, and at first his heart
+fairly sank within him, but by degrees he came to be more hopeful. He
+concluded that if these men told lies in regard to one thing, they
+would do it in regard to another, and perhaps they might have some
+strong reason for denying any knowledge of Joe and Henri.
+
+The Indians now packed up the buffalo robes on which they had slept,
+and the mouthful of provisions they had taken with them.
+
+"I don't believe a word of what they say about your friends," said
+Cameron to Dick in a low tone while the Indians were thus engaged.
+"Depend upon it they hope to hide them till they can send to the
+settlements and get a ransom, or till they get an opportunity of
+torturing them to death before their women and children when they get
+back to their own village. But we'll balk them, my friend, do not
+fear."
+
+The Indians were soon ready to start, for they were cumbered with
+marvellously little camp equipage. In less than half-an-hour after
+their discovery they were running like deer ahead of the cavalcade in
+the direction of the Peigan camp.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+_Adventures with the Peigans_--_Crusoe does good service as a
+discoverer_--_The savages outwitted_--_The rescue_.
+
+
+A run of twenty miles brought the travellers to a rugged defile in
+the mountains, from which they had a view of a beautiful valley of
+considerable extent. During the last two days a steady thaw had been
+rapidly melting away the snow, so that it appeared only here and
+there in the landscape in dazzling patches. At the distance of about
+half-a-mile from where they halted to breathe the horses before
+commencing the descent into this vale, several thin wreaths of smoke
+were seen rising above the trees.
+
+"Is that your camp?" inquired Cameron, riding up to the Indian
+runners, who stood in a group in front, looking as fresh after their
+twenty miles' run as though they had only had a short walk.
+
+To this they answered in the affirmative, adding that there were about
+two hundred Peigans there.
+
+It might have been thought that thirty men would have hesitated to
+venture to attack so large a number as two hundred; but it had always
+been found in the experience of Indian life that a few resolute white
+men well armed were more than a match for ten times their number of
+Indians. And this arose not so much from the superior strength or
+agility of the Whites over their red foes, as from that bull-dog
+courage and utter recklessness of their lives in combat--qualities
+which the crafty savage can neither imitate nor understand. The
+information was received with perfect indifference by most of the
+trappers, and with contemptuous laughter by some; for a large number
+of Cameron's men were wild, evil-disposed fellows, who would have as
+gladly taken the life of an Indian as that of a buffalo.
+
+Just as the word was given to resume the march, Dick Varley rode up to
+Cameron and said in a somewhat anxious tone,--
+
+"D'ye obsarve, sir, that one o' the Redskins has gone off ahead o' his
+comrades?"
+
+"I see that, Master Dick; and it was a mistake of mine not to have
+stopped him, but he was gone too far before I observed it, and I
+thought it better to appear unconcerned. We must push on, though, and
+give him as short time as possible to talk with his comrades in the
+camp."
+
+The trappers pressed forward accordingly at a gallop, and were soon in
+front of the clump of trees amongst which the Peigans were encamped.
+Their approach had evidently spread great alarm among them, for there
+was a good deal of bustle and running to and fro; but by the time the
+trappers had dismounted and advanced in a body on foot, the savages
+had resumed their usual quiet dignity of appearance, and were seated
+calmly round their fires with their bows and arrows beside them. There
+were no tents, no women or children, and the general aspect of the men
+showed Cameron conclusively that his surmise about their being a war
+party was correct.
+
+A council was immediately called. The trappers ranged themselves on
+one side of the council fire and the Indians on the other. Meanwhile,
+our friend Crusoe had been displaying considerable irritability
+against the Indians, and he would certainly have attacked the whole
+two hundred single-handed if he had not been ordered by his master to
+lie still; but never in his life before had Crusoe obeyed with such a
+bad grace. He bristled and whined in a low tremulous tone, and looked
+imploringly at Dick as if for permission to fly at them.
+
+"The Pale-face traders are glad to meet with the Peigans," began
+Cameron, who determined to make no allusion to his knowledge that they
+were a war party, "for they wish to be friends with all the children
+of the woods and prairies. They wish to trade with them--to exchange
+blankets, and guns, and beads, and other goods which the Peigans
+require, for furs of animals which the Pale-faces require."
+
+"Ho! ho!" exclaimed the Indians, which expression might be translated,
+"Hear! hear!"
+
+"But," continued Cameron, "we wish to have no war. We wish to see the
+hatchet buried, and to see all the red men and the white men smoking
+the pipe of peace, and hunting like brothers."
+
+The "Ho--ho--ing" at this was very emphatic.
+
+"Now," resumed the trader, "the Peigans have got two prisoners--two
+Pale-faces--in their camp, and as we cannot be on good terms while our
+brothers are detained, we have come to ask for them, and to _present
+some gifts_ to the Peigans."
+
+To this there was no "Ho" at all, but a prolonged silence, which was
+at length interrupted by a tall chief stepping forward to address the
+trappers.
+
+"What the Pale-face chief has said is good," began the Indian. "His
+words are wise, and his heart is not double. The Red-men are willing
+to smoke the pipe of peace, and to hunt with all men as brothers, but
+they cannot do it while many of their scalps are hanging in the lodges
+of their enemies and fringing the robes of the warriors. The Peigans
+must have vengeance; then they will make peace."
+
+After a short pause he continued,--
+
+"The chief is wrong when he says there are Pale-faces in the Peigan
+camp. The Peigans are not at war with the Pale-faces; neither have
+they seen any on their march. The camp is open. Let the Pale-faces
+look round and see that what we say is true."
+
+The chief waved his hand towards his warriors as he concluded, as if
+to say, "Search amongst them. There are no Pale-faces there."
+
+Cameron now spoke to Dick in a low tone. "They speak confidently," he
+said, "and I fear greatly that your poor comrades have either been
+killed or conveyed away from the camp and hidden among the mountains,
+in which case, even though they should not be far off, it would be
+next to impossible to find them, especially when such a band of
+rascals is near, compelling us to keep together. But I'll try what a
+little tempting them with goods will do. At any rate, we shan't give
+in without a scuffle."
+
+It now, for the first time, flashed across Dick Varley that there was
+something more than he imagined in Crusoe's restless anxiety, which
+had not in the least abated, and the idea of making use of him now
+occurred to his mind.
+
+"I've a notion that I'll settle this matter in a shorter time than you
+think," he said hurriedly, "if you'll agree to try what _threatening_
+will do."
+
+The trader looked grave and undecided. "I never resort to that except
+as a last hope," he answered; "but I've a good deal of confidence in
+your prudence. What would you advise?"
+
+Dick and the trader whispered a few minutes together, while some of
+the men, in order to show the Indians how perfectly unconcerned they
+were, and how ready for _anything_, took out their pipes and began
+to smoke. Both parties were seated on the ground, and during this
+interval the Indians also held eager discussion.
+
+At length Cameron stood up, and said to his men in a quiet tone, "Be
+ready, lads, for instant action. When I give the word 'Up,' spring to
+your feet and cock your guns; but _don't fire a shot till you get the
+word_." He then stepped forward and said,--
+
+"The Peigan warriors are double-tongued; they know that they have hid
+the Pale-face prisoners. We do not wish to quarrel, but if they are
+not delivered up at once the Pale-faces and the Peigans will not be
+friends."
+
+Upon this the Indian chief again stood forward and said, "The Peigans
+are _not_ double-tongued. They have not seen Pale-faces till to-day.
+They can say no more."
+
+Without moving hand or foot, Cameron then said in a firm tone, "The
+first Peigan that moves shall die! Up, lads, and ready!"
+
+In the twinkling of an eye the trappers sprang to their feet, and
+cocking their rifles stood perfectly motionless, scowling at the
+savages, who were completely taken by surprise at the unusual
+suddenness and informality of such a declaration of war. Not a man
+moved, for, unlike white men, they seldom risk their lives in open
+fight; and as they looked at the formidable row of muzzles that waited
+but a word to send instant death into their midst, they felt that
+discretion was at that time the better part of valour.
+
+"Now," said Cameron, while Dick Varley and Crusoe stepped up beside
+him, "my young warrior will search for the Pale-face prisoners. If
+they are found, we will take them and go away. If they are not found,
+we will ask the Peigans to forgive us, and will give them gifts. But
+in the meantime, if a Peigan moves from the spot where he sits, or
+lifts a bow, my young men shall fire, and the Peigans know that the
+rifle of the Pale-face always kills."
+
+Without waiting for an answer, Dick immediately said, "Seek 'em out,
+pup," and Crusoe bounded away.
+
+For a few minutes he sprang hither and thither through the camp, quite
+regardless of the Indians, and snuffed the air several times, whining
+in an excited tone, as if to relieve his feelings. Then he put his
+nose to the ground and ran straight forward into the woods.
+
+Dick immediately bounded after him like a deer, while the trappers
+kept silent guard over the savages.
+
+For some time Crusoe ran straight forward. Then he came to a spot
+where there was a good deal of drifted snow on the ground. Here
+he seemed to lose the trail for a little, and ran about in all
+directions, whining in a most piteous tone.
+
+"Seek 'em out, pup," repeated Dick encouragingly, while his own breast
+heaved with excitement and expectation.
+
+In a few seconds the dog resumed its onward course, and led the
+way into a wild, dark spot, which was so overshadowed by trees and
+precipitous cliffs that the light of the sun scarce found entrance.
+There were many huge masses of rock scattered over the ground, which
+had fallen from the cliffs. Behind one of these lay a mound of dried
+leaves, towards which Crusoe darted and commenced scraping violently.
+
+Trembling with dread that he should find this to be the grave of his
+murdered companions, Dick rushed forward and hastily cleared away the
+leaves. The first handful thrown off revealed part of the figure of a
+man. Dick's heart beat audibly as he cleared the leaves from the face,
+and he uttered a suppressed cry on beholding the well-known features
+of Joe Blunt. But they were not those of a dead man. Joe's eyes met
+his with a scowl of anger, which instantly gave place to one of
+intense surprise.
+
+"Joe Blunt!" exclaimed Dick in a voice of intense amazement, while
+Crusoe snuffed round the heap of leaves and whined with excitement.
+But Joe did not move, neither did he speak a word in reply--for the
+very good reason that his mouth was tightly bound with a band of
+leather, his hands and feet were tied, and his whole body was secured
+in a rigid, immovable position by being bound to a pole of about his
+own length.
+
+In a moment Dick's knife was out, bands and cords were severed, and
+Joe Blunt was free.
+
+"Thank God!" exclaimed Joe with a deep, earnest sigh, the instant his
+lips were loosened, "and thanks to _you_, lad!" he added, endeavouring
+to rise; but his limbs had become so benumbed in consequence of the
+cords by which they had been compressed that for some time he could
+not move.
+
+"I'll rub ye, Joe; I'll soon rub ye into a right state," said Dick,
+going down on his knees.
+
+"No, no, lad, look sharp and dig up Henri. He's just beside me here."
+
+Dick immediately rose, and pushing aside the heap of leaves, found
+Henri securely bound in the same fashion. But he could scarce refrain
+from laughing at the expression of that worthy's face. Hearing the
+voices of Joe and Dick Varley in conversation, though unable to see
+their persons, he was filled with such unbounded amazement that his
+eyes, when uncovered, were found to be at their largest possible
+stretch, and as for the eyebrows they were gone, utterly lost among
+the roots of his voluminous hair.
+
+"Henri, friend, I knew I should find ye," said Dick, cutting the
+thongs that bound him. "Get up if ye can; we haven't much time
+to lose, an' mayhap we'll have to fight afore we're done wi' the
+Redskins. Can ye rise?"
+
+Henri could do nothing but lie on his back and gasp, "Eh! possible!
+mon frere! Oh, non, non, _not_ possible. Oui! my broder Deek!"
+
+Here he attempted to rise, but being unable fell back again, and the
+whole thing came so suddenly, and made so deep an impression on his
+impulsive mind, that he incontinently burst into tears; then he burst
+into a long laugh. Suddenly he paused, and scrambling up to a sitting
+posture, looked earnestly into Dick's face through his tearful eyes.
+
+"Oh, non, non!" he exclaimed, stretching himself out at full length
+again, and closing his eyes; "it are too goot to be true. I am dream.
+I vill wait till I am wake."
+
+Dick roused him out of this, resolute sleep, however, somewhat
+roughly. Meanwhile Joe had rubbed and kicked himself into a state of
+animation, exclaiming that he felt as if he wos walkin' on a thousand
+needles and pins, and in a few minutes they were ready to accompany
+their overjoyed deliverer back to the Peigan camp. Crusoe testified
+his delight in various elephantine gambols round the persons of his
+old friends, who were not slow to acknowledge his services.
+
+"They haven't treated us overly well," remarked Joe Blunt, as they
+strode through the underwood.
+
+"Non, de rascale, vraiment, de am villains. Oui! How de have talk,
+too, 'bout--oh-o-oo-ooo-wah!--roastin' us alive, an' puttin' our scalp
+in de vigvam for de poo-poose to play wid!"
+
+"Well, niver mind, Henri, we'll be quits wi' them now," said Joe, as
+they came in sight of the two bands, who remained in precisely the
+same position in which they had been left, except that one or two of
+the more reckless of the trappers had lit their pipes and taken to
+smoking, without, however, laying down their rifles or taking their
+eyes off the savages.
+
+A loud cheer greeted the arrival of the prisoners, and looks of
+considerable discomfort began to be evinced by the Indians.
+
+"Glad to see you, friends," said Cameron, as they came up.
+
+"Ve is 'appy ov de same," replied Henri, swaggering up in the
+joviality of his heart, and seizing the trader's hand in his own
+enormous fist. "Shall ve go to vork an' slay dem all at vonce, or von
+at a time?"
+
+"We'll consider that afterwards, my lad. Meantime go you to the rear
+and get a weapon of some sort."
+
+"Oui. Ah! c'est charmant," he cried, going with an immense flounder
+into the midst of the amused trappers, and slapping those next to
+him on the back. "Give me veapon, do, mes amis--gun, pistol,
+anyting--cannon, if you have von."
+
+Meanwhile Cameron and Joe spoke together for a few moments.
+
+"You had goods with you, and horses, I believe, when you were
+captured," said the former.
+
+"Ay, that we had. Yonder stand the horses, under the pine-tree, along
+wi' the rest o' the Redskin troop; an' a hard time they've had o't,
+as their bones may tell without speakin'. As for the goods," he
+continued, glancing round the camp, "I don't know where--ah! yes,
+there they be in the old pack. I see all safe."
+
+Cameron now addressed the Indians.
+
+"The Peigans," he said, "have not done well. Their hearts have not
+been true to the Pale-faces. Even now I could take your scalps where
+you sit, but white men do not like war, they do not like revenge. The
+Peigans may go free."
+
+Considering the fewness of their numbers, this was bold language to
+use towards the Indians; but the boldest is generally the best policy
+on such occasions. Moreover, Cameron felt that, being armed with
+rifles, while the Indians had only bows and arrows, the trappers had a
+great advantage over them.
+
+The Indian who had spoken before now rose and said he was sorry there
+should be any cause of difference between them, and added he was sorry
+for a great many more things besides, but he did not say he was sorry
+for having told a lie.
+
+"But, before you go, you must deliver up the horses and goods
+belonging to these men," said Cameron, pointing to Joe and Henri.
+
+This was agreed to. The horses were led out, the two little packs
+containing Joe's goods were strapped upon them, and then the trappers
+turned to depart. The Indians did not move until they had mounted;
+then they rose and advanced in a body to the edge of the wood, to see
+the Pale-faces go away. Meanwhile Joe spoke a few words to Cameron,
+and the men were ordered to halt, while the former dismounted and led
+his horse towards the band of savages.
+
+"Peigans," he said, "you know the object for which I came into this
+country was to make peace between you and the Pale-faces. I have often
+told you so when you would not listen, and when you told me that I had
+a double heart and told lies. You were wrong when you said this; but I
+do not wonder, for you live among nations who do not fear God, and
+who think it right to lie. I now repeat to you what I said before.
+It would be good for the Red-men if they would make peace with the
+Pale-faces, and if they would make peace with each other. I will now
+convince you that I am in earnest, and have all along been speaking
+the truth."
+
+Hereupon Joe Blunt opened his bundle of goods, and presented fully
+one-half of the gaudy and brilliant contents to the astonished
+Indians, who seemed quite taken aback by such generous treatment.
+The result of this was that the two parties separated with mutual
+expressions of esteem and good-will. The Indians then returned to the
+forest, and the white men galloped back to their camp among the hills.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+_New plans_--_Our travellers join the fur-traders, and see many
+strange things_--_A curious fight_--_A narrow escape, and a prisoner
+taken_.
