Chapter Fifteenth.
They endeavor to conceal themselves from the Indians. They arediscovered. A frightful encounter. Escape of Mahnewe. They pursue theirjourney in the night and take a wrong direction. Discovery of a river,over which they cross. Came to a prairie. Desolate appearance of thecountry. Approach a sandy desert and conclude to cross it. They providethemselves with ample provisions and set out over the cheerless waste.
All the next day they remained concealed in order to escapeobservation, and to allow the strange Indians to go far enough away sothat they could proceed without being molested. Which way to journeynext was a difficult question to them, but as it would be quiteimpossible to cross the barren, rocky hills before them, they finallydetermined to go down the stream until they came to the terminus of thehills that the chief had seen, and instead of crossing over as he haddone to strike out into the woodland beyond the dell, and take theircourse on as far as it extended. Having made everything ready for anearly start the next morning, they laid down to sleep. About midnightthey were awakened by the blinding glare of torches, and found threehideous savages bending over them with raised tomahawks. Comprehendingat once the nature of the assault, they sprang to their feet andattacked their assailants. The chief had the fortune to cleave theskull of the one nearest him at the first blow of his tomahawk, andturning, saw another who had the trapper at disadvantage, with tomahawkraised above his head, and with a dexterous blow he disabled the armraised with the murderous weapon. In a moment he would have killed theIndian had not the screams of Jane, whom the remaining savage attemptedto carry off in his arms after knocking Sidney senseless with hiswar-club, made him forget all else, and spring to her rescue. Thetrapper, who was not hurt, made a blow at his assailant, but he evadedit and tied into the forest where Howe thought it not prudent tofollow, as he imagined a whole ambuscade of Indians might be in waitingto seize upon him. Hastening to the assistance of Whirlwind, he saw himclosed hand to hand with the savage, their hunting-knives being theironly weapons, both having dropped their tomahawks. Howe saw they wereequally matched, and fearing the chief would get a bad wound, raised aclub and dealt the savage a blow that felled him to the ground. Thechief soon despatched him, and then they turned to Sidney and Edward.Already were they reviving, not having received any serious wounds. Thecopious gourds of water that Jane had sprinkled over them were all thecare they needed. They now bethought themselves of Mahnewe. She wasgone; not a vestige or clue remaining of her or the child.
"Betrayed!" said the chief with compressed lips and glistening eyes.
"Oh, no; she has never betrayed us!" said the trapper. "I fear therewas more than three of the savages, and they have stolen her."
"It is horrible! they will kill her! Oh, uncle, cannot we pursue andovertake them?" said Jane.
"I will go and bring her scalp," said the chief. "She is a foe and hasled the dogs to murder her benefactors."
"No; we shall have to leave her to her fate," said Howe. "One of theIndians has escaped to give the alarm, and perhaps within this hour oras soon as daylight, the whole tribe will be down upon us. Our onlyhope for our own lives is in flight. Our horses may out-travel them ifthey defer the attack until daylight. Fortunately for us the horses arefresh and strong."
Hastily mounting in the darkness, with no light save the faint glimmerof the stars, they plunged into the unknown wilds before them,Whirlwind leading them as a guide. But instead of taking the directionthey had determined on after a long consultation the day before, theymistook the route in their haste and the darkness, and fled north-westof it; but they pursued their way in silence.
At last the welcome day broke, and halting to take a drink themselvesand water their horses, they remounted, and galloped rapidly throughthe forest. In about two hours they came to the bank of a river, thelargest they had seen in their wanderings. Entering this in order tothrow their pursuers off the track, they rode up it as long as theriver continued wide, but as it contracted the water became too deep tobe breasted by the horses, and they crossed to the opposite bank. Here,to their great sorrow, their goat and her kid gave out, and no urgingcould induce them to proceed. The animals had evidently gone as far asthey were capable, and with sorrow they turned them loose and leftthem. The goat's milk had been such an indispensable addition to theirstore that they felt as if parting with one of their main reliances inleaving her behind.
Still they pursued their way, avoiding the hills as much as possibleuntil the sun was high in the heavens; when becoming weary with theirhard ride, and faint for want of food, they halted in a spot where acool spring gushed from beneath a huge boulder that looked as if it hadbeen hurled from a rocky acclivity above to its bed. Tethering theirhorses where they could feed, they set a guard and began with all hasteto eat such as their provision bags afforded. Cooking was out of thequestion, for the smoke would point out the exact spot where they were,a thing they were most desirous to hide.
