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diff --git a/21715.txt b/21715.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a03045a --- /dev/null +++ b/21715.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Away in the Wilderness, by R.M. 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: Away in the Wilderness + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21715] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE HUNTER. + +On a beautiful summer evening, not many years ago, a man was seen to +ascend the side of a little mound or hillock, on the top of which he +lingered to gaze upon the wild scenery that lay stretched out before +him. + +The man wore the leathern coat and leggings of a North American hunter, +or trapper, or backwoodsman; and well did he deserve all these titles, +for Jasper Derry was known to his friends as the best hunter, the most +successful trapper, and the boldest man in the backwoods. + +Jasper was big and strong as well as bold, but he was not a bully. Men +of true courage are in general peacefully disposed. Jasper could fight +like a lion when there was occasion to do so; but he was gentle and +grave, and quiet by nature. He was also extremely good-humoured; had a +low soft voice, and, both in mind and body, seemed to delight in a state +of repose. + +We have said that his coat was made of leather; the moccasins or Indian +shoes on his feet were made of the same material. When Jasper first put +them on they were soft like a glove of chamois leather, and bright +yellow; but hard service had turned them into a dirty brown, which +looked more business like. The sun had burned his face and hands to as +deep a brown as his coat. On his head he wore a little round cap, which +he had made with his own hands, after having caught the black fox that +supplied the fur, in one of his own traps. A coloured worsted belt +bound his coat round his waist, and beneath the coat he wore a scarlet +flannel shirt. A long knife and a small hatchet were stuck in the belt +at his back, and in front hung a small cloth bag, which was so thickly +ornamented with beads of many colours, that little of the cloth could be +seen. + +This last was a fire-bag--so called because it contained the flint, +steel, and tinder required for making a fire. It also contained +Jasper's pipe and tobacco--for he smoked, as a matter of course. Men +smoke everywhere--more's the pity--and Jasper followed the example of +those around him. Smoking was almost his only fault. He was a +tremendous smoker. Often, when out of tobacco, he had smoked tea. +Frequently he had tried bark and dried leaves; and once, when hard +pressed, he had smoked oakum. He would rather have gone without his +supper than without his pipe! A powder-horn and shot pouch were slung +over his shoulders by two cross belts, and he carried a long +single-barrelled gun. + +I have been thus particular in describing Jasper Derry, because he is +our hero, and he is worth describing, being a fine, hearty, handsome +fellow, who cared as little for a wild Indian or a grizzly bear as he +did for a butterfly, and who was one of the best of companions, as he +was one of the best of hunters, in the wilderness. + +Having gained the top of the hillock, Jasper placed the butt of his long +gun on the ground, and, crossing his hands over the muzzle, stood there +for some time so motionless, that he might have been mistaken for a +statue. A magnificent country was spread out before him. Just in front +lay a clear lake of about a mile in extent, and the evening was so still +that every tree, stone, and bush on its margin, was reflected as in a +mirror. Here, hundreds of wild ducks and wild geese were feeding among +the sedges of the bays, or flying to and fro mingling their cries with +those of thousands of plover and other kinds of water-fowl that +inhabited the place. At the lower end of this lake a small rivulet was +seen to issue forth and wind its way through woods and plains like a +silver thread, until it was lost to view in the far distance. On the +right and left and behind, the earth was covered with the dense foliage +of the wild woods. + +The hillock on which the western hunter stood, lay in the very heart of +that great uncultivated wilderness which forms part of the British +possessions in North America. This region lies to the north of the +Canadas, is nearly as large as all Europe, and goes by the name of the +Hudson's Bay Territory, or Rupert's Land. + +It had taken Jasper many long weeks of hard travel by land and water, in +canoes and on foot, to get there; and several weeks of toil still lay +before him, ere he could attain the object, for which his journey had +been undertaken. + +Wicked people say that "woman is at the bottom of all mischief!" Did it +never occur to these same wicked individuals, that woman is just as much +at the bottom of all good? Whether for good or for evil, woman was at +the bottom of Jasper Perry's heart and affairs. The cause of his +journey was love; the aim and end of it was marriage! Did true love +ever run smooth? "No, never," says the proverb. We shall see. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE THREE FRIENDS. + +When the hunter had stood for full five minutes gazing at the beautiful +scenery by which he was surrounded, it suddenly occurred to him that a +pipe would render him much more capable of enjoying it; so he sat down +on the trunk of a fallen tree, leaned his gun on it, pulled the fire-bag +from his belt, and began to fill his pipe, which was one of the kind +used by the savages of the country, with a stone head and a wooden stem. +It was soon lighted, and Jasper was thinking how much more clear and +beautiful a landscape looked through tobacco smoke, when a hand was laid +lightly on his shoulder. Looking quickly round, he beheld a tall +dark-faced Indian standing by his side. + +Jasper betrayed neither alarm nor surprise; for the youth was his own +comrade, who had merely come to tell him that the canoe in which they +had been travelling together, and which had been slightly damaged, was +repaired and ready for service. + +"Why, Arrowhead, you steal on me with the soft tread of a fox. My ears +are not dull, yet I did not hear your approach, lad." + +A smile lighted up the countenance of the young Indian for a moment, as +he listened to a compliment which gratified him much; but the grave +expression which was natural to him instantly returned, as he said, +"Arrowhead has hunted in the Rocky Mountains where the men are +treacherous; he has learned to tread lightly there." + +"No doubt, ye had need to be always on the look out where there are such +varmints; but hereaway, Arrowhead, there are no foes to fear, and +therefore no need to take yer friends by surprise. But ye're proud o' +your gifts, lad, an' I suppose it's natural to like to show them off. +Is the canoe ready?" + +The Indian replied by a nod. + +"That's well, lad, it will be sun-down in another hour, an' I would like +to camp on the point of pines to-night; so come along." + +"Hist!" exclaimed the Indian, pointing to a flock of geese which came +into view at that moment. + +"Ah! you come of a masterful race," said Jasper, shaking his head +gravely, "you're never content when ye've got enough, but must always be +killing God's creatures right and left for pure sport. Haven't we got +one grey goose already for supper, an' that's enough for two men surely. +Of course I make no account o' the artist, poor cratur', for he eats +next to nothin'. Hows'ever, as your appetite may be sharper set than +usual, I've no objection to bring down another for ye." + +So saying the hunter and the Indian crouched behind a bush, and the +former, while he cocked his gun and examined the priming, gave utterance +to a series of cries so loud and discordant, that any one who was +ignorant of a hunter's ways must have thought he was anxious to drive +all the living creatures within six miles of him away in terror. Jasper +had no such wish, however. He was merely imitating the cry of the wild +geese. The birds, which were at first so far-off that a rifle-ball +could not have reached them, no sooner heard the cry of their friends +(as they doubtless thought it) than they turned out of their course, and +came gradually towards the bush where the two men lay hidden. + +The hunter did not cease to cry until the birds were within gunshot. +Then he fixed his eye on one of the flock that seemed plump and fat. +The long barrel of the gun was quickly raised, the geese discovered +their mistake, and the whole flock were thrown into wild confusion as +they attempted to sheer off; but it was too late. Smoke and fire burst +from the bush, and an enormous grey goose fell with a heavy crash to the +ground. + +"What have you shot? what have you shot?" cried a shrill and somewhat +weak voice in the distance. In another moment the owner of the voice +appeared, running eagerly towards the two men. + +"Use your eyes, John Heywood, an' ye won't need to ask," said Jasper, +with a quiet smile, as he carefully reloaded his gun. + +"Ah! I see--a grey swan--no, surely, it cannot be a goose?" said +Heywood, turning the bird over and regarding it with astonishment; "why, +this is the biggest one I ever did see." + +"What's yon in the water? Deer, I do believe," cried Jasper, quickly +drawing the small shot from his gun and putting in a ball instead. +"Come, lads, we shall have venison for supper to-night. That beast +can't reach t'other side so soon as we can." + +Jasper leaped quickly down the hill, and dashed through the bushes +towards the spot where their canoe lay. He was closely followed by his +companions, and in less than two minutes they were darting across the +lake in their little Indian canoe, which was made of birch-bark, and was +so light that one man could carry it easily. + +While they are thus engaged I will introduce the reader to John Heywood. +This individual was a youth of nineteen or twenty years of age, who was +by profession a painter of landscapes and animals. He was tall and +slender in person, with straight black hair, a pale haggard-looking +face, an excitable nervous manner, and an enthusiastic temperament. +Being adventurous in his disposition, he had left his father's home in +Canada, and entreated his friend, Jasper Derry, to take him along with +him into the wilderness. At first Jasper was very unwilling to agree to +this request; because the young artist was utterly ignorant of +everything connected with a life in the woods, and he could neither use +a paddle nor a gun. But Heywood's father had done him some service at a +time when he was ill and in difficulties, so, as the youth was very +anxious to go, he resolved to repay this good turn of the father by +doing a kindness to the son. + +Heywood turned out but a poor backwoodsman, but he proved to be a +pleasant, amusing companion, and as Jasper and the Indian were quite +sufficient for the management of the light canoe, and the good gun of +the former was more than sufficient to feed the party, it mattered +nothing to Jasper that Heywood spent most of his time seated in the +middle of the canoe, sketching the scenery as they went along. Still +less did it matter that Heywood missed everything he fired at, whether +it was close at hand or far away. + +At first Jasper was disposed to look upon his young companion as a poor +useless creature; and the Indian regarded him with undisguised contempt. +But after they had been some time in his company, the opinions of these +two men of the woods changed; for they found that the artist was wise, +and well informed on many subjects of which they were extremely +ignorant; and they beheld with deep admiration the beautiful and +life-like drawings and paintings which he produced in rapid succession. + +Such was the romantic youth who had, for the sake of seeing and painting +the wilderness, joined himself to these rough sons of the forest, and +who now sat in the centre of the canoe swaying his arms about and +shouting with excitement as they quickly drew near to the swimming herd +of deer. + +"Keep yourself still," said Jasper, looking over his shoulder, "ye'll +upset the canoe if ye go on like that." + +"Give me the axe, give me the axe, I'll kill him!" cried Heywood. + +"Take your pencil and draw him," observed the hunter, with a quiet +laugh. "Now, Arrowhead, two good strokes of the paddle will do--there-- +so." + +As he spoke the canoe glanced up alongside of an affrighted deer, and in +the twinkling of an eye Jasper's long knife was in its heart, and the +water was dyed with blood. This happened quite near to the opposite +shore of the lake, so that in little more than half an hour after it was +killed the animal was cut up and packed, and the canoe was again +speeding towards the upper end of the lake, where the party arrived just +as night began to fling its dark mantle over the wilderness. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +THE ENCAMPMENT. + +Camping out in the woods at night is truly a delightful thing, and the +pleasantest part of it, perhaps, is the lighting of the fire. Light is +agreeable to human eyes and cheering to the human heart. Solomon knew +and felt that when he penned the words, "A pleasant thing it is for the +eyes to behold the sun." And the rising of the sun is scarcely more +grateful to the feelings than the lighting of a fire on a dark night. +So our friends thought and felt, when the fire blazed up, but they were +too busy and too hungry at the time to think about the state of their +feelings. + +The Indian was hungry. A good fire had to be made before the venison +could be roasted, so he gave his whole attention to the felling of dry +trees and cutting them up into logs for the fire. Jasper was also +hungry, and a slight shower had wetted all the moss and withered grass, +so he had enough to do to strike fire with flint and steel, catch a +spark on a little piece of tinder, and then blow and coax the spark into +a flame. + +The artist was indeed free to indulge in a little meditation; but he had +stumbled in the dark on landing, and bruised his shins, so he could only +sit down on a rock and rub them and feel miserable. + +But the fire soon caught; branches were heaped up, great logs were piled +on, forked tongues of flame began to leap up and lick the branches of +the overhanging trees. The green leaves looked rich and warm; the thick +stems looked red and hot; the faces and clothes of the men seemed as if +about to catch fire as they moved about the encampment preparing supper. +In short, the whole scene was so extremely comfortable, in reality as +well as in appearance, that Heywood forgot his bruised shins and began +to rub his hands with delight. + +In a very short time three juicy venison-steaks were steaming before the +three travellers, and in a much shorter time they had disappeared +altogether and were replaced by three new ones. The mode of cooking was +very simple. Each steak was fixed on a piece of stick and set up before +the fire to roast. When one side was ready, the artist, who seemed to +have very little patience, began to cut off pieces and eat them while +the other side was cooking. + +To say truth, men out in those regions have usually such good appetites +that they are not particular as to the cooking of their food. Quantity, +not quality, is what they desire. They generally feel very much like +the Russian, of whom it is said, that he would be content to eat sawdust +if only he _got_ _plenty_ _of_ _it_! The steaks were washed down with +tea. There is no other drink in Rupert's Land. The Hudson's Bay +Company found that spirits were so hurtful to the Indians that they +refused to send them into the country; and at the present day there is +no strong drink to be had for love or money over the length and breadth +of their territories, except at those places where other fur-traders +oppose them, and oblige them, in self-defence, to sell fire-water, as +the Indians call it. + +Tea is the great--the only--drink in Rupert's Land! Yes, laugh as ye +will, ye lovers of gin and beer and whisky, one who has tried it, and +has seen it tried by hundreds of stout stalwart men, tells you that the +teetotaller is the best man for real hard work. + +The three travellers drank their tea and smacked their lips, and grinned +at each other with great satisfaction. They could not have done more if +it had been the best of brandy and they the jolliest of topers! But the +height of their enjoyment was not reached until the pipes were lighted. + +It was quite a sight to see them smoke! Jasper lay with his huge frame +extended in front of the blaze, puffing clouds of smoke thick enough to +have shamed a small cannon. Arrowhead rested his back on the stump of a +tree, stretched his feet towards the fire, and allowed the smoke to roll +slowly through his nostrils as well as out at his mouth, so that it kept +curling quietly round his nose, and up his cheeks, and into his eyes, +and through his hair in a most delightful manner; at least so it would +seem, for his reddish-brown face beamed with happy contentment. + +Young Heywood did not smoke, but he drew forth his sketch-book and +sketched his two companions; and in the practice of his beloved art, I +have no doubt, he was happier than either. + +"I wonder how many trading-posts the Hudson's Bay Company has got?" said +Heywood, as he went on with his work. + +"Hundreds of 'em," said Jasper, pressing the red-hot tobacco into the +bowl of his pipe with the end of his little finger, as slowly and coolly +as if his flesh were fire-proof. "I don't know, exactly, how many +they've got. I doubt if anybody does, but they have them all over the +country. You've seen a little of the country now, Heywood; well, what +you have seen is very much like what you will see as long as you choose +to travel hereaway. You come to a small clearing in the forest, with +five or six log houses in it, a stockade round it, and a flagstaff in +the middle of it; five, ten, or fifteen men, and a gentleman in charge. +That's a Hudson's Bay Company's trading-post. All round it lie the wild +woods. Go through the woods for two or three hundred miles and you'll +come to another such post, or fort, as we sometimes call 'em. That's +how it is all the country over. Although there are many of them, the +country is so uncommon big that they may be said to be few and far +between. Some are bigger and some are less. There's scarcely a +settlement in the country worthy o' the name of a village except Red +River." + +"Ah! Red River," exclaimed Heywood, "I've heard much of that +settlement--hold steady--I'm drawing