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diff --git a/21718.txt b/21718.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc89f69 --- /dev/null +++ b/21718.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10904 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Otter, 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: The Big Otter + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21718] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIG OTTER *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +THE BIG OTTER, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +SLEEPING IN SNOW. + +Cold comfort is naturally suggested by a bed of snow, yet I have enjoyed +great comfort and much warmth in such a bed. + +My friend Lumley was particularly fond of warmth and of physical ease, +yet he often expressed the opinion, with much emphasis, that there was +nothing he enjoyed so much as a night in a snow-bed. Jack Lumley was my +chum--a fine manly fellow with a vigorous will, a hardy frame, and a +kindly heart. We had a natural leaning towards each other--a sort of +undefinable sympathy--which inclined us to seek each other's company in +a quiet unobtrusive way. We were neither of us demonstrative; we did +not express regard for each other; we made no protestations of undying +friendship, but we drew together, somehow, especially in our hunting +expeditions which were numerous. + +On holidays--we had two in the week at the outpost in the American +backwoods where we dwelt--when the other young fellows were cleaning +gulls or arranging snow-shoes for the day's work, Lumley was wont to say +to me:-- + +"Where d'you intend to shoot to-day, Max?" (Max was an abbreviation; my +real name is George Maxby.) + +"I think I'll go up by the willows and round by Beaver Creek." + +"I've half a mind to go that way too." + +"Come along then." + +And so we would go off together for the day. + +One morning Lumley said to me, "I'm off to North River; will you come?" + +"With pleasure, but we'll have to camp out." + +"Well, it won't be the first time." + +"D'you know that the thermometer stood at forty below zero this morning +before breakfast?" + +"I know it; what then? Mercurial fellows like you don't freeze easily." + +I did not condescend to reply, but set about preparing for our +expedition, resolving to carry my largest blanket with me, for camping +out implied sleeping in the snow. + +Of course I must guard my readers--especially my juvenile readers--from +supposing that it was our purpose that night to undress and calmly lie +down in, or on, the pure white winding-sheet in which the frozen world +of the Great Nor'-west had been at that time wrapped for more than four +months. Our snow-bed, like other beds, required making, but I will +postpone the making of it till bed-time. Meanwhile, let us follow the +steps of Lumley, who, being taller and stronger than I, _always_ led the +way. + +This leading of the way through the trackless wilderness in snow +averaging four feet deep is harder work than one might suppose. It +could not be done at all without the aid of snow-shoes, which, varying +from three to five feet in length, enable the traveller to walk on the +surface of the snow, into which he would otherwise sink, more or less, +according to its condition. If it be newly fallen and very soft, he +sinks six, eight, or more inches. If it be somewhat compressed by time +or wind he sinks only an inch or two. On the hard surface of exposed +lakes and rivers, where it is beaten to the appearance of marble, he +dispenses with snow-shoes altogether, slings them on his gun, and +carries them over his shoulder. + +Our first mile lay through a clump of pine-wood, where snow had recently +fallen. When I looked at my comrade's broad back, and observed the +vigour of his action as he trod deep into the virgin snow at every +stride, scattering it aside like fine white powder as he lifted each +foot, I thought how admirably he was fitted for a pioneer in the +wilderness, or for the work of those dauntless, persevering men who go +forth to add to the world's geographical knowledge, and to lead the +expeditions sent out in search of such lost heroes as Franklin and +Livingstone. + +My own work was comparatively light. I had merely to tread in the +beaten path. I was not, however, thereby secured from disaster, as I +found when, having advanced about half a mile, my right shoe caught a +twig to which it held for a moment, and then, breaking loose, allowed me +to pitch head down with such violence that I almost reached mother earth +four feet below the surface. + +This kind of plunge is always awkward owing to the difficulty of rising, +and usually disagreeable, owing to the manner in which snow stuffs +itself into neck, ears, nose, eyes, mouth--if open--and any convenient +crevice of person or garments. The snow-shoes, too, which are so +serviceable when you are above them, become exasperatingly obstructive +when you are below them. After a struggle of two minutes I got my head +clear, winked the snow out of my eyes, blew it from my mouth and +nostrils, and looked up. Lumley was standing there with a bland smile +on his amiable face; he seldom laughed, though he sometimes chuckled! + +"What do you mean by grinning there like a Cheshire cat?" I exclaimed, +"why don't you lend a hand?" + +"What do you mean by tumbling there like a Christmas goose?" he +retorted, "why don't you look out for stumps and twigs as I do?" + +He made some amends for this reply by extending his hand and helping me +to rise. + +In a few minutes we were clear of the pine-wood, and came out upon a +piece of swampland, where the stunted willow bushes just showed their +tops above the surface of the snow. This led us to a bend of the broad +river, near to which, further down, stood our outpost--Fort Dunregan. + +For four months there had been neither sight nor sound of water in that +river. It was frozen to the bottom, except in the middle where its dark +unseen waters flowed silently under six feet or more of solid ice +through many a river-channel and lake to the distant sea. In fact, save +for the suggestive form of its banks, the river might have been mistaken +for an elongated plain or piece of open land. The surface of the snow +here was, from exposure to wind and sun, as hard as pavement. We +therefore took off our snow-shoes, and, the necessity for maintaining +the Indian-file position being removed, we walked abreast. + +"The air is keen here," remarked Lumley, pulling the thick shawl that +was round his neck as far up over his mouth as his well-developed nose +would permit. + +"It is," said I, following his example with greater success, my own nose +being a snub. + +There was no wind; not even a breeze--there seldom is at such +temperature--but there was a very slight movement of the air, caused by +our own advance, which was just sufficient to make one appreciate the +intensity of the cold. It became necessary now to pay frequent +attention to our noses and cheek-bones and toes, to prevent frostbite. +But the sun was brilliant and the air invigorating. So was the aspect +of nature, for although there was no grandeur in the character of the +scenery, there was extreme beauty in the snow lacework of the trees and +leafless shrubs; in the sky, whose bright blue was intensified by the +white drapery of earth; and in the myriads of snow-crystals which +reflected the dazzling sun with prismatic splendour. + +Indeed, the scene was too dazzling, and as there was a tendency in it to +produce snow-blindness, we soon returned to the friendly shelter of the +woods. + +"Tracks!" exclaimed Lumley, in a low voice, pointing to the ground, +where footmarks were clearly visible, "and fresh," he added, turning up +the snow under the track with the butt of his gun. + +"Ptarmigan!" said I in a whisper, pointing towards a little knoll, not +quite a gunshot ahead of us, where some dozens of the beautiful +snow-white creatures stood gazing at us in motionless surprise. Their +plumage was so white that we had not observed them at first, almost the +only black specks about them being their sparkling eyes, and the tips of +their wings and tails. + +Our guns were pointed instantly. I am ashamed to say that we were +guilty of shooting them as they stood! In that land we shot for food as +much as for amusement, and, some of us being poor shots, we were glad to +take our game sitting! Nay, more, we tried to get as many of the birds +in line as possible, so as to make the most of our ammunition. We were +not sportsmen in the civilised sense of that term. + +The extreme stillness of the woods was broken by the report of our guns +in quick succession. A very cloud of pure white birds arose, as if +Nature had taken to snowing upwards in rather large flakes, and seven +victims remained behind. + +"A good supper," remarked Lumley, as we bagged the game and re-loaded. + +It is not my intention here to describe a day's shooting. Let it +suffice to say that a little before nightfall we arrived at a place +where was a snowy mound capped by a clump of spruce firs of small size +but picturesque appearance. + +"Behold our camp!" said Lumley. + +"Not inviting at present," said I, as we slowly toiled up the mound, for +we were weary, having walked about twenty miles, weighted with heavy +flannel-lined deerskin-coats, blankets, and cooking utensils, besides a +small quantity of pemmican, sugar, tea, and ship's biscuit, axes and +firebags. It is true, the cooking utensils were few and simple, +consisting of only two tin kettles and two tin mugs. + +Dreary indeed--lonesome, desolate, and eerie was our mound when we got +to the top of it. By that time the sun had set, and a universal ghostly +grey, fast deepening into night, banished every sensation of joy aroused +by the previous lightness. Although the scene and circumstances were +nothing new to us we could not shake off the depressing influence, but +we did not allow that to interfere with our action. Silently, but +vigorously--for the cold was increasing--we felled several small dead +trees, which we afterwards cut into lengths of about four feet. Then we +cleared a space in the snow of about ten or twelve feet in diameter +until we reached the solid earth, using our snow-shoes as shovels. What +we threw out of the hole formed an embankment round it, and as the snow +lay at that spot full four feet deep, we thus raised the surrounding +wall of our chamber to a height of six feet, if not more. Standing on +the edge of it in the ever-deepening twilight, and looking down into the +abyss, which was further darkened by the overspreading pines, this hole +in the snow suggested a tomb rather than a bed. + +At one end of it we piled up the firewood. Extending from that towards +the other end, we spread a carpet of pine-branches, full six inches +thick. To do all this took a considerable amount of time and labour, +and when Lumley stood up at last to strike a light with flint, steel, +and tinder, we felt pretty well exhausted. The night had by that time +become profoundly dark, insomuch that we had to grope for the various +articles we required. + +"We've been rather late of beginning to make the camp," said I, as I +watched the sparks. + +"Never mind, Max, my boy, we shall soon be all right," replied my +friend, as one of the sparks at last caught on the tinder. In a few +seconds the spark was blown into a blaze, and placed in the midst of a +handful of dry moss and thin chips. This was applied to some dry twigs +under our piled-up logs, and a vivid tongue of flame shot upward. + +Blessed fire! Marvellous light! It is a glorious, wonder-working +influence, well chosen by the Almighty as one of his titles. There is +no change in Nature so intense as that from darkness to light as well in +physical as in spiritual things. No sudden change from heat to cold, or +from calm to storm; no transformation ever achieved in the most gorgeous +of pantomimes, could have the startling effect, or produce the splendid +contrast that resulted from the upward flash of that first tongue of +fire. It was a vivid tongue, for the materials had been well laid; a +few seconds later it was a roaring tongue, with a host of lesser tongues +around it--all dancing, leaping, cheering, flashing, as if with +ineffable joy at their sudden liberation, and the resulting destruction +of dismal darkness. + +Our snow-abyss was no longer black and tomb-like. Its walls sparkled as +though encrusted with diamonds; its carpet of pine-branches shone +vividly green; the tree-stems around rose up like red-hot pillars, more +or less intense in colour, according to distance; the branching canopy +overhead appeared to become solid with light, and the distance around +equally solid with ebony blackness, while we, who had caused the +transformation, stood in the midst of the ruddy blaze like jovial +red-hot men! + +"There's nothing like a fire," I remarked with some enthusiasm. + +"Except supper," said Lumley. + +"Gross creature!" I responded, as he went about the preparation of +supper with a degree of zest which caused me to feel that my epithet was +well deserved. + +"Gross creature!" he repeated some time afterwards with a pleasant smile +of intense enjoyment, as he sat in front of the blaze sipping a can of +hot tea, and devouring pemmican and biscuit with avidity. "No, Max, I +am not a gross creature. Your intellects are probably benumbed by the +cold. If phrenologists are right in dividing the human brain into +compartments, wherein the different intellectual powers are said to be +located, I should think that some of those chambers lying nearest to the +top of the skull are apt to freeze at a temperature of forty below zero, +in which case the perfect working of the half-paralysed machine can +scarcely be looked for. Hold your head to the fire, and thaw it while I +expound this to you." + +"Stay," said I, holding out my tin pannikin for more tea; "inward heat +as well as outward is necessary to my thorough comprehension of _your_ +expositions." + +"True, Max, all the faculties of such mind as you possess, in their most +active condition, are required to enable you to take in the simplest +proposition. Just give my bird a turn, like a good fellow." + +He referred to a ptarmigan which, plucked, split open, roughly cleaned, +and impaled on a stick, was roasting in front of the fire. I turned his +bird and my own, while he continued:-- + +"To gratify the appetite with thorough and hearty appreciation after +working hard for your food, or walking far to find it, is not gross. +Grossness consists in eating heavily when you have not toiled, and +stimulating with fire-water, pepper, or mustard, your sluggish appetite. +To call me a gross creature, then--" + +He stopped short, and, looking up, performed that operation with the +nose which is styled sniffing. + +"What do I smell?" + +"My bird--burnt!" I shouted, snatching at the stick on which it was +impaled. In doing so I capsized our can of tea. Lumley looked at it +with a sigh, while I regarded with a groan the breast of my bird burnt +to a cinder. + +"Max, you should remember that a fire strong enough to subdue forty +degrees below zero is intense--also, that our supply of tea is limited. +All this comes of your unwisely calling me a gross creature." + +"No, it comes of the intense application of my unthawed intellect to +your absurd expositions." + +"Whatever it comes of," returned Lumley, "we must remedy the evil. +Here, fall upon my ptarmigan. I'm not quite ready for it, being still +engaged with the pemmican. Meanwhile, I'll replenish the kettle." + +So saying, he took up the kettle, went to the margin of our hole, and +filled it with fresh snow well pressed down. This being put on the +fire, soon melted; more snow was added, till water enough was procured, +and then fresh tea was put in to boil. We were not particular, you see, +as to the mode of infusion. While my friend was thus engaged, I had +plucked, split, cleansed and impaled another bird. In a marvellously +short time--for our fire was truly intense--the tea and ptarmigan were +ready, and we proceeded with supper as comfortably as before. + +"Now I shall continue," said Lumley, with a satisfied clearing of the +throat, "the exposition of grossness,--" + +"Oh, pray spare me that," said I, quickly, "but tell me, if you can, why +it is that such a tremendous fire as that does not melt our snow walls." + +"Put your head nearer to it, Max, for some of the phrenological chambers +must still be frozen, else it would be clear to you that the intensity +of the cold is the reason. You see that only a small part of the snow +quite close to the fire is a little softened. If the fire were hotter +it would melt more of it--melt the whole hole and us too. But the cold +is so great that it keeps the walls cool and us also--too cool indeed, +for while my face and knees are roasting my back is freezing, so I shall +rise and give _it_ a turn. Now," he continued, rising and turning his +back to the blaze as he spoke, "I will resume my remarks on gross--" + +"You've no objection to my making our bed while you lecture?" said I, +also rising. + +Lumley had not the least objection, so, while he held forth, I spread a +large green blanket over our carpet of pine-brush. A bundle of the same +under the blanket formed a pretty good pillow. Wrapping myself tightly +round in another blanket (for physical heat evaporates quickly in the +frozen regions) I lay down. My friend lay down beside me, our feet +being towards the fire. + +After a silent interval, while lying thus, gazing up through the +overhanging branches at the stars that twinkled in the clear frosty sky, +our thoughts became more serious. The grandeur of creation led us to +think and speak of the Creator--for we were like-minded friends, and no +subject was tabooed. We conversed freely about whatever chanced to +enter our minds--of things past, present, and to come. We spoke of God +the Saviour, of redemption and of sin. Then, with that discursive +tendency to which most minds are prone, we diverged to home and +civilised lands, contrasting these with life in the wild-woods of the +Great Nor'-west. After that we became sleepy, and our converse was more +discursive--at times even incoherent--in the midst of which Lumley +reverted to his unfinished exposition of grossness, and, in the +enthusiasm of his nature, was slowly working himself back into a wakeful +condition, when I put an abrupt end to the discourse by drawing a +prolonged snore. It was a deceptive snore, unworthy of success, yet it +succeeded. + +My friend turned round and, with a contented sigh, went to sleep. After +a brief space the snore which had been a fiction became a reality, and +thus, on our bed of snow, in the depths of an Arctic night, in the heart +of the frozen wilderness, and while the mighty fire burned slowly down, +we unitedly took our departure for the land of Nod. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE WINTER PACKET. + +On returning next morning towards the outpost from our encampment in the +woods, Lumley and I made a discovery which excited us greatly. It was +nothing more than a track in the snow, but there was a revelation in the +track which sent the blood tingling through our veins. + +It was not the track of a Polar bear. We should have been somewhat +surprised, no doubt, but not greatly excited by that. Neither was it +the track of a deer or an Arctic fox. It was only the track of a +sledge! + +"Is that all?" exclaims the reader. No, that is not all. But, in order +that you may understand it better, let me explain. + +Fort Dunregan, in which we dwelt, stood more than a thousand miles +distant from the utmost verge of civilised life in Canada. We were +buried, so to speak, in the heart of the great northern wilderness. Our +nearest neighbour lived in an outpost between one and two hundred miles +distant, similar to our own in all respects but even more lonely, being +in charge of a certain Scotsman named Macnab, whose army of occupation +consisted of only six men and two Indian women! The forests around us +were not peopled. Those vast solitudes were indeed here and there +broken in upon, as it were, by a few families of wandering Red-Indians, +who dwelt in movable tents--were here to-day and away to-morrow--but +they could not be said to be peopled, except by deer and bears and foxes +and kindred spirits. + +Of course, therefore, we were far beyond the every day influences of +civilised life. We had no newspapers, no mails; no communication +whatever, in short, with the outer world except twice in the year. The +one occasion was in summer, when a brigade of boats arrived with our +outfit of goods for the year's trade with the few scattered Indians +above referred to; the other occasion was in the depth of our apparently +interminable winter, when a packet of letters was forwarded from outpost +to outpost throughout the land by the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company +which we served. + +This half-yearly interval between mails had a double effect on our +minds. In the first place, it induced a strange feeling that the great +world and all its affairs were things of the past, with which we had +little or nothing to do--a sort of dream--and that the little world of +our outpost, with its eight or ten men and three or four Indian women, +its hunting, and trapping, and firewood-cutting, and fishing, and +trading, and small domestic arrangements and dissensions, was the one +place of vital importance and interest, before which empires and +dynasties and the trifling matter of politics sank into mere +insignificance! In the second place, it created an intense longing--a +hungering and thirsting--for news of our kindred "at home." + +Our chief, Mr Strang, and our two selves, with another fellow-clerk who +was named Spooner, as well as most of our men, were from "the old +country," where we had left fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters--in some +cases sweethearts--behind us. It may be conceived then with what +anxiety and yearning we looked forward to the periodical break in the +weary six months of total silence that had enveloped us. Men in +civilised, or even semi-civilised communities, cannot understand this. +Convicts on penal servitude for long periods may have some faint notion +of it, but even these have periods of literary intercourse more +frequently than we had. The reader must just take the statement on +trust therefore, that our anxious yearnings were remarkably powerful. +What might not have occurred in these six months of dark silence! Who +might not have been married, born, laid low by sickness, banished to the +ends of the earth like ourselves, or even removed by death! + +Is it surprising, then, that we caught our breath and flushed, and that +our hearts leaped when we came unexpectedly upon the track of the two +men who had dragged news from home for hundreds of miles over the snow? +We knew the tracks well. Our intimate acquaintance with every species +of track that was possible in that particular region, rendered a mistake +out of the question. There was the step of the leader, who wore a +snow-shoe the shape of which, although not unknown, was somewhat +unfamiliar to us. There was the print of the sled, or toboggan, which +was different in pattern from those used at Dunregan, and there was the +footprint of the man in rear, whose snow-shoe also made an unfamiliar +impression. + +"The packet!" exclaimed Lumley, opening his solemn grey eyes to their +widest as he looked up from the track to me. + +"At last!" I returned, unconsciously betraying the prolonged state of +suspense with which my mind had been afflicted. + +"Come along!" said my companion, starting off homeward at a pace that +was almost too much for me. + +We soon reached the outpost, and there stood the makers of the track +which had roused in us so much excitement. + +Two strong men, chosen expressly for a duty which required mental +endurance and perseverance as well as physical vigour. They stood at +the door of the entrance-hall, talking with Mr Strang, the one with his +snow-shoes slung over his shoulder on the butt of his gun, the other +using the same implements as a rest for his hands, while Spooner, in a +state of great excitement, was hastily undoing the lashings of the sled, +to get at the precious box which contained "the packet." + +"Well, gentlemen, here it is at last," said our chief, with a genial +smile as we came up. + +"Yes, we followed the track immediately we struck it," said Lumley, +stooping to assist Spooner in his work. + +We soon had the box carried to our chief's private room, while the two +strangers were had off by our men to their own house, there to be +feasted on venison, ptarmigan, salt-pork, fish, and pease-pudding to +satiety, and afterwards "pumped" to a state of exhaustion. + +I followed our chief, who had a provokingly deliberate way of opening +the packet and examining its contents, while my feverish agitation and +expectancy increased. There was a humorous twinkle in his eye, I +thought, which told of mischievous purpose, while he kept up a murmuring +commentary. + +"Hm! as I expected--no news from Macnab. What's this?--ah! The +Governor! A voluminous epistle, and--hallo! Lumley's friends must be +fond of him. His packet is the biggest in the box. And Spooner too, +not so bad for him. Here, take these to them. Stay--here is a bundle +of letters for the men. You'd better deliver these yourself." + +I hesitated, while a mist of great darkness began to descend on my soul. + +"Nothing for me, sir?" I asked faintly. + +"There seems to be--nothing--stay! what's this?--why, I thought it was a +big book, but, yes, it _is_ a packet for you, Mr Maxby--there!" + +My heart leaped into my mouth--almost out of it--as I received a thick +packet wrapped in newspaper. + +Hastening to what was called the clerk's winter house with these +treasures I distributed them, and handed the men's packet to one of +themselves, who was eagerly awaiting it. Then I went to my room and +barricaded the door to prevent interruption. + +In Bachelors' Hall, as we styled our apartments, we had an inveterate +habit of practical joking, which, however interesting and agreeable it +might be at most times, was in some circumstances rather inconvenient. +To guard against it at such times we were in the habit of retiring to +our respective dens and barricading the doors, the locks being sometimes +incapable of standing the strain brought to bear on them. + +On this particular occasion I made my barricade stronger than usual; sat +down on my bed and opened the packet from home. + +But here I must let the curtain fall. I cannot suppose that the reader, +however amiable, will sympathise with the joys and sorrows of an unknown +family, interesting though they were to me. I may state, however, that +before I got through the budget it was so late that I turned into bed +and read the remainder there. Then, as the fire in the hall-stove sank +low, the cold obliged me to put on above my voluminous blankets (we +dared not sleep in sheets out there) a thick buffalo robe, which, +besides having on the outside the shaggy hair of the animal, to which it +had belonged, was lined with flannel. Thus nestled into a warm hole, I +read on until a shout arrested me and brought me suddenly back from the +hills of bonny Scotland to the frozen wilderness. + +"I say," shouted Lumley at the back of the door, which he saluted with a +kick, "my sister is married!" + +"Poor thing!" said I. "Who to?" + +"Open the door." + +"I can't. I'm in bed." + +"You must." + +"I won't." + +"No! then here goes." + +He retired as he spoke, and, making a rush, launched himself against my +door, which, however, withstood the shock. + +"Here, Spooner," I then heard him say, "lend a hand; let us go at it +together." + +They went at it together. The lock gave way; the chest of drawers went +spinning to the other side of the room, and Lumley tumbled over Spooner +as both fell headlong to the floor. + +As this was by no means an unfamiliar mode of entering each other's +rooms, I took no notice of it, but proceeded to inquire about the +married sister; and Lumley, sitting down on my bed with Spooner, for +neither of them had yet undressed, began to tell me of home and friends +with as much eagerness as if I had been a member of both families. +Young Spooner interrupted Lumley now and then when a touch of +coincidence struck him with reference to his own family affairs, and I +could not resist the pleasure of occasionally making some such remark +as, "How odd! that's very like what happened to my little brother Bob," +etcetera, whereupon Spooner would immediately become excited and draw a +parallel more or less striking in regard to his own kindred and so we +went on far into the night, until we got our several families mixed up +to such an extent that it became almost impossible to disentangle them; +for, being three families, you know, we became inextricably confused as +to which was which, though each was perfectly clear in regard to his +own! Thus, to me, Jane Lumley became confused with Janet Spooner, so +that Janet Lumley and Jane Spooner were always tripping over each other +in my brain, while my dear cousin Maggie Maxby became a Maggie Spooner +to Lumley, and a Maggie Lumley to Spooner, and to each sometimes a Janet +or a Jane respectively. If the reader will multiply into this question +two mothers and three fathers, four brothers and six sisters, besides +numberless aunts, uncles, and cousins, male and female, he will easily +perceive how between mental perplexity and a tendency to slumber, we at +last gave the matter up in a sort of jovial despair. + +We were startled suddenly from this condition by a crash and an +exceedingly sharp and bitter cry. + +It must be remarked here, that, in order to subdue King Frost in those +northern strongholds of his, we had, besides double doors and double +windows and porches, an enormous cast-iron stove from the famous Carron +foundry. It stood in the centre of our hall, so that its genial favours +might be distributed with equal justice to the various sleeping-rooms +that opened out of the hall all round. From this stove an iron pipe +arose, and, turning at a right angle when within a couple of feet of the +ceiling, proceeded to the chimney at the upper end of the hall. When +the thermometer stood much below zero, we were accustomed to raise the +stove and part of its pipe to a dull-red heat, which had the effect of +partially melting the contents of the water-jugs in our bedrooms, and of +partially roasting the knees of our trousers. To keep this stove up to +its work was the duty of an Indian youth, whom we styled Salamander, +because he seemed to be impervious to heat. He was equally so to cold. +When I first went to Dunregan I used to pity Salamander, on hearing him +every morning enter our hall with a gust of air that seemed cold enough +to freeze a walrus, and proceed to strike a light and kindle our fire. +My own nose, and sometimes an eye, was all that protruded from the +buffalo robe at such times. But Salamander never shivered, and always +grinned, from which I came to understand that my pity was misplaced. +About nine o'clock each night he left us to look after the great Carron +stove ourselves, and we were all pretty good stokers. Self-interest +kept us up to duty. Sometimes we overdid it, raising the dull-red to +brightness now and then. + +On this particular occasion, in the exuberance of his feelings, Lumley, +before bursting into my room, had heaped on as much dry wood as the +stove could hold. It chanced to be exceedingly resinous wood. He also +opened the blow-hole to its utmost extent. Being congregated in my +bedroom, as I have described, deeply engaged in eager comments and +family reminiscences, we failed to observe that the great Carron stove +roared like a wrathful furnace, that it changed from a dull to a bright +red in its anger, and eventually became white with passion. As "evil +communications" have a tendency to corrupt, the usually innocent pipe +became inflamed. It communicated the evil to the chimney, which +straightway caught fire, belched forth smoke and flames, and cast a +ruddy glare over the usually pallid snow. This chanced to meet the eye +of Salamander as he gazed from his "bunk" in the men's house; caused him +to bounce up and rush out--for, having a taste for sleeping in his +clothes, he was always ready for action--burst open our door with a +crash, and rudely dispel our confusedly pleasant intercourse with the +exceedingly sharp and bitter cry before mentioned. + +"Hallo!" shouted Lumley and Spooner simultaneously, as they bounded +rather than rose from my bed. Before they had crossed the threshold I +was out of bed and into my trousers. + +There is nothing like the cry of "Fire!" for producing prompt action--or +paralysis! Also for inducing imbecile stupidity. I could not find my +moccasins! Thought is quick--quicker than words. Amputation at the +knee joints stared me in the face for a certainty if I went out with +naked feet. In desperation I seized my capote and thrust both feet into +the sleeves, with some hazy intention of tying a knot on each wrist to +protect the toes. Happily I espied my moccasins at the moment, pulled +them on--left shoe on right foot, of course--and put the coat to its +proper use. + +By this time Salamander, contrary to all traditions of Indian stoicism, +was yelling about the fort with his eyes a flame and his hair on end. +The men were out in a few seconds with a ladder, and swarmed up to the +roof of our house, without any definite notion as to what they meant to +do. Mr Strang was also out, smothered in winter garments, and with an +enormous Makinaw blanket over all. He was greatly excited, though the +most self-possessed among us--as most chiefs are, or ought to be. + +"Water! water!" shouted the men from the roof. + +A keen breeze was blowing from what seemed the very heart of King +Frost's dominion, and snow-drift fine as dust and penetrating as +needles, was swirling about in the night-air. + +Water! where was water to come from? The river was frozen almost to the +bottom. Ice six feet thick covered the lakes and ponds. The sound of +trickling water had not been heard for months. It had become an ancient +memory. Water! why, it cost our cook's assistant a full hour every day +to cut through the result of one night's frost in the water-hole before +he could reach the water required for daily use, and what he did obtain +had to be slowly dragged to the fort by that slowest of creatures, an +ox. Nevertheless there _was_ water. In the warmest corner of the +kitchen--at that hour about zero--there stood a water-barrel. + +"Run, cook--fetch a bucketful!" cried our chief. + +Cook, who had "lost his head," obediently ran, seized a big earthenware +jug, dipped it into the barrel, and smashed it to atoms on a cake of +thick ice! This had the effect of partially recovering his head for +him. He seized an axe, shattered the cake, caught up a bucket, dipped +it full and rushed out spilling half its contents as he ran. The +spillings became icicles before they reached the flaming chimney, but +the frost, keen as it was, could not quite solidify the liquid in so +short a space of time. + +Blondin, the principal bearer of the winter packet who was a heroic man +and chief actor in this scene, received the half-empty bucket. + +"Bah!" he exclaimed, tossing bucket as well as water contemptuously down +the wide chimney. "Bring shuvill, an' blunkits." + +Blondin was a French-Canadian half-caste, and not a good linguist. + +A shovel was thrown up to him. He seized it and shovelled volumes of +snow from the house-top into the chimney. A moment later and two +blankets were thrown up. Blondin spread one over the flames. It was +shrivelled up instantly. He stuffed down the remains and spread the +second blanket over them, while he shouted for a third. The third came, +and, another bucket of water arriving at the same moment, with a large +mass of snow detached from the roof, the whole were thrust down the +chimney _en masse_, the flames were quenched and the house was saved. + +During this exciting scene, I had begun to realise the great danger of +fire in the chimney of a wooden house, and, with the aid of my comrades, +had been throwing the contents of Bachelors' Hall out into the snow. We +now ceased this process, and began to carry them back again, while the +men crowded round the iron author of all the mischief to warm their +half-frozen bodies. I now observed for the first time that Blondin had +a black patch on the end of his nose. It was a handsome feature +usually, but at that time it was red, swelled, and what may be termed +blobby. + +"What's the matter with it, Blondin?" I asked. + +"My noz was froz," he replied curtly. + +"You'd better have it looked to, or it'll be worse than froz, my man," +said Lumley. + +Blondin laughed and went off to attend to his nose in the men's house, +accompanied by the others, while we set to work to clean ourselves and +our abode. Thereafter, with moderated fire, we again got under our +buffalo robes, where we spent the remainder of a disturbed night in +thinking and dreaming about the thrilling contents of the winter packet. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +DEEPER DESOLATION. + +Eight months of winter! Those who have read and entered into the spirit +of Arctic voyagers, may have some idea of what that means, but none save +he or she who has had experience of it can fully understand it. + +To us who dwelt at the little outpost in the Great Nor'-west, snow and +ice had become so familiar--such matter-of-course conditions of +existence--that green fields and flowers were a mere reminiscence of the +remote past. The scent of a rose was a faded memory--indeed the scent +of anything belonging to the vegetable kingdom had not once saluted our +nostrils during those eight months. Pure white became one of the chief +and most impressive facts of our existence in regard to colour, if we +may so call it--white, varying in tone, of course, to pearly grey. +Cold, of varied intensity, was the chief modifier of our sensations. +Happily light was also a potent factor in our experiences--bright, +glowing sunshine and blue skies contrasted well with the white and grey, +and helped to counteract the cold; while pure air invigorated our frames +and cheered our spirits. + +"I tell you what, boys," said Lumley, one afternoon as he entered the +hall with gun and snow-shoes on shoulder, and flung down a bag full of +ptarmigan, "winter is drawing to a close at last. I felt my deerskin +coat quite oppressive to-day; does any one know what the thermometer +stood at this morning?" + +"Yes, it was twenty-two above zero," answered Spooner, who was +attempting to smoke a pipe beside the stove; "I went to register it just +after breakfast." + +"I thought so--only ten below freezing point; why, it feels quite +summery, and the snow has a softness that I have not noticed since last +autumn. I hope dinner will soon be ready, for I'm very sharp set. Why, +Spooner, what are you making such faces for?" + +"Am I making faces?" said Spooner, blushing and trying to look +unconcerned. + +"Of course you are, a marmozette monkey with the toothache could +scarcely make worse." + +Spooner attempted to laugh, and I felt it difficult to refrain from +joining him, for I knew well the cause of his faces. He was the +youngest of us three and exceedingly anxious to imitate Lumley, who was +unfortunately a great smoker; but Spooner, like myself, had been born +with a dislike to smoke--especially tobacco smoke--and a liability to +become sick when he indulged in the pipe. Hence, whilst foolish +ambition induced him to smoke, outraged nature protested; and between +the two the poor fellow had a bad time of it. He had a good deal of +determination about him, however, and persevered. + +The dinner-bell rang at the moment, and put an end to further badinage. + +Lumley was right. Spring was in truth at hand, and a host of new +anticipations began from that day to crowd upon our minds. + +About the same time there came another break in the monotony of outpost +life which had, if possible, a more powerful and exciting influence on +us than the arrival of the winter packet. + +Now at this point I must beg the reader's pardon for asking him to go +with me to a still more desolate and remote outpost than our own. +Between one and two hundred miles nearer to the pole the little post of +Muskrat House lay under a beetling cliff, near the banks of an affluent +of the great Saskatchewan river. It was in charge of Peter Macnab, +before mentioned, who, in command of his army of six men and two women, +held the post against all comers--the chief comers there being the North +Wind and Jack Frost. + +Poor Macnab was a jovial and sociable Scottish Highlander, who had been +condemned to worse than Siberian banishment because of being one of the +most active, enterprising, and pushing fellows in the service of the +Fur-Traders. His ability to manage men and Indians, and to establish +new trading-posts, excelled that of his fellows. He regarded it as a +complimentary though trying circumstance when Mr Strang sent him to +establish the post which was named by him Muskrat House, but he faced +the duty--as he faced everything--like a man; did his best for his +employers, and made the most of the situation. + +But it is not easy for even the strongest mind and lightest heart to be +jovial when buried for eight months in snow more than twelve hundred +miles beyond the influences of civilised life; and it is hard to be +sociable with six uneducated men and two Indian women for one's +companions. Macnab tried it, however, and was in a measure successful. +He had his Bible with him--the one given him long ago by his mother--and +a bound volume of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, and three copies of the +_Times_ newspaper nearly two years old, and a few numbers of an American +paper called the _Picayune_. + +With these materials he set to work--after each day's labour of +water-drawing, firewood-cutting, and trapping was done--to educate his +army in religion, politics, political economy, and the varied +ramifications of social life. He had intelligent and grateful scholars. +If they had not been so, Macnab would at all events have made them +obedient pupils, for he was a physically large and powerful man--and +might was unavoidably right in those regions! + +Still, with all his energy and resources, the genial Highlander began, +towards the end of winter, to feel an intense longing for a little +intercourse with his equals. + +Returning one night to the solitude of his little room, as was his wont, +after a couple of hours' intercourse with his men in their own house, he +sat down before his stove and addressed it thus:-- + +"It won't last long, I fear. My brain is gradually turning into +something like mashed potatoes, and my heart into a tinder-box, ready +enough to catch fire, but with neither flint nor steel to light it! The +Indians won't be here for many weeks, and when they do come what good +can I get from or do to them? Wow! wow! it's terribly slow work. Oh! +Jessie, Jessie, my dear, what would I not give if I only had _you_ +here!" + +Lest the reader should suppose Macnab to be a love-sick swain, I may +remark here that Jessie was a sister whom he had left on the shores of +Loch Ness, and with whom he kept up a vigorous biennial correspondence. + +As the stove made no reply, he continued his address. + +"If I only had a few books now, it wouldn't be so hard to bear. To be +sure, the Bible is a great resource--a blessed resource; but you see I +want something light now and then. A laugh, you know, seems to be +absolutely needful at times. Why, now I think of it, we wouldn't have +been given the power to laugh if it hadn't been necessary, and the last +hearty laugh I had was, let me see--that time three months ago, when my +long-nosed interpreter mistook a dead mouse in the soup--ha! ha!--for a +bit of pemmican, and only found out his mistake when the tail got +between his teeth!" + +The solitary man burst into peals of laughter at the reminiscence, and +then, becoming suddenly grave, looked slowly round the room. + +"If I could only have an echo of that," he resumed, "from somebody else! +Well, well, I'll just go and have another chat with Jessie." + +So saying, Macnab rose, drew a small table near to the stove, laid upon +it a very large desk made by himself of pine-wood, and, placing a sheet +of paper thereon, began to write. + +The sheet of paper merits notice. Like the man who wrote, it was +extremely large, being several sizes bigger than foolscap, and very +loosely ruled. As I have said, communication with the outer world being +possible only twice in the year, our Highlander resolved, as usual, to +make the most of his opportunities. Hence he not only used the largest +paper which the company provided, but filled up several such sheets with +the smallest possible writing, so that Jessie might ultimately get +something worth having. It is but justice to add that Macnab wrote not +only a very small but a remarkably clear and legible hand--a virtue +which I earnestly commend to correspondents in general, to those of them +at least who wish their epistles to meet with thorough appreciation. + +It was late when our solitaire completed that evening's addition to his +already voluminous letter, and he was thinking about going to bed when a +stamping in the porch outside announced that a visitor was clearing the +snow from his moccasins. + +"One o' the men forgot something, I fancy," muttered Macnab to himself. + +The latch was lifted, for locks were not deemed necessary in those +regions, and the door opening slowly disclosed the copper-hued visage +and tall bony figure of a very powerful and handsome native of the +soil--perhaps I should rather say--of the snow! + +"Hallo! hey! come in," shouted Macnab, giving way to a gush of his +pent-up social feelings; "why it's good for sore eyes to see a new face, +even a red one. What cheer? what cheer? Where d'ye hail from? Come +in, come in, and welcome!" + +The hearty Highlander spoke the Indian tongue fluently, but in the +excitement of his feelings mingled it with a good deal of English and an +occasional growl of expressive Gaelic. + +The Indian, whose horned cap and person were well powdered with snow, +stepped slowly over the threshold, extending his hand to the +Highlander's grasp, and looking cautiously round with rolling black +eyes, as if he half expected a dynamite explosion to follow his +entrance. His garments bore evidence of rough usage. Holes in his +moccasins permitted portions of the duffle socks underneath to wander +out. Knots on his snow-shoe lines and netting told of a long rough +journey, and the soiled, greasy condition of his leathern capote spoke +of its having been much used not only as a garment by day but as a shirt +by night. + +Placing his gun and snow-shoes in a corner, after solemnly responding +"watchee, watchee," to Macnab's "what cheer," the red-man seated himself +on the floor beside the stove, with silent disregard of the chair that +his host politely offered. + +It is the custom of North American Indians--on arriving at an +establishment--to withhold the most interesting portion of what they may +have to communicate until after they have had a pipe, or a feed, and +have answered the questions put on the less interesting objects of their +visits. Being well aware of this trait of character, Macnab forebore to +question too closely this fine-looking Indian until he had well thawed +and smoked himself. Ultimately, however, he brought him to the point. + +To the north-westward of Muskrat House, many long days' march, he said +(of course in his native tongue) there was a grand country full of fine +furs and fine people, who found it a very long journey indeed to come +all the way to Muskrat House to trade their furs. Would his white +father go and build a house there, near Lake Wichikagan, and shoot and +fish, and trade?--waugh! + +To which Macnab replied that he was glad to hear about the plenty of +furs and the friendly natives and the fine country, and that he would +take the matter into his consideration--waugh! + +To this the red-man responded "ho!" and then "how!"--not interrogatively +but interjectionally--with much gravity. + +That night Macnab took the matter into consideration with his wonted +vigour, and came to the conclusion that it was of sufficient importance +to warrant a visit on his part to headquarters--Dunregan being +headquarters to Muskrat House. Accordingly, he went to the men's house +and introduced the stranger, whose name in the Indian tongue signified +Big Otter. The men received him with as much joy as if he had been an +angel of light. + +"Get a sled and four of the best dogs ready to start by daybreak +to-morrow," said Macnab to one of his men, "and have breakfast sharp," +he added, turning to the cook. "You'll go with me to Dunregan, won't +you, Big Otter?" + +Big Otter was ready for anything at a moment's notice! + +When daylight glimmered faintly in the east the following morning, +Macnab sat at his table devouring venison steaks, pancakes, and tea. +Big Otter sat opposite to him, having condescended to use a chair in +order to be on a level with the table. The chair gave him much anxiety, +however. He evidently feared to fall off or upset it, for, on rising to +reach some food opposite, he had tilted it back, and received a +tremendous though unacknowledged start from the crash that followed. + +Half an hour later, Macnab, having left his interpreter in charge of the +establishment, was beating the track on snow-shoes through the forest, +his four wolfish-looking dogs following with a sled-load of provisions +and bedding, and Big Otter bringing up the rear. + +The day turned out to be bright calm, and frosty. It was in thorough +unison with Macnab's feelings, for the near prospect of soon meeting +with men somewhat like himself produced a calm and bright condition of +mind which he had not experienced for many a day. It is true that the +frost can scarcely be said to have represented the Highlander's +temperament; but if there be truth in the saying that extremes meet, it +may be admissible to say that intense cold, which had the effect of +expanding water into ice so that it rent the very rocks, might be +appropriately compared with that intense warmth of Macnab's feelings +which had the effect of all but bursting his very bosom! There was not +a breath of air stirring when the two men passed from the forest, and +struck out upon the marble surface of the great lake which lay at the +distance of about two miles from their establishment. The sun was +rising at the time on the horizon of the ocean-like lake, gloriously +bright and cheering, though with no appreciable warmth in its beams. +Diamonds innumerable glittered on the frosted willow-boughs; the snow +under the travellers' tread gave forth that peculiar squeak, or chirping +sound, which is indicative of extreme Arctic frost, and the breath from +their mouths came out like the white puffs of a locomotive, settling on +their breasts in thick hoar-frost, and silvering such of their locks as +straggled out beyond the margin of their caps. There was no life at +first in the quiet scene, but, just as they passed through the last +clump of bushes on the margin of the lake, a battalion of ptarmigan, +seemingly a thousand strong, burst with startling whirr from under their +very feet, and skimmed away like a snow-cloud close to the ground, while +an Arctic fox, aroused from his lair by the noise, slank quietly off +under the false belief that he had not been seen. + +The rise of the ptarmigan had another effect, on which the travellers +had not counted. The four wolfish dogs were so startled by the whirr, +that their spirits were roused to the mischievous point. Up to that +moment they had been toiling and panting through the soft snow in the +woods. They had now emerged upon the hard, wind-beaten snow of the open +ground and the lake. The sudden freedom in the action of their limbs, +coupled with the impulse to their spirits, caused the team to bound +forward with one accord. The sled swung round against Macnab's legs, +and overturned him; and the tail-line was jerked out of Big Otter's +grasp. In a vain effort to recover it, that solemn savage trod, with +his right, on his own left snow-shoe, and plunged into a willow bush. +Thus freed altogether, the dogs went away with railway speed over the +hard snow, ever urged to more and more frantic exertions by the wild +boundings of the comparatively light sled behind them. + +"After them, lad!" shouted Macnab, as he cast off his snow-shoes and +gave chase. + +The Indian followed suit in desperate haste, for his receptive mind at +once perceived the all but hopeless nature of a chase after four +long-legged dogs, little removed from genuine wolves, over a hard level +course that extended away to the very horizon. + +Happily, there was a small island not far from the shore of the lake, on +which grew a few willow bushes whose tops protruded above the +overwhelming snow, and whose buds formed the food of the ptarmigan +before mentioned. Towards this island the dogs headed in their blind +race just as the white man and the red began to regret the comparative +slowness of human legs. + +"Good luck!" exclaimed Macnab. + +"Waugh!" responded his companion. + +There was ground for both remarks, for, a few minutes later, the dogs +plunged into the bushes and the sled stuck fast and held them. + +This was a trifling incident in itself, but it shook out of the +travellers any remains of lethargy that might have clung to them from +the slumbers of the previous night, and caused them to face the tramp +that lay before them with energy. + +"Oh, you _ras_cals!" growled Macnab, as he went down on his knees beside +the leading dog to disentangle the traces which had been twisted up in +the abrupt stoppage. + +I know not whether those dogs, being intellectually as well as +physically powerful beyond their fellows, understood the uncomplimentary +term and lost their tempers, but certain it is that the words were no +sooner uttered than the hindmost dog made an unprovoked assault on the +dog in front of it. Of course the latter defended itself. The dog next +to that, being probably pugnacious, could not resist the temptation to +join in, and the leader, feeling no doubt that it was "better to be out +of the world than out of the fashion," fell upon the rest with +remarkable fury. Thus the sled, traces, and dogs, instantly became a +tumultuous mass of yelling, gasping, heaving, and twisting confusion. + +Big Otter carried a short, heavy whip. Without uttering a word, he +quietly proceeded to flog the mass into subjection. It was a difficult +duty to perform, but Big Otter was strong and persevering. He prevailed +after some time. The mass was disentangled; the subdued dogs went +humbly forward, and the journey, having been thus auspiciously begun, +was continued until nightfall. + +They had left the lake and Muskrat House some thirty miles behind them, +and had got into a thick and profoundly still part of the great +wilderness, when the waning light warned them to encamp. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE WINTER JOURNEY. + +It was not long before our travellers had a large space cleared of snow, +its floor spread with pine-branches, a roaring fire kindled, a couple of +ptarmigan roasting and the tea-kettle bubbling, while the dogs in the +background solaced themselves with raw birds to their heart's content. + +Then the red-man and the white man smoked a friendly pipe. They would +probably have smoked even if it had been an unfriendly pipe! + +"I wonder," said Macnab, who was apt to become speculative and +philosophical over his pipe after supper, "I wonder if dogs ever envy us +our pipes? You look so comfortable, Big Otter, as you sit there with +half-shut eyes letting the smoke trickle from your mouth and nose, that +I can't help thinking they must feel envious. I'm sure that I should if +I were not smoking!" + +The Indian, who was neither a speculator nor a philosopher--though +solemn enough for either or both--replied, "Waugh!" + +"Very true," returned the Highlander, "I have no doubt your opinion is +quite correct, though not as clearly put as might be wished. Have you +ever been at Fort Dunregan?" + +"Once when Big Otter was a little boy, he stood beside the Great River," +answered the Indian, gravely; "but the white man had no tent there at +that time." + +"The white man has got some pretty big tents there now--made of wood +most of 'em," returned Macnab. "In a few days you shall judge for +yourself, if all goes well." + +The red-man smoked over this remark in silence for a considerable time, +evidently engaged in profound thought. He was one of those children of +nature whose brains admit ideas slowly, and who, when they are admitted, +turn them round and round and inside out without much apparent +advantage. + +At last he looked earnestly at his companion and asked--"Is there +fire-water at Fort Dunregan?" + +"Well, no--I believe not. At least there is none for red-men. Why do +you ask? Did you ever taste fire-water?" + +The Indian's dark eyes seem to gleam with unwonted light as he replied +in tones more solemn than usual:-- + +"Yes. Once--only once--a white brother gave some fire-water to Big +Otter." + +"Humph!" ejaculated Macnab, "and what did you think of it!" + +"Waugh!" exclaimed the red-man, sending a cloud out of his mouth with +such energy that it seemed like a little cannon-shot, while he glared at +his friend like a superannuated owl. "Big Otter thought that he was in +the happy hunting-grounds with his fathers; his heart was so light and +his limbs were so strong, but that was only a dream--he was still in +this world. Then he took a little more fire-water, and the dream became +a reality! He was away with his fathers on the shining plains; he +chased the deer with the lightness of a boy and the strength of a bear. +He fought, and his foes fell before his strong arm like snowflakes on +the river, but he scalped them not. He could not find them--they were +gone. Big Otter was so strong that he had knocked both their lives and +bodies into the unknown! He saw his father and his mother--and--his +wife and the little one who--died. But he could not speak to them, for +the foes came back again, and he fought and took some more fire-water to +make him fight better; then the world went on fire, the stars came down +from the sky like snow when the wind is high. The Big Otter flew up +into the air, and then--forgot--" + +"Forgot what?" asked Macnab, much interested in his red friend's idea of +intoxication. + +"Forgot everything," replied the Indian, with a look of solemn +perplexity. + +"Well, I don't wonder; you must have had a good swig, apparently. How +did ye feel next morning?" + +If the Indian's looks were serious before, they became indescribably +solemn now. + +"Big Otter felt," he replied with bated breath, "like bags of shot-- +heavy like the great stones. He could scarcely move; all his joints +were stiff. Food was no longer pleasant to his tongue. When he tried +to swallow, it would not remain, but came forth again. He felt a wish +to drink up the river. His head had an evil spirit inside which +squeezed the brain and tried to burst open the skull. His eyes, also, +were swelled up so that he could hardly see, and his nose was two times +more big than the day before." + +"That must have been an awful size, Big Otter, considering the size of +it by nature! And what d'ye think was the cause of it all?" + +As this question involved thought, the Indian smoked his pipe in silence +for some time, staring for inspiration into the fire. + +"It must have been," he at length replied, "hunting with his fathers +before the right time had come. Big Otter was not dead, and he chased +the deer too much, perhaps, or fought too much. It may be that, having +only his earth-body, he ate too much." + +"Don't ye think it's just possible," suggested Macnab, "that, having +only your earth-body, you _drank_ too much?" + +"Waugh!" replied the red-man. Then, after a few minutes' devotion to +the pipe, he added, "Big Otter would like very much to taste the +fire-water again." + +"It's well for you, my boy," returned the other, "that you can't get it +in these regions, for if you could you'd soon be in the happy +hunting-grounds (or the other place) without your earth-body." + +At this point the Highlander became more earnest, and treated his +companion to what would have passed in civilised lands for a fair +temperance lecture, in which he sought to describe graphically the evils +of strong drink. To this the Indian listened with the most intense +attention and an owlish expression, making no audible comment whatever-- +with the exception, now and then, of an emphatic "Waugh!" but indicating +his interest by the working of his features and the glittering of his +great eyes. Whether the reasoning of Macnab had much influence at that +time could not be ascertained, for he was yet in the middle of one of +his most graphic anecdotes when the Indian's owlish eyes shut with a +suddenness that was quite startling, and he roused himself just in time +to prevent his chin from dropping on his chest. + +"Waugh!" he exclaimed with a slightly-confused look. + +"Just so," replied Macnab with a laugh, "and now, boy, we'll turn in, +for it strikes me we're going to have warmish weather, and if so, we +shall have to make the most of our time." + +Soon the blankets were spread; the fire was replenished with mighty +logs; the travellers lay down side by side and in a few minutes snored +in concert; the flames leaped upwards, and the sparks, entangling +themselves on the snow-encrusted branches of bush and tree, gleamed +there for an instant, or, escaping, flew gaily away into the wintry sky. + +While the two men were sleeping, a change came over the scene--a slow, +gentle, scarce perceptible change, which, however, had a powerful +influence on the prospects of the sleepers. The sky became overcast; +the temperature, which had been down at arctic depth for many months, +suddenly rose to that of temperate climes, and snow began to fall--not +in the small sharp particles to which the fur-traders of the great +northern wilderness are accustomed, but in the broad, heavy flakes that +one often sees in England. Softly, silently, gently they fell, like the +descent of a sweet influence--but steadily, persistently, continuously, +until every object in nature became smothered in the soft white garment. +Among other objects the two sleepers were buried. + +The snow began by powdering them over. Had any one been there to +observe the process, he would have seen by the bright light of the +camp-fire that the green blankets in which they were wrapt became +piebald first; then assumed a greyish-green colour, which speedily +changed into a greenish-grey, and finally into a pure white. The two +sleepers might thus have represented those figures in chiselled marble +on the tombs of crusaders, had it not been that they lay doubled up, for +warmth--perhaps also for comfort--with their knees at their chins, +instead of flat on their backs with their hands pressed together. By +degrees the correct outline of their forms became an incorrect outline, +and gradually more and more rotund--suggesting the idea that the buried +ones were fat. + +As the night wore on the snow accumulated on them until it lay several +inches deep. Still they moved not. Strong, tired and healthy men are +not easily moved. The fire of course sank by degrees until it reached +that point where it failed to melt the snow; then it was quickly +smothered out and covered over. The entire camp was also buried; the +tin kettle being capped with a knob peculiarly its own, and the +snow-shoes and other implements having each their appropriate outline, +while some hundredweights, if not tons, of the white drapery gathered on +the branches overhead. It was altogether an overwhelming state of +things, and the only evidence of life in all the scene was the little +hole in front of each slumberer's nose, out of which issued intermittent +pufflets of white vapour. + +So the night passed by and the morning dawned, and the wintry sun arose +like a red-hot cannon ball. Then Macnab awoke with a start and sat up +with an effort. + +"Hallo!" was his first exclamation, as he tried to clear his eyes, then +he muttered something in Gaelic which, being incomprehensible, I cannot +translate, although the worthy man has many a time, since the day of +which I write, tried to explain it to me! + +It may have been his action, or it may have been indignant northern +fairies, I know not, but certain it is that the Gaelic was instantly +followed by an avalanche of snow from the branch over the Highlander's +head, which knocked him down and reburied him. It also knocked Big +Otter up and drew forth the inevitable "Waugh!" + +"Humph!" said Macnab, on clearing himself a second time, "I was half +afraid of this. We've got our work cut out for us." + +The Indian replied not, but proceeded to light the fire and prepare +breakfast, while his companion cleared the camp of some of its snow. +The wolfish dogs took a lively interest in these proceedings, but lent +no assistance beyond wagging their tails, either in approval or in +anticipation of breakfast. + +Of course breakfast was a repetition of the previous supper, and was +soon disposed of both by men and dogs. Then the latter were harnessed +to their sledge, the snow-shoes were put on, and the journey was +resumed--Macnab manfully leading the way. + +And let not the reader imagine that this leadership involved little or +no manhood. Northern snow-shoes are about five feet long, and twelve or +fifteen inches broad. The netting with which the frames are filled up-- +somewhat like the bottom of a cane chair--allows fine well-frozen snow +to fall through it like dust and the traveller, sinking it may be only a +few inches in old well-settled-down snow, progresses with ease. But +when a heavy fall such as I have described takes place, especially in +spring, and the weather grows comparatively warm, the traveller's +circumstances change greatly for the worse. The new snow being light +permits him to sink deep into it--perhaps eight or ten inches--at every +step; being also soft, that which falls upon the shoes cannot pass +through the netting, but sticks there, giving him many extra pounds +weight to lift as he goes heavily along. Add to this that his thick +winter garb becomes oppressive in mild weather, and you will perceive +that Macnab's duties as beater of the track were severe. + +At first their progress was very slow, for it was through the thick +woods, where fallen trees and bushes obstructed them as well as deep +snow, but towards noon they came out on a more open country--in summer a +swamp; at that time a frozen plain--and the travelling improved, for a +slight breeze had already begun to make an impression on the new snow in +exposed places. + +"Now, Big Otter," said Macnab, coming to a halt, "we'll have some grub +here, and then you will take a turn in front." + +The Indian was ready for anything. So were the dogs--especially for +"grub." Indeed it was obvious that they understood the meaning of that +word, for when Macnab uttered it they wagged their tails and cocked +their ears. + +It was a cold dinner, if I may describe the meal by that name. The work +was too hard, and the daylight in which to do it too brief, to admit of +needless delay. A frozen bird thrown to each of the dogs, and a junk of +equally frozen pemmican cut out of the bag with a hatchet for the +travellers, formed the repast. The latter ate it sitting on a +snow-wreath. They, however, had the advantage of their canine friends +in the matter of hard biscuits, of which they each consumed two as a +sort of cold pudding. Then they resumed the march and plodded heavily +on till near sunset, when they again selected a suitable spot in the +woods, cleared away the snow, and encamped as before. + +"It's hard work," exclaimed Macnab with a Celtic sigh, as he sipped his +tea that night in the mellow light of the log fire. + +"Waugh! Big Otter has seen harder work," returned the Indian. + +"No doubt ye have, an' so have I," returned Macnab; "I mind, once, when +away on a snow-shoe trip on the St. Lawrence gulf, bein' caught by a +regular thaw when the snow turned into slush, an' liftin' the snow-shoes +was like to tear one's legs out o' their sockets, not to mention the +skinning of your toes wi' the snow-shoe lines, an' the wet turning your +moccasins into something like tripe. Yes, it might be worse, as you +say. Now, boy, I'll turn in." + +The next day travelling was no better, and on the next again it became +worse, for although the temperature was still below the freezing point, +snow continued to fall all day as well as all night, so that our +travellers and their dogs became like animated snowballs, and beating +the track became an exhausting labour. + +But difficulties cannot finally stop, though they may retard, a +"Nor'-wester." On the sixth day, however, they met with a foe who had +power to lay a temporary check on their advance. On the night of the +fifth day out, another change of temperature took place. A thermometer, +had they carried one, would probably have registered from ten to twenty +below zero of Fahrenheit. This, however, was so familiar to them that +they rather liked the change, and heaped up fresh logs on the roaring +fire to counteract the cold; but when a breeze sprang up and began to +blow hard, they did not enjoy it so much, and when the breeze increased +to a gale, it became serious; for one cannot face intense cold during a +gale without the risk of being frost-bitten. In the shelter of the +woods it was all right, but when, towards noon, they came out on an +extended plain where the wild winds were whirling the wilder snow in +blinding drifts, they halted and looked inquiringly at each other. + +"Shall we try it?" asked Macnab. + +The Indian shook his head and looked solemn. + +"It's a pity to give in without--" + +A snow-drift caught the Highlander full in the mouth and literally shut +him up! The effect was not to subdue, but to arouse. + +"Yes," he said in a species of calm ferocity, when the gale allowed him +the power of utterance, "we'll go on." + +He went on, followed by the obedient native and the unhappy dogs, but he +had not taken half a dozen steps when he tripped over a concealed rock +and broke a snow-shoe. To walk with a broken snow-shoe is impossible. +To repair one is somewhat difficult and takes time. They were +compelled, therefore, to re-enter the sheltering woods and encamp. + +"You're better at mending than I am," said Macnab to the Indian. "Set +to work on the shoe when the camp is dug out, an' I'll go cut some +firewood." + +Cutting firewood is not only laborious, but attended with danger, and +that day ill-fortune seemed to have beset the Highlander; for he had +barely cut half a dozen logs, when his axe glanced off a knot and struck +deep into the calf of his left leg. + +A shout brought Big Otter to his side. The Indian was well used to such +accidents. He bound up the wound securely, and carried his comrade into +camp on his back. But now Macnab was helpless. He not only could not +walk, but there was no hope of his being able to do so for weeks to +come. + +"Lucky for us we brought the dogs," he remarked when the operation was +completed. + +"Waugh!" exclaimed the Indian by way of assent, while he busied himself +in preparing food. + +It was indeed lucky, for if they had dragged the provision-sled +themselves, as Macnab had once thought of doing, it would have fallen to +Big Otter's lot to haul his comrade during the remainder of the journey. +As it was, the dogs did it, and in the doing of it, despite the +red-man's anxious and constant care, many a severe shake, and bump, and +capsize in the snow did the unfortunate man receive before that journey +came to a close. He bore it all, however, with the quiet stoicism +characteristic of the race from which he sprang. