"Not quite so bad as that, I hope," said Dick, who
was very slightly singed, and forgot his own hurts in
anxiety about his comrade. "Let me see."
"My eye!" exclaimed Joe Blunt, while a broad grin
overspread his countenance, "ye've not improved yer
looks, Henri."
This was true. The worthy hunter's hair was singed
to such an extent that his entire countenance presented
the appearance of a universal frizzle. Fortunately the
skin, although much blackened, was quite uninjured--a
fact which, when he ascertained it beyond a doubt,
afforded so much satisfaction to Henri that he capered
about shouting with delight, as if some piece of good
fortune had befallen him.
The accident had happened in consequence of Henri
having omitted to replace the stopper of his powder-horn,
and when, in his anxiety for Joe, he fired at random
amongst the Indians, despite Dick's entreaties to
wait, a spark communicated with the powder-horn and
blew him up. Dick and Crusoe were only a little
singed, but the former was not disposed to quarrel with
an accident which had sent their enemies so promptly
to the right-about.
This band followed them for some nights, in the hope
of being able to steal their horses while they slept; but
they were not brave enough to venture a second time
within range of the death-dealing rifle.
Dangers of the prairie
--
Our travellers attacked by Indians,and delivered in a remarkable manner
.
There are periods in the life of almost all men
A when misfortunes seem to crowd upon them in
rapid succession, when they escape from one danger
only to encounter another, and when, to use a well-known
expression, they succeed in leaping out of the
frying-pan at the expense of plunging into the fire.
So was it with our three friends upon this occasion.
They were scarcely rid of the Blackfeet, who found them
too watchful to be caught napping, when, about daybreak
one morning, they encountered a roving band of
Camanchee Indians, who wore such a warlike aspect
that Joe deemed it prudent to avoid them if possible.
"They don't see us yit, I guess," said Joe, as he and
his companions drove the horses into a hollow between
the grassy waves of the prairie, "an' if we only can escape their
sharp
eyes till we're in yonder clump o' willows, we're safe enough."
"But why don't you ride up to them, Joe," inquired
Dick, "and make peace between them and the Pale-faces,
as you ha' done with other bands?"
"Because it's o' no use to risk our scalps for the
chance o' makin' peace wi' a rovin' war party. Keep
yer head down, Henri! If they git only a sight o' the
top o' yer cap, they'll be down on us like a breeze o'
wind."
"Ha! let dem come!" said Henri.
"They'll come without askin' yer leave," remarked
Joe, dryly.
Notwithstanding his defiant expression, Henri had
sufficient prudence to induce him to bend his head and
shoulders, and in a few minutes they reached the
shelter of the willows unseen by the savages. At least
so thought Henri, Joe was not quite sure about it, and
Dick hoped for the best.
In the course of half-an-hour the last of the Camanchees
was seen to hover for a second on the horizon,
like a speck of black against the sky, and then to disappear.
Immediately the three hunters vaulted on their steeds
and resumed their journey; but before that evening
closed they had sad evidence of the savage nature of
the band from which they had escaped. On passing
the brow of a slight eminence, Dick, who rode first,
observed that Crusoe stopped and snuffed the breeze in
an anxious, inquiring manner.
"What is't, pup?" said Dick, drawing up, for he
knew that his faithful dog never gave a false alarm.
Crusoe replied by a short, uncertain bark, and then
bounding forward, disappeared behind a little wooded
knoll. In another moment a long, dismal howl floated
over the plains. There was a mystery about the dog's
conduct which, coupled with his melancholy cry, struck
the travellers with a superstitious feeling of dread, as
they sat looking at each other in surprise.
"Come, let's clear it up," cried Joe Blunt, shaking
the reins of his steed, and galloping forward. A few
strides brought them to the other side of the knoll,
where, scattered upon the torn and bloody turf, they
discovered the scalped and mangled remains of about
twenty or thirty human beings. Their skulls had been
cleft by the tomahawk and their breasts pierced by the
scalping-knife, and from the position in which many of
them lay it was evident that they had been slain while
asleep.
Joe's brow flushed and his lips became tightly compressed
as he muttered between his set teeth, "Their
skins are white."
A short examination sufficed to show that the men
who had thus been barbarously murdered while they
slept had been a band of trappers or hunters, but what
their errand had been, or whence they came, they could
not discover.
Everything of value had been carried off, and all the
scalps had been taken. Most of the bodies, although
much mutilated, lay in a posture that led our hunters
to believe they had been killed while asleep; but one or
two were cut almost to pieces, and from the blood-bespattered
and trampled sward around, it seemed as if
they had struggled long and fiercely for life. Whether
or not any of the savages had been slain, it was impossible
to tell, for if such had been the case, their
comrades, doubtless, had carried away their bodies.
That they had been slaughtered by the party of Camanchees
who had been seen at daybreak was quite clear to
Joe; but his burning desire to revenge the death of the
white men had to be stifled, as his party was so small.
