CHAPTER TWELVE.
ON THE ALERT.
AT THE STATION--AFTER BUFFALO--RETURN OF RED SQUIRREL FROM A SCOUT WITHNEWS OF THE BLACKFEET--A PARTY RETURN--A PARTY SENT OUT TO BRING BACKTHE HUNTERS TO THE FORT--A STRANGE FIRE--RED SQUIRREL GOES OFF AGAIN ONTHE SCOUT.
My brothers and sisters, Hugh Rose, and I were very happy.
The former fancied that, now we had come, all their troubles would beover. They had, however, passed a sad and anxious time; the missionarywho had accompanied my father, with his wife and two children, had died,as had several of the Christian Indians, while some hundreds of the wildIndians had been swept off by the fearful pestilence. The latter hadgone away south during the winter, and it was supposed that they wouldnot return till the spring.
Hugh and I occasionally went out with Uncle Donald, or Pierre andCorney, in search of buffalo or deer. We were generally fortunateenough to kill either the one or the other. Uncle Donald had lost notime in sending out trusty scouts to try and ascertain the whereaboutsof the Blackfeet.
Red Squirrel, from being one of the most active and intelligent of ourIndians, was thus constantly employed. The duty was a hazardous one,for, as he well knew, should the enemy catch him, they would to acertainty take his scalp.
As neither buffalo nor deer had for several days appeared near thestation, the hunters had to go a considerable distance in search ofthem. As soon as an animal was killed one of the dog-sleighs was sentout to bring in the meat.
I have not described the station. It was in some respects like a fort,being entirely surrounded by palisades, both that it might be defendedfrom an hostile attack, and for the purpose of protecting the buildingsin the interior from the cold winds in winter, and to prevent the snowfrom drifting round them. There was a strong gate on one side whichcould be securely closed with bars, and a narrow platform with a parapetran round the upper part of the palisades, from which its defenderscould fire down on their assailants. It was in this respect verydifferent from the usual missionary stations, which are entirely withoutdefence. It had been built as a fort by the fur traders, and being inthe neighbourhood of a savage and warlike tribe, it was consideredprudent to repair it in the fashion I have described. When existing asa fort, it had been more than once captured and plundered by theIndians, and on one occasion the whole of the defenders had been put todeath.
I had one morning gone up to the platform to take a look out, when Iespied far off to the southward a small herd of buffalo. Our huntershad, on the previous evening, gone off to the eastward, and, unless theyshould find game near, were not likely to return for some days. Ihurried down to Uncle Donald to tell him what I had seen, and requestpermission to set off to try and kill a buffalo.
"I will go with you," he said; and Hugh begged that he might accompanyus. So we set off with our guns, hoping, that by keeping among thewoods, we might get to leeward of the herd, and sufficiently near toshoot one or more beasts.
My brother Alec, who was nearly as old as Hugh, went also. We hurriedalong on our snow-shoes, eager to get up to the herd before they shouldmove off. This they were not likely to do, as they had found a spotwhere the snow was less deep than in other places, and they had got downto the grass by pawing with their feet.
They did not perceive us, and the wind being north-east, we succeeded ingetting round to the south of them. We then crept carefully up, andUncle Donald, firing, brought a fat cow to the ground. Hugh and I aimedat another, which we badly wounded; but instead of running off with itshead lowered, ploughing up the snow as a ship turns up the foamingwater, it came charging towards us.
"Now, Alec, see what you can do!" exclaimed Hugh and I, as we rapidlyre-loaded; "but run aside as soon as you have fired, or the brute maykill you."
I heard Alec's shot, when, looking up, to my dismay, I saw that he hadmissed. The buffalo was within twenty paces of us. Alec did his bestto make off on one side, which, however, could not be done very rapidlywith snow-shoes on. In another instant the buffalo would have reachedus, when a shot which came from behind a tree laid him low, and lookinground, I saw an Indian, whom I directly recognised as Red Squirrel. Therest of the herd being thus disturbed had made off. Uncle Donald nowcame up and thanked Red Squirrel for his timely aid. He reported thathe was on his return to the fort with somewhat alarming intelligence.He had got up one night, he said, close to the Blackfeet lodges, wherehe observed the chiefs seated in council. He caught the meaning of someof their speeches, from which he gathered that it was their intention,before long, to come north and avenge themselves on the white medicineman--so they called my father--for the pestilence which they asserted hehad inflicted on them because they had refused to become his proselytes.Red Squirrel also stated that he had seen among them a white man, whohad spoken, and tried to dissuade them from prosecuting their design.He was clothed, like them, in a dress of buffalo-robes, from which RedSquirrel argued that he had been some time among them. They seemed,however, in no way inclined to listen to the advice of the whitestranger, and expressed their intention of setting out as soon as theirmedicine man should pronounce the time to be propitious.