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE WOUNDED MAN. + +It is needful now to return to Fort Dunregan. + +The long winter is not yet past, but there are symptoms, as I have said, +that it is coming to a close. Snow and ice are still indeed the +prevailing characteristic of the region, but the air is no longer +intensely cold. On the contrary, a genial warmth prevails, inducing the +inhabitants to discard flannel-lined leathern capotes and fur caps for +lighter garments. There is a honeycombed look about the snow-drifts, +which gives them an aged appearance; and, above all, there is an +occasional dropping of water--yes, actual water--from the points of huge +icicles! This is such an ancient memory that we can scarce believe our +senses. We sniff, too, as we walk about; for there are scents in the +air--old familiar smells of earth and vegetation--which we had begun to +fancy we had almost forgotten. + +The excitement caused by the arrival of the winter packet had also by +that time passed almost out of memory, and we had sunk back into that +calm state of patient waiting which may probably be familiar to the +convict who knows that some months of monotonous existence still lie +before him; for, not until the snow and ice should completely clear away +and the summer be pretty well advanced could we hope for the blessed +sight of a new face and the cheering sound of a fresh human voice. Of +course we had the agreeable prospect of hearing ere long the voices of +wild-fowl in their noisy northern flight, but such a prospect was not +sufficient to satisfy poor secluded humanity. + +"Oh that I were a bird!" exclaimed Spooner, one morning as we were +seated round the Carron stove in our hall. + +"No need to wish that," said Lumley, "for you're a goose already!" + +"Well, I'd even consent to be a real goose," continued Spooner, "if I +could only thereby use my wings to fly away over the snowy wilderness +and alight in my old home." + +"What a surprise you'd give them if you did!" said Lumley, "especially +if you came down with your ruffled feathers as clumsily as you tumbled +into the saw-pit the other day when--" + +He stopped, for at that moment I said "Hush!" and held up a finger. + +"Sleigh-bells!" exclaimed Spooner, with a catch of his breath. + +"Nothing new in that," said Lumley: "we hear them every day." + +"Nothing new," I retorted, "to your unmusical ear, but these bells are +not _our_ bells--listen!" + +I started up as I spoke, flung open the outer door, and we all listened +intently. + +Clear and pleasant they rang, like the music of a sweet new song. We +all gave a shout, clapped on our caps, and ran out to the fort gate. +There an almost new sensation thrilled us, for we beheld a team of dogs +coming up weary and worn out of the wilderness, preceded by a gaunt yet +majestic Indian, whose whole aspect--haggard expression of countenance, +soiled and somewhat tattered garments, and weary gait--betokened severe +exhaustion. On the sled, drawn by four lanky dogs, we could see the +figure of a man wrapped in blankets and strapped to the conveyance. + +"Who _can_ it be?" exclaimed Lumley, as he hastened out to meet the new +arrivals. + +"A sick man from somewhere," suggested Spooner. + +"Perhaps the governor," said I, "on an unexpected tour of inspection." + +As we drew near we could see that the recumbent figure waved a hand and +cheered. + +"Macnab," said I, as the familiar voice struck my ear. + +"Ill--dying!" gasped the anxious Spooner. + +"No dying man ever cheered like that!" cried Lumley, "except a hero of +romance in the hour of death and victory!" + +A few seconds more and the matter was put at rest, while we warmly shook +the hearty and genial Highlander by both hands. + +"Help me out, boys," he said; "I'm tired o' this sled, and think I can +do the little remaining bit o' the journey on foot with your help." + +We disentangled him from the sledge and set him on his feet. + +"Hold on, Lumley," he said, with a smile on his haggard and unshaven +face, "I want to embrace you, like the Frenchmen. There--my arm round +your neck--so. Now, Max, I want to embrace you likewise wi' the other +arm. I've grown awful affectionate in my old age. You are rather +short, Max, for a good crutch, but you're better than nothing. You see, +I've only got one good leg." + +"But what has happened to the other--when, how, and where?" we exclaimed +in chorus. + +Macnab answered the questions to our chief, who came forward at the +moment with welcome in his visage and extended hands. + +"It's only a cut, sir, stupidly done with my own hatchet when we had +been but a few days out. But rest will soon put me to rights. My poor +man, Big Otter, is more to be pitied than I. But for him I should have +perished in the snow." + +"What cheer? what cheer?" said our chief, grasping the Indian's hand on +hearing this. + +"What cheer?" we all exclaimed, following his example. + +"Watchee! watchee!" echoed Big Otter, returning the hearty salutation as +well as his tongue could manage it, and giving us each a powerful +squeeze with his huge bony hand, which temporary exhaustion had not +appreciably reduced in strength. + +The native was obviously a sociable, well-disposed man, for his eyes +glittered and his white teeth gleamed and his bronzed visage shone with +pleasure when Macnab explained the cause of our sudden burst of +affection for him. + +Thus chatting and limping we got the Highlander slowly up to the hall, +set him down in our only armchair--a wooden one without stuffing--and +fetched him a basin of hot soup, that being a liquid which our cook had +always more or less frequently on hand. + +"Ha! boys!" cried Macnab, smacking his lips, "that's the thing to put +life into a man! I've not had anything like it for many a day. You +see, we had a small misfortune soon after my accident, which cost us our +kettle, and rendered soup or tea impossible." + +"How was that?" inquired our chief, sitting down, while we gathered +round the stove to listen. + +"Well, you see, sir, not long after my accident, there came a sharp +frost which made the surface of the snow hard after the thaw, so the +dogs could run on the top of the crust without breaking it, but Big +Otter, bein' heavy, broke through--by the way, I hope he's bein' looked +after." + +"You may be sure of that," said Spooner. "I saw him safely placed in +the men's house, and Salamander, who, it turns out, is a sort of +relation of his, set to work to stuff him with the same sort of soup you +think so much of. I only hope they've enough to keep him going, for +before I left the house he had drunk off two bowls of it almost without +taking breath, though it was scalding hot." + +"Good. He'll do it ample justice," returned Macnab, taking another pull +at his own bowl. "I hope you're well provisioned, for Big Otter's an +awful consumer of victuals. Well, as I was saying, the surface of the +snow got frozen thinly, and the work o' tramping after the sled and +holding on to the tail-line was uncommonly hard, as I could see, for I +lay with my head to the front, looping back on the poor man. But it was +on the exposed places and going down the slopes that the greatest +difficulty lay, for there the dogs were keen to run away. Once or twice +they did fairly get off, and gave me some rough as well as long runs +before my man could catch them up. At last we came one afternoon to an +open plain where the snow had felt the thaw and been frozen again pretty +hard. The moment we got on it away went the dogs. Big Otter tried to +run, but one of his shoes went through the crust and the other didn't, +so down he came, and had to let go the line. I felt easy enough at +first, for the plain was level, but after a time it became lumpy, and I +got some ugly bumps. `Never mind,' thought I, `they'll be sure to come +to some bushes, and that'll pull them up.' Just as I thought so, we +came to a slope, and the team went slap over a bank. The sled and I +threw a complete somersault. Fortunately we came down on the dogs, +which broke our fall, though it half killed them! + +"When Big Otter came and turned me right side up, I found that I had +sustained no damage whatever, but, woe's me! our tin kettle was almost +knocked flat. The worst of it was that in trying to put it right we +drove a big hole in the bottom of it, so we had to bid farewell to hot +food, except what we roasted. We could also melt snow by plastering up +the hole so as to get enough to drink, but boiling water was quite out +of the question." + +"Well, Macnab," said our chief, rising, "since you have got the soup +over at last, come along with me and let's hear about your Indian +friend's proposals." + +We assisted our visitor into the mess-room, which was also our principal +council-chamber, and there left him to talk business with Mr Strang +while we returned to Bachelors' Hall to let off our effervescing spirits +by indulging in a running commentary on the unexpected visit, and a +minute analysis of the characters of Macnab and Big Otter, which, I must +add, was decidedly favourable. + +"It seems to me a piece of good luck that he has got here at all," said +Lumley, after we had finished the analysis. + +"Why so?" asked Spooner. + +"Because there are some unmistakable symptoms that winter is about over, +and that snow-shoe and dog-sleigh travelling will soon be impossible." + +That Lumley was right, the change of weather during the next few days +clearly proved, for a thaw set in with steady power. The sun became at +last warm enough to melt ice and snow visibly. We no longer listened +with interest to the sounds of dropping water from eaves and trees, for +these had become once more familiar, and soon our ears were greeted with +the gurgling of rills away in mysterious depths beneath the snow. The +gurgling ere long gave place to gushing, and it seemed as if all nature +were dissolving into liquid. + +While this pleasant change was going on we awoke with song and laugh and +story the echoes of Bachelors' Hall--at no time very restful echoes, +save perhaps in the dead hours of early morning; and even then they were +more or less disturbed by snoring. For our sociable Highlander, besides +having roused our spirits by his mere presence to the effervescing +point, was himself much elated by the mighty change from prolonged +solitude to joyous companionship. + +"My spirit feels inclined," he remarked one day, "to jump clean out of +my body." + +"You'd better not let it then," said Lumley, "for you know it might +catch cold or freeze." + +"Not in this weather, surely," retorted Macnab, "and if I did feel +coldish in the circumstances, couldn't I borrow Spooner's +blanket-capote? it might fit me then, for I'd probably be a few sizes +smaller." + +"Come, Mac," said I, "give us a song. You know I'm wildly fond of +music; and, most unfortunately, not one of us three can sing a note." + +Our visitor was quite willing, and began at once to sing a wild ditty, +in the wilder language of his native land. + +He had a sweet, tuneful, sympathetic voice, which was at the same time +powerful, so that we listened to him, sometimes with enthusiasm swelling +our hearts, at other times with tears dimming our eyes. No one, save he +who has been banished to a wilderness and long bereft of music, can +understand the nature of our feelings--of mine, at least. + +One evening, after our wounded man had charmed us with several songs, +and we all of us had done what we could, despite our incapacity, to pay +him back in kind, he pulled a sheet of crumpled paper out of his pocket. + +"Come," said he, unfolding it, "I've got a poet among the men of Muskrat +House, who has produced a song, which, if not marked by sublimity, is at +least distinguished by much truth. He said he composed it at the rate +of about one line a week during the winter, and his comrades said that +it was quite a picture to see him agonising over the rhymes. Before +they found out what was the matter with him they thought he was becoming +subject to fits of some sort. Now, then, let's have a good chorus. +It's to the tune of `The British Grenadiers.'" + +THE WORLD OF ICE AND SNOW. + + Come listen all good people who dwell at home at ease, + I'll tell you of the sorrows of them that cross the seas + And penetrate the wilderness, + Where arctic tempests blow-- + Where your toes are froze, + An' the pint o' your nose, + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + You've eight long months of winter an' solitude profound, + The snow at your feet is ten feet deep and frozen hard the ground. + And all the lakes are solid cakes, + And the rivers all cease to flow-- + Where your toes are froze, + An' the pint o' your nose, + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + No comrade to enliven; no friendly foe to fight; + No female near to love or cheer with pure domestic light; + No books to read; no cause to plead; + No music, fun, nor go-- + Ne'er a shillin', nor a stiver, + Nor nothin' whatsomediver, + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + Your feelin's take to freezin', so likewise takes your brain; + You go about grump-and-wheezin', like a wretched dog in pain; + You long for wings, or some such things, + But they're not to be had--oh! no-- + For there you are, + Like a _fixed_ star, + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + If you wished you could--you would not, for the very wish + would die. + If you thought you would--you could not, for you wouldn't + have heart to try. + Confusion worse confounded, + Would aggravate you so-- + That you'd tumble down + On the frozen ground + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + But "never-give-in" our part is--let British pluck have sway + And "never-say-die," my hearties--it's that what wins the day. + To face our fate in every state, + Is what we've got to do, + An' laugh at our trouble + Till we're all bent double-- + In the world of Ice and Snow. + + Now all ye sympathisers, and all ye tender souls; + Ye kind philanthropisers, who dwell between the poles, + Embrace in your affections + Those merry merry men who go-- + Where your toes are froze, + An' the pint o' your nose, + In the world of Ice and Snow. + +It almost seemed as though the world of ice and snow itself had taken +umbrage at Macnab's song, for, while we were yet in the act of +enthusiastically prolonging the last "sno-o-ow," there sounded in our +ears a loud report, as if of heavy artillery close at hand. + +We all leaped up in excitement, as if an enemy were at our doors. + +"There it goes at last!" cried Lumley, rushing out of the house followed +by Spooner. + +I was about to follow when Macnab stopped me. + +"Don't get excited, Max, there's no hurry!" + +"It's the river going to break up," said I, looking back impatiently. + +"Yes, I know that, but it won't break up to-night, depend on it." + +I was too eager to wait for more, but ran to the banks of the river, +which at that place was fully a mile wide. The moon was bright, and we +could see the familiar sheet of ice as still and cold as we had seen it +every day for many months past. + +"Macnab's right," said I, "there will be no breakup to-night." + +"Not so sure of that," returned Lumley; "the weather has been very warm +of late; melting snow has been gushing into it in thousands of streams, +and the strain on the ice--six feet thick though it is--must be +tremendous." + +He was checked by another crashing report; but again silence ensued, and +we heard no more till next morning. Of course we were all up and away +to the river bank long before breakfast, but it was not till after that +meal that the final burst-up occurred. It was preceded by many +reports--towards the end by what seemed quite a smart artillery fire. +The whole sheet of ice on the great river seemed to be rising bodily +upwards from the tremendous hydraulic pressure underneath. But though +the thaws of spring had converted much snow into floods of water, they +had not greatly affected the surface of the ice, which still lay hard +and solid in all its wintry strength. + +A greater Power, however, was present. If the ice had been made of +cast-iron six feet in thickness, it must have succumbed sooner or later. + +At last, as Macnab said, "She went!" but who shall describe _how_ she +went? It seemed as if the mighty cake had been suddenly struck from +below and shattered. Then the turmoil that ensued was grand and +terrible beyond conception. It was but an insignificant portion of +God's waters at which we gazed, but how overwhelming it seemed to us! +Mass rose upon mass of ice, the cold grey water bursting through and +over all, hurling morsels as large as the side of a house violently on +each other, till a mighty pile was raised which next moment fell with a +crash into the boiling foam. Then, in one direction there was a rush +which seemed about to carry all before it, but instead of being piled +upwards, some of the masses were driven below, were thrust deep into the +mud, and a jam took place. In a few minutes the ice burst upwards +again, and the masses were swept on to join the battalions that were +already on their way towards the distant lake amid noise and crash and +devastation. It seemed as if ice and snow and water had combined to +revive the picture if not the reality of ancient chaos! + +Thus the drapery of winter was rudely swept away, and next morning we +had the joy of seeing our river sweeping grandly on in all the liquid +beauty of early and welcome spring. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +AN EXPRESS AND ITS RESULTS. + +Some weeks after the breaking up of the ice, as we were standing at the +front gate of Fort Dunregan, we experienced a pleasant surprise at the +sight of an Indian canoe sweeping round the point above the fort. Two +men paddled the canoe, one in the bow and one in the stern. + +It conveyed a message from headquarters directing that two of the clerks +should be sent to establish an outpost in the regions of the far north, +the very region from which Macnab's friend Big Otter had come. One of +the two canoe-men was a clerk sent to undertake, at Dunregan, the work +of those who should be selected for the expedition, and he said that +another clerk was to follow in the spring-brigade of boats. + +"That's marching orders for _you_, Lumley," said Macnab, who was beside +us when the canoe arrived. + +"You cannot tell that," returned Lumley. "It may be that our chief will +select Max or Spooner. Did you hear any mention of names?" he asked of +the new clerk, as we all walked up to the house. + +"No, our governor does not tell us much of his intentions. Perhaps your +chief may be the man." + +"He's too useful where he is," suggested Macnab. "But we shall know +when the letters are opened." + +Having delivered his despatches, the new arrival returned to us in +Batchelors' Hall, where we soon began to make the most of him, and were +engaged in a brisk fire of question and reply, when a message came for +Mr Lumley to go to the mess-room. + +"I've sent for you, Lumley," said our chief, "to say that you have been +appointed to fill an honourable and responsible post. It seems that the +governor, with his wonted sagacity, has perceived that it would be +advantageous to the service to have an outpost established in the lands +lying to the westward of Muskrat House, on the borders of Lake +Wichikagan. As you are aware, the Indian, Big Otter, has come from that +very place, with a request from his people that such a post should be +established, and you have been selected by the governor to conduct the +expedition." + +As our chief paused, Lumley, with a modest air, expressed his sense of +the honour that the appointment conferred on him, and his willingness to +do his best for the service. + +"I know you will, Lumley," returned Mr Strang, "and I must do you the +justice to say that I think the governor has shown his usual wisdom in +the selection. Without wishing to flatter you, I think you are steady +and self-reliant. You are also strong and big, qualities which are of +some value among rough men and Indians, not because they enable you to +rule with a strong hand, but because they enable you to rule without the +necessity of showing the strength of your hand. Bullies, if you should +meet with any, will recognise your ability to knock them down without +requiring proof thereof. To say truth, if you were one of those fellows +who are fond of ruling by the mere strength of their arms, I should not +think you fit for the command of an expedition like this, which will +require much tact in its leader. At the same time, a large and powerful +frame--especially if united to a peaceable spirit--is exceedingly useful +in a wild country. Without the peaceable spirit it only renders its +possessor a bully and a nuisance. I am further directed to furnish you +with the needful supplies and men. I will see to the former being +prepared, and the latter you may select--of course within certain +limits. Now go and make arrangements for a start. The lakes will soon +be sufficiently free of ice, and you are aware that you will need all +your time to reach your ground and get well established before next +winter sets in." + +"Excuse me, sir," said Lumley, turning back as he was about to depart. +"Am I permitted to select the clerk who is to go with me as well as the +men?" + +"Certainly." + +"Then I should like to have Mr Maxby." + +Our chief smiled as he replied, "I thought so. I have observed your +mutual friendship. Well, you may tell him of the prospect before him." + +Need I say that I was overjoyed at this prospect? I have always felt +something of that disposition which animates, I suppose, the breast of +every explorer. To visit unknown lands has always been with me almost a +passion, and this desire has extended even to trivial localities, +insomuch that I was in the habit, while at fort Dunregan, of traversing +all the surrounding country--on snow-shoes in winter and in my hunting +canoe in summer--until I became familiar with all the out-of-the-way and +the seldom-visited nooks and corners of that neighbourhood. + +To be appointed, therefore, as second in command of an expedition to +establish a new trading-post in a little-known region, was of itself a +matter of much self-gratulation; but to have my friend and chum Jack +Lumley as my chief, was a piece of good fortune so great that on hearing +of it I executed an extravagant pirouette, knocked Spooner off his chair +by accident--though he thought it was done on purpose--and spent five or +ten minutes thereafter in running round the stove to escape his wrath. + +As to my fitness for this appointment, I must turn aside for a few +moments to pay a tribute of respect to my dear father, as well as to +tell the youthful reader one or two things that have made a considerable +impression on me. + +"Punch," said my father to me one day--he called me Punch because in +early life I had a squeaky voice and a jerky manner--"Punch, my boy, get +into a habit of looking up, if you can, as you trot along through this +world. If you keep your head down and your eyes on the ground, you'll +see nothing of what's going on around you--consequently you'll know +nothing; moreover, you'll get a bad habit of turning your eyes inward +and always thinking only about yourself and your own affairs, which +means being selfish. Besides, you'll run a chance of growing +absent-minded, and won't see danger approaching; so that you'll tumble +over things and damage your shins, and tumble into things and damage +your clothes, and tumble off things and damage your carcase, and get run +over by wheels, and poked in the back by carriage-poles, and killed by +trains, and spiflicated in various ways--all of which evils are to be +avoided by looking up and looking round, and taking note of what you +see, as you go along the track of life--d'ye see?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And this," continued my father, "is the only mode that I know of +getting near to that most blessed state of human felicity, +self-oblivion. You won't be able to manage that altogether, Punch, but +you'll come nearest to it by looking up. Of course there are times when +it is good for a man to look inside and take stock--self-examination, +you know--but looking _out_ and _up_ is more difficult, to my mind. And +there is a kind of looking up, too, for guidance and blessing, which is +the most important of all, but I'm not talking to you on that subject +just now. I'm trying to warn you against that habit which so many +people have of staring at the ground, and seeing and knowing nothing as +they go along through life. I've suffered from it myself, Punch, more +than I care to tell, and that's why I speak feelingly, and wish to warn +you in time, my boy. + +"Now, there's another thing," continued my father. "You're fond of +rambling, Punch, and of reading books of travel and adventure, and I +have no doubt you think it would be a grand thing to go some day and try +to discover the North Pole, or the South Pole, or to explore the unknown +interior of Australia." + +"Yes, father," I replied, in a tone which made him laugh. + +"Well, then, Punch, I won't discourage you. Go and discover these +places by all means, if you can; but mark me, you'll never discover them +if you get into the habit of keeping your eyes on the ground, and +thinking about yourself and your own affairs. And I would further +advise you to brush up your mathematics, and study navigation, and learn +well how to take an observation for longitude and latitude, for if you +don't know how to find out exactly where you are in unknown regions, +you'll never be a discoverer. Also, Punch, get into a habit of taking +notes, and learn to write a good hand, for editors and publishers won't +care to be bothered with you if you don't, and maybe the time will come +when you won't be able to make out your own writing. I've known men of +that stamp, whose penmanship suggested the idea that a drunk fly had +dipped its legs in the ink-pud an' straggled across his paper." + +These weighty words of my dear father I laid to heart at the time, and, +as a consequence I believe, have been selected on more than one occasion +to accompany exploring parties in various parts of the world. One very +important accomplishment which my father did not think of, but which, +nevertheless, I have been so fortunate as to acquire, is, sketching from +Nature, and marking the course of rivers and trend of coasts. I have +thus been able not only to make accurate maps of the wild regions I have +visited, but have brought home many sketches of interesting scenes of +adventure, which words alone could not have sufficed to pourtray. + +But to return from this long digression. I set about my preparations +without delay, and was soon ready with a small but very select amount of +baggage. You may be sure also that Lumley was active in his +preparations, and the result was that, on a fine afternoon in the early +spring, we--that is, Lumley, Macnab, Big Otter, and I--set out on our +expedition in a strong new boat which was manned by two Indians, two +Scotchmen, and a number of Canadian half-breeds--all picked men. + +I must not however, drag my readers through the details of our arduous +voyage, not because those details are devoid of interest or romance, far +from it, but because I have other matters more interesting and romantic +to relate. I will, therefore, pass them over in silence, and at once +proceed to the remote region where our lot at that time was to be cast. + +One beautiful evening we encamped on the margin of one of those +innumerable lakelets which gleam like diamonds on the breast of the +great wilderness, through which for many weeks we had been voyaging. +The vast solitudes into which we had penetrated, although nearly +destitute of human inhabitants, were by no means devoid of life, for +aquatic birds of varied form and voice made sweet music in the air, as +they swept over their grand domains on whirring wing, or chattered +happily in their rich feeding-grounds. + +Those pleasant sounds were augmented by the axes of our men as they +busied themselves in cutting firewood, and preparing our encampment. + +The spot chosen was a piece of level sward overhung by trees and +surrounded by bushes, except on the side next the little lake where an +opening permitted us to see the sheet of water gleaming like fire as the +sun sank behind the opposite trees. By that time we had traversed +hundreds of miles of wilderness, stemming many rivers and rivulets; +crossing or skirting hundreds of lakes which varied from two hundred +miles to two hundred yards in length; dragging our boat and carrying our +baggage over innumerable portages, and making our beds each night, in +fair weather and foul, under the trees of the primeval forest, until we +had at last plunged into regions almost unknown--where, probably, the +foot of a white man had never before rested. On the way we had passed +Muskrat House. There, with feelings of profound regret, we parted from +our genial Highlander, promising, however, to send him an unusually long +account of all our doings by the packet, which we purposed sending to +headquarters sometime during the winter. + +The particular duty which Lumley and I undertook on the evening in +question was the lighting of the fire, and putting on of the kettles for +supper. We were aided by our guide, Big Otter, who cut down and cut up +the nearest dead trees, and by Salamander, who carried them to the camp. + +"Three days more, and we shall reach the scene of our operations," said +Lumley to me, as we watched the slowly-rising flame which had just been +kindled; "is it not so?" he asked of Big Otter, who came up at the +moment with a stupendous log on his shoulders and flung it down. + +"Waugh?" said the Indian, interrogatively. + +"Ask him," said Lumley to Salamander, who was interpreter to the +expedition, "if we are far now from the lodges of his people." + +"Three times," replied the red-man, pointing to the sun, "will the great +light go down, and then the smoke of Big Otter's wigwam shall be seen +rising above the trees." + +"Good; I shall be glad when I see it," returned Lumley, arranging a +rustic tripod over the fire, "for I long to begin the building of our +house, and getting a supply of fish and meat for winter use. Now then, +Salamander, fetch the big kettle." + +"Yis, sar," replied our little servant, with gleeful activity (he was +only sixteen and an enthusiast) as he ran down to the lake for water. + +"Cut the pemmican up small, Max. I've a notion it mixes better, though +some fellows laugh at the idea and say that hungry men are not +particular." + +"That is true," said I, attacking the pemmican with a small hatchet; +"yet have I seen these same scoffers at careful cookery doing ample and +appreciative justice to the mess when cooked." + +"Just so. I have observed the same thing--but, I say, what is Big Otter +looking so earnestly at over there?" + +"Perhaps he sees a bear," said I; "or a moose-deer." + +"No, he never pays so much attention to the lower animals, except when +he wants to shoot them. He shakes his head, too. Let's go see. Come, +Salamander, and interpret." + +"Big Otter sees something," said Lumley through Salamander as we +approached. + +"Yes, Big Otter sees signs," was the reply. + +"And what may the signs be?" + +"Signs of wind and rain and thunder." + +"Well, I suppose you know best but no such signs are visible to me. Ask +him, Salamander, if we may expect the storm soon." + +To this the Indian replied that he could not tell, but advised that +preparation should be made for the worst. + +It may be well here to remark that although Lumley and I, as well as +some of our men, had acquired a smattering of the Indian tongue, our +chief deemed it expedient to give us a regular interpreter whose +knowledge of both languages was sufficiently extensive. Such an +interpreter had been found in the youth whom we had styled Salamander, +and whose real name I have now forgotten. This lad's knowledge of +Indian was perfect. He also understood French well, and spoke it badly, +while his comprehension of English was quite equal to any emergency, +though his power of speaking it was exceedingly limited. What he spoke +could scarcely be styled a broken tongue; it was rather what we may call +thoroughly smashed-up English! Such as it was, however, it served our +purpose well enough, and as the lad was a willing, cheery, somewhat +humorous fellow, he was justly deemed an acquisition to our party. +While on this subject I may add that Blondin, who brought the winter +packet to Dunregan, was one of our number--also, that both our Scotsmen +were Highlanders, one being named Donald Bane, the other James Dougall. +Why the first called the second Shames Tougall, and the second styled +the first Tonal' Pane is a circumstance which I cannot explain. + +Among the French-Canadian half-breeds our blacksmith, Marcelle Dumont +and our carpenter, Henri Coppet, were the most noteworthy; the first +being a short but herculean man with a jovial temperament, the latter a +thin, lanky, lugubrious fellow, with a grave disposition. Both were +first-rate workmen, but indeed the same may be said of nearly all our +men, who had been chosen very much because of their readiness and +ability to turn their hands to anything. + +Soon the kettles boiled. In one we infused tea. In another we prepared +that thick soup so familiar to the Nor'-wester, composed of pemmican and +flour, which is known by the name of _robbiboo_. From a frying-pan the +same substances, much thicker, sent up a savoury steam under the name of +_richeau_. + +There was not much conversation among us at the commencement of the +meal, as we sat round the camp-fire, but when appetite was appeased +muttered remarks were interchanged, and when tobacco-pipes came out, our +tongues, set free from food, began to wag apace. + +"Dere is noting like a good _souper_," remarked Marcelle Dumont, the +blacksmith, extending his burly form on the grass the more thoroughly to +enjoy his pipe. + +"Shames Tougall," said Donald Bane, in an undertone, and with the +deliberate slowness of his race, "what does he mean by soopy?" + +"Tonal'," replied Dougall with equal deliberation, "ye'd petter ask his +nainsel'." + +"It be de French for _supper_," said Salamander, who overheard the +question. + +"Humph!" ejaculated Dougall and Bane in unison; but they vouchsafed no +further indication of the state of their minds. + +"You're a true prophet, Big Otter," said Lumley, as a low rumbling of +distant thunder broke the silence of the night, which would have been +profound but for our voices, the crackling of the fire, and the tinkle +of a neighbouring rill. + +Soon afterwards we observed a faint flash of lightning, which was +followed by another and deeper rumble of heaven's artillery. Looking up +through the branches we perceived that the sky had become overcast with +heavy clouds. + +Suddenly there came a blinding flash of lightning, as if the sun in +noonday strength had burst through the black sky. It was followed +instantly by thick, almost palpable darkness, and by a crash so +tremendous that I sprang up with a sort of idea that the end of the +world had come. The crash was prolonged in a series of rolling, bumping +thunders, as though giants were playing bowls with worlds on the floor +of heaven. Gradually the echoing peals subsided into sullen mutterings +and finally died away. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +A TREMENDOUS STORM AND OTHER EXPERIENCES. + +It need hardly be said that we all sprang up when the thunder-clap shook +the earth, and began hastily to make preparation for the coming storm. +The broad flat branches of a majestic pine formed a roof to our +encampment. Dragging our provisions and blankets as near as possible to +the stem of the tree, we covered them up with one of our oiled-cloths, +which were somewhat similar in appearance and texture to the tarpaulings +of seafaring men, though light in colour. Then we ran down to the lake, +carried all our goods hastily to the same spot, covered them up in like +manner, and finally dragged our boat as far up on the beach as possible. + +Several blinding flashes and deafening peals saluted us while we were +thus employed, but as yet not a drop of rain or sigh of wind disturbed +us, and we were congratulating ourselves on having managed the matter so +promptly, when several huge drops warned us to seek shelter. + +"That will do, boys," cried Lumley, referring to the boat, "she's safe." + +"_Voila! vite_!" shouted Marcelle, our volatile son of Vulcan, as the +first big drops of rain descended on him. + +He sprang towards the sheltering tree with wild activity. So, indeed, +did we all, but the rain was too quick for us. Down it came with the +suddenness and fury of a shower-bath, and most of us were nearly +drenched before we reached our pine. There was a good deal of shouting +and laughter at first, but the tremendous forces of nature that had been +let loose were too overwhelming to permit of continued levity. In a few +minutes the ground near our tree became seamed with little glancing +rivulets, while the rain continued to descend like straight heavy rods +of crystal which beat on the earth with a dull persistent roar. Ere +long the saturated soil refused to drink in the superabundance, and the +crystal rods, descending into innumerable pools, changed the roar into +the plash of many waters. + +We stood close together for some time, gazing at this scene in silent +solemnity, when a few trickling streams began to fall upon us, showing +that our leafy canopy, thick though it was, could not protect us +altogether from such a downpour. + +"We'd better rig up one of the oiled-cloths, and get under it," I +suggested. + +"Do so," said our chief. + +Scarcely had he spoken when a flash of lightning, brighter than any that +had gone before, revealed to us the fact that the distant part of the +hitherto placid lake was seething with foam. + +"A squall! Look out!" shouted Lumley, grasping the oiled-cloth we were +about to spread. + +Every one shouted and seized hold of something under the strong +conviction that action of some sort was necessary to avert danger. But +all our voices were silenced in a dreadful roar of thunder which, as +Donald Bane afterwards remarked, seemed to split the universe from stem +to stern. This was instantly followed by a powerful whirlwind which +caught our oiled-cloth, tore it out of our hands, and whisked it up into +the tree-tops, where it stuck fast and flapped furiously, while some of +our party were thrown down, and others seemed blown away altogether as +they ran into the thick bush for shelter. + +For myself, without any definite intentions, and scarce knowing what I +was about, I seized and clung to the branches of a small tree with the +tenacity of a drowning man--unable to open my eyes while sticks and +leaves, huge limbs of trees and deluges of water flew madly past, +filling my mind with a vague impression that the besom of destruction +had become a veritable reality, and that we were all about to be swept +off the face of the earth together. + +Strange to say, in this crisis I felt no fear. I suppose I had not time +or power to think at all, and I have since that day thought that God +perhaps thus mercifully sends relief to His creatures in their direst +extremity--just as He sends relief to poor human beings, when suffering +intolerable pain, by causing stupor. + +The outburst was as short-lived as it was furious. Suddenly the wind +ceased; the floods of rain changed to slight droppings, and finally +stopped altogether, while the thunder growled itself into sullen repose +in the far distance. + +But what a scene of wreck was left behind! We could not of course, see +the full extent of the mischief, for the night still remained intensely +dark, but enough was revealed in the numerous uprooted trees which lay +all round us within the light of our rekindled camp-fire. From most of +these we had been protected by the great pine, under which we had taken +shelter, though one or two had fallen perilously near to us--in one case +falling on and slightly damaging our baggage. + +Our first anxiety, of course, was our boat, towards which we ran as if +by one impulse, the instant the wind had subsided. + +To our horror it was gone! + +Only those who know what it is to traverse hundreds of leagues of an +almost tenantless wilderness, and have tried to push a few miles through +roadless forests that have grown and fallen age after age in undisturbed +entanglement since the morning of creation, can imagine the state of our +minds at this discovery. + +"Search towards the woods, men," said Lumley, who, whatever he might +have felt, was the only one amongst us who seemed unexcited. We could +trace no sign of anxiety in the deep tones of his steady voice. + +It was this quality--I may remark in passing--this calm, equable flow of +self-possession in all circumstances, no matter how trying, that +rendered our young leader so fit for the work, with which he had been +entrusted, and which caused us all to rely on him with unquestioning +confidence. He never seemed uncertain how to act even in the most +desperate circumstances, and he never gave way to discontent or +depression. A gentle, good-humoured expression usually played on his +countenance, yet he could look stern enough at times, and even fierce, +as we all knew. + +While we were stumbling in the dark in the direction indicated, we heard +the voice of Salamander shouting:-- + +"Here it am! De bot--busted on de bank!" + +And "busted" it certainly was, as we could feel, for it was too dark to +see. + +"Fetch a blazing stick, one of you," cried Lumley. + +A light revealed the fact that our boat, in being rolled bodily up the +bank by the gale, had got several of her planks damaged and two of her +ribs broken. + +"Let's be thankful," I said, on further examination, "that no damage has +been done to keel or gun'le." + +"Nor to stem or stern-post," added Lumley. "Come, we shan't be delayed +more than a day after all." + +He was right. The whole of the day that followed the storm we spent in +repairing the boat, and drying such portions of the goods as had got +wet, as well as our own garments. The weather turned out to be bright +and warm, so that when we lay down to rest, everything was ready for a +start at the earliest gleam of dawn. + +"Lumley," said I, next day, as we rested after a good spell at the oars, +"what would have become of us if our boat had been smashed to pieces, or +bodily blown away?" + +"Nothing very serious would have become of us, I think," he replied with +an amused look. + +"But consider," I said; "we are now hundreds of miles away from Muskrat +House--our nearest neighbour--with a dense wilderness and no roads +between. Without a boat we could neither advance nor retreat. We +might, of course, try to crawl along river banks and lake shores, which +would involve the wading or swimming of hundreds of rivulets and rivers, +with provisions and blankets on our backs, and even then winter would be +down on us, and we should all be frozen to death before the end of the +journey. Besides, even if we were to escape, how could we ever show +face after leaving all our supply of goods and stores to rot in the +wilderness?" + +"Truly," replied my friend with a short laugh, "the picture you paint is +not a lively one, but it is I who ought to ask _you_ to consider. There +are many ways in which we might overcome our supposed difficulties. I +will explain; and let me begin by pointing out that your first error +lies in conceiving an improbability and an impossibility. In the first +place it is improbable that our boat should get `smashed to pieces.' +Such an event seldom occurs in river navigation, except in the case of +going over something like Niagara. In the second place it is impossible +that a boat should be blown bodily away. But let us suppose that, for +the sake of argument, something of the kind had happened, and that our +boat was damaged beyond repair, or lost; could we not, think you, +fabricate a couple of birch-bark canoes in a country where such splendid +birch-trees grow, and with these proceed to our destination?" + +"Very true," said I, "that did not occur to me; but," I continued, +waxing argumentative, "what if there had been no birch-trees in this +part of the country?" + +"Why then, Max, there would be nothing to prevent our placing most of +our goods _en cache_, construct a small portable raft for crossing +streams, and start off each man with a small load for Big Otter's home, +at which we should arrive in a week or two, and there set about the +erection of huts to shelter us, begin a fishery, and remain until winter +should set fast the lakes and rivers, cover the land with snow, and thus +enable us to go back for our goods, and bring them forward on sledges, +with aid, perhaps, from the red-men." + +"True, true, Lumley, that might be done." + +"Or," continued my friend, "we might stay where the disaster overtook +us, remain till winter, and send Big Otter on to tell his people that we +were coming. When one plan fails, you know, all you've got to do is to +try another. There is only one sort of accident that might cause us a +deal of trouble, and some loss--and that is, our boat getting smashed +and upset in a rapid, and our goods scattered. Even in that case we +might recover much of what could swim, but lead and iron would be lost, +and powder damaged. However we won't anticipate evil. Look! there is a +sight that ought to banish all forebodings from our minds." + +He pointed as he spoke to an opening ahead of us, which revealed a +beautiful little lake, whose unruffled surface was studded with +picturesque bush-clad islets. Water-fowl of many kinds were swimming +about on its surface, or skimming swiftly over it. It seemed so +peaceful that I was led to think of it as a miniature paradise. + +"Come, Henri, chante, sing," cried Lumley, with a touch of enthusiasm in +eye and tone. + +Our carpenter, Coppet, was by general consent our leading singer. He +possessed a sweet tenor voice, and always responded to a call with a +willingness that went far to counteract the lugubrious aspect of his +visage. On this occasion he at once struck up the canoe-song, "_A la +claire fontaine_," which, besides being plaintive and beautiful, seemed +to me exceedingly appropriate, for we were at that time crossing a +height of land, and the clear, crystal waters over which we skimmed +formed indeed the fountain-head of some of the great northern rivers. + +The sudden burst of song had a wonderful effect upon the denizens of +Clear Lake, as we named the sheet of water; for, after a brief momentary +pause in their chatter--as if of incredulity and blazing surprise--they +all arose at once in such myriads that the noise of their wings was not +unlike what I may style muffled thunder. + +Before the song was well finished we had reached the other end of the +lakelet, and found that a deep river ran out of it in a nor'easterly +direction. The current of the river was powerful, and we had not +proceeded many miles down its course when we came to a series of +turbulent rapids. + +As we entered them I could not help recalling Lumley's remarks about the +risks we ran in descending rapids; but no thought of actual danger +occurred to me until I saw Blondin, who was our bowman, draw in his oar, +grasp a long pole with which he had provided himself, and stand up in +the bow, the better to look out inquiringly ahead. + +Now, it must be explained that the bowman's is the most important post +in river navigation in the Nor'-west--equal, at all events, to that of +steersman. In fact the two act in concert; the bowman, whose position +commands the best view of rocks and dangers ahead, giving direction, and +the watchful steersman acting sympathetically with his long oar or +sweep, so that should the bowman with his pole thrust the head of the +boat violently to the right the steersman sweeps its stern sharply to +the left, thus causing the craft to spin round and shoot aside from the +danger, whatever it may be. Of course the general flow and turmoil of a +rapid indicates pretty clearly to skilled eyes where the deepest water +lies; nevertheless, in spite of knowledge, skill, and experience, +disasters will happen at times. + +"Monsieur," said Blondin in French to Lumley, as we gained a smooth +piece of water at the foot of a short rapid, "I know not the rocks +ahead. It may be well to land and look." + +"Do so, Blondin." + +We ran the boat's head on shore, and while the bowman and our leader +went to look at the rapids in advance, most of our men got out their +pipes and began to chat quietly. + +Our scouts quickly returned, saying that the rapids, though rough, were +practicable. Soon we were among them, darting down with what would have +seemed, to any inexperienced eye, perilous velocity. The river at the +place was about a hundred yards wide, with an unusually rugged channel, +but with a distinctly marked run--deep and tortuous--in the middle. On +both sides of the run, sweeping and curling surges told of rocks close +to the surface, and in many places these showed black edges above water, +which broke the stream into dazzling foam. + +"Have a care, Blondin," said our chief, in a warning voice, as the +bowman made a sudden and desperate shove with his pole. A side current +had swept us too far in the direction of a forbidding ledge, to touch on +which might have been fatal. But Henri Coppet, who acted as steersman +as well as carpenter, was equal to the occasion. He bent his lanky form +almost double, took a magnificent sweep with the oar, and seconded +Blondin's shove so ably that we passed the danger like an arrow, with +nothing but a slight graze. + +That danger past we were on the brink of another, almost before we had +time to think. At the time I remember being deeply impressed, in a +confused way, with the fact that, whatever might await us below, there +was now no possibility of our returning up stream. We were emphatically +"in for it," and our only hope lay in the judgment, boldness, and +capacity of the two men who guided our frail bark--doubly frail, it +seemed to me, when contrasted with the waters that surged around, and +the solid rocks that appeared to bar our way in all directions. Even +some of our men at the oars, whose only duty was to obey orders +promptly, began to show symptoms of anxiety, if not of fear. + +"Smooth water ahead," muttered Lumley, pointing to a small lake into +which the turbulent river ran about a quarter of a mile further down. + +"All right soon," I said, but just as I spoke the boat lightly touched a +rock. Blondin saw that there was not sufficient depth in a passage +which he had intended to traverse. With a shout to the steersman he +thrust his pole over the side with all his might. The obedient craft +turned as if on a pivot, and would have gone straight into a safe stream +in another second, if Blondin's pole had not stuck fast either in mud or +between two rocks. + +In a moment our bowman was whisked over the side as if he had been a +feather. Letting go the pole he caught the gunwale and held on. The +boat was carried broadside on the rocks, and the gushing water raised +her upper side so high that she was on the point of rolling over when +all of us--I think instinctively--sprang to that side and bore her down. + +"Over the side, some of you," cried Lumley, leaping into the water on +the lower side, followed by six of us, including myself. Some of us +were breast deep; others, on rocks, stood higher. + +"Now--together--shove!--and hold on!" + +There was no need to give us the latter caution. + +Our boat shot into deep water and we all held on for life. Fortunately +the more open part of the rapid had been gained. The steersman without +aid could keep us in deep water, and, before we had fairly scrambled +back into our places, we were floating safely on the quiet lake into +which the river ran. + +You may be sure that we had matter not only for gratulation but for +conversation that night at supper; for, after discussing our recent +adventure in all its phases, nearly every one of our party had numerous +similar incidents to tell of--either as having occurred to himself, or +to his friends. But the pleasure of that night's intercourse and repose +was materially diminished by a pest, with which for some time previously +we had not been much afflicted. + +Who has not heard of mosquitoes? We may inform those who have never +seen or felt them that they are peculiarly virulent and numerous and +vicious and bloodthirsty in the swampy lands of North America, and that +night we had got into a region of swamps. It may also, perhaps, be +unknown to some people that mosquitoes do not slumber--unless, indeed, +they do it on a preconcerted plan of relieving guard. Either there is a +"day and night shift" or they do not rest at all. As a consequence _we_ +did not rest. Groans and maledictions were the order of the night. We +spent much time in slapping our own faces, and immolated hundreds of the +foe at each slap, but thousands came on to refill the ranks. We buried +our heads under our blankets, but could not sleep for suffocation. Some +of the men left their faces exposed, went to sleep in desperate +exhaustion, after hours of fruitless warfare, and awoke with eyes all +but shut up, and cheeks like dumplings. Others lay down to leeward of +the fire and spent the night in a compound experience of blood-sucking +and choking. One ingenious man--I think it was Salamander--wrapped his +visage in a kerchief, leaving nothing exposed save the point of his nose +for breathing purposes. In the morning he arose with something like a +huge strawberry on the end of his prominent feature. + +Indeed, it was a wearing night to follow such a trying day! + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +DEEP IN THE WILDERNESS WE FIND OUR HOME WHICH IS SHARED WITH THE WILD +BEAST, THE WILD BIRD, AND THE SAVAGE. + +Availing myself now of that wonderful power which we possess of +projecting the mind instantaneously through space and time, I will leave +our adventurous fur-traders, and, conveying my reader still deeper into +the heart of the great wilderness, set him down on the margin of one of +those lesser sheets of water which lie some distance in a south-westerly +direction from that mighty fresh-water ocean called Athabasca. + +This lake, although small when compared with the vast reservoirs which +stud those northern wilds, is, nevertheless, of goodly dimensions, being +about six miles in diameter, and studded here and there with numerous +islets, some of which are almost bare rocks of a few yards in extent, +while others are not less than a quarter of a mile in circumference, and +thickly wooded to the edge. + +It is a somewhat peculiar lake. It does not lie, as many lakes do, in +the bottom of a valley, from which the spectator lifts his eye to +surrounding heights, but rests in a little hollow on a height of land, +from many points of which the eye looks down on the surrounding low +country. It is true, that in one direction, westward, a line of distant +blue hills is seen, which are obviously higher than our lake, for the +land rises gently towards them; but when you ascend a wooded knoll close +by, the summit of which is free from underwood, it is seen at a glance +that on all other sides the land is below you, and your eye takes in at +one grand sweep all round the compass a view of woodland and plain, +mound and morass, lake, river, and rivulet, such as is probably +unequalled--certainly unsurpassed--in any other part of the known world. + +Solitude profound--as far as men and their works are concerned--marked +this lovely region at the time of our arrival, though there was the most +telling evidence of exuberant animal life everywhere, to the ear as well +as to the eye; for the air was vocal with the plaintive cries and +whistling wings of wild-fowl which sported about in blissful enjoyment +of their existence, while occasional breaks in the glassy surface of the +water, and numerous widening circles, told that fish were not less +jovial in the realms below. This was at last the longed-for Lake +Wichikagan. + +Man, however, was not altogether absent, though less obviously present, +at that time. At the extreme western end of the lake, where the view of +the regions beyond was most extensive as well as most beautiful, there +was a bright green patch of land, free from underwood as well as trees-- +a sort of natural lawn--which extended with a gentle slope towards the +lake; ending in a pebbly beach on which the waters rested so calm and +pure that it was difficult to distinguish the line where dry land and +water met. + +A little to the right of this beautiful spot there grew a small clump of +bushes, and in the midst of these there crouched two Indians. One was +middle-aged, the other was entering on the period of early manhood, and +a strongly marked resemblance in feature and form indicated plainly that +they stood to each other in the relation of father and son. Both were +clothed in leather, with the usual ornamentation of beads, scalp-locks, +and feathers. Their faces, however, were not disfigured with +war-paint--a sign that at that time they were at peace with all mankind. + +It might have struck an observer, however, that for men of peace they +were in suspiciously warlike attitudes. The elder savage stooped low to +conceal himself behind the foliage, and held a long single-barrelled gun +in readiness for instant action, while the youth, also stooping low, +held an arrow ready fitted to his short bow. The eyes of both glared +with expressions that might have been indicative of joy, hope, hate, +revenge, expectation, or anything else you please--for a glare is +unquestionably an ambiguous expression at the best, needing a context to +expound it. + +"Let two die," muttered the elder redskin--of course in his own tongue. +(I had the details from his own lips afterwards, and translate them as +literally as may be.) + +"Ho!" replied the son, without moving his glare from the direction from +which the two doomed ones were expected to emerge. + +Presently a flock of grey wild-geese came majestically along, close to +the margin of the lake--flying low, as well as slow, and following the +curvings of the shore as if in search of a suitable feeding-place at +which to alight. The green of the natural lawn had evidently attracted +these birds, for they skimmed over the bushes behind which our Indians +crouched almost within pistol-shot. + +Like statues the red-men stood until the geese were over them; then an +arrow from the son's bow quivered in the heart of one bird, and brought +it fluttering heavily to the ground. At the same instant the echoes +around answered to the father's gun, and another goose lay dead upon the +sward. + +"Waugh!" exclaimed both Indians as they stepped forth and picked up +their game. + +These sons of the wilderness were not, however, very communicative, for +they spake never a word more. Perhaps they were hungry, and it is +well-known that hungry men are not sociable. At all events they +maintained a profound silence while they cut down a small decayed tree, +made a good fire, and prepared dinner, or--as the sun was beginning to +decline at the time--I may call it supper. + +The mode of preparation was simple. Of course they plucked the geese; +an operation which revealed the fact that both birds were plump and fat. +Next they split them open with their scalping-knives, and, going down +to the lake, cleaned them out with the same weapons. Then, transfixing +them on two pieces of stick, after the manner of red-men, they stuck +them up before the fire to roast. The roasting did not take long, for +they were either partial to underdone food or impatient, and began at +once upon such portions of the birds as were first ready, by cutting +them off and chewing away without removing the remainder of the roasts +from the fire. By degrees the solid parts were devoured. Then the +drumsticks and other extremities were picked; after that the +merry-thoughts and smaller bones were cleaned, and not until every +fragment of edible matter was consumed did father or son cease his toil +or utter a word. + +"Waugh!" exclaimed the father at last, regarding the skeleton of his +meal with a sad look, as if grieved that all was over. + +"Hough!" responded the son with a sigh of satisfaction, as he wiped his +fingers on the grass and sheathed his scalping-knife. Then, searching +in their little pouches, which contained flint steel, tinder, etcetera, +they drew forth two little stone pipes with wooden stems, which they +filled and began to smoke. + +The first whiff seemed to break the magic spell which had hitherto kept +them silent. With another emphatic "Waugh!" the elder savage declared +that the goose was good; that it distended him pleasantly, and that it +warmed the cockles of his heart--or words to that effect. To which the +son replied with a not less emphatic "Hough!" that he was entirely of +the same opinion. Thus, whiffing gently, letting the smoke slowly out +of their mouths and trickling it through their nostrils, so as to get +the full benefit--or or damage!