CHAPTER I
TWO BOYS IN A DUGOUT CANOE
"WE are on the worse side of the river, Cousin Roger, if a stormbreaks!"
"That is true, Dick; but it may not come down on us for hours yet; andthe fish are taking hold finely now."
"Yes, and no one likes to pull them in better than I do; but itseems to me we already have enough in the dugout to supply the wholeArmstrong settlement."
"Then mother can send some down to the Cragans in the St. Louissettlement; for they are old, and Mr. Cragan seldom goes out on theMissouri nowadays. Just wait a little longer, Dick. Oh! what a tug thatwas! Why, they keep getting bigger all the while. Look, the finestbuffalo fish we've taken this afternoon, Dick! Did you ever see sucha savage fighter? It makes my arms ache to drag him in against thiscurrent."
"Mine have been feeling sore for a long time, now; but, when you getfishing, Roger, you never do know when to stop. Well, I'll give inagain, and stay a little longer, though I think we are taking bigchances with that storm. But you must put a limit on the fish to betaken. When we have three more, no matter whether they are large orsmall, we'll wind up our lines and cross the river."
"Make it five, Dick, please; that's only a little thing when the fishare biting as they are now."
"Just as you say, Roger; but not another one, no matter what happens."
"Oh! I always keep my word, even if they do call me Headstrong Roger,just as my father, Sandy Armstrong, was before me. Five it shall be,Dick; and see! that can take only a little while; because I've hookedone before my line was more than half-way out. And see him fight, willyou? This is the best fishing we've had this year. It makes me thinkof the great times our fathers used to have, away up on the Ohio,where they built their first log cabin, before Grandfather Armstrongemigrated to the new Mississippi country."
For several minutes talkative Roger had to devote all his attention topulling in the large captive that struggled at the end of his line;and, as his cousin also felt a savage tug about the same time, bothwere busily engaged.
We may take advantage of their occupation for a brief time to explainjust who were the two lads, thus engaged upon the rolling current ofthe great Missouri River, far back in the summer of the year 1804, whenEnglish speaking people were few and far between in this new region,but recently acquired by the United States. (Note 1.)[1]
Years before the grandparents of these lads had left Virginia at thesolicitation of the great hunter and backwoodsman, Daniel Boone, whohad discovered the richness of the Kentucky country, and was trying toinduce settlers to occupy it, despite the savage Indians who resistedtheir advance.
They had settled on the Ohio, and, with other hardy souls, startedto develop homes in the wilderness; and here the two sons of DavidArmstrong, Bob and Sandy, met with many strange adventures that havebeen narrated in the first volume of this series.[2]
Later on, a terrible flood, such as the Ohio valley had never beforeknown at that early day, when its banks were lined with primevalforests, had swept the cabins of many of the settlers away, and sodiscouraged them that a party decided to build a floating house on araft, and go further down the river, looking for new homesteads in thewilderness, this time in the valley of the mighty Mississippi.
This houseboat had managed to run the gauntlet of all sorts of perilsfrom hostile Shawanees and jealous French trappers, who resented theinvasion of what they believed to be their territory by the daringEnglish settlers.
In the end the mighty Mississippi had been reached, and at first theArmstrongs had tried to establish their new home below the junctionof the two rivers. It was, however, just before the breaking out ofthe Revolutionary War, when, over the entire country, settlers weretaking sides, either in favor of the colonists or the king; and, asfortune would have it, the sentiment in the little community around theArmstrongs seemed to be so saturated with what they called "loyalty"to the far-distant sovereign that by degrees things became utterlyunbearable to old David and his stalwart sons.
Conditions had altered so much that in these dark days the French, whohad all along been looked upon as enemies, now became warm friends ofthe colonists. This came about not so much through change of sentimenton the part of the French as a desire to strike back at King Georgeby lending assistance to his rebellious colonies; but, whatever mightbe the reason, the Armstrongs were content to accept the new order ofthings, and make the best of them.
Accordingly old David went away prospecting, and later on returned withwonderful accounts of the splendid opening that awaited those who wouldsettle down close to the new and enterprising border trading post,which had been named St. Louis in honor of the French king.
