CHAPTER XXXI
THE CAMP ON THE BIG WATER
"THERE is the big water, Dick!" said Roger, in the ear of his cousin,as he chanced to peer through a narrow opening in the dense woodsbeyond.
"And the chief has called a halt, which looks as though we were not togo any further just now," Dick added.
They could catch a glimpse of what looked like an inland sea. The windwas raising whitecaps on the tops of the waves, as they rolled pasttoward the south. As far as the eye could reach the same broad expanseof clear crystal water lay. The Indians did well to call it the "bigwater," though to-day it is marked on the map as Yellowstone Lake.
A spy was sent out while the remainder of the party remained in hiding.This was about an hour from sundown. He came back as the last glow wasfading in the western sky, and there was a consultation between thechief and his leading warriors.
"Try to find out how the land lies, and what the plan of campaign willbe," Dick told Mayhew.
The guide returned presently with all the information they required.
"As near as I can tell," he explained to the boys, "the spy brings inthe news that the Blackfeet have mostly departed, and only the fourFrenchmen are left in the camp."
"But I hope they have left Jasper behind also," exclaimed Roger, takingfresh alarm. "You remember we were told by Lascelles that he meant totry to get the Indians to carry him far away to their village, andeither adopt him into the tribe, or else burn him at the stake."
"Make your mind easy on that score," Mayhew assured him.
"Then he is still in the camp?" asked the boy.
"Yes, the spy saw him there, tied to a tree," Mayhew continued. "One ofthe Frenchmen gave him a kick in passing, like the coward that he is. Iused to believe the French were gentlemen, but my opinion has changed."
"Oh! you must not judge all Frenchmen by these rascals," said Dick."They are of the bad kind. Perhaps Jasper will be glad of a chance toreturn that kick with interest before sun-up."
"And if he doesn't, I will!" asserted Roger, impulsively, for he hateda coward and a bully above all things.
"What does Beaver Tail mean to do?" Dick asked.
"I think his first act will be to send the spy back again, so as tokeep track of what is going on in the French camp," Mayhew told him."Then at a later hour all of us will creep over and surround the place.Any Blackfeet who may be found are apt to be given a short shrift,because they are the mortal foes of the Sioux; but I do not believe thetraders will be harmed, unless they should be unwise enough to shootone of Beaver Tail's warriors."
Shortly afterwards Dick saw the same skillful scout go forth, and heknew that Mayhew had guessed the truth when he said a close watch wasto be kept over the camp on the lake shore.
In good time the signal would be given for the general advance. Untilthen, all of them must possess their souls in patience. As the cold ofthe night increased it was likely to prove no laughing matter, sincethey were unprovided with blankets, and dared not build a fire. Still,with success so close to their hands, the pioneer boys felt that theycould put up with almost anything.
How slowly the time passed, in spite of all these brave resolutions!Roger found it necessary several times to get up and, as noiselesslyas possible, thresh his arms around him, so as to start his stagnantblood into renewed circulation. Had it not been for this expedient hebelieved he would be unable to respond when finally the signal wasgiven to move on.
When it appeared to Roger that many hours must have passed, he waselated to discover that the chief, Beaver Tail, had begun to show signsof life. He had been sitting like a block of stone, simply casting alook up at the stars occasionally, as though one of the heavenly bodiesmust reach a certain altitude before the time could be reckoned as up.
This must have been a signal to the others, for immediately eachwarrior was on his moccasined feet, and on every side bows could beseen being strung in readiness for twanging, while quivers of arrowswere fastened over the left shoulder of each soft-footed brave.
Once the expedition was in motion, the chill soon left Roger's body. Inits place he experienced a gratifying warmth that must have startedthrough the increased pumping of his youthful heart due to excitement.
The boys found as they advanced that the crafty Sioux chief had madeas complete arrangements as any war captain could have done. He haddivided his force into three sections of about equal numbers. One ofthese was sent ahead, and it was easy to surmise that the duty of thesewarriors was to proceed to the further extremity of the Frenchmen'scamp, so as to cut off escape from that quarter.
A second lot could come up from the rear, while those with whom thepalefaces and Beaver Tail himself were associated advanced along theshore of the lake, and expected to reach the vicinity of the camp inthat way.
The boys had never gazed upon a body of water anything like the size ofthat lake, though accustomed to the big Missouri River in flood-time,when it was miles from shore to shore. Once they had cruised down tothe Mississippi in company with Roger's father, Sandy Armstrong, whohad built a big canoe and wanted to revisit the place where, as a lad,he had had a temporary home.
Seen in the sheen of the starlight, the lake looked as though it mightbe an ocean in itself, for no further shore was visible. Roger wonderedif this was what the sea resembled, and if he and Dick would really bepermitted to continue on with the explorers, cross the rocky range ofmountains, and finally bring up on the golden strand of the PacificOcean.
