The Red Man's Revenge: A Tale of The Red River Flood

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

  THE LAST.

  A change--like the flashing colours of a kaleidoscope; like the phantomsof a dream! Red River settlement is dry again, or drying; but ah! whata scene of wreck and ruin! It looks as if the settlement had beendevastated by fire and sword as well as water. Broken-down houses,uprooted fences and trees, piles of debris, beds and boxes, billets ofwood and blankets, habiliments and hay, carioles and cordage andcarcasses of cattle, all mixed up more or less, and cemented togetherwith mud. Nearly every house in the settlement had been destroyed.

  Of course many a day passed after the great catastrophe before Red Riverwas itself again, with its river confined to the proper channel, and itsprairies rolling with grass-waves; but it was not long before theenergetic inhabitants returned to their labours and their desolatedhouses to begin the world anew. About the 1st of May the flood began;by the 20th of the same month it had reached its height, and on the 22ndthe waters began to assuage. On that day they had made a decided fallof two inches. The height to which the waters had risen above the levelof ordinary years was fifteen feet. The flood subsided very gradually.About the middle of June the ploughs were at work again, and the peoplebusy sowing what was left to them of their seed-barley and potatoes.

  Among the busiest of the busy at that bustling time was Peegwish. Whileothers were hard at work clearing, rebuilding, ploughing, and sowing,our noble savage was fishing. The labour of this occupation consistedchiefly in staring at his line, while he sat on a mud-heap on the riverbank, and smoked in the pleasant sunshine. Occasionally he rousedhimself to haul out a goldeye. Wildcat assisted him ably in hislabours, and still more ably in the after consumption of the goldeyes.Angus Macdonald discovered them thus occupied, and had difficulty inresisting his desire to pitch the lazy fellow into the river.

  "What wass you doin' there?" he cried. "Wass it wastin' your time wi'small fush you will pe doin', an' every wan else workin' hard? Go an'putt the ox in the cart an' haul watter. Look sharp!"

  Angus concluded with some deep gutturals in Gaelic which we cannottranslate, and Peegwish, rising hastily, went off to do as he was bid.But Peegwish was a poor water-drawer. The ox turned out to be moreobstinate than himself, and also more callous, for when it becamefatigued with hauling the water-barrel to and fro, it stopped at thefoot of the slope near a corner of the garden, and refused to budge.Peegwish lashed it, but it did not feel--at all events, it did not care.He tried to wheedle it, but failed: he became abusive, and used badlanguage to the ox, but without success. He was in the height of hisdistress when Petawanaquat passed by with a load of firewood on hisshoulder. The red man having been reconciled to his old enemy, hadremained at Red River, partly to assist him, partly to see the end ofthe flood, and partly to be near his friend Sinclair and his adopted sonTonyquat. From the latter he could not tear himself away.

  The Indian stood and gazed solemnly at his brother savage for someminutes, then he threw down his load, and entering the garden, cut theremains of a cabbage which had survived the flood. With this he went tothe ox and held it to its nose. The animal advanced; the Indianretreated a few steps. The ox advanced again in the hope of obtaining asavoury mouthful, but the Indian still retreated. Thus, step by step,the slope was ascended!

  "Wah!" said Petawanaquat, with a grave look, as he handed the cabbage toPeegwish, who profited by the lesson, and gained his ends.

  "She's fery lazy," muttered Angus to himself--referring to Peegwish--ashe went up the river bank towards the knoll, where his house now stoodtriumphantly, "fery lazy; more lazy than--than--"

  Failing to find a just comparison, he tailed off in expressive butuntranslatable Gaelic.

  "Goot tay to you, Muster Ruvnshaw," said Angus, on reaching the summitof the knoll. "It wass fery goot of you, whatever, to let my hoosestand here."

