The Buffalo Runners: A Tale of the Red River Plains by R. M. Ballantyne (e reading malayalam books .TXT) đ
- Author: R. M. Ballantyne
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Davidson smiled to himself at this description, which the chief uttered with the sententious gravity that would have characterised his speech and bearing in a council of war.
âA most notable comrade, good OkĂ©matan; but where are we to find him, for I know nobody who comes near to that description.â
âHe dwells in your own wigwam,â returned the chief.
âIn Prairie Cottage?â exclaimed the other with a puzzled air. âYou canât mean my brother Peter, surely, for he is about as grave as yourself.â
âOkĂ©matan means the young brave who loves his little brother.â
âWhat! Archie Sinclair?â exclaimed Dan, with a surprised look. âI had no idea you had so high an opinion of him.â
âOkĂ©matan has seen much of Arch-ee: has watched him. He sees that he thinks nothing of himself; that he thinks always for the sick brother, Leetle Beel, and that he will yet be a great chief among the Palefaces.â
âWell, now you come to mention it, there is something about Archie that puts him high above other boys; and I suppose his unselfishness has much to do with it; but donât you think heâs too young, and hardly strong enough?â
âHe is not young. He is fifty years old in wisdom. He is very strong for his size, and he is willing, which makes his strength double.â
âBut he will never consent to leave Little Bill,â said Dan.
âOkĂ©matan had fears of that,â returned the Indian, with, for the first time, a look of perplexity on his face. âIf Arch-ee will not go without Leetle Beel, Leetle Beel must go too.â
It was found, on inquiry, that they were right in their surmise. When the proposal was made to Archie that afternoon by Dan, the boyâs eyes seemed to light up and dance in his head at the prospect. Then the light suddenly went out, and the dancing ceased.
âWhy, whatâs the matter, Archie?â asked his friend.
âCanât go. Impossible!â said Archie.
âWhy not?â
âWhoâs to look after Little Bill, I should like to know, if I leave him?â
âElspie, of course,â said Dan, âand Elise, to say nothing of Jessie, mother, and brother Peter.â
Archie shook his head.
âNo,â he said, âno! I canât go. Elspie is all very well in her way, and so is Elise, but they canât carry Little Bill about the fields and through the bush on their backs; and Peter wouldnât; heâs too busy about the farm. Noâever since mother died, Iâve stuck to Little Bill through thick and thin. So I wonât go.â
It was so evident that Archie Sinclairâs mind was made up and fixed, and also so obvious that a delicate little boy would be a great encumbrance on a hunting expedition that Dan thought of attempting the expedient of winning Little Bill himself over to his side. He had no difficulty in doing that, for Billie was to the full as amiable and unselfish as his brother. After a short conversation, he made Billie promise to do his very best to induce Archie to go with the hunters and leave him behind.
âFor you know, Little Bill,â said Dan in conclusion, and by way of consoling him, âalthough nobody could take such good care of you as Archie, or make up to you for him, Elspie would take his place very well for a timeâ.â
âO yes, I know that well enough,â said the poor boy with some enthusiasm; âElspie is always very good to me. Youâve no notion how nice she is, Dan.â
âHm! well, I have got a sort of a half notion, maybe,â returned Dan with a peculiar look. âBut thatâs all right, then. Youâll do what you can to persuade Archie, andâthere he is, evidently coming to see you, so Iâll go and leave you to talk it over with him.â
Billie did not give his brother time to begin, but accosted him on his entrance withââIâm so glad, Archie, that youâve been asked to go on this hunting expeââ
âO! youâve heard of it, then?â
âYes, and I want you to go, very very much, becauseâbecauseââ
âDonât trouble yourself with becauses, Little Bill, for I wonât go. So thereâs an end of itâunless,â he added, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him, âunless they agree to take you with them. They might do worse. Iâll see about that.â
So saying, Archie turned about, left the room as abruptly as he had entered it, and sought out OkĂ©matan. He found that chief sitting in La Certeâs wigwam, involved in the mists of meditation and tobacco-smoke, gazing at Slowfoot.
That worthy womanâwho, with her lord and little child, was wont to forsake her hut in spring, and go into the summer-quarters of a wigwamâwas seated on the opposite side of a small fire, enduring OkĂ©matanâs meditative gaze, either unconsciously or with supreme indifference.
âHallo! OkĂ©,ââthus irreverently did Archie address the chiefâhad any one else ventured to do so, he might possibly have been scalpedââHallo! OkĂ©, Iâve been huntinâ for you all round. Youâre worse to find than an arrow in the grass.â
It may be said, here, that Archie had learned, like some of the other settlers, a smattering of the Cree language. How he expressed the above we know not. We can only give the sense as he would probably have given it in his own tongue.
âOkĂ©matanâs friends can always find him,â answered the Indian with a grave but pleased look.
âSo it seems. But I say, OkĂ©, I want to ask a favour of you. Dan Davidson tells me you want me to go a-hunting with you. Well, Iâm your man if youâll let me take Little Bill with me. Will you?â
âLeetle Beel is not strong,â objected the Indian.
