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THEN HE GRIPPED HIS WEAPON BY THE MUZZLE, AND SPRANGSTRAIGHT FOR THE PACK.
_See page 175._]
THE FIERY TOTEM
A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THECANADIAN NORTH-WEST
BYARGYLL SAXBY, M.A., F.R.G.S.
AUTHOR OF"BRAVES, WHITE AND RED" "COMRADES THREE!""TANGLED TRAILS" ETC. ETC.
_SECOND IMPRESSION_
LONDONTHE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY4 BOUVERIE STREET AND 65 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A PERILOUS PASSAGE 5
II. DEER-STALKING 14
III. THE LONELY CAMP 22
IV. FRIENDS OR FOES? 33
V. LOST IN THE FOREST 41
VI. THE MEDICINE MAN 53
VII. THE FRIEND IN NEED 67
VIII. NIGHT IN THE WIGWAM 83
IX. THE TEMPTATION 96
X. A DEATH-TRAP 104
XI. TO THE RESCUE! 115
XII. CRAFTY TACTICS 130
XIII. THE PRICE OF A ROBE 142
XIV. THE BATTLE OF WITS 151
XV. OFF! 165
XVI. A NIGHT'S TERROR 172
XVII. THE FATE OF RED FOX 181
XVIII. HOT ON THE TRAIL 191
XIX. THUNDER-MAKER'S DOWNFALL 205
XX. THE FIERY TOTEM 217
THE FIERY TOTEM
CHAPTER I
A PERILOUS PASSAGE
"Well, good-bye, boys! You won't go far from camp before we return, willyou?" The speaker was one of two men seated in an Indian canoe. Hegripped the forward paddle, while his companion at the stern addedcheerfully--
"The backwoods is not the City of London. There are no policemen toappeal to if you lose your way. Besides, we hope to find dinner waitingfor our return. Hunting lost sons is not the same sport as huntingmoose."
Both the boys laughed at the elder man's remark, and one--Bob Arnold byname--answered--
"Don't worry about us, father. Alf and I can take care of ourselves forhalf a day. Can't we, Alf?"
"Rather," the younger chum replied. "It's our respected parents who'llneed to take care of themselves in unknown waters in that cockleshell."Then he called out merrily, imitating the tone of the first speaker--hisfather: "Take care of yourselves, dads! Remember the Athabasca River isnot Regent Street!"
"Cheeky youngster!" returned the elder man banteringly, as he struck theforward paddle into the water. "There's not much of the invalid leftabout you after three months' camping."
Then with waving hands and pleasant chaffing, that showed what real goodchums the quartette were, the men struck out for the centre of theriver, leaving their sons watching from the strand before the camp thatwas pitched beneath the shadow of the great pine trees.
It was a glorious morning--just the right sort for a hunting-expedition.The air was just chilly enough to render paddling a welcome exercise,and just warm enough to allow intervals of pleasant drifting in thecentre of the current when there were no shoals or driftwood to beavoided.
"Yes," remarked Holden, the younger of the two men, as the rhythm of thedripping paddles murmured pleasantly with Nature's music heard fromleafy bough and bush; "yes, Alf's a different boy now. Who would havebelieved that these three short months would have changed a fever-wastedbody into such a sturdy frame?"
"It looks like a miracle," returned the other man. "It was a great idea,that of a six months' trapping in the backwoods. When we get back toEngland we'll all four look as healthy as savages. My Bob is the colourof a redskin."
"It was a great blessing that you were able to bring him. It wouldn'thave been half as enjoyable for Alf, not having a chum."
The elder man laughed softly as he turned a look of good-comradeshiptowards his companion.
"That's just as it ought to be, Holden," he said. "You and I were chumsat school, chums at college, and now chums in business. It's the rightthing that our sons should follow our good example. At least, that's myopinion."
"And you know it's mine," was the response. "But, I say! Do you think weare wise to keep quite in the centre of the current? It seems to bedriving pretty hard, and we don't know the course. We might wish to landif we saw rapids."
"I dare say you are right," replied Arnold. "We'll steer straightacross that bend ahead of us. After that we can keep well under theshadow of the willows--or near them. We will look for a good landingspot and strike inwards. There ought to be moose or some equally goodsport among those bluffs and clearings."
It is one thing to make plans; it is quite another matter to carry themout. Especially is this the case when strangers are travelling instrange country.
Of course the present mode of travel was no novelty to either of themen. Their youth had been passed in Western Canada (though not in thevicinity of the present voyage) before their parents sent them home tocollege in England. But even the hardened voyager knows that experiencedoes not anticipate all chances, and this case was no exception to therule.
