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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fiery Totem, by Argyll Saxby
+
+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 Fiery Totem
+       A Tale of Adventure in the Canadian North-West
+
+Author: Argyll Saxby
+
+Release Date: August 14, 2009 [EBook #29686]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FIERY TOTEM ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Delphine Lettau, Suzanne
+Shell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THEN HE GRIPPED HIS WEAPON BY THE MUZZLE, AND SPRANG
+STRAIGHT FOR THE PACK.
+
+                                                      _See page 175._
+]
+
+
+
+
+THE FIERY TOTEM
+
+A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE
+CANADIAN NORTH-WEST
+
+BY
+ARGYLL SAXBY, M.A., F.R.G.S.
+
+AUTHOR OF
+"BRAVES, WHITE AND RED" "COMRADES THREE!"
+"TANGLED TRAILS" ETC. ETC.
+
+_SECOND IMPRESSION_
+
+LONDON
+THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
+4 BOUVERIE STREET AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                PAGE
+
+      I. A PERILOUS PASSAGE               5
+
+     II. DEER-STALKING                   14
+
+    III. THE LONELY CAMP                 22
+
+     IV. FRIENDS OR FOES?                33
+
+      V. LOST IN THE FOREST              41
+
+     VI. THE MEDICINE MAN                53
+
+    VII. THE FRIEND IN NEED              67
+
+   VIII. NIGHT IN THE WIGWAM             83
+
+     IX. THE TEMPTATION                  96
+
+      X. A DEATH-TRAP                   104
+
+     XI. TO THE RESCUE!                 115
+
+    XII. CRAFTY TACTICS                 130
+
+   XIII. THE PRICE OF A ROBE            142
+
+    XIV. THE BATTLE OF WITS             151
+
+     XV. OFF!                           165
+
+    XVI. A NIGHT'S TERROR               172
+
+   XVII. THE FATE OF RED FOX            181
+
+  XVIII. HOT ON THE TRAIL               191
+
+    XIX. THUNDER-MAKER'S DOWNFALL       205
+
+     XX. THE FIERY TOTEM                217
+
+
+
+
+THE FIERY TOTEM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A PERILOUS PASSAGE
+
+
+"Well, good-bye, boys! You won't go far from camp before we return, will
+you?" The speaker was one of two men seated in an Indian canoe. He
+gripped the forward paddle, while his companion at the stern added
+cheerfully--
+
+"The backwoods is not the City of London. There are no policemen to
+appeal to if you lose your way. Besides, we hope to find dinner waiting
+for our return. Hunting lost sons is not the same sport as hunting
+moose."
+
+Both the boys laughed at the elder man's remark, and one--Bob Arnold by
+name--answered--
+
+"Don't worry about us, father. Alf and I can take care of ourselves for
+half a day. Can't we, Alf?"
+
+"Rather," the younger chum replied. "It's our respected parents who'll
+need to take care of themselves in unknown waters in that cockleshell."
+Then he called out merrily, imitating the tone of the first speaker--his
+father: "Take care of yourselves, dads! Remember the Athabasca River is
+not Regent Street!"
+
+"Cheeky youngster!" returned the elder man banteringly, as he struck the
+forward paddle into the water. "There's not much of the invalid left
+about you after three months' camping."
+
+Then with waving hands and pleasant chaffing, that showed what real good
+chums the quartette were, the men struck out for the centre of the
+river, leaving their sons watching from the strand before the camp that
+was pitched beneath the shadow of the great pine trees.
+
+It was a glorious morning--just the right sort for a hunting-expedition.
+The air was just chilly enough to render paddling a welcome exercise,
+and just warm enough to allow intervals of pleasant drifting in the
+centre of the current when there were no shoals or driftwood to be
+avoided.
+
+"Yes," remarked Holden, the younger of the two men, as the rhythm of the
+dripping paddles murmured pleasantly with Nature's music heard from
+leafy bough and bush; "yes, Alf's a different boy now. Who would have
+believed that these three short months would have changed a fever-wasted
+body into such a sturdy frame?"
+
+"It looks like a miracle," returned the other man. "It was a great idea,
+that of a six months' trapping in the backwoods. When we get back to
+England we'll all four look as healthy as savages. My Bob is the colour
+of a redskin."
+
+"It was a great blessing that you were able to bring him. It wouldn't
+have been half as enjoyable for Alf, not having a chum."
+
+The elder man laughed softly as he turned a look of good-comradeship
+towards his companion.
+
+"That's just as it ought to be, Holden," he said. "You and I were chums
+at school, chums at college, and now chums in business. It's the right
+thing that our sons should follow our good example. At least, that's my
+opinion."
+
+"And you know it's mine," was the response. "But, I say! Do you think we
+are wise to keep quite in the centre of the current? It seems to be
+driving pretty hard, and we don't know the course. We might wish to land
+if we saw rapids."
+
+"I dare say you are right," replied Arnold. "We'll steer straight
+across that bend ahead of us. After that we can keep well under the
+shadow of the willows--or near them. We will look for a good landing
+spot and strike inwards. There ought to be moose or some equally good
+sport among those bluffs and clearings."
+
+It is one thing to make plans; it is quite another matter to carry them
+out. Especially is this the case when strangers are travelling in
+strange country.
+
+Of course the present mode of travel was no novelty to either of the
+men. Their youth had been passed in Western Canada (though not in the
+vicinity of the present voyage) before their parents sent them home to
+college in England. But even the hardened voyager knows that experience
+does not anticipate all chances, and this case was no exception to the
+rule.
+
+The river was certainly beginning to run at a pace that was perceptibly
+swifter than that of the start when two miles farther up. This did not
+give any cause for concern, however, for the ears of the travellers were
+prepared for any sound that indicated rapids, and there was no other
+contingency that they felt need to dread.
+
+At a little distance ahead, the course could be seen to take a sharp
+turn to the right, where the dense growth of beech and towering pines
+resembled the portals of a giant gateway; and, as it neared the opening,
+the canoe swung round the curve with the swift flight of a swallow.
+
+It was a sudden change of pace, due mainly to the sharpness of the turn.
+But as soon as the men fully entered the fresh span of the course they
+both started involuntarily, for the banks were so steep as to prohibit
+landing, and the river narrowed towards a second gateway formed by
+towering cliffs--steep as a Colorado caņon.
+
+"Look out!" exclaimed Holden, as he knelt high and gripped his paddle
+firmly. "Leave the steering to me, I can manage better from the stern.
+Come back here if you can."
+
+The canoe had already begun to dance among foaming crests like an
+egg-shell.
+
+Arnold crept towards his companion.
+
+"Not a pleasant look out!" he remarked, with a grim smile on his face.
+"It will be a marvel if we get through that caņon with dry skins."
+
+"Dry skins!" laughed Holden. His voice was laughing, but his eyes were
+fixed steadily a few yards in front of the canoe with that firm gaze of
+a brave man looking peril straight in the face. "Dry skins! It'll be a
+greater marvel if we get through it with any skins at all!"
+
+"We'll have a good try, anyway," responded Arnold. Then he remarked
+quaintly: "This is like old times, isn't it--you and I out in a scrape
+together? I hope the Head won't blow us up for it when we get back to
+school!"
+
+The river had now entered the narrow course, and was rushing on a
+foaming way with an awesome roar.
+
+Now and then the canoe would leap to one side as a wave hungrily licked
+her prow; sometimes she would push her nose into a crest that splashed
+the travellers with spray. Fortunately the spring torrents were over,
+and danger from drifting logs was not to be reckoned with, but the
+possibility that rocks might be hidden among the white waves was a
+reasonable cause for concern--all the more so, considering that they
+were unknown.
+
+Onwards they dashed at breakneck speed, while both the men sat grimly
+silent, prepared to take bravely whatever fate might be in store for
+them. Probably their thoughts were more of the two boys at the camp than
+of their present strait--more engaged with commending their sons to the
+care of God than speculating as to the result of this adventure.
+
+Then, with a suddenness that gave no time for thought, there was a crash
+like crackling match-wood--a rush of water that seemed to crush all
+within its embrace. Next moment the two men were struggling in the
+stream.
+
+At that crisis, Arnold's first thought was for his friend--just as it
+had always been since he fought his chum's first battles at school.
+
+He grabbed wildly, and held on to something that he afterwards found to
+be his friend's jacket.
+
+"Are you all right?" he yelled above the din of the waters, as both men
+reached the surface.
+
+"A1 at Lloyd's!" came the cheerful reply--undaunted even in extremity.
+
+"That's good. We'll weather this yet. Hang on to my coat, and we'll keep
+together!"
+
+Being expert swimmers, there was little cause for fear so long as the
+current passed clear of obstacles, and the men had little to do but keep
+a suitable position, for the force of the water bore them well on the
+surface. But the chief danger was from undercurrents and whirlpools, and
+as the boundaries of the river rapidly narrowed this risk became more
+serious every moment.
+
+As they rushed onwards, so the two walls of the caņon came
+nearer--shutting out the light until the scene resembled the gloomy
+depths of a seething cauldron.
+
+Closer and closer came the walls; swifter and swifter rushed the water.
+
+Now the limits were so narrow that the river was but a smooth riband
+darting between walls worn glassy by the wear of countless ages.
+
+The friends came so close that they touched one another's shoulders.
+
+That was one moment.
+
+The next instant each felt himself shot forward through a narrow opening
+like a cork that is volleyed from a bottle; and when the men came to
+realise their position, they found themselves floating on the surface of
+a placid lake into which the caņon poured its flood.
+
+They looked at one another. The adventure had parted them, but Arnold
+laughingly held up a portion of Holden's coat as a banner to signal his
+position.
+
+"Our same old luck!" exclaimed Holden, laughing.
+
+"It'll cost you a new coat!" returned Arnold with equal cheer.
+
+It was perhaps a hundred yards to the nearest shore, so the men
+immediately started in that direction. Both were considerably exhausted
+by the experiences through which they had providentially passed without
+serious injury, and consequently the progress was slow.
+
+But at last they reached the bank, where the red and grey willows bent
+their long strands in a tangled trellis.
+
+Knee deep in the mud, the men stood upright, to clear the way to
+freedom. But, as they parted the nearest branches, a number of arms were
+suddenly forced through the scrub; a number of hands gripped them with
+irresistible strength; and before they could realise what had happened
+they were rudely dragged up the bank of the lake.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+DEER-STALKING
+
+
+The boys did not find that time hung heavily on their hands when left to
+their own devices.
+
+The two tents that marked the camp at Crane Creek were pitched on a
+grassy slope that led down to the Athabasca's dancing waters. This had
+been their camp-ground for several days after a desultory hunting
+pilgrimage from Loon Portage--the last town where they had left railways
+and civilisation. Having penetrated northwards into a region that was
+apparently remote from attacks of the plough and beyond the sound of the
+rancher's whoop, it was determined to make this a headquarters for a
+couple of months or so. Sport in much variety had already been found.
+Moose-tracks had been seen in the vicinity, and it had been with the
+hope of practically substantiating the discovery that the two elders had
+started off that morning.
+
+The boys' first consideration was that of dinner.
+
+"Let's go into the woods and see what we can find!" Bob Arnold suggested
+to his chum, after they had watched the canoe disappear round a bend of
+the river. "There's only the carcase of a prairie chicken left in the
+larder. That won't be much to satisfy our paters when they come back."
+
+"And we'll want to tackle a small morsel ourselves," added Holden. "I've
+never had such an appetite in my life until I came West. There's
+something inside me that is always calling out: 'Grub! Grub! Give me
+grub!'" And the boy sniffed the pine-scented air with relish, as a
+hungry street gamin sniffs the fragrance of a cook-shop.
+
+Bob laughed as he strolled back to the tents and stuck a tin dipper into
+a wooden pail near by for a draught of cold water that had lately been
+taken from a moss-bordered spring.
+
+"You're a freak of Nature; that's what you are, Alf. Two months ago you
+were as thin and white as a sheet of paper, and even Saturday's school
+resurrection-pie failed to tempt you. Now you are the colour of a
+redskin, and nothing is safe from your teeth!"
+
+"I'll not deny that I'm sometimes a bit peckish," returned the younger
+boy, entering one of the tents and filling a cartridge belt, which he
+proceeded to buckle round his waist. Then he remarked with twinkling
+eyes: "Say! Mustn't the fellows at St. Wenford's be green with envy if
+they think of themselves swotting away in class while we're having the
+time of our lives in the backwoods? They'll all be back by this time,
+for the school was only to be closed for seven weeks, the doctor said.
+Lucky thing fever is--in some ways."
+
+"In some ways--perhaps," repeated Bob in an undertone that had much
+seriousness in it, as he followed his friend's example in preparing for
+the hunt. "But it didn't seem very lucky--to me--when--when your dad was
+sent for, post-haste, that night. It didn't seem the best of luck
+then--to me, I mean."
+
+"Nor to me," added Alf with equal seriousness. Both boys sighed at the
+memory, and then the younger resumed light-heartedly: "I tell you what
+it was, Bob, I was thoroughly riled with that fever. We always meant to
+be chums for the rest of our lives, just like our dads; and it put my
+back up to find the fever trying to upset our plans. That's what did it.
+Once I got the spirit of fight into me, I knocked the stuffing out of
+the old fever!"
+
+"That you did!" laughed Arnold. "The doctors said they never saw
+anything like your recovery, once you set to work. Well, I'm fixed up
+for shooting. Are you all right? Better take hunting-knives. They come
+in handy."
+
+"And a repeating rifle, in case of big game. One will be enough; we can
+take turns in carrying it."
+
+"All aboard. I'll just see that the camp-fire is properly stamped out,
+and then we'll set off."
+
+In a short time all preparations were completed, and the two boys were
+ready to enjoy a morning's adventure in any form that it chose to offer.
+
+Having hopes that something bigger than duck or chicken might reward
+their efforts, the chums immediately struck inwards through the bush,
+following an old trail from a buffalo wallow that was the ancient path
+of those bovines when they sought water to drink or mud to wallow in
+when the mosquitoes were troublesome.
+
+Beyond chipmunks, gophers, and a single jack-rabbit (the latter falling
+to Bob's gun), nothing was met to tempt powder for some time. Then they
+reached a large "slough" that in early spring would be a small lake,
+though now it was filled with long blue grass and wild lavender. Here
+the boys paused as they examined the clearing.
+
+"It's a likely-looking place for rattlesnakes," Bob remarked. "It hardly
+seems probable that---- What's that?--Over there in the centre?" The
+speaker's voice had suddenly dropped to an excited undertone as he
+pointed to a couple of small dark marks that peeped above long grass and
+might have been the ends of a broken branch.
+
+Alf stared keenly for a few moments.
+
+"I thought I saw them move----"
+
+"So did I. Wait a minute and we'll make sure."
+
+Keeping as still as statues, the boys waited in silence with both pairs
+of eyes steadily fixed upon the dark objects, and the pulses of each
+gave a sudden jump, for then the points moved and sank among the long
+grass.
+
+"Antelope! Those are horns!" decided Alf, to which Bob returned, with a
+sly dig at his chum's ribs--
+
+"'Horns?' _Antlers_, you old duffer! We're not hunting cows!"
+
+"Same thing," was the retort. "Horns or antlers both mean deer in these
+parts." Next the boy gave a slight start. "Say! I thought I heard the
+branches moving above my head!"
+
+The young hunters turned to look upwards among the dense leaves of a
+gigantic maple tree whose lower branches were matted with twining
+convolvulus and other wild creepers.
+
+"A bird or a chipmunk," was Bob's decision. "In any case, whatever it
+is, this antelope comes first. We are both at windward, though I guess
+he hasn't scented us yet on account of the long grass. But I think it
+would be better if we got round to the lee-side and waited for him to
+rise."
+
+"How would it be if I were to stay here, in case he comes this way?" Alf
+suggested. "You could take the rifle----"
+
+"A good idea. No, you keep the rifle," amended Bob, falling in with the
+suggestion. "If I get to lee, I'll be near enough to do damage with the
+breech-loader. If I fail, you'll have the longer sight with the rifle."
+
+"All right," said Holden. "I'll wait just where I am behind this red
+willow. I'll not fire until I'm certain that your gun is out of it."
+
+"Good. I'm off," responded Bob, and immediately he started a cautious
+creeping journey in the shelter of the bush, in hopes of reaching the
+lee-side of the slough without attracting the attention of the animal
+that was apparently resting in innocent bliss among the cool blue grass.
+
+During his silent guard Alf a second time thought that he heard a
+rustling above his head. But, following former experience, he thought
+that the sound was due to nothing more than a flying squirrel at the
+most, and he did not allow his eyes to be diverted from the spot where
+the signs of the antelope had last been seen.
+
+By and by he at last caught sight of his chum. Bob had reached the
+farther end of the oval slough, and had risen to show himself. He waved
+his arm to announce his position before creeping down to the grass.
+Holden answered the signal, and rose to be ready for emergencies. But,
+as he moved his right foot, he stepped upon something soft, whereupon he
+was startled by a cry like that of a kitten. He gave a swift glance
+downwards, and saw that he had inadvertently trodden on something small
+and furry which was now expressing pain by means of shrill infantile
+wails.
+
+But his attention was immediately diverted by the sight of a dark body
+starting up from the long grass in the slough. At the same instant he
+heard the sharp crack of Arnold's gun. Alf darted the butt of his rifle
+to his shoulder, to be in readiness for an emergency shot; but, before
+the position was attained, something launched down upon him from the
+trees--bearing him forwards into the willow bush, while the forest
+echoed with the snarls of an infuriated wild beast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LONELY CAMP
+
+
+A lynx may be only a cat, but a cat that is the size of a young tiger,
+with all a tiger's ferocity, is no pleasant opponent at any time. Add to
+naturally aggressive tendencies the fact that her baby has cried out in
+pain, and you have an angry mother-fiend that takes a deal of seeking to
+find her equal in fierceness.
+
+In this case the lynx had been watching the young hunters with one eye
+for some time from her shelter among the leaves of the overhanging
+maple. She had been keeping the other eye upon her offspring, having an
+idea that the humans might endanger its safety; and, when she heard the
+cry of pain, she simply dropped from her branch right upon Holden's
+back, fixing her claws in his coat and snapping furiously at his neck.
+
+Luckily the boy's hunting-coat was of tough buckskin, and when the lynx
+set her teeth in the collar she imagined that she was wreaking vengeance
+upon flesh and blood. And the sound she made was enough to chill the
+marrow.
+
+Arnold had heard the scream and his chum's cry of surprise at the sudden
+assault. But he did not understand it at first. He surmised vaguely that
+it was nothing more than sympathetic rejoicing at his successful shot
+that had toppled a fine buck antelope in the grass.
+
+However, second thoughts quickly dispelled the first surmise, for he
+heard Holden calling upon him in evident trouble.
+
+"Bob! Come quickly! There's something on my back, and I can't get at
+it!"
+
+Bob dashed into the long grass as the shortest route. But before he had
+crossed the slough Alf had managed to free himself from one sleeve of
+his coat, and had got the lynx beneath him.
+
+Now it was a hand-to-hand fight. The claws of the animal seemed to be
+everywhere. They struck with lightning swiftness, and the teeth snapped
+like steel gins. In fact, the boy's opponent was simply a mass of fur
+and claws--nothing that could be gripped, but everything that could
+wound.
+
+"Don't shoot!" exclaimed Alf, as his friend appeared with gun half
+raised in his hands. "You can't get a clean shot at her--ugh! the brute!
+She's clawed my shoulder!"
+
+It was a fierce struggle while it lasted.
+
+Hot and panting, Alf fought to get a grip of the creature's throat. She,
+on her part, seemed to divine his purpose, and battled successfully to
+prevent him.
+
+The combatants rolled over. The lynx was uppermost, and she made a
+vicious snap at the boy's face. But the quick head-turn of a trained
+boxer avoided that snap, and the sharp white teeth met in the lad's coat
+collar, slightly grazing his neck.
+
+Alf gave a cry of pain.
+
+That was too much for Bob, who snatched his hunting-knife from its
+sheath, and threw himself upon the enemy.
+
+One plunge of the blade in the animal's side made it yell like a thing
+possessed. Then Bob dug his thumbs into the lynx's neck and pressed his
+fingers into its throat, pulling towards him with all his might, to drag
+the animal from his friend.
+
+The knife was still sticking in the wound, and as the lynx felt another
+enemy above her, she momentarily turned her attention to the one above,
+while she struck with her claws to deliver herself from the fingers that
+were choking her.
+
+That was Alf's chance. He plucked at the hunting-knife, and plunged it
+into the wild animal with three rapid thrusts.
+
+Then followed another scream more wild and blood-curdling than the rest.
+It was a death-cry; for in a moment more Bob stood up, holding a limp
+body by the neck.
+
+Holden slowly rose from his bed of broken willows, and he grinned as he
+regarded his clothes--especially the jacket, that hung from his left arm
+like the evening dress of a Weary Willie.
+
+"Rather the worse for wear and tear!" he remarked with comical
+ruefulness.
+
+"Which? The clothes or yourself?" questioned Bob, as he threw the lynx's
+carcase to one side.
+
+"I guess it's the clothes more than anything else. There's a lot of
+blood about, but that's the lynx's more than mine."
+
+In truth the lad was a strange spectacle, for hardly an inch of his
+clothes had not been visited by claws or teeth. The boy himself was
+covered with dust and dirt, while crimson patches of blood completed a
+picture that was both humorous and pathetic.
+
+Fortunately, both the boys were able to look at the matter from the
+former point of view. Physical damage was not severe. There was a
+scratch on Alf's shoulder. Arnold examined it carefully, but decided
+that no danger was likely to follow, since the claws had passed through
+the leather jacket before touching the flesh. As a precaution against
+blood-poisoning, he insisted upon sucking the wound, after which he
+bound it with a handkerchief.
+
+"That will be all right, I expect," he said, as the operation was
+completed. "I don't think we need worry about the other scratches."
+
+"There would have been more--worse ones, probably--if you hadn't turned
+up," said Alf. "I couldn't get at the beast any way. She seemed to have
+claws like a porcupine's quills."
+
+"And she knew jolly well how to use them. Do you think she's worth
+skinning?"
+
+The dead lynx was examined.
+
+"I don't think the hide is worth the trouble," commented Holden. "It's a
+bit ragged in any case, and the hunting-knife did not improve it. But
+I'll take the tail as a memento. What about the antelope?"
+
+"Oh, I got him all right. He's lying somewhere in the grass."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Alf delightedly. He had soon recovered from the
+exhaustion of the fight. "That will surprise the paters when they return
+to grub. And say! I'm as hungry as a hawk. Let's get back to camp. It
+must be getting on for noon by this time."
+
+"Half-past ten. That's all," remarked Bob, as he looked at his watch.
+"Time drags when the appetite's healthy. I vote we leave the antelope
+where it is for the present, and shoot a few chicken for dinner. It
+would be a pity for us to try skinning the animal. We might spoil it
+altogether. I dare say father will do it for us afterwards."
+
+"What about wolves?" questioned Alf.
+
+"Yes, I hadn't thought of them. But I don't think there's much chance of
+wolves coming in the daytime. It would be safe enough until night."
+
+"Right you are," agreed Alf. "First for the tail of my lynx, and then a
+bee-line for the camp."
+
+Retracing their path by the buffalo trail, the boys were soon on the
+home journey again. Five prairie chicken were bagged on the way, and
+soon the hunters were once more at the camp-ground.
+
+Of course Holden's first move was to strip, plunge into the river, and
+then robe himself in garments that were less like a rag-picker's bundle.
+Meantime, Arnold set to work lighting a fire and preparing the chicken
+for roasting on wooden spits, as their camping experience had taught
+them.
+
+By midday the meal was in readiness. The birds were cooked, "biscuits"
+were baked in the camp-oven, the fragrant smell of coffee was issuing
+from a billy-tin, and all preparations completed to welcome the elder
+hunters.
+
+But time went past, and there was no sign of a canoe on the river.
+
+"I wonder if they have missed their way?" remarked Alf, to whom the
+waiting was a trial, considering inside calls and tempting odours.
+
+"I don't think that's likely," said Bob. "Your dad and mine are both old
+backwoodsmen. I'm beginning to think something has happened----"
+
+"An accident?"
+
+"Possibly. But of course we can't tell. But it isn't like them to be
+late when they promised to be back by noon."
+
+"But then, if an accident has happened to one, the other could always
+come back and let us know," Alf answered; and his chum returned--
+
+"That's just what I've been thinking. I don't want to frighten you, old
+man, but I can't help thinking that something has gone wrong with both."
+
+"Perhaps it's the canoe. It might have got damaged. They were exploring
+new water, you know."
+
+Bob nodded.
+
+"As likely as not. In that case they'll come back by land, and that
+would take some time, as, of course, they would go much quicker by
+water. We'll wait a little longer, and if they don't arrive we'd better
+have our grub. They'll turn up later."
+
+The boys waited as patiently as possible, but ultimately, with no sign
+of the travellers, they were obliged to dine alone; though the meal was
+not eaten with customary cheerfulness, for both the boys shared
+forebodings of troubles to come.
+
+The day wore on, and still no signs of the wanderers, while the anxiety
+of the boys rapidly increased. And when night came, without bringing
+any news to allay concern, they then began to decide that some serious
+accident must have taken place.
+
+Until late into the hours of darkness the two lads sat by the camp-fire,
+starting hopefully at each sound from the forest or river--ready to
+believe that any whisper of Nature must be the sound of a reassuring
+messenger.
+
+How different it was from their usual little camp-fire gatherings! At
+such times they were wont to loll about while reciting the many
+incidents of the day just gone, and planning fresh exploits for the
+morrow. Even last night they had thus sat and planned the expedition
+that had ended in adding a heavier gloom to the night.
+
+The fire-flies flickered their tiny lamps, the night-hawks shrieked as
+they swooped from the heavens, the owls hooted their dismal cries, and
+the wolves wailed in the distance as they fought over the remains of the
+antelope that had been left to them.
+
+It must have been near midnight when Bob broke an unusually long spell
+of silence.
+
+"Well, old boy," he said, with forced brightness, "I guess the best
+thing we can do is to turn in. They won't be back to-night, that's
+certain."
+
+"Yet--one might come. I wouldn't like to be asleep if--if there was any
+call, you know."