"We must return at once and put the station in a state of defence," saidUncle Donald, on hearing this. "The savages may be upon us in thecourse of two or three days, and will give us but a short time toprepare for them. It is unfortunate that the hunters are away, for werequire their assistance; and should the Blackfeet fall in with themthey will lose their scalps to a certainty."
"I would willingly go out and try and find them," I said. "As no snowhas fallen since they started, I can easily find their tracks."
"I would much rather send Red Squirrel or Corney; but I'll think aboutit as we go along," said Uncle Donald.
Pierre had gone with the hunters, so that only the Irishman and youngIndian were available for the purpose.
We at once turned our faces homewards, going on as fast as we could moveon our snow-shoes. We thought it possible that we might find on ourarrival that some of the hunters had returned, but none had made theirappearance. My father looked very anxious when he heard the informationbrought by Red Squirrel.
"We might repulse them should they attack the place, but if any arekilled, what hope can I afterwards have of winning them over to theGospel?" he said. "I talk to them of peace, and urge them to enlistunder the banner of the Prince of Peace, and yet they find me and myfriends allied in arms against them."
"But if we don't defend ourselves, they will knock us on the head andcarry off our scalps," answered Uncle Donald. "I will do all I can topreserve peace, and induce them to go back without fighting, should I beable to hold any communication with them. In the meantime, we mustprepare to defend the fort. Archie has volunteered to go out in searchof the hunters, who must be forthwith called in, but without yourpermission I do not like to let him go."
"As it is in the path of duty, I will not forbid him," answered myfather.
"If Archie goes, let me go too," cried Alec. "I can run as fast as hedoes on snow-shoes."
After some demur, Alec got leave to accompany me, for Hugh, not beingquite well, was unable to go.
We were in good spirits, pleased at the confidence placed in us, andonly regretting that Hugh had not been able to come. The trail of thehunters was perfectly clear, leading away to the south-east. They hadtaken a couple of sleighs to bring in the meat, so that we had nodifficulty in directing our course.
We had made good nearly ten miles, and had not met any buffalo tracks,which showed us that the hunters must still be some way ahead, when weheard a voice shouting to us, and, looking back, we saw an Indianrunning towards us over the snow. As he was alone, we had no doubt thathe was a friend, and as he came nearer we recognised Red Squirrel.
He could not, he said, allow us to go without him, and as soon as he hadtaken some food he had set off. He had left Uncle Donald busilyengaged, assisted by my father and the remaining men in the fort, instrengthening the palisades. "If the Blackfeet co
me expecting to get inand plunder the fort, they will find themselves mistaken," he added.
We were very glad to have Red Squirrel with us; although, accustomed aswe were to travel over the snow-covered plains, and having the mountainswith whose forms we were well acquainted to the eastward, we had no fearabout finding our way back, provided that the weather should remainclear. There was, of course, the possibility of a snow-storm coming on,and then we might have been greatly puzzled.
Notwithstanding the fatigue Red Squirrel had gone through during thelast few days, he was as active as ever, and kept us moving as fast aswe could go.
Before sunset we came upon the tracks of buffalo, though the animalsthemselves were nowhere to be seen.
"We'll soon find them," observed the Indian; but though we went on somedistance, neither buffalo nor hunters could we discover, and we wereglad, just as night fell, to take shelter under the lee of a thick clumpof poplars and spruce pine. To cut sufficient wood for our fire andclear away the snow was the work of a few minutes, and, with our potboiling, we were soon sitting round a cheerful blaze discussing oursupper. We continued sitting round the fire, wrapped in ourbuffalo-robes, with our feet close to the embers, every now and thenthrowing on a stick, while we talked and Red Squirrel smoked his pipe.
I proposed that two of us should lie down and go to sleep, while thethird kept watch, when Red Squirrel, getting up, said he would take alook out.
Climbing up the bank, he went to the top of a knoll a short distanceoff. We could see his figure against the sky. In a short time he cameback.
"See fire out there," he said, pointing to the southward. "May befriends, may be enemies, may be Blackfeet. If Blackfeet, sooner we get'way better."
"But how are we to find out whether they are friends or foes?" I asked.
"Red Squirrel go and see," he answered. "You stay here;" and taking uphis gun, he quickly disappeared in the darkness, leaving us seated atour camp fire.
Among the Red-skins; Or, Over the Rocky Mountains Page 12
