Balle-Franche. English

by Gustave Aimard

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  THE CAMP OF THE BLACKFEET.

  Two days have elapsed since the events of our last chapter. It isevening in the Kenhas' village. The tumult is great; all are preparingfor an expedition. The night is clear and starlit; great fires, kindledbefore each cabin, spread around immense reddish gleams, which lightup the whole village. There is something strange and striking in thescene presented by the village, crowded with a motley population. TheCount de Beaulieu and Bright-eye, apparently free, are conversing in alow tone, sitting on the bare ground, and leaning against the wall of acabin.

  The time fixed by the Count for his parole has long passed, still theIndian Chiefs have satisfied themselves with taking away his weaponsand the hunter's, and pay no more attention to them.

  On the large village square two immense fires have been kindled. Roundthe first, placed in front of the Council Lodge, are seated WhiteBuffalo, Natah Otann, Red Wolf, and three or four other chiefs of thetribe; round the second some twenty warriors are silently smoking thecalumet. Such was the appearance offered by the Kenhas' village atabout nine in the evening of the day we return to it.

  "Why allow the Palefaces thus to wander about the village?" Red Wolfasked.

  Natah Otann smiled.

  "Have the white men the eyes of the eagle and the feet of the gazelle,to find again their trail lost in the desert?"

  "My father is right, if he speaks of Glass-eye," Red Wolf urged; "butBright-eye has a Redskin heart."

  "Yes; if he was alone he would try to escape, but he will not abandonhis friend."

  "The latter can follow him."

  "Glass-eye has a brave heart, but his feet are weak; he cannot walk inthe desert."

  Red Wolf looked down, with an air of conviction, and made no reply.

  "The hour has arrived to set out; the allied nations are proceeding tothe rendezvous," White Buffalo said, in a sombre voice. "It is nineo'clock; the owl has twice given the signal, and the moon is rising."

  "Good," Natah Otann said, "we will have the horses smoked, so as to setout immediately after."

  Red Wolf gave a shrill whistle. At this signal some twenty horsemengalloped into the square, and went up to the second fire, round whichan equal number of warriors, naked to the waist, were crouching andsmoking silently. These men were warriors of the tribe who weredismounted, either by accident or in action; the horsemen, at thismoment prancing round them, were their friends, and came up to makeeach a present of a horse prior to the departure of the expedition.While cantering round, the horsemen drew gradually nearer to thesmokers, who did not appear to notice them. Each horseman chose out theman to whom he intended to give a horse, and a shower of lashes fellon the naked shoulders of these stoical warriors. At each blow theystruck, the warrior shouted, each calling his friend by name.

  "So and so, you are a beggar and wretched man. You desire my horse, Igive it to you; but you will bear on your shoulders the bloody marksof my whip."

  This performance lasted about a quarter of an hour, during which thesufferers, although the blood ran down their backs, did not uttera cry or a groan, but remained calm and motionless, as if they hadbeen metamorphosed into bronze statues. At length the Red Wolf gave asecond whistle, and the horsemen disappeared as rapidly as they came.The patients then rose as if nothing had happened to them, and wentwith radiant forehead and firm step, each to take possession of amagnificent steed, held by the ex-scourgers, now become their friendsonce more. This is what the Blackfeet call _smoking horses_.

  When the tumult occasioned by this semi-serious episode was appeased,an _hachesto_, or public crier, mounted the roof of the council lodge.All the population of the village was drawn up silently on the square.

  "The hour has struck! The hour has struck! The hour has struck!" thehachesto cried. "Warriors, to your lances and guns! The horses areneighing with impatience! Your chiefs are awaiting you, and yourenemies sleep. To arms! To arms! To arms!"

  "To arms!" all the warriors shouted simultaneously.

  Natah Otann, followed by his warriors, mounted like himself onimpetuous steeds, then appeared in the square, and uttered, in aterrible voice, the war yell of the Blackfeet. At this cry every manrushed on his weapons, mounted, and ranged under the respective chiefs,who, within scarce ten minutes, found themselves at the head of fivehundred warriors, perfectly armed and equipped.

  Natah Otann cast a triumphant glance around him; his eye fellimmediately on the two prisoners, who had remained quietly seated,talking together, and apparently indifferent to all that happened. Atthe sight of them the Chiefs thick eyebrows were contracted, he leantover to the White Buffalo, who rode by his side, and muttered a fewwords in his ear. The old man gave a sign of assent, and walked towardsthe prisoners, while Natah Otann, taking the head of the war party,gave the signal for departure, and went off, only leaving ten warriorson the square to aid White Buffalo, if required.

  "Gentlemen," the latter said, sharply, but courteously; "be good enoughto mount and follow me, if you please."

  "Is this an order you give us, sir?" the Count asked, haughtily.

