With Axe and Rifle Part 19

He was dressed in a blue blanket coat trimmed with red, a cloth cap of the same colour, with a broad peak, and ornamented moccasins. An axe and long knife were stuck in his belt; he had a serviceable-looking rifle in his hand, and behind his shoulders was strapped a pack, containing his buffalo robe and blanket, some provisions apparently; and several other requisite articles. He put out his hand in a frank manner as he walked up to Mr Tidey.

"You have done me a service, friend; for that animal showed more fight than I expected, and might have injured me severely had not your shot taken effect, though it narrowly missed my head, I suspect."

"Very glad to have been of use to you, but here's the person you should thank," said the Dominie, pointing to me.

"I confess that it would have been more prudent not to have fired, for fear of hitting you," I answered as he shook me by the hand.

"Though it was a risk, I am equally thankful. The shot was well aimed, and you have the right to the venison, my young friend," he said, looking at me.

We told him that we had no wish to deprive him of it, but he insisted that the deer should be ours. We settled the point, however, by making him take a haunch, which was all he would accept.

We now sent off Dio to bring up the horses, that we might load them with the meat: we in the meantime set to work to flay and cut up the animals, a.s.sisted by the stranger.

"You will come to our camp and pa.s.s the night with us," said the Dominie as we were thus engaged.

To our surprise the stranger declined our invitation.

"I should prove but a poor companion, for I have been too long accustomed to live by myself to have any desire to join the society of my fellows," he answered, turning aside; "if I find that you are exposed to danger from the redskins, I will give you warning, and may be of a.s.sistance in enabling you to escape from them."

We in vain pressed him to alter his decision. He waited until the horses arrived, and having a.s.sisted us in packing the meat, took his own share, put up in a piece of skin, and after bidding us farewell went off in an opposite direction to our camp. We had forgotten to mention the mark of the moccasin we had seen in the morning, but we had little doubt that the stranger had gone over the ground, and our apprehensions of Indians being in the neighbourhood were dispelled. We, however, kept as usual a strict watch at night. As our camp was placed in the recesses of the wood, we knew that our fire could not be perceived at any distance beyond it.

As we sat round the cheerful blaze of the fire, we naturally talked of the stranger, wondering who he could be. His dress was that of a Canadian trapper, but he spoke without any French accent, and the Dominie remarked that he recognised a touch of the Irish brogue on his tongue.

"It is odd that he should prefer camping out by himself, to joining us, when he might sleep in much greater security than he can all alone," I observed.

"Tastes differ, and although it is not complimentary to us, he may prefer his own society to ours," answered the Dominie, laughing.

"Perhaps he is on bad terms with the garrison of the fort, and consequently does not wish to a.s.sociate with us, because we have been staying there," remarked Dan.

"It may be that he has shot one of them, or sided with the Indians, or has committed some offence against the Government," said Martin.

"We might talk all night, and yet come to no satisfactory conclusion,"

replied the Dominie, "and now, it's time to turn in, to be ready for our work to-morrow morning."

We accordingly lay down wrapped in our blankets round the fire, Martin taking the first watch.

CHAPTER TEN.

A TIMELY WARNING--THE PURSUIT--INDIAN HORs.e.m.e.n--THE CAVALRY ENGAGEMENT-- A SHARP SKIRMISH--DIO SAVES MY FATHER'S LIFE--PREPARATIONS FOR CONTINUING OUR JOURNEY--I ENCOUNTER THE SOLITARY HUNTER--USEFUL INFORMATION--REJOIN THE TRAIN--FIRST SIGHT OF THE MOUNTAINS--THE "GROSSE CORNE"--LOOKING OUT FOR A Pa.s.s--MOUTH OF THE CANON DISCOVERED--A GLOOMY Pa.s.sAGE--OVERTAKEN BY DARKNESS IN THE GORGE--FIRST GLIMPSE OF "SMILING VALLEY"--SELECTION OF THE SITE OF OUR FUTURE HOME--BRINGING THE WAGGONS OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

The stars were s.h.i.+ning brightly in the sky, the fire casting a glare on the trunks and branches of the surrounding trees beyond which was darkest gloom, when having been aroused by the Dominie, I took the morning watch.

No sound broke the stillness which reigned through the forest at that period of the night. Feeling still drowsy, and afraid of dropping off to sleep again should I sit down, I continued pacing backwards and forwards, now approaching one side of the glade, now the other, occasionally giving the fire a poke, or throwing on a few sticks.

Though I had no fear of Indians, a bear or panther, or a pack of hungry wolves, might pay us a visit, attracted by the smell of the venison which was packed and ready for transport. As the trees shut out the view to the eastward, I could only judge when day was approaching by observing the stars beginning to grow dim. I had gone farther than usual from the camp-fire, towards the west, when, as I stopped for a moment, I thought I heard a sound among the underwood in that direction, as of branches pushed aside and feet pressed on dry leaves.