They now calculated they were thirty miles from the place of their lastencampment, and beyond the danger of being overtaken, provided theirenemies had no horses, which they thought quite probable. However, theydeemed it imprudent to rely on such a supposition; and after an hour'shalt, they again moved on, pausing occasionally to refresh themselves,until towards sunset, when the ground became more even and the soilmore sandy. Here they noticed the vegetation was becoming more sparse,what trees there were having a stunted and gnarled appearance; after along search they found a spring of pure water, by which they encampedfor the night, being now relieved from the fear of an attack; for, hadthey been ever so well mounted they could not have made a greaterdistance than they had, and having the advantage of a start of theirpursuers they calculated on a certain escape. They were unmolestedthrough the night; and early in the morning they again set forth. Atnoon where they halted the face of the country was much as it was whenthey set out in the morning; but, after a rapid ride in the afternoon,the vegetation entirely disappeared except the rank grass, leaving abroad prairie before them. Here they paused, resolving to restthemselves before they proceeded farther.
Alas! had they only known which way to proceed,--what direction wouldlead them to their home and friends, it would have been well with them.But they had pursued so many different directions they had becomebewildered, and all courses seemed to them alike. The next and the nextday passed over and found them undecided whether it was best to crossover the prairie or not; but the third day they concluded to do so, andrefreshed and invigorated they set out. Two days of their journey theyfound occasional supplies of water, and on the third towards noon theycame to its boundary. The forest skirting the border of the prairie wasa clump of stunted trees, and there was very little grass or shrubsgrowing around. Everything looked forlorn and desolate about them,offering but scanty subsistence for themselves or beasts.
Following the forest down a short distance they found a tolerablecamping ground where they spent the night. The next day on ridingthrough the forest about three miles they found that it terminated,leaving a field of sand without a blade of grass or shrub growing uponit. It was nothing but sand, drear and desolate as far as the eye couldreach. They were stupefied, and gazed sadly on the barren waste beforethem.
"This," at last said the trapper, "is the desert of which we have heardby vague rumors and traditions, but of which, until now, I neverbelieved existed. We have undoubtedly made our way on the oppositeside, and it will be necessary for us to either go across or round itin order to get home. The nearest course is across, and even whenthere, we shall be many hundred miles from home."
Jane could hardly repress the sob that arose as her uncle announced thedismal prospect that lay before them, and even hope almost died in herheart. For the first time she entertained the thought that there was aprobability of ending their days in those unknown, unbroken regions.Whirlwind saw the emotion that was stirring her heart, for he was akeen observer, and read human nature with that accuracy peculiarlycharacteristic of the Indian. Placing himself by her s
ide, he said in amild tone--
"Why is the antelope troubled? is not her warrior by her side to makeher a new home? The wilderness encircles us on every side, and theGreat Spirit makes a barrier of sand that we cannot escape. It is hiswill that we remain; let us not attempt to leave the forest."
"Look here, chief, let Jane alone," said Sidney, angrily, as heattempted to draw her from Whirlwind.
"Sidney," said Howe, in an authoritative tone, "how long will it bebefore you learn prudence?"
An angry retort rose to his lips, but catching the pleading eye of theyoung girl fixed upon him, he remained silent and walked away.
"Come, chief, what say you, shall we strike the desert or not."
"Were I to consult my own inclination, I should say not, but return toour quarters, and prepare for winter."
"That is out of the question, chief; go home we must," spoke up Edward,with a tone of energy and decision quite new to him.
"Yes, go home! we not only _must_, but _will_," said Sidney.
"If we can get home," added Jane, sadly.
"We will do our best," said Howe, in a cheerful tone. He saw, too, thathe had an arduous trial to contend with in the angry feelings Sidneyentertained for the chief, which to his credit the chief never seemedto notice or resent. He knew the temper of the chieftain well, and knewhim patient and forgiving, but knew him also unrelenting in his hate,when his anger was aroused. Howe's policy was to keep up a unity offeeling and purpose between every member of his little band, as he wellknew a division would weaken their exertions, and cripple their effortsto extricate themselves from the trials that every day were thickeningand becoming more complicated around them.
A consultation ensued, in which they came to the conclusion to crossthe desert; but, as tradition said there was not a drop of water or ablade of grass to be had between the two boundaries, and that thedesert was two days' journey across, they retreated to a spot wheregrass and water could be collected in quantities sufficient to lastthem the three days they would be in crossing the barren waste. Happilythey were well provided with horses, having still in their possessionthose that had been appropriated to the use of Oudin and Mahnewe, aswell as the two pack horses. Gathering large quantities of grass bycutting it up with their hunting knives, they bound it in compactbundles; then taking some skins, they sewed them up, making them tightand secure for water-bags. The morning of the third day found themready for their perilous adventure. Each one taking a water-bag, abundle of grass and provision on his own horse, sufficient to last themthrough the first day, which, together with the four horses heavilyladen with provision, water and grass, they thought quite sufficient tolast them, double the time they intended being on the desert.
Hope again gilded the future to the wanderers as they surveyed withsatisfaction the result of their labors; and, when they turned theirhorses towards the sandy plain before them, their hearts were elated,and a feeling of security against its terrors made them even gay andjoyous. It is well the future is always hid from view; were it not, theheart would faint and shrink from its trials when called to endurethem, and instead of bravely contending with them, it would be palsiedand weakened by fear.
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