+
+
+Not long after the events related in the last chapter, our four
+friends--Dick, and Joe, and Henri, and Crusoe--agreed to become for a
+time members of Walter Cameron's band of trappers. Joe joined because
+one of the objects which the traders had in view was similar to his
+own mission--namely, the promoting of peace among the various Indian
+tribes of the mountains and plains to the west. Joe, therefore,
+thought it a good opportunity of travelling with a band of men who
+could secure him a favourable hearing from the Indian tribes they
+might chance to meet with in the course of their wanderings. Besides,
+as the traders carried about a large supply of goods with them, he
+could easily replenish his own nearly exhausted pack by hunting wild
+animals and exchanging their skins for such articles as he might
+require.
+
+Dick joined because it afforded him an opportunity of seeing the wild,
+majestic scenery of the Rocky Mountains, and shooting the big-horned
+sheep which abounded there, and the grizzly "bars," as Joe named them,
+or "Caleb," as they were more frequently styled by Henri and the other
+men.
+
+Henri joined because it was agreeable to the inclination of his own
+rollicking, blundering, floundering, crashing disposition, and because
+he would have joined anything that had been joined by the other two.
+
+Crusoe's reason for joining was single, simple, easy to be expressed,
+easy to be understood, and commendable. _He_ joined--because Dick did.
+
+The very day after the party left the encampment where Dick had shot
+the grizzly bear and the deer, he had the satisfaction of bringing
+down a splendid specimen of the big-horned sheep. It came suddenly
+out from a gorge of the mountain, and stood upon the giddy edge of a
+tremendous precipice, at a distance of about two hundred and fifty
+yards.
+
+"_You_ could not hit that," said a trapper to Henri, who was rather
+fond of jeering him about his shortsightedness.
+
+"Non!" cried Henri, who didn't see the animal in the least; "say you
+dat? ve shall see;" and he let fly with a promptitude that amazed his
+comrades, and with a result that drew from them peals of laughter.
+
+"Why, you have missed the mountain!"
+
+"Oh, non! dat am eempossoble."
+
+It was true, nevertheless, for his ball had been arrested in its
+flight by the stem of a tree not twenty yards before him.
+
+While the shot was yet ringing, and before the laugh above referred to
+had pealed forth, Dick Varley fired, and the animal, springing wildly
+into the air, fell down the precipice, and was almost dashed to
+pieces at their feet. This Rocky Mountain or big-horned sheep was a
+particularly large and fine one, but being a patriarch of the flock
+was not well suited for food. It was considerably larger in size than
+the domestic sheep, and might be described as somewhat resembling a
+deer in the body and a ram in the head. Its horns were the chief point
+of interest to Dick; and, truly, they were astounding! Their enormous
+size was out of all proportion to the animal's body, and they curved
+backwards and downwards, and then curled up again in a sharp point.
+These creatures frequent the inaccessible heights of the Rocky
+Mountains, and are difficult to approach. They have a great fondness
+for salt, and pay regular visits to the numerous caverns of these
+mountains, which are encrusted with a saline substance.
+
+Walter Cameron now changed his intention of proceeding to the
+eastward, as he found the country not so full of beaver at that
+particular spot as he had anticipated. He therefore turned towards
+the west, penetrated into the interior of the mountains, and took a
+considerable sweep through the lovely valleys on their western slopes.
+
+The expedition which this enterprising fur-trader was conducting was
+one of the first that ever penetrated these wild regions in search of
+furs. The ground over which they travelled was quite new to them, and
+having no guide they just moved about at haphazard, encamping on the
+margin of every stream or river on which signs of the presence of
+beaver were discovered, and setting their traps.
+
+Beaver skins at this time were worth 25s. a-piece in the markets of
+civilized lands, and in the Snake country, through which our friends
+were travelling, thousands of them were to be had from the Indians for
+trinkets and baubles that were scarce worth a farthing. A beaver skin
+could be procured from the Indians for a brass finger-ring or a penny
+looking-glass. Horses were also so numerous that one could be procured
+for an axe or a knife.
+
+Let not the reader, however, hastily conclude that the traders cheated
+the Indians in this traffic, though the profits were so enormous. The
+ring or the axe was indeed a trifle to the trader, but the beaver skin
+and the horse were equally trifles to the savage, who could procure as
+many of them as he chose with very little trouble, while the ring and
+the axe were in his estimation of priceless value. Besides, be it
+remembered, to carry that ring and that axe to the far-distant haunts
+of the Red-man cost the trader weeks and months of constant toil,
+trouble, anxiety, and, alas! too frequently cost him his life! The
+state of trade is considerably modified in these regions at the
+present day. It is not more _justly_ conducted, for, in respect of the
+value of goods given for furs, it was justly conducted _then_, but
+time and circumstances have tended more to equalize the relative
+values of articles of trade.
+
+The snow which had prematurely fallen had passed away, and the
+trappers now found themselves wandering about in a country so
+beautiful and a season so delightful, that it would have seemed to
+them a perfect paradise, but for the savage tribes who hovered about
+them, and kept them ever on the _qui vive_.
+
+They soon passed from the immediate embrace of stupendous heights and
+dark gorges to a land of sloping ridges, which divided the country
+into a hundred luxuriant vales, composed part of woodland and part of
+prairie. Through these, numerous rivers and streams flowed deviously,
+beautifying the landscape and enriching the land. There were also many
+lakes of all sizes, and these swarmed with fish, while in some of them
+were found the much-sought-after and highly-esteemed beaver. Salt
+springs and hot springs of various temperatures abounded here, and
+many of the latter were so hot that meat could be boiled in them.
+Salt existed in all directions in abundance and of good quality. A
+sulphurous spring was also discovered, bubbling out from the base of a
+perpendicular rock three hundred feet high, the waters of which were
+dark-blue and tasted like gunpowder. In short, the land presented
+every variety of feature calculated to charm the imagination and
+delight the eye.
+
+It was a mysterious land, too; for broad rivers burst in many places
+from the earth, flowed on for a short space, and then disappeared
+as if by magic into the earth from which they rose. Natural bridges
+spanned the torrents in many places, and some of these were so
+correctly formed that it was difficult to believe they had not been
+built by the hand of man. They often appeared opportunely to our
+trappers, and saved them the trouble and danger of fording rivers.
+Frequently the whole band would stop in silent wonder and awe as they
+listened to the rushing of waters under their feet, as if another
+world of streams, and rapids, and cataracts were flowing below the
+crust of earth on which they stood. Some considerable streams were
+likewise observed to gush from the faces of precipices, some twenty or
+thirty feet from their summits, while on the top no water was to be
+seen.
+
+Wild berries of all kinds were found in abundance, and wild
+vegetables, besides many nutritious roots. Among other fish, splendid
+salmon were found in the lakes and rivers, and animal life swarmed on
+hill and in dale. Woods and valleys, plains and ravines, teemed with
+it. On every plain the red-deer grazed in herds by the banks of lake
+and stream. Wherever there were clusters of poplar and elder trees and
+saplings, the beaver was seen nibbling industriously with his sharp
+teeth, and committing as much havoc in the forest as if he had been
+armed with the woodman's axe; others sported in the eddies. Racoons
+sat in the tree-tops; the marten, the black fox, and the wolf prowled
+in the woods in quest of prey; mountain sheep and goats browsed on the
+rocky ridges; and badgers peeped from their holes.
+
+Here, too, the wild horse sprang snorting and dishevelled from his
+mountain retreats--with flourishing mane and tail, spanking step, and
+questioning gaze--and thundered away over the plains and valleys,
+while the rocks echoed back his shrill neigh. The huge, heavy,
+ungainly elk, or moose-deer, _trotted_ away from the travellers with
+speed equal to that of the mustang: elks seldom gallop; their best
+speed is attained at the trot. Bears, too, black, and brown, and
+grizzly, roamed about everywhere.
+
+So numerous were all these creatures that on one occasion the hunters
+of the party brought in six wild horses, three bears, four elks, and
+thirty red-deer; having shot them all a short distance ahead of the
+main body, and almost without diverging from the line of march. And
+this was a matter of everyday occurrence--as it had need to be,
+considering the number of mouths that had to be filled.
+
+The feathered tribes were not less numerous. Chief among these were
+eagles and vultures of uncommon size, the wild goose, wild duck, and
+the majestic swan.
+
+In the midst of such profusion the trappers spent a happy time of it,
+when not molested by the savages, but they frequently lost a horse or
+two in consequence of the expertness of these thievish fellows. They
+often wandered, however, for days at a time without seeing an Indian,
+and at such times they enjoyed to the full the luxuries with which a
+bountiful God had blessed these romantic regions.
+
+Dick Varley was almost wild with delight. It was his first excursion
+into the remote wilderness; he was young, healthy, strong, and
+romantic; and it is a question whether his or his dog's heart, or that
+of the noble wild horse he bestrode, bounded most with joy at
+the glorious sights and sounds and influences by which they were
+surrounded. It would have been perfection, had it not been for the
+frequent annoyance and alarms caused by the Indians.
+
+Alas! alas! that we who write and read about those wondrous scenes
+should have to condemn our own species as the most degraded of all the
+works of the Creator there! Yet so it is. Man, exercising his reason
+and conscience in the path of love and duty which his Creator points
+out, is God's noblest work; but man, left to the freedom of his own
+fallen will, sinks morally lower than the beasts that perish. Well
+may every Christian wish and pray that the name and the gospel of the
+blessed Jesus may be sent speedily to the dark places of the earth;
+for you may read of, and talk about, but you _cannot conceive_ the
+fiendish wickedness and cruelty which causes tearless eyes to glare,
+and maddened hearts to burst, in the lands of the heathen.
+
+While we are on this subject, let us add (and our young readers
+will come to know it if they are spared to see many years) that
+_civilization_ alone will never improve the heart. Let history speak,
+and it will tell you that deeds of darkest hue have been perpetrated
+in so-called civilized though pagan lands. Civilization is like the
+polish that beautifies inferior furniture, which water will wash off
+if it be but _hot enough_. Christianity resembles dye, which permeates
+every fibre of the fabric, and which nothing can eradicate.
+
+The success of the trappers in procuring beaver here was great. In all
+sorts of creeks and rivers they were found. One day they came to one
+of the curious rivers before mentioned, which burst suddenly out of
+a plain, flowed on for several miles, and then disappeared into the
+earth as suddenly as it had risen. Even in this strange place beaver
+were seen, so the traps were set, and a hundred and fifty were caught
+at the first lift.
+
+The manner in which the party proceeded was as follows:--They marched
+in a mass in groups or in a long line, according to the nature of
+the ground over which they travelled. The hunters of the party went
+forward a mile or two in advance, and scattered through the woods.
+After them came the advance-guard, being the bravest and most stalwart
+of the men mounted on their best steeds, and with rifle in hand;
+immediately behind followed the women and children, also mounted, and
+the pack-horses with the goods and camp equipage. Another band of
+trappers formed the rear-guard to this imposing cavalcade. There was
+no strict regimental order kept, but the people soon came to adopt the
+arrangements that were most convenient for all parties, and at length
+fell naturally into their places in the line of march.
+
+Joe Blunt usually was the foremost and always the most successful of
+the hunters. He was therefore seldom seen on the march except at the
+hour of starting, and at night when he came back leading his horse,
+which always groaned under its heavy load of meat. Henri, being a
+hearty, jovial soul and fond of society, usually kept with the main
+body. As for Dick, he was everywhere at once, at least as much so as
+it is possible for human nature to be! His horse never wearied; it
+seemed to delight in going at full speed; no other horse in the troop
+could come near Charlie, and Dick indulged him by appearing now at
+the front, now at the rear, anon in the centre, and frequently
+_nowhere_!--having gone off with Crusoe like a flash of lightning
+after a buffalo or a deer. Dick soon proved himself to be the best
+hunter of the party, and it was not long before he fulfilled his
+promise to Crusoe and decorated his neck with a collar of grizzly bear
+claws. Well, when the trappers came to a river where there were signs
+of beaver they called a halt, and proceeded to select a safe and
+convenient spot, near wood and water, for the camp. Here the property
+of the band was securely piled in such a manner as to form a
+breastwork or slight fortification, and here Walter Cameron
+established headquarters. This was always the post of danger, being
+exposed to sudden attack by prowling savages, who often dogged the
+footsteps of the party in their journeyings to see what they could
+steal. But Cameron was an old hand, and they found it difficult to
+escape his vigilant eye.
+
+From this point all the trappers were sent forth in small parties
+every morning in various directions, some on foot and some on
+horseback, according to the distances they had to go; but they never
+went farther than twenty miles, as they had to return to camp every
+evening.
+
+Each trapper had ten steel traps allowed him. These he set every
+night, and visited every morning, sometimes oftener when practicable,
+selecting a spot in the stream where many trees had been cut down by
+beavers for the purpose of damming up the water. In some places as
+many as fifty tree stumps were seen in one spot, within the compass of
+half an acre, all cut through at about eighteen inches from the
+root. We may remark, in passing, that the beaver is very much like a
+gigantic water-rat, with this marked difference, that its tail is very
+broad and flat like a paddle. The said tail is a greatly-esteemed
+article of food, as, indeed, is the whole body at certain seasons of
+the year. The beaver's fore legs are very small and short, and it uses
+its paws as hands to convey food to its mouth, sitting the while in an
+erect position on its hind legs and tail. Its fur is a dense coat of
+a grayish-coloured down, concealed by long coarse hair, which lies
+smooth, and is of a bright chestnut colour. Its teeth and jaws are of
+enormous power; with them it can cut through the branch of a tree as
+thick as a walking-stick at one snap, and, as we have said, it gnaws
+through thick trees themselves.
+
+As soon as a tree falls, the beavers set to work industriously to lop
+off the branches, which, as well as the smaller trunks, they cut into
+lengths, according to their weight and thickness. These are then
+dragged by main force to the water-side, launched, and floated to
+their destination. Beavers build their houses, or "lodges," under the
+banks of rivers and lakes, and always select those of such depth of
+water that there is no danger of their being frozen to the bottom.
+When such cannot be found, and they are compelled to build in small
+rivulets of insufficient depth, these clever little creatures dam up
+the waters until they are deep enough. The banks thrown up by them
+across rivulets for this purpose are of great strength, and would do
+credit to human engineers. Their lodges are built of sticks, mud, and
+stones, which form a compact mass; this freezes solid in winter, and
+defies the assaults of that housebreaker, the wolverine, an animal
+which is the beaver's implacable foe. From this lodge, which is
+capable often of holding four old and six or eight young ones, a
+communication is maintained with the water below the ice, so that,
+should the wolverine succeed in breaking up the lodge, he finds the
+family "not at home," they having made good their retreat by the
+back-door. When man acts the part of housebreaker, however, he
+cunningly shuts the back-door _first_, by driving stakes through the
+ice, and thus stopping the passage. Then he enters, and, we almost
+regret to say, finds the family at home. We regret it, because the
+beaver is a gentle, peaceable, affectionate, hairy little creature,
+towards which one feels an irresistible tenderness. But to return from
+this long digression.
+
+Our trappers, having selected their several localities, set their
+traps in the water, so that when the beavers roamed about at night
+they put their feet into them, and were caught and drowned; for
+although they can swim and dive admirably, they cannot live altogether
+under water.
+
+Thus the different parties proceeded; and in the mornings the camp was
+a busy scene indeed, for then the whole were engaged in skinning the
+animals. The skins were always stretched, dried, folded up with the
+hair in the inside, and laid by; and the flesh was used for food.
+
+But oftentimes the trappers had to go forth with the gun in one hand
+and their traps in the other, while they kept a sharp look-out on the
+bushes to guard against surprise. Despite their utmost efforts, a
+horse was occasionally stolen before their very eyes, and sometimes
+even an unfortunate trapper was murdered, and all his traps carried
+off.
+
+An event of this kind occurred soon after the party had gained the
+western slopes of the mountains. Three Iroquois Indians, who belonged
+to the band of trappers, were sent to a stream about ten miles off.
+Having reached their destination, they all entered the water to
+set their traps, foolishly neglecting the usual precaution of one
+remaining on the bank to protect the others. They had scarcely
+commenced operations when three arrows were discharged into their
+backs, and a party of Snake Indians rushed upon and slew them,
+carrying away their traps and horses and scalps. This was not known
+for several days, when, becoming anxious about their prolonged
+absence, Cameron sent out a party, which found their mangled bodies
+affording a loathsome banquet to the wolves and vultures.
+
+After this sad event, the trappers were more careful to go in larger
+parties, and keep watch.
+
+As long as beaver were taken in abundance, the camp remained
+stationary; but whenever the beaver began to grow scarce, the camp was
+raised, and the party moved on to another valley.
