The Desert Home: The Adventures of a Lost Family in the Wilderness

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  THE GREAT ELK.

  "We were stirring by sunrise next morning; and having breakfastedheartily, we packed our wagon and started away from our camp, which wehad named `Camp Antelope.' The stream we called `Bighorn Creek' everafterwards. We arrived at the upper end of the valley about an hourbefore sunset. Here we passed the night. Next day I set forth to findsome path by which we might get down into the bottom. I rode for milesalong the edge of the bluff, but to my surprise I found that on bothsides ran a steep precipice; and I began to fear that the temptingparadise was inaccessible, and had only been created to tantalise us.At length I reached the lower end, where, as you have noticed, theprecipice is much less elevated--on account of the sloping of the upperplain. Here I came upon a path winding gradually down, upon which I sawthe footmarks of animals of various kinds. This was exactly what Iwanted.

  "In this valley we could remain until our cattle were sufficientlyrecruited to face the Desert, while with our rifles we should be able toprocure a sufficient stock of provisions for the journey.

  "I went back for the wagon; but as I had consumed most of the day in myexplorations, it was late when I reached the camp; and we remainedanother night on the same spot, which we named the `Willow Camp.'

  "Next morning, we started early. On arriving at the point where thepath led down, we halted the wagon. Mary and the children remained withit, while Cudjo and I descended into the valley to reconnoitre. Thewoods were quite thick--the trees apparently all bound together by hugevines, that stretched from one to the other like immense serpents.There was a thick undergrowth of cane; but we saw that a trail had beenmade through this by the passage of numerous animals. There were nohuman footmarks to be seen, nor any signs that a human being had everbeen upon the spot.

  "We followed the trail that led us directly to the banks of the stream.It was then very shallow, and a great part of its shingly bed was dry.I saw that this would afford a good road for our wagon, and we kept onup the channel. About three miles from the lower end of the valley, wecame to a place where the forest was more open, and less choked up withunderwood. On the right bank of the stream there was a rising ground,forming a clear space of large extent, with only a tree growing here andthere. This ground sloped gently down to the stream, and was coveredwith beautiful herbage--both grass and flowers. It was a lovely spot;and as we came suddenly out upon it, several animals, frightened by ourapproach, bounded off into the thickets beyond. We stepped for a momentto gaze upon the bright picture. Birds of brilliant wing werefluttering among the many-coloured leaves, singing or screaming, andchasing each other from tree to tree. There were parrots, andparoquets, and orioles, and blue-jays, and beautiful loxias, both of thescarlet and azure-coloured species. There were butterflies, too, withbroad wings mottled all over with the most vivid tints, flapping aboutfrom flower to flower. Many of these were as large as some of thebirds, and far larger than others--for we saw flocks of tinyhumming-birds, not bigger than bees, shooting about like sparkling gems,and balancing themselves over the cups of the open flowers.

  "It was a beautiful scene, indeed; and Cudjo and I at once agreed thatthat was the very place to pitch our camp. At the time, we meant itonly for a _camp_--a spot where we might remain until our animals hadrecruited their strength, and we had collected from the forests aroundprovision enough for the Desert journey. A temporary camp, indeed!That, gentlemen, is ten years ago, and here we are upon the same spot atthis moment! Yes, my friends, this house stands in the middle of thatvery glade I have been describing. You will be surprised, when I tellyou, there was no lake then, nor the appearance of one. That cameafterwards, as you shall hear.

  "What the lake now is was then part of the glade; and its surface, likethe rest, was covered with beautiful vegetation, with, here and there,trees standing alone, or in small clumps, which gave it a most park-likeappearance. In fact, we could not help fancying, that there was somesplendid mansion in the background, to which it belonged--although wesaw that the thick, dark woods surrounded it on all sides.

  "We did not remain longer than was necessary to examine the ground. Weknew that Mary would be anxiously looking for us, so we hastened back toour wagon. In less than three hours from that time, the wagon, with itssnow-white tilt, stood in the centre of the glade, and the ox and horse,loosed from their labour, were eagerly browsing over the rich pasture.The children were playing on the green sward, under the shadow of aspreading magnolia; while Mary, Cudjo, the boys, and myself, wereengaged in various occupations about the ground. The birds flew aroundus, chattering and screaming, to the great delight of our little ones.They came quite close to our encampment, perching upon the nearesttrees; and wondering, no doubt, what strange creatures we were, who hadthus intruded upon their hitherto untenanted domain. I was glad to seethem thus curious about us, as I argued from this that the sight of manwas new to them, and, therefore, we should be in no danger of meetingwith any of our own kind in the valley. It is strange, that, of allothers, man was the animal we most dreaded to meet! Yet, such was thecase; for we knew that any human beings we might fall in with in such aplace would be Indians, and, in all probability, would prove our mostcruel enemies.