--of the tobacco, those sons of the +wilderness continued for some time to enjoy themselves, while the sun +sank slowly towards the western horizon, converting every lake and pond, +and every river and streamlet, into a sheet, or band, or thread of +burnished gold. At last the elder savage removed his pipe and sent a +final shot of smoke towards the sky with some vigour as he said, rather +abruptly,--"Mozwa, my brother must be dead!" + +"I hope not, father," returned the youth, whose name, Mozwa, signifies +in the Cree language "moose-deer," and had been given to the lad because +he possessed an unusual power of running great distances, and for long +periods, at a sort of swinging trot that left all competitors of his +tribe far behind. + +"I also hope not," said his father, whose name was Maqua, or "bear," +"but I am forced to think so, for when Big Otter promises he is sure to +perform. He said to Waboose that he would be home before the berries +were ripe. The berries are ripe and he is not home. Without doubt he +is now chasing the deer in the happy hunting-grounds with his fathers." + +Waboose, to whom this promise had been made, was a favourite niece of +Big Otter, and had been named Waboose, or "rabbit," because she was +pretty innocent, soft, and tender. + +"My father," said Mozwa, rather solemnly, "Big Otter has not broken his +word, for _all_ the berries are not yet ripe." + +He plucked a berry which chanced to be growing near his hand, as he +spoke, and held it up to view. + +"Waugh!" exclaimed the elder savage. + +"Hough!" returned the younger. + +What more might have been said at that time no one can tell, for the +conversation was cut short by a sound which caused both Indians to +listen with intense earnestness. Their eyes glittered like the eyes of +serpents, and their nostrils dilated like those of the wild-horse, while +each man gently moved his right hand towards his weapon. + +And if the too inquisitive reader should ask me how I could possibly +come to know all this, seeing that I was not there at the time, I reply +that the whole matter was related to me with minute and dramatic power +by young Mozwa himself not long afterwards. + +There was indeed ground for the excitement and earnest attention of +those red-men, for the sweet and distant notes of a Canadian canoe-song +had at that moment, for the first time, awakened the echoes of that part +of the Great Nor'-west. + +The two men were not indeed ignorant of the fact that such songs were +sung by Canadian voyageurs--Maqua had even heard some of them hummed +once by the men of Muskrat House, when, a good while before, he had paid +a visit to that remote trading-post--but never before had father or son +listened to the songs sung in full chorus as they now heard them. + +Spell-bound they waited until the sound of oars mingled with the +gradually strengthening song. Then their fingers closed convulsively +upon their weapons and they sprang up. + +"What does my son think?" + +"He thinks that the white man may be on the war-path, and it behoves the +red-man like the serpent to creep into the grass and lie still." + +The elder savage shook his head. + +"No, Mozwa. The white man never goes on the war-path, except to track +down murderers. When he goes through the land he travels as the +red-man's friend. Nevertheless, it is well to be on our guard." + +As he spoke, the song, which had been increasing in strength every +moment, suddenly burst forth with great power in consequence of the boat +which bore the singers rounding a rocky point and coming into full view. + +To sink into the grass, imitate the serpent and vanish from the scene, +was the work of a few seconds on the part of Maqua and his son. + +Meanwhile the boat, which I need scarcely say was ours, came sweeping +grandly on, for the fineness of the evening, the calmness of the lake, +the splendour of the scene, and the prospect of a good supper, to be +followed by a good night's rest lent fresh vigour to the arms as well as +to the voices of our men. + +"Hold on a bit, boys," cried Jack Lumley, standing up in the stern and +looking shoreward, "this seems a pretty good place to camp." + +"There is a better place a few yards further on," said Big Otter, who +pulled the stroke oar. "I know every foot of the country here. It is a +soft--" + +"What does Big Otter see?" asked Lumley, for the Indian had come to a +sudden stop, and was gazing earnestly ahead. + +"He sees the smoke of a fire." + +"Is it likely to be the fire of an enemy?" + +"No--more like to be the camp of some of my people, but their wigwams +are two days beyond this lake. Perhaps hunters are out in this +direction." + +"We shall soon see--give way, lads!" said Lumley, sitting down. + +In a few minutes the boat was on the beach. We sprang ashore, and +hastened to the spot where a thin wreath of smoke indicated the remains +of a camp-fire. + +Of course we carried our arms, not knowing whom we should meet with. + +After examining the spot carefully, Big Otter stood up and was about to +speak to our chief, when a slight peculiar chirp was heard in the +bushes. It is probable that we should have deemed it that of some small +bird and paid no attention to it if our Indian had not suddenly bent his +head on one side as if to listen. At the same time he replied to the +chirp. Again the sound was heard, and Big Otter, turning round quickly, +without uttering a word, entered the bushes and disappeared. + +"Stand ready, lads!" said Lumley in a quiet voice, bringing forward the +muzzle of his gun, "there's no saying what may come of this." + +Scarcely had he spoken when a rustling was heard in the bushes. Next +moment they were thrust aside and Big Otter reissued from them, followed +by two Indians, whom he introduced to us as his brother and nephew. At +the same time he gave us the gratifying information that his tribe had +moved up from the region in which they usually dwelt for the purpose of +hunting and fishing in the neighbourhood of the lake, and that the camp +was not more than six or seven miles distant, from the spot on which we +stood. + +To this Lumley replied by expressing his gratification at the news, and +shaking hands with the two Indians, who, however, received the shake +with some distrust and much surprise, until Big Otter explained the +nature and meaning of the white man's salutation. He also explained the +meaning of "What cheer." On hearing which Maqua, not to be outdone in +politeness, extended his hand for another shake, and exclaimed +"Watchee!" with profound gravity. Mozwa, with some hesitation, imitated +his father's example. + +While we were thus pleasantly engaged, a sonorous trumpet sound was +heard behind the clump of small trees near us. A moment later and two +magnificent wild swans sailed over the tree-tops and above our heads. +They made a tumultuously wild swoop to one side on discovering the near +proximity of their enemy man but were too late. Almost before any of +the party had time to move a muscle, two sharp cracks were heard, and +both swans fell stone dead, with a heavy splash, at the margin of the +lake. + +It was our chief, Jack Lumley, who had brought them down with his +double-barrelled fowling-piece. I have omitted to mention that Lumley +was one of the noted crack-shots of the country at that time--noted not +only for the deadly precision, but also for the lightning-like rapidity +of his aim. + +The Indians, albeit themselves pretty fair marksmen, were deeply +impressed with this evidence of skill, and it went far to strengthen the +influence which our chief's manly proportions and genial countenance had +already begun to exercise. + +"That's a good beginning, Lumley," said I, "for it not only impresses +our new friends favourably, but provides excellent fresh meat for +supper." + +"Yonder comes better meat for supper," he replied, pointing towards a +neighbouring height, where we could see the forms of two men +approaching, with the carcase of a deer between them. + +It was Donald Bane and James Dougall who had been thus successful. +These sons of the Scottish Highlands, being ardent sportsmen as well as +good marksmen, had been appointed to the post of hunters to our party, +and were frequently sent ashore to procure fresh meat. + +"The country is swarmin' wi' game, Muster Lumley," said Bane, as they +came up, and flung down the deer. "Not only teer an' rabbits, but tucks +an' geese, an' all sorts o' pirds. Moreover, Tougall, she got into a +bog after wan o' the peasts, an' I thought I wass goin' to lose him +altogither. `Shames Tougall,' says I, `don't you go anither step till I +come to you, or you're a lost man,' but Shames went on--he was always an +obstinate loon--" + +"Dat is true," remarked Salamander. + +"Hold yer noise!" said Bane. "Well, sur, Tougall went on, an' sure +enough the very next step down he went up to the neck--" + +"No, Tonald," interrupted Dougall, "it wass not up to the neck; it wass +only to the waist. The nixt after that it wass up to the neck, but +_then_ I wass soomin'." + +"Ye would hey bin soomin' yet, Shames, if I had not pulled ye oot," said +his friend. + +"Oo ay, Tonald Pane. That iss true, but--" + +"Well, Dougall," interrupted Lumley at this point, "it will be better to +dry your garments than discuss the question just now. We will encamp +here, so go to work, boys." + +There was no need for more. During our long journey into these far-off +wilds each man had fallen into his allotted place and work, and the +force of habit had made us so like machines that I think if we had +suddenly become a party of somnambulists we would have gone through the +same actions each evening on landing. + +Accordingly, Lumley and I gathered small branches and rekindled the +Indians' fire, which had by that time almost gone out. Marcelle Dumont +being professionally a forger of axes, and Henri Coppet, being an +artificer in wood, went off to cut down trees for firewood; and Donald +Bane with his friend set about cutting up and preparing the venison, +while Blondin superintended and assisted Salamander and the others in +landing the cargo, and hauling up the boat. + +"Max," said Lumley to me that evening during an interval in our devotion +to steaks and marrow-bones, "look around for a moment if you can tear +your gross mind from the contemplation of food, and tell me what you +see?" + +He made a sweep with his arm to indicate the surrounding scenery, which +was at the moment irradiated by the after-glow of the setting sun, as +well as the brightening beams of the full moon. + +"I see," said I, looking up, "a lovely lake, dotted with islets of +varied shape and size, with the pale moon reflected almost unbroken in +its glassy waters." + +"What else do you see?" asked Lumley. + +"I see around and beyond a prospect of boundless woodland, of plain, +mound, hill, lake, and river, extending with a grand sweep that suggests +ideas which can only be defined by the word Immensity. I see altogether +a scene the like of which I never looked upon before--a scene of beauty, +peacefulness, and grandeur which gladdens the eye to behold and fills +the heart with gratitude to its Maker." + +"You say well, Max," returned my friend, "and it seems to me that we may +regard this Lake Wichikagan which we now look upon as our inheritance in +the wilderness, and that the spot on which we now sit shall be, for some +time at least, our future home." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +A BRIGHT APPARITION--FOLLOWED BY RUMOURS OF WAR. + +While we were thus feasting and chatting on the green sward of the +region which seemed destined to be our future home, an object suddenly +appeared among the bushes, near the edge of the circle of light cast by +our camp-fire. + +This object was by no means a frightful one, yet it caused a sensation +in the camp which could hardly have been intensified if we had suddenly +discovered a buffalo with the nose of an elephant and the tail of a +rattlesnake. For one moment we were all struck dumb; then we all sprang +to our feet, but we did not seize our firearms--oh no!--for there, half +concealed by the bushes, and gazing at us in timid wonder, stood a +pretty young girl, with a skin much fairer than usually falls to the lot +of Indian women, and with light brown hair as well as bright blue eyes. +In all other respects--in costume, and humble bearing--she resembled the +women of the soil. + +I would not willingly inflict on the reader too much of my private +feelings and opinions, but perhaps I may be excused for saying that I +fell over head and ears in love with this creature at once! I make no +apology for being thus candid. On the contrary, I am prepared rather to +plume myself on the quick perception which enabled me not only to +observe the beauty of the girl's countenance, but, what is of far more +importance, the inherent goodness which welled from her loving eyes. +Yes, reader, call me an ass if you will, but I unblushingly repeat that +I fell--tumbled--plunged headlong in love with her. So did every other +man in the camp! There is this to be said in excuse for us, that we had +not seen any members of the fair sex for many months, and that the sight +of this brilliant specimen naturally aroused many pleasant recollections +of cousins, sisters, nieces, aunts, mothers, grandmothers--well, perhaps +I am going too far; though, after all, the tender, loving-kindness in +this girl's eyes might well have suggested grandmothers! + +Before any of us could recover the use of our limbs, Big Otter had +glided rapidly towards the girl. Grasping her by the hand, he led her +towards Lumley, and introduced her as his sister's daughter, Waboose. + +The red-man was evidently proud as well as fond of his fair niece, and +equally clear did it become in a short time that the girl was as fond +and proud of him. + +"Your relative is very fair," said Lumley. "She might almost have been +the daughter of a white man." + +"She _is_ the daughter of a white man." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes; her father was a white hunter who left his people and came to +dwell with us and married my sister. He was much loved and respected by +us. He lived and hunted and went on the war-path with us for many +years--then he was killed." + +"In war?" I asked, beginning to feel sympathetic regard for the father +of one who had stirred my heart to--but, I forget. It is not my +intention to bore the reader with my personal feelings. + +"No," answered the Indian. "He perished in attempting to save his wife +from a dangerous rapid. He brought her to the bank close to the head of +a great waterfall, and many hands were stretched out to grasp her. She +was saved, but the strength of the brave pale-face was gone, and we knew +it not. Before we could lay hold of his hand the current swept him away +and carried him over the falls." + +"How sad!" said Lumley. "What was the name of this white man?" + +"He told us that his name was Weeum--but," said the Indian, turning +abruptly to Waboose, whose countenance betrayed feelings which were +obviously aroused by other matters than this reference to her lost +father, "my child has news of some sort. Let her speak." + +Thus permitted, Waboose opened her lips for the first time--disclosing a +double row of bright little teeth in the act--and said that she had been +sent by her mother in search of Maqua and his son, as she had reason to +believe that the camp was in danger of being attacked by Dogrib Indians. + +On hearing this, Maqua and Mozwa rose, picked up their weapons, and +without a word of explanation entered the bushes swiftly and +disappeared. + +Big Otter looked after them for a moment or two in grave silence. + +"You had better follow them," suggested Lumley. "If you should require +help, send a swift messenger back and we will come to you." + +The Indian received this with a quiet inclination of the head, but made +no reply. Then, taking his niece by the hand, he led her into the +bushes where his relatives had entered and, like them, disappeared. + +"It seems like a dream," said I to Lumley, as we all sat down again to +our steaks and marrow-bones. + +"What seems like a dream, Max--the grub?" + +"No, the girl." + +"Truly, yes. And a very pleasant dream too. Almost as good as this +bone." + +"Oh! you unsentimental, unsympathetic monster. Does not the sight of a +pretty young creature like that remind you of home, and all the sweet +refining influences shed around it by woman?" + +"I cannot say that it does--hand me another; no, not a little thing like +that, a big one full of marrow, so--. You see, old boy, a band of beads +round the head, a sky-blue cloth bodice, a skirt of green flannel +reaching only to the knees, cloth leggings ornamented with porcupine +quills and moccasined feet, do not naturally suggest my respected mother +or sisters." + +For the first time in our acquaintance I felt somewhat disgusted with my +friend's levity, and made no rejoinder. He looked at me quickly, with +slightly raised eyebrows, and gave a little laugh. + +With a strong effort I crushed down my feelings, and said in a tone of +forced gaiety:-- + +"Well, well, things strike people in strangely different lights. I +thought not of the girl's costume but her countenance." + +"Come, then, Max," returned my friend, with that considerate good nature +which attracted men so powerfully to him, "I admit that the girl's face +might well suggest the thought of dearer faces in distant lands--and +especially her eyes, so different from the piercing black orbs of Indian +squaws. Did you note the--the softness, I was going to say +truthfulness, of her strangely blue eyes?" + +Did I note them! The question seemed to me so ridiculous that I +laughed, by way of reply. + +I observed that Lumley cast on me for the second time a sharp inquiring +glance, then he said:-- + +"But I say, Max, we must have our arms looked to, and be ready for a +sudden call. You know that I don't love fighting. Especially at the +commencement of our sojourn would I avoid mixing myself up with Indians' +quarrels; but if our guide comes back saying that their camp is in +danger, we must help him. It would never do, you know, to leave women +and children to the mercy of ruthless savages." + +"Leave woman and children!" I exclaimed vehemently, thinking of only +one woman at the moment, "I should _think_ not!" + +The tone of indignation in which I said this caused my friend to laugh +outright. + +"Well, well," he said, in a low tone, "it's a curious complaint, and not +easily cured." + +What he meant was at the time a mystery to me. I have since come to +understand. + +"I suppose you'll all agree with me, lads," said Lumley to the men who +sat eating their supper on the opposite side of the fire, and raising +his voice, for we had hitherto been conversing in a low tone, "if Big +Otter's friends need help we'll be ready to give it?" + +Of course a hearty assent was given, and several of the men, having +finished supper, rose to examine their weapons. + +The guns used by travellers in the Great Nor'-west in those days were +long single-barrels with flint-locks, the powder in which was very apt +to get wet through priming-pans and touch-holes, so that frequent +inspection was absolutely necessary. + +As our party consisted of twelve men, including ourselves, and each was +armed--Lumley and myself with double-barrelled fowling-pieces--we were +able, if need be, to fire a volley of fourteen shots. Besides this, my +chief and I carried revolvers, which weapons had only just been +introduced into that part of the country. We were therefore prepared to +lend effective aid to any whom we thought it right to succour. + +Scarcely had our arrangements been made when the lithe agile form of +Mozwa glided into the camp and stood before Lumley. The lad tried hard +to look calm, grave, and collected, as became a young Indian brave, but +the perspiration on his brow and his labouring chest told that he had +been running far at the utmost speed, while a wild glitter in his dark +eye betrayed strong emotion. Pointing in the direction whence he had +come, he uttered the name--"Big Otter." + +"All right. I understand you," said Lumley, springing up. "Now, boys, +sharp's the word; we will go to the help of our guide. But two of you +must stay behind to guard our camp. Do you, Donald Bane and James +Dougall, remain and keep a bright look-out." + +"Is it to stop here, we are?" asked Bane, with a mutinous look. + +"Yes," exclaimed our leader so sharply that the mutinous look faded. + +"An' are we to be left behind," growled Dougall, "when there's fightin' +to be done?" + +"I have no time for words, Dougall," said Lumley in a low voice, "but if +you don't at once set about preparation to defend the camp, I'll give +you some fighting to do that you won't relish." + +Dougall had no difficulty in understanding his leader's meaning. He and +his friend at once set about the required preparations. + +"Now then, Mozwa," said Lumley. + +The young Indian, who had remained erect and apparently unobservant, +with his arms crossed on his still heaving chest, turned at once and +went off at a swift trot, followed by all our party with the exception +of the ill-pleased Highlanders, who, in their eagerness for the fray, +did not perceive that theirs might be a post of the greatest danger, as +it certainly was one of trust. + +"Tonald," said Dougall, sitting down and lighting his pipe after we were +gone, "I wass vera near givin' Muster Lumley a cood threshin'." + +"Hum! it's well ye didn't try, Shames." + +"An' what for no?" + +"Because he's more nor a match for ye." + +"I don't know that Tonald. I'm as stout a man as he is, whatever." + +"Oo ay, so ye are, Shames; but ye're no a match for him. He's been to +school among thae Englishers, an' can use his fists, let me tell you." + +At this Dougall held up a clenched hand, hard and knuckly from honest +toil, that was nearly as big as a small ham. Regarding it with much +complacency he said, slowly:-- + +"An' don't you think, Tonald, that I could use my fist too?" + +"Maybe you could, in a kind o' way," returned the other, also filling +his pipe and sitting down; "but I'll tell ye what Muster Lumley would do +to you, Shames, if ye offered to fight him. He would dance round you +like a cooper round a cask; then, first of all, he would flatten your +nose--which is flat enough already, whatever--wi' wan hand, an' he'd +drive in your stummick wi' the other. Then he would give you one +between the two eyes an' raise a bridge there to make up for the wan +he'd destroyed on your nose, an' before you had time to sneeze he would +put a rainbow under your left eye. Or ever you had time to wink he +would put another under your right eye, and if that didn't settle you he +would give you a finishin' dig in the ribs, Shames, trip up your heels, +an' lay you on the ground, where I make no doubt you would lie an' +meditate whether it wass worth while to rise up for more." + +"All that would be verra unpleasant, Tonald," said Dougall, with a +humorous glance from the corners of his small grey eyes, "but I duffer +with ye in opeenion." + +"You would duffer in opeenion with the Apostle Paul if he wass here," +said the other, rising, as his pipe was by that time well alight, and +resuming his work, "but we'll better obey Muster Lumley's orders than +argufy about him." + +"I'll agree with you there, Tonald, just to convince you that I don't +always duffer," said the argumentative Highlander, rising to assist his +not less argumentative friend. + +The two men pursued their labour in silence, and in the course of an +hour or so had piled all the baggage in a circle in the middle of the +open lawn, so as to form a little fortress, into which they might spring +and keep almost any number of savages at bay for some time; because +savages, unlike most white men, have no belief in that "glory" which +consists in rushing on certain death, in order to form a bridge of dead +bodies over which comrades may march to victory. Each savage is, for +the most part, keenly alive to the importance of guarding his own life, +so that a band of savages seldom makes a rush where certain death awaits +the leaders. Hence our two Highlanders felt quite confident of being +able to hold their little fort with two guns each and a large supply of +ammunition. + +Meanwhile Mozwa continued his rapid trot through wood and brake; over +swamp, and plain, and grassy mound. Being all of us by that time strong +in wind and limb, we followed him without difficulty. + +"Lads, be careful," said Lumley, as we went along, "that no shot is +fired, whatever happens, until I give the word. You see, Max," he +continued in a lower tone, "nothing but the sternest necessity will +induce me to shed human blood. I am here to open up trade with the +natives, not to fight them, or mix myself up in their quarrels. At the +same time it would be bad policy to stand aloof while the tribes we have +come to benefit, and of which our guide is a member, are assailed by +enemies. We must try what we can do to make peace, and risk something +in the attempt." + +Arrived at the Indian camp, we found a band of braves just on the point +of leaving it, although by that time it was quite dark. The tribe--or +rather that portion of it which was encamped in leathern wigwams, on one +of the grassy mounds with which the country abounded--consisted of some +hundred families, and the women and children were moving about in great +excitement, while the warriors were preparing to leave. I was struck, +however, by the calm and dignified bearing of one white-haired +patriarch, who stood in the opening of his wigwam, talking to a number +of the elder men and women who crowded round him. He was the old chief +of the tribe; and, being no longer able to go on the war-path, remained +with the aged men and the youths, whose duty it was to guard the camp. + +"My children," he said, as we came up, "fear not. The Great Spirit is +with us, for our cause is just. He has sent Big Otter back to us in +good time, and, see, has He not also sent white men to help us?" + +The war-party was detained on our arrival until we should hold a palaver +with the old chief and principal braves. We soon ascertained that the +cause of disagreement between the two tribes, and of the declaration of +war, was a mere trifle, strongly resembling in that respect the causes +of most wars among civilised nations! A brave of the one tribe had +insultingly remarked that a warrior of the other tribe had claimed the +carcase of a moose-deer which had been mortally wounded, and tracked, +and slain by him, the insulter. The insulted one vowed that he shot the +deer dead--he would scorn to wound a deer at all--and had left it in +hiding until he could obtain assistance to fetch the meat. Young +hotheads on both sides fomented the quarrel until older heads were +forced to take the matter up; they became sympathetically inflamed, and, +finally, war to the knife was declared. No blood had yet been shed, but +it was understood by Big Otter's friends--who were really the injured +party--that their foes had sent away their women and children, +preparatory to a descent on them. + +"Now, Salamander," said Lumley, who, although he had considerably +increased his knowledge of the Indian language by conversing with the +guide during our voyage, preferred to speak through an interpreter when +he had anything important to say, "tell the old chief that this +war-party must not go forth. Tell him that the great white chief who +guides the affairs of the traders, has sent me to trade furs in this +region, and that I will not permit fighting." + +This was such a bold--almost presumptuous, way of putting the matter +that the old red chief looked at the young white chief in surprise; but +as there was neither bluster nor presumption in the calm countenance of +Lumley--only firmness coupled with extreme good humour--he felt somewhat +disconcerted. + +"How will my white brother prevent war?" asked the old chief, whose name +was Muskrat. + +"By packing up my goods, and going elsewhere," replied Lumley directly, +without an instant's hesitation, in the Indian tongue. + +At this, there was an elongation of the faces of the men who heard it, +and something like a soft groan from the squaws who listened in the +background. + +"That would be a sad calamity," said old Muskrat, "and I have no wish to +fight; but how will the young white chief prevent our foes from +attacking us?" + +"Tell him, Salamander, that I will do so by going to see them." + +"My young braves will be happy to go out under the guidance of so strong +a warrior," returned Muskrat, quite delighted with the proposal. + +"Nay, old chief, you mistake me, I will take no braves with me." + +"No matter," returned Muskrat; "doubtless the white men and their guns +will be more than a match for our red foes." + +"Still you misunderstand," said Lumley. "I am no warrior, but a man of +peace. I shall go without guns or knives--and alone, except that I will +ask young Mozwa to guide me." + +"Alone! unarmed!" murmured the old man, in astonishment almost too great +for expression. "What can one do against a hundred with weapons?" + +"You shall see," said Lumley, with a light laugh as he turned to me. + +"Now, Max, don't speak or remonstrate, like a good fellow; we have no +time to discuss, only to act. I find that Muskrat's foes speak the same +dialect as himself, so that an interpreter is needless. I carry two +revolvers in the breast of my coat. You have a clasp-knife in your +pocket; make me a present of it, will you? Thanks. Now, have our men +in readiness for instant action. Don't let them go to rest, but let +them eat as much, and as long, as they choose. Keep the old chief and +his men amused with long yarns, about what we mean to do in these +regions, and don't let any one follow me. Keep your mind easy. If I +don't return in three hours, you may set off to look for me, though it +will I fear be of no use by that time; and, stay, if you should hear a +pistol-shot, run out with all our men towards it. Now, Mozwa, lead on +to the enemy's camp." + +The young Indian, who was evidently proud of the trust reposed in him, +and cared nothing for danger, stalked into the forest with the look and +bearing of a dauntless warrior. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +SALAMANDER GIVES AND RECEIVES A SURPRISE, AND WAR IS AVERTED BY WISE +DIPLOMACY. + +It has been already said that our interpreter, Salamander, possessed a +spirit of humour slightly tinged with mischief, which, while it +unquestionably added to the amusement of our sojourn in those lands, +helped not a little to rouse our anxieties. + +On returning to our men, after parting from Lumley, for the purpose of +giving them their instructions, I found that Salamander was missing, and +that no one could tell where he had gone. I caused a search to be made +for him, which was unsuccessful, and would have persevered with it if +there had not pressed upon me the necessity of obeying my chief's orders +to keep the savages amused. This I set about doing without delay, and +having, like my friend, been a diligent student of the language on the +journey, found that I succeeded, more than I had ventured to hope for, +in communicating my ideas. + +As the disappearance of Salamander, however, was the subject which +exercised my mind most severely at the time, and as he afterwards gave +me a full account of the cause in detail, I shall set it down here. + +Being possessed that evening, as he confessed, with a spirit of +restlessness, and remembering that our two Highlanders had been left to +guard the camp at Lake Wichikagan, he resolved to pay them a visit. The +distance, as I have said elsewhere, was not much more than six miles--a +mere trifle to one who was as fleet as a young deer and strong as an old +bear. He soon traversed the ground and came up to the camp. + +At first he meant merely to give the men a surprise, but the spirit to +which I have already referred induced him to determine on giving them a +fright. Approaching very cautiously, therefore, with this end in view, +he found that things were admirably arranged for his purpose. + +Donald Bane and James Dougall, having finished their fortress in the +centre of the open lawn, as already described, returned to their fire, +which, it may be remembered, was kindled close to the edge of the +bushes. There they cooked some food and devoured it with the gusto of +men who had well earned their supper. Thereafter, as a matter of +course, they proceeded to enjoy a pipe. + +The night, besides being fine and calm, was unusually warm, thereby +inducing a feeling of drowsiness, which gradually checked the flow of +conversation previously evoked by the pipes. + +"It is not likely the redskins will come up here to give us a chance +when there's such a lot of our lads gone to meet them," said Bane, with +a yawn. + +"I agree with you, Tonald," answered Dougall grumpily. + +"It is quite new to hev you agreein' with me so much, Shames," returned +Bane with another yawn. + +"You are right. An' it is more lively to disagree, whatever," rejoined +Dougall, with an irresistible, because sympathetic, yawn. + +"Oo ay, that's true, Shames. Yie-a-ou!" + +This yawn was so effusive that Dougall, refusing to be led even by +sympathy, yawned internally with his lips closed and swallowed it. + +The conversation dropped at this point, though the puffs went on +languidly. As the men were extended at full-length, one on his side, +the other on his back, it was not unnatural that, being fatigued, they +should both pass from the meditative to the dreamy state, and from that +to the unconscious. + +It was in this condition that Salamander discovered them. + +"Asleep at their posts!" he said mentally. "That deserves punishment." + +He had crept on hands and knees to the edge of the bushes, and paused to +contemplate the wide-open mouth of Bane, who lay on his back, and the +prominent right ear of Dougall, whose head rested on his left arm. The +debris of supper lay around them--scraps of pemmican, pannikins, spoons, +knives, and the broken shells of teal-duck eggs which, having been +picked up some time before, had gone bad. + +Suddenly an inspiration--doubtless from the spirit of mischief--came +over Salamander. There was one small unbroken egg on the ground near to +Bane's elbow. Just over his head the branch of a bush extended. To +genius everything comes handy and nothing amiss. Salamander tied the +egg to a piece of small twine and suspended it to the twig in such +fashion that the egg hung directly over Bane's wide-open mouth. At a +glance he had seen that it was possible to lay a light hand on the inner +end of the branch, and at the same time bend his mouth over Dougall's +ear. He drew a long breath, for it was a somewhat delicate and +difficult, being a duplicate, manoeuvre! + +Pressing down the branch very slowly and with exceeding care, he guided +the egg into Bane's mouth. He observed the precise moment when it +touched the sleeper's tongue, and then exploded a yell into Dougall's +ear that nearly burst the tympanum. + +Bane's jaws shut with a snap instantly. Need we--no, we need not! +Dougall leaped up with a cry that almost equalled that of Salamander. +Both men rushed to the fortress and bounded into it, the one spurting +out Gaelic expletives, the other rotten egg and bits of shell. They +seized their guns and crouched, glaring through the various loopholes +all round with finger on trigger, ready to sacrifice at a moment's +notice anything with life that should appear. Indeed they found it +difficult, in their excited condition, to refrain from blazing at +nothing! Their friendly foe meanwhile had retired, highly delighted +with his success. He had not done with them however. By no means! The +spirit of mischief was still strong upon him, and he crept into the +bushes to meditate. + +"It wass an evil speerut, Shames," gasped Donald Bane, when he had +nearly got rid of the egg. "Did you smell his preath?" + +"No, Tonald, it wass not. Spirits are not corporeal, and cannot handle +eggs, much less cram them down a man's throat. It wass the egg you did +smell." + +"That may be so, Shames, but it could not be a redskin, for he would be +more likely to cram a scalpin' knife into my heart than an egg into my +mouth." + +"Iss it not dreamin' ye wass, an' tryin' to eat some more in your sleep? +You wass always fond of overeatin' yourself--whativer--Tonald." + +Before this question could be answered, another yell of the most +appalling and complex nature rang out upon the night-air, struck them +dumb, and seemed to crumple up their very hearts. + +Salamander had been born with a natural gift for shrieking, and being of +a sprightly disposition, had cultivated the gift in boyhood. +Afterwards, being also a good mimic, he had made the subject a special +study, with a view to attract geese and other game towards him. That he +sometimes prostituted the talent was due to the touch of genius, to +which I have already referred. + +When the crumpled-up organs began to recover, Bane said to Dougall, +"Shames, this iss a bad business." + +Dougall, having been caught twice that evening, was on his guard. He +would not absolutely agree with his friend, but admitted that he was not +far wrong. + +Again the yell burst forth with intensified volume and complicated +variation. Salamander was young; he did not yet know that it is +possible to over-act. + +"Shames!" whispered Bane, "I hev got a notion in my hid." + +"I hope it's a coot w'an, Tonald, for the notions that usually git into +it might stop there with advantage. They are not much to boast of." + +"You shall see. Just you keep talkin' out now an' then as if I wass +beside you, an' don't, whativer ye do, fire into the bushes." + +"Ferry coot," answered Dougall. + +Another moment, and Donald Bane glided over the parapet of their fort at +the side nearest the lake; and, creeping serpent-fashion for a +considerable distance round, gained the bushes, where he waited for a +repetition of the cry. He had not long to wait. With that boldness, +not to say presumption, which is the child of success, Salamander now +began to make too many drafts on genius, and invented a series of howls +so preposterously improbable that it was impossible for even the most +credulous to believe them the natural cries of man, beast, demon, or +monster. + +Following up the sound, Donald Bane soon came to a little hollow where, +in the dim light, he perceived Salamander's visage peering over a ridge +in the direction of the fortress, his eyes glittering with glee and his +mouth wide-open in the act of giving vent to the hideous cries. The +Highlander had lived long in the wilderness, and was an adept in its +ways. With the noiseless motion of a redskin he wormed his way through +the underwood until close alongside of the nocturnal visitor, and then +suddenly stopped a howl of more than demoniac ferocity by clapping a +hand on Salamander's mouth. + +With a convulsive wriggle the youth freed his mouth, and uttered a +shriek of genuine alarm, but Bane's strong arm pinned him to the earth. + +"Ye dirty loon," growled the man in great wrath, "wass you thinkin' to +get the better of a Heelandman? Come along with ye. I'll give you a +lesson that you'll not forget--whatever." + +Despite his struggles, Bane held Salamander fast until he ceased to +resist, when he grasped him by the collar, and led him towards the +little fort. + +At first, Salamander had been on the point of confessing the practical +joke, but the darkness of the night induced him to hope for another +escape from his position. He had not yet uttered a word; and, as he +could not distinguish the features of the Highlander, it was possible, +he thought, that the latter might have failed to recognise him. If he +could give him the slip, he might afterwards deny having had anything to +do with the affair. But it was not easy to give the slip to a man whose +knuckly hand held him like a vice. + +"Shames," said Bane as he came near the fortress, "I've cot the peast! +come oot, man, an' fetch a stick wi' you. I'll ha'd 'im while you lay +on." + +Salamander, who understood well enough what he might expect, no sooner +heard Dougall clambering over the barricade than he gathered himself up +for a tremendous wriggle, but received such a fearful squeeze on the +neck from the vice-like hand of his captor that he was nearly choked. +At the moment a new idea flashed into his fertile brain. His head +dropped suddenly to one side; his whole frame became limp, and he fell, +as it were, in a heap on the ground, almost bringing the Highlander on +the top of him. + +"Oh! the miserable cratur," exclaimed Bane, relaxing his grasp with a +feeling of self-reproach, for he had a strong suspicion that his captive +really was Salamander. "I do believe I've killed him. Wow! Shames, +man, lend a hand to carry him to the fire, and plow up a bit flame that +we may see what we've gotten." + +"Iss he tead, Tonald?" asked Dougall, in a pitiful tone, as he came +forward. + +"No, Shames, he's no tead yet. Take up his feet, man, an' I'll tak' his +shouthers." + +Dougall went to Salamander's feet, turned his back to them, and stooped +to take them up as a man takes a wheelbarrow. He instantly received a +kick, or rather a drive, from Salamander's soles that sent him sprawling +on his hands and knees. Donald Bane, stooping to grasp the shoulder, +received a buffet on the cheek, which, being unexpected, sent him +staggering to the left, while the sly youth, springing to his feet +bounded into the bushes on the right with a deep-toned roar ending in a +laugh that threw all his previous efforts quite into the shade. + +The Highlanders rose, but made no attempt to pursue. + +"My friend," said Bane, softly, "if that wass not an evil speerut, I +will be fery much surprised." + +"No, Tonald, it wass _not_ a speerut," replied the other, as they +returned to their fortress. "Speeruts will not be kickin' an' slappin' +like that; they are not corporeal." + +While these scenes were enacting on the margin of Lake Wichikagan, +Lumley and Mozwa arrived at the enemy's camp. It was a war-camp. All +the women and children had been sent away, none but armed and painted +braves remained. + +They were holding a palaver at the time. The spot was the top of an +open eminence which was so clear of underwood that the approach of a foe +without being seen was an impossibility. Although the night was rather +dark, Lumley and his guide had been observed the instant they came +within the range of vision. No stir, however, took place in the camp, +for it was instantly perceived that the strangers were alone. With the +grave solemnity of redskin warriors, they silently awaited their coming. +A small fire burned in their midst, for they made no attempt at +concealment. They were prepared to fight at a moment's notice. The red +flames gleamed on their dusky faces, and glittered in their glancing +eyes, as Lumley and Mozwa strode boldly into the circle, and stood +before the chief. + +Intense surprise filled the hearts of the warriors at this unexpected +apparition of a white man, but not an eye or muscle betrayed the +smallest symptom of the feeling. + +"The pale-face is welcome," said the chief, after a short pause. + +"The pale-face is glad to meet with his dark-skinned brother, and thanks +him," returned Lumley. + +If the surprise at the sudden appearance of the pale-face was great, the +astonishment to find that he spoke the Indian tongue was greater; but +still the feeling was not betrayed. + +After a few short complimentary speeches, our hero came at once to the +point. + +"My brothers," he said, looking round on the dusky warriors, who +remained sitting all the time, "the white chief of the fur-traders has +sent me into this country to trade with you." + +This statement was received with a "waugh" of satisfaction from several +of the warriors. + +"And," continued Lumley, "I have brought men--strong men, who can work +well--to help me to build a house, so that we may live among you and +hunt together." + +He paused here to let the statement have its full effect. Then he +continued:-- + +"I have also brought plenty of guns, and powder, and lead." + +Again he paused, and an emphatic "waugh" proved that the remark was +fully appreciated. + +"The white man knows," continued Lumley, in a more flowing style, "that +his red brothers have need of many things which they do not possess, +while the white man is in need of furs, and does not possess them. It +is for the good of each that we should exchange. The Great Spirit, who +is all-wise, as well as all-good, has seen fit to scatter His children +over a wide world, and He has given some of them too much of one thing, +some of them too much of another. Why has He done so? May we not think +that it is for the purpose of causing His children to move about the +world, and mingle, and help each other, and so increase Love? Some of +the bad children prefer to move about and steal. But there is no need. +It is easier to do good than to do evil. If all men would help and none +would steal, there would be more than enough for all." + +Again a pause. Some of the savages, who were thoughtful men, were +greatly tickled in their minds by the arguments set forth. Others, who +could not understand, were deeply impressed. + +"Now," continued Lumley, coming to the marrow of his discourse, "the +red-men have more than enough of furs." + +"Waugh!" in a tone of emphasis, that implied "that's true." + +"And the pale-faces have few furs, but want some very much." + +"Waugh?" interrogatively, in a tone that implied "what then?" + +"Well, but the pale-faces are not poor. They are rich, and have far too +much of many things. They have far too much of those pleasant sweet +things called sugar and molasses (the Indians involuntarily licked their +lips). Too much cloth as bright as the sun at setting, and as blue as +the sky at noon (the Indian eyes glistened). Too many guns, and too +much powder and shot (the savage eyes glared). They have more beads, +and blankets, and hatchets, and tobacco, than they know what to do with, +so they have sent some of these things here to be given to you in +exchange for furs, and food, and leather." + +The waughs! and hows! and hos! with which these remarks were followed up +were so hearty, that Lumley thought it best to make a considerable pause +at this point; then he resumed:-- + +"But, my brothers,"--he stopped for a considerable time, and looked so +grave, that the hearts of the red-men sank, lest the glorious vision +which had been suddenly revealed to them, should be as suddenly +withdrawn in some way. + +"But," repeated Lumley, again, with a sort of awful emphasis, "the +pale-faces detest war. They can fight--yes, and when they _must_ fight, +they _will_ fight, but they do not love fighting, and if they are to +stay here and open up trade with their guns, and their powder, and their +blankets, and beads, and cloth (he wisely went all over it again for the +sake of effect), there must be peace in the land. If there is war the +pale-faces will take all their good things and go away--waugh!" + +Finishing off in the true red-man style, Lumley sat down with decision, +as though to say, "Now, the ball is at your own feet, kick it which way +you please." + +Then the chief of the savages rose with dignity, but with a tinge of +eagerness which he could not altogether conceal, and said:-- + +"Let not my white brother talk of going away. War shall cease at his +bidding. Let him and his pale-faced warriors fell trees, and build +wigwams, and hunt. We have plenty furs--the black fox, the red fox, the +beaver, the marten, the minks, the bear, and many other animals are +plentiful. We will exchange them for the goods of the white man. We +will bury the hatchet, and smoke the calumet of peace, and the sound of +the war-whoop shall no more be heard in the land--waugh!" + +"Are my brothers ready to go to the camp of Big Otter, and make friends +at once?" asked Lumley. + +This was a testing question, and for some time remained unanswered, +while the chiefs and braves looked preposterously solemn. At last, +however, they seemed to make up their minds, and the chief replied, "We +are ready." + +That night the hostile savages met on the shores of Lake Wichikagan, and +encamped with the fur-traders. Fires were lighted, and kettles put on, +a royal feast was prepared; and the reunited tribes of red-men finally +buried the war-hatchet there, and smoked the pipe of peace. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +LUMLEY ON DUTY--FORT WICHIKAGAN BEGINS TO GROW. + +The bold and prompt manner in which peace was established among the +contending savages of Lake Wichikagan did more to raise my friend Jack +Lumley in their estimation than if he had fought a hundred successful +battles, and subdued a nation of foes. It seemed to be felt on all +hands that he was a man who could be trusted, and his pointed reference +to the Great Spirit conveyed an impression that truth and justice must +be his guiding principles. + +And on this point these children of nature read his character correctly, +for, as I have had frequent occasion to observe, my friend was strictly +truthful, and, I might almost say, sternly just. Duty indeed was his +pole-star--duty to God and man. + +"Max," he once said to me when we had got into a confidential chat +beside our camp-fire, "let me advise you to take a sound view, and a +good grasp, of what men call duty. There is a right and a wrong in +everything that the mind or hand of man can be brought to bear upon. It +is our duty to discover and do the right if we can--to recognise and +avoid the wrong. True success in life depends upon this principle being +acted on at all times, and in all things. Even what worldly men deem +success--the acquisition of wealth, fame, etcetera--is largely dependent +on strict regard to duty." + +Of course I heartily agreed with him in this matter, but I am free to +confess that I feel woefully far short of the standard to which he +attained. Perhaps a soft and somewhat undecided nature had something to +do with my failure. I say not this by way of excuse but explanation. +Whatever the cause, I felt so very far below my friend that I looked up +to him as a sort of demigod. Strange to say, his affection for me was +also very strong. He never seemed to perceive my weak points--but, +then, he was of a large-hearted, generous disposition, and he came to be +loved not only by me and the Indians, but by the men of the expedition, +some of whom, although good workers, were rather turbulent fellows. + +All things having been satisfactorily arranged, as detailed in the last +chapter, we now set about preparation for wintering. The first point to +settle was the site for our establishment, and a council of the whole +party was called to settle it on the lawn-like spot on the margin of our +lake where the first fire had been kindled. + +"No spot could be better, I think," said our chief, as we stood in a +picturesque group around him, with Masqua, Mozwa, and several other +Indians looking on. "The little rising ground and clump of wood at the +back will shelter us from the north winds; the underwood on the east and +west is sufficiently high to form a slight protection in those +directions, and to the south the island-studded bosom of Lake Wichikagan +lies spread out before us, to supply us with fish and water, and a +cheering prospect." + +"And to remind Donald Bane and James Dougall," said I, "of Loch Lomond +or Loch Ness." + +"I rather think," said Lumley, "that it strikes Dougall as having more +resemblance to Loch Awe, if we may judge from the awesome expression of +his face." + +"Weel, Muster Lumley," returned Dougall with a slight smile, "not to +spoil your choke, sir, it wass thinkin' o' the fush I wass, an' +wonderin' if they wass goot fush." + +"Big Otter says they are good," returned our chief, "and I think we may +rely on his opinion. There's a little stretch of rock over there, +jutting out from the shore, which could be made into a capital pier for +our boats and canoes without much labour. What say you, Henri Coppet; +could not a few trees and some planks be easily fitted to these rocks?" + +"Oui, monsieur--yes, sir--very easily," answered the carpenter, in +French. + +"Ay, an' wan or two big stones on the other pint o' rocks there," +observed Donald Bane, "would make a goot breakwater, an' a fine harbour, +whatever." + +"And I'm sure nothing could be finer than the view," said I, with +feelings of enthusiasm. + +"Well, then, since we all seem agreed on that point--here shall our +house be raised," rejoined Lumley, driving the point of a stick he +carried into the ground. "Come now, boys, go to work. Max, you will +superintend the placing of the goods in a secure position and cover them +with tarpaulin in the meantime. We'll soon have a hut ready. Dumont, +set up your forge under yon pine-tree and get your tools ready. +Overhaul your nets, Blondin, and take Salamander to help you--especially +the seine-net; I'll try a sweep this afternoon or to-morrow. Come here, +Max, I want to speak with you." + +"Now, Max," he said, when we had gone aside some distance, "see that you +arrange the goods so that they may be easily guarded, and don't let the +redskins come too near. They may be honest enough, but we won't throw +temptation in their way. We shall want one of them, by the bye, to keep +house for us. What say you to hiring Waboose?" + +"Out of the question," said I, quickly. + +"Why so, Max?" + +"Why, because--don't you see--she's far above that sort o' thing, she's +quite a kind of princess in the tribe. Haven't you noticed how +respectful they all are to her? And, besides, she is so--what one might +almost call ladylike. I am convinced that her father must have been a +gentleman." + +"Perhaps so," returned Lumley, with a quiet laugh; "well, we won't +insult her by asking her to fill such a position. Away to work now. I +will sketch out the plan of our establishment. When the goods are all +safe, send your men to fell heavy timber for the houses, and let them +also cut some firewood. Off you go." + +In a few minutes we were all at work, busy as bees--carrying, hauling, +cutting, hammering and chopping; while some of the Indians looked on, +intensely interested, others assisted under the direction of Big Otter, +and the woods resounded with the noise of the new-born activity. + +Soon Blondin had a net down, and before evening we had caught enough of +that splendid staple of the North American lakes, the whitefish, to +supply us with a good meal and leave something over for our red friends. + +I observed during these operations that, after planning, sketching, and +measuring, our chief took his axe into the wood and felled a tall pine, +from which he proceeded to remove the branches and bark. Towards +evening he took a spade, and dug a deep hole in the ground on the most +prominent part of the lawn, in front of what was to be our future home. + +"Come now, four of you," he said, "and help me to set up our +flag-staff." + +I ran with three others to assist, and in another minute or two the end +of the tall taper stick was dropped into the hole and fixed there. A +hole had been already bored in the top and a rope rove through it, to +which Lumley soon attached the corners of a small red bundle. + +"Ho! lads," he shouted, when all was ready, in a voice that rang out +full and strong, "Fall in!" + +We had previously been trained to obey this order with the utmost +alacrity, by running towards our leader, carrying our loaded guns with +us, and forming into line, so as to be ready for any emergency. It was +a fancy of Lumley to drill us thus, and we fell in with his humour, most +of us counting it a piece of fun, to break off from what we chanced to +be doing at the moment the order was given, and trying who should be +first to reach the spot where he stood. As our guns were always loaded +and primed, we never had to lose time in charging them. + +On the occasion of which I write, we amazed and somewhat alarmed the +Indians by our prompt action, for we stood together in a silent row in +less than half a minute after the summons was shouted. + +"I have called you up, lads," said Lumley, "to take part in a little +ceremony. Through the goodness of the Almighty we have been brought in +safety and health to our new home. It is already part of the Queen of +England's dominions, and I now take possession of it in the name of the +Hudson's Bay Company. May God prosper and bless us while we stay here!" + +He hoisted, as he spoke, the small red bundle, which when shaken out +proved to be a flag on which were the letters HBC in white. + +"Now, boys, send a volley at the new moon up there. Ready--present-- +fire! Hoorah!" + +The crash of the united volley and the wild huzza which followed caused +many a redskin's heart to leap, and would doubtless have caused many a +foot to run, but for the fact that their own redskin brother--Big +Otter--was one of the firing party, and, perhaps, the wildest cheerer of +the band! + +The ceremony ended, orders were given to knock off work for the day, and +set about the preparation oh supper. + +The food was sweet that night, sweeter than usual, for we were very +hungry; the stars were bright that night, brighter than usual, for we +were very happy at the auspicious commencement of our sojourn; and our +sleep was unusually sound, for we felt safer than ever under the +guidance of a chief who had proved himself so capable of turning +threatened war into peace. This being the condition of things, it was +not surprising that we indulged in a longer rest than usual, and +continued to slumber long after the sun had risen and converted Lake +Wichikagan into a glorious sheet of silver. + +It is true that our guide, with that sense of responsibility which seems +to weigh heavy on guides even when asleep, had awakened at the usual +hour of starting--daybreak--and, from the mere force of habit, had given +forth his accustomed and sonorous "Leve! leve!"--rise, rise. From the +mere force of habit, too, we all turned round to have a few seconds +repose on our other sides before obeying the order, but suddenly light +flashed into our minds, and various growls in varied keys saluted our +guide. + +"Go to sleep, men," said our chief, with a half laugh, which ended in a +sigh of contentment. + +French growls of doubtful meaning issued from the lips of Dumont and +Coppet, but Blondin condescended on no remark at all, unless "Pooh!" may +be considered such. + +"Hoots! man--heigh-ho!" remonstrated Donald Bane, while his comrade +Dougall merely said, "Wow!" and followed it with a prolonged snore. + +For myself, I felt inclined to laugh, but, being much too lazy to do so, +turned over, and was instantly lost again in oblivion. The whole camp +was immediately in the same condition, and thus, as I have said, we +remained till the sun was high. + +Soon after daybreak, however, the Indians began to stir in their camp-- +which lay a little apart from ours--and, ascending a slight eminence, +whence they could look down on our slumbering forms at their leisure, +squatted there and continued to gaze--perhaps to wonder how long we +meant to rest. They were soon joined by others--men, women, and +children--from the neighbouring camp. Self-restraint, at least in some +matters, is a characteristic of the red-men, and they remained very +patiently and silently there; even the children spoke in whispers, and +gazed in solemn earnestness at our slumbering camp. + +When we rose and began active preparations for breakfast, the little +ones melted away--influenced either by fear or by the orders of their +parents. They returned, however, in greater force than ever when we +began the labours of the day. Being all more or less naked, they +resembled a band of brown monkeys without tails, whose great eyes were +capable of expressing only one powerful sentiment--that of surprise! + +Thus, watched with deep interest by a large portion of the tribe, we +proceeded to the erection of the first house. + +"The Hall will stand here, Max," said Lumley to me, as I approached him, +bearing one end of a long squared log on my shoulder, the other end of +which was carried by Big Otter, while Bane and one of the Canadians +supported the centre of it. "Set it down there, lads--a little more +this way--so." + +We laid the timber on the green sward facing the lake, in such a way +that it corresponded with the front line of a large square which had +been traced on the turf by Lumley. + +"Stay with me, Max, I want your help and advice." The men went back to +the bush, from which, at the same moment, four others of our party +issued, bearing a similar log. + +It was laid at the other side of the square, parallel to the first one. +In a few minutes the two end logs were carried up and deposited in their +places. These logs had all been cut, squared, mortised at their ends, +and fitted together in the woods before being brought to the lawn. + +"Now, the question is," said Lumley, as he stood with coat off, shirt +sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and pencil and plan in hand, "shall we +turn the front of the house a little more to the south or a little more +to the east? We must decide that now, before fixing the framework +together." + +"We should get more of the rising sun," said I, "if we turned it more +towards the east. And you know we shall not have too much of its beams +in winter to gladden our hearts and eyes." + +"Right, Max, but then we might have too much of the east winds to +trouble our toes and noses." + +"Still the view eastward," said I, "is so extensive and varied--so full +of sublimity." + +"While that to the southward," urged Lumley, "is so soft and beautiful-- +so full of poetry and romance." + +"Come, Jack, don't laugh at me. You know that I am not jesting; I mean +what I say." + +"I know it, Max, but though I may seem to be half jesting, is it not +possible that I, too, may thoroughly mean what I say?" + +He pointed as he spoke to the southward, where certain combinations of +light and shade thrown on the numerous islets as well as on the clouds-- +all of which were reflected in the clear water--presented a scene which +it is easier to imagine than describe. + +I at once admitted the justice of his remark, and it was finally settled +that the house should face due south. + +"Fix the frame together now, Coppet," said Lumley to our carpenter, who +came forward with a load of small timbers, "and let it face as it now +lies. The ground is fortunately so flat that we won't require much +levelling of foundations. Now, the next thing, Max," he added, turning +to me and consulting the plan, "is this--have we made the best possible +arrangement of our space? You see I am not much of an architect, but +luckily we have not to contend with the civilised difficulties of +lobbies and staircases." + +"You intend our palace to have only one storey, I suppose?" said I. + +"Just so, Max. Arctic gales, you see, might carry a top storey off. We +shall have no lobby at all--only a front door and a back door entering +direct upon our hall. Of course I shall have a porch and door outside +of each, to keep wind and snow out. Now, see here. There, you observe, +is the foundation frame now being laid down. Well, one-third of the +space in the middle is to be the hall--our drawing-room, dining-room, +library, snuggery, smokery, public-room, etcetera, all in one. It will +extend from front to rear of the building; but at the back, you see, I +have marked a little oblong space which is to be boarded off as a sort +of larder, and gun-room, and place for rubbish in general. It will +extend along the width of the hall, leaving only space for the back +door." + +"What a capital contrivance!" said I; "it will, besides being so useful, +break in on the oblong shape of the hall and give variety of form." + +"Just so, Max; then the space left on each side of the hall shall be +partitioned off into four rooms--two on either side--with the doors +opening into the hall. No passages, you see, anywhere, and no wasted +space. One room for me, one for you, one for Salamander, who is to be +our man-servant as well as interpreter, and one for Blondin, whom I +intend to make a sort of overseer of the men. We shan't want a spare +room, for we won't be troubled much, I fear, with guests; but if such a +blessing should ever descend on us, we can turn Blondin or Salamander +out. They will have to mess with the men at any rate; and, by the way, +we must start the men's house and the store immediately, for I intend to +carry on all three at the same time, so that we and the men and the +goods may all get housed together." + +"Are you to have attics?" I asked. + +"No; but there will be a space under the sloping roof, which can be +turned into a garret, and may be reached through a trap-door by a +movable ladder. As to windows, the hall is to have two--one on each +side of the door, which will give the house the lively aspect of +appearing to have two eyes and a nose. The bedrooms will each have one +window in its side, and you may take the one looking eastward if you +choose, Max. In winter these windows shall have double frames and glass +to keep the cold out. Go now, my boy, and see to the foundation of the +men's house." + +Need I say that we all toiled with hearty good-will; for, although the +weather was pleasantly warm at the time, we knew that the short-lived +autumn would quickly pass and render a good roof over our heads most +desirable. + +Soon a pit-saw which we had brought with us was set to work, and planks +began to multiply. Henri Coppet and his men swung their great axes, and +trees began to fall around, and to take unwonted shapes. The ring of +Marcelle Dumont's anvil was heard from morn till eve, echoing through +the wild-woods; and powerful bands, and nuts, and screws, of varied size +and form, were evolved from our bundle of iron bars. Thus the whole +party wrought with untiring energy, and our future abode began to grow. + +At all this our red friends gazed with countenances expressive of +inconceivable surprise and profound admiration. