Big Brother: A Story of Indian War

by George Cary Eggleston

  CHAPTER III.

  SAM'S LECTURE.

  The people of the fort made no search for Sam and his companions; notbecause they cared nothing for them, but simply because they believedthem certainly dead. Mr. Hardwicke, himself, had seen Sam start withlittle Judie towards the fort, before the dog charge was made, and asneither the boys nor Judie had ever reached the gates, he had no doubtwhatever that his three children were slain, as was Mrs. Phillips, theonly other person who had failed to get inside the stockade. Mr.Hardwicke wished to go out in search of their bodies, but was overruledby his companions, who, knowing that the savages were still in theimmediate vicinity, thought it simply a reckless and unnecessary risk,to go hunting for the bodies of their friends hundreds of yards away,and immediately in front of the place at which the Indians were lastseen. The idea was abandoned, therefore, and the fort party marched awayin the darkness of a cloudy night, towards Fort Glass. Leaving them tofind their way if they can, let us return to Sam and his little band.Seeing the Indians coming towards them, they lay down in the high weeds.The savages hurrying forward to reinforce their friends, passed within afew feet of the young people, but did not see them. The storming of thefort then began, and after watching the evolutions of the Indians forsome time, Sam said:

  "We mustn't stay here. Those red skins are working around this way, and 'llfind us. Crawl on your hands and knees, all of you, and follow me."

  "Whar's ye gwine to, Mas' Sam?" asked Joe.

  "_Sh, sh_," said Judie. "Don't talk Joe, but do as Brother Sam tellsyou. Don't you know he always knows what's best? Besides, maybe hehasn't quite found out where he's going yet, himself."

  But Joe was not as confident of Sam's genius for doing the right thingas Judie was, and so, after crawling for some distance, he again brokesilence.

  "Miss Judie."

  "What do you want, Joe?"

  "Does _you_ know whar Mas' Sam's a-takin' us to, an' what he's gwine todo when he gits dar?"

  "No, of course I don't."

  "How you know den, dat he's doin' de bes' thing?"

  But the conversation was terminated by a word from Sam, who said, in awhisper,

  "Joe, I'll tell you _where we're going if you keep talking_."

  "Whar, Mas' Sam?"

  "Into the hands of the Indians. Keep your mouth shut, if you don't wantyour hair lifted off your head."

  As the black boy certainly did not want his hair cut Indian fashion, hebecame silent at once.

  When they had travelled in this way until they could no longer hear theyells of the Indians and the popping of guns at the fort, Sam called ahalt. It was now nearly midnight.

  "Here is a good place to spend the rest of the night," he said, "and wemust be as still as we can. We can stay here till to-morrow night, andthen we must try to get to Fort Glass. It's about twelve or thirteenmiles from here."

  "Le's go on now, Mas' Sam; I'se afear'd to stay here," said the blackboy.

  "We can't," said Sam. "I got scratched in the foot with a stray bullet,just as we went into the thicket there at the fort, and I can't walk. Iam a little faint and must lie down."

  At this little Judie, who fairly idolized Sam, and felt perfectly safefrom Indians and everything else when he was with her, was disposed toset up a wail of sorrow and fright. If poor Sam were wounded, he mightdie, she thought, and the thought was too much for her.

  Sam soothed her, however, and the poor, tired little girl was soon fastasleep in his arms.

  "Bring some moss, boys," he said to his companions, "and make a bed forJudie here by this log."

  When he had laid her down, he drew off his shoe and wrapped the woundedfoot in some of the long gray moss which hangs in great festoons fromthe trees of that region. Joe, with the true negro genius for sleeping,was already snoring at the foot of a tree. Sam quietly called Tom to hisside.

  "Tom," said he, "my foot is bleeding pretty badly, and I can't see tillmorning to do anything for it. I have wrapped it up in moss, stuffingthe softest parts into the wound, and that may stop it after a while.But I may not be able to travel to-morrow night, and if I can't you mustleave me here and try to find your way to Fort Glass, with Judie. Youmust remember that her life will depend on you, and try to do your dutywithout flinching. Don't try to travel in the daytime. Go on to thesouth as fast as you can of nights, keeping in the woods and thickets,and as soon as you see a streak of gray in the sky find a goodhiding-place and stop. You can get some corn and some sweet potatoes outof any field, but you must eat them raw, as it wont do to make a fire.Now go to sleep. I may be able to travel myself, but if I shouldn't,remember you are a brave man's son, and must do your duty as aHardwicke should." And with that he shook the little fellow's hand.