âTrue, but a trip oâ this sort will make him strong perhaps. Anyhow, it will make him stronger.â
âBut for a sick boy there is danger,â said the chief. âIf Arch-ee upsets his canoe in a rapid, Arch-ee swims on shore, but Leetle Beel goes to the bottom.â
âNot as long as Arch-ee is there to hold him up,â returned the boy.
âWaugh!â exclaimed the Indian.
âHumph!â remarked the boy. âWhat dâye mean by âWaugh,â OkĂ©?â
âOkĂ©matan means much that it is not in the power of the tongue to tell,â replied the Indian with increasing gravity; and as the gravity increased the cloudlets from his lips became more voluminous.
âArch-ee hopes, nevertheless, that the tongue of OkĂ© may find power to tell him a little of what he thinks.â
This being in some degree indefinite, the chief smoked in silence for a minute or two, and gazed at Slowfoot with that dreamy air which one assumes when gazing into the depths of a suggestive fire. Apparently inspiration came at lastâwhether from Slowfoot or not we cannot tellâfor he turned solemnly to the boy.
âRain comes,â he said, âand when sick men get wet they grow sicker. Carrying-places come, and when sick men come to them they stagger and fall. Frost often comes in spring, and when sick men get cold they die. Waugh!â
âHumph!â repeated the boy again, with a solemnity quite equal to that of the Red-man.
âWhen rain comes I can put up an umbrellaâan umbrella. Dâyou know what that is?â
The Indian shook his head.
âWell itâs aâa thingâa sort of little tentâa wigwam, you know, with a stick in the middle to hold on to and put it up. Dâyou understand?â
An expression of blank bewilderment, so to speak, settled on the chiefâs visage, and the lights of intelligence went out one by one until he presented an appearance which all but put the boyâs gravity to flight.
âWell, well, itâs of no use my tryinâ to explain it,â he continued. âIâll show it to you soon, and then youâll understand.â
Intelligence began to return, and the chief looked gratified.
âWhat you call it?â he askedâfor he was of an inquiring dispositionâ âa bum-rella?â
âNo, no,â replied the other, seriously, âan umbrella. Itâs a clever contrivance, as you shall see. So, you see, I can keep the rain off Little Bill when heâs in the canoe, and on shore there are the trees, and the canoe itself turned bottom up. Then, at carryinâ places, I can carry Little Bill as well as other things. Heâs not heavy and doesnât struggle, so we wonât leave him to stagger and fall. As to frostâhave we not hatchets, and are there not dead trees in the forest? Frost and fire never walk in company, so that Little Bill wonât get cold and die, for weâll keep him warmâwaugh!â
When human beings are fond of each other disagreement seldom lasts long. Okématan had taken so strong a fancy to Archie that he felt it impossible to hold out; therefore, being a man of strong common sense, he did not attempt the impossible.
Thus it came to pass that, two days later, a couple of birch-bark canoes were launched on the waters of Red River, with Dan Davidson in the stern of one and Fergus McKay acting as his bowman. OkĂ©matan took the stern of the other, while Archie Sinclair wielded the bow-paddle, and Little Bill was placed in the middle on a comfortable green blanket with the celebrated âbum-rellaâ erected over him to keep off, not the rain, but, the too glorious sunshine.
Let loose in the wilderness! How romantic, how inexpressibly delightful, that idea seems to some minds! Ay, even when the weight of years begins to stiffen the joints and slack the cords of life the memory of Godâs great, wild, untrammelled, beautiful wilderness comes over the spirit like a refreshing dream and restores for a time something like the pulse of youth.
We sometimes think what a joy it would be if youth could pass through its blessings with the intelligent experience of age. And it may be that this is to be one of the joys of the future, when man, redeemed and delivered from sin by Jesus Christ, shall find that the memory of the sorrows, sufferings, weaknesses of the past shall add inconceivably to the joys of the present. It may be so. Judging from analogy it does not seem presumptuous to suppose and hope that it will be so.
âSufficient unto the day,â however, is the joy thereof.
When the two canoes pushed off and swept rapidly over the fair bosom of Red River, the heart of Archie Sinclair bounded with a feeling of exultant joy which it would have been very hard indeed to convince him was capable of increase, while the bosom of his invalid brother was filled with a sort of calm serenity which constituted, in his opinion at the time being, a quite sufficient amount of felicity.
When we add that the other hunters were, in their several ways, pretty much in the same condition as the boys, we have said enough to justify the remark that their circumstances were inexpressibly delightful.
Proceeding some distance up stream they finally diverged into a minor tributary which led to waters that were swarming with water-fowl and other game.
âThis is a grand burst, Little Bill,â said Archie, as he plied his paddle vigorously, and glanced over his shoulder at the invalid behind him.
âPrime!â answered Billie. âIsnât it?â he added, with a backward glance at OkĂ©matan.
âWaugh!â replied the reticent savage.
âAy, âWaugh!â thatâs all youâll get out of him when heâs puzzled,â said Archie; âthough what he means by it is more than I know. You must speak respectable English to a Red-skin if you want to convince him. Why, if he had understood you literally, you knowâand obeyed youâheâd have had something to do immediately with the lock of his gun.â
âI have often wondered, Archie,â returned his brother with a languid smile,
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