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A NARROW ESCAPE--A STRANGE MEETING, AND A HALF-REVEALED MYSTERY. + +One afternoon, not very long after our arrival at Lake Wichikagan, +Lumley and I found ourselves on the summit of a rising ground which was +scantily clothed with trees, and from the top of which we could see the +region all round like a map spread at our feet. We were out after a +black bear whose footprints had led us to the spot. + +"Bruin has escaped us this time," said Lumley, "and I don't feel +disposed to go after him any further. You see, Max, I must be up early +to-morrow to superintend Coppet at his water-mill, so I would advise +resting here a bit to refresh ourselves at this spring, and then make +tracks for home." + +He descended as he spoke towards a small basin in the rocks, into which +fell a rivulet formed by the spring referred to, and flung himself down +beside it. Seating myself at his side I said:-- + +"Coppet needs superintendence, I suspect, for although he is an +excellent carpenter and reliable workman, I'm not sure that he +understands complicated or large works--except, indeed, the building of +houses; but then he has been taught that since he was a boy." + +"That's just it, Max," returned Lumley, filling the hollow of his hand +with clear water for want of a better drinking-cup, "he can do anything +which he has been taught, but I find that he cannot originate, and +suspect that he has not a very deep knowledge of the strength of +materials or the power of forces. The worst of it is that neither you +nor I are very profound in such matters. However, we must do our best +and make everything ten times stronger than there is any occasion for, +and thus make up for the lack of engineering knowledge." + +"Shall you want my help to-morrow earlier than usual?" I asked. + +"No--not till after breakfast." + +"Well then, as there is no necessity for my going to bed before my +ordinary time, I'll let you return alone, for I don't feel at all +disposed to give up this bear after tracking him so many hours. He's +only a small one, to judge from his footprints, and I am a pretty sure +shot, you know." + +"Be it so, Max--but don't be late, else I'll have to send men to look +for you!" + +Lumley got up and left me--making a straight line for Fort Wichikagan, +as we had named our outpost, and leaving me in a dreamy state of mind +beside the spring. + +It was a delightful afternoon in that most charming period of the +American season which is styled the Indian summer; when mosquitoes, +sand-flies, and all other insect-tormentors disappear, and the weather +seems to take a last enjoyable fortnight of sunny repose before breaking +into winter. + +I fell into a pleasant reverie. The backwoods of the Great Nor'-west +vanished from my mental view, and, with eyes half closed, I indulged in +memories of home and all its sweet associations. + +Bethinking me suddenly of my reason for remaining where I was, I sprang +up, seized my gun, and began to follow the trail of the bear. Before +descending from the eminence, however, I took a look round the +landscape, and saw the figure of an Indian woman in the distance, +proceeding towards our fort. Although too far-off to be distinguished +by feature, I could clearly perceive the light-blue cotton kerchief +which formed part of the dress of Waboose. + +At once my interest in the bear vanished, and I began to follow the +Indian girl instead. I had not seen her since the evening of our +arrival at the lake, and I felt a strong desire to make further +inquiries as to the circumstances of her father's life among the Indians +and his unfortunate death. + +Waboose had not seen me. By making a wide and rapid detour I got in +front of her and sat down on a fallen tree at a spot where she was sure +to pass. + +As she drew near, I could not fail to observe how graceful her port was, +and how different from that of the other girls with whom her lot had +been cast. + +"Assuredly," muttered I to myself, "her father was a gentleman!" + +Leaving my gun on the bank on which I had been seated, I advanced to +meet her. She showed a very slight symptom of surprise, and, I thought, +of uneasiness, on seeing me, but made no remark until I had spoken. At +first I was about to adopt the Indian style of address, and begin with +"my red sister," but the phrase, besides being false, appeared to me +ridiculous; still, the ice had to be broken somehow, so I made a +bungling plunge. + +"Blue-eyes wanders far to-day from the wigwams of her--her--people?" + +A gleam of surprise mingled with pleasure rippled over her pretty face +when she found that I could speak to her in the native tongue. + +"Yes," she replied in the same language. "I have wandered far. I was +the bearer of a message." + +As she volunteered no more I continued: + +"If Waboose goes to her wigwam, will she object to the pale-face bearing +her company?" + +With something like a graceful inclination of the head, the Indian girl +gave me to understand that she had no objection. + +"An _Indian_!" thought I, "she's a _lady_ in disguise, as sure as I am a +fur-trader!" + +Of course I was careful not to give her, either by tone or look, the +slightest hint of what was passing in my mind, and was about to continue +my remarks, when a rustling in the bushes caused us both to look round +quickly. The foliage parted next moment close to us, and before I had +time to think a large brown bear bounded into the open space. It seemed +to be taken as much by surprise as we were, and I have no doubt would +have turned and fled if it had not been so near. It rose on its hind +legs, however, to attack us, and then I perceived that it was not the +small bear which Lumley and I had been tracking. + +The blood rushed to my head when I remembered that the monster stood +between me and the bank on which my gun was lying! Then the feeling +that the helpless Indian girl was at its mercy filled me with feelings +which are indescribable. Thought is swifter than the lightning-flash. +Much more than I have written flashed through my brain during those two +or three seconds, but one overmastering idea filled me--I would save +_her_, or perish! + +I glanced sharply round. To my surprise she had fled! So much the +better. I could at least keep the creature engaged till she had got +well away. + +Drawing the small hatchet which like all Nor'westers I carried in my +belt, I rushed at the bear and made a cut at its head with all the force +that lay in my arm. Where the blow fell I know not, but apparently it +was ineffective, for, with a quick vicious turn of its paw, the bear +struck my weapon from my hand with such violence that it flew over the +tree-tops as if shot from a catapult, and I stood unarmed--helpless--at +the creature's mercy! + +The terrible feeling that death was so near almost unnerved me, but the +thought of Waboose caused me to utter a roar of mingled rage and despair +as I doubled my fist and launched it full against the monster's nose! + +At that moment a loud report at my ear deafened and almost stunned me. +Next instant the bear lay dead at my feet. I looked round and beheld +Waboose standing close to me with my gun in her hands! + +"Noble heroine!" I exclaimed, but as I exclaimed it in English she did +not understand. She had, indeed, a very slight smattering of that +language--of which more hereafter--but "Noble heroine" was not at that +time in her vocabulary! + +Instead of trembling or looking pale, as I might have expected to see +her, Waboose looked at me in the most composed manner, and with +something on her lip that seemed to me like a smile of amusement. In +some confusion, I thanked her for having saved my life. + +She did not object to the thanks, but replied by asking me if it was the +usual practice of white men to attack bears with their fists. + +I could not help laughing at this. + +"No, Waboose," I replied, as I recharged my gun, "it is by no means +usual; but when a man has no other weapon at hand, he is compelled to +use his fists. And let me tell you," I added, for I was somewhat +nettled by the obvious laugh that nestled in the girl's blue eyes,--"let +me tell you that we English are pretty good at using our fists." + +"I know that," she replied, becoming suddenly very grave as we walked +on. + +"You know that?" I repeated in surprise; "how came you to know that?" + +"My dear father was English," she answered in a low sad tone that smote +me to the heart for having felt nettled--though I believe I did not show +the feeling on my face or in my tone. + +"Ah! Big Otter told me that," said I, in an earnest tone of sympathy. +"If it does not hurt her feelings too much to recall the past, I should +like Waboose to tell me about her father." + +The girl looked at me in surprise. I had a fancy, at the time, that +this was the result of the novel sensation of a man having any +consideration for her feelings, for Indian braves are not, as a rule, +much given to think about the feelings of their women. Indeed, from the +way in which many of them behave, it is probable that some red-men think +their women have no feelings at all. + +In a low, melodious voice, and with some of that poetic imagery which +marks the language, more or less, of all North American Indians, the +girl began to speak--raising her eyes wistfully the while to the sky, as +if she were communing with her own thoughts rather than speaking to me. + +"My father was good--oh! _so_ good and kind," she said. "When I was +small, like the foolish rabbit when it is a baby, he used to take me on +his shoulders and run with me over the prairie like the wild mustang. +Sometimes he put me in his bark canoe and skimmed with me over Lake +Wichikagan till I fancied I was a grey-goose or a swan. Ah! those were +happy days! No one can ever understand how much my father loved me. My +mother loves me much, but she is not like my father. Perhaps it is the +nature of the pale-faces to love more deeply than the red-men." + +Waboose uttered this last sentence as if she were questioning the sky on +the point. I felt at the time that there was at least one pale-face who +loved her better than all the red-men or women on earth, but a sense of +justice caused me to repudiate the general idea. + +"No, Waboose," said I, firmly, "that is a mistake. Rough surroundings +and a harsh life will indeed modify the heart's affections, but the mere +colour of the skin has nothing to do with it. The heart of the redskin +can love as deeply as that of the white man--both were made by the same +Great Master of Life." + +The girl cast her eyes meditatively on the ground and murmured simply, +"It may be so." + +The reader must not suppose that I expressed my meaning in the Indian +tongue during this conversation as clearly as I have set it down in +English. No doubt I mangled the sentences and confused the ideas sadly, +nevertheless Waboose seemed to have no difficulty in understanding me. +I had certainly none in comprehending her. + +I was about to ask Waboose to relate the circumstances of her father's +death while in the act of rescuing her mother, but feeling that it might +cause her needless pain, and that I could get the details as easily from +some of the Indians, I asked her instead where her father came from. +She looked at me sadly as she replied-- + +"I cannot tell. My dear father had nothing to conceal from me but that. +On all other things his heart was open. He spoke to me of all the +wonders of this world, and of other places that my people know nothing +of, and of the great Master of Life, and of His Son Jesus, who came to +save us from evil, and of the countries where his white brothers live; +but when I asked him where he came from, he used to pat my head and +smile, and say that he would perhaps tell me one day, but not just then. +I shall never know it now." + +"At all events you must know his name, Waboose?" + +"His name was Weeum," replied the girl quickly. + +"Was that all?" + +"All," she replied with a quick look, "was not that enough?" + +"Well, perhaps it was," I replied, scarce knowing what to say. "And why +did he give you the name of Waboose?" I asked. + +"Because when I was small I was round and soft," replied the girl, with +a slight smile, "like the little animal of that name. He told me that +in his own language the animal is called rubbit." + +"Rabbit, not rubbit," said I, with a laugh. + +"My father taught me rubbit," returned Waboose, with a simple look, "and +he was _always_ right." + +I felt that it would be useless to press my correction, and therefore +changed the subject by asking if her father had never tried to teach her +English. Immediately she answered, with a somewhat bashful air-- + +"Yes, a leetil." + +"Why, you can _speak_ English, Waboose," I exclaimed, stopping and +looking down at her with increasing interest. + +"No--note mush, but me un'erstan' good--deal," she returned, with a +hearty laugh at my expression. + +I found on trial, however, that the girl's knowledge of English was so +slight that we could not readily converse in it. We therefore fell back +on the Indian tongue. + +"I wish I had known your father, Waboose," I said earnestly. "He must +have been a very good man." + +She looked at me gratefully. + +"Yes," she returned, "he was _very_ good." + +As she said this Waboose cast on me a look which I could not understand; +it was so intense, as if she were trying to read my thoughts, and at the +same time seemed mingled with doubt. Then, with some hesitation, she +said-- + +"My father left a secret with me. He told me never to show it to my +tribe, as they could not understand it--not even to my mother." + +"What is the secret, Waboose?" I asked, seeing that she hesitated again +and looked at me with another of her searching glances. + +"I do not know," she replied. + +"It must indeed be a secret, if none of your people know it, and you +don't know it yourself," I returned with a peculiar smile. + +"It is a written secret, I believe, but I--I--do not know. He told me +never to show it to any but a white man--to one whom I felt that I could +trust. May I trust _you_?" she asked, looking me full in the face. + +The question naturally surprised as well as flattered me. + +"You may trust me, Waboose," I said earnestly, laying my hand +involuntarily on my heart, "I would die rather than deceive or injure +you." + +She seemed satisfied and resumed in a low tone-- + +"Not long before my dear father died he took me into the woods to walk +in a place that we were both fond of. We had long sweet talks in that +wood; sometimes walking under the trees, sometimes sitting on the +hill-tops, and always happy--very happy! One day he looked sad. He +took my hand as we sat together on a bank. He said, `I have sometimes +longed to open up all my heart to you, my rubbit,' (he was fond of +calling me by the English name), `but I cannot do so yet.'" + +"`Why not, my father?' I asked. + +"`Because--because--' he answered, `it could do no good, and it might do +harm. No, my rubbit, the time may come, but not now--not yet. Listen; +for your mother's sake I left the home of the pale-faces and came to +live with your tribe. For her sake I shall remain. But you know that +life is uncertain. We cannot tell when the Great Master of Life may +call us away. Sometimes he calls us suddenly and we are forced to leave +our works unfinished. I may be called away thus, before the time comes +when I may tell you what I want you to know. If so, you will find it +all here.' + +"My father took from the breast of his coat a small bundle wrapped in +birch-bark and placed it in my hands. + +"`Do not open it,' he said. `Do not show it to man or woman in the +tribe. They could not understand, but if ever a white man comes here, +_whom you feel that you can trust_, show it to him.' + +"My father rose as he said this, and as he seemed to wish not to speak +more about it, I did not trouble him, but I went and hid the parcel with +care. It was almost immediately afterwards that my dear father was +taken from me." + +We were suddenly interrupted at this point by the appearance of a man in +the distance walking smartly towards us. I could perceive, as he drew +near, that it was James Dougall. + +"Well, well, Muster Maxby," he said on coming up, "it's gled I am to +find you. I've been seekin' you far an' near." + +"Nothing wrong, I hope, Dougall," said I with some anxiety, on observing +that the man was perspiring and panting vehemently. + +"No, no, nothin' wrong, Muster Maxby, only it's runnin' aboot the wuds +I've been, lookin' for ye an' skirlin' like a pair o' pipes. We're +aboot to draw the seine-net, ye see, an' Tonald Pane said it would be a +peety, says he, to begin when ye wur awa', an' Muster Lumley agreet wi' +um, an' sent me oot to seek for 'ee--that's a'." + +"Come along then, Dougall, we won't keep them waiting." + +Nodding adieu to Waboose, I hurried away towards Fort Wichikagan, +followed by the sturdy Highlander. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +FISHING AND ITS RESULTS--ENGINEERING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + +I found on reaching Wichikagan that the fun was about to begin. +Blondin, who was our chief fisherman, had let down a long seine-net, +which was being drawn slowly in by a band of natives, whose interest in +a process which they had never before seen was deepening into +excitement, as they observed here and there a symptom of something +shooting below the surface of the still water, or beheld a large fish +leap frantically into the air. + +At first, when the net was being prepared, those children of the forest +had merely stood by and looked on with curiosity. When Blondin and his +men rowed out from the shore, letting the net drop off the stern of our +boat as they went, they indulged in a few guesses and undertoned +remarks. When the boat gradually swept round and turned shoreward +again, having left a long line of floats in its wake, they perceived +that a large sheet of water had been enclosed, and a feeling of wonder, +combined with a half guess as to what all this portended caused their +black orbs to enlarge, and the whites thereof to glisten. But when they +were requested to lay hold of a rope attached to the other end of the +net and haul, the true state of the case burst upon their awakened minds +and proportionate excitement followed. + +As the circle of the net diminished and the evidences, above referred +to, of life in the water became more frequent, gleeful expectation took +the place of wonder, and a disposition to chatter manifested itself, +especially among the women and children, who by that time had eagerly +laid hold of the drag-rope. + +Soon it became apparent that a mighty mass of fish had been enclosed, +and the creatures seemed themselves to become suddenly alive to their +danger, for the crowded condition of their element--which, no doubt, +caused only surprise at first--became so inconvenient that with one +accord they made a terrified rush to the right. Failing to obtain +relief they turned and rushed to the left. Discomfited again, they +dashed lakeward. Each rush was followed by a howl of anxiety from the +natives; each failure was hailed with a yell of joy. Three birch-bark +canoes followed the net to send the more obstreperous of the fish +shoreward. Finding that they could not escape, the finny prisoners +seemed to lose their wits and took to rushing skyward, with splashing +consequences that almost drove the red-men mad! + +"Hold on! not so hard! You'll break it!" shouted Lumley to the men and +women at the rope. + +"What a tremendous haul!" said I, as I joined my friend, who stood at +the outer end of our little wharf, enjoying the scene. + +"I hope the net won't break," he replied. "If it does we shall lose +them all, and the disappointment to the Indians might be almost too much +to bear. See, they prepare for action!" + +This was very obvious. The men of the tribe, who might be described as +glaring maniacs, had dropped their robes, and, almost naked, ran +waist-deep into the water in a vain attempt to catch some of the larger +fish as they were slowly forced towards the beach. Even some of the +women lost self-control and, regardless of petticoats, floundered after +the men. As for the children, big and little, they developed into imps +of darkness gone deranged. + +Suddenly a very wave of fish was sent upon the shore, where, of course, +they began to leap about wildly. Not less wildly did the Indians leap +among them, throttling the big ones and hurling armfuls of the lesser +ones high up on the sward. + +By that time the net was close in shore. The whole of the enclosed +space became a sweltering mass. Treading on the fish at last, many of +both men and boys slipped in the water, and fell down over head and +ears, so that the spectacle was presented of human beings bounding out +of the water in apparent emulation of their prey. The excitement was +almost too much for them. Several of the boys were seen to rush up into +the woods and dash back again, with no apparent reason except the desire +to get rid of superabundant energy. One brave, in particular, so far +forgot the characteristic dignity of the red-man, that he rushed up on +the bank, bent forward, clapped a hand on each knee, threw back his +head, shut his eyes, opened wide his mouth, and sought to relieve his +feelings in one stupendous roar. But it would not do. He became +suddenly solemn, glared again, and went at the fish more furiously than +ever. + +Our men in the canoes landed, and rendered assistance. Salamander was +in one of the canoes which ran alongside of the wharf. The only other +occupant was Donald Bane, who sat in the stern and steered. Salamander +was greatly excited. As the canoe ran up to the wharf, the bow was +thrust over the net-rope, and he gazed at the struggling creatures below +with intense delight on his brown visage. + +"You had petter take care," said Donald Bane, as he grasped the edge of +the wharf, and cautiously rose up, "for canoes are easily overturned." +But Salamander was too much engrossed to hear or reply. The Highlander, +who had not forgotten the trick formerly played on him and his +countryman by the interpreter, stepped carefully out on the wharf. As +he did so, he gave the canoe a little tilt with his foot, and Salamander +went head-foremost down among the fish! + +A simulated cry of consternation broke from Donald Bane. + +"Wow--wow!" he exclaimed, as Salamander's head appeared with a number of +little fish struggling in his hair, and a pike or jack-fish holding on +to the lobe of his left ear, "the poor cratur! Tak a grup o' my hand, +man. Here! wow! but it seems a fery frundly jack-fush that--whatever." + +Amid much spluttering, Salamander was hauled out, and, regardless of his +mishap, both he and Donald immediately joined the others in securing +their prey. + +"It wass a grand haul, man, Tonald," said Dougall that night at supper. + +"Oo ay, Shames. It was no that paad," replied Donald. + +And, truly, it _was_ a grand haul; for, not only did we obtain enough of +every species of fish that swarmed in Lake Wichikagan, to provide a +right royal feast to ourselves and our red friends, but a good many were +left over and above to form the commencement of a store for the future. + +By that time we had fairly commenced the fishery with a view to a winter +supply. The weather was still delicious, and had begun to grow cool at +nights, but as there was yet no frost, all the fish we took had to be +hung up by the tail, and thus partially dried. Afterwards, when the +frost fairly set in, this hanging process was dispensed with, for fish, +once frozen in those regions, remain perfectly fresh during the entire +winter, so that those eaten in spring are quite as good as those +consumed in autumn. + +Lumley now set me to superintend the digging and constructing of an +ice-house, which should be ready to receive in spring the ice that would +be required to keep our provisions fresh during the following summer. +It consisted merely of a shallow square pit or hole in the ground, over +which a log hut was constructed. The pit we intended to floor with +solid cubes of ice measuring about a yard on each side. This lowest +foundation, in those northern ice-houses, never melts, but a fresh +stratum is laid above it which is cleared out and renewed every spring, +and it is amongst this that the meat or fish to be preserved is laid in +summer. + +Another piece of work that Lumley gave me to superintend at this time +was the construction of a water-wheel and dam to drive our pit-saw. You +see, I had a turn for mechanics, and was under the impression that my +powers in that way were greater than they afterwards turned out to be. +We were sitting at tea alone in our hall at the time the subject was +mooted. + +"Where have you sent the carpenter?" I asked, as I pushed in my +pannikin for more of the refreshing beverage. + +I must interrupt the thread of my narrative here for a moment to say +that we took no crockery with us on that expedition. Our cups were tin +pannikins, our plates were made of tin; our pots and kettles were either +tin or copper. We had no sugar basins, or butter-dishes, or +table-cloths, or any of the other amenities of civilised life. But +everything we had was strong and serviceable, and the same may be said +of the things we constructed. The deal tables and chairs made for us by +Coppet were very strong if not elegant, and the plank walls and ceiling +of our rooms were cheerful, though neither papered nor whitewashed. It +has often struck me, while sojourning in the great Nor'-west, that +civilised man surrounds himself with a great many needless luxuries +which do not by any means add to his comfort, though the removal of them +might add considerably to his distress. + +But to return. + +"Coppet is off," said Lumley in reply to my question, "to get some +timber for oars, as well as birch-bark to make a canoe or two; we must +also set about making a new boat some day or other." + +"Lumley," said I, "it has often occurred to me that it takes a terrible +deal of time to cut trees into planks with our pit-saws, and occupies +far too much of the time of two men who might be much more profitably +employed." + +"True, Max--what then?" + +"Why then," said I, "what would you say if I were to construct a +saw-mill!" + +"I'd say you were a clever fellow," replied my friend, with one of his +knowing looks. + +"But what say you to my making the attempt?" + +"Do so, by all means, my boy--only don't use up too many pit-saws in the +attempt!" + +I saw that he did not believe in my powers, and became all the more +determined to succeed. + +Accordingly, I went next day with Coppet and Dumont, on whom of course I +depended for the carrying out of my designs, to examine the ground where +the mill-dam was to be made. + +"You see," I explained, "we have a superabundance of water in the +rivulet at the back of the fort, and by collecting it we may get any +amount of power we please, which is of importance, because it will +enable us to simplify the machinery." + +"Oui, oui, monsieur," said Coppet, who either was, or wished to appear, +very knowing on such matters. + +"Now," continued I, "here is a natural basin formed by rocks, which only +wants a small dam at its lower end to enable us to collect water enough +to drive the biggest mill in the world. By making our opening at the +very bottom of the basin, the pressure of water, when it is full, will +be so great that a very small water-wheel, without any multiplying gear, +will suffice to drive our saw--don't you see?" + +"Oui, monsieur, oui," answered Dumont, whose knitted brows showed that +the worthy blacksmith was at least doing his best to understand me. + +"Well, then," I continued, "you see that we shall have no difficulty as +to the dam. Then, as to the wheel, it will be a simple one of not more +than four feet diameter, presented vertically to what I may term the +water-spout, so that its axle, which will have a crank in it, will work +the saw direct; thus, avoiding toothed wheels and cogs, we shall avoid +friction, and, if need be, increase the speed easily, d'you see?" + +"Bon, monsieur--good, good," exclaimed Coppet, becoming quite +enthusiastic in his appreciation of my plans. + +"Of course," I continued, "the saw can easily be fitted to a frame, and +a very simple contrivance can be made to drive along the larger frame +that will carry the logs to be sawn; but these are trifling matters of +detail which you and I will work out at our leisure, Dumont." + +"Oui, monsieur, oui," replied the blacksmith, with tighter knitted +brows, and with a readiness of assent which I do believe the good fellow +would have accorded if I had proposed to fit a new axis to the world. + +"There is only one thing that troubles me," said I: "how are we to gauge +or estimate the force of our water-spout so as to regulate our mill when +made? Do you understand such matters--the measurement of force-- +Coppet?" + +The carpenter shook his head. + +"That's unfortunate. Do you, Dumont?" + +"Non, Monsieur." + +"H'm! I'm sadly ignorant on the point myself," I continued. "Of course +I know that so many cubic feet of water will exert a certain pressure, +but then I don't know what that certain pressure is, nor how to find out +how many cubic feet our somewhat irregular dam will contain. Nor do I +know precisely the strength of the material required in the dam to +resist the water." + +Dumont humbly suggested here that we could at all events act on the +principle that guided Adam and Eve in the formation of their first +water-mill, and find out by experiment. And Coppet said that we could +get over the difficulty about the strength of materials by making +everything ten times stronger than was required. + +"You are right lads," said I, much amused with the earnest manner in +which they gave the advice. "Now let us go at it without delay, so that +we may get into working order before the frost stops us." + +We set to with enthusiasm, and progressed with our labour much faster +than I had expected. The natural basin, to which I have referred, lay +just below a ledge of rock over which the rivulet flowed into it, +forming a pretty deep pool about ten feet in diameter. Flowing out of +this pool, it ran about twelve feet further through a narrow gorge, +where it dropped over another ledge. Now, all that we had to do was to +shut up the outlet of the narrow gorge with a strong dam, and so cause +the pool to swell and rise into a small but very deep pond. + +Our first step was to divert the channel of the brook so as to leave us +free to construct the dam. The nature of the ground rendered this easy +enough. Then, before going further, we made the trough which was to +conduct the water out of the dam. It was made of four strong planks +about ten feet long and eight inches wide, forming, so to speak, a +square pipe. This we laid firmly in the bottom of the basin with its +end projecting over the lower ledge. To the inner end we attached a +perpendicular piece of wooden piping which rose several feet from the +ground. This was meant to prevent mud and stones from getting into, and +choking, the pipe. + +This done, we laid some very large timbers over the pipe and across the +opening of the gorge, above and between which we put heavy stones and +large quantities of gravel--also turf and twigs, and all sorts of +rubbish. Thus was the dam begun, and we continued the process until we +raised it to a height of some twenty feet or so. + +"What a magnificent pool it will be to dive in!" said Lumley, one day, +when he came to see us at work. + +"Won't it," said I; "especially in winter!" + +"Whatever happens to your works, the dam, I think, will never give way," +continued Lumley; "it seems to me unnecessarily strong." + +Not to try the reader's patience, I may say at once that we advanced +with our labour without a hitch until it was nearly finished. To the +opening in the pipe or spout we attached a powerful sluice, by which to +stop the flow desired, and, all being ready, broke down the dyke that +had turned aside our stream, and let the water in. Of course we had +constructed an overflow part of the basin, by which to conduct the +surplus water back to its proper channel below our works. + +It was a trying moment when we first let the water in. Would it leak?-- +would it break down?--was in everyone's mind. I had no fear as to the +latter point, but felt uncertain as to the former. We had much longer +to wait, however, for the filling than I had expected; but when at last +it was full up to the brim, and the trees around were reflected on its +surface, and no leak appeared anywhere, I could not resist giving a +cheer, which was heartily taken up and echoed by our whole party--for we +had all assembled to watch the result. + +"Now, Coppet, lend a hand at the winch. We'll open the sluice and +observe the force." + +After a few turns our winch refused to move, and only a small part of +the opening had been uncovered, from which the water was squirting +furiously. + +"Something wrong," said I, looking down at the men below. "Just take a +look, Salamander, and see what it is." + +Our lively interpreter went down on hands and knees and made an earnest +examination, despite the squirting water. + +"Oh! I sees. All right now," he shouted, "heave away!" + +"Get out of the way, then," we cried, as we once more applied all our +force to the winch. It turned with unexpected suddenness, the sluice +flew up, and out came a straight column of water with extreme violence. +It hit Salamander full in the stomach, lifted him off his legs, and +swept him right down the gully, pitching him headlong over another +ledge, where he fell with such force that his mortal career had +certainly been ended then and there but for a thick juniper bush, which +fortunately broke his fall. As it was, he was little the worse of his +adventure, but he had learned a lesson of prompt obedience to orders +which he did not soon forget. + +I now planned a sort of movable buffer by which the force of the +water-spout could be diminished or even turned aside altogether. It +acted very well, and, under its protection, we set up the saw and +started it. We were all assembled again, of course, at the first +starting of the saw, along with a good many of our red friends, whose +curiosity in our various proceedings knew no bounds. + +Opening the sluice slowly, and fixing the buffer so as to turn at least +three-quarters of the furious water-spout aside, I had the extreme +satisfaction of seeing the saw begin to rip up a large log. It went on +splendidly, though still with somewhat greater force than I desired. +But, alas! my want of critical knowledge of engineering told heavily +against us, for, all of a sudden, the sluice broke. The buffer still +acted, however, and being needlessly strong, was, I thought, safe, but +the hinges of the thing were far too weak. They gave way. The violent +spout thus set free dashed against the wheel with its full force, +turning it round with a whirr-r-r! that sent the saw up and down so fast +as to render it almost invisible. + +We stood aghast! What fearful termination to the machine impended we +could not guess. A moment later and the crank broke, entangled itself +with the wheel and stopped it. As if maddened by this additional +resistance, the water-spout then swept the whole concern away, after +which, like a wild-horse set free, it took a leap of full thirty feet--a +straight column of solid water--before it burst itself on the ground, +and rushed wildly down to the lake! It was a humiliating termination-- +and showed how terrible it is to create a power which one cannot +control. + +I draw a veil over the story here. My feelings forbid me to write more! + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +ARRIVAL OF STRANGE INDIANS. + +About this time a band of strange Indians came in with a large supply of +valuable furs. They had heard, they said, of the establishment of the +new post, and had gladly come to trade there, instead of making their +customary long journey to Muskrat House. + +The change to these Indians was, in truth, of the utmost importance, for +so distant were some of their hunting-grounds from Macnab's +establishment, that nearly all the ammunition obtained there--the +procuring of which was one of the chief desires of their hearts--was +expended in shooting for mere subsistence on the way back to their +hunting-grounds. It will be easily understood, then, that they received +us with open arms. + +By this time we were quite prepared for their visit. The two +dwelling-houses for ourselves and the men were completed, so also was +the store for our goods. There only remained unfinished one or two +outhouses and our back kitchen, the latter a detached building, +afterwards to be connected with the main dwelling by a passage. The +store was an unusually strong log-house of one storey with a very solid +door. It was attached to the side of our dwelling, with which it was +connected by an inner door, so that we could, if necessary, enter it +without having to go outside--a matter of some importance in case we +should ever be forced to defend the fort. + +I had just returned, much dispirited, from a visit to the camp of our +own Indians, when this band of strangers arrived. + +Remembering my last conversation with Waboose, and being very curious to +know what were the contents of the mysterious packet she had mentioned, +I had gone to the camp to visit her, but, to my extreme regret, found +that Big Otter and several of the Indians had struck their tents and +gone off on a long hunting expedition, taking their families with them-- +Waboose among the rest. + +On finding, however, that strange Indians had arrived with a goodly +supply of furs to trade, thoughts of all other matters were driven out +of my mind, the depression of spirits fled, and a burst of enthusiasm +supervened as the thought occurred to me that now, at last, the great +object of our expedition was about to begin in earnest. I verily +believe that the same spirit of enthusiasm, or satisfaction--call it +what you will--animated more or less every man at the fort. Indeed, I +believe that it is always so in every condition of life; that men who +lay claim to even the smallest amount of spirit or self-respect, +experience a thrill of justifiable pride in performing their duty well, +and earning the approval of their official superiors. My own thoughts, +if defined, would probably have amounted to this-- + +"Now then, here's a chance at last of driving a good trade, and we will +soon show the Governor and Council of the Fur-traders that they were +well advised when they selected John Lumley as the chief of this trading +expedition into the remote wilderness!" + +"Come, Max," cried my friend, whom I met hastening to the store as I +arrived, "you're just in time. Here's a big band of redskins with +splendid packs of furs. I fear, however, that what is our gain will to +some extent be poor Macnab's loss, for they say they used to take their +furs to him in former years." + +"But, then," said I, "will not the company gain the furs which used to +be damaged, and therefore lost, on the long voyage to Muskrat? Besides, +the Indians will now be enabled to devote the time thus saved to hunting +and trapping, and that will also be clear gain." + +We reached the store as I said this, followed by a dozen Indians with +large packs on their shoulders. These were the chief men of the tribe, +who were to be attended to first. The others, who had to await their +turn with what patience they could command, followed behind in a body to +gaze at least upon the outside of the store--that mysterious temple of +unknown wealth of which all of them had heard, though many of them had +never seen or entered one. + +Putting a large key into the lock, Lumley turned it with all due +solemnity, for it was his plan among savages to make all acts of +importance as impressive as possible in their eyes. And this act of +visiting for the first time the stores--the palace of wealth--the abode +of bliss--the red-man's haven of rest--was a very important act. It may +not seem so to the reader, but it was so to the savage. The very smell +of the place was to him delicious--and no wonder, for even to more +cultivated nostrils there is an odour about the contents of a +miscellaneous store--such as tea, molasses, grindstones, coffee, brown +paper, woollen cloths, sugar, fish-hooks, raisins, scalping-knives, and +soap--which is pleasantly suggestive. + +Entering, then, with the dozen Indians, this important place, of which I +was the chief and only clerk, Lumley salesman and trader, and Salamander +warehouseman, the door was shut. Becoming instantly aware of a sudden +diminution in the light, I looked at the windows and observed a +flattened brown nose, a painted face and glaring eyes in the centre of +nearly every pane! + +When I looked at this band of powerful, lithe, wiry, covetous savages, +and thought of the hundreds of others whom they could summon by a single +war-whoop to their side, and of the smallness of our own party, I could +not help feeling that moral influence was a powerful factor in the +affairs of man. No doubt they were restrained to some extent by the +certain knowledge that, if they attacked and killed us, and appropriated +our goods without the preliminary ceremony of barter, the white men +would not only decline to send them goods in future, but would organise +a force to hunt down and slay the murderers: nevertheless, savages are +not much given to prudential reasoning when their cupidity or passions +are roused, and I cannot help thinking that we owed our safety, under +God, to the belief in the savage mind that men who put themselves so +completely in their power, as we did, and who looked so unsuspicious of +evil, _must_ somehow be invulnerable. + +Be that as it may, we calmly acted as if there could be no question at +all about our being their masters. Lumley conveyed that impression, +however, without the slightest assumption of dignity. He was all +kindness, gentleness, and urbanity, yet treated them with that +unassertive firmness which a father exercises--or ought to exercise-- +towards a child. + +"Now then, Salamander," said Lumley, when he was inside the counter, and +the Indians stood in a group on the other side, "tell the principal +chief to open his pack." + +Lumley, I may remark, made use of Salamander as an interpreter, until he +found that the dialect of those Indians was not very different from that +to which he had been accustomed. Then he dispensed with his services, +and took up the conversation himself, to the obvious astonishment as +well as respect of the Indians, who seemed to think the white chief had +actually picked up a new language after listening to it for only half an +hour! + +The principal chief opened his pack slowly and spread its contents on +the counter with care. He did not hurry himself, being a very dignified +man. There were beavers, martens, otters, silver-foxes, and many other +valuable furs, for which large sums are given in the European markets. +To obtain these, however, the Company of Traders had to expend very +large sums in transporting goods into those northern wilds, and still +larger sums would have to be paid to voyageurs, clerks, and employes +generally, as well as risks run and time spent before these furs could +be conveyed to market and turned into gold--hence our red chief had to +content himself with moderate prices. These prices, moreover, he did +not himself put on his furs. Lumley did that for him, according to the +tariff used by the fur-traders all over the country, every article being +rated at a standard unit of value, styled a "made-beaver" in some parts +of the country--a "castore" in other parts. On the counter was marked, +with a piece of chalk, the value of each fur--a beaver was valued at so +many castores, according to its quality, a fox at so many--and when the +sum was added up, the total was made known by a number of goose-quills +being presented to the chief, each quill representing a castore. The +Indians, being acquainted with this process, did not require to have it +explained. + +Profoundly did that chief gaze at his bundle of quills on receiving them +from Lumley after Salamander had swept his furs into a corner. He was +studying, as it were, the credit balance of his bank-account before +investing. + +"Now then, chief," asked Lumley, with an urbane expression of +countenance, "what shall I give you?" + +The chief gazed solemnly round the store with his piercing black eyes, +while all the other piercing black eyes around gazed at him expectantly! +At last his gaze became riveted on a particular spot. The surrounding +black eyes turned to that spot intently, and the chief said: + +"_Baskisigan_." + +"Ah, I thought so--a gun?" said Lumley; "hand one over, Salamander." + +The interpreter went to a box which contained half a dozen of the common +cheap articles which were supplied for the trade. Long, +single-barrelled affairs they were, the barrels of blue metal, stocks +extending to the muzzles and stained red, brass mountings of toy-like +flimsiness, and flint-locks; the entire gun being worth something less +than a pound sterling. These weapons were capable, nevertheless, of +shooting pretty straight, though uncomfortably apt to burst. + +One having been handed to the chief he received it with a grasp of +almost reverential affection, while Lumley extracted from his funds the +requisite number of quills in payment. + +"What next?" asked Salamander, and again the solemn gaze went slowly +round the store, on the shelves of which our goods were displayed most +temptingly. Black eyes riveted once more! What is it? + +"A green blanket." + +"Just so. Fetch a four-point one, Max, he's a big man." + +I took up one of our largest-sized thick green blankets, handed it to +the chief, and Lumley abstracted a few more quills from the bundle. + +At this point the red-man seemed to get into the swing of the thing, for +a white blanket of medium size, and another of very small dimensions, +were demanded. These represented wife and infant. After this a tin +kettle and a roll of tobacco were purchased. The chief paused here, +however, to ponder and count his quills. + +"Do you observe," said Lumley to me, in a low voice, "what a +well-balanced mind he has?" + +"I can't say that I do, Lumley." + +"No? Don't you see; first a gun--self-and-family-preservation being the +first law of nature; then, after thus providing for war and hunting, +comes repose, d'you see? a big blanket, which immediately suggests +similar comfort to the squaw, a smaller blanket; then comes comfort to +the baby, a miniature blanket; then, how naturally the squaw and the +squawker conduct his mind to food--a tin kettle! after which he feels +justified in refreshing himself with a slight luxury--tobacco! But +you'll see that he will soon repress self, with Indian stoicism, and +return to essentials." + +Lumley was right for he had barely ceased to speak, when the chief +turned and demanded an axe; then fish-hooks; then twine for lines; then +awls for boring holes in the bark with which he made his canoes; then +powder and shot and pipes. After this, another fit of tenderness came +over him, and he bought some bright scarlet and blue cloth--doubtless +for the squaw or the baby--and some brilliantly coloured silk thread +with needles and variegated beads to ornament the same. Soon his quills +dwindled away till at last they disappeared; yet his wants were not +fully supplied--would the pale-face chief advance him some goods on +credit? + +Oh yes--he seemed a good and trustworthy brave--the pale-face chief had +no objection to do that! + +Accordingly I opened a ledger and inserted the man's name. It was +almost Welsh-like in difficulty of pronunciation, but, unlike a +Welshman, I spelt it as pronounced, and set down in order the additional +goods he required. When Lumley thought he had given him enough on +credit, he firmly closed the account, gave the man a small gratuity of +tobacco, powder and shot, etcetera, and bade another chief come forward. + +It was slow but interesting work, for, as the Indians grew familiar with +the place and our ways, those of them who were loquacious, or possessed +of humour, began to chat and comment on the goods, and on the white +man's doings in a way that was very diverting. + +After the chief men had traded their furs, the rank and file of the band +came on, and, as is the case with all rank and file, there were some +indifferent, and a few bad characters among them. It was now that I +observed and admired the tact, combined with firmness, of Lumley. He +spoke to these Indians with exactly the same respect and suavity that +had characterised him when trading with the chiefs. When he saw any one +become puzzled or undecided, he suggested or quietly advised. If a +man's eye appeared to twinkle he cut a mild joke with him. If one +became too familiar, or seemed disposed to be insolent he took no +notice, but turned aside and busied himself in arranging the goods. + +At last, however, an incident occurred which called for different +treatment. There was among the Indians a long-legged, wiry fellow who +had been named Attick, or Reindeer, because he was a celebrated runner. +Those who disliked him--and they were numerous--said he was good at +running away from his foes. However that might be, he was undoubtedly +dexterous in the use of his fingers--and it was through this propensity +that we were first introduced to him. It happened thus: + +Lumley, whose powers of observation often surprised me, had noticed that +Attick looked often and with longing eyes at a very small roll of +tobacco which belonged to one of his comrades, and lay on the counter +temptingly near at hand. Slowly, and, as it were, inadvertently, he +advanced his hand until it touched the tobacco, then, laying hold on it, +when the owner was busy with something else, he carried it towards the +bosom of his leather hunting-shirt. Before it reached that place of +concealment, however, Lumley quickly, yet so quietly that the act was +scarce perceived, seized the elbow of the chief and gave him a look. +Attick promptly put the tobacco down and looked at Lumley with a scowl, +but the pale-face chief was smilingly giving some advice to the man, +with whom he was trading. + +He thought that the man would not attempt anything more of a similar +kind, at least at that time, but he was mistaken. He under-estimated +the force of covetousness and the power of temptation in a savage. Soon +afterwards he saw Attick deftly pass a packet of bright beads, belonging +to another comrade, from the counter to his breast, where he let it +remain, grasped in his hand. Immediately afterwards the owner of the +beads missed them. He turned over his goods hastily, but could not find +the packet and looked suspiciously at Salamander, who had been standing +near all the time, besides fingering the things occasionally. + +"A comrade has stolen it," said Lumley, in a quiet voice and without +looking at any one save the robbed man. + +This was received with scowls and strong marks of disapprobation. + +"Not so! The interpreter, the pale-face, has stolen it," returned the +Indian fiercely. + +Instead of replying, Lumley vaulted lightly over the counter, stood +before the astonished Attick, thrust his hand into the bosom of that +savage, and, by main force, dragged forth the thieving fist still closed +over the missing packet. The Indians were too much taken by surprise at +the promptness of the act to speak--they could only glare. + +"My friends," said Lumley, still maintaining, however, something of +kindliness in his look of stern gravity, "the Great Master of Life does +not love thieving, and no thief will be permitted to enter this store." + +What more he would have said I know not for, swift as lightning, Attick +drew his knife and made a plunge at my friend's heart. Expecting a +scuffle, I had also leaped the counter. Lumley caught the wrist of the +savage; at the same time he exclaimed, "Open the door, Max." + +I obeyed, expecting to see the Indian kicked out, but I was wrong, for +my friend, with a sharp twist turned Attick's back to his own breast, +then, seizing him by both elbows, he lifted him off his feet as if he +had been a mere infant, carried him forward a few paces, and set him +gently down outside. Then, stepping back, he shut the door. + +A roar of laughter from those without showed the light in which they +viewed the incident, and the amused looks of some of those in the store +told that at least they did not disapprove of the act. + +Without paying any regard to these things, however, Lumley returned to +his place, and with his usual air of good humour continued to barter +with the red-men. + +Thus the work of trading went on for three days, and, during that time, +there was much fraternising of what I may call our home--Indians with +the newcomers, and a great deal, I regret to say, of gambling. We found +that this evil prevailed to a great extent among them, insomuch that one +or two of them gambled away all that they possessed, and came to us with +very penitent looks, asking for a small quantity of goods on credit to +enable them to face the winter! + +I need scarcely say that our amiable chief complied with these requests, +but only on the solemn promise that the goods so advanced should not be +risked in gambling, and I have reason to believe that these men were +faithful to their promises. This gambling was of the simplest kind, +consisting of the method which is known by the name of "odd or even?" + +In the evenings the chiefs were encouraged to come into our hall and +palaver. They availed themselves of the invitation to come, and +sometimes palavered, but more frequently smoked, with owlish solemnity, +squatting on the floor with their backs against the wall. + +Nevertheless, on these occasions we gained a good deal of information, +and Lumley availed himself of the opportunities sometimes to lecture +them on the sin of gambling. He always, I observed, laid much more +stress on the idea that the Great Master of Life was grieved with His +children when they did evil, than that He visited the sin with +disagreeable consequences. On one of these occasions an elderly chief +surprised us by suddenly putting the question, "Do the pale-faces trade +fire-water?" + +Every pipe was removed from every lip, and the glittering eyes of +expectancy, coupled with the all but total cessation of breathing, told +of the intense interest with which they awaited the answer. + +"No," replied Lumley, "we sell none. We do not love fire-water." + +A deep but quiet sigh followed, and the pipes were resumed in silent +resignation. And, I must add, I felt devoutly thankful that we did +_not_ sell fire-water, when I looked at the strong features and powerful +frames of the red-men around me. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +A CATASTROPHE, A LETTER, AND A SURPRISE. + +Autumn at length gradually drew to a close, and we began to make +preparations for the long winter that lay before us. + +Our saw-mill, having been repaired and improved, had worked so well that +we had cut a considerable quantity of planks, as well for the boats +which we intended to build as for the houses. It was fortunate that +this had been accomplished before the occurrence of an event which put +an effectual stop to that branch of our industries. It happened thus: + +One afternoon the fine weather which we had been enjoying so long gave +place to boisterous winds and deluges of rain, confining us all to the +fort and making us feel slightly miserable. + +"But we mustn't grumble, Max," said Lumley to me, as we looked out of +our small windows. "We must take the evil with the good as it comes, +and be thankful." + +"Please, I wasn't grumbling," said I, sharply. + +"No? I thought you were." + +"No, I was not. It must have been internal grumbling by yourself that +you heard," I retorted, sauntering back to the fire, which by that time +we had begun to light daily. + +"I daresay you're right, Max; it has often struck me as a curious fact +that, when one is cross or grumpy, he is apt to think all the rest of +the world is also cross or grumpy. By the way, that reminds me--though +I don't see why it should remind me, seeing that the two things have no +connection--that Coppet came to me last night saying he had discovered a +slight leak in the dam. We'd better look to it now, as the rain seems +to have moderated a little." + +We went out forthwith, and found Coppet already on the spot, gazing at a +small rill of water which bubbled up from behind a mass of rock that +jutted out from the cliff and formed a support for the beams of our dam. + +"Something wrong there, Coppet," said Lumley, inspecting the place +carefully. + +"Oui, monsieur--it is true." + +"Can you guess where it comes through?" I asked. + +"Vraiment, monsieur, I know not, but surely the dam it is quite strong." + +"Strong!--of course it is, unnecessarily strong," said I, looking up at +its edge, over which the water, rendered muddy by the rains, flowed in a +considerable volume. "What think you, Lumley?" + +I asked my friend's opinion somewhat anxiously, because I observed that +he seemed to examine the place with unusually grave looks. + +"Max," he said at last, "your engineering is defective. It is true that +the beams and stuffs of which the dam is composed could resist all the +weight or force of water that can be brought to bear on them--even an +untrained eye like mine can see that--but you had not observed that this +mass of rock, against which the whole affair rests, has got a crack in +it, so that it is partially, if not altogether, detached from the cliff. +No doubt it is a large heavy mass, but the strain upon it must be very +severe, and its stability depends on its foundations." + +"The foundations seem secure enough," said I, looking down. + +"True, but natural foundations are sometimes deceptive, and that +bubbling spring may be quietly washing these away. We must use a little +art here. Go, Coppet," he added, turning to the carpenter, "fetch all +the men, and your tools, and as many heavy timbers as you can readily +lay hands on. Come, Max, help me to lift this one." + +The decision of Lumley's manner and the energetic way in which he threw +off his coat and set to work, convinced me that he thought danger of +some sort was impending. I therefore followed his example, and set to +with a will. + +We fixed a heavy log in front of the suspected mass of rock, placing its +end against the centre of the mass, and sinking the other end into the +ground--having previously, however, sunk a strong crossbeam into the +ground to bear the pressure of that end. + +"This of itself," said my chief, "will go far to avert evil, but we will +adopt your tactics, Max, and, by giving it superabundance of strength, +make assurance doubly sure." + +In pursuance of this plan, he ordered the men to plant several ponderous +logs in the same position as the first beam, over which other logs were +thrown crosswise, and the whole was weighted with heavy stones. + +During our operations, which occupied us all till evening, the rain +increased tenfold, and at last came down in absolute sheets, flooding +our dam to such an extent that it overflowed nearly all round the brim +in pretty solid cataracts of dirty water, which brought down branches +and leaves and other debris from the higher parts of the stream. + +I was gratified to see, however, that our embankment showed no symptoms +of weakness, and felt assured that the powerful structure we had just +set up was more than sufficient to prevent any rupture in the rock +itself. Comforted by these thoughts, Lumley and I returned to the hall +in a burst of thunder, lightning, and rain--thoroughly saturated, and in +a condition to do ample justice to the sea-biscuit, fried salt-pork, +hung whitefish and tea, which Salamander had prepared for supper. + +Blondin, being a polite, intelligent fellow as well as our foreman, was +privileged to take his meals with us, besides occupying one of our four +rooms. In consequence of this we conversed chiefly in the patois French +of the country, for the worthy man was not deeply learned in English. +Salamander messed with the men in their own house, after preparing and +spreading our meals. + +"What say you to a game of chess?" said Lumley to me, after the +tea-things had been carried away by Blondin. + +"By all means," I replied, going to a corner cupboard, in which we kept +miscellaneous articles, and bringing out the chess-board. + +This board and its men, by the way, merit passing remark, for they were +fashioned by our chief entirely, and very neatly, out of the pith of a +bush, the name of which I forget; and, on the voyage, many an hour that +might otherwise have been tedious we whiled away with this interesting +game. I knew nothing of it when we began, but Lumley taught me the +moves, and I soon picked up enough of the game to enable me to fight a +fairish battle before being beaten. At first Lumley always won, and was +wont to signalise his victory by the expression of a modest hope that +the tables would be turned ere long. That hope--whether genuine or +pretended--was not long of being gratified, for as my mind by degrees +began to grasp the mysteries of chess, I succeeded in winning a game now +and then. + +On this particular night, however, the tables were turned literally, and +in a way that we little expected. + +Blondin, being left to himself, had sought the companionship of his +pipe, and was dozing over the fire, more than half asleep--at least not +more awake than was consistent with the keeping of his pipe between his +lips. Ever and anon he was startled into a more wakeful condition by +the tremendous blasts which frequently shook the house; but these did +not disturb him much, for he had helped to build the house, and knew +that it was strong. + +We were all indeed pretty well tired by our recent exertions, and rather +sleepy, so that the game languished a little. Salamander, having +obtained permission to retire, was in bed in his own corner-room, +entertaining us with a duet through the nose--if I may call that a duet +in which both nostrils played the same air. + +"Check!" said Lumley, rousing himself a little, and placing a knight in +such a position as to endanger my king. + +"Mate!" I exclaimed ruefully. + +"Hallo!" cried Blondin, waking up at the familiar word. + +"No--not that sort of mate," said I, with a laugh, "but the--" + +I stopped abruptly, for at that moment we heard a sound that sent a +thrill to our hearts. It was something between a rend and a crash. We +looked at each other in consternation. + +"The dam's going," exclaimed Lumley. + +Another crash, that there was no misunderstanding, proved that it was +gone. + +We ran towards the back door, but before reaching it, we had an +additional proof that was even more convincing than the last. A rush of +tumultuous water was heard outside. Next moment the back door was burst +inward, and a deluge of water met us. Lumley, who was nearest the door, +was swept off his legs, and came against me with such violence that I +fell over him. Blondin, who was furthest off, tried to stop us, but +also went down, and all three were swept into the lower side of the hall +amid a jumble of tables, chairs, billets of wood, stray garments, and +chessmen. + +The fire had been put out; so had the candle, and we were thus in nearly +pitch darkness, when we heard a yell from Salamander. It was followed +by a great splash, and we dimly perceived something like a half-naked +ghost floundering towards us. + +It was Salamander! + +"Hold on!" shouted Lumley. + +"Dere's noting to hold on to, monsieur," cried the interpreter in +desperation, as he tripped over something and rose again--gasping. + +The rush was over in half a minute, but the great weight of water that +had entered held the front door, which opened inwards, so tight, that +our hall was converted into a water-tank about three feet deep, while a +huge mass of logs and debris outside blocked the opening of the back +door. + +"Stay, don't move till I get a light," cried Lumley, wading to the +corner cupboard, where, on an upper shelf, we kept our candles, with +flint, steel, and tinder. + +While he was striking a light we all stood silent and shivering, but +when a candle was with difficulty lighted, I burst into an irresistible +fit of laughter for the scene we presented was ludicrous in the extreme. +It was not our woe-begone looks which tickled me, so much as the +helpless, drowned-rat-like aspect we had all assumed--all except our +chief, whose tall, strong figure holding a candle over his dishevelled +head looked like the spirit of destruction presiding over a scene of +desolation. + +A rapping at the front door was the first thing that recalled us to the +necessity for action. + +"Is it drownded ye all are, Muster Lumley?" + +It was the voice of Donald Bane. + +"Not quite," cried Lumley, with a laugh and a shiver. "Come in, +Donald." + +"Ay, ay, sur, I would come in if I could, but the door won't open." + +"Shove hard, Donald." + +"I wull, sur. Here, Shames, lend a hand." + +We heard both the Highlanders put their broad backs against the door and +groan in Gaelic as they heaved, but they might as well have tried to +lift the house. They caused the door to crack, however. + +"Wheesht! What's that Shames?" + +"We've splut the toor, Tonald." + +"Never mind; heave again, boys," cried Lumley. + +At that moment poor Salamander, who was groping about with nothing but +his shirt on, stumbled over something, and, in trying to recover +himself, pitched head first against the door with considerable violence. + +This was a climax. The door, although it had withstood the pressure +from without, could not resist this additional pressure within. It +collapsed and burst outwards suddenly. The great mass of water went +forth with the gushing hilarity of a prisoner set free, and, with +something like a roar of triumph, carried Salamander like a chip on its +crest. He was launched into the bosom of the amazed James Dougall, who +incontinently went with the stream, laying hold of and carrying off +Donald Bane as he passed. + +After a few turns over on the lawn, the three men regained their +footing, and made their way back to the house, while the stream, +subsiding almost immediately, left us in peace to make the best of what +James Dougall called a paad chob! + +What had actually occurred was this: the rock that held the main +supports of our dam, being detached from the cliff as Lumley had +surmised, had been undermined by the unusual floods of the previous +week. Even in that condition it might have remained fast, so strong was +our artificial buttress, but as the foundation wore away the rock heeled +over to one side a little; this deranged the direct action of the +buttresses, and in an instant they flew aside. The rock was hurled +over, and the whole of our dam was dashed in dire confusion into the bed +of the stream. It was this choking of the natural channel which sent +the great flood over our lawn, and, as we have seen, created such a +hubbub in the hall. + +Of course all danger was now past. The roaring torrent soon forced its +way into its own bed again, and all we had to do was to repair damages +as well as we could, and make ourselves as comfortable for the night as +circumstances would admit of. + +Fortunately the next day was fine and warm, with brilliant sunshine. +Being Sunday we let everything remain just as it was, for Lumley and I +were of the same mind in regard to the Sabbath-day, and, from the +commencement of our expedition, had as far as possible rested from all +week-day labour on that day. Both of us had been trained to do so from +infancy. + +Well do I remember my dear old father's last advice to me on this +subject. "Punch," said he, "wherever you go, my boy, `remember the +Sabbath-day to keep it holy.' You'll be tempted to do ordinary work, +and to go in for ordinary amusement on that day, but don't do it, my +boy--don't do it. Depend upon it, a blessing always attends the +respecter of the Sabbath." + +"But, father," said I, venturing for the first time in my life to echo +what I had often heard said, "is it true, as some people assert, that +the Sabbath is a Jewish institution, and no longer binding on +Christians? Pardon my venturing to repeat this objection--" + +"Objection!" interrupted my father, "why, dear boy, there's nothing I +like better than to hear fair, honest objections, because then I can +meet them. How can the Sabbath be a Jewish institution when the +commandment begins with `remember'? The day to be remembered was +instituted at Creation, given to man as a blessed day of rest from toil, +and recognised as binding by our Saviour, when He sanctioned works of +necessity and mercy on that day." + +I never forgot my father's advice on this subject, and have experienced +mental, physical, and spiritual benefit as the result. + +Owing to our belief in the Sabbath, then, we invariably, while +travelling, remained in camp on that clay, and found that we not only +did not lose, but actually had gained in speed at the end of each week-- +comparing our rate of progress with that of those who did not rest on +Sundays. And I now recall to mind a certain bishop of the Church of +England who, while travelling in the great Nor'-west between two +well-known stations, made the fastest journey on record, although he +regularly remained in camp on the Sabbath-day. On that day, also, after +our arrival at Lake Wichikagan, and all through the winter, Lumley made +a regular practice of assembling the men and reading a sermon from a +book which he had brought for the purpose. And he did not neglect +instruction of another kind, to which I shall refer as well as to our +winter amusements, in the proper place. + +During all this time our larder had been well supplied by Blondin with +fresh fish from the lake, and by the Indians with haunches of reindeer +and moose, or elk, venison. They also brought us beaver-meat, the tails +of which were considered the best portions. Bear's-meat was offered us, +but we did not relish it much, possibly from prejudice; but we would +have been glad of it, doubtless, if reduced to short allowance. Of +course wild-fowl of all kinds were plentiful, and many of these were +shot by Lumley and myself, as well as by our men. + +Some of the geese we had at first salted, but, the frost having come, we +were by that time able to preserve fish and meat quite fresh for winter +use--so that both net and gun were in constant occupation. + +One day, while Lumley and I were sitting at dinner--which we usually +took about noon--we were agreeably surprised by the appearance of a +strange Indian, and still more agreeably surprised by his entering the +hall and holding out a packet to Lumley. Having delivered it, the man, +who looked wayworn, strode to the fire, sat quietly down and began to +smoke a pipe which I had handed to him ready charged. + +"Why, what's this?" exclaimed Lumley, unwrapping the covering of the +packet, "not a letter, surely!