CHAPTER XXXIII
CONCLUSION
"My brother speaks with a single tongue," said Deerfoot, replying tothe cringing words of Arorara: "the Great Spirit will frown when hesees two brothers fighting each other. Deerfoot has slain more thanone Shawanoe and has spared others; he will spare Arorara; he maysit down beside the Osage warrior and smoke pipe with him."
Immediately the youth shoved his knife in place, and for the firsttime seemed to become aware that he stood in the presence of others.He bestowed no attention on Wish-o-wa-tum or his squaw, butaddressed his young friends.
"Let my brothers go from this lodge and make their way homeward;Arorara will not pursue them."
"Arorara will do them no harm," said the individual in as cringingmanner as before.
"No, he will not, for Deerfoot will watch and slay Arorara if heseeks to do so," quietly remarked the youth, who, in every sense ofthe word, continued master of the situation.
"Let us do vot he tells us," suggested Otto, moving awkwardly towardthe door.
Deerfoot stepped slightly aside, to make room for them, and Jackaccepted the movement as an invitation for them to pass out. Ottoheld back so as to permit the other to go first, and he followedclose behind him. Otto did not glance at or speak to either. Hehad his misgivings concerning not only Arorara, but the Osage, whomight resent this invasion of his castle. Like the finely trainedIndian, he "took no chances."
Jack and Otto were intensely interested in the situation, but theydid not forget themselves. The former, as he passed out, picked uphis own rifle, while Otto took the one belonging to the Indian, whowas left at liberty to hunt the gun left on the clearing by theGerman lad when he prepared to start his camp-fire for the evening.Thus each boy was furnished with the weapon which is indispensableto the ranger of the woods.
Every one can understand the reluctance of the two to walk from thelodge with their turned upon their foe. With all their confidencein the prowess of Deerfoot, they felt a misgiving which was sure todistress them, so long as the enemies were in sight. On reachingthe outside, therefore, they turned about, walked slowly backwards,and watched the wigwam.
The deerskin being drawn aside, they could the figure of the youngShawanoe, who had stepped back in front of it. Just beyond was partlyvisible the subdued Shawanoe, he and his conqueror obscuringthe squaw, still further away, while Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder wasout of range.
"I think that little place saw more surprises, this evening than itwill ever see again," said Jack Carleton, bending his head with thepurpose of gaining a better view; "in fact it has been a series ofsurprise parties from the beginning."
"Yaw, dot ish vot I dinks all a'while, but mine gracious!"
Hitherto it had been the running vines, growing close to the ground,which caused overturnings of Otto, but now it was another obstructionin the shape of a tree trunk, over which Jack stepped, taking carehowever, to say nothing to his companion concerning it. The smallersticks lying near made it look as if the trunk served to help thesquaw of Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, when she was breaking or cuttingwood for the wigwam.
Be that as it may, the heels of Otto struck it and he went over onhis back, with hat and gun flying and shoes pointed upward.
"I dinks dot vos a pig vine," he said, clambering to his feet andshaking himself together again.
"You're getting to be the best fellow at tumbling I ever saw," saidJack, suppressing, as well as he could, his laughter.
"Dot ish so," assented the victim, too good-natured to find faultafter his fortunate escape.
By this time, they were so far from the Osage lodge that very littlecould be seen of the interior, and they turned round and walked sideby side.
"It seems like a dream," remarked the young Kentuckian; "a fewminutes ago, there was no escape for us, and now I cannot think weare in the least danger."
"Who dinks dot de Shawanoes comes over der river after us?" askedOtto.
"Nobody besides Deerfoot: there isn't anything that he doesn't thinkof that is worth thinking about."
"Den vy he leaves us, when we leaves him?"
"I've asked myself that question, Otto; it must be that, after weparted, he learned something which told him the Shawanoes hadcrossed the Mississippi after us. He changed his course and came toour help, and it's mighty fortunate he did so."
"I guess dot ish so; we will asks him when we don't see him."
"I have my doubt about seeing him again."
"How ish dot?"
"You remember he said more than once he had reason to take anothercourse, and he did do so. He could not have been blamed forbelieving we were able to get along without him, after enteringLouisiana. At any rate, he will think so now."
