American Family Robinson

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  Chapter Seventeenth.

  Recovery, and continuation of their journey. A joyous prospect. Theydiscover a Lake. It changes to gloom. Discovered and followed byIndians. They finally escape, though compelled to leave their baggage,&c.. They wander on, unconscious of their way. Discover a beautifulvalley, by which they encamp and rest themselves. Their journeycontinued. They meet with friendly Indians, who offer them theirhospitality. The Indians give them cheering intelligence. They restwith them a few days.

  Six weeks had now elapsed, and they, with their horses, were fairlyrecovered from the wearying effects of their journey over the desert,and they were ready to launch once more on the unknown barren wastebefore them. Large quantities of fish and fowl had been provided--someby smoking, and others by drying--which, together with the fresh anddried fruits and vegetables they had secured, they calculated wouldlast them five or six days. There were no animals of any kind,consequently they had not such facilities for preparation of driedmeats as before; and being without any salt, it was both inconvenientand difficult for them to preserve their provisions. Loading theirhorses with what they had prepared, and with a supply of water andgrass, they set out on foot, for it would be impossible for the beaststo carry them and the baggage, and they would be obliged to travel onfoot for two days at least, until the provisions were consumedsufficiently to relieve the beasts of part of the weight. It was nowmid-summer: they knew that by the intense heat that poured itsscorching rays upon them so that they were obliged to halt before noon,and entrench themselves behind a mass of rock they found, to protectthemselves from its burning rays. When the greatest heat of the day wasover, they again set out, and after an hour's travel, came in sight ofa dense forest, which they reached long before the sun had set. Theynow laughed heartily at the idea of their sojourn on the oasis so long,preparing with so much pains and anxiety for so short a journey.Whithersoever they went they found the forest increasing in fertility,and they knew by the extent of it this time, they had reached the mainland, and had really crossed an immense desert.

  They were not all joyous feelings that agitated them that night; for onevery hand they saw traces of Indians, and should they prove to beunknown, hostile tribes, they feared sad consequences. The nightpassed, however, quietly enough; and when morning broke, they set out,taking the precaution to move cautiously along, and though they oftencame upon places where Indians had encamped to cook their meals, andsometimes found the brands of fires still smoking, they had the goodfortune to travel three days without falling in with them. On thefourth day, about noon, as they were turning the bend of a stream thatwound round a hill, they were suddenly confronted by a party of fivefierce looking savages, entirely naked, who seemed to be as muchsurprised at the meeting as they were, for they stopped, glanced wildlyaround them a moment, and then precipitately fled.

  "Well, chief," said the trapper, "how do you like the looks of thesecustomers?"

  "They are a people I know nothing of, and this is the first time theyhave ever seen a pale face."

  "I fear we have not mended matters by crossing the desert," said Jane,sadly. "The sight of Indians does not speak well for our speedy returnto the land of civilization."

  "Let not the antelope be fearful. Strong hearts and hands are stillaround her," said the chief.

  "Which can avail but little against the hordes of savages that infestthese wilds," remarked Jane.

  "What is that Jane? You were lecturing me awhile ago, about doing ourbest,--courage, &c.--and leaving the rest for time to unravel," saidEdward, cheerily.

  "I am glad you reminded me of it," said Jane, "for the old feeling ofdespair was fast creeping into my heart."

  "I do not see anything to fear," remarked Sidney, "evidently thesavages are afraid of us, and if they are not, so long as they run awayfrom us, we are surely safe enough."

  "You do not know the treachery of the Indians who apparently infestthese regions," said Jane. "Perhaps they are cannibals, and it wouldthen be terrible to fall into their hands."

  "The Indians are not naturally treacherous; but the wrongs they haveendured have perverted their nature, and they meet treachery by thetreachery they have learned while smarting under it," said the trapper.