--yes, I declare it is--and from Macnab +too. Come, this _is_ an unlooked-for treat." + +I was quite excited--indeed we both were--for a letter in those regions +was about as rare as snow in July. + +Lumley opened it hastily and read as follows:-- + +"My dear Lumley, you will be surprised to get a letter from me, and +dated, too, from an unknown post. Yes, my boy, like yourself, I have +been transferred from my old home, to this region, which is not more +than two hundred miles from your present residence. The governor sent +me to establish it soon after you left. I have named it the _Mountain +House_, because there's a thing the shape and size of a sugar-loaf +behind it. So, I'll hope to look you up during the winter. Before +going further let me give you a piece of news--I've got my sister out +here to stay with me! Just think of that!" + +At this point Lumley laid down the letter and stared at me. + +"Why, Max, such a thing was never heard of before! If he had got a +wife, now, I could have understood it, but a sister!" + +"Well, whatever she is to him, she's a civilised white woman, and that's +a sight worth seeing in those regions. I wonder what she's like?" said +I. + +"Like himself, of course. Tall, raw-boned, square-shouldered, +red-haired (you know he told us she was red-haired), square-jawed, +Roman-nosed--a Macnab female could be nothing else." + +"Come," said I, "don't be impolite to Highland females, but go on with +the letter." + +Lumley obeyed, but the letter contained little more of interest. We +cared not for that, however. We had now a subject capable of keeping us +in speculative talk for a week--the mere fact that there was actually a +civilised woman--a _lady_ perhaps--at all events a Macnab--within two +hundred miles of us! + +"No doubt she's a rugged specimen of the sex," said Lumley, as we sat +beside the fire that night, "no other kind of white female would venture +to face this wilderness for the sake of a brother; but she _is_ a white +woman, and she _is_ only two hundred miles off--unless our friend is +joking--and she's Macnab's sister--Jessie, if I remember rightly-- + + "`Stalwart young Jessie, + The flower of--'" + +"Come, Lumley, that will do--good-night!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +THE JOYS OF CAMPING OUT--IMPORTANT ADDITIONS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT-- +SERIOUS MATTERS AND WINTER AMUSEMENTS. + +At last winter came upon us in earnest. It had been threatening for a +considerable time. Sharp frosts had occurred during the nights, and +more than once we had on rising found thin ice forming on the lake, +though the motion of the running water had as yet prevented our stream +from freezing; but towards the end of October there came a day which +completely changed the condition and appearance of things. + +Every one knows the peculiar, I may say the exhilarating, sensations +that are experienced when one looks out from one's window and beholds +the landscape covered completely with the first snows of winter. + +Well, those sensations were experienced on the occasion of which I write +in somewhat peculiar circumstances. Lumley and I were out hunting at +the time: we had been successful; and, having wandered far from the +fort, resolved to encamp in the woods, and return home early in the +morning. + +"I do love to bivouac in the forest," I said, as we busied ourselves +spreading brush-wood on the ground, preparing the kettle, plucking our +game, and kindling the fire, "especially at this season of the year, +when the sharp nights render the fire so agreeable." + +"Yes," said Lumley, "and the sharp appetites render food so delightful." + +"To say nothing," I added, "of the sharp wits that render intercourse so +pleasant." + +"Ah, and not to mention," retorted Lumley, "the dull wits, stirred into +unwonted activity, which tone down that intercourse with flashes of +weakly humour. Now then, Max, clap on more wood. Don't spare the +firing--there's plenty of it, so--isn't it grand to see the thick smoke +towering upwards straight and solid like a pillar!" + +"Seldom that one experiences a calm so perfect," said I, glancing upward +at the slowly-rising smoke. "Don't you think it is the proverbial calm +before the storm?" + +"Don't know, Max. I'm not weather-wise. Can't say that I understand +much about calms or storms, proverbial or otherwise, and don't much +care." + +"That's not like your usual philosophical character, Lumley," said +I--"see, the column is still quite perpendicular--" + +"Come, Max," interrupted my friend, "don't get sentimental till after +supper. Go to work, and pluck that bird while I fill the kettle." + +"If anything can drive away sentiment," I replied, taking up one of the +birds which we had shot that day, "the plucking and cleaning of this +will do it." + +"On the contrary, man," returned Lumley, taking up the tin kettle as he +spoke, "true sentiment, if you had it, would induce you to moralise on +that bird as you plucked it--on the romantic commencement of its career +amid the reeds and sedges of the swamps in the great Nor'-west; on the +bold flights of its maturer years over the northern wilderness into +those mysterious regions round the pole, which man, with all his vaunted +power and wisdom, has failed to fathom, and on the sad--I may even say +inglorious--termination of its course in a hunter's pot, to say nothing +of a hunter's stom--" + +"Lumley," said I, interrupting, "do try to hold your tongue, if you can, +and go fill your kettle." + +With a laugh he swung off to a spring that bubbled at the foot of a rock +hard by, and when he returned I had my bird plucked, singed, split open, +and cleaned out. You must understand, reader, that we were not +particular. We were wont to grasp the feathers in large handfuls, and +such as would not come off easily we singed off. + +"You see, Lumley," said I, when he came back, "I don't intend that this +bird shall end his career in the pot. I'll roast him." + +"'Tis well, most noble Max, for I wouldn't let you pot him, even if you +wished to. We have only one kettle, and that must be devoted to tea." + +It was not long before the supper was ready. While it was preparing +Lumley and I sat chatting by the fire, and gazing in a sort of dreamy +delight at the glorious view of land and water which we could see +through an opening among the trees in front of us; for, not only was +there the rich colouring of autumn everywhere--the greens, yellows, +browns, and reds of mosses, grasses, and variegated foliage--but there +was a bright golden glow cast over all by the beams of the setting sun. + +Ere long all this was forgotten as we lay under the starry sky in +profound slumber. + +While we slept, the Creator was preparing that wonderful and beautiful +change to which I have referred. Clouds gradually overspread the sky--I +observed this when, in a half-sleeping state I rose to mend our fire, +but thought nothing of it. I did not, however, observe what followed, +for sleep had overpowered me again the instant I lay down. + +Softly, silently, persistently, and in large flakes, the snow must have +fallen during the entire night, for, when we awoke it lay half a foot +deep upon us, and when we shook ourselves free and looked forth we found +that the whole landscape, far and near, was covered with the same pure +white drapery. The uniformity of the scene was broken by the knolls of +trees and shrubs and belts of forest which showed powerfully against the +white ground, and by the water of the numerous ponds and lakes and +streams which, where calm, reflected the bright blue sky, and, where +rough, sparkled in the rising sun; while every twig and leaf of bush and +tree bore its little fringe or patch of snow, so that we were surrounded +by the most beautiful and complicated forms of lacework conceivable of +Nature's own making. + +"It is glorious to look at," said Lumley, after our first burst of +enthusiasm, "but it will be troublesome to walk through, I fear." + +We did not, however, find it as troublesome as we had expected; for, +although nearly a foot deep, the snow was quite dry, owing to the frost +which had set in, and we could drive it aside with comparative ease when +we started on our journey homeward. + +Arrived at the fort we found our men and the few Indians who had not +left us for their hunting-grounds, busy at the nets, or finishing the +buildings that were yet incomplete. + +We also found that Big Otter had come in, bringing with him his wife, +and his niece Waboose, with her mother. The health of the latter had +broken down, and Big Otter had brought her to the fort in the hope that +the white chief could do something for her. + +"I'll do what I can," said Lumley, on hearing her case stated, "though I +make no pretence to being a medicine-man, but I will do this for you and +her:--I will engage you, if you choose, to help Blondin at his fishery, +and your wife to make moccasins for us. I'll also let you have that +little hut beside our kitchen to live in. You'll find it better and +warmer than a wigwam, and as there are two rooms in it you won't be +overcrowded." + +Big Otter was delighted with this arrangement, and I took him away at +once to show him the hut he was to occupy. + +As this was the first time I had met with the unknown Englishman's +widow, and the mother of Waboose, it was with no little interest and +curiosity that I regarded her. + +She was evidently in very bad health, but I could easily see that when +young she must have been a very handsome woman. Besides being tall and +well-formed, she had a most expressive countenance and a dignified air, +coupled with a look of tender kindness in it, which drew me to her at +once. She seemed in many respects much superior--in manners and +habits--to the other Indian women of the tribe, though still far below +her daughter in that respect, and I could easily perceive that the +latter owed her great superiority and refinement of manner to her +father, though she might well have derived her gentleness from her +mother. + +What the illness was that broke that mother down I cannot tell. It +resembled consumption in some respects, though without the cough, but +she improved in health decidedly at first on getting into her new house, +and set to work with zeal to assist in the making of moccasins and other +garments. Of course Waboose helped her; and, very soon after this +arrival, I began to give her lessons in the English language. + +Lumley quizzed me a good deal about this at first, but afterwards he +became more serious. + +"Now, Max, my boy," he said to me, one evening when we were alone, in +that kindly-serious manner which seemed to come over him whenever he had +occasion to find fault with any one, "it is all very well your giving +lessons in English to that Indian girl, but what I want to know is, what +do you expect to be the upshot of it?" + +"Marriage," said I with prompt decision, "if--if she will have me," I +added with a more modest air. + +My friend did not laugh or banter me, as I had expected, but in an +earnest tone said:-- + +"But think, Max, you are only just entering on manhood; you can't be +said to know your own mind yet. Suppose, now, that you were to express +an intention to marry Waboose, the Hudson's Bay Company might object +till you had at least finished your apprenticeship." + +"But I would not think of it before that," said I. + +"And then," continued Lumley, not noticing the interruption, "if you do +marry her you can never more return to the civilised world, for she is +utterly ignorant of its ways, and would feel so ill at ease there, and +look so much out of place, that you would be obliged to take to the +woods again, and live and die there--and--what would your father say to +that?" + +I confess that this reference to my dear father shook me. + +"But, Lumley," said I, "she is _not_ a mere Indian girl, and would _not_ +look out of place anywhere. Her father was obviously a gentleman, and +has tried, with much success I find, to cultivate a naturally gentle and +delicate mind and disposition in his child. Surely, very little is +required to make a lady of her--I mean in the sense that society +understands by that term--and even if that were not possible, is mere +polish to be weighed in the balance against gentleness, sweetness, +unselfishness, tenderness, truthfulness, modesty, loving-kindness--to +say nothing of beauty--" + +A hearty laugh interrupted me here. + +"Oh! Max, I admit that polish must go down before such a splendid array +of virtues. But," added my friend, becoming grave again, "is Waboose a +Christian?" + +"Yes," I replied, stoutly, "a far, far better Christian than I am, for I +find that her father has taught her the truths of the Bible--and you-- +you see that _fruit_ in her which I fear you don't see much of in me." + +"Well, we have not had much time to see the fruit yet, but now I must +speak to you as your chief. You say you have no thought of marriage +till your apprenticeship is up. That is a good while yet. You may +change your mind." + +"Never!" said I, with emphasis. + +"Well, I respect your honourable feelings, my boy, but it is just +possible that even if she were willing (which has yet to be proved) she +may change _her_ mind, therefore you must promise me faithfully that in +all this teaching of English there shall be no lovemaking. You are +bound _in honour_, Max, to avoid trying to win her affections, or in any +way to influence her till--till time, a considerable time--shall have +passed." + +"I promise you, Lumley, with all my heart. I think it is ennobling to a +man to love a girl because of her pure and sterling qualities +irrespective of her looks, and I would count it foul disgrace to do +anything to win her unless I saw my way quite clearly to wed her." + +"Which you do not at present, Max?" + +"Which I do not at present, Lumley, so I will continue the lessons with +the air and manner of a heartless pedagogue!" + +This having been arranged between us, the subject was dropped, and not +again referred to for many months. + +Meanwhile winter advanced with rapid strides. One night an intense +frost set in and covered the entire lake, as far at least as we could +see, with a sheet of pure ice. It had set fast in a profound calm, and +the surface was so smooth that every tree and bush on the outlying +islets was reflected as if in water. Indeed, it could scarcely be told +that the ice was not water except by going on it. + +Being a somewhat expert skater, and having brought my skates with me, I +put them on, resolved to enjoy a few hours of what used to be a +favourite amusement when I was a boy. Lumley could not skate, to my +regret; besides, he had no skates, and none of the men had ever learned +the art, so that I was forced to skate alone. And at this time I +learned a lesson about solitary amusement which I never afterwards +forgot. + +"Max," said Lumley, as I went down to the lake, skates in hand, "while +you're off amusing yourself I'll go finish the track on the hillside-- +that will afford amusement enough for me and the men. I'll give them a +holiday, as it is such a splendid day." + +"That's a new kind of holiday," said I with a laugh, as I fixed on my +skates, "to set them to the finishing of a track!" + +The track referred to was a straight wide cutting up the face of the +hill at the side of the fort. Lumley had ordered the men to clear it of +trees and shrubs, from the hill-top--which extended far behind as well +as high above the fort--down to the edge of the lake. It had remained +in this unfinished state for some time, and now, being covered with +snow, formed a long white-floored avenue to the hill-top. + +"I'm sorry you can't join me," said I, making a few circles before +starting. "It feels _so_ selfish to go off alone." + +"Never mind, old boy, off you go, and see that you don't get upon weak +ice." + +Lumley waved his hand as he spoke, and I shot swiftly away over the +glassy lake. + +Oh! it was a glorious burst, that first dash over an apparently +illimitable sheet of water, for, although small for an American lake, +the opposite shore of Wichikagan was so far-off as to appear dim and +low, while, in one direction, the sky and water met at the horizon, so +that I enjoyed the romantic feeling of, as it were, skating out to sea! +The strength of youth thrilled in every nerve and muscle; the vigour of +health and life coursed in every vein. I felt, just then, as if +exhaustion were impossible. The ice was so smooth that there was no +sensation of roughness under foot to tell of a solid support. The swift +gliding motion was more like the skimming of the swallow than the +skating of a man. The smallest impulse sent me shooting ahead with an +ease that almost surprised me. In sensation, as well as in appearance, +I was rushing over a surface of water in which the sun was reflected +with a brilliancy that quite dazzled me. I became almost wild with +delight. Indeed I grew reckless, and gave a sort of leap--with what +intent I know not--which caused the back of my head to smite the ice and +my body to proceed fifty yards or more on its back, with the legs in the +air and a starry constellation corruscating in the brain! + +Considerably sobered by this, I arose and cut the figure of eight +thoughtfully for five minutes. After this I resumed my rapid pace, +which I kept up until the necessity of pausing to recover breath +impressed me. Making a wide circle outwards with my left leg in the air +and my right hand pointed to the sky in the most approved manner, I +gradually caused the circle to diminish until I came to a stand. + +Looking back, I saw Fort Wichikagan like a mere speck on the horizon. +In the opposite direction the lake still presented a limitless horizon. +On either side the distant shores marked, but could hardly be said to +bound, the view, while, closer at hand, the islets were reflected in the +ice as clearly as if it had been water. I felt as if standing on a +liquid ocean. Once more a bounding sense of joyous freedom and strength +filled me. The starry corruscations had vanished. The bump on the back +of my head had ceased to grieve me. Away I went again like--but words +fail me. Imagery and description avail nothing when the indescribable +is reached! + +After an hour of this enjoyment I took to circling, and, in the +exuberance of my feelings, attempted some quite new and complex +performances, which resulted in a few more corruscations and bumps. But +these were trifles. I heeded them not. + +At last, however, I stood still and became thoughtful. We must all +become thoughtful sooner or later. A sense of loneliness began to +oppress me, and I longed for companionship in my joy. Knowing that this +was a useless longing, I cast it aside and resumed my evolutions, +rushes, bumps, and corruscations. But it would not do. The longing +returned with redoubled violence. After another hour I turned to skate +homeward, very much toned down in spirits, and deeply convinced of the +truth--in more senses than one--of the words, "It is not good that man +should be alone." + +Before leaving this subject I may add that I tried skating again the +next day, but again grew weary of it in less than an hour for want of +companionship; that I made up my mind, in disgust to try no more; and +that, on the day following, sympathetic Nature aided me in my resolve by +covering the entire lake with eighteen inches of snow--thus rendering my +once favourite exercise impossible. + +But, to return. When I drew near to the fort, I observed that several +black specks were gliding with lightning speed down the white track on +the hillside which Lumley had undertaken to finish. These specks, after +descending the steep hill, slid over the level shore and shot far out +upon the lake, where some of them seemed to roll over and over. +Wondering what this could be, I put on a spurt. Suddenly the truth +dawned upon me. My friend Lumley had cleared the slope for the purpose +of sledging down it! + +"Max," he had remarked to me, long before, when talking about our men +and our plans, "`All work and no play,' you know, `makes Jack a dull +boy;' so I'll get up some kind of winter amusement for the lads which +will keep them in health and spirits." + +Need I say that my recent cogitations and experience led me to join this +riotous crew with redoubled ardour? Taking off my skates hurriedly and +climbing up the hill, I leaped on the tail of Big Otter's toboggan, +without invitation, just as he was starting at the top of the snow-slope +to follow Lumley. I gave the sled such an impetus that we overtook our +chief, and upset him just as he reached the lake, causing him to collide +with Donald Bane and James Dougall, who, seated on the same toboggan, +were anxiously striving to keep their balance. The result was, that we +all resolved ourselves into a conglomerate of toboggans and men, which +went shooting and struggling over the smooth lake for fifty yards or +upwards at the rate of twelve miles an hour, if not more. This, of +course, afforded unutterable delight to the rest of our men, and to +Waboose and her mother; as well as to several Indians, who had just +arrived. Among these last were Attick and Maqua with his son Mozwa. + +It was rough but health-giving, as well as enjoyable, work, and sent us +to our respective beds that night in a condition of readiness to fall +promptly into a state of absolute oblivion. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +DESCRIBES A TREMENDOUS VISITATION--A FEAST--A SURPRISE--AND AN ATTEMPT +AT MURDER. + +I must beg the reader now to leap with me into the middle of winter. + +It is New Year's Day. That festive season of the year is not less +marked and honoured in the Great Nor'-west than it is in civilised +lands, though there are comparatively few to honour it, and their +resources are somewhat meagre. These facts do not however, diminish the +hearty zeal of the few--perchance they tend rather to increase it. + +Be that as it may, I now convey the reader to an ice-bound forest. Deep +snow has buried the frozen ground. Masses of snow weigh down the +branches of the leafless trees; and evergreens, which are not leafless, +are literally overwhelmed, almost obliterated, by the universal +covering. But the scene is by no means dismal. A blue sky overhead and +a bright sun and calm frosty air render it pre-eminently cheerful. The +ground is undulating, and among these undulations you may see two men +and a couple of sledges slowly making their way along. + +The sledge in rear is the ordinary provision-sled used by winter +travellers in that land; it is hauled by an Indian. The one in front is +styled a cariole. It resembles a slipper-bath in form, is covered with +yellow parchment, gaily painted, and drawn by four fine wolf-like dogs. +The rider in that cariole is so whelmed in furs as to be absolutely +invisible. The man who beats the track has a straight, stalwart frame, +and from what of his countenance is left exposed by his fur cap and +whiskers, one may judge that he is a white man. + +Slowly and silently they plod along through the deep snow--the +sleigh-bells on the dog's harness tinkling pleasantly. Ere long they +come out upon a lake, where, the snow being beaten pretty hard, they +proceed rapidly--the dogs trotting, and the leader, having changed to +the rear, holding on to the cariole-line to restrain them. + +Towards the afternoon the travellers draw towards the end of the lake, +and then a spirit of mischief seems to enter into the wolf-like dogs, +for, on turning round a point which reveals a wide reach of hard snow +stretching away towards a distant group of buildings more than half +buried in drift, they make a sudden bound, overturn the stalwart white +man, jerk the tail-line from his grasp, and career away joyously over +the ice, causing their bells to send up an exceeding merry and melodious +peal. + +From certain incomprehensible growls that escape the stalwart white man +as he picks himself up, it might be conjectured that he had taken to the +Chipewyan tongue; perhaps a Scotsman might have been led by them to +recall the regions that lie north of the Grampians. + +Lumley and I were sitting in the hall of Fort Wichikagan, awaiting the +advent of dinner, when the sound of the sleigh-bells just referred to +broke upon our ears. We bounded from our seats as if galvanised, seized +our caps and rushed out. + +"A cariole!" shouted Lumley. + +"Run away!" said I. + +As I spoke, the figure of a man was seen rushing round the point in +pursuit. + +"Macnab!" cried Lumley, with blazing eyes, "I'd know his figure at +twenty miles off. I say, Max, the runaway cariole must certainly +contain the sister--the carroty-haired Jessie! Hurrah! We must stop +it, my boy, else the dogs will run slap into the fort, and dash the fair +six-footer against one o' the houses. Look out, man!" + +But Lumley was wrong. Either the dogs had run as much as they desired, +or the decided manner in which we faced them caused them to swerve +aside, and stop when they came close to us. The swerve had the effect +of overturning the cariole gently, and emptying its contents at our +feet, and out from the mass of wraps and furs there arose--not a +red-headed six-footer, but a young and sprightly girl, with clear dark +complexion, a neat, rounded little figure, and a pair of magnificent +black eyes, which, at the moment, were opened to their utmost with an +expression of intense amazement. + +Lumley gazed at this apparition open-mouthed, with a look of blank +surprise. I believe that my own visage must also have worn some +remarkable expression, for suddenly the girl's gorgeous eyes half +closed, and she burst into a hearty fit of laughter. + +"Well, this _is_ a surprise!" exclaimed Lumley, on recovering some of +his usual self-possession. + +"So it would seem," replied the apparition, still laughing, "for it has +robbed you of common politeness. Why don't you introduce yourself and +welcome me? No doubt you are my brother's friend, Mr Lumley!" + +She drew a very small white hand from a very large leather mitten, and +held it out. + +"Forgive me, Miss Macnab--for of course you can be no other," said +Lumley, advancing promptly and grasping the hand, "but your--your-- +sudden, and I may almost say magical, appearance has so taken me by +surprise, that--that--" + +"Yes, yes, I understand, Mr Lumley--that you find it difficult to +recover yourself,--why, your friend Mr Maxby has not yet recovered," +said the fair Jessie, turning and holding out her hand to me. + +She was right. I had not recovered, but stood there open-mouthed and +eyed, bereft of speech, until the necessity for action was thrust upon +me. My apologies were, however, cut short by the coming up of her +brother, who, while yet a long way off, began to shout in his stentorian +tones:-- + +"Hallo! Lumley, my boy, how are ye? Here we are at last. A happy New +Year, Max. Glad to see you once more--all alive and hearty? Eh? More +than I expected to find _you_, Jess, after such a run with these +rascally dogs--absolute wolves! But it might have been worse. Give us +a shake o' your fists, my boys, on this happy New Year's Day." + +By this time our hearty friend was beside us, shaking us both vigorously +by the hands, wishing us all manner of good luck, and compliments of the +season, and otherwise letting off the steam of his exuberant feelings. + +"You've introduced yourselves, I see," he continued; "come, Lumley, give +your arm to Jessie, and show us the way to the fort." + +"If Miss Macnab," began Lumley, advancing, but his speech was here cut +short. + +"Miss Macnab!" echoed the explosive Peter in a sarcastic shout, "call +her Jessie, man! who ever heard of a `_Miss_ Macnab' in the backwoods? +When men take to living in the wilderness, it's time to cast off all the +humbuggin' politenesses o' civilised life." + +"Pardon me, Macnab," returned my friend, with more than his usual +urbanity, "I differ from you there." + +"Oh, ay, I daresay ye do," interrupted the other. "It's been said of +Scotsmen that `they can aye objec',' and I think it's equally true of +Englishmen that they can always differ!" + +"Men who live in the wilderness," continued Lumley, merely answering the +interruption with a smile, "ought to be unusually particular about +keeping up all the politenesses of civilised life, instead of dropping +them, and ought to be inexpressibly thankful when a soft and civilising +influence, like Miss Macnab, condescends to visit them with a ray of +sunshine from the old country." + +"Bravo, Lumley," cried Macnab, with a boisterous laugh, "that speech was +worthy of an Irishman! Call her what you like, my good fellow, so long +as you never call her too late for meals; but come along now and let's +have something to eat, for I'm famishing." + +By this time the Indian with the sled had joined us, so we all went off +to the fort in a state of boisterous joy, of which those unfortunates +who have never been banished from their fellows for months--or for +years--can form no conception. As dinner was opportunely smoking on the +table when we entered the hall, our visitor's hilarity was, if possible, +increased. Moreover, we had company that New Year's Day, for a knife +and fork had been laid in the hall for every man at the fort. You see, +Lumley was a strict disciplinarian, and, therefore, could afford at +special times to relax without loss of dignity and with a great increase +of good-will on the part of all under him. At all other times we and +the men--excepting our guide--messed apart; but on Christmas and New +Year's Days all distinctions were laid aside, discipline was relaxed, +and we acted on the principle of that brotherhood which is based upon +the assumption that all men have the same objects in life and the same +hopes after death. That morning we had all played football on the ice +together, had slidden and tumbled down the snow-slope together, and now +we were about to mess together in the hall. Still further, our company +was to be increased, and our festive board to be graced, by the presence +of Waboose and her mother. Little had we imagined, when all this was +planned, that we were to have the addition of our old friend Macnab, and +that glorious beam from the sun of civilisation, his sister Jessie! + +I will, however, make but brief reference to this festive occasion, and +proceed to tell of an event which created an unexpected sensation in our +little community, and might have closed our New Year's Day amusements +with a terrible tragedy. + +After dinner we circled round the blazing fire and enjoyed ourselves +listening to Macnab, who had a happy facility in giving a graphic +account of his sledge journey from the Mountain Fort--his recently built +trading-post--to Fort Wichikagan, and I observed particularly that the +presence of a lady among us had a most wonderful and irresistible +influence in softening the tones and the manners of all. + +As the evening advanced tea was introduced--we had nothing stronger, and +did not, indeed, feel any desire for fire-water. Under the inspiriting +influence of this beverage, several of our men were induced to tell +stories, which were more or less humorous. + +During the meal--at which Lumley insisted that "Miss Macnab" should +preside, to the immense disgust of Salamander--I observed that the +dark-haired white girl and the fair-haired Indian, drew very closely +together. It appeared to me that they had fallen in love with each +other at first sight, a fact which afforded me lively satisfaction, +though I had no very clear perception as to why it should do so. + +Songs naturally followed the cheering cup, and at this point Lumley +became unusually bold. + +"I wonder," he said, with a peculiar air of modesty which somewhat +puzzled me, "if I may venture to ask Miss Macnab for a song." + +"Ha! ha!" shouted her brother, before she could reply, "you _may_ +venture to ask, my boy, but you'll find it difficult to draw a song out +of Jessie. Why, she never could sing a note!" + +"I've a good mind to sing now, Peter," said the girl with a laugh, "just +to prove that you are a false man." + +"No, no, Jessie, spare me," returned the Highlander, "but get out your +accordion, and--" + +"Accordion!" almost shouted Lumley, "do you play the accordion? Have +you really got one here?" + +It is but right to say, in justification of Lumley's enthusiasm, that +music of any kind was so seldom heard in those wilds, that the mere +prospect of hearing good music excited us, for of course our natural +thought was that a girl like Jessie Macnab could not perform anything +but good music. + +As she rose to go for the instrument to Salamander's room--which had +been made over to her--a growling Gaelic exclamation made me aware of +the fact that the faces of Donald Bane and James Dougall were beaming +with hope, mingled with admiration of their countrywoman. She had +naturally paid these men a good deal of attention, and, in addition to +her other good qualities, spoke their native tongue fluently. As +Dougall afterwards said, "She hes the Gaelic!" + +On returning to the hall with the once familiar and well-remembered +instrument, I believe every man there felt a tendency to worship her. +But who shall describe the effect produced when she began to play, with +the utmost facility and with deep feeling, one of the most beautiful of +the plaintive Scottish melodies? Bane and Dougall shaded their rugged +faces with their rugged hands to hide the tears that could not be +restrained. Lumley, whose mind, although untouched by associations, was +peculiarly susceptible to sweet sounds, sat entranced. So did Big +Otter, who could only glare; because instrument, tune, and performer, +were alike new and magical to him. Even Salamander forgot his jealousy +and almost collapsed with wonder. As for Dumont, Coppet, and the +others--they clasped their hands, opened their eyes and mouths, and +simply drank it in. + +There was no applause when the air ceased, but a deep sigh from every +one seemed to be the indication of a return to ordinary consciousness. +Waboose and her mother did not sigh, however. They sat still and gazed +in silent wonder. Jessie Macnab, with a slight blush at the unexpected +effect, ran her fingers lightly over the keys of her instrument, and +then suddenly began to play a Highland reel with tremendous vigour! + +If an electric shock had traversed the marrow or our backbones, the +result could not have been more surprising. + +"Wow! Tougall, man!" exclaimed Bane, starting up and flinging away his +chair. + +Dougall said nothing, but he uttered a Celtic yell suggestive of war and +all its horrors to Big Otter, and, starting up, began the Highland fling +opposite to his friend in the most violent manner. As I was not a bad +dancer of Scots' reels myself, and the music had caused me also to boil +over, I started up likewise and faced Macnab, who, being equally +affected, stood up to me in a moment, and away we went, hammer and +tongs, with stamp and whoop and snap of finger--oh! the scene is +indescribable. Indeed, I may say that to an ordinary civilised man who +never saw it, the scene is inconceivable, so--we will pass on. + +While these stirring events were taking place inside the hall, a +black-faced, red-painted savage was flattening his ugly nose against a +pane of glass outside one of the windows. It was Attick, whom our chief +had convicted of stealing about the time of our arrival. That +unpleasant savage had never forgiven Lumley, and, being exceedingly +vindictive, had resolved to murder him! With this end in view, he had +been prowling about the place for several days, having arrived with a +band of his tribe who had assembled at Christmas-time to enjoy some of +the good cheer which they understood to be going at that season among +the pale-faces. + +On New Year's night unknown to his comrades--for it was his intention to +do the deed secretly, and leave the imputation upon all--he watched his +opportunity, and thought he had found it when, after the dance was over +and the guests had retired, he saw Lumley seated by the fire in +conversation with the newly-arrived pale-face girl. Macnab and I had +gone with the men to their house for some purpose--I forget what--so +that the two were left alone. + +Attick might easily have opened the door and shot his victim, but the +report, he knew, would have roused every one; besides, his absence at +the moment and his dirty gun would have betrayed him to his comrades; +so, being a strong man, he preferred the scalping-knife, with the use of +which he was of course familiar. + +Now, it chanced that there hung a small looking-glass over the hall +fireplace. In that glass Lumley could see not only himself, but the +door and windows of the room behind him, as he sat chatting with Jessie +Macnab. Happening to glance into the glass, he observed the flattened +nose of Attick on the window-pane with the glaring eyes above it. A +_tete-a-tete_ with the fair Jessie was too pleasant, however, to be +interrupted by such a trifle; he therefore continued the conversation, +though he kept a sharp look-out behind him. Presently he saw the door +open--open so gently that it gave forth no sound. Immediately after, a +blackened and savage head appeared with a diabolical expression on the +countenance. It was followed slowly by a hand in which a gleaming knife +was clutched. Lumley now fully understood what was meditated, for he +recognised Attick through his war-paint. He did not move, however, for +he felt that if he sprang up too soon the savage could easily leap back +through the doorway and escape into the dark woods. He therefore laid +strong constraint on himself and waited. + +Miss Macnab's back was turned to the savage, but not having the +advantage of the glass, she could not see him, and continued her +pleasant prattle. Like a dark, noiseless shadow, the Indian advanced, +and raised his knife. + +"Then you like this wilderness life?" asked Jessie, at that moment. + +"Yes, I confess, Miss Macnab, that it has its charms as well as its +disagreeables--the utter want of society being the worst of the latter." + +"I should have thought," said the girl, looking up, "that you--but-- +but--why do you gaze and frown so fiercely at that--" + +She was promptly answered, for Lumley sprang up at the moment with +panther-like agility, wheeled round, seized the uplifted arm, and, with +a wrench so violent as to break it, he hurled the savage to the ground. + +Jessie Macnab sprang up in consternation, but did not give way to that +supposed female-in-alarm necessity--a scream. At the same moment Macnab +and I entered. + +"Hallo! Lumley. What's all this?" cried Macnab. "Nobody hurt, I +hope?" + +"I fear the Indian is hurt somewhat," said our chief, looking down at +his enemy, who lay stunned upon the floor. "Go, Max, assemble our men +and fetch all the Indians." + +In a few minutes all were assembled in the hall, when Lumley, in a low, +stern voice, related what had occurred, appealing to Jessie to +corroborate what he said. + +"Now," he added in conclusion, turning to the Indians, "I have no +quarrel with you. There lies your comrade. He has forfeited his life +to me, but I forgive him. Take him away." + +Lumley said no more, as, in solemn surprise and silence, the Indians +lifted up their comrade and bore him out of the hall; but he took good +care to make no reference whatever to the looking-glass, and I verily +believe that to this day it is believed by the red-men of that region +that Lumley has eyes in the back of his head. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +THE MYSTERIOUS PACKET--FRIENDS DEPART, AND LUMLEY IS CAUGHT SINGING. + +The uncertainty of all sublunary things is a truism so trite that I do +not mean to insult the reader's understanding by attempting to prove it. +I merely refer to it in order to say that the great Nor'-west is not +exempt from that general rule of uncertainty. + +At first peace and prosperity attended us, at least in all the main +lines of life, with only trivial variations, and we felt disposed to +believe that the sunshine would continue to gladden us throughout the +whole winter. But such was not to be the case. Soon after the events +narrated in the last chapter, clouds began to gather, the peaceful flow +of our life was interrupted, and at last a storm burst which filled the +inhabitants of our little fort with consternation. + +After the attempted murder by Attick on New Year's Day, the Indians left +the fort, taking their wounded friend along with them. No doubt they +felt that it would be scarcely reasonable in them to expect to be +entertained with the good things of the pale-faces after the dastardly +attempt that had been made on our chief's life. But Attick, who had +been wounded more deeply in his feelings than in his body, resolved to +be revenged. He was the more urged to this because his savage +affections had been fixed on, and no doubt he had been sharp enough to +perceive my own regard for the girl, and was jealous enough to believe +that I would take advantage of my position and of her residence at the +fort to supplant him. + +Bad men invariably find like-minded spirits ready to help them in their +dark designs. Among the redskins of his tribe Attick found no +difficulty in securing the allegiance of one or two men, who were in the +habit of looking up to him as their leader, and it was not very long +before he found his opportunity--as shall soon be told. When the +Macnabs had spent three weeks with us, they set off on the return +journey to the Mountain Fort, taking Waboose along with them--for Jessie +Macnab had taken so strong a fancy to the fair-haired half-caste that +she had prevailed on her to agree to visit the Mountain Fort in company +with her mother, from whom she refused to be separated even for a few +days. + +Before their departure, however, I had a conversation with Waboose, in +which I reminded her of the packet about which she had spoken to me on a +memorable occasion in the woods. I may remark here in passing that I +had conscientiously held to my promise to Lumley, and had carefully +abstained from making the slightest effort to gain the girl's +affections, or to show her the state of my own feelings. Indeed, I had +rather avoided her as much as possible without appearing rude or unkind. +Of course I could not however, help showing my pity for, and sympathy +with, her poor invalid mother, and as I was the only one in our little +community who possessed the smallest knowledge of medicine or surgery I +was forced to visit their hut daily in the capacity of doctor. + +"Waboose," said I, during the conversation above referred to, "you need +not be anxious about your mother. I feel assured that her complaint is +of such a nature that her general health will be benefited by a trip +over the snow--provided she is kept warm and does not travel too far +each day. Of course there is no fear of that, with you and Miss Macnab +to look after her, and I have given careful directions to Mr Macnab how +to treat her." + +"You are very kind," replied the girl with much earnestness of tone and +manner. + +"And now, Waboose," I continued, "you remember saying long ago you would +show me the packet that--" + +"Yes, it is here," she said, quickly, taking it out of the folds of a +light shawl which covered her shoulders--the gift of Jessie--and handing +it to me. + +"Thank you. Well, I will examine it carefully this afternoon and give +it back to you to-morrow before you start." + +"No, keep it. I can trust you," she said, with a simple look that +somehow depressed me, for it was almost too simple and sisterly to my +mind. "Besides," she added, "it is safer in your hands than mine, and +when I come again you will explain to me what it contains." + +Next day the party left us. It consisted of Macnab, who, with his +wonted energy of nature, was leader and beater of the track; the +sprightly Jessie in a cariole drawn by four dogs; Waboose's mother in a +similar cariole, and the fair Waboose herself, on snow-shoes, for she +preferred the mode of travelling to which she had been most accustomed. +Two Indians dragging provision-sleds brought up the rear. + +It had been arranged that I should convoy the party to their first +bivouac in the snow, spend the night with them, and continue to journey +with them the second day as far as was consistent with the possibility +of returning to the fort that night. Jack Lumley accompanied us at +first, but another small party of Indians had come in to stay at the +fort at that time, and although he had, I am certain, a very strong +desire to go further, with his usual self-sacrificing spirit when duty +pointed another way, he turned and left us at the end of a few miles. + +I spent the night in the snow-bivouac as arranged, and continued to +journey onward with the party next day, until Macnab refused to let me +go another step. + +"Now, Max," he said, laughingly, "you must turn here. Why, man, it will +be midnight before you get in, good walker though you be. Come, +good-bye." + +"Well, well, I suppose it's better to turn since you seem tired of my +company," said I, turning to Jessie, who stood up in her sleigh to shake +hands. "Good-bye, Miss Macnab." + +"Jessie, man, Jessie--none of your Miss Macnabs here, else I'll tumble +you into the snow by way of farewell," shouted the irrepressible +Highlander. + +"Very well, good-bye, Jessie," said I, with a laugh, though my heart was +heavy enough. "Good-bye, Waboose--farewell all." + +With a wave of his hand Macnab tramped on ahead, the sleigh-bells rang +out merrily and the rest of the party followed. + +After they had gone a few yards Waboose turned and waved her hand again. +As I looked on her fair face, glowing with health and exercise, her +upright, graceful figure in its picturesque costume and her modest mien, +I felt that two beams of light had shot from her bright blue eyes and +pierced my heart right through and through. It was a double shot--both +barrels, if I may say so--well aimed at the centre of the bull's-eye! + +Next moment she was gone--the whole party having dipped over the brow of +a snow-drift. + +"An Indian! a half-caste!" I exclaimed in a burst of contempt, going +off over the plain at five miles an hour, "nothing of the sort. A +lady--one of Nature's ladies--born and br---no, not bred; no need for +breeding where genuine purity, gentleness, tenderness, simplicity, +modesty--" + +I stuck at this point partly for want of words and partly because my +snow-shoes, catching on a twig, sent my feet into the air and stuck my +head and shoulders deep into a drift of snow. Though my words were +stopped, however, the gush of my enthusiasm flowed steadily on. + +"And what can be more worthy of man's admiration and respectful +affection?" I argued, as I recovered my perpendicular, coughed the snow +out of my mouth and nose, and rubbed it out of my eyes; "what more +worthy of true-hearted devotion than this--this--creature of--of light; +this noble child of nature--this _Queen of the Wilderness_?" + +I repeated "This Queen of the Wilderness" for a considerable time +afterwards. It seemed to me a happy expression, and I dwelt upon it +with much satisfaction as I sped along, sending the fine snow in clouds +of white dust from my snow-shoes, and striding over the ground at such a +pace that I reached Fort Wichikagan considerably before midnight in +spite of Macnab's prophecy. + +I am not naturally prone thus to lay bare the secret workings of my +spirit. You will, therefore, I trust, good reader, regard the +revelation of these things as a special mark of confidence. + +On reaching the fort I observed that a bright light streamed from the +hall windows, casting a ruddy glow on the snow-heaps which had been +shovelled up on each side of the footpath in front, and giving, if +possible, a paler and more ghostly aspect to the surrounding scenery. + +I went to one of the windows and, imitating Attick, flattened my nose +against a pane. A pain was the immediate result, for, the glass being +intensely cold, I was obliged to draw back promptly. + +Lumley was seated alone at one side of the fire, in the familiar +attitude of a man who meditates profoundly--or sleepily; namely, with +his legs stretched straight out in front of him, his hands deep in his +trousers-pockets, and his chin sunk on his breast, while his eyes stared +fixedly at the flames. + +I was about to quit my post of observation when a sudden action of my +friend arrested me. + +Drawing up his legs, grasping his knees with his hands, turning his eyes +to the ceiling with that gaze which implies that planks and roof count +for nothing in the way of intercepting the flight of Mind to the realms +of Inspiration, Lumley opened his handsome mouth and broke forth into +song. He had a magnificently harsh voice. I could distinguish both air +and words through the double windows. The song was that which I have +already quoted elsewhere--"Lovely young Jessie, the flower of Dunblane." +The deep pathos of his tone was thrilling! It flashed a new thought +into my brain. Then I became amazed at my own blind stupidity. I now +understood the meaning of that restless activity which had struck me +recently as being so uncharacteristic of my sedate friend; that anxiety +to have all our food well cooked and nicely served, in one who +habitually took food just as it came, and cared nothing for quality or +appearance; that unusual effort to keep our hall neat and in order; +those sharp reproofs to the astonished Salamander for failure in +punctuality at meal-hours; that very slight indication of a more +frequent use of the brush and comb, in one whose crisp curls required +little aid from such implements. + +Under the excitement of my discovery I burst into the room with, "Oh! +Lumley, you deceiver!" cutting him short in the very middle of those +repeated "lovely young Jessies" which constitute the very pith and +marrow of the song. + +"Why, Max! back already?" cried my friend, starting up with a +slightly-confused look, which confirmed my suspicion, and rattling on at +a pace which was plainly meant to carry me past the subject. "How you +must have walked, to be sure, unless, indeed, you convoyed them only a +short part of the way; but that could not have been the case. It would +have been so unlike your gallant nature, Max--eh? Well, and how did +they get on? Snow not too soft, I hope? Encampment comfortable? But +no fear of that of course, with Peter Macnab as leader. No capsizes?" + +"None," said I, seizing advantage of a slight pause; "everything went as +well as possible, and the carioles went admirably--especially Jessie's." + +I looked at him pointedly as I said this, but he coolly stooped to lift +a billet and put it on the fire as he rattled on again. + +"Yes? That's just what I hoped for, though I could not be quite sure of +it for she has the old one which I had patched up as well as possible. +You see, as Macnab said--and of course I agreed with him--it was only +fair that the invalid should have the strongest and easiest-going +conveyance. By the way, Max, I've heard some news. Do you know that +that scoundrel Attick is stirring up the tribes against us?" + +"No--is he?" said I, quite forgetting the fair Jessie, at this piece of +information. + +"Yes, and the rascal, I fear, may do us irreparable damage before we can +tame him, for he has considerable influence with the young and fiery +spirits among the savages--so Big Otter says. Fortunately his power +lies only in the tongue, at present, for it seems I broke his arm the +night he tried to murder me; but that will mend in time." + +"Very unfortunate," said I, "that this should happen at the beginning of +our career in this region. We must thwart his plans if we can." + +"Moreover," continued Lumley, with a sly look, "I am told that he has +the presumption to aspire to the hand of Waboose!" + +"Indeed!" I exclaimed, as a flame of indignation seemed to shoot +through my whole frame; "we must thwart his plans in _that_ direction +emphatically." + +"Of course, of course," said my friend, gravely; "it would never do to +let such a sweet girl throw herself away on a savage; besides, she's +such a favourite with Jessie Macnab, you know. It would never do-- +never." + +I looked at him quickly, but he was gazing abstractedly at the fire. I +felt that I was no match for my friend at badinage, and gave it up! + +"But what do you think he could do!" I asked with some anxiety, after a +few minutes' thought. "You know that Waboose would as soon think of +marrying that bloodthirsty savage as she would think of marrying a--a--" + +"A pine-tree or a grizzly bear. Yes, I know," interrupted Lumley, "he +will never get her with her own consent; but you know that savages have +a knack of marrying women without their consent and then there is the +possibility of his attempting to carry her off--and various other +possibilities." + +I saw that my friend was jestingly attempting to test my feelings, but I +made no reply at first, though I felt strongly on the subject. + +"Well, Lumley," said I, at length, "your first suggestion I meet with +the reply that the consent of parents is not ignored among Indians, and +that Waboose's mother is an Indian of so high-minded and refined a +nature--partly acquired, no doubt, from her husband--that _she_ will +never consent to give her daughter to such a man; such a brute, I might +say, considering what he attempted. As to Waboose herself, her father's +gentle nature in her secures her from such a misfortune; and as to her +being carried off--well, I don't think any savages would be bold enough +to try to carry off anything from the grip of Peter Macnab, and when we +get her back here we will know how to look after her." + +"It may be so," said Lumley, with a sigh; "and now, my boy, to change +the subject, we must buckle to our winter's work in right good earnest; +I mean what may be styled our philanthropic work; for the other work-- +firewood-cutting, hunting, store arranging, preparation for the return +of Indians in spring, with their furs, and all the other odds and ends +of duty--is going along swimmingly; but our classes must be resumed, now +that the holidays are over, for we have higher interests to consider +than the mere eating that we may live, and living that we may eat." + +"All right," said I heartily, for I was very glad to help in a species +of work which, I felt gave dignity to all our other labours. "I'll get +the slates out and start the men at arithmetic to-morrow evening, from +the place where we left off. What will you do? Give them `Robinson +Crusoe' over again?" + +"No, Max, I won't do that, not just now at all events. I'll only finish +the story and then begin the `Pilgrim's Progress.' You observed, no +doubt that I had been extending my commentaries on `Robinson,' +especially towards the last chapters." + +"Yes--what of that?" + +"Well, I am free to confess that that was intentionally done. It was a +dodge, my boy, to get them into the habit of expecting, and submitting +to, commentary, for I intend to come out strong in that line in my +exposition of the Pilgrim--as you shall see. I brought the book with +this very end, and the long winter nights, in view. And I mean to take +it easy too--spin it out. I won't bore them with too much at a time." + +"Good, but don't spin it out too long, Lumley," said I; "you know when +men set their hearts on some magnificent plan or scheme they are apt to +become prosy. I suppose you'll also take the writing class, as before?" + +"I suppose I must," returned my friend, with a sigh, "though it goes +against the grain, for I was never very good at penmanship, and we have +lost our best scholars too, now that Waboose and her mother are gone." + +"By the way, that reminds me," said I, "that Waboose gave me the packet +which she received from her father not long before he was drowned. Here +it is." + +I drew it from my breast-pocket and held it up. "She told me her father +had said it was no use her opening it, as she could not read it, but +that she was to give it to the first white man whom she could trust; you +remember my mentioning that to you? she gave it to me only yesterday, +and I have not yet found time to read it." + +"Did she say she could trust _you_, Max!" + +"Of course she did. Why not?" + +"Oh, certainly, why not?" repeated my friend, with a peculiar look. +"Did she say you might communicate its contents to _me_?" + +"Well, no, she did not," I replied, feeling rather perplexed. "But I am +quite sure that, if she meant to trust me at all, she meant to trust to +my discretion in the whole matter; and--Jack Lumley," I added, getting +up and grasping my friend's hand, "if I cannot trust _you_ I can trust +nobody." + +"That will do," he said, returning the squeeze. "You are safe. Go +ahead." + +The packet was wrapped in a piece of birch-bark, and tied with a bit of +fibrous root. This covering removed, I found a white cambric +handkerchief, inside of which was something hard. It turned out to be +the miniature of a handsome man, somewhere between forty and fifty. +Beside it was a manuscript in English. On one corner of the kerchief +was marked in faded ink the name "Eve." + +Holding out the portrait I said,--"You see. I knew he was a gentleman. +This must be her father." + +"No doubt," replied Lumley--"but what says this letter?" + +Unfolding the manuscript I spread it carefully on my knee and began to +read. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +OPENING OF THE MYSTERIOUS PACKET. + +The manuscript was without date or preface, and its contents interested +as well as surprised us not a little. It began at once as follows:-- + +"Whoever receives this packet and letter from my daughter receives a +sacred trust which he dare not shake off, and which I solemnly charge +him in the sight of God to take up and fulfil. At the moment while I +write I am well and strong, and not old. It is my firm intention, if +God spares me, to pursue the course which is herein detailed, but I know +too well the risk and dangers of the wilderness to feel assured that I +shall live to act out my part. I therefore write down here, as briefly +as I can, my story and my wishes, and shall give the letter with my +miniature to my darling Waboose--whose Christian name is Eve, though she +knows it not--with directions not to open it, or let it out of her +hands, until she meets with a white man _whom_ _she_ _can_ _trust_, for +well assured am I that the man whom my innocent and wise-hearted Eve can +_trust_--be he old or young--will be a man who cannot and will not +refuse the responsibility laid on him. Why I prefer to leave this +packet with my daughter, instead of my dear wife, is a matter with which +strangers have nothing to do. + +"I begin by saying that I have been a great sinner, but thank God, I +have found Jesus a great Saviour. Let this suffice. I was never given +to open up my mind much, and I won't begin now--at least, not more than +I can help. It is right to say, at the outset, that I have been +regularly married by a travelling Wesleyan minister to my dear wife, by +whom also Eve and her mother were baptized. + +"My fall began in disobedience to my mother. Probably this is the case +with most ne'er-do-wells. My name is William Liston. My father was a +farmer in a wild part of Colorado. He died when I was a little boy, +leaving my beloved mother to carry on the farm. I am their only child. +My mother loved and served the Lord Christ. And well do I know that my +salvation from an ungovernable temper and persistent self-will is the +direct answer to her unceasing prayers. + +"I left home, against her will, with a party of backwoodsmen, my heart +being set on what I once thought would be the free and jolly life of a +hunter in the great American wilderness. I have lived to find the truth +of that proverb, `All is not gold that glitters,' and of that word, +`There is no rest, saith my God, to the wicked.' + +"I was eighteen when I left home. Since then I have been a homeless +wanderer--unless a shifting tent may be considered home! Long after my +quitting home, and while staying with a tribe of Indians at the head +waters of the Saskatchewan river, I met an Indian girl, whose gentle, +loving nature, and pretty face, were so attractive to me that I married +her and joined her tribe. The marriage ceremony was, as I have said, +confirmed by a Wesleyan minister, whose faithful words made such an +impression on me that I resolved to give up my wild life, and return +with my wife and child to my old home. My character, however--which is +extremely resolute and decided when following the bent of my +inclinations, and exceedingly weak and vacillating when running counter +to the same--interfered with my good intentions. The removal of the +tribe to a more distant part of the land also tended to delay me, and a +still more potent hindrance lay in the objection of my wife--who has +been faithful and true to me throughout; God bless her! She could not +for a long time, see her way to forsake her people. + +"Ever since my meeting with the Wesleyan, my mind has been running more +or less on the subject of religion, and I have tried to explain it as +far as I could to my wife and child, but have found myself woefully +ignorant as well as sinful. At last, not long ago, I procured a New +Testament from a trapper, and God in mercy opened my eyes to see and my +heart to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. Since then I have had +less difficulty in speaking to my wife and child, and have been +attempting to teach the latter to read English. The former, whose +mother and father died lately, has now no objection to go with me to the +land of the pale-faces, and it is my present intention to go to my old +home on the return of spring. I have not heard of my poor mother since +I left her, though at various times I have written to her. It may be +that she is dead. I hope not--I even think not, for she was very young +when she married my father, and her constitution was strong. But her +hair was beginning to silver even before I forsook her--with sorrow, I +fear, on my account. Oh! mother! mother! How unavailing is my bitter +regret! What would I not give to kneel once more at your feet and +confess my sin! This may perhaps be permitted--but come weal, come woe, +blessed be God we shall meet again. + +"If my prayer is granted, this paper will never be seen by human eyes. +If God sees fit to deny me this, and I should die in the wilderness, +then I charge the man to whom my packet is given, to take my wife and +daughter to Colorado; and if my mother--Mrs William Liston, of Sunny +Creek--be still alive, to present them to her with this written paper +and miniature. If, on the other hand, she be dead, then let him buy for +them an annuity, or otherwise invest four thousand pounds for their +benefit, according to the best of his judgment. How to come by the four +thousand pounds I will now explain. + +"Away in the beautiful and sequestered valley at the head of Lake +Wichikagan there stands a stunted pine, near a rock fallen from the +cliff above. The spot is not easily found, but my Eve knows it well. +It was a favourite resort of ours when we went picnicking together. +There is a small hole or dry cave in the cliff just behind the fallen +rock. Two feet underneath the soil there will be found a bag containing +a set of diamonds worth the sum I have named, with a smaller bag +containing five hundred pounds in gold. It may not be amiss to say that +both jewels and money have been honestly come by. The money I dug out +of the Californian mines, and bought the jewels in a drunken frolic when +in Canada--`for my future wife,' as I then boasted. My dear wife has +never seen them, nor has Eve. They do not know of their existence. The +five hundred pounds in gold is to be retained for himself by the man who +accepts this trust to enable him to pay his way and carry it out. + +"William Liston." + +It is difficult to express the conflict of feelings that assailed me +when I had finished reading this remarkable manuscript. For some time +Lumley and I gazed at each other in silence. + +"You accept the trust, I suppose?" said my friend at last. + +"Of course. How could I do otherwise?" + +"But you cannot remain in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company if you +do. They would never give you leave of absence for such a purpose." + +"No matter. I will not ask leave of absence. I will resign. My time +was up, you know, this year. I will write to the governor by the +spring-brigade, and start away for Colorado in summer." + +"But this poor man may have been slightly deranged," suggested Lumley. +"He says that at one time he led a wild life. It is possible that his +brain may have been affected, and he only dreams of these jewels and the +gold." + +"I think not," said I, decidedly; "the letter is so calm and simple in +style that the idea is absurd; besides, we can soon test it by visiting +the valley and the spot referred to. Moreover, even if there were no +money, and the poor man were really deranged, he could never have +imagined or invented all that about his mother and Colorado if it were +not true. Even if we fail to find the jewels and cash I will accept the +trust and fulfil it." + +"What! without money?" + +"Ay, without money," said I firmly, though I am bound to confess that I +did not at the moment see clearly how the thing was in that case to be +done. But I was--and, indeed, still am--of an ardent disposition, and +felt sanguine that I should manage to fulfil the obligations of this +remarkable trust somehow. + +"Well, Max, you and I will visit this valley to-morrow," said Lumley, +rising; "meanwhile we will go to bed." + +Accordingly, next morning, after breakfast Lumley and I slung our +snow-shoes over our shoulders on the barrels of our guns,--for the lake +was as hard as a sheet of white marble,--and started off to pay a visit +to the spot indicated, in what I may style poor Liston's will. + +It was a bright bracing day--quite calm, but with keen frost, which +tended to increase the feelings of excitement already roused by the +object we had in view. As we passed through the lake's fringe of +willows, the tops of which just rose a foot or two above the drifted +snow, a great covey of ptarmigan rose with a mighty whirr, and swept +along the shore; but we took no heed of these--our minds being bent on +other game! + +The distance to the upper end of the lake was considerable, and the day +was far advanced when we reached it. As we took to the land the covey +of ptarmigan, which had preceded us to the place, again rose. This +time, however, we were prepared for them. Lumley shot a brace right and +left, taking the two last that rose with sportsman-like precision. I +confess that I am not a particularly good shot--never was--and have not +much of the sportsman's pride about me. I fired straight into the +centre of the dense mass of birds, six of which immediately fell upon +the snow. + +"What a lot of flukes!" exclaimed my companion, with a laugh, as he +recharged. + +"Luck before precision, any day!" said I, following his example. + +"Ay, Max, but there is this difference, that luck is rather uncertain, +whereas precision is always sure." + +"Well, be that as it may," said I putting on my snow-shoes, for the snow +in the wood we were about to enter was deep and soft, "we have enough +for a good supper at all events." + +"True, and we shall need a good supper, for we must camp out. There is +no chance of our finding this treasure--even if it exists--until we have +had a good search, and then it will be too late to return home with +comfort, or even safety, for it is difficult on a dark night to +distinguish tracks on the hard snow of a lake, as I've sometimes found +to my cost." + +We set up several other coveys of ptarmigan as we traversed the belt of +willows lying between the lake and the woods, and when we entered the +latter, several grouse, of a species that takes to trees, fluttered away +from us; but we did not molest them, having already more than we could +consume swinging at our belts. + +We went straight up the valley to what we deemed the most sequestered +part of it, and then paused. + +"This looks somewhat like the spot, doesn't it?" said Lumley, glancing +round. "Yonder is a cliff with rocks at the base of it." + +"Yes, but too many rocks," said I; "the paper mentions only one; +besides, it refers to a stunted pine, and I see nothing of that sort +here." + +"True, it must be higher up the valley. Come along." + +On we plodded, hour after hour, halting often, and examining with care +many a secluded spot that seemed to answer, more or less, the +description of the spot for which we searched, but all in vain. Sunset +found us as far from our object as ever, and as hungry as hawks. +Darkness of course put an end to the search, and, with a feeling of +disappointment and weariness that I had not experienced since arriving +in that region, I set to work to fell and cut up a tree for fire wood, +while Lumley shovelled a hole in the snow at the foot of a pine, and +otherwise prepared our encampment. + +But youth is remarkably elastic in spirit! No sooner was the fire +crackling, the kettle singing, and the delicious odour of roasted +ptarmigan tickling our nostrils, than disappointment gave way to hope +and weariness to jollity. + +"Come, we shall have at it again to-morrow," said Lumley. + +"So we shall," said I--"mind that kettle. You have an unfortunate +capacity for kicking things over." + +"One of the disadvantages of long legs, Max. They're always in the way. +Get out the biscuit now. My ptarmigan is ready. At least, if it +isn't, I can't wait." + +"Neither can I, Jack. I sometimes wish that it were natural to us to +eat things raw. It would be so very convenient and save sh---a--lot-- +of--time." + +Hunger and a wrenched-off drumstick checked further utterance! + +That night we lay in our snow camp, gazing up at the stars, with our +feet to the fire, talking of gold and diamonds with all the eagerness of +veritable misers--though it is but justice to myself to add that Eve's +blue eyes outshone, in my imagination, all the diamonds that ever decked +the brow of Wealth or Beauty! When at last we slept, our dreams partook +of the same glittering ideas--coupled, of course, with much of the +monstrous absurdity to which dreams are liable. I had just discovered a +gem which was so large that I experienced the utmost difficulty in +thrusting it into my coat-pocket, and was busy shovelling small diamonds +of the purest water into a wheelbarrow, when a tremendous whack on my +nose awoke me. + +Starting up with an indignant gasp I found that it was a lump of snow, +which had been detached by the heat of our fire from a branch overhead. + +"What's wrong, Max?" growled my companion, who lay curled up in his +buffalo robe, like a huge Newfoundland dog. "Bin dreamin'?" + +"Yes," said I, with a loud yawn, "I was dreaming of shovelling up +diamonds by the thousand when a lump of snow fell and hit my nose!" + +"Str'nge," sighed Lumley, in the sleepiest voice I ever heard, "so's I-- +dr'm'n 'f g'ld'n sass-gs an' dm'nd rupple-ply." + +"What nonsense are you talking, man? What were you dreaming of?" + +"'F gold'n saus'ges an' dim'nd rolly-p'ly. I say--'s fire out?" + +"Nearly." + +"'S very cold. G't up--mend it, l'ke good f'llow. I'll help you, +d'rectly." + +He finished off with a prolonged snore, so I rose with a slight laugh, +mended the fire, warmed myself well, observed in a sleepy way that the +night was still bright and calm, and then lay down in a state of +semi-consciousness to drop at once into a nest made of golden filigree +filled with diamond eggs! + +Next morning we rose at daybreak, relighted the fire and had breakfast, +after which we resumed our search, but still--without success. + +"I fear that my surmise as to the state of poor Liston's mind is +correct," said Lumley. "We have searched the whole valley, I believe." + +"Nay, not quite," I returned, "it is much varied in form, and full of +out-o'-the-way nooks. Besides, we have not yet discovered the stunted +pine, and you know the paper says the spot is difficult to find. As to +Liston's mind I feel quite sure that it was all right, and that the man +was a good and true one. The father of Waboose could not have been +otherwise." + +I said this somewhat decidedly, for I felt sorely disappointed at our +failure, and slightly annoyed at my friend's unbelief in one whose last +writing proved him--at least to my mind--to be genuine and sincere. + +"Well, Max," returned Lumley, with his wonted pleasant look and tone, +"it may be that you are right. We will continue our search as long as +there seems any chance of success." + +Accordingly, we ranged the valley round, high and low, until we had +visited, as we thought, every nook and cranny in it and then, much +dispirited, returned home. + +One morning, about three months after these events, Lumley came into my +bedroom where I was drawing a plan for a new store. + +"Max," said he, sitting down on the bed beside me, "I mean to start this +afternoon on a visit to the mountain fort. You know I promised Macnab +that I would look him up about this time and fetch Waboose and her +mother back." + +"Indeed. When do you start!" + +"This afternoon." + +I was not surprised at the suddenness of this announcement. Our chief +was eminently a man of action. He seldom talked much about plans, but +thought them well out, and when his mind was made up acted without +delay. + +"You'll take my letter to the governor and tell Mac to forward it with +his spring packet?" said I. + +"Yes, that is just what I came to see you about. Is it ready--and are +you quite decided about retiring?" + +"Quite decided. See, here is the letter. And don't forget your promise +to say nothing to Waboose or anyone else about Liston's packet." + +"Not a word, my boy." + +That afternoon my friend set off on snow-shoes accompanied by two men. + +"Any message, Max?" he said, at parting. + +"Of course. My kind regards to everybody." + +"Nothing warmer to _anybody_?" + +"Oh, yes," I returned quickly, "I forgot you may, if you choose, say +something a little more affectionate to Miss Macnab!" + +"I will, Max, I will," he replied, with a loud ringing laugh and a +cheery good-bye. + +Some time after that an Indian came to the fort bearing a letter from +Lumley. It was written, he said, merely because the Indian chanced to +be travelling towards Wichikagan, and contained nothing of importance. +To my surprise and disappointment it contained no reference whatever to +Waboose. On turning over the last page, however, I found a postscript. +It ran thus: + +"P.S.--By the way, I had almost omitted to mention Eve. My dear boy, I +believe you are right. She is one of Nature's ladies. Jessie has +prevailed on her to put on one of her dresses and be her companion, and +when they are walking together with their backs towards me, upon my word +I have difficulty in deciding which is the more ladylike of the two! +And that you will admit, is no small compliment from me. Jessie has +been giving her lessons in English, and music and drawing too. Just +think of that! She says she is doing it with an end in view. I wonder +what that end can be! Jessie is sometimes difficult to understand. She +is also remarkably wise and far-sighted. I expect to be home soon-- +farewell." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +I COME OUT IN A NEW LIGHT, AND HAVE A VERY NARROW ESCAPE. + +During the absence of my friend everything went on at the fort in the +usual quiet way, with this difference, that part of our educational +course had to be given up, and I had to read the Pilgrim's Progress +instead of my friend, for the men had become so deeply interested in the +adventures of Christian that they begged of me to continue the readings. + +This I agreed to do, but confined myself simply to reading. I observed, +however, that my audience did not seem to appreciate the story as much +as before, and was getting somewhat disheartened about it, when one +evening, as I was about to begin, Donald Bane said to me-- + +"If ye please, sur, the other laads an' me's been talking over this +matter, an' they want me to say that they would pe fery much obleeged if +ye would expound the story as you go along, the same as Muster Lumley +did." + +This speech both surprised and embarrassed me, for I had never before +attempted anything in the way of exposition. I felt, however, that it +would never do for a man in charge of an outpost in the Great Nor'-West +to exhibit weakness on any point, whatever he might feel; I therefore +resolved to comply. + +"Well, Donald Bane," I said, "it had been my intention to leave the +exposition of the allegory to Mr Lumley, but as you all wish me to +carry on that part of the reading I will do my best." + +So saying, I plunged at once into the story, and got on much more easily +than I had expected; ideas and words flowing into my mind copiously, +insomuch that I found it difficult to stop, and on more than one +occasion was awakened by a snore from one of the audience, to the fact +that I had sent some of them to sleep. + +In the midst of this pleasant, and I hope not unprofitable, work, an +event occurred which had well-nigh stopped my commentaries on the +Pilgrim's Progress, and put an end to my career altogether. + +I had gone out one morning with my gun to procure a few fresh ptarmigan, +accompanied by Big Otter. Our trusty Indian was beginning by that time +to understand the English language, but he would not condescend to speak +it. This, however, was of slight importance, as I had learned to jabber +fluently in the native tongue. + +We speedily half-filled the large game-bag which the Indian carried. + +"I think we'll go into the thicker woods now," said I, "and try for some +tree grouse by way of variety." + +Big Otter gave a mild grunt of assent. He was not naturally given to +much talking, and, being amiable, was always ready to conform to any +plan without discussion, unless expressly asked. Indeed, even when +expressly asked, it was not always possible to get a satisfactory answer +out of him. + +"Do you think we should go up the Dark Valley, or over the Rocky Knoll," +said I, referring to two well-known spots a considerable distance from +the fort. + +"The pale-face chief knows best." + +"Yes, but the pale-face asks what the red-face thinks," said I, somewhat +amused by the answer. + +"He thinks that there are grouse in the Dark Valley, and also in the +lands towards the setting sun over the Rocky Knoll." + +"If I were to ask you, Big Otter, which of the two directions you would +like to take, what would you reply?" + +"I would reply, `The direction that best pleases the pale-face chief.'" + +"Now, Big Otter," said I, firmly, for I was determined to get an answer +out of him, "in which of the two paths are we most likely to find the +greatest number of birds?" + +"Assuredly in the path which shall be chosen by the pale-face. Is he +not a great hunter? Does he not know the land?" + +I gave in with a short laugh, and, turning, led the way over the Rocky +Knoll into the dense forest at the back of the fort. Passing through a +belt of this, we came upon more open ground, where the trees grew in +clumps, with willow-covered spaces between. Beyond that we re-entered +the thick woods, and at once set up a covey of the birds we were in +search of. There were six of them, and they all perched on a +neighbouring tree. + +Now it is sometimes the case that the birds of which I write are so tame +that they will sit still on a tree till they are all shot, one by one, +if only the hunter is careful to fire at the lowest bird first, and so +proceed upwards. If he should kill the top bird first, its fluttering +fall disturbs the rest, causing them to take wing. Fully aware of this +fact, Big Otter and I fired alternate shots, and in a few seconds +brought down the whole covey. This quite filled one of our bags. + +"You may take it home, Big Otter," said I, "and tell them not to be +alarmed if I don't return till to-morrow. Perhaps I shall camp out." + +With his usual quiet grunt of acquiescence my red-skinned companion +shouldered the full bag, and left me. I then struck into the thick +woods, with the general bearings of which I was well acquainted, and +soon after came across the fresh tracks of a deer, which I followed up +hotly. + +I am naturally a keen sportsman, and apt to forget both time and +distance when pursuing game. As to distance, however, a backwoods +hunter who intends to encamp on the spot where night finds him, does not +need to concern himself much about that. I therefore plodded on, hour +after hour, until the waning light told of the approach of darkness, and +convinced me that further pursuit would be useless. + +Looking round me then, for a suitable spot on which to make my +encampment, I experienced almost a shock of surprise, not unmingled with +alarm, on making the discovery that I had forgotten to bring my +fire-bag! + +To some people the serious nature of this may not at first be apparent. +But they may appreciate the situation in some degree when I tell them +that on that occasion I suddenly found myself about twenty miles from +home, fatigued, hungry, with the night descending over the wilderness, +the thermometer about thirty-five below zero, of Fahrenheit's scale, +with the snow for my bed, and without that all important flint, steel +and tinder, wherewith to procure fire for the cooking of my food and the +warming of my frame! + +It is true I had my gun, which was a flint one, so that by rubbing some +slightly moistened gunpowder on a piece of rag, which I tore from my +shirt for the purpose, and snapping the lock over it there was a +possibility of a spark catching, but unfortunately the flint was a much +worn one which I had chipped away to such an extent during the day, to +improve its fire-producing powers, that only the merest glimmer of a +spark was evolved after many snappings, and it was so feeble as to be +quite unable to catch hold of my extemporised tinder. After prolonged +and fruitless efforts the intense cold began to chill me, and being well +aware of the great danger of getting benumbed, or of falling into that +torpid state of indifference to life, coupled with intense desire for +rest which precedes death from cold, I made up my mind at once, tired +and hungry though I was, to turn round and walk straight back to the +fort. + +I knew myself to be quite capable of walking forty miles on snow-shoes +in ordinary circumstances. My being tired and the darkness of night, +were against me, but what of that? it would only require me to brace +myself to a severer task than usual! + +I had not gone many miles, however, on the return journey, when a doubt +occurred as to whether I was taking the right direction. In the +confidence of my knowledge of the country I had carelessly left my old +track, which was indeed rather a devious one, and had struck what I +believed to be a straight line for the fort. It was by that time too +late to retrace my steps and too dark to distinguish the features of the +landscape. I stopped for a minute to think, and as I did so the +profound oppressive silence of the night, the weird pallid aspect of the +scarce visible snow, and the dark pines around me, which were only a +shade or two darker than the black sky above, together with the +ever-increasing cold, made such an impression on my mind that the +prayer, "God help me!" burst almost involuntarily from my lips. + +Feeling that delay surely meant death, I started off again with +redoubled energy, and this impulse of determination, along with the +exercise, increased my temperature somewhat, so that hope became strong +again, and with it muscular energy. + +Suddenly I came upon a snow-shoe track. I went down on my knees to +examine it, but the light was insufficient to make it out clearly. What +would I not have given for a match at that moment! However, as the size +of the shoe-print seemed to my _feeling_ the same with that of the shoe +I wore, I concluded that it must certainly be my own track out from +home--all the more that it ran almost parallel with the line I was +following. + +Getting upon it then, I stepped out with much greater ease and with a +lighter heart. + +After a time the track led me to a slightly open space where the light +was better. I thought that objects seemed familiar to me as I looked +round. Advancing, I came on a spot where the snow was much trodden +down. There was a bank of snow near. I went towards it while a +terrible suspicion flashed into my mind. Yes, it was the very spot on +which I had been sitting hours before, while I was making fruitless +efforts to obtain a light from the flint of my gun! I had been doing +that of which I had often read and heard, walking unwittingly in a +circle, and had actually come back to the spot from which I set out. + +What my feelings were on making this discovery it is scarcely possible +to describe. My first act was to look up and exclaim as before, "God +help me!" But there was nothing impulsive or involuntary in the prayer +this time. I fully realised the extent of my danger, and, believing +that the hour had come when nothing could save my life but the direct +interposition of my Creator, I turned to Him with all the fervour of my +heart. + +At the same time I am bound to confess that my faith was very weak, and +my soul felt that solemn alarm which probably the bravest feel at the +approach of death, when that approach is sudden and very unexpected. + +Nevertheless, I am thankful to say that my powers of judgment and of +action did not forsake me. I knew that it would be folly to attempt to +follow my track back again through the intricacies of the forest in so +dark a night, especially now that the track was partly mingled and +confused with that which I had made in joining it. I also knew that to +give way to despair, and lie down without a fire or food, would be to +seal my own doom. Only one course remained, and that was to keep +constantly moving until the return of day should enable me to +distinguish surrounding objects more clearly. + +I went to work therefore without delay, but before doing so once again +solemnly and earnestly committed my soul and body to the care of God. +And, truly, the circumstances of my case intensified that prayer. I +felt as if I had never really prayed in earnest in my life before that +night. + +Then, laying aside my gun, blanket and cooking utensils, so as to +commence my task as light as possible, I went to the most open space of +ground I could find, and there described a large circle with my +snow-shoes on. This was the track on which I resolved to perform a feat +of endurance. To walk all night without intermission, without rest, so +as to keep up my animal heat was the effort, on the success of which +depended the issue of life or death. + +I began with that vigour which is born of hopeful determination to +succeed or die. But, as time wore on, the increasing weakness and +exhaustion began to render me less capable of enduring the intense cold. +Having my wallet on my back I took out some biscuit and pemmican and +ate it as I walked. This revived me a good deal, nevertheless I +restrained myself, feeling convinced that nothing but steady, quiet +perseverance would carry me through. Soon thirst began to torment me, +yet I did not dare to eat snow, as that would have merely injured the +inside of my mouth, and frozen the skin of my lips. This feeling did +not however last long. It was followed by a powerful sense of +drowsiness. + +This I knew to be the fatal premonitory symptom, and strove against it +with all my power. The better to resist it I began to talk aloud to +myself. + +"Come now, my boy, you mustn't give way to _that_. It is death, you +know. Hold up! Be a man! Act as Lumley would have acted in similar +circumstances. Dear Lumley! How he would run to help me if he only +knew!" + +Suddenly the words, "In Me is thy help," seemed to sound in my very +ears. I stopped to listen, and was partly roused, but soon hurried on +again. + +"Yes, yes," I exclaimed aloud, "I know the text well," but the words had +scarcely left my lips when I stumbled and fell. Owing to my sinking +powers I had failed to keep the centre of the track; my right snow-shoe +had caught on the edge of it and tumbled me into the soft snow. + +How shall I describe the delicious feeling of profound rest that ensued +when I found myself prone and motionless? Equally impossible is it to +describe the agonising struggles that I made to induce my unwilling +spirit to rouse my listless body. Those who have striven in +semi-consciousness to throw off the awful lethargy of nightmare may have +some conception of my feelings. I knew, even then, that it was the +critical moment--the beginning of the end. In a burst of anxiety I +began to pray--to shout with all my strength--for deliverance. The +effort and the strange sound of my own voice roused me. + +I staggered to my feet and was able to continue my walk. Being somewhat +brighter than I had been before the tumble, I perceived that the +circular track was by that time beaten hard enough to bear me up without +snow-shoes, so I put them off and walked with much more ease. + +From this point however my mind became so confused that I can give no +reliable account of what followed. I was conscious at various periods +during that dreadful night of becoming alive to several incidents and +states of mind. I recollect falling more than once, as I had fallen +before, and of experiencing, more than once, that painful struggle +against what I may style mental and physical inertia. I remember +breaking out frequently into loud importunate prayer, and being +impressed with a feeling of reviving energy at such times. Sometimes a +text of Scripture seemed to flash before my eyes and disappear. On +these occasions I made terrible efforts to grasp the text, and have an +indistinct sensation of increased strength resulting from the mere +efforts, but most of the texts faded as quickly as they came, with the +exception of one--"God is our Hope." Somehow I seemed to lay firm hold +of that, and to feel conscious of holding it, even when sense was +slipping away, but of the blanks between those conditions I know +nothing. They may have been long or they may have been short--I cannot +tell. All remains on my memory now like the unsubstantial fragments of +a hideous dream. + +The first thing after that which impressed itself on me with anything +like the distinctness of reality was the sound of a crackling fire, +accompanied with the sensation of warmth in my throat. Slowly opening +my eyes I became aware of the fact that I was lying in front of a +blazing fire, surrounded by Big Otter, Blondin, and Dougall, who stood +gazing at me with anxious looks, while Henri Coppet knelt at my side, +attempting to pour some warm tea down my throat. + +"Dere now, monsieur," said Coppet, who was rather fond of airing his +English, especially when excited, "Yoos kom too ver queek. Ony drink. +Ha! dere be noting like tea." + +"Wow! man, mind what yer aboot. Ye'll scald him," said Dougall, +anxiously. + +"You hole yoos tongue," replied the carpenter contemptuously, "me knows +w'at mees do. Don' wants no Scoshmans for tell me. _Voila_! Monsieur +have swaller _un peu_!" + +This was true. I had not only swallowed, but nearly choked with a +tendency to laugh at the lugubrious expression of my friends' faces. + +"Where am I?" said I, on recovering a little, "What has happened?" + +"Oo ay, Muster Maxby," answered Dougall, with his wonted nasal drawl; +"somethin' _hess_ happened, but it's no sae pad as what _might_ hev +happened, whatever." + +As this did not tend to clear my mind much, and as I knew from +experience that the worthy Celt refused to be hurried in his +communications, I turned an inquiring look on Blondin, who at once said +in French-- + +"Monsieur has been lost and nearly frozen, and Monsieur would surely +have been quite frozen if James Dougall had not discovered that Monsieur +had left his fire-bag at home, by mistake no doubt; we at once set out +to search for Monsieur, and we found him with his head in the snow and +his feet in the air. At first we thought that Monsieur was dead, but +happily he was not, so we kindled a fire and rubbed Monsieur, and gave +him hot tea, which has revived him. _Voila_! Perhaps Monsieur will +take a little more hot tea?" + +While Blondin was speaking, the whole scene of the previous day and of +the terrible night rushed in upon my brain like a flood, and I thanked +God fervently for my deliverance, while I complied with the man's +suggestion and sipped some more tea. + +It revived me much, but on attempting to rise I found myself so weak +that I fell back helplessly with a deep sigh. + +"Ye've no need to trouble yoursel', Muster Maxby," said Dougall, "we've +brought the new dowg-sleigh for 'ee." + +Looking in the direction in which he pointed, I observed not far-off the +splendid new dog-sleigh which we had spent much time in making and +painting that winter. Our fine team of four semi-wolf dogs, gay with +embroidered harness as they lay curled up on the snow, were attached to +it. + +"I suspect I should have died but for your thoughtful care, Dougall," I +said, gratefully, as the good fellow assisted to place me in the vehicle +and wrap the buffalo robes around me. + +"Hoots! Muster Maxby," was the remonstrative reply. + +Big Otter placed himself in front of the _cortege_ to beat the track. +The dogs followed him with the sleigh-bells ringing merrily. Blondin +took hold of the tail-line, and the others brought up the rear. + +Thus comfortably, with a bright sun shining in the blue sky, I returned +to Fort Wichikagan. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +A BUFFALO HUNT FOLLOWED BY A PALAVER, AN ARRIVAL, AND A TRAITOR-CHASE. + +We must turn away now, for a short time, to another, though not far +distant, part of the Great Nor'-West. + +It is a more open country than that immediately around Fort Wichikagan, +and lies to the south of it. Here and there long stretches of prairie +cut up the wilderness, giving to the landscape a soft and park-like +appearance. The scenery is further diversified by various lakelets +which swarm with water-fowl, for the season has changed, early spring +having already swept away the white mantle of winter, and spread the +green robes of Nature over the land. It is such a region as a +millionaire might select, in which to build a palace, but no millionaire +has yet beheld the lovely spot. With unlimited wealth at his command he +still confines himself to the smoke and dust of civilisation, leaving +the free air and the brilliant beauty of the wilderness to the wild-fowl +and the penniless hunter, and the wandering savage! + +In the midst of one of the stretches of rolling prairie-land, great +herds of buffalo are scattered in groups, browsing with all the air of +security peculiar to domestic cattle. Happily their memories are short. +They seem prone to enjoy the present, forgetful of the past and +regardless of the future--happily, I say, for those humpy and hairy +creatures are not unacquainted with man's devices--the sudden surprise, +the twang of the red-man's bow and the crack of the hunter's rifle. + +It was the forenoon of a splendid day, when this peaceful scene was +broken in upon by obstreperous, fighting, peace-destroying man. A +little cloud of dust on the horizon was the first indication of his +approach, and a very antique buffalo-bull was first among the thousands +of innocents to observe the cloud. It stirred the memory of other days, +no doubt within his capacious bosom, and probably sent a thrill through +his huge frame, which, terminating naturally in his tail, caused that +appendage to vibrate and curl slightly upwards. At the same time he +emitted softly a low rumble, which might have served for the bass of a +cathedral organ. + +Most of the cows near the patriarch looked up in evident surprise, as +though to say, "What in all the world do you mean by _that_?" But the +patriarch took no notice of them. He kept his wicked little eyes fixed +intently on the cloud of dust, twitching his tail nervously, and +rumbling cathedral-organically. If I might venture to guess at the +mental operations of that patriarch, I should say that he was growling +to himself, "Is that you again, you galloping, spitfiring, two-legged, +yelling monsters?" or some such bovine expression. + +By degrees the cloud came nearer and enlarged. Simultaneously the +groups of buffaloes drew together and began to gaze--perchance to +remember! The patriarch became excited, wriggled his tail, which was +ridiculously small for his body, pawed the ground, trotted hither and +thither, and commenced playing on all the deeper notes of his organ. + +At last there could be no doubt. The two-legged monsters came on, +mounted on four-legged brutes, which began to trot as the distance +between them diminished. This was enough. The patriarch tossed his +haunches to the sky, all but wriggled off his tail, gave utterance to a +bursting bellow, and went scouring over the plains like a gigantic wild +pig. The entire buffalo host performing a similar toss and wriggle, +followed close on his heels. + +At this the redskins put their steeds to the gallop, but did not at once +overtake their prey. Clumsy though their gait was, the buffaloes were +swift and strong, causing the whole plain to resound under their mighty +tread. Indian steeds, however, are wiry and enduring. By slow degrees +they lessened the distance between them--both pursued and pursuers +lengthening out their ranks as the "fittest" came to the front. +Thundering on, they approached one of the large clumps of woodland, with +which the plain was covered, as with islets. The patriarch led to the +left of it. The savages, sweeping aside, took to the right. + +The sudden disappearance of the pursuers seemed to surprise the +patriarch, who slackened his pace a little, and, lifting his shaggy +head, looked right and left inquiringly. "Was it all a dream!" he +thought--no doubt. + +If he thought it was, he received in a few minutes a rude awakening, for +the redskins came sweeping round the other end of the clump of trees, +yelling like fiends, brandishing their weapons and urging their steeds +to the uttermost. + +To snort, bellow, turn off at a tangent, and scurry along faster than +ever, was the work of a moment, but it was too late! The savages were +in the midst of the snorting host. Bows were bent and guns were +levelled. The latter were smooth-bores, cheap, and more or less +inaccurate, but that mattered not. + +Where the range was only two or three yards, guns and bows were true +enough for the end in view. At such work even bad shots met their +reward. Arrows sank to the feathers; bullets penetrated to the heart or +shattered the bones. Ere long numerous black lumps on the prairie told +of death to the quadrupeds and success to the bipeds. + +But I do not drag the reader here merely to tell of savage sport and +butchery. The Indian was only following his vocation--working for his +food. + +That same evening two of the Indians stood on a hillock, a little apart +from their camp where smoking fires and roasting meat and marrow-bones, +and ravenously-feeding men and women, and gorging little boys and girls, +formed a scene that was interesting though not refined. One of the +Indians referred to was Big Otter. The other was Muskrat, the old chief +of his tribe. + +"Does my father not know?" said Big Otter, deferentially, "that Attick +plans mischief against the pale-faces of Wichikagan?" + +"No, Big Otter," returned the old chief with a scowl; "Muskrat does not +know that, but he hears, and if it is true he will have Attick flayed +alive, and his skin dressed to make moccasins for our young squaws." + +"It is true," rejoined Big Otter, sternly. "His plan is to attack the +fort by night, kill the pale-faces, and carry off the goods." + +"Attick is a fool!" said Muskrat, contemptuously. "Does he not know +that no more goods would evermore be sent into our lands if we did that, +and also that the pale-faces always hunt murderers to death? No; if +that had been possible, or wise, Muskrat would have done it himself long +ago." + +After this candid statement he stared solemnly at his companion, as +though to say, "What think ye of that, my brave?" + +Apparently my brave did not think much of it one way or other, for he +only looked indifferent and said, "Waugh!" + +"Big Otter's ears are sharp," continued Muskrat. "How did he come to +hear of Attick's intentions?" + +The younger Indian paused thoughtfully before replying. + +"Waboose told me," he said. + +"Does the daughter of Weeum the Good hold communion with evil spirits?" +asked the old chief, with a slight elevation of the eyebrows. + +"Not willingly, but evil spirits force themselves upon the daughter of +Weeum the Good. My father knows that Attick is presumptuous. He wishes +to mate Waboose." + +"Yes, I knew he was presumptuous, but I did not know he was so great a +fool," replied the old chief scornfully. + +"My father knows," continued Big Otter, "that when the pale-face chief +went and brought Waboose back to Fort Wichikagan, Attick was staying +there in his wigwam by the lake. The big chief of the pale-faces, who +fears nothing, had forgiven him. Attick went to Waboose, and offered to +take her to his wigwam; but the daughter of Weeum the Good turned away +from him. Attick is proud, and he is fierce. He told Waboose that he +would kill all the pale-faces. Although a fool, he does not boast. +Waboose knew that he was in earnest. She went to the pale-face Muxbee +(by which name Big Otter styled my humble self), and told him all, for +she has set her heart on Muxbee." + +"Did she tell you so?" asked Muskrat, sharply. + +"No; but the blue eyes of Waboose tell tales. They are like a kettle +with holes in the bottom--they cannot hold secrets. They spoke to +Attick as well as to me, and he became jealous. He swore he would take +the scalp of Muxbee. One day, soon after the lake opened, Muxbee asked +Waboose to go with him in a canoe to the valley at the head of lake +Wichikagan. Attick followed in another canoe, but kept far behind. +They did not know it was Attick. Waboose found it out afterwards. +Muxbee did not talk to Waboose of love. The ways of the pale-faces are +strange. Once I thought that Muxbee liked Waboose, and that, perhaps, +he might wed with her, and stay with us as the Good Weeum did, but I +doubt it now. He only asked her to take him to the stunted pine where +her father was so fond of going with her. When there he went looking +here and there about the rocks, and found a splendid thing--I know not +what--but Waboose told me it shone and sparkled like the stars. Beside +it was a bag of the yellow round things that the pale-faces love so +much. He told her he had expected to find these things, but she must +not ask him questions just then--he would tell her afterwards. I +suppose he is a great medicine-man, and holds intercourse with the +spirit-world." Big Otter paused thoughtfully a few seconds, and then +continued:-- + +"When he was putting these things in his breast, Waboose caught sight of +Attick among the bushes, and pointed him out. Muxbee sprang up and +levelled his gun with the two pipes at him, but did not fire. Attick +fled and they saw him no more." + +"Did Waboose tell Big Otter all this?" asked the old chief. + +"Yes. Waboose has no secrets from her mother's brother." + +"And why has Big Otter left the pale-faces, and brought Waboose away +from them?" asked Muskrat. + +"Because he fears for the pale-faces, that Attick will kill them and +carry off Waboose. By bringing Waboose here with us we draw Attick +along with us away from the pale-faces, and as long as Waboose is in our +camp she is safe. Attick dare not harm her." + +A gleam of intelligence lit up the swarthy features of the old chief as +he said "Waugh!" with much satisfaction. + +But both he and Big Otter were wrong in their calculations. So far, +indeed, the latter was right. The presence of Waboose in the camp +effectually drew Attick after them, and thus removed danger from the +inhabitants of Fort Wichikagan, but they were wrong when they thought +their camp a place of safety for the poor girl. + +"Did Muxbee not care when Big Otter carried Waboose away?" asked the old +man. + +"He did not know she was going, and I did not tell her she was not to +return. I took her away with her mother when Muxbee was out hunting. I +told the big pale-face chief that I must go with my tribe to hunt the +buffalo in the south, and that they must go with me. He was very +unwilling to let them go at first but I was resolved, and Waboose is a +good obedient girl." + +That night two events occurred in the redskin camp which caused a good +deal of surprise and commotion. + +The first was the sudden disappearance of Waboose and her mother. They +had been gone some time, of course, before any one thought of suspecting +flight. The moment that suspicion was aroused, however, Big Otter went +straight to the wigwam of Attick. It was deserted! He knew well the +bad and weak men of the tribe who were led or swayed by Attick. +Hurrying to their tents he found that these also had fled. This was +enough. + +"Masqua," he said to the first Indian he chanced to meet at the moment +of quitting the last wigwam, "Attick has carried off Waboose. Assemble +some of the young men. Choose only the strong, and those whose horses +are swift. Go yourself with your son Mozwa--gallop round the camp till +you find in which direction they have gone--then return to me at the +council tent and wait." + +Masqua understood the value of prompt obedience. Without a word of +reply he turned and bounded away. + +Big Otter hurried to the council tent, where old Muskrat was already +surrounded by his chiefs. There was less than usual of the grave +deliberation of North American Indians in that meeting, for the case was +urgent. Nevertheless, there was no bustle, for each bronzed warrior +knew that the young men would require a little time to hunt up the trail +of the fugitives, mingled as it must be with the innumerable footprints +of man and beast in the neighbourhood of a camp; and, until that trail +was found, they might as well deliberate calmly--especially as all the +men met at the council armed, and ready to vault on the steeds which +were already pawing the earth outside. These horses were restrained by +youths who longed for the time when they too might be styled braves, and +meet in council. + +"Is all prepared?" asked the old chief, as Big Otter entered the tent. + +"The young men are out," was the curt reply. + +"Good. The night is dark, but my warriors have sharp eyes, and the moon +will rise soon. No effort must be spared. The daughter of Weeum the +Good must be brought back. It is not necessary to bring back Attick or +his men. Their scalps will do as well." + +"Waugh!" pronounced with much emphasis showed that the old man's words +were not only understood, but thoroughly appreciated. + +At this moment occurred the second event which I have said was the cause +of surprise in the camp that night, if not of commotion. While the old +chief was yet speaking, his words were checked by the sound of horses' +hoofs beating heavily on the prairie. + +"The young men," said Muskrat; "they have been swift to find the trail." + +"Young men in haste bringing news do not trot," said Big Otter. + +"Waugh!" assented the council. + +"There are but two riders," murmured the chief, listening intently to +the pattering sounds, which rapidly grew louder. + +He was right, for, a few seconds later, two horsemen were seen to trot +into the camp, and make straight for the council fire. Some of the +Indians had turned out with arms ready as they approached, but on +hearing a word or two from one of the riders, they quietly let them +pass. + +Pulling up sharply, one of the strangers leaped to the ground, flung his +reins to the other, and entered the council tent where he was received +with looks of surprise, and with the ejaculation from Big Otter of the +single word "Muxbee!" + +Yes, good reader, that stranger was none other than myself, and my +companion was Salamander. To account for our sudden appearance I must +explain. + +On returning to Fort Wichikagan four days after Big Otter had left, and +hearing what had occurred, I told Lumley I would follow in pursuit and +fetch Waboose back. He remonstrated, of course, but in vain. + +"You know that a sacred trust has been imposed upon me," said I, +earnestly, "and I have resolved to fulfil it. The manner in which I +should set about it has perplexed me sorely, I confess, but this sudden +departure relieves me, at all events, from uncertainty as to my present +course of duty. If Waboose goes off with the tribe to no one knows +where, she may never be found again. You are aware that she is still +ignorant of the contents of the packet, and the value of the found +treasure. I have kept her so, temporarily, by your advice. If I had +told her and her kindred, she would not probably have gone away, but it +is too late to regret that, now. By going off at once I may overtake +the tribe. Three days' journey on foot will bring me to Indians who are +rich in horses. Once well mounted I can push on, and will easily +overtake them if you will lend me Salamander to aid in following up the +trail." + +"But what of the service?" asked Lumley, with a sad smile, for he saw I +was resolved. "You are not yet free." + +"True, but you know that Spooner is already on his way here to replace +me, my resignation having been accepted. In a week, or two at farthest, +he will arrive, when I shall be absolutely free to go where I please. +Meanwhile, to prevent even a shadow of impropriety, I ask your majesty +for a fortnight's leave of absence to go a-hunting. Surely you won't +refuse so small a favour? I will be sure to find Waboose, and bring her +back by that time." + +"Well, Max, my boy, I won't refuse. Go, and God go with you. I shall +expect to see you again in two weeks, if not sooner." + +"Unless, of course, circumstances render my return so soon impossible." + +"Of course, of course," said Lumley. + +Thus we parted, and thus it was that Salamander and I found ourselves at +last in the Indian camp. The pursuit, however, had been much longer +than I had expected. More than the stipulated fortnight had already +passed. + +But to return from this digression. After we had looked at each other +silently for a few seconds in the council tent, as already described, I +advanced to Big Otter and held out my hand. I then shook hands with the +old chief, sat down beside him, and expressed a hope that I did not +intrude. + +"We palaver about the disappearance of Waboose," said the old chief. + +"Disappearance! Waboose!" I exclaimed, turning abruptly to Big Otter. + +"Attick has fled," said the Indian, sternly, "carrying Waboose and her +mother along with him." + +"And you sit here idly talking," I exclaimed, almost fiercely, as I +sprang up. + +Before I could take action of any kind, the young Indian, Mozwa, entered +the tent abruptly, and said a few words to Muskrat. At the same moment +the councillors rose. + +"We go in pursuit," whispered Big Otter in my ear. "Mount, and join +us." + +Almost bewildered, but feeling perfect confidence in my Indian friend, I +ran out, and vaulted into the saddle. Eager and quick though I was, the +redskins were mounted as soon as myself. No one seemed to give orders, +but with one accord they put their horses to the gallop, and swept out +of the camp. The last words of the old chief as we darted off, were-- + +"Bring her back, my braves, and don't forget the scalps of Attick and +his men!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +THE CHASE, THE CAPTURE, AND THE REVELATION. + +A stern chase is usually a long one. There are not many proverbs the +truth of which comes more powerfully home than this--at least to those +who have had the misfortune to engage in many such chases. To make a +slant at a fugitive, so as to cut him off, or to make a short cut and +head him, is pleasant if you be strong in wind and limb, but to creep up +right astern, inch by inch, foot by foot, yard by yard, and to overcome +him at last by sheer superiority and perseverance, is a disheartening +task. + +That was the task we undertook the night we left the Indian camp, and +went off at full gallop over the rolling prairie in pursuit of the +scoundrel Attick and his crew. + +But Indians are by nature persevering, and, for myself, I was roused to +the highest pitch of indignation and anxiety. Salamander and I had +ridden far and fast that day, besides which we had eaten only a mouthful +of pemmican and biscuit since breakfast; nevertheless, under the +excitement of the moment our weariness vanished, our hunger fled, and we +engaged in the pursuit with all the ardour of the youngest brave among +them. + +Fortunately I had secured two exceptionally fine horses, so that they +were quite able to compete with the inferior, though fresher, horses of +the Indians. + +"How long is it since you discovered that they were gone?" said I, as I +galloped alongside of Big Otter. + +"Not more than an hour," he replied. + +"Do you think they had a long start before that?" + +"I cannot tell. Perhaps two hours, perhaps four. Certainly not five, +for they were seen in camp when the sun was high." + +I was greatly relieved to learn that they had not got a longer start of +us, and very thankful that I had come up in time to join the pursuers. +I was calming down somewhat under the influence of these thoughts, when +I had a sudden feeling of being shot from a cannon into the air. This +was succeeded by a sensation of having my nose converted into a +ploughshare, and that was instantly followed by oblivion! + +In the uncertain light my steed had put his foot in a badger hole--that +was all, but it sufficed to check the pace of the whole party! + +On recovering I found my head on Salamander's knee. I felt dreamy and +indifferent. "What has happened?" I asked, in English. + +Our interpreter, who had a tendency to answer in whatever language he +was addressed--whether English, French, or Indian--replied-- + +"Yoos bin a-most busted, sar!" + +Suddenly the true state of the case flashed upon me. Langour fled. I +leaped up, and scrambled somehow into the saddle. + +"Have I been long insensible, Salamander?" I asked, as we resumed our +headlong pace. + +"On'y what time I kin count twinty, sar." + +Rejoiced to find that no longer time had been lost, I galloped along +contentedly, and in silence, though with a rather confused feeling in my +brain, and a sensation of being possessed of six noses rolled into one. + +Although no one, as I have said, seemed to lead the party when we +started, I soon found that Big Otter was really our chief. He rode +ahead of us, and more than once pulled up to dismount and examine the +trail. On these occasions the rest of the party halted without orders, +and awaited his decision. Once we were completely thrown off the scent. +The fugitives had taken to a wooded tract of country, and it required +our utmost caution not to lose the trail. + +Presently we came to a small stream and crossed it, but the trail ended +abruptly here. We were not surprised, being well aware of the common +Indian device of wading in a stream, which holds no footprints, so as to +throw pursuers out. Dividing our force, one party went up stream, the +other down, but although eager, sharp, and practised eyes examined the +banks, they could not discover the spot where the fugitives had again +taken to dry land. Returning to the place where we had divided, Big +Otter again examined the trail with minute care, going down on his knees +to turn over the blades of grass and examine the footprints. + +"Strange," said I, impatiently, "that so simple a device should baffle +us." + +As I spoke, the chief arose, and, dark though it was, I could see a +gleam of intelligence on his swarthy visage. + +"Attick thinks he is wise," he said, in a low voice, "but he has no more +brains than a rabbit. He was from childhood an idiot." + +Having paid his tribesman this compliment, he remounted, and, to my +surprise, went straight back the way we had come. + +"What means this!" I asked, unable to restrain my impatience. + +"Attick has doubled back, that is all. If there had been more light we +should easily have seen that. We shall soon find the place where the +trail breaks off again." + +The Indian was right. On clearing the wooded land we found that the +moon was up, and we followed the trail easily. Coming to a hillock in +the open ground, the top of which was covered with thick and stunted +bushes, we rode into them and there experienced much difficulty in +picking our way. + +Suddenly Big Otter turned at a right angle from the line we had been +hitherto pursuing, and, putting his horse to the gallop, held on with +the decision of one who knows he is on the right road. + +As the prairie was open, and the moon growing brighter, we had now no +difficulty in following up the fugitives, and pressed on as fast as our +horses could go. + +Daylight came and found us still galloping; but as there was no sign of +those whom we pursued, and as our horses were getting tired, we halted +at a small stream for a short rest and breakfast. + +"They must be well mounted," said I, as we sat on the banks of the +stream appeasing our hunger with masses of dried buffalo meat, while the +horses munched the grass near us. + +"Attick is always well mounted," replied Big Otter; "but his men may not +be so well off, and women are difficult to urge on when they are +unwilling." + +"Then you have no doubt that we shall overtake them?" I asked. + +"We _must_ overtake them," was the laconic reply. I felt somewhat +comforted by the decision of the Indian's tone, and a good deal more so +by his ordering his warriors to remount before half an hour had passed. +He did not however, press on as hard as before, fearing, no doubt that +the horses would break down. + +I felt assured that Attick would not dare to halt until he believed +himself almost beyond pursuit; and, as the chase therefore bade fair to +be a very long one, it seemed wise thus to spare the horses. + +About noon, however, we passed through a strip of woodland, and, on +coming out at the other side, observed a party of horsemen on the +distant horizon. + +"Waugh!" exclaimed Big Otter, shaking the reins of his steed and going +off at racing speed. We soon began to overhaul the cavalcade, and then +perceived that they were doing their utmost to get away from us. + +"It is Attick and his party--is it not?" I asked, excitedly. + +"It is Attick," was the brief reply. + +Another belt of woodland lay a little to the right on the horizon. The +fugitives headed for it. We urged our horses to their utmost speed and +soon dashed through the belt of wood, expecting to see the fugitives on +the plain beyond. What was our surprise, then, to find them assembled +in a group, calmly tying up their horses, and kindling a fire as if for +the purpose of cooking their mid-day meal. As most of the men had laid +aside their guns, and we outnumbered them by two to one, we checked our +headlong course, and trotted quietly up to them. + +To my great joy I saw, as we approached, that the girl who stooped to +kindle the fire was Waboose. Her mother sat on a bank near her, looking +very pale and worn. + +Attick, who still carried his gun in the hollow of his left arm, +expressed well-feigned surprise at seeing us. + +"Big Otter seems to be on the war-path," he said, "but I have seen no +enemies." + +"Big Otter's enemy stands before him," returned our leader, sternly. +"Attick has been very foolish. Why did he run away with the daughter of +Weeum the Good?" + +"Attick scorns to run away with a squaw. Waboose agreed to go with him +on the hunt. There she is: ask her." + +This was a bold stroke of the wily savage. Instead of flying from us, +he pretended to have been merely hurrying after a band of buffalo, which +was said to be moving southward, and that he had halted in the chase for +a short rest and food. This plan he had hastily adopted, on perceiving +that it was impossible to escape us, having previously warned Waboose +that he would shoot her dead if she did not corroborate what he said. +But Attick was incapable of believing that fearless heroism could dwell +in the breast of a woman, and little knew the courage of the daughter of +Weeum the Good. He mistook her silence and her downcast eyes for +indications of submission, and did not doubt that the delicate-looking +and shrinking girl was of much the same spirit as the other women of his +tribe. + +Great, then, was his astonishment when he saw the Saxon blood in her +veins rush to her fair brow, while she gazed at him steadily with her +large blue eyes, and said-- + +"The tongue of Attick is forked. He lies when he says that the daughter +of Weeum agreed to follow him. He knows that he carried her from the +camp by force against her will." + +Attick had thrown forward and cocked his gun, but happily the unexpected +nature of the girl's reply, and the indignant gaze of her eyes, caused +an involuntary hesitation. This did not afford time for any one to +seize the intending murderer, but it enabled me hastily to point my +rifle at the villain's head and fire. I have elsewhere said that my +shooting powers were not remarkable; I missed the man altogether, but +fortunately the bullet which was meant for his brain found its billet in +the stock of his gun, and blew the lock to atoms, thus rendering the +weapon useless. + +With a fierce shout he dropped the gun, drew his scalping-knife, and +sprang towards Waboose, or--as I had by that time found a pleasure in +mentally styling her--Eve Liston. + +Of course every man of our party sprang forward, but it fell to +Salamander to effect the rescue, for that light-hearted and light-limbed +individual chanced to be nearest to the savage when I fired at him, and, +ere the knife was well drawn, had leaped upon his back with the agility +of a panther. At the same moment Big Otter flung his tomahawk at him. +The weapon was well, though hastily, aimed. It struck the savage full +on the forehead, and felled him to the earth. + +The rest of Attick's party made no attempt to rescue him. Like all bad +men, they were false to each other in the hour of need. They quietly +submitted to be disarmed and led away. + +We had to encamp early that evening, because the unwonted and severe +exercise to which Waboose's mother had been exposed had rendered her +quite unfit to travel further without rest. Attick, who had soon +recovered sufficiently to be able to walk, was bound, along with his +men, and put under a guard. Then the encampment was made and the fires +kindled. While this was being done I led Waboose aside to a little +knoll, from which we could see a beautiful country of mingled woodland +and prairie, stretching far away to the westward, where the sun had just +descended amid clouds of amber and crimson. + +"Is it not glorious!" I exclaimed. "Should we not be grateful to the +Great Spirit who has given us such a splendid home?" + +Waboose looked at me. "Yes, it is glorious," she said--"and I am +grateful; but it is strange that you should use the very same words that +were so often on the lips of my father just before he--" + +She stopped abruptly. + +"Just before he went home, Eve," I interposed; "no need to say died. +Your father is not dead, but sleepeth. You shall meet him again. But +it is not very strange that men should use the same words when they are +animated by the same love to the Great Spirit." + +The girl raised her large eyes with a perplexed, inquiring look. + +"What troubles you, Eve?" I asked. + +"Eve!" she repeated, almost anxiously. "Twice you have called me by a +name that father sometimes used, though not often, and when he used it +he always spoke low and _very_ tenderly." + +I felt somewhat perplexed as to how I should reply, and finally took +refuge in another question. + +"Tell me, Waboose," said I, "did your father ever tell you his own +name?" + +"Of course he did," she answered, with a look of surprise--"you know +well it was Weeum." + +"Yes, William," said I; "but--" + +"No--Weeum," she said, correcting me. "Once or twice I have heard him +say Willum, but all our people call him Weeum." + +"Had he no other name?" I asked. + +"No. Why should he have another? Is not one enough?" + +"You never heard of Liston?" + +"Liston?