+
+One day Dick Varley came galloping into camp with the news that there
+were several bears in a valley not far distant, which he was anxious
+not to disturb until a number of the trappers were collected together
+to go out and surround them.
+
+On receiving the information, Walter Cameron shook his head.
+
+"We have other things to do, young man," said he, "than go a-hunting
+after bears. I'm just about making up my mind to send off a party to
+search out the valley on the other side of the Blue Mountains yonder,
+and bring back word if there are beaver there; for if not, I mean
+to strike away direct south. Now, if you've a mind to go with them,
+you're welcome. I'll warrant you'll find enough in the way of
+bear-hunting to satisfy you; perhaps a little Indian hunting to boot,
+for if the Banattees get hold of your horses, you'll have a long hunt
+before you find them again. Will you go?"
+
+"Ay, right gladly," replied Dick. "When do we start?"
+
+"This afternoon."
+
+Dick went off at once to his own part of the camp to replenish his
+powder-horn and bullet-pouch, and wipe out his rifle.
+
+That evening the party, under command of a Canadian named Pierre, set
+out for the Blue Hills. They numbered twenty men, and expected to be
+absent three days, for they merely went to reconnoitre, not to trap.
+Neither Joe nor Henri was of this party, both having been out hunting
+when it was organized; but Crusoe and Charlie were, of course.
+
+Pierre, although a brave and trusty man, was of a sour, angry
+disposition, and not a favourite with Dick; but the latter resolved to
+enjoy himself, and disregard his sulky comrade. Being so well mounted,
+he not unfrequently shot far ahead of his companions, despite their
+warnings that he ran great risk by so doing. On one of these occasions
+he and Crusoe witnessed a very singular fight, which is worthy of
+record.
+
+Dick had felt a little wilder in spirit that morning than usual, and
+on coming to a pretty open plain he gave the rein to Charlie, and with
+an "_Adieu, mes camarade_," he was out of sight in a few minutes. He
+rode on several miles in advance without checking speed, and then came
+to a wood where rapid motion was inconvenient; so he pulled up, and,
+dismounting, tied Charlie to a tree, while he sauntered on a short way
+on foot.
+
+On coming to the edge of a small plain he observed two large birds
+engaged in mortal conflict. Crusoe observed them too, and would soon
+have put an end to the fight had Dick not checked him. Creeping as
+close to the belligerents as possible, he found that one was a wild
+turkey-cock, the other a white-headed eagle. These two stood with
+their heads down and all their feathers bristling for a moment; then
+they dashed at each other, and struck fiercely with their spurs, as
+our domestic cocks do, but neither fell, and the fight was continued
+for about five minutes without apparent advantage on either side.
+
+Dick now observed that, from the uncertainty of its motions, the
+turkey-cock was blind, a discovery which caused a throb of compunction
+to enter his breast for standing and looking on, so he ran forward.
+The eagle saw him instantly, and tried to fly away, but was unable
+from exhaustion.
+
+"At him, Crusoe," cried Dick, whose sympathies all lay with the other
+bird.
+
+Crusoe went forward at a bound, and was met by a peck between the eyes
+that would have turned most dogs; but Crusoe only winked, and the next
+moment the eagle's career was ended.
+
+Dick found that the turkey-cock was quite blind, the eagle having
+thrust out both its eyes, so, in mercy, he put an end to its
+sufferings.
+
+The fight had evidently been a long and severe one, for the grass all
+round the spot, for about twenty yards, was beaten to the ground, and
+covered with the blood and feathers of the fierce combatants.
+
+Meditating on the fight which he had just witnessed, Dick returned
+towards the spot where he had left Charlie, when he suddenly missed
+Crusoe from his side.
+
+"Hallo, Crusoe! here, pup! where are you?" he cried.
+
+The only answer to this was a sharp whizzing sound, and an arrow,
+passing close to his ear, quivered in a tree beyond. Almost at the
+same moment Crusoe's angry roar was followed by a shriek from some one
+in fear or agony. Cocking his rifle, the young hunter sprang through
+the bushes towards his horse, and was just in time to save a Banattee
+Indian from being strangled by the dog. It had evidently scented out
+this fellow, and pinned him just as he was in the act of springing on
+the back of Charlie, for the halter was cut, and the savage lay on the
+ground close beside him.
+
+Dick called off the dog, and motioned to the Indian to rise, which he
+did so nimbly that it was quite evident he had sustained no injury
+beyond the laceration of his neck by Crusoe's teeth, and the surprise.
+
+He was a tall strong Indian for the tribe to which he belonged, so
+Dick proceeded to secure him at once. Pointing to his rifle and to
+the Indian's breast, to show what he might expect if he attempted to
+escape, Dick ordered Crusoe to keep him steady in that position.
+
+The dog planted himself in front of the savage, who began to tremble
+for his scalp, and gazed up in his face with a look which, to say the
+least of it, was the reverse of amiable, while Dick went towards his
+horse for the purpose of procuring a piece of cord to tie him with.
+The Indian naturally turned his head to see what was going to be done,
+but a peculiar _gurgle_ in Crusoe's throat made him turn it round
+again very smartly, and he did not venture thereafter to move a
+muscle.
+
+In a few seconds Dick returned with a piece of leather and tied his
+hands behind his back. While this was being done the Indian glanced
+several times at his bow, which lay a few feet away, where it had
+fallen when the dog caught him; but Crusoe seemed to understand him,
+for he favoured him with such an additional display of teeth, and
+such a low--apparently distant, almost, we might say, subterranean
+--_rumble_, that he resigned himself to his fate.
+
+His hands secured, a long line was attached to his neck with a running
+noose, so that if he ventured to run away the attempt would effect its
+own cure by producing strangulation. The other end of this line was
+given to Crusoe, who at the word of command marched him off, while
+Dick mounted Charlie and brought up the rear.
+
+
+Great was the laughter and merriment when this apparition met the eyes
+of the trappers; but when they heard that he had attempted to shoot
+Dick their ire was raised, and a court-martial was held on the spot.
+
+"Hang the reptile!" cried one.
+
+"Burn him!" shouted another.
+
+"No, no," said a third; "don't imitate them villains: don't be cruel.
+Let's shoot him." "Shoot 'im," cried Pierre. "Oui, dat is de ting; it
+too goot pour lui, mais it shall be dooed."
+
+"Don't ye think, lads, it would be better to let the poor wretch off?"
+said Dick Varley; "he'd p'r'aps give a good account o' us to his
+people."
+
+There was a universal shout of contempt at this mild proposal.
+Unfortunately, few of the men sent on this exploring expedition were
+imbued with the peace-making spirit of their chief, and most of them
+seemed glad to have a chance of venting their hatred of the poor
+Indians on this unhappy wretch, who, although calm, looked sharply
+from one speaker to another, to gather hope, if possible, from the
+tones of their voices.
+
+Dick was resolved, at the risk of a quarrel with Pierre, to save the
+poor man's life, and had made up his mind to insist on having him
+conducted to the camp to be tried by Cameron, when one of the men
+suggested that they should take the savage to the top of a hill about
+three miles farther on, and there hang him up on a tree as a warning
+to all his tribe.
+
+"Agreed, agreed!" cried the men; "come on."
+
+Dick, too, seemed to agree to this proposal, and hastily ordered
+Crusoe to run on ahead with the savage; an order which the dog obeyed
+so vigorously that, before the men had done laughing at him, he was a
+couple of hundred yards ahead of them.
+
+"Take care that he don't get off!" cried Dick, springing on Charlie
+and stretching out at a gallop.
+
+In a moment he was beside the Indian. Scraping together the little of
+the Indian language he knew, he stooped down, and, cutting the thongs
+that bound him, said,--
+
+"Go! white men love the Indians."
+
+The man cast on his deliverer one glance of surprise, and the next
+moment bounded aside into the bushes and was gone.
+
+A loud shout from the party behind showed that this act had been
+observed; and Crusoe stood with the end of the line in his mouth,
+and an expression on his face that said, "You're absolutely
+incomprehensible, Dick! It's all right, I _know_, but to my feeble
+capacity it _seems_ wrong."
+
+"Fat for you do dat?" shouted Pierre in a rage, as he came up with a
+menacing look.
+
+Dick confronted him. "The prisoner was mine. I had a right to do with
+him as it liked me."
+
+"True, true," cried several of the men who had begun to repent of
+their resolution, and were glad the savage was off. "The lad's right.
+Get along, Pierre."
+
+"You had no right, you vas wrong. Oui, et I have goot vill to give you
+one knock on de nose."
+
+Dick looked Pierre in the face, as he said this, in a manner that
+cowed him.
+
+"It is time," he said quietly, pointing to the sun, "to go on. Your
+bourgeois expects that time won't be wasted."
+
+Pierre muttered something in an angry tone, and wheeling round his
+horse, dashed forward at full gallop, followed by the rest of the men.
+
+The trappers encamped that night on the edge of a wide grassy plain,
+which offered such tempting food for the horses that Pierre resolved
+to forego his usual cautious plan of picketing them close to the camp,
+and set them loose on the plain, merely hobbling them to prevent their
+straying far.
+
+Dick remonstrated, but in vain. An insolent answer was all he got for
+his pains. He determined, however, to keep Charlie close beside him
+all night, and also made up his mind to keep a sharp look-out on the
+other horses.
+
+At supper he again remonstrated.
+
+"No 'fraid," said Pierre, whose pipe was beginning to improve his
+temper. "The red reptiles no dare to come in open plain when de moon
+so clear."
+
+"Dun know that," said a taciturn trapper, who seldom ventured a remark
+of any kind; "them varmints 'ud steal the two eyes out o' you' head
+when they set their hearts on't."
+
+"Dat ar' umposs'ble, for dey have no hearts," said a half-breed; "dey
+have von hole vere de heart vas be."
+
+This was received with a shout of laughter, in the midst of which an
+appalling yell was heard, and, as if by magic, four Indians were seen
+on the backs of four of the best horses, yelling like fiends, and
+driving all the other horses furiously before them over the plain!
+
+How they got there was a complete mystery, but the men did not wait
+to consider that point. Catching up their guns they sprang after them
+with the fury of madmen, and were quickly scattered far and wide. Dick
+ordered Crusoe to follow and help the men, and turned to spring on the
+back of Charlie; but at that moment he observed an Indian's head and
+shoulders rise above the grass, not fifty yards in advance from him,
+so without hesitation he darted forward, intending to pounce upon him.
+
+Well would it have been for Dick Varley had he at that time possessed
+a little more experience of the wiles and stratagems of the Banattees.
+The Snake nation is subdivided into several tribes, of which those
+inhabiting the Rocky Mountains, called the Banattees, are the most
+perfidious. Indeed, they are confessedly the banditti of the hills,
+and respect neither friend nor foe, but rob all who come in their way.
+
+Dick reached the spot where the Indian had disappeared in less than a
+minute, but no savage was to be seen. Thinking he had crept ahead, he
+ran on a few yards farther, and darted about hither and thither,
+while his eye glanced from side to side. Suddenly a shout in the camp
+attracted his attention, and looking back he beheld the savage on
+Charlie's back turning to fly. Next moment he was off and away far
+beyond the hope of recovery. Dick had left his rifle in the camp,
+otherwise the savage would have gone but a short way. As it was, Dick
+returned, and sitting down on a mound of grass, stared straight before
+him with a feeling akin to despair. Even Crusoe could not have helped
+him had he been there, for nothing on four legs, or on two, could keep
+pace with Charlie.
+
+The Banattee achieved this feat by adopting a stratagem which
+invariably deceives those who are ignorant of their habits and
+tactics. When suddenly pursued the Banattee sinks into the grass, and,
+serpent-like, creeps along with wonderful rapidity, not _from_ but
+_towards_ his enemy, taking care, however, to avoid him, so that when
+the pursuer reaches the spot where the pursued is supposed to be
+hiding, he hears him shout a yell of defiance far away in the rear.
+
+It was thus that the Banattee eluded Dick and gained the camp almost
+as soon as the other reached the spot where he had disappeared.
+
+One by one the trappers came back weary, raging, and despairing. In a
+short time they all assembled, and soon began to reproach each other.
+Ere long one or two had a fight, which resulted in several bloody
+noses and black eyes, thus adding to the misery which, one would
+think, had been bad enough without such additions. At last they
+finished their suppers and their pipes, and then lay down to sleep
+under the trees till morning, when they arose in a particularly silent
+and sulky mood, rolled up their blankets, strapped their things on
+their shoulders, and began to trudge slowly back to the camp on foot.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+_Wolves attack the horses, and Cameron circumvents the wolves_--_A
+bear-hunt, in which Henri shines conspicuous_--_Joe and the
+"Natter-list_"--_An alarm_--_A surprise and a capture_.
+
+
+We must now return to the camp where Walter Cameron still guarded the
+goods, and the men pursued their trapping avocations.
+
+Here seven of the horses had been killed in one night by wolves while
+grazing in a plain close to the camp, and on the night following a
+horse that had strayed was also torn to pieces and devoured. The
+prompt and daring manner in which this had been done convinced the
+trader that white wolves had unfortunately scented them out, and he
+set several traps in the hope of capturing them.
+
+White wolves are quite distinct from the ordinary wolves that prowl
+through woods and plains in large packs. They are much larger,
+weighing sometimes as much as a hundred and thirty pounds; but they
+are comparatively scarce, and move about alone, or in small bands of
+three or four. Their strength is enormous, and they are so fierce that
+they do not hesitate, upon occasions, to attack man himself. Their
+method of killing horses is very deliberate. Two wolves generally
+undertake the cold-blooded murder. They approach their victim with the
+most innocent-looking and frolicsome gambols, lying down and rolling
+about, and frisking presently, until the horse becomes a little
+accustomed to them. Then one approaches right in front, the other
+in rear, still frisking playfully, until they think themselves near
+enough, when they make a simultaneous rush. The wolf which approaches
+in rear is the true assailant; the rush of the other is a mere feint.
+Then both fasten on the poor horse's haunches, and never let go till
+the sinews are cut and he is rolling on his side.
+
+The horse makes comparatively little struggle in this deadly assault;
+he seems paralyzed, and soon falls to rise no more.
+
+Cameron set his traps towards evening in a circle with a bait in the
+centre, and then retired to rest. Next morning he called Joe Blunt,
+and the two went off together.
+
+"It is strange that these rascally white wolves should be so bold when
+the smaller kinds are so cowardly," remarked Cameron, as they walked
+along.
+
+"So 'tis," replied Joe; "but I've seed them other chaps bold enough
+too in the prairie when they were in large packs and starvin'."
+
+"I believe the small wolves follow the big fellows, and help them to
+eat what they kill, though they generally sit round and look on at the
+killing."
+
+"Hist!" exclaimed Joe, cocking his gun; "there he is, an' no mistake."
+
+There he was, undoubtedly. A wolf of the largest size with one of his
+feet in the trap. He was a terrible-looking object, for, besides his
+immense size and naturally ferocious aspect, his white hair bristled
+on end and was all covered with streaks and spots of blood from his
+bloody jaws. In his efforts to escape he had bitten the trap until he
+had broken his teeth and lacerated his gums, so that his appearance
+was hideous in the extreme. And when the two men came up he struggled
+with all his might to fly at them.
+
+Cameron and Joe stood looking at him in a sort of wondering
+admiration.
+
+"We'd better put a ball in him," suggested Joe after a time. "Mayhap
+the chain won't stand sich tugs long."
+
+"True, Joe; if it break, we might get an ugly nip before we killed
+him."
+
+So saying Cameron fired into the wolf's head and killed it. It was
+found, on examination, that four wolves had been in the traps, but the
+rest had escaped. Two of them, however, had gnawed off their paws and
+left them lying in the traps.
+
+After this the big wolves did not trouble them again. The same
+afternoon a bear-hunt was undertaken, which well-nigh cost one of the
+Iroquois his life. It happened thus:--
+
+While Cameron and Joe were away after the white wolves, Henri came
+floundering into camp tossing his arms like a maniac, and shouting
+that "seven bars wos be down in de bush close by!" It chanced that
+this was an idle day with most of the men, so they all leaped on their
+horses, and taking guns and knives sallied forth to give battle to the
+bears.
+
+Arrived at the scene of action, they found the seven bears busily
+engaged in digging up roots, so the men separated in order to surround
+them, and then closed in. The place was partly open and partly covered
+with thick bushes into which a horseman could not penetrate.
+
+
+The moment the bears got wind of what was going forward they made off
+as fast as possible, and then commenced a scene of firing, galloping,
+and yelling that defies description! Four out of the seven were shot
+before they gained the bushes; the other three were wounded, but made
+good their retreat. As their places of shelter, however, were like
+islands in the plain, they had no chance of escaping.