  "It was still early in the afternoon, and we determined to do nothingfor the remainder of that day but rest ourselves, as we had allexperienced considerable fatigue in getting far wagon up the stream.Rocks had to be removed, and occasionally a way hewed through the thickbranches. But the difficulty being now over, we felt as though we hadreached a home, and we set about enjoying it Cudjo built a fire, anderected a crane over it, upon which to hang our pots and kettles. Thecrane consisted of two forked sticks driven in to the ground, one oneach side of the fire, with a long pole placed horizontally, and restingupon the forks. This is the usual manner of making the crane amongbackwoods' travellers, who cook their meals in the open air. The tripodcrane, used by gipsies in Europe, is rarely to be seen among thewanderers of the American wilderness.

  "In a short time, our camp-kettle, filled with pure water, was boilingand bubbling to receive the aromatic coffee; and the remainder of theantelope, suspended over the fire, was roasting and sputtering in theblaze. Mary had set out the great chest, covered with a clean whitecloth--for she had washed it the day before; and upon this our tinplates and cups--scoured until they were shining like silver--wereregularly arranged. When all these little preparations had been made,we seated ourselves around the fire, and watched the dainty venison asit became browned and crisped in the blaze. Cudjo had suspended thejoint by a piece of strong cord, so that, by simply whirling it around,it would then continue for some time turning itself, as well as if ithad been upon a patent jack-spit. We were congratulating ourselves onthe fine supper we were likely soon to partake of, when, all at once,our attention was directed to a noise that came out of the woods, nearthe border of the open ground. There was a rustling of leaves, with acracking sound as of dead sticks, broken by the hoofs of some heavyanimal. All our eyes were immediately turned in that direction.Presently we saw the leaves in motion; and the next moment three largeanimals stepped out into the glade, apparently with the intention ofcrossing it.

  "At first sight we thought they were deer--for each of them carried apair of branching antlers--but their great size at once distinguishedthem from any of the deer species we had ever seen. Any one of them wasas large as a Flemish horse; and their huge antlers rising several feetabove their heads, gave them the appearance of being still much larger.On seeing the branched and towering horns, we took them for deer,--andin fact they were so; but far differing from either the red orfallow-deer that are to be met with in parks and forests. They wereelk--the great elk of the Rocky Mountains.

  "On coming out of the timber, they marched forward, one after the other,with a proud step, that showed the confidence they placed in their greatsize and strength--as well as in the pointed weapons which they carriedupon their heads, and which they can use upon an enemy with terribl
eeffect. Their appearance was extremely majestic; and we all admiredthem in silence as they approached, for they came directly towards ourcamp.

  "At length they caught sight of our wagon and fire,--neither of whichobjects, up to this time, they had seen. All at once they halted,tossed up their heads, snorted, and then continued for some moments togaze at us with an expression of wonder.

  "`They will be off now,' I muttered in an undertone to my wife andCudjo. `No doubt they will be off in a moment, and they are entirelyout of reach of my rifle.'

  "I had caught hold of the gun on first seeing them, and held it inreadiness across my knees Harry and Frank had also seized their smallpieces.

  "`What pity, Massa Roff,' said Cudjo, `de big rifle no reach 'em!Golly! de be ebery one fat as 'possum!'

  "I was thinking whether I might not creep a little closer to them, when,to our surprise, the animals, instead of starting off into the woodsagain, came several paces nearer, and again halted, tossing up theirheads with a snort similar to that which they had uttered before. I saythat this astonished all of us, for we had heard that the elk was anexceedingly shy animal. So, too, they are, of any danger to which theyare accustomed; but, like most of the deer and antelope tribe, theircuriosity is greater than their fear; and they will approach any objectwhich may be new to them, and examine it minutely, before running off.I saw that curiosity had brought them so much closer to us; and,thinking they might advance still nearer, I cautioned my companions toremain silent, and without making any stir.

  "The wagon, with its great white tilt, appeared to be the mainattraction to our strange visitors; and, after eyeing it a moment withlooks of wonder, they again moved several paces forward, and stopped asbefore. A third time they advanced towards it, and again made halt.

  "As the wagon was at some distance from where we were sitting by thefire, their movements towards it brought their great sides somewhat intoour view. Their last advance, moreover, had brought the leader withinrange of my rifle. He was much the largest of the three, and Idetermined to wait no longer, but let him have it; so, levelling mypiece at the place which I supposed lay nearest to his heart, I pulledtrigger.

  "`Missed him!' thought I, as the three great animals wheeled in theirtracks, and went away like lightning. What was strange to us, they didnot gallop, as most deer do, but went off in a sort of shambling trot,like a `pacing' horse, and quite as fast as a horse could gallop.

  "The dogs--which, up to this time, Cudjo had been holding by theirnecks--dashed after with yelps and barking. They were all--both elk anddogs--soon lost to our eyes; but for some time we could hear the elkbreaking through the thick cane and bushes, with the dogs yelling inclose pursuit.

  "I thought there would be no chance of the mastiffs coming up with them,and was, therefore, not intending to follow; when, all at once, I heardthe voices of the dogs change from yelping to that of a worrying sound,as though they were engaged in a fierce conflict with one another.