  "What does that, question mean?"

  "Because I am not in the habit of obeying anybody."

  "Sir," the Chief answered, "any resistance would be insensate, andrather injurious than useful to your interests: so to horse withoutfurther delay."

  "The Chief is right," Bright-eye said, with a significant look at theCount; "why any obstinacy? we cannot be the stronger."

  "But--" the young man remarked.

  "Here is your horse," the hunter interrupted him, sharply.

  "We obey the Chief," he added, aloud; then he added in a whisper,--

  "Are you mad, Mr. Edward? Who knows the chances luck has in store forus during the accursed expedition?"

  "Still--"

  "Mount! Mount!"

  At length the young man, partly convinced, obeyed the hunter. When theprisoners had mounted, the warriors surrounded them, and led them offat a gallop, till they caught up the column, of which they took thelead.

  Despite the Count's resistance, Natah Otann and White Buffalo had notgiven up their plan of making him pass for Motecuhzoma, and placing himat the head of the Allied Nations. Still this plan had been modified,in this sense, that, as the young Count refused his help, they wouldforce him to give it in spite of himself. The following is the wayin which they intended to act. They had succeeded in persuading theIndians who accompanied them during the ostrich hunt, that the strugglesustained by the Count, and which had struck them with stupor, owingto the energetic resistance the two men had so long offered to fiftywarriors, was a ruse invented by them to display their strength andpower in the sight of all.

  The Redskins, owing to their ignorance, are stupidly credulous. NatahOtann's clumsy falsehood, which any man but slightly civilized wouldhave regarded with contempt, obtained the greatest success with thesebrutalized beings, and enhanced, in their eyes, the personal valueof the men whom they saw continuing to live on good terms with theirChiefs, and remaining apparently free in the village.

  Matters were too far advanced, the day chosen for the outbreak ofthe plot was too near, for the Chiefs to give counterorders to theirallies, and concoct some other scheme to replace the prophet they hadannounced to the Missouri nations. If, on arriving at the rendezvous,the man they had expected was not presented to them, it was evidentthey would retire with their contingents, and that all would be brokenoff with no hope of recombination; but a catastrophe must be guardedagainst at all risks.

  The resolution formed by the two Chiefs, desperate as it was, they werecompelled to adopt through the suspicious nature of the circumstances,and they trusted to chance to make it succeed. The Count and hiscompanion would march, so long as the expedition lasted, at the headof the attacking columns, without weapons it is true, but apparentlyfree, while guarded by ten picked warriors, who would never leavethem, and kill them on the slightest suspicious gesture. The plan wasabsurd, and, with other men than Indians, th
e impossibility wouldhave been recognized in less than an hour; but, through its veryimpracticability, it offered chances of success, and this was chieflyowing to the belief the Indians held that the Count had no friends toattempt his rescue.

  Ivon's flight had troubled Natah Otann for a few moments: but thediscovery made in the forest, where he had sought shelter, of the bodyof a man clothed in the servant's dress, and half devoured by wildbeasts, restored him all his serenity, by proving to him that he hadnought to fear from the poor fellow's devotion.

  Three hours prior to the departure of the column, the Chief had,on White Buffalo's revelations, had five spies secretly strangled.Red Wolf, on whom Natah Otann and White Buffalo placed unboundedconfidence, and whose courage could not be doubted, was appointed headof the detachment to watch over the prisoners. Hence matters were inthe best possible state. The two Chiefs marched about fifty paces aheadof their warriors, conversing in a low voice, and definitely arrangingtheir final plans. White Buffalo described in a few words the positionand their hopes.

  "Our prospect is desperate," he said, "chance may make it fail orsucceed: all depends upon the first attack. If, as I believe, wesurprise the American garrison, and seize Fort Mackenzie, we shallhave no further need of this Count, whose disappearance we can easilyaccount for, by saying that he has reascended to heaven, because we arevictors. However, we shall see; all will be decided in a few hours.Till then, courage and prudence."

  Natah Otann made no reply; but cast a glance at Prairie-Flower, whocantered along in apparent carelessness on the flank of the column,which she had asked leave to accompany, and the Chief had gladlygranted it. The warriors advanced in a long line, silently followingone of those winding paths formed on the desert for centuries by thefeet of wild beasts. The night was transparent and calm; the sky,embroidered with millions of stars, shed down on the landscape floodsof melancholy light, harmonizing with the grand and primitive nature ofthe desert. About four in the morning, Natah Otann halted on the top ofa wooded dell, in the centre of an immense clearing, where the entiredetachment disappeared, without leaving a trace.

  Fort Mackenzie rose gloomy and majestic at about a gunshot off. TheIndians had effected their march with such prudence, that the Americangarrison had given no sign of alarm. Natah Otann had a tent put up,into which he courteously begged his prisoners to enter, and theyobeyed.

