The Last of the Chiefs: A Story of the Great Sioux War by Joseph A. Altsheler
Chapter XIIIAlbert's Victory
When Dick opened his eyes again he raised his hand once more towave it at the fleeing elk and then he stopped in astonishment.The hand was singularly weak. He had made a great effort, butit did not go up very far. Nor did his eyes, which had openedslowly and heavily, see any elk. They saw instead rows and rowsof furs and then other rows hanging above one another. His eyestraveled downward and they saw log walls almost covered with fursand skins, but with rifles, axes, and other weapons andimplements on hooks between. A heavy oaken window shutter wasthrown back and a glorious golden sunlight poured into the room.
The sunlight happened to fall upon Dick's own hand, and that wasthe next object at which he looked. His amazement increased.Could such a thin white hand as that belong to him who had latelyowned such a big red one? He surveyed it critically, inparticular, the bones showing so prominently in the back of it,and then he was interrupted by a full, cheerful voice whichcalled out:
"Enough of that stargazing and hand examination! Here, drinkthis soup, and while you're doing it, I'll tell you how glad I amto see you back in your right mind! I tell you you've beenwhooping out some tall yarns about an Indian following you for ayear or two through snow a mile or so deep! How you fought himfor a month without stopping! And how you then waded foranother year through snow two or three times as deep as thefirst!"
It was his brother Albert, and he lay on his own bed of furs andskins in their own cabin, commonly called by them Castle Howard,snugly situated in the lost or enchanted valley. And here wasAlbert, healthy, strong, and dictatorial, while he, stretchedweakly upon a bed, held our a hand through which the sun couldalmost shine. Truly, there had been great changes!
He raised his head as commanded by Albert--the thin, pallid,drooping Albert of last summer, the lusty, red-faced Albert ofto-day--and drank the soup, which tasted very good indeed. Hefelt stronger and held up the thin, white hand to see if it hadnot grown fatter and redder in the last ten seconds. Albertlaughed, and it seemed to Dick such a full, loud laugh, as if itwere drawn up from a deep, iron-walled chest, inclosing lungsmade of leather, with an uncommon expansion. It jarred uponDick. It seemed too loud for so small a room.
"I see you enjoyed that soup, Dick, old fellow," continued Albertin the same thundering tones. "Well, you ought to like it. Itwas chicken soup, and it was made by an artist--myself. I shota fat and tender prairie hen down the valley, and here she is insoup. It's only a step from grass to pot and I did it allmyself. Have another."
"Think I will," said Dick.
He drank a second tin plate of the soup, and he could feel lifeand strength flowing into every vein.
"How did I get here, Al?" he asked.
"That's a pretty hard question to answer," replied Albert,smiling and still filling the room with his big voice. "You werepartly brought, partly led, partly pushed, you partly walked,partly jumped, and partly crawled, and there were even littlestretches of the march when you were carried on somebody'sshoulder, big and heavy as you are. Dick, I don't know any namefor such a mixed gait. Words fail me."
Dick smiled, too.
"Well, no matter how I got here, it's certain that I'm here," hesaid, looking around contentedly.
"Absolutely sure, and it's equally as sure that you've been herefive days. I, the nurse, I, the doctor, and I, the spectator,can vouch for that. There were times when I had to hold you inyour bed, there were times when you were so hot with fever that Iexpected to see you burst into a mass of red and yellow flames,and most all the while you talked with a vividness andimagination that I've never known before outside of the ArabianNights. Dick, where did you get the idea about a Sioux Indianfollowing you all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, withstops every half hour for you and him to fight?"
"It's true," said Dick, and then he told the eager boy the story ofhis escape from the Sioux band, the terrible pursuit, thestorm, and his dreadful wandering.
"It was wonderful luck that I met you, Al, old fellow," he saiddevoutly.
"Not luck exactly," said Albert. "You were coming back to thevalley on our old trail, and, as I had grown very anxious aboutyou, I was out on the same path to see if I could see any sign ofyou. It was natural that we should meet, but I think that, afterall, Dick, Providence had the biggest hand in it."
"No doubt," said Dick, and after a moment's pause he added, "Didit snow much up here?"
"But lightly. The clouds seem to have avoided these mountains.It was only from your delirium that I gathered the news of thegreat storm on the plains. Now, I think you've talked enough foran invalid. Drop you head back on that buffalo robe and go tosleep again."
It seemed so amazing to Dick ever to receive orders from Albertthat he obeyed promptly, closed his eyes, and in five minutes wasin sound slumber.