Long afterwards it was discovered that this was a
band of trappers who, like those mentioned at the beginning
of this volume, had set out to avenge the death
of a comrade; but God, who has retained the right of
vengeance in his own hand, saw fit to frustrate their
purpose, by giving them into the hands of the savages
whom they had set forth to slay.
As it was impossible to bury so many bodies, the
travellers resumed their journey, and left them to bleach
there in the wilderness; but they rode the whole of
that day almost without uttering a word.
Meanwhile the Camanchees, who had observed the
trio, and had ridden away at first for the purpose of
deceiving them into the belief that they had passed
unobserved, doubled on their track, and took a long
sweep in order to keep out of sight until they could
approach under the shelter of a belt of woodland
towards which the travellers now approached.
The Indians adopted this course instead of the easier
method of simply pursuing so weak a party, because
the plains at this part were bordered by a long stretch
of forest into which the hunters could have plunged,
and rendered pursuit more difficult, if not almost useless.
The detour thus taken was so extensive that the shades
of evening were beginning to descend before they could
put their plan into execution. The forest lay about a
mile to the right of our hunters, like some dark mainland, of which
the
prairie was the sea and the scattered
clumps of wood the islands.
"There's no lack o' game here," said Dick Varley,
pointing to a herd of buffaloes which rose at their
approach and fled away towards the wood.
"I think we'll ha' thunder soon," remarked Joe. "I
never feel it onnatteral hot like this without lookin' out
for a plump."
"Ha! den ve better look hout for one goot tree to
get b'low," suggested Henri. "VoilĂ !" he added, pointing
with his finger towards the plain; "dere am a lot
of wild hosses."
A troop of about thirty wild horses appeared, as he
spoke, on the brow of a ridge, and advanced slowly
towards them.
"Hist!" exclaimed Joe, reining up; "hold on, lads.
Wild horses! my rifle to a pop-gun there's wilder men
on t'other side o' them."
"What mean you, Joe?" inquired Dick, riding close
up.
"D'ye see the little lumps on the shoulder o' each
horse?" said Joe. "Them's Injun's
feet
; an' if we don't
want to lose our scalps we'd better make for the forest."
Joe proved himself to be in earnest by wheeling
round and making straight for the thick wood as fast as
his horse could run. The others followed, driving the
pack-horses before them.
The effect of this sudden movement on the so-called
"wild horses" was very remarkable, and to one unacquainted
with the habits of the Camanchee Indians
must have appeared almost supernatural. In the twinkling
of an eye every steed had a rider on its back, and
before the hunters had taken five strides in the direction
of the forest, the whole band were in hot pursuit,
yelling like furies.
The manner in which these Indians accomplish this
feat is very singular, and implies great activity and
strength of muscle on the part of the savages.
The Camanchees are low in stature, and usually are
rather corpulent. In their movements on foot they are
heavy and ungraceful, and they are, on the whole, a
slovenly and unattractive race of men. But the instant
they mount their horses they seem to be entirely
changed, and surprise the spectator with the ease and
elegance of their movements. Their great and distinctive
peculiarity as horsemen is the power they have
acquired of throwing themselves suddenly on either side
of their horse's body, and clinging on in such a way
that no part of them is visible from the other side
save the foot by which they cling. In this manner
they approach their enemies at full gallop, and, without
rising again to the saddle, discharge their arrows at
them over the horses' backs, or even under their
necks.
This apparently magical feat is accomplished by
means of a halter of horse-hair, which is passed round
under the neck of the horse and both ends braided into
the mane, on the withers, thus forming a loop which
hangs under the neck and against the breast. This
being caught by the hand, makes a sling, into which the
elbow falls, taking the weight of the body on the middle
of the upper arm. Into this loop the rider drops suddenly
and fearlessly, leaving his heel to hang over the
horse's back to steady him, and also to restore him to his
seat when desired.
By this stratagem the Indians had approached on the
present occasion almost within rifle range before they
were discovered, and it required the utmost speed of the
hunters' horses to enable them to avoid being overtaken.
One of the Indians, who was better mounted
than his fellows, gained on the fugitives so much that
he came within arrow range, but reserved his shaft until
they were close on the margin of the wood, when, being
almost alongside of Henri, he fitted an arrow to his
bow. Henri's eye was upon him, however. Letting go
the line of the pack-horse which he was leading, he
threw forward his rifle; but at the same moment the
savage disappeared behind his horse, and an arrow
whizzed past the hunter's ear.
Henri fired at the horse, which dropped instantly,
hurling the astonished Camanchee upon the ground, where
he lay for some time insensible. In a few seconds
pursued and pursuers entered the wood, where both had
to advance with caution, in order to avoid being swept
off by the overhanging branches of the trees.
Meanwhile the sultry heat of which Joe had formerly
spoken increased considerably, and a rumbling noise,
as if of distant thunder, was heard; but the flying
hunters paid no attention to it, for the led horses gave
them so much trouble, and retarded their flight so much,
that the Indians were gradually and visibly gaining on
them.
"We'll ha' to let the packs go," said Joe, somewhat
bitterly, as he looked over his shoulder. "Our scalps'll
pay for't, if we don't."