Bennett, Emerson - Prairie Flower 01

by The Prairie Flower (lit)

  THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,

  youi lives from your natural enemies, the savages and wild beasts."

  Here was another unexpected kindness, and both Huntly and myself were profuse in pur thanks. Prairie Flower then in quired the route we intended to take ; and being answered that this would depend much upon circumstances, she advised us to cross the Black Hills some ten miles south of our present location, and hold our course westward over Laramie plains, Medicine Bow Mountains, and the North Fork of Platte, to Brown's Hole on Green River, where doubtless we should find many trappers, and perhaps some of our old acquaintances giving as a reason for directing us thus, that there would be less danger from the Indians, who, notwith standing our signal victory at Bitter Cot- tonwood, still continued in parties along the regular Oregon route, killing the whites whenever they could do so without too much risk to themselves.

  Thanking Prairie Flower for her advice, I replied that, having reached Fort Lara mie, it would be doubtful if we returned ihis way that in all probability we should join some party of emigrants or, failing in this, take a middle course and run our risks.

  "But I see no necessity for your going to Fort Laramie," she rejoined.

  " You forget, Prairie Flower, that we have no horses, and it would be foolish at least to attempt such a journey on foot."

  To this she made no direct reply, but went on suggesting various things for our convenience and safety, with as much ap parent concern for our welfare, as if her own life and fortunes were bound up in ours.

  At length the conversation slacked, and thinking it a good opportunity, I declared that our time had expired, and that we must start forthwith.

  "Well, I will not detain you longer," replied Prairie Flower, leading -the way out of the cabin.

  To our surprise, we found at the door two beautiful steeds, (not the ones we had .just ridden,) richly adorned with Spanish saddles, bridles, and apishamores,* with

  blankets of buffalo calf-skin, dressed

  two sacks of jerked meat hanging to tb horns, and four large buffalo skins strap ped on behind, while along side stood thY handsome pony of our fair benefactress, each and all ready for a start.

  "What mean these?" I inquired, turn ing to Prairie Flower.

  " Simply," she answered, with the ut most naivete, "that you must accept frcua me these horses and trappings, without a word, and allow me to be youi guide to the point where you will turn off to crosa the mountains."

  " But, Prairie Flower "

  " Not a word not a single word such are the conditions."

  "But we have money, and "

  " Surely you would not insult me," she interrupted, " by offering .o pay ? "

  I saw by her manner that to say more would only be to offend ; and seizing her hand, I pressed it, with a hearty " God bless you ! " while my eyes, in spite of me, became dimmed with tears. Huntly was too deeply affected to speak at all, and therefore only pressed her hand in silence, during which the features of Prairie Flow* er grew very pale, and she was forced to turn aside her head to conceal her emo tion. We now comprehended all why she had gone to Fort Laramie, and had insisted on our return with her to the vil lage and as we recalled her former kind ness and generosity, and our own base suspicions of her intention to slight us, the result was to make both Huntly and my self very sad. She had her revenge, we felt, and a noble one it was too.

  Mounting our horses, we again bade a silent adieu to the Mysterious. Tribe, and, in company with Prairie Flower, quitted the village the second time, with more re gret than the first, and took our way southward, in a direction almost opposite our previous one.

  As we rode on, I noticed that our fair guide became exceedingly abstracted, and when she fancied herself unobserved, that she frequently sighed. Poor girl ! she was laboring to suppress feelings, which, like the pent up fires of a volcano, were pre paring to rend the tenement which confined them ; and the very thought clouded my path with melancholy. Huntly, too, was abstracted and silent, so that little was aaiJ

  ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST.

  n th«j wy ; and though everything above, around and beneath, seemed conspiring to make us cheerful, yet our thoughts only rendered our hearts the more gloomy by contrast.