+
+"Then we'll take it turn about--two hours asleep, two hours watch," was
+the elder boy's practical suggestion. "Besides, very likely we are
+worrying ourselves without need. Anything may have happened to keep them
+from returning--not even an accident, as we've been supposing. One never
+knows what may take place in the backwoods, and--and perhaps they were
+forced to wait till morning."
+
+Bob knew, and Alf knew as well, that it was but a plucky attempt to look
+at fears in the best light--an effort to convince both against their
+conviction that their evil forebodings were groundless.
+
+But Alf was not easily convinced.
+
+"I am sure that nothing except accident could have happened to prevent
+at least your father or mine from returning to camp. They would know
+that we should be worried. And no matter how far they went by canoe in
+the morning, there has been plenty of time to walk the distance. I can't
+help thinking that they came upon tracks of the moose, as they wanted,
+and----"
+
+"Hush," interrupted Bob kindly. "Don't let your imagination run away
+with you like that, old man. Besides, you know what good shots both our
+fathers are. They know the ways of most big game. No; I can't think that
+you are right. Such an accident _might_ happen to one--even the finest
+trapper; but, to both--believe me, it's out of the question. Now, turn
+in like a good chap. I'll take first watch."
+
+"You'll wake me as soon as the two hours are up?" pressed Alf, reluctant
+to leave the watch when he might have first sign of news.
+
+"Yes, I'll waken you. Don't worry about that. You are tired as a dog as
+it is--what with fighting lynxes and other excitements. In two hours
+you'll find that I'll be too ready for sleep to let you doze a second
+over time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FRIENDS OR FOES?
+
+
+So sudden had been the attack when the two men were snatched from the
+waters of the treacherous Athabasca, that they were too confused to
+realise what was taking place. No signs of any prowlers had been
+previously evident, though possibly the fact that danger from that
+quarter was unconsidered might have secluded what would have been
+discernible by suspicious eyes.
+
+Moreover, the men were so exhausted by the adventures through which they
+had just passed that they were only able to offer feeble resistance,
+and, by the time their scattered faculties were collected, they found
+themselves lying bound in the centre of a chattering throng of Indians.
+
+Such conduct was certainly surprising in these days, when the redmen are
+a peaceable people who have learned to regard the pale-faces as
+well-meaning friends, and have long since buried the hatchet of tribal
+feuds.
+
+"What on earth can be the meaning of this?" Arnold questioned of his
+companion, who lay at his side.
+
+"It's certainly extraordinary," the other man said. "Yet they don't seem
+particularly aggressive."
+
+"No. They offered no indignities, such as would have been our fortune in
+olden days. But did you notice how that old warrior examined the knots
+himself? He seems to be a sort of head-man. I can remember a smattering
+of a few dialects, and I am sure I heard him say to the braves: 'Not too
+tight. Do not hurt the pale-faces, but keep them firm.'"
+
+"It's certainly mysterious," said Holden. "Perhaps we have arrived in
+the middle of some sacred feast. Or perhaps we've come upon them when
+they were about to carry out some form of lawlessness."
+
+Arnold shook his head decidedly.
+
+"No. There are no signs of feasts. As for the latter, these are
+Dacotahs--one of the most law-abiding tribes. We'll have to look further
+than that for an explanation. Of this I am certain: we are in no
+immediate danger. That they are chattering about us is evident from
+these side-glances; but there is nothing hostile in the looks."
+
+"More like awe than hostility."
+
+"Just what I was thinking. But see! That old warrior is coming our way
+again. We'll learn something this time, perhaps."
+
+As Arnold spoke, an old Indian was seen to step from the chattering
+crowd. He was tall, well built, and still a fine specimen of manhood,
+though his face bore traces of many years.
+
+That he received the homage due to rank as well as to years was made
+plain by the respectful way that a path was cleared, so that he might
+pass through the group of twenty or thirty redskins. He carried himself
+with the air of one who commands respect as his right.
+
+All the same, though there was no hesitation in the steady stride with
+which the Indian approached the captives, nor in the stern set of his
+face, there was something in his eyes that indicated awe in the heart.
+The other Indians barely attempted to conceal their feelings. Throughout
+there was the expression that seemed to say (to put it in plain
+English): "Plucky of you, old chap. But better you than me!"
+
+Reaching the Englishmen, who were bound hands and legs, so that they
+were unable to adopt any position unaided except sitting or lying down,
+the old warrior stopped at a couple of yards' distance.
+
+Drawing his blanket tightly round his figure, he folded his arms and
+thus addressed the strangers in excellent English--
+
+"The tomahawk has been buried between the pale-faces and the redman for
+countless suns, and for many suns their hands have met as the hands of
+brothers. And the heart of Swift Arrow is sore within him this day, for
+the hands of the Dacotahs have been raised in their might against those
+whose faces shine as those of our pale-face brothers."
+
+The old man paused, and Arnold jerked in--
+
+"Then why on earth raise them? We did not bid you truss us up with these
+rawhide thongs?"
+
+The Indian shook his head.
+
+"The ears of Swift Arrow are old. They understand not as when he was a
+brave."
+
+"Your idiom is too much for him, old man," said Holden quietly. "Try him
+with something easier. Better not let him know that we can speak
+Indian, though. It might be to our advantage later to know without being
+known."
+
+"Quite right," answered the elder man. Then he addressed the Indian
+again.
+
+"We would ask, O Swift Arrow, for what good purpose your braves have
+bound us. We have been in peril from the waters; we seek the friendship
+of your land. Is this the way the Dacotahs treat their white brothers
+when they seek the friendship of your shores?"
+
+The Indian felt the reproach, and his eyes fell for a moment with shame.
+
+"The pale-face speaks words that go right into the heart like burning
+arrows. But Swift Arrow knows well that all things must be fulfilled.
+The sun must come and the darkness follow. Then darkness come, and
+after--the sun again. All things must be as Manito[1] will."
+
+The Englishmen looked at one another with puzzled expressions.
+
+"I wonder what he means by that?" questioned Holden. "'All things must
+be fulfilled.' What can that have to do with us?"
+
+The Indian heard the question and understood.
+
+"All things must be as Manito will," he repeated; and Arnold, catching
+swiftly at the words, demanded sharply--
+
+"Is it willed that we be bound, as the Dacotahs of old bound their
+captives for burning?"
+
+This was evidently a point of view that had not occurred to the redskin,
+for he was at a loss for an immediate reply. He looked first at one man
+and then at the other, after which he repeated half aloud, half to
+himself, as if he were conning the exact meaning of the words--
+
+"_When the moon is round, and they rise out of the silver waters---- _"
+
+"Yes, yes!" interrupted Arnold, and speaking at guesswork. "That is
+true. We know that--'out of silver waters'--but is anything said about
+bonds?"
+
+The old man shook his head. He was deeply puzzled.
+
+"The pale-face speaks true, and it may be that the redman is wrong.
+There are many trails, but only one that leads to good hunting-ground.
+How shall the redman's eyes see right?"
+
+Then Arnold assumed an air of indifference as he remarked carelessly,
+though not without a certain sneer in his tone--
+
+"Does Swift Arrow ask a question of his white brothers, or does he talk
+as old squaws chatter--foolish words like running water? We could tell
+him much, but it is well to know with whom one speaks. Words may be
+wasted as rain upon rocks."
+
+"Let the pale-face speak," returned the Indian with dignity, though it
+was plain that he was moved by the sneering tones.
+
+"Then listen. We who came 'out of the silver waters,' as you put it, can
+tell you much. But how can we speak in bonds? The pale-face is a chief.
+He will not speak as a slave to his master."
+
+But the old man shook his head.
+
+"It cannot be so, lest you return to the waters from whence you
+came----"
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" exclaimed Arnold, with sudden enlightenment. "If
+that's all, it's easily settled. Look here--you know that when a
+pale-face says he will do a thing he will surely do it?"
+
+"My white brother's word is ever truth."
+
+"And when we say we will not do a thing, you know that we will keep our
+promise?"
+
+The Indian bowed assent.
+
+"Well, look here! If you will remove these cords, my friend and I will
+promise not to fight and not to run away without telling you first that
+we intend to do so. We will go with you where you will. We are not foxes
+to hide behind bushes; we are no half-breeds to hide behind forked
+words. I have spoken."
+
+The old man was immediately impressed by this view of the situation. He
+retired for a few minutes to consult with his friends, and afterwards
+solemnly returned, accompanied by a couple of young men.
+
+"My white brother has spoken well," he said. "The redman will take the
+word of his white brother." Then he turned to the braves, gave a brief
+order in Indian, and the next moment Arnold and Holden stood up free.
+
+"What next, I wonder?" questioned the latter, as he looked inquiringly
+at Swift Arrow.
+
+He was not kept long in doubt, for the old man called the Indians
+together, signing to the Englishmen to take places in the centre of the
+group. Afterwards the company started on a trail that led away from the
+lake through the woods to the north-east.
+
+[1] Manito = God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+LOST IN THE FOREST
+
+
+Morning came, but it brought no news of the absent men. There now seemed
+to be no possible doubt that some accident of a serious nature had
+overtaken both, and the boys were at their wits' end to know what steps
+to take.
+
+There had been but one canoe for the outing, so it was not possible to
+follow up the river course in pursuit of explanation. The only course
+was to take the journey on foot. That would be a tedious process, seeing
+that the river twined in some parts like a corkscrew. Two or three miles
+might be walked, and yet only half the distance might be covered as the
+crow flies. However, there seemed nothing else to be done. It was
+impossible to remain idly at the camp waiting for what might turn up.
+Meantime, their services might be urgently needed, and delay might only
+increase the necessity.
+
+"I vote we pack up our outfit in the tents and set off on the chance of
+finding their tracks," said Bob. "We can take a good supply of
+cartridges with us, in case we are delayed and need to forage for food."
+
+"It's my opinion that we may have to go a good long way," was Holden's
+view. "It would be as well to take a small axe and one or two things for
+possible camping. A pannikin would be useful----"
+
+"And a small coil of rope. You can never go far in the bush without
+finding a use for rope."
+
+"But suppose they come back in our absence?"
+
+"Ah, that's well thought of," Arnold agreed. "It might mean starting out
+to hunt for us. We'll leave a note explaining things."
+
+As soon as breakfast was over, the boys made their preparations for
+departure. They filled knapsacks with such supplies as they deemed
+necessary to meet the circumstances and possible emergencies. They
+packed away the loose articles of the camp outfit, and pinned a note
+against the flap of the tent to explain the cause of their absence to
+any person who might reach the ground before their return. Then they set
+out bravely on their quest.
+
+It was their first intention to follow the course of the river, even
+though their journey might be considerably lengthened thereby. But very
+soon it was found that such tactics were, in the main, impracticable. In
+some parts the banks were steep and rocky; in others they were so
+thickly clothed with bush that a pathway was only possible after the axe
+had cut its way. The latter was particularly the case when a certain
+great bend of the Athabasca was reached, so the chums determined to
+attempt a short cut across the loop by plunging straight through the
+forest.
+
+"It seems easy enough," Alf had said. "We are going about due north, I
+think. The bend goes due west, but as the main part of the river flows
+north according to the map, if we go straight on we are bound to strike
+the water again."
+
+"Right, old man," responded Bob. "In any case, the paters could not be
+so near home, or they would have had plenty of time to get back, even by
+crawling. So it would be almost wasting energy to trudge so far out of
+the way."
+
+It is one thing to say "go north," it is quite another matter to hold a
+steady course in a forest. The Indian can do it; likewise the trapper.
+They know the signs of the compass such as Nature has provided for
+them. They know on which side of the trees certain moss is to be found,
+and they know the signs that the blizzard wind leaves behind it when it
+has passed on its way from arctic zones. To such as have been initiated
+into the higher mysteries of woodcraft from their earliest years, a due
+course to any set point of the compass is second nature. But those who
+are unlearned in the art soon find out their mistake when they put their
+inexperience into practice. The sun is a pointing finger to the
+craftsman--a disastrous lure to the ignorant.
+
+Bob and Alf pursued their way pluckily. Determined to keep a steady
+course, the tomahawk had to be requisitioned at frequent intervals in
+order to clear a passage through the thorns and binding creepers that
+impeded the way.
+
+At any other time the adventure would have been one of sheer delight,
+for who would not have enjoyed exploring unknown land--probably land,
+too, where only the Indian's foot and the feet of the wild creatures of
+the forest had ever pressed?
+
+Once or twice the boys saw the great velvet eyes of an antelope peeping
+at them through a screen of maple leaves. Again the scrub would rustle,
+as a fox crouched down to hide his skulking body from the strangers'
+sight. The cat-birds were calling their sad messages to each other among
+the maple leaves, and lively little chipmunks would utter their shrill
+piping sounds of warning to their friends as they started before the
+advance of the young explorers. Yes, it was an experience to fill the
+heart with joy when any ordinary call inspired the venture spirit.
+
+On this occasion, however, neither of the boys had eyes for such
+pleasant sights, or ears for such sounds as are the delight of the
+trapper's life. Their minds were too full of anxiety to permit room for
+ordinary enjoyment, and they hardly spoke as they pressed forward in
+single file.
+
+In this way they continued for two hours or more. At intervals they
+would take it in turn to act as leader and handle the axe; but they did
+not allow a pause in the pushing forward, until at last Bob called a
+halt, feeling that a rest had been earned.
+
+"We ought to be getting near the river again by this time," he remarked.
+
+"That's what I've been thinking," said Alf. "You see, it was such a
+sharp westward turn that the river took after we crossed the ford, that
+I don't think we can be far off now. It must come round to the east
+again."
+
+"Yet there's no sound of it----"
+
+"That is what's puzzling me. We've covered a couple of miles at the
+least."
+
+"And done enough work for four," added Bob. "However, let's get to work
+again. The sooner there, the sooner this job will be over."
+
+"Thank goodness it looks pretty clear ahead now--more pine trees and
+less of the beastly scrub," said Holden.
+
+Once more the boys pressed forward; but, although they continued the
+march for quite another hour, apparently they were as far off as ever
+from the river, for they neither sighted water nor came within hearing
+distance of the object of their search.
+
+Again they stopped and faced one another with perplexed expressions.
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, old man--we've missed the way," said Alf.
+
+But Bob was never ready to admit defeat of any sort.
+
+"Nonsense," he said. "We've kept a fairly straight course."
+
+"Or thought we have. To my mind, if we'd kept straight on we ought to
+have reached the river by this time. As it is, there is no sign of it."
+
+"That's true. Except for being free from the brushwood, we might almost
+be where we started. It looks much the same--no slope or any other sign
+to suggest that we are nearer to the water."
+
+"What's to be done?"
+
+"I see nothing for it but to go back again and follow the river, as we
+were doing in the first place. We were fools to think of taking short
+cuts. The other way may have seemed longer, but it would have been a
+deal shorter in the long-run."
+
+Both the boys were feeling rather fagged by this time, for their trudge
+had been of an exceptionally fatiguing nature. But each kept the thought
+to himself, and cheerfully stepped out with the intention of retracing
+his steps. It was a disappointment and irksome enough; yet there was no
+help for it, and the situation had to be faced pluckily.
+
+But all the best intentions seemed to go wrong that day, and it did not
+take an hour's marching before Bob stopped and turned to his chum with a
+crestfallen countenance.
+
+"Look here, old man, I don't know what you're thinking, but my own
+opinion is----"
+
+"That we've missed the path; that we are lost----"
+
+"I'm afraid that is the truth of it. You see, we've never come to any of
+the places that we had to clear with the tomahawk."
+
+"Then what's to be done?" Alf questioned.
+
+Arnold took out his watch and looked at it.
+
+"What's to be done? Grub. That's the first thing. After that we can make
+fresh plans. It's noon now, and we can do nothing while we're hungry.
+Besides--well, to tell the truth, I'm feeling a little tired."
+
+"I, too," responded Alf, with a faint smile. "I didn't want to say so
+while I thought you wished to go on----"
+
+"Just my own idea," Bob returned, with a slight laugh, as he lowered
+himself to a soft place under the shadow of a large maple. "So we'll
+rest here and have a bite. We'll feel better afterwards."
+
+The little camp was made, and a meal was enjoyed from the contents of
+Bob's haversack--biscuits and cold venison. Neither of the lads thought
+it was worth while to trouble about shooting and cooking a meal just
+then. They would reserve that till night, in the event of their not
+being able to find Crane Creek again.
+
+After a considerable rest, the march was resumed for the third time. On
+this occasion, however, the process was varied. Their first purpose was,
+of course, to find the path by which they had come; so at Bob's
+suggestion they carefully proceeded to walk in a circle--checking the
+route by notching the trees, and taking wider courses each time a
+circuit was completed.
+
+But even these means were ineffective. Circle after circle was made, and
+still the earlier track was undiscovered. All the afternoon was thus
+occupied, and, when evening came, the boys were footsore and weary--glad
+to throw themselves down on the first piece of springy grass, too tired
+even to trouble about preparing food.
+
+The disappointment was beyond words. They had started out in the morning
+full of cheerful hopes of being able to render aid to their parents who
+(they felt sure) were in need of assistance. And now, not only was this
+purpose frustrated, but they themselves were in that terrible plight of
+being lost in the backwoods--a hundred miles or more from the haunts of
+white men, with nothing but plucky hearts to help them, and limited
+ammunition to supply bodily needs.
+
+The sun passed over their heads and sunk somewhere beyond the forest.
+They could not tell where it vanished, for the camp was amid such dense
+surroundings that they could hardly see beyond a hundred yards through
+the branches.
+
+With dusk, and after a sparse meal, it was decided to light a fire, more
+for the sake of the cheering sight than the need for warmth.
+
+Bob was the first to rise, and as he stood upright he was heard to give
+vent to a decided--
+
+"Bother it!"
+
+"What's the matter?" grunted Alf, as he also proceeded to rise.
+
+"Matter?" repeated his chum. "Nothing; only I have stuck my head into a
+cloud of moths--big ones and little ones. There seems to be a regular
+party going on under this tree."
+
+"It's that luminous patch in the tree that we've been sitting under,"
+said Holden, at the same time drawing his friend's attention to what
+looked like a patch of light on the trunk of the maple about five feet
+from the ground.
+
+"That's curious," remarked Bob, bending forward to examine the spot. "I
+wonder what it can be? It looks like the light on one of those luminous
+match-boxes that are made so that you can see them in the dark."
+
+"They say that rotten wood sometimes has that effect----"
+
+"But this tree is quite sound. And see! There's another the same on that
+tree to the right!"
+
+It was certainly strange, and the boys picked up their guns and
+sauntered over to examine the next trunk, on which they found the same
+peculiar light attracting an equally numerous lot of moths of many
+descriptions.
+
+"There's another!" exclaimed Alf, pointing ahead of him.
+
+"And another!"
+
+"And another!"
+
+By this time the boys were quite excited by their discovery, and when
+Alf suddenly drew attention to the further discovery that the marked
+trees were almost in a straight line, their excitement was still further
+stirred.
+
+"It's the strangest thing I ever heard of--in the natural history way,"
+the younger lad said. "To find all these trees marked on the same side,
+and all in a straight line--why, it would puzzle the brains of anybody
+to explain it!"
+
+Without any decided plan, and more out of curiosity than from any other
+motive, the chums proceeded from one tree to another, examining each as
+they reached it, and marvelling all the time at what they decided as
+being one of the most remarkable freaks of Nature that they had ever
+heard about.
+
+Then they became aware of a strange sound that reached them from no
+great distance through the trees. It was a most remarkable sound--not
+that of any animal with which they were familiar; indeed, it was not a
+sound that suggested any beast or bird.
+
+"What on earth is it?" questioned Alf, as the weird wail sighed through
+the forest.
+
+"It sounds like a harmonium in distress!" replied Bob, with a slight
+laugh. And even as he spoke the wail was repeated, though this time
+could be distinctly heard the voice of some person struggling to
+articulate to some musical accompaniment the words--
+
+    "Rool Britanny! Britanny rool waves!
+    Britons ne-vaire--ne-vaire--ne-vaire
+    Shall be sla-aves!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE MEDICINE MAN
+
+
+During the march through the woods the Indians were not communicative.
+Once or twice Arnold attempted to draw Swift Arrow into conversation,
+but the old man merely listened in solemn silence. He refused even to
+respond to direct questions.
+
+Eventually a clearing was reached where a large number of teepees were
+pitched. It was quite a wigwam village, and thence the two captives were
+escorted to a tent that stood among many others. They were politely
+requested to enter, and, on obeying, they found that the teepee was
+otherwise empty. Several men were posted on guard at a little distance
+from the entrance, while Swift Arrow departed with the rest of his
+brethren.
+
+"There's no doubt but that we are prisoners," remarked Arnold, as he sat
+down upon a buffalo hide, preparing to make the best of things and take
+his ease while he might.
+
+"The whole affair is a puzzle," said his companion. "Why on earth they
+should take us prisoners passes my comprehension. It can't be that they
+regard us as enemies. They would not have been so polite and considerate
+if that had been their thought."
+
+"That's just it," laughed Arnold, who, like his son, had the gift for
+worrying little until he knew exactly what to worry about. "That's just
+what surprises me. We are treated as prisoners, and not as prisoners. My
+impression is that we are regarded with more fear than anger."
+
+The time allowed for speculation was soon curtailed by the sound of many
+voices approaching the tent, though presently there was silence, and a
+loud voice called to those within--
+
+"The eyes of Mighty Hand would gladly rest on the sight of the White
+Men."
+
+"He means us," commented Arnold, rising from the couch of fur. "He's too
+polite to enter the teepee uninvited."
+
+"By all means let his eyes rest upon us," laughed Holden.
+
+The two men then advanced, while one threw open the flap of the tent.
+And the picture that met their eyes was one that struck the strangers
+with admiration, for it seemed to throw the years back to the days when
+the Indian ruled the prairie--the days that knew the youth of Ballantyne
+and the prime of Fenimore Cooper.
+
+Ranged in a semicircle before the tent was a crowd of braves and
+warriors--all arrayed in the picturesque garb that was unspoilt by any
+touch of Saxon attire, such as is commonly seen among redskins of the
+present day. Except that the old-time bows and arrows were replaced by
+more modern muzzle-loaders, there was nothing to suggest any association
+with white men and white men's tastes.
+
+But it was not so much the background of natives that impressed the
+Englishmen. Their admiration was called to the central figure. He was an
+Indian of enormous size--tall, squarely built, and equally proportioned.
+His head was surmounted with a turban of black fox decorated with eagle
+feathers that were continued like a wing right down his back and nearly
+touched the ground. His black hair was threaded with many coloured
+beads, some of which resembled (and actually were proved to be) nuggets
+of pure gold. Necklaces of beads and animals' teeth hung in many
+strands upon the breast of his deerskin shirt. Leggings and moccasins
+were a mass of beads, feathers, and porcupines' quills woven in
+intricately fantastic designs. And, over all, there hung in graceful
+folds an ermine robe of spotless white.
+
+This was the great chief of the Dacotahs. Mighty Hand was his name, and
+that hand was famed for its deeds of valour as equally for its deeds of
+kindness. He was sole monarch of a mighty branch-tribe of the Dacotahs
+that had long been separated from its renegade brethren, preferring to
+maintain the old life in the forest and on the prairie rather than a
+workhouse existence in a Government Reserve. He led his people far from
+the haunts of white men, and his life was only harmful to the game that
+supplied his people's needs. Powder and other necessaries he obtained
+from frontier trading-stations. But he was known as a man of peace and a
+man of spotless honour. Hence his irregular life and failure to comply
+with Government Reserve regulations had been hitherto winked at by the
+officials.
+
+When the Englishmen issued from the tent, this chief was standing
+before them in a majestic attitude that at once proclaimed his royal
+blood. He was unarmed. This was a courtesy to the strangers.
+
+At the chief's right side stood Swift Arrow; at the left was a figure
+that formed a weird contrast to the other two. This one was lean, bent,
+and twisted like a gnarled tree that had been starved and warped in the
+forest. His dress was alike native, but the grotesque ornaments of
+animals' skulls, tails, dried monkeys' hands, and other gruesome relics
+gave the wearer an appearance that was repulsive to Saxon eyes. This
+freak of figure and dress was Thunder-maker, the great Medicine Man of
+the tribe. Without his presence no state conclave was complete; without
+his opinion no tribal law or ruling was ever decided.
+
+It must not be thought that the time we have occupied in describing
+these several features was similarly occupied by the Englishmen in
+minute observation. Not at all. Arnold, immediately recognising the
+bearing of the chief, promptly addressed him in English, which Mighty
+Hand could understand--judging from his first salutation.
+
+"The white brothers of the redmen are gladdened by this visit of the
+great chief," he said. "The white brothers have been in great danger
+from rushing waters--danger from which the great chief's braves snatched
+them. They are grateful that their lives have been saved, and they are
+glad to meet the chief and thank him for what was done."
+
+The Indian listened in silence, and, at the pause that followed, he
+returned in deep tones, as if he were repeating a lesson that he had
+learnt by heart--
+
+"_Out from the silver waters, when the moon is round, they shall come.
+They shall be pale-face, and they shall look like men._"
+
+This was certainly a puzzling rejoinder! To neither of the captives did
+it convey any knowledge. Arnold, however, deemed that the best course
+would be to assume no impression that he and his friend were regarded as
+prisoners.
+
+"The chief speaks well," he returned. "But his tongue deceives him when
+he says that we _look_ like men. Pale-faces we are. But we are friends
+to the redman. We would smoke the peace-pipe with him. But we are far
+from our camp. At our tents are our young sons, who are awaiting our
+return with anxious hearts. Perhaps the great chief has also a son! He
+will know, then, how heavy would be the heart of his papoose if the
+chief were long absent from his teepee. We therefore beg that the chief
+will hasten the peace-pipe. Afterwards he will lend a brave to guide the
+white brothers back to their camp-ground."
+
+While Arnold spoke there was silence among the Indians, and it was
+obvious, from the chief's face, that his mind was disturbed with
+indecision.
+
+"Mighty Hand has listened to the words of the pale-face," the chief
+said. "The white man's words flow as music, but--'_out from the silver
+waters, when the moon is round_---- '"
+
+The speaker's voice faded into thoughtfulness, and Holden whispered to
+his companion--
+
+"What is the fellow driving at? What does he mean by 'out from the
+silver waters'? Of course we came out from waters, but what has that to
+do with the moon, I wonder?"
