adventures with the peigans--crusoe does good service as adiscoverer--the savages outwitted--the rescue.
a run of twenty miles brought the travellers to arugged defile in the mountains, from which theyhad a view of a beautiful valley of considerable extent.
during the last two days a steady thaw had been rapidlymelting away the snow, so that it appeared only hereand there in the landscape in dazzling patches. at thedistance of about half-a-mile from where they halted tobreathe the horses before commencing the descent intothis vale, several thin wreaths of smoke were seenrising above the trees.
"is that your camp?" inquired cameron, riding upto the indian runners, who stood in a group in front,looking as fresh after their twenty miles' run as thoughthey had only had a short walk.
to this they answered in the affirmative, adding thatthere were about two hundred peigans there.
it might have been thought that thirty men wouldhave hesitated to venture to attack so large a numberas two hundred; but it had always been found in theexperience of indian life that a few resolute white menwell armed were more than a match for ten times theirnumber of indians. and this arose not so much fromthe superior strength or agility of the whites over theirred foes, as from that bull-dog courage and utter recklessnessof their lives in combat--qualities which thecrafty savage can neither imitate nor understand. theinformation was received with perfect indifference bymost of the trappers, and with contemptuous laughterby some; for a large number of cameron's men werewild, evil-disposed fellows, who would have as gladlytaken 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 somewhatanxious tone,--"d'ye obsarve, sir, that one o' the redskins has goneoff ahead o' his comrades?""i see that, master dick; and it was a mistake ofmine not to have stopped him, but he was gone too farbefore i observed it, and i thought it better to appearunconcerned. we must push on, though, and give himas short time as possible to talk with his comrades inthe camp."the trappers pressed forward accordingly at a gallop,and were soon in front of the clump of trees amongstwhich the peigans were encamped. their approachhad evidently spread great alarm among them, for therewas a good deal of bustle and running to and fro; butby the time the trappers had dismounted and advancedin a body on foot, the savages had resumed their usualquiet dignity of appearance, and were seated calmlyround their fires with their bows and arrows besidethem. there were no tents, no women or children, andthe general aspect of the men showed cameron conclusivelythat his surmise about their being a war partywas correct.
a council was immediately called. the trappers rangedthemselves on one side of the council fire and the indianson the other. meanwhile, our friend crusoe had beendisplaying considerable irritability against the indians,and he would certainly have attacked the whole twohundred single-handed if he had not been ordered byhis master to lie still; but never in his life before hadcrusoe obeyed with such a bad grace. he bristled andwhined in a low tremulous tone, and looked imploringlyat dick as if for permission to fly at them.
"the pale-face traders are glad to meet with thepeigans," began cameron, who determined to make noallusion to his knowledge that they were a war party,"for they wish to be friends with all the children of thewoods and prairies. they wish to trade with them--toexchange blankets, and guns, and beads, and other goodswhich the peigans require, for furs of animals which thepale-faces require.""ho! ho!" exclaimed the indians, which expressionmight be translated, "hear! hear!""but," continued cameron, "we wish to have no war.
we wish to see the hatchet buried, and to see all thered 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--twopale-faces--in their camp, and as we cannot be on good terms while ourbrothers are detained, we have come to ask for them, and to presentsomegifts to the peigans."to this there was no "ho" at all, but a prolongedsilence, which was at length interrupted by a tall chiefstepping forward to address the trappers.
"what the pale-face chief has said is good," beganthe indian. "his words are wise, and his heart is notdouble. the red-men are willing to smoke the pipe ofpeace, and to hunt with all men as brothers, but theycannot do it while many of their scalps are hanging inthe lodges of their enemies and fringing the robes of thewarriors. the peigans must have vengeance; then theywill make peace."after a short pause he continued,--"the chief is wrong when he says there are pale-facesin the peigan camp. the peigans are notat war with the pale-faces; neither have they seenany on their march. the camp is open. let thepale-faces look round and see that what we say istrue."the chief waved his hand towards his warriors as heconcluded, as if to say, "search amongst them. thereare no pale-faces there."cameron now spoke to dick in a low tone. "theyspeak confidently," he said, "and i fear greatly thatyour poor comrades have either been killed or conveyedaway 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, especiallywhen such a band of rascals is near, compelling us tokeep together. but i'll try what a little tempting themwith goods will do. at any rate, we shan't give inwithout a scuffle."it now, for the first time, flashed across dick varleythat there was something more than he imagined incrusoe's restless anxiety, which had not in the leastabated, and the idea of making use of him now occurredto his mind.
