The Buffalo Runners: A Tale of the Red River Plains

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  BRIGHT HOPES TERMINATE IN FURIOUS WAR.

  Turning once again to the colony at Red River, we introduce the readerto the Scotch settlers in the autumn of the year--at a time when therewas some appearance of the commencement of a season of prosperity, afterall the troubles that had befallen and surrounded, and well-nighoverwhelmed them in time past.

  The Davidson and McKay families had re-established themselves on theirfarms, rebuilt their houses and planted their fields, and splendid cropsof all kinds were now flourishing, ready for spade and sickle.

  The soil was found to be excellent. In after years, forty-fold was nouncommon return. In one case, for a bushel of barley sown, fifty-sixbushels were reaped; and from a bushel of seed potatoes were obtainedone hundred and forty-five bushels! Industry, however, had not at thattime been rewarded with such encouraging results, but there wassufficient to indicate cheering prospects in the near future, and togladden the hearts of the pioneer settlers.

  As a good number of these had, under the depressing influence ofdisappointment and failure in the past, neglected to sow extensively,not a few families were forced again to winter at Pembina, and drawtheir supplies from the chase to avoid consuming all the seed whichalone ensured them against famine. Among these were the Swiss families,most of whom, being watch and clock makers, pastry-cooks, mechanics andmusicians, were not well adapted for agricultural pursuits. Perhapsthey were as ill-adapted for the chase, but seed takes time to sow andgrow, whereas animals need no prolonged nursing--at least from man--andare quickly killed if one can shoot.

  The young leader of the Switzers, however, Andre Morel, soon left hisparty at Pembina under the care of his lieutenant, and returned to RedRiver Settlement, bent on mastering the details of husbandry, so as tobe able afterwards to direct the energies of his compatriots into a moreprofitable occupation than the chase.

  For this purpose, he sought and obtained employment with the Davidsonsin the new and enlarged edition of Prairie Cottage. His sister, Elise,was engaged by old McKay to act as companion and assistant to hisdaughter Elspie. Both the curly-haired Andre and the fair, blue-eyedElise, proved to be invaluable acquisitions in the households in whichthey had found a home, for both were lively, intelligent companions,hard workers at whatever they undertook, and were possessed of sweetmelodious voices. Andre also performed on the violin, an instrumentwhich has played a prominent part in the wild Nor'-West ever since thewhite-man set down his foot there.

  "What do you think, Elspie, of my brother's plan, of taking the farmjust below this one, after he has had enough experience to be able towork it himself?" asked Elise.

  "It will be very nice to have him settled so near us. Do you think hewill take the whole of it?"

  "I think so. You see, the terms on which the Earl has granted the landare so easy, and the supplies of goods, oatmeal, clothing, and farmimplements sent us so generous, that Andre finds he will have moneyenough to enable him to start. Then, that strong, good-natured seaman,Fred Jenkins, has actually agreed to serve as a man on the farm for awhole year for nothing, except, of course, his food and lodging. Isn'tit generous of him?"

  "Do you know why he is going to serve him for nothing?" asked Elspie,with a quick look and smile.

  "No--I do not," returned fair little Elise with an innocent look. "Doyou?"

  "O no--of course I don't; I can only guess," replied her companion witha light laugh. "Perhaps it is because he knows his services as a farmservant can't be worth much at first."

  "There you are wrong," returned Elise, stoutly. "No doubt he isignorant, as yet, about sowing and reaping and the like, but he iswonderfully strong--just like a giant at lifting and carrying-and he hasbecome quite knowing about horses, and carting, and such things. Allthat he stipulates for is that he shall board in our house. He sayshe'll manage, somehow, to make enough money to buy all the clothes hewants."

  "What a delightful kind of servant," said Elspie, with an arch look,which was quite thrown away on Elise, "and so disinterested to do itwithout any reason."

  "O! but he must have some reason, you know," rejoined Elise. "Ishouldn't wonder if it was out of gratitude to my brother who was verykind to him--so he says--the first time they met."