+
+"I can't think, unless--yes, I believe I've got it! It's full moon about
+this time, Holden. There's some Indian superstition, I imagine, about
+full moon and people being rescued from the water----"
+
+"It sounds like that from the way he speaks. You remember Swift Arrow
+said much the same thing."
+
+"Then depend upon it we've hit the mark. In some way we've got mixed up
+with a legend or superstition."
+
+Mighty Hand had been consulting with Swift Arrow while the Englishmen
+had been quietly summing up the situation, but now he again faced the
+captives.
+
+"Mighty Hand has lived long and seen many wonders and much great
+medicine. But to-day there is a cloud in his mind. He understands but
+darkly. It would be a shame that Mighty Hand should bring water to the
+eyes of his white brother's papoose, but who can say if the Fiery Totem
+be not calling this day? Behold!"
+
+As he spoke the chief tore open his deerskin shirt, and when the
+Englishmen bent forward in curiosity they saw--upon the naked
+breast--the figure of a serpent tattooed in gold and red so cunningly
+that it seemed as though a living reptile were there resting--a reptile
+moulded from burning flames, with head raised in the attitude of
+striking.
+
+The men gave a gasp of wonder and surprise, and at the same instant the
+Medicine Man jumped forward, pointed a finger towards the sign, and
+turned with an evil grin towards the strangers.
+
+"The totem of the Serpent Dacotahs!" he hissed through his teeth. "Can
+the pale-face look upon it without fear? Can they not feel the
+poison-tooth break the covering of their flesh?"
+
+At this strange attack Arnold laughed aloud, and Holden smiled as he
+said--
+
+"The white men are not cowards! They do not shrink before a figure of
+paint!"
+
+The Medicine Man threw up his arms in a transport of rage.
+
+"They laugh! The white men smile at the sacred totem!" he cried in a
+wild appeal to the sympathies of the people, who began to respond with
+disapproving murmurs. "Shall it be that the fiery serpent hear laughing
+tongues while the hands of the Dacotahs are idle? _Who_ are they that
+dare to revile our sacred sign with mocking eyes and tongues?"
+
+Matters were beginning to assume a serious aspect towards the strangers,
+for evidently the Medicine Man was one whose lead was followed by his
+people, and who knew well how to play upon their weaknesses. So Arnold
+hastened to try and pacify the anger that he had inadvertently roused.
+
+"My red brother mistakes," he said, addressing Thunder-maker. "The white
+man's laughter was at the suggestion of fear. We are brave men who fear
+nothing. But we did no insult to the totem of the Dacotahs----"
+
+"Dogs!" exclaimed the furious Indian. "Dogs! The fiery totem has been
+defiled. Revenge, my brothers! Revenge! lest the names Dacotah and
+Mighty Hand become things for jeers and laughter in the women's tents!"
+
+The Indian was quite frantic with passion, and as he flung his wild
+appeal to his people the murmurs suddenly burst into a flood of angry
+roars--knives were snatched from their sheaths, a hundred arms were
+lifted, and the circle quickly closed upon the helpless men. But just at
+that moment of peril and almost inevitable death, the great figure of
+Mighty Hand was seen to start. He stepped forward with one stride,
+turned his back upon the captives, and then raised his arms, from which
+his robe hung like great protecting wings that shielded the strangers
+beneath their folds. And his voice rang out above the angry clamour
+like the voice of a wind roaring through the pine forests.
+
+"Back, Dacotahs! Back to your tents ere the strength of Mighty Hand is
+lifted and you sink to the dust! Is this how the redman treats the
+stranger who would smoke the peace-pipe by our fire? Is this the welcome
+that my braves give to those whom Mighty Hand has received with a
+smile--with no arms in his hand, no tomahawk at his belt? Back, dogs!
+and hide your coward faces like frightened papooses in the skirts of the
+women!"
+
+The clamour ceased instantly. The men hung back, and their heads bent
+with shame, that is, all heads but that of Thunder-maker. His face
+betokened no shame. Nay, greater fury than ever was depicted, though he
+was silenced before the anger of his chief. But it was only for a little
+while that he was thus disconcerted, for soon he resumed--though now he
+spoke with humble fawning--
+
+"It is death in the heart of Thunder-maker when the eyes of Mighty Hand
+shoot their looks of fire. But--_Thunder-maker speak true_. Has he not
+made great medicine these many suns? Did he not bring the thunder to
+prove his great medicine? Has he not many times driven the fever from
+the camp, till it fled over the prairie like a coyote driven with sticks
+and dogs? Huh! many wonders has he done, and--more will he do. He will
+do great medicine this day. He will show if the fiery totem has called
+in vain for vengeance."
+
+Thus speaking, Thunder-maker dived a hand into the bosom of his shirt
+and drew out a bundle of dirty linen. The chief had lowered his arms, so
+that the Englishmen could now see the Indian as he laughed and held up
+the bundle triumphantly above his head.
+
+"Great medicine!" he exclaimed, fixing his eyes upon the white men.
+"Great medicine! Look! See! Listen!"
+
+They looked, and as they looked they saw the linen move, as if something
+inside were struggling to be free, and at the same time they heard a
+sound like the sudden springing of an old-time policeman's rattle.
+
+"Rattlesnakes!" exclaimed Arnold under his breath.
+
+Thunder-maker laughed when he saw that the sound had been recognised.
+
+"Come! Come, my children!" he cried, as he turned his face upwards.
+"Come, my little son--come, my little daughter!"
+
+Then he shook the knot of the bundle, and out from the aperture crept
+two grey-green bodies--a pair of twisting, writhing somethings that
+caused the onlookers to shudder and the Medicine Man to laugh, as he
+repeated carelessly--
+
+"Come, my little papooses! You will speak great medicine in the ears of
+Thunder-maker!"
+
+Slowly the serpents came from their covering. One remained coiled on the
+raised wrists, the other--still sounding the ominous rattle--moved
+slowly downwards till it rested on the man's shoulder. Then
+Thunder-maker inclined his head, as if listening to a whisper.
+Afterwards his face lit up with understanding.
+
+"Huh!" he exclaimed. "Did not the spirit of Thunder-maker speak true?
+Come, my little papoose! You shall show for whom the fiery totem
+called."
+
+Turning his head so as to look along his shoulder, the Indian suddenly
+grabbed the writhing reptile with his teeth, after which (holding the
+other serpent with his right hand) he commenced dancing until he had
+cleared an open circular space, of which the Indians and the white men
+formed the border.
+
+Suddenly he sprang to the middle and tossed the snake to the ground,
+while he uttered a wild shriek.
+
+Once on the earth, the snake glided swiftly in several directions, while
+all watched the creature with tense excitement. Then for a second it
+seemed to pause with its head in the direction of the Englishmen. At the
+same moment the Indian gave a cry of triumph, tucked the one snake into
+a fold of his robe and bent down, making passes with his hands above the
+serpent on the ground. And as his hands moved so the rattlesnake
+gradually straightened out its body till it lay stiff and straight as a
+piece of wood.
+
+Thunder-maker paused. Then he rose up slowly and looked with triumph
+straight into the chief's face.
+
+"My children say that the time has come to take the cloud from the
+Dacotah. My papooses show _who_ answer call of fiery totem!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE FRIEND IN NEED
+
+
+Even considering the serious nature of their quest and the plight they
+were in, it was not possible for the boys to refrain from laughing when
+they recognised Britain's national song as caricatured by the singer.
+But they had sufficient wisdom to control most of their amusement to
+"inward laughing." It is not always safe in the backwoods to announce
+your presence too suddenly where strangers are concerned--especially
+strangers who are not of the white skin.
+
+"That's a rum sort of music to come upon a hundred miles from nowhere,"
+remarked Bob, with a grin, to his chum.
+
+"Let's hope that it comes from a throat that has something of
+civilisation about it," said Alf.
+
+"It doesn't sound quite like a white man. That 'ne-vaire' is more French
+accent than English--probably a half-breed."
+
+"What do you think we ought to do?"
+
+"Investigate. We've got no choice. We're lost; that's certain enough.
+What's more, there seems to be very little chance of finding our own
+trail back to the camp."
+
+"That's true enough," Alf assented. "But suppose we come upon a camp of
+half-breeds, as you suggested? I've heard that they're not the best of
+friends to white people in out-of-the-way places."
+
+Arnold nodded in agreement.
+
+"I dare say that's true. But, at the same time, most yarns of the kind
+have usually got large bits of ornamental stuff stuck round the facts.
+We'll have to take our chance of falling in with friends or foes."
+
+"Right-away. If you're ready, I'm ready also," said Alf promptly. "It
+will be a strange thing if 'Rule Britannia' leads Britons into a mess
+instead of out of one."
+
+Having thus determined what course to pursue, the two boys began to
+creep cautiously through the bush towards the locality from whence still
+proceeded the music that was being repeated with all the diligence of
+some one who was determined to learn his lesson thoroughly.
+
+The night was now quite dark, but presently the chums were able to
+distinguish the flickering of a camp-fire at no great distance before
+them.
+
+Taking every care not to betray their presence by any careless footstep,
+they twined a path with all the success that a professional tracker
+would have admired. Then, penetrating a more than usually dense portion
+of the bush, the young explorers found themselves right on the edge of
+the encampment, and the picture that they then discovered was one that
+was surely calculated to drive away all melancholy thoughts and feelings
+of fatigue, for the time being at least.
+
+Seated on the end of a water-keg, in front of a moderate-sized "A" tent,
+was a man of gigantic size whose black hair stood up from his head as if
+he were constantly seeing ghosts, and whose equally black beard streamed
+down his breast like a cataract of ink. He was dressed in a blue shirt,
+corduroy trousers protected with cowboy "shaps," and heavy top-boots. In
+his hands was an accordion, at his side sat a collie dog, while in front
+of him, with his back to the fire--standing with his hands behind his
+back in the attitude of a schoolboy repeating a lesson--was a
+tousle-headed half-breed, whom he of the black beard was addressing in
+encouraging tones--
+
+"Noo then, ma callant, we'll just be having that last line ower again.
+It's no' bad as an eemitation o' a cat left oot on a winter's night; but
+it's no' just what I call 'ceevilised'; no' just quite that--yet."
+
+Then the accordion sounded a dismal chord suggestive of an attack of
+asthma, the half-breed reattacked the "ne-vaire, ne-vaire, ne-vaire" in
+a manner that made up in energy what it lacked in music, and the collie
+raised his head to add a long-drawn wail to the concert.
+
+"That's a wee bit better," was the player's verdict at the finish. "I'm
+thinking we'll make a ceevilised creature oot o' you in time, Haggis."
+Then the speaker turned to the dog. "As for you, Bannock, you're a bit
+oot o' tune at times. But it's no' that bad for a doggie. It's good to
+be aye trying to do our best----"
+
+"Hear! hear!" shouted Bob, whose interested amusement had quite banished
+his caution.
+
+The effect of the boy's applause was electric. The two men started. The
+half-breed snatched up a gun that was leaning against a tree near by;
+one hand of the bearded man deposited the musical instrument upon the
+ground as his right picked up a handy rifle; while Bannock, the dog,
+crouched down with bristling hair and deep growling.
+
+"Come oot and show yourself, whoever ye be!" commanded the master, as he
+raised himself to his great height, with rifle in readiness and eyes
+staring towards that part of the bush where the chums stood. "Come
+forward this instant, or I'll bore as many holes in your body as there
+are farthings in a pound!"
+
+In obedience to the gentle invitation, and not in the least nervous, now
+that they knew who the musicians were, the boys immediately made their
+appearance.
+
+"There's no need to be afraid----" began Holden reassuringly, when he
+was interrupted by a huge guffaw of derision.
+
+"Afraid! And what for shall Skipper Mackintosh be afraid? Unless it's
+mosquitoes, there's no man or beast in Canada that'll turn a hair on his
+hide." Then, seeing the lads as they approached into the firelight, the
+man immediately changed his tone of address as he also altered the
+threatening pose of his rifle. "What! A pair o' laddies?" he exclaimed
+in astonishment, and Bob replied--
+
+"Neither of whom is particularly anxious to be riddled with a pound's
+worth of farthing bullets!"
+
+But the words had barely passed the boy's lips before the rifle had been
+dropped to the ground and the man had sprung forward excitedly to grab a
+hand of each boy in his great fists.
+
+"Faix! but this is a fine sight for sore eyes!" he exclaimed, as he
+vigorously pumped the arms up and down. "I've no' seen a white face
+(barring a trader's, and that was ower dirty to call it 'white') this
+twelvemonth past. I'm right glad to see you!"
+
+"And I guess we're jolly glad to see you," returned Alf. "It's a treat,
+but--speaking for myself, I really want to use my hand again. It'll be
+jelly in a few more seconds."
+
+"And mine too!" laughed Bob, who could not help wincing at the vigorous
+form of the welcome.
+
+The Scotsman immediately released his severe grasp.
+
+"Sakes! But I'm that glad to see you, laddies, I feel just like
+squeezing for another hour. I suppose, noo, that I'm no' just dreaming?
+You're no' by chance just twa o' them muckle moths that's come into my
+dream in a make-believe?"
+
+"We're human, sure enough," Arnold laughed in reply, and Alf added--
+
+"Terribly human we are, for we've lost our way in the forest, and we're
+beastly tired as well as hungry."
+
+"Lost--tired--hungry?" repeated Mackintosh. "That has a human
+sound--terribly human, as you say." Then he turned towards the
+half-breed, who had been standing an amazed spectator of the scene. "Did
+you hear that, Haggis?" he demanded. "Did you hear that--'hungry and
+tired'?"
+
+"Haggis hear," was the quiet reply of the native, to which the Scot
+retorted angrily--
+
+"You heard? And yet, one meenit after, I see you standing there like a
+daft gowk instead o' hustling for food as fast as your legs can move
+you? Ma conscience! But you tak' a deal of ceevilising! You dinna ken
+the first meaning o' the word 'hospitality.' Off wi' you!"
+
+There was no need to repeat the order, for the half-breed immediately
+disappeared within the tent, and the almost simultaneous rattling sound
+of tin-ware was evidence of his haste to supply the want.
+
+Mackintosh then turned to the boys.
+
+"Noo then, rest yourselves, laddies. Sit doon by the fire, and you'll
+soon have a bit o' something to grind between your molars. Haggis is
+slow to understand, but he's quick enough when he kens what's wanted."
+
+Not unwillingly, the chums soon stretched themselves in comfortable
+positions beside the camp-fire at either side of their eccentric host.
+Bannock, however, still eyed the strangers with suspicion, so Mackintosh
+was forced to introduce the dog formally to each boy in turn, at which
+the intelligent animal extended a paw with all the air of one who is
+accustomed to polite society.
+
+"He's a fine chap," explained the Scot. "There's no' a single thing that
+he canna do (according to the leemitations o' Nature) except speak. And
+even that he manages to do in his ain way. Noo, come here, Bannock, and
+lie down while oor freends spin us their yarn. They've no' told us yet
+who they are, where they come frae, nor where they're going."
+
+"That's a yarn that's quickly told," remarked Bob. The half-breed by
+this time had returned from the tent with generous supplies of cold
+deer, damper, and wild berries, after serving which he placed a pan on
+the fire in preparation for coffee. "It's a yarn that won't take long in
+the telling, though, if you'll excuse me, I'll eat while I speak."
+
+"Eat awa'," assented the other, while he lit a corn-cob pipe to satisfy
+his own immediate wants. "There's plenty mair where that came frae, and
+the coffee will soon be ready!"
+
+Arnold then launched into a brief recital of his and his chum's
+adventures, beginning with the departure of their fathers on the
+previous morning, and concluding--
+
+"So all this afternoon we've been wandering about trying to find a path
+back to our camp, so as to start afresh by the river course. But it was
+no use."
+
+"And we might have been wandering still if it had not been for a strange
+accident that led us here," added Alf, at which remark Mackintosh
+questioned--
+
+"And what might that be? The soond o' Haggis's nightingale voice?"
+
+"No--at least, not in the first place. We heard that later. What first
+started us in this direction was a curious sort of light that we
+discovered on one of the trees. And while we were examining it we
+noticed that there were other lights on other trees in a straight line
+with one another. Strange, wasn't it?"
+
+"Very," returned the Scotsman dryly. "Very strange."
+
+"It would be a good thing for a naturalist," said Bob. "I noticed that
+there was a perfect cloud of moths flying about wherever there was a
+patch of light. A collector of moths and butterflies would reap a
+harvest. I suppose you've noticed the lights as well as we?"
+
+"H'm--yes--considering that I painted the trees mysel' this afternoon,"
+was the reply. "It's an invention o' my own. I'm what _you_ call a
+collector of moths and butterflies. An entomologist is a shorter way o'
+putting it. Well, there's many folks stick to treacle--I mean, stick to
+the auld-fashioned way o' putting dabs of treacle and speerit on trees
+to attract the nocturnal creatures. That's all very fine and good. But
+you canna carry gallons o' treacle on a tramp like this, when your whole
+outfit must be packed on one pony. So says I to mysel': 'Moths are
+attracted by light; I must invent a composeetion o' phosphorus to take
+the place o' treacle.' And those lights that you found on yon trees are
+the result."
+
+"And a splendid idea it is!" exclaimed Alf, who had also done his little
+share of treacling at school. "Is it a success?"
+
+"Magnificent. I've found more moths than were known to exist in the
+West. I'm thinking that I'll open the eyes o' the Royal Edinburgh
+Entomological General Natural History Exchange Society when I get back
+again after my journeys. But----" The speaker here paused in his
+enthusiasm, remarking seriously, "I'm thinking there's other matters o'
+mair importance before us the noo than moths. Your faithers went doon
+the Athabasca, you said?"
+
+"Yes; in a canoe," said Bob.
+
+Mackintosh shook his head ominously.
+
+"That's bad. I suppose they'd never been there before--indeed, it was
+no' possible, or they'd never have made the attempt yesterday."
+
+"Is it--dangerous?" questioned Holden, in an undertone of dread, for the
+man's voice conveyed no small impression of the risks the voyagers had
+run. "We had not thought of danger in the river. We only thought of
+moose."
+
+Mackintosh grunted uneasily.
+
+"The river is more treacherous than any moose. There's a terrible narrow
+bight atween cliffs where it runs like lightning, and then shoots in a
+waterfall into the Silver Lake. Man! I've seen great trunks o' pine
+giants flung through yon opening like wee arrows a hundred feet in the
+air afore they touched water again."
+
+"Then a canoe----"
+
+"If it reached so far in safety it would shoot likewise."
+
+"You think it possible that the canoe _might_ pass the gully unharmed?"
+Bob then questioned. It was always his nature to struggle for the
+brightest view, and the man's answer was somewhat in the same spirit.
+
+"It's no' the way o' Skipper Mackintosh to find trouble until trouble
+finds him. He's been in a' the back corners o' Europe, Africa, India,
+China, and America; and, if he learned nothing mair from his travels, he
+learned this: troubles are easier conquered when you meet them wi' a
+firm lip at the proper time. But the man that moans before he kens what
+he's moaning about--well, it's little strength he's got left when the
+fight really begins."
+
+"Yet if, as you say, the Athabasca is so dangerous----" began Alf, when
+he was again interrupted with kindly roughness.
+
+"If? Laddie, laddie, are you forgetting that there's a Hand that could
+guide the frailest birch-bark safely through Niagara itsel'? And I doot
+not that I'm right when I say that it's my opeenion that that same Hand
+has no' been very far from your faithers in their plight. Does either o'
+you ken anything o' this by chance?"
+
+As he spoke Mackintosh dived his hand into the hip-pocket of his
+overalls and produced a white handkerchief which he spread out upon the
+ground by the fire. The boys bent forward, and immediately Alf
+exclaimed--
+
+"That's my father's! See! His initials are at the corner. Where did you
+find it?"
+
+"_Not_ in the Athabasca!" said Mackintosh with quiet triumph. "Haggis
+and I came upon it this morning a hundred yards from Silver Lake."
+
+"Then that means that they are on shore!" exclaimed Bob with delight at
+the relief from one anxiety that the evidence of the handkerchief
+provided.
+
+"Ay. The Athabasca is free from that charge, at any rate. That hanky has
+no legs to walk by itsel'. It must have been carried. By whom? No' by an
+Indian, though I ken there's been Indians in the viceenity. If a
+redskin had found it, he'd have taken better care o' it. And so it's
+clear to me that one o' your faithers must have dropped it on dry land,
+and so--so---- Well, you both o' you can have a sound night's rest."
+
+So convincing were the tones in which the man clothed his words that the
+spirits of the boys were quickly stirred from gloomy anticipations to
+comparative cheerfulness.
+
+"You've lifted a load from my mind, Mr. Mackintosh," Bob said
+gratefully, "for of course it is all fairly plain now. As likely as not
+they passed through that horrible gully, but were too worn out yesterday
+to start the trudge back to camp. It would be a long way, too, seeing
+how the river winds."
+
+"In that case, most likely they are back at the camp by this time,"
+suggested Alf. "But they would understand our being away, for they would
+find the note that we pinned to the tent."
+
+"That's right, laddies. Look for the bright side and you'll always find
+it," the Scotsman remarked. "But I'm thinking that your reasoning is a
+wee bit oot in one respect--they have no' gone back yet, else Haggis or
+I would have seen them. This camp is in the direct natural path from
+that part o' the Athabasca. My opeenion is that they've fallen in with
+the Indians--a tribe o' Dacotahs, and peaceable folk they are. It's no'
+to be expected that the gully could be passed unscathed. So it's likely
+to me that they're nursing themselves for a day wi' the redskins, after,
+maybe, sending a brave to your camp to tell you o' it. So to-morrow
+we'll lose no time in starting for Silver Lake. That's the best plan I
+can think o'."
+
+"You mean to come with us?" asked Alf.
+
+"What do you take me for--a savage?" was the reproachful return. "Do you
+think that Skipper Mackintosh is going to allow twa laddies like you to
+go wandering aboot the backwoods when he can guide you? And when Skipper
+fails, is there no' the Haggis and Bannock--a pair o' the finest scouts
+and trackers that ever set foot in bush or prairie? What do you take me
+for, I'd just like to know?"
+
+"One of the kindest hearts in the world, Mr. Mackintosh," said Bob
+fervently.
+
+"Bah! Fiddlesticks and porridge-sticks!" was the rough rejoinder, though
+a pair of eyes were turned kindly enough upon the youths--eyes that
+glistened in a way that rather suggested the nearness of water. "All a
+pack o' nonsense! If a man is no' ready to help his fellow-creatures
+when they need him--well, I'm thinking that he ought to have a pin stuck
+through his thorax and mounted in a box among my moths, labelled, 'A
+horrible freak o' Nature.' And I'd have you know, too, that my name is
+Mackintosh--Skipper Mackintosh. There's no 'Misters' in the backwoods.
+'Skipper' is the name that my auld faither gave me to commemorate his
+discovery o' a new variety of skippers in the entomological world. Mind
+that, and--and good-night to you, laddies. Good-night, and God bless the
+pair o' you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+NIGHT IN THE WIGWAM
+
+
+While the two boys had been holding their lonely watch at the camp prior
+to setting forth the following morning on their disappointing search,
+matters of serious moment were taking place at the encampment of Mighty
+Hand and his brother Dacotahs.
+
+Thunder-maker's triumph had been complete. The savage mind seldom looks
+for a simple explanation of anything that surprises him. When the
+unusual is not understood, he does not search for a simple and natural
+explanation. He immediately flies to the supernatural and attributes to
+good and evil spirits actions that a little common sense would have
+readily explained in an everyday way.
+
+The Medicine Man of a tribe is different from others of his race. He is
+the brainy exception of craft united to common sense, and he uses these
+to best advantage for his own interests. Thunder-maker's method of
+divining was very simple after all--nay, even childish. We have seen it
+performed by redskin jugglers, as we have also seen the same effects
+produced by Arab diviners on the Syrian desert.
+
+The explanation is found in the fact that serpents are exceedingly
+sensitive to blows. A cut with an ordinary willow wand is usually
+sufficient to break the spine and disable all but the monsters of the
+class. At the same time, although the first blow may daze a snake, it is
+some time before the final effect takes place, and the creature will
+wriggle about for some time after having been struck, while its energy
+is practically nil--that is to say, it merely lives without possessing
+any real strength.
+
+Now, Thunder-maker's cunning was well aware of all this, and when he
+dropped the rattler from his teeth he was careful to do so in such a way
+that the creature would touch the ground with considerable violence.
+Then he allowed it to wriggle about until in time its head faced the
+Englishmen. That was the moment for which he had waited, and immediately
+he started forward with a cry that startled the snake into still fear.
+A few passes with his hands fascinated the creature long enough for the
+Medicine Man to show the Indians that the creature was undoubtedly
+pointing in the direction of the captives, and when that was done the
+crafty redskin had achieved his purpose:
+
+The serpent had divined whom the sacred totem of the tribe had called
+that day.
+
+Then Thunder-maker had replaced his assistant in the linen cloth before
+it revived sufficiently to commence wriggling again, and, perhaps, point
+its supernatural head to some one else.
+
+Both Arnold and Holden had observed how Mighty Hand had been wavering
+between reason and superstition until the intervention of the Medicine
+Man had caused superstition to take the uppermost place. A moment
+before, and the chief would have released the captives and sent them
+back to their camp in charge of a guide. But the art of Thunder-maker
+had stepped in to convince the people that the sacred totem of their
+tribe had been calling that day, and that it was the Englishmen for whom
+it called.
+
+Why?
+
+Ah, that was what the strangers found inexplicable. Of this, however,
+there was no doubt: their arrival had been at a most unfortunate time,
+when some answer to the supposed call of the totem was then expected.
+They were that answer, and the result--who can say what the consequences
+would be when falsehood and superstition had a savage people at command?
+
+So the Englishmen were requested to return within the teepee that had
+been reserved for their prison. But, curiously enough, they were not
+treated in any way after the traditional Indian mode of treating
+prisoners. They were not bound; no guard was placed at the entrance,
+though sentries were placed round the camp of which the prison teepee
+was the centre. The best food that the Indians possessed was supplied to
+them, as well as a sufficiency of fur robes to sleep upon. All the same,
+in spite of these kindnesses and other thoughtful attentions, there was
+no room for doubting that they were prisoners who were not to be allowed
+any opportunity for escape, and the men could only accept the present
+situation in a philosophic spirit, and await the course of events with
+such patience as they could muster.