your _nose_ just now--have you been +there, Jasper?" + +"That have I, lad, and a fine place it is, extendin' fifty miles or more +along the river, with fine fields, and handsome houses, and churches, +and missionaries and schools, and what not; but the rest of Rupert's +Land is just what you have seen; no roads, no houses, no cultivated +fields--nothing but lakes, and rivers, and woods, and plains without +end, and a few Indians here and there, with plenty of wild beasts +everywhere. These trading-posts are scattered here and there, from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Canada to the Frozen Sea, standin' +solitary-like in the midst of the wilderness, as if they had dropped +down from the clouds by mistake and didn't know exactly what to do with +themselves." + +"How long have de Company lived?" inquired Arrowhead, turning suddenly +to Jasper. + +The stout hunter felt a little put out. "Ahem! I don't exactly know; +but it must have been a long time, no doubt." + +"Oh, I can tell you that," cried Heywood. + +"You?" said Jasper in surprise. + +"Ay; the Company was started nearly two hundred years ago by Prince +Rupert, who was the first Governor, and that's the reason the country +came to be called Rupert's Land. You know its common name is `the +Hudson's Bay Territory,' because it surrounds Hudson's Bay." + +"Why, where did you learn that?" said Jasper, "I thought I knowed a-most +everything about the Company; but I must confess I never knew that about +Prince Rupert before." + +"I learned it from books," said the artist. + +"Books!" exclaimed Jasper, "I never learned nothin' from books--more's +the pity. I git along well enough in the trappin' and shootin' way +without 'em; but I'm sorry I never learned to read. Ah! I've a great +opinion of books--so I have." + +The worthy hunter shook his head solemnly as he said this in a low +voice, more to himself than to his companions, and he continued to +mutter and shake his head for some minutes, while he knocked the ashes +out of his pipe. Having refilled and relighted it, he drew his blanket +over his shoulder, laid his head upon a tuft of grass, and continued to +smoke until he fell asleep, and allowed the pipe to fall from his lips. + +The Indian followed his example, with this difference, that he laid +aside his pipe, and drew the blanket over his head and under his feet, +and wrapped it round him in such a way that he resembled a man sewed up +in a sack. + +Heywood was thus compelled to shut his sketch-book; so he also wrapped +himself in his blanket, and was soon sound asleep. + +The camp-fire gradually sank low. Once or twice the end of a log fell, +sending up a bright flame and a shower of sparks, which, for a few +seconds, lighted up the scene again and revealed the three slumbering +figures. But at last the fire died out altogether, and left the +encampment in such thick darkness that the sharpest eye would have +failed to detect the presence of man in that distant part of the lone +wilderness. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +MOSQUITOES--CAMP-FIRE TALK. + +There is a certain fly in the American forests which is worthy of +notice, because it exercises a great influence over the happiness of man +in those regions. This fly is found in many other parts of the world, +but it swarms in immense numbers in America, particularly in the swampy +districts of that continent, and in the hot months of summer. It is +called a mosquito--pronounced _moskeeto_--and it is, perhaps, the most +tormenting, the most persevering, savage, vicious little monster on the +face of the earth. Other flies go to sleep at night; the mosquito never +does. Darkness puts down other flies--it seems to encourage the +mosquito. Day and night it persecutes man and beast, and the only time +of the twenty-four hours in which it seems to rest is about noon, when +the heat puts _it_ down for a little. But this period of rest +strengthens it for a renewal of war during the remainder of the day and +night. In form the mosquito very much resembles the gnat, but is +somewhat larger. This instrument of torture is his nose, which is quite +as long as his body, and sharper than the finest needle. Being unable +to rest because of the mosquitoes, Heywood resolved to have a chat. + +"Come, Jasper," said he, looking up into his companion's grave +countenance, "although we have been many weeks on this journey now, you +have not yet told me what has brought you here, or what the end of your +trip is going to be." + +"I've come here a-hunting," said Jasper, with the look and tone of a man +who did not wish to be questioned. + +"Nay, now, I know that is not the reason," said Heywood, smiling; "you +could have hunted much nearer home, if you had been so minded, and to as +good purpose. Come, Jasper, you know I'm your friend, and that I wish +you well. Let me hear what has brought you so far into the wilderness-- +mayhap I can give you some good advice if you do." + +"Well, lad, I don't mind if I do. Though, for the matter of good +advice, I don't feel much in need of any just at this time." + +Jasper shook the ashes out of his pipe, and refilled it as he spoke; +then he shook his head once or twice and smiled, as if his thoughts +amused him. Having lighted the pipe, he stretched himself out in a more +comfortable way before the blaze, and said-- + +"Well, lad, I'll tell ye what it is--it's the old story; the love of +woman has brought me here." + +"And a very good old story it is," returned Heywood, with a look of +interest. "A poor miserable set of creatures we should be without that +same love of woman. Come, Jasper, I'm glad to hear you're such a +sensible fellow. I know something about that subject myself. There's a +pretty blue-eyed girl, with golden hair, down away in Canada that--" +Heywood stopped short in his speech and sighed. + +"Come, it ain't a hopeless case, is it?" said Jasper, with a look of +sympathy. + +"I rather fear it is; but I hope not. Ah, what should we do without +hope in this world?" + +"That's true," observed Jasper, with much gravity, "we could not get on +at all without hope." + +"But come, Jasper," said the artist, "let's hear about your affair, and +I'll tell you about mine some other time." + +"Well, there is not much to tell, but I'll give ye all that's of it. +You must know, then, that about two years ago I was in the service of +the Hudson's Bay Company, at one o' their outposts in the McKenzie's +River district. We had little to eat there and little to do, and I felt +so lonesome, never seein' a human bein' except the four or five men at +the fort an' a few Indians, that I made up my mind to quit. I had no +reason to complain o' the Company, d'ye see. They always treated me +handsomely, and it was no fault o' theirs that the livin' in that +district was poor and the post lonesome. + +"Well, on my way down to Lake Winnipeg, I fell in with a brigade o' +boats goin' to the Saskatchewan district, and we camped together that +night. One o' the guides of the Saskatchewan brigade had his daughter +with him. The guide was a French-Canadian, and his wife had been a +Scotch half-caste, so what the daughter was is more than I can tell; but +I know what she looked like. She just looked like an angel. It wasn't +so much that she was pretty, but she was so sweet, and so quiet lookin', +and so innocent! Well, to cut the matter short, I fell in love at once. +D'ye know what it is, Heywood, to fall in love at first sight?" + +"Oh! don't I?" replied the artist with sudden energy. + +"An' d'ye know," continued Jasper, "what it is to be +fallen-in-love-with, at first sight?" + +"Well, no, I'm not so sure about that," replied Heywood sadly. + +"I do, then," said Jasper, "for that sweet critter fell in love with me +right off--though what she saw in me to love has puzzled me much. +Howsoever, she did, and for that I'm thankful. Her name is Marie +Laroche. She and I opened our minds to each other that night, and I +took the guide, her father, into the woods, and told him I wanted his +daughter; and he was agreeable; but he would not hear of my takin' her +away then and there. He told me I must go down to Canada and get +settled, and when I had a house to put his daughter in, I was to come +back into the wilderness here and be married to her, and then take her +home--so here I am on my way to claim my bride. But there's one thing +that puzzles me sorely." + +"What is that?" asked Heywood. + +"I've never heard from Marie from that day to this," said Jasper. + +"That is strange," replied the other; "but perhaps she cannot write." + +"That's true. Now, you speak of it, I do believe she can't write a +line; but, then, she might have got some one to write for her." + +"Did you leave your address with her?" + +"How could I, when I had no address to leave?" + +"But did you ever send it to her?" + +"No, I never thought of that," said Jasper, opening his eyes very wide. +"Come, that's a comfort--that's a good reason for never havin' heard +from her. Thankee, lad, for putting me up to it. And, now, as we must +be up and away in another hour, I'll finish my nap." + +So saying, Jasper put out his pipe and once more drew his blanket over +him. Heywood followed his example, and while he lay there gazing up at +the stars through the trees, he heard the worthy hunter muttering to +himself, "That's it; that accounts for my not hearin' from her." + +A sigh followed the words, very soon a snore followed the sigh, and ere +many minutes had passed away, the encampment was again buried in +darkness and repose. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +JOURNEYING IN THE WILDERNESS. + +It seemed to Heywood that he had not been asleep more than five minutes, +when he was aroused by Jasper laying his heavy hand on his shoulder. On +rubbing his eyes and gazing round him, he found that the first streak of +dawn was visible in the eastern sky, that the canoe was already in the +water, and that his companions were ready to embark. + +It is usually found that men are not disposed to talk at that early +hour. Heywood merely remarked that it was a fine morning, to which +Jasper replied by a nod of his head. Nothing more was said. The artist +rolled up his blanket in a piece of oiled-cloth, collected his drawing +materials and put them into their bag, got into his place in the centre +of the canoe, and immediately went to sleep, while Jasper and the +Indian, taking their places in the bow and stern, dipped the paddles +into the water and shot away from the shore. They looked mysterious and +ghostly in the dim morning light; and the whole scene around them looked +mysterious and ghostly too, for the water in the lake seemed black, and +the shores and islands looked like dark shadows, and a pale thin mist +rolled slowly over the surface of the water and hung overhead. No sound +was heard except the light plash of the paddles as the two backwoodsmen +urged their little canoe swiftly along. + +By degrees the light of day increased, and Jasper awakened Heywood in +order that he might behold the beautiful scenery through which they +passed. They were now approaching the upper end of the lake, in which +there were innumerable islands of every shape and size--some of them not +more than a few yards in length, while some were two or three hundred +yards across, but all were clothed with the most beautiful green foliage +and shrubbery. As the pale yellow of the eastern sky began to grow red, +ducks and gulls bestirred themselves. Early risers among them first +began to chirp, and scream, and whistle their morning song,--for there +are lazy ones among the birds, just as there are among men. Sometimes, +when the canoe rounded a point of rocks a flock of geese were found +floating peacefully among the sedges, sound asleep, with their heads +under their wings. These would leap into the air and fly off in great +alarm, with much difficulty and tremendous splutter, reminding one of +the proverb, "The more haste the less speed." At other times they would +come upon a flock of ducks so suddenly, that they had no time to take +wing, so they dived instead, and thus got out of the way. + +Then the yellow hue of sunrise came, a good while before the sun himself +rose. The last of the bright stars were put out by the flood of light, +and multitudes of little birds on shore began to chirp their morning +song; and who can say that this was not a hymn of praise to God, when, +in the Holy Bible itself, in the 150th Psalm, we find it written, "Let +everything that hath breath praise the Lord." + +At last the sun burst forth in all his golden glory. Water, earth, and +sky glowed as if they had been set on fire. What a blessed influence +the sun has upon this world! It resembles the countenance of a loving +father beaming in upon his family, driving away clouds, and diffusing +warmth and joy. + +The birds were now all astir together, insomuch that the air seemed +alive with them. There are small white gulls, with red legs and red +beaks, in those large inland lakes, just as there are on the ocean. +These began to utter their sweet wild cries so powerfully that they +almost drowned the noise of all the rest. Yet the united chorus of the +whole was not harsh. It was softened and mellowed by distance, and fell +on the ears of the two hunters as pleasantly as the finest music does in +the ears of men trained to sweet sounds from infancy. + +Not until the sun had ascended a considerable way on its course through +the sky, did Jasper think it necessary to lay down his paddle. By that +time the upper end of the lake had been reached, and the hunter had run +the canoe close to a ledge of flat rock and jumped ashore, saying that +it was time for breakfast. + +"I had almost got to believe I was in paradise," said Heywood, as he +stepped ashore. + +"I often think there's a good deal of the garden of Eden still left in +this world," replied Jasper, as he carried the kettle up to the level +part of the rock and began to kindle a fire, while the Indian, as usual, +hewed the wood. "If we could only make use of God's gifts instead of +abusin' them, I do believe we might be very happy all our days." + +"See there, Jasper, is one of the birds I want so much to get hold of. +I want to make a drawing of him. Would you object to spend a shot on +such game." + +Heywood pointed as he spoke to a grey bird, about the size of a +blackbird, which sat on a branch close above his head. This creature is +called by the fur-traders a whisky-John, and it is one of the most +impudent little birds in the world! Wherever you go throughout the +country, there you find whisky-Johns ready to receive and welcome you, +as if they were the owners of the soil. They are perfectly fearless; +they will come and sit on a branch within a yard of your hand, when you +are eating, and look at you in the most inquisitive manner. If they +could speak, they could not say more plainly, "What have you got +there?--give me some!" If you leave the mouth of your provision sack +open they are sure to jump into it. When you are done eating they will +scarcely let you six yards away before they make a dash at the crumbs; +and if you throw sticks or stones at them, they will hop out of the way, +but they will not take to flight! + +"It would be a pity to waste powder on them critters," said Jasper, "but +I'll catch one for you." + +As he said this he took a few crumbs of broken meat from the bottom of +the provision sack and spread them on his right hand; then he lay down +under a bush, covered his face with a few leaves, and thrust out his +hand. Heywood and the Indian retired a few paces and stood still to +await the result. + +In a few seconds a whisky-John came flying towards the open hand, and +alighted on a branch within a yard of it. Here he shook his feathers +and looked very bold, but suspicious, for a few minutes, turning first +one eye towards the hand, and then the other. After a little he hopped +on a branch still nearer, and, seeing no motion in the hand, he at last +hopped upon the palm and began to peck the crumbs. Instantly the +fingers closed, and Jasper caught him by the toes, whereupon the +whisky-John began to scream furiously with rage and terror. But I am +bound to say there was more of rage than of terror in his cry. + +Jasper handed the passionate bird over to the artist, who tried to make +a portrait of him, but he screamed and pecked so fiercely that Heywood +was obliged to let him go after making a rough sketch. + +Breakfast was a repetition of the supper of the night before; it was +soon disposed of, and the three travellers again set forth. This time +Jasper sang one of the beautiful canoe songs peculiar to that country, +and Heywood and Arrowhead, both of whom had good voices, joined in the +chorus. + +They soon passed from the lake into the river by which it was fed. At +first the current of this river was sluggish; but as they ascended, it +became stronger, and was broken here and there by rapids. + +The severe toil of travelling in the backwoods now began. To paddle on +a level lake all day is easy enough, for, when you get tired, you can +lay down the paddle and rest. But in the river this is impossible, +because of the current. The only way to get a rest is to push the bow +of the canoe ashore. It was a fine sight to see the movements of Jasper +and the Indian when they came to the first rapid. Heywood knew that he +could be of no use, so, like a wise man, he sat still and looked on. + +The rapid was a very strong one, but there were no falls in it; only a +furious gush of water over the broken bed of the river, where many large +rocks rose up and caught the current, hurling the water back in white +foam. Any one who knew not what these hunters could do, would have +laughed if you had told him they were about to ascend that rapid in such +an egg-shell of a canoe! + +They began by creeping up, in-shore, as far as they could. Then they +dashed boldly out into the stream, and the current whirled them down +with lightning speed, but suddenly the canoe came to a halt in the very +middle of the stream! Every rock in a rapid has a long tail of still +water below it; the canoe had got into one of these tails or eddies, and +there it rested securely. A few yards higher up there was another rock, +nearer to the opposite bank, and the eddy which tailed off from it came +down a little lower than the rock behind which the canoe now lay. There +was a furious gush of water between them and this eddy, but the men knew +what the canoe could bear, and their nerves were strong and steady. +Across they went like a shot. They were swept down to the extreme point +of