  "Don't mention it, Angus," said the old gentleman, removing his pipewith one hand, and extending the other. "It would be difficult toprevent it remaining where it is now. Besides, I passed my word, youknow, and that cannot be broken. Come, sit down. I'm thankful yourhouse was so considerate as to spare my smoking-box, though it has givenit a shove of a few feet to the south'ard. In other respects the houseis an advantage, for while it has not hurt the view, it serves toprotect my box from the quarter which used to be exposed to east winds.But there is one stipulation I have to make Angus, before the bargain isclosed."

  "An' what may that pe?" asked Angus, with a shade of anxiety.

  "That this smoking-box and the ground on which it stands, together withthe footpath leading up to it, shall remain my property as long as Ilive."

  Angus smiled. He had the peculiarity of turning the corners of hismouth down instead of up when he did so, which gave a remarkably knowinglook to his smile.

  "You shall pe fery welcome," he said. "And now, Muster Ruvnshaw, I camehere to say a word for my poy. You know it iss natural that Ian will pegetting anxious apout the wedding. It iss impatient he will pe,whatever. He is a little shy to speak to you himself, and he will pebotherin' me to--"

  "All right, Angus, I understand," interrupted Mr Ravenshaw. "You knowboth he and Lambert are busy removing your barn from my lawn. When thatis finished we shall have the weddings. My old woman wants 'em to be onthe same day, but nothing can be done till the barn is removed, for Imean to have the dance on that lawn on the double-wedding day. So youcan tell them that."

  Angus did tell them that, and it is a remarkable fact which every one inthe establishment observed, that the unsightly barn, which had so longdisfigured the lawn at Willow Creek, disappeared, as if by magic, in onenight, as Cora put it, "like the baseless fabric of a vision!"

  Time passed, and changed the face of nature entirely. Wrecks were sweptaway; houses sprang up; fences were repaired; crops waved on the fieldsof Red River as of yore, and cattle browsed on the plains; so that if astranger had visited that outlying settlement there would have beenlittle to inform his eyes of the great disaster which had so recentlyswept over the place. But there would have been much to inform hisears, for it was many a day before the interest and excitement about thegreat flood went down. In fact, for a long time afterwards the floodwas so much in the thoughts and mouths of the people that they mighthave been mistaken for the immediate descendants of those who hadswarmed on the slopes of Ararat.

  Let us now present a series of pictures for the reader's inspection.

  The first is a little log-hut embosomed in bushes, with a stately treerising close beside it. Flowers and berries bedeck the surroundingshrubbery, pleasant perfumes fill the air. A small garden, in which theuseful and ornamental are blended, environs the hut. The two windowsare filled with glass, not parchment. A rustic porch, covered withtwining plants, conceals the door, and a general air of tidiness marksall the surroundings. Need we say more to convince the intelligentreader that this is the hut of old Liz? It occupies the spot where itwas deposited by the flood, the family having been allowed to remainthere.

  Under the genius of Herr Winklemann and Michel Rollin the old hut hasdisplayed some characteristics of the cactus in sending forth offshootsfrom its own body. An offshoot in the rear is the kitchen; another onthe right is a mansion, as large nearly as the parent, in whichWinklemann has placed his mother, to the great relief of Daddy, whonever forgot, and with difficulty forgave, the old woman's kickinghabits when their legs reposed together on the table. It must be added,however, that the old people live on good terms, and that MrsWinklemann frequently visits Daddy, and smokes with him. The offshooton the left, built by Michel, is a stable, and an excrescence beyond isa cow-house. There, are fowls in front of the hut, and flour, sugar,pork, and tea within, so it may be concluded that the families are nowin comfort.

  When the improvements just mentioned were completed, Michel Rollin,unable to settle down, had arranged with Peegwish and Wildcat to go offon a fishing expedition.

  Before starting he entered the hut, and said to Winklemann, who wa
sfilling his "moder's" pipe for her--

  "You vill be here ven I come back? You vill not leave the ol' peepil?"

  "No; I vill stope till you retoorns. Be sure I vill take care of zeeold vons. But dere is not much fear of anodor flood joost now."

  "What says he, Liz?" asked old Daddy, with a hand to his ear. "Speakoot."