  "`Perhaps I have wounded the animal, and they have overtaken it,' saidI. `Come, Cudjo! let us after and see. Boys, remain to take care ofyour mother.'

  "I laid hold of Harry's rifle, and followed by Cudjo, ran across theglade in the track which both elk and dogs had taken. As we entered thebushes, I saw that their leaves were sprinkled with blood.

  "`No doubt,' said I, `he is wounded, and badly, too. We shall have himyet.'

  "`Dat we shall, Massa!' cried Cudjo; and we ran on as fast as we couldthrough the thick cane-brake, in the track made by the animals. I ranahead of my companion, as Cudjo was rather slow of foot. Every here andthere I saw gouts of blood on the leaves and cane; and, guided by thehoarse voices of the mastiffs, I soon reached the spot where they were.Sure enough the wounded elk was there, down upon his knees, anddefending himself with his antlers; while one of the dogs lay sprawlingon the ground and howling with pain. The other still kept up the fight,endeavouring to seize the elk from behind; but the latter spun round, asthough his knees were upon a pivot, and always presented his hornyspikes in the direction of the attack.

  "I was afraid the elk might get a blow at one of our brave dogs, and putan end to him, so I fired hastily; and, regardless of consequences, ranforward to finish the elk with the butt of the rifle. I struck with allmy might, aiming directly for his head, but in my hurry I missed him;and, carried forward with the force which I had thrown into the blow, Ifell right into the midst of his branching antlers! I dropped my rifle,and seized hold of the points, with the intention of extricating myself;but before I could do so, the elk had risen to his feet, and with apowerful jerk of his head tossed me high into the air. I came down upona thick network of vines and branches; and, my presence of mind stillremaining, I clutched them as I fell, and held on. It was well that Idid so, for directly under me the infuriated animal was bounding frompoint to point, evidently in search of me and wondering where I hadgone. Had I fallen back to the earth, instead of clinging to thebranches, he would no doubt have crushed me to pieces with his powerfulhorns.

  "For some moments I lay quite helpless where I had been flung, watchingwhat was passing below. The mastiff still continued his attack, but wasevidently cowed by the fate of his companion, and only snapped at theelk when he could get round to his flanks. The other dog lay among theweeds howling piteously.

  "At this moment Cudjo appeared in sight, for I had headed him somedistance in my haste. I could see the whites of his great eyes turnedup in wonderment when he perceived the rifle lying upon the groundwithout seeing me. I had barely time to utter a shout of warning, whenthe elk spied him; and lowering his head, rushed upon him with a loudand furious snort.

  "I was filled with fear for my faithful follower and friend. I saw thathe carried a large Indian spear--which he had found at the camp whereour companions had been massacred--but I had no hope of his being ableto ward off the impetuous attack. I saw that he did not even point theweapon to receive the enraged animal, but stood like a statue. `He isparalysed with terror,' thought I; and I expected the next moment to seehim impaled upon the sharp antlers and gored to death. But I had verymuch mistaken my man Cudjo. When the horns were within two feet of hisbreast, he stepped nimbly behind a tree, and the elk passed him with arush. So quick had been the action, that for a moment I thought he hadgone under; but, to my agreeable surprise, the next moment I saw himstart out from the tree, and, making a lounge with the spear, bury itamong the ribs of the animal! No matador in all Spain could haveperformed the feat more cleverly.

  "I shouted with delight as I saw the huge body rolling to the earth;and, dropping down from my perch, I ran toward the spot. On reachingit, I found the elk panting in the throes of death, while Cudjo stoodover his body safe and triumphant.

  "`Bravo!' cried I, `my brave Cudjo, you have ended him in earnest!'

  "`Yes, Massa,' replied Cudjo, coolly, though evidently with some slightsymptoms of triumph in his manner; `yes, Massa Roff, dis black niggurhab gin de gemman a settler under de rib number five. He butt de breathout of poor Cassy no more--poor ole Cassy!' and Cudjo commencedcaressing the dog Castor, which was the one that had suffered most fromthe horns of the elk.

  "We were now joined by Harry, who, hearing the struggle, could remain nolonger in the camp. Fortunately we found his rifle quite safe; andCudjo drawing his knife, let the blood out of the animal in a scientificmanner. From its great weight--not less than a thousand pounds--we sawthat we could not take the whole carcass to camp without yoking eitherthe horse or ox to it, so we resolved to skin and quarter it where itlay. After going back for the necessary implements, as well as toannounce our success, we returned again, and soon finished theoperation. Before the sun had set, nearly a thousand pounds of freshelk-meat were dangling from the trees around our little encampment. Wehad purposely delayed eating until our work should be done; and whileCudjo and I were engaged in hanging up the huge quarters, Mary had beenbusy with the gridiron, and an elk rump-steak--quite equal to the bestbeef--added to the excellence o
f our supper."