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diff --git a/41877.txt b/41877.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8faf47b..0000000 --- a/41877.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6834 +0,0 @@ - THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI - - - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: The Lure of the Mississippi -Author: D. Lange -Release Date: January 19, 2013 [EBook #41877] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI -*** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank. - - - - - - THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI - - BY - - D. LANGE - - AUTHOR OF "ON THE TRAIL OF THE SIOUX," "THE SILVER ISLAND - OF THE CHIPPEWA," "LOST IN THE FUR COUNTRY," - "IN THE GREAT WILD NORTH," AND "THE - LURE OF THE BLACK HILLS" - - ILLUSTRATED BY W. L. HOWES - - BOSTON - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. - - Published, October, 1917 - - COPYRIGHT 1917, BY D. Lange - THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI - - Norwood Press - BERWICK & SMITH CO. - NORWOOD, MASS. - U. S. A. - -[Illustration: "Come out, you white men, and fight!"] - - - - -FOREWORD - -The story told here has for its scenic background the Mississippi River -and its fine northern tributary, the Minnesota, the "Sky-tinted Water" -of the Sioux Indians. - -The story opens in the spring of 1861. The Civil War has begun. Lincoln -has called for 75,000 volunteers, while to regiments and batteries of -the small regular army orders have been issued to hurry to Washington as -fast as possible. - -Colonel John C. Pemberton embarks his battery on the _Fanny Harris_, at -Fort Ridgely on the Minnesota River. Hundreds of sullen Indians watch -the troops leave, and visions of regaining their rich hunting grounds in -the Minnesota valley arise in the minds of the starving savages, who -have been brooding for several years over real and fancied wrongs. - -Within a year of the departure of the soldiers, a furious Indian war -sweeps over the young State of Minnesota, while on the Mississippi from -Cairo to New Orleans Federal and Confederate fleets and armies battle -for the control of the Great River. On this historical background move -the characters of the story: Barker, the old trapper; Tatanka, the Sioux -scout; Tim and Bill Ferguson, two Southern boys; and their doubtful -friend, Cousin Hicks. - -At Vicksburg, in the summer of 1863, we meet again the former Colonel -John C. Pemberton, now a general in the Confederate army, stubbornly -defending the besieged city against the Federal army under General -Grant. - -D. Lange. -St. Paul, Minnesota, -June, 1917. - - - - -Contents - - - CHAPTER I--ON BOARD THE _FANNY HARRIS_ - CHAPTER II--IN GREAT ANXIETY - CHAPTER III--PLAIN TALK AND UGLY RUMORS - CHAPTER IV--THE BREAKING OF THE STORM - CHAPTER V--THROUGH A DESERTED LAND - CHAPTER VI--DANGEROUS TRAVELING - CHAPTER VII--ON THE GREAT RIVER - CHAPTER VIII--AFTER THE WRECK - CHAPTER IX--HUNTING BEES AND DRIVING FISH - CHAPTER X--CATCHING A MONSTER - CHAPTER XI--AFTER WILD GEESE - CHAPTER XII--IN A WINTER CAMP - CHAPTER XIII--FISHING THROUGH THE ICE - CHAPTER XIV--SIGNS OF SPRING - CHAPTER XV--AT INSPIRATION POINT - CHAPTER XVI--SMELLING THE STORM - CHAPTER XVII--SOUTHWARD AT LAST - CHAPTER XVIII--IN THE SUNKEN LANDS - CHAPTER XIX--PAST ISLAND NUMBER TEN - CHAPTER XX--ON TO VICKSBURG - CHAPTER XXI--WHEREIN OLD ENEMIES MEET - CHAPTER XXII--THE OLD TRAPPER'S SECRET - CHAPTER XXIII--THE LAST DAYS OF VICKSBURG - - - - -Illustrations - - - "Come out, you white men, and fight!" - With his right hand he raised the man's head above the current. - "Walking is good, on you can ride on a log, the water is fine." - The two men bought a boat of the trader. - "It is a forest of ghost trees," Tatanka murmured. - "Take him out of our lines to that open field." - - - - -CHAPTER I--ON BOARD THE _FANNY HARRIS_ - - -There came through the night loud crashing and rumbling sounds, and a -confusion of men's voices from the steep road leading down from Fort -Ridgely to the boat-landing on the Minnesota River. - -All afternoon, big William Ferguson and his ten-year-old brother, -Timothy, had watched the six-mule teams of the United States Army trot -down the steep narrow road with guns, caissons and army supplies, for -Colonel Pemberton had been ordered to leave the Sioux frontier in -Minnesota and rush his battery and men to Washington as fast as -possible. Fort Sumter had been fired on. President Lincoln had called -for 75,000 volunteers, and from north and west, the scattered -detachments and batteries of the regular army were rushed to Washington. -The long-threatened Civil War had begun. - -But in those days, Minnesota was a long way from the Atlantic coast, for -the railroads had only just touched the Mississippi River. The soldiers -at Fort Ridgely had to travel five hundred miles by steamboat to La -Crosse, and in order to make all possible haste, they continued by -torchlight the loading of guns, caissons, ammunition, horses, and -stores. - -It was the liveliest day little Tim Ferguson and his big brother, Bill, -had ever seen. Bill had at last gone to sleep, wrapped in his blanket, -with his head resting on a coil of rope, but the active Tim had never -tired of watching the soldiers loading the big guns, and the carpenters -and engineers repairing the boat for the fast and dangerous downriver -trip on the flooded, winding Minnesota. - -When the crash of timbers and the shouts of men rang through the night, -he shook his sleeping brother, calling: - -"Get up, Bill, get up! A mule team has rolled down the bluffs; I told -you they would. Come along, Bill!" - -Tim had guessed right. Among the trees lay the wagon and mules, while -boxes of shells and hard-tack were scattered through the brush. Had it -not been for the trees and brush, men, mules and wagon would have rolled -straight into the swollen river. - -"He's sure a goner," remarked one of the men, as he cut the traces of -Old Harmony, the biggest mule of the battery. The neck of the mule was -caught between two trees and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth -full length. However, no sooner was he released, than he got up, shook -himself, scrambled up the bluff and did not stop until he reached the -corral, where he uttered one of those bugle-calls which had earned him -the name of Old Harmony. But soldiers are accustomed to accidents of -this kind, and within half an hour, Old Harmony's Six were once more -hitched to the big army-wagon. Both drivers and mules were a little more -careful to keep the road and, by the light of glaring and smoking -torches and blazing bonfires, the loading of the boat was rapidly -finished. - -When reveille sounded at daybreak, the men marched into the mess-hall at -Fort Ridgely for their last breakfast in Minnesota. - -There had been little sleep at the post during the night. Had a painter -like Catlin been present, he could have left us some fine dramatic -canvases. - -Opposite the side of the fort which faced the open prairie away from the -river, some six or seven hundred Sioux Indians were encamped. Only the -squaws and the little children rolled up in their blankets in the tepees -that night. Some of the men sat smoking around their camp-fires, but -most of them sat on the river bank watching the boatmen and the soldiers -working in the red glare of the torches and bonfires. They had heard -that the white people were having a war amongst themselves. Now they -knew that the story was true. The soldiers were going away on the -steamer, and with the soldiers were going most of the big guns, against -whose terrible thunder, balls, and canister no Indian braves have ever -been able to keep up their courage. - -"If the soldiers go away and take the big guns, we can get back the land -along our river. We have been cheated out of it, and the Whites have -never paid us for it," a middle-aged warrior remarked. - -"We can do more," added a fierce-looking young man, known as the -Boaster; "we can drive all the Whites out of Minnesota. But we shall -keep their horses and their squaws and we shall make big feasts of their -oxen. The Winnebagoes will help us. We shall make peace with the -Chippewas and they will help us. - -"We shall have our villages again at Kaposia and at Wabasha, on the -Great River, and the Whites will have to stay on the other side of the -Great River. This is our country and Manitou will send back the buffalo -and the elk, and the deer will become numerous again. We shall have -plenty of meat and skins as in the days of our fathers before the Whites -had poisoned the land with their plows, for the black soil which the -plows turn up is bad medicine for buffalo and elk and deer." - -When the shadows of the trees began to be reflected on the grayish -current, the last morning blast of the _Fanny Harris_ echoed over the -flooded valley. The three howitzers left at the fort fired a salute, the -few remaining men cheered their departing comrades and the soldiers on -board replied with a ringing hurrah for Abe Lincoln and Fort Ridgely. -Then the pilot rang a bell, the hawsers were drawn on board, the big -stern-wheel churned the water to a white foam, the heavily-laden steamer -backed into the current, turned around slowly, and headed down stream -for Fort Snelling near St. Paul. - -On board, besides the soldiers, were Bill and Tim Ferguson, Sam Baker, a -trapper, and Black Buffalo, an Indian scout. - -The Ferguson brothers were Southern boys from Vicksburg, who had come -North with a man they called Cousin Hicks, and with whom they lived in a -squatter's cabin a few miles below Fort Ridgely. Hicks, about whose -business in the Indian country there were many conflicting rumors -afloat, had been away for a week visiting the Indians on the upper -Minnesota, and in his absence Baker and Black Buffalo had invited the -Ferguson boys to go with them to Fort Snelling and St. Paul. - -The trip of the _Fanny Harris_ from Fort Ridgely to La Crosse was never -forgotten by any one on board. The _Fanny Harris_ being a stern-wheeler, -was naturally difficult to steer in a strong current. The Minnesota is -one of the most twisted and crooked rivers in the West. In April, 1861, -the water was so high that the placid, winding river had grown a mile -wide, flooding its valley from bluff to bluff, and in many places the -water flowed with a rushing current, crossing the river bed at all -angles and making innumerable short cuts across fields, marshes, and -woods. - -"Back her up," the pilot's bell would sound as he tried to round one of -the countless points or bends. But it was impossible to back the heavy -boat against the current. The engineers could not even stop her. The -best they could do was to check her speed and let her drift flanking -around the wooded points, where trees and boughs raked her whole length, -tearing down stanchions, guards, and gingerbread work with a deafening -crash. - -At other times, she would plunge straight into the timber, bending the -smaller willows and other brush like so many reeds and tearing -good-sized trees by the roots out of the soft mud, but before she could -be again gotten into clear water, a big cottonwood bough had torn away -another joint of her chimneys and smashed another part of her -pilot-house. - -But all this time, Colonel Lantry, who had been in supreme command ever -since the boat had left Fort Snelling, stood on deck with the captain, -or at the wheel with the pilots. - -"Keep her going, keep her going! Keep your wheel turning!" were the only -orders he gave to captain or pilot as he dodged trees and falling -timbers. - -"We must get to Washington, before the Rebels get there!" - -"We'll never get there," vowed an old artilleryman who had been through -the Mexican war with this same battery. "This is worse than a battle. -We'll never get there. We'll be swimming around with the muskrats and -roosting on the drift-wood and haystacks with them. - -"I'd rather be in a battle where I can use my piece, than sail through -the timber in this blooming tub on this beastly twisted river!" - -Toward evening the steamer again crashed into the timber and a willow -tree, springing back as the side of the boat had passed it, tore away -several planks or buckets from the wheel. - -"Boys, it's for the rat-houses now," called out the old gunner as the -boat stopped with a crash. - -But Colonel Lantry coolly repeated his usual: "Keep her going, Captain; -keep her going! The Government will build you a new boat!" However, with -a broken wheel she could not keep going. - -"Take the anchor over to the other shore," Captain Faucette ordered -three men. "Then pass the line around the capstan and we'll pull her -back into open water. Well tie up here for the night and repair the -wheel." - -Repairing the wheel was hard and dangerous work. With one hand the men -worked at screwing down and unscrewing bolts and nuts, with the other -hand they hung on to dripping, slippery planks and beams. - -"Careful men, careful," Captain Faucette cautioned them. "Any man that -goes overboard into this icy current is lost." - -By the light of lanterns and torches, the men worked with a will. One -bucket was just being lifted into place, when there was a scramble and a -plunge--"Man overboard!" The cry arose and at once there was a confusion -of hurrying feet and calling voices. - -Tim, the Indian, and the trapper were just eating supper, while Bill had -been watching and helping the men. Bill ripped off his coat. "Hold up -the torches!" he called, and sprang after the man, who was just -disappearing behind the wheel. The icy flood almost choked him, but he -struck out after the man. By the glare of the torches he caught a -glimpse of him bobbing up and being carried toward a mass of driftwood. -He seized the back of the man's shirt, pulled him to the driftwood, and -tried to climb up, but it would not support his weight. He hooked his -left arm around an overhanging willow, and with his right hand he raised -the man's head above the current. - -"Bring a boat, quick!" he called. "I can't hold on long. I'm all numb!" - -In a few minutes, Mattson, the unfortunate carpenter, and Bill were safe -on board and Colonel Lantry took charge of them. - -[Illustration: With his right hand he raised the man's head above the -current.] - -"Here," he said to two soldiers, "turn this man over on his face and -bring him to. You know how." - -Then to the men: "On with your work, men. We must reach Fort Snelling -to-morrow night." - -Bill had slipped away to his corner on the coil of ropes. His teeth -chattered and his hands felt so numb that he could hardly wriggle out of -his wet and sticky garments. - -When he was once more in dry clothes, he hurried to the mess-room and -asked the cook for the hottest tea he had. - -The cook did not have to be told. - -"I'd give you something better," he said, "if I had it, but the hot milk -is all gone. The captain is in a deuce of a hurry, so we went right by -Mankato and St. Peter without stopping." - -After two cups of hot tea, sweetened with plenty of brown sugar, Bill's -teeth stopped rattling, but set themselves with a will into the meal of -ham, potatoes, and bread placed before the hungry boy, who had not yet -had his supper. - -While Bill was eating, Colonel Lantry came around. - -"Where did you learn it, boy?" he asked. "It was a neat piece of work." - -"Oh, I learned it at Vicksburg," Bill replied. "We boys used to swim -across the river, but there the water is warm." - -"At Vicksburg," the officer repeated. "You are not going to Vicksburg! -You are too young to enlist. You had better stay in Minnesota. There's -likely to be hell at Vicksburg before this war is over." - - - - -CHAPTER II--IN GREAT ANXIETY - - -The words of the Colonel had aroused a train of thoughts in the boy. - -Was there really going to be war at Vicksburg? The boys had heard talk -of war, but not until they had watched the loading of the guns and the -embarking of the soldiers and had heard the pressing orders of the keen, -straight army officer to "keep her going," to "push her through," had -this war talk meant anything to them. - -Tim was almost too young to understand such things, but to Bill the war -had suddenly become a fearful reality. Fortunately, these big guns were -not going to Vicksburg; they were going to Washington, which was a long, -long way from Vicksburg. - -From the talk of the men and from newspapers which had occasionally -fallen into Bill's hands, the boys had learned that during the previous -winter their own State, Mississippi, had left the Union, and that -Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana, had likewise followed the lead -of South Carolina, which had seceded a few days before Christmas. - -By this time almost everybody on the boat was asleep, except the -carpenters and engineers, who were still working to put the steamer into -first-class running shape. - -But Bill's mind turned from the great problem and puzzle of national -events to more personal problems, which in a vague manner he had often -tried to solve. - -Why had his mother never told him anything about his grandfather in -Tennessee, except that he was a very good man, who lived on a large -plantation, and had many slaves? Why had he and Tim never visited their -grandfather? Many boys of Vicksburg spent months at a time on the -plantations of their grandfathers. - -What kind of a man was their cousin, Hicks, really? - -Both Bill and Tim liked Trapper Barker very much and even Black Buffalo, -although he was an Indian, and spoke only a broken English, they liked, -but they had begun to feel that there was something mysterious about -Cousin Hicks. He didn't try to make a farm. He had bought no farm horses -nor oxen like the other settlers. He had only planted a little corn and -a few potatoes and beans and he let the boys do the work in the small -field, while with a light team and wagon he visited around amongst the -Indians and Whites. Why didn't he stay at home and work like the German -and Irish and Yankee settlers? - -Had he only gone to Minnesota so that Tim might grow big and strong in -the northern climate? Tim had often been sick at Vicksburg, but now he -was as strong and active as any small boy of his age; however, Cousin -Hicks seemed to take little interest in Tim's health. - -At last the troubled boy fell asleep and all his puzzles were forgotten -until the clear call of the bugler: "We can't get them up--we can't get -them up in the morning!" echoed over the flooded valley. It seemed to -Bill that he had slept only a five minutes, although it was now full -daylight. The ruddy sheen of the rising sun was reflected in a broad -streak of red from the swirling, rushing and gliding waters, while -masses of black smoke were curling from the chimneys of the boat. - -The _Fanny Harris_ had filled up with coal before she left St. Paul, -because the wood-yards were flooded and much of the cord-wood piled up -for sale at the different landing places had drifted down stream. - -The second day's travel was much like the first, but contrary to the -expectation of the artillerymen, the boat did reach the Fort Snelling -landing in the evening, having made more than three hundred miles in two -days. - -Her appearance, however, was more like that of a wreck than of a safe -ship. Had there been any turn-bridges in those days, they would not have -had to open for her. Only six feet were left of her tallest smokestack, -while the other projected only a yard above the deck. - -But Colonel Lantry would not stop for repairs. - -"How are her hull and engine?" he asked. - -"All sound, sir," replied Captain Faucette. - -"Then we shall cast off at daylight," he ordered. "You can patch her up -at La Crosse." - -At La Crosse the soldiers, guns, and horses were transferred to railroad -cars. Col. John E. Pemberton accompanied his men to Washington, where he -resigned and entered the service of the Confederate States. - -The four civilian travelers left the _Fanny Harris_ at Fort Snelling, -and stayed a few days at Snelling and St. Paul, till Barker and Black -Buffalo had finished their trading. - -At these two places, the excitement was as great as it had been at Fort -Ridgely. Fort Snelling had been made the recruiting station for the -State, and from all over the State men were responding to the call of -President Lincoln. Hundreds of men were encamped in tents and rapidly -constructed shacks, because the old stone barracks could not hold them -all. Captain Acker's company was already complete and before the end of -the month the First Minnesota Regiment was mustered in. - -At the frontier town of St. Paul, the excitement was as great as at Fort -Snelling. Everybody talked war, while at the river front two dozen boats -were hastily loading and unloading. Mixed with the excited white people -were a number of silent, stolid-looking Indians, both Chippewa and -Sioux. They were found in the stores, on the streets and at the boat -landing. - -The town seemed full of soldiers from all parts of the State. Some of -the men of the _Fanny Harris_ had deserted the boat at Fort Snelling, -because they were afraid if they waited they might not be able to get in -on the 75,000 President Lincoln had called for. - -On the first up-river boat, the two lads and their friends started back -for Fort Ridgely. They were all in a sad mood. Bill could not help -thinking of the words of the officer, in regard to Vicksburg, while -Barker and Black Buffalo were turning over in their minds the looks and -the talk of the Sioux, who in the red glare of torches and bonfires, had -been watching the loading of cannons and other preparations for the -departure of the soldiers. - -Black Buffalo especially seemed in a sullen mood. - -"Who is the white boys' cousin?" he asked Barker, when the two were -sitting alone on the rear deck after dinner, while the boys were -watching immense flocks of geese, ducks, and cormorants that were now -going north over the flooded valley. - -"He pretends to be their friend," replied the trapper, "but I am, like -yourself, much puzzled by his actions and behavior. He does nothing for -the boys. He talks of finding a good squatter's homestead for them, but -even Bill is much too young to hold a piece of land till it is surveyed -and opened for settlement." - -"He is not their friend," Black Buffalo uttered gruffly. "I see him -often talking with bad Indians and bad white men. I do not like him; he -is a bad man. He sells rum to the Indians, when he thinks no eyes see -him, and he talks against the good work of the missionaries. - -"We should keep our eyes on him. He means to do some harm to the boys." - -"What harm could he do to them?" Barker asked, trying to conceal his own -fears and the anxiety he had often felt about the relation of the two -boys to their supposed cousin. - -"We must watch him," he said to Black Buffalo; "there is something -strange about him. He can talk well, but his eye is unsteady." - -"Yes," replied the Indian, "his words do not tell you what is in his -heart." - -In the middle of the afternoon, the engine broke down and the boat tied -up near the present town of Belle Plaine, about fifty miles above St. -Paul. - -While the engineers were repairing the machinery, the two boys and their -friends went out in two small boats to hunt ducks and geese on the -flooded marshes. - -They landed on a small island of high land and the men chose a -convenient blind behind some bushes. The boys had no guns and had just -gone along to watch the fun and to bring in the ducks which the hunters -would drop, but they found some unexpected and exciting hunting for -themselves. - -"See the rabbit, see the rabbit!" Tim cried. "He is sitting on a stump -with water all around him." - -The boys were surprised to find that the rabbit did not try to get away -as they approached. - -"He's dead," said Tim. - -"No, he isn't," laughed Bill, "I see his nose move; he is breathing." - -Some brush had drifted against the stump and the rabbit had eaten it as -far as he had been able to reach. - -When the boys lifted the rabbit into the boat, they had another -surprise, for nestled under his fur they discovered a black meadow mouse -that had also sought refuge on the stump when the water had risen. - -"Take him off," Tim begged, "he'll freeze to death on the stump," and -Bill took him off and placed him under the rabbit, who was quietly -squatting under the seat as if he belonged there. - -When the boys returned to the brush-and-grass-covered island, they -discovered four more rabbits, who, however, were more lively than the -one on the stump. They ran about in a most puzzling zigzag fashion and -one even tried to swim across a channel to another piece of dry land. -But the boys caught them all and put them in the boat, from which they -did not try to escape. - -While they were chasing the rabbits the boys made another discovery. The -island was alive with black meadow-mice; there were hundreds of them. -Every tuft of dead grass, every bush, every pile of dead leaves was -crowded with them. - -"Oh, Tim," teased Bill, "let's row back to the boat and get some pie for -all your pets." - -But Tim had caught the twinkle in his brother's eye. "Ah, you can't fool -me," he came back. "Don't you think I know that these wild mice have -plenty of grass and brush to eat till the water goes down?" - -It did not take the boys long to decide what to do with the rabbits. - -"If we could only keep them," was Tim's wish. "We would have as much fun -with them as we had with our rabbits at Vicksburg." - -"No use; we can't keep them," Bill argued. "We would have to stay at -home every day or let them out, and if we let them out, they will eat up -our garden and Cousin Hicks will kill them. There are too many rabbits -at our shack now." - -So the boys rowed their catch of game ashore. When the boat touched -land, the stupid rabbits became lively at once. They hopped out of the -boat and, true to their instinct for hiding, disappeared at once; some -into a hole and others under a pile of brush. - -On their way back the boys, quite excited about this new way of hunting, -peeped into a hollow log. - -"There's an animal in it!" exclaimed Tim. - -"Look out!" Bill warned him, "maybe it's a skunk. If you catch a skunk, -you can't go back on the boat." - -"It's no skunk," replied Tim. "It's a gray animal. It's a coon. Let's -catch him." - -Bill poked the animal with a stick and before he had time to warn his -younger brother to look out for the coon's teeth and claws, Tim had -grabbed the creature by the neck, dropped him in the boat and thrown his -coat over the snarling animal. - -"Look at him," Tim cried. "Doesn't he look funny, peeping out from under -my coat?" - -"My, but he is thin! I bet he is cold and starved. Let us take him to -the hunters and give him something to eat." - -"Mr. Barker, what does a coon eat!" Tim shouted as they approached the -men. "We've caught one." - -"Anything, except wood," the trapper told them. "Give him a piece of -duck-meat. We have ducks enough for the whole boat." - -When Tim offered the raccoon a piece of duck-meat, he took it, soused it -in the water in the boat, devoured it greedily and began whining for -more. He ate several other pieces in the same way. - -"Why does he wash his meat?" the boys asked. - -"It's just his queer way," the trapper told them. "You give him a piece -of fresh pie, and he'll souse it in a mudhole before he eats it. - -"A coon's a queer fellow. My German neighbors call him 'washbear,' on -account of his peculiar habits. I had a tame coon once, but he died from -eating a pan of boot-grease." - -"Why didn't you watch him?" asked Tim. - -"You can't watch a coon," the trapper laughed, "he's always in some -mischief. I'd rather watch ten boys than one coon." - -On the four days it took the boat to reach Fort Ridgely the boys had -plenty of time to ask the trapper about the war. - -"It won't last long, that's what I think," the trapper told them. "When -the Confederates see that Abe Lincoln has 75,000 soldiers, they will -quit." - -"Will they fight at Vicksburg?" asked Bill. - -"No, you needn't worry, boys. They'll soon fix it all up at Washington -and the soldiers will come home." - -"The officer said it would be hell at Vicksburg," Tim remarked, "and it -would be a big, long war." - -"That's what some of the army officers think," the trapper admitted, -"but most other people don't think so." - -Black Buffalo was as much puzzled by the war between the white people as -the boys. - -"Do the people from this country want to go south," he asked, "just as -the Chippewas from the North want to come into our Sioux country?" - -"No, that isn't it," the trapper explained. "The white people of the -South want to keep their black slaves, and they wish to have a country -and a president of their own. They don't like Abe Lincoln." - -When on the evening of the fourth day, the steamer whistled for the Fort -Ridgely landing, the boys were glad to get off the boat, but felt very -uneasy about the reception Cousin Hicks would give them. - -"I wish we could go back to Vicksburg," Tim whispered to his brother. "I -am homesick." - -"Come on, boys," Mr. Barker called in his pleasant, manly voice. "I'll -stay at your shack to-night, and if your cousin is at home, I'll have a -visit and a talk with him. Don't forget your coon, Tim; I guess you will -have to carry him if you want to take him home." - - - - -CHAPTER III--PLAIN TALK AND UGLY RUMORS - - -Cousin Hicks was at home and greeted the boys with apparent heartiness. -To Barker he was friendly, but did not invite him to stay over night. - -"You need not go to any trouble," the trapper told him. "We have had our -supper on the boat, and I will just spread my blanket on the floor for -the night. You know a seasoned trapper can sleep anywhere." - -"Yes, do make yourself at home," Hicks said now. "I am glad you took the -boys with you to St. Paul. It is a bit lonesome for them here, and I -have to be away a good deal." - -Next morning Hicks walked along the prairie road with Barker, and the -trapper knew that Hicks had something to say to him. - -When they were no longer within sight of the shack, Hicks began: - -"It would suit me just as well, Barker, if you wouldn't take those lads -away from my place. I'm their guardian and I reckon I can look after -them." - -"I'm glad to hear you say that, Mr. Hicks. I always thought the boys -ought to have a guardian. But I want to tell you that, in my opinion, -you have done blessed little guarding." - -"Just the same," Hicks replied, his Southern accent becoming more -pronounced, "it would suit me just as well if you and yours wouldn't -meddle in my business." - -"Now look here, Hicks," the trapper turned on him with his gray eyes -flashing, "this isn't a matter of business at all. You claim to be the -friend or guardian of these two boys, and you not only neglect them, but -you expose them to great danger." - -"Where's the danger, and what...?" Hicks started, his anger plainly -rising. - -"Hicks," the trapper cut him short, "don't pretend to me that you don't -know. You know as well as I do that a storm is brewing here and that the -Indians may break into murder and war almost any day. It would not have -surprised me if they had broken out before the _Fanny Harris_ had -reached La Crosse." - -"All the same," retorted Hicks, trying to straighten his lank and -stooped body, "you and yours will let those boys alone in the future." - -Barker felt this was a threat. "Good," he replied. "If that's your trump -card, I'll play mine. Hicks, if any harm comes to those lads, I'll hunt -you down and make you pay for it. Remember that! Your duty is to take -those lads home to Vicksburg and you can come back with a load of rum, -if you want to. We're through. Good morning." - -The two men stood facing each other a moment. A whirling gust blew off -the old gray hat of Hicks, and he hurriedly caught it and put it on -again. Then, without a word, he turned and with a slouching gait started -to go back. - -Something about Hicks had startled Barker. For a moment he stood -thinking. Had he not seen this man years ago? Then he leaned against an -old gnarly bur-oak. Hicks turned as if he would come back, but when he -saw the trapper watching him, he changed his mind. - -"No, Hicks," the trapper thought, "your game won't work on me. You can't -plug me in the back and bury me in the brush in the ravine." - -But where had he met this man before? He lit his pipe and thought. Now -it flashed upon him. Ten years ago, when he had been trapping and -hunting wild turkeys in the valley of the Wabash, in Indiana, he had met -a man he had never forgotten. The man was under arrest for murder and -the sheriff stopped over night with him in Barker's cabin. The next day -he broke away and had never been heard from. He had black hair then, -dark eyes, and a small red scar stood out sharply on his white forehead. - -"That man was Hicks!" the trapper exclaimed. "I never forgot that scar." - -"Why has he brought those boys into the Indian Country?" Barker asked -himself. "How could any parents trust their boys to a man of his kind?" -But Hicks could be very pleasant, and he was a good talker. He had made -many friends among both Whites and Indians. He seemed to have some money -and was a liberal spender. Nevertheless, after turning over in his mind -all he knew about Hicks, Barker could not make up his mind why Hicks and -the boys were here and why Hicks so absolutely neglected the boys he had -evidently promised to look after. - -A week later Barker met the boys at a slough, where both he and the lads -sometimes went for a mess of wild ducks and the trapper decided to see -what he could find out about Cousin Hicks. The boys being asked, told -freely what they knew. - -Cousin Hicks was some distant relative of their mother. He had lived at -Vicksburg about a year and had often visited at their home and had sat -many hours chatting with their father in his little store. The boys had -gone north with him, so they could squat on some good land, and because -Tim was often sick at Vicksburg. As soon as their parents could sell -their store, they would also come north, because they had heard and read -about the boom in Minnesota lands and what big crops of wheat it would -raise. The boys liked it in Minnesota, only Tim got homesick at times. -Cousin Hicks was not mean to them, only he didn't work and didn't stay -at home, but he never worked much in Vicksburg, either. - -There had been some trouble and a lawsuit between their two grandfathers -in Tennessee and the boys had never been to see them. - -That was all the boys knew. It did not help Barker much, but he felt -more sure than ever that Hicks was playing some crooked game and he -decided to watch things, no matter what might be the outcome. - -When fall came, the boys had eaten all the corn in their garden and in -order to have something to live on during the winter, they went to a -large slough to gather wild rice in the way they had learned of the -Indians. - -As the winter passed, bad news came for the lads from the South. Their -father wrote that the war was getting worse and that on account of it he -could not hope to sell his store, but that the boys might as well stay -in Minnesota. - -The war had indeed, by this time, assumed immense proportions, both in -the East and in the West near the Mississippi River. In the West, Grant -had captured the important points of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and -had fought the terrible two days' battle of Shiloh. After this battle, -most Northerners became