Albert hovered about the room, until he saw that Dick was asleepand breathing strongly and regularly. Then he put his hand onDick's brow, and when he felt the temperature his own eyes werelighted up by a fine smile. That forehead, hot so long, was coolnow, and it would be only a matter of a few days until Dick washis old, strong and buoyant self again. Albert never told hisbrother how he had gone two days and nights without sleep,watching every moment by the delirious bedside, how, taking thechances, he had dosed him with quinine from their medical stores,and how, later, he had cooked for him the tenderest and mostdelicate food. Nor did he speak of those awful hours--so manyof them--when Dick's life might go at any time.
Albert knew now that the great crisis was over, and rejoicing, hewent forth from Castle Howard. It was his intention to killanother prairie chicken and make more of the soup that Dick likedso much. As he walked, his manner was expansive, indicating adeep satisfaction. Dick had saved his life and he had savedDick's. But Dick was still an invalid and it was his duty,meanwhile to carry on the business of the valley. He was soleworkman, watchman, and defender, and his spirit rose to meet theresponsibility. He would certainly look after his brother aswell as anyone could do it.
Albert whistled as he went along, and swung his gun in debonairfashion. It would not take him, an expert borderer and woodsman,long to get that prairie chicken, and after that, as he had saidbefore, it was only a step from grass to pot.
It was perhaps the greatest hour of Albert Howard's life. He,the helped, was now the helper; he, the defended, was now thedefender. His chest could scarcely contain the mighty surge ofexultation that heart and lungs together accomplished. He wasfar from having any rejoicings over Dick's prostration; herejoiced instead that he was able, since the prostration hadcome, to care for both. He had had the forethought and courageto go forth and seek for Dick, and the strength to save him whenfound.
Albert broke into a rollicking whistle and he still swung hisshotgun somewhat carelessly for a hunter and marksman. Hepassed by one of the geysers just as it was sending up itshigh column of hot water and its high column of steam. "That'sthe way I feel, old fellow," he said. "I could erupt with justas much force."
He resumed his caution farther on and shot two fine, fat prairiehens, returning with them to Castle Howard before Dick awoke.When Dick did awake, the second installment of the soup was readyfor him and he ate it hungrily. He was naturally so strong andvigorous and had lived such a wholesome life that he recovered,now that the crisis was past, with astonishing rapidity. ButAlbert played the benevolent tyrant for a few days yet, insistingthat Dick should sleep a great number of hours out of everytwenty-four, and making him eat four times a day of the tenderestand most succulent things. He allowed him to walk but a littleat first, and, though the walks were extended from day to day,made him keep inside when the weather was bad.
Dick took it all, this alternate spoiling and overlordship, withamazing mildness. He had some dim perception of the true stateof affairs, and was willing that his brother should enjoy histriumph to the full. But in a week he was entirely well again,thin and pale yet, but with a pulsing tide in his veins as strongas ever.
"It's quite settled," said Albert, "that we're to stay anotheryear in the valley."
"Oh, yes," said Dick, "we had already resolved on that, and myexcursion on the plains shows that we were wise in doing so. Butyou know, Al, we can't do fur hunting in the spring and summer.Furs are not in good condition now."
"No," said Albert, "but we can get ready for the fall and winter,and I propose that we undertake right away a birchbark canoe.The dugout is a little bit heavy and awkward, hard to control ina high wind, and we'll really need the birch bark."
"Good enough," said Dick. "We'll do it."
With the habits of promptness and precision they had learned fromold Mother Necessity, they went to work at once, planning andtoiling on equal terms, a full half-and-half partnership. Bothwere in great spirits.
In this task they fell back partly on talk that they had heardfrom some of the men with whom they had started across theplains, and partly on old reading, and it took quite a lot oftime. They looked first for large specimens of the white birch,and finally found several on one of the lower slopes. This wasthe first and, in fact, the absolutely vital requisite. Withoutit they could do nothing, but, having located their bark supply,they left the trees and began at the lake edge the upperframework of their canoe, consisting of four strips of cedar, twofor either side of the boat, every one of the four having alength of about fifteen feet. These strips had a width of aboutan inch, with a thickness a third as great.
The strips were tied together in pairs at the ends, and the twopairs were joined together at the same place after the generalfashion in use for the construction of such canoes.
The frame being ready, they went to their white birch trees forthe bark. They marked off the utmost possible length on thelargest and finest tree, made a straight cut through the bark ateither end, and triumphantly peeled off a splendid piece, largeenough for the entire canoe. Then they laid it on the ground ina nice smooth place and marked off a distance two feet less thantheir framework or gunwales. They drove into the ground at eachend of this space two tall stakes, three inches apart. The barkwas then laid upon the ground inside up and folded evenlythroughout its entire length. After that it was lifted and setbetween the stakes with the edges up. The foot of barkprojecting beyond each stake was covered in each case withanother piece of bark folded firmly over it and sewed to thesides by means of an awl and deer tendon.