  "The white chief speaks like one of us," said Whirlwind, proudly. "Wehave endured wrong and suffering, and been submissive; but, at last,goaded to resistance, our lands were drenched with the blood of ourwives and children, because our warriors dared to strike a blow forfreedom. All this we have suffered, and must finally suffer extinction,while the pale faces will thrive on the soil enriched by our blood, andto future ages hold us up as a nation notorious for all the vices andcrimes ever known, even that of drunkenness, which the Indian neverknew until the white man came to our then peaceful shores."

  "You are not all treacherous, even now," said the trapper, "and whetherthe tribe is to which these belong is for the future to determine. Onething is certain, we must keep out of their hands if possible, and todo this, we had better ride on as fast as we can, and place as great adistance between us and them as we can before dark; for, if theyinterfere with us, it will be undertaken after we are encamped for thenight."

  Much to their relief, they were not molested, although they were keptin constant excitement by seeing the Indians hanging on their trail,keeping at a proper distance from them, halting when they halted, andtravelling when they travelled. This continued for several days, andthen the Indians entirely disappeared, greatly to the relief of ourwanderers.

  For the last few days they had been travelling first in one directionand then in another--alas! they knew not whither, perfectly bewildered.They seemed to be disheartened in pursuing a regular course, and wentwhere their judgments dictated for the hour, perhaps retracing theirsteps the next. One afternoon they came to a high, rolling part of theforest, which terminated at the foot of a range of hills rearing theirheads in mural peaks, and on ascending them, they found that theyoverlooked a beautiful plain below, in the centre of which a vast lakestretched away over many miles, and lay nestled in that wilderness likea gem in a setting of emerald. This lake was studded with numerousislands which were heavily timbered, and formed a beautiful scene.Taking a circuitous route so as to reach the lake in safety, theyencamped on its banks as the last rays of the setting sun werereflected in golden gushes from its placid bosom and nestling isles. Asthey gazed on the enchanting scene before them, it seemed as if naturehad reserved all her beauties for this chosen spot, denying to the vastdesert they had traversed fertility enough to make it inhabitable.

  On the opposite side of the lake arose precipitous ridges, varying inheight from five hundred to a thousand feet, covered with thebalsam-pine, whose dark stately green, formed a magnificent contrastwith the graceful foliage of the aspen, which bordered the lake. Acurious phenomenon here attracted their attention. Beneath thetransparent waters of the lake were distinctly visible, trees ofenormous proportions, standing erect, with the leaves and branchesentire, looking as though they had grown there, or been sunken in theirwatery bed. Making themselves a raft of dry wood, they explored everypart of the lake, and found beneath them in the water the sameforest-like appearance, and they concluded that the lake had once beenunobstructed, and that there had been an immense land-slide which hadprecipitated itself from the ridge over which they had entered thevalley into the lake; part of the wood drifting on the surface, hadformed itself into the little isles, while the rest had becomesubmerged, and still rested at a great depth beneath the waters thatclosed placidly over its topmost branches.

  Innumerable fowl filled the branches of the trees in these isles, whilecountless numbers of them were sporting in the water, undisturbed bythe intrusion of our wanderers. Evidently they had never seen manbefore, and had yet to learn he would prey on their numbers to sustainlife. Here they also found the salmon trout, grown to great size, solarge that one was enough for a supper for the whole party. There werealso great quantities of tender grass which, growing undisturbed in aconstant shade,
was as tender, and which the horses cropped with asmuch avidity, as the grasses of early spring, although now themid-summer, with scorching sun, was upon them.

