Frank on the Prairie

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XVII.

  How the Trapper got his Horse.

  After supper, the travelers seated themselves around the fire, and thetrappers lighted their pipes. After smoking awhile in silence, old Bobsaid:

  "As I have told you afore, youngsters, it aint always a easy job tolasso the king of a drove of wild hosses. The runnin' we done to-dayarter the gray warn't nothin' to what we kalkerlated to do when weleft here; an' if he hadn't got into that prairy-dogs' nest, thar's noknowin' how many miles he would a been from here by this time. When Iwar a youngster, I went to the Saskatchewan fur the fust time, with aparty of six trappers--Dick's ole man war one of 'em--an', beingkeerless, like all young fellers, I soon made away with one of thebest hosses I ever owned. I run him clean blind arter a herd ofbuffaler. I soon got another, howsomever, but it warn't as good a oneas I wanted; an' I begun to look around to find a critter that suitedme. One day I come acrost a drove of wild hosses, an', arter foolin'round them fur awhile, I diskivered that they war led by achestnut-colored critter--a purty feller--an' I made up my mind thathe war just the one I wanted. I had never ketched a wild hoss then,an' I had heered enough about them to know that them kings ar' allersthe best animals in the drove, an' that it takes a hoss as is a hossto keep up with one of 'em. But I could throw the lasso tolible sharp,an' war jest 'bout that age when youngsters think they know more'nany body else on 'arth; so I thought I could ketch him easy. Wal, Idodged round them till I got within 'bout half a mile of 'em, and thenput out arter the king; but, human natur, how he did run! I folleredhim 'bout four mile, and then turned t'ward the camp, thinkin' thatmebbe thar war a few things I didn't know nothin' at all 'bout. Somedays arterward, I seed him ag'in; but he run away from me easy, an' Iwent back to the camp to be laughed at fur my trouble. But I knowedthat I should have plenty of chances to ketch him afore we started furhum--we war to stay thar till spring--so I said nothin', but keptlookin' round, an' every time I seed the chestnut king, me an' him hada race.

  "I got him at last--not in the way I expected, howsomever--an', tomake the story plain, I must tell you what happened 'bout three yearafore that.

  "I war born on the banks of the Missouri River, 'bout twenty mile fromwhar St. Joseph now stands. It war thar my ole man fust larnt me howto handle a rifle an' ride a wild mustang. Thar war a fort 'bout amile from our cabin, whar the ole man allers went to sell his furs. Itwarn't no ways safe thar, in them days, fur all that country b'longedto the Injuns, who warn't very friendly t'ward white settlers. But,whenever thar war any trouble, we had a safe place to go to, an' onct,when I war only twelve year ole, I stood 'side my ole man, in thefort, an' helped drive off atween four an' five hundred red-skins. Idone so well that ole hunters an' trappers slapped me on the back,sayin' that I war a 'chip o' the ole block,' and that I'd be a betterInjun-hunter nor my father some day. This pleased my ole man, an'when the Injuns had gone, he took me on a trappin' expedition withhim. Thar war four of us, an' we war gone all winter. I ketched myshare of the furs, an' killed two grizzly bars, which war somethingfor a chap of my years to brag on. Wal, we reached hum in the spring,an', arter I had stayed at our cabin two or three days, tellin' mymother big stories of what I had seed, an' what I had done, the oleman sent me down to the fort to trade off our spelter. I ought to saythat on our way hum we had dodged a large party of Injuns that war ona scalpin' expedition. They had been off a fightin' with anothertribe, an', havin' got thrashed, they warn't in very good humor. I warafraid they might take it into their heads to visit the country 'roundthe fort, an' massacree the settlers; but the ole man laughed at me,an' told me to go 'long 'bout my bisness, an' sell them furs. So, as Iwar sayin', I sot out fur the fort, an', while I war makin' a bargainwith the trader, a trapper came in on a hoss that war a'most ready todrop, an' said that the Injuns war strikin' fur the fort. I don'treckon that they intended to come afore night; but this trapper hadgot away from 'em, an', knowin' that he would alarm the settlers, theInjuns jest thought they would make a rush, an' massacree men, women,an' children, afore they could reach the fort.

