When Tim O'Rooney left the island and crossed to the eastern shore of the Salinas he had almost forgotten the existence of any such thing as hostile Indians. He was after something to eat, and some how or other it seemed to him that the climate of California had given him a most ravenous appetite, which demanded satisfaction regardless of consequences.
Touching land, he pulled his canoe up the bank to prevent its being carried away by the current, and then plunged boldly into the forest. The land from the river rose quite rapidly until it reached an elevation of several hundred feet, when it was broken by gorges, ravines and chasms, which made it rattier difficult to travel, and gave it an extremely wild and picturesque appearance.
Fairly among these broken hills, Tim began to look for his game, but for a time saw nothing to draw his fire. Finally he reached a wild-looking gorge which descended over a hundred feet below him, while upon the opposite side it rose to a greater height than the place upon which he stood.
The Irishman was so struck with the wild scenery that he stood a few moments contemplating it in silent admiration, when all at once he became conscious that something else beside himself was engaged in looking. Directly across the gorge, so as to be almost opposite to him, he saw the head of an animal which he recognized at once as belonging to a black-tailed deer.
"Be the powers! but you're jist the gintleman that I'd like to make an acquaintance with, as me mither said when me father axed her hand in marriage."
Tim drew his rifle carefully and rested it upon a rock beside him. The deer gazed at him with that expression of stupid wonder which wild animals assume when confronted with something, and they seem to be debating with themselves whether to leap away at high speed or to stare a moment longer.
The distance was so slight that Tim was sure of his aim. Nevertheless, he took great care in sighting his piece, and as his finger gently pressed the trigger, he held his breath. The bullet sped true, entering just below and between the eyes, and with such deadly effect that the mortally wounded deer sprung several feet in the air and fell dead within a rod of the spot where it had stood when struck.
"That is plaisant," muttered the Irishman, as he saw the animal fall, "and yez hav the distinguished honor of baing the first deer that Tim O'Rooney brought down; but yez ain't the first he fired at—but whist, Tim, don't be telling your secrets, for somebody else might larn them."
He now began making his way carefully down the gorge in order to ascend upon the opposite side and secure his prize. He had no thought that the report of his gun could reach the ears of hostile persons, and he did not heed anything except the place and manner in which he put his feet in going down and up the ravine.
After no little toiling he reached the dead body, and found that he had shot a rather small black-tailed deer. It was in middling condition, and was the very prize he was anxious to secure for his hungry self and equally hungry friends.
As he stood admiring it, for the first time the thought of personal danger crossed his mind, and he glanced hurriedly around him, but saw nothing to occasion alarm. Then he leaned forward and gazed down the gorge, and as he did so he descried three Indians looking up the side of the chasm. Slight as was the distance his head projected, it was seen by them, and he only drew it back to escape the effect of three discharges of their guns.
"And that is your shtyle of saluting a gintleman is it?" said Tim in some trepidation. "But yez has a forcible way of saying 'how do yez do,' in this counthry, that a stranger would do well to imitate."
The Irishman hastily debated with himself upon the best plan to pursue to escape the serious peril that threatened him, for he was sure the savages would follow up their shot.
"The best thing I can do is to lave," he concluded. "There is strong raison for belaving that I've given some one slight offinse by walking into their house without ringing the bell."
He stooped over and lifted his game. He found its weight somewhat less than he had suspected.
"I have no objiction to your going wid me. If I has to have the same dispute about ivery deer I tips over, I may as well hang on to the fust one."
Slinging it over his shoulder, he began his return with the carcass. It proved beneficial to him in a way that he had little suspected. Not wishing to go any further down the gorge, where there was reason to fear a collision with the savages, he clambered still higher, taking great care to shield himself from observation from below.
This made his labor excessive, and he was often obliged to pause and rest himself. But at length he reached what might be termed the brow of the hill, and began making his way along the edge of a smaller ravine, that led toward the river. While thus engaged, the body of the deer struck a projecting rock, and before Tim could save himself he rolled over and over for a distance of twenty odd feet, coming down plump upon the deer without injuring himself in the least.
"I'm obliged to yez," he said, as he rose and stared around with a bewildered air. "That was kind in yez, and I'll not forget the favor."
Again raising his carcass to his shoulder, he resumed his journey toward the river. But as he progressed the weight upon his shoulder seemed to grow heavier, and he was obliged to pause and rest himself quite often. On these occasions he looked around him half-expecting to see the three savages spring out of the bushes.
If such a thing should occur, Tim had already decided upon his mode of procedure. He intended to sink to the ground at once, with the body of the deer as a sheltering breastwork, and make as gallant fight as possible. His success in bringing down his game, when it was fully fifty yards distant, gave him quite a flattering estimate of his prowess.
The Indians, as the Irishman had anticipated, hastened up the gorge to secure the daring hunter, who had so audaciously exposed himself to their anger. It required some time for them to find the exact spot where the deer had fallen, and when they did so, they followed him readily by the blood which had trickled from its drooping head, which as Tim bore his prize away he little dreamed would betray the course he took.
When the point of Tim's fall was reached, all signs of his trail ceased, and they supposed he had checked the flow of blood, and thus concealed his tracks. The surface over which he traversed being rock and flinty ground, left no evidence of his passage; and resigning, therefore, the pursuit in this manner, they made their way leisurely down to the river and waited until the hunter appeared.
Tim's heart beat high with hope when he found himself close by the stream and saw nothing of his pursuers. The hasty signal given by Elwood Brandon, as we have shown, caused him some uneasiness, but not being repeated, and being very anxious to get back to the island, he placed the deer in the canoe and paddled away.
The shot from the treacherous Indian upon the shore was the first intelligent warning Tim had that he was discovered by them. The kind Providence who had so often turned aside the dangerous missile still protected him, and when he so suddenly dropped to the bottom of his canoe, it was with a bullet-hole through his coat but not through his body.
"Another illigant compliment to mesilf that it would afford me great pleasure to return, and if you'll only be kind enough to wait a few moments, I'll do the same."
But ere he could bring his gun to bear, the wild shot from the island drove the savages to cover, and raised the Irishman's finger that was pressing the trigger.