  "Why so much politeness?" the Count said.

  "Are you not my guests?" the Chief replied, with an ironical smile, andthen withdrew.

  The Count and his comrade, when left alone, lay down on a pile of fursintended for their bed.

  "What is to be done?" the Count muttered, greatly discouraged.

  "Sleep," the hunter said, carelessly. "Unless I am mistaken, we shallsoon have some news."

  "Heaven grant it!"

  "Amen," Bright-eye continued, with a laugh. "Bah! we shall not die thistime either."

  "I hope so," the Count repeated, to say something.

  "And I am sure of it. It would be curious, on my word," the huntersaid, with a laugh, "were I, who have traversed the desert so long, tobe killed by these red brutes."

  The young man could not refrain from admiring, in his heart, the coolcertainty with which the Canadian uttered so monstrous an opinion; butat this moment the prisoners heard a gentle sound near them.

  "Silence!" Bright-eye commanded.

  They listened attentively. A harmonious voice then sang to a melody,full of gentleness and melancholy, the exquisite Blackfoot songbeginning with the verses:--

  "I confide to you my heart, in the name of the Master of Life; I amunhappy, and no one takes pity on me, yet the Master of Life is greatin my sight."

  "Oh!" the Count muttered joyously, "I recognise that voice, my friend."

  "And I too, by Jupiter! It is Prairie-Flower's."

  "What does she say?"

  "It is a warning she gives us."

  "Do you believe so?"

  "Prairie-Flower loves you, Mr. Edward."

  "Poor child! and I love her too; but alas!--"

  "Bah! after the storm comes fine weather."

  "If I could but see her."

  "For what good? She will contrive to make herself visible when it isnecessary. Come, wild or tame, all women are alike. But, look out, hereis somebody."

  They threw themselves on the furs, and pretended to be asleep. A manhad quietly lifted the curtain of the tent. By the moon's ray, thatpassed through the opening, the prisoners recognized Red Wolf. TheIndian looked outside for a moment; then, probably reassured by thecalmness that prevailed around, he let the curtain of the tent fall,and took a few paces in the interior.

  "The jaguar is strong and courageous," he said, in a loud voice, as iftalking to himself; "the fox is cunning; but the man whose heart is bigis stronger than the jaguar, and more cunning than the fox, when hehas in his hand weapons to defend himself. Who says that Glass-eye andBright-eye will allow their throats to be cut like tamed gazelles?"

  "And not looking at the prisoners, the Chief laid at their feet twoguns, from which hung powder flasks, bullet bags, and long knives; thenhe left the tent again, as calmly as if he had done the simplest matterin the world. The prisoners looked at each other in amazement.

  "What do you think of that?" Bright-eye muttered in stupefaction.

  "It is a trap," the Count answered.

  "Hum! trap or no, the weapons are there, and I shall take them."

  The hunter seized the guns and the knives, which he immediately hidunder the furs. The arms were hardly in security, ere the curtain ofthe tent was again raised, and Natah Otann walked in. He bore in hishand a branch of ocote, or candlewood, which lit up his thoughtfulface, and gave it a sinister expression. The Chief dug up the groundwith his knife, planted his torch in the ground, and walked toward theprisoners, who looked on without giving any sign.

  "Gentlemen," the Chief then said, "I have come to ask for a moment'sinterview with you."

  "Speak, sir; we are your prisoners, and as such compelled to hearyou, if not to listen to you," the Count said, drily, as he sat up onthe furs, while Bright-eye rose carelessly, and lit his pipe at thecandlewood torch.

  "Since you have been my prisoners, gentlemen," the Chief continued,"you have not had, to my knowledge, any reason to complain of the wayin which I have treated you."

  "That depends. In the first place, I do not admit that I am legallyyour prisoner."

  "Oh, sir," the Chief said, with a smile of mockery, "do you speak oflegality to a poor Indian? You know well that we are ignorant of thatword."

  "That is true; go on."

  "I have come to see you--"

  "Why?" the Count interrupted him, impatiently. "Explain!"

  "I have a bargain to propose to you."

  "Well, I will frankly confess that your way of bargaining does notimpress me with great confidence."

  The Indian made a move.

  "No matter," the Count continued, "let us hear it."

  "I should not like to be obliged, sir, to tie you again, as you werewhen you were captured."

  "I am extremely obliged to you."

  "But; at this moment I absolutely need all my warriors, and I cannotleave anybody to guard you two gentlemen."

  "Which means?"

  "That I ask your parole not to escape for the next twenty-four hours."

  "But that is not a bargain."

  "Wait; I am coming to it."

  "Good; I am waiting."

  "In return, I pledge myself--"

  "Ah!" the Count said, contemptuously, "let us see to what you pledgeyourself; that must be curious."