The river was certainly beginning to run at a pace that was perceptiblyswifter than that of the start when two miles farther up. This did notgive any cause for concern, however, for the ears of the travellers wereprepared for any sound that indicated rapids, and there was no othercontingency that they felt need to dread.
At a little distance ahead, the course could be seen to take a sharpturn to the right, where the dense growth of beech and towering pinesresembled the portals of a giant gateway; and, as it neared the opening,the canoe swung round the curve with the swift flight of a swallow.
It was a sudden change of pace, due mainly to the sharpness of the turn.But as soon as the men fully entered the fresh span of the course theyboth started involuntarily, for the banks were so steep as to prohibitlanding, and the river narrowed towards a second gateway formed bytowering cliffs--steep as a Colorado canon.
"Look out!" exclaimed Holden, as he knelt high and gripped his paddlefirmly. "Leave the steering to me, I can manage better from the stern.Come back here if you can."
The canoe had already begun to dance among foaming crests like anegg-shell.
Arnold crept towards his companion.
"Not a pleasant look out!" he remarked, with a grim smile on his face."It will be a marvel if we get through that canon with dry skins."
"Dry skins!" laughed Holden. His voice was laughing, but his eyes werefixed steadily a few yards in front of the canoe with that firm gaze ofa brave man looking peril straight in the face. "Dry skins! It'll be agreater marvel if we get through it with any skins at all!"
"We'll have a good try, anyway," responded Arnold. Then he remarkedquaintly: "This is like old times, isn't it--you and I out in a scrapetogether? I hope the Head won't blow us up for it when we get back toschool!"
The river had now entered the narrow course, and was rushing on afoaming way with an awesome roar.
Now and then the canoe would leap to one side as a wave hungrily lickedher prow; sometimes she would push her nose into a crest that splashedthe travellers with spray. Fortunately the spring torrents were over,and danger from drifting logs was not to be reckoned with, but thepossibility that rocks might be hidden among the white waves was areasonable cause for concern--all the more so, considering that theywere unknown.
Onwards they dashed at breakneck speed, while both the men sat grimlysilent, prepared to take bravely whatever fate might be in store forthem. Probably their thoughts were more of the two boys at the camp thanof their present strait--more engaged with commending their sons to thecare of God than speculating as to the result of this adventure.
Then, with a suddenness that gave no time for thought, there was a crashlike crackling match-wood--a rush of water that seemed to crush allwithin its embrace. Next moment the two men were struggling in thestream.
At that crisis, Arnold's first thought was for his friend--just as ithad always been since he fought his chum's first battles at school.
He grabbed wildly, and held on to something that he afterwards found tobe his friend's jacket.
"Are you all right?" he yelled above the din of the waters, as both menreached the surface.
"A1 at Lloyd's!" came the cheerful reply--undaunted even in extremity.
"That's good. We'll weather this yet. Hang on to my coat, and we'll keeptogether!"
Being expert swimmers, there was little cause for fear so long as thecurrent passed clear of obstacles, and the men had little to do but keepa suitable position, for the force of the water bore them well on thesurface. But the chief danger was from undercurrents and whirlpools, andas the boundaries of the river rapidly narrowed this risk became moreserious every moment.
As they rushed onwards, so the two walls of the canon camenearer--shutting out the light until the scene resembled the gloomydepths of a seething cauldron.
Closer and closer came the walls; swifter and swifter rushed the water.
Now the limits were so narrow that the river was but a smooth ribanddarting between walls worn glassy by the wear of countless ages.
The friends came so close that they touched one another's shoulders.
That was one moment.
The next instant each felt himself shot forward through a narrow openinglike a cork that is volleyed from a bottle; and when the men came torealise their position, they found themselves floating on the surface ofa placid lake into which the canon poured its flood.
They looked at one another. The adventure had parted them, but Arnoldlaughingly held up a portion of Holden's coat as a banner to signal hisposition.
"Our same old luck!" exclaimed Holden, laughing.
"It'll cost you a new coat!" returned Arnold with equal cheer.
It was perhaps a hundred yards to the nearest shore, so the menimmediately started in that direction. Both were considerably exhaustedby the experiences through which they had providentially passed withoutserious injury, and consequently the progress was slow.
But at last they reached the bank, where the red and grey willows benttheir long strands in a tangled trellis.
Knee deep in the mud, the men stood upright, to clear the way tofreedom. But, as they parted the nearest branches, a number of arms weresuddenly forced through the scrub; a number of hands gripped them withirresistible strength; and before they could realise what had happenedthey were rudely dragged up the bank of the lake.
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