convinced that the Confederacy would not -suddenly collapse after one or two battles. - -By the first of July, 1862, the land forces, under Grant and two fleets -of gunboats, the lower under Admiral Farragut, and the upper under -Commodore Henry Davis, had obtained control of the Mississippi River, -except for a stretch of river between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, a -distance of two hundred miles. - -By far the most important and strongest point on the river still held by -the Confederates was Vicksburg. It is located on the east side of the -river on high land with wooded hills about two hundred feet high -directly to the east of the city. The cities of St. Louis, Cairo, -Memphis, and New Orleans were all held by the Union forces. It was of -great importance for the Union forces to capture Vicksburg, because the -capture of this city would give them complete control of the great river -and would cut the Confederacy in two, cutting off their supply of grain -and meat from Arkansas and Texas. If Vicksburg could be taken, the -Confederacy would be blockaded on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and -on the Mississippi. - -The task of taking this important city fell to General Grant, and it -proved a most difficult undertaking. The heavy batteries of guns placed -in all favorable positions could not be silenced by the Federal -gunboats. The city was also defended by a garrison of several thousand -men, and on July 15th, the iron-clad Confederate ram, _Arkansas_, coming -out of the Yazoo River, just above Vicksburg, ran through and -practically defeated the whole fleet of Commodore Davis. For several -days this one Confederate gunboat held both Admiral Farragut's fleet and -the fleet of Commodore Davis at bay until both withdrew, one up, the -other down, the river. - -The fight of the _Arkansas_ under its fearless Captain I. N. Brown, is -one of the most heroic chapters in naval warfare. - -Why the Federals allowed this formidable ram six weeks to be completed -and armed at Yazoo City, within fifty miles of their own upper fleet, -has thus far remained a mystery. On the fifteenth of August, Bill and -Tim Ferguson, after an interval of several months, received the -following letter from their father at Vicksburg: - - "_My dear boys:_ - - "You have probably read or heard about the fighting that has - been going on here. Your mother and I live in a cave now and we - are getting used to the screeching and bursting of shells, which - the Federal gunboats throw into the city. But now our one little - iron-clad _Arkansas_ has driven off both the upper and lower - Federal fleet. Think of that! and last night your mother and I - slept at home once more. - - "You boys would like to see the _Arkansas_. She looks like a - scow with an iron house boat built on it. The house-boat part - has slanting sides in every direction. Captain Brown, her - commander, built her at Yazoo City; Brown had thousands of - railroad rails bent into shape and with these he completely - covered her sides and where he could not use rails, he used - boiler-plate. If we only had a few more Browns and _Arkansases_, - we would soon chase the whole Yankee fleet into the canebrakes. - - "Most people here are still very hopeful that no serious attempt - will be made by Grant and the Northern fleet to take Vicksburg, - but I fear they are mistaken. - - "Our fleet was so hopelessly smashed at Memphis that we have - only a few vessels left, while the Federals seem to have no end - of gunboats and transports. It may be that the Gibraltar of the - Great River can not be taken, but I feel sure that Grant and - Sherman and Admiral Porter now commanding the Federal fleet - above Vicksburg, are going to try it. When that time comes, - Vicksburg will be a bad place to live in. - - "Mother would like to send you some turkeys and chickens, but as - that is impossible, she hopes that you may really enjoy the wild - ducks and geese that you have written about. - - "We are very glad that you are far away from this fearful and - sad war and we wish you to stay north till peace has come - again." - -The writer did not know that at the very time he wrote these words, two -thousand Sioux were encamped on the Minnesota River, within a few hours' -ride of his boys, and were ready at almost any moment to rush into a war -much more cruel than that being waged on the Great River, where only -armed men fought against armed men. - - - - -CHAPTER IV--THE BREAKING OF THE STORM - - -Men who have lived outdoors and know the moods of nature fear the -breaking of a storm that has been long brewing. - -The Indian War which broke over the summery plains and valleys of -Minnesota on Monday morning, August 18, 1862, swept over a large section -of the State with the rush and fury of a long-brewing storm. - -For several years the Sioux had been gathering a store of hatred and -desire of revenge for real and fancied wrongs. On Sunday, the 17th of -August, a few young Indians in an accidental quarrel with some farmers -in Meeker county killed some cattle and murdered several whites. Under -ordinary conditions this would have ended in the surrender and -punishment of the criminals, but now it was the signal for three -thousand Sioux warriors to rush into a carnival of murder and rapine, -which swept over the frontier settlement as a tornado rushes through the -forest. - -At daybreak on the 18th, Black Buffalo knocked on the cabin of Trapper -Barker. - -"Get up, my friend," he called, "the war has begun. You must flee, or -you will be murdered. - -"I have just learned that Chief Little Crow has told the warriors to -kill all white people they can find, and the warriors have started in -large and small parties in all directions. Some people at the Lower -Agency, near the big Indian camp, have already been killed. Make haste, -Mehunka, or you will be killed." - -"Do all the Indians want the war?" asked Barker, as he hurriedly dressed -himself for flight. - -"No," said Black Buffalo. "Many of us, Little Paul, John Other Day, -myself, and many others think this war is foolish and will only bring -tears and mourning to our women and children, and ruin to our whole -people, but we are powerless to stop the madness of Little Crow and the -young men." - -"I have an extra saddle-horse," said Barker as he was ready to mount. -"We must warn Bill and Tim." - -"You are right, Mehunka; I have brought an extra horse. The white boys -should come with us, if they are willing." - -"They must come with us!" exclaimed Barker, "whether they will or not." - -"Perhaps the lanky white man will not let them," Black Buffalo -suggested. "He wishes to keep the boys here. I do not know why. He would -not mourn if harm came to them. He does not love them." - -"Lanky Hicks be cursed!" Barker exclaimed in Sioux. "I shall point my -rifle at his head, if he refuses to let them go; he should have taken -them home long ago." - -Bill and Tim were just eating their simple breakfast of wild rice and -maple syrup when they saw two horsemen coming at a gallop. - -"Look, Bill," cried Tim, "here comes Mr. Barker and Tatanka! Hurrah! -We'll go and hunt ducks on the slough to-day. It's so long since they -have visited us." - -But when Barker hastily jumped off his horse and entered the cabin -before the lads could cry, "Come in," to his knock, they knew that their -two friends had not come to invite them to go hunting. - -"Good morning, my lads," Barker greeted them. "Where is Cousin Hicks?" - -"We don't know," answered Bill. "We haven't seen him since Friday." - -"Put on your hoots, roll up your coats and blankets, and come along," -the trapper continued. "The Sioux have gone to war and are killing the -people all around. You must not lose a minute; a bunch of them may show -up almost any moment." - -When all were ready to mount, Tim asked, "What about Cousin Hicks? Will -the warriors get him?" - -Bill thought he saw a flash of anger in the dark eyes of Tatanka at the -mention of Cousin Hicks, and the Indian said something in Sioux which -the boys did not understand. - -But the trapper laughed and remarked: - -"I thought you were a Christian, Tatanka?" - -"I am," replied Black Buffalo in Sioux, "but not when I see that man." - -If the boys had not implicitly believed Barker and Tatanka, they would -have thought their story some crude joke, for as they started their -horses at an easy gait, they saw no sign of war or Sioux warriors. The -dew still lay heavy on the tall grass in the swales, while many kinds of -butterflies, white, yellow, blue, and tawny red, were sipping their -morning draught of honey from goldenrods and wild sunflowers, and from -the fragrant milkweeds and purple lead-plants. - -Now and then, a meadow-lark warbled its cheerful song from a knoll or -rock, while the little striped gophers chased each other or sat like -horse-pins in front of their holes and scolded vociferously at the -passing riders. - -"What are they saying?" Tim asked of the trapper. - -"They are talking bad talk at Meetcha, your raccoon," Barker replied, -with a smile. "You let Meetcha catch one. Manetcha is a brave animal -near his hole." - -Tim let Meetcha try it, but every time he came within a few feet of a -chattering, scolding gopher, the little striped creature turned a -somersault and shot into his hole. - -"Take him up, Tim," said the trapper after a few minutes; "we have not -much time to hunt gophers." - -They now started their horses at a run for the two nearest settlers and -gave them the warning. - -"Get away as quick as you can. Don't follow the road to Fort Ridgely or -New Ulm, or you'll be ambushed there in the timber. Keep a sharp lookout -and hide in the grass or brush or corn, if you see Indians. Don't trust -any; they are all on the warpath now." - -Without waiting for the settlers to move, the four horsemen started at a -brisk gallop for a third settler at the head of a wooded ravine. - -"Keep away from the timber," Tatanka cautioned them. "Indians like to -hide when they fight." - -The riders approached the cabin carefully over the prairie. The door was -standing open. - -The boys still felt as if the whole story was a bad hoax, but now the -two men stopped their horses, examined the caps on their guns, and then -Tatanka carefully crept up to the shanty through some scrub-oaks. - -"What is Tatanka afraid of?" asked Tim. - -"He is afraid," Barker explained, "that some Indians have seen us and -are hiding in the house or behind it." - -Now Tatanka appeared in front of the shanty and motioned the others to -come. In the house everything was confusion. The table was turned over -and the broken dishes were scattered and tumbled about on the floor. -Every pane in the one small window was smashed and in the hazel-brush -just behind the little home, Jim Humphrey, the owner, lay dead, his -hands still gripping the handle of an ax. - -"The brutes have taken Jim's wife and daughter with them," murmured -Barker. "Boys," he continued, "you stand watch while Tatanka and I cover -poor Humphrey's body with green twigs and earth. We dare not wait to do -more." - -What had thus far seemed like a horrible dream to the boys, had now -become a ghastly reality. They were face to face with the horrors of -savage warfare. - -The next cabin, two miles northeast, was on fire and six men, three on -horseback and three on a farm-wagon, were coming toward them. The four -fugitives halted. "What are they!" Barker asked. - -"They are Indians," Tatanka decided at once. "We must make a run for the -clump of poplars north of us." - -In the center of the round clump of poplars and thick brush, they tied -their horses. - -"They can't see them here," Tatanka stated. "Now, we must lie down near -the edge of the brush, but so that they cannot see us, and don't waste -your powder. We may have to stay here for a long time." - -The Indians had all turned off the road and were approaching the -thicket. - -"Give them a shot, Bill," said Barker. "They are only a quarter of a -mile away. It's going to be a fight for our lives." - -Two of the Indians returned Bill's fire, but their balls or shot fell -short. - -"I think they have nothing but old trader guns. In that case, we may be -able to beat them off," remarked Barker. - -The Indians took the team out of range. Then, three of them on -horseback, and three on foot, they surrounded the grove. - -One of the Indians on foot waved his blanket and shouted: - -"Come out, you white men, and fight. You are squaws, you are rabbits." - -The horsemen slowly rode around the copse, while it became evident that -the other three were trying to crawl up through the grass to a small -clump of hazel-brush. - -"Keep cool, boys," the trapper admonished. "Don't waste powder; hit your -mark. Anybody can hit the prairie." - -"What do they want of us?" asked Tim, who had tied his coon to a tree. -"We have nothing." - -"My lad," laughed the trapper, "we have good horses and guns and four -extra-fine scalps, and they want to play great heroes in camp to-night." - -Two hours passed without a shot being fired. The sun had grown hot, the -heat-cats began to run up the south-facing hill, and Bill and Tim found -this tedious waiting and watching the hardest kind of work they had ever -done. Barker and Tatanka did not seem to mind it. They kept their eyes -on the enemy but chatted and joked quietly in the most unconcerned -manner, as if being besieged by Indians were a most ordinary thing to -them. - -"I don't think they are a bit afraid," said Bill. - -"I'm not afraid," Tim answered, "as long as the Indians don't come into -our bush. But I'm hungry and awfully thirsty." - -"I think I can find water," said Bill. "I'm awfully thirsty, too. You -watch my Indian a little while." - -In half an hour Bill came back. "Tim," he reported, with joy, "go to the -big poplar near the horses. I've dug a well there with my hands and -knife. The water isn't very good, but it will give you a drink." - -Tim went and told the men about Bill's well, and both took turns to get -a drink. - -"Oh!" remarked Tatanka, with a grin, "Bill has found good water. He is a -good Indian soldier." - -A little later, Tatanka crept rapidly forward to an outlying willow-bush -where he quietly rose on his knees and fired. The bragging Indian jumped -out of the grass and tried to run away, but he staggered and fell. - -Then the Indian on the white horse came on a gallop to carry off the -wounded man, but Tatanka fired again and the white horse fell dead, but -the dismounted rider helped the wounded man to get out of range, before -Tatanka could load and fire again. - -While this had been going on, the two other mounted Indians had come -racing along as if they would run straight into the copse, and both Tim -and Barker fired at them. The trapper's mark reared and plunged for the -open prairie, and the other rider also threw his pony around, for Tim's -bullet had gone singing close over his head. When they had run some -hundred yards, both Indians turned and fired, but as the defenders had -kept well under cover, the balls flew wild among the thick poplars. - -Indian warriors have seldom held out long against men who made a brave -stand. When the Sioux saw that they were getting the worse of the fight, -they all withdrew to the wagon and started westward. - -Tatanka now ran out into the open, waved his blanket and shouted, "You -are squaws. You are gophers. Run to your holes." - -Then turning to Barker, he said, "Come, brother, we scare them." - -Before the boys knew what Tatanka meant, the two men were racing after -the Indians as fast as the horses could go. - -When the Indians saw them coming, they whipped their horses into a -gallop and disappeared over a rise on the prairie. - -Barker and Tatanka did not follow their routed enemies over the rise, -but returned at once to their poplar fort. - -After the four defenders had taken a drink out of Bill's well, they all -sat down in the shade on the edge of the thicket where the poplar leaves -rustled pleasantly in the summer breeze. - -"Now, friends," the trapper said, "it is time for a little lunch. Here -is a piece of cornbread left over from my breakfast. It isn't much, but -we all get a bite. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the prairie and -look out for Indian heads." - -"I think we should stay here until dark," Tatanka suggested, "and then -start for Shakopee or Fort Snelling. Indians do not fight during the -night. The sky is going to be clear and we can travel by the stars. It -is very dangerous to travel in daylight." - -"You are right, my friend," the trapper replied, "but I am almost afraid -to stay here. Our enemies may come back with more men to drive us out, -or larger bodies of Indians may accidentally find us. Our horses have no -water and we cannot leave the thicket if we are surrounded. I think we -should find a better place, even if it is dangerous to travel by -daylight." - - - - -CHAPTER V--THROUGH A DESERTED LAND - - -Before they left their hiding-place, Tatanka tied some small poplar -twigs to his head and climbed the highest tree in the grove. - -"I can see not a man nor horse," he reported. "Our enemies have left. -Even if the men were hiding in the grass, I would be able to see their -wagon and horses." - -"The nearest places of safety are Fort Ridgely and New Ulm," declared -the trapper. "Should we not try to reach one or the other?" - -"They are not safe now," objected Tatanka, after a brief silence. "I -have heard the young warriors brag that a thousand of them could easily -rush both of these places. We could surely not get into either place on -horseback. We might crawl into them at night. If you try to go there on -horseback, I shall not go with you." - -"Perhaps you are right," granted the trapper. "I do not wish to lose my -two fine horses. Let us try to reach the small lake and timber north of -here. We can water our horses there and the patch of timber is large -enough so that a small party can not surround us. And if the worst -should happen, we can abandon our horses and slip away on foot after -dark." - -When they were ready to move, Bill found little Tim hunting about -anxiously through the brush. - -"I can't find the coon," he cried. "He was there before we sat down to -eat our cornbread, but now he has chewed off the string I tied him with -and he is gone." - -The men laughed, but together with Bill they began to beat the brush and -the weeds for the lost raccoon. - -"Little gray Meetcha will be hard to find," commented Tatanka. "He may -have gone back to the woods near the river. His kind does not love the -prairie like Hoka, the badger, who digs the striped gophers out of their -holes." - -After some more searching Bill called out: - -"Oh, come here, Tim. Here's your fool coon. He's washing a frog in my -well." - -By the time Tim arrived, Meetcha had not only washed but also eaten his -frog. - -"You little fool," Tim cried, as he gently boxed Meetcha's ears, "the -Sioux will cut off your tail and boil you in the pot if you run away -from us. Haven't you heard that war has begun?" - -Meetcha snarled and struck at Tim with his short fore-paws, but Tim -placed his pet in front of him on the saddle and men and boys started -slowly for the small lake. - -However, before they entered the woods, they halted the horses in an -isolated thicket and Tatanka alone crept slowly through the grass and -tall weeds into the woods. - -"Where is he?" asked Bill, when Tatanka had gone a few rods. "I can't -even see the grass move, except by the little puffs of wind." - -"Of course you can't." Barker laughed. "Tatanka would not be a good -scout if he could not vanish in the tall grass." - -Black Buffalo was gone a long time and Bill and Tim began to think that -he would not come back or that he had been killed. But the trapper only -smiled and said: "You boys don't know what patience is. A good scout or -a good hunter must be able to wait a long time, sometimes a whole day." - -When Tatanka did return he came into the thicket from the other side and -was standing before them without either of the boys having seen him -approach. - -"Where did he come from?" Tim asked, his big blue eyes showing his -surprise, but the trapper only smiled and said, "He's our scout, lads." - -The scout reported that he had gone carefully through the whole patch of -timber, and that neither in the timber nor on the lake shore had he seen -any fresh sign of Indians or horses. "But I did see fresh deer sign," he -concluded. "A buck lives in those woods, but I did not see him." - -Feeling sure now that they would not fall into an ambush, the four -friends rode into the woods to find a suitable spot, where they might -conceal themselves till nightfall. - -They first watered their horses, taking care to conceal them behind some -overhanging linden branches, so that they might not be seen from the -other side of the lake. Both the trapper and Tatanka agreed that it was -not at all likely that any Indians would be in hiding on the shore of -this small lake. - -"They are scattered in all directions, killing people and making booty," -Barker gave as his opinion. "But it would not surprise me if toward -evening some of those marauding parties would come along to stop here -for the night." - -The afternoon furnished again a great trial of patience for the boys. -For a while, the care of their horses and catching frogs for Meetcha -occupied them. Then they picked a few choke-cherries, but these did not -allay their growing hunger, and the trapper would not let them pick the -laden bushes on the outside of the timber. - -"It would be gross carelessness," he said, "to betray our presence in -that way. The man who wishes to carry his scalp out of an Indian war -must not take chances. I'm also afraid that you boys would get sick if -you filled up on choke-cherries; you had better starve awhile." - -As the heat of the day decreased, the mosquitoes became very annoying. -Both lads were tired and sleepy from the excitement of the day, but -there could be no thought of sleeping. They had to keep off the hungry -insects with pieces of green brush. - -The Indian and Barker had each gone to one end of the timber to watch -for unbidden guests, while the boys were on guard in the middle of the -margin of the timber. - -When at last the sun was approaching the horizon, it seemed to the lads -that it was several days since Mr. Barker had told them to roll up their -blankets and come away. - -When the sun was turning red, Tatanka came back from his watch and gave -the call of Bob-White. The boys at once forgot all fatigue and ran to -their horses. - -"Indians, from the east," Tatanka whispered. "We must get away. I will -take Mehunka's horse to him." - -The trapper, although nearly sixty years old, sprang into the saddle -like a young man, when his three friends met him at the western point of -the timber. - -Before they doubled a low hill, which would hide the lake from their -view, Tatanka stopped behind some box-elder bushes. - -"Look," he said as he pointed eastward, "there they are." - -A dozen Indians, some on horseback and others on a stolen farm-wagon, -were just stopping to make camp at the eastern end of the timber, a -quarter of a mile away. - -"Won't they follow us!" asked Bill. "They might easily find our trail." - -"No," grunted Tatanka, with plain contempt. "See what they are doing." - -One of the men was pouring something out of a jug and each took a drink -out of a tin cup. - -"See," continued the scout--"they have found a jug of whiskey. They -won't see any trail. If they were in the Chippewa country, they would be -scalped." - -"Have they any white captives?" asked Barker. - -"No, let the dogs alone," and with those words, he led the way around a -low hill. - -The four travelers rode slowly and silently over the prairie. The sounds -of the summer night began to fill the air. Overhead a pair of -night-hawks, swooping with a loud whirr close by the heads of the horses -and uttering their harsh "Paint, paint," followed the riders. In the -scattered groves which they passed, some little tree-frogs piped their -monotonous trill, while the undefinable songs of crickets and -grasshoppers filled the air, seemingly coming from everywhere and -nowhere. - -An hour they had been riding almost in silence, when there was a thud -and a sprawl on the grass. Little Tim's eyes had closed in sleep and he -had fallen off his horse. - -"We must find a place to spend the night," said the trapper. "The little -fellow is all in." - -"No, I'm awake now," piped up little Tim, as he picked up Meetcha and -climbed back in the saddle. "I can ride all right now, Mr. Barker." - -The first house they reached had been burnt and the ruins were still -smoldering. - -Tatanka dismounted and examined the place for wounded or hidden -fugitives, but there was only the silence of death and desolation. - -A few miles farther, they came to a cabin in a small natural grove. - -"That's Dickman's place," the trapper told his companions. "He has a -fine field of corn and his wife is a good housekeeper. Let us see what -we can find." - -The door stood open and most of the windows in the two-room cabin were -broken. - -"Ugh," grunted the Indian, "the thieves have been here. We shall find -nothing to eat." - -"Wait a minute," said Barker. "Let me look in the smoke-house in the -hollow; perhaps the robbers didn't find it. Here, boys," he laughed, as -he returned with a ham and a side of bacon, "this will help us out. - -"Now, Tim, get some green corn and, Bill, you go and milk the two cows -in the yard. They must have been in the woods when the Sioux raided the -place. Tatanka may listen for bad sounds, but I think we are safe here -and we shall soon have a real supper." - -In a few minutes Barker had closed the door, hung a blanket over the two -windows, lit a candle and started a fire in the kitchen stove. Soon the -corn was boiling and slices of bacon sizzled in the pan. Bill came in -with a pail of milk and Tatanka came in and reported, "No Dakotahs -here." - -No supper ever tasted so good to Bill and Tim, and the trapper-cook kept -putting slices of bacon in the pan, while his hungry guests helped -themselves as quick as the white slices curled and browned. - -After supper the lads spread their blankets on the floor, tied Meetcha -in the small woodshed and found a gunny-sack for him to sleep on. - -After the two men had watered the horses at a near-by pond, tied them in -the straw-shed, and provided them with plenty of hay, they sat down on -the grass to smoke. - -"The boys are asleep," remarked Tatanka, as he filled his pipe a second -time with a mixture of killikinnick and tobacco. - -"They are my boys now," replied Barker, "and I shall look after them. I -can't understand that man Hicks. I declare if I don't almost believe he -wanted the lads to get killed. I'd like to break his crooked old bones." - -"He is a bad man," Tatanka assented. "He hides some evil plan in his -heart, but I cannot tell what it is." - -"He does have some evil plan," exclaimed the trapper as he struck the -ground with his fist. "I reckon he will try to take the boys away from -me, if he can find us." - -"He is a coward," continued the Indian; "he will not come alone, he will -bring other bad men to help him. We must be on our guard." - -"Tatanka," said Barker, "I don't know yet what I shall do, but Hicks -will not get these lads unless he can take them from me. Will you stand -by me?" - -"Tatanka never deserted a friend," the Indian replied. - -"We must sleep now," said the trapper after a long silence. "We may have -another fight to-morrow." - -"I sleep in the shed with the horses," remarked the Indian, as he bade -his friend good-night. "The Dakotahs might come and steal them, if we do -not watch." - -The trapper went into the house, set a strong pole against the door and -spread his blanket near the boys. - - - - -CHAPTER VI--DANGEROUS TRAVELING - - -The Great Dipper had swung only halfway around the Polar Star when -Tatanka rapped at the cabin door. - -"My friend," he called, "I think we should saddle our horses and ride -away. At daybreak the bands of Dakotahs will again start to kill all -white men they can find and to burn their houses. We should travel a -good stretch before the sun rises, and, may be, in that way we can leave -behind us the part of the country to which the war has spread." - -The trapper, like most men who have lived much alone in a wild country, -was a light sleeper and was awake at once. - -"Yes," he replied, "we should travel a good stretch by starlight. -Perhaps we can thus avoid falling in with any more Sioux warriors. - -"We must take these lads to St. Paul before that man, Hicks, can find -out where we have gone, and try to overtake us. He will not hesitate to -set the Sioux on our trail, if he learns which way we have gone." - -Tim and Bill had to be shaken out of a sound sleep. - -"Come along, lads," Barker told them; "before the sun rises the Sioux -will again be scouring the country. We must travel by night as far as we -can." - -While the boys were getting ready, Tatanka and the trapper planned the -day's journey. - -"We should strike out northeast for Shakopee on the Minnesota River," -advised Tatanka. "I used to camp and hunt there, when I was a boy, but -it is now a white man's town, and I do not think that Little Crow's -warriors will reach it. They will first try to take Fort Ridgely and New -Ulm beyond the great elbow of the Wakpah Minnesota." - -"It is a good plan," assented the trapper. "Our two guns are loaded with -balls that carry a great distance. Let us put buckshot into the guns of -the boys. If we are attacked, we will fire our own guns first and use -the buckshot only if the Sioux come close up." - -"It is good," said Black Buffalo. "If all white people were prepared -like we are, the warriors of Little Crow would not take many scalps." - -The morning was chilly. The grass and flowers of the prairie were heavy -with dew and the little voices of the night had all grown silent, only a -lost dog, bereaved of his master, could be heard barking and howling in -the distance. They passed a slough, where the tall rushes and grasses -and the pools of open water were covered with a gray patchy blanket of -fog, out of which rang the loud quacking calls of wild ducks and the -low, retiring notes of hundreds of coots. From the blackbirds and -swallows which the boys knew were roosting in the marsh by the thousand, -came not a sound, but from the grass near the margin of the slough came -the liquid, pebbly song of a marsh-wren. - -"Listen, Bill," whispered Tim, "there's the little bird that never -sleeps." - -"Oh, I guess he sleeps, all right," replied Bill, "only he is so little -that he can sleep enough in snatches." - -"We must ride faster," said Tatanka. "The stars are getting small and -the eastern sky will soon be gray, then the Dakotahs will come out of -their camps." - -The four travelers wrapped themselves in their blankets, and let the -willing horses fall into an easy gallop. - -The boys were glad, when, at last, a big red ball pushed slowly over the -distant wooded bluffs of the Minnesota, but Barker and Tatanka reined in -their horses and approached the crest of every rise with the utmost -caution. After traveling an hour or more, in this way, Barker and -Tatanka stopped and dismounted in a small grove of oaks on a high knoll, -after they had made sure that no tracks led into the patch of timber. - -"Here we eat breakfast," Barker told the boys. - -"Why don't we hide in a hollow where we can't be seen?" asked Bill. - -Tatanka laughed at this question. "In a hollow," he replied, "Dakotahs -see us first; on a hill, we see them first." - -To the surprise of the boys, the Indian even started a fire and on -several green sticks began to fry slices of bacon and ham. - -"Won't the Indians see the fire!" asked Tim. - -"Not this fire," Bill told him. "Don't you see that Tatanka breaks from -the trees only the driest sticks that don't make a bit of smoke!" - -Tim and Meetcha were very hungry and Meetcha crept, with quivering -nostrils very close to the hot slices of meat, which the Indian was -laying down on some oak leaves, but Tatanka struck him a sharp blow with -a switch and called, "Raus!" in a loud gruff voice, so the little -raccoon scrambled away in a great hurry. - -"What did he say!" asked the boys. "He talked German to Meetcha," Barker -laughed. "He learned it from his neighbors. It means, 'Get out.'" - -"Meetcha must learn not to steal," said Tatanka, with a smile. "He is a -little thief. Tim should let him run in the woods. He will make much -trouble." - -The four travelers enjoyed a hearty breakfast after their morning ride. - -"Boys," remarked the trapper, "if we eat at this rate, we shall live on -the smell of hambone to-morrow, unless we make Shakopee tonight." - -There were no dishes to wash and Meetcha had to eat the scraps without -washing them, although to the delight of both men and boys, he went -through the motions with every piece he ate. - -When the meal was over, Tatanka sat for a while and smoked in silence, -while Barker and the boys scanned the prairie from the margin of the -grove. - -A mile to the south some dark objects were moving in the direction of -the wooded knoll, but they could not tell what they were. The boys -thought they saw Indians on horseback, but as Barker did not agree with -them they called Black Buffalo. After he had looked a minute he said: - -"Ox-team and white men. We must wait for them." - -"How can they get away from the Indians on an ox-team?" asked Bill. - -"They can't," explained Barker, "except by a lucky accident. If any -Indians see them, they are lost." - -When the ox-team came within half a mile of the knoll, Tatanka pointed -to the west. - -"Look," he said, "now we must fight." - -Three Indians on horseback were coming across the prairie directly -toward the white men, who tried to whip the oxen into a run so as to -reach the wooded knoll. - -"Get on your horses," commanded Barker, and the four riders threw -themselves quickly between the team and the Sioux. - -When the trapper fired a shot at the Sioux, the three Indians turned and -then dispersed themselves around the team. They fired their guns, but -the bullets all fell short. - -On the wagon were two men and several women and children, and the party -had been traveling all night. - -The Indians followed the team for an hour, but as the party kept to the -open prairie, the Sioux at last fell behind and gave up the pursuit. - -In the middle of the afternoon, the party reached Henderson, where the -owner of the team stayed with friends, while the four horsemen rode -rapidly on to Shakopee, which they reached late in the evening. - -The news of the outbreak had already reached the town and the people -were much excited, although no hostile Indians had been seen in the -neighborhood. - -On the following day, Wednesday, August 20th, the four horsemen saw no -hostile Indians. There were no telegraph lines in those days west and -southwest of St. Paul, but the news of the outbreak had reached St. Paul -by special messenger, on Tuesday, the day after it started. - -Barker and his party did not follow the usual road from Shakopee to St. -Paul, but traveled along old Indian trails and by-paths with which -Barker was well acquainted. Near the old inn which stood just west of -the Bloomington bridge across the Minnesota, they rested in the woods -until evening, for it was Barker's intention to reach St. Paul after -dark. - -"I doubt not," explained the trapper to Tatanka, "that Hicks, if he is -alive, is already on our trail. He is certainly going to look for the -boys