the eddy, but a few powerful strokes of the paddle sent them into it, +and next moment they were floating behind the second rock, a few yards +higher up the stream. + +Thus they darted from rock to rock, gaining a few yards at each dart, +until at last they swept into the smooth water at the head of the rapid. + +Many a time was this repeated that day, for rapids were numerous; their +progress was therefore slow. Sometimes they came to parts of the river +where the stream was very strong and deep, but not broken by rocks, so +that they had no eddies to dart into. In such places Arrowhead and +Heywood walked along the bank, and hauled the canoe up by means of a +line, while Jasper remained in it to steer. This was hard work, for the +banks in places were very steep, in some parts composed of soft mud, +into which the men sank nearly up to their knees, and in other places +covered so thickly with bushes that it was almost impossible to force a +path through them. Jasper and the Indian took the steering-paddle by +turns, and when Heywood required a rest he got into his place in the +middle of the canoe; but they never halted for more than a few minutes +at a time. All day they paddled and dragged the canoe slowly up against +the strong current, and when night closed in they found they had +advanced only three miles on their journey. + +The last obstacle they came to that day was a roaring waterfall about +thirty feet high. Here, it might have been thought, was an effectual +check to them at last. Nothing without wings could have gone up that +waterfall, which filled the woods with the thunder of its roar; but the +canoe had no wings, so what was to be done? + +To one ignorant of the customs of that country, going on would have +seemed impossible, but nothing can stop the advance of a backwoods +voyager. If his canoe won't carry him, he carries his canoe! Jasper +and his friends did so on the present occasion. They had reached what +is called a portage or carrying-place, and there are hundreds of such +places all over Rupert's Land. + +On arriving at the foot of the fall, Heywood set off at once to a spot +from which he could obtain a good view of it, and sat down to sketch, +while his companions unloaded the canoe and lifted it out of the water. +Then Jasper collected together as much of the baggage as he could carry, +and clambered up the bank with it, until he reached the still water at +the top of the fall. Here he laid it down and returned for another +load. Meanwhile Arrowhead lifted the canoe with great ease, placed it +on his shoulders, and bore it to the same place. When all had been +carried up, the canoe was launched into the quiet water a few hundred +yards above the fall, the baggage was replaced in it, and the travellers +were ready to continue their voyage. This whole operation is called +_making_ _a_ _portage_. It took about an hour to make this portage. + +Portages vary in length and in numbers. In some rivers they are few and +far between; in others they are so numerous that eight or twelve may +have to be made in a day. Many of the portages are not more than an +eighth of a mile in length, and are crossed for the purpose of avoiding +a waterfall. Some are four or five miles in extent, for many long +reaches in the rivers are so broken by falls and rapids, that the +voyagers find it their best plan to take canoes and baggage on their +backs and cut across country for several miles; thus they avoid rough +places altogether. + +Jasper delayed starting for half an hour, in order to give Heywood time +to finish his sketch of the fall. It began to grow dark when they again +embarked, so, after paddling up stream until a convenient place was +found, they put ashore and encamped within sight of another waterfall, +the roar of which, softened by distance, fell upon their ears all that +night like the sound of pleasant music. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE OUTPOST. + +On the morning of the second day after the events which I have described +in the last chapter, our three travellers arrived at one of the solitary +outposts belonging to the fur-traders. It stood on the banks of the +river, and consisted of four small houses made of logs. It covered +about an acre of ground, and its only defence was a wall of wooden +posts, about two inches apart, which completely surrounded the +buildings. + +"This fort is a namesake of mine," said Jasper, when they first sighted +it; "they call it Jasper's House. I spent a day at it when I was +hereaway two years ago." + +"Who is in charge of it?" asked Heywood. + +"A gentleman named Grant, I believe," replied Jasper. "That white +painted house in the middle of the square is his. The other house on +the right, painted yellow, is where the men live. Mr Grant has only +got six men, poor fellow, to keep him company; he seldom sees a new face +here from one end of the year to the other. But he makes a trip once a +year to the head post of the district with his furs, and that's a sort +of break to him." + +"Are there no women at the place?" inquired the artist. + +"Only two," replied Jasper. "At least there were two when I was here +last; they were the wives of two of the men, Indian women they were, +with few brains, and little or nothin' to say; but they were useful +critters for all that, for they could make coats, and trousers, and +moccasins, and mittens, and they were first-rate cooks, besides bein' +handy at almost every kind o' work. They could even use the gun. I've +heard o' them bringin' down a wild goose on the wing, when none o' the +men were at hand to let drive at the passing flock. I do believe that's +Mr Grant himself standin' at the gate o' the fort." + +Jasper was right. The master of Jasper's House, a big, hearty-looking +man of about five-and-forty, was standing at the gate of his lonely +residence, leaning against one of the door-posts, with his hands in his +breeches pockets and a short pipe in his mouth. His summer employments +had come to an end,--no Indians had been near the place for many weeks, +and he happened to have nothing at that time to do but eat, smoke, and +sleep; which three occupations he usually attended to with much +earnestness. Mr Grant did not observe the canoe approaching from +below, for at that time his attention was attracted to something up the +river. Suddenly he started, took his pipe from his lips, and, bending +forward, listened with deep, earnest attention. A faint murmur came +floating down on the breeze, sending a thrill of pleasure to the heart +of the solitary man, as well it might, for a new face was a rare sight +at Jasper's House. + +At last a loud shout rang through the forest, and five Indian canoes +swept round a point of rocks, and came suddenly into view, the men +tossing their paddles in the air and sending rainbows of spray over +their heads as they made for the landing-place. These were three or +four families of Indians, who had come from a long hunting expedition +laden with rich furs. + +Their canoes, though small and light, could hold a wonderful quantity. +In the foremost sat a young savage, with a dark-brown face, glittering +black eyes, and stiff black hair hanging straight down all round his +head, except in front, where it was cut short off just above the eyes in +order to let his face appear. That fellow's canoe, besides himself, +carried his three wives--he was a good hunter, and could afford to have +three. Had he been a bad hunter, he would have had to content himself, +poor fellow, with one! The canoe also contained six or seven heavy +packs of furs; a haunch of venison; six pairs of rabbits; several ducks +and geese; a lump of bear's meat; two little boys and a girl; a large +tent made of deer-skins; four or five tin kettles; two or three +dirty-looking dogs and a gun; several hatchets and a few blankets; two +babies and a dead beaver. + +In short, there was almost no end to what that bark canoe could hold; +yet that Indian, with the stiff black hair, could lift it off the +ground, when empty, lay it on his shoulders, and carry it for miles +through the forest. The other canoes were much the same as this one. + +In a few minutes they were at the bank, close under the fort, and about +the same time Jasper and his friends leaped ashore, and were heartily +welcomed by Mr Grant, who was glad enough to see Indians, but was +overjoyed to meet with white men. + +"Glad to see you, Jasper," cried Mr Grant, shaking the hunter by the +hand; "right glad to see you. It does good to a man to see an old +friend like you turn up so unexpectedly. Happy, also, to meet with you, +Mr Heywood. It's a pleasure I don't often have, to meet with a white +stranger in this wilderness. Pray, come with me to the house." + +The fur-trader turned to the Indians, and, saying a few words to them in +their own language, led the way to his residence. + +Meanwhile, the Indians had tossed everything out of the canoes upon the +bank, and the spot which had been so quiet and solitary half an hour +before, became a scene of the utmost animation and confusion. While the +women were employed in erecting the tents, the men strode up to the hall +of reception, where Mr Grant supplied them with tobacco and food to +their hearts' content. + +These natives, who, owing to the reddish copper-colour of their skins, +are called red-men,--were dressed chiefly in clothes made of deer-skin; +cut much in the same fashion as the garments worn by Jasper Derry. The +women wore short gowns, also made of leather, and leggings of the same +material; but it was noticeable that the women had leggings more +ornamented with gay beads than those of the men, and they wore gaudy +kerchiefs round their necks. + +These women were poor looking creatures, however. They had a subdued, +humble look, like dogs that are used to being kicked; very different +from the bold free bearing of the men. The reason of this was, that +they were treated by the men more as beasts of burden than companions. +Women among the North American Indians have a hard time of it, poor +creatures. While their lords and masters are out at the chase, or idly +smoking round the fire, the Indian women are employed in cutting +firewood and drawing water. Of course, they do all the cooking, and, as +the eating always continues, so the cooking never stops. When these +more severe labours are over, they employ their time in making and +ornamenting coats, leggings, and moccasins--and very beautiful work they +can turn out of their hands. On the voyage, the women use the paddle as +well as the men, and, in journeying through the woods, they always carry +or drag the heaviest loads. For all this they get few thanks, and often +when the husbands become jealous, they get severely beaten and kicked. + +It is always thus among savages; and it would seem that, just in +proportion as men rise from the savage to the civilised state, they +treat their women better. It is certain that when man embraces the +blessed gospel of Christ and learns to follow the law of love, he places +woman not only on a level with himself, but even above himself, and +seeks her comfort and happiness before he seeks his own. + +Few of the Red-men of North America are yet Christians, therefore they +have no gallantry about them--no generous and chivalrous feelings +towards the weaker sex. Most of their women are downtrodden and +degraded. + +The first night at Jasper's House was spent in smoking and talking. +Here our friend Jasper Derry got news of Marie. To his immense delight +he learned that she was well, and living with her father at Fort Erie, +near the plains, or prairies as they are called, on the Saskatchewan +River. A long journey still lay before our bold hunter, but that was +nothing to him. He felt quite satisfied to hear that the girl of his +heart was well, and still unmarried. + +Next day the serious business of trading commenced at the outpost. + +"I should like to get that powder and ball before you begin to trade +with the Indians, Mr Grant," said Jasper, after breakfast was +concluded, "I'm anxious to be off as soon as possible." + +"No, no, Jasper, I'll not give you a single charge of powder or an ounce +of lead this day. You must spend another night with me, my man; I have +not had half my talk out with you. You have no need to hurry, for Marie +does not know you are coming, so of course she can't be impatient." + +Mr Grant said this with a laugh, for he knew the state of Jasper's +heart, and understood why he was so anxious to hasten away. + +"Besides," continued the fur-trader, "Mr Heywood has not half finished +the drawing of my fort, which he began yesterday, and I want him to make +me a copy of it." + +"I shall be delighted to do so," said the artist, who was busily engaged +in arranging his brushes and colours. + +"Well, well," cried Jasper. "I suppose I must submit. I fancy _you_ +have no objection to stop here another day, Arrowhead?" + +The Indian nodded gravely, as he squatted down on the floor and began to +fill his pipe. + +"That's settled, then," said Jasper, "so I'll go with you to the store, +if you'll allow me." + +"With all my heart," replied the fur-trader, who forthwith led the way +to the store, followed by the Indians with their packs of furs. + +Now, the store or shop at a Hudson's Bay trading-post is a most +interesting and curious place. To the Indian, especially, it is a sort +of enchanted chamber, out of which can be obtained everything known +under the sun. As there can be only one shop or store at a +trading-post, it follows that that shop must contain a few articles out +of almost every other style of shop in the world. Accordingly, you will +find collected within the four walls of that little room, knives and +guns from Sheffield, cotton webs from Manchester, grindstones from +Newcastle, tobacco from Virginia, and every sort of thing from I know +not where all! You can buy a blanket or a file, an axe or a pair of +trousers, a pound of sugar or a barrel of nails, a roll of tobacco or a +tin kettle,--everything, in short, that a man can think of or desire. +And you can buy it, too, without money! Indeed, you _must_ buy it +without money, for there is not such a thing as money in the land. + +The trade is carried on entirely by barter, or exchange. The Indian +gives the trader his furs, and the trader gives him his goods. In order +to make the exchange fair and equitable, however, everything is rated by +a certain standard of value, which is called a _made-beaver_ in one part +of the country, a _castore_ in another. + +The first man that stepped forward to the counter was a chief. A big, +coarse-looking, disagreeable man, but a first-rate hunter. He had two +wives in consequence of his abilities, and the favourite wife now stood +at his elbow to prompt, perhaps to caution, him. He threw down a huge +pack of furs, which the trader opened, and examined with care, fixing +the price of each skin, and marking it down with a piece of chalk on the +counter as he went along. + +There were two splendid black bear-skins, two or three dozen martens, or +sables, five or six black foxes, and a great many silver foxes, besides +cross and red ones. In addition to these, he had a number of minks and +beaver-skins, a few otters, and sundry other furs, besides a few buffalo +and deer-skins, dressed, and with the hair scraped off. These last +skins are used for making winter coats, and also moccasins for the feet. + +After all had been examined and valued, the whole was summed up, and a +number of pieces of stick were handed to the chief--each stick +representing a castore; so that he knew exactly how much he was worth, +and proceeded to choose accordingly. + +First he gazed earnestly at a huge thick blanket, then he counted his +sticks, and considered. Perhaps the memory of the cold blasts of winter +crossed his mind, for he quickly asked how many castores it was worth. +The trader told him. The proper number of pieces of stick were laid +down, and the blanket was handed over. Next a gun attracted his eye. +The guns sent out for the Indian trade are very cheap ones, with blue +barrels and red stocks. They shoot pretty well, but are rather apt to +burst. Indeed this fate had befallen the chief's last gun, so he +resolved to have another, and bought it. Then he looked earnestly for +some time at a tin kettle. Boiled meat was evidently in his mind; but +at this point his squaw plucked him by the sleeve. She whispered in his +ear. A touch of generosity seemed to come over him, for he pointed to a +web of bright scarlet cloth. A yard of this was measured off, and +handed to his spouse, whose happiness for the moment was complete--for +squaws in Rupert's Land, like the fair sex in England, are uncommonly +fond of finery. + +As the chief proceeded, he became more cautious and slow in his choice. +Finery tempted him on the one hand, necessaries pressed him on the +other, and at this point the trader stepped in to help him to decide; he +recommended, warned, and advised. Twine was to be got for nets and +fishing-lines, powder and shot, axes for cutting his winter firewood, +cloth for his own and his wife's leggings, knives, tobacco, needles, and +an endless variety of things, which gradually lessened his little pile +of sticks, until at last he reached the sticking point, when all his +sticks were gone. + +"Now, Darkeye," (that was the chief's name), "you've come to the end at +last, and a good thing you have made of it this year," said Mr Grant, +in the Indian language. "Have you got all you want?" + +"Darkeye wants bullets," said the chief. + +"Ah, to be sure. You shall have a lot of these for nothing, and some +tobacco too," said the trader, handing the gifts to the Indian. + +A look of satisfaction lighted up the chief's countenance as he received +the gifts, and made way for another Indian to open and display his pack +of furs. But Jasper was struck by a peculiar expression in the face of +Darkeye. Observing that he took up one of the bullets and showed it to +another savage, our hunter edged near him to overhear the conversation. + +"Do you see that ball?" said the chief, in a low tone. + +The Indian to whom he spoke nodded. + +"Look here!" + +Darkeye put the bullet into his mouth as he spoke, and bit it until his +strong sharp teeth sank deep into the lead; then, holding it up, he +said, in the same low voice, "You will know it again?" + +Once more the savage nodded, and a malicious smile played on his face +for a moment. + +Just then Mr Grant called out, "Come here, Jasper, tell me what you +think this otter-skin is worth." + +Jasper's curiosity had been aroused by the mysterious conduct of +Darkeye, and he would have given a good deal to have heard a little more +of his conversation; but, being thus called away, he was obliged to +leave his place, and soon forgot the incident. + +During the whole of that day the trading of furs was carried on much as +I have now described it. Some of the Indians had large packs, and some +had small, but all of them had sufficient to purchase such things as +were necessary for themselves and their families during the approaching +winter; and as each man received from Mr Grant a present of tobacco, +besides a few trinkets of small value, they returned to the Hall that +night in high good humour. + +Next day, Jasper and his friends bade the hospitable trader farewell, +and a few days after that the Indians left him. They smoked a farewell +pipe, then struck their tents, and placed them and their packs of goods +in the canoes, with their wives, children, and dogs. Pushing out into +the stream, they commenced the return journey to their distant +hunting-grounds. Once more their shouts rang through the forest, and +rolled over the water, and once more the paddles sent the sparkling +drops into the air as they dashed ahead, round the point of rocks above +the fort, and disappeared; leaving the fur-trader, as they found him, +smoking his pipe, with his hands in his pockets, and leaning against the +door-post of his once-again silent and solitary home. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A SAVAGE FAMILY, AND A FIGHT WITH A BEAR. + +About a week after our travellers left the outpost, Arrowhead had an +adventure with a bear, which had well-nigh cut short his journey through +this world, as well as his journey in the wilderness of Rupert's Land. + +It was in the evening of a beautiful day when it happened. The canoe +had got among some bad rapids, and, as it advanced very slowly, young +Heywood asked to be put on shore, that he might walk up the banks of the +river, which were very beautiful, and sketch. + +In half an hour he was far ahead of the canoe. Suddenly, on turning +round a rocky point, he found himself face to face with a small Indian +boy. It is probable that the little fellow had never seen a white man +before, and it is certain that Heywood had never seen such a specimen of +a brown boy. He was clothed in skin, it is true, but it was the skin in +which he had been born, for he had not a stitch of clothing on his fat +little body. + +As the man and the boy stood staring at each other, it would have been +difficult to say which opened his eyes widest with amazement. At first +Heywood fancied the urchin was a wild beast of some sort on two legs, +but a second glance convinced him that he was a real boy. The next +thought that occurred to the artist was, that he would try to sketch +him, so he clapped his hand to his pocket, pulled out his book and +pencil, and forthwith began to draw. + +This terrified the little fellow so much, that he turned about and fled +howling into the woods. Heywood thought of giving chase, but a noise +attracted his attention at that moment, and, looking across the river, +he beheld the boy's father in the same cool dress as his son. The man +had been fishing, but when he saw that strangers were passing, he threw +his blanket round him, jumped into his canoe, and crossed over to meet +them. + +This turned out to be a miserably poor family of Indians, consisting of +the father, mother, three girls, and a boy, and a few ill-looking dogs. +They all lived together in a little tent or wigwam, made partly of skins +and partly of birch-bark. This tent was shaped like a cone. The fire +was kindled inside, in the middle of the floor. A hole in the side +served for a door, and a hole in the top did duty for window and +chimney. The family kettle hung above the fire, and the family circle +sat around it. A dirtier family and filthier tent one could not wish to +see. The father was a poor weakly man and a bad hunter; the squaw was +thin, wrinkled, and very dirty, and the children were all +sickly-looking, except the boy before mentioned, who seemed to enjoy +more than his fair share of health and rotundity. + +"Have ye got anything to eat?" inquired Jasper, when the canoe reached +the place. + +They had not got much, only a few fish and an owl. + +"Poor miserable critters," said Jasper, throwing them a goose and a lump +of venison; "see there--that'll keep the wolf out o' yer insides for +some time. Have ye got anything to smoke?" + +No, they had nothing to smoke but a few dried leaves. + +"Worse and worse," cried Jasper, pulling a large plug of tobacco from +the breast of his coat; "here, that'll keep you puffin' for a short bit, +anyhow." + +Heywood, although no smoker himself, carried a small supply of tobacco +just to give away to Indians, so he added two or three plugs to Jasper's +gift, and Arrowhead gave the father a few charges of powder and shot. +They then stepped into their canoe, and pushed off with that feeling of +light hearted happiness which always follows the doing of a kind action. + +"There's bears up the river," said the Indian, as they were leaving. + +"Have ye seen them?" inquired Jasper. + +"Ay, but could not shoot--no powder, no ball. Look out for them!" + +"That will I," replied the hunter, and in another moment the canoe was +out among the rapids again, advancing slowly up the river. + +In about an hour afterwards they came to a part of the river where the +banks were high and steep. Here Jasper landed to look for the tracks of +the bears. He soon found these, and as they appeared to be fresh, he +prepared to follow them up. + +"We may as well encamp here," said he to Arrowhead; "you can go and look +for the bears. I will land the baggage, and haul up the canoe, and then +take my gun and follow you. I see that our friend Heywood is at work +with his pencil already." + +This was true. The keen artist was so delighted with the scene before +him, that the moment the canoe touched the land he had jumped out, and, +seating himself on the trunk of a fallen tree, with book and pencil, +soon forgot everything that was going on around him. + +Arrowhead shouldered his gun and went away up the river. Jasper soon +finished what he had to do, and followed him, leaving Heywood seated on +the fallen tree. + +Now the position which Heywood occupied was rather dangerous. The tree +lay on the edge of an overhanging bank of clay, about ten feet above the +water, which was deep and rapid at that place. At first the young man +sat down on the tree-trunk near its root, but after a time, finding the +position not quite to his mind, he changed it, and went close to the +edge of the bank. He was so much occupied with his drawing, that he did +not observe that the ground on which his feet rested actually overhung +the stream. As his weight rested on the fallen tree, however, he +remained there safe enough and busy for half an hour. + +At the end of that time he was disturbed by a noise in the bushes. +Looking up, he beheld a large brown bear coming straight towards him. +Evidently the bear did not see him, for it was coming slowly and lazily +along, with a quiet meditative expression on its face. The appearance +of the animal was so sudden and unexpected, that poor Heywood's heart +almost leaped into his mouth. His face grew deadly pale, his long hair +almost rose on his head with terror, and he was utterly unable to move +hand or foot. + +In another moment the bear was within three yards of him, and, being +taken by surprise, it immediately rose on its hind legs, which is the +custom of bears when about to make or receive an attack. It stared for +a moment at the horrified artist. + +Let not my reader think that Heywood's feelings were due to cowardice. +The bravest of men have been panic-stricken when taken by surprise. The +young man had never seen a bear before, except in a cage, and the +difference between a caged and a free bear is very great. Besides, when +a rough-looking monster of this kind comes unexpectedly on a man who is +unarmed, and has no chance of escape, and rises on its hind legs, as if +to let him have a full view of its enormous size, its great strength, +and its ugly appearance, he may well be excused for feeling a little +uncomfortable, and looking somewhat uneasy. + +When the bear rose, as I have said, Heywood's courage returned. His +first act was to fling his sketch-book in Bruin's face, and then, +uttering a loud yell, he sprang to his feet, intending to run away. But +the violence of his action broke off the earth under his feet. He dropt +into the river like a lump of lead, and was whirled away in a moment! + +What that bear thought when it saw the man vanish from the spot like a +ghost, of course I cannot tell. It certainly _looked_ surprised, and, +if it was a bear of ordinary sensibility, it must undoubtedly have +_felt_ astonished. At any rate, after standing there, gazing for nearly +a minute in mute amazement at the spot where Heywood had disappeared, it +let itself down on its forelegs, and, turning round, walked slowly back +into the bushes. + +Poor Heywood could not swim, so the river did what it pleased with him. +After sweeping him out into the middle of the stream, and rolling him +over five or six times, and whirling him round in an eddy close to the +land, and dragging him out again into the main current, and sending him +struggling down a rapid, it threw him at last, like a bundle of old +clothes, on a shallow, where he managed to get on his feet, and +staggered to the shore in a most melancholy plight. Thereafter he +returned to the encampment, like a drowned rat, with his long hair +plastered to his thin face, and his soaked garments clinging tightly to +his slender body. Had he been able to see himself at that moment, he +would have laughed, but, not being able to see himself, and feeling very +miserable, he sighed and shuddered with cold, and then set to work to +kindle a fire and dry himself. + +Meanwhile the bear continued its walk up the river. Arrowhead, after a +time, lost the track of the bear he was in search of, and, believing +that it was too late to follow it up farther that night, he turned +about, and began to retrace his steps. Not long after that, he and the +bear met face to face. Of course, the Indian's gun was levelled in an +instant, but the meeting was so sudden, that the aim was not so true as +usual, and, although the ball mortally wounded the animal, it did not +kill him outright. + +There was no time to re-load, so Arrowhead dropped his gun and ran. He +doubled as he ran, and made for the encampment; but the bear ran faster. +It was soon at the Indian's heels. Knowing that farther flight was +useless, Arrowhead drew the hatchet that hung at his belt, and, turning +round, faced the infuriated animal, which instantly rose on its hind +legs and closed with him. + +The Indian met it with a tremendous blow of his axe, seized it by the +throat with his left hand, and endeavoured to repeat the blow. [See +frontispiece.] But brave and powerful though he was, the Indian was like +a mere child in the paw of the bear. The axe descended with a crash on +the monster's head, and sank into its skull. But bears are notoriously +hard to kill. This one scarcely seemed to feel the blow. Next instant +Arrowhead was down, and, with its claws fixed in the man's back, the +bear held him down, while it began to gnaw the fleshy part of his left +shoulder. + +No cry escaped from the prostrate hunter. He determined to lie +perfectly still, as if he were dead, that being his only chance of +escape; but the animal was furious, and there is little doubt that the +Indian's brave spirit would soon have fled, had not God mercifully sent +Jasper Derry to his relief. + +That stout hunter had been near at hand when the shot was fired. He at +once ran in the direction whence the sound came, and arrived on the +scene of the struggle just as Arrowhead fell. Without a moment's +hesitation he dropt on one knee, took a quick but careful aim and fired. +The ball entered the bear's head just behind the ear and rolled it over +dead! + +Arrowhead's first act on rising was to seize the hand of his deliverer, +and in a tone of deep feeling exclaimed, "My brother!" + +"Ay," said Jasper with a quiet smile, as he reloaded his gun; "this is +not the first time that you and I have helped one another in the nick of +time, Arrowhead; we shall be brothers, and good friends to boot, I hope, +as long as we live." + +"Good," said the Indian, a smile lighting up for one moment his usually +grave features. + +"But my brother is wounded, let me see," said Jasper. + +"It will soon be well," said the Indian carelessly, as he took off his +coat and sat down on the bank, while the white hunter examined his +wounds. + +This was all that was said on the subject by these two men. They were +used to danger in every form, and had often saved each other from sudden +death. The Indian's wounds, though painful, were trifling. Jasper +dressed them in silence, and then, drawing his long hunting knife, he +skinned and cut up the bear, while his companion lay down on the bank, +smoked his pipe, and looked on. Having cut off the best parts of the +carcass for supper, the hunters returned to the canoe, carrying the skin +along with them. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +RUNNING THE FALLS--WILD SCENES AND MEN. + +Next day the travellers reached one of those magnificent lakes of which +there are so many in the wild woods of North America, and which are so +like to the great ocean itself, that it is scarcely possible to believe +them to be bodies of fresh water until they are tasted. + +The largest of these inland seas is the famous Lake Superior, which is +so enormous in size that ships can sail on its broad bosom for several +days _out_ _of_ _sight_ of land. It is upwards of three hundred miles +long, and about one hundred and fifty broad. A good idea of its size +may be formed from the fact, that it is large enough to contain the +whole of Scotland, and deep enough to cover her highest hills! + +The lake on which the canoe was now launched, although not so large as +Superior, was, nevertheless, a respectable body of water, on which the +sun was shining as if on a shield of bright silver. There were numbers +of small islets scattered over its surface; some thickly wooded to the +water's edge, others little better than bare rocks. Crossing this lake +they came to the mouth of a pretty large stream and began to ascend it. +The first thing they saw on rounding a bend in the stream was an Indian +tent, and in front of this tent was an Indian baby, hanging from the +branch of a tree. + +Let not the reader be horrified. The child was not hanging by the neck, +but by the handle of its cradle, which its mother had placed there, to +keep her little one out of the way of the dogs. The Indian cradle is a +very simple contrivance. A young mother came out of the tent with her +child just as the canoe arrived, and began to pack it in its cradle. +Jasper stopped for a few minutes to converse with one of the Indians, so +that the artist had a good opportunity of witnessing the whole +operation. + +The cradle was simply a piece of flat board, with a bit of scarlet cloth +fastened down each side of it. First of all, the mother laid the poor +infant, which was quite naked, sprawling on the ground. A dirty-looking +dog took advantage of this to sneak forward and smell at it, whereupon +the mother seized a heavy piece of wood, and hit the dog such a rap over +the nose as sent it away howling. Then she spread a thick layer of soft +moss on the wooden board. Above this she laid a very neat, small +blanket, about two feet in length. Upon this she placed the baby, which +objected at first to go to bed, squalled a good deal, and kicked a +little. The mother therefore took it up, turned it over, gave it one or +two hearty slaps, and laid it down again. + +This seemed to quiet it, for it afterwards lay straight out, and +perfectly still, with its coal-black eyes staring out of its fat brown +face, as if it were astonished at receiving such rough treatment. The +mother next spread a little moss over the child, and above that she +placed another small blanket, which she folded and tucked in very +comfortably, keeping the little one's arms close to its sides, and +packing it all up, from neck to heels, so tightly that it looked more +like the making up of a parcel than the wrapping up of a child. This +done, she drew the scarlet cloth over it from each side of the cradle, +and laced it down the front. When all was done, the infant looked like +an Egyptian mummy, nothing but the head being visible. + +The mother then leaned the cradle against the stem of a tree, and +immediately one of the dogs ran against it, and knocked it over. +Luckily, there was a wooden bar attached to the cradle, in front of the +child's face, which bar is placed there on purpose to guard against +injury from such accidents, so that the bar came first to the ground, +and thus prevented the flattening of the child's nose, which, to say +truth, was flat enough already! + +Instead of scolding herself for her own carelessness, the Indian mother +scolded the dog, and then hung the child on the branch of a tree, to +keep it from further mischief. + +The next turn in the river revealed a large waterfall, up which it was +impossible to paddle, so they prepared to make a portage. Before +arriving at the foot of it, however, Jasper landed Heywood, to enable +him to make a sketch, and then the two men shoved off, and proceeded to +the foot of the fall. + +They were lying there in an eddy, considering where was the best spot to +land, when a loud shout drew their attention towards the rushing water. +Immediately after, a boat was seen to hover for a moment on the brink of +the waterfall. This fall, although about ten or fifteen feet high, had +such a large body of water rushing over it, that the river, instead of +falling straight down, gushed over in a steep incline. Down this +incline the boat now darted with the speed of lightning. It was full of +men, two of whom stood erect, the one in the bow, the other in the +stern, to control the movements of the boat. + +For a few seconds there was deep silence. The men held their breath as +the boat leaped along with the boiling flood. There was a curling white +wave at the foot of the fall. The boat cut through this like a knife, +drenching her crew with spray. Next moment she swept round into the +eddy where the canoe was floating, and the men gave vent to a loud cheer +of satisfaction at having run the fall in safety. + +But this was not the end of