We have already told how, when he undertook to use the paddle, he found it too dangerous, and coming again behind the deer, he floated down the current. This, after the severe labor he had undergone, was an agreeable change, but he was not long in discovering it was dangerous. He was drifting away from his friends, and the further he went the greater did the danger become to both parties. He speedily discovered that the Indians were following him, and the interposing body of the black-tailed deer was a most effectual protection. More than his own bullets were buried in it ere he had gone a half-mile down stream.
"If I entertained a small doubt that yez was killed, I couldn't howld it with them bullets rattlin' in your hide, me owld friend."
The efforts of a child, if steadily persevered in, would move the Great Eastern in calm water, and Tim was not long in making the discovery that, if he could not use the paddle, he still was able to exert a motive power upon the canoe by a very slight means.
Reaching his hand over the side, he began paddling the water, and soon had the gratifying consciousness that he was moving across the river. True, it was slow, but it was nevertheless certain and positive, and was carrying him further away from his troublesome pursuers, and must eventually bring him against the western shore.
But when the island disappeared from view, and he had barely crossed the center of the stream, he begun to think that this species of locomotion was rather tardy, and he partially came to the sitting position and ventured to take his paddle in hand. A discharge from the shore warned him of the danger he ran, and he was reluctantly forced to drop his head again and resort to his tedious method of moving.
By this time the afternoon was well advanced, and it looked as though it would be fully dark before Tim could regain the ground he had lost. Now and then he peered over the top of the deer to see whether he could possibly catch sight of his acquaintances, but they whisked from cover to cover so dexterously that he had not the encouragement even to hope for success, and so he did not fire.
But a new fear took possession of the fugitive. If they were Indians, it was to be expected that they had canoes somewhere, and if they were speedily found, he would as speedily be overhauled.
"In which case Tim O'Rooney will lose his daar, and be the same towken lose himself, and the boys won't get their dinner."
He squinted at the sun, now low in the sky, and quickly asked himself:
"If a man doesn't git his dinner, and ates half-way atween noon and midnight, is it his dinner or supper? But that is a mighty question, is the same."
He evidently concluded it was too vast for him to decide, for he speedily dismissed it and turned his attention to that which more nearly concerned him. Still toiling with his hand, much in the same manner that a child would dabble in the water, he kept up the tardy movement of the canoe until he began to grow fearless again, and he took his paddle once more.
Now, when it was almost too late, he found that he could use it without danger to himself. By bending his body forward, the deer protected him and he could labor with impunity.
"Tim O'Rooney, I fears yez are lacking in the iliments which go to make up a mon of sense. Why didn't yez think of this when it would have done yez more good?"
When he was yet within a few yards of shore, he looked back and was not a little frightened to see that the savages had launched a canoe and were coming across the river with the speed of the swallow.
"Whisht now! but that is onexpected," said he, as he redoubled his own exertions. Observing that his pursuers were rapidly gaining, he suddenly recalled an artifice that he had seen practiced during his experience in the mines years before. Catching up his rifle, he aimed it at the advancing Indians.
Quick as a flash they ducked their heads and held up the two paddles they were using as a protection against the expected bullet. But it was not Tim's purpose to fire. He knew better than to do that, for ere he could have reloaded they would have been upon him.
The minute they stooped he lowered his gun and caught up his paddle and used it furiously. In this he was imitated by the Indians, whose superior skill sent their frail vessel forward with such velocity that it looked as if they would reach the shore but a short distance behind him.
Again he raised his gun, and as before they attempted to screen themselves from danger, while the next impulse of his paddle sent his canoe high up the bank, and he sprung out and plunged into the woods.
Tim O'Rooney had no thought of the particular manner in which he was to effect his escape. His one desire was to get away from them. The probabilities are that, beyond all doubt, he would have been speedily overtaken and slain but for one of those singular occurrences which do not happen to a man more than once in a life-time, and which seem to show unmistakably that Providence often interferes directly in favor of the innocent and distressed.
He had run perhaps a couple of hundred yards, or thereabouts, when a peculiar whoop from his pursuers announced that they had landed and were now coming speedily behind him. He knew that he had no chance in running, and was looking about him for some place in which to take shelter, when a furious growl startled him and he found himself within a dozen feet from enormous grizzly bear. This quadruped seemed anxious for a fight, for he came straight at the fugitive, who might certainly be excused for being dazed at the combination of dangers by which he was surrounded.
That of the grizzly bear was the greatest; for with mouth open and his red tongue lolling out he came fiercely at him. His gait was awkward and shambling, but he managed to get over the ground very rapidly. Indeed, the danger was so imminent that Tim, seeing there was no choice, raised his gun and fired at the monster.
The bullet struck him near the head, but it did not kill him, nor did it cause him to fall, but it bewildered him, and he rose on his hind feet and clawed the air as if the bullet was a splinter and he was seeking to pluck it from his flesh.
This bewilderment was the means of Tim being saved. Before the animal had entirely recovered, he had darted out of sight, and when the Indians came up the bear was just in "fighting trim," and immediately made at them. Consequently they were compelled to give over all thoughts of the flying hunter and attend to their own personal safety. What the final result was Tim never learned, and we cannot speak with certainty.
If the Pah Utah in the extremity of his suffering had been betrayed into the extraordinary weakness of manifesting it, he now seemed anxious to make amends for the humiliating fact. It may have been that among his own people he would have restrained those utterances which declared his agony, and borne the utmost with the stoicism of his race; but knowing that civilization does not teach such outward indifference to pain, he had adopted the surest means to reach the sympathy of the white strangers; or, if we may conjecture still further, the consciousness of the instinctive feud between the American and Caucasian race told him that the plan he took was the only one that offered safety to himself. What reason had he to believe that the hunters were kind of heart? If he hid his distress, would he not be treated as a well Indian? And was there any but the one common ground upon which the two races met?
But the fever had passed and he was himself again. True, he was still feeble, and his limbs trembled at times like those of an old man; but the disease had gone, and the stern, unbending will had resumed its sway. He was not a child, but he was Shasta, the Pah Utah Indian.
The inexperience of Elwood Brandon and Howard Lawrence with these strange people made this savage an enigma to them. As he stood with his arms folded, his blanket wrapped around him, his long black hair streaming over his shoulders, and the mingling of the paint on his crown and over his face, and his midnight eyes fixed upon them, it was hard indeed to conjecture the thoughts filtrating through his brain.