+
+The horsemen now dismounted and dashed recklessly into the bushes,
+where they soon discovered and killed two of the bears; the third was
+not found for some time. At last an Iroquois came upon it so suddenly
+that he had not time to point his gun before the bear sprang upon him
+and struck him to the earth, where it held him down.
+
+Instantly the place was surrounded by eager men; but the bushes were
+so thick, and the fallen trees among which the bear stood were so
+numerous, that they could not use their guns without running the risk
+of shooting their companion. Most of them drew their knives and seemed
+about to rush on the bear with these; but the monster's aspect, as it
+glared around, was so terrible that they held back for a moment in
+hesitation.
+
+At this moment Henri, who had been at some distance engaged in the
+killing of one of the other bears, came rushing forward after his own
+peculiar manner. "Ah! fat is eet--hay? de bar no go under yit?"
+
+Just then his eye fell on the wounded Iroquois with the bear above
+him, and he uttered a yell so intense in tone that the bear himself
+seemed to feel that something decisive was about to be done at last.
+Henri did not pause, but with a flying dash he sprang like a spread
+eagle, arms and legs extended, right into the bear's bosom. At the
+same moment he sent his long hunting-knife down into its heart. But
+Bruin is proverbially hard to kill, and although mortally wounded, he
+had strength enough to open his jaws and close them on Henri's neck.
+
+There was a cry of horror, and at the same moment a volley was fired
+at the bear's head; for the trappers felt that it was better to risk
+shooting their comrades than see them killed before their eyes.
+Fortunately the bullets took effect, and tumbled him over at once
+without doing damage to either of the men, although several of the
+balls just grazed Henri's temple and carried off his cap.
+
+Although uninjured by the shot, the poor Iroquois had not escaped
+scathless from the paw of the bear. His scalp was torn almost off, and
+hung down over his eyes, while blood streamed down his face. He was
+conveyed by his comrades to the camp, where he lay two days in a state
+of insensibility, at the end of which time he revived and recovered
+daily. Afterwards when the camp moved he had to be carried; but in
+the course of two months he was as well as ever, and quite as fond of
+bear-hunting!
+
+Among other trophies of this hunt there were two deer and a buffalo,
+which last had probably strayed from the herd. Four or five Iroquois
+were round this animal whetting their knives for the purpose of
+cutting it up when Henri passed, so he turned aside to watch them
+perform the operation, quite regardless of the fact that his neck
+and face were covered with blood which flowed from one or two small
+punctures made by the bear.
+
+The Indians began by taking off the skin, which certainly did not
+occupy them more than five minutes. Then they cut up the meat and made
+a pack of it, and cut out the tongue, which is somewhat troublesome,
+as that member requires to be cut out from under the jaw of the
+animal, and not through the natural opening of the mouth. One of the
+fore legs was cut off at the knee joint, and this was used as a hammer
+with which to break the skull for the purpose of taking out the
+brains, these being used in the process of dressing and softening the
+animal's skin. An axe would have been of advantage to break the skull,
+but in the hurry of rushing to the attack the Indians had forgotten
+their axes; so they adopted the common fashion of using the buffalo's
+hoof as a hammer, the shank being the handle. The whole operation of
+flaying, cutting up, and packing the meat did not occupy more than
+twenty minutes. Before leaving the ground these expert butchers
+treated themselves to a little of the marrow and warm liver in a raw
+state!
+
+Cameron and Joe walked up to the group while they were indulging in
+this little feast.
+
+"Well, I've often seen that eaten, but I never could do it myself,"
+remarked the former. "No!" cried Joe in surprise; "now that's oncommon
+cur'us. I've _lived_ on raw liver an' marrow-bones for two or three
+days at a time, when we wos chased by the Camanchee Injuns an' didn't
+dare to make a fire; an' it's ra'al good, it is. Won't ye try it
+_now_?"
+
+Cameron shook his head.
+
+"No, thankee; I'll not refuse when I can't help it, but until then
+I'll remain in happy ignorance of how good it is."
+
+"Well, it _is_ strange how some folk can't abide anything in the meat
+way they ha'n't bin used to. D'ye know I've actually knowed men from
+the cities as wouldn't eat a bit o' horseflesh for love or money.
+Would ye believe it?"
+
+"I can well believe that, Joe, for I have met with such persons
+myself; in fact, they are rather numerous. What are you chuckling at,
+Joe?"
+
+"Chucklin'? If ye mean be that 'larfin in to myself,' it's because I'm
+thinkin' o' a chap as once comed out to the prairies."
+
+"Let us walk back to the camp, Joe, and you can tell me about him as
+we go along."
+
+"I think," continued Joe, "he comed from Washington, but I never could
+make out right whether he wos a Government man or not. Anyhow, he wos
+a pheelosopher--a natter-list I think he call his-self--"
+
+"A naturalist," suggested Cameron.
+
+"Ay, that wos more like it. Well, he wos about six feet two in his
+moccasins, an' as thin as a ramrod, an' as blind as a bat--leastways
+he had weak eyes an' wore green spectacles. He had on a gray shootin'
+coat an' trousers an' vest an' cap, with rid whiskers an' a long nose
+as rid at the point as the whiskers wos."
+
+"Well, this gentleman engaged me an' another hunter to go a trip with
+him into the prairies, so off we sot one fine day on three hosses,
+with our blankets at our backs--we wos to depend on the rifle for
+victuals. At first I thought the natter-list one o' the cruellest
+beggars as iver went on two long legs, for he used to go about
+everywhere pokin' pins through all the beetles an' flies an' creepin'
+things he could sot eyes on, an' stuck them in a box. But he told me
+he comed here a-purpose to git as many o' them as he could; so says I,
+'If that's it, I'll fill yer box in no time.'
+
+"'Will ye?' says he, quite pleased like.
+
+"'I will,' says I, an' galloped off to a place as was filled wi' all
+sorts o' crawlin' things. So I sets to work, an' whenever I seed a
+thing crawlin' I sot my fut on it an' crushed it, an' soon filled my
+breast pocket. I cotched a lot o' butterflies too, an' stuffed them
+into my shot-pouch, an' went back in an hour or two an' showed him the
+lot. He put on his green spectacles an' looked at them as if he'd seen
+a rattlesnake.
+
+"'My good man,' says he, 'you've crushed them all to pieces!'
+
+"'They'll taste as good for all that,' says I; for somehow I'd taken't
+in me head that he'd heard o' the way the Injuns make soup o' the
+grasshoppers, an' wos wantin' to try his hand at a new dish!
+
+"He laughed when I said this, an' told me he wos collectin' them to
+take home to be _looked_ at. But that's not wot I was goin' to tell ye
+about him," continued Joe; "I wos goin' to tell ye how we made him eat
+horseflesh. He carried a revolver, too, this natter-list did, to load
+wi' shot as small as dust a'most, an' shoot little birds with. I've
+seed him miss birds only three feet away with it. An' one day he drew
+it all of a suddent an' let fly at a big bum-bee that wos passin',
+yellin' out that it wos the finest wot he had iver seed. He missed the
+bee, of coorse, 'cause it wos a flyin' shot, he said, but he sent the
+whole charge right into Martin's back--Martin was my comrade's name.
+By good luck Martin had on a thick leather coat, so the shot niver got
+the length o' his skin."
+
+"One day I noticed that the natter-list had stuffed small corks into
+the muzzles of all the six barrels of his revolver. I wondered what
+they wos for, but he wos al'ays doin' sich queer things that I
+soon forgot it. 'Maybe,' thought I, jist before it went out o' my
+mind--'maybe he thinks that'll stop the pistol from goin' off by
+accident;' for ye must know he'd let it off three times the first day
+by accident, an' well-nigh blowed off his leg the last time, only
+the shot lodged in the back o' a big toad he'd jist stuffed into his
+breeches pocket. Well, soon after we shot a buffalo bull, so when it
+fell, off he jumps from his horse an' runs up to it. So did I, for I
+wasn't sure the beast was dead, an' I had jist got up when it rose an'
+rushed at the natter-list.
+
+"'Out o' the way,' I yelled, for my rifle was empty; but he didn't
+move, so I rushed for'ard an' drew the pistol out o' his belt and let
+fly in the bull's ribs jist as it ran the poor man down. Martin came
+up that moment an' put a ball through its heart, an' then we went to
+pick up the natter-list. He came to in a little, an' the first thing
+he said was, 'Where's my revolver?' When I gave it to him he looked
+at it, an' said with a solemcholy shake o' the head, 'There's a whole
+barrel-full lost!' It turned out that he had taken to usin' the
+barrels for bottles to hold things in, but he forgot to draw the
+charges, so sure enough I had fired a charge o' bum-bees an' beetles
+an' small shot into the buffalo!
+
+"But that's not what I wos goin' to tell ye yit. We corned to a part
+o' the plains where we wos well-nigh starved for want o' game, an' the
+natter-list got so thin that ye could a'most see through him, so I
+offered to kill my horse, an' cut it up for meat; but you niver saw
+sich a face he made. 'I'd rather die first,' says he, 'than eat it;'
+so we didn't kill it. But that very day Martin got a shot at a wild
+horse an' killed it. The natter-list was down in the bed o' a creek at
+the time gropin' for creepers, an' he didn't see it.
+
+"'He'll niver eat it,' says Martin.
+
+"'That's true,' says I.
+
+"'Let's tell him it's a buffalo,' says he.
+
+"'That would be tellin' a lie,' says I.
+
+"So we stood lookin' at each other, not knowin' what to do.
+
+"'I'll tell ye what,' cries Martin; 'we'll cut it up, and take the
+meat into camp an' cook it without _sayin' a word_.'
+
+"'Done,' says I, 'that's it;' for ye must know the poor critter wos no
+judge o' meat. He couldn't tell one kind from another, an' he niver
+axed questions. In fact he niver a'most spoke to us all the trip.
+Well, we cut up the horse, an' carried the flesh an' marrowbones into
+camp, takin' care to leave the hoofs an' skin behind, an' sot to work
+an' roasted steaks an' marrowbones."
+
+"When the natter-list came back ye should ha' seen the joyful face he
+put on when he smelt the grub, for he was all but starved out, poor
+critter."
+
+"'What have we got here?' cried he, rubbin' his hands an' sittin'
+down."
+
+"'Steaks an' marrow-bones,' says Martin."
+
+"'Capital!' says he. 'I'm _so_ hungry.'"
+
+"So he fell to work like a wolf. I niver seed a man pitch into
+anything like as that natter-list did into that horseflesh."
+
+"'These are first-rate marrow-bones,' says he, squintin' with one eye
+down the shin-bone o' the hind leg to see if it was quite empty."
+
+"'Yes, sir, they is,' answered Martin, as grave as a judge."
+
+"'Take another, sir,' says I."
+
+"'No, thankee,' says he with a sigh, for he didn't like to leave off."
+
+"Well, we lived for a week on horseflesh, an' first-rate livin' it
+wos; then we fell in with buffalo, an' niver ran short again till we
+got to the settlements, when he paid us our money an' shook hands,
+sayin' we'd had a nice trip, an' he wished us well. Jist as we wos
+partin' I said, says I, 'D'ye know what it wos we lived on for a week
+arter we wos well-nigh starved in the prairies?'"
+
+"'What,' says he, 'when we got yon capital marrowbones?'"
+
+"'The same,' says I. 'Yon wos _horse_ flesh,' says I; 'an' I think
+ye'll surely niver say again that it isn't first-rate livin'.'"
+
+"'Ye're jokin',' says he, turnin' pale."
+
+"'It's true, sir; as true as ye're standin' there.'"
+
+"Well, would ye believe it, he turned--that natter-list did--as sick
+as a dog on the spot wot he wos standin' on, an' didn't taste meat
+again for three days!"
+
+Shortly after the conclusion of Joe's story they reached the camp,
+and here they found the women and children flying about in a state of
+terror, and the few men who had been left in charge arming themselves
+in the greatest haste.
+
+"Hallo! something wrong here," cried Cameron, hastening forward,
+followed by Joe. "What has happened, eh?"
+
+"Injuns comin', monsieur; look dere," answered a trapper, pointing
+down the valley.
+
+"Arm and mount at once, and come to the front of the camp," cried
+Cameron in a tone of voice that silenced every other, and turned
+confusion into order.
+
+The cause of all this outcry was a cloud of dust seen far down the
+valley, which was raised by a band of mounted Indians who approached
+the camp at full speed. Their numbers could not be made out, but they
+were a sufficiently formidable band to cause much anxiety to
+Cameron, whose men, at the time, were scattered to the various
+trapping-grounds, and only ten chanced to be within call of the camp.
+However, with these ten he determined to show a bold front to the
+savages, whether they came as friends or foes. He therefore ordered
+the women and children within the citadel formed of the goods and
+packs of furs piled upon each other, which point of retreat was to
+be defended to the last extremity. Then galloping to the front he
+collected his men and swept down the valley at full speed. In a few
+minutes they were near enough to observe that the enemy only numbered
+four Indians, who were driving a band of about a hundred horses before
+them, and so busy were they in keeping the troop together that Cameron
+and his men were close upon them before they were observed.
+
+It was too late to escape. Joe Blunt and Henri had already swept round
+and cut off their retreat. In this extremity the Indians slipped from
+the backs of their steeds and darted into the bushes, where they were
+safe from pursuit, at least on horseback, while the trappers got
+behind the horses and drove them towards the camp.
+
+At this moment one of the horses sprang ahead of the others and made
+for the mountain, with its mane and tail flying wildly in the breeze.
+
+"Marrow-bones and buttons!" shouted one of the men, "there goes Dick
+Varley's horse."
+
+"So it am!" cried Henri, and dashed off in pursuit, followed by Joe
+and two others.
+
+"Why, these are our own horses," said Cameron in surprise, as they
+drove them into a corner of the hills from which they could not
+escape.
+
+This was true, but it was only half the truth, for, besides their own
+horses, they had secured upwards of seventy Indian steeds; a most
+acceptable addition to their stud, which, owing to casualties and
+wolves, had been diminishing too much of late. The fact was that the
+Indians who had captured the horses belonging to Pierre and his party
+were a small band of robbers who had travelled, as was afterwards
+learned, a considerable distance from the south, stealing horses from
+various tribes as they went along. As we have seen, in an evil hour
+they fell in with Pierre's party and carried off their steeds, which
+they drove to a pass leading from one valley to the other. Here they
+united them with the main band of their ill-gotten gains, and while
+the greater number of the robbers descended farther into the plains in
+search of more booty, four of them were sent into the mountains with
+the horses already procured. These four, utterly ignorant of the
+presence of white men in the valley, drove their charge, as we have
+seen, almost into the camp.
+
+Cameron immediately organized a party to go out in search of Pierre
+and his companions, about whose fate he became intensely anxious,
+and in the course of half-an-hour as many men as he could spare with
+safety were despatched in the direction of the Blue Mountains.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+_Charlie's adventures with savages and bears_--_Trapping life_.
+
+
+It is one thing to chase a horse; it is another thing to catch it.
+Little consideration and less sagacity are 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 mettle 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 run-away.
+
+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 of 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 carcass 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.
+
+"Voilà! Joe Blunt. Look in dere, and you shall see fat you vill
+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.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+_Savage sports--Living cataracts--An alarm--Indians and their
+doings--The stampede--Charlie again_.
+
+
+One day Dick Varley was out on a solitary hunting expedition near the
+rocky gorge where his horse had received temporary burial a week or
+two before. Crusoe was with him, of course. Dick had tied Charlie to a
+tree, and was sunning himself on the edge of a cliff, from the top of
+which he had a fine view of the valley and the rugged precipices that
+hemmed it in.
+
+Just in front of the spot on which he sat, the precipices on the
+opposite side of the gorge rose to a considerable height above him, so
+that their ragged outlines were drawn sharply across the clear sky.
+Dick was gazing in dreamy silence at the jutting rocks and dark
+caverns, and speculating on the probable number of bears that dwelt
+there, when a slight degree of restlessness on the part of Crusoe
+attracted him.
+
+"What is't, pup?" said he, laying his hand on the dog's broad back.
+
+Crusoe looked the answer, "I don't know, Dick, but it's _something_,
+you may depend upon it, else I would not have disturbed you."
+
+Dick lifted his rifle from the ground, and laid it in the hollow of
+his left arm.
+
+"There must be something in the wind," remarked Dick.
+
+As wind is known to be composed of two distinct gases, Crusoe felt
+perfectly safe in replying "Yes" with his tail. Immediately after he
+added, "Hallo! did you hear that?" with his ears.
+
+Dick did hear it, and sprang hastily to his feet, as a sound like, yet
+unlike, distant thunder came faintly down upon the breeze. In a few
+seconds the sound increased to a roar in which was mingled the wild
+cries of men. Neither Dick nor Crusoe moved, for the sounds came from
+behind the heights in front of them, and they felt that the only way
+to solve the question, "What can the sounds be?" was to wait till the
+sounds should solve it themselves.