"i've a notion that i'll settle this matter in a shortertime than you think," he said hurriedly, "if you'll agreeto try what threatening will do."the trader looked grave and undecided. "i neverresort to that except as a last hope," he answered; "buti've a good deal of confidence in your prudence. whatwould you advise?"dick and the trader whispered a few minutes together,while some of the men, in order to show the indians howperfectly unconcerned they were, and how ready foranything, took out their pipes and began to smoke.
both parties were seated on the ground, and during thisinterval the indians also held eager discussion.
at length cameron stood up, and said to his men ina quiet tone, "be ready, lads, for instant action. wheni give the word 'up,' spring to your feet and cock yourguns; but don't fire a shot till you get the word." hethen stepped forward and said,--"the peigan warriors are double-tongued; they knowthat they have hid the pale-face prisoners. we do notwish to quarrel, but if they are not delivered up at oncethe pale-faces and the peigans will not be friends."upon this the indian chief again stood forward andsaid, "the peigans are not double-tongued. they havenot seen pale-faces till to-day. they can say nomore."without moving hand or foot, cameron then said ina firm tone, "the first peigan that moves shall die!
up, lads, and ready!"in the twinkling of an eye the trappers sprang totheir feet, and cocking their rifles stood perfectly motionless,scowling at the savages, who were completely takenby surprise at the unusual suddenness and informalityof such a declaration of war. not a man moved, for,unlike white men, they seldom risk their lives in openfight; and as they looked at the formidable row ofmuzzles that waited but a word to send instant deathinto their midst, they felt that discretion was at thattime the better part of valour.
"now," said cameron, while dick varley and crusoestepped up beside him, "my young warrior will searchfor the pale-face prisoners. if they are found, we willtake them and go away. if they are not found, wewill ask the peigans to forgive us, and will give themgifts. but in the meantime, if a peigan moves fromthe spot where he sits, or lifts a bow, my young menshall fire, and the peigans know that the rifle of thepale-face always kills."without waiting for an answer, dick immediatelysaid, "seek 'em out, pup," and crusoe bounded away.
for a few minutes he sprang hither and thitherthrough the camp, quite regardless of the indians, andsnuffed the air several times, whining in an excitedtone, as if to relieve his feelings. then he put his noseto the ground and ran straight forward into the woods.
dick immediately bounded after him like a deer, whilethe trappers kept silent guard over the savages.
for some time crusoe ran straight forward. then hecame to a spot where there was a good deal of driftedsnow on the ground. here he seemed to lose the trailfor a little, and ran about in all directions, whining in amost 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 soovershadowed by trees and precipitous cliffs that thelight of the sun scarce found entrance. there weremany huge masses of rock scattered over the ground,which had fallen from the cliffs. behind one of theselay a mound of dried leaves, towards which crusoedarted and commenced scraping violently.
trembling with dread that he should find this to bethe grave of his murdered companions, dick rushedforward and hastily cleared away the leaves. the firsthandful thrown off revealed part of the figure of a man.
dick's heart beat audibly as he cleared the leaves fromthe face, and he uttered a suppressed cry on beholdingthe well-known features of joe blunt. but they werenot those of a dead man. joe's eyes met his with ascowl of anger, which instantly gave place to one ofintense surprise.
"joe blunt!" exclaimed dick in a voice of intenseamazement, while crusoe snuffed round the heap ofleaves and whined with excitement. but joe did notmove, neither did he speak a word in reply--for thevery good reason that his mouth was tightly boundwith a band of leather, his hands and feet were tied,and his whole body was secured in a rigid, immovableposition by being bound to a pole of about his ownlength.
in a moment dick's knife was out, bands and cordswere 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 hadbecome so benumbed in consequence of the cords bywhich they had been compressed that for some time hecould 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'sjust beside me here."dick immediately rose, and pushing aside the heapof leaves, found henri securely bound in the samefashion. but he could scarce refrain from laughing atthe expression of that worthy's face. hearing the voicesof joe and dick varley in conversation, though unableto see their persons, he was filled with such unboundedamazement that his eyes, when uncovered, were foundto be at their largest possible stretch, and as for theeyebrows they were gone, utterly lost among the rootsof his voluminous hair.
