Albert W. Aiken

“ It is not a rifle.”
“Can a white man carry a great gun on his back?” said another Indian, in the dress of a chief. “I can not understand. Some medicine-man has taken the life of the big bear of the hills. It is no common gun.”
“Wah-be-o-win says well. All the white men are great medicine. My race pass away before them like trees before their axes. But Whirling Breeze will not live long enough to see the work done. While he is alive, there will be war between his people and the white men.” ”

“ Their wandering, perilous life is full of hardships, of which we have no conception. The cold of winter, the savage foe, the yet more savage employees of the Hudson Bay Company, the grizzly bear, the snow-slide, all these are their enemies. They toil hard to pluck from the hand of stern old winter a precarious livelihood, happy in the possession of a few traps, a rifle, ammunition, and a blanket. ”

“ The Dutchman saw nothing of this; he only saw the foaming river, the brown ledges, and the ragged rocks.
From the spot where the raft started, the eddy swept him directly across the stream in the direction of a serrated ledge, which threatened instant destruction. Seated on the narrow craft, grasping it with both hands and ever looking toward the other shore, the unfortunate man set up a cry for help, which [82] pierced brave old Ben to the very heart. He began to throw off his hunting-shirt. Just as he stood, half naked, on the bank, the raft struck the ledge against which it was drifting. ”

“ Be not impatient, warriors of the Blackfeet. Have faith in the chief. These white men shall be given into our hands. There is a maiden among them fairer than snow; she shall dwell in the lodges of my people. ”

“ There were two passes through the hills, and if the Indians would only take the wrong one it would give the whites a chance to run down and apprise their comrades of the danger. A moment of breathless suspense, and the party turned into the pass leading to the hunter’s camp.
“It’s all up,” said Ben. “Poor Jule is done fer, an’ that young chap Bentley. Come down, Jan. We must get out of the way as soon as possible. The durned thieves won’t be long gutting the concern.”
The old trapper helped Millicent from the tree. Jan came down in great haste and followed Ben’s lead. ”

“ Ben raised his rifle and fired in the air. Obedient to the signal, two hundred warriors, armed to the teeth, emerged from their covert and charged the astonished Blackfeet. Ben sprung into his saddle and rode forward to aid his friends. He came too late. The band of Whirling Breeze was scattered, and he only escaped by the speed of his horse. Ben arrived in time to sequestrate two fine mustangs, and compliment the Crow chief upon the neatness and dispatch of the action.
The party proposed to return to the forts. The chief and fifty chosen warriors rode with them. ”

“ They reached a place where a pine had fallen to the ground and was lying in the water. Ben, striking out desperately, felt the sunken branches strike his leg.
[84]
“Kick, Jan, kick!” he shouted, with all the power of his lungs. “Kick fer yer life.” ”

“ Any man kin git into danger ef he wants to. It’s the spice of life, danger is. Go out fer that trap, Jules, I’m a little stiff after my run. I ain’t ez strong ez I used to be.”
“You can run faster than any man in the party now,” said Bentley. “And who among us is able to jump twenty-three feet?”
“The old man ain’t dead yit,” replied Ben, grinning. “He’ll do a power of work afore he goes under. Yes, he will; you bet on it. An’ as for the durned Injuns, they may drive us away now, but we’ll come back. And to-morrer we’ve got to build a raft. ”

“ Thet’s as good as ef I swore to it.”
“Where is the bear?” said Jules. “I can’t see him.”
“No? Mebbe the Dutchman knocked him over with that blunderbuss of his’n—the darndest weepon! It’s got a muzzle like thet thar little cannon they’ve got at the Mackinaw. Mountain howt’zer they called it. Look sharp again, Jule; kain’t ye see him now?”
“Yes, Ben; he lies under the rock, with his head on his paws. He keeps very quiet.”
[21]
“Mebbe he’s shammin’,” said Ben. “Don’t ye go too nigh the durned critter. It’d be jest like him to git up and go fer ye the minnit yer feet teched the ground. Jan?” ”

“ Whirling Breeze stood in front of them for a while, and then, taking Jules by the shoulder, he led him into the cabin.
“He’s tryin’ to git him to tell whar we ar’ hid,” said Ben, chuckling hugely. “He’ll make a good deal out’n Jule, I reckon. Take keer not to show yerself, gal, it won’t do. Ef they catch sight of a woman, they’ll foller her till doom’sday but they’ll ketch her. But we’ve got things our own way. Ef Jule knew he wouldn’t tell, and as he don’t know whar we ar’, he kain’t tell. So we ar’ safe two ways, don’t ye see?” ”