+
+Suddenly the muffled sounds gave place to the distinct bellowing of
+cattle, the clatter of innumerable hoofs, and the yells of savage men,
+while at the same moment the edges of the opposite cliffs became alive
+with Indians and buffaloes rushing about in frantic haste--the former
+almost mad with savage excitement, the latter with blind rage and
+terror.
+
+On reaching the edge of the dizzy precipice, the buffaloes turned
+abruptly and tossed their ponderous heads as they coursed along the
+edge. Yet a few of them, unable to check their headlong course, fell
+over, and were dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Such falls, Dick
+observed, were hailed with shouts of delight by the Indians, whose
+sole object evidently was to enjoy the sport of driving the terrified
+animals over the precipice. The wily savages had chosen their ground
+well for this purpose.
+
+The cliff immediately opposite to Dick Varley was a huge projection
+from the precipice that hemmed in the gorge, a species of cape or
+promontory several hundred yards wide at the base, and narrowing
+abruptly to a point. The sides of this wedge-shaped projection were
+quite perpendicular--indeed, in some places the top overhung the
+base--and they were at least three hundred feet high. Broken and
+jagged rocks, of that peculiarly chaotic character which probably
+suggested the name to this part of the great American chain, projected
+from and were scattered all round the cliffs. Over these the Indians,
+whose numbers increased every moment, strove to drive the luckless
+herd of buffaloes that had chanced to fall in their way. The task was
+easy. The unsuspecting animals, of which there were hundreds,
+rushed in a dense mass upon the cape referred to. On they came with
+irresistible impetuosity, bellowing furiously, while their hoofs
+thundered on the turf with the muffled continuous roar of a distant
+but mighty cataract; the Indians, meanwhile, urging them on by hideous
+yells and frantic gestures.
+
+The advance-guard came bounding madly to the edge of the precipice.
+Here they stopped short, and gazed affrighted at the gulf below. It
+was but for a moment. The irresistible momentum of the flying mass
+behind pushed them over. Down they came, absolutely a living cataract,
+upon the rocks below. Some struck on the projecting rocks in the
+descent, and their bodies were dashed almost in pieces, while their
+blood spurted out in showers. Others leaped from rock to rock with
+awful bounds, until, losing their foothold, they fell headlong;
+while others descended sheer down into the sweltering mass that lay
+shattered at the base of the cliffs.
+
+Dick Varley and his dog remained rooted to the rock, as they gazed at
+the sickening sight, as if petrified. Scarce fifty of that noble herd
+of buffaloes escaped the awful leap, but they escaped only to fall
+before the arrows of their ruthless pursuers. Dick had often heard of
+this tendency of the Indians, where buffaloes were very numerous, to
+drive them over precipices in mere wanton sport and cruelty, but
+he had never seen it until now, and the sight filled his soul with
+horror. It was not until the din and tumult of the perishing herd and
+the shrill yells of the Indians had almost died away that he turned to
+quit the spot. But the instant he did so another shout was raised. The
+savages had observed him, and were seen galloping along the cliffs
+towards the head of the gorge, with the obvious intention of gaining
+the other side and capturing him. Dick sprang on Charlie's back, and
+the next instant was flying down the valley towards the camp.
+
+He did not, however, fear being overtaken, for the gorge could not be
+crossed, and the way round the head of it was long and rugged; but he
+was anxious to alarm the camp as quickly as possible, so that they
+might have time to call in the more distant trappers and make
+preparations for defence.
+
+"Where away now, youngster?" inquired Cameron, emerging from his tent
+as Dick, taking the brook that flowed in front at a flying leap, came
+crashing through the bushes into the midst of the fur-packs at full
+speed.
+
+"Injuns!" ejaculated Dick, reining up, and vaulting out of the saddle.
+"Hundreds of 'em. Fiends incarnate every one!"
+
+"Are they near?"
+
+"Yes; an hour'll bring them down on us. Are Joe and Henri far from
+camp to-day?"
+
+"At Ten-mile Creek," replied Cameron with an expression of bitterness,
+as he caught up his gun and shouted to several men, who hurried up on
+seeing our hero burst into camp.
+
+"Ten-mile Creek!" muttered Dick. "I'll bring 'em in, though," he
+continued, glancing at several of the camp horses that grazed close at
+hand.
+
+In another moment he was on Charlie's back, the line of one of the
+best horses was in his hand, and almost before Cameron knew what he
+was about he was flying down the valley like the wind. Charlie often
+stretched out at full speed to please his young master, but seldom
+had he been urged forward as he was upon this occasion. The led horse
+being light and wild, kept well up, and in a marvellously short space
+of time they were at Ten-mile Creek.
+
+"Hallo, Dick, wot's to do?" inquired Joe Blunt, who was up to his
+knees in the water setting a trap at the moment his friend galloped
+up.
+
+"Injuns! Where's Henri?" demanded Dick.
+
+"At the head o' the dam there."
+
+Dick was off in a moment, and almost instantly returned with Henri
+galloping beside him.
+
+No word was spoken. In time of action these men did not waste words.
+During Dick's momentary absence, Joe Blunt had caught up his rifle and
+examined the priming, so that when Dick pulled up beside him he merely
+laid his hand on the saddle, saying, "All right!" as he vaulted on
+Charlie's back behind his young companion. In another moment they were
+away at full speed. The mustang seemed to feel that unwonted exertions
+were required of him. Double weighted though he was, he kept well up
+with the other horse, and in less than two hours after Dick's leaving
+the camp the three hunters came in sight of it.
+
+Meanwhile Cameron had collected nearly all his forces and put his
+camp in a state of defence before the Indians arrived, which they did
+suddenly, and, as usual, at full gallop, to the amount of at least
+two hundred. They did not at first seem disposed to hold friendly
+intercourse with the trappers, but assembled in a semicircle round the
+camp in a menacing attitude, while one of their chiefs stepped forward
+to hold a palaver. For some time the conversation on both sides was
+polite enough, but by degrees the Indian chief assumed an imperious
+tone, and demanded gifts from the trappers, taking care to enforce
+his request by hinting that thousands of his countrymen were not far
+distant. Cameron stoutly refused, and the palaver threatened to come
+to an abrupt and unpleasant termination just at the time that Dick and
+his friends appeared on the scene of action.
+
+The brook was cleared at a bound; the three hunters leaped from their
+steeds and sprang to the front with a degree of energy that had a
+visible effect on the savages; and Cameron, seizing the moment,
+proposed that the two parties should smoke a pipe and hold a council.
+The Indians agreed, and in a few minutes they were engaged in animated
+and friendly intercourse. The speeches were long, and the compliments
+paid on either side were inflated, and, we fear, undeserved; but the
+result of the interview was, that Cameron made the Indians a present
+of tobacco and a few trinkets, and sent them back to their friends to
+tell them that he was willing to trade with them.
+
+Next day the whole tribe arrived in the valley, and pitched their
+deerskin tents on the plain opposite to the camp of the white men.
+Their numbers far exceeded Cameron's expectation, and it was with some
+anxiety that he proceeded to strengthen his fortifications as much as
+circumstances and the nature of the ground would admit.
+
+The Indian camp, which numbered upwards of a thousand souls, was
+arranged with great regularity, and was divided into three distinct
+sections, each section being composed of a separate tribe. The Great
+Snake nation at that time embraced three tribes or divisions--namely,
+the Shirry-dikas, or dog-eaters; the War-are-ree-kas, or fish-eaters;
+and the Banattees, or robbers. These were the most numerous and
+powerful Indians on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. The
+Shirry-dikas dwelt in the plains, and hunted the buffaloes; dressed
+well; were cleanly; rich in horses; bold, independent, and good
+warriors. The War-are-ree-kas lived chiefly by fishing, and were found
+on the banks of the rivers and lakes throughout the country. They were
+more corpulent, slovenly, and indolent than the Shirry-dikas, and more
+peaceful. The Banattees, as we have before mentioned, were the robbers
+of the mountains. They were a wild and contemptible race, and at
+enmity with every one. In summer they went about nearly naked. In
+winter they clothed themselves in the skins of rabbits and wolves.
+Being excellent mimics, they could imitate the howling of wolves, the
+neighing of horses, and the cries of birds, by which means they could
+approach travellers, rob them, and then fly to their rocky fastnesses
+in the mountains, where pursuit was vain.
+
+Such were the men who now assembled in front of the camp of the
+fur-traders, and Cameron soon found that the news of his presence in
+the country had spread far and wide among the natives, bringing them
+to the neighbourhood of his camp in immense crowds, so that during the
+next few days their numbers increased to thousands.
+
+Several long palavers quickly ensued between the red men and the
+white, and the two great chiefs who seemed to hold despotic rule
+over the assembled tribes were extremely favourable to the idea of
+universal peace which was propounded to them. In several set speeches
+of great length and very considerable power, these natural orators
+explained their willingness to enter into amicable relations with all
+the surrounding nations, as well as with the white men.
+
+"But," said Pee-eye-em, the chief of the Shirry-dikas, a man above
+six feet high, and of immense muscular strength--"but my tribe cannot
+answer for the Banattees, who are robbers, and cannot be punished,
+because they dwell in scattered families among the mountains. The
+Banattees are bad; they cannot be trusted."
+
+None of the Banattees were present at the council when this was said;
+and if they had been it would have mattered little, for they were
+neither fierce nor courageous, although bold enough in their own
+haunts to murder and rob the unwary.
+
+The second chief did not quite agree with Pee-eye-em. He said that it
+was impossible for them to make peace with their natural enemies, the
+Peigans and the Blackfeet on the east side of the mountains. It was
+very desirable, he admitted; but neither of these tribes would consent
+to it, he felt sure.
+
+Upon this Joe Blunt rose and said, "The great chief of the
+War-are-ree-kas is wise, and knows that enemies cannot be reconciled
+unless deputies are sent to make proposals of peace."
+
+"The Pale-face does not know the Blackfeet," answered the chief. "Who
+will go into the lands of the Blackfeet? My young men have been sent
+once and again, and their scalps are now fringes to the leggings of
+their enemies. The War-are-ree-kas do not cross the mountains but for
+the purpose of making war."
+
+"The chief speaks truth," returned Joe; "yet there are three men round
+the council fire who will go to the Blackfeet and the Peigans with
+messages of peace from the Snakes if they wish it."
+
+Joe pointed to himself, Henri, and Dick as he spoke, and added, "We
+three do not belong to the camp of the fur-traders; we only, lodge
+with them for a time. The Great Chief of the white men has sent us to
+make peace with the Red-men, and to tell them that he desires to trade
+with them--to exchange hatchets, and guns, and blankets for furs."
+
+This declaration interested the two chiefs greatly, and after a good
+deal of discussion they agreed to take advantage of Joe Blunt's offer;
+and appoint him as a deputy to the court of their enemies. Having
+arranged these matters to their satisfaction, Cameron bestowed a red
+flag and a blue surtout with brass buttons on each of the chiefs, and
+a variety of smaller articles on the other members of the council, and
+sent them away in a particularly amiable frame of mind.
+
+Pee-eye-em burst the blue surtout at the shoulders and elbows in
+putting it on, as it was much too small for his gigantic frame;
+but never having seen such an article of apparel before, he either
+regarded this as the natural and proper consequence of putting it on,
+or was totally indifferent to it, for he merely looked at the rents
+with a smile of satisfaction, while his squaw surreptitiously cut off
+the two back buttons and thrust them into her bosom.
+
+By the time the council closed the night was far advanced, and a
+bright moon was shedding a flood of soft light over the picturesque
+and busy scene.
+
+"I'll go to the Injun camp," said Joe to Walter Cameron, as the chiefs
+rose to depart. "The season's far enough advanced already; it's time
+to be off; and if I'm to speak for the Redskins in the Blackfeet
+Council, I'd need to know what to say."
+
+"Please yourself, Master Blunt," answered Cameron. "I like your
+company and that of your friends, and if it suited you I would be
+glad to take you along with us to the coast of the Pacific; but your
+mission among the Indians is a good one, and I'll help it on all I
+can.--I suppose you will go also?" he added, turning to Dick Varley,
+who was still seated beside the council fire caressing Crusoe.
+
+"Wherever Joe goes, I go," answered Dick.
+
+Crusoe's tail, ears, and eyes demonstrated high approval of the
+sentiment involved in this speech.
+
+"And your friend Henri?"
+
+"He goes too," answered Joe. "It's as well that the Redskins should
+see the three o' us before we start for the east side o' the
+mountains.--Ho, Henri! come here, lad."
+
+Henri obeyed, and in a few seconds the three friends crossed the
+brook to the Indian camp, and were guided to the principal lodge by
+Pee-eye-em. Here a great council was held, and the proposed attempt
+at negotiations for peace with their ancient enemies fully discussed.
+While they were thus engaged, and just as Pee-eye-em had, in the
+energy of an enthusiastic peroration, burst the blue surtout _almost_
+up to the collar, a distant rushing sound was heard, which caused
+every man to spring to his feet, run out of the tent, and seize his
+weapons.
+
+"What can it be, Joe?" whispered Dick as they stood at the tent door
+leaning on their rifles, and listening intently.
+
+"Dun'no'," answered Joe shortly.
+
+Most of the numerous fires of the camp had gone out, but the bright
+moon revealed the dusky forms of thousands of Indians, whom the
+unwonted sound had startled, moving rapidly about.
+
+The mystery was soon explained. The Indian camp was pitched on an open
+plain of several miles in extent, which took a sudden bend half-a-mile
+distant, where a spur of the mountains shut out the farther end of
+the valley from view. From beyond this point the dull rumbling sound
+proceeded. Suddenly there was a roar as if a mighty cataract had been
+let loose upon the scene. At the same moment a countless herd of wild
+horses came thundering round the base of the mountain and swept over
+the plain straight towards the Indian camp.
+
+"A stampede!" cried Joe, springing to the assistance of Pee-eye-em,
+whose favourite horses were picketed near the tent.
+
+On they came like a living torrent, and the thunder of a thousand
+hoofs was soon mingled with the howling of hundreds of dogs in the
+camp, and the yelling of Indians, as they vainly endeavoured to
+restrain the rising excitement of their steeds. Henri and Dick stood
+rooted to the ground, gazing in silent wonder at the fierce and
+uncontrollable gallop of the thousands of panic-stricken horses that
+bore down upon the camp with the tumultuous violence of a mighty
+cataract.
+
+As the maddened troop drew nigh, the camp horses began to snort and
+tremble violently, and when the rush of the wild steeds was almost
+upon them, they became ungovernable with terror, broke their halters
+and hobbles, and dashed wildly about. To add to the confusion at that
+moment, a cloud passed over the moon and threw the whole scene into
+deep obscurity. Blind with terror, which was probably increased by the
+din of their own mad flight, the galloping troop came on, and with a
+sound like the continuous roar of thunder that for an instant drowned
+the yell of dog and man they burst upon the camp, trampling over
+packs and skins, and dried meat, etc., in their headlong speed, and
+overturning several of the smaller tents. In another moment they swept
+out upon the plain beyond, and were soon lost in the darkness of the
+night, while the yelping of dogs, as they vainly pursued them, mingled
+and gradually died away with the distant thunder of their retreat.
+
+This was a _stampede_, one of the most extraordinary scenes that can
+be witnessed in the western wilderness.
+
+"Lend a hand, Henri," shouted Joe, who was struggling with a powerful
+horse. "Wot's comed over yer brains, man? This brute'll git off if you
+don't look sharp."
+
+Dick and Henri both answered to the summons, and they succeeded in
+throwing the struggling animal on its side and holding it down
+until its excitement was somewhat abated. Pee-eye-em had also been
+successful in securing his favourite hunter: but nearly every other
+horse belonging to the camp had broken loose and joined the whirlwind
+gallop. But they gradually dropped out, and before morning the most of
+them were secured by their owners. As there were at least two thousand
+horses and an equal number of dogs in the part of the Indian camp
+which had been thus overrun by the wild mustangs, the turmoil, as may
+be imagined, was prodigious! Yet, strange to say, no accident of a
+serious nature occurred beyond the loss of several chargers.