--No, never." + +"Waboose," said I, with sudden earnestness, "I am going to tell you +something that will probably surprise you, and I will show you something +that may give you pleasure--or pain--I know not which. You remember, +that when I found the curious ornaments near to the stunted pine-tree, I +asked you not to question me at that time about the packet you gave to +me long ago. Well, the time has come when I ought to tell you all about +it. But, first, look at this." + +I had taken from my pocket, while speaking to her, the miniature of her +father, which I now handed to her. She fixed her eyes on it with a +startled look, then sprang up with an exclamation, at the same time +drawing one hand across her eyes, as if to clear away some mists that +dimmed them. Eagerly she gazed again, with parted lips and heaving +bosom, then burst into a passionate flood of tears, pressing the +miniature alternately to her lips and to her heart. + +I stood helplessly gazing at her--anxious to comfort but unable. + +"Oh! why, why," she cried, suddenly dropping the miniature, "why do you +mock me with this? It is so little, yet so like. It looks alive, but +it is dead. It is nothing--a mockery!" + +The poor girl caught it up, however, and began to kiss and caress it +again. + +Some time elapsed before her passionate grief was sufficiently subdued +to permit of her listening to me. When it was nearly exhausted, and +found vent only in an occasional sob, I took her hand gently and said-- + +"Give me the picture now, Waboose. I will wrap it up again, for I have +much to say." + +Then, unfolding the last writing of the poor fellow whom the Indians had +styled Weeum the Good, I slowly translated it into the Indian language. +It was not an easy task; for, besides feeling that it stirred the heart +of the listener with powerful emotions, I had great difficulty in taking +my eyes off her changeful face, so as to read the manuscript. + +"Now, Eve Liston--for that is your real name," said I, when I had +finished, "what do you think ought to be done?" + +The girl did not reply at once, but sat so long with her hands clasped +tightly on her lap, and her eyes fixed wistfully on the ground, that I +had to repeat the question. + +"What is to be done?" she replied, simply; "of course, what father +wished to be done." + +"And are you ready to go with me to the far south to see your father's +mother? Can you trust me to protect you?" + +"Oh, yes," she replied, with a straightforward look that almost +disconcerted me; "have you not protected me well already?" + +"And are you willing, Eve, to leave your tribe and go off alone with +me?" + +"Alone!" she repeated, with a look of surprise; "oh! no--not alone. +Mother must go too, and also Big Otter." + +Once more I felt somewhat confused, for, to say truth, I had totally +forgotten her mother and Big Otter for the moment. + +"Well now, Eve--for I intend to call you by that name in future, except +when in the presence of your people--I must talk this matter over with +your mother and Big Otter. I have some fear that the latter may object +to go with us." + +"He will not object," said Waboose, quietly. "He loved my father, and +always obeyed him." + +"Very good. So much the better. Now, as to the valuable jewels--the +ornaments, I mean." + +"Have you got them here!" asked Eve. + +"Yes. Knowing the risk I shall run of losing them or having them stolen +from me, I have had a belt made which fits round my waist under my +clothes, in which the jewels and the money are placed. If I can manage +to get them and you safely conveyed to Colorado, all will be well, but +it is a long, long journey, Eve, and--" + +I was interrupted at this point by Big Otter, who came to tell us that +supper was ready, and that, as the region in which they were encamped +was sometimes visited by hostile Indians, as well as by white trappers-- +many of whom were great scoundrels--it would be prudent to keep within +the circle of sentinels after dark. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +ATTACKED BY BANDITS--A SAD DEATH AND A SUDDEN RESCUE. + +It was well that we had been warned not to go beyond the camp, for there +happened at that time to be abroad on the prairies a band of miscreants +who would certainly have shot whoever they had caught straying. The +band was composed of white men--that class of white men who, throwing +off all moral and social restraints, give themselves up to the practice +of every species of iniquity, fearing neither God nor man. They were, +in short, a band of robbers and cut-throats, whose special business at +that time was hunting buffalo, but who were not averse to sell their +services to any nation that chanced to be at war, or to practice simple +robbery when opportunity offered. + +These men held the opinion that Indians were "vermin," to exterminate +which was commendable. When, therefore, they discovered our camp by the +light of the fires, they rode towards it with the utmost caution, taking +advantage of every bush and knoll until our sentinels observed them. +Then they rushed upon us like a hurricane, sending a volley of bullets +before them. + +Several of our men fell, mortally wounded. Our sentinels ran in, and a +wild attempt at defence was made; but it was in vain, we had been taken +completely by surprise, and, as the only chance of safety, our party +scattered in all directions, each man making for the nearest woods. + +Only Big Otter, Salamander, and I remained beside the camp-fires, +resolved to defend our helpless females or die with them. This brought +about a most unexpected turn of affairs, for the villains were so eager +to hunt and kill the flying Indians, that every man went in hot pursuit +of a fugitive, leaving us for the moment absolutely alone! + +We were not slow in taking advantage of this. Although at the onset +some of our terrified horses broke their fastenings and galloped away, +others remained quiet. Among these last I observed, were my own horse +and that of Salamander, which I have already said were splendid animals. + +Scarcely believing our good fortune, we all bounded towards these. In a +moment I had mounted. Eve seized my hand, put her foot on my toe, and, +with a light spring, seated herself behind me. Big Otter, vaulting on +Salamander's steed, swung Eve's mother up behind him. + +"Catch another horse--there are plenty good enough for a light weight +like you, Salamander," said I, as I put my horse to its utmost speed. + +Salamander was not slow to obey, but had scarcely mounted when a loud +halloo told that our action had been observed. I did not look back. +One consuming idea filled my mind, and that was to save Eve Liston. +That the miscreants who now thundered after us would show us no mercy I +felt well assured, and plied the heavy thong I carried with all my +might. The noble steed did not require that. It strained every muscle +to the uttermost. + +I felt cheered to observe that Big Otter kept well up with me, and could +hear that Salamander was not far behind. + +We now felt that our only hope, under God, lay in the superiority of our +horses, and for some time we listened to the pattering of the hoofs +behind us with intense anxiety. Soon I began to fancy that we were +distancing them, and ere long we became sure of this, at least as to the +most of our pursuers, but there was one who kept drawing closer and +closer. + +Presently a shot was fired and a bullet whizzed close past my head. + +At that moment Big Otter reined up so violently as to throw his horse +almost on its haunches. I checked my speed but did not rein up. +Looking back, I saw my Indian friend wheel round, raise his gun to his +shoulder and fire. The moon was bright, and I could see that the man +who had been closing with us dropped to the ground. Whether he was +killed or only wounded we did not wait to ascertain, but dashed on again +as fast as ever. We soon drew rein, however, on observing that the fall +of our pursuer had checked his companions. On reaching him they halted, +dismounted, and finally gave up the chase. We soon left them out of +sight behind us, but still we held on at a hand-gallop, resolved to put +as much distance as possible between us before encamping. + +During all this exciting chase Waboose's mother had clung to her +stalwart support with the uncomplaining patience of Indian women; but we +were deeply concerned to find on halting that she was too much exhausted +to dismount and that blood was trickling from her lips. Indeed, she +would have fallen to the ground if Big Otter had not caught her in his +arms. + +"Are you wounded, mother?" exclaimed Eve, going down on her knees, +seizing one of the poor woman's hands and kissing it tenderly. + +"No, Waboose, but I think there is something wrong here." She pressed +her breast gently and coughed up some blood. + +"She is quite worn out," said I. "Come, Big Otter, let us carry her to +a more comfortable place, and make a fire. A cup of tea will soon +revive her." + +I spoke cheerily, with a view to comfort Eve, but I confess that great +anxiety filled me when I looked at the poor woman's wan face and +emaciated frame. The blood, too, appeared to me a fatal symptom, though +I had but a hazy idea of everything relating to disease. + +The place we had selected for our encampment was a dense mass of forest +which covered the prairie in that part to an extent of about two square +miles. Near the outer margin of this patch there was a curious steep +mound which rose so high that from the top of it one could see over the +surrounding trees. It rose somewhat in the form of a cone with a flat +space at the apex of not more than twenty feet in diameter. On the +outer rim of this apex was a fringe of rocks and low bushes. It was, in +fact, a natural fortress, which seemed so suitable for us in our +circumstances that we at once set about making our camp on the top of +it. We took care, however, to kindle our fire in the lowest-lying and +densest thicket we could find at the foot of the mound. We also made +the fire as small and free from smoke as possible, for fear of +attracting any one to the spot. + +While I was busy down in the dell preparing the tea, Salamander having +been left to take care of the camp on the mound, Big Otter came to me. +I was alarmed by the solemn expression of his face. + +"Nothing wrong, I hope?" said I, anxiously. + +"The wife of Weeum the Good is dying," said the Indian, mournfully. + +"Oh! say not so," I exclaimed, "how dreadful to poor Waboose if this +were to happen just now! You must be mistaken." + +"Big Otter may be mistaken. He is not a medicine-man, but he saw a +young girl of his tribe with the same look and the same flow of blood +from the mouth, and she died." + +"God forbid!" I exclaimed, as I took up the kettle in which the tea was +being made. "See, it is ready, I will take it to her. It may at least +revive her." + +I hurried to the top of the mound, where poor Eve sat by the couch of +brush we had spread, holding her mother's hand and gazing into her face +with painful anxiety. She looked up hastily as I approached, and held +up a finger. + +"Does she sleep?" I asked, in a low voice, as I seated myself beside +the couch and set down the kettle. + +"Yes--I think so--but--" + +She stopped, for at the moment her mother opened her eyes, and looked +wistfully round. + +"Weeum!" she murmured, in a faint voice. "I thought I heard him speak." + +"No, dear mother," said Eve, beginning to weep silently. "Your spirit +was in the land of dreams." + +"See," said I, pouring some hot tea into a cup and stirring it. "I have +brought you some of the pale-faces' sweet-water. I always carry a +little of it about with me when I go hunting, and had some in my wallet +when we started on this wild race. Was it not fortunate? Come, take a +little, it will strengthen you, mother." + +It was the first time I had called her mother, and I did so from a +feeling of tenderness, for she seemed to me at the time certainly to be +dying; but she misunderstood my meaning, for she looked at me with +pleased surprise, and then laughed very softly as she glanced at Eve. I +perceived, however, from the innocent look of inquiry returned by the +latter, that she did not understand her. + +After taking some of the tea, the poor woman revived, and I whispered to +her daughter,--"Don't you think it might please her to see the little +picture?" + +"Perhaps. I am not sure. Yes, give it to me. I will show it, but say +nothing about my father's writing or wishes. I have not yet been able +to speak to her." + +To our disappointment she could make nothing of the portrait. Perhaps +the moonlight was insufficient, though very bright, but it is more +probable that her sight was even then failing. + +"What is that?" said Eve, with a startled look, pointing at something +behind me. + +I turned sharply round, and beheld a column of bright flame shooting +high up into the night-air. An exclamation of bitter chagrin escaped +me, for I knew well what it was. After I had got the fire kindled down +in the thicket on our arrival, I had noticed that I had laid it close to +the roots of a dead fir-tree, the branches of which were covered to the +top with a species of dried moss. At the time I knew that there was +danger in this, but as our fire was to be very small, and to be +extinguished the moment we were done with it, I had allowed it to remain +rather than be at the trouble of shifting and rekindling it. I +afterwards found that Big Otter had left the fire in charge of +Salamander, and gone to shift the position of the horses; and Salamander +had left it to fetch water from a neighbouring spring. Thus left to +itself, the fire took advantage of the chance to blaze up; the moss on +the dead tree had caught fire, and the instantaneous result was a blaze +that told of our whereabouts to whoever might be on the look-out within +ten or fifteen miles of us in every direction. + +Immediately afterwards Big Otter and Salamander came leaping into our +fortress. + +"What is to be done now?" I asked, in a tone of deep mortification. + +"I would say mount and fly," replied the Indian, "if it were not for +_her_." He pointed to the dying woman as he spoke. + +"It is quite out of the question," said I. "She cannot be moved." + +"The pale-face talks wisdom," said Big Otter. "We must put the place in +a state of defence, and watch instead of sleep." + +A deep sigh from Salamander told that the proposed mode of spending the +night was most unsatisfactory. + +Having no other resource left, however, we at once set about our task. + +A number of large loose stones lay about on the little plateau that +crowned our mound. These we rolled close to the edge of it, and ranging +them in line with those that were already there, formed a sort of +breastwork all round. Our three guns we had of course brought with us, +as well as ammunition, and as mine was a double-barrelled fowling-piece +we had thus four shots at command at any moment. The weapons being +already charged, we placed ourselves at three points of our circle and +prepared for a weary watch. + +The blaze of the burning fir-tree soon went out, and there were +fortunately no other dead trees at hand to be kindled by it. The moon +had also become obscured with clouds, so that we were left in +comparative darkness. The dead silence which it was needful to +maintain, and the occasional murmur of the dying woman rendered our +position eerie and sad in the extreme. + +At such times, when danger threatens and everything that is calculated +to solemnise surrounds one, thought is apt to be very busy; and often, +in such circumstances, the mind is more prone to be occupied with +distant scenes and persons than with those near at hand. Ere long the +sick woman appeared to have fallen asleep, and her daughter was seated +in perfect silence by her side. No sound whatever fell upon my +listening ear, for the night was intensely calm, and in spite of my +efforts to resist it, my thoughts strayed away to the home in "the old +country"; to scenes of boyhood, and to the kind old father, who used, as +a term of endearment, to call me "Punch." + +A slight motion on the part of Salamander recalled me, and, by way of +rousing myself to the necessity of present watchfulness, I examined the +priming of my gun. Then it occurred to me that a bullet, if fired at a +foe in the dark, would be very unlikely to hit; I, therefore, drew both +charges, and loaded with buckshot instead. You see, thought I, there is +no absolute necessity to kill any one. All I can possibly wish to do is +to disable, and big shot is more likely to do that without killing, than +bullets. + +While thus engaged the clouds rolled off the moon, and I saw my +companions clearly, sitting like statues at their posts. In a few +minutes I heard the sweet, low voice of Eve. She was speaking to her +mother. As I sat there and observed her fair hair and skin, and +recalled (for I could not just then see) her blue eyes, I found it +difficult to believe that there was even a drop of Indian blood in her +veins. "Not that I object to Indian blood," I said to myself, mentally, +in self-justification, "by no means. Indians are God's creatures as +well as white men, and many of them are a great deal better creatures +than many white men, but--" + +At this point my mental remarks ceased, for I observed, to my surprise, +that Eve opened a small book, and from the continuous tone of her voice, +I knew that she was reading. + +"It must be the Testament," thought I, "which poor Liston mentioned in +his manuscript as having been obtained from a hunter." + +The voice became more distinct as she proceeded, and I could make out +that she read the English slowly and with great difficulty, and then +translated it into Indian to her mother. + +"God so loved the world," she read with peculiar emphasis, and paused, +as if wishing to impress the blessed truth, "that He gave his +only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but +have everlasting life." + +She closed the book at this point and I observed that she bent over the +sick woman a long time. + +Suddenly there arose on the still night-air a low wail, so deep--so +suggestive of a breaking heart, that I sprang up and leaped to the +girl's side. + +There was no occasion to ask what had occurred. The mother lay there +dead, with the jaw dropped and the glazing eyes staring at the sky. +Kneeling down I gently closed the eyes, and with a napkin bound up the +face. Big Otter glided towards us, followed by Salamander. One glance +sufficed. They cast a look of pity at the orphan, who, with her face on +her knees, sobbed as if her heart would break. Then, without a word, +they glided back to their posts. I turned to Eve and took her hand. + +"Dear girl," I began--but she checked me. + +"Go," she said, "danger may be near; your post is unguarded." + +Raising her hand to my lips I left her without a word, and resumed my +watch. Again profound silence reigned around, broken only now and then +by an irrepressible sob from Eve. + +Some hours afterwards--I knew not how many, for I had been half asleep-- +Big Otter came to me. + +"We may not stay here," he said. "Come, I need your help." + +Without reply I rose and followed. It was still very dark. He went to +where the body of the Indian woman lay. It was cold and stiff by that +time. In passing I noticed that poor Eve acted as sentinel for Big +Otter--occupied his post and held his gun. + +I found that a shallow grave had been hollowed out close to where the +corpse lay. + +Understanding at once the purpose for which I had been called, I kneeled +at the head while the Indian kneeled at the feet. Grasping the +shoulders carefully I waited for a word or look from Big Otter, but +instead he turned his head to one side and uttered the single +word,--"Come!" + +Eve glided instantly towards us, went down on her knees, and printed a +long passionate kiss on the cold forehead. Then the Indian looked at +me, and we lifted the body into the grave. Eve spread a blanket +carefully over it, and at once left us to resume her post at the +breastwork, while we covered in the grave with earth and dead leaves. + +We had barely accomplished this duty when a loud report rudely broke the +silence of the night, and a rushing of feet was heard at the foot of the +mound. Leaping to my post, I instantly fired one of the barrels of my +gun. Several fierce cries followed, showing that the buckshot had taken +effect, and from the nature of the cries we at once perceived that our +assailants were white men. I purposely reserved my second barrel, for +my comrades, having also fired, were swiftly reloading, and, therefore, +defenceless. + +It was well that I did so, for two men, who had not been in the first +rush, now came up the mound at a run. Aiming right between them, I +fired and shot them both. They fell with hideous cries, and, rolling +head over heels down the steep ascent, went crashing into the bushes. + +"They are the men from whom we have just escaped," said I to Big Otter; +but my Indian friend was so elated by the success of my shot and withal +so excited by the fray, that instead of answering, he gave vent to a +terrific war-whoop in true Indian style. + +The attacking party had come on in front from the direction of the +plains. To my consternation, Big Otter's war cry was replied to in our +rear. Turning quickly, I saw the dark forms of several savages running +up the slope of our fortress. These, like the white men, had been +attracted to us by our column of fire. I was going to send a charge of +buckshot amongst them, when my Indian friend stopped me. + +"Let them come," he said, quickly. "They and the white men are sworn +foes. Be ready to follow me." + +This last was said to all of us, for we had instinctively drawn to the +centre of our plateau with the idea of fighting back to back with the +foes who surrounded us. Again we heard the white men charging up the +front of our little hill, but, before they reached the top, a dozen +savages had leaped into our enclosure. + +"Help! against the pale-face dogs," cried Big Otter, pointing his gun, +and firing at them as they came up. + +A wild war-whoop rang out from the Indians, who were only too ready to +accept the invitation to fight the pale-faces. A defiant cheer burst in +reply from the white men, who were equally eager for the fray. + +"Come!" whispered Big Otter at this point. + +We had no difficulty in slipping away at the rear unperceived amid the +din and smoke, and ran to where our horses had been tied. Mounting, +like squirrels, we went off like the wind in the direction of the open +prairie, and soon left our little fortress far behind us, with the +redskins and the pale-faces fighting on the top of it like wild cats! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +THE POWER OF SLEEP--PLANS DISCUSSED AND A FAR JOURNEY RESOLVED ON. + +It was broad daylight when we once again drew rein, and then we were all +so overcome with sleep and exhaustion, after the prolonged watching and +excitement of the night, that we could scarcely sit on our horses. + +Eve, who sat behind me, grasping my waist with both arms, swayed so +heavily once or twice, as nearly to throw me down. + +"We _must_ stop," said I to Big Otter, who was close beside me. + +"Yes," replied the Indian; but his tone told that he was barely awake. + +"If you doosn't me _drop_," said Salamander. The worthy interpreter +seemed to think English the easiest language in the circumstances. + +"Oh! I'm _so_ sleepy," said poor Eve, whose grief helped to increase +her exhaustion. + +"Come, we will camp in this thicket!" said Big Otter, turning his horse +in the direction of a long strip of bush that lay a few hundred yards to +our right. + +On reaching it, we penetrated, almost mechanically, to the thickest part +of it, dismounted, and fastened our horses to the trees. Turning +instantly, to assist Eve in making a couch of leaves, I found that she +had lain down where she had dismounted, and was already fast asleep. + +"Here, Salamander, lend a hand to lift her," I said, looking round; but +Salamander was also in the land of Nod, flat on his back, with his eyes +shut, and his mouth open. + +Turning to Big Otter, I found that he was standing staring at me with an +expression of such awful solemnity that I was partially roused with a +feeling of alarm. + +"Hallo!" I exclaimed, "what has happened?--speak, man!" + +But Big Otter only gazed more intensely than ever, swayed slightly to +and fro, and gave a sort of wink, or rather a slap together of both +eyes. Then I understood that the wretched man was only glaring like an +owl in the sunshine, in his tremendous efforts to keep awake. He +assisted me, however, to lift Eve to a more comfortable position, and +while he was in the act of laying her fair head gently on a pillow of +moss, I observed that he sank down and instantly fell into a profound +slumber; but even in that hour of mingled danger and exhaustion, the +Indian did not neglect to hold his gun to his breast with a firm grasp. +I also had enough wit left to keep my double-barrel in my hand, and was +in the act of examining the locks, seated at Eve's feet, where my own +senses forsook me. + +We lay there, perfectly silent and motionless, during the whole of that +day, for it was not until the sun was descending towards the western +horizon that we awoke. I happened to be the first to move. Rising +softly, so as not to disturb the others, I went to search for water, and +was fortunate enough to find a small pool, which, though not very clear, +was nevertheless sufficiently good to slake our thirst. Sitting down +beside the pool, I lifted my heart and voice in thanksgiving to God for +having thus far delivered and guided us. + +While thus engaged a slight rustling in the bushes caused me to spring +up. It was caused by Big Otter, who had followed me. + +"What does the pale-face think?" he asked, sitting down beside me. + +"He thinks that the Great Master of Life has delivered us from our +enemies. He is good," said I, being still influenced by the devotional +feeling which had been broken in upon. + +For a few moments the Indian did not reply, but continued to look +thoughtfully at the ground. At length he spoke. + +"Was the Great Master of Life good when He let Waboose's mother die in +the midst of war and weakness? Was He good to Waboose when He left her +fatherless and motherless?" + +"Yes, He was good," I answered, confidently. "He took the mother of +Waboose home to dwell with Himself and with her father Weeum. And men +and women, you know, cannot be taken to the happy land without leaving +their children behind them--fatherless and motherless." + +Big Otter did not reply, but I saw by his grave look that he was not +satisfied. After a brief pause he resumed,--"Was the Great Master of +Life good to the wicked pale-faces, when He allowed the red-men to slay +them in their sins?" + +"Yes," I returned, "He was good, because the Great Master of Life cannot +be otherwise than good. He has made our brains capable of understanding +that, and our hearts capable of resting on it. But He is our Father. +Children do not understand all that a father does. Big Otter has +touched on a great mystery. But what we know not now we shall know +hereafter. Only let the red-man be sure of this, that whatever we come +to know in the hereafter will tend more and more to prove that the Great +Master of Life is good." + +For a long time the Indian remained silent, and I could not tell by the +expression of his grave face whether my reasoning weighed with him or +not; I therefore offered up a brief prayer that the Spirit of God might +open his eyes--as well as my own--to see, and our hearts to receive, the +_truth_, whatever that might be. Then I said,--"The thoughts of Big +Otter are deep, what do they lead to?" + +"No," he replied, "his thoughts are not deep, but they are confused, for +he has heard his pale-face brother call Waboose, Eve. How did he come +to know that name? It was only used by Weeum, and seldom by him--never +by any one else." + +It struck me that now was as suitable a time as might present itself to +let the Indian know about the contents of the packet, so I +said,--"Listen, Big Otter, I have something important to tell." + +From this point I went on, and, in as few words as possible, related all +that the reader knows about the packet, and the wishes of poor William +Liston. I also showed him the miniature, at which he gazed with visible +but suppressed emotion. + +"Now," said I, in conclusion, "what do you think we should do?" + +"What Weeum wished must be done," he replied simply but firmly. + +"You were fond of Weeum?" I said. + +"Yes, Big Otter loved him like a brother." + +"Don't you think," said I, after some minutes' thought, "that it is our +duty first to return to the camp of your tribe, and also that I should +send Salamander back to Fort Wichikagan to tell where I have gone, and +for what purpose? For Salamander is not free like myself. He is still +a servant of the fur-traders." + +"No, that is not your duty," said the Indian decidedly. "Your duty is +to obey the commands of Weeum! My tribe will not die of grief because +Waboose does not return. As for Salamander--send him where you please. +He is nobody--nothing!" + +Although not quite agreeing with Big Otter in his contemptuous estimate +of the value of Salamander, I believed that I could get along quite well +without him; and therefore resolved to send him back--first to the +Indian camp to tell of our safety and intentions, and then to the fort +with an explanatory letter to Lumley, who, I knew full well, would be +filled with great anxiety on my account, as well as with uncertainty as +to how he should act, destitute as he was of the slightest clue to my +fate or my whereabouts. + +"And you, my friend," I said, "what will your movements be?" + +"Big Otter will go and help you to obey the commands of Weeum," he +replied. "There is no wife, no child, waiting for him to return. He +must be a father to Waboose. Muxbee will _be_ her brother. The trail +to Colorado is long. Big Otter has been there. He has been a solitary +wanderer all his life, and knows the wilderness well. He has crossed +the great mountains where the snow lies deep even in summer. He can be +a guide, and knows many of the mountain tribes as well as the tribes of +the prairie--Waugh!" + +"Well, my friend," said I, grasping the Indian's strong hand, "I need +not tell you that your decision gives me joy, and I shall be only too +glad to travel with you in the capacity of a son; for, you know, if you +are to be a father to Waboose, and I am to be her brother, that makes +you my father--don't you see?" + +The grave Indian smiled faintly at this touch of pleasantry, and then +rose. + +"We have nothing to eat," he said, as we returned to the place where we +had slept, "and we cannot hunt in the night. Is your bag empty?" + +"No," said I, glancing at the contents of my wallet, "there is enough of +biscuit and pemmican to give us a light meal." + +"That will do," he returned; "we need rest more than food just now." + +This was indeed true; for, notwithstanding that I had slept so soundly +during that day, I still felt a strong disinclination to rouse myself to +action, and an intense desire to lie down again. These feelings being +shared by my companions, it was resolved to spend the night where we +were, but we took good care to kindle no fire to betray us a second +time. We roused Eve and Salamander to take some food, after which we +all lay down, and, ere long, were again sound asleep. + +This double allowance of rest had the most beneficial effect upon our +frames. We did not awake till an early hour the following morning, and +felt so much refreshed as to be ready and anxious to set off on our +journey, without the delay of breakfasting. This was fortunate, for the +scraps that remained in my wallet would only have sufficed for one meal +to a man of ordinary appetite; and, as it was important to expedite +Salamander on his return journey, these had to be given to him. Poor +fellow! he was much cast down on hearing of my decision in regard to +him. + +"But, sar," he said, with a sorrowful countenance, "w'at for I no go +vith you?" + +"Because you are still a servant of the Fur Company, and not entitled to +break your engagement. Besides, it is desirable that Big Otter's people +should know why he and Waboose have left them, and where they have gone; +and if you explain matters correctly they will be quite satisfied, for +they all respect the memory of Weeum the Good. Moreover, it is +important that Mr Lumley should know what has prevented my return, both +to relieve his mind, and prevent his sending out to search for me." + +"But sar," objected Salamander, "w'at if me meets vid de vite +scoundrils?" + +"You must fight them, or run away from them." + +"Vell, me kin fight but me kin more joyfulerly run avay. But," he +continued, still objecting, "me got no grub." + +"Here is enough for one day," I said, giving him all I possessed, "if +you spin it out. To-morrow you can roast and eat your moccasins, and +the third day you can starve. Surely that's not hard on a strong young +fellow like you; and if you push on fast enough you'll reach the camp of +the redskins early on the third day." + +Salamander sighed, but made no further objection, and half an hour later +he left us. + +As we now possessed only two horses, it naturally fell to my lot, being +a light weight compared with Big Otter, to take Eve up behind me. + +"We must get a horse for Waboose," said the Indian, as we galloped over +the prairie that day. "There is a tribe of Blackfoot Indians not far +from here who have good horses, and understand the value of gold, for +some of them have been to the settlements of the pale-faces. You tell +me that you have gold?" + +"Yes, I found a bag of five hundred gold pieces with the diamonds in +Weeum's packet." + +Big Otter looked at me inquiringly, but did not speak, yet I guessed his +thoughts; for, though I had shown him Liston's letter and the miniature, +I had not shown him the gold or the jewels, and he must have wondered +where I carried them; for he knew, of course, that they were necessarily +somewhat bulky and were not in my wallet, which I had emptied more than +once in his presence. I therefore explained to him:-- + +"You know, perhaps, that gold is heavy, and five hundred pieces are +bulky and troublesome to carry; so I have had a piece of cloth made with +a hole in the middle of it for my head to go through; one end of it +hangs over my breast under my shirt, like a breastplate, and one end +hangs over my back, and on each of these plates there are rows of little +pockets, each pocket the size of a gold piece. Thus, you see, the gold +does not feel heavy, being equally distributed, and it does not show, as +it would if carried in a heap--besides, it forms a sort of armour-- +though I fear it would not resist a rifle-bullet!" + +"Waugh!" exclaimed Big Otter, with an intelligent look. + +"As to the diamonds, they are not bulky. I have concealed them in an +under-belt round my waist." + +As Big Otter had predicted, we came to a large village of Blackfoot +Indians two days afterwards, and were received with cordial friendship +by the inhabitants, who knew my Indian well. He had visited them during +his wanderings many a time, and once, at a very critical period in their +history, had rendered important service to the tribe, besides saving the +life of their chief. + +A new tent was set aside for our use, and a small one pitched close to +it for Waboose, whose dignified yet modest bearing made a profound +impression on those children of the wilderness. They recognised, no +doubt that Indian blood flowed in her veins, but that rather increased +their respect for her, as it gave them, so to speak, a right to claim +kinship with a girl who was obviously one of Nature's aristocracy, +besides possessing much of that refinement which the red-men had come to +recognise as a characteristic of some of the best of the pale-faces. + +Indeed, I myself found, now that I had frequent opportunities of +conversing with Eve Liston, that the man who had been affectionately +styled Weeum the Good by the Indians, had stored his child's mind with +much varied secular knowledge, such as Indians never possess, besides +instilling into her the elevating and refining precepts of Christianity. +Being of a poetical turn of mind, he had also repeated to Eve many long +and beautiful pieces from our best poets, so that on more than one +occasion the girl had aptly quoted several well-known passages--to my +inexpressible amazement. + +"I wonder," said I, when we three were seated in our tent that night, +refreshing ourselves with a choice morsel of baked buffalo-hump, with +which the hospitable Blackfeet had supplied us, "how it comes to pass +that Indians, who are usually rather fond of gifts, absolutely refuse to +accept anything for the fine horse they have given to Waboose?" + +"Perhaps," said Eve, with a little smile, in which the extreme corners +of her pretty mouth had the peculiar tendency to turn down instead of +up--"perhaps it is because they are grateful. Indians are not +altogether destitute of that feeling." + +"True, Eve, true; it must be that. Will you tell us, Big Otter, how you +managed to make these fellows so grateful?" + +"I saved the chief's life," returned the Indian, curtly. + +"Yes; but how, and when?" + +"Four summers have passed since then. I was returning from a trip to +the Rocky Mountains when it happened. Many bad pale-faces were in the +mountains at that time. They were idle bad men from many lands, who +hated work and loved to fight. One of them had been killed by a Sioux +Indian. They all banded together and swore that they would shoot every +Indian they came across. They killed many--some even who were friendly +to the white men. They did not ask to what tribe they belonged. They +were `redskin varmints,' that was enough! + +"The Strong Elk, whose hospitality we enjoy to-night, was chief of the +Blackfeet. I was on my way to visit him, when, one evening, I came upon +the camp of the pale-faces. I knew that sometimes they were not +friendly to the red-man, so I waited till dark, and then crept forward +and listened. Their chief was loud-voiced and boastful. He boasted of +how many Indians he had killed. I could have shot him where I lay and +then escaped easily, but I spared him, for I wished to listen. They +talked much of the Strong Elk. I understood very little. The language +of the pale-face is difficult to understand, but I came to know that in +two hours, when the moon should sink, they would attack him. + +"I waited to hear no more. I ran like the hunted buffalo. I came to +Strong Elk and told him. It was too late to move the camp, but we put +it in a state of defence. When the pale-faces came, we were ready. +Arrows, thick as the snowflakes in winter, met them when they came on, +and many of them bit the dust. Some ran away. Some, who were brave, +still came on and leaped our barricades. They fought like fiends. +Their boastful chief saw Strong Elk and rushed at him. They grappled +and fell. The pale-face had a keen knife. It was raised to strike. +One moment more, and the Blackfoot chief had been in the happy +hunting-grounds with his fathers, when the gun of Big Otter came down on +the skull of the boastful one. It was enough. Strong Elk was saved-- +and he is grateful; waugh!" + +"Well, he has reason to be!" said I, much impressed by the modest way in +which the story was told. "And now," I added, "since we have got a +capital horse, and the journey before us is long, don't you think we +should start to-morrow!" + +"Yes, to-morrow--and it is time for Waboose to rest. She is strong, but +she has had much to weary her, and her grief is deep." + +With a kindly acknowledgment of the Indian's thoughtful care of her, Eve +rose and went to her tent. Big Otter lighted his pipe, and I lay down +to meditate; but almost before I had time to think, my head drooped and +I was in the land of forgetfulness. + +It is not my purpose, good reader, to carry you step by step over the +long, varied, and somewhat painful journey that intervened between us +and Colorado at that time. It was interesting--deeply so--for we passed +through some of the most beautiful as well as wildest scenery of the +North American wilderness. We kept far to the westward, near the base +of the Rocky Mountains, so as to avoid the haunts of civilised men. But +space will not permit of more than a brief reference to this long +journey. + +I can only say that on arriving at a village belonging to a remote tribe +of Indians, who were well-known to my guide, it was arranged that Big +Otter and Waboose should stay with them, while I should go to the cities +of the pale-faces and endeavour to convert my diamonds into cash. +Happening to have a friend in Chicago I went there, and through his +agency effected the sale of the diamonds, which produced a little over +the sum mentioned by William Liston in his paper. This I took with me +in the convenient form of bills on well-known mercantile firms, in the +region to which I was bound, and, having wrapped them in a piece of +oiled silk and sewed them inside of the breastplate that contained my +gold, I set off with a light heart, though somewhat weighted shoulders, +to return to my friends in the Far West. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +TELLS OF A WONDERFUL MEETING AND A FRUSTRATED FOE. + +I must change the scene now, and advance the courteous reader +considerably in regard to time as well as place on the journey which we +have pursued so long together. + +It is one of those scenes of romantic beauty on the extreme frontiers of +civilisation, where the rifle has not even yet given place to the +plough; where the pioneer husbandman and the painted warrior often +meet--the one to look with patronising superiority on the savage, whom +he means to benefit; the other to gaze curiously at the pale-face, and +to wonder, somewhat indignantly, when and where his encroachments are to +cease. + +Woodlands and prairies, breezy uplands and grassy bottoms, alternate in +such picturesque confusion, and such lovely colours co-mingle, that a +painter--had one been there--must have deemed the place at all events +the vestibule of paradise. + +There is a small hamlet on the slope of a hill, with a broad river +winding in front, a few hundred yards from the hamlet, which opens out +into a lake. On the margin of this lake lie a few boats. On the +surface of it float a few more boats, with one or two birch-bark canoes. +Some of these are moving to and fro; the occupants of others, which +appear to be stationary, are engaged in fishing. There is the sound of +an anvil somewhere, and the lowing of cattle, and the voices of +children, and the barking of dogs at play, and the occasional crack of a +gun. It is an eminently peaceful as well as beautiful backwood scene. + +To a particular spot in this landscape we would direct attention. It is +a frame-house, or cottage, which, if not built according to the most +approved rules of architecture, is at least neat, clean, +comfortable-looking, and what one might style pretty. It is a +"clap-boarded" house, painted white, with an edging of brown which +harmonises well with the green shrubbery around. There is a verandah in +front, a door in the middle, two windows on either side, and no upper +storey; but there are attics with dormer windows, which are suggestive +of snug sleeping-rooms of irregular shape, with low ceilings and +hat-crushing doorways. + +This cottage stands on the apex of a little hill which overlooks the +hamlet, commands the river and the lake, as well as an extensive view of +a sparsely settled district beyond, where the frontier farmer and the +primeval forest are evidently having a lively time of it together. In +short the cottage on the hill has a decidedly comfortable +come-up-quick-and-enjoy-yourself air which is quite charming. + +On a certain fine afternoon in autumn Eve Liston, _alias_ Waboose, Big +Otter and I, rode slowly up the winding path which led to this cottage. +We had been directed to it by the postmaster of the hamlet,--a man who, +if he had been condemned to subsist solely on the proceeds of the +village post-office, would have been compelled to give up the ghost, or +the post, in a week. + +"We must be careful, Eve, how we break it to her," said I, as we neared +the top. + +Arrived at the summit of the hill we found a rustic table, also a rustic +seat on which was seated a comely matron engaged in the very commonplace +work of darning socks. She cast on us a sharp and remarkably +penetrating glance as we approached. Doubtless our appearance was +peculiar, for a pretty maiden in savage costume, a somewhat ragged white +man, and a gigantic savage, all mounted on magnificent steeds and +looking travel-stained and worn after a journey of many weeks, was not +probably an everyday sight, even in those regions. + +Dismounting and advancing to act as spokesman, while my companions sat +motionless and silent in their saddles, I pulled off my cap. + +"I have been directed to this house as the abode of Mrs Liston," said I +with a tremor of anxiety, for I knew that the comely matron before me +could not be she whom I sought, and feared there might be some mistake. + +"You have been directed aright, sir. May I ask who it is that desires +to see her?" + +"My name is Maxby," said I, quickly, for I was becoming nervously +impatient. "I am quite a stranger to Mrs Liston, but I would see her, +because I bring her news--news of importance--in fact a message from her +long-lost son." + +"From Willie Liston?" exclaimed the lady, starting up, and seizing my +arm, while she gazed into my face with a look of wild surprise. "Is +he--but it cannot be--impossible--he must be--" + +"He is dead," said I, in a low, sad voice, as she hesitated. + +"Yes," she returned, clasping her hands but without any of the wild look +in her eyes now. "We have mourned him as dead for many, many years. +Stay, I will call his--but--perhaps--sometimes it is kindness to +conceal. If there is anything sad to tell, might it not be well to +leave his poor mother in ignorance? She is old and--" + +"No, madam," I interrupted, "that may not be. I have a message from him +to his mother." + +"A message! Then you knew him?" + +"No; I never saw him." + +"Strange! You have a message from him, yet never saw him. Can you not +give me the message, to convey it to her? She is getting frail and a +shock might be serious. I am William Liston's cousin, and have come to +take care of my aunt, and manage her farm." + +"The message, by Mr Liston's wish," said I, "was to be delivered by me +to his mother. I will be very careful to deliver it gently." + +"Well, I will bring her to you. She usually comes out about this time +to enjoy the sunset. I will trust to your discretion; but bear in +remembrance that she is not strong. Forgive me," she added, turning to +my companions, "this surprise has made me forget my duty. Will your +friends dismount?" + +Eve at once dismounted, and shook the hand which the lady extended; but +Big Otter sat quite still, like a grand equestrian statue, while the +lady entered the house. + +I saw that the poor girl was much agitated, but, true to her Indian +training, she laid powerful constraint on herself. + +In a few minutes an old lady with the sweetest face and most benignant +aspect I ever saw, came out of the cottage and advanced to the rustic +seat. Before sitting down she looked at us with a pleasant smile, and +said,--"You are heartily welcome. We are always glad to see strangers +in these distant parts." + +While speaking she tremblingly pulled out, and put on, a pair of +spectacles to enable her to have a clearer view of her visitors. The +scene that immediately followed took me very much by surprise, and +completely frustrated all my wise plans of caution. + +She looked at me first and nodded pleasantly. Then she looked at Eve, +who was gazing at her with an intense and indescribable expression. +Suddenly the old lady's eyes opened to their widest. A death-like +pallor overspread her old face. She opened her arms wide, bent forward +a little towards Eve, and gasped,--"Come to me--Willie!" + +Never was invitation more swiftly accepted. Eve bounded towards her and +caught her in her arms just in time to prevent her falling. + +The poor old mother! For years she had prayed and longed for her lost +Willie, though she never once regarded him as "lost." "Is not the +promise _sure_?" she was wont to say, "Ask and ye shall receive." Even +when she believed that the erring son was dead she did not cease to pray +for him--because he _might_ be alive. Latterly, however, her tone of +resignation proved that she had nearly, if not quite, given up all hope +of seeing him again in this life, yet she never ceased to think of him +as "not lost, but gone before." And now, when at last his very image +came back to her in the form of a woman, she had no more doubt as to who +stood before her than she had of her own identity. She knew it was +Willie's child--one glance sufficed to convince her of that--but it was +only Willie--the long-lost Willie--that she thought of, as she pressed +the weeping girl with feeble fervour to her old and loving heart. + +During the time that this scene was enacting, Big Otter remained still +motionless on his horse, without moving a muscle of his grave +countenance. Was he heartless, or was his heart a stone? An observer +might readily have thought so, but his conduct when the old lady at last +relaxed her hold of Eve, proved that, Indian like, he was only putting +stern restraint on himself. + +Dismounting with something of the deliberate and stately air of one who +is resolved not to commit himself, the Indian strode towards Mrs +Liston, and, tenderly grasping one of her hands in both of his, +said,--"Weeum!" + +Truly there is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and in +some cases that step is an exceeding short one. It seemed so to me now, +as I beheld the tall Indian stooping to gaze with intense earnestness +into the tear-besprinkled face of the little old lady, who gazed with +equally intense amazement into his huge, dark visage. + +"What _does_ he mean by Weeum?" she asked, with an appealing look at me. + +"Weeum," I replied, "is the Indian way of pronouncing William. Your +late son, dear madam, was much beloved and respected by the tribe of +Indians, with whom he dwelt, and was known to them only by the name of +William, or Weeum. This man was his most intimate and loving friend and +brother-in-law." + +The poor old lady was deeply affected while I spoke, for of course my +words confirmed at last, her long resisted fear that Willie was indeed +no longer of this world. + +Big Otter waited a few seconds, still holding her hand, and then, +turning to me, said in his native tongue,--"Tell the pale-face mother +that the sister of Big Otter was the wife of Weeum; that Big Otter loved +Weeum better than a brother, and that Weeum loved Big Otter more than +any man of his tribe. Every one loved Weeum the Good. He was so kind, +and so brave! At first he was very fierce, but afterwards that passed +away, and when Waboose began to grow tall and wise, Weeum turned soft +like a woman. He spoke often to the red-men about the Great Master of +Life, and he taught Big Otter to love the Great Master of Life and the +name of Jesus. Often Weeum talked of going to the far south to see one +whom he called a _dear old one_. We did not understand him then. Big +Otter understands him now. So shall it be in the great hereafter-- +things that are dark now shall be light then. But Weeum could not leave +his wife and child, and we would not let him take them away. Sometimes +Weeum spoke mysteries. One day he said to me, `Brother, I _must_ go to +the far south to see the dear old one. I will take my wife and child, +and will return to you again--if the great Master of Life allows. If, +however, I die or am killed, Waboose will reveal all that is in Weeum's +heart. She cannot reveal it now. She will not even understand until a +_good_ pale-face visits your tribe.' Weeum said no more. He left the +mind of Big Otter dark. It is no longer dark. It is now clear as the +sun at noon. The `good pale-face' is here (pointing to me as he spoke), +and the `dear old one' is before me." + +He paused a moment at this point, and then, with an evident effort to +suppress emotion, added,--"Weeum was drowned, soon after the day he +spoke to me, while trying to save life. Since then there has been no +sun in the sky for Big Otter." + +The poor old mother listened to this speech with intense interest and +deepening emotion, but I could see that the tears which flowed over the +wrinkled cheeks were tears of gladness rather than of sorrow. It could +scarcely at that time come as news to her that her son was dead, but it +did come as a gladsome surprise that her wilful Willie had not only +found the Saviour himself--or, rather, been found of Him--but that he +had spent his latter days in striving to bring others to that great +Source of blessedness. + +Being too much overcome to speak, she submitted to be led away into the +cottage by the comely matron, who had been a keen and sympathetic +observer of all that passed. Of course Eve accompanied them, for +Weeum's mother refused to let go her hand, even for a moment, and Big +Otter and I were left outside alone. + +"Come," said I, vaulting into my saddle, "you and I will go and have a +gallop, my friend, and see the land, for I mean to dwell here and would +strongly advise you to do the same." + +"Waugh!" exclaimed the Indian, as he leaped on the back of his steed, +and followed me. + +"You see," said I, as we rode along, followed by the admiring gaze of +the village children--for, accustomed though they were to savages, they +had never seen so grand an Indian as Big Otter on so magnificent a +horse--"you see, they will require some time to clear up matters in the +cottage, for Eve's English, good though it be, is not perfect, and all +their minds will naturally be a little confused at first. You did me +good service to-day, my friend." + +"How? The speech of Muxbee is mysterious." + +"Don't you see," I replied, "that the speech you made to old Mrs +Liston, broke the ice as it were, and told her nearly all that I had to +tell. And if you knew how many anxious hours I have spent in thinking +how I should best break the sad news to the poor old mother, you would +better understand how grateful I am to you." + +"The speech of Muxbee is still full of mystery. What does he mean by +breaking news? When Big Otter has got news to tell, he tells it. When +people have got something to hear, why should they not hear it at once?" + +I felt that there are some things which some minds cannot understand; +so, instead of answering, changed the subject. + +"See," said I, pointing to a part of the uncleared bush into which we +had ridden, "there are two redskins. One is about to let fly an arrow. +Hold on--we may disturb his aim!" + +My companion looked, and with a start threw forward the muzzle of his +gun. + +Little did I think, riding as we then were in a semi-civilised region-- +what the aim was that I was so anxious not to disturb. + +I was suddenly and rudely enlightened when I heard the twang of the bow, +and saw the arrow flying straight towards me. It was too late to leap +aside, or dodge it. Full on the centre of my chest the shaft struck me. +I experienced something of the shock that one feels when death is +suddenly and very unexpectedly brought near. I have a distinct +recollection of the solemn impression made by the belief that my last +hour had come, yet I did not fall. I saw that the savage was hastily +fitting another arrow to the bow, but was so stunned by surprise that I +made no effort to save myself. Happily Big Otter had his wits about +him. He fired before the arrow winged its flight, and shot the Indian +dead. + +The other savage at once turned and fled, but my companion gave chase +and overtook him in a few seconds. Seeing that he could not escape he +turned round, flung down his weapons in token of submission, and stood +sullenly before his captor. + +Big Otter at once leaped off his steed, seized the man, bound his arms +behind him with a thong, and led him to the spot where the dead man was +lying on his face. + +Meanwhile, I had discovered that the arrow which should have pierced my +heart had been stopped by one of the gold pieces which formed my +breastplate! It had, indeed, pierced the coin, but had only entered my +flesh about a quarter of an inch! Thanking God for the wonderful +deliverance, I plucked it out, and, casting it away, rode up to the +place where the dead man lay. My companion had turned him over, and to +my great surprise, revealed the face of my old foe, Attick! + +"Waugh!" exclaimed Big Otter, turning to the captured savage. "Are +there not deer enough in the woods, and buffalo enough on the plains, +that the red-man should take to testing his arrows on pale-faces?" + +"I did not shoot," was the stern reply. + +"True, but you were the companion, perhaps the friend, of the dead man." + +"I was _not_ his friend," replied the savage, more sullenly than ever. + +"Then how came you to be with him when making this cowardly attack?" I +asked, in a tone which was meant to conciliate. + +The tone had the desired effect. The savage explained that about three +weeks previously he had, while in danger of being killed by a grizzly +bear which he had wounded, been rescued by Attick, who told him that he +was in pursuit of a foe who had injured him deeply, and whom he meant to +hunt to death. Out of gratitude the Indian had consented to follow +him--believing his story to be true. Attick explained that he had +followed his foe from the far north, day by day, week by week, month by +month, seeking an opportunity to slay him; but so careful a watch had +been kept by his foe and the Indian and woman who travelled with him +that he had not up to that time found an opportunity. Attick and his +new ally had then dogged us to Sunny Creek--the village at which we had +arrived--and, finding that we no longer feared danger from hostile +Indians, and had relaxed our vigilance, they had made up their minds to +stay there patiently till the deed could be accomplished. That day, +while consulting about the matter in the woods, we had suddenly and +unexpectedly appeared before them, and Attick had discharged his arrow. + +"But" concluded the savage, with a perplexed look, "the pale-face cannot +be killed. Arrows cannot pierce him." + +"You are right," said I, suddenly coming to a decision in regard to the +man. "Neither bullet nor arrow can kill me till my work is done, and +the Great Master of Life permits me to die. Go--and be more careful +whom you follow in future." + +I cut the thong that bound him, as I spoke, and set him free. + +Without a word, though with an irresistible look of surprise, the savage +turned, picked up his weapons and strode majestically into the bush. + +"My brother is not wise," remarked Big Otter. + +"That may be so," said I, "but it grieves me that the blood of one +Indian has been shed on my account, and I don't want to let the +authorities here have the chance of shedding that of another. Come, we +must let them know what has happened." + +So saying I turned and rode off. We went direct to the authorities +above-mentioned, told who we were and what we had done, guided a party +of men to the scene of the intended murder; and then, while the stars +were beginning to twinkle in the darkening sky, returned to see what was +going on in the little cottage on the hill at Sunny Creek. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF CORRESPONDENCE ENLARGED ON--COMING EVENTS, +ETCETERA. + +About six weeks after the events narrated in the last chapter, I seated +myself before a desk in a charming attic-room in the cottage--no need to +say what cottage--and began to pen a letter. + +I was in an exceedingly happy frame of mind. The weather was agreeable; +neither too hot nor too cold; circumstances around me were conducive to +quiet contemplation, and my brain was quite clear, nevertheless I +experienced unusual difficulty in the composition of that letter. I +began it at least half-a-dozen times, and as many times threw my pen +down, tore it up and began another. At last I received a summons to +dinner, and had then got only half-way through my letter. + +Our dinner-party consisted of old Mrs Liston, her comely niece, Mrs +Temple, who by the way was a widow, Eve Liston, and myself. Big Otter, +unable to endure the restraints of civilisation, had gone on a hunting +expedition for a few days, by way of relief! + +"You is very stupid, surely, to take three hours to write one letter," +remarked Eve, with that peculiar smile to which I have before referred. + +"Eve," said I, somewhat sternly, "you will never learn English properly +if you do not attend to my instructions. _You_ is plural, though _I_ am +singular, and if you address me thus you must say you _are_ not you +_is_." + +"You _are_ right in saying you are singular," interposed Aunt Temple, +who was rather sharp witted, and had intensely black eyes. Eve had +called her "aunt" by mistake at first, and now stuck to it. + +"I don't think there is another man in the district," continued the +matron, "who would take so long to write a short letter. You said it +was going to be short didn't you?" + +"Yes--short and sweet; though I doubt if the dear old man will think it +so at first. But he'll change his mind when he gets here." + +"No doubt we will convert him," said Aunt Temple. + +"Eve will, at all events," said I. + +There was not much more said at that dinner which calls for record. I +will therefore return to the attic-room and the letter. + +After at least another hour of effort, I succeeded in finishing my task, +though not entirely to my satisfaction. As the letter was of +considerable importance and interest--at least to those concerned--I now +lay it before the reader. It ran thus:-- + +"My Dear Father, + +"I scarcely know how to tell you--or how to begin, for I fear that you +will not only be very much surprised, but perhaps, displeased by what I +have to write. But let me assure you, dear father, that I cannot help +it! It almost seems as if the thing had been arranged for me, and as if +I had had no say in the matter. The fact is that I have left the +service of the Fur-Traders, and am engaged to be married to a dear +beautiful half-caste girl (quite a lady, however, I assure you), and +have made up my mind to become a farmer in one of the wildest parts of +Colorado! There--I've made a clean breast of it, and if that does not +take away your breath, nothing will! But I write in all humility, +dearest father. Do not fancy that, having taken the bit in my teeth, I +tell you all this defiantly. Very far from it. Had it been possible, +nothing would have gratified me more than to have consulted you, and +asked your approval and blessing, but with three thousand miles of +ocean, and I know not how many hundred miles of land between us, that +you know, was out of the question; besides, it could not have altered +matters, for the thing is fixed. + +"My Eve's mother was an Indian. A very superior woman, indeed, let me +hasten to say, and an exceptionally amiable one. Her father was an +English gentleman named William Liston--son of a clergyman, and a highly +educated man. He was wild and wilful in his youth, and married an +Indian, but afterwards became a really good man, and, being naturally +refined and with amiable feelings, spent his life in doing good to the +people with whom he had cast his lot, and perished in saving the life of +his wife. Eve evidently takes after him. + +"As to my Eve herself--" + +I will spare the reader what I said about Eve herself! Suffice it to +say that after an enthusiastic account of her mental and physical +qualities, in which, however, I carefully refrained from exaggeration, +and giving a brief outline of my recent experiences, I wound up +with,--"And now, dear father, forgive me if I have done wrong in all +this, and make up your mind to come out here and live with us, or take a +farm of your own near to us. You know there is nothing to tie you to +the old country; you were always fond of the idea of emigrating to the +backwoods; your small income will go twice as far here as there, if +properly laid out, and you'll live twice as long. Come, dear dad, if +you love me. I can't get married till you come. Ever believe me, your +affectionate son--George Maxby." + +Reader, shall we visit the dear old man in his dingy little house in old +England while he peruses the foregoing letter? Yes, let us go. It is +worth while travelling between four and five thousand miles to see him +read it. Perhaps, if you are a critical reader, you may ask, "But how +came _you_ to know how the old gentleman received the letter?" Well, +although the question is impertinent, I will answer it. + +I have a small cousin of about ten years of age. She dwells with my +father, and is an exceedingly sharp and precocious little girl. She +chanced to be in the parlour waiting for my father--who was rather given +to being late for breakfast--when my letter arrived. The familiar +domestic cat was also waiting for him. It had mounted the table and sat +glaring at the butter and cream, but, being aware that stealing was +wrong, or that the presence of Cousin Maggie was prohibitive, it +practised self-denial. Finding a story-book, my cousin sat down on the +window seat behind the curtain and became absorbed--so much absorbed +that she failed to notice the entrance of my father; failed to hear +his--"Ha! a letter from Punch at last!"