and myself at St. Paul, and he will most likely strike the road -between this place and St. Paul. If we travel on this road in the -daytime, we shall meet so many people that it would be an easy thing to -follow us. Everybody would remember you and me and the small boy with -the raccoon, so we must stay here, until after dark." - -It was shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, that the travelers -reached St. Paul. Old Joe, the hostler, at one of the outlying taverns, -was not a little surprised to see his friend Barker appear at this hour -of the day. - -"Hello, Sam," he exclaimed, as he shook the old man's hand, "I'm -powerful glad to see you. Only last night I was saying to the boys, -'This time they surely got Sam's scalp.' Mighty glad I am, they didn't." - -The horses were soon put in their stalls and Meetcha was locked up in an -empty grain-box with some kitchen scraps and a pan of water. - -"He will wash bones, wash bones, until daylight." Tatanka laughed. - -"Now, Joe," said Barker, as the men were seated in the small lobby of -the tavern and after the boys had gone to bed, "here is a chance for you -to show that you are my friend. Don't tell anybody that we are here. A -lanky, squint-eyed cuss with a scar on his forehead may show up -inquiring for us. Don't put him on." - -"Old Joe is no sieve," replied the hostler. "You can depend on me." - -Then the men exchanged the news of the Indian war and the war down -South. - -The news of the outbreak had reached St. Paul on Tuesday, Governor -Ramsey had at once appointed Henry H. Sibley of Mendota, to assume -command of a force of men to march against the Indians, and Sibley was -already on his way with more than a thousand men. - -Barker soon learned that a freighter, the _Red Hawk_, was due to start -down river for Galena some time Friday evening. The boat could take but -very few passengers, but through his acquaintance with the mate, the -trapper arranged for passage for himself and the boys. - -When he told Tatanka about his plans, the Indian did not seem to hear -him, but his dark eyes wandered down the bend of the river, where the -great stream sweeps southward in a magnificent curve, below the high -white cliffs of the Indian Mounds and the long-lost Carver's Cave. - -After a long silence, the impassive face of Tatanka lit up as with the -fire of youth. - -"I wish to go with you and the white boys," he said; "I wish to see once -more the Great River, where my fathers fought the Ojibways, and the -Winnebagoes. I wish to see once more the long shining Lake Pepin, and -its bold high rocks. There I lived when I was a little boy, before the -first fire-canoe came up the Great River. My father killed many deer and -my mother caught great fish, many kinds of fish in the river. - -"Wakadan, the bass, the alligator-fish, the big buffalo-sucker that has -no teeth, but has strength to run through a net, Tamahe, the pickerel, -that has sharp teeth and is the wolf among fish, and the large black -paddle-fish, besides many, many little fish, black and golden, and -silver, which were caught only by the small boys. - -"My brother, you will need me and I will go with you and fight with you -if the bad white man comes to take away your boys. - -"And I will travel along the Great River and be happy as I was when I -listened to the the waves of Lake Pepin many winters ago. - -"There our people never went hungry and all were happy, but now the dark -clouds hang over all my people. The soldiers will drive them away from -the Minnesota to the Bad Lands of the West, where the timber and the -grass are poor. - -"Once more, I will travel on the Great River and then I will join my -people far west, and my friends will bury my bones where the hungry -wolves can not reach them." - - - - -CHAPTER VII--ON THE GREAT RIVER - - -The day before their departure south was a very busy one for both men -and boys. - -When Barker told the boys at breakfast that they would all start down -the river in the evening, it was only the strange place and people that -kept the boys from shouting and turning somersaults. - -"Are you going with us all the way to Vicksburg? And is Tatanka going?" -Tim asked, big-eyed with suppressed excitement. - -"We are both going," Barker told them, "if we can get through. We should -not have much trouble until we get to Memphis. Below Memphis, the river -is full of gunboats and the country full of fighting armies. I don't -know how we shall manage there. We'll have to see, when we get there." - -The four travelers could now take their horses no farther, and although -they disliked to part with the animals there was nothing else to do. Old -Joe, the hostler, paid them a fair price for the animals and again -pledged his secrecy. - -"There's a good market now for horses," he told his friends, "and I'll -sell them in a few days. If any inquisitive gent comes around, I'll send -him about his own business." - -After dark the four friends went on board the _Red Hawk_. - -"You lads keep quiet in your cabin," Barker told the boys, "till the -boat has started. Tatanka and I will do a little scouting till we have -cast off." - -The two men took a position behind some boxes and bales of freight. The -landing was lit by several glaring torches, so that the two scouts could -see clearly every person moving about, but they could not be seen -themselves from the landing. - -The deck-hands were just throwing on the last sticks of cord-wood and -carrying on board the last sacks of wheat, when a stranger appeared and -spoke to the captain. - -"Can you carry another passenger?" Barker heard him ask. "I have -blankets and can sleep on the deck." - -[Illustration: "Walking is good, on you can ride on a log, the water is -fine."] - -"Not another soul," replied the captain. "Get off the gang-plank, you're -in the way." - -"But I must get to St. Louis," the man argued. - -"I don't care what you must do," the captain replied gruffly. "Walking -is good, or you can ride on a log, the water is fine. Now get off the -gang-plank. This boat leaves in five minutes." - -"Hicks," whispered Tatanka. "Bad man Hicks," as the man slouched back up -town. "I'd like to throw my ax at him." - -"It's a good thing that I described Hicks to the captain," Barker -chuckled. "The captain recognized him all right." - -Then the _Red Hawk_ gave a long whistle, the pilot pulled the bell at -the engine, there was a great hissing of steam and the big stern-wheel -noisily churned the brown water of the Mississippi. Slowly the -heavily-laden boat backed into mid-stream, again the pilot rang the -bell, and the boat made a half-turn and was headed down-stream. - -The boys came out of their cabin. - -"How can the pilot find his way?" asked Bill, "when the night is so -pitch-dark?" - -"A good pilot knows the river by heart," Barker told the boys. "He knows -it by day and by night, and up-stream and downstream." - -At the present time it is comparatively easy to pilot a steamboat on the -Mississippi. Hundreds of wing-dams, built by the government engineers, -keep the current in the same channel, and numerous guideboards and -lights on shore tell the pilot where to steer his boat. In addition to -this, the modern boats are all provided with powerful headlights and -search-lights. - -At the time of the Civil War wing-dams, guideboards, shore-lights, and -search-lights were all unknown. The safety of the Mississippi steamers -depended entirely on the pilots. Their accurate knowledge of the river, -their skill in handling the wheel, their quick decision in moments of -danger, brought every year hundreds of boats safely back and forth -between the ports of St. Paul and St. Louis. - -As the _Red Hawk_ was gliding by the magnificent groves of cottonwoods, -which begin to line the Mississippi just below the Indian Mounds at St. -Paul, the trapper and his three friends were quietly sitting on the -upper deck in front of the pilot-house. - -There was little talk, for all were absorbed in the running of the boat. - -Now the boat seemed to be headed into an absolutely black wall, which -proved, however, to be only the dense shadow caused by the forest or by -a high rocky bank. Had the pilot not had the nerve to steer straight -into the black shadow, he would have wrecked his boat among the snags on -a sandbar, where the safe channel seemed to run. - -At the end of three hours the boat stopped at Prescott, at the mouth of -the St. Croix, one of the two navigable tributaries of the upper -Mississippi, near St. Paul and Minneapolis, almost two thousand miles -from the Gulf of Mexico. Here the river grew wider and deeper, so that -the pilot could pick his way with a little less anxiety, but to the four -fugitives from the Sioux country, the mystery continued. - -At one moment the boat was headed into a dark forest of tall cottonwoods -and maples, and a little later the boys felt sure she would crash -against a solid wall of rock, and then suddenly the river seemed to come -to an end. - -"We've lost the river, we're in a big slough," Tim whispered as he held -firmly to Meetcha. - -But always just in time, the wheel turned just enough and the boat -glided safely past trees and cliffs, past sandbars and snags, and around -every bend and turn. - -The four travelers began to feel a little more at ease now. Tatanka lit -his red pipe, Barker treated himself to a cigar which his friend Joe had -slipped into his pocket, while the boys began to feel sleepy. - -The smokers had taken only a few puffs when a messenger came. "The -captain," he said, "wishes you to smoke somewhere else. The light from -your pipe and cigar bothers the pilot, so he can't see where he is -steering." - -"The boy is lying," Tatanka murmured. - -"No, he is not," Barker dissented. "I have often heard the pilots say -that on a dark night like this, the light from a pipe or cigar annoys -them so much that they cannot steer right. We must find another place." - -It was not long before all four of the friends sought their beds. The -boat stopped for more freight at Red Wing; and at Lake City, at the head -of Lake Pepin, it was delayed until noon by some necessary repairs on -the engine. - -The first mate who took charge of the boat at noon was in doubt whether -he should wait for a threatening storm to pass before he started down -the lake, but the captain was impatient. - -"We have already lost five hours," he remarked. "Start her off, she is -well built, a little wind won't hurt her. I am in a hurry with that war -freight." - -Lake Pepin is only a widened Mississippi. On account of long bars of -silt and sand which the Chippewa River has thrown across the -Mississippi, the river has backed up till it fills the whole valley, two -miles wide, and twenty miles long. On this long, deep body of water, the -wind and waves attain a terrific sweep, and many a boat, safe enough on -the river, has met disaster on Lake Pepin. - -While the _Red Hawk_ was lying at Lake City, a strong wind had been -blowing from the south toward great masses of clouds that were rising in -the north. When she headed down the lake the wind died down, but half an -hour later it broke with a gale from the north, carrying before it -whirling clouds and sheets of swishing rain that hid from view the high -bluffs on either side. - -Almost at once, as if by the magic of a demon, the lake was in an uproar -with a smashing sea of foaming, toppling white-capped waves, which -together with the raging wind, threatened to throw the _Red Hawk_ out of -her course into the trough of the waves. - -The pilot strained every nerve and muscle to keep her headed toward the -foot of the lake. He signalled to the engineer for full steam ahead, -because a boat at high speed is more easily steered than one at low -speed. - -For a while, all went well. Then a sharp snap was heard at the engine. -The wheel stopped turning at once, and the boat swung helpless into the -trough of the sea, while big splashing waves began to break over the low -sides of the vessel and into the hold. - -"The Wakon, the bad spirit, will swallow the ship," Tatanka murmured. -"We must all try to swim ashore." - -One of the piston-rods had broken and one engine alone could not turn -the big stem-wheel, but Captain Allen did not mean to give up his boat -without a fight. In five minutes the carpenters were at work spiking -together two long wide planks. A heavy rope, twice as long as the -planks, was tied to each end of the planks. To the middle of this rope -the ship's hawser was fastened, and the sea anchor was ready. - -"Heave her over," commanded the captain, and within a few minutes the -boat swung around with her bow to the wind. - -It was high time. For the waves had put out the fires, and the pumps had -stopped working. - -A little longer and she would have filled and sunk in thirty feet of -water. As it was, she drifted fast before the wind, and in a little more -than half an hour she crashed against the rocks on the Wisconsin shore, -where storm and waves broke her to pieces. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII--AFTER THE WRECK - - -Although the _Red Hawk_ and her cargo were a complete loss, all on board -reached land safely. With the wreckage of the boat, the men built a fire -to dry themselves and from a box of bread and bacon which the waves -threw ashore, they made a frugal supper. The four travelers for the -South had saved their guns and blankets and all spent the night near a -big fire as best they could. - -The next day, Tatanka built a tepee, using blankets and canvas instead -of the deerskins and buffalo skins he had learned to use when he was a -boy. The company was indeed much in need of some kind of shelter because -little Tim was not at all himself. He tried bravely not to "lie down," -as he said, but his head ached, his face was flushed and at times he had -a high fever. - -"I fear the boy will be sick," said Tatanka. "I will fix him a tea." - -Tim had the dislike of most small boys for medicine, but he drank down a -large cupful of hot tea made by steeping some green plants in hot water. -Then Tatanka covered him up with several blankets to produce sweating. - -"It is good medicine," the Indian remarked. "It is the way our women -cure their children, and the missionaries also say it is good medicine." - -After a few days, the four travelers moved to a permanent camp a little -way below the foot of Lake Pepin and about a mile below Reed's Landing. - -At this place were several stores, and the landing owed its existence to -the fact that early in spring goods were delivered here and hauled by -wagon to the head of the lake, where they were loaded on other steamers -for shipment to St. Paul. For the ice sometimes remains in Lake Pepin -two weeks longer than in any other part of the upper river. - -Barker and Black Buffalo had intended to take the next boat to St. -Louis, but Little Tim grew so sick that it was impossible to move him, -and the men decided that they would have to take care of the sick boy as -well as they could. - -"He has the long fever," declared Tatanka, "and he will be sick a long -time. May be till the Mississippi freezes over." - -Tim did have a long sickness. He had no pain, he had no appetite, and -his small body often burnt with a high fever. - -If a doctor could have been consulted, he would have said that Tim had a -fairly mild case of typhoid fever, but there was no doctor within fifty -miles of Reed's Landing. Barker and Tatanka had both seen cases like -Tim's and felt that in time the little fellow would get well again. - -"We shall stay here till the Great River freezes over," said Tatanka, -after a week had passed. "A sick boy cannot travel." - -Tatanka built another tepee, which he and Bill occupied, while the -trapper slept in the first tepee with the sick boy. The two men bought a -boat of the trader and finished a canoe the trader had begun. They also -built of logs and rough boards a shack for winter use, doing the work -whenever they had plenty of time. - -[Illustration: The two men bought a boat of the trader.] - -"A tepee," Tatanka said, "is a good house in summer and fall, but in -winter it is too cold for white people, who are not used to it." - -Both the trapper and Black Buffalo did all they could to make the sick -boy comfortable. They gathered wild cherries and gave him the juice to -drink; they made soup of prairie chicken, grouse, and wild duck. - -"You must drink the good soup," said Barker, "for when the lake freezes -up you and Bill must go skating and you must be big and strong when we -get home to Vicksburg." - -It was not difficult for the trapper and the Indian to secure enough -food, for both of them knew how to gather the wild foods of woods, -river, and marsh. - -It was not getting to be the time when the great waves of bird life roll -southward, and as the Mississippi and its grand winding bottoms are one -of the great highways of the winged millions, there was an endless -procession of flocks coming and going. - -When little Tim had a good day and the weather was mild, the trapper -carried the sick boy to a spot where he could see the shining river and -the wooded bluffs, gorgeous in autumn colors, for no river in the world -surpasses the upper Mississippi in the almost inconceivable profusion of -autumn flowers and in the gorgeous effects of mixed and blended green, -gold, orange, reds, and crimson, all painted on a canvas far too vast -for any human artist and almost too grand for human eye to drink in. - -And above all this beauty on earth, spread the blue sky, with fleecy -white clouds floating eastward. - -"Uncle Barker," the boy would ask, "what are the birds almost touching -the clouds?" - -"I can hear their call," the old trapper answered, glad that Tim was -beginning to take an interest in things, "I think they are martins, the -kind that nested in the hollow trees at Fort Ridgely and in the big -house the soldiers had built for them." - -Near the tepees stood an immense hollow elm. Around this tree a small -flock of swifts gyrated in wide, noisy circles every evening. - -"What are they doing!" asked Bill. "Where are they going?" - -Tatanka smiled. "The Indian boys know," he answered. "If your eyes are -sharp, you can tell." - -Then Bill watched. Every time the swarm sailed, noisily chirping, over -the big tree, some of the birds suddenly turned their wings against the -air, and dropped into the dark hollow like so many stones. After half an -hour the last bird had dropped to its sleeping-perch and Bill thumped -the tree with his ax; he laid his ear to the tree and heard a great -humming as of a hundred swarms of bees, and a few of the birds came out -and fluttered about. - -"Don't disturb them, Bill," the trapper urged. "They have been on the -wing all day and we should let them rest. Some people say they have no -feet, but they have, only they are very small and the swifts use them -merely for clinging to walls of hollow trees at night. It is a queer way -of sleeping, but the best they can do, for they never sleep in any other -way." - -Nowadays not many swifts sleep in hollow trees, for most of these -natural homes of the bears, raccoons, and swifts are gone, but the -light-winged swifts have found other sleeping-places; they roost by -thousands in chimneys of court-houses, churches, and schools. And before -white men light their fires, when the days begin to grow cold, the -swifts have assembled in great flocks on the Gulf of Mexico, whence they -go to spend the winter in Central and South America. - -Bill took great delight in bringing his sick brother a handful of the -most beautiful flowers of the bottom forest, the scarlet lobelia, or -cardinal flower. Tim was not alone in enjoying these dazzling red -flowers. A flock of humming-birds soon found them and came to them -several times every day. Within reach of the boys' hands, the little -bird gems hung motionless on invisible wings. 'At times they perched, -and preened their delicate plumage for ten minutes at a time. Tim -laughed for the first time, when two of the midgets of the air had a -fight. They squeaked like mice, as they threatened angrily to spear each -other with their long sharp bills. - -"They are funny little things," Tim said, as he turned over and went to -sleep. - -"The boy will get well," remarked Tatanka. "When a sick person laughs, -he gets well again." - -One warm day rather late in September, the trapper proposed a new kind -of hunting to Bill. "Let us go on a bee hunt," he said; "Tatanka will -stay with Tim." - -Bill had never heard of a bee hunt, and wanted to know what Mr. Barker -wanted to do with the bees. - -"We don't want the bees," the trapper explained; "we want to get some -honey, and in order to do that we have to find the nest of a swarm of -wild honey-bees." - -The trapper made a little box of bark and caught a bee, after it had -worked for quite a while on a clump of goldenrod. - -In an open place, he let the bee go. "Now, watch," he said to Bill, "and -point your finger in the direction it flies and run after it as far as -you can follow it." - -Bill did not know why he should run after the bee, but he followed -through grass and weeds until he tumbled over a hidden log. - -Barker laughed when Bill picked himself out of the weeds. - -"That's fine," he commented. "My eyes are getting a little dull on such -small creatures and I can't run as fast as I once could, so I took you -along to do the spying and the running. You see, we know now that this -bee goes east from here to reach its home." - -The two hunters now walked a few hundred yards in the same direction and -then caught another bee. Again Bill saw the liberated insect make a -straight line eastward. - -In this manner, they proceeded until they came close to the bluffs on -the Wisconsin side. - -"We're on their line, all right," Barker expressed himself gleefully. -"If it doesn't end at some settler's bee-hive, we ought to find our -bee-tree pretty soon." - -The next bee surprised Bill by going directly west; but the trapper -clapped his hands and called: "We've passed the tree, so we'll just work -back carefully and watch for a good-looking hollow tree. If we can't -find it, we shall have to run a cross-line, which is sure to find it." - -But they found the wild bees, at the next trial, without running a -cross-line. "Here they are, here they are!" Bill called, as he stood -under a big white-oak. - -Hundreds of black bees were entering and leaving a knot-hole about six -feet above the ground. - -"It's a big swarm," Barker told the boy; "and they are in a good place -for us. Sometimes they go into a hollow limb thirty feet high, where you -can't get at them. - -"To-morrow, we'll come back and get some honey. Now let's go home and -tell Tim and Tatanka about our luck." - - - - -CHAPTER IX--HUNTING BEES AND DRIVING FISH - - -Tatanka was not enthusiastic about the prospect of a bee hunt. - -"The Indians," he told his friends, "do not like the little black -honey-flies. They call them white men's flies, because they came into -our country with the white man. We like Tumahga-tanka, the big -bumblebee, that builds his cells in an old mouse-nest on the ground. But -Tumahga-tanka is like the Indians: he gathers only very little honey -food, just for a day or two. Only our small boys hunt them and take -their little honey in the evening when their wings are cold and stiff so -they cannot fly on the naked body of the boys and sting them. - -"The little honey-flies are like white men. They gather much honey for -many days of rain and for all the moons of winter. They make a store in -a big tree and fill it with honey, so they can stay at home and eat -honey till the maple buds break and till the wild plums and wild -strawberries hang out their white flowers. They are like white men, who -work all the time and gather big houses full of corn and meat and make -big woodpiles for the winter. - -"Tumahga-tanka is like the Indian. He travels much, he often sleeps -among the flowers at night, and he is always poor and hungry like the -Indian." - -"Where do the bumblebees go in winter," asked Tim, "if they do not -gather enough honey to live on?" - -Tatanka did not know. "Perhaps they sleep like Mahto, the bear, or like -Meetcha, the bear's little brother." - -"Will you go with us?" asked Barker, "when we go to get the honey?" - -"Yes, I will go with you," Tatanka promised. "But I do not like to fight -the little black bees. They are as many as leaves on a tree, and they -will get very angry and will sting when you come to rob them of their -food." - -"Why shouldn't we go at night, when they can't see us and when it is too -cool for them to fly much?" asked Bill. - -"No," said Barker, "we shall go in daylight, when we can see what we are -doing." - -The sun was already several hours high, next morning, when the -bee-hunters were ready. - -Under a clump of sumachs Barker prepared himself for the raid. He tied a -piece of mosquito netting over his hat and face. The sleeve of his -hunting-shirt he tied firmly to his wrists, and he put on his buckskin -hunting-gloves. - -"Now, I'm ready," he laughed. "You can sit down and watch me." - -With a saw, he had procured from the trader at Reed's Landing, he -rapidly made two cuts in the tree, one near the ground and the other -just below the knot-hole entrance. - -The bees came pouring out of the knot-hole. Hundreds and thousands of -them buzzed madly about the trapper's head; they crawled all over him, -trying to find a spot where they could sting the robber of their -treasure-house. - -Some of the angry bees discovered the two spectators and Meetcha. Bill -let out a yell and ran. Tatanka tried to fight them off, but some got -into his hair. He gave a ringing Sioux warwhoop and tumbled after Bill -in a most ludicrous manner. Little gray Meetcha had been watching the -fun as if puzzled at the strange behavior of his master. But now a mad -bee buzzed right into the hairs of his ear. Meetcha seemed to listen a -second, then he began to paw his ears frantically and to roll in the -grass. Now he sat up again, as if to listen. Some more bees were after -him. Again he pawed his ears wildly, and rolled on the grass as if he -were performing in a circus. Then he scampered hurriedly after Bill and -Tatanka. - -When Barker had finished his cross-cuts with the saw, he began to use -his sharp ax vigorously and with the aid of an iron wedge, such as -wood-cutters use, he split a large slab out of the hollow tree. - -There was the wild bee hive, full of great irregular combs of honey, -white, yellow, and brown! - -The hunter gave a yell. "Come on, boys," he shouted; "get your honey. We -could fill a wash-tub full. The biggest lot of wild honey I ever saw." - -The bees had almost stopped swarming about the hunter and had settled in -black masses on the broken combs and were gorging themselves on the -dripping honey. - -Bill and Tatanka would not come near the tree. - -"I am not afraid to fight the Chippewas," remarked Tatanka, "but I do -not like the little black bees." - -Barker filled a birch-bark bucket with honey and then put the slab again -in place on the tree. - -"I left them enough for the winter," he told his friends. "It would not -be right to rob the little creatures of all, because it is so late in -the season now that they could not gather another supply for the -winter." - -Little Tim enjoyed very much the story Bill told him of the bee hunt, -and he laughed heartily when his brother told how Meetcha had fought the -angry bees. However, although Tim was now well on the road to recovery, -it was quite evident that he could not go on the long journey to -Vicksburg before winter, and Barker and Tatanka made their preparations -to winter in the river bottom below Lake Pepin. - -The trapper had bought a gill-net about fifty feet long and on the first -warm day after the bee hunt, he proposed a fishing trip to Beef Slough, -one of the sluggish side-channels of the Mississippi. - -One who has never seen the Great River is apt to imagine that, like -smaller rivers, it has only one channel, but below the mouth of the St. -Croix, it generally flows in one main channel and one or more -side-channels. The steamboats naturally take the main channel, but -hunters, canoeists, and fishermen often find their best sport on the -side-channels, or sloughs, as they are often called.. - -Bill was in a flutter of excitement when he and Barker arrived at Beef -Slough, for he had never fished with a gill-net. The trapper first cut -two stout poles, to each of which he tied one end of the net. He next -set the net across the slough so that it reached almost from side to -side. - -A gill-net really consists of three nets. The net in the middle has -small meshes and is made of rather fine twine, the two nets on the -outside have very large meshes, a foot or more square. When a fish runs -against the middle net, the fine meshes catch him behind the gills and -hold him, or, if he is very big and strong, he makes a pocket of the -small net in trying to push through it and thus gets tangled up and -caught. - -After Barker had set the net, he told his boy companion: "Now, Bill, -we'll make a big drive." - -Bill did not know what Barker meant by making a drive for fish. He had -heard of the Indians driving buffalo, but he did not get much time to -think about the new kind of drive. - -"Take that long pole and get into the boat with me," the trapper told -him, as he paddled up the slough a little way. - -"Now," he ordered, as he turned around and started back toward the net, -"beat the water with that pole and make as much noise as you can." - -Very soon the two men could see streaks in the smooth water. "Oh, I -see," exclaimed Bill, as he splashed the water to right and left, "we're -trying to drive them into the net. There, we've got one! See the float -go down. There's another one. Watch the big one! He isn't going in. Look -at him. See him run along the net. Look at him! He's run around the net -and is going down the river like a streak!" - -"He is a big old buffalo-sucker," the trapper laughed. "He is too wise -to be caught in a gill-net." - -"Say, Mr. Barker," the boy asked, "can fish think?" - -"I reckon some of the old ones can," Barker answered. "Well never catch -that big fellow. I think he weighs fifteen pounds, I reckon his nose has -touched a net before." - -The net was literally filled with fish of many kinds, suckers, pickerel, -pike, bass, big sunfish, and fierce-looking gars. - -"We don't want those alligators," the boy remarked, when the trapper -threw several of the gars into the boat. "They have a long snout and are -covered with horny plates just like alligators," the boy continued. -"They surely would be alligators if they had legs. I couldn't eat them." - -"That's all right," Barker laughed. "You needn't. Most white men throw -them away, but I learned from the Indians how to fix them. You pour -boiling water on their plates and they come off in big pieces. Their -meat has a fine flavor and they don't have any sharp little bones like -pickerel and most of the suckers. I think you'll eat them after they are -smoked or fried." - - - - -CHAPTER X--CATCHING A MONSTER - - -Bill helped Tatanka and Barker to smoke the fish they had caught and -then was ready for another trip. - -"Can't we go again, before it gets too cold?" he asked. "Let us go -again, Mr. Barker, this meat won't last long. I just wish Tim could go, -too!" - -The old trapper himself had also caught the fever. "I reckon, boy," he -admitted, "we ought to make another haul or two, but the next time we'll -take a seine. Did you ever fish with a seine! It is more fun than with a -gill-net, but we must go soon, before the water gets too cold, for in -seining, the fisherman gets as wet as the fish." - -On the next warm day, Barker remarked at breakfast: "Bill, this looks -like a good day. I guess we'll be off right away." - -The two fishermen rode down stream to a place where a deep bayou or -slough joined the main river. They started to seine half a mile up the -bayou. One end of the seine was tied to a stout pole driven into the -bottom of the bayou. The other end, they swung around in a half-circle, -Bill rowing the boat and the trapper managing the seine from the stern -of the boat. They caught all kinds of fish in the same manner that boys -and fishermen catch minnows. Their troubles began when they started to -make a haul in a strong current in deep water near the mouth of the -bayou. The net caught on a submerged stump and could not be pulled off -against the current. - -"I reckon we're stuck," said Barker, as he found it impossible to move -the seine either one way or the other. - -"Let me dive in and fix it," begged the boy, as he began to strip. -Barker thought the water was too cold, but Bill said he wouldn't mind -it, and it wouldn't take long to try it. - -Bill splashed some water over himself and then swam quickly to the spot -where the net was caught. He dived, opened his eyes and could see -clearly every mesh of the net as it was held fast by the current over a -sharp stump. He lifted it off quickly and threw it over the stump down -stream and struck out for shore. His skin was blue and his teeth -chattered as he hurriedly got into his clothes. Then he ran back and -forth on the sand a few minutes to get warm. - -"Now, Mr. Barker," he said, "let's make the haul and see what we get out -of this deep hole. There ought to be some big ones in it." - -Both men slowly pulled the seine through the deep hole, where by means -of small leads attached to the lower edge of the seine, the big drag-net -swept the bottom, driving all deep-water fish before it. - -As the bag-like middle part of the seine slowly crept into shallower -water on a rising sandbank, there was a great stir in the enclosed pool. -Big fish of several kinds came to the surface. Some showing a silvery -flash for just a moment, dived again to the bottom in their attempt to -escape, others, bolder or made more desperate, shot with a loud splash -over the seine back into free water. - -Bill pulled as he had never pulled on anything before. - -"Pull, Mr. Barker, pull!" he shouted. "We've got a wagon-load of big -ones, but they're breaking away." - -The old trapper pulled as hard as Bill, but he didn't hear what Bill -called to him, for the fish in their last desperate effort to escape -made a deafening confusion and noise with splashing, jumping and -flapping about. The big bag was alive with a wildly struggling mass of -fish of all sizes; and so heavy was the catch that the two fishermen -could not move the net another inch. - -"Drop the rope," commanded the old man, "and throw them out on the -sand." - -As Bill sprang into the shallow water, a big flopping fish, the like of -which he had never seen before, got between his legs and laid him -sprawling flat on his stomach amongst the madly struggling fish. In a -moment Bill was on his feet again. - -"Help me, Mr. Barker, help me," he called. "I can't hold him; he'll get -away!" - -"Grab him in the gills!" the trapper shouted, as much excited as his boy -friend. - -The black giant was just splashing into open water when Bill threw -himself forward and caught him firmly in the gills. - -"Catch him, Mr. Barker, catch him!" Bill spluttered as he blew the water -out of his nose and mouth. "I can't lift him." - -By their united effort, they dragged the monster on shore. - -"We've caught a whale, a real whale," Bill shouted, and danced around -like a wild Indian. "What is it, Mr. Barker! Is it a whale?" - -"It is a paddle-fish, but sure a big one, I reckon," the trapper told -him as he dragged the ungainly monster into the grass. "He must weigh a -hundred pounds, and he