that exciting scene. Scarcely had they +gained the land, when another boat appeared on the crest of the fall. +Again a shout was given and a dash made. For one moment there was a +struggle with the raging flood, and then a loud cheer as the second boat +swept into the eddy in safety. Then a third and a fourth boat went +through the same operation, and before the end of a quarter of an hour, +six boats ran the fall. The bay at the foot of it, which had been so +quiet and solitary when Jasper and his friends arrived, became the scene +of the wildest confusion and noise, as the men ran about with tremendous +activity, making preparations to spend the night there. + +Some hauled might and main at the boats; some carried up the provisions, +frying-pans, and kettles; others cut down dry trees with their axes, and +cut them up into logs from five to six feet long, and as thick as a +man's thigh. These were intended for six great fires, each boat's crew +requiring a fire to themselves. + +While this was going on, the principal guides and steersmen crowded +round our three travellers, and plied them with questions; for it was so +unusual to meet with strangers in that far-off wilderness, that a chance +meeting of this kind was regarded as quite an important event. + +"You're bound for York Fort, no doubt," said Jasper, addressing a tall +handsome man of between forty and fifty, who was the principal guide. + +"Ay, that's the end of our journey. You see we're taking our furs down +to the coast. Have you come from York Fort, friend!" + +"No, I've come all the way from Canada," said Jasper, who thereupon gave +them a short account of his voyage. + +"Well, Jasper, you'll spend the night with us, won't you?" said the +guide. + +"That will I, right gladly." + +"Come, then, I see the fires are beginning to burn. We may as well have +a pipe and a chat while supper is getting ready." + +The night was now closing in, and the scene in the forest, when the +camp-fires began to blaze, was one of the most stirring and romantic +sights that could be witnessed in that land. The men of the brigade +were some of them French-Canadians, some natives of the Orkney Islands, +who had been hired and sent out there by the Hudson's Bay Company, +others were half-breeds, and a few were pure Indians. They were all +dressed in what is called _voyageur_ costume-coats or capotes of blue or +grey cloth, with hoods to come over their heads at night, and fastened +round their waists with scarlet worsted belts; corduroy or grey +trousers, gartered outside at the knees, moccasins, and caps. But most +of them threw off their coats, and appeared in blue and red striped +cotton shirts, which were open at the throat, exposing their broad, +sun-burned, hairy chests. There was variety, too, in the caps--some had +Scotch bonnets, others red nightcaps, a few had tall hats, ornamented +with gold and silver cords and tassels, and a good many wore no covering +at all except their own thickly-matted hair. Their faces were burned to +every shade of red, brown, and black, from constant exposure, and they +were strong as lions, wild as zebras, and frolicksome as kittens. + +It was no wonder, then, that Heywood got into an extraordinary state of +excitement and delight as he beheld these wild, fine-looking men smoking +their pipes and cooking their suppers, sitting, lying, and standing, +talking and singing, and laughing, with teeth glistening and eyes +glittering in the red blaze of the fires--each of which fires was big +enough to have roasted a whole ox! + +The young artist certainly made good use of his opportunity. He went +about from fire to fire, sketch-book in hand, sketching all the +best-looking men in every possible attitude, sometimes singly, and +sometimes in groups of five or six. He then went to the farthest end of +the encampment, and, in the light of the last fire, made a picture of +all the rest. + +The kettles were soon steaming. These hung from tripods erected over +the fires. Their contents were flour and pemmican, made into a thick +soup called Rubbiboo. + +As pemmican is a kind of food but little known in this country, I may as +well describe how it is made. In the first place, it consists of +buffalo meat. The great plains, or prairies, of America, which are like +huge downs or commons hundreds of miles in extent, afford grass +sufficient to support countless herds of deer, wild horses, and bisons. +The bisons are called by the people there buffaloes. The buffalo is +somewhat like an enormous ox, but its hind-quarters are smaller and its +fore-quarters much larger than those of the ox. Its hair is long and +shaggy, particularly about the neck and shoulders, where it becomes +almost a mane. Its horns are thick and short, and its look is very +ferocious, but it is in reality a timid creature, and will only turn to +attack a man when it is hard pressed and cannot escape. Its flesh is +first-rate for food, even better than beef, and there is a large hump on +its shoulder, which is considered the best part of the animal. + +Such is the bison, or buffalo, from which pemmican is made. + +When a man wishes to make a bag of pemmican, he first of all kills the +buffalo--not an easy thing to do by any means, for the buffalo runs +well. Having killed him, he skins him and cuts up the meat--also a +difficult thing to do, especially if one is not used to that sort of +work. Then he cuts the meat into thin layers, and hangs it up to dry. +Dried meat will keep for a long time. It is packed up in bales and sent +about that country to be used as food. The next thing to be done is to +make a bag of the raw hide of the buffalo. This is done with a glover's +needle, the raw sinews of the animal being used instead of thread. The +bag is usually about three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, and the +hair is left on the outside of it. A huge pot is now put on the fire, +and the fat of the buffalo is melted down. Then the dried meat is +pounded between two stones, until it is torn and broken up into shreds, +after which it is put into the bag, the melted fat is poured over it, +and the whole is well mixed. The last operation is to sew up the mouth +of the bag and leave it to cool, after which the pemmican is ready for +use. + +In this state a bag of pemmican will keep fresh and good for years. +When the search was going on in the polar regions for the lost ships of +Sir John Franklin, one of the parties hid some pemmican in the ground, +intending to return and take it up. They returned home, however, +another way. Five years later some travellers discovered this pemmican, +and it was found, at that time, to be fit for food. Pemmican is +extensively used throughout Rupert's Land, especially during summer, for +at that season the brigades of boats start from hundreds of inland +trading-posts to take the furs to the coast for shipment to England, and +pemmican is found to be not only the best of food for these hard-working +men, but exceedingly convenient to carry. + +Supper finished, the wild-looking fellows of this brigade took to their +pipes, and threw fresh logs on the fires, which roared, and crackled, +and shot up their forked tongues of flame, as if they wished to devour +the forest. Then the song and the story went round, and men told of +terrible fights with the red-men of the prairies, and desperate +encounters with grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains, and narrow escapes +among the rapids and falls, until the night was half spent. Then, one +by one, each man wrapped himself in his blanket, stretched himself on +the ground with his feet towards the fire and his head pillowed on a +coat or a heap of brush-wood, and went to sleep. + +Ere long they were all down, except one or two long-winded story +tellers, who went on muttering to their pipes after their comrades were +asleep. Even these became tired at last of the sound of their own +voices, and gradually every noise in the camp was hushed, except the +crackling of the fires as they sank by degrees and went out, leaving the +place in dead silence and total darkness. + +With the first peep of dawn the guide arose. In ten minutes after his +first shout the whole camp was astir. The men yawned a good deal at +first and grumbled a little, and stretched themselves violently, and +yawned again. But soon they shook off laziness and sprang to their +work. Pots, pans, kettles, and pemmican bags were tossed into the +boats, and in the course of half-an-hour they were ready to continue the +voyage. + +Jasper stood beside the guide looking on at the busy scene. + +"Heard you any news from the Saskatchewan of late," said he. + +"Not much," replied the guide; "there's little stirring there just now, +except among the Indians, who have been killing and scalping each other +as usual. But, by the way, that reminds me there has been a sort of row +between the Indians and the Company's people at Fort Erie." + +"Fort Erie," said Jasper with a start. + +"Ay, that's the name o' the fort, if I remember right," returned the +guide. "It seems that one o' the men there, I think they call him +Laroche--but what makes you start, friend Jasper? Do you know anything +of this man." + +"Yes, he's a friend of mine. Go on, let me hear about it." + +"Well, there's not much to tell," resumed the guide. "This Laroche, it +would appear, has got into hot water. He has a daughter, a good lookin' +wench I'm told, and, better than that, a well-behaved one. One o' the +Indians had been impertinent to the girl, so old Laroche, who seems to +be a fiery fellow, up fist, hit him on the nose, and knocked the savage +flat on his back. A tremendous howl was set up, and knives and hatchets +were flourished; but Mr Pemberton, who is in charge of Fort Erie, ran +in and pacified them. The Indian that was floored vows he'll have the +hair of old Laroche's head." + +This taking the hair off people's heads, or scalping, as it is called, +is a common practice among the North American Indians. When a savage +kills his enemy he runs his scalping knife round the dead man's head, +seizes the hair with his left hand and tears the scalp off. Indeed this +dreadful cruelty is sometimes practised before death has occurred. The +scalp with its lock of hair is taken home by the victor, and hung up in +his tent as a trophy of war. The man who can show the greatest number +of scalps is considered the greatest warrior. The dresses of Indian +warriors are usually fringed with human scalp-locks. + +"That's a bad business," said Jasper, who was concerned to hear such +news of his intended father-in-law. "Do ye know the name o' this +red-skinned rascal?" + +"I heard it mentioned," said the guide, "but I can't remember it at this +moment." + +"The boats are ready to start," said one of the steersmen, coming up +just then. + +"Very good, let the men embark. Now, Jasper, we must part. Give us a +shake o' your hand. A pleasant trip to you." + +"The same to you, friend," said Jasper, returning the guide's squeeze. + +In another minute the boats were away. + +"Now, friends, we shall start," said Jasper, breaking the deep silence +which followed the departure of the brigade. + +"Good," said Arrowhead. + +"I'm ready," said Heywood. + +The canoe was soon in the water, and the men in their places; but they +started that morning without a song. Arrowhead was never inclined to be +noisy, Heywood was sleepy, and Jasper was rendered anxious by what he +had heard of his friends at Fort Erie, so they paddled away in silence. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE FORT, AND AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. + +We turn now to a very different scene. It is a small fort or +trading-post on the banks of a stream which flows through the prairie. +The fort is very much like the one which has been already described, but +somewhat stronger; and there are four block-houses or bastions, one at +each corner, from which the muzzles of a few heavy guns may be seen +protruding. + +The trees and bushes have been cleared away from around this fort, and +the strips of forest-land, which run along both sides of the river, are +not so thickly wooded, as the country through which the reader has +hitherto been travelling. In front of the fort rolls the river. +Immediately behind it lies the boundless prairie, which extends like a +sea of grass, with scarcely a tree or bush upon it, as far as the eye +can reach. This is Fort Erie. + +You might ride for many days over that prairie without seeing anything +of the forest, except a clump of trees and bushes here and there, and +now and then a little pond. The whole region is extremely beautiful. +One that ought to fill the hearts of men with admiration and love of the +bountiful God who formed it. But men in those regions, at the time I +write of, thought of little beauties of nature, and cared nothing for +the goodness of God. At least this may be truly said of the red-skinned +owners of the soil. It was otherwise with _some_ of the white people +who dwelt there. + +Three weeks had passed away since the night spent by our friends with +the brigade. It was now a beautiful evening, a little after sunset. +The day's work at the fort had been finished, and the men were amusing +themselves by racing their horses, of which fine animals there were +great numbers at Fort Erie. + +Just a little after the sun had gone down, three horsemen appeared on +the distant prairie and came bounding at full gallop towards the fort. +They were our friends Jasper, Heywood, and Arrowhead. These adventurous +travellers had reached a fort farther down the river two days before, +and, having been supplied with horses, had pushed forward by way of the +plains. + +On entering the belt of woods close to the fort, the horsemen reined in, +and rode among the trees more cautiously. + +"Here's the end of our journey at last," cried Jasper, on whose bronzed +countenance there was a deep flush of excitement and a look of anxiety. + +Just as he said this, Jasper's heart appeared to leap into his throat +and almost choked him. Pulling up suddenly, he swallowed his heart, +with some difficulty, and said-- + +"Hold on, lads. I'll ride round to the fort by way of the river, for +reasons of my own. Push on, Heywood, with the Indian, and let Mr +Pemberton know I'm coming. See, I will give you the packet of letters +we were asked to carry from the fort below. Now, make haste." + +Heywood, though a little surprised at this speech, and at the manner of +his friend, took the packet in silence and rode swiftly away, followed +by the Indian. When they were gone, Jasper dismounted, tied his horse +to a tree, and walked quickly into the woods in another direction. + +Now this mysterious proceeding is not difficult to explain. Jasper had +caught sight of a female figure walking under the trees at a +considerable distance from the spot where he had pulled up. He knew +that there were none but Indian women at Fort Erie at that time, and +that, therefore, the only respectably dressed female at the place must +needs be his own Marie Laroche. Overjoyed at the opportunity thus +unexpectedly afforded him of meeting her alone, he hastened forward with +a beating heart. + +Marie was seated on the stump of a fallen tree when the hunter came up. +She was a fair, beautiful woman of about five-and-twenty, with an air of +modesty about her which attracted love, yet repelled familiarity. Many +a good-looking and well-doing young fellow had attempted to gain the +heart of Marie during the last two years, but without success--for this +good reason, that her heart had been gained already. + +She was somewhat startled when a man appeared thus suddenly before her. +Jasper stood in silence for a few moments, with his arms crossed upon +his breast, and gazed earnestly into her face. + +As he did not speak, she said-- + +"You appear to be a stranger here. Have you arrived lately?" + +Jasper was for a moment astonished that she did not at once recognise +him, and yet he had no reason to be surprised. Besides the alteration +that two years sometimes makes in a man, Jasper had made a considerable +alteration on himself. When Marie last saw him, he had been in the +habit of practising the foolish and unnatural custom of shaving; and he +had carried it to such an extreme that he shaved off everything-- +whiskers, beard, and moustache. But within a year he had been induced +by a wise friend to change his opinion on this subject. That friend had +suggested, that as Providence had caused hair to grow on his cheeks, +lips, and chin, it was intended to be worn, and that he had no more +right to shave his face than a Chinaman had to shave his head. Jasper +had been so far convinced, that he had suffered his whiskers to grow. +These were now large and bushy, and had encroached so much on his chin +as to have become almost a beard. + +Besides this, not having shaved any part of his face during the last +three weeks, there was little of it visible except his eyes, forehead, +and cheek-bones. All the rest was more or less covered with black hair. + +No wonder, then, that Marie, who believed him to be two thousand miles +away at that moment, did not recognise him in the increasing darkness of +evening. The lover at once understood this, and he resolved to play the +part of a stranger. He happened to have the power of changing his +voice--a power possessed by many people--and, trusting to the increasing +gloom to conceal him, and to the fact that he was the last person in the +world whom Marie might expect to see there, he addressed her as +follows:-- + +"I am indeed a stranger here; at least I have not been at the post for a +very long time. I have just reached the end of a long voyage." + +"Indeed," said the girl, interested by the stranger's grave manner. +"May I ask where you have come from?" + +"I have come all the way from Canada, young woman, and I count myself +lucky in meeting with such a pleasant face at the end of my journey." + +"From Canada!" exclaimed Marie, becoming still more interested in the +stranger, and blushing deeply as she asked--"You have friends there, no +doubt?" + +"Ay, a few," said Jasper. + +"And what has brought you such a long way into this wild wilderness?" +asked Marie, sighing as she thought of the hundreds of miles that lay +between Fort Erie and Canada. + +"I have come here to get me a wife," replied Jasper. + +"That is strange," said the girl, smiling, "for there are few but Indian +women here. A stout hunter like you might find one nearer home, I +should think." + +Here Marie paused, for she felt that on such a subject she ought not to +converse with a stranger. Yet