The Last of the Chiefs: A Story of the Great Sioux War by Joseph A. Altsheler
Chapter VICastle Howard
Albert agreed with Dick that they should begin to more at once,and his imagination was greatly stirred by Dick's narrative."Why, it's an enchanted valley!" he exclaimed. "And a house isthere waiting for us, too! Dick, I want to see it right away!"
Dick smiled.
"Sorry, but you'll have to wait a little, Al, old man," he said."You're not strong enough yet to carry stores over the big range,though you will be very soon, and we can't leave our preciousthings here unguarded. So you'll have to stay and act asquartermaster while I make myself pack mule. When we have allthe things over there, we can fasten them up in our house, wherebears, panthers, and wolves can't get at them."
Albert made a wry face, but he knew that he must yield tonecessity. Dick began the task the next morning, and it waslong, tedious, and most wearing. More than once he felt likeabandoning some of their goods, but he hardened his resolutionwith the reflection that all were precious, and not a singlething was abandoned.
It was more than a week before it was all done, and it was notuntil the last trip that Albert went with him, carrying besideshis gun a small pack. The weather was still propitious. Oncethere had been a light shower in the night, but Albert wasprotected from it by the tarpaulin which they had made of thewagon cover, and nothing occurred to check his progress. He atewith an appetite that he had never known before, and he breathedby night as well as by day the crisp air of the mountains tinglingwith the balsam of the pines. It occurred to Dick that to bemarooned in these mountains was perhaps the best of all thingsthat could have happened to Albert.
They went slowly over the range toward the enchanted valley,stopping now and then because Albert, despite his improvement,was not yet equal to the task of strenuous climbing, but allthings continued auspicious. There was a touch of autumn on thefoliage, and the shades of red and yellow were appearing on theleaves of all the trees except the evergreens, but everythingtold of vigorous life. As they passed the crest of the range andbegan the descent of the slope toward the enchanted valley, amule deer crashed from the covert and fled away with greatbounds. Flocks of birds rose with whirrings from the bushes.From some point far away came the long, whistling sound that madeAlbert cry out in wonder. But Dick laughed.
"It's the elk," he said. "I saw one when I first came into thevalley. I think they are thick hereabout, and I suspect thatthey will furnish us with some good winter food."
Albert found the valley all that Dick had represented it to be,and more. He watched the regular eruptions of the geysers withamazement and delight; he insisted on sampling the mineralsprings, and intended to learn in time their various properties.The lake, in all its shimmering aspects, appealed to his love ofthe grand and beautiful, and he promptly named it "The HowardSea, after its discoverer, you know," he said to Dick. Finally,the cabin itself filled him with delight, because he foresaweven more thoroughly than Dick how suitable it would be for ahome in the long winter months. He installed himself ashousekeeper and set to work at once.
The little cabin was almost choked with their supplies, whichDick had been afraid to leave outside for fear that theprovisions would be eaten and the other things injured by thewild animals, and now they began the task of assorting andputting them into place.
The full equipment of the wagon that Dick had found in the gully,particularly the tools, proved to be a godsend. They made moreracks on the walls--boring holes with the augers and thendriving in pegs--on which they laid their axes and extra rifles.In the same manner they made high shelves, on which their foodwould be safe from prowling wild beasts, even should they succeedin breaking in the door. But Dick soon made the latterimpossible by putting the door on strong hinges of leather whichhe made from the gear that he had cut from the horses. He alsosplit a new bar from one of the young ash trees and strengthenedthe hasps on the inside. He felt now that when the bar was inplace not even the heaviest grizzly could force the door.
The task of mending the roof was more difficult. He knew how tosplit rude boards with his ax, but he had only a few nails withwhich to hold them in place. He solved the problem by boringauger holes, into which he drove pegs made from strong twigs.The roof looked water-tight, and he intended to reenforce itlater on with the skins of wild animals that he expected tokill--there had been no time yet for hunting.
Throughout these operations, which took about a week, they sleptin the open in a rude tent which they made of the wagon cover andset beside the cabin, for two reasons: because Dick believed theopen air at all times to be good for Albert, and because he wasaverse to using the cabin as a dormitory until it was thoroughlycleansed and aired.
Albert made himself extremely useful in the task of refurbishingthe cabin. He brushed out all the dust, brought water from thebrook and scrubbed the floor, and to dry the latter built theirfirst fire on the hearth with pine cones and other fallen wood.As he touched the match to it, he did not conceal his anxiety.
"The big thing to us," he said, "is whether or not this chimneywill draw. That's vital, I tell you, Dick, to a housekeeper. Ifit puffs out smoke and fills the cabin with it, we're to have ahard time and be miserable. If it draws like a porous plasterand takes all the smoke up it, then we're to have an easy time ofit and be happy."