+
+In the midst of this exciting scene there was one heart which beat
+with a nervous vehemence that well-nigh burst it. This was the heart
+of Dick Varley's horse, Charlie. Well known to him was that distant
+rumbling sound that floated on the night air into the fur-traders'
+camp, where he was picketed close to Cameron's tent. Many a time had
+he heard the approach of such a wild troop, and often, in days not
+long gone by, had his shrill neigh rung out as he joined and led
+the panic-stricken band. He was first to hear the sound, and by his
+restive actions to draw the attention of the fur-traders to it. As a
+precautionary measure they all sprang up and stood by their horses to
+soothe them, but as a brook with a belt of bushes and quarter of a
+mile of plain intervened between their camp and the mustangs as they
+flew past, they had little or no trouble in restraining them. Not
+so, however, with Charlie. At the very moment that his master was
+congratulating himself on the supposed security of his position, he
+wrenched the halter from the hand of him who held it, burst through
+the barrier of felled trees that had been thrown round the camp,
+cleared the brook at a bound, and with a wild hilarious neigh resumed
+his old place in the ranks of the free-born mustangs of the prairie.
+
+Little did Dick think, when the flood of horses swept past him, that
+his own good steed was there, rejoicing in his recovered liberty. But
+Crusoe knew it. Ay, the wind had borne down the information to his
+acute nose before the living storm burst upon the camp; and when
+Charlie rushed past, with the long tough halter trailing at his heels,
+Crusoe sprang to his side, seized the end of the halter with his
+teeth, and galloped off along with him.
+
+It was a long gallop and a tough one, but Crusoe held on, for it was a
+settled principle in his mind _never_ to give in. At first the check
+upon Charlie's speed was imperceptible, but by degrees the weight of
+the gigantic dog began to tell, and after a time they fell a little
+to the rear; then by good fortune the troop passed through a mass of
+underwood, and the line getting entangled brought their mad career
+forcibly to a close; the mustangs passed on, and the two friends were
+left to keep each other company in the dark.
+
+How long they would have remained thus is uncertain, for neither
+of them had sagacity enough to undo a complicated entanglement.
+Fortunately, however, in his energetic tugs at the line, Crusoe's
+sharp teeth partially severed it, and a sudden start on the part of
+Charlie caused it to part. Before he could escape, Crusoe again seized
+the end of it, and led him slowly but steadily back to the Indian
+camp, never halting or turning aside until he had placed the line in
+Dick Varley's hand.
+
+"Hallo, pup! where have ye bin? How did ye bring him here?" exclaimed
+Dick, as he gazed in amazement at his foam-covered horse.
+
+Crusoe wagged his tail, as if to say, "Be thankful that you've got
+him, Dick, my boy, and don't ask questions that you know I can't
+answer."
+
+"He must ha' broke loose and jined the stampede," remarked Joe, coming
+out of the chief's tent at the moment; "but tie him up, Dick, and come
+in, for we want to settle about startin' to-morrow or nixt day."
+
+Having fastened Charlie to a stake, and ordered Crusoe to watch him,
+Dick re-entered the tent where the council had reassembled, and where
+Pee-eye-em--having, in the recent struggle, split the blue surtout
+completely up to the collar, so that his backbone was visible
+throughout the greater part of its length--was holding forth in
+eloquent strains on the subject of peace in general and peace with the
+Blackfeet, the ancient enemies of the Shirry-dikas, in particular.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+_Plans and prospects--Dick becomes home-sick, and Henri
+metaphysical--Indians attack the camp--A blow-up._
+
+
+On the following day the Indians gave themselves up to unlimited
+feasting, in consequence of the arrival of a large body of hunters
+with an immense supply of buffalo meat. It was a regular day of
+rejoicing. Upwards of six hundred buffaloes had been killed and as the
+supply of meat before their arrival had been ample, the camp was now
+overflowing with plenty.
+
+
+Feasts were given by the chiefs, and the medicine men went about the
+camp uttering loud cries, which were meant to express gratitude to the
+Great Spirit for the bountiful supply of food. They also carried a
+portion of meat to the aged and infirm who were unable to hunt for
+themselves, and had no young men in their family circle to hunt for
+them.
+
+This arrival of the hunters was a fortunate circumstance, as it put
+the Indians in great good-humour, and inclined them to hold friendly
+intercourse with the trappers, who for some time continued to drive a
+brisk trade in furs. Having no market for the disposal of their furs,
+the Indians of course had more than they knew what to do with, and
+were therefore glad to exchange those of the most beautiful and
+valuable kind for a mere trifle, so that the trappers laid aside their
+traps for a time and devoted themselves to traffic.
+
+Meanwhile Joe Blunt and his friends made preparations for their return
+journey.
+
+"Ye see," remarked Joe to Henri and Dick, as they sat beside the fire
+in Pee-eye-em's lodge, and feasted on a potful of grasshopper soup,
+which the great chief's squaw had just placed before them--"ye see, my
+calc'lations is as follows. Wot with trappin' beavers and huntin', we
+three ha' made enough to set us up, an it likes us, in the Mustang
+Valley--"
+
+"Ha!" interrupted Dick, remitting for a few seconds the use of his
+teeth in order to exercise his tongue--ha! Joe, but it don't like
+_me_! What, give up a hunter's life and become a farmer? I should
+think not!"
+
+"Bon!" ejaculated Henri, but whether the remark had reference to the
+grasshopper soup or the sentiment we cannot tell.
+
+"Well," continued Joe, commencing to devour a large buffalo steak with
+a hunter's appetite, "ye'll please yourselves, lads, as to that; but
+as I wos sayin', we've got a powerful lot o' furs, an' a big pack o'
+odds and ends for the Injuns we chance to meet with by the way, an'
+powder and lead to last us a twelvemonth, besides five good horses to
+carry us an' our packs over the plains; so if it's agreeable to you, I
+mean to make a bee-line for the Mustang Valley. We're pretty sure to
+meet with Blackfeet on the way, and if we do we'll try to make peace
+between them an' the Snakes. I 'xpect it'll be pretty well on for six
+weeks afore we git to home, so we'll start to-morrow."
+
+"Dat is fat vill do ver' vell," said Henri; "vill you please donnez me
+one petit morsel of steak."
+
+"I'm ready for anything, Joe," cried Dick; "you are leader. Just point
+the way, and I'll answer for two o' us followin' ye--eh! won't we,
+Crusoe?"
+
+"We will," remarked the dog quietly.
+
+"How comes it," inquired Dick, "that these Indians don't care for our
+tobacco?"
+
+"They like their own better, I s'pose," answered Joe; "most all the
+western Injuns do. They make it o' the dried leaves o' the shumack
+and the inner bark o' the red-willow, chopped very small an' mixed
+together. They call this stuff _kinnekinnik_; but they like to mix
+about a fourth o' our tobacco with it, so Pee-eye-em tells me, an'
+he's a good judge. The amount that red-skinned mortal smokes _is_
+oncommon."
+
+"What are they doin' yonder?" inquired Dick, pointing to a group of
+men who had been feasting for some time past in front of a tent within
+sight of our trio.
+
+"Goin' to sing, I think," replied Joe.
+
+As he spoke six young warriors were seen to work their bodies about
+in a very remarkable way, and give utterance to still more remarkable
+sounds, which gradually increased until the singers burst out into
+that terrific yell, or war-whoop, for which American savages have long
+been famous. Its effect would have been appalling to unaccustomed
+ears. Then they allowed their voices to die away in soft, plaintive
+tones, while their action corresponded thereto. Suddenly the furious
+style was revived, and the men wrought themselves into a condition
+little short of madness, while their yells rang wildly through the
+camp. This was too much for ordinary canine nature to withstand, so
+all the dogs in the neighbourhood joined in the horrible chorus.
+
+Crusoe had long since learned to treat the eccentricities of Indians
+and their curs with dignified contempt. He paid no attention to this
+serenade, but lay sleeping by the fire until Dick and his companions
+rose to take leave of their host and return to the camp of the
+fur-traders. The remainder of that night was spent in making
+preparations for setting forth on the morrow; and when, at gray dawn,
+Dick and Crusoe lay down to snatch a few hours' repose, the yells and
+howling in the Snake camp were going on as vigorously as ever.
+
+The sun had arisen, and his beams were just tipping the summits of the
+Rocky Mountains, causing the snowy peaks to glitter like flame, and
+the deep ravines and gorges to look sombre and mysterious by contrast,
+when Dick and Joe and Henri mounted their gallant steeds, and, with
+Crusoe gambolling before, and the two pack-horses trotting by their
+side, turned their faces eastward, and bade adieu to the Indian camp.
+
+Crusoe was in great spirits. He was perfectly well aware that he and
+his companions were on their way home, and testified his satisfaction
+by bursts of scampering over the hills and valleys. Doubtless he
+thought of Dick Varley's cottage, and of Dick's mild, kind-hearted
+mother. Undoubtedly, too, he thought of his own mother, Fan, and
+felt a glow of filial affection as he did so. Of this we feel quite
+certain. He would have been unworthy the title of hero if he hadn't.
+Perchance he thought of Grumps, but of this we are not quite so sure.
+We rather think, upon the whole, that he did.
+
+Dick, too, let his thoughts run away in the direction of _home_.
+Sweet word! Those who have never left it cannot, by any effort of
+imagination, realize the full import of the word "home." Dick was a
+bold hunter; but he was young, and this was his first long expedition.
+Oftentimes, when sleeping under the trees and gazing dreamily up
+through the branches at the stars, had he thought of home, until
+his longing heart began to yearn to return. He repelled such tender
+feelings, however, when they became too strong, deeming them unmanly,
+and sought to turn his mind to the excitements of the chase; but
+latterly his efforts were in vain. He became thoroughly home-sick, and
+while admitting the fact to himself, he endeavoured to conceal it from
+his comrades. He thought that he was successful in this attempt. Poor
+Dick Varley! as yet he was sadly ignorant of human nature. Henri knew
+it, and Joe Blunt knew it. Even Crusoe knew that something was wrong
+with his master, although he could not exactly make out what it was.
+But Crusoe made memoranda in the note-book of his memory. He jotted
+down the peculiar phases of his master's new disease with the care and
+minute exactness of a physician, and, we doubt not, ultimately
+added the knowledge of the symptoms of home-sickness to his already
+well-filled stores of erudition.
+
+It was not till they had set out on their homeward journey that
+Dick Varley's spirits revived, and it was not till they reached the
+beautiful prairies on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and
+galloped over the greensward towards the Mustang Valley, that Dick
+ventured to tell Joe Blunt what his feelings had been.
+
+"D'ye know, Joe," he said confidentially, reining up his gallant steed
+after a sharp gallop--"d'ye know I've bin feelin' awful low for some
+time past."
+
+"I know it, lad," answered Joe, with a quiet smile, in which there
+was a dash of something that implied he knew more than he chose to
+express.
+
+Dick felt surprised, but he continued, "I wonder what it could have
+bin. I never felt so before."
+
+"'Twas home-sickness, boy," returned Joe.
+
+"How d'ye know that?"
+
+"The same way as how I know most things--by experience an'
+obsarvation. I've bin home-sick myself once, but it was long, long
+agone."
+
+Dick felt much relieved at this candid confession by such a bronzed
+veteran, and, the chords of sympathy having been struck, he opened up
+his heart at once, to the evident delight of Henri, who, among other
+curious partialities, was extremely fond of listening to and taking
+part in conversations that bordered on the metaphysical, and were hard
+to be understood. Most conversations that were not connected with
+eating and hunting were of this nature to Henri.
+
+"Hom'-sik," he cried, "veech mean bein' sik of hom'! Hah! dat is fat I
+am always be, ven I goes hout on de expedition. Oui, vraiment."
+
+"I always packs up," continued Joe, paying no attention to Henri's
+remark--"I always packs up an' sets off for home when I gits
+home-sick. It's the best cure; an' when hunters are young like
+you, Dick, it's the only cure. I've knowed fellers a'most die o'
+home-sickness, an' I'm told they _do_ go under altogether sometimes."
+
+"Go onder!" exclaimed Henri; "oui, I vas all but die myself ven I
+fust try to git away from hom'. If I have not git away, I not be here
+to-day."
+
+Henri's idea of home-sickness was so totally opposed to theirs that
+his comrades only laughed, and refrained from attempting to set him
+right.
+
+"The fust time I wos took bad with it wos in a country somethin' like
+that," said Joe, pointing to the wide stretch of undulating prairie,
+dotted with clusters of trees and meandering streamlets, that lay
+before them. "I had bin out about two months, an' was makin' a good
+thing of it, for game wos plenty, when I began to think somehow more
+than usual o' home. My mother wos alive then."
+
+Joe's voice sank to a deep, solemn tone as he said this, and for a few
+minutes he rode on in silence.
+
+"Well, it grew worse and worse. I dreamed o' home all night an'
+thought of it all day, till I began to shoot bad, an' my comrades wos
+gittin' tired o' me; so says I to them one night, says I, 'I give out,
+lads; I'll make tracks for the settlement to-morrow.' They tried to
+laugh me out of it at first, but it was no go, so I packed up, bid
+them good-day, an' sot off alone on a trip o' five hundred miles. The
+very first mile o' the way back I began to mend, and before two days I
+wos all right again."
+
+Joe was interrupted at this point by the sudden appearance of a
+solitary horseman on the brow of an eminence not half-a-mile distant.
+The three friends instantly drove their pack-horses behind a clump of
+trees; but not in time to escape the vigilant eye of the Red-man, who
+uttered a loud shout, which brought up a band of his comrades at full
+gallop.
+
+"Remember, Henri," cried Joe Blunt, "our errand is one of _peace_."
+
+The caution was needed, for in the confusion of the moment Henri was
+making preparation to sell his life as dearly as possible. Before
+another word could be uttered, they were surrounded by a troop of
+about twenty yelling Blackfeet Indians. They were, fortunately, not a
+war party, and, still more fortunately, they were peaceably disposed,
+and listened to the preliminary address of Joe Blunt with exemplary
+patience; after which the two parties encamped on the spot, the
+council fire was lighted, and every preparation made for a long
+palaver.
+
+We will not trouble the reader with the details of what was said on
+this occasion. The party of Indians was a small one, and no chief of
+any importance was attached to it. Suffice it to say that the pacific
+overtures made by Joe were well received, the trifling gifts made
+thereafter were still better received, and they separated with mutual
+expressions of good-will.
+
+Several other bands which were afterwards met with were equally
+friendly, and only one war party was seen. Joe's quick eye observed
+it in time to enable them to retire unseen behind the shelter of some
+trees, where they remained until the Indian warriors were out of
+sight.
+
+The next party they met with, however, were more difficult to manage,
+and, unfortunately, blood was shed on both sides before our travellers
+escaped.
+
+It was at the close of a beautiful day that a war party of Blackfeet
+were seen riding along a ridge on the horizon. It chanced that the
+prairie at this place was almost destitute of trees or shrubs large
+enough to conceal the horses. By dashing down the grassy wave into
+the hollow between the two undulations, and dismounting, Joe hoped to
+elude the savages, so he gave the word; but at the same moment a shout
+from the Indians told that they were discovered.
+
+"Look sharp, lads! throw down the packs on the highest point of the
+ridge," cried Joe, undoing the lashings, seizing one of the bales of
+goods, and hurrying to the top of the undulation with it; "we must
+keep them at arm's-length, boys--be alive! War parties are not to be
+trusted."
+
+Dick and Henri seconded Joe's efforts so ably that in the course of
+two minutes the horses were unloaded, the packs piled in the form of a
+wall in front of a broken piece of ground, the horses picketed close
+beside them, and our three travellers peeping over the edge, with
+their rifles cocked, while the savages--about thirty in number--came
+sweeping down towards them.
+
+"I'll try to git them to palaver," said Joe Blunt; "but keep yer eye
+on 'em, Dick, an' if they behave ill, shoot the _horse_ o' the leadin'
+chief. I'll throw up my left hand, as a signal. Mind, lad, don't hit
+human flesh till my second signal is given, and see that Henri don't
+draw till I git back to ye."
+
+So saying, Joe sprang lightly over the slight parapet of their little
+fortress, and ran swiftly out, unarmed, towards the Indians. In a
+few seconds he was close up with them, and in another moment was
+surrounded. At first the savages brandished their spears and rode
+round the solitary man, yelling like fiends, as if they wished to
+intimidate him; but as Joe stood like a statue, with his arms crossed,
+and a grave expression of contempt on his countenance, they quickly
+desisted, and, drawing near, asked him where he came from, and what he
+was doing there.
+
+Joe's story was soon told; but instead of replying, they began to
+shout vociferously, and evidently meant mischief.
+
+"If the Blackfeet are afraid to speak to the Pale-face, he will go
+back to his braves," said Joe, passing suddenly between two of the
+warriors and taking a few steps towards the camp.
+
+Instantly every bow was bent, and it seemed as if our bold hunter were
+about to be pierced by a score of arrows, when he turned round and
+cried,--"The Blackfeet must not advance a single step. The first that
+moves his _horse_ shall die. The second that moves _himself_ shall
+die."
+
+To this the Blackfeet chief replied scornfully, "The Pale-face talks
+with a big mouth. We do not believe his words. The Snakes are liars;
+we will make no peace with them."