  "Did he say that was his reason?" asked Elspie quickly.

  "No, he did not say so, but he has said more than once that he feelsvery grateful to my brother, and it has just occurred to me that thatmay be his reason. It would be very natural--wouldn't it?"

  "Oh, very natural!--very!" returned the other. "But d'you know, Elise,I don't like your brother's plan at all."

  "No! why?"

  "Because, don't you see, foolish girl, that it will take you away fromme? You will, of course, want to keep house for your brother, and Ihave become so used to you, short though our intercourse has been, thatI don't see how I can get on at all without you?"

  "Never mind, Elspie, dear. It will be a long while before Andre isready to take the farm. Besides, by that time, you know, you and Danwill be married, so you won't miss me much--though I confess I shouldlike you to miss me a little."

  Elspie sighed at this point. "I suspect that our marriage will not beso soon as you think, Elise," she said. "Dan has tried to arrange itmore than once, but there seems to be a fate against it, for something_always_ comes in the way!"

  "Surely nothing will happen this time," said the sympathetic Elise."Everything begins to prosper now. The crops are beautiful; the weatheris splendid; the house is ready to begin to--all the logs are cut andsquared. Your father is quite willing, and Dan wishing for the day--what more could you desire, Elspie?"

  "Nothing; all seems well, but--" She finished the sentence with anothersigh.

  While the two friends were thus conversing in the dairy, old McKay andDan Davidson were talking on the same subject in the hall of Ben Nevis.

  "It iss a curious fact, Taniel," said the old man, with a pleased look,"that it wass in this fery room in the old hoose that wass burnt, andabout the same time of the year, too, that you would be speakin' to meabout this fery thing. An' I do not think that we will be troubled thistime wi' the Nor'-Westers, whatever--though wan never knows what a taymay bring furth."

  "That is the very reason, sir," said Davidson, "that I want to getmarried at once, so that if anything does happen again I may claim theright to be Elspie's protector."

  "Quite right, my boy, quite right; though I must say I would like towait till a real munister comes out; for although Mr Sutherland iss afery goot man, an' an elder too, he iss not chust exactly a munister,you know, as I have said before. But have it your own way, Tan. If mylittle lass is willin', old Tuncan McKay won't stand in your way."

  That night the inhabitants of Red River lay down to sleep in comfort andto dream, perchance, of the coming, though long delayed, prosperity thathad hitherto so often eluded their grasp.

  Next day an event occurred which gave the poor settlers new cause forgrief amounting almost to despair.

  Dan Davidson and Elspie were walking on the verandah in front of BenNevis at the time. It was a warm sunny afternoon. All around lookedthe picture of peace and prosperity.

  "Does it not seem, Dan, as if all the troubles we have gone through werea dark dream--as if there never had been any reality in them?" saidElspie.

  "It does indeed seem so," responded Dan, "and I hope and trust that weshall henceforth be able to think of them as nothing more than atroubled dream."

  "What iss that you will be sayin' about troubled dreams?" asked oldMcKay, coming out of the house at the moment.

  "We were just saying, daddy, that all our troubles seem--"

  "Look yonder, Tan," interrupted the old man, pointing with his pipe-stemto a certain part of the heavens. "What iss it that I see? A queercloud, whatever! I don't remember seein' such a solid cloud as that inall my experience."

  "It is indeed queer. I hope it's not what Fred Jenkins would call a`squall brewin' up,' for that wou
ldn't improve the crops."

  "A squall!" exclaimed Jenkins, who chanced to come round the corner ofthe house at the moment, with a spade on his shoulder. "That's never asquall--no, nor a gale, nor a simoon, nor anything else o' the sort thatI ever heard of. Why, it's growin' bigger an' bigger!"

  He shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked earnestly at the object inquestion, which did indeed resemble a very dense, yet not a black,cloud. For some moments the four spectators gazed in silence. Then oldMcKay suddenly dropped his pipe, and looked at Dan with an expression ofintense solemnity.