measures six feet, if he measures an inch." - -Sorting the fish and loading them into the boat took some time, and when -the work was done, the two fishermen could not help laughing at each -other. Their clothes were dripping wet and covered with mud and -fish-scales all over, but they had a boat-load of fish. - -"That's all a part of fishing," Barker remarked, with his quiet smile. -"It is a saying among us trappers that dry fishermen and wet hunters -have had poor luck. I guess our luck was worth getting soaked for." - -Before they started for camp all small fish or fish not wanted were put -back in the water. Bill had already learned the maxim of the old -trapper: "Never waste any of God's wild bread and meat. What you do not -need to-day, you may want badly to-morrow." - -"I have seen the days," the old man had often told the boys, "when I was -mighty glad to dip a mess of minnows out of a spring-hole in winter, and -I have many times thanked the Good Lord that porcupines can't run as -fast as deer. - -"One winter while I was trapping in upper Michigan I lost my gun while -crossing a treacherous stream, and if I could not have killed -porcupines, fool-hens, and snowshoe rabbits with a club, I should have -had to pull out of the country and leave my traps and furs." - -When they arrived at camp, Tim was wild at the sight of the giant -paddle-fish, and the boys found that the odd paddle-shaped snout of the -fish was almost half the length of the fish. - -"What does he do with his big paddle?" Tim wanted to know. But neither -the Indian nor the trapper could answer the question. - -"Have they a paddle when they are just hatched?" Bill asked, but neither -Tatanka nor Barker had ever seen a paddle-fish less than a foot long. - -The life of the paddle-fish or spoonbill is a mystery to this day, and -little more is known of it now than was known to Indians and whites when -Bill and Tim camped on Lake Pepin. - -The armor-plated gars and paddle-fish are found only in the Mississippi -and its tributaries, while bass and pickerel and eel are found in most -waters flowing into the North Atlantic, both in America and Europe. - -Both gar and spoonbill are still caught in Lake Pepin. A European fish, -the German carp, has become naturalized in the Mississippi basin and -many carloads of it are shipped to Eastern markets every year. However, -the game fish of the old days are still all there and will never become -scarce, if good fish and game laws are wisely administered. - -In the days of Barker and Tatanka, fishing with any kind of net or -tackle was lawful, but to-day both commercial fishermen and anglers have -to observe the laws, or our lakes and streams will become fished out; -for the resources and gifts of nature are not inexhaustible, and the -number of men and boys who go fishing increases each year. - -For fishing, camping, and canoeing, for grand scenery, for -house-boating, motor-boating, for trees, flowers, and birds and for all -kinds of water creatures such as clams, crayfish and muskrats, the -Mississippi, the "Everywhere River" of the Chippewa Indians, has no -equal on the northern hemisphere and is surpassed only by the Amazon of -South America. - -In the Itasca Forest of Minnesota, the Mississippi begins as a tiny -stream, which sometimes loses itself in a tamarack swamp, and which the -beaver people, the little animal engineers, can easily dam with mud and -brush. When it leaves Itasca, it is large enough to carry a canoe. But -the rippling little creek grows rapidly by receiving the water from many -lakes and streams and long before it reaches Minneapolis, where it -furnishes power to grind the wheat grown over half a continent, it is a -stately navigable river, whose enormous volumes of flood-water only the -most skillful engineer can control. - - - - -CHAPTER XI--AFTER WILD GEESE - - -Late in October, when one of the last boats was stopping at Reed's -Landing, Barker and Tatanka were watching the boat from a small window -in the store. - -"Look, brother," the Indian whispered; "there is the bad white man." - -On deck stood Hicks with two companions talking and gesticulating. Hicks -evidently wanted to get off the boat, but the other two men persuaded -him to stay on board. - -The steamer stopped only a few minutes to take on cargo and passengers -before it proceeded on its way to St. Louis. - -"He has hunted for us in Minnesota a long time," Barker laughed. "Now, I -think we are rid of him for a while. I suppose he has made up his mind -that we have gone on to Vicksburg and he is going to follow us. Well, -let him go. By this time the parents of the boys must have the letters -which the boys and I sent them through a friend in a Missouri regiment, -and they will not be worried by any lies Hicks may tell them. But I -would just like to find out why he was so anxious to keep these boys in -Minnesota and expose them to the scalping-knives of the Indians." - -After the men had completed their purchases, they returned to their -camp, but they said nothing to the boys about Hicks and his companions. - -The southward flight of ducks and geese and other water fowl was now at -its height, and the campers had added a liberal supply of wild ducks to -their store of smoked fish. - -The first ducks to go south were the blue-winged teals, small birds -which whizzed over the camp in immense flocks at the rate of sixty or -more miles an hour. A little later, the northern ducks, blue-bills, and -mallards had come down in immense flocks. But Tatanka and Barker were -waiting for still larger game. - -"We ought to get some geese," the Indian suggested, and one evening as -they were watching the flight of a long line of great honking geese, -they saw two or three hundred of them settle on a long sandbar a mile -below their camp. "Yon and Bill must rise early," said the Indian. -"Perhaps you can get some of them." - -Long before daybreak next morning, Barker awakened the soundly sleeping -boy. - -"Get up, Bill!" he called. "We'll have a cup of coffee and then we'll -try our luck at the geese." - -Very quietly, without waking Tim, the two hunters slipped out of camp -and got into their boat. - -Soon they glided silently down stream. A mist was hanging over the river -and large drops of moisture were falling off the trees along shore. Bill -was shivering with cold and excitement. - -"My, but it is dark and the water looks awfully cold and gloomy," -whispered Bill. "I would be afraid to go down the river alone. Listen!" -he said under his breath, "I think I heard a wolf howl." - -"No," the trapper quieted him, "the big wolves have left this country. -Listen again." - -The sounds were nearer now. "Oh, it is a big hoot-owl. Several of them. -They are answering each other. - -"They make a noise like ghosts," he continued, as a deep guttural, -"Whoo-who-whooo," came from a maple thicket close by. "My hair is trying -to stand up under my cap, though I know they never attack anything but -rabbits and woodchucks." - -The two hunters were now paddling along a side-channel which entered the -main river near the point where they expected to find the geese. - -"Be very quiet," Barker cautioned the boy. "Geese not only have sharp -eyes, but their hearing is very acute. If they hear any suspicious -sounds there will be a grand flapping of wings and the whole flock will -be off to some other place." - -The wind was coming from the south, and for that reason the hunters had -landed north of the sandbar. - -"Mr. Barker," asked the boy, "can geese and ducks smell the hunter!" - -"I don't know," replied the trapper. "I never thought of it and never -heard it said that they could. Moose and deer and wolves can smell a man -a mile off, and they can hear a man's talk a quarter of a mile away; but -I don't think that birds are guided by scent at all." - -"Do the sleeping geese put somebody on guard!" the lad inquired. - -"I don't think they have any system of guards, but some of them are -always standing with their heads up, and the old ganders are most -watchful. If one goose becomes alarmed, they all go. - -"You must only whisper now. I think we are getting pretty close to them. -Step carefully, so you don't break any sticks. All wild creatures take -alarm at the snapping of sticks. I suppose they think a wolf or some -other beast of prey is after them." - -The trapper went cautiously to the edge of the timber and looked down -stream. - -"I can't see the sandbar yet," he told his companion. "We must creep -along a little farther. We have to be ready at daybreak, for soon after -they will all go to feed on some shallow water, or most likely on some -stubble-field beyond the bluff. - -"These Canada geese feed much like tame geese, they like to pick the -ears of grain out of the stubble and they like all kinds of young green -stuff. In early spring they are very fond of grazing on young winter -wheat and rye." - -"Couldn't you tame them?" asked the boy. - -"Yes, very easily," the trapper told him, "but they don't breed till -they are at least two years old, and they will fly away in the fall -unless their wings are clipped. - -"Mallard ducks are easily tamed, too, but they will also fly away in -fall if their wings are not clipped. I think most of our tame ducks came -from wild mallards, a long time ago." - -"Is it true," the boy wanted to know, "that ducks and geese cannot fly -in August?" - -"Yes, that's no foolish tale. Ducks and geese lose all their big -wing-feathers at the same time, so that for about two weeks in August -they cannot fly. I have come upon a flock of a thousand ducks that -spattered about like mud-hens. But their big feathers grow very fast, -and they have remarkably strong muscles. I think at this time of the -year, in October, they can fly a thousand miles without resting." - -For some time, the hunters continued to pick their way slowly and -silently, now through the tall dripping sawgrass, then in the dark -shadow of dense river-bottom maples. - -Again the trapper crept out into the open, while Bill held his breath -waiting for the return of his friend. - -"I can't see them yet," the old man reported, "but I can hear them -cackle. We had better wait here till it is light enough to shoot." - -Daylight seemed a very long time coming, but at last the stars began to -fade behind the Wisconsin bluffs, while the woods on the Minnesota hills -began to stand out like long black streaks. - -"Now," whispered Barker, "look at your gun. It is time to begin our -stalk. Don't shoot blindly into the flock, but aim at your bird and take -it from below or behind. We must not drop any bird crippled, and let it -get away. That is poor sportsmanship." - -Without another word, the two hunters crept along for a hundred yards. -Barker stepped slowly behind a willow-bush and motioned the boy to -follow him. - -A large flock of big dark birds were sitting and standing within easy -range. Many were still asleep with their heads under-their wings, some -were preening their feathers and half a dozen stood watchful with their -long necks erect. - -One big old gander became restless. He seemed to be looking and -listening in the direction of the hunters. He stood still a few seconds. -Then he uttered a loud honk and with a great thunderous flapping of -their big wings, the while flock rose in the gray morning air. - -Both hunters fired twice, and four of the big birds dropped before they -could get under way. Three fell on the sand dead, but the fourth turned -and fell into the brush some hundred yards below them. - -"Mark the spot," ordered Barker, "and load your gun. Be quick, or we'll -lose it." - -They hurried to the spot where the goose had dropped into the bushes. A -few scattered feathers were there, but no bird. - -"Now we must circle around to find that goose," Barker told his -companion. "It can't have gone far." - -For half an hour they searched the whole neighborhood with the greatest -care, but not a trace did they discover of the wounded bird. - -"I reckon we have to give it up," the trapper said at last. "It beats me -how a wild creature can hide itself. Perhaps the goose got back into the -water and is now swimming down the river. - -"I have known a wounded duck to dive and bite itself fast to some bottom -weeds and die without coming up." - -Tatanka had a big breakfast ready when the hunters reached camp and -after breakfast Bill and Barker dressed and smoked their game. - -"We had better keep this meat for winter," the trapper suggested, "for -until it freezes up, we can get all the fresh meat we want." - -Tim, who used to amuse himself for hours at a time by playing with -Meetcha, was in great anxiety, because the pet raccoon had once more -mysteriously disappeared. - -Bill and Barker and the Indian looked in every place, where Meetcha was -accustomed to dig for grubs or hunt for frogs, but he was not to be -found. - -"He has gone to find a sleeping-place for the winter," Tatanka told his -friends. "He feels that it is growing cold." - -Tatanka's guess proved true, for on the second day, Meetcha was found -curled up and fast asleep in a hollow log a quarter of a mile from camp. - -"We'll fix him," said Tatanka, as he cut off the branches of the hollow -basswood. - -Meetcha woke up, but recognizing his friends, did not come out of the -log. - -"Now help me carry the log home." - -Tim clapped his thin hands with joy when the three coon-hunters arrived -at camp and laid the log down in a sheltered spot. - -One end of the log was naturally closed, and Tim filled the other end -with dry leaves. In this way Meetcha followed the custom of his tribe -and went into winter quarters. - -On warm days he came out again, but whenever the weather turned cold and -stormy, he crawled back into his hollow log. - - - - -CHAPTER XII--IN A WINTER CAMP - - -The last days of October were cold and windy and it seemed as if the -north wind drove all wild birds before it. Thousands of robins and -little yellow-patched birds, the hardy myrtle-warblers, filled the -timber on the river islands. Long dark clouds of different kinds of -blackbirds passed southward, great whitish gulls came drifting along -from somewhere, and the black terns, dull colored in summer, had donned -their white autumn plumage. - -"I believe I saw 500,000 ducks to-day," said the trapper as he returned -to camp one evening with all the mallards he could carry. - -"The birds are going fast, and it will soon be winter. We must cut a lot -of wood and pull our boats up to a high place, so they will not freeze -in. These woods may be under water next spring and we may need our boats -in a hurry." - -Early in November came one of those cold rain-storms that mark sharply -the end of Indian summer which often prolongs the warm season far into -autumn. - -It was the first day that all four campers stayed in the shack, which -the trapper and the Indian had during the preceding week transformed -into a real cozy cabin. Chunks of ash, elm, maple, and cottonwood slowly -burning in the old sheet-iron stove which Barker had set up in the -middle of the room kept the cabin dry and warm, while the large -spattering drops of rain beat a tattoo on the roof. - -The few stray leaves that had until now adhered to their branches were -swept away. The river-bottom trees assumed their sharp, undraped -silhouettes of winter, and from the bluffs all the bright autumn colors -had vanished. - -The summer birds had gone. Only a few hardy chickadees, woodpeckers, and -nuthatches that defy even the coldest northern winter had remained -behind the migrating hosts. - -By the middle of November the lake was frozen over. - -With the beginning of cold weather little Tim's health rapidly improved. -Soon he was strong enough to go sliding on the ice; and when Barker had -a blacksmith at the landing make a pair of skates for each of the boys -the joy of the lads was unbounded. - -They skimmed lightly over the frozen sloughs, where the trees and banks -sheltered them from the wind. From these trips they returned with -flushed cheeks and ravenous appetites and many stories of what they had -seen. - -They had chased pickerel and other fish under the clear ice, they had -seen a muskrat swim along with an air bubble attached to his nose, and -they had watched clams slowly plowing their furrow in the sand as they -withdrew from the shallower banks into deep water. - -The Mississippi and its tributaries harbor a large variety of clams -whose shells are now used for pearl buttons. The boys were curious about -the habits and life of these quiet creatures that were always nearly -buried in mud and sand and moved about by queer little jerks. When Tim -was still too weak to move about much, he had amused himself for hours -dropping clams, which Bill had caught, back into the water, and watching -how each shell, slowly opening, put out a sort of white, fleshy foot; -slowly righted itself, and crawled away into deep water. - -"What do clams eat and how do they spawn?" the boys wanted to know, but -on these questions neither trapper nor Indian had any information. - -Clams do indeed lead a strange life. They cannot run after their food, -so they just open their shells a bit to allow the water to run through, -in order to catch any small particles of food the water may contain. - -The young clams just hatched are so small that the naked eye can -scarcely see them. They have no shell at all and swim about very -actively. As soon as possible they attach themselves to the gills of -several kinds of fish. The fish do not like it, but they have no way of -escaping from the very minute creatures. Embedded in the gills of fish -the young clams live for some weeks looking like small pimples. When -they have grown a tiny shell they drop to the bottom of the river or -lake and begin to live in the usual way of clams. That is the curious -life-history of the river clam. - -While the skating lasted the boys were well occupied. The camp was run -on the plan of two meals a day. Barker and the Indian set a few traps -for muskrats and minks, tidied up the cabin, cooked the meals, washed -dishes, and cut wood. In all these occupations the lads gladly took a -hand. At times they went the round of the traps with the men. When the -weather was fine they went on skating trips up and down the glassy ice -of the sloughs, which reflected like a mirror the boys at play and the -trees on shore. - -One who has skated only on artificial rinks and ponds does not know the -thrill of traveling on a smooth winding river or on the transparent -expanse of a frozen lake. - -Tim tired very easily, but he grew visibly stronger every day. His fever -had entirely disappeared. - -Their Cousin Hicks, the boys seemed to have forgotten, at least they -never spoke of him. They were happy and content in the care of their two -friends. - -The trapper, on the other hand, had become so attached to the lads that -he once remarked to Tatanka: "I don't see how I can ever tear myself -away from these lads. It would be hard for me to give them up to their -parents, but if that man Hicks ever shows up to claim them, I tell you -I'll fight him to a finish." - -"Where do you think, my friend, that bad white man has gone?" Tatanka -asked. - -The old trapper thought a moment. He had often asked himself the same -question. "Down-river," he replied then. "He will inquire about us of -steamboat men and hotel men. And he is likely to go clear down to -Vicksburg. He has some evil design on the lads, but I'll be hanged if I -can figure out what it is. I can only think that for some reason he -wants to keep them away from Vicksburg. - -"He lost our trail at St. Paul or he would have been upon us long ago. I -was on the lookout for him every day until we saw him go down-river -lately. For the present we are rid of him, but he has some very strong -reason for wanting possession of those boys, and I think we'll fall in -with him somewhere after we start south." - -About the Indian war in Minnesota, the boys and their friends were well -informed. Barker and the Indian had in no way exaggerated the danger. -The enraged Sioux had killed about eight hundred white people, and if -the trapper and Tatanka had not taken the boys away, the lads would -surely have lost their lives. At the beginning of winter, the Indian war -was over. The whole Sioux tribe had been driven from the State of -Minnesota. A good many Indians had been captured by General Sibley and -all white captives had been released. - -It was much more difficult for Barker and the boys to get a clear idea -about the war on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. They had received -no letters from Vicksburg since they had camped at the foot of Lake -Pepin, and all they really knew was that Grant was trying to take -Vicksburg. - -The city of Vicksburg lies under a high bluff on the east bank of the -Mississippi. By December, 1862, the Confederates had lost control of the -Mississippi River, except for a stretch of two hundred miles between -Vicksburg and Port Hudson, both of which points they had strongly -fortified. By holding this stretch of the great river, they controlled -the mouth of the Red River and could secure large supplies and thousands -of men from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. - -The lowlands of the Mississippi at Vicksburg are about forty miles wide, -and many streams and bayous wind this way and that way through vast -marshes and forests. - -In December, 1862, Grant tried to attack Vicksburg from the north by way -of the Mississippi Central Railway, but the bold Confederate cavalry -commander, Van Dorn, destroyed all his supplies at Holly Springs, and -Grant was compelled to give up this plan. - -After this plan had failed, Grant tried several others, his object being -to secure possession of the wooded hills directly east of Vicksburg. For -the present he was baffled by the geographical character of the country, -which was excellently suited for defense by resolute men who knew every -channel, but which presented almost insuperable obstacles to an invading -army. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII--FISHING THROUGH THE ICE - - -As is usually the case in Minnesota, the fine outdoor skating came to a -close toward the end of November through storms and snow-falls. - -If the lads had not lived in company with such men as the trapper and -Tatanka, time would have hung heavily on their hands. On many days the -weather was very cold and the snow had become so deep in the woods that -traveling was very difficult. - -After they had been shut up in the cabin for three days by a bad storm, -Tatanka one morning began to carve something out of a piece of soft -basswood. - -"What are you making?" Tim asked. - -"Watch and see," said Tatanka, as he continued slowly to cut away small -white shavings. - -Soon the boys saw that Tatanka was making a wooden fish about six inches -long. When the figure was ready, the Indian cut small pieces of tin out -of a tobacco-can and these he tacked to his wooden minnow to serve as -fins. - -"There, my little brothers," he uttered with a smile, "you have a good -minnow. He will fool the pickerel and the bass when they are hungry. I -put a little piece of lead on him and you pull him up and down in the -water, and pickerel and bass think he is a real fish. They come to eat -him. May be you catch them." - -After Tatanka had made two more wooden minnows he and the lads went to a -deep quiet place in a slough to fish. - -At first they cut a small hole in the ice. Then, by the aid of a few -poles and some blankets, Tatanka built a small dark tent over the hole. - -"Now, then," he said, "we go in and fish. May be we catch them, may be -not. If the fish don't come, we go home. May be they come to-morrow." - -The tent was entirely dark, but the boys were surprised to find that -after their eyes had adjusted themselves to the darkness in the tent the -water did not appear dark, but was pervaded by a soft light, enabling -them to see clearly even insects and small fish which swam past, and -they could plainly see their decoy minnow to a depth of four feet. - -Tatanka took the string of the decoy in his left hand. In his right hand -he held a spear, and the three fishermen seated themselves on a log. - -"You sit still," Tatanka told them. "Don't jump. Fish have no ears, but -they can feel every little noise in the water." - -It seemed a long time to the boys before anything happened. Then Tatanka -bent over quickly, thrust his spear into the hole and brought up a large -flapping pickerel. - -"May be we caught him," he spoke with a laugh. "Now, Bill, you catch -him. This is the way Indians catch plenty fish in winter when they -cannot find deer." - -Again Bill waited a long time. At last he saw some big fish. With a -beating heart he dropped his spear and would have lost it, if it had not -been tied by a string to his arm, but he caught no fish. - -Tatanka laughed. "You get much excited," he said, "like white man. Keep -cool like Indian. May be you catch him next time." - -The next time Bill showed that he could keep cool, and he brought up a -fine large bass. The fish were getting more numerous and Bill added -another and another to his catch. Sometimes several fish or even a small -school of them came together. Very soon Bill could tell when a school -was coming, because their bodies shut out a part of the light before -they reached the hole and made the water look dark, as if a cloud were -passing over. - -After Bill had fished a while, Tim also learned to fish like an Indian -and brought up several fine fish. - -"Now we go home," Tatanka suggested, after a while. "I think Tim is -hungry." - -That night each man ate for supper a big bass, which Barker had fried in -bacon fat and corn meal. - -After this day, the boys often went fishing by themselves and supplied -the camp with all the fresh fish the four men cared to eat. They found -that all the fish, bass and pike, pickerel and suckers, tasted -remarkably good, for all fish are good if they have been caught in cold, -clear water. - -One warm morning, the genial old trapper took down the gill-net. - -"You lads come with me," he said. "I can catch more fish in a day than -you and Tatanka can catch in a week. Yesterday you fished all day and -caught one little sunfish." - -"No, Mr. Barker, it was a big one," Tim piped out. - -"It was only a poor sunfish," Barker replied. "We'll starve if I don't -help you catch fish. Take both axes and our shovel." - -When they arrived at the spot Barker had selected, he stepped off a line -and told the boys to shovel the snow from half a dozen spots, while he -and Tatanka began to cut holes through the ice. The first hole he cut -about eight feet long and then he cut smaller holes about ten feet -apart, but all in a straight line. - -When the holes were cut, he asked the boys to shovel the slush out of -them as much as possible, while he went and cut a long straight pole. - -"I know, I know how he is going to do it," Tim exclaimed. "But we'll -have to make all the holes longer, so they will run together." - -"You wait," said Bill. "I won't cut any more holes." - -When the long pole was ready, Barker tied one end of the net to it and -pushed pole and net into the first long hole and under the ice toward -the second hole. - -To the other end of the net a rope was attached. - -"There," he told Bill, "you take hold of this rope and see that the net -does not get tangled." - -When Bill had taken charge of his end of the net, the trapper pushed the -pole under the ice to the next hole and in the same manner he pushed and -pulled it along to the last opening. Here he pulled the pole out and -drove the end of it into the soft bottom. - -"Now, Bill," he suggested, "you had better tie your rope to a log, so -they can't run away with your end of the net. You know there are some -big fish in the Mississippi." - -As the men had nothing to do for a while, they sat down under a warm -sunny bank, where Barker built a fire, under the dry stump of a stranded -cottonwood. - -"White man's fire," Tatanka muttered good-naturedly, as he backed away -from the growing heat. - -"Yes, white man's fire is what we want to-day," the trapper replied. -"The Great River furnishes us plenty of big wood, but the little dry -sticks are buried under the snow." - -Then to the delight of the boys the trapper drew a small tin pail out of -his pack-sack, together with some cornbread and a big piece of bacon for -each one. - -"There, lads," he said, "you warm the cornbread and fry the bacon while -I make tea." - -It took some time before enough snow was melted for tea, for even on a -big fire snow and ice melt very slowly. - -"I forgot to dip water out of one of our net-holes," the trapper -remarked, "but we have plenty of time to melt snow and ice." - -The boys cut some green maple twigs, and on these as an improvised grate -they heated the bread and fried the bacon. - -"I'm glad you brought something to eat, Mr. Barker," Tim remarked -thankfully. "I was getting very hungry. You called us so early this -morning." - -"I did," replied Barker, "because the fish run most during the warm part -of the day." - -"Do they know when the air is warm!" asked Bill. "How can they know down -in the water?" - -"Can't tell, lads," Barker smiled. "You lads ask a lot of hard -questions. I reckon they can tell whether it is storming or whether the -sun is shining." - -After the meal, Tatanka smoked in silence, with a far-away look on his -face. - -"What is it our brother is thinking of?" Barker asked him in Sioux. "His -face is sad and his eyes heavy." - -"I was thinking of my people," Tatanka replied, after a few moments of -silence. "Not long ago they lived on this great river. Now they are -driven away from their river, Minnesota, where deer used to be -plentiful, and where elk, ducks, and geese live still in great flocks, -and the muskrats build many little houses. - -"But my people will never come back. They must now live in the country -of short grass and small trees on the River Missouri. A few more years -they will hunt buffaloes, but the white people are fast killing all the -buffaloes and making robes out of their skins. - -"When the buffalo are gone, we shall starve or become beggars, or we -must learn to live like white men. - -"A spirit tells me I ought to return to my people." - -"You cannot return now," Barker told him in Sioux. "We need you. If the -bad white men find us, they may steal the boys and kill me, if you leave -us. You must stay with us and go with us to the city, where the white -people have the big war." - -"I shall stay with you," Tatanka promised, after a pause, "but I'm -homesick for my people." - -A flock of chickadees had been attracted by the smoke and the fire. They -hopped boldly on the ground and picked up the crumbs of bread, and one -even took a bath in a little pool of snow-water collected under the bank -by the combined beat of the fire and the sun. - -"The little birds bring good luck," remarked Tatanka. "May be the big -guns will not kill us, when we go south," he added pensively. - -When the fishermen approached their net, they saw by the movement of the -poles that they had made a good catch. The net was fairly alive with -pickerel, pike, bass, and suckers, but they caught no gars or -paddle-fish. - -"Why don't we catch some of those queer fish?" Bill asked. - -"Don't know," replied the trapper. "You never see those in winter. May -be they go south to live in warmer water." - -In the evening, the men dressed all the fish they had caught. They did -not smoke them as they had done with the fish caught in warm weather, -but they placed them on frames of sticks in a brush shed. This shed was -their store-house. The brush protected the frozen fish from thawing in -the sun, and in this way the men kept a good supply of fresh fish always -on hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV--SIGNS OF SPRING - - -Winter held on obstinately until the middle of March. - -At last, one fine morning, Tatanka announced, "I smell spring. The -little nuthatches and the little woodpeckers are calling and I saw two -crows flying north. That means spring is coming and the ice will soon -float down stream in big white blocks." - -The boys found another sign of spring. The flowing of the sap. Tatanka -called it the bleeding of the trees. At the time when the frost is not -yet out of the ground, when spring has not quite conquered winter, soft -maple, box-elder, birch, and sugar-maple begin to bleed; that is, the -sap begins to drip out of some fresh wound. A squirrel may have cut the -bark, a bird picked a bud, snow or wind or the falling of dead branches -may have bruised the bark or torn away some twigs. It is from these -wounds that the sap begins to drip. - -Sharp eyes can find these drippings in the forest, and it is easy to -discover small dark patches of sap on city streets and walks. - -"Mr. Barker," the boys asked, "can't we make some sugar and syrup?" - -"Go ahead with it, laddies," the old trapper encouraged them. "A can of -maple syrup and some real maple sugar would taste good to me." - -The boys had grown up in a country where the sugar-maple, a northern -tree, does not grow and had only the vaguest idea about sugar-making; so -they asked Tatanka to show them how to make maple-sugar, a bit of -woodcraft which white men have learned from the Indians. - -Each boy took a tin pail and Tatanka took two big pails and an ax. Tim -soon found a large box-elder and Bill sighted a big soft-maple, a -river-bottom maple, from which the sap was dripping. But Tatanka laughed -at them saying, "No good, no good; 'most all water. Good sugar trees -grow on high land." - -Tatanka knew the trees in winter as well as in summer, and when the -three sugar-makers had reached the Minnesota bluffs he soon found two -big sugar-maples. Into each tree he made an upward cut and put a chip -into the cut. The sap began at once to run along the chips and dripped -into the pails below. In an hour the small pails were filled and Tatanka -replaced them with his large buckets. - -"Now you build a fire and boil your sap," he told the boys. "Slow, over -Indian fire; no white man's fire." - -The boys were surprised to see how much of the sap boiled away before -they had a thick sweet syrup. Tatanka from time to time poured some more -sap into their pails so that each boy at last had a pailful of -maple-syrup. - -About noon the boys were hungry, but Tatanka would not hear of going to -camp for lunch. - -"When you make sugar, you make sugar all day. You drink sap, you eat -syrup, and sugar. That is the way the Indians make sugar, plenty good -sugar. We go home when it gets cold, then the sap stops flowing." - -They did stay all day, and the lads helped Tatanka boil his sap down to -a good thick syrup. - -In the evening Mr. Barker's biscuits and Tatanka's maple syrup made the -best supper the lads had ever eaten. After the meal, Tatanka made some -real maple-sugar by boiling down the syrup in a big frying-pan, but -little Tim fell asleep before the syrup began to sugar and Bill was -disappointed because he could eat only a few small pieces, although -Barker and Tatanka told him that he might eat the whole panful if he -cared for it. - -"It's the same as with the honey," Bill mourned. "I thought I could eat -a piece as big as Mr. Barker's fist, and then I could only eat a -spoonful." - -A week later, about the first of April, the ice below Lake Pepin began -to move. - -There is something mysterious in the spring break-up of a big river. A -warm, south wind begins to melt the snow. So rapidly it vanishes from -open fields and from south-facing bluffs that you wonder where it went. -But in the woods the