In the end they had once more "pulled up stakes," though it was not sohard to do so this time, as they had not become greatly attached tothe home on the shore of the Mississippi, or their intensely patrioticneighbors, who delighted to annoy them because they favored the causeof Washington and his "rebels," as the Continental army was called atthat time.
In their new location near St. Louis the Armstrongs had labored hard tomake a permanent home. As the years slipped past, the boys had grownto young manhood; and presently the older brother, Bob, married thedaughter of another settler on an adjoining farm, one Nancy Adams.
In due time a second cabin was constructed, to which Bob took his youngwife; and just a year later Sandy followed his example, marrying theyoung school teacher, Phoebe Shay, and also erecting a home of his own;so that there was now quite a little settlement of the Armstrongs, withold David as the head of the family.
As the months and years passed children came who called Davidgrandfather; Bob had two boys named Dick and Sam; while Sandy rejoicedin the possession of a sturdy lad, Roger, and a sweet girl who wasnamed Mary, after her Grandmother Armstrong.
When David obtained the tract of land upon which he settled, and whichwas just outside the limits of St. Louis, he believed that he had doneall that was necessary to secure his title to the same. And, as hewatched the adjoining settlement augment in size as the years passedon, Mr. Armstrong congratulated himself on having laid a foundation forhis family that would bear much valuable fruit in course of time.
The King of France had given this whole tract to certain Frenchmen inconsideration of services which they had rendered the Crown; and inturn they had passed portions over to new arrivals as the result ofbargains that were struck between them.
But, as frequently happens, there was always a possibility that,in times to come, a missing link might be discovered in the title,calculated to bring about trouble for the possessors.
Here amidst these pleasant surroundings the children of the Armstrongbrothers grew up, and began to take their places in the littlecommunity of which they were destined to form important units.
As the boys grew older they naturally took to the same things that hadbeen of such prime importance in the lives of their fathers. Huntingand fishing were of the utmost necessity to these early pioneers,since only by such means were they enabled to provide for many of thefamily wants. Indeed, but for the bounty of Nature in supplying suchvast quantities of game, the task of settling the waste places of ourcountry would have been a much more difficult one than was the case.
Of course, as their two sons grew tall and more manly, Bob and SandyArmstrong went less and less into the forest, and out upon the waters,contenting themselves with an occasional hunt in the season of layingin "pemmican," as the dried venison and buffalo meat of the Indians wascalled, for the winter's store. They had plenty to do in developingtheir farms, for the work in those days was much more exacting than inrecent years, when so many labor-saving farm implements are used.
Those who have read the earlier volumes in this series of pioneer bookscan easily understand that if the two lads, Dick and Roger, resembledtheir fathers as much as people said, they were a pair of resoluteyoung fellows when, at about the age of fifteen, we make theiracquaintance.
Dick was steady-going, though he could be as quick as a flash s
houldthe necessity require. He was more apt to deliberate, and do the rightthing, than his younger cousin, Roger, who had inherited his father's,Sandy Armstrong's, impetuous nature, and was inclined to be a littlereckless.
Both were good-hearted, manly boys, and blessings to their parents.They had early in life learned many of the secrets of woodcraft asknown to those hardy, early pioneers, and could read the signs of thetrail as well as most old trappers, accustomed to spending their livesin the wilderness, where danger lurked back of every falling leaf, withhostile Indians, and revengeful French trappers, hovering around.
The English were numerous at the St. Louis settlement, and had,moreover, taken such good measures to fortify the post that nosuccessful foray was ever engineered by the allied tribes of the Westlooking to its reduction. And as a certain wampum belt, presented tothe Armstrong boys by the great sachem, Pontiac, for valuable serviceswhich they had rendered to him,[3] still seemed to possess a potentpower over the Sacs, Pottawatomies, Foxes, and other tribes of Indians,the little settlement above St. Louis, on the Missouri, had never oncebeen molested by the redskins, though other places had been attackedfrom year to year.
It was at this time, with spring only lately passed, that we find thecousins out upon the Missouri, enjoying their favorite occupation, andhaving such great sport that Roger could hardly be convinced that theyshould give up the fishing if they hoped to cross the wide river, andreach home, before the threatening storm broke.
It had promised rain nearly all day, which had been a rather hot, muggyone; but, as it seemed to be the finest fishing day they had enjoyedall season, both boys had taken chances in coming out. There were timeswhen the stock of provisions ran rather low at home, since the cropswere only getting their early summer growth, and fresh fish wouldalways be acceptable among the Armstrongs.