+
+As the day passed, and darkness fell upon the forest, the Englishmen
+stretched themselves upon the robes, while in whispers they tried to
+arrive at the solution of the mystery and form some sort of plan for
+future action.
+
+"It's all owing to that scoundrel Thunder-maker," Arnold said. "If he
+had not stepped in, Mighty Hand would have released us. I could see by
+his face that he was favourably disposed towards us."
+
+"It is a serious business," said Holden.
+
+"Serious enough for us, for there is no knowing what may happen when
+people get mixed up with native superstitions. At the same time, what I
+worry about most is the boys."
+
+Holden sighed at the thought of Bob and his son Alf being alone at the
+deserted camp.
+
+"Yes," he said. "It will be hard on them if anything happens to
+us--miles away from civilised habitations. Of course, I don't give up
+hope of coming out of this right enough in the long-run, and we may be
+worrying over very little after all. But meantime--the boys--I wonder
+what they are doing now?"
+
+At this question the elder man gave a slight laugh.
+
+"You wonder?" he repeated. "I don't think you need go very far for the
+answer if you haven't quite forgotten our own schooldays. What would
+you and I have done if two of our chums had disappeared from camp as we
+did?"
+
+"Gone to look for them," was the prompt reply, to which Arnold resumed--
+
+"And I think there's not so very much difference between Arnold and
+Holden _pčres_ and _fils_. You take my word for it: at this very minute
+the youngsters have summed up the situation and are planning a rescue
+expedition, if, indeed, they have not already set out. Neither Bob nor
+Alf is the sort of chap to sit still and moan at such a time."
+
+"Yes, I believe you are right. Neither of the youngsters would allow
+himself to be knocked over by the first difficulty. And they would know
+that some accident must have taken place, for we promised to be back at
+camp by dinner-time."
+
+"All the same, we don't want them to be mixed up in this affair in the
+event of their coming on our track," said Arnold. "We must contrive to
+prevent that, but---- Hullo! Who's this?"
+
+A dark outline had suddenly filled the space at the opening of the tent
+at this juncture, but the Englishmen were not left long in doubt of the
+nature of their late visitor, for a voice addressed them in Indian
+accents.
+
+"Thunder-maker would speak words of counsel with his white brothers."
+
+"Oh, he would, would he?" returned Arnold, and his companion added--
+
+"There was very little friendship about Thunder-maker this afternoon."
+
+The Indian gave a low laugh, as though he were thoroughly enjoying some
+secret joke.
+
+"There are days when hunter's path must be straight; there are days when
+crooked trail lead him where he find much deer. To-day--crooked trail.
+But Thunder-maker friend. He would speak in ear of white brother--low,
+soft. Thunder-maker wise man. He speak words of wisdom to his friends.
+But--none may hear but pale-face."
+
+"By that you mean that you want to come into the teepee?" said Arnold.
+"All right. Come along. And if you have any sense to speak of, out with
+it."
+
+The Indian noiselessly entered and took a seat on the robes between the
+Englishmen. He did not speak during these movements, but when he was
+comfortably settled he turned to Holden and addressed him in a whisper--
+
+"Night dark, and red men sleep--all but braves, who watch that white men
+no return to Silver Lake." And a second time the Medicine Man laughed
+quietly.
+
+"Silver Lake!" returned Holden. "I shouldn't think we need any watching
+to prevent that. Without a canoe, Silver Lake is not much use to us."
+
+"Still--braves watch. They believe that white men return to waters. They
+came without canoes; they go back without canoes."
+
+"Fools!" exclaimed Holden. "What do they think we are? Spirits?"
+
+"Huh! My white brother speaks true. Indians--_some_ Indians--fools,"
+answered Thunder-maker, at which Holden uttered an exclamation
+betokening sudden enlightenment.
+
+"By Jove, Arnold! That's it! That explains the whole business. These
+idiots take us for spirits, since they saw us scramble out from the lake
+without any boat in sight. Spirits! It's almost too silly to believe."
+
+"Yet that's what Thunder-maker means," said Arnold, to whom the solution
+of the mystery was now equally clear. "That is what you wish us to
+understand, isn't it, Thunder-maker?"
+
+"The understanding of the white man travels quick."
+
+"And that accounts for the kind treatment--the food, half-freedom, and
+the rest. But if your people think us spirits, why do they keep us here?
+Why not let us return?"
+
+The Indian paused for a moment before he replied, after which he
+remarked quietly, and with a peculiar inflection of tone that added deep
+meaning to his words, while at the same time it betrayed the fact that
+there was some curious reason to account for this confidence--
+
+"Dacotahs fools. They think white brothers spirits--_evil_ spirits. They
+have not the eyes of Thunder-maker."
+
+"I see," said Arnold thoughtfully. "But you forget, Thunder-maker, that
+your trickery with the snakes helped them to that opinion."
+
+Once more the Medicine Man laughed quietly in a manner that irritated
+his hearers, and Holden broke in roughly--
+
+"Come now, you old cheat, explain yourself! _You_ didn't believe as the
+rest of your people did. And if not, why did you behave in such a double
+way? Out with it. You had some purpose in coming here to-night, and you
+may as well give us the truth right away."
+
+It is not possible to hasten an Indian in the matter of speech. Hasty
+response or rapid talk they deem discourteous. Thunder-maker was no
+exception to his race in this respect, but he was exceptional in
+another, inasmuch as when bent on a subject he stuck to it without using
+many unnecessary words or ornaments of speech. He waited in thoughtful
+silence for several minutes. Possibly in his cunning way he was mentally
+scrutinising the peculiarities of his companions in the teepee--deciding
+what course would be best to enable him to be assured of their trust.
+Whether or not he judged their characteristics correctly will be seen
+later.
+
+"My white brother has asked for the truth," the Indian began.
+"Thunder-maker shall speak words as straight as the path of a burning
+arrow.
+
+"Many years ago--when the buffalo lived upon the prairie to feed the
+redman and provide his robes--the great tribe of Dacotahs would hunt in
+the valley that is known even to-day as the Peace Camp. Many deer would
+feed there, and the buffalo would eat the blue grass, and Manito had
+filled the camp with fruit and flowers. In those days the Dacotahs were
+ruled by a mighty warrior, Flying Cloud--the son of the fiery totem
+serpent that saved his life by slaying the chief of the Chippeways in
+the war-path by night."
+
+Here the speaker paused, as though he expected some comment from the
+listeners regarding the seeming miracle. But no remark being
+forthcoming, he resumed--
+
+"For many years our tribe lived in prosperity. Pemmican was in plenty,
+and the redmen kept the hunting-grounds in peace. Then--one night--Chief
+Fire-water came to the camp, and a brave with foolish mind praised
+Fire-water more than the sacred totem. He was slain by Flying Cloud ere
+the insult was cool on his lips. But the serpent was angered. He flashed
+tongue of fire to the Dacotahs--called down the rains and the tempest
+upon the Peace Camp by night, until the water spirits rushed through the
+valley on white horses, destroying trees and fruits--washing the land
+bare of earth. And, when the sun came up from his teepee of fire, Flying
+Cloud and the best warriors of the Dacotahs had been carried away by the
+water spirits and were never seen again.
+
+"Then there was great wailing in the camp, and the totem of the tribe
+was called upon to cease anger, lest the Dacotahs be a tribe no more.
+
+"And the serpent had pity, and spoke thus to the warriors and braves--
+
+"'I will stay my anger; but I have given power to the spirits that ride
+on white horses, and I may not call it back again.'
+
+"'Then what shall the Dacotahs do?' asked the warriors. 'It may be that
+the spirits will again ride their white mustangs and take from us our
+chief and our young men.'
+
+"And the serpent replied--
+
+"'When such time come, the Dacotahs will see two white spirits rise out
+of the lake that is silver. When the moon is round, they shall rise out
+of the lake that is silver. They shall come without canoe to bear them,
+and without arrow or tomahawk for fighting. By this shall you know them.
+Then shall the Dacotahs lay hands upon the white spirits; they shall
+treat them kindly, but they shall bring them to the Peace Camp and there
+consume them with fire. Then shall the power of the water spirits be
+broken. Then shall the Dacotahs be safe. Then shall the fire of my anger
+be quenched.
+
+"'But I--the sacred totem of the Dacotahs--am mighty and full of pity.
+The Dacotahs are brave, but they are not all wise. It may be that their
+ignorance might lead them to bring suffering to those who are not evil
+spirits. But let them not hold back in doubt, for I shall stay their
+hand, even though the torch be set at the wood. For if the eyes of my
+children are blind, I shall be near to guide them. And the sign of this
+shall be: _I shall appear before the eyes of all people as a serpent of
+fire_. By this shall they know that they have erred. They shall withhold
+the torch, free the captives, and be to them as brothers.'"
+
+Once more the speaker waited for a space, until he knew that his hearers
+had time to grasp the full meaning of the legend that he had related.
+Then he lowered his voice and spoke with deep meaning that was not
+difficult for the Englishmen to understand--
+
+"Yesterday the moon was round. Two white spirits came from the lake that
+is silver without canoe for sailing, without arms or tomahawk for
+fighting. The fiery totem called, and was answered.... By another sun
+Mighty Hand will lead the white spirits of the water to the camp that is
+called Peaceful!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TEMPTATION
+
+
+It needed no great knowledge of Indian character and Indian ways to make
+clear to the Englishmen all that was implied in this story that
+Thunder-maker had recited. Nor had they any reason to doubt that he had
+spoken the truth, for the evident pleasure that it gave him to watch the
+effect of his revelation was almost a sufficiently convincing argument
+in itself.
+
+Of course Thunder-maker had only the evidence of his ears to inform him,
+for the tent was in darkness, the convenience of lamps not being a usage
+of the redskins, who either retire to sleep at nightfall, or rely upon
+camp-fires for illumination. But the Medicine Man could hear his
+companions give slight gasps of horror when the climax was reached. His
+ears were quick to interpret the faintest sounds of pleasure, pain, or
+surprise.
+
+The trio sat in silence for a time, until at last the soundless night
+became too oppressive, and Holden was forced to speak his thoughts.
+
+"Why have you told us of this, Thunder-maker?" he asked. "Were you sent
+to us by Mighty Hand?"
+
+The Indian made an impatient movement of his body, and grunted meaningly
+at the question.
+
+"Mighty Hand send Thunder-maker?" he exclaimed, in an undertone that
+conveyed a sense of the uttermost contempt for the chief of the
+Dacotahs. "My white brother speak foolish words--the words of women and
+papooses. Mighty Hand do the wish of Thunder-maker. The chief of
+medicine no slave to run when any man speak."
+
+"Then why have you come to us to-night?" urged Holden.
+
+"It was not out of friendship for us," added Arnold.
+
+"Huh! It true what the redmen say, that the pale-face have heart of
+buffalo skin that keep out the love of brother," responded the Indian,
+in fawning tones that caused the listeners to feel as though they would
+have gladly kicked the speaker out from the tent. There was low cunning
+in his voice--such cringing craft as all brave men naturally despise.
+But it was the instinct of both to draw out the visitor's confidence. It
+was possibly their only hope of learning the truth of their position,
+thereby enabling them to make plans for their future actions.
+
+"The redman love the pale-face and would be friend to him,"
+Thunder-maker went on. "So he come to tell his brothers what they did
+not know. Dacotahs fools, Dacotahs believe foolish stories,
+and--_Thunder-maker can lead their feet by what trail he will_."
+
+"H'm. That was plain enough this afternoon when you played with those
+rattlesnakes," remarked Arnold, at which the Indian laughed quietly.
+
+"Dacotahs fools. But white men wise. They see not with the eyes of
+redmen. But Dacotahs might be great people if Mighty Hand were in Happy
+Hunting-ground."[2]
+
+"But what has all this got to do with us?" asked Holden.
+
+"My white brothers in great danger. In a few more suns cruel fire burn
+beautiful bodies. But----"
+
+"Well--but?"
+
+"Thunder-maker could save--white brothers--from fire?"
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it? That's what you are driving at, you cunning old
+serpent?" said Arnold, in accents that were as little complimentary as
+the words. "You want us to buy our lives for money? Well, how much do
+you wish?"
+
+"My white brothers have papooses, they say to Mighty Hand?"
+
+"Yes; two boys in a camp by Crane Creek."
+
+"It would gladden the eyes of the pale-faces to see their papooses by
+another sun?"
+
+"We would do much to go back to them, for they must be sad at the
+absence of their fathers," said the elder man.
+
+"Then it may be as the pale-face wish," resumed the Medicine Man.
+"Thunder-maker can save his white brothers, and he will----"
+
+"If you will, there is nothing that we will not do, within our power, to
+repay you," said Holden, wrongly anticipating the motive of the Indian.
+"We can give you many dollars, and will give you blankets and weapons
+for hunting."
+
+"That is good," returned the redskin quietly. "But--Thunder-maker no
+wish blankets--dollars, He have many--many." Then he lowered his voice
+to speak in deeper tones of confidence. "Let the pale-face be patient,
+and listen to the words of the redman. Then he will understand how it
+may be that he look not upon the face of the fire.
+
+"The Dacotahs foolish. They see white men as spirits that came out of
+Silver Waters. And Mighty Hand foolish too. He believe that fiery totem
+speak--that fiery totem call water spirits to torture. Foolish redmen!
+Foolish chief! But Thunder-maker would see his people a great people. He
+would see his tribe wise as the fox and brave as the great bear. He
+would see _another_ chief to rule them--he would see _another_ wear the
+robes of a chief! So he would blind the eyes of his people. He would say
+to them: 'Children, you are foolish. The spirits that come from the
+Silver Waters are not the spirits that the totem called. They great
+spirits sent to you by Manito to tell you how to be a mighty tribe
+again.' Then great medicine will be done, and Thunder-maker will ask the
+pale-faces to speak what Manito has told them.
+
+"Then the pale-faces will tell the Dacotahs: 'Slay Mighty Hand! Let him
+not see another sun, and place the chief's robes on Thunder-maker; tie
+the chief's feathers in the hair of Thunder-maker; write on
+Thunder-maker's breast the picture of the sacred totem.' Then will the
+Dacotahs believe. Then shall Thunder-maker be chief of the Dacotahs,
+and--the pale-faces shall return in peace to their tents. I have
+spoken."
+
+The Indian paused, but, no comment being immediately forthcoming, he
+resumed quickly, being warmed to excitement by treacherous hopes--
+
+"Then it shall be well with my white brothers. No fire shall have their
+white bodies----"
+
+"And if we--refuse--to do--this?" questioned Arnold slowly and
+seriously, and his companion added: "Yes, if we refuse--what then?"
+
+"The pale-faces will not refuse," returned the Indian firmly. The savage
+mind could not conceive such a possibility as refusal to purchase
+freedom at any cost, no matter how despicable that cost might be. "The
+pale-faces will not refuse," he repeated. "The flames hurt much, and
+white men die slow, slow as tongue of fire lick their bodies. The
+pale-faces not refuse----"
+
+"But we do!" exclaimed Arnold angrily, as he raised his voice to a
+louder pitch, now that the first need for caution was past. "You know
+little of the pale-faces, as you call them, if you think that they would
+do the deeds of dogs to save themselves from pain. Manito, to us, is
+God--He whom we serve and honour; He whom we love. Do you think that we
+could dare to live another hour if we knew that we had pretended to be
+sent by Him--and so delude foolish people? No! A thousand times no! Even
+if we were to see our sons dying before our eyes, and knew that one such
+false word would save them and us, I tell you, liar and cheat that you
+are, that word would never be spoken! We would be as dumb as the trees
+of the forest!"
+
+So moved was Arnold by the indignation that he felt at Thunder-maker's
+treacherous proposal that he rose as he spoke and poured out the torrent
+of his anger with reckless vehemence. Holden also got up, anticipating
+that the Indian might attempt some deed of revenge, seeing that he had
+displayed his hand to the sight of enemies who might make much of this
+knowledge in an appeal to Mighty Hand.
+
+[Illustration: DACOTAHS! DACOTAHS! COME QUICK TO THE HELP OF
+THUNDER-MAKER! HE IS BURNING WITHIN WITH FIRE. QUICK! QUICK!]
+
+But Thunder-maker was too cunning to risk violent measures with two
+such powerful antagonists. He merely waited until Arnold had finished
+his tirade. Then he suddenly leaped out from the tent, threw himself
+upon the ground, and uttered wild screams that immediately roused the
+entire camp.
+
+"Dacotahs! Dacotahs! Come quick to the help of Thunder-maker! The evil
+spirits of the water have witched him! He is burning within with fire.
+Quick! quick!"
+
+Instantly the camp was in an uproar, and men came rushing from all
+directions, bearing arms and torches that they had snatched from the
+still burning camp-fires. And before the Englishmen were well aware of
+the sudden change of affairs, a score of hands had seized them, and many
+strands of thongs bound them helpless, hand and foot.
+
+[2] Heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A DEATH-TRAP
+
+
+"Wake up! Do you want to sleep all your senses away?"
+
+It seemed but an hour after the tired boys had laid down their heads
+that the above words were bellowed through the opening in the tent.
+
+Bob sat up and rubbed his eyes.
+
+Yes, it was really morning. There was no doubt about that, for the sun
+was pouring into the tent in a warm stream, the birds were filling the
+woods with music, and the perfume of Nature was creeping all around
+them.
+
+One entire end of the tent had been thrown open to reveal these
+delights, and when Arnold opened his eyes he saw the gigantic figure of
+his Scottish host doing its best to fill the space. There was a
+good-humoured smile on the man's face--a smile that betokened a heart of
+the largest dimensions.
+
+Bob soon roused his chum, who was buried in a blanket.
+
+"What's the matter?" questioned the latter, as he unrolled from the
+coverings.
+
+"Can you not smell it?" demanded Mackintosh.
+
+"Fried bacon and coffee--yes--ripping!" was the reply as Alf began to
+move, being inspired to haste by the odour that proceeded from the
+camp-fire beyond the tent, where Haggis was busy cooking.
+
+Mackintosh gave a snort of assumed contempt.
+
+"Bacon and coffee! Who thinks o' bacon and coffee on a morning like
+this? Fegs! but have you no' ears for the birds, nor nostrils for the
+scents of Nature? Man, but I'd sooner have a sniff o' the backwoods----"
+
+"Than a mouthful of bacon? Not I," chimed in Alf merrily, at which the
+man laughed heartily as he turned on his heel.
+
+"I'm thinking that there's very little poetry in a hungry stomach," he
+said. "Well, 'get a gait on.' You'll find a wash-hand basin behind the
+tent, and breakfast'll be ready when you are."
+
+The boys needed no second bidding, and it was not many minutes before
+they were ready to show how well they could appreciate the half-breed's
+culinary art.
+
+While the lads were breakfasting, Mackintosh and Haggis busied
+themselves with striking the tent and packing the rest of the camp
+outfit upon the single pack-horse that accompanied the naturalist's
+wanderings. The two men had already fed at an earlier hour, and had
+stowed away most of their belongings in preparation for the journey.
+
+"We'll be making straight for the Silver Lake, where the hanky was
+found," explained Mackintosh as they set off. "Haggis'll maybe pick up
+tracks there that'll be o' use to us." And so a northerly route was
+taken--crossing an arm of the Athabasca, and then following a course
+through the woods under the unerring guidance of the half-breed.
+
+Towards noon the Scotsman called a halt, as he pointed to a small
+clearing through which ran a small stream of clear water.
+
+"This'll no' be a bad place for us to eat our dinner, lads," he said.
+"If you'll unpack the mare and tether her, Haggis, we can see aboot the
+fire and the meat."
+
+"Don't you think it would be well if we were to shoot something?"
+suggested Bob. "You see, we don't know where we may have to go yet, and
+game may be scarce. There seemed to be any amount of it on the way here.
+It would be as well to save what we have in hand."
+
+"A good thought," returned Mackintosh approvingly. "Let's see what the
+pair o' you can do wi' your guns while Haggis and I are setting things
+to rights."
+
+"I'll go one way and you the other, Bob, and see which of us will have
+the best bag in half an hour!" said Alf, with the eager delight of a
+friendly competition in prospect.
+
+"Right you are," agreed Arnold heartily, "You go to the right; I'll take
+the left, and in half an hour we'll meet again at the camp and compare
+notes."
+
+With a few words of friendly chaffing as to which would be the more
+successful, the chums parted. Each was determined that his gun should
+prove a superior Nimrod's skill, and both were stirred to high spirits
+by the excitement of the quest.
+
+It must not be a matter for surprise that the boys could take such
+pleasure in the diversions of the moment, even recollecting the serious
+nature of the mission on which they had embarked with the original
+Skipper Mackintosh. The truth was that, once having been convinced that
+the absent men were indeed alive, the weight of anxiety was greatly
+lifted by that knowledge. As we are already aware, their fathers were
+men who had had many a backwoods adventure in their youth. They were
+well capable of taking care of themselves according to the circumstances
+in which they were placed. Hence the chief anxiety now was to hasten a
+meeting, when they would learn aright the cause of the elders' absence;
+and, though they could not conjecture what that cause could be, they
+felt assured that accident (in the ordinary sense of the word) was not
+the reason. Ordinary accidents of the hunt were not likely to meet two
+such experienced sportsmen at one time; and if one had suffered the
+other would have found means to communicate the fact ere this. The boys
+felt assured that to some other cause the matter must be attributed, and
+so they were fairly at ease in their minds, though, of course, anxious
+to hasten the time when the mystery would be explained.
+
+Thus it was that when the opportunity occurred for this diversion in
+the form of a little friendly rivalry, each set off in the highest of
+spirits.
+
+Holden at once plunged into the thickest part of the bush at the back of
+the little camp-ground. Arnold decided to follow the downward course of
+the stream, in the hope that it might lead to a lake or pool where duck
+might fall to his lot.
+
+Pushing his way through the scrub that bordered the running water, Bob
+went some distance without any success. Then he heard the sound of a gun
+some way to the rear, and he smiled to himself, as he thought that his
+chum had already commenced operations.
+
+Spurred on by the thought, the boy hastened his steps, and increased his
+vigilant scrutiny of the bush for the first signs of game. But luck did
+not come his way for some time, and his anxiety not to be beaten in the
+contest led his feet farther than the half-hour's limit merited.
+
+It was not until he had tramped a mile or more that Bob realised how
+quickly the time had passed. It was disappointing to have to return
+empty-handed to the camp, especially since he had heard Alf's gun crack
+twice again. At the same time, if there were no creatures to be shot, he
+could not be reproached for his lack of success.
+
+With a rueful grimace and a laugh of amusement at his own failure, the
+boy was just turning to retrace his steps, when suddenly the bush
+rustled at his side, and a brown body leapt into the air as if it had
+been shot from a catapult.
+
+"Antelope!" Bob exclaimed with delight, and quick as a flash of light
+the butt of his gun darted to his shoulder and the woods resounded with
+the explosion of a cartridge.
+
+It was a quick aim and not too good, for the animal disappeared in the
+farther bush, and the cracking of twigs told the young hunter that the
+quarry was yet active.
+
+"This is worth waiting for," said Bob to himself, as he rushed forward
+in pursuit. "A dozen of Alf's prairie chicken will not be equal to an
+antelope--if I get him!"
+
+There was much in that little "if," for evidently the deer was far from
+being disabled, since it had so rapidly made distance between itself and
+the hunter.
+
+Nothing daunted, Bob hurried on, replacing the used cartridge as he ran,
+and easily following the tracks that the animal had made in its dash for
+liberty.
+
+Bob's pulses were thrilling with excitement, but his nerves were the
+real hunter's nerves that can be steady even when excitement runs
+highest. He gripped his gun firmly, and with eyes scaled to see each
+tremor of a leaf he followed the track with the dogged purpose of one
+who meant to capture.
+
+Time and distance were unheeded now. All the boy's senses were converged
+towards one aim, and for the time being he was oblivious to all other
+distractions. Suddenly he stopped in the very midst of a pace, as if he
+were suddenly changed into a statue of marble; for at no great distance,
+he saw the deer standing at the edge of what seemed to be a natural
+paddock of green grass. The animal had paused in its flight, and was now
+sniffing the air with head raised, to discover if it were still pursued.
+
+It was worth gun-shot.
+
+Cautiously Bob raised his weapon without even moving from the strained
+position in which he had stopped at first glimpse of the game. It would
+be useless for him to approach closer, for the least disturbance of the
+bush would be discovered, and a few leaps would carry the deer across
+that stretch of green turf, and thence--probably beyond all chance of
+recovery.
+
+Bob took a careful sight this time. Then he fired. Instantly the deer
+sprang upwards into the air, gave two marvellous leaps forward, and then
+fell in a lifeless heap right in the centre of the paddock.
+
+Bob gave a cry of exultation and ran forwards towards his bag. So
+excited was he now that he did not notice how the turf shivered under
+his feet when first he stepped upon the edge of the clearing. He had no
+thoughts for aught else but the triumph of his stalking. But suddenly,
+when he was within a few yards of the deer, he felt one foot sink
+beneath him. For a moment he did not give the incident any serious
+thought, but placed his other foot a little beyond, where the turf
+seemed firmer. But the next step sunk deeper than the first, and at each
+effort to release the one the other sunk farther.
+
+Then a cold sweat broke out all over the lad's body. He realised the
+plight that he was in, for the green sward was no more than a thin
+covering of turf that concealed a great muskeg--a lake of liquid mud
+such as has been known to swallow men, horses--nay, even a herd of
+buffalo, without leaving a trace of the hapless victims that have
+disappeared within that ever-hungry throat.
+
+Bob stood still in horror at his terrible discovery.
+
+He looked round him. There was not a sign of anything that might aid
+him--not a log, not so much as a twig. Nothing was at hand but the grass
+that a moment before had looked so fresh and alluring, but which now
+seemed to suggest all that was ugly and treacherous. Even the slain deer
+was already beginning to yield to the suction from beneath.
+
+If ever Bob was near to utter despair, it was at that moment. He was
+over the ankles in mud, and he could feel himself gradually sinking,
+while the slimy mass seemed to cling to his limbs and drag him downwards
+with irresistible force.