white covering lingers for weeks. After several -days of warm weather, the unbroken ice on the river is covered with a -few inches of water, but there are no signs of a break-up. Still the -slush and water on the ice is the sign that the sleeping river is -awaking. - -Over night the creeks have become swollen, their turbid floods rush into -the river, whose icy covering although still two or three feet thick has -lost the brittleness and strength of winter. The creeks and brooks and -countless bubbling, gurgling rills creep under the ice. With a slow, but -resistless power, the power of a hydraulic press, they lift the frozen -mass from its moorings on shore. The sleeping river yawns and stretches -itself; the ice begins to move, slowly at first, then rapidly. The river -is awake, alive once more. In a day or two, the great rafts and masses -of ice have passed south, the river is open; it is spring. - -"Friends, it is time to move," Barker observed next morning. "In a day -or two our camp will be flooded." - -Within a few hours everything was packed. Barker and Tatanka each -handled a paddle, Bill took his seat in the stern to steer, while little -Tim, wrapped in an Indian blanket, watched for hidden snags from his -seat in the bow. Meetcha, who had come out of his log about two weeks -before, was allowed to remain with his four-footed friends in the woods. -Tim had become convinced that they could not take him along any farther. - -When evening came, they had left the long lake far behind them and now -carried their large canoe up on high land at the mouth of a spring brook -several miles below the quiet little river town of Minneiska, White -Water. - -There was no time to set up a tent. The travelers raked together a bed -of dry leaves, spread their blankets over them, rolled themselves into -other blankets, and used their tent-canvas as extra covering. - -"Boys, make a night-cap out of your handkerchiefs," Barker advised the -lads, "for the morning will be biting crisp." - -While they were eating breakfast next morning, they saw a flock of -cranes, real cranes, not the common blue herons of our marshes, rise -from a sandbar. With a spiraling noisy flight, they arose against the -face of the high bluff and disappeared over the timber, six hundred feet -above the river. - -"Where are they going?" asked Tim. "Why don't they fly north up the -river!" - -"They have gone to feed on the young winter-wheat of the settlers on the -upland," the trapper informed them, his eyes kindling with the fire of -the pioneer hunter. "If you are willing to climb the high bluffs we may -be able to find them." - -Tatanka, like a real Indian, was willing, and the boys, like all real -boys, were eager to go. - -"Each man take a blanket," ordered Barker, as he put a day's rations -into his pack-sack, and in addition to his gun he also took an ax. - -"What's that for!" asked Bill, with his usual curiosity. - -"To chop their heads off," Tim spurted. "Bill, you ask lots of fool -questions." - -The men laughed aloud. "One string to this crane hunt," the old trapper -told them. "The fellow that asks one of those 'tarnal botheration -questions hikes back to the river and watches the boat till the rest of -us come back. - -"Keep your eyes and ears open, but your mouths shut tight. That's the -rule for a crane-hunt. Now walk slow. Those hills are higher than they -look." - -For a little while they traveled up the ravine of one of those small -streams which run in large numbers into the west banks of the -Mississippi. On the upper river, from St. Paul into Iowa, the hills and -bluffs on the west bank are densely wooded, while those of the east bank -are covered with a scrubby growth and show many patches covered only -with grasses and other prairie plants, which are fitted to endure -intense sunlight, great heat and long spells of drought. Some patches of -prairie, however, are also found amongst the bluffs on the west bank. - -It was on one of those bare patches of hillside that the lads, with -great joy, picked their first spring flowers, the wild crocus, or pasque -flower, of the Prairie States. - -From Illinois to Montana, and northward far into Canada, the wild -crocuses spring out of the sear grass or the burnt prairie, while ice -and snow still linger in shaded spots. Like millions of living -amethysts, scattered broadcast over a continent, but far more beautiful -than dead stones, they smile at the sky and the sun before the drought -and hot winds of summer can wither their petals, and before rank grasses -and weeds can cut off the sunlight. - -When the robins have come back and the crocuses are out, the boys and -girls of the Prairie States and Provinces know that spring has come. - -The prairie crocuses do not take time, like most other flowers to grow -leaves first. The brown woolly buds push out of the soil as soon as the -snow is gone. After a few warm days they cover the bare patches of dry -river bluffs and all the stony ridges and moraine hills, which the great -glaciers left behind many thousand years ago. They make early -flower-gardens along the right-of-way of the railroads, although the -section men burn the grass and the prairie flowers every fall. Fires -cannot harm the sleeping roots and buds of the crocuses in the ground. - -When the prairie grasses begin to grow in May and June, the crocuses -find time to produce large whorls of pretty cut-up leaves, and the winds -of summer scatter their long seeds. - -They are not really the first flowers of the Northern States; that honor -belongs to the dark purple spathe-like sheaths of the skunk-cabbage, -which grow in the black muck near brooks and spring-holes, under the -tasseled alders and red killikinnick. But it takes a sharp-eyed -naturalist to find these strange underground flowers. - -Many different trees the lads also discovered in these upland woods. -There were the trees of the large fragrant buds, shellbark and pig-nut -hickory, black-walnut, and butternut; and from the dead rustling leaves -the lads picked many a well-seasoned nut, which the squirrels, gray and -red, had lost or forgotten. There were several kinds of oaks, bur-oaks, -black oaks and white oaks; and from the dark oaks the trunks of -canoe-birches stood out in pure white. In the river bottom the lads had -often cut for their evening camp-fires the slender trunks of the river -birch with its tousled curls of light brown bark, but of this curious -birch they did not find a tree in the upland woods. - -After the four men had followed the little stream for half a mile, they -struck off to their right up a steep slope; where they often became -entangled in vines of wild grape and bitter-sweet. Tim was soon out of -breath and had to rest. - -"Mr. Barker," asked Bill, "did you say the bluffs were six hundred feet -high! They must surely be a mile high." - -"Keep still," Tim urged him; "you'll have to go back to the boat." - -After much hard climbing, they came to a wide ridge, which sloped gently -upward toward the river and they followed it in that direction. The -ridge was covered with great spreading white oaks two or three hundred -years old. Bold gray squirrels were chasing one another along the big -horizontal boughs. A woodchuck that had been feeding on a patch of new -grass sat up to look at the invaders of his solitude and then hurried -into his hole. From a distance came the strange drumming of a grouse, -while a woodpecker sounded his peculiar rattle on a dead branch. - -At the edge of the woods, they came to a bare spot, which ended abruptly -on the top of a hundred-foot cliff. - -"Don't go too near the rim," Barker warned the boys, as they ran ahead. -"If you go over, you'll get smashed on the rocks below. - -"Here we're going to camp for the night," the trapper said, as he and -Tatanka placed their packs on the ground. - -"When are we going to hunt cranes?" Bill almost blurted out, but he -checked himself just in time. - -"It wouldn't be any fun to sit alone all night at the boat," he -whispered to Tim, "with the rest of you camping on the grandest spot I -have ever seen. I think Mr. Barker has some fun up his sleeve, but I -can't figure out what it is." - - - - -CHAPTER XV--AT INSPIRATION POINT - - -"I can't look over, I get dizzy!" Tim said to Bill. "Look at the river. -It surely looks a mile below." - -"Lie down," Bill told him. "Then you can't tumble off." - -The boys amused themselves by dropping stones over the cliff and -counting the seconds till they struck amongst the trees below. Tim -claimed he could throw a stone into the river. - -"Ah! you can't do it, Tim," Bill objected. "The river is a quarter of a -mile away as the crow flies." - -"I'll pick a good sailer-rock," Tim persisted, "and you'll see." - -But although Tim did his best, his rock seemed to come sailing back to -the sloping bluff. - -"Guess you are right," admitted Tim, a little crestfallen; "the rivet is -pretty far away." - -Tatanka stood gazing in silence over the sublime panorama. The river -appeared to come like a broad glassy channel out of the blue hazy -distance in the north. Just below the point it was half a mile wide and -Tatanka could easily distinguish the deep dark channel from the light -brown sandbars near shore. - -Like a wonderful picture the valley spread out below the hunters. Dark -groves of elms stood out clearly from long stretches of cottonwood in -light gray. The swelling and bursting buds of the bottom maples showed -great dashes of a dark ruddy red, while vast stretches of gray and brown -marshes were dotted with brighter patches of orange willow and of bright -red killikinnick. - -"My people once lived here," said Tatanka, at last. "They loved this -land. It is rich and beautiful, and at that time many red deer and elk -and black bear lived in these woods. The big game is gone now. The white -settlers have too many guns and too many dogs. They drive the deer away. - -"It is good that Manitou gave wings to the ducks and the geese, so the -white hunters can not kill them all. - -"Our people will never come back to this land. Our trails will grow over -with weeds, and the graves of our fathers will be forgotten. Our people -must learn to plow the field and raise cattle and horses like white -men!" - -The old trapper also was carried back to his boyhood as he stood gazing -over the river, the bayous, and islands, and to the hills two miles away -on the Wisconsin side. - -"I used to think," he said to his friend, "that the Wabash and the -Illinois were great rivers, but they are just little crawling creeks -compared with the Mississippi, and they can show no great woods and -grand hills and cliffs like the Mississippi. If these woods were mine, I -would build my house on this point and every morning I would see the sun -rise over the hills yonder. In the winter I would watch the snow-storms -rush down the valley; and in the sultry summer nights I would watch the -lightning play between the hills, over the river and among the -tree-tops, and hear the thunder roll and echo from bluff to bluff." - -"Are you not afraid of thunder and lightning?" asked Tatanka. "My people -are afraid of it and will not travel in a storm." - -"I used to be afraid, when I was a boy," Barker continued, "but since -that time I have lived so much alone in the forest and on the rivers -that I no longer fear a thunderstorm; but I never make my camp near tall -trees." - -White people who go down the Mississippi in boats do see some fine -scenery, but the real grandeur of Mississippi River scenery is revealed -only from good vantage-points on the crest of the bluffs. For those -sufficiently strong and Venturesome to climb to those points, nature -spreads out her grandest panoramas found in the inhabited part of the -globe. - -Many Americans have made long trips to see the beauties of the Rhine and -the Danube; the far grander beauty of the Mississippi is to our own -people still an unexplored country. There are awaiting those who would -go and see a thousand Inspiration Points on the upper Mississippi and -ten thousand miles of semi-tropical wilderness, cane-brake, forest, -lakes, and bayous on the lower river and its southern tributaries. Most -Americans know the Mississippi only as a crooked black line on the map. - -When Barker and Tatanka had finished drinking in the landscape, as they -called it, the trapper told the lads that they might run about as they -pleased till four o'clock. - -"At that time," he added, "the hunting will begin." - -"What are we going--?" Bill started, but he checked himself just in -time, to the great delight of Barker and Tatanka. - -"Come on, Tim," he sang out, "Let's take a hike to the prairie. I'll be -sent home, if I hang around here all day." - -"Don't chase any geese or cranes, boys," Barker called after them. "If -you see any on the fields, don't disturb them." - -The boys discovered that from the place, where they started, the open -prairie was only about half a mile away. As they carefully skirted along -the edge of the timber, they saw several large flocks of geese and -cranes feeding on open fields of young winter-wheat. On one field they -could distinguish a boy who had evidently been told to drive the cranes -off the wheat-field. He was a small boy and was having a sorry time of -it. He had no gun, but tried to scare them away with a stick. - -"I bet his mother wouldn't let him take a gun," remarked Tim. - -"May be his people are too poor to buy a gun," suggested Bill. "Settlers -in a new country don't have much money and they need all kinds of things -for a new farm." - -The boy walked from one end of the field to the other. When he arrived -at the east end, the cranes flew to the west end, but the boy could not -make them leave the field. - -The longer the boy tried to drive them away, the bolder they became. - -"I'll bet they know the boy hasn't a gun," Tim exclaimed. - -Now a very big crane defied the boy altogether. He walked boldly toward -the boy, spreading his wings and uttering a loud croak. - -"Look, look," exclaimed Tim, "he's going to bite the boy. Let's run and -help him." - -"No, we mustn't," argued Bill. "Mr. Barker said we shouldn't scare the -cranes. If that kid runs away from a crane, he deserves to be bitten." - -"I would run," Tim acknowledged, "if I had no gun." - -The boy was now actually running away with the crane after him, but -falling over a furrow and seeing that he could not run away from the -fighting crane, he picked up his stick and went hard at his pursuer. At -this unexpected attack, the crane ran away, napped his wings and arose -to join the flock at the other end of the field. - -The boy started for home, looking back from time to time as if afraid -that the big bird might be after him again. - -"I wouldn't herd cranes," said Tim, "if they didn't give me a gun." - -The boys returned to camp in good time and about four o'clock the -hunting actually began, for the big Canada geese began to fly over the -timber to their resting place on a long sandspit below Inspiration -Point. - -"One rule," Mr. Barker called, "about this hunt. Don't fire at any bird -that is too far off. We don't want to leave any wounded birds in the -woods. Tim, you come with me. I'll tell you when to fire." - -The hunters walked back half a dozen rods, so they would not drop any -birds below the cliff, and placed themselves about fifty yards apart on -a line parallel to the crest of the bluff. - -Half a dozen geese soon came flying just above the tops of the old oaks. - -"Aim at the last one," Barker told Tim. "Take it from behind!" - -Tim brought down a large fat goose. - -"Good work!" exclaimed the trapper. "Your shot went right in between the -feathers. If you had fired at the bird from in front, the shot might -have glanced off the heavy coat of feathers. 'Always aim at a single -bird,' is also a good rule in wing-shooting. If you just fire wildly at -the whole flock, you are likely to miss them all." - -Barker at once took up Tim's goose, saying, "That will just furnish us a -good supper with some bacon and corn bread." - -After the goose had been picked and drawn, he put a slender green pole -through it, which he laid on two forked sticks close to a hot fire. When -one side was partly cooked, he turned the other side to the fire. In -this way he prepared a savory meal of wild goose roasted on the spit. - -When it grew too dark to shoot, the hunters came in with six geese. Bill -had had the bad luck of merely winging a bird, so that he was compelled -to follow his game for nearly an hour. A wild goose is so protectively -colored that among dead leaves and brush it can make itself almost as -invisible as a sparrow. - -When Bill finally captured his bird, it was almost dark and he had -forgotten to watch the direction to camp; he was lost. - -He fired two shots in quick succession. - -"There is Big Boy," Tatanka laughed. "He is lost, Tim; shoot twice, so -he can find home. He is hungry." - -Two shots fired close together means, "I'm lost," to hunters and -woodsmen. - -Of course Bill was not far from camp and he came home in time for -supper. - -"Bill," his younger brother teased him, "the next time you run after a -goose, hang a cowbell on your neck, so we can tell where you go." - -Barker and the Indian had built a lean-to and a warm camp-fire with -back-logs of green oaks. For the fire itself they had cut a big pile of -green white-birch. - -"Look here, boys," Barker told them after supper, "we sleep between the -log-fire and the lean-to. Any man that wakes up puts a few logs on the -fire. In that way I think we'll keep warm." - -They sat late around the camp-fire and when, at last, they were ready to -roll in, Tatanka walked out to the point, below which river and valley -spread out in a strange light. - -"Look, my friend," he called. "The whole sky is burning. It is growing -daylight. The world is burning up." - -As they stepped away from the fire, they all saw the strange appearance -of the sky. It was indeed growing daylight, although it was still before -midnight. - -Great streamers and bundles of whitish and reddish light were shooting -up from all points on the horizon toward the zenith. Some streamers -flickered, swayed and died out, but others took their places and for -half an hour it was light enough to read. The river, the bottom forest, -even the Wisconsin bluffs could be plainly seen. The men could even see -their canoe amongst the willows below. - -"The world is coming to an end," Tatanka muttered, overcome by his -superstitious fears. - -"No, it isn't," Barker explained to him. "We are seeing a grand display -of northern lights, the greatest I have ever seen, although I have seen -them many, many times. This is something many city people never see, -because they are always cooped up in houses." - -In an hour it was dark again, and the tired hunters rolled up in their -blankets before the fire. - -"Make a night-cap out of your handkerchiefs," Barker advised the boys. -"The night is going to be chilly and your heads and ears will get cold -if they are not covered." - -Early in the morning they started for the field, where the boy had -herded the cranes. The birds were there again, and it was not hard to -get within range, although they were much more wary of the hunters than -they had been of the small boy with his stick. When the great birds -arose, all four fired and each man brought down his bird. - -As Bill ran to pick up his game, the trapper called to him, "Look out, -Bill; he isn't dead!" - -But Bill was too eager to take warning. The bird suddenly straightened -out his long neck and shot his sharp beak right into Bill's face. - -The young hunter staggered and cried out with pain and surprise. The -crane had cut a deep gash in Bill's cheek and the blood ran freely down -his face. - -At first his three friends laughed at him, but when they saw how badly -Bill was wounded, Tatanka quickly chewed a handful of choke-cherry twigs -and put them on the wound to stop the bleeding. - -Thus ended the crane-hunt near Inspiration Point. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI--SMELLING THE STORM - - -Inspiration point was the first camp at which the lads had enjoyed the -magnificent panoramic view of the great river and its valley and where -they had tasted the joy of roaming about freely through upland forests -and fields. - -Some camps one finds so attractive that it is hard to break away, and -after one has at last rolled up tents and blankets, memory involuntarily -returns to the scene. - -The lads enjoyed the camp at Inspiration Point so much that they begged -Mr. Barker to stay there at least another night. - -"I don't know, boys," the old man objected mildly. "It may not be so -pleasant to-night. I think we are going to have rain." - -"Where can the rain come from?" the boys questioned. "There isn't a -cloud in the sky." - -"Not yet," the old trapper admitted, "but clouds will come soon enough. -I sort of feel and smell rain in the air." - -The boys laughed, "Ah, you're just fooling us," they insisted. "You -can't smell rain like you smell flowers or skunks." - -They ran over to Tatanka who, leaning against an old oak, was gazing -down the valley where a large, high, rocky island arose like a -flat-topped mountain. - -"I climbed to an eagle's nest on that mountain when I was a boy," he -told the lads. "The eagle was the totem of our village. I brought down a -big young eagle and the other boys and I caught fish for him and he grew -very tame. When he grew older and could fly well he flew away, but he -often came back and sat on our tepee poles." - -"Tatanka," the boys questioned, "is it going to rain to-night? Mr. -Barker says he can feel and smell rain. Do you believe he can smell -rain?" - -Tatanka smiled and gazed into the hazy distance. "Yes, I think it will -rain," he answered, "after a while." - -"Can you smell it?" the lads asked eagerly. - -"May be I can smell it, may be I can feel it. White trappers and Indians -can smell many things other people can't smell." - -"We can smell deer and buffalo and porcupines. I can smell the river -now." - -"Yes, I think it will rain to-night. And may be there will be thunder -and lightning." - -The boys ran back to the trapper. - -"Mr. Barker," they argued, "our lean-to will shed the rain if we pile on -some oak brush with the leaves still on it." - -"That lean-to," the old man laughed, "will leak like a sieve. In five -minutes the wind will shake your ears full of big cold drops, and you -wouldn't sleep a wink all night. - -"You fellows can stay here overnight, but I reckon Tatanka and I will go -down to the boat and set up our tent. I don't care to sit up all night -in the rain. I have done that often enough." - -But after a little more coaxing, the old man consented to stay another -night on the point. - -"Now I tell you what you can do," he suggested to his young friends. -"You gather a lot of bark, big pieces, of oak or basswood, anything you -can find, and we'll put a roof on our shed." - -"But the bark doesn't peel yet," Tim objected. - -"No, no, I don't mean green bark. Get big pieces of bark from the old -dead trees. That will do well enough for one night." - -The boys soon had a stock of dead bark piled up. - -"Looks as if you were going to start a tannery," remarked the trapper. - -"Now go and find a lot of strings so we can tie it on." - -"Where can we find strings!" the boys wanted to know. - -"You go and ask Tatanka. He can find them." - -Tatanka was not troubled about finding strings. Some he made by shaving -the bark off young shoots of basswood. Others he found by twisting the -fiber of dead Indian hemp and wild nettle into strong cords. - -"The woods are full of good ropes," he murmured, "but white men don't -know how to find them and make them. They can only buy them in the -stores." - -The boys were going to tie the bark crosswise; but the trapper would not -have it that way. - -"Tie them running up and down," he said. "Alternate them with rough side -up and smooth side up, so they overlap, making a lot of little troughs -running to the ground. Then tie them to three strong poles fastened -crosswise over the lean-to. - -"There! It is a rough-looking shelter. Not nearly so neat as a Chippewa -bark-house, but it ought to shed the rain if the wind doesn't blow it -over and if the wind doesn't come from the wrong side. - -"Now get some wood, boys. Tim, you gather a lot of dry sticks for our -cooking fire. Bill, you cut some green birches for the camp-fire. -Tatanka and I will cut some green oaks for back logs." - -"Mr. Barker, why can't I gather dry branches for the camp-fire? There -are plenty of them lying around," Tim asked eagerly. - -"You may, Tim," the old man replied good-naturedly, "but you will have -to sit up all night to feed the fire." - -"Mr. Barker," Bill asked, "isn't oak just as good as birch for our -camp-fire. I have to carry the birch a long way." - -"No, Bill. Oak is no good when you can get birch. Green oak alone burns -too slow. Dry oak is too hard to cut and burns too fast. Hickory and -tamarack crackle and throw sparks into your blanket, so you wake up with -your bed on fire. - -"Birch is best for an all-night fire. It burns not too fast and not too -slow, and it never shoots sparks into your bed." - -Tim soon had enough sticks and dead branches to last several days, so he -helped Bill to carry the billets of birch to the fireplace. They were -almost five feet long and about six inches in diameter. - -"They will burn pretty slow, I fear," the trapper remarked, "because the -sap is in full flow and the wood feels soggy. Birch is most sappy at -this time of the year." - -The night started well enough. It was warm and clear and the campers sat -around the fire after supper and saw the stars come out, a few bright -ones first and then the host of smaller ones and very small ones. From -their high camp the boys could see the larger stars reflected in the -river like faint streaks of trembling light. The river continued to rise -and the bottom began to appear like a series of long winding lakes -separated by long islands of dark forests. The lads gazed in wonder from -the river to the sky and from the sky to the river. The Great Dipper -stood out clearly. - -"When does it rise and when does it set?" Tim asked. - -"It is always there," Tatanka answered. "It never rises and never sets, -but the sun puts it out in the morning." - -The boys looked questioningly at the trapper. "That is true," he -confirmed Tatanka's answer, "all the stars near the Polar Star never -rise and never set. You can see them in the evening as soon as it is -dark enough, and they shine till the rising sun makes them invisible. -They just go round and round the Polar Star." - -Many faint chirping sounds were heard as the four campers sat near the -camp-fire. The green birch burnt very slowly so that Tim had to put some -of his dry sticks between the logs to keep a good steady fire. At all -other times green birch starts quite readily from a small fire of dry -sticks and then burns with an even glow. The ends sizzle with escaping -moisture but the wood does not crackle and does not throw off any -sparks. - -The boys wanted Tatanka to tell them what the Indians knew and believed -about the stars and the moon, but the trapper urged them all to go to -bed. - -"Tatanka," he said, "can tell you about the moon and stars some other -time. We must make an early start to-morrow. If we keep on loafing among -the hills, as we have been doing, we shall not get to Vicksburg all -summer. - -"How far do you think it is to Vicksburg?" he asked the boys. - -They did not know. - -"I talked to Ryerson at the store," Barker continued. "He is an old -river man. He told me it was five hundred miles from Lake Pepin to St. -Louis and a thousand miles from St. Louis to Vicksburg. It will take us -two months to get there, if we average twenty-five miles a day." - -"We can go faster than that, Mr. Barker," the boys protested; "we can -make fifty miles a day." - -"You boys do big talking," the trapper laughed at them. "We want to rest -on Sundays. It is going to rain some days, and on some days the wind is -going to be strong against us. Then we shall sometimes make only short -trips in order to stop at good camping-places, and sometimes we shall -stop to fish." - -All four were soon fast asleep. - -About midnight the boys woke up. A glaring flash of lightning followed -by a loud crashing and echoing thunder made them sit up startled. - -"There," Barker remarked with a friendly laugh, "what did Tatanka and I -tell you? Bill, crawl out and put some more sticks and green billets on -the fire or the rain will put it out." - -Soon the rain came down pattering on the bark roof and the four campers -had to sit hunched up under their shed. - -"How did you know, Mr. Barker," Tim asked, "that the rain would come -from the west?" - -"I did not know it," the trapper acknowledged; "but I know from -experience that most of the showers in this region come from the west, -so I faced our shelter to the east." - -The lads sat in awed silence as the lightning played back and forth -between the Minnesota and Wisconsin bluffs and lit up the river and the -woods as with great flashlights, and the thunder rolled and rumbled and -echoed from east to west and from the high island to the south. - -The lean-to shed the water perfectly, for the trapper had seen to it -that the rough bark shingles overlapped well and that all pieces with -knot-holes were rejected. - -When the violent lightning and thunder had passed eastward, the lads ran -out and took a shower-bath in the rain and it was not long before all -four were again sound asleep under their warm blankets in front of the -slowly burning fire. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII--SOUTHWARD AT LAST - - -When the lads arose next morning, their eyes gazed with joy and wonder -on the valley below, tinted with the rosy light of an ideal morning of -early spring. The river was no longer a big stream held by well-defined -banks. - -"Look, Bill," Tim exclaimed, with wondering eyes. "Lake Pepin has run -over. All the woods are under water." - -The river was indeed almost two miles wide, overflowing in the forests, -covering marshes and meadows, from bluff to bluff. Like a fiery red -ball, the sun came creeping over the eastern bluffs, and a soft red tint -was reflected from the great flood below the camp. - -The campers found their canoe on high land where Barker had turned it -over, but the flood had almost crept up to it. - -In a very short time the travelers were off. - -"Keep your eyes peeled for snags and driftwood," the trapper cautioned -Bill. "We have only one canoe and cannot afford a wreck and a spill." - -"You can depend on me," Bill replied. "The water is much too cold for -swimming. I want to stay in the canoe." - -Tatanka and Barker plied their paddles vigorously and Tim did his share, -with a short light paddle. - -At noon they made only a short stop for a cup of hot tea and a very -light lunch, wishing to go as far as possible before camping. - -About three in the afternoon, the trapper told the boys to look out for -a good camping-place. - -"We want to stop at a good spring," he said; "this river water isn't so -bad, but good spring water is much better." - -"How can we find a spring!" the boys wanted to know. "We don't know the -country." - -"If you are wise campers you can always find a spring," the old man -instructed them. "Look for places where the high bluffs come down close -to the water edge." - -Within an hour a high bluff came into view a mile down the stream, and -the lads, who were getting both hungry and tired, expected to find a -good camp-site. In this hope they were disappointed. The current surged -along past the tree-trunks where rafts of driftwood and rubbish had -collected, while masses of dirty white foam were held by the dead wood -and rubbish. The place did not look in the least inviting, and the boys -looked in vain for a clear bubbling spring. - -"Where are the springs, Mr. Barker?" Tim asked timidly. - -"Well, my boy," the old man replied, "I reckon they are covered by the -flood." - -"What shall we do for a camping-place?" Bill asked. - -"Go on until we find one that suits us." - -"But if we don't find one?" - -"Then we camp at a place that does not suit us," the trapper replied -dryly. "Traveling down-river isn't like living in town. We'll just take -things as they come." - -About five o'clock they came to a place where a small creek came in from -the west. - -"Bill, you had better steer into this bay," the trapper suggested. -"We'll camp there for the night." - -"It isn't a good place, Mr. Barker," Tim ventured to say. "Look at all -the dirty driftwood and the willow-bushes. We are getting into a swamp -where there can't be any springs." - -The trapper smiled. "May be," he said to Tim, "we'll find a good place -and perhaps a spring, too. Everybody go slow now. Look out for snags, -Bill, and let us land near the foot of that big ash." - -Within a few minutes all heavy packs were taken out of the canoe and the -craft itself was turned over in a dry spot high above the water. - -There was not only one spring, there were several coming out of the -hillside and running into the small flooded creek. - -"I knew we would find good water up this creek," the trapper told the -boys. - -"How could you tell!" the lads wondered. "Have you ever been here?" - -"No, I have never seen this place before, but I have seen many groves of -black-ash and they only grow in cold, springy ravines. Wherever you see -the slim gray trunks and the short spreading branches of black-ash you -can find springs. Sometimes the flow is small and you have to dig out a -little pool for your well, but good cool water always seeps and flows -around the roots of the black-ash." - -Like every good leader, Barker had each man assigned to some special -camp duty. - -He himself was cook and baker. The Indian set up the tent and made the -bed. Bill brought water and cut wood for the camp-fire, while Tim -gathered dry brush and sticks for the cooking-fire and set out the -dishes, which consisted of a tin cup and plate, knife, fork, and spoon -for each man. - -"We don't need the tent," Barker said to Tatanka. "It is not going to -rain to-night and the miserable mosquitoes haven't come yet. Just make a -good bed on plenty of dry leaves and grass. The boys are very tired and -we are all a little bit soft after our rather lazy winter." - -"What are we going to do if it rains?" Tim asked. - -"Pull the canvas over our heads," the old man answered with a serious -face, "and if it rains hard, we'll get wet. But it isn't going to rain." - -The lads wondered how he could know, but they asked no more questions. - -In half an hour the trapper called out, "Supper! All hands fall to." - -And they all fell to, for all were ravenously hungry, and bacon, -corn-bread, and roast goose hurriedly vanished in large quantities. The -goose had been roasted the day before and had just been heated on a -spit. - -After supper Tatanka and Bill arranged the packs under the canoe while -Barker and Tim washed the dishes, for the trapper insisted that it is -just as easy to keep clean in camp as to live with a lot of dirt. - -The place of their camp was a few miles below the town of Winona. They -had, however, not landed there for several reasons. They felt that they -had no time to lose if they would reach Vicksburg before the end of -summer, and before Grant could take the Confederate stronghold of the -Mississippi. They had no recent letters from Vicksburg, and on their -trip they could of course receive none. Barker and the lads had written -to the boys' parents that they might expect them in Vicksburg sometime -in June or July. "That is," the letter closed, "if at that time, we can -get in." - -"If Grant has made up his mind to take Vicksburg," the trapper had told -the boys, "I reckon he'll stick around and fight till he gets it. No -matter how big and how many the swamps are that protect it. If he cannot -get at the city from the north, he will get at it from the south. If he -cannot keep a base of supplies in his rear, he'll do without a base and -will make his army live on the country, till he can establish a base." - -Another important reason for their not stopping at many towns was that -they felt that Hicks was certainly trying to discover their whereabouts. - -"The bad man is surely looking for us," Tatanka declared. "He has hired -scouts to let him know when we pass. We must not stop at the towns." - -On the following evening they passed the Iowa State line and they were -now traveling between the States of Wisconsin and Iowa. - -The scenery all along had been wonderfully grand. It showed the same -high wooded bluffs and steep bare rocks they had so much admired at -their camp on Inspiration Point. - -This grand striking scenery continues some hundred miles into Iowa. - -A large region in southern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, and northern -Iowa has never been glaciated and is known as the driftless area. In -this region the great river and its tributaries have cut deep valleys -through layers of limestone, dolomite, and sandstone. The sides of the -valleys have never been rounded off by creeping glaciers, and the cliffs -of dolomite stand up straight and bold like the well-known Maiden Rock -and Sugar Loaf near Winona. - -This stretch of the Mississippi from St. Paul and Minneapolis to -Dubuque, some four hundred miles long, is the greatest scenic river -highway in the world. Every American should travel over it before he -goes to see the rivers of Europe, most of which are insignificant -streams compared with the Mississippi. The whole navigable distance on -the Rhine is no greater than the great scenic course of the Mississippi, -and this course is less than one-fifth of the whole navigable length of -our great American river. He who has not traveled on the Mississippi has -not seen America. - -Even several great tributaries of the Mississippi, like the Missouri and -the Ohio and the Red River, are larger than any river in Europe. - -The boys soon learned to find good camping-places, and vied with each -other in selecting the best ones. - -As far as they could, they camped a few miles above the larger river -towns. The supplies they needed they bought of farmers or in small -towns, two men generally going after the supplies and the other two -staying at the camp. Many interesting incidents occurred to them all, -but it would make our story too long to tell of them. - -The river now became alive with all kinds of steamboats, some carrying -passengers and merchandise, others guns, ammunition, and soldiers, and -it often taxed Bill's skill to avoid danger from the swell of the big -boats. - -Spring was advancing apace. When they reached the northern boundary of -Missouri, about the first of May, it was summer. The trees were green, -birds were in full song, and the woods were full of flowers. - -Spring advances up the river at the rate of something like fifteen miles -a day. About the first of March poplars and hazel hang out their -pollen-laden catkins at St. Louis; while at the Twin Cities, the first -spring flowers appear about a month later, but as the party was rapidly -traveling southward, the season to them advanced three or four days in -twenty-four hours. - -At the well-known river port of Hannibal, Missouri, they placed their -canoe and baggage on a steamer and took passage for Cairo at the mouth -of the Ohio. At the great busy port of St. Louis they kept quiet on the -boat. The next evening they landed at Cairo. - -Below Cairo, the mighty stream grows to its full grandeur. It has -received its two greatest tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio, -besides such streams as the Wisconsin, the Des Moines, the Iowa, and the -Illinois, all of them fine rivers for the canoeist, the fisherman, and -the sight-seer. - -Cairo was the most northerly point, where the great struggle for the -possession of the Mississippi began between North and South. - -The four travelers had now reached the scene of the Civil War on the -Mississippi. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII--IN THE SUNKEN LANDS - - -It was a mellow summer evening about the first of June, when the party -arrived at the small town of Hickman in Kentucky. - -Ever since they had left the upper river, their birch-bark canoe had -been an object of curiosity to all who had seen it, because the -white-birch or canoe-birch does not grow on the lower river. - -At Hickman, the four travelers went into a store to replenish their -supplies. In front of the store, sitting on a cracker-box, a man greeted -Barker with, "Hello, Sam! Where on earth do you come from? Haven't seen -you since you were trapping coons and hunting wild turkeys on the -Wabash." - -"And what brings you into this little river burg, Dick Banks?" the -trapper asked, equally surprised. - -"Oh, I just drifted down the Wabash and the Ohio to this old river. You -know I always wanted to see the Mississippi, when we were boys. Well, -I'm working on a steamboat between New Madrid and St. Louis." - -After a while Banks took Barker aside. - -"Say, Sam," he spoke in a low voice, "it seems sort of strange, but I -reckon there was a fellow here looking for you just this morning. He -asked whether we ones had seen a white man with an Indian and two boys -traveling down river? - -"Hadn't the faintest idea you could be the man he referred to. You -hadn't any beard and gray hair when I saw you last, but sure as I'm Dick -Banks, his story fits your party exactly. Fellow seemed to be mighty set -on finding you. Told us you had kidnapped his two nephews and stolen two -horses of him 'way up in Minnesota. Said he was going to swear out a -warrant and have you arrested." - -"That dirty pup," exclaimed Barker, with his eyes flashing. "My Indian -and I saved those lads from being murdered by the Sioux. The lads rode -away on our own horses and we didn't even take a blanket of the dirty -bootlegger. The old squint-eyed scoundrel deserted the lads. Dern his -soul! I always believed he wanted them to get killed. He doesn't want -them to get back home for some reason. My Indian and I are going to take -them home to Vicksburg. I knew Hicks in Indiana. He always was a -blackguard." - -Dick Banks puffed vigorously at his corncob pipe. - -"Sam," he replied, "I'll tell you something. You used to be some -scrapper back in Indiana. I figure you could handle that friend of yours -all right, but you might as well go back with me to St. Louis. You can't -get into Vicksburg." - -"And why can't I get in?" - -"You haven't seen as much of the war as I have seen. I have been clear -down to Haynes Bluff a little way above Vicksburg. Grant and his men -have got the place bottled up. You can't get in. Gunboats, big ones, -little ones, the whole river is full of them. Guards and soldiers -everywhere. Don't try it, Sam. They might think you were a spy and hang -you. Those army courts aren't as good-natured as our old Indiana -juries." - -"No, Dick," the trapper argued. "I can't go back with you. I'm going to -take those boys home. I'll either fight Hicks or give him the slip. -We're going to Vicksburg. May be I can get a pass through the lines." - -"All right then, Sam; I've said my say. Get a pass? Why, man, Abe -Lincoln himself couldn't get a pass! You're as set on having your way as -you were as a kid. - -"Now don't hurry that Vicksburg campaign of yours. Better paddle about -in the swamps and bayous for a few weeks. They say in about a month the -town will have to surrender. You can't get a pass into Vicksburg. -They've been shut up two weeks now." - -That evening the four travelers had a good supper on board of Dick -Bank's boat and Dick also fixed beds for them on board the steamer, and -at daylight before the town was awake, they paddled their light craft -into a small winding channel which led into one of the most mysterious -lakes of North America, Reelfoot Lake, a lake made by the great -earthquake of 1811, generally known as the earthquake of New Madrid. - -Tatanka was especially happy to be on this small winding stream. - -"It is like the winding Minnesota River," he said, "and it is beautiful -like the small rivers that join the Mississippi above Lake Pepin. For a -long time they follow their own winding trail in the bottom woods, as if -they were afraid to go near the great Mississippi in which all big and -little rivers lose themselves." - -"The trees are different here," Bill remarked. "We never saw any cypress -on the Minnesota." - -They spent nearly all day on this winding channel, and it was not until -an hour before sunset that they came in sight of the strange waters and -scene of Reelfoot Lake. - -"I will not go there," said Tatanka, when, at last, the Lake of the -Sunken Lands spread out before them. "It is a spook lake, a lake of bad -spirits. We must not camp on it. My brother, you told me that a bad -spirit shook the earth and trampled down the farms to make the lake. - -"Look, the water is very black and very many dead trees grow out of it." - -"Tatanka," exclaimed Barker, "you are forgetting what the missionaries -have taught you. Haven't they told you many times that there are no -spook lakes, no bad medicine lakes? Those dead trees didn't grow dead. -They died, when the water rose around them. There are no bad spirits in -the earth. The earth just shook and sank. You have been a scout for the -white soldiers, and you have to forget your Dakotah superstitions." - -Tatanka was silent a while, and stopped paddling. - -"The missionaries," he admitted, "are our friends and I believe they -tell us the truth. They do not want our land and they do not cheat us as -some of the traders do. They say our beliefs in spook lakes and bad -medicine are superstition, but it is hard to forget our beliefs, because -our fathers have taught them to us for many generations. - -"My father once took me along on a buffalo hunt far west and he showed -me a spook lake. The hunters camped on the shore of the lake, but none -of them would have been brave enough to paddle a canoe on its waters. -Some of them would not even gather the dead wood on its shore, but my -father told us boys to gather the wood and we did. Our women used the -wood to smoke and dry the buffalo meat, and we boys watched for the bad -spirits to fly out of the wood. - -"I did not see the spirits, but some of the boys told me that they heard -the spirits whistle and howl and rise with the smoke after the sun had -gone down, and they said that Katinka, the medicine man, saw them, too." - -"Where is that spook lake?" the boys asked, also forgetting to paddle. - -"That spook lake," Tatanka continued, "lies far west on the plains, -which the white men call Dakotah. No trees grow on the plains, but trees -and bushes grow on the lake shore and many dead trees and stumps grow in -the water. Our people call it the Lake of the Stumps. The water was so -bitter that we could not drink it, but our horses drank it." - -Bill and Tim dipped a handful of the brown water from Reelfoot Lake. - -"It isn't bitter," both exclaimed at once. "This isn't a spook lake." - -"Did your horses die, after they drank out of Stump Lake?" - -"No, they liked the water." - -"Then it wasn't a haunted lake," both of them argued. - -"But why did the trees die?" Tatanka objected. - -"May be the outlet became choked and the trees were drowned," Barker -explained. "You know that white trappers always catch plenty of mink and -muskrats and find good fish in the lakes which the Indians say are -haunted." - -Tatanka began to paddle again, but looked as if he were not convinced -but had given up arguing against all three of his friends. - -The scene spread out before them looked indeed weird and almost -forbidding. A dead forest of tall straight cypress spires arose like -tree specters from the dark waters of the lake. The gray trunks had long -ago been stripped of bark and branches; a few bald eagles and fish-hawks -sailed in spirals over the dead pointed poles and uttered a shrill, -piercing cry at the intruders of their solitude. - -"It is a forest of ghost trees," Tatanka murmured. "We should not stay -here." - -[Illustration: "It is a forest of ghost trees," Tatanka murmured.] - -"Ghost trees nothing," the old trapper exploded impatiently. "Those -trees were drowned forty years ago. The bark and branches have rotted -away. It is a wonder the trees are still standing. - -"Tatanka, you're a hopeless old heathen. If you don't quit scaring the -boys with your spook lakes and ghost trees, I'm going to send you home -on a gunboat, and I'll hire a coal-black negro to help us paddle the -canoe. Here, fill your red calumet pipe and don't be afraid of harmless -dead trees." - -A row of turtles plunged into the water from a log, a pair of ducks -arose out of some rushes and a large fish jumped out of the water and -fell back with a loud splash. Then the channel wound about amongst white -water-lilies and patches of the large, beautiful wild lotus or wankapin -lilies. - -Tatanka had lit his pipe and looked about him in silence. - -"There," Barker encouraged him. "Doesn't that look like a Minnesota -lake? Ducks and turtles and fish and acres of water-lilies. Just like -the marshes on your wonderful Minnesota, only the lotus doesn't grow -there." - -"Yes it does," Tatanka claimed. "My mother and I gathered the big seeds -on a lake below the mouth of the Minnesota and in a few other places -where wankapin grows in our country." - -"Well, at last you are convinced that we are not on a bewitched lake. -But now it is high time we look for a camping-place. - -"Bill, steer straight for shore. We'll make a good soft bed in that -cane-brake." - -There are two kinds of cane growing in the South, the small and the -large. The small cane, in which the travelers were camping now, grows -about a dozen feet high and forms vast thickets on waste lands as far -north as Kentucky. These cane-brakes were the home of deer and bear and -other wild animals, but large areas have now been made into -cotton-fields. - -The big cane grows only on wet lands near the rivers from the White -River southward. It reaches a height of thirty feet. At the age of about -thirty or forty years, the big cane flowers and produces an abundance of -rich nourishing grains for stock and game. After flowering, the old -canes die and new plants spring up from the seed. The young shoots are -known as mutton cane, because deer and bear and stock grow fat on them. - -"This cane," said Tatanka, after they had eaten their supper, "is like -the pipe-stem reeds of the Sioux Country. The Indian boys called them -spear-grass, and we threw the reeds at each other when we played war." - -The campers remained a week on Reelfoot Lake, and they still found much -evidence of the great earthquake half a century before. - -The great cracks in the earth, formed at that time, could still be seen -in many places. Some of the fissures were filled with sand, which had -come up from below; in others, young trees had grown up, while many of -the old trees, still alive, were leaning over the partly filled -fissures. - -It was a strange lake indeed on which the travelers found themselves. -Most of the lake, about ten miles long and two miles wide, was covered -with water-lilies, lotus, and many other kinds of water plants. Along -the margin and on half a dozen low islands grew the sombre cypress, its -odd, fantastic, knee-like roots projecting above the water. On the -higher lands also, many trees not growing on the upper river had -appeared. Sycamores, or buttonwood, mulberry, gum-trees, and catalpas. - -The campers met an old man, who had lived near Reelfoot all his life and -who told many stories of the great earthquake. - -"I was born the year of the earthquake," the old man related, "and my -father told me many stories about it. - -"The first shock came a little after midnight on December 16th. My -father and two other men were on the river at the time. They were going -to New Madrid and were going to start very early, so they could return -the same day. Their boat was tied near a very big sycamore. All at once -they heard a great thundering underground. The big tree began to sway -like the tow-head willows in the storm. Then the whole bank broke loose -and crashed into the river. First the water in the river seemed to rise -like a big wall, the next moment it rushed down stream with a roaring -current. - -"My father was thrown out of the boat and would have drowned if he had -not gotten hold of the branches of the big sycamore. How he did it, he -did not remember. He yelled for help, and after a long time the men came -back with the boat and took him off. - -"They were all so scared they couldn't talk; they thought the world was -coming to an end. - -"They hurried to the highest land they could find to spend the night, -but none of them expected to see the sun rise. Again and again the earth -rolled and shook as if it were a blanket. Big trees crashed and snapped -like bean-poles, and whole acres of forest crashed into the river. The -air smelled of burning sulphur, or some such gases as come out of a -sulphur spring. - -"Father and the two men crept into a thicket of small brush because they -were afraid to stay in the big timber, and father always claimed that in -a few minutes it grew as dark as if they had been sitting in a cellar at -night. - -"Every little while, a dozen times or more, they felt the earth shaking -and heard the deep rambling underground and the roaring and rushing of -the river. - -"When daylight came they hurried home and when they found that father's -family had not been injured they decided to go on to New Madrid, -thinking that they might be of some help to sufferers or to shipwrecked -boatmen. - -"They hardly recognized the river. It was full of landslides, trees, and -all kinds of debris, and one good-sized island and its tow-head had -entirely disappeared. They found the town of New Madrid in ruins. The -land had sunk ten feet or more. About thirty boats in the harbor had -been wrecked or carried down stream.. One large barge loaded with five -hundred barrels of flour was split from stern to bow and left high and -dry on the bank. - -"The people had all fled and were camping on high land away from the -river." - -The old man paused as if for breath. - -"Did the people ever go back?" asked Tim. - -"No, they didn't. The fact is they couldn't. The river washed the whole -town away. The present town is built a little farther up the river. - -"The whole country, my father said, was changed by the earthquake. Many -good farms sank and many others were covered with sand. Where the lake -is now, Bayou de Chien and Reelfoot Creek used to run through a dense -forest of cypress trees. You can follow their channels in your bark -boat, because there are no stumps or dead trees in the old channels. - -"Some of our neighbors were so frightened that they moved away. Father -was also going to leave. He was going into Arkansas, but mother would -not move. She said she had traveled in an ox-wagon from Pennsylvania to -Indiana and from Indiana to Tennessee and that was enough. If the end of -the world was coming, Arkansas wouldn't last any longer than Tennessee." - -Thus ran the story of the old farmer of Reelfoot Lake. He spoke in a -quaint Southern dialect, in which Bill and Tim were quite at home, but -which compelled Barker to pay very close attention, while Tatanka lost -most of the tale. - -The story of the old pioneer has been corroborated by the testimony of -many reliable men. - -At the time of this great catastrophe, Captain Nicholas Roosevelt was -taking the pioneer steamer _New Orleans_ from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. -The steamer was on the Ohio when the earthquake occurred, but when the -boat reached the Mississippi, the pilot became much alarmed and said he -was lost. The shores had changed and large islands had disappeared. - -The naturalist, Audubon, felt the earthquake in Kentucky and wrote an -account of it in his journal. - -The shocks were most severe over a distance of about one hundred miles -from Cairo to Memphis and over a width of about fifty miles. They were -felt at St. Louis and New Orleans, Detroit, Washington, and Boston. They -were undoubtedly felt as far up the great river as St. Paul and -Minneapolis, but that region was at the time still an unsettled Indian -country. - -Although the earthquake was one of the most severe in the United States, -few lives were lost. The country around New Madrid was at that time -thinly settled and most of the houses were small and built of wood. It -is, however, not surprising that many settlers left the country, for the -shocks continued from time to time until the early part of May, 1812. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX--PAST ISLAND NUMBER TEN - - -Below Cairo the mighty river becomes still mightier and winds with -countless curves and bends this way and that way through rich lowlands -from ten to forty miles wide. On a stretch of three hundred and fifty -miles, twice as far by river, only three large cities, Cairo, Memphis -and Vicksburg, offer large and convenient ports. Very often the great -river does not touch the high land for a hundred miles or more, but -glides along through endless marshes and through forests of oak, elm, -sycamore, walnut, gum, cypress, and other Southern trees, while -numberless bayous, tributaries, and oxbow lakes give variety to the vast -flood-plain of swamp and forest. Where the land is high or protected by -dikes, rich plantations have been cleared, but many hundreds of square -miles are subject to overflow and remain wild to this day. - -When the travelers reached Hickman again they met once more their -friend, Dick Banks. - -"We just ran up to Cairo," he told them. "Now we are going south to -bring up a load of wounded soldiers. Old Grant is fighting the Johnnies -as hard as he knows how. The Johnnies say he can't take Vicksburg, but I -reckon he will. He's got them in a trap and he'll starve them out, if he -can't drive them out." - -"Have you seen Hicks again?" Barker asked. - -"Never a hair of him, Sam. I reckon he's gone down to Haynes Bluff or -some place near Vicksburg, where he expects you-uns will show up. The -scoundrel never got a smell of your presence in this river burg. - -"When you pass Island No. 10, look out for sunken boats. The Southerners -had a big fort there. And you had better go past New Madrid after dark. -The town is full of soldiers and the river full of boats. The commander -is a pretty cranky sort. He might ask you for papers and if you haven't -got them, he might put you in the pen. You know you're a suspicious -looking outfit with your Indian and birch-bark dugout." - -"Great Heavens, Dick, do you call that a dugout!" exclaimed Barker. -"It's a canoe. Haven't you ever seen one before! No dugout for me. We -can portage this ship wherever we wish to go." - -"You needn't worry about portages, Sam. The river is high all the way to -Vicksburg. Just see you don't get lost in those endless swamps and -forests. - -"You don't have to go by way of Island No. 10. You can go by way of -Bissell's Channel and Wilson's Bayou, and cut off about six miles. The -channel may be dry now, but you say you can carry that bark tub of -your'n." - -"Dick," Barker replied, laughing, "if you ever again call our canoe a -dugout or a tub, I'll swat you one. See if I don't!" - -"Tatanka, and I made it ourselves and it is the best and safest -birch-bark afloat on all this river." - -"May be she is pretty steady," Banks took up his banter again, "but she -is not much of a snagboat, and a mighty poor ram. Better let me stow you -all away on the _Grey Hawk_ and take you safely down to Haynes Bluff, -that is as far as we are going. From there you can walk to Vicksburg, if -the Boys in Blue will let you, but I know they won't." - -"No, Dick, thank you for your kind offer. The boys want to see Island -No. 10, and I want to see it myself, but we may meet you at New Madrid." - -"All right, Sam. If you are not afraid to show your outfit at New -Madrid. We'll be there day after to-morrow." - -Tatanka, although he saw and heard everything about the earthquake and -the sunken lands with close attention, was happy when Barker had said: - -"Let's get back to Hickman and the Old Mississippi. I reckon Hicks has -lost our trail by this time, if he really ever found it. - -"Boys," he continued, "I must tell you something now. That Cousin Hicks -of yours is a bad case. There may be a fight if we ever run across him. -If there is, you keep out of it. Tatanka and I will handle him. - -"Never mind," he cut the boys short when they wanted to know more, "I -tell you he is a bad egg. Now you know enough. I ran across him long ago -in Indiana." - -"He is a skunk," Tatanka grunted, with an angry face and with eyes -flashing. "If we catch him, we shall throw him into the river like a -worthless cur. - -"I am glad we shall go away," he continued. "I never was afraid to fight -our enemies, the Chippewas, but I am afraid of spook lakes, of -earthquakes, and of big guns. All Indians are afraid of them." - -The Mississippi River contains a very large number of islands. Below the -larger islands often lie long low bars grown over with small willows, -and these brush-covered bars are known as tow-heads. - -Between Cairo and New Orleans, the Mississippi River Commission has -numbered about one hundred and thirty islands, while many large ones -have names. From time to time old islands disappear and new ones are -made, when the river washes out a short cut across a bend. - -The travelers found Bissell's Channel about half-way between Island No. -8 and Island No. 9, as Captain Banks had told them. But it was not a -channel at all; as the boys had expected. It was a road of stumps about -two miles long, and the boys wondered how it was made and what it was -for. - -The four travelers arrived on Island No. 10 in good time, for the -distance was only twenty-five miles down stream from Hickman. - -They made their camp inside the deserted Confederate works and they -looked with awe upon the big portholes in the logs through which the -cannons had swept the river. - -"How did the Union soldiers take the island!" the boys asked. - -"I don't know," Barker told them. "I think two of their gunboats ran -past the guns of the island on a very dark night. You had better ask -Captain Banks about it. - -"I reckon we'll go to Vicksburg on the _Grey Hawk_. It will take us all -summer to paddle the five hundred miles the way the river runs. You see, -if we get there after Vicksburg falls, your people may not be there any -more and we might not be able to find them. So I think we had better go -with Captain Banks." - -Next morning early they carried their canoe out from under the big -sycamore and cottonwoods on Island No. 10 and started north on a big -bend of the river. - -At noon they reached New Madrid, at that time a lively, hustling town, -as Captain Banks had told them. - -The _Grey Hawk_ had already arrived and as Captain Banks vouched for his -four friends, the commander was willing to let them go along to -Vicksburg. - -After supper, as they all sat on deck chatting with the captain, the -lads begged the old river captain to tell them about Bissell's Channel -and about the fight at Island No. 10. - -"That channel," the captain began, "was cut by the Engineer Regiment of -the West, and it was a great piece of work. It was done more than a year -ago in March and April, 1862. - -"You see, the Confederates held a strong fort with big guns on Island -No. 10, and they had also planted guns on the left bank of the river -above and below New Madrid, but we held New Madrid. - -"Colonel Bissell's men built large rafts for men to work on, for the -water was very high at the time. At first they cut the trees about eight -feet above the water. Then they rigged a frame and a long saw to the -stump and four men, two at each end, pulled the saw and cut the stump -about four feet and a half under water. - -"The small trees were easy, but we had an awful time with some of the -big elms that grow a kind of braces near the ground. On some of those we -worked two hours, but Captain Tweedale, who was saw-boss, always figured -out what was wrong when the saws began to pinch." - -"What did you want the channel for!" asked Bill, not a little puzzled by -the whole strange plan. - -"Well, General Pope," the captain explained, "wanted gunboats and -transports to attack Island No. 10 and cut off the Confederates below -the island, but Commander Foote of the river fleet did not think that -his boats could run the island. So Colonel Bissell was ordered to dig a -canal above the island and thus cut off the bend of Island No. 10 on -which you came. If that could be done we could place guns, boats, and -men and transports above and below Island No. 10, and the Confederates -would have to get out. - -"We did some great work. We had four steamboats, six coal-barges and -four cannons. You see, we were ready to fight as well as work. Besides -the Engineer Regiment, we had about 600 fighting men ready for battle. - -"But things moved faster than we expected. On the night of April 4th -Commander Henry Walke of the _Carondelet_ ran the guns of Island No. 10. - -"It was a very dark night and a storm was passing over the river. The -_Carondelet_ had been protected in vulnerable parts with coils of -hawsers and chains, and a coal barge, loaded with hay, had been lashed -to its port side. - -"The pipes for the exhaust steam had been led into the wheel-house at -the stern, so the puffing of the steam could not be heard. - -"About ten o'clock, Commander Walke gave the order to cast off. By the -time the _Carondelet_ came opposite the Confederate shore batteries, the -flashes of lightning were so vivid that the boat was discovered and the -roar of the batteries and the crack and scream of the balls soon mixed -with the roar of thunder. But during the pitch-dark moments, between -flashes of lightning and in the rain, the Confederate gunners had not -time and could not see to aim their guns. They had to fire almost at -random. - -"So close ran the _Carondelet_ to the island that the men on board could -hear an officer shout, 'Elevate your guns.' - -"Away the _Carondelet_ steamed down the black river. No lights on board, -except the roaring fire under her boilers, which twice set the soot in -her smokestack on fire. She raced past the shore batteries, past the -formidable island batteries, past the floating battery below the island. -Dozens of cannon-balls were fired at her. One struck the coal-barge and -one was found in a bale of hay. - -"About midnight, Commander Walke arrived at New Madrid with every man on -board safe. What hundreds of men had believed impossible, he and his -volunteers had done. - -"On the 7th of April, Commander Thompson, of the _Pittsburgh_, also ran -the island in safety. - -"About the same time we finished our channel and ran boats through it to -New Madrid." - -"But, Captain Banks," the lads asked eagerly, "what happened to the men -on Island No. 10?" - -"Well, you see," the captain explained, "they were cut off and had to -surrender. Only a few of them got away in dugouts and boats through the -swamps on the Tennessee shore." - -"Why didn't they all march away into Tennessee!" Tim asked. - -"Boys, they couldn't," Barker explained to them. "Only a little way east -of Island No. 10 lies Reelfoot Lake, so they couldn't march away in that -direction. They held the island just as long as they could." - -"Time to go to bed for you lads," the captain took the word again. "I -have told you all I know about Bissell's Channel and the fight at Island -No. 10." - -The lads were soon fast asleep in their cabin, dreaming of Spook Lake, -of monster battle-ships, and of their home in Vicksburg. - -The men continued talking for some time, Captain Banks telling his -friends about the dramatic river battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862. - -"Captain, I want to ask you one thing," Barker said. "Why can't the -Union gun-boats do any good fighting down-stream, why do they have to do -all their heavy fighting headed up-stream?" - -"Because," explained the captain promptly, "they are just a pick-up lot -of boats, all, I think, stern-wheelers. Only their bow is protected with -plates and railroad-iron. Their engines are weak, and if maneuvered -down-stream they will drag their anchors in the muddy bottom and are -hard to control. They are real fighting-ships only when they point their -noses up-stream." - -When at last Barker invited Tatanka into a cabin, the Indian smiled. -"No," he said, "Indian cannot sleep in a box. I sleep in my blankets -outside, with plenty of air around me." - - - - -CHAPTER XX--ON TO VICKSBURG - - -The steamer _Grey Hawk_ cast off from the New Madrid landing at dawn of -day. - -The years just preceding the Civil War and the years of the war were the -great days of steamboating on the Mississippi and its tributaries. - -Hundreds of boats, large and small, ran on the main stream, on the Ohio, -the Missouri, the Illinois, the Minnesota and other rivers of the great -Mississippi basin. The average life time of a Mississippi steamer was -only five years, because countless snags, ice, fires, and other dangers -were the bad medicine to navigation on all the streams. None of them -were improved, none had any system of lights or signs; the pilots had to -know the rivers, whose currents and sandbars and snags were constantly -shifting. But the business was so profitable that the trips of one -season often paid for the boat. Settlers were rushing into the western -country and they and all their goods went by steamboat, for no railroads -had yet crossed the Mississippi. On the turbulent Missouri the steamers -ran to the mouth of the Yellowstone and beyond, taking up settlers, -soldiers, general freight and goods for the Indian trade, and bringing -back loads of buffalo-skins and other fur from the Rocky Mountain -country. On the Minnesota small steamers ran two hundred miles beyond -St. Paul into the newly opened Sioux country to market the first wheat -of the new settlers. A few small boats plied on the upper Mississippi -above St. Paul and Minneapolis, where the lumber industry and -flour-mills were just developing. - -The Civil War proved a fatal blow to river traffic. Both the Federal and -the Confederate government commandeered a large number of vessels for -war purposes, and many of those were wrecked and sunk or burnt in -battle. - -Immediately after the war, railroads began to parallel the Mississippi -and its navigable tributaries. The steamboat traffic lingered for a -number of years, but it never again attained its former glory, and soon -sank into its present insignificance. - -Moreover, the great movement of traffic in North America is east and -west, while the trend of our great navigable river system is north and -south. - -Barker and Tatanka, as well as the boys, found life on a Mississippi -steamer very attractive. - -The broad main channel and bayous, sloughs and oxbow lakes; the high -bluffs and the lowland forests, had all in turn lured them on to much -hard traveling and many interesting side-trips. But just now