she could not help adding, "But perhaps, +as you say, you have been in this part of the world before, you may have +some one in your mind?" + +"I am engaged," said Jasper abruptly. + +On hearing this Marie felt more at her ease, and, being of a very +sympathetic nature, she at once courted the confidence of the stranger. + +"May I venture to ask her name?" said Marie, with an arch smile. + +"I may not tell," replied Jasper; "I have a comrade who is entitled to +know this secret before any one else. Perhaps you may have heard of +him, for he was up in these parts two years agone. His name is Jasper +Derry." + +The blood rushed to Marie's temples on hearing the name, and she turned +her face away to conceal her agitation, while, in a low voice, she +said-- + +"Is Jasper Derry, then, your intimate friend?" + +"That is he--a very intimate friend indeed. But you appear to know +him." + +"Yes, I--I know him--I have seen him. I hope he is well," said Marie; +and she listened with a beating heart for the answer, though she still +turned her face away. + +"Oh! he's well enough," said Jasper; "sickness don't often trouble +_him_. He's going to be married." + +Had a bullet struck the girl's heart she could not have turned more +deadly pale than she did on hearing this. She half rose from the tree +stump, and would have fallen to the ground insensible, had not Jasper +caught her in his arms. + +"My own Marie," said he fervently, "forgive me, dearest; forgive my +folly, my wickedness, in deceiving you in this fashion. Oh, what a fool +I am!" he added, as the poor girl still hung heavily in his +grasp--"speak to me Marie, my own darling." + +Whether it was the earnestness of his voice, or the kiss which he +printed on her forehead, or the coolness of the evening air, I know not, +but certain it is that Marie recovered in the course of a few minutes, +and, on being convinced that Jasper really was her old lover, she +resigned herself, wisely, to her fate, and held such an uncommonly long +conversation with the bold hunter, that the moon was up and the stars +were out before they turned their steps towards the Fort. + +"Why, Jasper Derry," cried Mr Pemberton, as the hunter entered the hall +of Fort Erie, "where _have_ you been. I've been expecting you every +moment for the last two hours." + +"Well, you see, Mr Pemberton, I just went down the river a short bit to +see an old friend and I was kep' longer than I expected," said Jasper, +with a cool, grave face, as he grasped and shook the hand which was held +out to him. + +"Ah! I see, you hunters are more like brothers than friends. No doubt +you went to smoke a pipe with Hawkeye, or to have a chat with the +Muskrat about old times," said the fur-trader, mentioning the names of +two Indians who were celebrated as being the best hunters in the +neighbourhood, and who had been bosom friends of Jasper when he resided +there two years before. + +"No, I've not yet smoked a pipe with Hawkeye, neither have I seen +Muskrat, but I certainly have had a pretty long chat with one o' my old +friends," answered Jasper, while a quiet smile played on his face. + +"Well, come along and have a pipe and a chat with _me_. I hope you +count me one of your friends too," said Mr Pemberton, conducting Jasper +into an inner room, where he found Heywood and Arrowhead seated at a +table, doing justice to a splendid supper of buffalo-tongues, +venison-steaks, and marrow-bones. + +"Here are your comrades, you see, hard at work. It's lucky you came +to-night, Jasper, for I intend to be off to-morrow morning, by break of +day, on a buffalo-hunt. If you had been a few hours later of arriving, +I should have missed you. Come, will you eat or smoke?" + +"I'll eat first, if you have no objection," said Jasper, "and smoke +afterwards." + +"Very good. Sit down, then, and get to work. Meanwhile I'll go and +look after the horses that we intend to take with us to-morrow. Of +course you'll accompany us, Jasper?" + +"I'll be very glad, and so will Arrowhead, there. There's nothing he +likes so much as a chase after a buffalo, unless, it may be, the eating +of him. But as for my friend and comrade Mr Heywood, he must speak for +himself." + +"I will be delighted to go," answered the artist, "nothing will give me +more pleasure; but I fear my steed is too much exhausted to--" + +"Oh! make your mind easy on that score," said the fur-trader, +interrupting him. "I have plenty of capital horses, and can mount the +whole of you, so that's settled. And now, friends, do justice to your +supper, I shall be back before you have done." + +So saying, Mr Pemberton left the room, and our three friends, being +unusually hungry, fell vigorously to work on the good cheer of Fort +Erie. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +BUFFALO-HUNTING ON THE PRAIRIES. + +Next day most of the men of Fort Erie, headed by Mr Pemberton, rode +away into the prairies on a buffalo-hunt. Jasper would willingly have +remained with Marie at the fort, but, having promised to go, he would +not now draw back. + +The band of horsemen rode for three hours, at a quick pace, over the +grassy plains, without seeing anything. Jasper kept close beside his +friend, old Laroche, while Heywood rode and conversed chiefly with Mr +Pemberton. There were about twenty men altogether, armed with guns, and +mounted on their best buffalo-runners, as they styled the horses which +were trained to hunt the buffalo. Many of these steeds had been wild +horses, caught by the Indians, broken-in, and sold by them to the +fur-traders. + +"I have seldom ridden so long without meeting buffaloes," observed Mr +Pemberton, as the party galloped to the top of a ridge of land, from +which they could see the plains far and wide around them. + +"There they are at last," said Heywood eagerly, pointing to a certain +spot on the far-off horizon where living creatures of some sort were +seen moving. + +"That must be a band o' red-skins," said Jasper, who trotted up at this +moment with the rest of the party. + +"They are Sauteaux," [This word is pronounced _Sotoes_ in the plural; +_Sotoe_ in the singular] observed Arrowhead quietly. + +"You must have good eyes, friend," said Pemberton, applying a small +pocket-telescope to his eye; "they are indeed Sauteaux, I see by their +dress, and they have observed us, for they are coming straight this way, +like the wind." + +"Will they come as enemies or friends?" inquired Heywood. + +"As friends, I have no doubt," replied the fur-trader. "Come, lads, we +will ride forward to meet them." + +In a short time the two parties of horsemen met. They approached almost +at full speed, as if each meant to ride the other down, and did not rein +up until they were so close that it seemed impossible to avoid a shock. + +"Have you seen the buffaloes lately?" inquired Pemberton, after the +first salutation had passed. + +"Yes, there are large bands not an hour's ride from this. Some of our +young warriors have remained to hunt. We are going to the fort to +trade." + +"Good; you will find tobacco enough there to keep you smoking till I +return with fresh meat," said Pemberton, in the native tongue, which he +could speak like an Indian. "I'll not be long away. Farewell." + +No more words were wasted. The traders galloped away over the prairie, +and the Indians, of whom there were about fifteen, dashed off in the +direction of the fort. + +These Indians were a very different set of men from those whom I have +already introduced to the reader in a former chapter. There are many +tribes of Indians in the wilderness of Rupert's Land, and some of the +tribes are at constant war with each other. But in order to avoid +confusing the reader, it may be as well to divide the Indian race into +two great classes--namely, those who inhabit the woods, and those who +roam over the plains or prairies. As a general rule, the thick wood +Indians are a more peaceful set of men than the prairie Indians. They +are few in number, and live in a land full of game, where there is far +more than enough of room for all of them. Their mode of travelling in +canoes, and on foot, is slow, so that the different tribes do not often +meet, and they have no occasion to quarrel. They are, for the most +part, a quiet and harmless race of savages, and being very dependent on +the fur-traders for the necessaries of life, they are on their good +behaviour, and seldom do much mischief. + +It is very different with the plain Indians. These savages have numbers +of fine horses, and live in a splendid open country, which is +well-stocked with deer and buffaloes, besides other game. They are bold +riders, and scour over the country in all directions, consequently the +different tribes often come across each other when out hunting. +Quarrels and fights are the results, so that these savages are naturally +a fierce and warlike race. They are independent too; for although they +get their guns and ammunition and other necessaries from the traders, +they can manage to live without these things if need be. They can +clothe themselves in the skins of wild animals, and when they lose their +guns, or wet their powder, they can kill game easily with their own bows +and arrows. + +It was a band of these fellows that now went galloping towards Fort +Erie, with the long manes and tails of the half-wild horses and the +scalp-locks on their dresses and their own long black hair streaming in +the wind. + +Pemberton and his party soon came up with the young Indians who had +remained to chase the buffaloes. He found them sheltered behind a +little mound, making preparations for an immediate attack on the +animals, which, however, were not yet visible to the men from the fort. + +"I do believe they've seen buffaloes on the other side of that mound," +said Pemberton, as he rode forward. + +He was right. The Indians, of whom there were six, well mounted and +armed with strong short bows, pointed to the mound, and said that on the +other side of it there were hundreds of buffaloes. + +As the animals were so numerous, no objection was made to the +fur-traders joining in the hunt, so in another moment the united party +leaped from their horses and prepared for action. Some wiped out and +carefully loaded their guns, others examined the priming of their +pieces, and chipped the edges off the flints to make sure of their not +missing fire. All looked to the girths of their saddles, and a few +threw off their coats and rolled their shirt-sleeves up to their +shoulders, as if they were going to undertake hard and bloody work. + +Mr Pemberton took in hand to look after our friend Heywood; the rest +were well qualified to look after themselves. In five minutes they were +all remounted and rode quietly to the brow of the mound. + +Here an interesting sight presented itself. The whole plain was covered +with the huge unwieldy forms of the buffaloes. They were scattered +about, singly and in groups, grazing or playing or lying down, and in +one or two places some of the bulls were engaged in single combat, +pawing the earth, goring each other, and bellowing furiously. + +After one look, the hunters dashed down the hill and were in the midst +of the astonished animals almost before they could raise their heads to +look at them. Now commenced a scene which it is not easy to describe +correctly. Each man had selected his own group of animals, so that the +whole party was scattered in a moment. + +"Follow me," cried Pemberton to Heywood, "observe what I do, and then go +try it yourself." + +The fur-trader galloped at full speed towards a group of buffaloes which +stood right before him, about two hundred yards off. He carried a +single-barrelled gun with a flint lock in his right hand and a bullet in +his mouth, ready to re-load. The buffaloes gazed at him for one moment +in stupid surprise, and then, with a toss of their heads and a whisk of +their tails, they turned and fled. At first they ran with a slow +awkward gait, like pigs; and to one who did not know their powers, it +would seem that the fast-running horses of the two men would quickly +overtake them. But as they warmed to the work their speed increased, +and it required the horses to get up their best paces to overtake them. + +After a furious gallop, Pemberton's horse ran close up alongside of a +fine-looking buffalo cow--so close that he could almost touch the side +of the animal with the point of his gun. Dropping the rein, he pointed +the gun without putting it to his shoulder and fired. The ball passed +through the animal's heart, and it dropt like a stone. At the same +moment Pemberton flung his cap on the ground beside it, so that he might +afterwards claim it as his own. + +The well-trained horse did not shy at the shot, neither did it check its +pace for a moment, but ran straight on and soon placed its master +alongside of another buffalo cow. In the meantime, Pemberton loaded +like lightning. He let the reins hang loose, knowing that the horse +understood his work, and, seizing the powder-horn at his side with his +right hand, drew the wooden stopper with his teeth, and poured a charge +of powder into his left--guessing the quantity, of course. Pouring this +into the gun he put the muzzle to his mouth, and spat the ball into it, +struck the butt on the pommel of the saddle to send it down, as well as +to drive the powder into the pan, and taking his chance of the gun +priming itself, he aimed as before, and pulled the trigger. The +explosion followed, and a second buffalo lay dead upon the plain, with a +glove beside it to show to whom it belonged. + +Scenes similar to this were being enacted all over the plain, with this +difference, that the bad or impatient men sometimes fired too soon and +missed their mark, or by only wounding the animals, infuriated them and +caused them to run faster. One or two ill-trained horses shied when the +guns were fired, and left their riders sprawling on the ground. Others +stumbled into badger-holes and rolled over. The Indians did their work +well. They were used to it, and did not bend their bows until their +horses almost brushed the reeking sides of the huge brutes. Then they +drew to the arrow heads, and, leaning forward, buried the shafts up to +the feathers. The arrow is said to be even more deadly than the bullet. + +Already the plain was strewn with dead or dying buffaloes, and the +ground seemed to tremble with the thunder of the tread of the affrighted +animals. Jasper had `dropt' three, and Arrowhead had slain two, yet the +pace did not slacken--still the work of death went on. + +Having seen Pemberton shoot another animal, Heywood became fired with a +desire to try his own hand, so he edged away from his companion. Seeing +a very large monstrous-looking buffalo flying away by itself at no great +distance, he turned his horse towards it, grasped his gun, shook the +reins, and gave chase. + +Now poor Heywood did not know that the animal he had made up his mind to +kill was a tough old bull; neither did he know that a bull is bad to +eat, and dangerous to follow; and, worse than all, he did not know that +when a bull holds his tail stiff and straight up in the air, it is a +sign that he is in a tremendous rage, and that the wisest thing a man +can do is to let him alone. Heywood, in fact, knew nothing, so he +rushed blindly on his fate. At first the bull did not raise his tail, +but, as the rider drew near, he turned his enormous shaggy head a little +to one side, and looked at him out of the corner of his wicked little +eye. When Heywood came within a few yards and, in attempting to take +aim, fired off his gun by accident straight into the face of the sun, +the tail went up and the bull began to growl. The ferocious aspect of +the creature alarmed the artist, but he had made up his mind to kill it, +so he attempted to re-load, as Pemberton had done. He succeeded, and, +as he was about to turn his attention again to the bull, he observed one +of the men belonging to the fort making towards him. This man saw and +knew the artist's danger, and meant to warn him, but his horse +unfortunately put one of its feet into a hole, and sent him flying head +over heels through the air. Heywood was now so close to the bull that +he had to prepare for another shot. + +The horse he rode was a thoroughly good buffalo-runner. It knew the +dangerous character of the bull, if its rider did not, and kept its eye +watchfully upon it. At last the bull lost patience, and, suddenly +wheeling round, dashed at the horse, but the trained animal sprang +nimbly to one side, and got out of the way. Heywood was all but thrown. +He clutched the mane, however, and held on. The bull then continued +its flight. + +Determined not to be caught in this way again, the artist seized the +reins, and ran the horse close alongside of the buffalo, whose tail was +now as stiff as a poker. Once more the bull turned suddenly round. +Heywood pulled the reins violently, thus confusing his steed which ran +straight against the buffalo's big hairy forehead. It was stopped as +violently as if it had run against the side of a house. But poor +Heywood was not stopped. He left the saddle like a rocket, flew right +over the bull's back, came down on his face, ploughed up the land with +his nose--and learned a lesson from experience! + +Fortunately the spot, on which he fell, happened to be one of those soft +muddy places, in which the buffaloes are fond of rolling their huge +bodies, in the heat of summer, so that, with the exception of a bruised +and dirty face, and badly soiled clothes, the bold artist was none the +worse for his adventure. