CHAPTER XII
ON FISHING BENT
"IF you think you can get on without me, Dick, I'd like to slip awayfor a little time," Roger was saying, after the boats had been runashore, the horses tethered among the trees, and preparations forsupper, with an attendant air of bustle, were well underway.
Of course Dick knew what was in the wind. He had not forgotten theremark made by his comrade that, if the chances were favorable, hemeant to spend half an hour or so that evening collecting worms andgrubs to be used as bait when they tried their luck at fishing on thenext day.
"To be sure I can," he told Roger, with a smile. "All you have to do isto trot along with your hatchet, and something to put the grubs in--ifyou find any."
"Oh! I'm not afraid of being left in the lurch there," asserted Roger,stoutly. "I can see plenty of signs of dead wood around here. A fiercestorm must have swept across this section many years ago, that leveledplenty of big trees, which are now rotting on the ground. Grubs liketo hide in that sort of decayed stuff. Look for me by the time it getsdusk."
"Keep your gun near you, and it would be better not to stray toofar away from the camp," warned cautious Dick, speaking on generalprinciples.
"You don't believe there's any danger lurking near by, do you?" askedRoger, though failing to show much concern, for his nature was daringand fearless.
"Nothing more than we always count on," the other told him. "But whitemen who are in a strange country must always figure on finding an enemyhiding back of some tree or rock, so keep your eyes about you, Roger.If I should hear your gun sound, or catch a hullo, depend on me to comein a hurry."
Roger only laughed, for he did not believe any peril could lurk soclose to the camp. Still, accustomed to being on his guard, he madeit a point to see that the powder was in the pan as he tucked his gununder his arm and strode forth.
He found to his relief that there were plenty of old stumps androtting logs close to where the fires had been started, so that he neednot go any great distance away in order to begin his search.
His hatchet was soon brought into play, as he smashed some of thelikely looking remnants of once proud forest monarchs. It requiredlittle muscular effort, scattering the soft punk-like wood, and, hardlyhad the boy obtained a fair start, than with a satisfied little cry hereached down and seized an enormous white grub whose home in the heartof the decayed stump he had broken open.
Just as Roger had anticipated, a rich harvest awaited him. Sometimes hecame upon half a dozen prizes in one stump, and it was not long beforehe knew that, before the darkness became too dense for him to see howto work, he would have secured all the bait they could possibly use onthe following morning.
At any rate, they would always have their hatchets with them,and, should their supply run low, there would be plenty of otheropportunities to replenish their store.
So it was that he returned to camp much sooner than Dick in his mostsanguine moments had imagined possible. There was hardly any need toask Roger how his quest had turned out, for the broad smile on histanned face told the story.
"A noble lot of fish lure," assented Dick, when he had examined thecontents of the small box into which Roger had also cast a handful ofpowdered dead wood, in which his prisoners could conceal themselves. "Imust say you struck it rich this time."
"And, unless the weather goes against us when morning comes," continuedRoger, as he fastened up the box so that nothing could get at the baitduring the night, "we ought to do some tall fishing, it strikes me. I'djust like to give the whole camp a splendid treat to those beauties ofspeckled rainbow fish which we believe to be a species of trout."
All evening long the subject was frequently in his mind, for Roger wasone of those persistent persons who, once they have planned anything,can think of little else.
"I tell you what I mean to do after we've had our breakfast," he saidat one time during the evening.
"All right," remarked Dick, who knew how useless it was to try to keepRoger's mind off his fishing, "suppose you do then, and I'll jot itdown in my notebook, for I'm making up my day's log, you see. Go on andtell me."
"If you look over there, Dick, you can see that friendly Indian who hasinsisted on sticking to us for two days now, walking along the shore,squatting close to our fires, and watching everything we do as thoughhe was head over heels in love with the ways of the palefaces."
"Yes, I've often wondered what he could be thinking about," admittedDick. "I've seen Captain Lewis trying to talk with him by signs, andoften calling one of the men up to help out. From that I judged theIndian might be giving him some valuable information, which was whythey allow him to tag after us so long, and even see that he gets hisshare of food at meal times."
"Well," continued Roger, "my idea is to go over to him now, and see ifhe can understand that we'd like to have him tell us about a good placefor fishing in the morning; for, after all, what's the use of waitinguntil breakfast time; he might be gone in the night. What do you say toit, Dick?"
"Not a bad scheme," his chum assented. "And, do you know, I think thebrave has taken some little interest in both of us, because a number oftimes it seemed to me he was watching us closely. There's your chancenow, for that matter, Roger; and, if you find it too hard to make himunderstand, get Jasper Williams, our good friend, to act as interpreterfor you."
Upon that the impulsive Roger scrambled to his feet and presently hecould be seen sitting close to the friendly Indian brave, engaging himin a strange conversation in which hands and smiles took the place ofwords.