  Not a trace of a native was visible, and the whole valley, nestledamong the high ridges on every side, had probably never before echoedto the voice of civilized man, or the soil pressed by his foot, forages on ages--at least, by any race now known. Perhaps, too, thousandsof years ago a race knew of its existence, when the world was young, ifthat time ever was. For the world is always young to the young, butwhen old age comes on, it becomes hoary to his heart also. The heart ofevery man is his world. When it is young, joyous, and happy, the worldis seen through the emotions that hold his soul in rosy meshes, and itis thus tinged to his sight with youth, love, hope, and a joy thatfills the heart with a fulness and ecstasy of happiness that leavesnothing further to be desired. Let the rosy meshes fall, and hoary age,or the long list of hours of a misspent life, hold up another scene, inwhich despair contends with the waning hours, and sombre clouds obscurethe future! Then the world is always old, always sad, hard, and cold;and man learns too late that the beauty and gracefulness of age can beonly with the heart that is still young, though it has seen longyears--and that, to enjoy life to the latest hour, the heart must stillbe kept green.

  As enchanting as this valley was, they dared not spend a day in itlonger than was necessary, and with reluctance they left it to launchforth, they knew not where. Crossing over the ridge, they came to ahigh table land, broad, and over which a fresh pure air constantlycirculated. This was lightly timbered, and they feared another desertwas before them. They were, however, relieved from this fear by comingto a high range of hills, which, on crossing, they found a successionof ridges, the first ridge having hid the summits of the others; asthey crossed one after another, they became more and more entangledamong them, and continued for two days wandering among shady dells, andover rocky, craggy precipices, until they sat down at night exhausted,with their flesh torn by the thorns and stones over which they had madetheir way. For the last two days, they had been unable to ride, theground being so broken that they found it quite as much as their beastswere able to do, to make their way along unburthened, and now they werelame, their hoofs being much bruised, and the flesh around the hoofsswollen. Selecting a narrow defile, the best spot for a camp they couldfind, they turned their horses loose to graze, having no fear theywould run away, and then turned to provide for their own wants.

  This was soon over, and then they lay down to rest. When the morningbroke, their horses had disappeared, and on examining the trail wherethey went, they discovered they had been led away in Indian file,having been stolen by savages. Here, now, was new trouble for them;for, without doubt, the Indians would hang around, and attack them,perhaps, the first moment it suited them, or that they could be sure ofsuccess.

  "There was but a small party of them last night that stole the horses;I am sure of that, and they will return with augmented numbers verysoon, or I shall be deceived," said the trapper.

  "We can fight as well as they," said the chief; "so let them beware."

  "Yes, we can do that; but we must get out of this spot. There is not anuglier one in the whole continent to be attacked in," replied thetrapper.

  "How can we get away? our horses gone, and if here, would be ashelpless almost as we are, and ourselves so worn out that very littlelife is left in us," said Jane, in a desponding tone.

  "While there is life there is hope," said the trapper. "Do not give upso, we have passed too many severe trials to despair at the loss of ourhorses."

  "Than which, a greater calamity could not have happened," said Sidney;"but, as uncle says, we must get out of this place, for if we areobliged to defend ourselves, we shall stand but little chance of doingit effectually, hemmed in here."

  "Look! look! and save yourselves; we are too late!" cried Edward,pointing upward towards the top of the precipice that overhung thedefile, and from which, as they raised their eyes, they saw a dozensavages on its verge, in the act of hurling a shower of rocks uponthem.

  The savages, seeing their whereabouts was discovered, set up anunearthly yell, which was given back by the chief with one of defiance,as he darted behind a tree, an act the rest had performed at the firstmoment of alarm. The stones and arrows flew around them like hail, butglancing against the large trunks of the trees behind which they wereentrenched, fell harmless at their feet. After keeping up this mode ofwarfare upwards of an hour to no purpose, they held a council on thecliff, and after a short debate dispersed again, but now about half ofthe number began to let themselves down by catching hold of thesaplings that grew along the cliff, and bending them, held on to thetops until they obtained a foothold several feet below, and thenrepeating the operation until they were two-thirds down. The chief saidto Howe, "It will never do to let them among us--better pick them offbefore they get down."

  "So I think," returned the trapper; "you stop the swinging of the lowerone, and I will take the next."