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +WINTER--SLEEPING IN THE SNOW--A NIGHT ALARM. + +Summer passed away, autumn passed away, and winter came. So did +Christmas, and so did Jasper's marriage-day. + +Now the reader must understand that there is a wonderful difference +between the winter in that part of the North American wilderness called +Rupert's land, and winter in our own happy island. + +Winter out there is from six to eight months long. The snow varies from +three to four feet deep, and in many places it drifts to fifteen or +twenty feet deep. The ice on the lakes and rivers is sometimes above +six feet thick; and the salt sea itself, in Hudson's Bay, is frozen over +to a great extent. Nothing like a thaw takes place for many months at a +time, and the frost is so intense that it is a matter of difficulty to +prevent one's-self from being frost-bitten. The whole country, during +these long winter months, appears white, desolate, and silent. + +Yet a good many of the birds and animals keep moving about, though most +of them do so at night, and do not often meet the eye of man. The bear +goes to sleep all winter in a hole, but the wolf and the fox prowl about +the woods at night. Ducks, geese, and plover no longer enliven the +marshes with their wild cries; but white grouse, or ptarmigan, fly about +in immense flocks, and arctic hares make many tracks in the deep snow. +Still, these are quiet creatures, and they scarcely break the deep dead +silence of the forests in winter. + +At this period the Indian and the fur-trader wrap themselves in warm +dresses of deer-skin, lined with the thickest flannel, and spend their +short days in trapping and shooting. At night the Indian piles logs on +his fire to keep out the frost, and adds to the warmth of his skin-tent +by heaping snow up the outside of it all round. The fur-trader puts +double window-frames and double panes of glass in his windows, puts on +double doors, and heats his rooms with cast-iron stoves. + +But do what he will, the fur-trader cannot keep out the cold altogether. +He may heat the stove red-hot if he will, yet the water in the basins +and jugs in the corner of his room will be frozen, and his breath +settles on the window-panes, and freezes there so thickly that it +actually dims the light of the sun. This crust on the windows _inside_ +is sometimes an inch thick! + +Thermometers in England are usually filled with quicksilver. In +Rupert's Land quicksilver would be frozen half the winter, so spirit of +wine is used instead, because that liquid will not freeze with any +ordinary degree of cold. Here, the thermometer sometimes falls as low +as zero. Out there it does not rise so high as zero during the greater +part of the winter, and it is often as low as twenty, thirty, and even +fifty degrees _below_ zero. + +If the wind should blow when the cold is intense, no man dare face it-- +he would be certain to be frost-bitten. The parts of the body that are +most easily frozen are the ears, the chin, the cheek-bones, the nose, +the heels, fingers, and toes. The freezing of any part begins with a +pricking sensation. When this occurs at the point of your nose, it is +time to give earnest attention to that feature, else you run the risk of +having it shortened. The best way to recover it is to rub it well, and +to keep carefully away from the fire. + +The likest thing to a frost-bite is a burn. In fact, the two things are +almost the same. In both cases the skin or flesh is destroyed, and +becomes a sore. In the one case it is destroyed by fire, in the other +by frost; but in both it is painful and dangerous, according to the +depth of the frost-bite or the burn. Many a poor fellow loses joints of +his toes and fingers--some have even lost their hands and feet by frost. +Many have lost their lives. But the most common loss is the loss of +the skin of the point of the nose, cheek-bones, and chin--a loss which +is indeed painful, but can be replaced by nature in the course of time. + +Of course curious appearances are produced by such intense cold. On +going out into the open air, the breath settles on the breast, whiskers, +and eyebrows in the shape of hoar-frost; and men who go out in the +morning for a ramble with black or brown locks, return at night with +what appears to be grey hair--sometimes with icicles hanging about their +faces. Horses and cattle there are seldom without icicles hanging from +their lips and noses in winter. + +Poor Mr Pemberton was much troubled in this way. He was a fat and +heavy man, and apt to perspire freely. When he went out to shoot in +winter, the moisture trickled down his face and turned his whiskers into +two little blocks of ice; and he used to be often seen, after a hard +day's walk, sitting for a long time beside the stove, holding his cheeks +to the fire, and gently coaxing the icy blocks to let go their hold! + +But for all this, the long winter of those regions is a bright enjoyable +season. The cold is not felt so much as one would expect, because it is +not _damp_, and the weather is usually bright and sunny. + +From what I have said, the reader will understand that summer in those +regions is short and very hot; the winter long and very cold. Both +seasons have their own peculiar enjoyments, and, to healthy men, both +are extremely agreeable. + +I have said that Jasper's marriage-day had arrived. New Year's Day was +fixed for his union with the fair and gentle Marie. As is usual at this +festive season of the year, it was arranged that a ball should be given +at the fort in the large hall to all the people that chanced to be there +at the time. + +Old Laroche had been sent to a small hut a long day's march from the +fort, where he was wont to spend his time in trapping foxes. He was +there alone, so, three days before New Year's Day, Jasper set out with +Arrowhead to visit the old man, and bear him company on his march back +to the fort. + +There are no roads in that country. Travellers have to plod through the +wilderness as they best can. It may not have occurred to my reader that +it would be a difficult thing to walk for a day through snow so deep, +that, at every step, the traveller would sink the whole length of his +leg. The truth is, that travelling in Rupert's Land in winter would be +impossible but for a machine which enables men to walk on the surface of +the snow without sinking more than a few inches. This machine is the +snowshoe. Snow-shoes vary in size and form in different parts of the +country, but they are all used for the same purpose. Some are long and +narrow; others are nearly round. They vary in size from three to six +feet in length, and from eight to twenty inches in breadth. They are +extremely light--made of a frame-work of hard wood, and covered with a +network of deer-skin, which, while it prevents the wearer from sinking +more than a few inches, allows any snow that may chance to fall on the +top of the shoe to pass through the netting. + +The value of this clumsy looking machine may be imagined, when I say +that men with them will easily walk twenty, thirty, and even forty miles +across a country over which they could not walk three miles without such +helps. + +It was a bright, calm, frosty morning when Jasper and his friend set out +on their short journey. The sun shone brilliantly, and the hoar-frost +sparkled on the trees and bushes, causing them to appear as if they had +been covered with millions of diamonds. The breath of the two men came +from their mouths like clouds of steam. Arrowhead wore the round +snow-shoes which go by the name of bear's paws--he preferred these to +any others. Jasper wore the snow-shoes peculiar to the Chipewyan +Indians. They were nearly as long as himself, and turned up at the +point. Both men were dressed alike, in the yellow leathern costume of +winter. The only difference being that Jasper wore a fur cap, while +Arrowhead sported a cloth head-piece that covered his neck and +shoulders, and was ornamented with a pair of horns. + +All day the two men plodded steadily over the country. Sometimes they +were toiling through deep snow in wooded places, sinking six or eight +inches in spite of their snow-shoes. At other times they were passing +swiftly over the surface of the open plains, where the snow was beaten +so hard by exposure to the sun and wind that the shoes only just broke +the crust and left their outlines behind. + +Then they reached a bend of the river, where they had again to plod +heavily through the woods on its banks, until they came out upon its +frozen surface. Here the snow was so hard, that they took off their +snow-shoes and ran briskly along without them for a long space. + +Thus they travelled all day, without one halt, and made such good use of +their time, that they arrived at the log-hut of old Laroche early in the +evening. + +"Well met, son-in-law, _that_ _is_ _to_ _be_," cried the stout old man +heartily, as the two hunters made their appearance before the low +door-way of his hut, which was surrounded by trees and almost buried in +snow. "If you had been half an hour later, I would have met you in the +woods." + +"How so, father-in-law, _that_ _is_ _to_ _be_," said Jasper, "were ye +goin' out to your traps so late as this?" + +"Nay, man, but I was startin' for the fort. It's a long way, as you +know, and my old limbs are not just so supple as yours. I thought I +would travel to-night, and sleep in the woods, so as to be there in good +time to-morrow. But come in, come in, and rest you. I warrant me +you'll not feel inclined for more walkin' to-night." + +"Now my name is not Jasper Derry if I enter your hut this night," said +the hunter stoutly. "If I could not turn round and walk straight back +to the fort this night, I would not be worthy of your daughter, old man. +So come along with you. What say you, Arrowhead; shall we go straight +back?" + +"Good," answered the Indian. + +"Well, well," cried Laroche, laughing, "lead the way, and I will follow +in your footsteps. It becomes young men to beat the track, and old ones +to take it easy." + +The three men turned their faces towards Fort Erie, and were soon far +away from the log-hut. They walked steadily and silently along, without +once halting, until the night became so dark that it was difficult to +avoid stumps and bushes. Then they prepared to encamp in the snow. + +Now it may seem to many people a very disagreeable idea, that of +sleeping out in snow, but one who has tried it can assure them that it +is not so bad as it seems. No doubt, when Jasper halted in the cold +dark woods, and said, "I think this will be a pretty good place to +sleep," any one unacquainted with the customs of that country would have +thought the man was jesting or mad; for, besides being very dismal, in +consequence of its being pitch dark, it was excessively cold, and snow +was falling steadily and softly on the ground. But Jasper knew what he +was about, and so did the others. Without saying a word, the three men +flung down their bundles of provisions, and each set to work to make the +encampment. Of course they had to work in darkness so thick that even +the white snow could scarcely be seen. + +First of all they selected a tree, the branches of which were so thick +and spreading as to form a good shelter from the falling snow. Here +Jasper and Laroche used their snow-shoes as shovels, while Arrowhead +plied his axe and soon cut enough of firewood for the night. He also +cut a large bundle of small branches for bedding. A space of about +twelve feet long, by six broad, was cleared at the foot of the tree in +half an hour. But the snow was so deep that they had to dig down four +feet before they reached the turf. As the snow taken out of the hole +was thrown up all round it, the walls rose to nearly seven feet. + +Arrowhead next lighted a roaring fire at one end of this cleared space, +the others strewed the branches over the space in front of it, and +spread their blankets on the top, after which the kettle was put on to +boil, buffalo steaks were stuck up before the fire to roast, and the men +then lay down to rest and smoke, while supper was preparing. The +intense cold prevented the fire from melting the snowy walls of this +encampment, which shone and sparkled in the red blaze like pink marble +studded all over with diamonds, while the spreading branches formed a +ruddy-looking ceiling. When they had finished supper, the heat of the +fire and the heat of their food made the travellers feel quite warm and +comfortable, in spite of John Frost; and when they at last wrapped their +blankets round them and laid their heads together on the branches, they +fell into a sleep more sound and refreshing than they would have enjoyed +had they gone to rest in a warm house upon the best bed in England. + +But when the fire went out, about the middle of the night, the cold +became so intense that they were awakened by it, so Jasper rose and blew +up the fire, and the other two sat up and filled their pipes, while +their teeth chattered in their heads. Soon the blaze and the smoke +warmed them, and again they lay down to sleep comfortably till morning. + +Before daybreak, however, Arrowhead--who never slept so soundly but that +he could be wakened by the slightest unusual noise--slowly raised his +head and touched Jasper on the shoulder. The hunter was too +well-trained to the dangers of the wilderness to start up or speak. He +uttered no word, but took up his gun softly, and looked in the direction +in which the Indian's eyes gazed. A small red spot in the ashes served +to reveal a pair of glaring eye-balls among the bushes. + +"A wolf," whispered Jasper, cocking his gun. "No; a man," said +Arrowhead. + +At the sound of the click of the lock the object in the bushes moved. +Jasper leaped up in an instant, pointed his gun, and shouted sternly-- + +"Stand fast and speak, or I fire!" + +At the same moment Arrowhead kicked the logs of the fire, and a bright +flame leapt up, showing that the owner of the pair of eyes was an +Indian. Seeing that he was discovered, and that if he turned to run he +would certainly be shot, the savage came forward sulkily and sat down +beside the fire. Jasper asked him why he came there in that stealthy +manner like a sly fox. The Indian said he was merely travelling by +night, and had come on the camp unexpectedly. Not knowing who was +there, he had come forward with caution. + +Jasper was not satisfied with this reply. He did not like the look of +the man, and he felt sure that he had seen him somewhere before, but his +face was disfigured with war paint, and he could not feel certain on +that point until he remembered the scene in the trading store at +Jasper's House. + +"What--Darkeye!" cried he, "can it be you?" + +"Darkeye!" shouted Laroche, suddenly rising from his reclining position +and staring the Indian in the face with a dark scowl. "Why, Jasper, +this is the villain who insulted my daughter, and to whom I taught the +lesson that an old man could knock him down." + +The surprise and indignation of Jasper on hearing this was great, but +remembering that the savage had already been punished for his offence, +and that it would be mean to take advantage of him when there were three +to one, he merely said-- + +"Well, well, I won't bear a grudge against a man who is coward enough to +insult a woman. I would kick you out o' the camp, Darkeye, but as you +might use your gun when you got into the bushes, I won't give you that +chance. At the same time, we can't afford to lose the rest of our nap +for you, so Arrowhead will keep you safe here and watch you, while +Laroche and I sleep. We will let you go at daybreak." + +Saying this Jasper lay down beside his father-in-law, and they were both +asleep in a few minutes, leaving the two Indians to sit and scowl at +each other beside the fire. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE WEDDING, AN ARRIVAL, A FEAST, AND A BALL. + +New Year's Day came at last, and on the morning of that day Jasper Derry +and Marie Laroche were made man and wife. They were married by the +Reverend Mr Wilson, a Wesleyan missionary, who had come to Fort Erie, a +few days before, on a visit to the tribes of Indians in that +neighbourhood. + +The North American Indian has no religion worthy of the name; but he has +a conscience, like other men, which tells him that it is wrong to murder +and to steal. Yet, although he knows this, he seldom hesitates to do +both when he is tempted thereto. Mr Wilson was one of those earnest +missionaries who go to that wilderness and face its dangers, as well as +its hardships and sufferings, for the sake of teaching the savage that +the mere knowledge of right and wrong is not enough--that the love of +God, wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit, alone can enable +him to resist evil and do good--that belief in the Lord Jesus Christ +alone can save the soul. + +There are several missionaries of this stamp--men who love the name of +Jesus--in that region, and there are a number of stations where the good +seed of God's Word is being planted in the wilderness. But I have not +space, and this is not the place, to enlarge on the great and +interesting subject of missionary work in Rupert's Land. I must return +to my narrative. + +It was, as I have said, New Year's day when Jasper and Marie were +married. And a remarkably bright, beautiful morning it was. The snow +appeared whiter than usual, and the countless gems of hoar-frost that +hung on shrub and tree seemed to sparkle more than usual; even the sun +appeared to shine more brightly than ever it did before--at least it +seemed so in the eyes of Jasper and Marie. + +"Everything seems to smile on us to-day, Marie," said Jasper, as they +stood with some of their friends at the gate of the fort, just after the +ceremony was concluded. + +"I trust that God may smile on you, and bless your union, my friends," +said Mr Wilson, coming forward with a small Bible in his hand. "Here +is a copy of God's Word, Jasper, which I wish you to accept of and keep +as a remembrance of me and of this day." + +"I'll keep it, sir, and I thank you heartily," said Jasper, taking the +book and returning the grasp of the missionary's hand. + +"And my chief object in giving it to you, Jasper, is, that you and Marie +may read it often, and find joy and peace to your souls." + +As the missionary said this a faint sound, like the tinkling of distant +bells, was heard in the frosty air. + +Looks of surprise and excitement showed that this was an unwonted sound. +And so it was; for only once or twice during the long winter did a +visitor gladden Fort Erie with his presence. These sweet sounds were +the tinkling of sleigh-bells, and they told that a stranger was +approaching--that letters, perhaps, and news from far-distant homes, +might be near at band. + +Only twice in the year did the Europeans at that lonely outpost receive +letters from home. Little wonder that they longed for them, and that +they went almost wild with joy when they came. + +Soon the sleigh appeared in sight, coming up the river at full speed, +and a loud "hurrah!" from the men at the gate, told the visitor that he +was a welcome guest. It was a dog-sleigh--a sort of conveyance much +used by the fur-traders in winter travelling. In form, it was as like +as possible to a tin slipper bath. It might also be compared to a shoe. +If the reader will try to conceive of a shoe large enough to hold a +man, sitting with his legs out before him, that will give him a good +idea of the shape of a dog cariole. There is sometimes an ornamental +curve in front. It is made of two thin hardwood planks curled up in +front, with a light