  "Oh, he's jist haverin' aboot the flood. He says there's nae fear o'anither flood, an' I think he's aboot right."

  "I'm no sae sure o' _that_," returned Daddy, whose memory for the pastwas much stronger than for current events. "It's been said, on the bestauthority, that there was a seemilar flood i' the year seeventeen hunneran' seeventy-sax, anither in seeventeen ninety, an' anither in aughteenhunner an' nine."

  "Hoots! haud yer gab. What div _ye_ ken aboot floods?"

  Daddy, hearing nothing, and believing from the pleasant expression ofLiz's countenance that she appreciated his remarks, nodded to MrsWinklemann cheerily, and smiled.

  "Ha!" laughed her son; "you is von stranch being, old Liz--ver stranch."

  Having finished the filling of his "moder's" pipe and lighted it forher, Herr Winklemann arose and followed his friend Michel out of thehut.

  Let us look at another picture.

  It is a pair of cottages close to each other, and about a stone's castfrom the farm at Willow Creek. The buildings are new, and much alike inform and size. There are well-tilled fields around, and fat cattle anda few sheep. The insides of these mansions have not much to boast of inthe way of ornament, but there is enough to display the influence, thegood taste, and the refinement of woman.

  Immediately after the abating of the waters Ian Macdonald and LouisLambert set to work to build these houses, and you may be sure they werenot long about it, for the tyrannical old father-in-law elect not onlycompelled them to take down the barn on the lawn before the weddings,but also to build houses for their brides.

  And after the knots were tied and the dance on the lawn at Willow Creekwas over, and the happy couples were fairly established in their ownhomes, they kept open house for a long time, and interchangedinnumerable visits between Bearclaw Cottage, (that was Ian's), andHunter's Lodge, (that was Lambert's), and the Ark on Ararat, (that wasthe house of Angus), and Willow Creek, insomuch that Tony was heard oneday to inform Miss Trim confidentially that he found it difficult totell where he lived, or which was his proper home--and Miss Trimconfessed that she was in much the same condition of mind.

  "What an amazing time we have passed through!" said Miss Trim, referringto the flood, at one of their social gatherings.

  "Yes," said Victor hastily, for he knew that Miss Trim was on the pointof delivering one of her parenthetical and pointless orations, "it wasindeed an amazing time! Such boating on the plains, and such campingout! To say nothing of tumbling into the water and being half drowned."

  "By the way," asked Ian, "was not poor John Flett nearly drowned aboutthe beginning of the flood?"

  "Of course he was," said Mr Ravenshaw, "and if it had not been for yourfather he and his family would have been lost altogether. Is not thatso, Angus?"

  "Well, it iss droont he would have been in all probabeelity," saidAngus, "for he was on the wrong road when I met him, an' he couldn'tfind the right wan, whatever. Shon Flett iss a good man, but he issalso foolish. You see, when the watter came on him so strong that hishoose began to slup away, he took two of his oxen an' he tied themtogether wi' ropes, an' put planks on their backs, which he also tied;ay! an' so he made a sort of livin' stage, on which he sat his wife andfour children; two of them wass poys and the other two wass girls,whatever. The frightened craters went about the best way they could,sometimes wadin' an' sometimes sweemin', an' Shon, he wass leadin' themwi' a line roond their horns, an' he wass wadin' an' sweemin' also. Icame across them wi' my post an' took them in. That was just pefore wesaw the hoose on fire floatin' down the river."

  "The house on fire!" exclaimed Cora; "I did not hear of that."

  "No wonder," said Lambert. "There have been so many strange incidentsand hairbreadth escapes during the flood that we won't likely hear aboutthem all for many a day to come."

  "But what about the house on fire?" asked Victor; "was any one in it?"

  "No, it was only a house that had been left somewhat hastily by itsowners, who must have forgot to put out the fire or capsized somethingover it. At all events the house was seen floating down stream atnight, and a splendid sight it was, burning furiously, with the flamesglittering in the water that swept it away."

  "How sad!" said Elsie, whose mind dwelt on the evil rather than on thepicturesque aspect of the incident.