  Drawing their bows, two messengers of death hissed through the air,propelled by strong, true hands, and the two lower savages fell to theground, striking on the very stones they had hurled down from thesummit, and were horribly crushed and mutilated. The rest seeing thefate of their comrades, with a wild cry of alarm quickly swungthemselves up again, and the whole party precipitously fled. Thesavages had evidently supposed they were unarmed, and on finding to thecontrary, had probably retired to take counsel how to more safely carrytheir point.

  "Now," said the chief, "is our time to save ourselves; for they areexasperated at the loss of the two warriors, and will never restsatisfied until they have destroyed us, if we remain within theirreach."

  Starting down the ravine, for about a mile, they ascended a cleft-likeformation of the hills, which terminated at the base of an overhangingprecipitous ledge of rocks rising two hundred feet above them, withrents occasionally along the line, extending from the top to the bottomin yawning chasms, in one of which they hoped to shield themselves fromfurther pursuit. Ascending one of these chasms to the top of the ledge,they saw the savages running to and fro along the valley in search ofthem, having evidently lost the trail, much to their satisfaction, fornow they could gain on their pursuers.

  Following up their present advantages, they descended the mountain onthe other side, and finding themselves at the foot of another lesslofty, ascended it also, from which they saw before them a beautifulplain, level and well timbered, stretching away as far as the eye couldreach. It was now dark, and secreting themselves the best they could,they spent the night supperless; for, alas! they had nothing to eat;their whole stock of provisions, furs, gourds, kettle, and, indeed,every article they had accumulated, being left behind them in theirflight from the savages. Very little game was to be found on themountains; but as day dawned, they struck out on the plain, hoping tofind abundance.

  The sun had far advanced, and they had become faint and weary, whenthey came to a stream which was filled with excellent fish, from which,with some berries and roots, they made a plentiful repast. Whiledespatching this, deer came to the water to drink, and a fine doe wasshot by the trapper, much to their satisfaction. Cutting it up, theyshouldered it, and pursued their way. At nightfall they halted muchexhausted, and had the savages then found them, they would have fallenan easy prey. But as they saw nothing of them they hoped they hadrelinquished the pursuit.

  The next and the next day, they found themselves too sore and lame tomove, and the third attempting to travel, they proceeded about threemiles, when they gave out, building a bough hut by a clear spring ofwater, and resolved to stop until better fitted for travelling. Notraces of Indians were visible, and they now found their greatest foeswere beasts of prey, with which it seemed as if this part of the forestwas filled. They managed, however, to spend three weeks withoutsustaining any serious injury from them, although they nightly prowledaround their camp.

  The days now began to shorten perceptibly, and the nights to lengthen,a
nd the disagreeable truth forced itself upon them that the summer waswaning, and they were as far, for aught they knew, as ever, fromattaining the sole object of their lives,--their lost friends. Crossingthe plain which extended many miles, they came to another range ofhills which was so barren that they endeavored to avoid crossing it bygoing around them, and with this object, followed them down two day'sjourney, when they found the hills decreased to half their formerheight, and assuming a more fertile appearance, so they started to goover them. On arriving at the summit a scene of grandeur met theirvision, although it appalled the stoutest hearts. Before them,stretching away in the distance and rising until its summit, cappedwith snow, pierced the clouds, a range of mountains lay--a formidablebarrier over which they knew they ought not to go--and then came theconviction that they had wandered to the foot of the great barrier thatseparated the Pacific from the vast unexplored sandy desert, and thesnowy peaks that rose before them were those of the Sierra Nevada. Nowthey were more certain of their whereabouts than they had been before;for, though they had never seen the great Sierra, they had heard of itoften and knew the snows never left its summit, and to attempt to crossit was a feat they had no disposition to undertake. They knew moreover,that their friends were this side of the great Mountain, and that thedesert they had passed must consequently have been between them. Thencame the conviction that they had not wandered round the desert beforethey had crossed it, as they supposed, but had been on the eastern sideinstead of the western, and had from that moment been travellingdirectly from home during the journey in which they had endured somuch, forced itself upon them. And yet, with the certainty of thesefacts, they did not dare to turn back and retrace their steps, for todo so in the bewildered and weakened state in which their minds andbodies were, would be almost sure destruction, could they hope orattempt to make their way through the territories of the savages thatthey had so fortunately evaded in their journey thither.