This was a reasonable conclusion, and Otto agreed with his friendthat they were not likely to meet the extraordinary youth for sometime to come. He would probably take another direction, for, afterthe threat he uttered to Arorara, and the panic into which he hadthrown him, that warrior would be glad to hasten back to hisfriends, who were equally eager to reach Kentucky without loss oftime.
The moon was high in the heavens and the woods open. Much to therelief of Otto, the vines gave him no further trouble, and theyprogressed without difficulty. The neighborhood was strange tothem, but they had tramped the wilderness too often to care. Theywere sure of the general direction they were following, and wereconfident now of reaching home, which could be no great distanceaway.
Such a buoyancy of spirits came over the boys that it was hard torestrain themselves from shouting and leaping with joy. But for themishaps attending such sport they would have run at full speed andflung their hats in air. Several miles were passed before theybecame thoughtful and quiet.
"Mine gracious!" abruptly exclaimed Otto, stopping short andstriking his knee a resounding whack; "vere ain't dot hoss?"
"Had you forgotten about him?" asked companion with a smile.
"I nefer dinks apout him since we comes the lodge."
"I have, more than once; I made up my mind, when I found you in thewigwam, that if you got out alive, I would insist that we gostraight home and think no more about the animal; but matters are ina better shape, and we'll wait till to-morrow before we decide."
"Dot suits me," assented Otto, nodding his head several times.
As nearly as they could conjecture, they were some six miles fromthe residence of Wish-o-wa-tum or Man-not-Afraid-of-Thunder, whenthey decided to stop for the night. They were fully warranted inbelieving that all danger from red men was ended; and, as they hadno means of finding a good camping site, they stopped at once andbegan gathering fuel. The task was soon over, and the flint andsteel gave the speedily grew into a roaring blaze, the boys sat andlooked in each other's face.
The night was cool, but pleasant. Clouds, however, were continuallydrifting across the face of the moon, and a certain restlessness offeeling, of which even the rugged youngsters were sensible, toldthat a change was coming.
The hour spent in the Osage wigwam was redolent of smoking venison,and the boys smacked their lips and shook their heads, after themanner of youngsters, with healthful appetites but there was no wayof procuring food, and they philosophically accepted the situation,refraining from reference to eatables until there was a prospect ofobtaining them.
Through all the eventful experience of the evening, Jack and Ottohad retained their blankets. The circumstances were such thatneither of the Indians with whom they were brought in contact caredto secure them, though it may be suspected that, Wish-o-wa-tum wouldhave laid claim to that of the German, except for the visit ofArorara and Deerfoot.
Seated by the cheerful fire, the friends talked in rambling fashionuntil drowsy, when they wrapped their blankets around them and laydown to sleep. Some risk was involved in the proceeding, inasmuchas the fire was likely to attract wild animals to the spot, butprovidentially none disturbed the young pioneers, who slept quietand security until the sun was in the sky.
The first step
was a hunt for breakfast, for Jack and Otto were in astate of ravenous hunger. They separated and were gone a half hour,when the rifle of the young Kentuckian rang out and he soonreappeared by the renewed camp-fire with a fine wild turkey, which,it need not be said, afforded a nourishing and delightful meal forthem both.
"Otto," said Jack, springing to his feet like a refreshed giant, "wemust hunt again for the horse."
"Dot ishn't vot I don't dinks too--dot ish I does dinks so."
"And you must now try to straighten out your English, so thatDeerfoot and I may not be ashamed of you."
Otto nodded his head by way of assent, while he thought hard aboutthe proper manner of expressing himself.
But an almost insurmountable difficulty confronted the boys from thefirst. It was impossible to make search for the missing animaluntil his footprints should be found, and the only way in which thatcould be done was by retracing, to a considerable extent, their ownfootsteps. Though somewhat disappointed, Jack Carleton was notsurprised, when taking his bearings by the sun, he learned they hadwandered from the proper path. They had turned to the left, untilthe course was south of southwest. They had gone far astray indeed.
The weather became more threatening. The sun had been above thehorizon less than an hour when its light was obscured by clouds, andthe windows of heaven were certain to be opened long before the orbshould sink in the west.
Two miles were traveled, when the boys found themselves so close toa large clearing, that they wondered how it escaped their notice thepreceding night. It covered more than an acre, and at one time wasthe site of an Indian village. As a matter of course a small streamran near, and the red men who at no remote day made their dwellingplaces there must have numbered fully a hundred.