+
+Once he thought that he might be safer if he lay upon his face, but he
+quickly banished that suggestion when he saw that the prostrate position
+of the deer did not impede its certain destruction. He scarce dared to
+breathe, since every movement of a muscle hastened the work of the
+muskeg.
+
+Down, down he sank. The mud crept to his knees and gradually began to
+ascend his thighs.
+
+It seemed to be only a matter of time--another hour, perhaps less--and
+the tragedy would end.
+
+Yet he tried to be brave. He tried to brace himself to face the trial
+like a man, though it is hardly to be wondered at that he felt hope
+quickly leaving him, as inch by inch he sunk into that horrible green
+death-trap.
+
+Then, just as suddenly as if a voice had spoken to him from the very
+grass at his feet, there flashed into his mind the words that the good
+old Scot had spoken by the camp-fire the previous night--
+
+"There's a Hand that could guide the frailest birch-bark through
+Niagara."
+
+Bob remembered, and hope sprang up in his heart with a bright-burning
+flame. Yet his faith was severely tested, as the mud crept up, up--now
+to his hips, then slowly advancing beyond his waist, until at last it
+was embracing his chest in a cold grip.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+TO THE RESCUE!
+
+
+As Bob had surmised from the sounds that reached him, Alf had not been
+long in striking luck. Shortly after leaving the camp he bagged first
+one chicken and then another, and in a short time was lucky enough to
+bring down a fine jack-rabbit. Then he hastened back to camp, and
+arrived there just as he heard the sound of Bob's gun in the far
+distance.
+
+"I guess I've done the better of the two," he said merrily, as he
+displayed the result of his half-hour's hunt. "That's the first shot
+that I've heard from Bob."
+
+"There's no telling. Maybe your friend has shot an elephant!" remarked
+Mackintosh. "Here, Haggis! Tak' these birds and the beastie from the
+laddie, and dress them for the spit. There's a fine roasting fire, and
+we'll be having dinner all ready by the time Maister Bob gets back. I'm
+thinking that he's come off second best the day."
+
+"Not much praise to me. If there's nothing to shoot, a fellow can't get
+much of a bag, can he?" remarked Alf generously. He was ready enough to
+laugh at his friend in a good-humoured way. It was quite another matter,
+however, for any other person to cast the slightest sneer at his chum.
+"I was lucky in finding sport right at hand. But when it comes to
+shooting--a quick aim on the wing or on the run--I can't hold a candle
+to Arnold. Hark! Did you hear that? He has brought down two, to balance
+with my three."
+
+"Young boys give long trail," remarked the half-breed, who was pushing
+wooden skewers through the birds, preparatory to balancing them on
+wooden Y's before the fire.
+
+"Too long," grunted the Scotsman. "We can't afford to waste time. I was
+meaning to start off again soon after dinner."
+
+But by the time the birds were ready for eating, and the inevitable
+coffee was hot in the billy-tin, there were no signs of the boy's
+return.
+
+Mackintosh was plainly annoyed.
+
+"I dinna like that sort o' going-on," he grumbled. "Time is time, and
+if a body doesn't keep to time, there's no knowing what deeficulties may
+arise."
+
+But Alf knew his friend better than Mackintosh did. He knew that the
+excitement of the chase might result in a little lateness, for no one is
+perfect in matters of punctuality (or anything else, for that matter)
+under unusual circumstances. And the lad's anxiety had been gradually
+increasing as the delay had been prolonged, though he said nothing
+concerning his feelings until the man offered the remark that rather
+displeased him.
+
+"I don't think it's quite fair to judge a fellow until we know all the
+reasons," he said with keen resentment. "Bob is not the chap to forget
+other people. There's not a bit of selfishness about him."
+
+"Yet I'm thinking that the silly laddie _has_ forgotten this time,
+though, mind you, I'm no' saying that he's o' a selfish make," returned
+Mackintosh a little more gently, seeing how his previous words had hurt
+Alf. "I ken fine that boys will be boys----"
+
+"And Bob is--Bob--one of the best fellows that ever lived. Listen!
+What's that?"
+
+The boy had suddenly started and bent forward with intent listening,
+for his quick ear had caught the sound of two shots fired in rapid
+succession. They were very distant sounds, but still, far away as they
+were, the clear Western air enabled them to reach distinctly across the
+distance.
+
+"That's Bob's gun! I know its voice!" the lad exclaimed; and hardly were
+the words uttered before two more shots were heard--equally distant yet
+equally clear.
+
+"That's queer----" began Mackintosh thoughtfully, when Alf interrupted
+him by springing up from the ground where he had been sitting, and
+exclaiming in troubled excitement--
+
+"Queer? It means that Bob is in danger. See! There it is again!"
+
+Two more shots were heard, followed in a short time by another double.
+
+By this time Mackintosh was thoroughly roused. His backwoods experience
+told him what a chum's sympathy had already gathered, that no freak of
+sporting opportunities would cause these shots to be fired at such
+regular intervals. They could mean nothing else but a signal of
+distress.
+
+"Come, Haggis!" he said in steady tones that showed how ready he was
+for any emergency. "Leave those birds, and set your best foot forward.
+There's tracking to be done, and that right quickly."
+
+Picking up his rifle and bidding Alf take his gun, Mackintosh at once
+made a move towards that part of the bush where Bob had last been seen.
+Haggis and the dog Bannock quickly followed, and the former moved with
+all the quiet swiftness of a native who was used to meeting the
+unexpected emergencies of life without being in any degree flustered.
+That life had many times been in danger, and its safety had only been
+attained by being in a constant state of readiness.
+
+By instinctive acknowledgment of the presence of a superior craftsman,
+the two white men yielded the place of leader to Haggis, who quickly
+discovered the tracks that Bob's progress had left behind. The imprint
+of a rabbit's foot would not have escaped notice from such eyes as those
+of the half-breed, who had been trained in all forest lore from his
+babyhood. Hence it was mere child's play for him to pick up the track of
+top-boots, as well as the traces that had been made by the displacement
+of grasses and thorns.
+
+Meantime the distant shots were continued at intervals, until Holden
+counted twenty in all.
+
+Poor boy! It was little to be wondered at that he urged Haggis to press
+on with greater speed, for now he was certain that his chum must be in a
+terrible fix, out from which there was no self-help. He would hardly
+waste cartridges so recklessly were he not in some dire extremity.
+
+"For goodness' sake, hurry!" the boy exclaimed, for even the rapid
+walking in Indian file was all too slow for the patience of one who was
+pressing to the rescue of his friend.
+
+But the half-breed did not change the pace.
+
+"We step enough quick for bush-track," he said, without turning. "We no'
+wish lose track. On prairie we go quick--run; but in bush slow."
+
+"The Haggis is right," completed Mackintosh, whose position was third in
+the procession. "It's no' good to be too quick. We might lose the trail,
+and that would mean a vexatious delay to find it again."
+
+Alf was forced to acknowledge the truth of the reasoning, though it was
+a hard task for him to curb the desire to make a mad dash forward and
+take his chance of keeping in the right track.
+
+Then the half-breed stopped for a few moments and bent low to examine
+the ground and the surrounding scrub.
+
+"What is it?" questioned Holden. "Have you lost it?"
+
+Haggis shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Lost? No. Haggis no' lose track. But he find others--deer. White boy
+shoot deer, but no kill. Deer jump--run--white boy follow
+quick--there--there!"
+
+As he spoke the half-breed rapidly pointed at the various signs that he
+had interpreted. They were plain enough to the native eye, and in a
+lesser degree to the sight of the Scotsman. But Alf's inexperience could
+only distinguish an occasional displacement of the undergrowth, though
+he was well content to rely on the opinions of those who were more
+versed than he in woodcraft.
+
+Again the rescuers hastened onwards, with Bannock bringing up the rear,
+and when at last they came to a part of the bush where the trees were
+somewhat fewer, Haggis suddenly stopped and pointed straight in front of
+him, exclaiming the one sound--
+
+"Ha!"
+
+Holden was at the native's side in an instant.
+
+"What is it? Where? What do you see?" he exclaimed.
+
+"In middle of grass--see!"
+
+Alf looked, but all that he saw was a head and shoulders that apparently
+rested on the grass without any lower limbs. The poor lad was indeed in
+the depth of extremity, and he was almost faint with exhaustion.
+
+"Bob!" cried Holden in an agony of distress, and darted for the
+clearing.
+
+But he had barely crossed a couple of yards before a pair of strong
+hands gripped him and kept him from moving.
+
+"No! No! You dare not--" said Mackintosh; but the lad struggled
+frantically to free himself from the powerful grip.
+
+"Let me go! Let me go! Can't you see that Bob is lying hurt?" he cried
+frantically.
+
+But the hands did not relax their grasp.
+
+"Wait, laddie," said the man's kindly voice. "Wait, or we'll be having
+two lives to account for. Yon's a muskeg--a living bog. It's death to
+them that sets a careless foot on yon green grass."
+
+Instantly Alf's struggles ceased, and for the moment he was limp in the
+arms that supported him. The horror of learning of his friend's plight
+struck him dumb and suspended the power to move.
+
+"Come, come, laddie. You mustn't give in. Your friend's life depends on
+your strength."
+
+Mackintosh was a man of the world, whose experience enabled him to be a
+good judge of character. And he well knew the sort of counsel that would
+inevitably stir all that was best in the boy and lend strength to his
+pluck. He judged rightly, for immediately Alf straightened himself with
+set lips, steady eyes, and controlled nerves.
+
+"Forgive me," he said quietly. "But it knocked me over to think of
+Bob--out there."
+
+"I'm no' blaming you, laddie. But you'll need all your strength now, for
+I think that your friend is past helping himself--or nearly." Then
+Mackintosh faced the muskeg, and called loudly.
+
+"Hullo! Bob! Can you hear me?"
+
+Very slowly the eyelids were seen to open, the head moved slightly.
+
+"Can you hold out for a bit longer? Can you get a coat under your arms
+if I send it to you?" were the next questions.
+
+The boy did not answer at once. He seemed dazed, and the man repeated
+his questions.
+
+Then came the answer, spoken weakly and with an apparent great effort.
+
+"I'll try. But--come--quickly----" And the eyes half closed again.
+
+"That's right. Hold on for a wee bit, and we'll have you oot o' that
+mess in a jiffy!"
+
+Without pausing to explain his intentions, Mackintosh then quickly
+stripped off his leather hunting-jacket, emptied the pockets of all that
+could weight it, and called Bannock to his side.
+
+"See, Bannock," he said, "I'm going to tie a sleeve to your collar--like
+this. Now you must go over there. Do you see? Right over there where
+someone needs your help."
+
+He pointed towards Bob as he spoke, and the intelligent collie looked
+straight in the direction indicated. He had often had game pointed out
+to him in the same way, so quickly understood what was wanted of him.
+
+"Off you go!" his master then commanded. "Off you go--quick--quick!"
+
+The dog needed no second bidding. He sprang forward at once towards the
+hapless boy, dragging the coat with him.
+
+"Bannock's coming!" shouted Mackintosh. "When he's there, grip the coat
+and lean on it. He'll no' move when I bid him stay."
+
+"All right," came the faint reply.
+
+The ground that was so treacherous to the heavy boots of the incautious
+hunter could play no similar tricks with the light tread of the collie,
+and in a few seconds he had reached the goal.
+
+"Lie down!" the great voice rang out, and the animal immediately
+crouched close to the boy, who had just strength enough left to lay hold
+of the jacket in such a way that it formed a slight support of a
+temporary nature, to check further sinking for the time.
+
+But how to draw the boy from the slough? That was the next problem.
+
+Alf turned questioningly to the Scotsman.
+
+"Get to work and break off as many branches as you can," was the reply
+to the look. "Haggis, you've got your tomahawk? Well, cut down a lot o'
+these straight poplars. I'll give a hand to the laddie."
+
+It was not long before the sharp axe had laid prone a number of young
+poplars and partly lopped them, while Mackintosh and Alf had torn down a
+number of maple and other leafy branches that would lie fairly flat.
+These were gathered to the edge of the muskeg.
+
+"You're no' feared to take a bit o' risk for your friend's sake?" the
+man then asked, turning a look of confidence to the boy.
+
+"Afraid?" echoed Alf contemptuously. "Tell me what to do, and--well, I'd
+give my life for Bob!"
+
+"That's as it should be," returned Mackintosh approvingly. "'Greater
+love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
+friend.' I would offer to do this myself, only I'm a great heavy gowk,
+and Haggis is no' much better. But you're light as a feather compared
+with us. Now we'll put two o' these poles like the sides o' a ladder;
+then some o' the branches cross-ways. And you'll go out and build
+farther as we hand them to you. Can you do this?"
+
+"Of course," replied Alf firmly.
+
+"And don't hurry. Work sure and steady. The turf will stand the weight
+with only you on it. And when you reach Bob, you'll spread the branches
+all round. The rest I leave to you."
+
+To Alf it seemed hours before even the first section of the ladder was
+completed, but he did his best to control his impatience, knowing well
+the value of Mackintosh's advice; and at last came the moment of joy
+when he was ready for the second poles to project from the ends of the
+first ones, and a fresh supply of branches. But it was a tedious
+undertaking at the best, made doubly so by anxiety to reach the end; for
+each time the supply of building material was exhausted he had to creep
+back for more, as the men dared not trust their weight far from the edge
+of the muskeg.
+
+All this time Bob was watching the work as a starving man feasts his
+eyes upon the nearness of food and drink.
+
+Now and then Alf spoke encouraging words, but he did not relax his
+energies, nor did the sufferer make answer except once, when he stirred
+himself to say pluckily--
+
+"It's--all--right, Alf. I can--hold out--for--some time----"
+
+Yet when the younger lad once glanced ahead of him, the cold sweat broke
+out over his body, for he saw that his chum had sunk yet farther, and
+that the weight was dragging down the dog as well.
+
+"I'm coming, Bob! I'll be very soon now!" the lad forced himself to call
+cheerily.
+
+And, oh! the joy of that moment when at last the bridge was completed,
+and Alf could bend down to grip his exhausted chum beneath the arms!
+
+"Be careful!" called Mackintosh. "Don't jerk. Pull steady!"
+
+Inch by inch Alf felt the mud release its hold upon its prey, as he
+strained every ounce of strength to drag his friend from the clammy
+grip. It was a tremendous effort, for the boy was slight, and the hold
+of the muskeg added weight to Bob's by no means slender bulk. But at
+last Arnold's arms were clear, and in time he was dragged so far that he
+could rest his breast upon the structure.
+
+Then Alf paused for breath. But he did not delay long. He set his teeth
+and once more resumed his task. Then he made the woods ring with a
+triumphant "Eureka!" for Bob lay safe upon the bridge!
+
+Bannock barked for joy also, and struggled up to scamper back to his
+master.
+
+"Just in the nick of time! You've saved my life!" muttered Bob
+gratefully, when he recovered a little of his strength after a short
+rest.
+
+Alf's reply was characteristic.
+
+"You'll take a deal of washing, old man, before you're fit for decent
+society again!"
+
+The warmth of the sun soon restored some of the old energy to the
+chilled body, and after a time Bob recovered sufficiently to crawl to
+safety in the wake of his rescuer.
+
+And when solid land was regained poor old Mackintosh was fairly crying
+with joy.
+
+"Lads, lads! but God's been kind to us this day!" he was saying, while
+the tears ran down his manly, weather-beaten cheeks. Then he made all
+laugh by suddenly starting with a look of horror in his face as he
+exclaimed--
+
+"Ma conscience! But the birds will be burnt to cinders by this time!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CRAFTY TACTICS
+
+
+So unexpected had been Thunder-maker's tactics and so immediate the
+response of his people, that the attack was over before the Englishmen
+were well aware that it had begun. Not that any foreknowledge would have
+availed them much. They were unarmed, while the Dacotahs were both armed
+and numerous. Still, the average Englishman does not like to be trussed
+up without showing some marked resistance. It makes him feel small to be
+trapped without dealing a blow in self-defence.
+
+The place was brilliantly lit with burning brands which many of the
+Indians had brought, and the camp was in an uproar with the voluble
+chatter of the men as they crowded round the captives, while
+Thunder-maker excitedly cried out his story of the affair.
+
+So well did the Medicine Man concoct his lies so as to work upon the
+feelings of his people that meanwhile it seemed as though the Englishmen
+were in for a hot time. Indeed, so great was their wrath that knives
+were already reflecting the flames, and fingers were nervously twitching
+about the locks of their guns. And all the time Thunder-maker was
+dancing about in a frenzy of passion. He was not brave enough to strike
+a blow, but he hoped to shift the responsibility upon the shoulders of
+his brethren.
+
+What would have been the termination of the scene it is not difficult to
+decide, had not the old figure of Swift Arrow pushed a way through the
+seething multitude and taken a place at Arnold's side, while he faced
+his people with burning indignation.
+
+"What is this, brothers?" he exclaimed. "Is this how the Dacotahs treat
+the stranger in their tents?"
+
+"They are witches, not men!" came from many throats, and Thunder-maker
+added--
+
+"They call me from teepee--call me without words, and fill Thunder-maker
+with hot fire!"
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated Swift Arrow with utter contempt, as he turned to the
+last speaker. "Is not Thunder-maker great medicine himself? Has he no
+weapon to protect himself from magic?"
+
+But the Medicine Man had his reply ready.
+
+"Thunder-maker sleep. When Thunder-maker sleep he have no power against
+magic." Then he turned to the surrounding Indians with a wild appeal.
+"Shall it be, brothers, that the great medicine of the Dacotahs die
+before arrows of the evil spirits?"
+
+"Kawin![3] Kawin!" was the general reply, and again the knives glistened
+as they were raised in many hands.
+
+Thunder-maker shrieked with triumph.
+
+"Then save our tribe from the magic of the evil ones!" he cried as he
+flung his arms upwards and turned to the captives with a fiendish grin
+of exultation.
+
+The Indians were now worked up to a condition of irresponsible madness.
+Another such impulse from the Medicine Man, and the thirsty knives would
+be quenched.
+
+"Stay!" commanded Arnold suddenly.
+
+So unexpected was the word from that quarter that for the time curiosity
+superseded frenzy, and all paused to hear what the white man might have
+to say. And Arnold, seeing the advantage, went on with a calmness that
+seemed to act like a spell upon the excited minds. "Stay! My white
+brother and I are not afraid to die, if it be Manito's will that we find
+the Happy Hunting-ground this night, and if the Dacotahs have so
+forgotten the brave name of their tribe that they would slay the
+stranger who came to their tents in trouble. But first tell me: is it
+the way of the redmen to kill a prisoner without the wish of their
+chief----"
+
+"Ha!" interrupted Thunder-maker, hissing the exclamation through his
+teeth, for even now he felt his victims slipping through his hands. "Do
+not listen, brothers! They are evil spirits--they speak magic words
+against which nothing prevails. They have forked tongues that dart as
+fire. Ugh! I spit upon them--dogs!"
+
+The Englishmen met the verbal onslaught as firmly as a rock resists a
+wave, and Arnold did not so much as look towards the madman, but
+resumed, in the same even tones as before.
+
+"Who are you, redmen? Are you dogs, to be beaten to obey the first loud
+voices? Shall the howling wolf put fear into your hearts, to drag down a
+prey that he dares not attack alone? Or are you children of your
+rightful chief? Who is chief of the Dacotahs--Thunder-maker or Mighty
+Hand?"
+
+"The fiery totem is on the breast of Mighty Hand," answered one of the
+warriors. The hubbub had fallen, and all were listening intently--partly
+with the native courtesy that forbids the rude interruption of speech,
+and partly because the better self was beginning to replace the moment's
+frenzy.
+
+"Ah," resumed Arnold with a smile, "I see that the understanding of the
+pale-face was wrong. We thought that the chief was Thunder-maker, as you
+hastened to obey _his_ words."
+
+"Thunder-maker great medicine----" began Swift Arrow, when the former
+speaker rejoined--
+
+"Then he would make himself great chief. Will you braves suffer this
+insult to the wearer of the fiery totem?"
+
+"Ka--Kawin!" was the chorus that met this question, and the dark looks
+that had been directed towards the Englishmen but a little while since
+were now turned towards the defeated Medicine Man, who was standing
+sullen and silent.
+
+But Thunder-maker was not yet conquered, though he was apparently
+humbled. To give him his due, he was a man of wonderful resource, and
+when he saw that the tide was turning against him he was quick to meet
+the occasion.
+
+"My brothers, listen not to the words of Thunder-maker," he said
+quietly, and with a pretence of sad emotion that he had failed to
+influence the other Indians to take the right course. "Did not
+Thunder-maker say that these evil spirits have tongues of magic? Did he
+not say that no weapon could prevail against those magic words? But let
+it be as my red brothers wish. Mighty Hand rest in teepee. He not come
+from tent at night, unless the war-cry call him. So let it be as
+these--dogs--say. Let them rest in their tent to-night, and at another
+sun we will bring them before the great chief Mighty Hand, who is the
+greatest of warriors, and chief of the greatest of all tribes, the
+Dacotahs. I have spoken."
+
+"And spoken well," said Holden, thinking that it might be well to
+propitiate the Medicine Man for the time. But Thunder-maker, stooping
+forward with a pretence of picking up something from the ground, came
+close enough to whisper, so that only the Englishmen could hear him--
+
+"By another sun, when Mighty Hand looks upon the pale-faces, it may be
+that the friends of Thunder-maker have looked first!"
+
+The words were spoken with all the venom of a savage threat, and before
+Holden could make reply the Medicine Man was speaking loudly to Swift
+Arrow.
+
+"The Dacotahs shall see great medicine when the fiery totem again turn
+eyes upon the evil water-spirits. Thunder-maker will now go to his
+teepee. He would speak with his little children that they show much
+magic."
+
+But Swift Arrow did not deign to reply. He turned to the Englishmen, and
+with a few movements of his hunting-knife severed the cords that bound
+them.
+
+"The stranger who has raised no arm against the redmen may not be bound
+in the camp of the Dacotahs. My brothers did wrong. The pale-faces will
+forgive my foolish people."
+
+"We do not blame you. You are a good man, and Manito smiles upon the
+kind heart," returned Arnold quietly.
+
+Thoroughly worn out with the events of the previous day as well as the
+exciting incidents of the night, the two friends were glad to be at
+liberty to return to their tent and stretch their tired limbs upon the
+robes that had been provided for them. The Indians had quickly dispersed
+at the bidding of old Swift Arrow, and soon the camp was once more in
+peace.
+
+Little was said by either of the men as they lay down at opposite parts
+of the teepee, and it was not long before sleep came to the relief of
+weariness.
+
+For a couple of hours or more the Englishmen were wrapt in deep slumber.
+Then, just as the grey dawn was beginning to chase the shadows from the
+forest, Holden suddenly awoke. It was not the calm awakening that
+follows refreshing rest, but that sudden return of the senses that one
+sometimes experiences accompanied by a horrible instinct of danger.
+
+Holden sat up and looked round. Nothing strange was to be seen within
+the tent, and when he looked through the entrance all seemed peaceful
+without. The brown teepees were not even stirred by a morning breeze.
+Not a soul was to be seen, and it was too early even for the birds to
+sing their morning anthems.
+
+He looked at Arnold, and saw that his friend was still enjoying profound
+rest. So, laughing at his own weakness, Holden returned to his robes
+and was soon dozing again.
+
+Then a second time he wakened with the former conviction even stronger
+than before.
+
+He raised himself on his right elbow, and as he did so was startled by a
+sound that is calculated to strike terror into the hearts of men quicker
+than the most formidable of human foes.
+
+It was the danger-signal of a rattlesnake--the harsh alarm that is
+unmistakable even when heard for the first time, and the sinuous green
+thing was poised in the centre of the tent, with head thrown back in the
+attitude to strike. It had been startled by Holden's sudden movement on
+awakening, and now was armed to repel its supposed enemy.
+
+The man dared not move, for the least motion of a muscle might be
+sufficient to frighten the deadly little rope of flesh, and then----?
+
+The continued sound of the rattle had roused Arnold by this time; but at
+his first stirring Holden spoke, though he managed to do so without
+moving his lips.
+
+"Keep still. There's a rattlesnake in the tent. It's got an eye on me,
+and----"
+
+But the rest of the sentence was choked, for the man's blood suddenly
+ran cold as another serpent came from among the fur robes, writhing its
+cold chill body across his bare hand as it lay at his side, and then
+moving towards its companion.
+
+"There's another--just crawled over my hand," whispered Holden hoarsely.
+
+"And I see a third--over there just beyond my feet!" said Arnold. "What
+on earth are we to do?"
+
+"Lie still. We can do no more, unless we get a chance to make a bolt for
+it. But they are between us and the door."
+
+The men waited in tense silence, preserving the immovable attitudes of
+statues until, as time passed, other serpents made their appearance and
+the teepee was swarming with a dozen at least. They seemed to be
+everywhere. They crawled over the robes and peered into the men's faces,
+they wriggled beneath the covering and even passed across Holden's bared
+throat. But they were no longer aggressive. They were more of an
+exploring than an antagonistic bent.
+
+"I wonder where they have come from and why they have congregated in
+this particular tent?" Arnold questioned in a whisper, and, with the
+question, the explanation seemed to flash into Holden's mind like a
+flame of fire.
+
+"Thunder-maker!" he exclaimed. "The treacherous hound! This is his work.
+I was wakened by something before. He must have been letting loose his
+vile creatures."
+
+Just then the snakes returned unpleasantly near to the men's heads
+again, so further conversation was impossible, for it is remarkable what
+little sound will attract a serpent's attention, and the nature of a
+rattler is to regard every sound and movement as something dangerous to
+be fought.
+
+For more than an hour the men lay in strained positions, watching the
+writhing movements of the ugly creatures, and wondering how long the
+position could be sustained.
+
+And then, just when it seemed that the situation could not be supported
+another minute, they became aware of a sound of soft whistling at no
+great distance from the rear of the tent. At first the sound was quite
+low, and barely audible, but gradually it increased in volume until it
+took the form of a sort of minor tune of barbaric rhythm played on some
+sort of reed instrument.
+
+At the beginning the music was unheeded by the serpents, but as it
+became more distinct it was observable that the creatures became
+restless and uneasy. Now and then one would raise its head and begin to
+sway gently to and fro, in agreement with the rhythm. But gradually each
+seemed to be irresistibly drawn towards the back of the tent, as the
+spell of their master's music fascinated them. One by one they passed in
+one direction--moving slowly yet steadily in obedience to the call.