  Long they stood on the summit of that mountain, their positioncommanding a view of the country for many miles around them,overlooking everything but the great Sierra that lifted its hoary headabove them, as if commanding them to retreat. Awe and terror held themin breathless silence for a while, when a half sob was heard, and Janepressed her hand tightly over her mouth to restrain the emotion which,in her weakened state, she could not control. Seeing her distress, thechief took her gently by the arm, and led the way down the mountain,until they came to a spring, where they stopped, kindled a fire, cookedtheir supper, and as the night air bid fair to be very cold beforemorning, built a temporary shelter of boughs. With a large fire burningto frighten beasts and dispel the damp air, they laid down to sleep.

  Refreshed the next morning, they were better fitted to calmly reflecton their condition than the night before; still they were unable toform any decided course to pursue further than to remain through thatday near their present encampment. After breakfasting, they descendedto the valley, and there, to their surprise, found an encampment ofIndians. Frightened, they turned to ascend the mountain, when theIndians came running towards them making unmistaken signs offriendship.

  "They are friendly tribes, thank Heaven! for it betokens assistancewhen we least expected it," said Howe, joyfully, as he advanced to meetthem.

  "You had better be careful, uncle, and not get in their power, as theymay prove treacherous," cried Jane.

  The chief turned with a sorrowful look to her, and said,

  "The pale faced maiden has no faith in the words of her darker skinnedbrothers. Is it because they have wronged her people more than theyhave suffered wrong; or because they dared in their manhood to defend,to the last moment, the houses of their wives and children, and thegraves of their kindred?"

  "No, no; not that, chief," said Jane, earnestly. "Why let such thoughtsforever disturb you? Some cannot be trusted, and these may be of thenumber, for that reason I bade uncle be cautious. You, we neversuspected, and you wrong us in being so sensitive on this subject."

  "It would be a fearful thing," returned the chief, "to see your raceand kindred blotted from existence, to see their homes and pleasantplaces occupied by those who may be the cause of their extinction, andto know when the last of the race shall have departed, their name willbe held synonymous with treachery and cruelty to futurity! Maiden!maiden!" added he, with a wild look, distorting his dark features, "mayyou never experience the torture of this feeling, nor the agony thathourly and yearly is mine."

  "Think you, chief, the sorrow you feel for the extinction of yourpeople is greater than that the people felt whom you extinguished inages gone by, and whose existence can be traced only by the works ofart they left behind them, which alone have survived, and still defyages to come?"

  "Listen to me, girl; for I speak from the promptings of the _GreatSpirit_. The day may come when no longer our lands shall be yours, foranother race may arise and avenge my people by the extinction of yourown. You will be spared the torture of seeing it, as I do the strugglesof my people. Nevertheless, the day will come when this shall be." Sosaying, with a hasty step and defiant brow, he turned from her, andjoined the group of Indians who were conversing with Howe, Sidney, andEdward.

  These Indians had evidently seen white men, or heard of them before;but could not speak a word of English, or any dialect the wanderersunderstood. They were, however, very communicative, and by signs andlines drawn on pieces of bark, gave them to understand that two moons'journey down the mountains was a pass over them, and on the other sidethere were plenty of people like themselves. But as it was now gettinglate in the season, they had better defer their journey until springcame again. At the same time they offered to take them in theirvillage, and provide for them until they could depart in safety. Theywould not listen to this proposition, but accepted with eagerness theirhospitality for a few days, in order to have an opportunity of makingfurther inquiries as to the route and locality of the country theywould have to pass through.