frame-work of wood, covered over with deer or +buffalo skin, and painted in a very gay manner. Four dogs are usually +harnessed to it, and these are quite sufficient to drag a man on a +journey of many days, over every sort of country, where there is no road +whatever. Dogs are much used for hauling little sledges in that country +in winter. The traveller sits wrapped up so completely in furs, that +nothing but his head is visible. He is attended by a driver on +snow-shoes, who is armed with a large whip. No reins are used. If the +snow is hard, as is usually the case on the surface of a lake or river, +the driver walks behind and holds on to a tail-line, to prevent the dogs +from running away. If the traveller's way lies through the woods, the +snow is so soft and deep that the poor dogs are neither willing nor able +to run away. It is as much as they can do to walk; so the driver goes +before them, in this case, and beats down the snow with his +snow-shoes--"beats the track," as it is called. The harness of the dogs +is usually very gay, and covered with little bells which give forth a +cheerful tinkling sound. + +"It's young Cameron," cried Mr Pemberton, hastening forward to welcome +the newcomer. + +Cameron was the gentleman in charge of the nearest outpost--two hundred +and fifty miles down the river. + +"Welcome, Cameron, my boy, welcome to Fort Erie. You are the +pleasantest sight we have seen here for many a day," said Pemberton, +shaking the young man heartily by the hand as soon as he had jumped out +of his sleigh. + +"Come, Pemberton, you forget Miss Marie Laroche when you talk of my +being the pleasantest sight," said Cameron, laughing. + +"Ah! true. Pardon me, Marie--" + +"Excuse me, gentlemen," interrupted Jasper, with much gravity, "I know +of no such person as Miss Marie Laroche!" + +"How? what do you mean?" said Cameron, with a puzzled look. + +"Jasper is right," explained Pemberton, "Marie was _Miss_ _Laroche_ +yesterday; she is _Mrs Derry_ to-day." + +"Then I salute you, Mrs Derry, and congratulate you both," cried the +young man, kissing the bride's fair cheek, "and I rejoice to find that I +am still in time to dance at your wedding." + +"Ay," said Pemberton, as they moved up to the hall, "that reminds me to +ask you why you are so late. I expected you before Christmas Day." + +"I had intended to be here by that day," replied Cameron, "but one of my +men cut his foot badly with an axe, and I could not leave him; then my +dogs broke down on the journey, and that detained me still longer. But +you will forgive my being so late, I think, when I tell you that I have +got a packet of letters with me." + +"Letters!" shouted every one. + +"Ay, letters and newspapers from England." + +A loud cheer greeted this announcement. The packet was hauled out of +the sleigh, hurried up to the fort, torn open with eager haste, and the +fur-traders of Fort Erie were soon devouring the contents like hungry +men. + +And they _were_ hungry men--they were starving! Those who see their +kindred and friends daily, or hear from them weekly, cannot understand +the feelings of men who hear from them only twice in the year. Great +improvements have taken place in this matter of late years; still, many +of the Hudson Bay Company's outposts are so distant from the civilised +world, that they cannot get news from "home" oftener than twice a year. + +It was a sight to study and moralise over--the countenances of these +banished men. The trembling anxiety lest there should be "bad news." +The gleam of joy, and the deep "thank God," on reading "all well." Then +the smiles, the sighs, the laughs, the exclamations of surprise, perhaps +the tears that _would_ spring to their eyes as they read the brief but, +to them, thrilling private history of the past half year. + +There was no bad news in that packet, and a feeling of deep joy was +poured into the hearts of the people of the fort by these "Good news +from a far country." Even the half-breeds and Indians, who could not +share the feeling, felt the sweet influence of the general happiness +that was diffused among the fur-traders on that bright New Year's Day in +the wilderness. + +What a dinner they had that day to be sure! What juicy roasts of +buffalo beef; what enormous steaks of the same; what a magnificent +venison pasty; and what glorious marrow-bones--not to mention tongues, +and hearts, and grouse, and other things! But the great feature of the +feast was the plum-pudding. It was like a huge cannon-ball with the +measles! There was wine, too, on this occasion. Not much, it is true, +but more than enough, for it had been saved up all the year expressly +for the Christmas and New Year's festivities. Thus they were enabled to +drink to absent friends, and bring up all the old toasts and songs that +used to be so familiar long ago in the "old country." But these sturdy +traders needed no stimulants. There were one or two who even scorned +the wine, and stuck to water, and to their credit be it said, that they +toasted and sang with the best of them. + +At night there was a ball, and the ball beat the dinner out of sight. +Few indeed were the women, but numerous were the men. Indian women are +not famous for grace or cleanliness, poor things. But they enjoyed the +ball, and they did their best to dance. Such dancing! They seemed to +have no joints. They stood up stiff as lamp-posts, and went with an +up-and-down motion from side to side. But the men did the thing +bravely, especially the Indians. The only dances attempted were Scotch +reels, and the Indians tried to copy the fur-traders; but on finding +this somewhat difficult, they introduced some surprising steps of their +own, which threw the others entirely into the shade! There was +unfortunately no fiddler, but there was a fiddle--one made of pine wood +by an Indian, with strings of deer-skin sinew. Some of the boldest of +the party scraped _time_ without regard to _tune_, and our friend +Heywood beat the kettle-drum. The tones of the fiddle at last became so +horrible that it was banished altogether, and they danced that night to +the kettle-drum! + +Of course the fair bride was the queen of that ball. Her countenance +was the light of it, and her modest, womanly manner had a softening +influence on the rough men who surrounded her. + +When the ball was over, a curious thing occurred in the hall in which it +had taken place. The room was heated by a stove, and as a stove dries +the air of a room too much, it was customary to keep a pan of water on +the stove to moisten it a little. This moisture was increased that +night by the steam of the supper and by the wild dancing, so that, when +all was over, the walls and ceiling were covered with drops of water. +During the night this all froze in the form of small beautifully-shaped +crystals, and in the morning they found themselves in a crystal palace +of nature's own formation, which beat all the crystal palaces that ever +were heard of--at least in originality, if not in splendour. + +Thus happily ended the marriage-day of honest Jasper Derry and sweet +Marie Laroche, and thus pleasantly began the new year of 18--. But as +surely as darkness follows light, and night follows day, so surely does +sorrow tread on the heels of joy in the history of man. God has so +ordained it, and he is wise who counts upon experiencing both. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +THE CONCLUSION. + +A week after the events narrated in the last chapter, Jasper Derry was +sitting beside the stove in the hall at Fort Erie, smoking his pipe and +conversing with his father-in-law about his intention of going to Lake +Winnipeg with the brigade in spring and proceeding thence to Canada in a +bark canoe. + +"Of course," said he, "I will take Marie with me, and if you'll take my +advice, father, you'll come too." + +"No, my son, not yet a while," said old Laroche, shaking his head; "I +have a year yet to serve the Company before my engagement is out. After +that I may come, if I'm spared; but you know that the Indians are not +safe just now, and some of them, I fear, bear me a grudge, for they're a +revengeful set." + +"That's true, father, but supposin' that all goes well with you, will ye +come an' live with Marie and me?" + +"We shall see, lad; we shall see," replied Laroche, with a pleased +smile; for the old guide evidently enjoyed the prospect of spending the +evening of life in the land of his fathers, and under the roof-tree of +his son and daughter. + +At that moment the report of a gun was heard outside the house. One of +the window-panes was smashed and at the same instant Laroche fell +heavily forward on the floor. + +Jasper sprang up and endeavoured to raise him, but found that he was +insensible. He laid him carefully on his back, and hastily opened the +breast of his coat. A few drops of blood showed where he had been +wounded. Meanwhile several of the men who had been attracted by the +gunshot so close to the house burst into the room. + +"Stand back, stand back, give him air," cried Jasper; "stay, O God help +us! the old man is shot clean through the heart!" + +For one moment Jasper looked up with a bewildered glance in the faces of +the men, then, uttering a wild cry of mingled rage and agony, he sprang +up, dashed them aside, and catching up his gun and snow-shoes rushed out +of the house. + +He soon found a fresh track in the snow, and the length of the stride, +coupled with the manner in which the snow was cast aside, and the +smaller bushes were broken and trodden down, told him that the fugitive +had made it. In a moment, he was following the track, with the utmost +speed, of which he was capable. He never once halted, or faltered, or +turned aside, all that day. His iron frame seemed to be incapable of +fatigue. He went with his body bent forward, his brows lowering, and +his lips firmly compressed; but he was not successful. The murderer had +got a sufficiently long start of him to render what sailors call a stern +chase a long one. Still Jasper never thought of giving up the pursuit, +until he came suddenly on an open space, where the snow had been +recently trodden down by a herd of buffaloes, and by a band of Indians +who were in chase of them. + +Here he lost the track, and although he searched long and carefully he +could not find it. Late that night the baffled hunter returned to the +fort. + +"You have failed--I see by your look," said Mr Pemberton, as Jasper +entered. + +"Ay, I have failed," returned the other gloomily. "He must have gone +with the band of Indians among whose tracks I lost his footsteps." + +"Have you any idea who can have done this horrible deed?" said +Pemberton. + +"It was Darkeye," said Jasper in a stern voice. + +Some of the Indians who chanced to be in the hall were startled, and +rose on hearing this. + +"Be not alarmed, friends," said the fur-trader. "You are the guests of +Christian men. We will not punish you for the deeds of another man of +your tribe." + +"How does the white man know that this was done by Darkeye?" asked a +chief haughtily. + +"I _know_ _it_," said Jasper angrily; "I feel sure of it; but I cannot +prove it--of course. Does Arrowhead agree with me?" + +"He does!" replied the Indian, "and there may be proof. Does Jasper +remember the trading store and the _bitten_ _bullet_?" + +A gleam of intelligence shot across the countenance of the white hunter +as his comrade said this. "True, Arrowhead, true." + +He turned, as he spoke, to the body of his late father-in-law, and +examined the wound. The ball, after passing through the heart, had +lodged in the back, just under the skin. + +"See," said he to the Indians, "I will cut out this ball, but before +doing so I will tell how I think it is marked." + +He then related the incident in the trading store, with which the reader +is already acquainted, and afterwards extracted the ball, which, +although much flattened and knocked out of shape, showed clearly the +deep marks made by the Indian's teeth. Thus, the act which had been +done slyly but boastfully before the eyes of a comrade, probably as +wicked as himself, became the means whereby Darkeye's guilt was clearly +proved. + +At once a party of his own tribe were directed by their chief to go out +in pursuit of the murderer. + +It were vain for me to endeavour to describe the anguish of poor Marie +on being deprived of a kind and loving father in so awful and sudden a +manner. I will drop a veil over her grief, which was too deep and +sacred to be intermeddled with. + +On the day following the murder, a band of Indians arrived at Fort Erie +with buffalo skins for sale. To the amazement of every one Darkeye +himself was among them. The wily savage--knowing that his attempting to +quit that part of the country as a fugitive would be certain to fix +suspicion on him as the murderer--resolved to face the fur-traders as if +he were ignorant of the deed which had been done. By the very boldness +of this step he hoped to disarm suspicion; but he forgot the _bitten_ +_ball_. + +It was therefore a look of genuine surprise that rose to Darkeye's +visage, when, the moment he entered the fort, Mr Pemberton seized him +by the right arm, and led him into the hall. + +At first he attempted to seize the handle of his knife, but a glance at +the numbers of the white men, and the indifference of his own friends, +showed him that his best chance lay in cunning. + +The Indians who had arrived with him were soon informed by the others of +the cause of this, and all of them crowded into the hall to watch the +proceedings. The body of poor Laroche was laid on a table, and Darkeye +was led up to it. The cunning Indian put on a pretended look of +surprise on beholding it, and then the usual expression of stolid +gravity settled on his face as he turned to Mr Pemberton for +information. + +"_Your_ hand did this," said the fur-trader. + +"Is Darkeye a dog that he should slay an old man?" said the savage. + +"No, you're not a dog," cried Jasper fiercely; "you are worse--a +cowardly murderer?" + +"Stand back, Jasper," said Mr Pemberton, laying his hand on the +shoulder of the excited hunter, and thrusting him firmly away. "This is +a serious charge. The Indian shall not be hastily condemned. He shall +have fair play, and _justice_." + +"Good!" cried several of the Indians on hearing this. Meanwhile the +principal chief of the tribe took up his stand close beside the +prisoner. + +"Darkeye," said Mr Pemberton, while he looked steadfastly into the eyes +of the Indian, who returned the look as steadily--"Darkeye, do you +remember a conversation you had many weeks ago in the trading store at +Jasper's House?" + +The countenance of the Indian was instantly troubled, and he said with +some hesitation, "Darkeye has had many conversations in that store; is +he a medicine-man [a conjurer] that he should know what you mean?" + +"I will only put one other question," said the fur-trader. "Do you know +this bullet _with_ _the_ _marks_ _of_ _teeth_ in it?" + +Darkeye's visage fell at once. He became deadly pale, and his limbs +trembled. He was about to speak when the chief, who had hitherto stood +in silence at his side, suddenly whirled his tomahawk in the air, and, +bringing it down on the murderer's skull, cleft him to the chin! + +A fierce yell followed this act, and several scalping knives reached the +dead man's heart before his body fell to the ground. The scene that +followed was terrible. The savages were roused to a state of frenzy, +and for a moment the white men feared an attack, but the anger of the +Indians was altogether directed against their dead comrade, who had been +disliked by his people, while his poor victim Laroche had been a +universal favourite. Seizing the body of Darkeye, they carried it down +to the banks of the river, hooting and yelling as they went; hacked and +cut it nearly to pieces, and then, kindling a large fire, they threw the +mangled corpse into it, and burned it to ashes. + +It was long before the shadow of this dark cloud passed away from Fort +Erie; and it was longer still before poor Marie recovered her wonted +cheerfulness. But the presence of Mr Wilson did much to comfort her. +Gradually time softened the pang and healed the wound. + +And now, little remains to be told. Winter passed away and spring came, +and when the rivers and lakes were sufficiently free from ice, the +brigade of boats left Fort Erie, laden with furs, for the sea-coast. + +On arriving at Lake Winnipeg, Jasper obtained a small canoe, and, +placing his wife and Heywood in the middle of it, he and Arrowhead took +the paddles, seated themselves in the bow and stern, and guided their +frail bark through many hundreds of miles of wilderness--over many a +rough portage, across many a beautiful lake, and up many a roaring +torrent, until, finally, they arrived in Canada. + +Here Jasper settled. His farm prospered--his family increased. Sturdy +boys, in course of time, ploughed the land and blooming daughters tended +the dairy. Yet Jasper Derry did not cease to toil. He was one of those +men who _feel_ that they were made to work, and that much happiness +flows from working. He often used to say that if it was God's will, he +would "like to die in harness." + +Jasper's only weakness was the pipe. It stuck to him and he stuck to it +to the last. Marie, in course of time, came to tolerate it, and +regularly filled it for him every night. + +Evening was the time when the inmates of Erie Cottage (as their +residence was named) enjoyed themselves most; for it was then that the +stalwart sons and the blooming daughters circled round the great fire of +wood that roared, on winter nights, up the chimney; and it was then that +Jasper received his pipe from his still good-looking, though rather +stout, Marie, and began to spin yarns about his young days. At this +time, too, it was, that the door would frequently open, and a rugged old +Indian would stalk in like a mahogany ghost, and squat down in front of +the fire. He was often followed by a tall thin old gentleman, who was +extremely excitable, but good-humoured. Jasper greeted these two +remarkable looking men by the names of Arrowhead and Heywood. + +And glad were the young people when they saw their wrinkled faces, for +then, they knew from experience, their old father would become more +lively than usual, and would go on for hours talking of all the wonders +and dangers that he had seen and encountered long, long ago, when he and +his two friends were away in the wilderness. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Away in the Wilderness, by R.M. 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