Away in the Wilderness by Robert Michael Ballantyne (most read books .TXT) 📖

coolness of the evening air, I know not, but certain it is that Marie recovered in the course of a few minutes, and, on being convinced that Jasper really was her old lover, she resigned herself, wisely, to her fate, and held such an uncommonly long conversation with the bold hunter, that the moon was up and the stars were out before they turned their steps towards the Fort.

"Why, Jasper Derry," cried Mr Pemberton, as the hunter entered the hall of Fort Erie, "where _have_ you been. I've been expecting you every moment for the last two hours."

"Well, you see, Mr Pemberton, I just went down the river a short bit to see an old friend and I was kep' longer than I expected," said Jasper, with a cool, grave face, as he grasped and shook the hand which was held out to him.

"Ah! I see, you hunters are more like brothers than friends. No doubt you went to smoke a pipe with Hawkeye, or to have a chat with the Muskrat about old times," said the fur-trader, mentioning the names of two Indians who were celebrated as being the best hunters in the neighbourhood, and who had been bosom friends of Jasper when he resided there two years before.

"No, I've not yet smoked a pipe with Hawkeye, neither have I seen Muskrat, but I certainly have had a pretty long chat with one o' my old friends," answered Jasper, while a quiet smile played on his face.

"Well, come along and have a pipe and a chat with _me_. I hope you count me one of your friends too," said Mr Pemberton, conducting Jasper into an inner room, where he found Heywood and Arrowhead seated at a table, doing justice to a splendid supper of buffalo-tongues, venison-steaks, and marrow-bones.

"Here are your comrades, you see, hard at work. It's lucky you came to-night, Jasper, for I intend to be off to-morrow morning, by break of day, on a buffalo-hunt. If you had been a few hours later of arriving, I should have missed you. Come, will you eat or smoke?"

"I'll eat first, if you have no objection," said Jasper, "and smoke afterwards."

"Very good. Sit down, then, and get to work. Meanwhile I'll go and look after the horses that we intend to take with us to-morrow. Of course you'll accompany us, Jasper?"

"I'll be very glad, and so will Arrowhead, there. There's nothing he likes so much as a chase after a buffalo, unless, it may be, the eating of him. But as for my friend and comrade Mr Heywood, he must speak for himself."

"I will be delighted to go," answered the artist, "nothing will give me more pleasure; but I fear my steed is too much exhausted to--"

"Oh! make your mind easy on that score," said the fur-trader, interrupting him. "I have plenty of capital horses, and can mount the whole of you, so that's settled. And now, friends, do justice to your supper, I shall be back before you have done."

So saying, Mr Pemberton left the room, and our three friends, being unusually hungry, fell vigorously to work on the good cheer of Fort Erie.


CHAPTER TEN.


BUFFALO-HUNTING ON THE PRAIRIES.

Next day most of the men of Fort Erie, headed by Mr Pemberton, rode away into the prairies on a buffalo-hunt. Jasper would willingly have remained with Marie at the fort, but, having promised to go, he would not now draw back.

The band of horsemen rode for three hours, at a quick pace, over the grassy plains, without seeing anything. Jasper kept close beside his friend, old Laroche, while Heywood rode and conversed chiefly with Mr Pemberton. There were about twenty men altogether, armed with guns, and mounted on their best buffalo-runners, as they styled the horses which were trained to hunt the buffalo. Many of these steeds had been wild horses, caught by the Indians, broken-in, and sold by them to the fur-traders.

"I have seldom ridden so long without meeting buffaloes," observed Mr Pemberton, as the party galloped to the top of a ridge of land, from which they could see the plains far and wide around them.

"There they are at last," said Heywood eagerly, pointing to a certain spot on the far-off horizon where living creatures of some sort were seen moving.

"That must be a band o' red-skins," said Jasper, who trotted up at this moment with the rest of the party.

"They are Sauteaux," [This word is pronounced _Sotoes_ in the plural; _Sotoe_ in the singular] observed Arrowhead quietly.

"You must have good eyes, friend," said Pemberton, applying a small pocket-telescope to his eye; "they are indeed Sauteaux, I see by their dress, and they have observed us, for they are coming straight this way, like the wind."

"Will they come as enemies or friends?" inquired Heywood.

"As friends, I have no doubt," replied the fur-trader. "Come, lads, we will ride forward to meet them."

In a short time the two parties of horsemen met. They approached almost at full speed, as if each meant to ride the other down, and did not rein up until they were so close that it seemed impossible to avoid a shock.