  A ride of less than three hours brought us to a spot of the mountain that seemed cf easy ascent, when Prairie Flower drew in rein, and said with a sigh:

  " Ymr route lies yonder. Keep a little to the south of west, and avoid traveling after dark, or you may plunge over some precipice and be dashed to pieces."

  Huntly now appeared too agitated to reply, and it was with difficulty I could myself summon words to my aid.

  "And so, dear Prairie Flower," I at length articulated, "we are to part here ? "

  " I fear we must."

  " Shall we ever meet again ? "

  " God only knows," she answered, trem bling nervously, and dropping her eyes to the ground."

  " To attempt to express our gratitude to you," I rejoined, "would be worse than vnin ; words could not speak it ; the heart alone can, and that you cannot see, only through external expressions. Of one thipg, fair being, rest assured : that in the secret chambers of the souls of Francis Leighton and Charles Huntly, is engraved a name that will never be erased that of the noble and generous Prairie Flower."

  "Say r,o more I I beg of you!" she gasped, waving her hand, and -then placing it to her heart, as if to still its wild th robbings.

  "Prairie Flower," said Huntly, in a tremulous voice, " if I part without a word, you may think me ungrateful. It is not so. Do not think so. I- know this heart "

  " No more no more !

  own trembled violently, and her lips re fused a reply. The next moment, fearing doubtless the effect of a longer trial of her feelings and nerves, she turned her pony, and signing me an adieu with her hand, dashed rapidly away, and soon disappear ed from our view in the deep forest.

  Huntly sighed, but made no remark, and silently and slowly we began our ascent of the mountain.

  That night we slept on the brow of the Black Hills, at a point overlooking a larg extent of the Laramie Plains.

  CHAPTE R XXI.

  IN SIGHT OF BROWN'S HOLE A DASH DOWH

  THE MOUNTAIN APPEARANCE OF THB

  PLACE THE OLD TRAPPER DISAPPOINT MENT EXORBITANT PRICES A GAMBLING

  QUARREL A MOUNTAINEER DUEZ HOR RIBLE RESULT.

  IT was a beautiful morning, not far from the middle of September, that, ascending a hill at the base of which we had encamp ed the night previous, we overlooked a charming green valley, completely shut in by hills, through the very center of which, like a long line of molten silver, we beheld a bright stream taking its devious course. Not the least agreeable and enchanting to to us, was the sight of a few shanties, erect ed along the margin of the river, and the moving to and fro of several white human beings. And not the less pleasant the sight, that we had been some two weeks on a fa tiguing journey of more than two hundred miles, over mountains, plains, and rivers, Could you without having seen a solitary individual but ourselves.

  cried the other. " I oee I know I understand all. Too

  much too much. Go ! go ! I Go,

  and God's blessing attend you both ! I

  She paused, and grasped the mane of aer beast to save herself from falling.

  " Then farewell," rejoined Huntly, ri ding up to her side and extending his hand. "You. will never be forgotten by T,e ; and should we meet not again then far-.-well for-ever."

  Frairie Flower clasped his hand, but her than dangerous

  The valley we now beheld was the point of our present destination, a rendezvous for the trappers, hunters, and traders cf this part of the country, and known as Brown's Hole. I have not described our journey hither, after parting with Prairie Flower, as but little of interest to the gen eral reader occurred on the route, beyond fatigue of travel, an occasional escape from a fatal plunge over some precipice, and one violent storm on the Medicine Bow, which proved far more disagreeable


  THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,

  lien-, then, we were at last, in full view of what seemed to us a paradise ; and a simultaneous shout of delight, not only told our feelings, but that our lungs were still in good order.

  " Well, Frank," exclaimed Huntly, with great animation. " ve ar$ now in a fair way of coming in contact with somebody besides Indians, and so let us down the mountain with all the haste possible."

  " Here goes, then, for a race," I cried ; and urging my noble animal forward, I dashed down the declivity, to the immi- 'nent danger of myself and horse, followed by Huntly in the same reckless manner, both shouting and wild with excitement.