But there is a language in which the human heart can speak—that of emotion. The boys felt no fear—ingratitude is not an element of the savage character, though sad to say it is sometimes manifested among us of greater moral pretensions.
He looked at them as they came up and paused a few feet from him.
"You seem to be better?" asked Elwood, feeling it incumbent that he should make some remark, even though it was incomprehensible to their dusky friend. He muttered something and then stretched out his arms as if to show that he had recovered from his illness.
At this point Terror went up to the savage and snuffed around him, as if to satisfy himself of his identity. The latter laid his hand upon his knife and watched the dog narrowly, but he appeared to judge the animal by the company, and quietly removed his hand and folded his arms again.
He stood thus a moment, when he pointed to the eastern shore and then down the river, nodding his head and gesticulating somewhat excitedly. The boys in return nodded, which satisfied the aborigine. All at once he moved off and strode rapidly to the other side of the island, where he drew forth a tiny canoe and shoved it into the water.
When it was launched he turned again toward his friends, and looking steadily at them a moment, once more pointed down stream, sprang into the boat and dipped his paddle first upon one side and then upon the other.
It was a sight to see him manage the canoe! It seemed made to contain a single person, and the way it skimmed over the water was a perfect marvel to the spectators. It appeared fairly to fly, scarcely touching the water, while human art could not have exceeded the skill with which he managed the paddle. He sat as motionless as a statue, like the artistic violinist. It could not be seen that he raised his arms above the elbow.
The sun was just going over the western hills, and the reflection of the water as it flashed and rippled from his paddle gave a fairy-like appearance to the Indian as he sped down stream that was pleasing to the last degree.
"What does that mean?" asked Elwood.
"It means that he is going to the rescue of Tim."
"If he goes after him he will bring him back. Just see the way in which he manages that canoe! It is worth going a hundred miles to see!"
"No doubt he has practiced it long enough."
"But what of our remaining here?"
"I don't see how it can be helped."
"Suppose those Indians that have followed Tim take it into their heads to pay us a visit?"
"He will take all their attention, if Shasta concludes to have a part in the matter, and they won't have time to think of us."
"But suppose theydocome back here?"
"We must be prepared at any rate; but don't let the thought make us uneasy. We have two good guns, and Terror would be worth half a dozen men if we get into close quarters."
"He may be all that; but a rifle-shot could quickly stretch him out lifeless. It won't do for us to go to sleep until Tim or Shasta come back."
"Of course not. I do not feel like it, even if we were satisfied that it was safe for us to do so."
"Look at Shasta!"
The Indian was far down the stream, still speeding with his extraordinary velocity, using his arms as though they would never tire.
"So sick a few hours ago!"
"Well enough now."
"Didn't you notice how he trembled?"
"Yes; he is still weak, but an Indian soon recovers himself."
"All he needed was the root which he chewed and which cured him almost immediately. These savages are what you call Thomsonians I suppose."
"They are the original ones no doubt. I have heard that some of their medicine men are the most skillful of physicians."
"Yes; we hear all kinds of things about them. What stories we have read, and yet they don't look and act as I imagined they would. I thought they would suffer and die without showing the least pain, and yet Shasta wasn't anyways backward about it."
"No doubt the poor fellow felt bad enough, and he hasn't got over it yet. You can tell that from his appearance."
"It will take all his skill to help Tim. Just as like as not he will take Shasta for an enemy and shoot him."
"If they only see each other before dark, so that Tim can understand that he has a friend at work."
"But you see it is nearly dark now, and it is likely he is in the woods by this time."
"What danger can he be in then?"
"The Indians may cross over to follow him."
They were silent a while when Elwood suddenly exclaimed.
"Suppose Shasta is an enemy and has gone to help his people?"
Howard shook his head.
"No fear of that. That is the last thing that can occur."
The night gradually deepened and proved to be quite dark, a faint moon shedding a luster that made the dim light more impressive. The boys walked back and forth, watching and listening for some evidence of the approach of their friends, and gradually becoming apprehensive despite the attempt each made to cheer the spirits of the other.
It was not until quite late that Terror gave utterance to a low, warning growl, and as they looked across the river they descried a dark object cautiously approaching.
"What is it?" whispered Elwood.
"It is too dark to tell; but it can't be Tim or Shasta for it's coming from the wrong direction."
"Aisy now, Mr. Shasta, aisy I say, for the boys may be asleep and we won't come upon them too sudden't like, as me uncle said when he sat on a barrel of gun-powder and it blowed up with him. Aisy, Mr. Shasta, aisy!"
The indistinct object gradually took shape, and the boys then saw Shasta sitting in his small canoe, while directly behind him was Tim O'Rooney, his left hand extended backward and grasping the prow of his own boat, which was being towed by the Indian.
The next moment the foremost lightly touched the shore and the savage sprung out, quickly followed by the Irishman.
"I beg yez pardon, boys, for the time I tuk to git your dinner; but to shpake the thruth, I was unavoidably detained, as me brother writ me when he was locked up in Tipperary jail on his way to visit me."
"We are glad enough to see you again, but where is your game?"
"Worrah, worrah, but I had bad luck wid it. When I tuk it ashore, I sat it down for a minit, and I hadn't the time to pick it up again."
"But tell us all about it."
This was quickly done, up to the point where Tim was saved by the timely appearance of the grizzly bear, when, as may well be supposed, the expressions of wonder were loud and continued.
"You saw nothing more of your pursuers?" asked Howard.
"Not a bit—nor be the same towken do I think they saw me."
"How did you and Shasta meet?"
"That was shtrange, was the same. After I found I was cl'ar of the varmints, from the raisin that their exclusive attention was occupied by the b'ar, I stopped and went to thinking—did I. I could saa the great necessity of our having me own canoe and I went back to whom I left the same. It took me some time to find it, and when I did find it, it wasn't it, but the one that belonged to the red gintlemen.
"There was little difference atwixt the two and I thought the best thing was to make a thrade, and just as I thought that I spied another canoe coming along the shore as though it was looking for something. I stepped back and raised the hammer of my gun, when I obsarved there was but one Injin in the same—was there. So, 'Tim,' says I, ''twould be a shame,' and I lowered me gun agin.
"Just then, and fur the life of me I don't know what put it into me head, I thought it was Shasta, though I knowed I had lift him with a big pain all through him. So I give a low whistle like, and called out 'Shasta,' and with one whip of his paddle he sent his canoe right at my faat, though I was sure he didn't saa me, and then waited fur me to step in.
