"But there _is_ help," retorted d.i.c.k. "Just order the villain to climb into that tree."
"Why so, lad?"
"Don"t ask questions, but do what I bid ye."
The hunter smiled for a moment as he turned to the Indian, and ordered him to climb up a small tree near to which he stood. Mahtawa looked surprised, but there was no alternative. Joe"s authoritative tone brooked no delay, so he sprang into the tree like a monkey.
"Crusoe," said d.i.c.k, "_watch him_!"
The dog sat quietly down at the foot of the tree, and fixed his eyes on the savage with a glare that spoke unutterable things. At the same time he displayed his full compliment of teeth, and uttered a sound like distant thunder.
Joe almost laughed, and Henri did laugh outright.
"Come along, he"s safe now," cried d.i.c.k, hurrying away in the direction of the willow-bluff, which they soon reached, and found that the faithful squaw had tied their steeds to the bushes, and, moreover, had bundled up their goods into a pack, and strapped it on the back of the pack-horse; but she had not remained with them.
"Bless yer dark face," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Joe as he sprang into the saddle and rode out of the clump of bushes. He was followed immediately by the others, and in three minutes they were flying over the plain at full speed.
On gaining the last far-off ridge, that afforded a distant view of the woods skirting the p.a.w.nee camp, they drew up, and d.i.c.k, putting his fingers to his mouth, drew a long, shrill whistle.
It reached the willow-bluff like a faint echo. At the same moment the moon arose and more clearly revealed Crusoe"s catalyptic glare at the Indian chief, who, being utterly unarmed, was at the dog"s mercy. The instant the whistle fell on his ear, however, he dropped his eyes, covered his teeth, and, leaping through the bushes, flew over the plains like an arrow. At the same instant Mahtawa, descending from his tree, ran as fast as he could towards the village, uttering the terrible war-whoop when near enough to be heard. No sound sends such a thrill through an Indian camp. Every warrior flew to arms, and vaulted on his steed. So quickly was the alarm given that in less than ten minutes a thousand hoofs were thundering on the plain, and faintly reached the ears of the fugitives.
Joe smiled. "It"ll puzzle them to come up wi" nags like ours. They"re in prime condition too, lots o" wind in "em. If we only keep out o"
badger holes we may laugh at the red varmints."
Joe"s opinion of Indian horses was correct. In a very few minutes the sound of hoofs died away, but the fugitives did not draw bridle during the remainder of that night, for they knew not how long the pursuit might be continued. By pond, and brook, and bluff they pa.s.sed, down in the gra.s.sy bottoms and over the prairie waves,--nor checked their headlong course till the sun blazed over the level sweep of the eastern plain as if it arose out of the mighty ocean.
Then they sprang from the saddle and hastily set about the preparation of their morning meal.
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
EVENING MEDITATIONS AND MORNING REFLECTIONS--BUFFALOES, BADGERS, ANTELOPES, AND ACCIDENTS--AN OLD BULL AND THE WOLVES--"MAD-TAILS"--HENRI FLOORED, ETCETERA.
There is nothing that prepares one so well for the enjoyment of rest, both mental and physical, as a long-protracted period of excitement and anxiety, followed up by bodily fatigue. Excitement alone banishes rest; but, united with severe physical exertion, it prepares for it. At least, courteous reader, this is our experience, and certainly this was the experience of our three hunters as they lay on their backs beneath the branches of a willow bush, and gazed serenely up at the twinkling stars, two days after their escape from the Indian village.
They spoke little; they were too tired for that; also, they were too comfortable. Their respective suppers of fresh antelope steak, shot that day, had just been disposed of; their feet were directed towards the small fire on which the said steaks had been cooked, and which still threw a warm, ruddy glow over the encampment. Their blankets were wrapped comfortably round them, and tucked in as only hunters and mothers know _how_ to tuck them in. Their respective pipes delivered forth, at stated intervals, three richly yellow puffs of smoke, as if a three-gun battery were playing upon the sky from that particular spot of earth. The horses were picketted and hobbled in a rich gra.s.sy bottom close by, from which the quiet munch of their equine jaws sounded pleasantly, for it told of healthy appet.i.tes, and promised speed on the morrow. The fear of being overtaken during the night was now past, and the faithful Crusoe, by virtue of sight, hearing, and smell, guaranteed them against sudden attack during the hours of slumber. A perfume of wild flowers mingled with the loved odours of the "weed," and the tinkle of a tiny rivulet fell sweetly on their ears. In short, the "Pale-faces" were supremely happy, and disposed to be thankful for their recent deliverance and their present comforts.
"I wonder what the stars are," said d.i.c.k, languidly taking the pipe out of his mouth.
"Bits o" fire," suggested Joe.
"I tink dey are vorlds," muttered Henri, "an" have peepels in dem. I have hear men say dat."
A long silence followed, during which, no doubt, the star-gazers were working out various theories in their own minds.
"Wonder," said d.i.c.k again, "how far off they be."
"A mile or two, maybe," said Joe.
Henri was about to laugh sarcastically at this; but, on further consideration, he thought it would be more comfortable not to, so he lay still. In another minute he said--"Joe Blunt, you is ver" igrant.