  Reaching the base of the mountain, we galloped swiftly over the valley, and brought up at last in the center of the en campment, where curiosity soon surround ed us with a medley of various nations and complexions, all eager to learn who we were and what our business. Here we beheld Indians of different tribes, Span iards, Mexicans, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Creoles, Canadians, together with Anglo- Americans from all parts of the United States. Some of these were trappers, hunters, traders, coureur des bois, and spec ulators in general all congregated here to carry on the traffic of buying and sell ing this one to make money, and that one to squander his hard earnings in gambling and dissipation. Already had the trade of the -season opened, although the greater part of the trappers were not yet " in " from the mountains with their furs, pelts, and robes.

  Outside the shanties, of which there were some half a dozen belonging, the principal one to the agent of the Hudson Bay company, and the others to different traders were built fires, around which groups of bronzed mountaineers were squatted, lost to all consciousness of the outer world, in the exciting games of "eu chre," "poker," "seven up," &c., «kc. In one place was meat in the process of jerking, in another skins stretched over hoops for drying, while here and there was a rude block of graining, together with various other implements used in the fur trade.

  All these I noted with a hasty glance as I drew in rein, and while the medley

  crowd, before spoken of, was gathering around us. I looked keenly at each as he came up, but failed to recognize a single face, much to my disappointment, as 1 had been rather sanguine of here finding som of my old acquaintances.

  " Whar from ? " asked a tall, dark, ath letic mountaineer eyeing us, as I fancied, a little suspiciously.

  " Over the mountains," I answered.

  " Whar's your traps and beavers ? "

  " We have none."

  " Injins raise 'em ? "

  " We never carried any."

  "Traders, hey?"

  " No."

  " What then ? "

  " Adventurers."

  " That's a new callin, spose?"

  " That is ours, at all events."

  " Fine bosses you got thar."

  " Very good, I believe."

  " Going to stop ? "

  " Think we shall."

  " Well,, ground yourselves, put your bosses to feed, and let's see how you look.'*

  Upon this we dismounted, and while doing so, Huntly observed :

  "I say, friend, do you know most of the trappers ? "

  " Know a heap all I ever seed."

  "Did you ever see one, then, called Black George ? "

  " D'ye ever see your own mother, stran ger ? Didn't I used to trap with him fif teen years ago ? and hain't I fit him out of many a Injin snap ? Ef that ain't knowin him, jest tell me what is."

  "That is knowing him certainly," re turned Huntly, smiling. "But have you seen him of late ? "

  " Not sence two year come calf time. B'lieve he went over to the States, or some sich outlandish place or other."

  *' Then I have seen him since you."

  "Whar d'ye leave him ? " inquired the other with interest.

  "In an Indian fight at Bitter Cotton- wood."

  " I'd sw'ar it. When Injins is about he's always in, and a few at that, or I'm no snakes. But what become on him? Hope he did'nt go under ! ' x

  " That is more than I can say, as my friend here and I were carried off the field

  ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST.

  Cor dead, and have not been able to get the particulars of the battle since."

  " He did'nt die, I'll bet my life on that ! Ef he did, it's the fust timelie ever knock ed under to sich varmints."

  "1 suppose, then, you havt seen none who were in the tight ? "

  " Never beared on't till now so reckon I havn't."

  "We fondly anticipated meeting some «Sf them here."

  " Its like you may yit ; for ef they're about in this part o' creation, they're sure to come. But turn out them critters, for they looks hungry, and make yourselves at home here. And while I thinks on't, ef you've got any bacca, I'll trouble ye for a chaw."

  As 1 had some of the desired article, I proffered it, and received his warmest thanks in return. We now set about re moving our saddles and other appendages, and hoppling our horses ; while the crowd, having stared at us to their satisfaction, and found nothing particularly remarkable in our persons or equipments, gradually sauntered away, until we were left entirely to ourselves.