  "It iss my belief," he said in a hoarse whisper, "that it is them weedeevils the grasshoppers!"

  A very few minutes proved old McKay's surmise to be correct. Oncebefore, the colony had been devastated by this plague, and the memory ofthe result was enough to alarm the most courageous among the settlerswho had experienced the calamity, though the new arrivals, beingignorant, were disposed to regard the visitation lightly at first.McKay himself became greatly excited when the air became darkened by thecloud, which, ever increasing in size, rapidly approached.

  "Haste ye, lads," he cried to some of the farm-servants who had joinedthe group on the verandah, "get your spades, picks, an' shovels. Besmart now: it is not possible to save all the crops, but we may try tosave the garden, whatever. Follow me!"

  The garden referred to was not large or of great importance, but it wasa favourite hobby of the Highlander, and, at the time, was in fullbloom, luxuriant with fruit, flower, and vegetable. To save it fromdestruction at such a time, McKay would have given almost anything, andhave gone almost any lengths. On this occasion, not knowing what to do,yet impelled by his eagerness to do something, he adopted measures thathe had heard of as being used in other lands. He ordered a trench to becut and filled with water on the side of his garden nearest theapproaching plague, which might--if thoroughly carried out--have been ofsome use against wingless grasshoppers but could be of no use whateveragainst a flying foe. It would have taken an army of men to carry outsuch an order promptly, and his men perceived this; but the master wasso energetic, so violent in throwing off his coat and working with hisown hand at pick and shovel, that they were irresistibly infected withhis enthusiasm, and set to work.

  Old Duncan, did not, however, wield pick or shovel long. He was tooexcited for that. He changed from one thing to another rapidly. Fireswere to be kindled along the line of defence, and he set the example inthis also. Then he remembered that blankets and other drapery had beenused somewhere with great effect in beating back the foe; therefore heshouted wildly for his daughter and Elise Morel.

  "Here we are, father: what can we do?"

  "Go, fetch out all the blankets, sheets, table-cloths, an' towels in thehouse, girls. It iss neck or nothin' this tay. Be smart, now! Takemen to help ye."

  Two men were very busy there piling up little heaps of firewood, namely,Dan Davidson and Fred Jenkins. What more natural than that these two,on hearing the order given about blankets and table-cloths, etcetera,should quit the fires and follow Elspie and Elise into the house!

  In the first bedroom into which they entered they found Archie andBillie Sinclair, the latter seated comfortably in an arm-chair close toa window, the former wild with delight at the sudden demand on all hisenergies. For Archie had been one of the first to leap to the work whenold McKay gave the order. Then he had suddenly recollected his littlehelpless brother, and had dashed round to Prairie Cottage, got him onhis back, run with him to Ben Nevis Hall, placed him as we have seen ina position to view the field of battle, and then, advising him to sitquietly there and enjoy the fun, had dashed down-stairs to resume hisplace in the forefront of battle!

  He had run up again for a moment to inquire how Little Bill was gettingon, when the blanket and sheet searchers found them.

  "All right," he exclaimed, on learning what they came for; "here youare. Look alive! Don't stir, Little Bill!"

  He hurled the bedding from a neighbouring bedstead as he spoke, toreseveral blankets from the heap, and tumbled rather than ran down-stairswith them, while the friends he had left behind followed his example.

  By that time all the inmates and farm-servants of Prairie Cottage hadassembled at Ben Nevis Hall, attracted either by sympathy or curiosityas to the amazing fracas which old McKay was creating. Of course theyentered into the spirit of the preparations, so that when the enemy atlast descended on them they found the garrison ready. But the defendersmight as well have remained quiet and gone to their beds.

  Night was drawing near at the time, and was, as it were, precipitated bythe grasshoppers, which darkened the whole sky with what appeared to bea heavy shower of snow.