Both watched anxiously as Albert touched the match to some pineshavings which were to form the kindling wood. The shavingscaught, a light blaze leaped up, there came a warning crackle,and smoke, too, arose. Which way would it go? The little columnwavered a moment and then shot straight up the chimney. It grewlarger, but still shot straight up the chimney. The flames roaredand were drawn in the same direction.
Albert laughed and clapped his hands.
"It's to be an easy time and a happy life!" he exclaimed. "Thoseold beaver hunters knew what they were about when they built thischimney!"
"You can cook in here, Al," said Dick; "but I suggest that wesleep in the tent until the weather grows bad."
Dick had more than one thing in mind in making this suggestionabout the tent and sleeping. The air of the cabin could be closeat night even with the window open, but in the tent with the flapthrown back--they never closed it--they breathed only a freshbalsamic odor, crisp with the coolness of autumn. He had watchedAlbert all the time. Now and then when he had exerted himselfmore than usual, the younger boy would cough, and at times he wasvery tired, but Dick, however sharply he watched, did not seeagain the crimson stain on the lips that he had noticed the nightof the flight from the massacre.
But the older brother, two years older only, in fact, but tenyears older, at least, in feeling, did notice a great change inAlbert, mental as well as physical. The younger boy ceased tohave periods of despondency. While he could not do the thingsthat Dick did, he was improving, and he never lamented his lackof strength. It seemed to him a matter of course, so far as Dickcould judge, that in due time he should be the equal of the olderand bigger boy in muscle and skill.
Albert, moreover, had no regrets for the world without. Theirlife with the wagon train had been far from pleasant, and he hadonly Dick, and Dick had only him. Now the life in the enchantedvalley, which was a real valley of enchantments, was sufficientfor him. Each day brought forth some new wonder, some fresh andinteresting detail. He was a capable fisherman, and he caughttrout in both the brook and the river, while the lake yielded tohis line other and larger fish, the names of which neither boyknew, but which proved to be of delicate flavor when broiled overthe coals. Just above them was a boiling hot spring, and Albertused the water from this for cooking purposes. "Hot and coldwater whenever you please," he said to Dick. "Nothing to do butto turn the tap."
Dick smiled; he, too, was happy. He enjoyed life in theenchanted valley, where everything seemed to have conspired intheir favor. When they had been there about a week, and theirhome was ready for any emergency, Dick took his gun and wentforth, the hunting spirit strong within him. They had heard theelk whistling on the mountain side nearly every d
Dick did not feel much concern about their food supply. Hebelieved that vast quantities of big game would come into thisvalley in the winter to seek protection from the mighty snows ofthe northern Rockies, but it was just as well to begin the taskof filling the larder.
He came out into the main valley and turned toward the lake.Autumn was now well advanced, but in the cool sunshine the lakeseemed more beautiful than ever. Its waters were golden to-day,but with a silver tint at the edges where the pine-clad banksoverhung it. Dick did not linger, however. He turned awaytoward the slopes, whence the whistling call had come theoftenest, and was soon among the pines and cedars. He searchedhere an hour or more, and at last he found two feeding, a maleand a female.
Dick had the instinct of the hunter, and already he had acquiredgreat skill. Creeping through the undergrowth, he came within easyshot of the animals, and he looked at them a little beforeshooting. The bull was magnificent, and he, if any, seemed a fitsubject for the bullet, but Dick chose the cow, knowing that shewould be the tenderer. Only a single shot was needed, and thenhe had a great task to carry the hide and the body in sections tothe cabin. They ate elk steaks and then hung the rest in thetrees for drying and jerking. Dick, according to his previousplan, used the skin to cover the newly mended places in the roof,fastening it down tightly with small wooden pegs. His forethoughtwas vindicated two days later when a great storm came. Both heand Albert had noticed throughout the afternoon an unusual warmthin the air. It affected Albert particularly, as it made hisrespiration difficult. Over the mountains in the west they sawsmall dark clouds which soon began to grow and unite. Dickthought he knew what it portended, and he and his brother quicklytaking down the tent, carried it and all its equipment inside thecabin. Then making fast the door and leaving the window open,they waited.
The heat endured, but all the clouds became one that overspreadthe entire heavens. Despite the lateness of the season, thethunder, inexpressibly solemn and majestic, rumbled among thegorges, and there was a quiver of lightening. It was as dark astwilight.
The rain came, roaring down the clefts and driving against thecabin with such force that they were compelled to close thewindow. How thankful Dick was now for Albert's sake that theyhad such a secure shelter! Nor did he despise it for his own.