"But he's a quaar fellow, is Shasta," added Tim. "I rached out me hand to shake his own, but he never noticed it, but motioned fur me to stow mesilf into the bottom of the canoe; and thin, after some muttering and throwing of his arms, I could saa he wanted me to howld on to the other canoe."
"And I did the same, and the way he towed us over the water would have frightened a steamboat."
"He is a smart fellow, indeed."
The Indian upon landing had just pulled his canoe slightly up the bank and then had gone at once to the opposite side of the island where he had lain when sick. They could see him walking slowly back and forth us if searching for something which he had some difficulty in finding.
"Well, boys, I shpose you are hungry," said Tim, "If yez isn't I begins to howld a very strong suspicion that it's meself that is."
"Yes," replied Elwood, "we are both very hungry, but we had little appetite so long as we knew you were in danger."
"It was very kind of yez to restrain your appetite out of respict to me, and I'll not forgit to do the same when yez git into throuble."
"We can afford to go supperless to-night," remarked Howard, "and feast on the contemplation of our good fortune. There was a time when our prospects looked pretty dark."
"Yis, sir; you may well say that. When I had the big bear walking at me from one direction and the three red gintlemen from the other, I thought to mesilf what a shplendid opportunity there was for the illigant exercise of one's idaas. But it was all the doings of the good Lord above," added Tim very reverently.
"Yes; there can be no doubt of that," replied Howard. "He has cared for us all the time."
Tim now gave an account of his adventures in his hunt after the deer, previous to when he was first seen from the island. When he had finished Elwood asked:
"Are we to stay here over night?"
"I think not, but I defers to the judgment of Mr. Shasta. It's just as he says about it."
"He appears to be taken up with something over yonder."
"He is searching for some object that he left when he made up his mind to get well," said Howard.
"He must know all that has occurred, for when we came back from watching you, there he stood with his arms folded, and a look in his eye that said he understood more about matters and things than we imagined he did."
"He must know that we are in danger so long as we are upon this island, and I should think he would leave it while it is dark."'
"Do yez rest on that pint?" said Tim. "The red gintlemen will attind to the same—will he."
At this juncture the Pah Utah was observed walking slowly toward them, his long blanket grasped at the breast by his left hand, while his right was free. As soon as he came up he pointed at the canoes and muttered something.
"What does he mean?" asked Elwood.
"Terror understands him better than we do," replied Howard, as the Newfoundland sprung into the larger boat and nestled down near the stern.
Our friends were not long in imitating the action of the dog. Tim made as if to step into the Indian's boat, but he motioned him back, and took his seat in the front of the larger canoe. The savage now produced a cord, probably the tendon of some wild animal, with which he speedily fastened the prow of the larger canoe to the stem of his own.
This done he turned the head down stream and began using his paddle with the same wonderful dexterity he had displayed during the afternoon. The boys watched and admired his skill for a long time. The faint moon barely revealed the shores on either hand, stretching away in misty gloom, while all before and behind them was darkness.
The muscular arms of Shasta appeared to be as tireless as the piston-rods of an engine, and at last our friends grow weary of watching him. The boys became drowsy, and they finally lay down in the bottom of the boat, with their blanket over them, and went to sleep.
In the course of an hour Tim did the same, and the Pah Utah was this left alone to ply the canoe, the Newfoundland now and then raising his head and looking over the edge as if to satisfy himself that all was right.
Once near the middle of the night Elwood awoke, and pushing his blanket from his face, raised himself on his elbow and looked around. The same picture met his eye—the dark-hued Shasta, his long hair streaming over his shoulders, the blanket down to his waist, and his bronzed arms working with the silence, skill and regularity of a perfect machine.
The gray light of dawn was spreading over the wood and river when Elwood Brandon again opened his eyes. He was somewhat startled to see nothing of the Pah Utah, although his canoe was still in the advance; but a second look showed that they were resting against the bank, and the Indian lay asleep in the front of his boat, his body and face covered entirely by his somber-hued blanket.
"No doubt he needs rest, and so I will not wake him!" was Elwood's thought, as he carefully raised himself to the sitting position. But he had scarcely moved when the end of Shasta's blanket was raised, and the boy saw his dark eyes fixed inquiringly upon him. Satisfied that there was nothing wrong the blanket dropped again and all was still.
Elwood now looked around. Howard was sleeping soundly, his feet resting against the shaggy sides of Terror, who was equally oblivious to the external world. There could be no doubt of Tim's somnolence for he gave unmistakable evidence of it. The light was just sufficient to afford a distinct view of the other shore, and in the clear summer air of the morning it had a cool appearance, very pleasing and refreshing to the eye.
Elwood, of course, had no knowledge of the distance they had come during the night; but he believed Shasta had not slept more than an hour or two, and that as a consequence they were many miles from their starting point—far enough at any rate to make them perfectly easy regarding the troublesome visitors of yesterday.
He noticed the peculiar character of the place in which Shasta had run the canoe. It was a small indentation covered with overhanging limbs and shrubbery in such manner that while the whites could peer out upon the river there was no danger of their being seen by any passers-by, unless particular suspicion was directed toward the spot.
Elwood's limbs were so cramped from the forced position in which he had lain during the night, that he concluded there could be no harm in stepping ashore to yawn and stretch himself. Of course he would take good care not to wander away from the boat, as he had seen the danger of secession in a small party like theirs. As he was stepping over the canoe he saw Shasta looking at him so intently that he paused. The Pah Utah nodded, but made a rather odd gesture, which Elwood took as a caution not to wander away. He nodded assent and stepped out upon the land. At this juncture Howard awoke and followed him.
"Shall we try and hunt something for breakfast?" asked Elwood.
"Tim's troubles have proved that it is hardly safe; I think we had better leave all such matters to Shasta."
This was good advice certainly, and the boys acted upon it. They walked up and down the banks of the river admiring the beautiful scenery, but seeing nothing of wild animals. They heard the whirr of a flock of birds overhead, alarmed by the apparition of two human beings, but the luxuriant vegetation allowed but a glimpse of them as they shot away.
While a few rods distant, they heard the discharge of a rifle, and in no little trepidation they hastened back to their friends. They were relieved by finding that it had been done by Tim O'Rooney for the purpose of affording a means of ignition to some sticks and leaves. He and the Pah Utah were on shore, making as much preparation for their breakfast as though they had a dozen men to provide for.