they all -felt that they had had enough of traveling by birch-bark, enough of -camping wherever a good place invited them, and enough of eating -whatever they could secure. - -Below Cairo the low lands widen. There are no distinct hills or bluffs -on the west side, while the Chickasaw Bluffs which stretch from Cairo to -Memphis are in places ten miles from the river. - -A long time ago the Gulf of Mexico extended probably as far north as -Cairo, and the great flood-plain from Cairo to the Gulf is land, which -was made by the Mississippi. From the Alleghenies, from the Rocky -Mountains, from the Black Hills, the Ozarks, and the prairies of -Minnesota, the streams are ever bringing down fine, fertile soil into -the Mississippi, which spreads it at times of high water over fields, -forests, and swamps and carries some of it into the gulf. So great is -the amount of fine soil carried by the great river that every year it -would make a vast block a square mile in area and four hundred feet -high. - -Of all the travelers on the _Grey Hawk_, Tatanka took the keenest -interest in everything around him; for he had, before this trip, never -seen the Mississippi farther south than La Crosse in Wisconsin. "Why do -the white people need so many ships?" he wondered. "What will they do -with all the big guns they have, and where are all the soldiers going to -fight!" - -"My friend," Barker told him, "wait till we reach Vicksburg. There you -will see soldiers and guns." - -"Where do all the black people live?" he asked. "Do they live in the -woods and come out to work in the fields of cotton that we have seen? - -"If our young men could have seen all the soldiers and ships and guns -and towns of the white people, they never would have made war against -them." - -The second day on the boat was a Sunday and the pastry-cook did his best -to furnish a wonderful collection of cakes, pies, and jellies. - -Barker and the boys could not help being amused at the way Tatanka -looked furtively at the sumptuous Sunday dinner. The variously colored -jellies served in tall glasses, especially excited his-curiosity and -suspicion. - -"Is it medicine or is it to eat?" he whispered to Barker. - -"It's all to be eaten," Barker informed him. "Don't think again of bad -medicine on this boat." - -"If the Sioux chiefs were here," Tatanka remarked with a smile, "they -would have to carry away many glasses of food, for it is the custom of -the Indians to take away with them whatever they cannot eat at a feast. - -"Captain Banks must be very rich to have so many dishes on his ship." - -The pilot of the _Grey Hawk_ did not know the river well enough to run -after dark, so the passengers saw the whole distance by daylight. - -At night a group of colored deck-hands appeared as minstrels for the -entertainment of the passengers. - -"The black men have big white teeth and big white eyes, and they can -sing and dance," Tatanka remarked, "but they couldn't give the Sioux -war-whoop." - -About the 20th of June the steamer tied up at Haynes Bluff on the Yazoo -River. - -Tatanka, who had wondered at the soldiers and ships at New Madrid, was -here simply bewildered. Ships, teams, mule-teams, ox-teams, horse-teams, -and soldiers and more soldiers everywhere; infantry, cavalry, and -terrible artillery. Tatanka, with the observant eyes of an Indian scout, -saw everything, but hardly spoke a word all day. - -Grant had by this time about 70,000 men, an army about ten times as -large as the whole Sioux nation. From Haynes Bluff southward his lines -were stretched out and entrenched over a distance of fifteen miles. - -Over hills, through ravines, through woods and cane-brakes ran the sheer -endless line of rifle-pits, trenches, parapets, and batteries. And in -front of the Union works, rose in grim defiance the lines and pits and -batteries of the Confederates. The lines of the two armies ran about -three miles east of Vicksburg over wooded hills which rise about two -hundred feet above the river. For one month since the 19th of May the -Confederate army under General John C. Pemberton and the city of -Vicksburg had been besieged, by the Union army, while the Union fleets -held the river above and below the city. - -General Pemberton, now in command at Vicksburg, was the same man, who -two years ago had taken his battery from Fort Ridgely to La Crosse on -the _Fanny Harris_. - -Grant had at first attempted to take the city by assault, but had found -that the Confederates were so strongly entrenched and defended their -lines so stubbornly that the Northern army had to settle down to a -regular siege with the object of starving their opponents into -surrender. - -Many Northern people came to visit their friends in Grant's army. They -brought with them turkeys and chickens and ducks as gifts to the Boys in -Blue, but for once the soldiers did not appreciate these delicacies. -While they were maneuvering and fighting to get into their present -position on the hills in the rear of Vicksburg, Grant had boldly cut -loose from his base of supplies. Foraging parties had scoured the -plantations for anything they could find, and the army had largely -existed on poultry. - -"Give us bacon and bread!" was now the cry. "We are sick of anything -that crows or quacks or gobbles; we are sick of all meat with wings. -Give us bacon and bread!" - -Once while Grant was riding along the lines, a soldier recognizing him -called in a low voice, "Hardtack." In a moment the cry ran along the -whole line, "Hardtack! Hardtack!" Grant assured the men that a road had -been built for the distribution of regular commissary supplies such as -bread, hardtack, coffee, sugar, bacon, and salt meat. The men at once -gave a ringing cheer, and on the next day full rations were issued to -the whole army. - -The four travelers from the North had plenty of opportunity to watch the -operations of a great siege, and Barker met several men whom he had -known in Indiana and Minnesota. - -There was little fighting now, but much digging of pits and trenches and -some mining and counter-mining. - -"We are just camping here," an old acquaintance told Barker, "and the -digging is good. No rocks in these hills as in the hills of New England -and New York. - -"If the Johnnies weren't camping so blasted close to us, it would be a -fine life. As it is, the man who shows his head above the parapets is -done for. The sharpshooters get him. - -"I just got through digging and sitting in a pit twenty-four hours. - -"Three men from our company were detailed to dig an advance rifle-pit. -We started after dark with picks and shovels. Two men with picks -scratched up the dirt, the third man threw it out. We made no noise; a -mole couldn't have worked more silently. Heavens, how we scratched and -dug! By daylight, our pit was deep enough to shelter us. It had to be or -we wouldn't have come back. But it was not deep enough for us to stand -up. All day we sat and lay in that hole. At noon the sun almost roasted -us brown, although we crouched against the shaded wall. - -"In the afternoon it began to rain and some of our dirt washed back into -the pit. - -"'Mike,' I said to my Irish fellow-digger, 'I guess we'll have to swim -or surrender.' - -"'By me faith,' Mike replied, 'I'll wait till the water runs over me -gun-muzzle. We can't surrender because our shirts are too dirty for -white flags.' - -"We agreed that Mike was right, and sitting in the sticky mud, we ate -the rest of our bread and bacon before the rain could spoil it. - -"After the rain was over, some sharpshooters began to practice on our -pit. They couldn't hit us, and we were right glad that they gave us -something to think and talk about. - -"After dark three other men relieved us and we had a chance to stretch -our bones." - -"What did these men have to do?" the boys wanted to know. - -"Deepen the pit," the soldier told them, "and widen it to right and left -in the direction of two other rifle-pits. You see in that way we push -our lines closer and closer to the enemy. - -"In many places we are so close now that the men can talk to each -other." - -Quite often the Union soldiers who were short of tobacco would barter -bacon or bread for tobacco, because the Confederates at this time were -beginning to feel the shortage of food. - -All through the Civil War the men in both armies showed a fine spirit of -chivalry to the enemy, whenever duty and the stern law of war would -permit acts of courtesy and kindness. - -At one time in the Vicksburg siege a dead mule between the lines became -unbearably offensive to the Confederates. - -"Heh, Yanks!" a soldier shouted, "we've got to bury that mule. He's -smelling us out." - -"All right," the Yankee boys replied. "We smelled him yesterday. Send -out three men, and we'll send three. Say, Johnnies, better stick up a -white rag, when you're coming out, so our boys don't make a mistake!" - -The mule was covered with dirt. The The soldiers exchanged various -little articles and swapped some yarns and jokes. - -"Yanks, when are you coming to town?" the Southerners asked. - -"We'll be there on the Fourth. By that time your grub will be gone." - -"Like thunder you will," the Boys in Grey returned the banter. "Why, -men, we've got enough grub to last till winter. If you Yanks stick -around long enough, we'll invite you to a Christmas pudding." - -"Many thanks," the Northerners came back; "you can't fool us on -mule-meat and river-soup. We'll bring our own rations when we come in." - -A moment later the men had returned to their lines. - -"Look out for your heads," the call rang out. "We're going to shoot." - -The men who had just enjoyed a friendly visit, were again facing each -other in the life-and-death struggle for the control of the Mississippi. - -Tatanka and the boys were just having the time of their lives with all -the new and exciting things they heard and saw. Barker was as much -interested, but he kept his eyes open for the one enemy he must either -elude or defeat. He felt sure that if Hicks were still alive he was not -far from Haynes Bluff and the Union lines. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--WHEREIN OLD ENEMIES MEET - - -Barker, through the influence of Captain Banks, had found quarters for -his party in a vacant corner of an old warehouse. Other rooms were not -procurable and in these secluded quarters, he felt safe from annoying -and curious visitors, and from various camp-followers always found in -the rear of an army. - -He was most anxious to get the boys into Vicksburg and start for home -with Tatanka, who had so loyally shared all the dangers and hardships of -the long journey. - -But how to get into Vicksburg was a puzzle. Securing a pass seemed out -of the question and any other way that he could think of looked either -impossible or extremely dangerous, because sentinels and patrols of both -Grant's and Pemberton's armies watched the river day and night. - -He feared that in the confusion and excitement of surrender, even if it -did come soon, he might fail to find the parents of his boys. Between -this anxiety and the possibility of again meeting Hicks, he lay awake, -thinking a good part of the night. - -The next forenoon the four men from the North accompanied a train of -wagons with rations and ammunitions for the soldiers east of Vicksburg. - -The boys were again in high spirits. They felt sure that they would soon -be at home, and there were so many new things to be seen that they had -no time to feel sad. The horrors of war were but little visible, because -there had been no active fighting for a month. - -Barker, however, walked along in thoughtful silence. - -"I must get the lads into town and I must kill or capture Hicks, if we -set eyes on him again," were the thoughts ever in his mind. - -About the middle of the forenoon the long line of wagons halted on -account of some obstruction ahead. Barker was chatting pleasantly with a -number of teamsters, "mule-skinners," as the soldiers called them. He -had told them that he wanted to get the lads into Vicksburg and he had -told them about the man, who for some reason, was bound to keep the boys -in the North even at the risk of having them killed by the Sioux. The -men became much interested, for even the roughest of men are quickly -stirred in their sympathy by injustice and cowardly crime. - -Three horsemen came slowly along the side of the road. They stopped as -they reached the group of teamsters. - -The foremost of them dismounted, walked slowly up to Barker, reached out -his hand and said with suppressed excitement: "Hello, Barker, I'm glad -to see you." - -"Hello, Hicks," replied the trapper, returning the salute without -offering his hand. "I can't say that I'm glad to see you." - -"Where are the boys?" asked Hicks. - -"My boys are back a way," Barker spoke firmly, the color rising in his -cheeks and his gray eyes flashing, "and you and yours aren't going to -touch them." - -Hicks turned white and made a movement as if to draw a pistol. - -Without a word from Barker three husky men sprang upon him and several -pistols covered the other two men, who were ordered to dismount. - -"Search him!" said Barker. "He is the man. I want to know why he wants -possession of the boys." - -Hicks tried to tell the lies about kidnapped nephews and stolen horses, -but the teamsters shook him into silence. - -"Close up," one of the men ordered. "You're too late; we know all about -you." - -A soiled piece of paper was found on Hicks. - - "The bearer of this," it read, "is to receive $10,000 if no - heirs of Col. Henry P. Deming are found before January first, - 1864. - - "John C. Chesterton." - -"What does it mean?" demanded Barker. - -"I don't know," protested Hicks. "I didn't know I had the rag and don't -know where it came from." - -"All right!" said the spokesman of the teamsters. "Boys, tie him to that -gum-tree. - -"Hicks, you have just five minutes to explain that paper and say -anything else you may want to say. - -"Take a look at your pistols, boys!" - -Hicks began to tremble. - -"Let me go," he groaned, "and I'll tell the truth." - -"Tell the truth!" shouted the men, "and we'll see." - -"Colonel Deming," Hicks began, "is the boys' grandfather. Their mother -married against his wishes. He disinherited her, and made a will that -Chesterton, a distant relative, should fall heir to the Deming -plantation, which is very valuable, if no children of his daughter were -found before January 1st, 1864. - -"Chesterton learned about the two lads and hired me to keep the two boys -out of sight. I didn't mean to harm them." - -"Like blazes you didn't!" cried the spokesman. "You deserted them when -the Indians broke out. - -"Boys, get a rope; the fellow is too rank rotten for our bullets!" - -An officer with a patrol came along and inquired what all the row was -about, and the teamsters told him the story, which was corroborated by -Barker. - -"I don't want him hanged," Barker added, "but I don't want to see his -face again. - -"Hicks," he spoke calmly, turning to the prisoner, "I'll shoot you on -sight, if you ever cross my trail again!" - -The officer thought a minute. - -"Let him go, men," he decided. "Don't soil your hands on him. - -"Here," he ordered two soldiers, "take him out of our lines to that open -field. He is to trot straight for the timber east. If he stops running, -you shoot him. - -"Hicks, if you ever show your face inside our lines again, we'll find a -tree for you pretty quick. March! - -"My regiment can make good use of these three horses." - -[Illustration: "Take him out of our lines to that open field."] - -"What about these two fellows? Can we hang them? We've got the rope all -ready." The men asked their questions half in earnest and half in grim -jest. - -"They were partners of Judas Hicks." - -The two prisoners protested their innocence, claiming that they had -believed the story of Hicks about kidnapped nephews and stolen horses. - -"Give us a chance to go back north or put us to work here. We're -innocent of any crime." - -"That sounds good," said the officer, "the transport _Northern Star_ -leaves for St. Louis to-night or to-morrow. She is short of men. Restler -and Stone, take these men back to Haynes Bluff and turn them over to the -captain of the _Northern Star_. Tell the captain he will furnish me a -good dinner when he returns from St. Louis." - -When the officer and his patrol had left, Barker turned to the group of -teamsters. - -"Men," he said, with a choking voice, "you have done me a great service -for which I can never repay you, but if you ever come north to -Minnesota, I'll show you the finest land the Lord put down on this -earth." - -"Will it grow cotton and sweet potatoes?" drawled one of the men. - -"No, it won't do that, but it will grow everything else. Corn and wheat, -fish and game, and great straight pines." - -The teams of wagons ahead began to move. The drivers cracked their whips -and called: "Good-bye, old man. You'll never see Hicks again. We'll come -north after we get through at Vicksburg." - -Barker went back and soon found Tatanka and the boys. - -The three were much stirred by the news about Hicks and his two friends. - -Tatanka did not try to conceal his disapproval of the escape of Hicks. - -"The mule-drivers were right," he growled. "Hicks was all bad and should -hang. I would have killed him and scalped him, too." - -"No, you red heathen," Barker laughed at him, "you wouldn't, you are not -in the country of murderous Little Crow. You are in the lines of -Christian soldiers. - -"You had better be careful with your big talk or the soldiers will put -you in the guardhouse." - -"I would be glad to live in the guardhouse, if I could first scalp -Hicks." - -"You wouldn't live in it very long. They would take you out and shoot -you." - -"They could," Tatanka persisted angrily, "if I had killed Hicks. A Sioux -is not afraid of death." - -"You black-souled Indian," Barker chided him good-naturedly. "I'm glad -you didn't see him. Now, we'll all walk back to town. It'll be -dinner-time when we get there. Tatanka, you'll feel less revengeful -after you have filled your ribs with pumpkin-pie and bacon. - -"After dinner you can scout for Hicks and if you find him, you may scalp -him, but if he keeps going the way he went across that field, he'll be -in Alabama to-night." - -In the afternoon the boys took a swim in the river and introduced -Tatanka to the ways and manners of a dugout. The lads had often traveled -in a dugout before they went to Minnesota, and they soon convinced -Tatanka that a log canoe was as safe as a birch canoe. In fact they -claimed it was much safer, "because," they said, "you can ride on either -side of it. You don't have to keep it right side up." - -Barker also went down to the Yazoo River and took his first lessons in -handling a dugout, but he soon returned to town to see if he couldn't -find some way of getting into Vicksburg. - -An old fisherman to whom Barker broached the subject, carefully, gave -him this advice: - -"Stranger," he said, "there be a fellow in the Union army somewhere. His -name is U. S. Grant. Ye may have heard of him. They say he is much set -on getting into that town. May be if ye and he put your heads together -ye can find a way to get in." - -"Look here, my friend," Barker replied, somewhat angered, "I have a very -good reason for wanting to get into Vicksburg." - -"I reckon ye have that," the old fisherman replied, testily. "I reckon -ye are a Confederate spy or a Federal spy. If ye are, ye'll have to find -your own way into town. Ye cant get me into trouble. Two of my sons are -in General Pemberton's army, if they haven't been killed. I'm too old to -fight, and I won't mix up with spies. Ye're the third stranger this week -that's talked to me about getting into Vicksburg, so ye'll have to -pardon me, if I'm a bit techy. I tell them all my boat's not running." - -Barker protested that he was neither a Confederate nor a Federal spy. - -"Well, if ye aren't a spy, ye can't get in. It's only birds and fish and -spies that can get in. We can't even smuggle in a side of bacon for our -boys. I hear they're eating rats and mules with young cane for -vegetables." - -Barker was silent. His sympathy went out to the old man, whom like -thousands north and south the great war had made sad and lonely. - -"If ye ain't a spy," the old man took up the conversation again, "I'll -give ye a bit of advice. Don't ye talk to anybody about getting into -Vicksburg. It's a bad subject for conversation just now at this place. - -"The Union men would turn ye over to the soldiers, and there are still -men here whose hearts are filled with hatred against the North. - -"When the war began I hated Lincoln and all men north. I have seen -enough of the men from the North that I hate them no more, but I am sad -and lonely and I pray that the war may soon end." - - - - -CHAPTER XXII--THE OLD TRAPPER'S SECRET - - -The next day the boys and Tatanka again traveled in a dugout up and down -the Yazoo River. Barker himself also went in a dugout within a mile or -two of the point where the Union line touched the Mississippi. - -He returned after the boys and Tatanka had gone to bed, but they were -still awake, because Tatanka had been telling them how many years ago, -he and five other men had gone on the warpath against the Chippewas, the -hereditary enemies of the Sioux. - -The Chippewas used to come down in canoes on the Mississippi and fall -upon an unsuspecting Sioux camp. After taking a scalp or two they would -leave their canoes and return north across the forest. The Sioux would -follow them, but they could seldom accomplish anything because they were -always in danger of being ambushed by the retreating Chippewas. It was -one of those stories Tatanka had just told with much detail. - -"Where have you been, Mr. Barker?" the lads asked. - -"I have been scouting," the old man answered, apparently in high -spirits. "I have taken a look at the rivers and the country and have -visited with soldiers and officers and other men. - -"I have also sent a letter to your parents." - -"How did you do that!" the boys inquired eagerly. - -"One of our soldiers tied it to a piece of green wood and threw it over -the Confederate breastworks. - -"It may not be delivered, but I took a chance at it." - -The boys asked many other questions, but the old man would not talk and -told the boys it was high time to go to sleep. - -In the morning he told them that they were all to walk down toward the -mouth of the Yazoo. - -"We may camp there somewhere to-night," he said, "and we may come back. -We'll put plenty of lunch in our pockets, but we leave all our stuff -right here." - -They did not have to walk all the way. Various conveyances were going in -their direction. It turned out that Barker didn't really want to go to -the mouth of the Yazoo; instead he took his party several miles farther -close to the bank of the Mississippi, about a mile above the place where -the Union line touched the river. Here they made camp under a clump of -low trees and Barker went to a neighboring farm house for a jug of -water. - -"We might as well eat," Barker suggested when he returned. "You boys -must be hungry as wolves after our long tramp this afternoon." - -"May we build a fire?" the boys asked. - -"No, I think we had better not," the old man replied. "It might attract -some visitors that we don't want to-night." - -In the far North, the midsummer twilights last a long time. Along the -international boundary one can read in the open until nine o'clock, but -in the South, daylight passes quickly into night. - -When the four travelers had finished their supper it was dark. - -"Mr. Barker," asked Tim, "are we going to stay here all night? It will -soon be pitch-dark." - -"Yes, it will be very dark. It is cloudy and it looks as if we might -have a storm," admitted the trapper. - -The lads were mystified by Barker's answer, but Bill felt that the -trapper did not wish to answer any questions and that he had some secret -plan to carry out. - -But little Tim was less discreet. "Shall we build a lean-to?" he asked. - -"No, Timmy," the old man answered, smiling. "I reckon we won't. If the -good Lord sends us a shower to-night, I reckon we'll just get wet. The -rains in this country are warm and it will not hurt us to get wet. - -"Let's go down to the river and see the water run by." - -The trapper led the way under tall trees, and the other three followed -in silence. If Tatanka knew anything about Barker's plan, he did not -betray his knowledge by either word or gesture. - -At the foot of a large sycamore Barker stopped. It was now so dark that -the trees across the river were not visible, but as the boys looked over -the steep bank they could just see the bulk of a large dugout swaying in -the current under some overhanging branches. - -"Oh, Mr. Barker," Bill whispered, "somebody keeps his boat here. Can you -see it?" - -"Yes, boys," the old man replied in a whisper. "I know about it. It's -our boat. I bought it yesterday. - -"Just slip down as quietly as you can and lie down in the middle of it. -Tatanka and I will do the paddling. - -"And no matter what happens, you boys keep quiet. We are going to -Vicksburg." - -"Mr. Barker, did you get a pass?" Tim whispered anxiously. - -"Never mind, Tim," Barker ordered, "you just lie still and keep quiet -now. Don't move and don't speak till I tell you." - -Sitting low in the bottom of the craft, Barker and the Indian paddled -the large dugout into midstream, where both shores were lost. For a -little while they paddled without making the slightest noise, as if they -were hunting moose or deer on their northern streams. Then Barker lifted -his paddle out of the water. - -"Down!" he whispered. "Lie flat and drift." - -For some time the dugout drifted like a dead log swinging around to -right and left with the current. The boys lay absolutely still, hearing -their own hearts beat and listening to the low sound of the current -against the sides of the dugout. - -Barker rose up slowly. "Paddle," he whispered; "we are drifting into the -timber." - -Again they paddled in silence. - -A flash of lightning threw a gleam of light over the dark water. A -dugout shot out from under the timber on the west bank. - -"Who goes there? Halt!" a low deep voice called, and the four travelers -heard the click of two guns. - -"We are friends," Barker replied. - -"Pull in here!" the order came from the other craft. - -Barker steered toward the shore and found himself alongside of two -Confederate dugouts, with two men in each. - -The leader flashed a lantern at the travelers. - -"Who are you and where are you going?" he demanded. "Get out; we have to -search you." - -The searchers found a piece of fresh beef and two loaves of bread and -some coffee. - -"That's rich pickings," the leader commented. "We haven't had any beef -between our teeth for two weeks. - -"Come back in the woods a way and we'll roast some of it, right away. -But we can't build a fire here. The Yanks have a lot of ammunition to -waste and they might shoot some Minie balls at our camp-fire." - -Their four captors seemed hungry, for they ate all the bread and meat -and drank the coffee as if they had been crossing a desert. - -"That was good of you," the leader remarked. "Wheat-bread, beef, and -coffee are rather scarce in our town just now. We've been living on -corn-meal and mule-steak. - -"Now, Stenson," he continued, "you take this bunch down to the -guard-house and they can tell their story to the provost marshal in the -morning. I reckon they don't care to be shot before daylight." - -"Mr. Barker," Tim asked, after they had been locked in a small room, "do -you think they will shoot us?" - -"Don't worry, boys," Barker said kindly. "We haven't done anything they -can shoot us for. Just lie down and go to sleep. Thank God, we're in -Vicksburg at last." - -The examination next morning was not very formidable. It was easy for -Barker to prove that he and his company were not Northern spies; -moreover the meeting of the boys with their parents convinced the -military authorities that Barker had told them the exact truth. - -"But how did you get past the Union gunboats?" one of the officers -inquired. "Did you get a pass?" - -"If you please, gentlemen," the old trapper replied with a shrewd smile, -"you see we got by and I reckon as long as we don't want to pass them -again, it really makes no difference how we did it." - -The officer was satisfied, but one of his colleagues took up the -inquiry. - -"My friend," he said, with a suppressed smile, "you have shown some -ability as a blockade-runner, but your naval architecture is peculiar. -Why did you nail that sheet iron to the inside of your ship? Don't you -know that it is customary to put the iron on the outside?" - -At this question everybody laughed good-naturedly and with a broad grin, -the old man replied: - -"Well, you see, gentlemen, I had undertaken to deliver those lads alive -in Vicksburg, and I was afraid that some of your men might fire at us -before we had time to surrender. I was in a bit of a hurry when I -converted that dugout into an iron-clad and I was afraid that she -wouldn't navigate well if I nailed the iron to the outside, because I -was too much rushed to make a good job of it." - -"Well," the presiding officer decided, "I guess we'll have to let you -stay. It would be cruel to send you back. Those Yankee gunners might -start practicing on you. Too bad you couldn't smuggle in a little more -fresh beef and coffee and white bread." - -"Should have been mighty glad to do it," the trapper assented, and at -that the court adjourned. - -The parents of the lads had received most of the letters the boys and -Barker had sent, including the one thrown over the Confederate parapets. - -Of Hicks they had neither heard nor seen anything, and by his silence he -stood condemned. - -Like most people in Vicksburg during the siege, the Fergusons lived in a -cave, where they were fairly safe from mortar shells and Parrott shells -which the Union gunboats and batteries threw into the city every day. - -For the sum of fifteen dollars two negroes dug a cave for Barker and -Tatanka. Cave-digging had become a profession in Vicksburg and many of -the colored men made good wages at it. - -Barker and his party had heard a great deal of shooting and cannonading -but now they were in the city at which the guns were aimed. - -The mortar-boats, anchored below the city, did most of the bombarding. -The mortars were short guns throwing large shells. They had to be aimed -high and the shell fell almost vertically or with a great high curve. - -This vertical fire did not do very much damage, but it drove practically -the whole civilian population into caves in the high clay-banks. The -civilians who had remained in Vicksburg had done so against the wishes -of General Pemberton, and they were now living in constant terror of the -shells, although very few people were injured or killed. - -On the second day of Barker's stay in Vicksburg, the bombardment, -beginning at daylight, was especially heavy. Many of the people of -Vicksburg had become so accustomed to the rushing and exploding of the -shells that they gathered at various high points to watch the shells fly -and drop. - -Barker tried to induce Tatanka to go with him to Sky Parlor Hill, a high -point where a good many people had assembled, but Tatanka would not -come. - -He sat in front of his cave and whenever he saw or heard a shell, he -ducked into the cave as the boys expressed it. - -"No, my friend," he said to Barker. "If you said I should fight -Chippewas on Sky Parlor Hill, I would come, but of the big roaring -shells I am afraid." - -It was in vain that Barker and the boys explained to him that the -mortars were not shooting at Sky Parlor Hill, and that the big guns -could not aim at any one person. He wouldn't leave the entrance of the -cave. - -"You go and come back and tell me," he said. "I like this place better -than Sky Parlor Hill. May be I shall go with you to-morrow." - -At night the mortar shells with their fuses made a wonderful display of -grim fireworks. After the shells rose to the greatest height, they fell -so rapidly that a trail of fire seemed to be following them. Generally -when a shell struck the ground or a building, it exploded, but some -remained dead, owing to imperfect fuses, like a fire-cracker that does -not go off. - -A district in which the shells fell was at once deserted; and some caves -sold very cheap, because their owners did not consider them safe. - -The Parrott shells fired from the besieging batteries were more feared -and did more damage than the mortar shells thrown by the fleet. One of -those came with a horrid shriek and buried itself in the ground in front -of the cave in which the boys and their parents were eating their -supper. Although the shell did not explode, Tatanka was so scared by it -that for the rest of the evening, he would not leave his cave at all. - -The next morning, through the courtesy of an officer, Barker received -permission for himself and his company to visit the quarters of the -officer, a few hundred yards in the rear of the Confederate -fortifications. - -Here the ground was everywhere strewn with fragments of shells, and with -flattened and twisted Minie balls which had struck the trees before they -had dropped as spent balls. Among the broken shells the ground was -peppered with the bullets from exploded shrapnels. - -The quarters of the officer were practically a cave, or rather what the -early settlers on the Western plains called a dugout. It was built on -the same plan on which boys build their little caves to play Indian or -Robinson Crusoe, only it was larger and more commodious. Its opening -faced west, away from Union and Confederate lines. Its roof of logs and -earth was strong enough to afford perfect protection against rifle fire -and shrapnel, and it was so located that heavy shells were not at all -likely to strike it. - -In this place the officer received and made his reports, and here he -rested or slept, when he was off duty. However, his hours of rest and -sleep were very few, because the Confederate regiments were so -shorthanded both in officers and men that there was little time for rest -and sleep. - -The Confederate soldiers had orders not to fire unless they were -attacked, because they were short of ammunition, but from the Union -lines a more or less constant fire of small arms, shrapnel, and heavy -guns was kept up day after day. - -A pouring rain came up while the four friends were at the quarters of -the officer. A torrent of muddy water broke through the roof, a big lump -of wet dirt fell on the bed, and mud and water covered the floor. The -four guests fell to and piled bed, chairs, and table in the dryest -corner and protected the clothes and blankets of their host as well as -they could, but the place looked as if it could never be made fit to use -again. But when Captain Dent arrived, he just laughed at the whole mess, -as he called it. - -"It's just one of the little accidents of war," he added. "My man, -Harris, will put this cabin in good shape before dark. This is nothing -at all. Just think of our starving boys in the rifle-pits. They often -have to stand and lie in the mud all day. - -"If you gentlemen will lend me a hand, we'll deepen the trench around -this mansion and stop the leak in the roof. - -"You must all stay for supper," the captain insisted, when the work was -done. "I have invited three young officers. You'll enjoy the company, -and if you Northerners are not too particular, you can have plenty to -eat." - -Harris, the colored man, began cooking, while Captain Dent