"henri, friend, i knew i should find ye," said dick,cutting the thongs that bound him. "get up if yecan; we haven't much time to lose, an' mayhap we'llhave to fight afore we're done wi' the redskins. canye 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 backagain, and the whole thing came so suddenly, and madeso deep an impression on his impulsive mind, that heincontinently burst into tears; then he burst into a longlaugh. suddenly he paused, and scrambling up to asitting posture, looked earnestly into dick's face throughhis tearful eyes.
"oh, non, non!" he exclaimed, stretching himselfout at full length again, and closing his eyes; "it aretoo goot to be true. i am dream. i vill wait till i amwake."dick roused him out of this, resolute sleep, however,somewhat roughly. meanwhile joe had rubbed andkicked himself into a state of animation, exclaiming thathe felt as if he wos walkin' on a thousand needles andpins, and in a few minutes they were ready to accompanytheir overjoyed deliverer back to the peigan camp.
crusoe testified his delight in various elephantine gambolsround the persons of his old friends, who were notslow to acknowledge his services.
"they haven't treated us overly well," remarked joeblunt, 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-pooseto play wid!""well, niver mind, henri, we'll be quits wi' themnow," said joe, as they came in sight of the two bands,who remained in precisely the same position in whichthey had been left, except that one or two of the morereckless of the trappers had lit their pipes and taken tosmoking, without, however, laying down their rifles ortaking their eyes off the savages.
a loud cheer greeted the arrival of the prisoners, andlooks of considerable discomfort began to be evinced bythe indians.
"glad to see you, friends," said cameron, as theycame up.
"ve is 'appy ov de same," replied henri, swaggeringup in the joviality of his heart, and seizing the trader'shand in his own enormous fist. "shall ve go to vorkan' slay dem all at vonce, or von at a time?""we'll consider that afterwards, my lad. meantimego you to the rear and get a weapon of some sort.""oui. ah! c'est charmant," he cried, going with animmense flounder into the midst of the amused trappers,and slapping those next to him on the back. "give meveapon, do, mes amis--gun, pistol, anyting--cannon, ifyou have von."meanwhile cameron and joe spoke together for a fewmoments.
"you had goods with you, and horses, i believe, whenyou were captured," said the former.
"ay, that we had. yonder stand the horses, underthe pine-tree, along wi' the rest o' the redskin troop; an'
a hard time they've had o't, as their bones may tell withoutspeakin'. as for the goods," he continued, glancinground the camp, "i don't know where--ah! yes, therethey be in the old pack. i see all safe."cameron now addressed the indians.
"the peigans," he said, "have not done well. theirhearts have not been true to the pale-faces. even nowi could take your scalps where you sit, but white mendo not like war, they do not like revenge. the peigansmay go free."considering the fewness of their numbers, this wasbold language to use towards the indians; but the boldestis generally the best policy on such occasions. moreover,cameron felt that, being armed with rifles, whilethe indians had only bows and arrows, the trappers hada great advantage over them.
the indian who had spoken before now rose and saidhe was sorry there should be any cause of differencebetween them, and added he was sorry for a great manymore things besides, but he did not say he was sorry forhaving told a lie.
"but, before you go, you must deliver up the horsesand goods belonging to these men," said cameron, pointingto joe and henri.
this was agreed to. the horses were led out, the twolittle packs containing joe's goods were strapped uponthem, and then the trappers turned to depart. the indiansdid not move until they had mounted; then theyrose and advanced in a body to the edge of the wood, tosee the pale-faces go away. meanwhile joe spoke a fewwords to cameron, and the men were ordered to halt,while the former dismounted and led his horse towardsthe band of savages.
"peigans," he said, "you know the object for whichi came into this country was to make peace betweenyou and the pale-faces. i have often told you so whenyou would not listen, and when you told me that i hada double heart and told lies. you were wrong whenyou said this; but i do not wonder, for you live amongnations who do not fear god, and who think it right tolie. i now repeat to you what i said before. it wouldbe good for the red-men if they would make peace withthe pale-faces, and if they would make peace with eachother. 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, andpresented fully one-half of the gaudy and brilliant contentsto the astonished indians, who seemed quite takenaback by such generous treatment. the result of thiswas that the two parties separated with mutual expressionsof esteem and good-will. the indians then returnedto the forest, and the white men galloped back to theircamp among the hills.