"What does yez think of it?" asked Tim.
"All very well, but where is your breakfast?"
The Irishman jerked his thumb in a very significant manner toward Shasta.
"You don't mean to eat him," laughed Elwood.
"Git out wid yer nonsense!" retorted Tim. "He and meself have been talking together, and we've fixed the whole thing."
"What language did you use?"
"This kind of talk."
And the Irishman explained himself by several extravagant but meaningless gestures.
The fire being nicely burning, Shasta took some white crumbs from a sort of receptacle in his hunting-shirt, stepped carefully into the canoe, and then gently dropped them upon the surface of the water. Our friend watched his movements with interest.
Leaning carefully over the boat, he curved his arm and held his closed fingers so that they were just within the water, looking down into the stream all the time with the fixedness of gaze that characterizes the hawk when about to dart downward after his prey.
Suddenly a flight ripple was heard, and before either of the three on shore comprehended what he was doing, something flashed before their gaze, and a plump, glistening fish, fully two pounds in weight, lay floundering at their feet.
"Capital!" shouted Elwood in his excitement, and he was proceeding to pay the Pah Utah several highly flavored compliments, when he raised his hand as a warning for them to remain quiet. Bending still further over the canoe, he soon thrust his hand beneath, and with the same lightning-like quickness flung a still larger fish up the bank. This was continued for some time, until he had five fine plump-looking fellows all shining and fresh, waiting for the hungry stomachs.
They had an abundance of food, and its preparation now only remained. Here Shasta displayed his remarkable culinary skill. With his keen-edged hunting-knife he slitted the fish, excepting Terror's portion, which of course was devoured raw, the entire length of the bodies, and throwing aside the superfluous portion, then skewered them upon some green prongs in such a manner that they were completely flat, and the entire internal and external surface exposed.
The fire, which had been burning some time, was now raked down until several square feet of live red coals lay bare, when one of the fish was held down within a few inches. As soon as one side was thoroughly cooked the other was turned under, and after this same fashion the four were most speedily and thoroughly prepared for the palate.
"Luxurious!" exclaimed Howard, as he took his prize and buried his teeth in its flesh. "It is cooked to perfection—a trifle of pepper and salt would make this the best dish I ever tasted."
"I never enjoyed a meal more," replied Elwood. "But when I come to think, the first one I tasted in California was nearly as good as this."
Tim was too much engaged to take time for conversation. He waited until he had filled himself to repletion, when he gave a great sigh of relief and remarked:
"I ain't hungry—not a bit; I've lost me appetite very quickly. Mr. Shasta, you're an excellent cook—worthy of the honor of attending to the wants of Timothy O'Rooney, Esquire."
The Pah Utah paid no heed to this praise, but contented himself with devouring his fish, which he did until he had all that he wished, when from some hidden recess he produced a beautifully carved Indian pipe.
"There I'm wid yees agin," remarked Tim, as he replenished his own. "The pipe is very soothin' to one's faalings after sevare labor, as me brother's wife used to say after whacking a few hours wid her broomstick—what is your opinion upon the same, Mr. Shasta?"
The Indian nodded his head and murmured some unintelligible reply.
"Precisely," assented Tim, as he puffed forth a thick volume of smoke; "that's me own idaas exactly, and the boys here will bear me witness that I've always contended for the same."
"What's that?" asked Elwood.
"Ax him," replied Tin, nodding his head toward his dusky friend. "He's able to explain better nor is meself."
Neither the Pah Utah nor the Irishman were disposed to make a move until they had finished their "smoke," and both of them whiffed as leisurely as though they had contracted to spend several hours thus. Howard and Elwood passed the time in walking around the woods and along the stream, taking particular care not to go beyond sight of Shasta, whose black orbs they could see attentively following their movements.
"All aboord!" shouted Tim at the expiration of an hour or so, and the boys hurried down to the "wharf" with as much alacrity as if they had heard the last bell of the steamer.
The Indian stood upon the shore with a look of inquiry. He pointed up stream and then down.
"He is inquiring which way we wish to go," said Howard.
"That, is strange, after bringing us so many miles from the island."
Elwood pointed down stream, but Shasta was not satisfied; he wished to know something more. He described several circles, terminating each time by pointing to the north. All three looked inquiringly at one other's faces. They could not comprehend his meaning.
"What does he wish to say?"
"I am sure I cannot tell."
"He wants us to travel the rest of the way by turning summersits."
Seeing that he was not understood, the Pah Utah took the paddle from the canoe and made in the air as if he were impelling the boat, then pausing, he again pointed to the north, and took several long strides in that direction, as though he were going to walk a long distance.
Elwood's eyes sparkled.
"I know what, he means! I know what he means!"
"What is it?"
"He wishes to ask whether we want togo a good ways!"
"You are right," replied Howard. "He doesn't know whether we are hunting in these parts, and wish to stay in the neighborhood, or whether we are hurrying home as fast as we can."
Shasta's motions and signs were imitated as nearly as possible, and he nodded his head and muttered something doubtless to signify that he was satisfied. Terror whisked into the canoe and took his position in the prow, while his three masters, if a dog can own that many, arranged themselves behind him. The tendon still united the two boats, and one sweep of Pah Utah's paddle sent the two far out into the river, where he began his work.
For a time our friends gave themselves up to the enjoyment of this pleasant motion. At each dip of the paddle, or contraction of the iron muscles of Shasta, they could feel the canoe jump forward as does a steamboat under the throbs of the mighty engine. At the same time the motion was light and airy, as if the boat were skimming over the very surface. Indeed, by shutting the eyes and feeling the light wind fanning the temples, it was easy to imagine that they were borne through the air by some great bird whose wings could be felt to pulsate beneath them.
"Look at that machinery!" exclaimed Howard. "Did you ever see anything like it? Not an ounce of superfluous flesh upon him. See how the muscles swell and ridge, and yet he doesn't swerve his body a hair's breadth to the right or left."
"He can 'paddle his own canoe,'" laughed Elwood.
"Look at those shoulders; they are perfect mountains of muscle, and those sinewy arm! His legs are fully as perfect, and I'll warrant he can run a dozen miles an hour for a whole day without getting tired. He would be a dangerous man to meet as an enemy."
