Two Little Savages

by Ernest Thompson Seton

  V

  Caleb

  A mile farther was the shanty of Caleb Clark, a mere squatter now on afarm once his own. As the boys drew near, a tall, round-shouldered manwith a long white beard was seen carrying in an armful of wood.

  "Ye see the Billy Goat?" said Sam.

  Yan sniffed as he gasped the "why" of the nickname.

  "I guess you better do the talking; Caleb ain't so easy handled as thewitch, and he's just as sour on Da."

  So Yan went forward rather cautiously and knocked at the open door ofthe shanty. A deep-voiced Dog broke into a loud bay, the long beardappeared, and its owner said, "Wall?"

  "Are you Mr. Clark?"

  "Yep." Then, "Lie down, Turk," to a black-and-tan Hound that camegrowling out.

  "I came--I--we wanted to ask some questions--if you don't mind."

  "What might yer name be?"

  "Yan."

  "An' who is this?"

  "He's my chum, Sam."

  "I'm Sam Horn," said Sam, with some truth, for he was SamuelHorn Raften, but with sufficient deception to make Yan feel veryuncomfortable.

  "And where are ye from?"

  "Bonnerton," said Yan.

  "To-day?" was the rejoinder, with a tone of doubt.

  "Well, no," Yan began; but Sam, who had tried to keep out of noticefor fear of recognition, saw that his ingenuous companion was beingquickly pumped and placed, and now interposed: "You see, Mr. Clark, weare camped in the woods and we want to make a teepee to live in. Wehave the stuff an' was told that you knew all about the making."

  "Who told ye?"

  "The old witch at the bend of the creek."

  "Where are ye livin' now?"

  "Well," said Sam, hastening again to forestall Yan, whose simpledirectness he feared, "to tell the truth, we made a wigwam of bark inthe woods below here, but it wasn't a success."

  "Whose woods?"

  "Oh, about a mile below on the creek."

  "Hm! That must be Raften's or Burns's woods."

  "I guess it is," said Sam.

  "_An' you look uncommon like Sam Raften_. You consarned youngwhelp, to come here lyin' an' tryin' to pull the wool over my eyes.Get out o' this now, or I'll boot ye."

  "Get out o' this now, or I'll boot ye."]

  Yan turned very red. He thought of the scripture text, "Be sure yoursin will find you out," and he stepped back. Sam stuck his tongue inhis cheek and followed. But he was his father's son. He turned andsaid:

  "Now see here, Mr. Clark, fair and square; we come here to ask asimple question about the woods. You are the only man that knows or wewouldn't 'a' bothered you. I knowed you had it in for Da, so I triedto fool you, and it didn't go. I wish now I had just come out squareand said, 'I'm Sam Raften; will you tell me somethin' I want to know,or won't you?' I didn't know you hed anything agin me or me friendthat's camping with me."

  There is a strong bond of sympathy between all Woodcrafters. The merefact that a man wants to go his way is a claim on a Woodcrafter'snotice. Old Caleb, though soured by trouble and hot-tempered, had akind heart; he resisted for a moment the first impulse to slam thedoor in their faces; then as he listened he fell into the tempter'ssnare, for it was baited with the subtlest of flatteries. He said toYan:

  "Is your name Raften?"

  "No, sir."

  "Air ye owt o' kin?"

  "No, sir."

  "I don't want no truck with a Raften, but what do ye want to know?"

  "We built a wigwam of bark, but it's no good, but now we have a bigcanvas cover an' want to know how to make a teepee."

  "A teepee. H-m--" said the old man reflectively.

  "They say you've lived in them," ventured Yan.

  "Hm--'bout forty year; but it's one thing to wear a suit of clothesand another thing to make one. Seems to me it was about like this,"and he took up a burnt stick and a piece of grocer's paper. "No--nowhold on. Yes, I remember now; I seen a bunch of squaws make one oncet.

  "First they sewed the skins together. No, first thar was a lot o'prayin'; ye kin suit yerselves 'bout that--then they sewed the skinstogether an" pegged it down flat on the prairie (B D H I, Cut No. 1).Then put in a peg at the middle of one side (A). Then with a burntstick an' a coord--yes, there must 'a' been a coord--they drawed ahalf circle--so (B C D). Then they cut that off, an' out o' the piecesthey make two flaps like that (H L M J and K N O I), an' sews 'em onto P E and G Q. Them's smoke-flaps to make the smoke draw. Thar's aupside down pocket in the top side corner o' each smoke-flap--so--forthe top of each pole, and there is rows o' holes down--so (M B and ND, Cut No. 2)--on each side fur the lacin' pins. Then at the top ofthat pint (A, Cut 1) ye fasten a short lash-rope.

  CUT I.--PATTERN FOR A SIMPLE 10-FOOT TEEPEE]

  CUT II.--THE COMPLETE TEEPEE COVER--UNORNAMENTED]

  "Le's see, now. I reckon thar's about ten poles for a ten-foot lodge,with two more for the smoke-flaps. Now, when ye set her up ye tiethree poles together--so--an' set 'em up first, then lean the otherpoles around, except one, an' lash them by carrying the rope around afew times. Now tie the top o' the cover to the top o' the last pole bythe short lash-rope, hist the pole into place--that hists the cover,too, ye see--an' ye swing it round with the smoke-poles an' fasten thetwo edges together with the wooden pins. The two long poles put in thesmoke-flap pockets works the vent to suit the wind."

  1st set up tripod]

  In his conversation Caleb had ignored Sam and talked to Yan, butthe son of his father was not so easily abashed. He foresaw severalpractical difficulties and did not hesitate to ask for light.

  "What keeps it from blowin' down?" he asked.

  "Wall," said Caleb, still addressing Yan, "the long rope that bindsthe poles is carried down under, and fastened tight to a stake thatserves for anchor, 'sides the edge of the cover is pegged to theground all around."

  "How do you make the smoke draw?" was his next.

  2nd set up and bind other six poles]

  "Ye swing the flaps by changing the poles till they is quartering downthe wind. That draws best."

  "How do you close the door?"

  "Wall, some jest lets the edges sag together, but the best teepees hasa door made of the same stuff as the cover put tight on a saplin'frame an' swung from a lacin' pin."

  3rd set up tenth pole with teepee cover fastened to itby lash rope]

  SIOUX TEEPEE]

  This seemed to cover the ground, so carefully folding the dirty paperwith the plan, Yan put it in his pocket, said "Thank you" and wentoff. To the "Good-day" of the boys Caleb made no reply, but turned asthey left and asked, "Whar ye camped?"

  "On the knoll by the creek in Raften's swamp."

  "H-m, maybe I'll come an' see ye."

  "All right," Sam called out; "follow the blazed trail from the brushfence."

  "Why, Sam," said Yan, as soon as they were out of hearing, "thereisn't any blazed trail; why did you say that?"

  "Oh, I thought it sounded well," was the calm answer, "an' it's easyto have the blazes there as soon as we want to, an' a blame sightsooner than he's likely to use them."