  "Wal, I didn't wait to hear no more; but, grabbin' up my we'pons,started fur hum arter the old folks. Purty quick I heered a firm' an'yellin', an' made up my mind that them as didn't reach the fort inless nor ten minits would be goners, sartin, fur the Injuns warcomin', sure enough. A little further on I met my mother, who told methat the ole man an' a few more of the settlers war fightin' back theInjuns to give the women an' young ones time to git safe under kiver.My mother war a'most too ole to walk so fur, so I took her on my hoss,and carried her t'wards the fort, intendin' that as soon as I had seedher safe I would come back arter the ole man. But jest as I reachedthe fort, I heered a loud yellin' an' whoopin', an', lookin' back, Iseed the settlers comin' out of the woods, with the Injuns clostbehind 'em. Thar war, as nigh as I could guess, 'bout two hundredred-skins, an' not more'n twenty white fellers; so, in course, tharwarn't no 'arthly use to think of fightin' in cl'ar open ground. Thesettlers war comin' as fast as their hosses could fetch 'em, an' theInjuns war clost arter 'em, intendin' to kill or captur' 'em all aforethey could reach the fort. I seed the ole man among the settlers, an'made up my mind that he war safe, fur he rid a good hoss, when, all toonct, he dropped his rifle, throwed up his hands, an' fell from hissaddle. The settlers kept on; fur, in course, they couldn't help him,an' the ole man tried to follor 'em; but I seed him pulled down an'tomahawked, 'bout two hundred yards from the fort, by a young Injun,whom, from his bar's claws, an' other fixins, I tuk to be a chief. Myole shootin' iron war good fur that distance, so I drawed up andblazed away. But my hand trembled, an' I seed that Injun make off withthe ole man's scalp. That war a long time ago, youngsters; but I cansee that varlet yet, an' hear the yell he give as he shook the scalpat us in the fort, an' ran back into the woods. Of them twenty menthat war in the fight, 'bout a dozen rode safe into the fort. Theothers war massacreed afore our very eyes, an' we couldn't help 'em.

  "Wal, the Injuns stayed round in the edge of the tim'er fur 'bout twohours, yellin' an' firm' at us; but, knowin' that they could not takethe fort--fur they tried that twice--they all set up a yelp an' putoff, burnin' every thing as they went. It war a sad day fur thatsettlement. Nigh every family war mournin' fur somebody; but I warwusser off nor any of 'em. My mother carried a heap of years on hershoulders, an' when she seed the ole man pulled down an' scalped, itgave her a shock she never got over. We buried them both nigh thefort, an' arter stayin' round fur a week or two, I sot out with aparty of trappers fur our ole huntin' grounds on the Saskatchewan. Inever forgot that young Injun, an' all I keered fur or thought 'bout,war to meet him. I jest knowed that I should find him ag'in some day,an' if I had met him among his tribe, with hundreds of his friendsstandin' round, I would have knowed him.

  "Wal, as I war sayin', I sot out with this party of trappers, an' itwar on the Saskatchewan that I fust diskivered this chestnut king thatI had made up my mind to have. I follered him a'most all winter, an'the more I seed him run, the more I wanted to ketch him. I 'tended tomy shar' of the trappin', but every chance I got I war arter themhosses. At last they put off somewhar, an' I never seed 'em ag'in. Icouldn't think what had 'come on 'em, but I knowed that they had goneclean out of the country, an' that I should have to look fur anotherhoss, an' give up all hopes of ketchin' the chestnut.