"Have you seen the buffaloes lately?" inquired Pemberton, after the first salutation had passed.

"Yes, there are large bands not an hour's ride from this. Some of our young warriors have remained to hunt. We are going to the fort to trade."

"Good; you will find tobacco enough there to keep you smoking till I return with fresh meat," said Pemberton, in the native tongue, which he could speak like an Indian. "I'll not be long away. Farewell."

No more words were wasted. The traders galloped away over the prairie, and the Indians, of whom there were about fifteen, dashed off in the direction of the fort.

These Indians were a very different set of men from those whom I have already introduced to the reader in a former chapter. There are many tribes of Indians in the wilderness of Rupert's Land, and some of the tribes are at constant war with each other. But in order to avoid confusing the reader, it may be as well to divide the Indian race into two great classes--namely, those who inhabit the woods, and those who roam over the plains or prairies. As a general rule, the thick wood Indians are a more peaceful set of men than the prairie Indians. They are few in number, and live in a land full of game, where there is far more than enough of room for all of them. Their mode of travelling in canoes, and on foot, is slow, so that the different tribes do not often meet, and they have no occasion to quarrel. They are, for the most part, a quiet and harmless race of savages, and being very dependent on the fur-traders for the necessaries of life, they are on their good behaviour, and seldom do much mischief.

It is very different with the plain Indians. These savages have numbers of fine horses, and live in a splendid open country, which is well-stocked with deer and buffaloes, besides other game. They are bold riders, and scour over the country in all directions, consequently the different tribes often come across each other when out hunting. Quarrels and fights are the results, so that these savages are naturally a fierce and warlike race. They are independent too; for although they get their guns and ammunition and other necessaries from the traders, they can manage to live without these things if need be. They can clothe themselves in the skins of wild animals, and when they lose their guns, or wet their powder, they can kill game easily with their own bows and arrows.

It was a band of these fellows that now went galloping towards Fort Erie, with the long manes and tails of the half-wild horses and the scalp-locks on their dresses and their own long black hair streaming in the wind.

Pemberton and his party soon came up with the young Indians who had remained to chase the buffaloes. He found them sheltered behind a little mound, making preparations for an immediate attack on the animals, which, however, were not yet visible to the men from the fort.

"I do believe they've seen buffaloes on the other side of that mound," said Pemberton, as he rode forward.

He was right. The Indians, of whom there were six, well mounted and armed with strong short bows, pointed to the mound, and said that on the other side of it there were hundreds of buffaloes.

As the animals were so numerous, no objection was made to the fur-traders joining in the hunt, so in another moment the united party leaped from their horses and prepared for action. Some wiped out and carefully loaded their guns, others examined the priming of their pieces, and chipped the edges off the flints to make sure of their not missing fire. All looked to the girths of their saddles, and a few threw off their coats and rolled their shirt-sleeves up to their shoulders, as if they were going to undertake hard and bloody work.

Mr Pemberton took in hand to look after our friend Heywood; the rest were well qualified to look after themselves. In five minutes they were all remounted and rode quietly to the brow of the mound.

Here an interesting sight presented itself. The whole plain was covered with the huge unwieldy forms of the buffaloes. They were scattered about, singly and in groups, grazing or playing or lying down, and in one or two places some of the bulls were engaged in single combat, pawing the earth, goring each other, and bellowing furiously.

After one look, the hunters dashed down the hill and were in the midst of the astonished animals almost before they could raise their heads to look at them. Now commenced a scene which it is not easy to describe correctly. Each man had selected his own group of animals, so that the whole party was scattered in a moment.

"Follow me," cried Pemberton to Heywood, "observe what I do, and then go try it yourself."

The fur-trader galloped at full speed towards a group of buffaloes which stood right before him, about two hundred yards off. He carried a single-barrelled gun with a flint lock in his right hand and a bullet in his mouth, ready to re-load. The buffaloes gazed at him for one moment in stupid surprise, and then, with a toss of their heads and a whisk of their tails, they turned and fled. At first they ran with a slow awkward gait, like pigs; and to one who did not know their powers, it would seem that the fast-running horses of the two men would quickly overtake them. But as they warmed to the work their speed increased, and it required the horses to get up their best paces to overtake them.

After a furious gallop, Pemberton's horse ran close up alongside of a fine-looking buffalo cow--so close that he could almost touch the side of the animal with the point of his gun. Dropping the rein, he pointed the gun without putting it to his shoulder and fired. The ball passed through the animal's heart, and it dropt like a