  "I pledge myself," the Chief continued, still cold and calm, "to giveyou your liberty in twenty-four hours."

  "And my comrade?"

  The Indian bowed his head in affirmation; the Count burst into a loudlaugh.

  "And suppose we did not accept?" he asked.

  "But you will do so," he said, with an ironical smile.

  "Possibly; but suppose
the contrary for a moment."

  "At daybreak you will both be attached to the stake, and tortured untilsunset."

  "Oh, oh! Is that your final word?"

  "The last; in half an hour I will come for your answer."

  And he turned to go out. The Count bounded like a jaguar, and stoodbefore the Chief, his gun in one hand, his knife in the other.

  "A moment," he shouted.

  "Wah!" the Chief said, crossing his hands on his wide chest, and gazingat them sarcastically. "You had taken your precautions, it appears."

  "By Jove!" Bright-eye said, with a grin; "I rather fancy it is our turnto make conditions."

  "Perhaps so," Natah Otann replied, coolly; "but I have no time to losein vain words; let me pass, gentlemen."

  Bright-eye threw himself quickly before the door.

  "Come, Chief," he said, "things cannot end like that; we are not oldwomen to be frightened. Before we are fastened to the stake, we willkill you."

  The Chief shrugged his shoulders disdainfully,

  "You are mad; let me pass, old hunter, and do not oblige me to useforce."

  "No, no, Chief," Bright-eye added, with an ironical laugh; "we shallnot part like that; all the worse for you; you should not have put yourhead in the wolf's throat."

  Natah Otann made an impatient gesture.

  "You wish it; well, then, see!"

  Raising to his lips his war-whistle, made of a human thigh bone, heproduced a shrill sound. All at once, before the two Europeans couldcomprehend what was happening, the sides of the tent were cut open,and the Blackfeet bounded into the interior. The Count and Bright-eyewere seized and disarmed. The Sachem, with his arms still crossed onhis chest, looked like a stoic, while the Kenhas, with their eyes fixedon the Chief, and uplifted tomahawks, seemed to await from him a finalsignal.

  There was a moment of intense anxiety; though the two white men wereso brave, the attack had been so rapid and unexpected, that theycould not refrain from an inward shudder. For a few seconds the Chiefenjoyed his triumph; then, raising his hand, with a gesture of supremeauthority, he said,--

  "Enough! Restore their weapons to these warriors. Are they not theguests of Natah Otann?"

  The Blackfeet retired as suddenly as they had appeared.

  "Well," the Chief asked, with slight irony, "do you understand me atlast? Do you still fancy me in your power?"

  "Very good, sir," the Count replied, coldly, still suffering from thestruggle he had gone through; "I am forced to recognize the advantagethat chance gives you over me; any resistance would be useless. Iconsent to submit for the present to your will; but only on twoconditions."

  "They are accepted beforehand, sir," Natah Otann said, with a bow.

  "Do not be too certain, sir; for you do not yet know what I mean to askfrom you."

  "I am awaiting your explanation."

  "As it must be so, I will march at the head of your tribes; but alone,unarmed, and on condition, that under no pretext you impose on me anyother character in the gloomy tragedy you are preparing to act."

  The Chief frowned.

  "And supposing that I refuse?" he said, in a hoarse voice.

  "If you refuse," the young man answered, with his calmest air, "I willemploy sure means to compel you to assent."

  "They are?"

  "I will blow out my brains, sir, in the sight of all your warriors."

  The Chief cast a viper's glance at him.

  "Very good," he said, presently. "I accept; now let us have the othercondition."

  "It is simply this: conqueror or conquered; and I hope sincerely thatthe latter may be the case--"

  "Thank you," the Chief interrupted him, with an ironical bow.

  "After the battle, whatever its issue may be," the Count continued,"you will fight me honourably with equal weapons."

  "Why, Sir Count, you are proposing to me what white men call a duel!"

  "Yes. Does that displease you?"

  "Me? certainly not, and I accept gladly; the more so, as we BloodIndians are accustomed to have such fights to settle our own personalquarrels."

  "Then you accept my conditions?"

  "I do so."

  "But who will guarantee your good faith?" the young man asked.

  "I, Sir," a powerful voice said.

  The three men turned. White Buffalo was standing motionless in thedoorway of the tent. At the unexpected appearance of this strange man,whose features revealed at the moment an imposing majesty, the youngCount felt subdued, and bowed respectfully.

  "Gentlemen," Natah Otann continued, "you are free within the limits ofthe camp."

  "Thanks," Bright-eye said coarsely; "but I have made no promise."

  "You!" the Chief said carelessly; "go or stay, I care very little."

  And after bowing ceremoniously to the Count, the two Chiefs withdrew.