Roger had so much trouble with his latest capture that Dick broughthis to the boat before his cousin could. Perhaps this was because hewent about his task with deliberation; while the other lad, in hiseagerness, allowed the heavy fish to drag the line out several times,on account of not being prepared for his sudden rushes.
This fact is only mentioned in a casual way to let the readerunderstand thus early in the story what the different natures of ourtwo heroes were; for doubtless there will occur many instances whenthese leading characteristics must stand out most prominently.
"That makes two of the five, Dick!" gasped Roger, as he managed tounhook his capture, and, after once more baiting his stout hook, castit far out into the rolling stream for a fresh trial.
"Yes," replied the other, who had already allowed his own line to runout to its full limit; "and, if they keep on taking hold as they havebeen doing, we'll soon have the other three in the dugout. But younever can tell with fish. They stop biting all of a sudden, and nothingyou can do will tempt them to start in again."
"There comes another big one, Dick! Oh! isn't it too mean, he justgave a terrible plunge, and broke away. That's bad luck, I'm afraid,"exclaimed the younger of the fishers, in a disappointed tone.
"And I suppose he was the biggest of the whole lot?" the other remarkedwith a laugh.
"There, something's at my bait again!" ejaculated Roger, eagerly."Don't I hope he swallows it, hook and all!"
He braced himself for the tug, having learned what tremendous pullersthese so-called buffalo fish of the rivers could be, when they had thewhole force of the current back of their efforts. A few seconds laterhis line gave a sudden jerk.
"Hurrah! I've got my second one, and that makes three!" he whoopedgleefully, as he started to pull in hand over hand, for they were notfishing with poles, and such things as reels were unknown among theearly settlers of the West.
Half way did Roger drag his expected prize in, when he uttered a dismalcry.
"He's gone, Dick, worse luck!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone."Perhaps there's something wrong with the barb of my hook, they seem toget off so easy of late; I'd better be looking after it. Anyhow, thebait must be gone, and I never yet caught a fish with a bare hook.Hope you have better luck with yours," as Dick started pulling his linein, with something that wriggled tremendously at the other end.
"All of which," remarked the other boy, with a smile, "goes to showthat, as Grandfather Armstrong says, it's poor policy to count yourchickens before they're hatched; and a fish on the hook isn't always afish in the boat. Look what I've caught!"
"An eel, and a big one at that!" exclaimed Roger, looking up fromexamining the point of his hook, which he found to be in excellentcondition after all, so that the fault, if any there was, did not liethere, but possibly in his manner of giving the wriggling fish toomuch slack line. "Better knock him on the head before you take him in,because a slippery customer like that will soon own the whole boat, anddrive us over the side, if he gets to whipping around."
This was good advice, as Dick well knew, and, picking up a billetof wood which they used to dispatch their fish in a humane way whencaught, he finally succeeded in killing the large fresh-water eel.
But, somehow, that seemed to put an end to the fishing, for, althoughthey tried the most tempting bait, they did not get another nibble.Even the big yellow catfish, for which the Missouri has always beenfamous, some of them running up to sixty pounds, declined to bite.
Dick grew anxious at the delay, and several times hinted to his cousinthat it would be the part of wisdom for them to give up, even thoughthey still lacked three fish. But it was a difficult task to drag Rogerfrom anything he had set out to do, and he kept reminding the otherthat they had set a limit of five fish, and that the fish were aptto take hold again at any minute; he was sure he had felt a cautiousnibble at his bait just then, and, given another chance, they couldeasily haul in three more, big or little, it mattered not.
Suddenly a gust of wind came sweeping across the river, and made thedugout rock violently. Looking up, the boys saw that already the breezewas whipping the surface of the Missouri into whitecaps, as the squallrushed across.
"We've waited too long, Roger, you see!" declared Dick, calmly; "andnow we've got to find some sort of shelter from the storm, on this sideof the river!"
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The notes will be found at the end of the book.
[2] See "The Pioneer Boys of the Ohio."
[3] See "The Pioneer Boys on the Great Lakes."
The Pioneer Boys of the Missouri; or, In the Country of the Sioux Page 4