+
+While he was yet speaking, Joe threw up his hand; there was a loud
+report, and the noble horse of the savage chief lay struggling in
+death agony on the ground.
+
+The use of the rifle, as we have before hinted, was little known at
+this period among the Indians of the far west, and many had never
+heard the dreaded report before, although all were aware, from
+hearsay, of its fatal power. The fall of the chief's horse, therefore,
+quite paralyzed them for a few moments, and they had not recovered
+from their surprise when a second report was heard, a bullet whistled
+past, and a second horse fell. At the same moment there was a loud
+explosion in the camp of the Pale-faces, a white cloud enveloped it,
+and from the midst of this a loud shriek was heard, as Dick, Henri,
+and Crusoe bounded over the packs with frantic gestures.
+
+At this the gaping savages wheeled their steeds round, the dismounted
+horsemen sprang on behind two of their comrades, and the whole band
+dashed away over the plains as if they were chased by evil spirits.
+
+Meanwhile Joe hastened towards his comrades in a state of great
+anxiety, for he knew at once that one of the powder-horns must have
+been accidentally blown up.
+
+"No damage done, boys, I hope?" he cried on coming up.
+
+"Damage!" cried Henri, holding his hands tight over his face. "Oh!
+oui, great damage--moche damage; me two eyes be blowed out of dere
+holes."
+
+"Not quite so bad as that, I hope," said Dick, who was very slightly
+singed, and forgot his own hurts in anxiety about his comrade. "Let me
+see."
+
+"My eye!" exclaimed Joe Blunt, while a broad grin overspread his
+countenance, "ye've not improved yer looks, Henri."
+
+This was true. The worthy hunter's hair was singed to such an extent
+that his entire countenance presented the appearance of a universal
+frizzle. Fortunately the skin, although much blackened, was quite
+uninjured--a fact which, when he ascertained it beyond a doubt,
+afforded so much satisfaction to Henri that he capered about shouting
+with delight, as if some piece of good fortune had befallen him.
+
+The accident had happened in consequence of Henri having omitted to
+replace the stopper of his powder-horn, and when, in his anxiety for
+Joe, he fired at random amongst the Indians, despite Dick's entreaties
+to wait, a spark communicated with the powder-horn and blew him up.
+Dick and Crusoe were only a little singed, but the former was not
+disposed to quarrel with an accident which had sent their enemies so
+promptly to the right-about.
+
+This band followed them for some nights, in the hope of being able to
+steal their horses while they slept; but they were not brave enough to
+venture a second time within range of the death-dealing rifle.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+_Dangers of the prairie_--_Our travellers attacked by Indians, and
+delivered in a remarkable manner_.
+
+
+There are periods in the life of almost all men A when misfortunes
+seem to crowd upon them in rapid succession, when they escape from
+one danger only to encounter another, and when, to use a well-known
+expression, they succeed in leaping out of the frying-pan at the
+expense of plunging into the fire.
+
+So was it with our three friends upon this occasion. They were
+scarcely rid of the Blackfeet, who found them too watchful to be
+caught napping, when, about daybreak one morning, they encountered a
+roving band of Camanchee Indians, who wore such a warlike aspect that
+Joe deemed it prudent to avoid them if possible.
+
+"They don't see us yit, I guess," said Joe, as he and his companions
+drove the horses into a hollow between the grassy waves of the
+prairie, "an' if we only can escape their sharp eyes till we're in
+yonder clump o' willows, we're safe enough."
+
+"But why don't you ride up to them, Joe," inquired Dick, "and make
+peace between them and the Pale-faces, as you ha' done with other
+bands?"
+
+"Because it's o' no use to risk our scalps for the chance o' makin'
+peace wi' a rovin' war party. Keep yer head down, Henri! If they git
+only a sight o' the top o' yer cap, they'll be down on us like a
+breeze o' wind."
+
+"Ha! let dem come!" said Henri.
+
+"They'll come without askin' yer leave," remarked Joe, dryly.
+
+Notwithstanding his defiant expression, Henri had sufficient prudence
+to induce him to bend his head and shoulders, and in a few minutes
+they reached the shelter of the willows unseen by the savages. At
+least so thought Henri, Joe was not quite sure about it, and Dick
+hoped for the best.
+
+In the course of half-an-hour the last of the Camanchees was seen to
+hover for a second on the horizon, like a speck of black against the
+sky, and then to disappear.
+
+Immediately the three hunters vaulted on their steeds and resumed
+their journey; but before that evening closed they had sad evidence of
+the savage nature of the band from which they had escaped. On passing
+the brow of a slight eminence, Dick, who rode first, observed that
+Crusoe stopped and snuffed the breeze in an anxious, inquiring manner.
+
+"What is't, pup?" said Dick, drawing up, for he knew that his faithful
+dog never gave a false alarm.
+
+Crusoe replied by a short, uncertain bark, and then bounding forward,
+disappeared behind a little wooded knoll. In another moment a long,
+dismal howl floated over the plains. There was a mystery about the
+dog's conduct which, coupled with his melancholy cry, struck the
+travellers with a superstitious feeling of dread, as they sat looking
+at each other in surprise.
+
+"Come, let's clear it up," cried Joe Blunt, shaking the reins of his
+steed, and galloping forward. A few strides brought them to the other
+side of the knoll, where, scattered upon the torn and bloody turf,
+they discovered the scalped and mangled remains of about twenty or
+thirty human beings. Their skulls had been cleft by the tomahawk and
+their breasts pierced by the scalping-knife, and from the position in
+which many of them lay it was evident that they had been slain while
+asleep.
+
+Joe's brow flushed and his lips became tightly compressed as he
+muttered between his set teeth, "Their skins are white."
+
+A short examination sufficed to show that the men who had thus been
+barbarously murdered while they slept had been a band of trappers or
+hunters, but what their errand had been, or whence they came, they
+could not discover.
+
+Everything of value had been carried off, and all the scalps had been
+taken. Most of the bodies, although much mutilated, lay in a posture
+that led our hunters to believe they had been killed while asleep; but
+one or two were cut almost to pieces, and from the blood-bespattered
+and trampled sward around, it seemed as if they had struggled long and
+fiercely for life. Whether or not any of the savages had been slain,
+it was impossible to tell, for if such had been the case, their
+comrades, doubtless, had carried away their bodies.
+
+That they had been slaughtered by the party of Camanchees who had been
+seen at daybreak was quite clear to Joe; but his burning desire to
+revenge the death of the white men had to be stifled, as his party was
+so small.
+
+Long afterwards it was discovered that this was a band of trappers
+who, like those mentioned at the beginning of this volume, had set out
+to avenge the death of a comrade; but God, who has retained the right
+of vengeance in his own hand, saw fit to frustrate their purpose, by
+giving them into the hands of the savages whom they had set forth to
+slay.
+
+As it was impossible to bury so many bodies, the travellers resumed
+their journey, and left them to bleach there in the wilderness; but
+they rode the whole of that day almost without uttering a word.
+
+Meanwhile the Camanchees, who had observed the trio, and had ridden
+away at first for the purpose of deceiving them into the belief that
+they had passed unobserved, doubled on their track, and took a long
+sweep in order to keep out of sight until they could approach under
+the shelter of a belt of woodland towards which the travellers now
+approached.
+
+The Indians adopted this course instead of the easier method of
+simply pursuing so weak a party, because the plains at this part were
+bordered by a long stretch of forest into which the hunters could have
+plunged, and rendered pursuit more difficult, if not almost useless.
+The detour thus taken was so extensive that the shades of evening were
+beginning to descend before they could put their plan into execution.
+The forest lay about a mile to the right of our hunters, like some
+dark mainland, of which the prairie was the sea and the scattered
+clumps of wood the islands.
+
+"There's no lack o' game here," said Dick Varley, pointing to a herd
+of buffaloes which rose at their approach and fled away towards the
+wood.
+
+"I think we'll ha' thunder soon," remarked Joe. "I never feel it
+onnatteral hot like this without lookin' out for a plump."
+
+"Ha! den ve better look hout for one goot tree to get b'low,"
+suggested Henri. "Voilà!" he added, pointing with his finger towards
+the plain; "dere am a lot of wild hosses."
+
+A troop of about thirty wild horses appeared, as he spoke, on the brow
+of a ridge, and advanced slowly towards them.
+
+"Hist!" exclaimed Joe, reining up; "hold on, lads. Wild horses! my
+rifle to a pop-gun there's wilder men on t'other side o' them."
+
+"What mean you, Joe?" inquired Dick, riding close up.
+
+"D'ye see the little lumps on the shoulder o' each horse?" said Joe.
+"Them's Injun's _feet_; an' if we don't want to lose our scalps we'd
+better make for the forest."
+
+Joe proved himself to be in earnest by wheeling round and making
+straight for the thick wood as fast as his horse could run. The others
+followed, driving the pack-horses before them.
+
+The effect of this sudden movement on the so-called "wild horses"
+was very remarkable, and to one unacquainted with the habits of the
+Camanchee Indians must have appeared almost supernatural. In the
+twinkling of an eye every steed had a rider on its back, and before
+the hunters had taken five strides in the direction of the forest, the
+whole band were in hot pursuit, yelling like furies.
+
+The manner in which these Indians accomplish this feat is very
+singular, and implies great activity and strength of muscle on the
+part of the savages.
+
+The Camanchees are low in stature, and usually are rather corpulent.
+In their movements on foot they are heavy and ungraceful, and they
+are, on the whole, a slovenly and unattractive race of men. But the
+instant they mount their horses they seem to be entirely changed, and
+surprise the spectator with the ease and elegance of their movements.
+Their great and distinctive peculiarity as horsemen is the power they
+have acquired of throwing themselves suddenly on either side of their
+horse's body, and clinging on in such a way that no part of them is
+visible from the other side save the foot by which they cling. In this
+manner they approach their enemies at full gallop, and, without rising
+again to the saddle, discharge their arrows at them over the horses'
+backs, or even under their necks.
+
+This apparently magical feat is accomplished by means of a halter of
+horse-hair, which is passed round under the neck of the horse and both
+ends braided into the mane, on the withers, thus forming a loop which
+hangs under the neck and against the breast. This being caught by the
+hand, makes a sling, into which the elbow falls, taking the weight
+of the body on the middle of the upper arm. Into this loop the rider
+drops suddenly and fearlessly, leaving his heel to hang over the
+horse's back to steady him, and also to restore him to his seat when
+desired.
+
+By this stratagem the Indians had approached on the present occasion
+almost within rifle range before they were discovered, and it required
+the utmost speed of the hunters' horses to enable them to avoid
+being overtaken. One of the Indians, who was better mounted than his
+fellows, gained on the fugitives so much that he came within arrow
+range, but reserved his shaft until they were close on the margin of
+the wood, when, being almost alongside of Henri, he fitted an arrow to
+his bow. Henri's eye was upon him, however. Letting go the line of the
+pack-horse which he was leading, he threw forward his rifle; but at
+the same moment the savage disappeared behind his horse, and an arrow
+whizzed past the hunter's ear.
+
+Henri fired at the horse, which dropped instantly, hurling the
+astonished Camanchee upon the ground, where he lay for some time
+insensible. In a few seconds pursued and pursuers entered the wood,
+where both had to advance with caution, in order to avoid being swept
+off by the overhanging branches of the trees.
+
+Meanwhile the sultry heat of which Joe had formerly spoken increased
+considerably, and a rumbling noise, as if of distant thunder, was
+heard; but the flying hunters paid no attention to it, for the led
+horses gave them so much trouble, and retarded their flight so much,
+that the Indians were gradually and visibly gaining on them.
+
+"We'll ha' to let the packs go," said Joe, somewhat bitterly, as he
+looked over his shoulder. "Our scalps'll pay for't, if we don't."
+
+Henri uttered a peculiar and significant _hiss_ between his teeth, as
+he said, "P'r'aps ve better stop and fight!"
+
+Dick said nothing, being resolved to do exactly what Joe Blunt bid
+him; and Crusoe, for reasons best known to himself, also said nothing,
+but bounded along beside his master's horse, casting an occasional
+glance upwards to catch any signal that might be given.
+
+They had passed over a considerable space of ground, and were
+forcing their way at the imminent hazard of their necks through a
+densely-clothed part of the wood, when the sound above referred to
+increased, attracting the attention of both parties. In a few seconds
+the air was filled with a steady and continuous rumbling sound, like
+the noise of a distant cataract. Pursuers and fugitives drew rein
+instinctively, and came to a dead stand; while the rumbling increased
+to a roar, and evidently approached them rapidly, though as yet
+nothing to cause it could be seen, except that there was a dense, dark
+cloud overspreading the sky to the southward. The air was oppressively
+still and hot.
+
+"What can it be?" inquired Dick, looking at Joe, who was gazing with
+an expression of wonder, not unmixed with concern, at the southern
+sky.
+
+"Dun'no', boy. I've bin more in the woods than in the clearin' in my
+day, but I niver heerd the likes o' that."
+
+
+"It am like t'ondre," said Henri; "mais it nevair do stop."
+
+
+This was true. The sound was similar to continuous, uninterrupted
+thunder. On it came with a magnificent roar that shook the very earth,
+and revealed itself at last in the shape of a mighty whirlwind. In a
+moment the distant woods bent before it, and fell like grass before
+the scythe. It was a whirling hurricane, accompanied by a deluge of
+rain such as none of the party had ever before witnessed. Steadily,
+fiercely, irresistibly it bore down upon them, while the crash of
+falling, snapping, and uprooting trees mingled with the dire artillery
+of that sweeping storm like the musketry on a battle-field.
+
+"Follow me, lads!" shouted Joe, turning his horse and dashing at full
+speed towards a rocky eminence that offered shelter. But shelter
+was not needed. The storm was clearly defined. Its limits were
+as distinctly marked by its Creator as if it had been a living
+intelligence sent forth to put a belt of desolation round the world;
+and, although the edge of devastation was not five hundred yards from
+the rock behind which the hunters were stationed, only a few drops of
+ice-cold rain fell upon them.
+
+It passed directly between the Camanchee Indians and their intended
+victims, placing between them a barrier which it would have taken days
+to cut through. The storm blew for an hour, then it travelled onward
+in its might, and was lost in the distance. Whence it came and whither
+it went none could tell, but far as the eye could see on either hand
+an avenue a quarter of a mile wide was cut through the forest. It had
+levelled everything with the dust; the very grass was beaten flat; the
+trees were torn, shivered, snapped across, and crushed; and the earth
+itself in many places was ploughed up and furrowed with deep scars.
+The chaos was indescribable, and it is probable that centuries will
+not quite obliterate the work of that single hour.
+
+While it lasted, Joe and his comrades remained speechless and
+awe-stricken. When it passed, no Indians were to be seen. So our
+hunters remounted their steeds, and, with feelings of gratitude to
+God for having delivered them alike from savage foes and from the
+destructive power of the whirlwind, resumed their journey towards the
+Mustang Valley.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+_Anxious fears followed by a joyful surprise--Safe home at last, and
+happy hearts_.
+
+
+One fine afternoon, a few weeks after the storm of which we have given
+an account in the last chapter, old Mrs. Varley was seated beside her
+own chimney corner in the little cottage by the lake, gazing at the
+glowing logs with the earnest expression of one whose thoughts were
+far away. Her kind face was paler than usual, and her hands rested
+idly on her knee, grasping the knitting-wires to which was attached a
+half-finished stocking.
+
+On a stool near to her sat young Marston, the lad to whom, on the day
+of the shooting-match, Dick Varley had given his old rifle. The boy
+had an anxious look about him, as he lifted his eyes from time to time
+to the widow's face.
+
+"Did ye say, my boy, that they were _all_ killed?" inquired Mrs.
+Varley, awaking from her reverie with a deep sigh.
+
+"Every one," replied Marston. "Jim Scraggs, who brought the news, said
+they wos all lying dead with their scalps off. They wos a party o'
+white men."
+
+Mrs. Varley sighed again, and her face assumed an expression of
+anxious pain as she thought of her son Dick being exposed to a similar
+fate. Mrs. Varley was not given to nervous fears, but as she listened
+to the boy's recital of the slaughter of a party of white men, news
+of which had just reached the valley, her heart sank, and she prayed
+inwardly to Him who is the husband of the widow that her dear one
+might be protected from the ruthless hand of the savage.
+
+After a short pause, during which young Marston fidgeted about and
+looked concerned, as if he had something to say which he would fain
+leave unsaid, Mrs. Varley continued,--
+
+"Was it far off where the bloody deed was done?"
+
+"Yes; three weeks off, I believe. And Jim Scraggs said that he found
+a knife that looked like the one wot belonged to--to--" the lad
+hesitated.