  Brown's Hole, at certain seasons of the year, becomes a place of considerable note, and presents many of the features of a western settlement on a holiday. It was interesting to us to note the avariciousness of the traders, and the careless indifference of the trappers, in disposing of their com modities. Dropping in daily sometimes singly and sometimes in parties from two to ten, loaded with pelts and furs, in value from one hundred to several thousand dol lars the latter would barter them for powder, lead, tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and whatever else they fancied, receiving each article at the most exhorbitant price, with out uttering a word of complaint. I have seen powder sold to the mountaineers at the enormous sum of from three to four dollars a pint ; alcohol at double this price, the same measure ; coffee ditto ; tobacco two and three dollars per plug, and every thing else in proportion. Money here was out of the question, as much as if it had never been in existence furs, pelts, and robes being substituted therefor. Here I witnessed gambling on every scale, from 'he highest to the lowest from thousands

  to units while every doubtful or mooted point was sure to result in a bet before being decided. It was nothing uncommon to see a trapper " come in " with three or four mules, and furs to the amount of sev eral thousand dollars, and within a week from his arrival, be without the value of a baubee he could call his own furs, inules, rifle, everything, sacrificed to his insatia ble love of gambling. The mountaineer over his cups is often quarrelsome, and an angry dispute i s almost certain to be set tled in an honorable way (?) that is, rifles at thirty yards when one or the other (sometimes both) rarely fails to pay the forfeit of his life. I had not been many days in Brown's Hole, ere I witnessed a tragedy of this kind, which even now, as I recall it, makes my blood run cold with horror.

  The actors in this bloody scene were two trappers of the better class, of intelli gent and respectable appearance, neither of whom had seen over thirty years, and who, as a general thing, were of very sober and quiet habits. They were from the same part of the country had been boys together had started together upon their adventures and perilous occupation, and were, moreover, sworn friends.

  Some three days after our arrival, they had made their appearance, well packed with -pelts and furs, which they immedi ately proceeded to dispose of to the traders, As their trip had been an unusually profit able one, they of course felt much elated, and taking a drink together, sat down to a friendly game of cards, to while away their leisure hours. More strict in their habits than most of their associates, they rarely gambled, and then only for diversion. On the occasion alluded to they at once began playing for liquor, and having at length drank more than their wont, proceeded to stake different articles. As the game pro gressed, they became more and more excit ed, until at last their stakes run very high. One was peculiarly fortunate, and of course the luck of the other was exactly the re verse, which so mortified and
vexed him, that he finally staked all his hard earnings and lost. On this his companion took an other drink, grew more and mure merry al his own success, which he attributed to his superior skill in handling tke cards, and

  THE PRAIRIE FLOWER; OR,

  finally bantered the other to put up his mules. No sooner said than done, and the result was the same as be-fore. He was now, to use the phrase of some of the by standers, who had crowded around the two to watch the game, " Han'somely cleaned out." He had staked all, and lost all, and was of course rendered not a little des perate by the circumstance.

  " Why don't you bet your body fixins ? " cried one.

  Like a drowning man at a straw, he caught at the idea, and the next moment he and his companion were deciding the ownership of his costume by a game of euehre. As might have been supposed, the result was against him, and he was at last completely beggared.

  Seizing the half emptied can of liquor by his side, lie drained it at a draught, and in a tone of frenzy cried :

  " Somebody lend me somethin! By !

  I must have my fixins back."

  " Luck's agin ye now," answered one. " Better wait till another time."

  " No ! now now! by ! now ! " he

  fairly screamed. " I'll show Jim yet, that

  I'm his master at cards any day he

  pleases. Who'll lend me somethin, I eay ? "

  None seemed inclined, however, to as sist one so signally unfortunate ; and hav ing waited a sufficient time, and finding his appeal likely to prove fruitless, the dis appointed man rose, and in a great passion swore he would leave "such outlandish diggins, and the heathenish set that in habit them."