South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys
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XXIX THE COMING OF THE SIOUX
Early in May the Perier family said good-bye to their countryfolk whowere returning to Fort Douglas. Some of the Swiss tried to dissuade Mr.Perier from going farther into the interior. Others talked of followinglater if things did not turn out well in the Colony.
A short time after the Swiss left, something happened that threatened toupset all Mr. Perier's plans. A party of men returning from a buffalohunt brought disquieting news. They had met an Ojibwa scout who had toldthem that a large body of Sioux were on the march towards the settlement.Remembering the unfortunate affair at Fort Douglas the summer before, thepeople of Pembina feared the worst. Scouts were sent out to watch for theSioux, guns were overhauled, and bullets moulded.
In the midst of the preparations for defence, two boats arrived from downriver, bringing reenforcements. Rumors of the approach of the Sioux hadreached the Governor, and he had sent a detachment of DeMeurons andvoyageurs to meet the Indians and prevent them from going on to FortDouglas. The Sioux were to be stopped by diplomatic methods if possible.Force was to be used only in case of necessity. With the party wereSergeant Kolbach and the Rev. Mr. West, the man who had befriended thePeriers when their boat was wrecked on Lake Winnipeg. The clergymangreeted Mr. Perier cordially, but Kolbach favored his former guest withthe stiffest and slightest of nods. Walter looked in vain for thered-faced DeMeuron with the sandy beard. Inquiry brought the informationthat Fritz Kolbach was not among the soldiers. Fritz was not in favorwith the Company just then, having been accused of free trading with theAssiniboins, one DeMeuron told Walter.
The relief force arrived on Friday, and Saturday passed without alarm.Sunday morning Mr. West held service at Fort Daer, and the Periers andWalter attended. Just at the close of the service scouts came hurrying inwith word that the Sioux were approaching. Armed men began to gather atthe fort, the plan being to make so strong a showing that the Indianswould not dare attack. The women and children were to stay north of thePembina, where carts and boats were in readiness to carry them to FortDouglas if there should be trouble.
Walter took Elise and Max across the river to join Mrs. Brabant. Then hereturned to Fort Daer where he found Louis just arrived. The MacKays hadgone to Kildonan with other colonists who had wintered at Pembina. InJune Neil was to return to go south with his friends.
"They are in sight," shouted a man who was watching from the roof of oneof the buildings.
The fort gates stood open, for the Company officers intended to maintaina friendly attitude as long as possible. With others, Louis and Walterran out to watch the coming of the Indians. There they were, a band ofmounted men approaching across the prairie from the south. Walter's heartbeat fast, but he was surprised to find that he was excited and eagerrather than frightened.
"There are no _travois_, only mounted men, no women," St. Antoineremarked. "That looks bad. Yet they come openly, in the daytime. Theyraise no war cry. But we cannot tell. The Dakota are treacherous." Heused the name by which the Indians of the prairies calledthemselves--Dakota. It was their enemies, the Ojibwa, who named themSioux.
The Indians came on at an easy pace until they were a few hundred yardsfrom the fort. There they halted, as if waiting to see how they were tobe received. A small group of white men, among them Mr. West, went out onfoot to meet the strangers. Suddenly, out from the fort gate darted aslender, bronze figure, a young Indian stripped naked and withoutweapons. Straight towards the Sioux he ran full speed.
"He has gone crazy," gasped Walter. "They will kill him." He knew thefellow, an Ojibwa hunter who had recently brought his furs to the post.
"He does it to prove his courage, to show that he is not afraid of theSioux," explained Louis. "But what use is it to a man to be called brave,after he is dead?"
As the young Indian drew near the enemies of his people, Walter held hisbreath, expecting every moment that a shower of musket balls or a cloudof arrows would put an end to the rash Ojibwa. But nothing happened.Whether from admiration for his reckless bravery or because they scornedto kill an enemy so easily, the Sioux let him come on uninjured. When hewas almost up to them he paused, stood still for a moment, then turnedand walked back towards the white men.
How would the party from Fort Daer be received? Was it to be peace orwar? In silence, every nerve tense, the watchers waited to learn. Thewhite men drew closer and closer, without pause or hesitation. TheIndians were dismounting. The two parties were mingling. They were comingtowards the fort, together. Only a few of the Sioux remained behind towatch the horses. Walter drew a long breath.
The Sioux were conducted straight to the open gates. They were to betreated as guests. This was Walter's first glimpse of Sioux. He looked onwith keen interest as they were ushered into the fort. They were manlylooking fellows, these Dakotas. Most of them were rather tall, tallerthan the majority of the _bois brules_. They were straight and slender,lithe and wiry rather than muscular in appearance. Their faces wereintelligent for the most part, strong featured, and with a look of prideand fierceness very different from the stupid expression of the Crees hehad seen at Fort York. All wore fringed leggings and moccasins. Thebodies of some were bare to the waist, while others were clothed inshirts of deerskin or calico, or wrapped in blankets or buffalo robes.Their black hair, adorned with feathers, hung in braids over theirshoulders. Every face and bare body was hideous with paint, in streaks,patches, spots, circles, and zigzags, the favorite colors being red,yellow, and black. They were all tricked out in their best finery,beadwork, quill embroidery, necklaces of animals' teeth or birds' claws,and trinkets bought from the traders.
The Sioux proved restless and uncomfortable visitors. They pried intoevery corner of the fort. They appeared to be suspicious and acted as ifthey were looking for trouble. The Company officers fed them and treatedthem to tea, tobacco, and some liquor. That was a dangerous thing to do,Walter thought, to give them liquor, for all were armed with guns, bows,knives, or tomahawks. But the refusal to give them drink might have beentaken as an insult. The Chief insisted on crossing the river to theCompany fort, and the trader in charge thought it best to let him go. Buthe managed things so that only a few of Chief Waneta's followersaccompanied him. As soon as possible they were conducted back to FortDaer.
All the rest of that day the Sioux lingered at Fort Daer. When night camethey showed no intention of leaving. They had brought nothing to trade,but they expected all sorts of gifts. Most of the _bois brules_ had goneback to their families, but Mr. Perier and Walter were allowed to remainat the fort with Mr. West. It was a night of anxiety and alarms. Drinkhad made the savage guests touchy and quarrelsome. Several times shotswere fired in threat or sport, but luckily no one was hurt. The arrivalof three Assiniboins, who said they had come to smoke the peace pipe withtheir ancient enemies, did not help matters any.
About eleven o'clock shouts and war whoops from outside the walls rousedeveryone. Thinking that the attack had begun, Mr. Perier and Walterrushed out of the house where they had withdrawn to keep out of the wayof quarrelsome Indians. They found that the Sioux, instead of attacking,were leaving the fort in haste. There had been a fight between a Dakotaand an Assiniboin. The Dakota had shot the Assiniboin and scalped him,the fallen man's two companions had fled, and some of the Sioux hadstarted in pursuit.
Chief Waneta had been overbearing and truculent enough himself, but heapparently did not want a general fight. Waneta was no fool. He probablyrealized that the white men and _bois brules_ of Pembina were too strongfor him in numbers and too well prepared for trouble. With unexpectedpromptness he gathered his followers together, and started for home.Before midnight the whole band had disappeared in the darkness, ridingsouth.