+
+"To whom, my boy? Why don't ye go on?"
+
+"To your son Dick."
+
+The widow's hands dropped by her side, and she would have fallen had
+not Marston caught her.
+
+"O mother dear, don't take on like that!" he cried, smoothing down the
+widow's hair as her head rested on his breast.
+
+For some time Mrs. Varley suffered the boy to fondle her in silence,
+while her breast laboured with anxious dread.
+
+"Tell me all," she said at last, recovering a little. "Did Jim
+see--Dick?"
+
+"No," answered the boy. "He looked at all the bodies, but did not find
+his; so he sent me over here to tell ye that p'r'aps he's escaped."
+
+Mrs. Varley breathed more freely, and earnestly thanked God; but her
+fears soon returned when she thought of his being a prisoner, and
+recalled the tales of terrible cruelty often related of the savages.
+
+While she was still engaged in closely questioning the lad, Jim
+Scraggs himself entered the cottage, and endeavoured in a gruff sort
+of way to reassure the widow.
+
+"Ye see, mistress," he said, "Dick is an oncommon tough customer, an'
+if he could only git fifty yards' start, there's not an Injun in the
+West as could git hold o' him agin; so don't be takin' on."
+
+"But what if he's been taken prisoner?" said the widow.
+
+"Ay, that's jest wot I've comed about. Ye see it's not onlikely he's
+bin took; so about thirty o' the lads o' the valley are ready jest now
+to start away and give the red riptiles chase, an' I come to tell ye;
+so keep up heart, mistress."
+
+With this parting word of comfort, Jim withdrew, and Marston soon
+followed, leaving the widow to weep and pray in solitude.
+
+Meanwhile an animated scene was going on near the block-house. Here
+thirty of the young hunters of the Mustang Valley were assembled,
+actively engaged in supplying themselves with powder and lead, and
+tightening their girths, preparatory to setting out in pursuit of the
+Indians who had murdered the white men; while hundreds of boys and
+girls, and not a few matrons, crowded round and listened to the
+conversation, and to the deep threats of vengeance that were uttered
+ever and anon by the younger men.
+
+Major Hope, too, was among them. The worthy major, unable to restrain
+his roving propensities, determined to revisit the Mustang Valley, and
+had arrived only two days before.
+
+Backwoodsmen's preparations are usually of the shortest and simplest.
+In a few minutes the cavalcade was ready, and away they went towards
+the prairies, with the bold major at their head. But their journey was
+destined to come to an abrupt and unexpected close. A couple of hours'
+gallop brought them to the edge of one of those open plains which
+sometimes break up the woodland near the verge of the great prairies.
+It stretched out like a green lake towards the horizon, on which, just
+as the band of horsemen reached it, the sun was descending in a blaze
+of glory.
+
+With a shout of enthusiasm, several of the younger members of the
+party sprang forward into the plain at a gallop; but the shout was
+mingled with one of a different tone from the older men.
+
+"Hist!--hallo!--hold on, ye catamounts! There's Injuns ahead!"
+
+The whole band came to a sudden halt at this cry, and watched eagerly,
+and for some time in silence, the motions of a small party of horsemen
+who were seen in the far distance, like black specks on the golden
+sky.
+
+"They come this way, I think," said Major Hope, after gazing
+steadfastly at them for some minutes.
+
+Several of the old hands signified their assent to this suggestion by
+a grunt, although to unaccustomed eyes the objects in question looked
+more like crows than horsemen, and their motion was for some time
+scarcely perceptible.
+
+
+"I sees pack-horses among them," cried young Marston in an excited
+tone; "an' there's three riders; but there's som'thin' else, only wot
+it be I can't tell."
+
+"Ye've sharp eyes, younker," remarked one of the men, "an' I do
+b'lieve ye're right."
+
+Presently the horsemen approached, and soon there was a brisk fire of
+guessing as to who they could be. It was evident that the strangers
+observed the cavalcade of white men, and regarded them as friends, for
+they did not check the headlong speed at which they approached. In a
+few minutes they were clearly made out to be a party of three horsemen
+driving pack-horses before them, and _somethin_' which some of the
+hunters guessed was a buffalo calf.
+
+Young Marston guessed too, but his guess was different. Moreover, it
+was uttered with a yell that would have done credit to the fiercest
+of all the savages. "Crusoe!" he shouted, while at the same moment he
+brought his whip heavily down on the flank of his little horse, and
+sprang over the prairie like an arrow.
+
+One of the approaching horsemen was far ahead of his comrades, and
+seemed as if encircled with the flying and voluminous mane of his
+magnificent horse.
+
+"Ha! ho!" gasped Marston in a low tone to himself, as he flew along.
+"Crusoe! I'd know ye, dog, among a thousand! A buffalo calf! Ha! git
+on with ye!"
+
+This last part of the remark was addressed to his horse, and was
+followed by a whack that increased the pace considerably.
+
+The space between two such riders was soon devoured.
+
+"Hallo! Dick--Dick Varley!"
+
+"Eh! why, Marston, my boy!"
+
+The friends reined up so suddenly that one might have fancied they had
+met like the knights of old in the shock of mortal conflict.
+
+"Is't yerself, Dick Varley?"
+
+Dick held out his hand, and his eyes glistened, but he could not find
+words.
+
+Marston seized it, and pushing his horse close up, vaulted nimbly off
+and alighted on Charlie's back behind his friend.
+
+"Off ye go, Dick! I'll take ye to yer mother."
+
+Without reply, Dick shook the reins, and in another minute was in the
+midst of the hunters.
+
+To the numberless questions that were put to him he only waited to
+shout aloud, "We're all safe! They'll tell ye all about it," he added,
+pointing to his comrades, who were now close at hand; and then,
+dashing onward, made straight for home, with little Marston clinging
+to his waist like a monkey.
+
+Charlie was fresh, and so was Crusoe, so you may be sure it was not
+long before they all drew up opposite the door of the widow's cottage.
+Before Dick could dismount, Marston had slipped off, and was already
+in the kitchen.
+
+"Here's Dick, mother!"
+
+The boy was an orphan, and loved the widow so much that he had come at
+last to call her mother.
+
+Before another word could be uttered, Dick Varley was in the room.
+Marston immediately stepped out and softly shut the door. Reader, we
+shall not open it!
+
+Having shut the door, as we have said, Marston ran down to the edge of
+the lake and yelled with delight--usually terminating each paroxysm
+with the Indian war-whoop, with which he was well acquainted. Then he
+danced, and then he sat down on a rock, and became suddenly aware that
+there were other hearts there, close beside him, as glad as his own.
+Another mother of the Mustang Valley was rejoicing over a long-lost
+son.
+
+Crusoe and his mother Fan were scampering round each other in a manner
+that evinced powerfully the strength of their mutual affection.
+
+Talk of holding converse! Every hair on Crusoe's body, every motion
+of his limbs, was eloquent with silent language. He gazed into his
+mother's mild eyes as if he would read her inmost soul (supposing that
+she had one). He turned his head to every possible angle, and cocked
+his ears to every conceivable elevation, and rubbed his nose against
+Fan's, and barked softly, in every imaginable degree of modulation,
+and varied these proceedings by bounding away at full speed over the
+rocks of the beach, and in among the bushes and out again, but always
+circling round and round Fan, and keeping her in view!
+
+It was a sight worth seeing, and young Marston sat down on a rock,
+deliberately and enthusiastically, to gloat over it. But perhaps the
+most remarkable part of it has not yet been referred to. There was yet
+another heart there that was glad--exceeding glad that day. It was a
+little one too, but it was big for the body that held it. Grumps was
+there, and all that Grumps did was to sit on his haunches and stare at
+Fan and Crusoe, and wag his tail as well as he could in so awkward a
+position! Grumps was evidently bewildered with delight, and had lost
+nearly all power to express it. Crusoe's conduct towards him, too, was
+not calculated to clear his faculties. Every time he chanced to pass
+near Grumps in his elephantine gambols, he gave him a passing touch
+with his nose, which always knocked him head over heels; whereat
+Grumps invariably got up quickly and wagged his tail with additional
+energy. Before the feelings of those canine friends were calmed, they
+were all three ruffled into a state of comparative exhaustion.
+
+Then young Marston called Crusoe to him, and Crusoe, obedient to the
+voice of friendship, went.
+
+"Are you happy, my dog?"
+
+"You're a stupid fellow to ask such a question; however it's an
+amiable one. Yes, I am."
+
+"What do _you_ want, ye small bundle o' hair?"
+
+This was addressed to Grumps, who came forward innocently, and sat
+down to listen to the conversation.
+
+On being thus sternly questioned the little dog put down its
+ears flat, and hung its head, looking up at the same time with a
+deprecatory look, as if to say, "Oh dear, I beg pardon. I--I only want
+to sit near Crusoe, please; but if you wish it, I'll go away, sad and
+lonely, with my tail _very_ much between my legs; indeed I will, only
+say the word, but--but I'd _rather_ stay if I might."
+
+"Poor bundle!" said Marston, patting its head, "you can stay then.
+Hooray! Crusoe, are you happy, I say? Does your heart bound in you
+like a cannon ball that wants to find its way out, and can't, eh?"
+Crusoe put his snout against Marston's cheek, and in the excess of
+his joy the lad threw his arms round the dog's neck and hugged it
+vigorously--a piece of impulsive affection which that noble animal
+bore with characteristic meekness, and which Grumps regarded with
+idiotic satisfaction.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+_Rejoicings_--_The feast at the block-house_--_Grumps and Crusoe come
+out strong_--The closing scene_.
+
+
+The day of Dick's arrival with his companions was a great day in the
+annals of the Mustang Valley, and Major Hope resolved to celebrate it
+by an impromptu festival at the old block-house; for many hearts in
+the valley had been made glad that day, and he knew full well that,
+under such circumstances, some safety-valve must be devised for the
+escape of overflowing excitement.
+
+A messenger was sent round to invite the population to assemble
+without delay in front of the block-house. With backwoods-like
+celerity the summons was obeyed; men, women, and children hurried
+towards the central point, wondering, yet more than half suspecting,
+what was the major's object in calling them together.
+
+They were not long in doubt. The first sight that presented itself,
+as they came trooping up the slope in front of the log-hut, was an
+ox roasting whole before a gigantic bonfire. Tables were being
+extemporized on the broad level plot in front of the gate. Other fires
+there were, of smaller dimensions, on which sundry steaming pots were
+placed, and various joints of wild horse, bear, and venison roasted,
+and sent forth a savoury odour as well as a pleasant hissing noise.
+The inhabitants of the block-house were self-taught brewers, and the
+result of their recent labours now stood displayed in a row of goodly
+casks of beer--the only beverage with which the dwellers in these
+far-off regions were wont to regale themselves.
+
+The whole scene, as the cooks moved actively about upon the lawn, and
+children romped round the fires, and settlers came flocking through
+the forests, might have recalled the revelry of merry England in the
+olden time, though the costumes of the far west were perhaps somewhat
+different from those of old England.
+
+No one of all the band assembled there on that day of rejoicing
+required to ask what it was all about. Had any one been in doubt for a
+moment, a glance at the centre of the crowd assembled round the gate
+of the western fortress would have quickly enlightened him. For there
+stood Dick Varley, and his mild-looking mother, and his loving dog
+Crusoe. There, too, stood Joe Blunt, like a bronzed warrior returned
+from the fight, turning from one to another as question poured in upon
+question almost too rapidly to permit of a reply. There, too, stood
+Henri, making enthusiastic speeches to whoever chose to listen to
+him--now glaring at the crowd with clenched fists and growling voice,
+as he told of how Joe and he had been tied hand and foot, and lashed
+to poles, and buried in leaves, and threatened with a slow death by
+torture; at other times bursting into a hilarious laugh as he held
+forth on the predicament of Mahtawa, when that wily chief was treed
+by Crusoe in the prairie. Young Marston was there, too, hanging about
+Dick, whom he loved as a brother and regarded as a perfect hero.
+Grumps, too, was there, and Fan. Do you think, reader, that Grumps
+looked at any one but Crusoe? If you do, you are mistaken. Grumps
+on that day became a regular, an incorrigible, utter, and perfect
+nuisance to everybody--not excepting himself, poor beast! Grumps was
+a dog of one idea, and that idea was Crusoe. Out of that great idea
+there grew one little secondary idea, and that idea was that the only
+joy on earth worth mentioning was to sit on his haunches, exactly
+six inches from Crusoe's nose, and gaze steadfastly into his face.
+Wherever Crusoe went Grumps went. If Crusoe stopped, Grumps was
+down before him in an instant. If Crusoe bounded away, which in the
+exuberance of his spirits he often did, Grumps was after him like a
+bundle of mad hair. He was in everybody's way, in Crusoe's way, and
+being, so to speak, "beside himself," was also in his own way. If
+people trod upon him accidentally, which they often did, Grumps
+uttered a solitary heart-rending yell proportioned in intensity to the
+excruciating nature of the torture he endured, then instantly resumed
+his position and his fascinated stare. Crusoe generally held his head
+up, and gazed over his little friend at what was going on around him;
+but if for a moment he permitted his eye to rest on the countenance of
+Grumps, that creature's tail became suddenly imbued with an amount of
+wriggling vitality that seemed to threaten its separation from the
+body.
+
+It was really quite interesting to watch this unblushing, and
+disinterested, and utterly reckless display of affection on the part
+of Grumps, and the amiable way in which Crusoe put up with it. We
+say put up with it advisedly, because it must have been a very great
+inconvenience to him, seeing that if he attempted to move, his
+satellite moved in front of him, so that his only way of escaping
+temporarily was by jumping over Grumps's head.
+
+Grumps was everywhere all day. Nobody, almost, escaped trampling on
+part of him. He tumbled over everything, into everything, and against
+everything. He knocked himself, singed himself, and scalded himself,
+and in fact forgot himself altogether; and when, late that night,
+Crusoe went with Dick into his mother's cottage, and the door
+was shut, Grumps stretched his ruffled, battered, ill-used, and
+dishevelled little body down on the door-step, thrust his nose against
+the opening below the door, and lay in humble contentment all night,
+for he knew that Crusoe was there.
+
+Of course such an occasion could not pass without a shooting-match.
+Rifles were brought out after the feast was over, just before the sun
+went down into its bed on the western prairies, and "the nail" was
+soon surrounded by bullets, tipped by Joe Blunt and Jim Scraggs, and
+of course driven home by Dick Varley, whose "silver rifle" had now
+become in its owner's hand a never-failing weapon. Races, too, were
+started, and here again Dick stood pre-eminent; and when night
+spread her dark mantle over the scene, the two best fiddlers in the
+settlement were placed on empty beer-casks, and some danced by the
+light of the monster fires, while others listened to Joe Blunt as
+he recounted their adventures on the prairies and among the Rocky
+Mountains.
+
+There were sweethearts, and wives, and lovers at the feast, but we
+question if any heart there was so full of love, and admiration, and
+gratitude, as that of the Widow Varley as she watched her son Dick
+throughout that merry evening.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Years rolled by, and the Mustang Valley prospered. Missionaries went
+there, and a little church was built, and to the blessings of a
+fertile land were added the far greater blessings of Christian light
+and knowledge. One sad blow fell on the Widow Varley's heart. Her only
+brother, Daniel Hood, was murdered by the Indians. Deeply and long she
+mourned, and it required all Dick's efforts and those of the pastor of
+the settlement to comfort her. But from the first the widow's heart
+was sustained by the loving Hand that dealt the blow, and when time
+blunted the keen edge of her feelings her face became as sweet and
+mild, though not so lightsome, as before.
+
+Joe Blunt and Henri became leading men in the councils of the Mustang
+Valley; but Dick Varley preferred the woods, although, as long as his
+mother lived, he hovered round her cottage--going off sometimes for a
+day, sometimes for a week, but never longer. After her head was laid
+in the dust, Dick took altogether to the woods, with Crusoe and
+Charlie, the wild horse, as his only companions, and his mother's
+Bible in the breast of his hunting-shirt. And soon Dick, the bold
+hunter, and his dog Crusoe became renowned in the frontier settlements
+from the banks of the Yellowstone River to the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+Many a grizzly bear did the famous "silver rifle" lay low, and many a
+wild, exciting chase and adventure did Dick go through; but during
+his occasional visits to the Mustang Valley he was wont to say to Joe
+Blunt and Henri--with whom he always sojourned--that "nothin' he
+ever felt or saw came up to his _first_ grand dash over the western
+prairies into the heart of the Rocky Mountains." And in saying this,
+with enthusiasm in his eye and voice, Dick invariably appealed to, and
+received a ready affirmative glance from, his early companion and his
+faithful loving friend, the dog Crusoe.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dog Crusoe and His Master
+by Robert Michael Ballantyne
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