While wandering over the tract and looking about them, their eyesrested on an elevation no more than a third of a mile distant. Itwas thickly wooded, but a prodigious rock near the crest resembled aspot that had been burned clear.
"Helloa!" suddenly called out Jack Carleton, while gazing in thedirection, "there's someone on that rock."
"I guess it ish a crow or bear--no, it ishn't."
"My gracious! it's Deerfoot."
A moment's scrutiny proved that the individual, beyond all questionwas an Indian. Furthermore, he was making signals, probably havingdescried them before they saw him.
"I guess he only means to salute us," said Jack.
Such seemed to be the case. The red man who was Deerfoot, waved hishand in friendly salutation several minutes, then leaped from therock and vanished. It looked as if he had taken several hours toassure himself the boys were in no danger from the Shawanoes; and,having done so, he now bade them good-bye in his characteristicfashion, giving his whole thought and energy to the business whichcarried him far into the southwestern portion of the present Stateof Missouri.
Jack and Otto gazed in the direction of the rock a considerablewhile, hoping their friend would reappear, or that he had started tojoin them; but they were compelled to believe he had left, and for atime at least, would be seen no more.
The boys followed the back trail some distance further, when totheir delight they came upon the footprints of the missing horse,marked so distinctly in the yielding earth that there could be nomistake as to their identity.
"Now, that's what I call good luck," exclaimed Jack, slapping hisfriend on the back.
"Dot ish vot I dinks--how ish dot?" asked Otto with a beaming face,alluding to his own diction.
"Capital!--think twice before you speak once, and before long youwon't be the worst bungler with your tongue that lives west of theAlleghenies."
'The German gazed at his companion as if on the point of reprovinghim, but concluded to take time to put his words in proper shape.
An interesting fact was noticed by both: the trail verged toward theelevation where they last saw Deerfoot. Jack Carleton was set tothinking and speculating over the situation. He asked himselfwhether, when Deerfoot was about to pass out of their sight, hisgesticulations did not signify more than his friends supposed.
"I wonder if he did not mean to tell us the horse was not far off: Ibelieve he did."
"I--dinks--ot--ish-likely--vot--he--does," assented Otto, speakingwith such deliberation that Jack looked in his face, laughed andnodded his head, approvingly.
"We shall soon find out, for the trail is plain and must be new."
But an unpleasant truth forced itself on their notice. Rain dropswere pattering upon the leaves, and the darkening sky presaged astorm.
As the best and indeed the only way to protect themselves against agood drenching, the boys selected a tree whose foliage wasparticularly abundant, and seated themselves on the ground withtheir backs against it. Then the blankets were gathered over theirheads and around their shoulders, and they felt as secure as if intheir own log cabins, miles distant.
The rain fell steadily for nearly two hours, when it graduallyceased, and Jack and Otto quickly made ready to resume theirjourney. The leaves, twigs and limbs were dripping with moisture,so that, with the utmost care, it was impossible to advance farwithout their garments becoming saturated. That, however, was not aserious matter, and caused little remark.
For some rods the hoof-prints of the horse were followed, but thencame the trouble. The rain had beaten down the leaves on the groundwith such force that even the keen eyes of the young Kentuckianbegan to doubt. Finally the two paused, and Otto, having carefullyprepared himself, said:
"I dinks dot ish no use for us to hunt the horse."
"I am sorry to give it up and own we are beaten, but that is what weshall have to do."
"Vy do we does dot?"
"We are trying to follow a Lost Trail."
"If we does dot den we gots lost ourselves."
"More than likely we shall, but I am afraid that if we go homewithout the colt, your father will punish you."
Otto shrugged his shoulders.
"It vill not be the first times dot he does dot. I can stand it, Idinks."
"It will be a great pity, nevertheless, and shall do my best toshame him if he should be mean enough to hold any such purpose."
"Mebbe after we gots home and stays one while, we start out aginsome times more and look for the golt."
"I have been thinking of the same thing," said Jack, who now changedtheir course with the view of reaching home with the least possibledelay.
The boys pushed forward with so much energy that on the next day,before the sun had reached the meridian, they arrived home, wherefor present we must bid them good-bye.
But what befell them and Deerfoot in the eventful journey which theyspeedily ventured upon in search of the LOST TRAIL, will be told inNumber Two of the Log Cabin Series, entitled "CAMP-FIRE ANDWIGWAM."
THE END
The Lost Trail Page 33