  "I can't imagine what ever was the cause of the flood," remarked MrsRavenshaw.

  "Well, my dear," said her husband, in a somewhat oracular tone, "no onecan certainly tell what caused it, but my own opinion is that it wascaused by the unusual wetness of the fall. You remember how it rained;well, when the lakes and rivers were as full as they could hold, and theground was soaking like a full sponge, the winter came on us suddenlyand set all fast, thus preventing the water getting away. Then came thesnow, also unusually heavy. Then came a late spring with a sudden burstof warm weather, and a south wind for several days in succession,turning all this accumulation into water. Red Lake, Otter-tail Lake,and Lake Travers overflowed, as you know; the Red River ice burst up andjammed against the solid ice of Lake Winnipeg, which stopped thecurrent, and thus caused the overflow. That's _my_ notion about theflood. Whether it's right or no, who can tell?"

  "Your observations, sir, are fery goot, whatever," said Angus, taking anunusually long draw at his pipe.

  Turn we now to look upon one more picture. It is on the shores of thegreat lake--Lake Winnipeg. There among a tangled but picturesque massof reeds and bushes, a canoe is resting on the reeds, and, not far fromit, a rude structure of boughs and bark has been set up. It is open infront, and before it burns a large fire, whose light, however, is paledby the effulgence of the glorious sun as it dips into the lake.

  Petawanaquat is there, seated with a book on his knee, and a dignified,yet slightly perplexed expression on his face. His friend Sinclair isthere too, teaching him to read the Word of God. Meekeye, faithfulpartner and sympathiser with the red man, is also there; and beside themreclines our friend Tony. That child's taste for hunting is strong.Having been--according to Miss Trim's report--a very good boy and_remarkably_ diligent at his lessons, he has been granted a holiday andpermission to go a-hunting with his red father. He is tired after theday's hunt, and reclines placidly awaiting supper, which Meekeye withdowncast look prepares.

  Having spent two hours over the Book that evening, Petawanaquat closedit slowly and looked up.

  "You find it rather difficult to understand," said Sinclair, with apleasant smile.

  The red man rose, drew himself up, and, turning his black eyes, like theeagle, on the flashing sun, stretched out his hand.

  "My brother," he said, "beholds the sun. Can he tell where it comesfrom, or whither it goes? No; but he understands that the Great Spiritguides its course, and he is satisfied. When Petawanaquat was a childhe understood very little. He is a man now, and understands a littlemore. When the Great Spirit takes him up yonder, no doubt his mindshall be made bigger, and it shall be filled. The book that the GreatSpirit has sent is very big. Some things in it are hard to understand,but the greatest thing of all is not hard. There is but _one thingneedful_. Is not Jesus the one thing? Petawanaquat wishes to live forever. To know the Great Spirit and Jesus is to live for ever.Petawanaquat has lived long and seen much. He has seen men torture menlike evil spirits. He has seen scalps torn from men and women. He hasseen little ones dashed against the stones. The spirit of Petawanaquathas groaned within him--he knew not why--perhaps the Great Spirit wasspeaking to him in his heart. `Shall these deeds of evil never have anend?' he asked, but there was no answer. Now, an answer has come.Jesus is the Saviour _from sin_. All things shall be put under Him.Wh
en that time comes _all_ things shall be good. At present good andevil are mixed."

  The red man paused a moment, with a slightly troubled look, but theshadow passed like a fleeting cloud as he dropped his arm, and, with anair of simple humility, sat down again beside his friend.

  "Petawanaquat is only a child," he added; "at present he is onlylearning. In good time he shall know all."

  The sun's last rays were still gilding the horizon and flickering on thewaves of Winnipeg when the tired hunters lay down to rest. Graduallythe camp-fire lost its ruddy glow; the evening breeze died slowly down;one by one the stars came out, and the soft curtain of night, descendinglike a gentle spirit on the wilderness, hid the red man and his comradesfrom mortal eyes, and wrapped them in profound repose.

  THE END.