+
+And as the last of the reptiles passed beneath the edge of the
+tent-cloth both men sprang from their couches and rushed round to the
+teepee that was pitched a little way behind their own.
+
+But they found Thunder-maker reclining on a heap of robes and apparently
+asleep; and not a sign was seen to suggest the presence of a "rattler."
+
+So much for the art of the snake-charmer and the craft of an evil man.
+
+[3] No.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE PRICE OF A ROBE
+
+
+Thunder-maker did not move while the strangers were watching him. To all
+outward appearance he was asleep.
+
+Holden stepped forward and shook the Medicine Man roughly by the
+shoulder.
+
+"Come along! Open your eyes, you old scoundrel. You are no more sleeping
+than we are," he said.
+
+The Indian moved, slowly opened his eyes, and looked for a few moments
+at the speaker, just as a person would who had been suddenly roused from
+a deep slumber. Then a pleased smile broke over his face.
+
+"My white brothers in the tent of Thunder-maker? They are very welcome,"
+he said.
+
+But Holden did not respond to the greeting, as he demanded--
+
+"Does Thunder-maker think that we are fools? Do you think we did not
+hear you piping to those vile serpents of yours?"
+
+The Indian looked puzzled.
+
+"My white brothers speak strange words, or it may be that the mind of
+Thunder-maker still sleeps----"
+
+"Rot!" interrupted Arnold brusquely. "The Thunder-maker's mind is wide
+enough awake. What is the use of lying to us? We know that you put those
+snakes into our teepee, and we heard you call them back when you found
+that your purposes had failed."
+
+For answer, the Indian raised one of the blankets and disclosed a basket
+against which he had been leaning during his pretended sleep. He raised
+the lid, looked in, and signed the Englishmen to do likewise.
+
+"See? On their bed of grass my little papooses also sleep," he said,
+lifting the basket so as to show the tangle of green bodies that it
+contained.
+
+"We can gain nothing by further talking," remarked Arnold to his
+companion in an undertone. "The fellow has done us this time, and we
+have nothing to support us if we accuse him before Mighty Hand."
+
+"That's true enough," returned Holden. "He is best man this time."
+
+The Indian quietly closed the lid and again covered the basket with a
+blanket, after which he looked up with a cunning and triumphant leer.
+
+"White men will eat; then--Mighty Hand take trail for Pleasant Valley!"
+
+How he seemed to gloat over the thought of the terrible fate that
+awaited his enemies! Brave men though they were, they could not but feel
+a sense of shrinking at the picture that this man's attitude and tone
+conjured up. There are times when anticipations of pleasure seem to be
+rendered more alluring by reason of description. It is also so with
+expectancy of pain. Words may paint that picture in crimson colours so
+that our revulsion is intensified before we see it.
+
+"We will gain nothing by remaining here," said Arnold abruptly, as he
+turned from the tent, whence he was followed by his companion. And as
+the Englishmen departed they heard the Indian saying aloud, purposely to
+be overheard--
+
+"The pale-face no' think that he see Pleasant Valley, but fiery totem
+call. Fiery totem must be obeyed."
+
+Thunder-maker grinned evilly to himself as he watched the departure of
+his visitors. Then he rose up, folded around him a robe of deerskin that
+was covered with many strange designs, and crept with the sly movements
+of a prowling wolf among the various teepees. Reaching the farther side
+of the camp, he stopped in front of one of the tents that stood a little
+way apart from the others. Gently he raised the flap and looked in. An
+Indian of gigantic size was sitting by himself, adjusting his leggings
+and moccasins. He looked up to observe his visitor, and it was
+noticeable that as he did so Thunder-maker winced as though he were in
+pain.
+
+There were few who could look upon that man's face without wincing. In
+early scalping-days it had been slashed on one side with a
+scalping-knife in such a way that the left eye was totally destroyed,
+and a livid scar ran from the eyebrow to the neck--drawing the flesh
+into creases that robbed that part of the face of any semblance to
+humanity. The other side was whole, but the entire expression was so
+horrible that even familiarity did little to prevent repulsion in the
+senses of the beholder.
+
+"Thunder-maker is welcome to the tent of Red Fox," the Indian remarked,
+returning again to the completion of his wardrobe.
+
+"Thunder-maker would speak wise words with his brother," said the
+Medicine Man, entering, but not deigning to sit in the tent of that
+"brother." He seldom paid that honour to any teepee except his own and
+that of the chief.
+
+"It is well," returned the other man. "Red Fox will gladly hear the wise
+words the Thunder-maker will speak."
+
+The Medicine Man did not waste any time in needless palaver. The hours
+were precious to him, and even an Indian can cut time when his business
+is pressing.
+
+"Red Fox is great warrior; Red Fox have eyes like father of his name,"
+he said. "There is good work for Red Fox to do."
+
+The listener had broken the cord of a moccasin, and was apparently
+concentrating all his attention on knotting the break. But his attention
+was mainly given to Thunder-maker all the same, and the latter knew it,
+so he continued--
+
+"Thunder-maker have rich robe of ermine--better robe than Mighty Hand
+wear. Many dollars as leaves in tree not buy the robe of Thunder-maker.
+Yet--Red Fox may wear it."
+
+"Huh! Red Fox poor. He not have dollars to buy new traps for hunting."
+
+That was what the Indian said. He pretended that he thought the Medicine
+Man had come to trade. But he knew differently, and waited for the
+visitor to "show his hand." Whatever bargain was to be proposed, he knew
+that his share would not be increased by any show of eagerness to
+possess the robe that even chiefs had coveted in vain.
+
+Thunder-maker darted a keen glance at the other man as he said
+mockingly--
+
+"The dollars of Red Fox stay in pouch, yet ermine robe lie on his
+shoulders--if he do what Thunder-maker say."
+
+Still Red Fox made no sign to show interest, and the other went on--
+
+"At Crane Creek two white papooses live in tent. Red Fox will find
+them--he will go as a friend, and he will say, gentle as the voice of a
+mother pigeon: 'White boys would find friends who are far away? Then Red
+Fox will lead them.' And Red Fox will take them by dark path through the
+forest--by long path that twine like path of serpent. Then, when sun
+sleep, Red Fox will creep away--soft--soft, that pale-faces hear not.
+And when sun waken--Red Fox will be back at camp of Mighty Hand. I have
+spoken."
+
+Red Fox had fastened the moccasin by now, though he still sat with body
+bent while he intently listened to the Medicine Man's proposal to cause
+the two boys to be lost in the forest. And as the story was ended he
+slowly raised his head to look into Thunder-maker's face. What he saw
+there evidently satisfied him, for his ghastly face moved with a sort of
+smile that indicated satisfaction.
+
+"Then the--the fiery totem--foolish?" he questioned shyly, and the other
+Indian rejoined solemnly--
+
+"The totem of the Dacotahs wise--very wise. It speak to Thunder-maker by
+night, and tell him this."
+
+Red Fox nodded. But it was not the nod of agreement with the falsehood
+so much as at recognition of the lie.
+
+"Thunder-maker great medicine," he said, with a slight sneer. "But Red
+Fox hear much. He hear water-spirits say to Mighty Hand that they have
+papooses. Water-spirits have not young. So these are pale-faces."
+
+Thunder-maker's face flushed angrily.
+
+"Does the Red Fox insult the sacred totem of the Dacotahs?" he demanded,
+as he drew himself up as though it had been he to whom the insult was
+offered.
+
+But the Indian also raised himself, and did so with the conscious
+knowledge that his gigantic body and bare limbs, which glistened like
+muscles of copper, were more than protection against any physical attack
+that the Medicine Man might offer. And his upper lip curled with a sneer
+as he stared straight into the eyes of the totem's champion.
+
+"Red Fox is not fool. He live long among white men, and he know that
+totem cannot speak--that totem a lie. But Red Fox will do this for his
+brother Thunder-maker. Thunder-maker would have revenge against the
+pale-faces in yonder teepee, for they face Medicine Man--bravely when he
+would have had Dacotahs slay them. This will Red Fox do, for he would
+gladly wear the ermine robe."
+
+"The papooses will never again see their fathers?" interrupted the
+Medicine Man eagerly. He forgot etiquette and totem alike in the
+excitement of knowing that the success of one part of his evil plans
+was practically assured. Red Fox was known to be a man of little
+conscience though great determination, and it was only his enormous
+strength of arm that allowed him to keep a place within the clan of the
+really kindly Dacotahs.
+
+"The Red Fox will blind the trail, that the white boys never follow? For
+Mighty Hand weak--like woman. He listen to soft words, and it may be
+that he will not light fire in Pleasant Valley. The robe must return to
+tent of Thunder-maker if boys find their fathers."
+
+"Let Thunder-maker take his way in peace. By another sun Red Fox will
+have found the young pale-faces; by two suns he will return to the camp
+of Mighty Hand--alone. I have spoken."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE BATTLE OF WITS!
+
+
+It was only to be expected that Bob was not fit for much exertion after
+his experience with the muskeg, and it was Skipper Mackintosh's decision
+on returning to camp that the boy should proceed no farther that night.
+
+"But that will be a longer time before we get on the track of our
+fathers," protested Arnold, to whom the thought of inactivity for even
+twelve hours was irksome.
+
+"Better to bide quiet for a night at present than be laid up for days
+later on," was the Scotsman's response. "But you can set your mind
+easy-like. The time will no' be lost, for Haggis and me will set oot on
+a wee scouting expedition to the place where we found yon hanky. We'll
+be back by midnight."
+
+This plan was a relief to the boys' minds, for though it entailed a
+certain delay in the forward journey, the result of the scouting might
+curtail matters in the long-run. Mackintosh's report might enable them
+to make more definite plans than were possible at present.
+
+So, after a few preparations for the journey, the two men set off,
+accompanied by the faithful Bannock, early in the afternoon.
+
+"Don't you go and disappear like the others did!" laughed Holden, to
+which the "ceevilised" Haggis replied--
+
+"Fox lose trail in bush easier than me!"
+
+It was a hot afternoon, so, when the boys had watched their friends
+disappear in the forest, Bob decided that it would be a good opportunity
+to wash the mud and slime from his clothes, as they would soon dry in
+the sun.
+
+No sooner said than done. The soiled garments were stripped (for of
+course the lads were reduced to one suit apiece) and the stream utilised
+as a washing-tub, after which Bob was obliged to sit in his suit of
+Nature while the clothes of Art were drying upon handy branches.
+
+As we said, the day was hot, and, as the grassy slope upon which the
+boys sat formed the margin of a clear pool where the stream widened, it
+was not to be expected that the period of idle ease would be prolonged.
+
+"Ah!" Bob suddenly exclaimed, as he sat up and regarded the water with
+covetous eyes, "the temptation is too much for me. I'm going to have a
+dip."
+
+"It certainly looks more tempting than your plunge into mud. A pleasant
+change, I should say," remarked Alf chaffingly. Then he added merrily:
+"But are you sure that you can stand it? It won't do to exert yourself
+too much yet. Old Mackintosh expects you to rest."
+
+"That's all right. I shan't muck about very much. I can take it easy. As
+a matter of fact, I am sure that a plunge will buck me up."
+
+"All serene," returned the younger boy, rising to prepare himself for a
+bathe. "So long as you don't think that it will do you any harm, I'm
+ready."
+
+A short run, and then Bob had entered the water in the clean-cut style
+of a practised diver.
+
+"It's glorious!" he called to his chum, who was almost ready to follow
+his leader. "I should think that it is quite eight feet in the middle,
+so you can plunge safely."
+
+"Right. Clear out of the way!" was the response, and in a second more
+Holden in his turn cleft the sparkling water.
+
+Those of our readers who are only familiar with the cheerless sea or
+even the placid river-bathing of England can have no idea of the charm
+that is found in emulating the fishes in the cool depths of a Western
+forest stream.
+
+Imagine the great trunks of cedar and pine and the gnarled giants of
+maples spreading their great arms--shutting off the distance with a
+surrounding barrier of dense colour; imagine the red willows dipping
+their heads in the margin of the bowl, gaily coloured birds skimming the
+surface in pursuit of insects, and gaudy butterflies sometimes touching
+your cheek, like a piece of down borne upon the mellow air. At such a
+time, in such a place, you feel yourself to be but a tiny little speck
+in the centre of the world of Nature. You feel as free as a savage. If
+you are not happy, it must be that you are a weakling boy who lacks the
+real boy's love for out-of-door freedom.
+
+These were some of the sensations that our young heroes experienced as
+they splashed about in the crystal pool. Probably they did not realise
+the details as I have described them; but that was the effect, all the
+same. It is the glorious sense of freedom that everybody feels if they
+have the "backwoods spirit." It cannot be properly described, but I can
+smell the atmosphere of it all, even though I am now sitting in an
+English room in an English county. And so intent were the boys on the
+enjoyment of the moment that they did not observe the figure of an
+Indian who crept out of the bush near by while they were experimenting
+in various positions for swimming.
+
+The Indian paused for a few moments. Then, seeing the attention of the
+lads was devoted to their amusement, he crept to the tent like a snake
+in the long grass. This he examined thoroughly, and he gave a grunt of
+satisfaction as he discovered the pack-horse picketed near by. After
+this, seeing no necessity for further secrecy of movement, he boldly
+walked to the edge of the pool where the boys were bathing, and sat down
+quietly to watch their play.
+
+It was Alf who was the first to discover the stranger. "I say! There's
+an Indian!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Where?" questioned Bob, who had swum a little way out of sight beyond a
+curve in the creek.
+
+"Over there--beside our clothes. But, I say, what a horrible face he has
+got! He looks as if a lion had started to chew him and changed his mind!
+He's the ugliest-looking freak I ever saw."
+
+Taking for granted that the Indian would not understand the
+uncomplimentary remarks, Holden swam towards the side of the pool, being
+quickly followed by his chum. But the Indian had understood. He was as
+familiar with colloquial English as he was with his own tongue.
+Nevertheless, he did not alter the grin on his face, though there was
+something very different from a grin at his heart--a something which (if
+the rash speaker had only known it) had suddenly determined him to carry
+out his contract in quite a different manner from that which had been
+arranged with Thunder-maker.
+
+An Indian is a queer creature at the best. He loves as quickly and
+impulsively as he hates, while devotion may be turned into detestation
+as rapidly as a vessel of clear water is discoloured by a drop of ink.
+Red Fox's eyes flashed fire towards the imprudent lad, though his lips
+still smiled, and anyone who was a judge of Indian character would have
+understood from that look that it would be an ill moment for Alf if ever
+it was within the power of the redskin to repay the insulting
+expressions.
+
+By this time both lads had reached the shore, whereupon Bob addressed
+the stranger while the pair proceeded to dress--Arnold's clothes being
+dry by this time.
+
+"Well, where have you come from?" the boy questioned.
+
+"Trail long. Red Fox come over prairie--bush--far--far----"
+
+"Oh, you understand English?" exclaimed Alf, at the same time hoping
+that the Indian had not heard enough, or understood English well enough,
+to comprehend the recent criticisms as to his personal appearance.
+
+The redskin nodded, though he craftily pretended that his knowledge of
+the foreign tongue was but scanty.
+
+"Red Fox know little--very little. He speak--he no' understand all that
+ears tell him."
+
+"And a jolly good job, too," commented Alf to his friend. "He's a
+hideous monster, but I shouldn't like to hurt his feelings by letting
+him know my opinion."
+
+"I don't think that I would express it too freely, if I were you," said
+Bob, who had quickly resumed his everyday attire. "You never can tell
+how much fellows like that understand. I remember father telling me that
+Indians won't always admit that they know English well. They think that
+they can drive better bargains by pretending ignorance."
+
+Then the boy turned to the native, and the fact that the man was alone
+and seemed to have no other possessions than his gun, hunting-knife, and
+pipe, raised doubts in the lad's mind as to the truth of the statement
+concerning the long journey. He knew and had heard sufficient about
+Indians to be aware that they seldom travelled any distance without
+their family and other belongings.
+
+"You said that you had come a long trail?" he said, regarding the Indian
+with a sharp scrutiny.
+
+Red Fox bowed assent, taking out his pipe to fill it with kini-ka-nik
+(tobacco and red willow bark mixed) as he spoke.
+
+"Red Fox come far--with feet of deer. He have story for ear of pale-face
+brothers."
+
+The boys started at the remark, while Alf repeated--
+
+"A story?"
+
+"From the white men to their papooses."
+
+This was news indeed; but the unexpected announcement disarmed suspicion
+for the moment.
+
+"From our fathers?" said Bob eagerly. "Where are they? What has kept
+them from returning to camp?"
+
+"The white men rest," replied the Indian. "The trail far. They find Red
+Fox, and they say: 'Go, find our papooses and lead them by straight
+trail to our tent.'"
+
+"But they had no tent with them!" exclaimed Alf, at once touching the
+weak point in the falsehood. "Perhaps they are with other Indians?"
+
+Red Fox had not been instructed by Thunder-maker in the details of the
+story that he was to tell in order to gain his ends. It had not occurred
+to him to invent more than that he had been sent to bring the lads. That
+had seemed sufficient to attain his aims, though he realised that it
+would not do to say that the white men were captives. That might
+frighten the boys and prevent their following his guidance. The poor
+servant had not calculated upon the probing questions that would have
+been naturally anticipated by an English mind and prepared for.
+
+But he saw the blunder, and hastened to amend the error as best he
+might.
+
+"White men with Indians--with friends. Red men good to pale-faces--give
+them food and teepees and robes to rest on. So white men wish papooses
+to follow where Red Fox walk."
+
+Holden turned aside to his chum.
+
+"I'll be hanged if I'll follow the lead of a murderous-looking villain
+like that unless he can show very good reasons why I should. His face is
+like a nightmare."
+
+"I can't say I like the look of him myself," returned Bob. "He hasn't
+got the expression of a fellow you could trust. Besides, don't you think
+that if our fathers were well and had sent a native messenger to
+us--don't you think that they would have sent some sort of written
+message as well?"
+
+"It would have been easy enough. Father always carries his notebook and
+pencil with him----"
+
+"So he could have easily explained matters. I don't think he would have
+trusted an Indian to be understood. It isn't as if we knew anything of
+the lingo."
+
+While the boys were thus discussing the situation in low tones, they did
+not heed how Red Fox was observing them sharply from the corners of his
+eyes. He was trying to discover how far his deception had succeeded,
+though he endeavoured to hide his anxious observation by the action of
+lighting his redstone pipe. And it must be confessed that his keen
+scrutiny of the lads' faces did not reassure him. He could see suspicion
+plainly marked in both, while his heart burned with fire of anger,
+though resentment was mainly directed to the younger lad, whose
+inadvertent remarks had cut so deeply into the savage pride.
+
+But the redskin's mental observations were suddenly cut short by Bob,
+who wheeled upon him with a sudden inspiration.
+
+"Look here," he said quickly, though his voice was pleasant and almost
+reassuring, "it is very good of you to travel so far to bring us this
+news. We are glad to see you, and will try to give you a good present.
+But we will settle our business first. So, give me the letter, and then
+we will go to the tent and eat."
+
+"Letter?"
+
+The Indian repeated the single word in a puzzled tone.
+
+"Yes; the one my father gave you," said Bob.
+
+So mystified was Red Fox by the intelligence that apparently he had not
+only been expected by the boys but that he had been looked for as the
+bearer of a letter from the fathers to their sons, that he was
+momentarily startled out of his caution in pretending an only slight
+acquaintance with the English language.
+
+He stared open-eyed at the question, and Bob continued evenly--
+
+"Of course my father would send a letter if he wanted us. He would do
+that to prove that his messenger was one whom we could trust. Did he
+give you one?"
+
+Red Fox was quite taken off his guard by the white boy's guile, but he
+strove to cover his confusion by further lying.
+
+"Yes--the white man send paper by hand of Red Fox, but--but Red Fox
+foolish; he--lose letter--on trail----"
+
+"But you are _sure_ you had one? It would be written--in red--with a red
+pencil--a red paint-stick."
+
+"My white brother speaks true," said the Indian.
+
+"Of course he does!" chimed in Alf, to whom his chum's ruse was now
+clear. "And if that letter was written in red and sent to us, we would
+know where it came from, and would follow the messenger at once."
+
+The Indian flashed a quick glance of hatred towards the last speaker,
+but instantly lowered his eyelids again, as he returned with more
+calmness than before--
+
+"It is well. The pale-face did paint letter with red. But--Red Fox
+foolish Indian. He lose letter on trail. He seek much--much--but no'
+find."
+
+The game of bluff had succeeded. Now the boys knew for certain that the
+man was lying--that he had not been commissioned by either of their
+parents, and both laughed derisively.
+
+"Trapped!" exclaimed Holden triumphantly. "You've got him tight as a
+rabbit in a gin, Bob."
+
+How that sneering laughter scorched the redman's pride! It touched him
+at the quick, and caused him to writhe inwardly, until his fingers
+twitched beneath the folds of his blanket with eagerness to tear out the
+tongue that thus jeered at him. Yet the lads did not dream how near they
+were to tragedy as they laughed at the little comedy, with the chief
+actor sitting huddled at their feet. They did not notice how the
+Indian's eyes first measured the distance from the overhanging bank to
+the surface of the water, and then as quietly calculated the distance
+between himself and the lads.
+
+"Yes, you were indeed foolish," resumed Arnold, "for you have shown us
+that your words were lies. My father never wrote such a letter, I am
+sure, for a red pencil is not a thing that he possesses. And if he were
+well enough to write, he would be well enough to come himself, instead
+of sending such a foolish Indian and a bad liar."
+
+"At the same time," whispered Alf, "the chap must know something, or he
+wouldn't be here at all. We must find out that in some way or other."
+
+"True," Bob said.
+
+But there was no time allowed for considering what means to adopt to
+obtain further information, for just at that moment Red Fox uttered a
+wild cry, and sprang from the ground with the leap of a deer. Next
+instant Bob was gripped as in a vice and flung into the centre of the
+pool; then, with a snarl like that of a wild cat, the Indian sprang for
+Alf's throat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+OFF!
+
+
+The Indian is nothing if he is not unexpected in all his actions.
+Surprise attacks were ever his weapons of warfare. From among the long
+grass of an apparently innocent meadow he would suddenly rise up with
+his followers to attack the caravan that was quietly pursuing its way
+along the prairie in absolute ignorance of the nearness of enemies. In
+the dead hour of night the war-whoop would suddenly ring through the
+forest, and the settlers would be scalped and dead before the last echo
+had time to fade away.
+
+So it was on this occasion. Utterly unsuspicious of attack, both boys
+were taken at a disadvantage. Bob was floundering in the water before he
+had time to realise the assault, while Alf was equally unprepared as the
+Indian sprang towards him.
+
+The claw-like fingers missed their intended grip upon the boy's throat,
+but the arms managed to grapple the lad in a tight embrace. Alf
+struggled well, but he was no match for the muscles of the giant
+Dacotah.
+
+"I'm coming! I'll be with you in a second!" called Bob from the water,
+striking out strongly for the shore as soon as he had recovered breath.
+
+The Indian looked hastily around him without releasing the bearlike hug.
+He saw the swimmer quickly approaching, and he gave a cry of fury as he
+thought that he would be baulked of his purpose of revenge, for he
+rightly thought that he would stand a poor chance against two active
+lads. He might succeed in injuring the one, but there was little chance
+of his escaping.
+
+Suddenly he released Alf. Feeling himself free for the moment, the boy
+jumped back in readiness for another attack. But once again the
+unexpected had him at a vantage. The boy anticipated no other attack now
+but that of fists or a knife at the utmost. These were the only
+contingencies that his inexperience could imagine. But before he had
+time to conjecture other possibilities, Red Fox had slipped off his
+blanket, flung it around the lad just as the ancient gladiator was wont
+to entangle his opponent in the deadly net, and before Arnold had
+reached the river bank the Indian had wound the blanket tightly round
+his captive, picked him up in his arms, and commenced running towards
+the tent.
+
+Bob gave a cry of dismay and rushed on in pursuit.
+
+But the redskin had the start, and ran straight towards the picketed
+horse, still carrying the lad, who was half stifled by the thick cloak,
+and practically helpless, owing to the tightness with which the bond was
+twined.
+
+It would have been an easy matter then for Red Fox to have killed his
+captive and yet escape the other boy. But that was not his purpose. In
+his thirst to revenge the insult of Alf's words, he had quite forgotten
+Thunder-maker's commission and the coveted ermine robe. These were
+nothing to him now. He had listened to sneers with patience. The time
+had now come to repay the taunts with interest. He ran towards the
+pack-horse. A slash with his hunting-knife severed the rope within two
+or three feet of the halter. Alf was then thrown roughly across the
+animal's back, while the Indian was himself astride an instant
+afterwards. A vicious dig of the heels, and the horse sprang forward.
+
+And the last that Bob saw as he reached the tent was an ugly face
+grinning at him and an arm waving tauntingly as horse, rider, and burden
+disappeared into the woods.
+
+Arnold was aghast!
+
+He rushed into the tent and snatched up his repeating rifle, which was
+already loaded; by the time he emerged again he could only hear the
+distant sound of the fugitive rider pressing the branches through the
+bush track.
+
+He ran forwards at top speed, but he knew well that unless some accident
+befell the horse he stood a poor chance of being able to aid his chum.
+The Indian would know the bush as well as his namesake fox. He would not
+be likely to take any risk that would imperil his safety or blight any
+evil purpose that he might harbour.
+
+The boy followed the track, which was well marked. It was the same
+course that had been taken by Mackintosh and Haggis earlier in the day.
+For a time it led through an avenue of trees. Then it branched off to
+the left, where the ground was hard-packed and dry, having been
+stripped of vegetation by a bush fire earlier in the year. Here the
+tracks were less easy to follow, for a steady breeze was blowing, and
+the imprints of the hoofs were covered almost as quickly as they were
+made.
+
+It was heart-breaking to have to slacken speed at such a time, when
+every second might mean disaster to his chum. But what else could he do?
+And when ultimately the tracks led him to the border of a vast
+marshland, the lad was obliged to halt in what was almost despair.
+
+"What is to be done now?" he exclaimed to himself. "Poor old Alf! What a
+fool I was not to be prepared for such a rascal, when once my suspicions
+were so roused!"