"And a good one as a friend."
"Yes; I can hardly see what chances we would have had of reaching the mouth of the river without his help."
"We had no chance unless we could join a party of hunters and induce them to go with us."
"Boys," said Tim, looking hard at them, "it isn't right—isn't the same."
"What do you mean?"
"That Mr. Shasta should tow us along in this shtyle, and we sit in the owld boat and permit him. No, it's wrong."
The boys admitted that it looked hardly proper, whereupon Tim took the paddle and began plying it with all the skill of which he was master. The Pah Utah looked over his shoulder now and then with a strange expression, as if he were amused at the white man's furious efforts, but he did not abate his own labor in the least.
Tim O'Rooney made a great deal of splashing, occasionally flirting a shower of spray over his friends as the paddle took an unexpected twist in his hand; but, as we have said before, he had had considerable experience in propelling a canoe, and he gave a little assistance to their dusky friend.
When the sun was overhead, Shasta directed the prow of the boat toward the western bank, and they landed in a place somewhat resembling that of the morning. The boats were drawn upon land in the usual manner, by which they were concealed from the observation of any passing up or down stream.
The Indian resorted to the same means by which he had caught the fish in the morning and with equal success. They were rather smaller, but none the less savory, either to man or brute. An hour sufficed to rest them all, and to give Shasta all the pleasure of his pipe that he wished, while Tim continued his after entering the canoe. Howard and Elwood made an essay with the paddle, but the result with the latter was that the instant he so cautiously thrust it beneath the surface, it was suddenly wrung from his hand, and in an instant left a rod or two astern. This necessitated a delay in order to pick it up, and the boys concluded to await another time to perfect themselves in the art of managing an Indian canoe.
It was not until it was quite dark that they once more set foot upon land and kindled their fire. There was quite a strong wind blowing, and the chill of the air appeared to indicate that it came from the snowy peaks of the Coast Range. Fully an hour was taken in gathering wood, sticks, broken limbs and branches, for they had concluded to keep it burning until morning.
The fire was kindled against the trunk of a giant sycamore, and as the flames waved up the shaggy bark the reflection upon the outstretched limbs and neighboring trees gave them a weird appearance that made the boys gather close to the somber-hued Pah Utah as though conscious of his ability to stand between them and evil.
Tim and Shasta were leisurely smoking their pipes, and Howard and Elwood were conversing together in low tones of their homes and friends, when a quick bark from Terror, as he rose to his feet and looked in the darkness, drew all eyes in one direction. A score of flashing eyes, gleaming teeth, lank, restless bodies and greedy jaws announced, that a new danger threatened them.
The Pah Utah was the only member of the party that did not manifest any alarm or excitement. Carelessly removing his pipe from his mouth, he turned his head, looked at the animals a moment, and then resumed smoking, without giving utterance to a single sound or changing his posture in the least.
Tim O'Rooney, with an ejaculated prayer, caught up his rifle, and turning his back toward the fire, stood like a person driven at bay and waiting to decide in his mind the best way to strike his last blow. In his haste and alarm his pipe fell from his mouth and lay unheeded at his feet. Shasta quietly picked it up, handed it to him, and motioned for him to seat himself upon the ground again. Tim stared alternately at the animals, the Indian and his pipe, and finally gathered the idea that no imminent danger threatened them.
Howard and Elwood also held their rifles ready for it charge from the growling wolverines, for such they were, while the Newfoundland growled in turn, and glared defiantly at them. The intelligent brute appeared to comprehend that it would not do for him to sally out and charge upon the enemy's works, but he stood ready to fight and die in the defense of his friends.
"Why don't they attack us?" asked Elwood, seeing that they didn't advance nearer than a dozen feet.
"Don't you know that wild animals are afraid of fire? That is what restrains them."
"Of course! I didn't think of that. How fortunate that we gathered enough wood to last!"
"Just look at Shasta! He doesn't even stop smoking!"
"He must know there is no danger."
"Let us try our guns upon them!"
The proposal pleased both, especially as there was no fear but what they could make every discharge tell. Each of them singled out two of the largest wolverines, and fired their guns at the same instant. An ear-splitting clamor succeeded, and as the brutes scampered away in the darkness two of their number were seen stretched out, quivering and dying.
The wolverine is an animal found in California which unites the characteristics of the bear, weasel, fox and wolf. It is sullen and ferocious, and one of the most troublesome of the wood-denizens. When first seen it is apt to be mistaken for a small bear, or rather heavy-looking wolf. The sensuous neck and head bespeak the wolf and weasel nature, the sly persistency the fox, and the savage stubbornness that of the bear; while a resemblance to all four can be seen in the general contour, appearance and habits of the animal.
Attracted, no doubt, by the smell of the cooking fish, a number of these brutes had slyly gathered and crept to the camp, where, finding their prey protected by the fire, they proclaimed their furious disappointment by loud howls—half bark and half yell—springing hither and thither among each other, sometimes vaulting over each other's backs, and darting as close to the bristling dog as their mortal dread of the fire would permit.
Terror stood on the outskirts of the camp, occasionally moving forward toward the animals, as if to match his long white teeth and massive strength against their glittering fangs and treacherous ferocity.
When the two guns were discharged the rest disappeared as if a bombshell had exploded in their midst; but scarcely a dozed seconds elapsed ere they closed together again, fiercer and more clamorous, if possible, than before.
In a few moments the boys had their guns reloaded, and they immediately repeated their former proceeding with precisely the same result. At this point a surprising occurrence came to pass. The dead wolverines were pounced upon by their survivors and torn instantly to shreds, and even devoured with as much avidity as if they were Terror and his human companions.
"Did you ever hear of such a thing?" asked Elwood, watching them in great amazement.
"Yes; I have read of wolves doing the same, even when one of their number was not killed but only wounded slightly."
"Any animals that act in that manner deserve death; so let's send a few more rifle-balls among them."
"If we keep this up for a few hours I don't see that there will be any left, and we may rest in peace."
"They will keep on gathering until there are twice that number. If it wasn't for our fire we should have to take to the trees; and what, then, would become of poor Terror?"
"He will get into trouble as it is," said Howard, "if we don't keep an eye on him."
