CHAPTER XIV.
THE PIEGAN CAMP.
"There's the camp," said Hugh, half turning in his saddle, as he drew uphis horse on top of the hill. Jack turned Pawnee out of the trail, andtrotted by the pack horses, and when he reached Hugh's side, he lookeddown on the first Indian camp he had ever seen. At the foot of the longhill before them flowed a broad river, and on the wide flat beyond itstood a great circle of lodges, stretching up and down the stream, andreaching almost over to the farther bluffs.
"It's a big camp," said Hugh; "all the Piegans must be there."
"Why, Hugh," said Jack, "there must be an awful lot of people in allthose tents."
"Yes," said Hugh, "there's quite a lot of 'em, and I expect, from theway the camp looks, that maybe there's more than just the Piegans. Theremust be some Bloods and Blackfeet with them. Now you can see what a campreally looks like. It's only once in a while that the people all gettogether like this. I expect maybe they're getting ready to hold themedicine lodge; that'll come right soon now; about the time that theberries are ripe. That's the biggest time these people have, and Iexpect if we're here when they hold it this year, you'll like it. Thereain't many white people has ever seen a Blackfoot medicine lodge, and ifyou see one you'll be in big luck."
"I hope I will," said Jack. "I don't know what it is, but I want to findout everything about how these people live, and I want to try toremember everything that I see. Now, most of the lodges stand in acircle, but there are some of them inside the circle; what does thatmean, Hugh? What are those for?"
"Well, you see that big lodge nearly in the middle of the circle?" saidHugh; "that's the head chief's lodge. He stops there. And then those twosmaller ones on either side of it, pretty well over toward the otherlodges, they belong to the secret societies, that they call, 'AllFriends.'"
"Secret societies! You must be joking, Hugh; they don't have secretsocieties among the Indians, do they?"
"They surely do," answered Hugh. "There's about a dozen or fifteensocieties of men. A man starts in when he's only a boy, not much biggerthan you are, and he keeps going along from one society to another,until he gets to be a middle-aged man; until he begins to be old. Themen that are warriors, going to war all the time--young fellows withlots of ambition--they mostly belong to what they call the bravesociety; Mut'siks, they call it. You'll hear all about them societiesif you stop long in the camp; but the brave society is about the mostimportant; and that, and two or three of the others, are what we callthe 'soldier bands'; they're kind o' like constables. If the chiefsorder anything done, and the people don't do it, they tell some ofthese bands of the 'All Friends' to make 'em do it, and they just haveto. Sometimes, if a man's right stubborn, the soldiers'll quirt him, orthey'll break his lodge poles, or cut his lodge to pieces, or even killhis horses. Most folks think that each Indian does what he likes; butyou can bet it ain't so. And if you'll just think about it a little bit,you'll see it couldn't be so. These people have got to live together,and they couldn't live together comfortably if every man was doing justwhat he wanted to, and didn't pay no attention to what was good forother people. Now suppose there was a bunch of buffalo close to thecamp, and a man found 'em, and started in to run 'em, and kill a lot ofmeat for himself; he might scare the buffalo, and run 'em all out of thecountry, so that the other people in the camp couldn't get any forthemselves. That is just one way where one man might do a whole lot ofharm to everybody in the camp. These people have laws, just like whitefolks do, and they have to obey the laws too, you bet. Well, let's go ondown to the camp. You start them pack horses ahead, and we'll go down tothe ford; it runs kind of slanting, and we've got to stick to the bar,without we want to swim."
"Hold on a minute, Hugh," said Jack; "what are those things there, thatthose horses are dragging?" Several riders had just appeared around apoint of the bluffs, close to the river bank, and were entering thewater to cross to the camp. Behind each horse followed a pile of wood,supported on two sticks which the animal was dragging. Almost everyhorse bore a rider. "Why," said Hugh, "that's a lot of women coming inwith their wood. Don't you see each horse is dragging a travois, with aload of sticks and brush on it?"
"Oh, are those travois? I want to see how they're fixed on the horses.They are a good deal like our wagons, aren't they? Only they haven't anywheels," said Jack.
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's the Indians' cart. There, you see the way thatfirst woman is pointing? You see, she doesn't go straight across theriver; she goes slantways down the stream. There's a big bar runs acrossthere, where the water isn't much more than up to a horse's belly; thebar's narrow, and on either side, it's swimming water; so when you crosshere, you have to stick to that gravel bar."
By this time all the women had ridden into the water, and were crossing.Hugh started down the hill toward the point where they had entered thestream, and Jack drove the pack horses close after him. When they werepart way down the hill, two more women made their appearance, and ridingdown the narrow ravine, along which the trail ran, entered the water.Hugh and Jack were not far behind them, and saw them stop a little wayfrom the bank, to let their horses drink. They were near enough to seethat the first one was a middle-aged woman, and the last, who was nearerto them, was a young girl.