--and was only roused to outward +events by the crash which ensued when my father smote the table with his +fist and exclaimed, "im-possible!" The cups and saucers almost sprang +into the air. The cat did so completely, and retired in horror to the +furthest corner of the room. Recovering itself, however, it soon +returned to its familiar post of observation on the table. Not so +Cousin Maggie, who, observing that she was unperceived, and feeling +somewhat shocked as well as curious, sat quite still, with her mouth, +eyes, and especially her ears, wide-open. + +From Maggie then--long afterwards--I learned the details. + +My father sat down after smiting the table, gasped once or twice; pulled +off and wiped his spectacles; put them on again, and, laying strong +constraint on himself, read the whole through, aloud, and without a +word of comment till he reached the end, when he +ejaculated--"in-con-ceivable!" laid the letter down, and, looking up, +glared at the cat. As that creature took no notice of him he +incontinently flung his napkin at it, and swept it off the table. Then +he gave vent to a prolonged "wh-sh!" burst into a fiendish laugh, and +gave a slap to his thigh that shattered the cat's peace of mind for the +remainder of that morning, after which he re-opened the letter, spread +it carefully out on the table, and, in the most intensely cynical tones, +began a disjointed commentary on it as follows:-- + +"Your `dear father,' indeed! That's the first piece of humbug in your +precious letter. Very `dear' I am to you, no doubt. And _you_--you--a +chit--a mere boy (he forgot that several years had elapsed since I left +him). Oh! no--I'm neither surprised nor displeased--not at all. The +state of my mind is not to be expressed by such phraseology--by no +means! And you were always such a smooth-faced, quiet little beggar +that--well--no matter. `Couldn't help it!' indeed. H'm. `Quite a +lady!' Oh! of _course_. Necessarily so, when you condescended to fall +in love with her! `Humility!' well! `Given up the service,' too! +`Colorado!' `One of the wildest parts'--as if a tame part wouldn't have +done just as well! A `farmer!' Much _you_ know about farming! You +don't tell all this `defiantly.' Oh! no, certainly not, but if you +don't _do_ it defiantly, I have misunderstood the meaning of the word +self-will till I am bald. Why didn't you `consult' me, then? Much +_you_ care for my blessing--and `the thing is fixed!'" + +Exasperation was too much developed at this point to permit of blowing +off steam in the form of sarcastic remark. My poor father hit the table +with such force that the cream spurted out of its pot over the cloth-- +and my father didn't care! The cat cared, however, when, at a later +period, it had the cleaning up of that little matter all to itself! +This last explosion caused so much noise--my cousin told me--as to +attract the attention of my father's only domestic, who bounced into the +room and asked, "did 'e ring." To which my father returned such a +thundering "No!" that the domestic fled precipitately, followed by the +cat--rampant. + +"_Your_ `Eve!' indeed," said my father, resuming the sarcastic vein. +"`Mother an Indian'--a Hottentot, I suppose, or something of that sort-- +short skirt of peacock feathers; no upper part worth mentioning, flat +nose and lips, and smeared all over with fat, I dare say. Charming +mother-in-law. Calculated to create some impression on English society. +No wonder you've chosen the _wilds_ of Colorado! Ah, now, as to `my +Eve herself'--just let us have it strong, my boy--h'm, `sweet'--yes, +yes--`amiable,' exactly, `fair hair and blue eyes'--ha, you expect me to +swallow _that_! oh, `graceful,' ha! `perfection,' undoubtedly. +`Forgive' you! No--boy, I'll _never_ forgive you. You're the most +arrant ass--idiot--but this caps all--`come out here and live with us!' +They'll give me one quarter of the wigwam, I suppose--curtained off with +birch-bark, _perhaps_, or deerskin. `Your affectionate'--dolt! wh-why-- +what do you glare like _that_ for?" + +This last question was put to my small cousin, who, in the horror of her +belief that my father had gone mad, had agitated the window-curtain and +revealed herself! + +My poor dear father! I can imagine the scene well, and would not have +detailed it so minutely here if--but enough. I must not forecast. + +The afternoon on which this letter was despatched Big Otter returned to +Sunny Creek cottage with a haunch of fat venison on his lusty shoulders. + +He found us all grouped round the rustic table in front of the door, +enjoying a cup of fragrant tea, and admiring the view. Eve was sitting +on a low stool at the feet of Mrs Liston, engaged in ornamenting a +bright blue fire-bag with bead and quill work of the most gorgeous +colouring and elegant design. The design, of course, was her own. Mrs +Liston was knitting small squares of open cotton-work, of a stitch so +large that wooden needles about the size of a goose-quill were +necessary. It was the only work that the poor old lady's weak eyesight +and trembling hands could accomplish, and the simple stitch required +little exercise of mind or muscle. When Mrs Liston completed a square +she rolled it away. When sixteen squares were finished, she sewed them +together and formed a strip about eight feet long and six inches broad. +When sixteen such strips were completed, she sewed them all together and +thus produced a bed-quilt. Quilts of this sort she presented +periodically, with much ceremony and demonstration of regard, to her +most intimate friends. In that region the old lady had not many +intimate friends, but then it luckily took much time to produce a quilt. + +The quilt then in hand--at that time near its completion--was for Eve. + +"Thank you _so_ much for your venison," said Mrs Liston, as the hunter, +with an air of native dignity, laid the haunch at her feet. "Take it to +the kitchen, dear," she added to Mrs Temple, who was pouring out the +tea. + +"It has just come in time," said Mrs Temple, with a pleasant nod to Big +Otter; "we had quite run out of fresh meat, and your friend Muxbee is +such a lazy boy that he never touches a gun. In fact I don't know how +to get him out of the house even for an hour." + +As this was said in English, Big Otter did not understand it, but when +he saw the speaker stoop to pick up the venison, he stepped quickly +forward and anticipated her. "Thank you, carry it this way," said Aunt +Temple (as I had begun to style her), leading the Indian to the pantry +in rear of the cottage. + +"Well, Big Otter," said I, when they returned, "now do you find the +country round here in regard to game?" + +"There is much game," he answered. + +"Then you'll make up your mind to pitch your wigwam here, I hope, and +make it your home." + +"No, Big Otter's heart is in his own land in the far north. He will go +back to it." + +"What! and forsake Waboose?" said Eve, looking up from her work with an +expression of real concern. + +With a gratified air the Indian replied, "Big Otter will return." + +"Soon!" I asked. + +"Not very long." + +"When do you start?" + +"Before yon sun rises again," said Big Otter, pointing to the westward, +where the heavens above, and the heavens reflected in the lake below, +were suffused with a golden glow. + +"Then I shall have to spend the most of the night writing," said I, "for +I cannot let you go without a long letter to my friend Lumley, and a +shorter one to Macnab. I have set my heart on getting them both to +leave the service, and come here to settle alongside of me." + +"You see, your friend Muxbee," said Aunt Temple, using the Indian's +pronunciation of my name, "is like the fox which lost his tail. He +wishes all other foxes to cut off _their_ tails so as to resemble him." + +"Am I to translate that?" I asked. + +"If you can and will." + +Having done so, I continued,--"But seriously, Big Otter, I hope you will +try to persuade them to come here. Give them a glowing account of the +country and the climate, and say I'll not marry till they come to dance +at my wedding. I would not wait for that however, if it were not that +Eve thinks she is a little too young yet, and besides, she has set her +heart on my father being present. I'll explain all that in my letters, +of course, but do you press it on them." + +"And be sure you tell the dark-haired pale-face," said Eve, "that +Waboose expects her to come. Give these from her friend Fairhair--she +was fond of calling me Fairhair." + +Eve rose as she spoke, and produced a pair of beautiful moccasins, which +had been made and richly ornamented by her own hands. At the same time +she presented the fire-bag to the Indian, adding that she was glad to +have had it so nearly ready when he arrived. + +"For whom are these pretty things, my dear?" asked Mrs Liston. + +"The fire-bag, mother, is for Big Otter, and the moccasins is--" + +"Are, Eve--are--plural you know." + +"_Is_," replied Eve, with emphasis, "for my dear friend, Jessie, the +black-haired pale-face." + +"Well done, Waboose!" exclaimed Aunt Temple. "I'm glad to see that you +improve under my tuition." + +"You _can't_ spoil her," I retorted, quietly. + +"Well, my dear," said Mrs Liston, "send a message from me to your +dark-haired pale-face that I shall begin a quilt for her next week." + +"I hope she will come to receive it," said Aunt Temple. "Tell her that, +Muxbee, with my love, and add that I hope we shall be good friends when +we meet. Though I doubt it, for I can't bear Highlanders--they're so +dreadfully enthusiastic." + +"How much of that message am I to send?" I asked. + +"As much as you please. I can trust to your discretion." + +That evening I retired to my snug little attic-room earlier than usual, +and, spreading out a large sheet of narrow-ruled foolscap paper before +me, began a letter to my old chum on the banks of lake Wichikagan. I +had much to relate, for much had happened since I had sent off the brief +note by Salamander, and I found it difficult to check my pen when once +it had got into the flow of description and the rush of reminiscence and +the gush of reiterative affection. I had covered the whole of the first +sheet of narrow-ruled foolscap, and got well into the second sheet-- +which I had selected unruled, that I might write still more narrowly-- +when I heard a gentle tap at the door. + +I knew the tap well--sprang up and opened the door. Eve stood there, +looking as modest and beautiful and elegant as ever--which is saying a +good deal, for, in deference to Mrs Liston's prejudices, she had +exchanged her old graceful tunic reaching to a little below the knee, +and her pretty bead-wrought leggings, and other picturesque +accompaniments of Indian life, for the long dress of civilisation. +However, I consoled myself with the fact that _nothing_ could spoil her, +and recalled with satisfaction the words (I don't quite remember them), +which refer to a rose smelling equally sweet under any other name. + +"Prayers," said Eve. + +Lest any one should feel perplexed by the brevity of her announcement, I +may mention that dear old Mrs Liston's habit was to recognise her "Best +Benefactor" night and morning by having worship in the household, and +invariably conducted it herself in her soft, slightly tremulous, but +still musical voice. + +As we descended the stairs, Eve said,--"You must sit beside me to-night, +Geo'ge. When you sit opposite you gaze too much and make me +uncomfortable." + +"Certainly, dear one," said I. "But pray don't call me Geo'ge--say +Geo-r-ge. There's an r in it, you know." + +"Yes, Geo-o-o-r-r-r-r-ge!" + +"Eve," I whispered, as we sat on the sofa together, while Mrs Liston +was wiping her spectacles, "I've been earnestly considering that last +attempt of yours, and I think upon the whole, that `Geo'ge' is better." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +A PECULIAR WEDDING AND A WONDERFUL WALK. + +Turn we once again to the great wilderness, and if we do so with half +the zest felt by Big Otter when he set forth on his journey, we will +certainly enjoy the trip, you and I, whoever you be. + +But we must take the journey at a bound. + +It is Christmas-time once more. Lake Wichikagan has put on its top-coat +of the purest Carrara marble. The roof of the little fort once again +resembles a French cake overloaded with creamy sugar. The pines are +black by contrast. The willows are smothered, all save the tops where +the snow-flakey ptarmigan find food and shelter. Smoke rises from the +various chimneys, showing that the dwellers in that remote outpost are +enjoying themselves as of old. The volumes of smoke also suggest +Christmas puddings. + +Let us look in upon our old friends. In the men's house great +preparation for something or other is going on, for each man is doing +his best with soap, water, razor, brush, and garments, to make himself +spruce. Salamander is there, before a circular looking-glass three +inches in diameter in the lid of a soap-box, making a complicated mess +of a neck-tie in futile attempts to produce the sailor's knot. Blondin +is there, before a similar glass, carefully scraping the bristles round +a frostbite on his chin with a blunt razor. Henri Coppet, having +already dressed, is smoking his pipe and quizzing Marcelle Dumont--who +is also shaving--one of his chief jokes being an offer to give Dumont's +razor a turn on the grindstone. Donald Bane is stooping over a tin +basin on a chair, with his hair and face soap-sudded and his eyes tight +shut, which fact being observed by his friend Dougall, induces that +worthy to cry,--"Tonal', man--look here. Did iver man or wuman see the +likes o' _that_!" + +The invitation is so irresistible to Donald that he half involuntarily +exclaims, "Wow, man, Shames--what is't?" and opens his eyes to find that +Shames is laughing at him, and that soap does not improve sight. The +old chief, Muskrat, is also there, having been invited along with Masqua +and his son Mozwa, with their respective squaws, to the great event that +is pending, and, to judge from the intense gravity--not to say owlish +solemnity--of these redskins, they are much edified by the proceedings +of the men. + +In the hall preparations are also being carried on for something of some +sort. Macnab is there, with his coat off, mounted on a chair, which he +had previously set upon a rickety table, hammering away at a festoon of +pine-branches with which one end of the room is being decorated. +Spooner is also there, weaving boughs into rude garlands of gigantic +size. The dark-haired pale-face, Jessie, is there too, helping +Spooner--who might almost be called Spooney, he looks so imbecile and +sweet. Jack Lumley is likewise there. He is calm, collected, suave, as +usual, and is aiding Macnab. + +It was a doubly auspicious day, for it was not only Christmas, but, a +wedding-day. + +"It seems like a dream," cried Macnab, stopping his noisy hammer in +order to look round and comment with his noisy voice, "to think, Jessie, +that you should refuse at least a dozen sturdy Highlanders north o' the +Grampians, and come out to the backwoods at last to marry an +Englishman." + +"I wish you would attend to what you are doing, brother," said Jessie, +blushing very much. + +"She might have done worse," remarked Spooner, who happened to be an +Englishman. + +Lumley said nothing, but a pleased smile flickered for a minute on his +lips, while Macnab resumed his hammering with redoubled zest to a +chuckling accompaniment. + +"It would be nothing," he resumed, turning round again and lowering his +hammer, "if you hadn't always protested that you would _never_ marry, +but--oh, Jessie, I wonder at a girl who has always been so firm in +sticking to her resolves, turning out so fickle. I really never thought +that the family of Macnab could be brought so low through one of its +female members." + +"I know one of its male members," said Lumley, in a warning voice, "who +will be brought still lower if he keeps dancing about so on that +rickety--there--I told you so!" + +As he spoke, Peter Macnab missed his footing and came down on the table +with a crash so tremendous that the crazy article of furniture became +something like what Easterns style a split-camel--its feeble legs spread +outwards, and its body came flat to the ground. + +Sprawling for a moment Macnab rose dishevelled from a mass of +pine-branches and looked surprised. + +"Not hurt, I hope," said Lumley, laughing, while Jessie looked anxious +for a moment. + +"I--I think not. No--evidently not. Yes, Jessie, my dear, you may +regard this as a sort of practical illustration of the value of +submission. If that table had resisted me I had been hurt, probably. +Giving way as it did--I'm all right." + +"Your illustration is not a happy one," said Lumley, "for your own +safety was purchased at the cost of the table. If you had taken the +lesson home, and said that `pride goes before a fall,' it would have +been more to the purpose." + +"Perhaps so," returned Macnab, assisting to clear away the split table: +"my pride is at its lowest ebb now, anyhow, for not only does Jessie +Macnab become Mrs Lumley within an hour, but I am constrained to +perform the marriage ceremony myself, as well as give her away." + +The Highlander here referred to the fact that, for the convenience of +those numerous individuals whose lives were spent in the Great +Nor'-west, far removed at that time from clergymen, churches, and other +civilised institutions, the commissioned gentlemen in the service of the +Hudson's Bay Company were legally empowered to perform the marriage +ceremony. + +Of course Jessie regretted much the impossibility of procuring a +minister of any denomination to officiate in that remote corner of the +earth, and had pleaded for delay in order that they might go home and +get married there; but Lumley pointed out firstly, that there was not +the remotest chance of his obtaining leave of absence for years to come; +secondly, that the marriage tie, as tied by her brothers would be as +legally binding as if managed by an Archbishop of Canterbury or a +moderator of the Scottish General Assembly; and thirdly, that as he was +filled with as deep a reverence for the Church as herself, he would have +the rite re-performed, ("_ceremonially_, observe, Jessie, not _really_, +for that will be done to-day,") on the first possible opportunity. + +If Jessie had been hard to convince, Lumley would not have ended that +little discourse with "thirdly." As it was, Jessie gave in, and the +marriage was celebrated in the decorated hall, with voyageurs, and +hunters, and fur-traders as witnesses. Macnab proved himself a worthy +minister, for he read the marriage-service from the Church of England +prayer-book with an earnest and slightly tremulous tone which betrayed +the emotion of his heart. And if ever a true prayer, by churchman or +layman, mounted to the Throne, that prayer was the fervent, "God bless +you, Jessie!" to which the Highlander gave vent, as he pressed the bride +to his heart when the ceremony was over. + +There were some peculiarities about this wedding in the wilderness which +call for special notice. In the first place, the wedding-feast, though +held shortly after mid-day, was regarded as a dinner--not as a +breakfast. It was rather more real, too, than civilised feasts of the +kind. Those who sat down to it were hungry. They meant feeding, as was +remarked by Salamander when more "venison steaks" were called for. Then +there was no champagne or strong drink of any kind. Teetotalism--with +or without principle--was the order of the day, but they had gallons of +tea, and they consumed them, too; and these stalwart Nor'westers +afterwards became as uproarious on that inspiring beverage as if they +had all been drunk. There was this peculiarity, however, in their +uproar, that it was reasonable, hearty, good-humoured; did not +degenerate into shameful imbecility, or shameless impropriety, nor did +it end in stupid incapacity. It subsided gradually into pleasant +exhaustion, and terminated in profound refreshing slumber. + +Before that point was reached, however, much had to be done. Games had +to be undertaken as long as the daylight lasted--chief among which were +tobogganing down the snow-slope, and football on the ice. Then, after +dark, the Hall was lighted up with an extra supply of candles round the +room--though the powerful blaze of the mighty wood fire in the open +chimney rendered these almost unnecessary, and another feast was +instituted under the name of supper, though it commenced at the early +hour of six o'clock. + +At this feast there was some speechifying--partly humorous and partly +touching--and it remains a disputed point to this day whether the +touching was more humorous or the humorous more touching. I therefore +refrain from perplexing the reader with the speeches in detail. Only +part of one speech will I refer to, as it may be said to have had a sort +of prophetic bearing on our tale. It fell from the lips of Lumley. + +"My friends," he said, with that grave yet pleasant urbanity which I +have before said was so natural to him, "there is only one regret which +I will venture to express on this happy day, and it is this, that some +of those who were wont to enliven us with their presence at Fort +Wichikagan, are not with us to-night. I really do not think there would +be a single element wanting in the joy which it has pleased a loving God +to send me, if I could only have had my dear young friend, George Maxby, +to be my best man--" + +He had to pause a few moments at this point, because of noisy +demonstrations of assent. + +"And I am quite sure," he continued, "that it would have afforded as +much satisfaction to you as it would to my dear wife and me, if we could +only have had our sedate friend, Big Otter--" + +Again he had to pause, for the shouting with which this name was +received not only made the rafters ring, but caused the very candles on +the walls to wink. + +"If we could only have had Big Otter," repeated Lumley, "to dance at our +wedding. But it is of no use to sigh after the impossible. The days of +miracles are over, and--" + +As he spoke the hall door slowly opened, and a sight appeared which not +only bereft the speaker of speech, but for a few minutes absolutely +petrified all the rest of the company. It was the face and figure of a +man--tall, gaunt and worn. + +Now, good reader, as Lumley said (without very good authority!) the days +of miracles are over, yet I venture to think that many events in this +life do so much resemble miracles that we could not distinguish them +from such unless the keys to their solution were given to us. + +I give you the key to the supposed miracle now in hand, by asking you to +accompany me deep into the wild-woods, and backward in time to about an +hour before noon of the day preceding Christmas. It is a tangled shady +spot to which I draw attention, the snow-floor of which is over-arched +by dark pine-branches and surrounded by walls of willows and other +shrubs. There is a somewhat open circular space in the centre of the +spot, into which an Indian on snow-shoes strode at the hour mentioned. +Even his most intimate friends might have failed at a first glance to +recognise Big Otter, for he was at the time very near the close of a +long, hard, wearisome journey, during the course of which he had +experienced both danger and privation. Latterly he had conceived an +idea, which he had striven with all his powers--and they were not +small--to carry out. It was neither more nor less than to arrive in +time to spend Christmas Day with his friends at Fort Wichikagan. + +But to accomplish this feat, commencing at the time he conceived it, +required that the Indian should travel without fail upwards of forty +miles every day. This, on snow-shoes, could only be done by a very +Hercules, and that only for a few days at a stretch. Big Otter knew his +powers of endurance, and had carried out his resolve nearly to +completion, when a storm arose so fierce, with temperature so bitterly +cold, that he could not force against it, and thus lost the greater part +of a day. Still, the thing was not impossible, and, as the difficulties +multiplied, our Indian's resolve to conquer increased. + +In this state of mind, and much worn and fagged in body, with soiled and +rent garments that told of weeks upon weeks of toil, he entered the +circle, or open space before referred to, and, coming to a stand, rested +the butt of his gun on one of his snowshoes, heaved a deep sigh, and +looked round, as if undecided how to act. + +But Big Otter's periods of indecision never lasted long. Being +naturally of a sociable turn of mind he partially revealed his mental +condition by low mutterings which I take leave to translate. + +"Yes, I can do it. The pale-faces are pleasant men; pleasanter at +Christmas-time than at other times. They love song, and Big Otter loves +to hear song, though he does not love to do it. Men do not love to try +what they cannot do. The pale-faces have much food, too, on Christmas +Day, and much good-will. Big Otter loves both the good-will and the +food, especially that round thing they are so fond of--plum-puddinn they +call it. They dance much also. Dancing gives not much joy, though Big +Otter can do some of it--but plum-puddinn is glorious! Waugh! I will +do it!" + +Having communed with himself thus far, the Indian leaned his gun against +a tree, flung down his provision-bag, took off his snow-shoes, cleared +away the snow, kindled a fire, spread his bed of pine-brush and his +blanket above it--and, in short went through the usual process of +encamping. It was early in the day to encamp, but there was only one +way in which our Indian could hope to partake of the plum-puddinn, and +that was to walk a little over fifty miles at one stretch. That +distance still lay between him and Fort Wichikagan, and it had to be +traversed within fourteen and fifteen hours--including rests and food. + +To prepare himself for the feat Big Otter drew from his wallet an +enormous mass of venison which he roasted and consumed. Then he filled +a small portable kettle with snow, which, with the aid of a fierce fire, +he soon converted into tea. You see our Indian was becoming civilised +by intercourse with pale-faces, and rather luxurious, for he carried tea +and sugar on this journey. He did not deem butter a necessity, but +could afford to dispense with that, because of having the remains of a +rogan, or birch basket, of bear's grease (unscented, of course!) which +he had reserved at the end of his fall hunt. + +The meal, or rather the gorging, over, Big Otter rolled himself head and +feet in a blanket, pillowed his head on the provision-wallet, and +suddenly went to sleep. + +Hour after hour passed, but not the slightest motion was perceptible in +that recumbent figure save the slow regular rise and fall of the deep +chest. The short-lived sun of winter soon passed its zenith and began +to decline towards its early couch in the west, but still the sleeper +lay motionless like a log. At last the shades of early evening began to +fall, and then Big Otter awoke. He rose at once, stretched himself with +a sort of awful energy, rolled up his blanket, put on his snow-shoes, +caught up wallet and gun, and set off on his journey. + +To see a strong man stride over the land on snowshoes is a grand sight +at any time, but to see Big Otter do it on this occasion would have been +worth a long journey. With his huge and weighty frame and his mighty +stride he made nothing of small obstacles, and was but little affected +by things that might have retarded ordinary mortals. Small bushes went +down before him like grass, larger ones he turned aside, and thick ones +he went crashing through like an African elephant through jungle, while +the fine frosted snow went flying from his snow-shoes right and left. +There was no hesitancy or wavering as to direction or pace. The land he +was acquainted with, every inch. Reserve force, he knew, lay stored in +every muscle, and he was prepared to draw it all out when fatigue should +tell him that revenue was expended and only capital remained. + +As the sun went down the moon rose up. He had counted on this and on +the fact that the land was comparatively open. Yet it was not +monotonous. Now he was crossing a stretch of prairie at top speed, anon +driving through a patch of woodland. Here he went striding over the +surface of a frozen river, or breasting the slope of a small hill. As +the night wore on he tightened his belt but did not halt to do so. Once +or twice he came to a good-sized lake where all impediments vanished. +Off went the snowshoes and away he went over the marble surface at a +slow trot--slow in appearance, though in reality quicker than the +fastest walk. + +Then the moon went down and the grey light of morning--Christmas +morning--dawned. Still the red-man held on his way unchanged-- +apparently unchangeable. When the sun was high, he stopped suddenly +beside a fallen tree, cleared the snow off it, and sat down to eat. He +did not sit long, and the breakfast was a cold one. + +In a few minutes the journey was resumed. The Indian was drawing +largely on his capital now, but, looking at him, you could not have told +it. By a little after six o'clock that evening the feat was +accomplished, and, as I have said, Big Otter presented himself at a +critical moment to the wonder-stricken eyes of the wedding guests. + +"Did they make much of him?" you ask. I should think they did! "Did +they feed him?" Of course they did--stuffed him to repletion--set him +down before the massive ruins of the plum-puddinn, and would not let him +rise till the last morsel was gone! Moreover, when Big Otter discovered +that he had arrived at Fort Wichikagan, not only on Christmas Day, but +on Chief Lumley's wedding-day, his spirit was so rejoiced that his +strength came back again unimpaired, like Sampson's, and he danced that +night with the pale-faces, till the small hours of the morning, to the +strains of a pig-in-its-agonies fiddle, during which process he consumed +several buckets of hot tea. He went to rest at last on a buffalo robe +in a corner of the hall in a state of complete exhaustion and perfect +felicity. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +THE WILDERNESS AGAIN--NEW PLANS MOOTED--TREACHEROUS ICE, AND A BRAVE +RESCUE. + +The well-known disinclination of time and tide to wait for any man holds +good in the wilderness of the Great Nor'-west, as elsewhere. + +Notwithstanding the momentous events which took place at Fort Wichikagan +and in Colorado, as detailed in preceding chapters, the winter passed +away as usual, spring returned, and the voice of the grey-goose and +plover began once more to gladden the heart of exiled man. + +Jack Lumley sat on a rustic chair in front of the Hall, gazing with +wistful eyes at the still ice-covered lake, and occasionally consulting +an open letter in his hand with frowning looks of meditation. The sweet +voice of Jessie Lumley came from the interior of the Hall, trilling a +tuneful Highland air, which, sweeping over the lawn and lake, mingled +with the discords of the plover and geese, thus producing a species of +wild-wood harmony. + +Peter Macnab--who, since the memorable day when the table became a +split-camel under his weight, had been to the Mountain Fort and got back +again to Wichikagan--came up, sat down on a bench beside his +brother-in-law, and said,--"Shall I become a prophet?" + +"Perhaps you'd better not, Macnab. It is not safe to sail under false +colours, or pretend to powers which one does not possess." + +"But what if I feel a sort of inspiration which convinces me that I do +possess prophetic powers, at least to some extent?" + +"Then explode and relieve yourself by all means," said Lumley. + +"You have read that letter," resumed Macnab, "at least fifty times, if +you have read it once." + +"If you had said that I had read it a hundred and fifty times," returned +Lumley, "you would have been still under the mark." + +"Just so. And you have meditated over it, and dreamed about it, and +talked it over with your wife at least as many times--if not more." + +"Your claim to rank among the prophets is indisputable, Macnab--at least +as regards the past. What have you got to say about the future?" + +"The future is as clear to me, my boy, as yonder sun, which gleams in +the pools that stud the ice on Lake Wichikagan." + +"I am afraid, brother-in-law," returned Lumley, with a pitiful smile, +"that your intellects are sinking to a par with those of the geese which +fly over the pools referred to." + +"Listen!" resumed the Highlander, with a serious air that was unusual in +him. "I read the future thus. You have already, as I am aware, sent in +your resignation. Well, you will not only quit the service of the HBC, +but you will go and join your friend Maxby in Colorado; you will become +a farmer; and, worst of all, you will take my dear sister with you." + +"In some respects," said Lumley, also becoming serious, "you are right. +I have made up my mind that, God willing, I shall quit the service--not +that I find fault with it, very much the reverse; but it is too much of +a life of exile and solitude to my dear Jessie. I will also go to +Colorado and join Maxby, but I won't take your sister from you. I will +take you with me, brother-in-law, if you will consent to go, and we +shall all live together. What say you?" + +Macnab shook his head, sadly. + +"You forget my boy, that your case is very different from mine. You +have only just reached the end of your second term of service, and are +still a youth. Whereas, I am a commissioned officer of the Fur Trade, +with a fairish income, besides being an elderly man, and not very keen +to throw all up and begin life over again." + +There was much in what Macnab said, yet not so much but that Lumley set +himself, with all his powers of suasion and suavity, to induce his +brother-in-law to change his mind. But Lumley had yet to learn that no +power of Saxon logic, or personal influence, can move the will of a man +from beyond the Grampian range who has once made up his mind. + +When all was said, Macnab still shook his head, and smiled regretfully. + +"It's of no use wasting your breath, my boy,--but tell me, is Jessie +anxious for this change?" + +"She is anxious. She naturally pines for female society--though she did +not say so until I urged her solemnly to tell me all her mind. And she +is right. It is not good for woman, any more than for man, to be alone, +and when I am away on these long expeditions--taking the furs to the +depot, searching out the Indians, hunting, etcetera,--she is left +unavoidably alone. I have felt this very strongly, and that was why, as +you know, I had made up my mind during the winter, and written to the +governor and council that, as my time had expired, I meant to retire +this spring." + +"Yes, boy, I know," returned Macnab. "I foresaw all this even long +before you began to move in the matter, and I also took steps with a +view to contingencies. You know that I am entitled to a year's furlough +this spring. Well, I wrote during the winter to say that I intended to +avail myself of it. Now, then, this is what I intend to do. When you +retire, and go off to the States, I will go with you on leave of +absence. We won't lose time by the way, for you may depend on it that +Maxby will not delay his wedding longer than he can help. Fortunately, +his old father won't be able to wind up his affairs in England, and set +off to Colorado quite as quickly as the son expects, so that will help +to delay matters; and thus, though we can hardly expect to be in time +for the wedding, we will at least be time enough to claim a revival and +extension of the festivities. Then, you know, Big Otter--" + +"Aye, what of him?" asked Lumley, seeing that Macnab paused. + +"Well, I think we may prevail on him to go with us, as our guide, till +we reach the civilised world, after which, we can take him in charge-- +turn the tables as it were--and guide him to Sunny Creek." + +"Yes--or send him on in advance of us, through the wood in a straight +line, like the swallow, to announce our approach." + +At this point, Jessie, who had been busy with the household bread, came +to the door with a face radiant from the combined effect of hard work +and happiness. + +"What is the subject of all this earnest conversation, Jack?" she asked, +pulling down the sleeves that had been tucked up above her elbows. + +"Ask your brother, Jess," said Lumley, rising. "I shall have time +before supper to pay a visit to Big Otter on a matter of some +importance." + +He passed into the house to take up his gun and powder-horn, while +Jessie sat down on the rustic chair, and her brother returned to the +subject that had been interrupted. + +Now there occurred that afternoon an event which might have put a final +and fatal termination to the plans which had just been so eagerly +discussed. + +I have said that spring was so far advanced at that time, that pools of +water were formed on the ice of Lake Wichikagan. The heat which caused +these had also the effect of softening the snow in the woods, so as to +render walking in snow-shoes very laborious. As walking without them, +however, was impossible, Lumley had no other course left than to put +them on and plod away heavily through the deep and pasty snow. + +Big Otter at that time occupied the important position of hunter to the +establishment. He supplied it with fresh meat and dwelt in a small +wigwam, about six miles distant from the fort, on the borders of a +little lake--little at least for that region, but measuring somewhat +over three miles in diameter. He also, for his own advantage and +recreation, carried on the business of a trapper, and had that winter +supplied many a silver fox and marten to the fur-stores at Wichikagan. + +When Lumley set out to visit the chief he knew that there was a +possibility of his being out after deer, but in that case he meant to +await his arrival, at least until nightfall, and then he could leave a +hieroglyphic message, which the Indian would understand, requiring his +immediate presence at the fort. In any case Lumley thought nothing of a +twelve-mile walk, even though the snow _was_ soft and deep. + +Nothing worthy of notice occurred until he reached the lake +above-mentioned, on the borders of which he halted. Looking across the +bay, on the other side of which the hunter's wigwam stood, he could +discern among the pines and willows, the orange-coloured birch-bark of +which it was made, but no wreath of blue smoke told of the presence of +the hunter. + +"H'm! not at home!" muttered Lumley, who then proceeded to debate with +himself the propriety of venturing to cross the bay on the ice. + +Now, it must be told that ice on the North American lakes becomes +exceedingly dangerous at a certain period of spring, for, retaining much +of its winter solidity of appearance, and, indeed, much of its winter +thickness, it tempts men to venture on it when, in reality, it has +become honeycombed and "rotten." Ice of this kind--no matter how thick +it be,--is prone to give way without any of those friendly cracks and +rends and other warnings peculiar to the new ice of autumn, and, instead +of giving way in angular cakes, it suddenly slides down, letting a man +through to the water, by opening a hole not much larger than himself. +Of course Lumley was well aware of this danger--hence the debate with +himself, or rather with his judgment. + +"It looks solid enough," said Lumley. + +"Looks are deceptive," said his judgment. + +"Then, it's rather early yet for the ice to have become quite rotten," +said Lumley. + +"So everyone goes on saying, every spring, till some unfortunate loses +his life, and teaches others wisdom," said judgment; "besides, you're a +heavy man." + +"And it is a tremendous long way round by the shore--nearly four times +the distance," murmured Lumley. + +"What of that in comparison with the risk you run," remarked judgment, +growing impatient. + +"I'll venture it!" said the man, sternly. + +"You're a fool!" cried the other, getting angry. + +It is surprising with what equanimity a man will stand insulting +language from himself! With something like a contemptuous smile on his +lips, Lumley took off his snow-shoes and set off to cross the bay. + +As he had anticipated, he found it as firm as a rock. The surface, +indeed, had a dark wet look about it, and there were various pools here +and there which he carefully avoided; but there was no other indication +of danger until he had got three-quarters of the way across. Then, +without an instant's warning, the mass of ice on which he stood dropped +below him like a trap-door and left him struggling in a compound of ice +and water! + +The first shock of the cold water on his robust frame was to give it a +feeling of unusual strength. With a sharp shout, caused by the cold +rather than alarm, he laid both hands on the edge of the ice, and, +springing like an acrobat out of the water to his waist, fell with his +chest on the still sound ice; but it was not long sound. His convulsive +grip and heavy weight broke it off, and down he sank again, over head +and ears. + +It is not easy to convince a very powerful man that he may become +helpless. Lumley rose, and, with another Herculean grip, laid hold of +the edge of the ice. His mind had not yet fully admitted that he was in +absolute danger. He had only been recklessly vigorous at the first +attempt to get out--that was all--now, he would exercise caution. + +With the coolness that was natural to him--increased, perhaps, by the +coolness of the water--he again laid his hands on the edge of the ice, +but he did not try to scramble upon it. He had been a practised gymnast +at school. Many a time had he got into a boat from deep water while +bathing, and he knew that in such an effort one is hampered by the +tendency one's legs have to get under the boat and prevent action--even +as, at that moment, his legs were attempting to go under the ice. +Adopting, therefore, his old plan and keeping his hands on the edge of +the ice, he first of all paddled backwards with his legs until he got +himself into a quite perpendicular position, so that when he should make +the spring there would be no fear of retarding his action by scraping +against the ice with his chest. While in this position he let himself +sink to the very lips--nay, even lower--and then, acting with arms and +legs at the same moment, he shot himself full half his length out of the +water. + +The whole process was well calculated, for, by sinking so deeply before +the spring, he thus made use of the buoyancy of water, and rendered less +pressure with his hands on the ice needful. But, although he thus +avoided breaking the ice at first he could not by any device lessen the +weight of his fall upon it. Again the treacherous mass gave way, and +once more he sank into the cold lake. + +Cold, far more than exertion, tells on a man in such circumstances. A +feeling of exhaustion, such as poor Lumley had never felt before, came +over him. + +"God help me!" he gasped, with the fervour that comes over men when in +the hour of their extremity. + +Death seemed at last evidently to confront him, and with the energy of a +brave man he grappled and fought him. Again and again he tried the +faithless ice, each time trying to recall some device in athletics which +might help him, but always with the same result. Then, still clinging +to life convulsively, he prayed fervently and tried to meet his fate +like a man. This effort is probably more easy on the battle-field, with +the vital powers unexhausted, and the passions strong. It was not so +easy in the lone wilderness, with no comrade's voice to cheer, with the +cold gradually benumbing all the vital powers, and with life slipping +slowly away like an unbelievable dream! + +The desire to live came over him so strongly at times, that again and +yet again, he struggled back from the gates of the dark valley by the +mere power of his will and renewed his fruitless efforts; and when at +last despair took possession of him, from the depths of his capacious +chest he gave vent to that:-- + + "Bubbling cry + Of some strong swimmer in his agony!" + +Sleeping soundly in his wigwam, Big Otter heard the cry. + +Our Indian was not the man to start up and stare, and wonder, and wait +for a repetition of any cry. Like the deer which he had so often +roused, he leaped up, bounded through the doorway of his tent, and +grasped gun and snow-shoes. One glance sufficed to show him the not far +distant hole in the ice. Dropping the gun he thrust his feet into the +snowshoes, and went off over the ice at racing speed. The snow-shoes +did not impede him much, and they rendered the run over the ice less +dangerous. Probably Lumley would not have broken through if he had used +his snow-shoes, because of the larger surface of ice which they would +have covered. + +To come within a few yards of the hole, slide to the edge of it on his +chest, with both snow-shoes spread out under that, by way of diffusing +his weight over as much surface as possible, was the work of only a few +minutes. But by that time the perishing man was almost incapable of +helping himself. The great difficulty that the rescuer experienced was +to rouse Lumley once more to action, for the torpor that precedes death +had already set in, and to get on his knees on the edge of the ice, so +as to have power to raise his friend, would only have resulted in the +loss of his own life as well. To make sure that he should not let go +his hold and slip, Big Otter tied the end of his long worsted belt round +his friend's right wrist. + +"Now," he said, earnestly, "try once more." + +"Too late--too late! God bless you, Big--" He stopped, and his eyes +closed! + +"No!" cried the Indian, vehemently, giving the perishing man's head a +violent shake--then, putting his mouth close to his ear, added in a deep +tone--"Not too late for the Master of Life to save. Think! The +dark-haired pale-face waits for you." + +This was a judicious touch. The energy which could not be aroused by +any consideration of self was electrified by the thought of the waiting +wife. Lumley made one more desperate effort and once again cried to God +for help. Both acts contributed to the desired end, and were themselves +an answer to the prayer of faith. Mysterious connection! Hope revived, +and the vital fluid received a fresh impulse. In the strength of it +Lumley raised himself so far out of the water that the Indian was able +to drag half his body on the ice, but the legs still hung down. +Creeping back a few feet, the Indian, still lying flat on his face, cut +a hole in the ice with his hatchet into which he stuck his toe, and +seized hold of the end of his worsted belt. + +"That's right," said his friend, faintly--"wait." + +Big Otter knew that full consciousness had returned. He waited while +Lumley, gently paddling with his legs, got them into a horizontal +position. + +"Now!" cried Lumley. + +The Indian pulled--softly at first, then vigorously, and Lumley slid +fairly on the ice. The rest, though still dangerous, was easy. In a +few minutes more the red-man had the pale-face stripped beside a rousing +fire in the wigwam--and thus he brought him back to life from the very +gates of death. + +"You have saved me, my good friend," said Lumley, when he began to +recover. + +"The Great Master of Life saved you," returned the Indian. "He made use +of me--for which I thank him." + +It was not until late on the following day that Lumley felt strong +enough to return to the fort, and relate what had occurred. Then the +plans for the future were laid before Big Otter, and, to the +satisfaction of all parties, he agreed at once to fall in with them. + +"But," said he, "Big Otter will not stay. He loves the great wilderness +too well to be content to live among the wooden wigwams of the +pale-faces." + +"Well, we won't bother ourselves on that point just now," said Macnab, +"and so, as that's comfortably settled, I'll pack up and away back to my +mountain fort to get ready for a trip, with you and Lumley and Jessie, +to Colorado." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +THE LAST. + +Once more I change the scene, from the wild regions of the north to the +little less wild lands of Colorado. + +On a certain bright forenoon in Autumn I stood in the doorway of Sunny +Creek Cottage watching a clumsy vehicle as it laboured slowly up the +hill. I was alone that day, old Mrs Liston, Eve, and "Aunt Temple" +having gone off in the waggon for a long drive to visit a relative with +hunting proclivities, who had built himself a log-hut in a ravine of the +neighbouring mountains, that he might be in closer proximity to the +bears and deer. + +With some curiosity I approached the lumbering machine to assist the +occupant, who seemed unable, or too impatient, to open the door. It was +a stiff door, and swung open with a jerk which caused the occupant's hat +to fall off, and reveal a bald head. + +"Father!" I gasped. + +"Punch, my boy!" + +The dear old man tripped in his haste to get down, plunged into my +bosom, threw his arms round my neck to save himself, and almost bore me +to the ground. Neither of us being demonstrative in our affections, +this unpremeditated, not to say unintentional, embrace I felt to be +quite touching. My father obviously resolved to make the most of his +opportunities, for he gave me a thoroughly exhaustive hug before +releasing me. + +"I--I--didn't m-mean," said my father, blazing with excitement, and +gasping with a mingled tendency to laugh and weep, "didn't mean to come +it quite so strong, P-Punch, my boy, b-but you'll make allowance for a +momentary weakness. I'm getting an old man, Punch. What makes you grin +so, you backwoods koonisquat?" + +The last sentence, with its opprobrious epithet (coined on the spot), +was addressed with sudden asperity to the driver of the clumsy vehicle, +who was seated on his box, with mouth expanded from ear to ear. + +"Wall, stranger, if you will insist on knowin'," said he, "It's sympathy +that makes me grin. I _do_ like to see human natur' out of its +go-to-meetin' togs, with its saddle off, an' no bridal on, spurtin' +around in gushin' simplicity. But you're wrong, stranger," continued +the driver, with a grave look, "quite wrong in callin' me a koonisquat. +I _have_ dropt in the social scale, but I ain't got quite so low as +that, I guess, by a long chalk." + +"Well, you compound of Welshman and Yankee, be off and refresh +yourself," returned my father, putting an extra dollar, over and above +his fare, into the man's hand, "but don't consume it on your filthy +fire-water cock-tails, or gin-slings, or any other kind of sling-tails. +If you must drink, take it out in strong hot coffee." + +The man drove off, still grinning, and I hurried my father into the +cottage where, while I set before him a good luncheon, he gave me a +wildly rambling and interjectional account of his proceedings since the +date of his last letter to me. + +"But why did you take me by surprise in this way, dear daddy; why didn't +you let me know you were coming?" + +"Because I like to take people by surprise, especially ill-doing +scapegraces like--by the way," said my father, suddenly laying down his +knife and fork, "where is she?" + +"Where is who?" + +"She--her, of course; the--the girl, the Hottentot, the savage. Oh! +George, what an ass you are!" + +"If you mean Eve, sir," said I, "she is away from home--and everybody +else along with her. That comes of your taking people by surprise, you +see. Nobody prepared to receive you; nothing ready. No sheets aired +even." + +"Well, well, Punch, my boy, don't be sharp with your old father. I +won't offend again. By the way," he added, quickly, "you're not married +_yet_? eh?" + +"No, not yet." + +"Ah!" said my father with a sigh of relief, as he resumed his knife and +fork, "then there's the barest chance of a possibility that if--but +you've asked her to marry you, eh?" + +"Yes, I have asked her." + +"And she has accepted you?" + +"Yes, she has accepted me. I wrote all that to you long ago." + +"Ah!" said my father, with a profound sigh of resignation, "then there +is _no_ chance of a possibility, for if a man tries to win the +affections of a girl and succeeds, he is bound in honour to marry her-- +even though he were the Emperor of China, and she a--a Hottentot. Now, +Punch, I have made up my mind to like the girl, even though she painted +scarlet circles round her eyes, and smeared her nose with sky-blue--but +you _must_ let your poor old father blow off the steam, for you have +been such a--a donkey!--such a hasty, impatient, sentimental, romantic +idiot, that--another glass of that milk, my boy. Thank'ee, where do you +get it? Beats English milk hollow." + +"Got it from one of our numerous cows, daddy," said I, with a short +laugh at this violent change of the subject, "and my Eve made the +butter." + +"Did she, indeed? Well, I'm glad she's fit for even that small amount +of civilised labour; but you have not told me yet when I shall see her?" + +"That is a question I cannot exactly answer," said I, "but you will at +all events be introduced to-night to her father's mother, and her cousin +(whom we call aunt), as well as to a young lady--a Miss Waboose--who is +staying with us at present. And now, father," I added, "come, and we'll +have a stroll round the farm. I don't expect the ladies back till +evening. Meanwhile, I want you to do me a favour; to humour what I may +call a whim." + +"If it's not a very silly one, Punch, I'll do it, though I have not much +confidence in your wisdom _now_." + +"It is simply that you should agree, for this night only, to pass +yourself off for a very old friend of mine. You need not tell fibs, or +give a false name. You are a namesake, you know. There are lots of +Maxbys in the world!" + +"Weak, my boy; decidedly weak. They'll be sure to see through it and I +won't be able to recollect not to call you Punch." + +"No matter. Call me Punch. I'll tell them you are a very familiar old +friend--a sort of relation, too, which will account for the name." + +"Well, well," said my father, with a smile of pity, "I'll not object to +humour your whim, but it's weak--worthy of a man who could engage +himself to a miserable red-Indian Hottentot!" + +This being finally settled, and my father having been pretty well +exhausted by his ramble round the farm, I set him down on the rustic +chair with a newspaper and left him, saying that I should be back in an +hour or so. + +I knew the road by which the waggon was to return, walked along it +several miles, and then waited. Soon it drove up to the spot where I +stood. They were surprised to see me, but more surprised when I ordered +the ladies to get out, and walk with me, while the coachman drove on +slowly in advance. + +Then I hurriedly told of my father's arrival, and explained more fully +than I had yet ventured to do his misconceptions and prejudices as to +Eve. "Now, I want you all," said I, "to help me to remove these +prejudices and misconceptions as quickly as possible by falling in with +my little plans." + +Hereupon I explained that my father was to be introduced as an old +friend and namesake, while Eve was to be presented to him as a visitor +at the cottage named Miss Waboose. I had feared that old Mrs Liston +would not enter into my plan, but found that, on the contrary, having a +strong sense of humour, she quite enjoyed the notion of it. So did Aunt +Temple, but Eve herself felt doubtful of her ability to act out her +part. I had no doubt on that point, for she had undertaken it, and well +did I know that whatever Eve undertook she could, and would, accomplish. + +It might be tedious to recount in detail the scenes that followed. The +dear old man was charmed with Miss Waboose--as I had fully expected--and +Miss Waboose was more than charmed with the dear old man! So that when +we bade the ladies good-night, he kissed her fair forehead with quite +fatherly tenderness. + +When I conducted the old man to his room I was struck, and made quite +anxious, by the disconsolate expression of his face, and asked earnestly +what was wrong. + +"Wrong!" he exclaimed, almost petulantly. "Everything's wrong. More +particularly, _you_ are wrong. Oh, George, I _can't_ get over it. To +think that you are tied hard and fast--_irrevocably_--to--a red-Indian-- +a painted savage--a Hottentot. It is too--too bad!" + +He kicked off one of his shoes so viciously at this point, that it went +straight into, and smashed, a looking-glass; but he didn't seem to care +a straw for that. He did not even condescend to notice it. + +"And to think, too," he continued, "that you might have had that +adorable young lady, Miss Waboose, who--in spite of her heathenish +name--is the most charming, artless, modest young creature I ever saw. +Oh! Punch, Punch, what a consummate idiot you have been." + +It was impossible to help laughing at my poor father's comical +expression of chagrin, as he sat on the edge of his bed, slapped his +hands down on both knees and looked up in my face. + +"Excuse me, daddy, but what ground have you for supposing that Miss +Waboose would accept me, even if I were free to ask her hand?" + +"Ground? Why the ground that she is fond of you. Any man with half an +eye could see that, by the way she looks at and speaks to you. Of +course you have not observed that. I trust, my boy, you are too +honourable to have encouraged it. Nevertheless, it is a fact--a +miserable, tantalising, exasperating fact--a maddening fact, now that +that hideous red-Indian--Hottentot stands in the way." + +"That red-Indian--Hottentot," said I, unable any longer to cause my dear +father so much pain, "does _not_ stand in the way, for I am happy to +tell you that Miss Waboose and Eve are one and the same person." + +"Come, come, Punch," returned my parent, testily, "I'm in no humour for +jesting. Go away, and let me get to bed and pillow my head on oblivion +if possible." + +I do assure you, reader, that I had no slight difficulty in persuading +my father that Eve Liston and Waboose were really the same person. + +"But the girl's _fair_," objected my father, when the truth began to +force an entrance. + +"Yes--`passing fair,'" said I. + +"And with blue eyes and golden hair!" said he. + +"Even so," said I. + +"No more like a savage than I am?" said my father. + +"Much less so," said I. + +When at length he did take in the fact, he flung his arms round my neck +for the second time that day, and did his best to strangle me. Then, +under a sudden impulse, he thrust me out into the passage and shut and +locked the door. + +"You won't pillow your head on oblivion now, will you, daddy?" I asked +through the keyhole. + +"Get away, you deceiver!" was the curt reply. + +But surprises did not come singly at that time. Call it a miracle, or a +coincidence, or what you will, it is a singular fact that, on the very +next day, there arrived at Sunny Creek cottage four travellers--namely, +Jack Lumley, the black-haired pale-face, Peter Macnab, and Big Otter. + +On beholding each other, Jessie Lumley and Eve Liston, uttering each a +little shriek, rushed into each other's arms, and straightway, for the +space of five minutes, became a human amalgam. + +"Not too late, I hope?" said Lumley, after the first excitement of +meeting was over. + +"Too late for what?" said I. + +"For the wedding, of course," said he. + +"By no means. It is fixed for this day three weeks." + +"Good--Jessie and I will have the knot tightened a little on the same +day by the same man." + +"Wind and weather permitting," said Macnab, with his wonted irreverence. +"Now, Maxby, my boy, take us into the house, and introduce us to old +Mrs Liston. But what splendid creature is this coming towards us?" + +"Why that's Aunt Temple," I whispered, as she came forward. "Let me +introduce you, aunt, to Mr Macnab--the jolly fur-trader of whom you +have heard me speak so often and so much." + +Macnab made a profound obeisance, and Aunt Temple returned a dignified +bow, expressing herself, "much pleased to make the acquaintance," +etcetera, and saying that Mrs Liston, being unable to come out to greet +them, was anxious that we should enter. "Particularly Big Otter," said +Aunt Temple, turning to the grave chief, "for whom she has a very great +regard." + +Thus invited and specially complimented, our tall Indian stooped to +enter the cottage door, but not being accustomed to the wooden wigwams +of the pale-faces, he did not stoop low enough, struck his head against +the top, and rather damaged an eagle's feather, with which his hair was +decorated. + +Nothing, almost, could upset the dignity and imperturbable gravity of +Big Otter. He stooped lower to conquer the difficulty, and when inside +drew himself up to his full height, so that the eagle's feather touched +the ceiling, and tickled up some flies that were reposing in fancied +security there. + +Glancing round till his black eyes caught sight of old Mrs Liston in a +darkish corner on a sofa, he stepped forward, and, stooping to grasp one +of her small hands in both of his, said tenderly--"Watchee." + +"What cheer--what cheer?" said the accommodating old lady, responding to +the salutation in kind. "Tell him, George, that I'm _so_ happy to see +once again the friend of my beloved William." + +"Big Otter rejoices to meet again the mother of Weeum," replied the +Indian. + +"And tell him," said Mrs Listen, "that I hope he has now come to stay +with us altogether." + +The Indian smiled gravely, and shook his head, intimating that the +question required consideration. + +When the other members of the party were introduced--Jessie and Eve +having been separated for the purpose--we all adjourned to the verandah +to interchange news. + +Need it be said that we had much to hear and tell? I think not. +Neither need the fact be enlarged on, that we all retired late that +night, in a state of supreme felicity and mental exhaustion. + +There was one exception, however, as regards the felicity, for Mrs +Liston, out of regard for the friend of her darling William, insisted +that Big Otter should occupy the best bedroom on the ground floor. The +result was eminently unsatisfactory, for Big Otter was not accustomed to +best bedrooms. Eve conducted the Indian to his room. He cared nothing +for his comfort, and was prepared humbly to do whatever he was bid. He +silently followed her and looked round the room with open-mouthed wonder +as she pointed to his bed and, with a pleasant nod, left him. + +Resting his gun in a corner--for he never parted with that weapon night +or day--and laying his powder-horn and shot-pouch on the ground, he drew +his tomahawk and scalping-knife, and was about to deposit them beside +the horn, when his eye suddenly fell on a gigantic Indian crouching, as +if on the point of springing on him. Like lightning he sprang erect. +Then an expression of intense humility and shame covered his grave +features on discovering that a large mirror had presented him with a +full-length portrait of himself! A sort of pitiful smile curled his lip +as he took off his hunting coat. Being now in his ordinary sleeping +costume he approached the bed, but did not like the look of it. No +wonder! Besides being obviously too short, it had white curtains with +frills or flounces of some sort, with various tags and tassels around, +and it did not look strong. He sat cautiously down on the side of it, +however, and put one leg in. The sheets felt unpleasant to his naked +foot, but not being particular, he shoved it in, and was slowly letting +himself down on one elbow, when the bed creaked! + +This was enough. Big Otter was brave to rashness in facing known +danger, but he was too wise to risk his body on the unknown! Drawing +forth his leg he stood up again, and glanced round the room. There was +a small dressing-table opposite the bed; beside it was the large glass +which had given him such a surprise. Further on a washhand-stand with a +towel-rack beside it, but there was no spot on which he could stretch +his bulky frame save the middle of the floor. Calmly he lay down on +that, having previously pulled off all the bedclothes in a heap and +selected therefrom a single blanket. Pillowing his head on a footstool, +he tried to sleep, but the effort was vain. There was a want of air--a +dreadful silence, as if he had been buried alive--no tinkling of water, +or rustling of leaves, or roar of cataract. It was insupportable. He +got up and tried to open the door, but the handle was a mystery which he +could not unriddle. There was a window behind the dressing-table. He +examined that, overturning and extinguishing the candle in the act. But +that was nothing. The stars gave enough of light. Fortunately the +window was a simple cottage one, which opened inwards with a pull. He +put on his coat and belt, resumed his arms, and, putting his long leg +over the sill, once more stood on his native soil and breathed the pure +air! Quietly gliding round the house, he found a clump of bushes with a +footpath leading through it. There he laid him down, enveloped in one +of Mrs Liston's best blankets, and there he was found next morning in +tranquil slumber by our domestic when she went to milk the cows! + +Before the three weeks were over Peter Macnab almost paralysed Aunt +Temple by a cool proposal that she should exchange the civilised +settlements for the wilderness, and go back with him, as Mrs Macnab, to +the Mountain Fort! The lady, recovering from her semi-paralytic +affection, agreed to the suggestion, and thus Peter Macnab was, +according to his own statement, "set up for life." + +Shall I dwell on the triple wedding? No. Why worry the indulgent +reader, or irritate the irascible one, by recounting what is so +universally understood. There were circumstances peculiar, no doubt to +the special occasion. To Eve and myself, of course, it was the most +important day of our lives--a day never to be forgotten; and for which +we could never be too thankful, and my dear father pronounced it the +happiest day of _his_ life; but I think he forgot himself a little when +he said that! Then old Mrs Liston saw but one face the whole evening, +and it was the face of Willie--she saw it by faith, through the medium +of Eve's sweet countenance. + +But I must cut matters short. When all was over, Macnab said to his +wife:-- + +"Now, my dear, we must be off at the end of one week. You see, I have +just one year's furlough, and part of it is gone already. The rest of +it, you and I must spend partly in the States, partly in England, and +partly on the continent of Europe, so that we may return to the Great +Nor'-west with our brains well stored with material for small talk +during an eight or nine months' winter." + +Aunt Macnab had no objection. Accordingly, that day week he and she +bade us all good-bye and left us. Big Otter was to go with them part of +the way, and then diverge into the wilderness. He remained a few +minutes behind the others to say farewell. + +"You will come and settle beside us at last, I hope," said Mrs Liston, +squeezing the red-man's hand. + +The Indian stood gently stroking the arched neck of his magnificent +horse in silence for a few moments. Then he said, in a low voice:-- + +"Big Otter's heart is with the pale-faces, but he cannot change the +nature which has been given to him by the Great Master of Life. He +cannot live with the pale-faces. He will dwell where his fathers have +dwelt, and live as his fathers have lived, for he loves the great free +wilderness. Yet in the memory of his heart the mother of Weeum will +live, and Waboose and Muxbee, and the tall pale-face chief, who won the +hearts of the red-men by his justice and his love. The dark-haired +pale-face, too, will never be forgotten. Each year, as it goes and +comes, Big Otter will come again to Sunny Creek about the time that the +plovers whistle in the air. He will come and go, till his blood grows +cold and his limbs are frail. After that he will meet you all, with +Weeum, in the bright Land of Joy, where the Great Master of Life dwells +for evermore. Farewell!" + +He vaulted on his steed at the last word, and, putting it to the gallop, +returned to his beloved wilderness in the Great Nor'-west. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Otter, by R.M. 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