+
+But it was no use sitting down in hopelessness. Such weakness would have
+nothing to gain and everything to lose. So Bob pulled himself together,
+as the apt saying has it, and racked his brains to meet the occasion.
+
+Not a sound could he now hear to indicate which way the fugitive had
+taken. Moreover, the tracks completely disappeared from sight when the
+boy had taken a few paces into the shallow water and spongy moss.
+
+Plainly the only course was to mark a starting-point with a stake, and
+then follow round the margin of the swamp until he discovered the spot
+where the rider had crossed.
+
+It was a tedious process, but apparently there was no option. So he
+resumed the weary tour with such hope as he could summon.
+
+Arnold found the tracks after more than two hours' patient searching, as
+the dusk was beginning to creep over the forest. The footprints were
+more distinct now than they had been at the other side of the marsh, so
+the boy was able to make some rapid progress. But, as the darkness fell
+the work became more difficult. He had to stoop low in order to see the
+tracks at all, and ultimately he could only follow them on hands and
+knees--feeling the footprints with his fingers, just as a blind man
+feels the letters in his book.
+
+He was becoming thoroughly exhausted. Still he plodded on with dogged
+perseverance. His knees were grazed and his back was aching, especially
+where the rifle was strapped; and at times he even stumbled and fell in
+a heap, from which each time he found it more difficult to rise than on
+the former occasion.
+
+It was indeed a trial that would have taxed the strength and nerves of
+the strongest. When we remember what the boy had already undergone that
+day, we have reason to wonder that he endured so long. Still he
+persevered. Inch by inch he felt his path in the pitch darkness,
+crawling through the bush with only hooting owls and whining wolves for
+company, until at last, worn out and dizzy, his muscles gave way, and he
+floundered unconscious upon the earth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A NIGHT'S TERROR
+
+
+When Bob reopened his eyes, it was to awake suddenly with the horrible
+feeling that he was being watched by some hidden foe.
+
+He started, and as he did so he was conscious of the sound of many
+pattering feet--soft, muffled sounds, yet loud enough for him to hear.
+He even thought, as he turned over and flung out his arm, that his hand
+had touched something that was warm and furry.
+
+He sat up and gripped his rifle as he stared around him.
+
+In the semi-darkness of the rising moon he could see dark figures moving
+restlessly all around him, while a score or more of eyes kept twinkling
+like stars to indicate how he was being watched.
+
+Just then a wild, long-drawn wail rent the night air beside him. The
+boy's blood seemed to run cold at the sound, for he knew that he was
+surrounded by a horde of timber wolves who had thought him dead, and
+come too soon.
+
+Too soon? Yes. But how long would their moment be delayed?
+
+Bob staggered to his feet and held his rifle in readiness. But the
+ghouls of the night kept at some distance, though he could still see
+them stirring here and there, as if they were discussing plans among
+themselves.
+
+The boy waited--it seemed hours--each moment expecting a dash from the
+black spectres. Still they hung back, until Bob actually began to long
+for the attack to begin, that the strain of waiting might be broken.
+
+Then something moved behind him. He wheeled about and swung his rifle
+like a club, at random. The butt met a soft substance, and a wild howl
+followed, as a wolf that had been creeping upon him from the rear now
+sprang back among his lurking comrades. Instantly the forest rang with
+wails and howls and snarling, as the wolves sprang upon their wounded
+comrade (as is the way of many wild animals) and tore him to pieces.
+
+Yet Arnold dared not leave the spot. If he ran, the wolves would soon be
+upon him, for a fleeing prey is more closely pressed than one that
+stands at bay. Moreover, he was in the centre of a clearing. If he were
+to enter the woods, there would be many quarters from which he would be
+open to attack and unable to defend himself freely.
+
+The night wore on, and the moon crept up into the arc of the sky. His
+enemies could be plainly seen now, though the shadows prevented him from
+determining how great was their number. Probably the uncertain light
+deceived him and multiplied the actual score. One thing--they were in
+sufficient numbers to be a formidable danger, and it would need sharp
+watching to ward off the attack effectively.
+
+So long as there was a remnant of their comrade's flesh to fight and
+snarl over, Bob was left in peace. But presently the strife became less
+and the noise sank, and by such signs he knew that he had again become
+the object of their unwelcome attentions.
+
+He stood his guard with every nerve strained to catch the first sight
+and sound of danger.
+
+Then he saw two large forms creeping towards him from the front. They
+came slowly, creeping low like dogs stalking game in the grass.
+
+Bob waited until they drew near. He was reluctant to exhaust a cartridge
+unless it was an absolute necessity. His wish was to exercise the force
+of his muscle on these as he had done with their predecessor.
+
+But, as the wolves came within a few yards, they stopped and eyed him
+cautiously, and in this position the furred enemies and the boy stood
+watching each other, just as wrestlers watch each other's eyes to
+discover the vantage moment for a deadly grip.
+
+The time passed, yet neither side moved. Then, to Bob's dismay, he
+discovered that the whole mass of wolves had gathered together, and were
+slowly creeping upon him in the wake of these two leaders.
+
+And with the knowledge, the boy seemed to go mad for the time. He could
+delay the fight no longer. His blood rushed hot to his head. He fired
+one shot at the foremost wolves. Then he gripped his weapon by the
+muzzle and sprang straight for the pack.
+
+"Come on, you brutes!" he yelled, as he laid about him right and left.
+"If it's got to be a fight, the sooner we begin, the sooner it'll be
+over!"
+
+Wild with passion, the boy fought with the false strength that is always
+the accompaniment of delirium. As the blows told, the wolves howled and
+shrieked and leapt for him with a rage that was equally frantic to his.
+Fortunately they kept to one side--that was the side from which the moon
+shone. They could see him plainer thus. Otherwise the light would be in
+their eyes, and he but a black figure that they could not understand.
+
+How he fought that night!
+
+Strange to say, all fatigue had left the lad's body. He had the
+endurance of three normal boys--at least it seemed thus, though we never
+know our real strength, muscular or mental, until we are in the straits
+of desperation.
+
+More than once he received a nasty little snap in the arm. But these
+were unnoticed in the heat of the combat. His eyes were "seeing red," as
+the Westerners say. He had no nerves to feel with; only muscles to fight
+with. And all the time the impromptu club was in action--sometimes
+swinging like a flail, at other times being gripped for a no less
+effective thrust with the butt.
+
+But gradually the attack became perceptibly easier, as the wolves were
+beaten back or slain by the ceaseless swing of the rifle. Bob recognised
+the weakening of the assault, and the spirit of the conqueror fired his
+blood to renewed energy.
+
+Baulked of his prey, a great timber dog sprang forward with
+determination to vindicate the honour of his kind.
+
+Crash went the weapon, a single howl escaped from the savage creature,
+then he fell back, quivering and lifeless, upon the ground.
+
+That was the end of the conflict. Their last leader slain, the others
+turned tail and fled.
+
+Arnold stood firm on the defensive. His hair was soaked in sweat, his
+clothes were torn in many places, and he could feel the sharp sting of a
+wound in his shoulder. It was some time before he could believe that the
+fight was indeed over. The change from storm to calm had been sudden;
+and it was only when he understood that strength was no longer needed
+that he began to feel the evidences of fatigue. His limbs began to
+tremble with the reaction as the unnatural strength that had buoyed him
+so well now commenced to ebb. He looked around him. The signs of his
+conquest were visible in the moonlight as dark lumps lying here and
+there. Then his keen eyes began to haze and his head to swim. And for
+the second time that night he sank to the ground in a state of
+unconscious fatigue.
+
+It was bright daylight when Bob regained his normal faculties. The
+morning had considerably advanced while he had lain oblivious to the
+passage of time.
+
+The boy sat up. He was stiff and sore. But he was no puny schoolboy. He
+had a sturdy frame that healthy athletics had trained to meet fatigue
+without injury, and Nature's needed rest had rapidly restored normal
+strength, though, as we said, his muscles were not free from certain
+little aches to remind him of late events.
+
+At first his thought was that the previous adventure had been nothing
+more than a bad dream. But as his eyes scanned the surroundings, and he
+saw no fewer than seven carcases of timber wolves lying unpleasantly
+close to him, he was quickly convinced that there had been no ill vision
+but terrible reality.
+
+Next he called to mind the quest on which he had started from the camp.
+
+That thought was sufficient to banish the last sensation of drowsiness,
+and he immediately rose up and examined his rifle, to see if it had
+suffered from the adventure. The weapon had stood the test well. Beyond
+a few dents on the butt (which would be so many trophies of the combat)
+it was otherwise uninjured. The scratches on his own flesh were not
+serious, though they nipped a little at first movement. So, altogether,
+Bob was satisfied that he had come through the ordeal in a manner that
+demanded thankfulness to a protecting Providence.
+
+The next move was towards the bush, where the Saskatoon berries were
+hanging in inviting clusters like myriad bunches of purple grapes in
+miniature. These, together with a draught from an adjacent spring, had
+to suffice for breakfast. Then he turned once more to take up the tracks
+that he had been forced to forego on the previous night.
+
+It was not long before the boy rediscovered the trail, and with a
+thousand misgivings for the unavoidable delay in going to his chum's
+assistance he started on the track at a rapid pace.
+
+It was a winding path that he followed; but in order to ride swiftly
+Red Fox had been obliged to keep more or less to the open way through
+the woods, relying upon speed more than strategy to outreach pursuit. He
+had a plan in his mind that he meant to carry out when at a safe
+distance. After that was accomplished, he did not care how soon the
+searchers might reach the spot. He would be far away. And the boy--well,
+they would be welcome to find him then.
+
+Doggedly determined to find his chum at all costs, Bob pressed on,
+seldom taking his eyes from the ground, where the imprints showed how
+heavy hoofs had thrashed the trail.
+
+What had happened to his chum? Had the savage merely stolen him for some
+wild purpose--perhaps to await a ransom? Or could the worst have
+happened, and Alf be even now---- No, no. Bob could not bear that
+thought, and he put it from him, struggling manfully to retain hope as
+well as strength.
+
+And then suddenly--when it was about noon--he came upon the Scotsman's
+pack-horse quietly grazing beneath the trees, and at a little distance
+Alf sitting on the ground with Red Fox prostrate, resting his head on
+the lad's lap.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE FATE OF RED FOX
+
+
+It may seem a little surprising that Alf did not make a better
+resistance when he found himself being carried away on horseback. It is
+no easy matter for even an Indian to carry a person lying in front of
+him on a bare-backed broncho when the person is helpless and still. It
+is a yet less easy matter--if not an impossibility--to do the same thing
+with a struggling captive.
+
+Of course we know that Holden was at a disadvantage. He was powerless to
+use his arms, which were held close to his sides by the wrappings, and
+it was with difficulty that he breathed. But his legs were comparatively
+free, and it would not have required much energy to make such resistance
+as would have considerably hampered Red Fox in his purpose.
+
+The reason for the lad's passive demeanour is not difficult to
+understand.
+
+Alf was no fool. Indeed, he possessed a more than usual degree of common
+sense, together with a gift for rapid reasoning. He quickly decided
+that, for the time being at least, he was at the Indian's mercy. His
+instinct told him that, for some unknown reason, he must have incurred
+the native's wrath; and, even though he might have struggled with a
+measure of success, the Indian was both powerful and passionate enough
+to murder him then and there.
+
+No person, even in the direst straits, is anxious to incur a violent
+death. Holden was no exception to that rule, so he deemed it best to
+make pretence of fainting, on the chance that time might release him
+from his plight. It would only be a needless exhaustion to struggle now,
+when he would be easily overpowered. Moreover, a show of resistance
+might mean the sudden plunge of a hunting-knife.
+
+So he lay still, and the Indian laughed aloud, believing the lad to be
+unconscious through fright.
+
+"Huh! White dog laugh at Red Fox? He say Red Fox face hideous?" the
+redskin exclaimed jeeringly, as he pressed the horse to the race. "'Tis
+well. Red Fox face bad--very bad; but white boy worse when Indian hand
+have used knife!"
+
+Then the boy understood the mystery. His careless words _had_ been
+understood, as Bob had suggested. And his fate was to be vengeance of a
+like mutilation of his own fair cheeks!
+
+Not if he knew it!
+
+It was little wonder if the lad felt his blood run cold as he listened
+to the Indian's vaunt, and it is little wonder that his head swam until
+he was near in reality to the very faintness that he had assumed.
+
+But real pluck is never subdued for long. The very threat was enough to
+rouse a strong determination to thwart the brutal intention, and his
+mental decision was that which we have just recorded in the third
+person: "Not if I know it!"
+
+Red Fox had quite forgotten about the ermine robe. That was quite
+Indian-like. The object of the moment was all that he cared about. To
+gain that aim he would have sacrificed a thousand robes of costliest
+fur--nay, even life itself, if he could have the satisfaction of
+vengeance first.
+
+Guiding the broncho by the swaying of his body and the occasional use
+of a halter-rope, the redskin did not permit the animal to slacken speed
+for an instant.
+
+Once, owing to the stillness of his burden, he drew aside a portion of
+the blanket to look at the boy's face.
+
+He saw that the eyes were closed, and a fear came into his heart that
+perhaps he was to be robbed of his pleasure after all.
+
+But the lips trembled, and, on bending down the Indian could hear the
+sound of breathing.
+
+"Huh!" he laughed, as he replaced the cloth. "That good! Pale-face--he
+sleep, but he wake soon when Red Fox make sign of totem. Then white boy
+laugh not again at Indian. Red Fox, he laugh at hideous white boy."
+
+A peal of harsh, savage laughter rang through the woods at this
+delicious humour, and startled the horse so that it strained harder in
+the gallop.
+
+Through the woods, the burnt clearing, across the marsh where Bob had
+tracked so steadily, the broncho passed in the mad race. It was rough
+riding for the boy as he lay on his back--half across the Indian's knee,
+with his head partly free of the blanket; but he set his teeth,
+determined to bear the ordeal without a whimper, that he might be more
+ready for the later critical moment.
+
+Then something (he never knew what) startled the horse. It sprang
+sideways from the path right into the bush, where a heavy branch caught
+Red Fox right in the forehead.
+
+One cry the Indian gave. Next moment both the riders were thrown
+violently to the ground, while the broncho went off wildly and
+riderless.
+
+The folds of the blanket considerably lessened the shock of Alf's fall,
+and as soon as he had collected his rudely scattered senses he did not
+take long to emerge from his chrysalis-like state.
+
+He sprang to his feet, prepared to be instantly on the defensive.
+
+To his surprise he was unaccosted, and on turning he saw the Indian
+lying face downwards upon the ground, while a red stream was making a
+ghastly pool around his head.
+
+Holden was by his enemy's side in an instant. He knelt down and turned
+the man on his back. The movement was answered by a groan, but
+apparently the Dacotah was unconscious, for he did not attempt to move,
+and his eyes were closed.
+
+A spring was close at hand. Alf tore off the scarf that he wore round
+his throat in bushman fashion, soaked it in the water, and mopped the
+redman's brow. Still there was no sign of returning senses, and the lad
+was now grievously distressed at his enemy's disaster. He would have
+been rejoiced to have vanquished the man, had the adventure terminated
+in an unavoidable encounter. But now that Red Fox was in distress, all
+hard feelings and resentment had left the lad's heart. He was all
+sympathy for misfortune. That is the way of the truly brave.
+
+Seeing that recovery was tardy, Alf tore the scarf in two pieces. With
+one strip he bound the ugly wound that gaped in the Indian's forehead;
+with the other he resumed his attentions by moistening his lips and
+temples.
+
+And by and by the redman opened his eyes. He looked up vacantly before
+him, not seeming to understand what had taken place.
+
+"That's good!" remarked Alf cheerfully. "You feel better now, don't
+you?"
+
+Red Fox looked straight into the boy's face, but without appearing to
+recognise him. Then he muttered a few words in Indian and closed his
+eyes again.
+
+For some time he lay with his head resting against his nurse, while
+Alf's thoughts began to wander to his absent father and the chum whom
+he had left in such strange fashion.
+
+Then he looked down again, and saw that the Indian was regarding him
+with eyes wide open--looking at him in a peculiar wondering fashion, as
+if he saw for the first time a being of some strange creation.
+
+Holden smiled encouragingly as he touched the man's brow with the damp
+cloth.
+
+"How does the head feel now?" he asked. "Does the cut pain you much?"
+
+Red Fox did not answer immediately, but continued to stare at the lad
+with the same open-eyed wonder.
+
+"Pale-face kind," he said at length, in quiet tones. "He touch Red Fox
+like wing of a dove. Why is the white boy so good?"
+
+"Nonsense," returned Alf. "It's nothing at all. You don't think that
+Englishmen would leave a fellow to bleed to death, do you?"
+
+"No--English boy good," said the redskin. Then he added, with a sort of
+wistfulness: "But Indian would leave pale-face----"
+
+"Rot!" was the sharp interruption. "If I had been hurt as you have been,
+you would do just the same. Now lie quiet for a while. You'll feel
+better soon, and then you can go back to your people."
+
+The Indian shook his head slowly.
+
+"Red Fox understand. Red Fox know English tongue good. But--he no' go
+back to people. He go--Manito--Happy Hunting-ground--soon."
+
+Alf was silent. He had never been in the presence of death, and never
+before in the presence of the dying. The thought awed him.
+
+"Yes--white papoose good," the redskin went on falteringly. "He kind to
+hand--that would have cut face for revenge. Ugh! Red Fox bad Indian,
+but--he sorry--now. Can brave white boy forgive poor Indian?"
+
+"Of course," returned Alf huskily. "You did not understand. English
+people speak words that they do not mean to hurt. It is I who should ask
+forgiveness for what I said about you. I, too, am sorry."
+
+"Then--white and red are--brothers. They bury the hatchet and--my white
+brother will stay with Red Fox while he go Happy Hunting-ground?"
+
+"Yes, yes," the boy assented readily. "I won't leave you. Don't you be
+afraid of that."
+
+"It is well, for Red Fox would speak before he go. He would speak true
+words to the pale-face. He spoke forked words like serpent tongue when
+he say that white man sent Red Fox to bring papooses to Indian camp. But
+he speak well now when he say white men with Mighty Hand now----"
+
+"_Safe?_" exclaimed Holden, as the information came to him with sudden
+joy and sudden dread.
+
+And the answer was at once a relief and double anxiety.
+
+"White men safe--now. But before another sun they--they die----"
+
+"Die?" was the exclamation of horror that greeted this announcement.
+
+"Yes," the Indian answered. "Dacotahs foolish. They say white men
+spirits that brought great trouble of water to Indian. They say that
+serpent totem call them to Pleasant Valley, and there they burn unless
+serpent appear to save them from fire." Here the Indian seemed to gather
+strength, for, without allowing the horrified boy time for utterance, he
+slightly raised himself and spoke with a flash of energy.
+
+"But white boy brave--white boy good. He kind to Red Fox who would have
+used cruel knife. But Red Fox no' papoose now. He know that white boy
+too brave to suffer; Red Fox too bad to live. And he would save the
+pale-face man--
+
+"Go, my brother--go to the village of the Dacotahs and find
+Thunder-maker, the Medicine Man. Tell him that Red Fox die sorry that he
+made bad promise--that before he die he bid Thunder-maker speak true to
+foolish Dacotahs, and tell that white men no' spirits. Thunder-maker
+know. Thunder-maker can save white men, and----"
+
+The last word choked in the Indian's throat. He gave a gasp, fell back
+into Alf's arms, while his eyes looked up hungrily into the lad's face.
+
+"Be brave!" whispered the boy. "Be brave, Red Fox. Manito waits for you.
+I have forgiven you; He has forgiven you. All will be well."
+
+"Red Fox understand. He--happy----" were the last words that the poor
+misguided redman spoke, as he died gazing lovingly in his young friend's
+tear-clouded eyes.
+
+And it was thus that Bob found his chum--tenderly holding his red
+brother in his arms while the great journey was taken to Manito's happy
+land for the sorrowful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+HOT ON THE TRAIL
+
+
+It was a happy meeting for the two chums after the exciting events that
+each had experienced. But it was rather sad, all the same; for even in
+their joy at finding how both had come through their trials with but
+little damage, they could not but regret the tragic end to poor Red Fox.
+
+"He was a high-tempered chap," said Arnold, when he had listened to his
+friend's story. "All the same, he must have had some good in him, since
+he was so completely changed at the end."
+
+"He seemed sorry enough," Alf rejoined. "And I must say that I feel
+wretchedly sorry about the whole thing. In a way it was my fault--making
+the remarks that I did. It never occurred to me that he would understand
+a word----"
+
+"As apparently he did. However, it can't be helped now. No doubt he had
+some evil purpose all along, or he wouldn't have come to us with that
+lie about being sent by your father and mine."
+
+"At the same time it has taught me a lesson," said Alf. "I guess I'll
+keep my opinions to myself next time, when they are so uncomplimentary."
+
+"Just as well," Bob agreed seriously. Then, turning to the dead Indian:
+"We've got to lay that poor redskin to rest. I wonder how we are to
+manage it!"
+
+"We can't dig----"
+
+"And we can't leave the body uncovered. The wolves would work mischief
+in no time."
+
+"How would it be if we were to lay him in that little hollow and cover
+him with big stones?" suggested Holden. "There are plenty of boulders
+about, and we could easily cover him with branches first, with stones on
+the top, to keep off the animals."
+
+"Right," Bob said; and together the lads gently raised the Indian's body
+and placed it in a little flower-scented hollow that, after all, was a
+fitting bed to receive the royal dead--quite as fitting as a dark pit.
+Then they cast maple branches over it, and carried boulders until a
+substantial mound was raised.
+
+And when all was completed as well as they were able to do it,
+instinctively both lads knelt beside the grave and prayed for a few
+minutes in silence. And the birds overhead sang their hymns to unite in
+the service--happy songs of gladness they sang, that seemed to convey to
+the boys' hearts the grand lesson of all funeral services--that death is
+not all sadness, for we know of the joy that follows.
+
+There was nothing more to be done now but to return to camp. Mackintosh
+had probably returned by this time, and he or Haggis would be able to
+guide to the Dacotah village on the urgent errand. So the broncho was
+caught. It had never wandered far after the recovery from its fright,
+which was probably due to the sudden appearance of a wolf in the scrub;
+and before long the chums were on the home trail, taking it in turn to
+ride the horse.
+
+Camp was reached about noon, and the boys were greeted at the tent by
+the Scot.
+
+"Where in the world have you two laddies been?" he immediately
+questioned. "Here's Haggis and me (to say no' a word about Bannock)
+returned at breakfast-time to find no' a single body at the camp. No'
+that time has been wasted, for we would have rested till dinner in any
+case. But it's foolish tiring yoursels like this when there's hard work
+before you. Pleasure is all very well----"
+
+"We've been on no pleasure trip," interrupted Alf, with a sad smile. "It
+has been anything but pleasure to Arnold and me."
+
+Thereupon Holden immediately launched into the story of his adventure
+and his chum's--a tale that was listened to with silent surprise both by
+Mackintosh and the half-breed, who had come out from the tent and stood
+attentively apart.
+
+"Well, well," the Scotsman commented at the close, "these are stirring
+times for you boys. There's no' a bit o' doot aboot that." Then he added
+seriously: "But I'm thinking we'll no' be able to wait here ower long.
+We must set oot at once. I ken something o' this Indian legend o'
+water-spirits, and I ken something o' Indian ways as well. There's evil
+things that will be doing if we canna stop them."
+
+"Did you find out anything while you were away with Haggis?" questioned
+Bob.
+
+"A bit. We found the tracks o' boots as well as moccasins, and we
+followed far enough to learn that they had gone to the Dacotah village.
+Then we came back to fetch you laddies. And I found four grand specimens
+for my collection! Real fine they are--such as will make my brither
+entomologists in Edinburgh open their eyes as big as Duddingston Loch
+when they see them. But there--I must be daft to be thinkin' o' moths at
+such a time. See, Haggis! Hurry on wi' the denner! We'll be striking the
+camp, for we must mak' straight for Pleasant Valley wi'oot delay."
+
+The speaker was all bustle and hurry now, and as the boys followed to
+render assistance, Bob asked--
+
+"Pleasant Valley? But did you not say that they were at the Dacotah
+village?"
+
+"Of course I did. But I said _were_, not _are_. Did you no' attend to
+what your freend said--that Red Fox told him that Mighty Hand would
+leave for Pleasant Valley by another sun? That's the day."
+
+"Oh, I see. Then you mean to go there direct?"
+
+"Exactly. I ken something o' that Pleasant Valley. There's no' a verra
+pleasant look aboot it noo--a desert o' a place--all crags and sand,
+wi' just a pickle o' trees. It's a branch arm o' the Athabasca, and has
+been a torrent at some flood-time--the time that probably started the
+legend. But there's no' been ony stream flowing there in the
+recollection o' living man. But"--and the naturalist was predominant for
+the instant--"there are rare kinds o' hawk moth to be found in that same
+desert! You'll be seeing the value o' my phosphorus invention before
+another couple of nights are out."
+
+The boys laughed as the man's enthusiasm came suddenly uppermost, to the
+exclusion of (to their minds) a subject of more vital importance.
+
+"I do believe, Skipper, that you would sooner capture a rare beetle than
+be a Napoleon!" laughed Bob, to which the naturalist replied with scorn,
+as he indicated the lads to take the opposite end of the tent to roll--
+
+"Beetle? What do you take me for--a coleopterist? Ma conscience, laddie,
+these insects are no interest to me. I wouldn't touch one with a pair o'
+tongs. It's moths and butterflies for Skipper Mackintosh--the dainty
+fluttering things that are like bits o' sunshine and beams o' the
+moonlight. Beetle? Speak not to me the name o' thae things o'
+darkness!"
+
+The tent was rolled and most of the other adjuncts to the camp were
+collected and deftly stowed on the back of the pack-horse with the
+neatness of expert campers. Then a hasty cold meal was taken while
+Mackintosh delivered his plans.
+
+"Now, boys, listen to me. I've got to be your captain in this journey,
+for you'll admit that I know best. Well, I've prepared food enough for
+three of us for two days. Each will carry his own. Then you've got a
+pair o' guns and a rifle between you. That's all that you'll need. I've
+got my own rifle and a revolver, in case o' accidents, though I'm hoping
+there'll be no need for the like o' that. Now we'll start off at once.