But there was a glimmering light close by, which he surmised was asmoldering fire in the French traders' camp. Carefully they continuedto creep forward. It gave Roger a thrill to realize that he was in thecompany of savages such as his father and grandfather had fought in theyears gone by; but who were now their best of friends. What wonderfulstories he and Dick would have to tell should they live through allthese manifold perils to return safely home, and resume their oldplaces at the domestic fireside.
Both boys were secretly hoping that Lascelles and his compatriots wouldnot be so foolhardy as to attempt to resist. Bad as these men were,the boys did not wish to see them butchered, as they undoubtedly wouldbe should they fire on the Sioux, or even wound one of Beaver Tail'swarriors.
As for any stray Blackfeet who may have remained in camp while themain body was off somewhere, if they got in the way of the Sioux arrowsor tomahawks that was their lookout; the boys could not be expected toinclude them in the scheme of general amnesty.
The attack was not to be started until certain signals announced thatall the detachments had reached the positions assigned to them by thechief. When he heard the howl of a wolf given with a certain littletwist at the finish, and then also caught the cry of the screech-owl,he would feel assured that nothing remained to be done but order aconcerted assault.
Indians have always had a certain set plan for their surprises. Nomatter how slyly they crept up on blockhouse or camp or border fort,when a certain time arrived they felt it was absolutely necessary tobreak out in ferocious yells. No doubt this was done partly to givefreedom to their pent-up feelings, and, at the same time, add to thealarm of those whom they were attacking.
Dick and Roger knew this fact. They had had some little experiencethemselves in connection with Indians. Besides this, they had heardinnumerable stories from Grandfather David concerning those days alongthe Ohio, when the tribes from the Great Lakes to the southern borderof Kentucky were all on the warpath, and seeking day and night todestroy the hardy pioneers.
This being the case, neither of the lads felt any surprise when therearose a series of the most dreadful yells. The warriors whom theyaccompanied added to the din with all their might, at the same timespringing forward and running in the direction of the near by camp.
From every quarter arose that deafening clamor. It must have struckterror to the hearts of the Frenchmen, even though they may havefancied that they were friendly with all the tribes of the farNorthwest, because of their dealings in the matter of buying the storesof pe
lts collected by the red men.
There was nothing for the boys to do but keep company with the bravesas they thus closed in on the surrounded camp. Already they could seesigns of tremendous excitement in that quarter, as the inmates, alarmedby the clamor of many tongues, turned this way and that, hardly knowingwhether to run, or else raise up their hands in token of submission.
Several dusky figures were discovered by the light of the fire dartinginto the thickets close to the camp. These must be the few Blackfootbraves who, for some reason, had been left behind. They knew therewould be no mercy for them at the hands of their mortal foes, theSioux, and on that account they preferred taking their chances in thebrush and half-darkness.
Had it not been for that horrid din, perhaps the boys might have caughtthe sharp twang of bowstrings; they might also have heard the deathcries of those who met the flight of those swiftly-driven arrows, withtheir tips of jagged flint.
Just then it mattered nothing to Dick and Roger whether any of theBlackfeet managed to run the gauntlet and escape or not; their thoughtswere all taken up with the hope and expectation of finding that onefor whom they had long sought, Jasper Williams, whose signature at thebottom of a new document would mean so much to the folks at home.
As they entered the camp they saw a cluster of figures standing withfear-blanched faces. The flickering firelight showed the boys thatLascelles was there, and the smooth-faced young man, cowering at hisside, must be his son, Alexis, whom accounts reported as being asgreat a rascal as his father. Besides, there were two more of thetraders.
At sight of the boys whom he had so greatly wronged Lascelles cried outsomething. Neither of them could exactly understand its nature; butDick fancied the cowardly Frenchman must be pleading with them to havehis life spared.
"Hold up your hands, and they may not harm you; but under no conditionstry to run away or you are dead men!" was what he flung out at them ashe ran past.
Roger was at his heels. The guide, with wonderful good sense, gave thefire a little kick in passing, which had the effect of starting upquite a bright blaze. By the aid of this light they could see what wasgoing on.
Already a number of the Sioux had entered the camp. Their appearance,with flourishing hatchets and knives, doubtless chilled the blood ofthe Frenchmen, knowing as they now did that these braves of Running Elkmust be on the most friendly terms with Dick and Roger Armstrong.
Dick looked further. It was, however, the keen-eyed Roger who chancedto be the first to discover what they were searching for.
"This way, Dick; here he is, tied to this tree!" he cried.
As Dick leaped after him he saw that there was indeed some one boundfast to a tree, a white man at that; and the firelight disclosed thefact that it was Jasper Williams.
The Pioneer Boys of the Yellowstone; or, Lost in the Land of Wonders Page 34