The dog had continued advancing closer to the wolverines, until there was an imminent probability of a collision occurring between him and two of the largest, that sprung forward until they were within a few inches of him, when they darted back again to repeat the feint, seemingly with the purpose of drawing the Newfoundland further toward their clutches.
Howard spoke sharply to Terror, but he paid no heed to the call. The boy repeated it with the same uselessness, and he was beginning to become seriously alarmed for his fate when Shasta laid down his pipe and rose to his feet. The eyes of the three were now centered upon him.
The Pah Utah left his gun and blanket upon the ground, so that his arms and breast, excepting a few ornaments, were bare. He then drew his keen hunting-knife and held it rigidly grasped in his right hand. Stooping down, he caught a blazing brand with his left, swung it rapidly over his head a few times to give it additional blaze, and then darted away like a meteor directly among the wolverines. The latter scattered in greater terror than ever, but the Indian, instead of returning, actually followed them.
The brand could only be seen flitting among the trees, its flaming glare giving a wild, unearthly appearance to the face and breast of the Savage as he sped swiftly in and out among the trunks and vegetation, like an avenger bent on destroying the entire band.
One of the largest wolverines, in his wild fear, sprung so close to Elwood that his tail whisked against him. Ere he could clear himself the Indian burst upon him, his iron arm flashed out with lightning-like swiftness, the wire-like fingers caught the brute by the neck, and the knife was buried so deep in his throat that when he was thrown back he fell limp and dead to the ground. After which Shasta sat down upon the ground again, folded his blanket over his shoulders and appeared much occupied in contemplating the burning sticks before him.
"Mr. Shasta, that was well done!" exclaimed Tim in admiration. "I very much doubt whether it could be excelled by your humble servant, the undersigned."
"I very much doubt it also," said Elwood. "I shouldn't fancy chasing those animals with a firebrand."
"No; if you should drop it or fall down unpleasant consequences might follow."
The boys kept up their loading and firing among the wolverines until they had slain over a dozen. But instead of diminishing, the number continued to increase till there must have been nearly two-score growling, snapping and snarling around the camp-fire.
The camp-fire was kept burning unremittingly until morning, and the wolverines as unceasingly continued their clamor, so that none of the parties secured a moment's sleep. The boys were signaled several times by Shasta to lie down, but they were too unaccustomed to such sights and sounds to permit them to do so with anything like peace; so they used their rifles upon the savage animals until prudence advised them to husband their ammunition until they had better use for it.
Tim O'Rooney was fully as restless as they. He was in continual dread that some of the treacherous animals would steal up behind him and fasten their teeth so securely in him that they could not be shaken off. This uneasiness caused him ever to be shifting his position, now on one side the fire, now on the other—springing suddenly upward as though he already felt the nip of their fangs.
The Pah Utah, at this time, displayed a grim humor, so exceptional with his people, as to be almost incredible, except to the boys who were witnesses to it. Believing such traits should be encouraged among all aborigines as an antidote for their melancholy dispositions, it gives us great pleasure to record it, and it will afford us far greater enjoyment to testify regarding any other such performances that may come under our notice.
Tim was standing with his back toward the fire, and his hands, carelessly crossed behind him. He was intently watching the quarrelsome animals, and all thoughts of attack in the rear had for the time departed. Shasta leaned silently forward and lifted a small brand to relight his pipe, which had gone out some time before. As he was passing it back to the embers the red coal just grazed one of Tim's fingers, while at the same instant the Indian imitated the snarl of the wolverine so exactly that the follow was sure he was seized, and he made the most agile leap of his life.
"Murther! murther! pull him off, Mr. Shasta, catch hold of him!" exclaimed the affrighted Irishman, springing wildly on every side of the fire, and striking with blind fierceness at the imaginary brute in his rear.
Howard and Elwood laughed till the tears rolled down their cheeks. They had seen Shasta's trick and they could therefore appreciate it. Never a smile lit up the grim face of the Pah Utah. He continued leisurely smoking, his keen black eyes looking dreamily into the fire, as if lost in some pleasant reverie.
But what of that? Who can doubt, that he laughed internally full as heartily as the youngsters? Who can tell what surges, and waves, and ripples of laughter went through and through him, until his whole being was absorbed in merriment?
Finally Tim's terror passed away and he became comparatively quiet.
"Worrah! worrah!" he exclaimed, panting from his severe exertions. "What a narra 'scape I had."
"Did he really bite you?"
"Bite me! Didn't ye see him fasten his teeth in me and hang on till I shuk him off?"
"No; I didn't observe him."
"Git out wid ye nonsense. But I felt him sure and it was meself that thought once he'd pull me off into the darkness and make me a prey to the beasts there—that I did think, did I."
"No danger," remarked Howard, as he and his cousin were unable to restrain their laughter.
"What be ye spalpeens laughing at?" indignantly demanded the Irishman.
"But, Tim, are you sure you were not mistaken? We saw nothing of the kind," pursued Howard.
The fellow looked too full of indignation to speak.
"What is getting into your heads? Ye saam to be losing your sinses intirely."
"And I can say I saw none of them touch you."
"Then you was blind," was the indignant retort. "Ye harrd him sing out at me heels, didn't you?"
"Of course, we heard them all the time, as we do now; but the one you imagined so close may have been a dozen feet distant."
"But he bit me!" was the triumphant reply to this.
"Where?"
"On the hand."
"Let us see the mark!"
The boys arose and walked up to their friend, who bent over the fire, held his hand close to his face, turning it over and over and scrutinizing it with the closest attention. Concluding he was mistaken, he exchanged it for its fellow, which was subjected to an equally severe cross-examination. Still nothing confirmatory of his words could be found.
The amazed Irishman now held up both his hands, turning them over and over and pressing them close to his face.
"Do yees saa anything?" he abruptly asked, thrusting them toward the boys.
They went through the form of a search for a scratch or a bite, but declared themselves unable to discover any.
"Don't you feel any pain?" asked Howard.
"I thought I did," replied Tim, with a serious, puzzled look upon his countenance.
"In what part of your body?"
"Whisht!"
He motioned to them to maintain silence, while he closed his eyes and waited for some evidence of the pain he had so sharply felt a few minutes before. As he stood thus, he stealthily brought each hand around in front of his face and subjected them to the same examination.
Suddenly his eye sparkled, and he held out his left:
"That's the hand!" he exclaimed exultingly.