showed his -visitors around and told them of many interesting incidents connected -with the siege. - -Then the guests came and Harris announced supper. - -"Captain," one of the young men asked, "what's this savory dish your man -is serving us?" - -"That," the captain asserted, without changing a muscle on his -weather-browned face, "that's moose-tongue; moose-tongue from Minnesota. -My friend here brought it down." - -"Tied him behind your boat, I suppose?" queried the second guest. - -"Oh, no; not at all," Barker promptly entered into the spirit of the -company. "We used him as motive power. He pulled us clear into town." - -The third guest and the boys looked a little puzzled. - -"You see," the trapper quickly explained, "he was a Chippewa moose and -dreadfully scared of a Sioux. My friend, Tatanka, here, is a Sioux. Had -an awful time getting the beast to stop for camp. Was bound to keep -going as long as Tatanka was sitting behind him." - -A ringing laugh went around the table. - -"Sir Barker," the captain took up the conversation, "how many tongues -did he have?" - -"Well, sir," the trapper drawled out, "from the noise he could make, I -should say about six, sir. He was sure a wonderful beast. We were going -to exhibit him in town, but the Quartermaster General took such a liking -to him that we had to give him up." - -Again a peal of laughter went around the table. - -"Harris," said the third guest, "you've garnished that moose-tongue with -green asparagus. Looks almighty appetizing. Where did you get it?" - -"Wai, massa, I tell you. I cut it myself in de cane-brake in de nex' -ravine. De Good Lord hab started a 'sparagus plantation dere, sure -'nuf," and a broad smile spread over Harris's face like sunshine. He had -really done his best to prepare a feast for his master and now he was -happy because his master was pleased. - -"Gentlemen, fall to," the captain urged. "We have here the very best -dinner Vicksburg has to offer. The Planters Hotel could not beat it, if -President Davis himself was the guest of the city." - -By this time the boys had recovered from their embarrassment because -they saw the men all acting like happy boys. They had never suspected -that their fatherly friend, Barker, was so much of a boy, who could -laugh and cut up. - -They fell to as heartily as all the older boys, although the scene of -Old Harmony's team of six rolling down the bluff at Fort Ridgely flashed -through their minds. - -"It tastes just like beef-tongue," Tim remarked to Bill. - -For the present, both host and guests forgot the dangers, the sufferings -and the horrors of war. They were all just boys at dinner. - -When the company one after the other, began to sniff at the odor of -coffee, Captain Dent called aloud for Harris. - -"Look here, you black rascal," he accosted the surprised cook, "what are -you making that smell of coffee with? There hasn't been any coffee in -town for a week." - -"Massa, dat coffee smell is sure no ghost. Dat hunter geman from de -North gib it to me and some sugar, too." - -"Where did you get it?" the officers asked with one voice. - -"Trapped it, just trapped it. I caught the coffee, and Tatanka crawled -up on the sugar." - -A loud boyish laugh rang around the table. - -"Three cheers for Barker and Tatanka. May they hunt long and prosper," -the oldest officer proposed, and Bill and Tim joined heartily in the -cheers. - -"Mr. Barker," cried the captain, "you and Tatanka paddle your iron-clad -up the river and crawl up on some more coffee and sugar." - -How much little gifts of luxuries brighten the life of soldiers in the -field can perhaps only be appreciated by those who have for weeks or -months been reduced to the barest necessities of life. - -After dinner, both host and guests opened their treasure-troves of -stories, serious and comic. Then the young officers formed an impromptu -trio and many songs, sprung up during the great siege, rang through the -warm summer night, new words set to old tunes. - - "'Twas at the siege of Vicksburg, - Of Vicksburg, of Vicksburg. - 'Twas at the siege of Vicksburg, - When the Parrott shells were whistling through the air. - Listen to the Parrott shells, - Listen to the Parrott shells, - The Parrott shells are whistling through the air." - -Shortly after ten the young officers bade farewell to their host and -friends, for at eleven they, as well as Captain Dent, went on duty with -their men, behind the parapets and at the batteries. - -For a few brief hours they had forgotten sorrow and hunger and the -oppressive gloom of probable surrender, which like a hideous specter -seemed to come creeping a little closer every day. - -They might attempt to cut their way out, but the loss of life would be -enormous and the sacrifice would most likely be utterly useless. - -Barker and Tatanka with the boys returned to town on a dark winding -road. - -Down the river they could again see the mortar shells draw their fiery -curves and after the rise and fall of the fire trail, as Tatanka called -it, came the deep booming of the explosion. - -Like the officers, they also were thrown back into besieged and -bombarded Vicksburg, after a few happy hours of jovial company. - -"We should sleep in the woods to-night and not go back to town," Tatanka -suggested. - -"White men can't sleep in the woods without blankets," the trapper -replied. "We'll go back to our caves. If we didn't, the father and -mother of the boys would be worried." - -"I think," Tatanka pointed out, after he had watched a shell drop, "some -day a big fire-ball will shoot through the roof of our cave and kill us -all. We should live in the woods." - -"My friend, we can't live in the woods." Barker tried to instruct and -calm his fears. "Shrapnel and rifle fire from the Union lines sweep the -woods everywhere. We would have to dig a cave there. - -"If the mortars or Parrott guns begin to drop shells near us, we will -move to another place. Until they do, we are safe. Now, don't be a -squaw, Tatanka. Chippewas and hostile Sioux have fired at you many -times. Those big shells hardly ever hit anybody; all they do is to bury -and bust themselves in the clay." - -"All the same," the Indian persisted, "I don't like them. I can't fight -them back. I wish we were home in Minnesota. I would not be afraid of -fighting Chippewas or bad Sioux. Are we going back soon?" - -"We can't start back until after the siege," Barker explained, somewhat -impatiently. - -"Couldn't we slip out at night?" Tatanka asked. - -"We are not going to try it. The gunners on the boats would sink us or -shoot us as spies or blockade-runners. I'm all-fired glad that we got in -without being sunk or shot. We're not going to try to get out." - -"How long is the siege going to last?" Bill asked. - -"It can't last much longer, because there is but little food left. The -men are all weak and live on half-rations." - -"Couldn't they cut their way out!" Tim asked timidly. - -"They can't do it. Grant has twice as many men as Pemberton, and Grant's -men are all strong and have plenty of food and ammunition." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII--THE LAST DAYS OF VICKSBURG - - -It had taken Grant a whole year to place his army in position on the -hills in the rear of Vicksburg, but he had stuck to the campaign with -the tenacity of a bulldog. - -At first he had tried to move his army south by rail from Memphis, but -Van Dorn had destroyed his supplies and cut the railroad. - -He had tried to get his army below Vicksburg through various channels -and bayous on the west side of the great river, but had found this plan -impossible. - -He had tried to come down by way of the Yazoo and other water-courses on -the east side of the Mississippi, and had had a narrow escape from -disaster. The Confederates had felled trees across the narrow channels -and had built Fort Pemberton of mud and cotton-bales, which the Union -men found they could not pass, and in the end they were glad to get out -of the maze of water-courses and endless swamps and forests. - -Then he had dug a canal across a neck of land below Vicksburg, but the -river had risen and had filled the canal with sand and mud. - -At last, Admiral Porter's gunboats and transports had rapidly run the -batteries of Vicksburg on a dark night. Grant had marched his army past -Vicksburg on the west side of the river. He had crossed the river at -Bruinsburg and in a most daring manner he had cut loose from any base of -supplies. With five days' rations in their knapsacks his men had for -nearly three weeks lived on the country, had quickly turned from one -hostile army upon the other and defeated them in detail. They had driven -Pemberton into Vicksburg. They had built two lines of fortifications, -one facing west against Pemberton in Vicksburg, and one facing east -against Johnston, and since the nineteenth of May they held Pemberton in -the wooded hills two miles east of Vicksburg. - -Grant's army, consisting of only about 40,000 men at first, had now been -strengthened to more than 70,000 men. Since the middle of June, -Vicksburg was so closely besieged that not even a rowboat could get in -or out. - -On the twenty-second of May, Grant had tried to take the town by -assault, but the Confederates put up such a stubborn defense that the -attempt failed. Since that time, the Union army had carried on a regular -siege with the intention of starving Vicksburg and the Confederate army -into surrender. - -The Northern soldiers had destroyed the railroad east of Vicksburg, so -that Johnston could not quickly move upon them and soon the Union army -was so strong that Grant could have fought Pemberton and Johnston at the -same time. The Union army had now plenty of food and ammunition and was -strongly entrenched, while the fall of Vicksburg and the surrender of -Pemberton's brave army seemed only a matter of time. - -By the first of July, it became evident that Johnston would not be able -to relieve either the city or the garrison. - -Provisions were nearly gone and the men were exhausted by continuous -duty and watching and through the incessant bombardments by the Union -troops. - -On the third of July, Generals Pemberton and Grant met between the lines -for a brief conference. - -On the Fourth, the white flag floated over Vicksburg. The Gibraltar of -the Mississippi had surrendered and 31,000 brave Confederate soldiers -had become prisoners of war. - -Grant treated the prisoners with every consideration. Rations were -issued to them by their captors, and the men who for months had faced -each other as enemies became friends. The prisoners were not sent north, -but men as well as officers were paroled and turned over to Major Watts, -Confederate Commissioner for the Exchange of Prisoners. - -There was no cheer or taunt from the Federal soldiers, who stood at arms -as the prisoners marched out of the city; they seemed to feel sorry for -the fate of their late enemies. Haggard from the hardships of the siege, -the men marched out in silence. Sad and silent the officers rode away on -tired and dispirited horses, that had for weeks fed on nothing but -mulberry leaves. - -In the city also, friendly relations were at once established between -the Union soldiers and the inhabitants, nor was there a lack of comic -and funny incidents. - -A negro servant, overcome by his desire to shine, rode about the city on -his master's silver-mounted saddle. After an hour, he returned with a -very long face and a very old saddle. - -"George, where is my saddle!" asked his master. - -"I met a big Yankee soldier and he says to me, 'You get off dat horse. -I's gwine to hab dat fine saddle.' - -"I wa'n't gwine to git off, but he pointed his pistol at me, and he -says, 'You black nigger, you git off,' and I got off, and he gives me -dis old saddle." - -The fall of Vicksburg was an important event in the Civil War. A few -days later, on the ninth of July, Port Hudson, the last Confederate -stronghold on the Mississippi, also surrendered, giving the Federals -complete control of the great river and cutting the Confederacy in two -by detaching Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. - -The Civil War settled a great question which had grown so vexing that no -man or party was great enough to settle it, without appeal to arms. It -brought untold sadness and suffering to thousands of homes, both North -and South, but the South suffered much more than the North. - -It taught a great moral lesson and set a great example to the world, not -merely of bravery and self-denial--that other nations have shown and are -showing now--it showed to the world the greatest example of speedy -reconciliation after the war. Had Lincoln lived through the painful days -of reconstruction, the bitterness and hatred caused by the war would -have vanished even sooner. But even with the Great Captain passed away, -the best men North and South set earnestly to work, as soon as the war -was over, to bind up and heal the nation's wounds. - -A few years ago the Veterans in Blue and the Veterans in Grey met in a -friendly reunion on the once blood-drenched field of Gettysburg. It was -the greatest example of reconciliation the world has ever seen, an -example, a living sermon, which a war-torn world will sadly need in the -near future. - -Barker and his boys did not remain long in Vicksburg. As Jacob of old -was persuaded by his sons to travel to distant Egypt, so old Seth -Ferguson was led by his sons to the balmy fertile prairies of the -Sky-tinted River. - -In peace and happy reunion the Ferguson family with Barker and Tatanka -as guides, traveled up the Mississippi River by steamboat, and the boys -never tired of pointing out to their parents the spots where they had -camped and the cliffs and bluffs they had climbed. - -In the bottoms of the upper river, great masses of asters fringed the -brown sandbars. When the party reached Fort Ridgely, the Minnesota -prairie was ablaze with goldenrod, sunflowers, and purple stars, and the -blackbirds were gathering in great flocks on the marshes in anticipation -of feasting on the crops of wild rice, for which they have a great -liking. - -After having spent almost a year on the Great River, the lads found -their weather-beaten shanty spared by the furors of war, but the wild -prairie had already begun to reclaim its own, as if impatient of human -intrusion. - -In the boys' garden patch, concealed by great rag-weeds and rich-scented -milkweeds, a woodchuck had dug his den. A jungle of velvet-leaved false -sunflowers almost barred the way to the cabin door. In a corner under -the boys' bunk, a family of chipmunks had established themselves and -with mumpsy-looking cheeks were racing back and forth laying in a store -of wild hazelnuts and long rice-like grains of speargrass. - -"You are lucky," Tatanka remarked, "that Manka, the skunk, has not made -his tunnels under your house. He would be hard to move." - -Seth Ferguson filed on the claim on which the boys had lived. - -The woodchuck was allowed possession of the garden-patch until next -spring, but Bill and Tim harvested an abundant crop of the wild fruit of -the land--butternuts, hazelnuts, wild grapes, chokeberries and rich -sweet plums. - -Barker did not return to following the trail of minks and foxes, but -like the Fergusons broke up the virgin prairie to raise wheat and corn. -When he grew too old to walk behind the plow, he gave his farm to his -boys, Bill and Tim, who, a few years later, carried him to his last -resting-place on the bluff overlooking the winding Minnesota River. - -Tatanka, with some other friendly Sioux, was assigned land on the -Redwood River, where his descendants live to this day. - -The great war in the South, and the bloody tragedy of Minnesota are seen -to-day through the mellow light of history. There is no longer -bitterness and hatred between white men and red men, between North and -South. - -On the Fourth of July, the bright Stars and Stripes float over North and -South, over the Indian settlement on the Redwood, and over the white -men's towns around them. The tomahawk has been buried forever, but the -Indian youths meet the white lads from farms and towns, all armed with -bats and mitts, in the great American national game, the game that is -destined to conquer the world with the gospel of vigor and good will. - -The Minnesota, Sky-tinted Water, and the Mississippi, the Everywhere -River, wind their way to the Gulf as of yore, in beauty and grandeur. - -And here ends our tale of two wars and of the Lure of the Great River. - - THE END. - - - - -ON THE TRAIL OF THE SIOUX - -The Adventures of Two Boy Scouts on the Minnesota Frontier - -By D. LANGE - -Illustrated 12mo Cloth Price, Net, $1.25 - -This story was written by a prominent educator to satisfy the insistent -demand of active boys for an "Indian Story," as well as to help them to -understand what even the young endured in the making of our country. The -story is based on the last desperate stand of the brave and warlike -Sioux tribes against the resistless tide of white men's civilization, -the thrilling scenes of which were enacted on the Minnesota frontier in -the early days of the Civil War. - -"It is a book which will appeal to young and old alike, as the incidents -are historically correct and related in a wide-awake -manner."--_Philadelphia Press._ - -"It seems like a strange, true story more than fiction. It is well -written and in good taste, and it can be commended to all boy readers -and to many at their elders."--_Hartford Times._ - -THE SILVER ISLAND OF THE CHIPPEWA - -By D. LANGE - -Illustrated 12mo Cloth Price, Net, $1.35 - -Here is a boys' book that tells of the famous Silver Island in Lake -Superior from which it is a fact that ore to the value of $3,089,000 was -taken, and represents a youth of nineteen and his active small brother -aged eleven as locating it after eight months of wild life, during which -they wintered on Isle Royale. Their success and escape from a murderous -half-breed are due to the friendship of a noble Chippewa Indian, and -much is told of Indian nature and ways by one who thoroughly knows the -subject. - -"There is no call to buy cheap, impossible stuff for boys' reading while -there is such a book as this available."--_Philadelphia Inquirer._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -LOST IN THE FUR COUNTRY - -By D. LANGE - -Illustrated 12mo cloth $1.25 _net_ - -Mr. Lange is the superintendent of schools, St. Paul, Minn., and is -famed for his knowledge of both natural and political history. He is -also an expert in the very difficult art of interesting boys -_profitably_, and has proved it to a very wide circle by his previous -books. His third book, also an Indian story, has the elements of -popularity: mystery, peril, and daring, told in graphic style, and -presenting Indian nature and the general life of the great wild regions -in the North with both charm and authority. - -"It is a thrilling story of Indian life. The author knows his subject -thoroughly and writes with admirable simplicity and -directness."--_Examiner-Watchman._ - -IN THE GREAT WILD NORTH - -By D. LANGE - -Illustrated by W. L. Howes - -12mo Cloth Price, $1.25 _net_ - -The story opens at a Hudson Bay trading post, where the father of a -sturdy Scotch lad, Steve McLean, is in charge. Wishing a home of their -own, Steve and his father, with a faithful Indian as guide, make a -five-hundred-mile canoe trip to Red River, and join in one of great -historic buffalo hunts, after which they make a thrilling escape from -the hostile Blackfeet Indians. Then comes a most adventurous trip down -the Arkansas River to the Mississippi and thence to St. Louis, where the -story closes happily. It gives a stirring, accurate and fascinating -account of pioneer life as the hardy men and boys of earlier days knew -it. - -"Mr. Lange's volume gives a faithful account of early pioneer days and -hardships, introducing much valuable knowledge of Indian craft and wild -life."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -Books by Everett T. Tomlinson. - -THE WAR OF 1812 SERIES - -Seven volumes Cloth Illustrated Price, Net, $1.35 each - -No American writer for boys has ever occupied a higher position than Dr. -Tomlinson, and the "War of 1812 Series" covers a field attempted by no -other juvenile literature in a manner that has secured continued -popularity. - - The Search for Andrew Field - The Boy Soldiers of 1812 - The Boy Officers of 1812 - Teeumseh's Young Braves - Guarding the Border - The Boys with Old Hickory - The Boy Sailors of 1812 - -ST. LAWRENCE SERIES - -Cloth Illustrated Price, Net, $1.35 each - -The author stands in the very front rank in ability to instruct the -young while entertaining them and here presents a series in his best and -strongest vein. A party of boys, fascinated by the glowing narrative of -Parkman, spend several summers in camp and on the majestic St. Lawrence, -tracing the footsteps of the early explorers, and having the best time -imaginable in combining pleasure with information. - -CAMPING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE, Or, On the Trail of the Early Discoverers - -THE HOUSE-BOAT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE, Or, Following Frontenac - -CRUISING IN THE ST. LAWRENCE, Or, A Summer Vacation in Historic Waters - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -THE BOY ELECTRICIAN - -Practical Plans for Electrical Toys and Apparatus, with an Explanation -of the Principles of Every-Day Electricity - -By ALFRED P. MORGAN - -Author of "Wireless Telegraphy Construction for Amateurs" and "Wireless -Telegraphy and Telephony" - -300 illustrations and working drawings by the author - -Net, $2.00 Postpaid, $2.25 - -This is the age of electricity. The most fascinating of all books for a -boy must, therefore, be one dealing with the mystery of this ancient -force and modern wonder. The best qualified of experts to instruct boys -has in a book far superior to any other of its kind told not only how to -MAKE all kinds of motors, telegraphs, telephones, batteries, etc., but -how these appliances are used in the great industrial world. - -"Of all books recently published on practical electricity for the -youthful electricians, it is doubtful if there is even one among them -that is more suited to this field. This work is recommended to every one -interested in electricity and the making of electrical -appliances."--_Popular Electricity and Modern Mechanics._ - -"This is an admirably complete and explicit handbook for boys who fall -under the spell of experimenting and 'tinkering' with electrical -apparatus. Simple explanations of the principles involved make the -operation readily understandable."--_Boston Transcript._ - -"Any boy who studies this book, and applies himself to the making and -operating of the simple apparatus therein depicted, will be usefully and -happily employed. He will, furthermore, be developing into a useful -citizen. For this reason we recommend it as an excellent gift for all -boys with energy, application, and ambition."--_Electrical Record, N. Y. -City._ - -"A book to delight the hearts of ten thousand--perhaps fifty -thousand-American boys who are interested in wireless telegraphy and -that sort of thing. Any boy who has even a slight interest in things -electrical, will kindle with enthusiasm at sight of this -book."--_Chicago News._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS - -Edited by PAUL WITHINGTON - -With many reproductions of photographs, and with diagrams - -8vo Net, $1.50 Postpaid, $1.70 - -Nearly thirty college stars and champions, men like Dr. Kraenzlein, -Thorpe, Ketcham, "Sammy" White, "Eddie" Hart, Ralph Craig, "Hurry Up" -Yost, Jay Camp, Homer, Jackson, F. D. Huntingdon, R. Norris Williams, -"Eddie" Mahan, and many more tell the best there is to tell about every -form of athletic contest of consequence. In charge of the whole work is -Paul Withington, of Harvard, famous as football player, oarsman, -wrestler and swimmer. - -"Here is a book that will serve a purpose and satisfy a need. Every -important phase of sport in school and college is discussed within its -covers by men who have achieved eminent success in their line. Methods -of training, styles of play, and directions for attaining success are -expounded in a clear, forceful, attractive manner."--_Harvard Monthly._ - -"The book is made up under the direction of the best qualified editor to -be found, Paul Withington, who is one of America's greatest amateur -athletes, and who has the intellectual ability and high character -requisite for presenting such a book properly. The emphasis placed upon -clean living, fair play and moderation in all things makes this book as -desirable educationally as it is in every other way."--_Outdoor Life._ - -"That Mr. Withington's book will be popular we do not doubt. For it -contains a series of expert treatises on all important branches of -outdoor sports. A very readable, practical, well-illustrated -book."--_Boston Herald._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -U. S. SERVICE SERIES - -By Francis Rolt-Wheeler - -Illustrated from photographs taken in work for U. S. Government - -Large 12mo Cloth $1.35 each, net - -"There are no better books for boys than Francis Rolt-Wheeler's 'U. S. -Service Series.'"--_Chicago Record-Herald._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. SURVEY - -This story describes the thrilling adventures of members of the U. S. -Geological Survey, graphically woven into a stirring narrative that both -pleases and instructs. The author enjoys an intimate acquaintance with -the chiefs of the various bureaus in Washing, ton, and is able to obtain -at first hand the material for his books. - -"There is abundant charm and vigor in the narrative which ii sure to -please the boy readers and will do much toward stimulating their -patriotism by making them alive to the needs of conservation of the vast -resources of their country."--_Chicago News._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FORESTERS - -The life of a typical boy is followed in all its adventurous detail--the -mighty representative of our country's government, though young in -years--a youthful monarch in a vast domain of forest. Replete with -information, alive with adventure, and inciting patriotism at every -step, this handsome book is one to be instantly appreciated. - -"It is a fascinating romance of real life in our country, and will prove -a great pleasure and inspiration to the boys who read it."--_The -Continent, Chicago._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. CENSUS - -Through the experiences of a bright American boy, the author shows how -the necessary information is gathered. The securing of this often -involves hardship and peril, requiring journeys by dog-team in the -frozen North and by launch in the alligator-filled Everglades of -Florida, while the enumerator whose work lies among the dangerous -criminal classes of the greater cities must take his life in his own -hands. - -"Every young man should read this story from cover to cover, thereby -getting a clear conception of conditions as they exist to-day, for such -knowledge will have a clean, invigorating and healthy Influence on the -young growing and thinking mind."--_Boston Globe._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -U. S. SERVICE SERIES - -By FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER - -Many illustrations from photographs taken in work for U.S. Government - -Large 12mo Cloth Net $1.35 per volume - -"There are no better books for boys than Francis Rolt-Wheeler's 'U.S. -Service Series.'"--_Chicago Record-Herald._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FISHERIES - -With a bright, active American youth as a hero, is told the story of the -Fisheries, which in their actual importance dwarf every other human -industry. The book does not lack thrilling scenes. The far Aleutian -Islands have witnessed more desperate sea-fighting than has occurred -elsewhere since the days of the Spanish buccaneers, and pirate craft, -which the U. S, Fisheries must watch, rifle in hand, are prowling in the -Behring Sea to-day. The fish-farms of the United States are as -interesting as they are immense in their scope. - -"One of the best books for boys of all ages, so attractively written and -illustrated as to fascinate the reader into staying up until all hours -to finish ..."--_Philadelphia Despatch._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. INDIANS - -This book tells all about the Indian as he really was and is; the -Menominee in his birch-bark canoe; the Iroquois in his wigwam in the -forest; the Sioux of the plains upon his war-pony; the Apache, cruel and -unyielding as his arid desert; the Pueblo Indians, with remains of -ancient Spanish civilization lurking in the fastnesses of their massed -communal dwellings; the Tlingit of the Pacific Coast, with his -totem-poles. With a typical bright American youth as a central figure, a -good idea of a great field of national activity is given, and made -thrilling in its human side by the heroism demanded by the little-known -adventures of those who do the work of "Uncle Sam." - -"An exceedingly Interesting Indian story, because it is true, and not -merely a dramatic and picturesque incident of Indian life."--_N. Y. -Times._ - -"It tells the Indian's story in a way that will fascinate the -Youngster."--_Rochester Herald._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -U. S. SERVICE SERIES - -By FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER - -Many Illustrations from photographs taken in work for U. S. Government - -Large 12mo Cloth Net, $1.35 each - -"There are no better books for boys than Francis Rolt-Wheeler's 'U. S. -Service Series.'"--_Chicago Record-Herald._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. EXPLORERS - -The hero saves the farm in Kansas, which his father is not able to keep -up, through a visit to Washington which results in making the place a -kind of temporary experiment station. Wonderful facts of plant and -animal life are brought out, and the boy wins a trip around the world -with his friend, the agent. This involves many adventures, while -exploring the Chinese country for the Bureau of Agriculture. - -"Boys will be delighted with this story, which is one that inspires the -readers with the ideals of industry, thrift and uprightness of -conduct."--_Argus-Leader, Portland, Me._ - -The billows surge and thunder through this book, heroism and the gallant -facing of peril are wrought into its very fabric, and the Coast Guard -has endorsed its accuracy. The stories of the rescue of the engineer -trapped on a burning ship, and the pluck of the men who built the -Smith's Point Lighthouse are told so vividly that it is hard to keep -from cheering aloud. - -"This is an ideal book for boys because it is natural, inspiring, and of -unfailing interest from cover to cover."--_Marine Journal._ - -THE BOY WITH THE U. S. MAIL - -How much do you know of the working of the vast and wonderful Post -Office Department? The officials of this department have, as in the case -of all other Departments covered in this series, extended their courtesy -to Dr. Rolt-Wheeler to enable him to tell us about one of the most -interesting forms of Uncle Sam's care for us. - -"Stamp collecting, carrier pigeons, aeroplanes, detectives, hold-ups, -tales of the Overland trail and the Pony Express, Indians, Buffalo -Bill--what boy would not be delighted with a book in which all these -fascinating things are to be found?"--_Universalist Leader._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES - -By A. T. DUDLEY - -Cloth, 12mo - -Illustrated by Charles Copeland - -Price, net $1.25 each - -FOLLOWING THE BALL - -Here is an up-to-date story presenting American boarding-school life and -modern athletics. Football is an important feature, but it is a story of -character formation in which athletics play an important part. - -"Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor, -giving the book the best of moral tone."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ - -MAKING THE NINE - -The life presented is that of a real school, interesting, diversified, -and full of striking incidents, while the characters are true and -consistent types of American boyhood and youth. The athletics are -technically correct, abounding in helpful suggestions, and the moral -tone is high and set by action rather than preaching. - -"The story is healthful, for, while it exalts athletics, it does not -overlook the fact that studious habits and noble character are -imperative needs for those who would win success in life."--_Herald and -Presbyter, Cincinnati._ - -IN THE LINE - -Tells how a stalwart young student won his position as guard, and at the -same time made equally marked progress in the formation of character. -Plenty of jolly companions contribute a strong, humorous element, and -the book has every essential of a favorite. - -"The book gives boys an interesting story, much football information, -and many lessons in true manliness."--_Watchman, Boston._ - -WITH MASK AND MITT - -While baseball plays an important part in this story, it is not the only -element of attraction. While appealing to the natural normal tastes of -boys for fun and interest in the national game, the book, without -preaching, lays emphasis on the building up of character. - -"No normal boy who is interested in our great national game can fail to -find interest and profit, too, in this lively boarding school -story."--_Interior, Chicago._ - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES - -By A. T. DUDLEY - -Cloth 12mo Illustrated Price, net $1.25 each - -THE GREAT YEAR - -Three fine, manly comrades, respectively captains of the football, -baseball, and track and field athletic teams, make a compact to support -each other so that they may achieve a "great year" of triple victory -over their traditional rival, "Hillbury." - -THE YALE CUP - -The "Cup" is an annual prize given by a club of Yale alumni to the -member of the Senior class of each of several preparatory schools who -best combines proficiency in athletics with good standing in his -studies. - -A FULL-BACK AFLOAT - -At the close of his first year in college Dick Melvin is induced to earn -a passage to Europe by helping on a cattle steamer. The work is not so -bad, but Dick finds ample use for the vigor, self control, and quick wit -in emergency which he has gained from football. - -THE PECKS IN CAMP - -The Pecks are twin brothers so resembling each other that it was almost -impossible to tell them apart, a fact which the roguish lads made the -most of in a typical summer camp for boys. - -THE HALF-MILER - -This is the story of a young man of positive character facing the stern -problem of earning his way in a big school. The hero is not an imaginary -compound of superlatives, but a plain person of flesh and blood, aglow -with the hopeful idealism of youth, who succeeds and is not spoiled by -success. He can run, and he does run--through the story. - -"It is a good, wholesome, and true-to-life story, with plenty of -happenings such as normal boys enjoy reading about."--Brooklyn Daily -Times. - -For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -"INDIAN" STORIES WITH HISTORICAL BASES - -by D. LANGE - -12mo Cloth Illustrated - -Price per volume, $1.25 net - - ON THE TRAIL OF THE SIOUX - THE SILVER ISLAND OF THE CHIPPEWA - LOST IN THE FUR COUNTRY - IN THE GREAT WILD NORTH - THE LURE OF THE BLACK HILLS - THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41877 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. 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