Apparently, Roger finally found the task greater than he could manage,for he called to genial Jasper Williams, who joined them. Then thebusiness of explaining to the dusky son of the wilderness was taken upanew; and with fair success, if the look on Roger's boyish face meantanything.
When he once more rejoined his chum he was fairly bubbling over withenthusiasm, so that Dick was not at all surprised to hear him exclaim:
"The finest of luck ever, Dick! Would you believe it? that brave tellsus there is a small stream emptying into the Missouri a couple of milesabove the camp, and that it is reckoned the best place for those bigfat trout around this section of the country."
"That is good news, indeed," remarked Dick, also pleased. "So we canlook forward to supplying the camp with a mess of fish, if all goeswell."
"Not only did he tell us that," continued the eager lad, "but he agreedto go along with us, and show where the best holes lie; for in hotweather, you know, all trout leave the shallows and gather in the deep,dark pools. If we didn't know just where those places were we mightwaste a lot of time trying."
At the time Dick thought they were very fortunate to be able to commandthe services of the friendly Indian, and he mentioned this belief toRoger.
"He seems to have taken a great fancy to the whites, and, no matter ifhe does eat like a hungry dog, we must not complain. He will hardlywish to go much further from his own people, and we may expect to wakeup some fine morning to find that the brave has slipped off during thenight."
"So long as he does not steal one of our horses or guns nobody willcomplain, I guess," chuckled Roger. "These Indians are a light-fingeredset, take them all in all, and Jasper Williams says he never wouldtrust one out of his sight."
Having made all their fishing arrangements the boys soon afterwardssought their shelter made from branches, and wrapped in their blanketstried to find sleep.
The camp was governed with military strictness, and there were sentrieson duty all through the night, for Captain Clark had this part of thearrangements in charge. Not once up to this time had they been takenby surprise, though on several occasions roving bands of Blackfeet orDacotahs had tried to steal their horses, only to meet with failure.
Securely guarded in this manner, they passed the night in peace, and soanother dawn found them. As usual the travelers were early astir, forthere were no laggards among them. Every man had his duties to perform,and strict discipline kept them to their various
tasks.
Roger of course was about the first one up, though he knew that Dickcould not be coaxed to make a start until he had performed every oneof his duties as was his custom. If the fish were as plentiful as thefriendly Indian had declared, they would have abundance of time to takeheavy toll of their number long before noon came around.
"We decided to take one of the smaller boats if it could be spared,you remember, Dick," Roger was saying as they ate breakfast.
"Yes," the other replied, "and I've already mentioned that to CaptainClark, who gave me full permission to do so. This is certainly one ofthe times we would enjoy having that buffalo-hide Indian boat we shotthe rapids in. I was beginning to think we ought to change our mindsabout giving it away, when that accident happened, and ruined it forhard work."
"Accident!" echoed Roger. "We knew different after we found where thatsharp knife-blade had been run along the bottom almost through thetough hide. But that sly dog of an Andrew Waller paid dearly for hiswork. I wonder what became of him; whether he joined the French traderand his son, or went over to the Indians."
"We may never know," his chum admitted. "For my part, I hope and trustthat neither of us will ever set eyes on Waller again. I did not likethe look he gave us when he went out of camp that day; and, like allguilty wretches caught in the act of doing wrong, he blames us for histroubles."
In good time Dick announced that he was ready to make the start. Rogersaw to it that they had the bait. Stout poles had also been secured, tothe end of which the fishing lines were fastened. Such things as reelsthose pioneer lads never knew. When a prize was hooked it was theirbusiness to land the captive in the speediest way possible; and, as arule, this consisted in swinging the struggling trout over their headson to the land.
The Indian was hovering nearby. Dick fancied that he looked very eager,as though he quite enjoyed the idea of accompanying the pair on theirfishing trip, and making himself useful. Perhaps, the boy thought, thepoor fellow wished to attach himself to the expedition, on account ofthe charm it had for his untutored mind; for Indians could feel thedesire for adventure such as urged these bold white men to penetratefarther day by day into the unknown country.
The boys picked out the boat best adapted to their needs, and whichcould be most easily spared. Beckoning to the Indian, the boys preparedto push out on the river. Two paddles were to be the means of urgingthe light craft against the strong current of the river, and an hour'stime would be ample to see them to their destination, Roger thought,as he commenced to wield the spruce blade vigorously.
Jasper Williams called out a last word of caution as they passed away,up the stream, for he felt a strong interest in these boys with whosefortunes he had been so intimately connected.
"Keep your eyes about you, lads," was what he told them, "and don'ttrust everything you see, just because it looks innocent. There's adifference between red and white, remember. Good luck to you both!"
Others also called out, begging the boys to remember that they tooliked a mess of fresh fish; and, with these friendly voices ringing intheir ears, Dick and Roger paddled swiftly up the river, soon losingsight of the explorer's camp.
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest Page 15