“ Ef he says kill ye, why, yer no better then a dead man. Ye owe yer life to him, an’ ef he choses to take it, thar’s no law among free trappers to save ye. Anyway, I won’t help ye. Jan!”
“Vell?”
“Hyar’s a pistol. It’s loaded with a ball. This skunk ain’t fit to live. Trapper law will bar ye out in shootin’ him through the head. He is in yer hands.”
Jan took the pistol, cocked it, and placed it close to the head of the Frenchman. A deathlike stillness reigned in the place. The face of Jules was utterly colorless, but he did not speak a word. ”

“ You aided that girl against me, and for that I’ll be doubly revenged.”
“I’m sinkin’ deeper all de dimes!” cried Jan. “Coom, Shules, pe a goot veller unt help me out. Vat’s de use of voolin’? I bunch your heat ven I does get out, off ye leave me here any more.”
“Perhaps you don’t know where you are?” said Jules. “Then I will tell you. There are places in these hills which we call quicksands. A man falls into one and from that moment, unless help is near, he is doomed. Even his struggles tell against him. Deeper and deeper he sinks in the slimy sand. ”

“ There is nothing more fearful to a trapper. They know too well the vindictive fury with which the black brutes pursue and drag down their prey.
[54]
“Togs?” queried Jan.
“Wolves!” shouted Ben. “Heel it, Jan! Git up a tree as lively as you kin. I wouldn’t give a beaver-pelt fer yer life ef ye don’t, and ez fer the b’ar—umph! Run for it. Turn the hosses loose.”
Snatching Millicent from the horse, he put her into the branches of a low pine and ordered her to clamber higher. She obeyed without a word, and he took another tree close at hand. The horses ran toward the camp. ”

“ Without thought, never dreaming that the purport of what he had to say could in any way apply to her, she gave the required promise.
“You must know that I am a man whom the bad fortune of life has pressed to the earth. ”

“ The events of the past few days satisfied Ben that they might be attacked at any time, and he wished to provide a way of escape. Just at the foot of the waterfall was a growth of light pine suitable for his purpose. Calling on the others for assistance, all set to work upon the float. The logs were slightly squared, and bound together with tough green withes after a manner much in vogue among the trappers. It was [81] the work of half a day, and as they had little else to do, they gave much care to it. The raft finally was finished and fastened to the shore by a lariat. ”

“ There is no better breed of horses in the world.
“Yes, yes, old boy,” said the trapper; “ye are one thet will always come at my whistle, no matter when I sound it.”
“Where did you get him?” said Jules, coming up, with the bridle of his own horse across his arm.
“From the Crows,” said Ben. “They are my friends yit. I’ll never need one on the prairies. I go back to them onc’t in a while and they always make a feast.”
“The horse is a beauty,” said Jules, glancing at him.
“He hasn’t his ekal on the prairies,” replied Ben. ”

“ I’m gettin’ to be an old man now. I feel it in my bones.”
[23]
“Old!” replied Jules. “I’d like to find your match now in this section.”
“That’s easy enough to do,” said Ben; “not but thet the time hez been when I was as spry a young chap as ye’d find atween the three Buttes and the Massasipp. I tell ye true, I’ve seen the time I could lick any thing on the prairie. I couldn’t do it now. I’m gittin’ too powerful weak, that’s the reason, and good enough reason, too. I c’u’d lift a buffler onc’t; I kain’t do it now. But I’m no chicken to-day.”
“Say,” said Jan, “vat you do mit my pear?” ”

“ I ain’t quite so sure he’s dead, anyhow. Isn’t thet him comin’ down the hill yonder?”
Jan leaped up, clasped the trunk of a tree with both hands, and began to climb with might and main, while the others rolled over and over on the ground, bursting with laughter. By the time he reached the first branch he had collected sufficient fortitude to look about him, and could see no such fearful monster as he imagined coming down upon him. The truth dawned upon him that he was the victim of a sell, and he slid down again in great wrath.
“You’s the wust liar, Penn Miffin, in dis coontry. ”

“ The worst of it is, his white blood shows more then the Indian, an’ he is ez handsome a feller ez you ever see. But he’s got a cruel heart in his breast. God pity him if I ever meet him.”
“Is he a chief?”
“Yes; they like to git a white man on the’r side. He lays round yer som’ers, an’ does the dirty work of the Blackfeet. That’s his way, durn him. Why, ye never did see another sech critter in yer born days—the wust ye ever saw, I tell ye. Makes no more of takin’ a sculp then I do of skinnin’ a buffler. What ar’ ye tryin’ to do now, Jan?” ”

“ When the trapper leaped the stream he performed a war-dance with great spirit upon the mountain top.
“Yoost look at dat, you Vrenchmans. Dat’s mine vrent, Penn. See him shump! Shumps like a vrog, same vat you eats. Ach! Ho, ho, ha! See dat Injun run. Hein? Trouble coom after you soon, Mister Injun. Oh, Shules, how [77] could you pe so pad ash to durn against such a mans ash Penn?”
“Who said I turned against him? It is got up between you and this woman. I’ll ask the old man when he comes in if I am to be insulted by every one and make no return. ”

