The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest

by St. George Rathborne

  CHAPTER XIV

  PRISONERS OF THE DACOTAHS

  DICK knew the folly of resistance when he saw that, besides the twowarriors who held him down, there were half a dozen others nearby.Roger, always impulsive and headstrong, was struggling desperately,though without the slightest chance of breaking away from his captors.Understanding what was taking place close by, Dick called out:

  "Give up, Roger; it is foolish to fight against such odds. You willonly be hurt for your pains, and nothing gained. Leave it all to me!"

  Not only did Roger hear these words, but his own good sense told himthe wisdom of yielding to overwhelming numbers. But it was always adifficult thing for Roger to believe in the old saying to the effectthat "he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day."

  After being disarmed the two boys were allowed to get upon their feet.They discovered that their dusky captors undoubtedly belonged tothe same tribe as their treacherous guide, and, therefore, must beDacotahs. That guide was clutching Roger's gun as though he expected toretain it as the price of his labors in thus entering the camp of thestrange "palefaces," and luring the two boys into the trap so cunninglycontrived.

  Dick was far from downcast. It took considerable to make him feel asthough everything were dark around him. And, in order to cheer Rogerup, as well as to arouse his interest in planning an escape, the firstremark Dick made was in the line of an attempt to guess how it had allbeen planned.

  "Look, they are marking a smoke now," he told his companion, as severalof their captors struck flint and steel together, and with the sparkthus generated started a fire in a little pile of greenish-looking wood.

  "That must be meant for a signal to some one who is away from here,"Roger commented, on observing what was going on. "Dick, what does allthis mean? You are always good at hitting on the truth while I grope inthe dark. Why do you think these Indians want to make us prisoners?"

  "It was a trap, you understand, Roger?"

  "Oh! yes, that's as plain as can be," replied the other, readilyenough; "for they were all hiding up in these trees while we kept onfishing so merrily, without dreaming that we were being watched everyminute of the time."

  "And, Roger, the guide led us into the mess; now we can understand whyhe was so eager to fetch us up here."

  "Then you believe, do you, Dick, he planned this thing; that perhaps heeven entered our camp with such a game in his mind?"

  "It begins to look that way, I am sorry to say," Dick replied.

  "But can he be in the pay of that revengeful Frenchman, FrancoisLascelles?" demanded Roger, rather appalled by the thought.

  "We will soon know, because, unless I am mistaken, that smoke they aresending up yonder is meant to call him here. And it would not surpriseme very much, Roger, if that brave who has been eating at our campfirefor two days, crept out last night and told how he had been engaged totake us to this stream to-day. That would account for the Indians beingconcealed here."

  The boys were without weapons, and could do nothing toward the makingof their escape; so they waited with what patience they could commandto see what was about to happen.

  Shortly afterwards some one was seen approaching, at sight of whomRoger gave utterance to an exclamation of disgust.

  "Why, after all, it's that skunk, Andrew Waller!" he exclaimed.

  "Yes, he must have found some way to get in with these Indians, andthey have been working for his interests," Dick suggested. "Perhapshe has lied to them, and made them believe we are two very importantpersons. He may take the trouble to explain the thing to us, thinkingit will add to his glory."

  "I can see the look of satisfaction on his face from here," said Roger,in a surly tone, as though it cut him to the quick to have the traitortriumph over them in that way.

  Waller soon arrived on the scene, and his first act was to lookinsolently into the faces of the two boys.

  "So, you fell to the bait, did you, boys? When I told you we would meetagain you didn't believe it would be so soon. And let me say that youare going to be in a pretty pickle after this. These Indians will makesure that you do not slip through their hands."

  "What have you been telling them about us?" demanded Roger,impetuously. "Some big lie I am sure, for it would be just like you."

  The man frowned as though angry, and Dick feared he was about to strikethe bold boy a blow in the face, which would have precipitated a fightin which Roger would have gone down to defeat. However, Waller managedto keep his temper in control, and sneering again, went on to say:

  "Oh! to make sure that you would be held a close prisoner, I merelytold them that you boys were the sons of the Big White Father awayoff in the Land of the Rising Sun; and that if they held you safethey could demand a great ransom in wampum, sticks-that-shoot-fire,and everything that the heart of an Indian could wish. In other wordsI have cooked your goose for you. You may be sure you will never beallowed to go free."

  He turned his back on them and commenced talking with one of theDacotahs, who, from the feathers in his black hair, seemed to be somesort of sub-chief. Much of the conversation was carried on by gestures,in which Waller seemed to be unusually expert.

  Dick watched closely in the hope that he might be able to catch thedrift of what was passing between the two. That he and Roger were theobjects under consideration he had not the slightest doubt, for severaltimes one or the other pointed toward the spot where they stood.