This sewing done, they put a large stone under each end of thebark construction, causing it to sag from the middle in eitherdirection into the curve suitable for a canoe. The gunwale whichthey had constructed previously was now fitted into the bark, andthe bark was stitched tightly to it, both at top and bottom, witha further use of awl and tendon, the winding stitch being used.
They now had the outside of the canoe, but they had drawn many along breath and perspired many a big drop before it was done.They felt, however, that the most serious part of the task wasover, and after a short rest they began on the inside, which theylined with long strips of cedar running the full length of theboat. The pieces were about an inch and a half in width andabout a third of an inch in thickness and were fitted veryclosely together. Over these they put the ribs of touch ash,which was very abundant in the valley and on the slopes. Stripstwo inches wide and a half inch thick were bent crosswise acrossthe interior of the curve, close together, and were firmlyfastened under the gunwales with a loop stitch of the strongtendon through the bark.
To make their canoe firm and steady, they securely lashed threestring pieces across it and then smeared deeply all the seamswith pitch, which they were fortunate enough to secure from oneof the many strange springs and exudations in the valley. Theynow had a strong, light canoe, fifteen feet long and a littleover two feet wide at the center. They had been compelled toexercise great patience and endurance in this task, particularlyin the work with the awl and tendons. Skillful as they hadbecome with their hands, they acquired several sore fingers inthe task, but their pride was great when it was done. Theylaunched the canoe, tried it several times near the shore inorder to detect invisible seams, and then, when all such werestopped up tightly with pitch, they paddled boldly out into deepand far waters.
The practice they had acquired already with the dugout helpedthem greatly with the birch bark, and after one or two duckingsthey handled it with great ease. As amateurs sometimes do, theyhad achieved either by plan or accident a perfect design andfound that they had a splendid canoe. This was demonstrated whenthe two boys rowed a race, after Dick had recovered his fullstrength--Dick in the dugout and Albert in the birch bark. Therace was the full length of the lake, and the younger and smallerboy won an easy triumph.
"Well paddled, Al!" said Dick.
"It wasn't the paddling, Dick," replied Albert, "it was lightbark against heavy wood that did it."
They were very proud of their two canoes and made a littlelanding for them in a convenient cove. Here, tied to trees withskin lariats, they were safe from wind and wave.
An evening or two after the landing was made secure, Dick, whohad been out alone, came home in the dark and found Albertreading a book by the firelight.
"What's this?" he exclaimed.
"I took it out of the inside pocket of your coat, when I help youhere in the snow," replied Albert. "I put it on a shelf and inthe strain of your illness forgot all about it until to-day."
"That's my History and Map of the United States," said Dick,smiling. "I took it from the wagon which yielded up so much tous. It wouldn't tell me where I was in the storm; but, do youknow, Al, it helped me when I read in there about that greatestof all men praying in the snow."
"I know who it is whom you mean," said Albert earnestly, "and Iintend to read about him and all the others. It's likely, Dick,before another year is past, that you and I will become about thefinest historians of our country to be found anywhere between theAtlantic and Pacific. Maybe this is the greatest treasure of allthat the wagon has yielded up to us."
Albert was right. A single volume, where no other could beobtained, was a precious treasure to them, and it made many anevening pass pleasantly that would otherwise have been dull.They liked especially to linger over the hardships of theborderers and of their countrymen in war, because they found somany parallels to their own case, and the reading always broughtthem new courage and energy.
They spent the next month after the completion of the canoe inmaking all kinds of traps, including some huge dead falls forgrizzly bear and silver tip.
They intended as soon as the autumn opened to begin their furoperations on a much larger scale than those of the year before.Numerous excursions into the surrounding mountains showedabundant signs of game and no signs of an invader, and theycalculated that if all went well they would have stored safely bynext spring at least twenty thousand dollars' worth of furs.
The summer passed pleasantly for both, being filled with work inwhich they took a great interest, and hence a great pleasure.They found another rock cavity, which they fitted up like thefirst in anticipation of an auspicious trapping season.
"They say, 'don't put all your eggs in one basket,'" saidAlbert, "and so we won't put all our furs in one cave. The Siouxmay come sometime or other, and even if they should get our threeresidences, Castle Howard, the Annex, and the Suburban Villa, andall that is in them, they are pretty sure to miss our caves andour furs."
"Of course some Indians must know of this valley," said Dick,"and most likely it's the Sioux. Perhaps none ever wander inhere now, because they're at war with our people and are usingall their forces on the plains."