Don"t you know dat de books say de stars be hondreds, tousands,--oh!
milleryons of mile away to here, and dat de is more bigger dan dis vorld?"
Joe snored lightly, and his pipe fell out of his mouth at this point, so the conversation dropped. Presently d.i.c.k asked, in a low tone, "I say, Henri, are ye asleep?"
"Oui," replied Henri, faintly. "Don"t speak, or you vill vaken me."
"Ah! Crusoe, you"re not asleep, are you, pup?" No need to ask that question. The instantaneous wag of that speaking fail, and the glance of that wakeful eye, as the dog lifted his head and laid his chin on d.i.c.k"s arm, showed that he had been listening to every word that was spoken. We cannot say whether he understood it, but beyond all doubt he heard it. Crusoe never presumed to think of going to sleep until his master was as sound as a top; then he ventured to indulge in that light species of slumber which is familiarly known as "sleeping with one eye open." But, comparatively, as well as figuratively speaking, Crusoe slept usually with one eye and a-half open, and the other half was never very tightly shut.
Gradually d.i.c.k"s pipe fell out of his mouth, an event which the dog, with an exercise of instinct almost, if not quite, amounting to reason, regarded as a signal for him to go off. The campfire went slowly out, the stars twinkled down at their reflections in the brook, and a deep breathing of wearied men was the only sound that rose in harmony with the purling stream.
Before the sun rose next morning, and while many of the brighter stars were still struggling for existence with the approaching day, Joe was up and buckling on the saddle-bags, while he shouted to his unwilling companions to rise.
"If it depended on you," he said, "the p.a.w.nees wouldn"t be long afore they got our scalps. Jump, ye dogs, an" lend a hand, will ye!"
A snore from d.i.c.k and a deep sigh from Henri was the answer to this pathetic appeal. It so happened, however, that Henri"s pipe, in falling from his lips, had emptied the ashes just under his nose, so that the sigh referred to drew a quant.i.ty thereof into his throat, and almost choked him. Nothing could have been a more effective awakener. He was up in a moment coughing vociferously. Most men have a tendency to vent ill-humour on some one, and they generally do it on one whom they deem to be worse than themselves. Henri, therefore, instead of growling at Joe for rousing him, scolded d.i.c.k for not rising.
"Ha, mauvais dog! bad chien, vill you dare to look to me?"
Crusoe did look with amiable placidity, as though to say, "Howl away, old boy, I won"t budge till d.i.c.k does."
With a mighty effort Giant Sleep was thrown off at last, and the hunters were once more on their journey, cantering lightly over the soft turf.
"Ho! let"s have a run," cried d.i.c.k, unable to repress the feelings aroused by the exhilarating morning air.
"Have a care, boy," cried Joe, as they stretched out at full gallop.
"Keep off the ridge; it"s riddled wi" badger--Hah! I thought so."
At that moment d.i.c.k"s horse put its foot into a badger hole, and turned completely over, sending its rider through the air in a curve that an East Indian acrobat would have envied. For a few seconds d.i.c.k lay flat on his back; then he jumped up and laughed, while his comrades hurried up anxiously to his a.s.sistance.
"No bones broke?" inquired Joe.
d.i.c.k gave a hysterical gasp. "I--I think not."
"Let"s have a look. No, nothin" to speak o", be good luck. Ye should niver go slap through a badger country like that, boy; always keep i"
the bottoms, where the gra.s.s is short. Now then, up ye go. That"s it!"
d.i.c.k remounted, though not with quite so elastic a spring as usual, and they pushed forward at a more reasonable pace.
Accidents of this kind are of common occurrence in the prairies. Some horses, however, are so well trained that they look sharp out for these holes, which are generally found to be most numerous on the high and dry grounds. But in spite of all the caution both of man and horse, many ugly falls take place, and sometimes bones are broken.
They had not gone far after this accident, when an antelope leaped from a clump of willows and made for a belt of woodland that lay along the margin of a stream not half a mile off.
"Hurrah!" cried d.i.c.k, forgetting his recent fall. "Come along, Crusoe."
And away they went again full tilt, for the horse had not been injured by its somersault.
The antelope which d.i.c.k was thus wildly pursuing was of the same species as the one he had shot some time before, namely, the p.r.o.ng-horned antelope. These graceful creatures have long, slender limbs, delicately formed heads, and large, beautiful eyes. The horns are black, and rather short; they have no branches like the antlers of the red-deer, but have a single projection on each horn, near the head, and the extreme points of the horns curve suddenly inwards, forming the hook or p.r.o.ng from which the name of the animal is derived. Their colour is dark yellowish brown. They are so fleet that not one horse in a hundred can overtake them, and their sight and sense of smell are so acute, that it would be next to impossible to kill them, were it not for the inordinate curiosity which we have before referred to. The Indians manage to attract these simple little creatures by merely lying down on their backs and kicking their heels in the air, or by waving any white object on the point of an arrow, while the hunter keeps concealed by lying flat in the gra.s.s. By these means a herd of antelopes may be induced to wheel round and round an object in timid, but intense, surprise, gradually approaching until they come near enough to enable the hunter to make sure of his mark. Thus the animals, which of all others _ought_ to be the most difficult to slay, are, in consequence of their insatiable curiosity, more easily shot than any other deer of the plains.