  After a time Tom, overcome by weariness, fell asleep, but Sam remainedawake all night, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his foot. Heknew that if he could go on with the others their chance of safety wouldbe vastly greater than without him, and so he was disposed to leave noeffort untried to be in a fit condition to travel the next night. Whenmorning came Sam called Tom and Joe, and directed them to examine hiswound, into which he could not see very well.

  "Is the blood of a bright red, as it comes out, or a dark red?" heasked.

  "Bright," they both said.

  "Then it comes from an artery," he replied. "Are you sure it is brightred?"

  The boys were not quite sure.

  "Does it come in a steady stream or in spurts?" he asked.

  "It spurts, and stops and spurts again," said Tom.

  "It is an artery, then," said Sam. "Look and see if you can find theplace it comes from."

  The boys made a careful examination and at last found the artery, asmall one, which was cut only about half way across.

  "All right," said Sam. "If that's the case, I think I know how to stopthe blood. Put your finger in, and _break the artery clear in two_".

  "O Sam, then you'll bleed to death," said Tom.

  "No I won't. Do as I tell you."

  "Let me cut it, then. It wont hurt you so much."

  "No, no, no," cried Sam, staying his hand. "Don't cut it. Tear it, Itell you, and be quick."

  Tom tore it, and the blood stopped almost immediately. Sam then boundthe foot up with strips of cloth torn from his clothing, and as he didso said:

  "Now I'll tell you both all about this so that you'll know what to doanother time. If you know only _what_ to do, you may forget; but if youknow _why_, you'll remember. The blood comes out from the heart to allparts of the body in arteries, and when it leaves the heart it is brightred, because it is clean and pure. Your heart is a sort of force-pump,and every time it beats it forces the blood all over you. The arteriesfork and branch out in every direction, until they terminate inmillions of little veins smaller than the finest hairs, and theserunning together make bigger veins, through which the blood is carriedto the lungs. In the veins it flows steadily, because the _capillary_veins, the ones like hairs, are so small that the spurts can't be feltbeyond them. The blood in the veins is thick and dark, because it hastaken up all the impurities from the system; but when it gets to thelungs your breath takes up all these and carries them off, leaving theblood pure again for another round. Now the arteries are long elastictubes, that is to say, they will stretch a little, and fly back again,if you pull them, and when one is cut nearly but not quite off, thecontraction keeps it wide open. If it is cut or torn entirely in two,the end draws back, and nine times in ten, if the artery is a small one,the drawing back shuts the end up entirely and the blood stops. But itis better to tear it than to cut it, because when torn the edges arejagged and it shrivels up more. I don't quite understand why, myself,but that is what the surgical books say. When anybody is hurt andbleeding badly, the first thing to do is to find out whether it is anartery or a vein that's cut. If the blood is bright and comes out inspurts, it's an artery. If it is dark, and flows steadily, it's a vein.If it's an artery and isn't cut quite in two, tear it in two. If thatdon't stop it, you must mak
e a knot in a handkerchief and then pressyour finger above the cut in different places till you find where theartery is by the blood stopping. Then put the knot on that place and tiethe handkerchief around the limb. You can stop a vein in the same wayand more easily, but if it's a vein you must tie the handkerchief sothat the cut place will be between it and the heart. You see the bloodcomes from the heart in the arteries, and goes back towards the heart inthe veins, and so to stop an artery you tie inside, and to stop a veinoutside of the cut place."

  I think it altogether probable that Master Sam would have gone intoquite a lecture on anatomy and minor surgery, if little Judie had notwaked up just then complaining of hunger. What he told the boys,however, is well worth remembering. He took little Judie on his lap andsent the two boys out to find a field of potatoes or corn. When theycame back all four made a breakfast of raw sweet potatoes, drinkingwater which Tom brought in his wool hat from a creek not very far away.Sam grew stronger during the day, and at night the party set out ontheir way to Fort Glass. Sam's foot was not painful, but he was afraidof starting the blood again, and so he held it up, walking with a rudecrutch which he had made during the day.