Just before Jack and Hugh reached the water's edge, they heard behindthem the thunder of many hoofs, and suddenly--driven by two Indianboys--there poured over the bank, almost on top of them, a great bandof horses, rushing forward at top speed, the younger ones bounding andplunging, with heads and tails in the air, nipping at each other, andlashing out with their heels in play. The leading horses, when they sawthe men and the pack train, tried to stop, but they were pushed forwardby the throng behind, and obliged to keep on, but the herd separated,and rushed down to the ford on either side of Jack, whose pack horses,tired as they were, threw up their heads and seemed to want to join inthe race. The band of horses came together again, just in front of Hugh,and streamed down the trail into the water, and along the bar. Theleading ones galloped across, toward the older woman, who, Jack saw, wasscreaming and motioning with her hands. This stopped the horses infront, but not those behind, which continued to rush into the river,crowding and pushing, at first against each other, and soon against thehorse ridden by the girl. She was striking at them with her quirt, butthey could not get away from her, on account of those that followed, andin a moment Jack saw them crowd against the horse on which the girl sat,which was being pushed into deeper and deeper water.
It was exciting to watch, and Jack felt afraid that the girl might beknocked off into deep water and drowned. Without thinking of his packhorses, he galloped to the water's edge. The loose horses immediately infront of him started again, and then the whole bunch made a rush for theother bank. There was a confused struggle, and, to his dismay, he sawthe old travois horse run against by some of the other horses, andknocked down into the deep water, and the girl and travois horse bothdisappeared. He heard Hugh call to him, "Ride in and swim for her!" andclosing his legs about Pawnee, he galloped him through the shallowwater, and in a moment the good horse was swimming over where the girlhad disappeared. Jack saw the old horse, still followed by its load ofwood, striking out bravely for the other bank, but where was the girl?In a moment he caught a gleam of something white in the water, andalmost at the same instant her struggling form appeared. She was justahead of Pawnee, and a light pressure on the right hand rein, turned thehorse so that he swam close beside her, and Jack, reaching over, caughther by the shoulder of her buckskin dress, and pulled her toward him.
As soon as her head was above water she reached out and grasped the hornof his saddle, and then, after resting a moment, drew herself close tothe horse, and, helped by Jack, clambered up behind him. By the time shewas seated, they were half way across the river, and now Jack did notknow whether to guide his horse toward the other bank, or to swim backto the bar. The double weight made Pawnee swim low in the water, but hishead was stretched out, his nostrils were well above the surfac
e, and hestruck out strongly--as Hugh said afterwards--"like a loon chasingshiners." The question as to which way he should go was soon decided,for in a moment or two the horse's hoofs touched bottom, and he climbedup the rapidly shoaling side of the bar.
"SHE REACHED OUT AND GRASPED THE HORN OF HISSADDLE."--_Page 138_]
During all this time Jack had not looked about him very much; he hadbeen thinking how he should get hold of the girl, and then, how heshould get to shore. If he had looked, he would have seen the girl'smother sitting on her horse, near the bank where the camp stood,scanning the water just ahead of him, and twisting her hands, bututtering no word. He would have seen Hugh gallop into the water,followed by the pack horses, and ride off the bar, not very far behindhim, and then, when Jack got the girl, ride back to the bar and go ontoward the other shore.
Now, when Jack was on the bar once more, he saw just before him, the oldwoman sitting looking at him, and, hearing a splashing in the waterbehind, he looked around and saw Hugh following.
"Is the girl hurt?" called Hugh.
"I don't know," answered Jack, "I didn't think to ask her. Are you hurt,little girl?" he added, twisting in his saddle, so that he could lookinto her face. As he did so he saw that blood was trickling down overher forehead. She did not answer him, but shook her head.
In a moment more he stopped by the woman, who reached out her hand andtook hold of the girl's arm, and spoke to her; but of course Jack didnot understand what she said, though he felt that the girl shook herhead. Then Hugh, who had come up, spoke to the woman in the Indiantongue. She replied, and after a moment's conversation, Hugh said toJack, "Ride after the old woman, son; we will camp at her lodgeto-night. I know her husband right well; he is a relation of old JohnMonroe's. You're in pretty good luck that you fished that girl out ofthe river the way you did. You'll surely be thought a heap of in thiscamp. She's Little Plume's daughter. He's an awful good man, a greatwarrior and a chief, and there won't be anything too good for you inthis camp as long as you're here. I expect the little girl hurt her headwhen she rolled off that horse, but I reckon it ain't nothing but alittle cut." He spoke to the girl, who did not answer him, but hermother spoke for her and Hugh said, "No, she ain't hurt a mite." By thistime they had ridden up on the bank, and were entering the circle of thecamp. Jack looked about him with the greatest interest, and forgot thathe was wet, cold and shivering.