Expecting to see some animal break through, I brought my gun ready to shoot, when much to my surprise a man stepped forth from out of the darkness.

Supposing him to be an Indian and that he might be followed by a number of others with scalping-knives in their hands, I slowly retreated, holding my gun ready for action.

"Do not fire, my friend," said a voice which I recognised as that of the stranger we had met the previous day. "I come as I promised, to give you warning should you be in danger. I have discovered that a party of redskins are out on the war-path, and that you are certain to fall in with them should you continue hunting. I would advise you forthwith to saddle your horses and return to the fort."

I thanked the stranger for his information and instantly aroused my companions; he repeated what he had said to Mr Tidey, advising him to lose no time in starting.

"I will guide you by the shortest cut out of the wood," he said; "after that you must push on as fast as your horses can go, and you may keep ahead of the savages, who are now away to the westward, but will soon discover your trail, and seeing that you are a small party, will be certain to follow you up." The idea for a moment glanced across my mind that perhaps the stranger wished to get rid of us, for the sake of having all the sport to himself, but his frank air and the earnest tone in which he spoke made me banish the suspicion. Without a moment's delay all hands set to work to get ready for starting, our friend energetically a.s.sisting us. Our pack-animals were soon ready and our steeds saddled.

"Now we will be off," said the stranger, and going ahead he led the way, winding in and out among the trees at so rapid a rate, that we could with difficulty keep him in sight. Every now and then he turned, however, to ascertain that we were following. He evidently seemed to consider that not a moment was to be lost. At length the border of the wood was gained.

"You can make your way now by yourselves," he said; "the dawn will soon break, and the rising sun will serve to guide you. Keep slightly to the right, and you will pa.s.s the confines of the next wood. The ground is even for some miles, and if you press forward as fast as your horses can go, I trust that you may keep ahead of your enemies. They are sure to discover your trail, and therefore, although you may not see them, when looking behind, you must not venture to halt. Whether they intend to attack the fort, I cannot say, but it is as well that the garrison should be on the alert."

We thanked him heartily for the important service he had rendered us.

"But will you not come with us," said Mr Tidey; "you yourself may be exposed to danger from the Indians."

"I have been too long in their territory to have any fear on that score, and know their ways well enough to avoid them," he answered; "but time is precious; give your horses the rein. On, on!"

Waving his hand as a farewell, he retreated again into the wood: when I again looked round he was not to be seen. We galloped forward, the Dominie, Martin, and Dio leading the pack-animals, which as they were lightly laden, kept up with us; Dan and I rode alongside each other ahead of the rest.

"This is capital fun!" cried my young brother; "I would not have missed it on any account. I only wish that fine fellow had been with us, and should we be overtaken by the Indians; we might face about and drive them back."

"If we are overtaken, we shall have to do that at all events," I replied; "but I hope that we may not be compelled to fight them, and I have no wish to hear their war-whoops in our rear."

I was not at all certain, however, that those unpleasant sounds would not reach our ears before we gained the fort. I knew the rate at which the half-naked savages could scour across the prairie, and when once they got on our trail, they would, I was convinced, press on at their utmost speed. But darkness favoured us for some time, though we ran the risk of one of our horses stepping into a hole or stumbling over the skeleton of a buffalo or deer, numbers of which strewed the plain. At length the first streaks of dawn appeared ahead; the light rapidly increased and the sun which was to guide us rose above the horizon.

Our horses kept up their speed, seeming to be well aware that an enemy was behind them. My eyes being dazzled by the bright beams of the sun, I could scarcely see the way, and had to shade them with my hand, while I bent forward towards my horse's neck.

After a few seconds I made out the wood on our left, and knew that we were pursuing a right course.

Few words were exchanged by any of the party: at last Dan cried out that he was getting very hungry, and proposed to stop for breakfast.

"Our scalps are of more value than the refres.h.i.+ng of our inward man,"

answered the Dominie. "We must not think of breakfast, dinner, or supper, until we get inside the fort, and then we will take all three in one. Go on, lads, go on."

Urging on our horses, we had already reached the ground over which we had previously hunted on our first expedition, and knew the way perfectly, but still the fort was far distant, and we could not yet distinguish the flag which waved above it.

"We shall get in safe enough now, and perhaps be laughed at for running away from an imaginary foe," cried Dan.

I was about to answer, when Dio, who had turned in his saddle to look behind him, exclaimed--

"Dare am de Indians. I see de heads of dem an' de horses 'bove de green gra.s.s far 'way."

We all looked, to be certain that the black was right. There could be no doubt about the matter. To escape them by concealing ourselves was impossible, even though the sun might have prevented them as yet from seeing us.

They had got hold of our trail and were following that up. All we could do was to trust to the fleetness of our steeds and endeavour to reach the fort before they should overtake us. Martin proposed that we should let go the laden animals as they detained us considerably.

"We will not do that until the enemy are much nearer than they are now,"

answered the Dominie. "On, boys, on! we will still keep ahead of them."