+There's no straight road from here for Pleasant Valley, but it's through
+bog and bush where the horse canna get wi' its burden. But it'll make
+four or five hours' difference to us other than by the round-about way.
+So Haggis'll take the pack-horse. Ay, he'll be better o' Bannock, too.
+Dogs are often useless creatures in an expedition that might mean
+creeping and hiding. Bannock's no' that bad-mannered; but he loves
+hunting, and a wolf might tempt him."
+
+"How far is it to this Pleasant Valley, as it is called?" asked Holden.
+
+"Aboot fifteen mile as we will travel, twenty at the least by the path
+Haggis'll follow. Oh, ay, Haggis'll be all right. There's no fear o' him
+not turning up aboot midnight. He's no' quite ceevilised yet, for he
+canna mind a' the words o' 'Auld Lang Syne' and 'Rule Britannia.' But
+he's ceevilised enough to be dependable. You wait at the Old Crossing
+till we turn up, Haggis!"
+
+"Right, boss," answered the half-breed, who seldom spoke more than two
+words at a time if he could avoid doing so, and he immediately rose up
+to make the final arrangements for his departure.
+
+"Then there's no more to be said," the Scotsman concluded. "It's start
+right away; keep a brave heart and a steady foot foremost, and we'll no'
+be that far from our friends come nightfall."
+
+Skipper Mackintosh had spoken nothing but the truth when he said that
+the direct trail was not one that a laden pack-horse could travel with
+ease, far less speed.
+
+The earlier portion of the march was easy enough. But after about an
+hour's walking through the bush the travellers reached a mile of
+bogland, across which a path could only be found by stepping cautiously
+from one grassy hummock to another. Even then the surface of the moss
+shivered for yards around, and the mud between the tufts oozed, as if
+its mouth were watering to swallow up the trio.
+
+"Feel for every step before you put your weight on it!" the naturalist
+instructed. He, of course, had taken the foremost position of leader.
+"If you want to disappear quicker than you did in yon muskeg, Master
+Bob, you can set the tip o' your big toe in yon mud, and you'll travel
+as quick as electricity."
+
+This part of the journey was certainly fatiguing, but the travellers
+kept up good hearts by pleasant banter and dogged determination.
+
+Reaching solid ground again, there was another easier spell of bush
+tramping. Then the trail began the ascent of a hill--a rocky,
+loose-bouldered slope that could only be traversed by a narrow path that
+somewhat resembled a strip of ribbon on the side of a house.
+
+Up they went, higher and higher each step, with the sharp slope to the
+left and a sheer declivity of loose stones at the right.
+
+Once Alf slipped, and the stone against which he tripped went leaping
+down the slope without stopping, until it was lost to sight some three
+hundred feet or more below.
+
+"Which of you two laddies is the one that's danced down the hillside?"
+questioned Mackintosh, without seeming to look round. His voice was
+pleasant, but he had taken a quick glance backwards all the same, and
+his face had paled a little. That was but his kindly way of cheering the
+boys and helping them to keep their nerves in hand.
+
+After a time the climbing ceased. It was now a level path, though it was
+none the less ready to trap the unwary, as it twisted round spurs and
+crossed little ravines. Then suddenly the travellers became aware of a
+sound like that of a small cataract.
+
+Mackintosh stopped, and as they listened they were able to tell that the
+sound was one that proceeded from the continuous rolling of innumerable
+stones that were being propelled down the hillside at no great distance.
+
+"What on earth is it?" questioned Alf, and at the same moment the man
+pointed towards a cloud of dust that had rounded a spur ahead of them--a
+cloud that was advancing rapidly in their direction to the
+accompaniment of loud bleating.
+
+"A herd of mountain sheep on the stampede," was the Skipper's immediate
+verdict.
+
+"Sheep? Coming towards us?" exclaimed Bob, and as the words were spoken
+there could be seen amid the dust a lot of woolly animals tearing
+frantically along the narrow path, throwing the stones from beneath
+their feet, while now and then one would stumble and roll down the slope
+as though it had been shot from a cannon.
+
+The noise was bewildering as it echoed among the barren hills and rocks.
+
+"See! There's a black animal chasing them!" exclaimed Holden excitedly.
+
+"A bear," said Mackintosh with grim calmness, as he rapidly slung his
+repeating rifle into readiness, an example that the boys quickly
+followed.
+
+"What's to be done?" Bob questioned. Frankly he had not the remotest
+notion how to meet such an emergency, for it was impossible to climb
+upwards, as it was equally impossible to descend, while to retire along
+the path would only be to postpone the threatening disaster for a few
+minutes.
+
+"Come! Follow me quickly; but be careful," Mackintosh suddenly ordered,
+he himself hastening forward as the boys followed.
+
+At this position the side of the hill bent to the left in the form of a
+horseshoe, so that it was quite easy from where the three adventurers
+stood to throw a stone across the intervening chasm to the path at the
+other side.
+
+Mackintosh led the way until he had reached the first spur; then he told
+the boys to wait.
+
+"Keep your hands steady and your guns ready, boys," he said. "I'm going
+along a bit to shoot down the leaders, if it may be; you empty your
+rifle and a round or two o' shot into yon bear. They'll all be opposite
+us on the other side in a few minutes. A steady nerve will do it; so, if
+ever you were cool in your born days, this is the day to be coolest."
+
+Without waiting for further remark from either side, the man then
+hastened some yards along the path and took up a position where he could
+kneel and steady his gun arm on a boulder, and hardly had the several
+positions been taken up when with roar and clatter and cloud the
+stampede rounded the opposite hill-spur.
+
+Crack! went the Scotsman's repeater. Crack! crack! And down tumbled
+three sheep, two of which rolled over the slope, leaving one to bar the
+way in the path. The others took the downward plunge. Crack! crack!
+crack! The rifle spoke rapidly and surely, as each bullet found a billet
+in a different animal.
+
+The race was checked, but not yet effectually, though the Skipper had
+now more time to pick off the leaders as they scrambled over their
+brethren--only to fall victims to the sharp-shooter and help to build up
+a barrier to impede the others.
+
+It was now a terrible sight of animals in desperation.
+
+There were a hundred mountain sheep at least, and they were scrambling
+in a dense mass, trying vainly to advance--fighting, struggling,
+tumbling down the slope in mad confusion. Now and then one would have a
+momentary success and almost cross the barrier; then the deadly rifle
+would again send its message--and the barrier would be raised by one
+victim more.
+
+Meantime, faithful to their charge, the boys kept their attention to the
+rear of the herd, but the dust was so dense that they could barely
+discern the hindmost animals.
+
+Then Bob suddenly exclaimed--
+
+"Look out!"
+
+But Alf had been equally ready. A rifle and a gun darted up to each
+boy's shoulder at the same instant; a simultaneous explosion came like
+one from both weapons. Then followed a roar like a miniature
+thunder-peal, and a brown grizzly was seen to shoot down the declivity
+in pursuit of the poor sheep that he had driven to destruction in such
+numbers.
+
+"Bravo!" shouted Mackintosh, letting go his feelings in a wild whoop of
+exultation. "A grand shot, lads!"
+
+"I guess his day's work is done," returned Alf quietly, though he was
+none the less delighted with his own and his chum's success.
+
+Finding that the fierce pursuit had ceased, the few remaining sheep
+turned on the retreat, since they found it impossible to advance
+farther. Then the adventurers proceeded on their way, though they, in
+their turn, found it impossible to pass the barrier, and some time had
+to be expended in carefully tumbling the carcases down the slope. But
+soon the work was successfully accomplished, and the path once more
+clear to permit the three comrades to pursue their urgent course.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THUNDER-MAKER'S DOWNFALL
+
+
+During the rest of the journey through the hills and along Trapper's
+Pass, no further accidents occurred to hinder progress, and once free of
+the hills the trail was level and across a stretch of prairie.
+
+Towards night the Pleasant Valley was reached, and the three travellers
+descended to the part of the river known to trappers as the Old
+Crossing, though it was a ford where no water flowed.
+
+On reaching this camp-ground there were evidences of the recent presence
+of strangers. Moreover, these strangers were not travelling in any
+secret way, since they had taken no pains to conceal their tracks, and
+the ashes of trampled-out fires were still warm.
+
+Mackintosh carefully examined the surroundings, and came to the
+decision, from certain signs, that it had been an Indian camp.
+
+"To my mind the best thing for us to do is to rest here for an hour or
+two," the man said.
+
+"I shan't be sorry," said Bob. "We pressed on rather rapidly, and, to
+tell you the truth, I'm rather fagged."
+
+"But what of the others--your father and mine?" questioned Alf. "They
+may need help----"
+
+"Not yet," Mackintosh interrupted. "It's no' possible for them to reach
+Flood Creek before morning, and the--the ceremony must take place at
+moonlight. Oh yes, I ken fine how you are both feeling. You're wanting
+to be off until you break down with weariness. But that's no' the way to
+do things in the backwoods. Work until you are out-and-out weary, then
+rest, and you'll be able to work again. But to keep on slaving till
+you're worked out--that's nothing but a gowk's game, and can bring no
+good."
+
+"I suppose you are right," said Holden slowly.
+
+"Of course I am. Don't you fear, laddie. I'll no' be too late. I know
+the ways o' the Indian, and I know the Dacotahs. Depend upon it, your
+faithers are being kindly treated, as best the redskins know how to
+treat friends. The Dacotahs are firm in their superstition, but they're
+kindly folk all the same."
+
+So the boys resigned themselves to the ruling of their guide, though it
+was irksome to be idle when each was longing to be up and doing. And now
+that they were so near to the achievement of their quest, it was even
+more galling to be inactive than it had been when there was distance as
+an excuse.
+
+It was a dreary place. The valley was deep, and there was a river-bed
+where once--before the memory of living man--water had flowed in a swift
+and wide flood, but where now there was nothing but dust. Not a tree was
+within sight. There was hardly any grass. Only a few cacti appeared to
+thrive on the barren soil. The rest was rocks, sand, and bordering
+precipices.
+
+The boys shuddered as they looked around.
+
+"It's a terrible spot," Bob commented, as he viewed the dreary scene.
+"It feels like being in prison."
+
+"There's a well with the finest of cool water about six feet away," was
+Mackintosh's remark. It was his quiet way of forcing home the truth that
+there is a bright speck in everything, if we only take the trouble to
+look for it.
+
+A meal was made from the supplies with which each had been provided, and
+an hour or two later Haggis turned up with the pack-horse.
+
+It was not considered necessary to pitch the tent that night, as a very
+early start was proposed to be taken at the streak of dawn. So each lay
+down as he was, with a sand-heap for a pillow, and soon the little camp
+was fast asleep. They needed no rocking. Sleep came almost with the
+closing of eyes.
+
+As morning broke, Mackintosh was the first to waken. He quickly roused
+the others, and a swift "eve-of-battle" meal was served out. The
+business being ended, the pack-horse was once more loaded, and the
+journey resumed toward Flood Creek, which was now only about five miles
+distant.
+
+The Dacotah camp was sighted some way off, and it may be imagined how
+excited the lads felt when they found themselves practically at the end
+of their journey.
+
+But once there, what would be the result?
+
+That was the question that was exercising the minds of both; and when
+Bob gave it voice, the Scotsman smiled grimly.
+
+"What'll happen? Well, no one can foresee the future, but I can imagine
+it."
+
+"And what do you imagine?" asked Bob.
+
+"That there will be a pickle o' bother before all comes out right.
+Superstition is no' that easy baulked; but if we ever have to fight for
+it, don't think that the ancient Highland blood of the Mackintosh is
+water in the veins of the clan."
+
+"I hope it won't come to that," remarked Alf quietly, and the Highlander
+rejoined--
+
+"That's my hope too. But there's no telling. We've _got_ to conquer----"
+
+"And conquer we shall!" added Bob, with determination.
+
+On reaching the camp, the rescuers were met by a host of Indians, who
+were all filled with curiosity regarding the strangers. The white men
+looked around them, but no signs could they see of the captives.
+
+Then Mackintosh recognised a friend in Swift Arrow.
+
+"Ha, Nitchie!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand for the Indian to
+grasp.
+
+"It is pleasant for the eyes of Swift Arrow to see the Black Bear in the
+camp of the Dacotahs," said the redskin as he returned the greeting.
+
+"And it's good for him to look upon the face o a friend," said the
+Scotsman. "I wish to speak with Mighty Hand. Where is he?"
+
+"The chief of the Dacotahs is here," replied a voice from the crowd, and
+the great man himself stepped forward.
+
+"H'm. That's good. Saves a deal of seeking when folk come of
+themselves." Then the speaker launched straight into the subject of
+their quest.
+
+"Now then, Mighty Hand, you and me are old friends, and we can talk
+freely. You're wondering the noo what has brought us here, and you may
+ken without palaver. We have come for your captives."
+
+"Captives?" The chief looked puzzled as he repeated the word.
+
+"Ay, captives," emphasised Mackintosh. "Perhaps you don't know the
+meaning of the word."
+
+"Mighty Hand knows the language of the pale-face. But there are no
+captives in the Dacotah camp."
+
+At this the boys felt their hearts sink. Could it be that, after all,
+Mackintosh had been mistaken, or that Red Fox had deluded them? Could it
+be that they had come too late?
+
+But Mackintosh did not share these doubts. He understood the working of
+the native mind too well.
+
+"That is good," he resumed. "If the Dacotahs have no captives, then the
+white men are free. They will travel back with me to their camp now!"
+
+Instantly a stern change came over the face of the chief, and such of
+the other Indians as understood English began to murmur with ominous
+disapproval.
+
+"My white brother speak not wise words," said Mighty Hand firmly. "The
+fiery totem call that water-spirits suffer. What the totem call must be
+answered. Only great medicine can bid the fire sleep now."
+
+"Idiots! Fools!" exclaimed Mackintosh, for once allowing his irritation
+to betray him. "Do you think that we are going to allow our own people
+to suffer at the service of a lie? I tell you that we will take those
+white men from your hands whether you wish it or not!"
+
+The Indian was unmoved by the Scotsman's outburst.
+
+"My white brother speak hot words. It saddens heart of Mighty Hand to
+see anger in face of his brother. But he is wrong. The call of the
+totem shall be answered when the moon is round--to-night."
+
+How this strain of argument might have progressed it is hard to say, but
+it was cut short by a cry like that of a wild beast, as Thunder-maker
+sprang through the crowd, dressed in all the hideous regalia of his
+profession.
+
+"Dogs!" he cried furiously. "Do the pale-faces come to insult the great
+chief of Dacotahs and say that the fiery totem lie? Ugh! Spit upon them,
+Mighty Hand! Chase these dogs from the camp!"
+
+Mackintosh had resumed his temper by now, and he turned to greet the
+newcomer with a look of feigned amusement.
+
+"Who's this?" he asked pleasantly. "Is it a monkey that Mighty Hand has
+caught to please him, or is it maybe a little dancing-bear tricked out
+in feathers for the braves and warriors to laugh at?"
+
+Thunder-maker well understood the jibe, and he flung himself about with
+passion.
+
+"Ma conscience! Don't go making all that noise," was the quiet reproof.
+"And if you'll take my advice, you'll go home and put on warmer
+clothes. You've little enough on to keep you cosy when the wind blows
+chill."
+
+Poor Thunder-maker! He had never been treated with such scant respect.
+Even the young papooses were putting "tongue in cheek" towards him, and
+some of the women could be seen pointing their fingers at his
+discomfited self.
+
+Blind with passion the Indian threw himself upon the Scotsman. Instantly
+the boys had their guns ready to protect their friend. But the next
+moment they could not have pulled a trigger if it had been necessary to
+save their lives thereby, for they and the whole concourse of Indians
+were shaking themselves with laughter at what was taking place.
+
+What was it?
+
+Well, merely that Thunder-maker had not reckoned with the enormous
+strength that was latent in the Scotsman, nor the peculiar sense of his
+humour; for, no sooner had the Indian charged, than he found himself
+gripped by powerful hands, turned face downwards on a bent knee, and
+smacked in good old homely style of punishment, which the medicine man's
+scanty attire rendered exceedingly suitable.
+
+Thunder-maker yelled and kicked, but he was held as if in a vice, while
+the slaps rang out in rapid succession and the valley echoed with
+laughter.
+
+At last Mackintosh released the delinquent, and the poor man slunk away
+amid jeers and laughter. His day was over, and from that hour our white
+friends saw him no more.
+
+When the hum had subsided, Mackintosh once more appealed to the chief,
+but without success.
+
+"We must obey the totem," was reiterated doggedly, though it was plain
+that the chief was sorry to be at enmity with the strangers.
+
+"But how do you know that you are obeying the totem?" questioned Bob,
+who could remain silent no longer.
+
+At this question Mighty Hand turned to the boy with an indulgent smile.
+
+"White spirits come from waters that are silver when moon round. By this
+we know. But if redmen foolish, totem wise. Totem will not let redmen do
+wrong. Totem will appear serpent of fire to warn redmen no' light
+flames."
+
+"We can do nothing more at present," said Mackintosh, as he turned to
+the lads. "We'll pitch our camp over yonder and talk things over."
+
+After the camp was pitched and food partaken, Mackintosh decided to pay
+a visit to Swift Arrow, to see if he could not manage to argue that old
+man into a state of reason, so as to support another appeal to Mighty
+Hand. It had not been considered advisable to press for an interview
+with the captives, lest they might be too closely watched, and any
+future attempt at rescue be thus frustrated.
+
+"I'll just go by mysel'," the man explained. "Swift Arrow is an old
+friend o' mine, and no' a bad creature in many ways. Haggis is away
+cracking with some o' his friends also. You'll not mind being left alone
+for a time? I'll no' be long."
+
+"We don't mind," said Bob. "Anything to see light in this difficulty.
+We'll be all right."
+
+"Very well. I'll be back as soon as I can, and I'll hope to have good
+news for you."
+
+Left to themselves, the lads did not speak much, for their hearts were
+very heavy, knowing that if some plan of rescue was not thought of
+within a few hours it would be too late.
+
+For a considerable time they were absolutely silent, lying within the
+tent, surrounded by stores and the various tins and boxes of the
+naturalist's outfit.
+
+Then Bob's mind began to wander over all the events that led up to the
+present day, and, in wondering at the blind ignorance that could yield
+so much to a mere legend, he recalled the chiefs last words--
+
+"'The totem will not let the redmen do wrong,'" he quoted mentally.
+"Fools! As if a serpent could tell them to do anything in the first
+place! How can any reasoning person be so---- Alf!"
+
+Bob had suddenly sprung to his feet as he uttered the exclamation, and
+Holden started to look at his friend, as if he had suddenly lost his
+senses.
+
+"Why, what's the matter, old man?" he exclaimed. "Have you been asleep?"
+
+"Asleep? No! Never was wider awake in all my life. Why, I've got it.
+They are saved! They are saved!" And the boy laughed for very joy at the
+thought.
+
+"What do you mean?" questioned Holden anxiously. It was little wonder
+that he believed for the moment that anxiety had brought his chum to a
+fever.
+
+"Mean?" the elder boy echoed. "Simply this--that our fathers shall be
+saved, and you and I will do it. It's all so simple. We must have been
+fools not to think of it before!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE FIERY TOTEM
+
+
+The two men--Arnold and Holden--were sitting alone in the teepee that
+had been assigned for their use. Neither was speaking, for the day was
+drawing to a close, and they were almost hopeless of seeing any avenue
+of escape from the fate that the Indian superstition had ordained for
+them.
+
+We said "almost hopeless." Of course it was necessary to make that
+proviso, for no one is ever hopeless in extremity, so long as he retains
+faith in Providence. But every scheme that they had planned had been
+proved void on consideration. Though free to a certain extent, they were
+well watched. Escape was impossible, and their only remaining hope was
+that when they were led forth for the sacrifice they might be able to
+take advantage of some opportunity to make a last stand for freedom.
+
+"It would not matter so much for ourselves, if it were not for the
+boys," Arnold said at last. "Their position is too terrible."
+
+"Of course they will be able to find their way back to Edmonton, when
+they see that there is no hope of our returning----"
+
+"_No_ hope?" repeated Arnold. "Don't say that. I don't want to give up
+hope until the very last moment. Something _may_ turn up, and in any
+case I intend to make a good fight for freedom."
+
+"I suppose I do, too, when I think about it," returned Holden, with a
+short forced laugh. "We both mean to kick up a bit of a dust when the
+exciting moment comes----"
+
+"And you may bet it will be exciting for the first redskin who comes
+against my fist. I promised myself to have a go at that skunk
+Thunder-maker, before I make my bow to the world. But for him, I believe
+this trouble would never have gone so far."
+
+"He certainly did his best to pile it on," agreed the younger man. "I
+imagine that he was rather in hot water this morning, for I thought I
+heard him yelling. There's no mistaking that harsh voice of his. And
+there were sounds, too, for all the world as if some person were
+getting a jolly good spanking. You were dozing at the time, so I didn't
+disturb you. But I know I nearly waked you with laughing at the thought
+of Thunder-maker receiving a good old-fashioned correction."
+
+"It would take more than that to do him good," said Arnold, with a
+frown. "The man is a cheat and a scoundrel of the worst sort. He showed
+us what he was worth when he told us, two nights ago, that he had the
+tribe by the nose. Even now, after telling us that he knew better, I
+suppose he's working up the people for to-night's show."
+
+Holden grunted contemptuously.
+
+"He seems bad to the core. In my opinion it has been he who has kept
+Mighty Hand away. The chief was ready to reason, but I expect
+Thunder-maker's boast that he could lead the tribe was a true one."
+
+"The old case of kings being ruled by their subjects," commented Arnold.
+
+After this conversation again flagged. Having little to say of an
+encouraging nature, the men deemed that silence was best, and each sat
+engrossed with his own thoughts while the daylight waned and the
+shadows began to creep over the valley that a joking fate had called
+"Pleasant."
+
+As time went on the Englishmen seemed to become aware of a sort of
+disturbance in the camp. Feet were hurrying here and there, and voices
+were speaking rapidly in low tones. Now and then, as some one passed the
+teepee, the words "fiery totem" could be heard by those within, so
+naturally the Englishmen attributed the excitement to matters relating
+to the approaching sacrifice.
+
+But presently the excitement seemed to grow more intense, and the voices
+were raised to a higher pitch.
+
+Unable to restrain curiosity any longer, the men went to look out from
+the door of the teepee, and as they reached the opening a strange sight
+presented itself before them.
+
+Gathered in many groups were all the Indians of the tribe, including all
+the squaws and papooses, while the tall figure of Mighty Hand could be
+seen through the gloaming, standing erect upon a hillock at a little
+distance to one side.
+
+All had their backs turned towards the Englishmen.
+
+They were facing the towering blackness of a mighty cliff, while with a
+sudden wave of silence they stood doubly transfixed, with eyes directed
+to one portion of the dark wall, where a sort of light was dimly
+glimmering.
+
+What could it be that had such a power to fascinate the whole tribe?
+
+The Englishmen looked in the same direction, but the object seemed to be
+nothing more than an irregular line of light that might have been some
+reflection caused by the setting sun.
+
+Still all watched in silence.
+
+And, as the darkness deepened so did the light become clear. From an
+irregular line about ten feet long it seemed to take form gradually,
+while it undoubtedly intensified in brightness. Clearer and still more
+plainly was the outline revealed, until at last--when the sun had quite
+vanished--there stood out against the black wall the shape of a snake of
+fire, poised in the very act to strike, just as it was outlined on the
+breast of Mighty Hand!
+
+Arnold and Holden were astounded at what they surmised to be some fresh
+trick on the part of Thunder-maker, or some special form of the
+impending ceremony. And at the same moment a loud cry broke from the
+throats of the watching multitude.
+
+"The fiery totem! The fiery totem!"
+
+Then the Indians fell face downwards to the ground with fear.
+
+Surely such a prodigy had never been seen before?
+
+The sacred totem of the tribe had itself appeared, to warn the Dacotahs
+that the fire was not to burn that night; that the two prisoners were
+men, not evil spirits.
+
+While the two men were standing watching the prostrate Indians, three
+figures crept round an adjacent tent--two of whom then darted forward,
+while the third followed at more dignified leisure.
+
+"Bob!"
+
+"Alf!"
+
+These were the exclamations that burst from the lips of the captives as
+two boys launched themselves forward to receiving arms. Then came the
+dignified Skipper Mackintosh.
+
+"You are saved, good sirs," he said, without waiting for an
+introduction. "My good phosphorus paint and the brains o' these fine
+laddies has called up the fiery totem. I'm thinking that there will be
+no sacrifice to superstition the--night, and that you'll a' be on your
+way back to Crane Creek the morn."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And when next day the time came for departure, and the fathers and sons
+had made their arrangements with the good wishes and help of Mighty
+Hand, Swift Arrow, and a host of eager redmen, it was Bob who was first
+to notice that Skipper Mackintosh and the half-breed seemed in no haste
+to accompany the party.
+
+"Are you not coming with us?" the boy asked.
+
+The Scot smiled and shook his head.
+
+"No. I'm thinking to bide here for a few days, to hunt for yon hawk moth
+that I told you aboot. Besides, when you're safe out of the way, I mean
+to have a serious talk with Mighty Hand and his folk. I wouldn't have
+them think that yon was a real fiery serpent. That would be idolatry. We
+had to cheat them to save life, but--well, I'll no' leave the Dacotahs
+until I've ceevilised them into believin' that the legend of the fiery
+totem is false, and that there's better ways o' living than by believin'
+such gowk's nonsense."
+
+                            THE END
+
+PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:
+
+The following corrections and changes were made:
+
+*Passages in italics are indicated by _underscores_.
+
+*Illustrations have been moved closer to the relevant paragraphs.
+
+*In the text version, the footnotes have been moved to the end of the
+relevant chapter.
+
+*In the html version, the footnotes have been moved to the end of the
+book.
+
+*p. 30: Added missing period to end of "I guess the best thing we can do
+is to turn in"
+
+*p. 64: Added missing hyphen to "Thunder maker" in "Thus speaking,
+Thunder maker dived a hand"
+
+*p. 218: Added missing period after "returned Holden, with a short
+forced laugh"]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fiery Totem, by Argyll Saxby
+
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