  The fires were lighted, water was poured into the trench, and the twohouseholds fought with blanket, sheet, counterpane, and towel, in amanner that proved the courage of the ancient heroes to be stillslumbering in men and women of modern days.

  But what could courage do against such overwhelming odds? Thousandswere slaughtered. Millions pressed on behind.

  "Don't give in, lads," cried the heroic and desperate Highlander,wielding a great green blanket in a way that might have roused theadmiration if not the envy of Ajax himself. "Keep it up, Jenkins!"

  "Ay, ay, sir!" responded the nautical warrior, as he laid about him withan enormous buffalo robe, which was the only weapon that seemedsufficiently suited to his gigantic frame; "never say die as long asthere's a shot in the locker."

  Elise stood behind him, lost in admiration, and giving an imbecile flapnow and then with a towel to anything that happened to come in front ofher.

  Elspie was more self-possessed. She tried to wield a jack-towel withsome effect, while Dan, Fergus, Duncan junior, Bourassin, Andre Morel,and others ably, but uselessly, supported their heroic leader. LaCerte, who chanced to be there at the time, went actively aboutencouraging others to do their very best. Old Peg made a feeble effortto do what she conceived to be her duty, and Okematan stood by, calmlylooking on--his grave countenance exhibiting no symptom of emotion, buthis mind filled with intense surprise, not unmingled with pity, for thePalefaces who displayed such an amount of energy in attempting theimpossible.

  That self-defence, in the circumstances, was indeed impossible soonbecame apparent, for the enemy descended in such clouds that they filledup the half-formed ditch, extinguished the fires with their dead bodies,defied the blanket-warriors, and swarmed not only into the garden of oldDuncan McKay but overwhelmed the whole land.

  Darkness and exhaustion from the fight prevented the people of Ben NevisHall and Prairie Cottage from at first comprehending the extent of thecalamity with which they had thus been visited, but enough had been seento convince McKay that his garden was doomed. When he at last allowedthe sad truth to force itself into his mind he suffered Elspie to leadhim into the house.

  "Don't grieve, daddy," she said, in a low comforting tone; "perhaps itwon't be as bad as it seems."

  "Fetch me my pipe, lass," he said on reaching his bedroom.

  "Goot-night to you, my tear," he added, on receiving the implement ofconsolation.

  "Won't you eat--or drink--something, daddy dear?"

  "Nothing--nothing. Leave me now. We hev had a goot fight, whatever,an' it iss to bed I will be goin' now."

  Left alone the old man lay down in his warrior-harness, so to speak,lighted his pipe, smoked himself into a sort of philosophical contemptfor everything under the sun, moon, and stars, and finally dropped hissufferings, as well as his pipe, by falling into a profound slumber.

  Next morning when the people of Red River arose, they became fully awareof the disaster that had befallen them. The grasshoppers had made whatJenkins styled a clean sweep from stem to stern. Crops, gardens, andevery green herb in the settlement had perished; and all the sanguinehopes of the long-suffering settlers were blighted once more.

  Before passing from this subject it may be as well to mention that thedevastating hosts which visited the colony at this time lef
t behind themthat which turned out to be a worse affliction than themselves. Theyhad deposited their larvae in the ground, and, about the end of the Junefollowing, countless myriads of young grasshoppers issued forth tooverrun the fields. They swarmed in such masses as to be two, three,and--in some places near water--even four inches deep. Along the riversthey were found in heaps like sea-weed, and the water was almostpoisoned by them. Every vegetable substance was devoured--the leavesand even bark of trees were eaten up, the grain vanished as fast as itappeared above ground, everything was stripped to the bare stalk, andultimately, when they died in myriads, the decomposition of their deadbodies was more offensive than their living presence.

  Thus the settlers were driven by stress of misfortune once again to theplains of Pembina, and obliged to consort with the Red-men and thehalf-breeds, in obtaining sustenance for their families by means of thegun, line, trap, and snare.