Albert thought it likely, and both Dick and he had moments whenthey wondered greatly what was occurring in the world without.But, on the whole, they were not troubled much by the affairs oft
Traps, house building, and curing food occupied them throughoutthe summer. Once the days were very hot in the valley, whichserved as a focus for the rays of the sun, but it was invariablycool, often cold, at night. They slept usually under a tent, orsometimes, on their longer expeditions in that direction, at thebark hut. Dick made a point of this, as he resolved that Albertshould have no relapse. He could not see any danger of such acatastrophe, but he felt that another year of absolutely freshand pure mountain air, breathed both night and day, would put hisbrother beyond all possible danger.
The life that both led even in the summer was thoroughlyhardening. They bathed every morning, if in the tent by CastleHoward, in the torrent, the waters of which were always icy,flowing as they did from melting snows on the highest peaks.They swam often in the lake, which was also cold always, and atone of the hot springs they hollowed out a pool, where they couldtake a hot bath whenever they needed it.
The game increased in the valley as usual toward autumn, and theyreplenished their stores of jerked meat. They had spared theirammunition entirely throughout the summer and now they used itonly on buffalo, elk, and mule deer. They were fortunate enoughto catch several big bears in their huge dead falls, and, withvery little expenditure of cartridges, they felt that they couldopen their second winter as well equipped with food as they hadbeen when they began the first. They also put a new barkthatching on the roof of Castle Howard, and then felt ready foranything that might come.
"Rain, hail, sleet, snow, and ice, it's all the same to us," saidDick.
They did not resume their trapping until October came, as theyknew that the furs would not be in good condition until then.They merely made a good guess that it was October. They hadlong since lost all count of days and months, and took theirreckoning from the change of the foliage into beautiful redsand yellows and the increasing coldness of the air.
It proved to be a cold but not rainy autumn, a circumstance thatfavored greatly their trapping operations. They had learned muchin the preceding winter from observation and experience, and nowthey put it to practice. They knew many of the runways or pathsfrequented by the animals, and now they would place their trapsin these, concealing them as carefully as possible, and, actingon an idea of Albert's, they made buckskin gloves for themselves,with which they handled the traps, in order to leave, ifpossible, no human odor to warn the wary game. Such devices asthis and the more skillful making of their traps caused thesecond season to be a greater success than the first, good as thelatter had been. They shot an additional number of buffaloes andelk, but what they sought in particular was the beaver, and theywere lucky enough to find two or three new and secluded littlestreams, on which he had built his dams.
The valuable furs now accumulated rapidly, and it was wiseforethought that had made them fit up the second cave or hollow.They were glad to have two places for them, in case one wasdiscovered by an enemy stronger than themselves.
Autumn turned into winter, with snow, slush, and ice-cold rain.The preceding winter had been mild, but this bade fair to breaksome records for severe and variegated weather. Now came thetrue test for Albert. To trudge all day long in snow, icy rainor deep slush, to paddle across the lake in a nipping wind, withthe chilly spray all over him, to go for hours soaking wet onevery inch of his skin--these were the things that would havesurely tried the dwellers in the houses of men, even those withhealthy bodies.
Albert coughed a little after his first big soaking, but after ahot bath, a big supper, and a long night's sleep, it left, not toreturn. He became so thoroughly inured now to exposure thatnothing seemed to affect him. Late in December--so theyreckoned the time--when, going farther than usual into a longcrevice of the mountains, they were overtaken by a heavysnowstorm. They might have reached the Suburban Villa by night,or they might not, but in any event the going would have beenfull of danger, and they decided to camp in the broadest part ofthe canyon in which they now were, not far from the little brookthat flowed down it.
They had matches with them--they were always careful to keepthem dry now--and after securing their dry shavings they lighteda good fire. Then they are their food, and looked up withoutfear at the dark mountains and the thick, driving snow. Theywere partially sheltered by the bank and some great ash trees,and, for further protection, they wrapped about themselves theblankets, without which they never went on any long journey.
Having each other for company, the adventure was like a picnic toboth. It was no such desperate affair as that of Dick's when hewas alone on the plain. They further increased their shelterfrom the snow by an artful contrivance of brush and fallenboughs, and although enough still fell upon them to makemiserable the house-bred, they did not care. Both fell asleepafter a while, with flurries of snow still striking upon theirfaces, and were awakened far in the night by the roar of anavalanche farther up the canyon; but they soon went to sleepagain and arose the next day with injury.
Thus the winter passed, one of storm and cold, but the trappingwas wonderful, and each boy grew in a remarkable manner instrength, endurance, and skill. When signs of spring appearedagain, they decided that it was time for them to go. Had it notbeen for Dick's misadventure on the plain, and their belief thata great war was now in progress between the Sioux and the whitepeople, one might have gone out to return with horses and mulesfor furs, while the other remained behind to guard them. But inview of all the dangers, they resolved to keep together. Thefurs would be secreted and the rest of their property must takeits chances.
So they made ready.