  "When spring opened, an' it come good travelin' we held a council, an'settled it that we should start fur the fort to onct. We war in ahurry to get away, too, fur some of our fellers had seen Injun sign'bout two miles from the camp; so, one mornin' we sot out to gather upour traps. I had 'bout five mile to go to reach my trappin' ground, soI rode off on a gallop. I went along mighty keerless, fur I didn'tb'lieve what them fellers had said 'bout seein' Injun sign, but I soonlarnt that ole trappers never get fooled 'bout sich things. I hadn'tgone more'n a mile from the camp, when, whizz! something whistled bymy head, an' went chuck into a tree on the other side of me. It war anarrer, an' afore I could look round to see whar it come from, I heer
eda yell, an' the next minit a hoss popped out of the bushes, an' camet'wards me. An Injun war on his back, an' in one hand he carried along spear, an' with the other he held his bow an' guided his hoss. Assoon as he got cl'ar of the bushes, he p'inted that spear straight atmy breast, an' came at me, full jump. I war a youngster then. I hadn'tbeen in as many rough-an'-tumble fights with wild Injuns as I havebeen since, an' I would have give all the spelter I had trapped thatwinter if I had been safe in camp. These war the fust thoughts thatwent through my mind. But arter I had tuk jest one good look at theInjun an' his hoss, I wouldn't have been away from thar fur nothin'.The Injun war the young chief that had rubbed out my ole man, an' thehoss war the chestnut king--the very one I had been tryin' to ketchfur a'most a year. So, you see, I had two things to work fur. Fust, Ihad swore to have that Injun's scalp; next, I wanted that hoss; an' Imade up my mind that I wouldn't leave that 'ar place till I had 'emboth. The young chief war so clost to me that I didn't have time toshoot, so I sot still in my saddle, an' when I seed the p'int of thespear 'bout two foot from my breast, I stuck out my rifle an' turnedthe we'pon aside. Then, jest as the Injun war goin' by me, I ketchedhim by the scalp-lock, quicker nor lightnin', an' pulled him from hishoss. My own hoss warn't trained wuth a plug o' tobacker, an', skeeredby the fuss, an' the Injuns yellin', he give a jump, an' the fustthing I knowed, me an' the young chief war rollin' on the groundtogether. I've had one or two wild savages by the top-knot since then,but I never got hold of a chap of his size that war so strong an'wiry. When I fust ketched him, I allowed to rub him out easy, fur Iwar purty good on a rough-an'-tumble, an' it warn't every body thatcould take my measure on the ground; but when I ketched that Injun, Ifound that I had come acrost a varmint. We fell side by side, I allthe while hangin' on to his har; but afore I could think whar I war,or what a doin', I found the young chief on top of me; an', both hishands bein' free, he commenced feelin' fur his knife. In course Icouldn't allow that, so I ketched one of his arms, which he twistedout of my grasp, as easy as though I had no strength at all. I triedthis two or three times, but findin' that I couldn't hold him, Ifastened on his belt which held the knife, an', with one jerk, tore itloose, an' flung it over my head. The Injun, findin' that his we'ponwar gone, whooped an' yelled wusser nor ever. We war on even termsnow, fur my knife war under me, an' neither of us could git at it.Then I began tryin' to git him off me; but it war no use, an' theInjun findin' that I breathed hard, held still an' quiet, hopin' thatI would soon tire myself out, an' then he would have no trouble ingittin' away from me. But I war layin' my plans all this while, an',watchin' the Injun clost, I ketched him off his guard, an' went towork in 'arnest. By the way that chap kicked an' yelled, I guess hethought I had only been foolin' with him afore, an' the way he didfight warn't a funny thing fur me to think of jest then. But it war nouse. I thrashed around till I got hold of my knife, an', in a minitarter that, the young chief had give his last yell. Arter bein' sartinthat he was done fur, I jumped up an' run t'wards the mustang, whichhad stood a little way off watchin' the fight, as though he warwonderin' who would come out at the top of the heap. I ketched himeasy, an' arter takin' the young Injun's top-knot, I picked up hiswe'pons--here's one of 'em, youngsters."

  As the trapper spoke, he drew his hatchet from his belt and handed itto Archie, who sat nearest him. The boys remembered that the firsttime they met old Bob, they had noticed that his hatchet was differentfrom any they had ever seen. The blade was long and narrow, and askeen as a razor. The back part of the hatchet was hollow, as was alsothe handle, and thus the weapon could be made to answer the purpose ofa pipe. The handle was also ingeniously carved, but was so worn bylong and constant usage, that the figures upon it could not bedistinguished. The travelers had often noticed that the old trapperwas very particular about his "tomahawk," as he invariably called it;but now that they knew its history, they did not wonder that heconsidered it worth preserving. When the boys had examined the weaponto their satisfaction, they returned it to old Bob, who continued:

  "Wal, arter I had tuk the young chiefs scalp an' we'pons, (I had hisknife, too, but I lost that in the Missouri River by bein' upset in acanoe,) I jumped on my new hoss, and rode t'wards the camp, leavin' myole mustang to go where he pleased. When I reached our fellers, Ifound 'em all busy packin' up. They had diskivered signs of a largeparty of Injuns, an' they said that the sooner we got away from tharthe better it would be fur us. We traveled all that night an' all thenext day, an' got safe off. I had the laugh on my side then, fur 'emfellers all said I couldn't never put a bridle on the chestnut king;an' when I told 'em my story 'bout the young chief, you ought to seedthem open their eyes. I hadn't been fooled 'bout the good pints ofthat ar' hoss, fur he war a critter that suited me exactly. He carriedme safe through many a fight with grizzly bars an' Injuns; but,finally, I lost him but a few miles from whar I fust seed him--on theSaskatchewan. I never trapped on that river yet without losin'somethin'. I have lost two chums thar; throwed away four or fivewinter's work--or jest the same as throwed it away, fur all my furswar captur'd by the Injuns, an' thar I lost this hoss."