  "Can you make it out at all, Dick?" Roger asked.

  "I am sorry to say it's more than I've been able to understand, Roger;but I think he's telling the chief again how valuable we are as prizes.And to think we have no way of proving to him that we are only ordinaryboys, without rich fathers to pay a big ransom. It is just the sort ofgame we might have expected Andrew Waller to play."

  The man who had been sent out of the camp of the explorers nowapproached them again. He was rubbing his hands as though in great glee.

  "Now, I shall not only have my pick of two good guns, but plentyof ammunition for them, in spite of Captain Lewis. I am going tosay good-by to you here, for I have to meet M'sieu Lascelles at anappointed rendezvous. Oh! he will be very much pleased when he learnshow the Dacotahs prize the boys he hates so bitterly, and mean to carrythem off to their villages, far to the north, there to keep them untilthe big ransom arrives. It tickles me to know how soon my debt to youhas been so nicely cancelled."

  Roger gritted his teeth, but he managed to keep from saying anything.

  "Just as you told us when you were leaving camp, we may meet again,Andrew Waller," Dick said, with an unmistakable meaning in his voice.

  "Oh! that is possible," the other jauntily added, purposelymisunderstanding what the boy meant; "for it may be M'sieu Lascelles,he would wish to see for himself that you are comfortable, so for thatreason we might journey into the Dacotah country ourselves."

  With that thrust he waved his hand to them, and, turning, walkedaway as he had come. None of the Indians paid the least heed to hismovements; but Roger almost choked in his indignation.

  "Just to think, Dick," he muttered in a quivering voice, "the beastis carrying my dear old gun which he took from our red guide, on hisshoulder. How much I will miss it, because, ever since I've been ableto look along the sights of a rifle, that gun has been my companion dayand night."

  "We shall hope that in some way or other you will see it again," Dicktold him. "Even if not, there are others just as sure shooters at thecamp. The one he used to own, and which they refused to let him carryoff, is even a better-made weapon than yours."

  "Yes, but that gun has associations away above its value in money,"said Roger, heaving a sigh; "and at the best the chances of my everhandling it again are three against one."

  "Well, we must try to think of other things now," Dick told him.

  "You mean about escaping from our captors, don't you, Dick? What if wecan convince them that Waller is a man with a double tongue, and thatwhat he told them about our being the sons of the Great Whit
e Father atWashington is only a package of lies?"

  "Of course we can try, but I'm afraid it will be useless, because theIndians want to believe that wonderful story. See how all of them areexamining my gun now. I suppose every one of them is picturing himselfas owning just such a marvelous weapon that 'spits out fire,' and killsthe game just as thunder and lightning do in the storm."

  "What do you think they expect to do with us now?" asked Roger.

  "They will not want to stay here much longer," affirmed Dick, "becausethey are afraid of the 'palefaces with their thunder sticks.'Consequently, they will start off toward their village, which weunderstand lies several days' journey away from here toward thenorthwest."

  "But, when we fail to come back to-day, Captain Lewis is bound tosend some of his best trackers up here to learn what happened to us.And, Dick, surely they will try to follow our captors, and effect ourrescue."

  "Listen, Roger. We must not leave it all to them. These cunning red menknow how to cover a trail so that the keenest eye cannot find a trace.Depend on it, they will leave no stone unturned to hide the tracks wemake. And then, besides, do we not know that the summer is alreadybeginning to wane?"

  "Yes, yes, all that is only too true, Dick. Captain Lewis understandsthere is no time to spare, with those terrible mountains yet to bescaled, and also black deserts to cross, and all before snow flies. Iam much afraid he will decide that the success of the whole undertakingwould be put in peril should he detach any of his men to engage in awild goose hunt for us."

  "We two have before this been in positions of peril," said Dick,firmly, with a flash in his eyes that aroused new hope in the breastof his chum; "and always, in times that are past, have we succeeded insaving ourselves. So let us keep up our spirits and watch constantlyfor a chance to give these Indians the slip."

  "If we should find the opportunity," said Roger, immediately, "I hopewe manage to get hold of your gun, and our hatchets and knives. To losemy good shooting-iron is bad enough, but that knife, you know, hasserved me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Promise me you willdo your level best to save our side-arms if we find a way to escape,Dick!"

  To this entreaty Dick assented. Indeed, he knew well enough that it wastheir only policy to go away armed rather than in a helpless condition.

  Shortly afterwards they were given to understand, through grunts andgestures, that the march was about to be taken up. With several Indiansstalking along in single file ahead, and others bringing up the rearthe two boys had to turn their backs upon the "Big Muddy" and startupon the long journey into the Northwest, at the end of which lay theDacotah village.