"Let's see?" asked the boys, stepping up to him.
"Yees'll find it somewhere there, if yees'll take the throuble to examine it closely."
They did so, but declared themselves unable to find the wound.
Tim finally showed a small red spot upon one of the fingers, which he affirmed was where the cruel tooth did bite him.
"That cannot be, for the skin is not broken."
"But it faals as if the same had been bit off."
"It looks more like a burn," added Elwood.
Tim now turned around and looked at the Pah Utah. The latter was smoking his pipe, as if unconscious of the presence of any being or animal near him. Perhaps they were mistaken, but Howard and Elwood always affirmed that they detected a twitching at the corners of his mouth, as if he were ready to explode with laughter.
But if it was that, it was nothing more, and it manifested itself in no other manner. Tim gazed fixedly at him a moment, and then turning to the boys, asked in a whisper:
"But didn't ye hear it snarrl at meself?"
The Newfoundland, Terror, occasioned more apprehension to his friends than did anything else. They came to see that no personal danger threatened so long as the fire kept burning, and as there was an abundance of fuel, this settled that point; but the dog grew enraged at the furious uproar, which drove away all sleep, and appeared to give him fear that the entire party were in danger.
Several times, when some of the wolverines came too close, he made a spring at them, and they snapped back. But the good sense of the dog kept him from venturing among the ravenous brutes, and they in turn were in too much dread of the fire to do more than spring at him and then as quickly dart back again.
It was an impressive sight and one which could never be forgotten. The large, noble Newfoundland, standing out in relief against the glare of the camp-fire, his eyes aflame with anger, every muscle braced, the jaws parted and his eyes fixed upon the dark bodies plunging over each other, darting forward and back again, snapping, snarling and furious; the Pah Utah stretched upon the ground, deliberately smoking, all unheedful of the deafening clangor and the savage brutes that sometimes approached almost within striking distance; the two boys, so close to the fire that they were often scorched by it, gazing at the animals with an expression of half fear and half wonder, starting when one of them came unusually near, and now and then sending the fatal bullet among them; the nervous Irishman, darting hither and thither, taking great care that the fire was kept fully burning; all these, we say, made a scene impressive in the highest degree.
Terror, when sharply spoken to, would withdraw from his dangerous proximity to the wolverines, but almost immediately he stepped forward to the same spot he first occupied, and his obedience to the commands of the boys was so sullen and ill-natured that they forebore speaking to him except when his safety seemed absolutely to demand it.
At times there was an interruption in the clamor, but the wolverines did not appear to relax their vigilance in the least. It was as if they had determined to make their evening meal upon the party though they were forced to wait until morning for it. During these intervals of comparative silence our friends gained opportunity for the exchange of a few words, but they were often compelled to shout at the top of their voices to make themselves heard.
During one of these lulls Elwood spoke to Howard.
"What will take place in the morning, when these creatures are not afraid of our fire?"
"I think they will go away."
"Perhaps so: but we are not so sure of that."
"Shasta will no doubt turn the whole thing over in his mind, and be prompt enough to act when the danger comes. I suppose we can take to our canoes and give them the slip in that manner."
"Yes; the Indian appears to have rather a contemptible opinion of them. He scarcely heeds their wrangling."
"He is not so timid as we and Tim are; but he doesn't forget to look at them once in a while, so as not to forget what they are doing."
"They are a savage set of animals. How angry Terror is! Don't you notice that they are trying to entice him to venture out a little nearer them? They hate him more than all of us."
"Do you think so?"
"You can see it in their manner. If they can once get hold of him they will tear him to shreds."
"And they will catch him, too, if he isn't careful. He is so surly and cross himself that it is dangerous to touch or speak to him."
"We can't afford to lose him. We must watch, and if he gets too close to any of them, why, all we shall have to do is to crack them over, and give the others warning to keep their distance."
While they were speaking a huge wolverine darted close enough to strike Terror. Instantly the two closed and rolled upon the ground in the fierce death struggle. Over and over, snapping, snarling, growling, biting, scratching with lightning-like fierceness, now one below and then the other, and finally the dog on top.
The conflict was as short as it was furious. The massive jaws of the Newfoundland closed on the throat of his antagonist and his teeth met through his windpipe. There they stuck for a minute, and when he relaxed his hold it was all over with the reckless animal.
Still it would have fared ill with the dog but for Shasta, for the other wolverines would have sprung upon him and destroyed him before he could have escaped. At the moment the two closed the Indian darted forward, seized a brand and flourished it over the combatants. This so terrified the others that they kept their distance until the conqueror resumed his place in triumph by the fire.
This encounter proved it lesson to both the dog and the wolverines. The latter appeared to comprehend the disadvantage under which they were placed, while Terror, having had a taste of their mettle, was satisfied for the time, and kept a safe position further away from the brutes that were so eager to fasten their teeth in him.
It was now verging toward morning, and the Pah Utah looked about him as if he were going to make his preparations for moving. He looked toward the raging creatures, still fierce and furious, and then glanced at the canoes drawn up within a few feet of the camp-fire, and pointed toward them and the river.
Fortunately but a few feet intervened between their present position and the stream, so that the latter was easy of access in case it should become necessary to retreat before the wolverines. Still the fire did not protect this enough to make it a safe undertaking in their present situation.
Shasta picked up several blazing sticks, and carrying them to the water's edge, placed them together and covered them with some dry brush-wood. They speedily fanned themselves into a flame, and the gathering brutes withdrew and offered a fine approach to the river.
The Indian's next proceeding was to launch the two boats. This was done easily and without difficulty. The blankets and guns were placed within, and then motioned for the dog to follow; but Terror did not seem disposed to leave his present quarters. Perhaps the idea worked its way into his shaggy head that it savored too much of deserting his friends, or it may be that he still coveted a taste for another collision with the audacious animals that had pressed him so sorely.
Our brave soldier boys, who abhor bloodshed from a principle, still have a love for the wild abandon of camp life, and many a one looks back with a sigh to the rough experiences which we all pray may never come again. So it may be the Newfoundland, naturally peaceful, having had his blood fairly roused by his tussle and triumph, yet longed for more of victory.
Finally Howard and Elwood took their seats, and Tim O'Rooney followed; then Terror, casting one reluctant look behind him, jumped into the boat and lay down in his usual position; and so, at length, they all were embarked in safety.