The lodges were great broad cones, and each one ended above in a sheafof crossing lodge poles. Beneath where the lodge poles crossed, on oneside, there was a dark opening from which smoke poured out, and oneither side of this opening, stretched out a sort of three-cornered sailor wing. Near the ground, the skins, which covered the lodges wereyellow or gray, but toward the top they grew darker, and some of themwere dark brown. Some of the lodges had great patches on them, as ifthey had been mended. Some were ornamented with curious figures. Overthe door of one was painted the black head of a buffalo cow. On anotherthere was the figure of an elk. About yet another was a broad band ofred, on which a procession of black birds seemed to be marching roundthe lodge. From the points of the wings of many lodges, hung buffalotails, and sometimes great bunches of this black hair ran down from thesmoke hole to the door. Scattered about through the camp were manypeople, busy about many different tasks. Groups of men smoked together.Women were busy hammering on stones. Here and there men sat bythemselves, working with knives or other tools, at sticks of differentsorts. On the ground were hides, over which women were bending.
All these things Jack saw, but did not very well comprehend. Meantimethey had crossed the circle and approached a large lodge, near which twowomen were busy, with whom were two or three little children, and by thelodge stood an old horse with a travois, on which there was a load ofwet and dripping wood. The woman Jack was following called in shrilltones to the others, and as Jack stopped, they hurried up to him, liftedthe girl from his horse, and took her into the lodge. The woman motionedfor him to dismount, and at the same moment the pack horses came up,driven by Hugh.
Jack was glad to get his feet on the ground once more, and to stampabout a little to get warm. Hugh said to him, "Go inside, if you like,son, and get close to the fire; you must be cold."
"No," said Jack, "I'll help you unpack first. I'll get warm sooner ifI'm working."
"I believe you will," said Hugh; "that's pretty good sense. It won'ttake us long to get these packs off." Nor did it. In a very few minutesthe horses' loads were piled up outside the lodge door, the pack horsesturned loose, and the saddle horses tied to pins driven in the groundnear the lodge. Then Hugh and Jack went inside.
There was a bright, warm fire there, evidently just built up, and Jack,who in entering had hit his head against the top of the doorway, wasabout to step up to it and warm his hands, when Hugh laid his hand onhis shoulder and guided him to the right as they went in, and pressedhim to the ground, and both sat down near the door. The woman spoke upquickly, in a voice as if she were finding fault, and motioned towardthe back of the lodge, and Hugh rose and led Jack around, almostopposite the door, where they again sat down. "Now, son," said Hugh,"take off your shoes and all your outside things, and try to get dry.After we've set here a minute or two, maybe I'll go out and open one ofthe packs, and see if I can get you some dry clothes." He spoke to thewoman for a moment, and then turning to Jack, said, "She says she wantsus to stop here until her husband gets back. He and John Monroe went offearly this morning, up the creek, to try to get some deer skins. Prettysoon now they'll be back. She says that even if you do go to stop withJohn Monroe, she wants you to sleep to-night in this lodge, so that herhusband can see you and talk to you. She says he will not forget thatyou pulled his little girl out of the water. She thinks you are a goodboy. You acted quick. When you grow up you will be a good man and brave.If you go to war you will have good luck."
Jack felt rather embarrassed. "Do you mean to say that she said allthose things about me?" he asked.
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's just what she said."
"Well," said Jack, "of course I'm awful glad I pulled the little girlout of the water, but anybody else would have done it just the same, andif I hadn't, why you were right there and would have done it, I expect,a good deal quicker than I did."
"Well," said Hugh, "maybe I might, but you're the one that did it, thatmakes the difference, and I expect that woman, and her man, too, will bemighty grateful to you. What is more, they'll talk about it all throughthe camp, and you'll see that everybody here will have a good word and apleasant smile for you to-morrow."
Jack had taken off most of his wet things, and had thrown them on theground beside him, and now the woman came over to where he was, holdinga great, soft buffalo robe, which, with a laugh, she threw around him,almost covering him up. Then she went back, and in a moment threw acrossthe lodge to him a pair of boy's moccasins and a pair of leggings. Thenshe went out of the lodge.
"Now," said Hugh, "take off all your things, put on them leggings andmoccasins, and set here by the fire with that robe around you. The womanwill hang up your things, and they'll be dry in a little while, and thenyou can dress again if you want to. I'm going out now to look after thehorses, and maybe to look around the camp. Or, if you like, I'll justsee after the horses, and then come back, and when you're dressed we'llgo around the camp together."
"I'd like that best of all, Hugh, if you don't mind waiting. I supposeyou've got a lot of friends in the camp you'd like to see."
"Yes," said Hugh, "I expect I have, but there ain't no great hurry.I'll have plenty of time to see them and visit with them;" and he wentout.
Jack Among the Indians; Or, A Boy's Summer on the Buffalo Plains Page 15