The rain, driven by a west wind, poured heavily, and the airrapidly grew colder. Albert piled dry firewood on the hearth andlighted it. The flames leaped up, and warmth, dryness, and cheerfilled all the little cabin. Dick had been anxiously regardingthe roof, but the new boards and the elk skin were water-tight.Not a drop came through. Higher leaped the flames and the rosyshadows fell upon the floor.
"It's well we took the tent down and came in here," said Albert."Listen to that!"
The steady, driving sweep changed to a rattle and a crackle. Therain had turned to hail, and it was like the patter of rifle fireon the stout little cabin.
"It may rain or hail or snow, or do whatever it pleases, but itcan't get at us," said Albert exultingly.
"No, it can't," said Dick. "I wonder, Al, what Bright Sun isdoing now?"
"A peculiar Indian," said Albert thoughtfully, "but it's safe tosay that wherever he is he's planning and acting."
"At any rate," said Dick, "we're not likely to know it, whateverit is, for a long time, and we won't bother trying to guess aboutit."
It hailed for an hour and then changed to rain again, pouringdown in great steadiness and volume. Dick opened the window alittle way once, but the night was far advanced, and it waspitchy black outside. They let the coals die down to a glowingbed, and then, wrapping themselves in their blankets, they sleptsoundly all through the night and the driving rain, their littlecabin as precious to them as any palace was ever to a king.
Albert, contrary to custom, was the first to awake the nextmorning. A few coals from the fire were yet alive on the hearth,and the atmosphere of the room, breathed over and over againthroughout the night, was close and heavy. He threw back thewindow shutter, and the great rush of pure cold air into theopening made his body thrill with delight. This was a physicalpleasure, but the sight outside gave him a mental rapture evengreater. Nothing was falling now, but the rain had turned backto hail before it ceased, and all the earth was in glitteringwhite. The trees in the valley, clothed in ice, were like lacework, and above them towered the shining white mountains.
Albert looked back at Dick. His brother, wrapped in his blanket,still slept, with his arm under his head and his face toward thehearth. He looked so strong, so enduring, as he lay theresleeping soundly, and Albert knew that he was both. But acurious feeling was in the younger boy's mind that morning. Hewas glad that he had awakened first. Hitherto he had alwaysopened his eyes to find Dick up and doing. It was Dick who haddone everything. It was Dick who had saved him from theSioux; it was Dick who had practically carried him over the firstrange; Dick had found their shelter in the pine alcove; Dick hadlabored day and night, day after day, and night after night,bringing the stores over the mountain from the lost train, thenhe had found their new home in the enchanted valley, which Albertpersisted in calling it, and he had done nearly all the hard workof repairing and furnishing the cabin.
It should not always be so. Albert's heart was full of gratitudeto this brother of his who was so brave and resourceful, but hewanted to do his share. The feeling was based partly on prideand partly on a new increase of physical strength. He took adeep inhalation of the cold mountain air and held it long in hislungs. Then he emitted it slowly. There was no pain, no feelingof soreness, and it was the first time he could remember that ithad been so. A new thrill of pleasure, keener and more powerfulthan any other, shook him for a moment. It was a belief, nay, acertainty, or at least a conviction, that he was going to bewhole and sound. The mountains were doing their kindly healing.He could have shouted aloud with pleasure, but instead herestrained himself and went outside, softly shutting the doorbehind him.
Autumn had gone and winter had come in a night. The trees werestripped of every leaf and in their place was the sheathing ofice. The brook roared past, swollen for the time to a littleriver. The air, though very cold, was dry despite the heavy rainof the night before. Albert shivered more than once, but it wasnot the shiver of weakness. It did not bite to the very marrowof him. Instead, when he exercised legs and arms vigorously,warmth came back. He was not a crushed and shriveled thing.Now he laughed aloud in sheer delight. He had subjectedhimself to another test, and he had passed it in triumph.
He built up the fire, and when Dick awoke, the pleasant aroma ofcooking filled the room.
"Why, what's this, Al?" exclaimed the big youth, rubbing hiseyes.
"Oh, I've been up pretty near an hour," replied Albert airily."Saw that you were having a fine sleep, so I thought I wouldn'tdisturb you."
Dick looked inquiringly at him. He thought he detected a newnote in his brother's voice, a note, too, that he liked.
"I see," he said; "and you've been at work sometime, Do you feelfully equal to the task?"
Albert turned and faced his brother squarely.
"I've been thinking a lot, and feeling a lot more this morning,"he replied. "I've been trying myself out, as they say, and ifI'm not well I'm traveling fast in that direction. Hereafter Ishare the work as well as the rewards."
Albert spoke almost defiantly, but Dick liked his tone and mannerbetter than ever. He would not, on any account, have saidanything in opposition at this moment.
"All right, Al, old fellow. That's agreed," he said.