“ Mein Cott!” muttered Jan. “Our vader vich art—goot saints, vat teet’! Dere ish no more as fivifty teet’ in hees jaw. I dinks I ish mooch ’fraid.”
The bear again dropped on all fours and turned his head up the rocks. But Miffin, who had restrained himself well until now, jerked his rifle to his shoulder and fired. The ball had hardly left the barrel when the savage brute, with a broken fore shoulder, came down the slope on three legs, with growls which made the blood of the Dutchman run cold in his veins, and wish himself safely back in fatherland. ”

“ Unt I ask you now, aff you vas dell me, vat ish de goot over a man vat eats vrogs? So help me gracious, dey is no more goot to eat dan snakes. Unt dey ish p’ison.”
“I reckon yer wrong, Jan,” said the trapper. “They do say thet snakes ain’t very bad eatin’ when a chap is hard druv’. I don’t say I want to try ’em, but ef I c’u’d ’a’ got snakes the time I cum nigh to starvin’ up yer in the Black Hills, durn my hide ef I wouldn’t hev eat snakes or any thing else. I kem of a queer race. I ken eat any thing, and lick my weight in wildcats. I’m death on grizzlys. ”

“ I ain’t goin’ to hev no cowardly cuss in my camp. Now ef we meet an Injun, what ar’ ye goin’ to do?”
“I dinks I vould run avay so hard ash efer I can,” said Jan, with refreshing candor. “I not likes Plackfeet no more ash hogs.”
Again the merry laughter of Millicent rung through the pass. Old Ben looked at her with a fatherly smile.
“You’d run away, would ye? Now, don’t ye ever go to do it. Fer ef ye do, ez sure ez a gun you git it right through the back. I won’t hev no skulkin’. It’s no wonder the gal laughs at you. But hyar’s our b’ar.” ”

“ He may git away. He’s a bright young chap, and he may get cl’ar. Let’s hope so. Blame it, he hez got a good chaince. Let’s go back to camp. Ar’ you goin’ with me, or will you stay hyar, Jan?”
“I coes mit you, Penn.”
“That’s right. Stick by me. You scratch my back an’ I’ll scratch your back. I know what they’ll do with Jule. He will hev a four-ounce ring in his nose, and be painted red, yaller and green. I wouldn’t mind thet ef they won’t kill him. I’ve wore the chief’s paint myself, and it ain’t so bad to be chief in a tribe, and I judge he’ll be a chief ef he don’t make ’em too mad at him.” ”

“ Wal, ye jest take the hide off’n this yer beast, an’ we’ll go out an’ ’tend to the others. When ye git it off, holler to me, an’ I’ll show ye how to git the hump an’ marrer-bones.”
They left him and proceeded to the place where the other animals had fallen. Soon they were busily engaged in stripping the skins from the game, and cutting it up for the convenience of carriage, as Ben well knew how. In the mean time Jan worked away quietly, taking off the skin in a way which none but a professional could do, and singing in a low tone. ”

“ Thar’s only two of them on the’r feet to-day, an’ they ar’ bound to go under ef ever they meet Ben Miffin, or else he goes under—and he don’t think he will.”
“Who are they?”
“One’s a big Blackfoot brave they call Whirling Breeze, an’ the other a white-livered cuss who claims to be a white man. Precious little civilized blood he’s got in his veins, an’ that he’s got is mighty mean. He’s a renegade, an’ I tell ye a renegade is the worst of all God’s creatures.” ”

“ They’ve got into kiver som’ers. But they’ll nose them out, ye see ef they don’t. A Blackfoot is wuss then a hound on a cold scent. Lordy! they ain’t got no chaince! An’ fer my part, I don’t see whar [60] they kin hev hid themselves. Thar ain’t no hole thet I know on.”
“Vat ish de Injun doin’ mit de hoss?” demanded Jan. “Shpose dey shteal ’im?”
“Steal him! They’d steal the cents off’n a dead Dutchman’s eyes. Ye don’t know Blackfeet. I do. They ain’t wuth a cuss. I wouldn’t take the offer to buy out the hull tribe, ef I c’u’d git ’em for a beaver-skin. ”

“ But, ther’s one thing we kin do: we kin make our hut stronger, an’ ef they git our sculps they’ll hev to fight for ’em. We’ve got a strong party, an’ we don’t go back fer no man; no, we don’t.”
“If we were alone we might do well,” said Jules. “But, this ignorant Dutchman—”
“Vat sort of a Doochman?” roared Jan. “You say dat again unt I valls on you unt smash you all mit little bieces so pig ash my thumb.”
“Do be silent, Jan,” said Millicent. “Do I understand that you have a fear of danger, Ben?”
“’Tain’t nothin’ new. It’s allers dangerous on the prairie,” said Ben. “Never you mind, little ’un. ”