XXX WITH THE BUFFALO HUNTERS
If the visit of the Sioux had resulted in hostilities, Mr. Perier wouldhave been forced to give up the trip to the Mississippi. As it was, thefact that the only hostile act committed had been against theAssiniboins, and that Waneta and his braves had departed at peace withthe white men, went far to convince the Swiss that his little party wouldhave no trouble with the Indians unless they sought it. Louis did notwholly agree with that idea, but he was young, eager for travel andadventure, and willing to take what seemed a rather remote risk. Hismother was more doubtful, but if the others were going, she did notintend to stay behind. At first Elise had dreaded a new journey intostrange country, but when Mrs. Brabant decided to go, she no longer feltafraid. She did not want to return to Fort Douglas, and she had grownvery fond of Mrs. Brabant.
Already the _bois brules_ of Pembina were growing restless. The coming ofspring had stirred the wild blood in them. They were eager to be up andaway. Those who had not taken service with the Company to go as voyageursto Fort York, neglected their primitive gardening to prepare for thegreat buffalo hunt. They mended harness, repaired old carts by bindingthe broken parts with rawhide, patched hide and canvas tents, cleanedguns, moulded bullets, made stout new moccasins, packed their woodenchests, and overhauled gear of all kinds. The ground around every cabinwas strewn with odds and ends.
On the first day of June Neil arrived full of enthusiasm, and the littleparty was complete. A spot on the open prairie to the southwest of thejunction of the two rivers had been chosen as a gathering place for thehunters. Early in the morning of the appointed day, the people began toleave the settlement. Most of the hunters were taking their entirefamilies along. The clumsy, squeaking, two-wheeled carts, drawn by wiryponies, were crowded with black-haired, dark-skinned women and childrenor piled high with household gear and equipment. Louis' one horse andcart were not enough for the Brabant-Perier party, so he and Walter hadbuilt another vehicle. Neil furnished two ponies, and Louis had tradedhis toboggan and Gray Wolf for a fourth. Askime was to go with him. Hewould not part with the husky dog.
At the women's suggestion, the Brabant, Perier, and Lajimoniere familiesselected a spot a little distance from the main camp. There theyunhitched their ponies, and stretched their tent covers from cart tocart.
"There will be much drinking in the camp to-night," Louis explained toMr. Perier, "to celebrate the beginning of the hunt, and much noise andgaming, and probably fighting. Since we do not wish to take part in allthat, we will camp by ourselves. This is a better place for the women andchildren."
The wisdom of this plan soon became evident. Long before midnight the bigcamp had grown uproarious. When an unusually loud outburst of noise wasfollowed by the sound of shots and frantic yelling, Mr. Perier raisedhimself on his elbow to listen. He was sleeping on the ground underneathone of the carts.
"I'm afraid we have made a mistake," he said anxiously to Walter lyingnext him. "We cannot travel with that wild crew. It will not be safe forthe children."
Louis, on the other side, overheard the words, and hastened to reassurethe Swiss. "You need not fear, M'sieu Perier. They will be all rightafter the liquor is gone. I think they will finish it to-night. Theycannot get more till they return. Our people are seldom quarrelsomeexcept when they have liquor. Once the hunt makes a start, the leaderswill keep good order. The rules are very strict. They are rough and wild,my people, but they are not unkind. Ma'amselle Elise and my littlesisters will be quite safe."
The hilarity continued through most of the night, but before sunrisequiet had descended on the circle of carts and tents. Flasks and kegswere empty, and most of the roisterers were sleeping. They remained incamp all that day. By the time the caravan was in motion the followingmorning, all were sober and more than ordinarily quiet. Some had goodreason to be morose, having gambled away their guns, horses, and cartswhile under the influence of liquor. Several had received knife orgunshot wounds in the quarrels that resulted.
"It is always so that the hunt begins," said the Canadian Lajimoniere,with a shake of his head. "Liquor and gambling, they are the twin cursesof the _bois brule_. Those two things are the cause of most of histroubles."
It was surprising how quickly camp was broken and the long train gotunder way at the cries of "_Marche donc!_" The guide rode ahead. Hishousehold cart, following close behind, bore a flag made of a redhandkerchief attached to a pole. The lowering of that flag was the signalto stop and make camp.
In single file the long line of creaking, jouncing carts stretched faracross the prairie. Where a man had to drive two or more vehicles, hetied one horse to the tail of the cart ahead. Loose ponies for buffalohunting or to replace those in the shafts, ran alongside. Most of the menand some of the women rode horseback or went afoot, while the childrenwere now in, now out of the carts, according to their inclination. Thebright colors of the _bois brules'_ dress, and the red and yellow ochrewith which many of the carts were painted, gave a gay appearance to thecavalcade, but the screeching and groaning of the ungreased axles wasanything but a merry sound. The discordant rasping and squawking torturedElise's ears and set her teeth on edge.
Because they had camped separately, the Brabant-Perier party was at thevery end of the train. Mr. Perier was mounted on one of the four horses,while Walter, Neil, and the two Brabant boys took turns riding another.Most of the time Louis walked beside the front cart or sat on the shafts,one of the other boys accompanying the second. Mrs. Brabant, her twodaughters, Elise, and Max rode in the carts, getting down now and then towalk for a while. The rate of travel was slow, less than twelve milesbeing made the first day. Thereafter the day's march averaged nearlytwenty.
It was with some apprehension that Mr. Perier watched Louis and Neilwheel the two carts into the place assigned them in the circle thatnight. Walter, who had lived longer among the _bois brules_, was lesstroubled. Louis had assured him that everything would be all right, andWalter did not doubt his friend's judgment. Everything, but themosquitoes, was all right, that night and every night that the Brabantsand Periers camped with the hunt. Rough and noisy the hunters and theirfamilies were, but good natured and kindly enough. They shouted, laughed,and sang, fiddled and danced, told stories, played cards and other gamesby the light of their fires, but there was little quarreling and nofighting. Within two hours after sunset, all had settled down for thenight, and the camp lay quiet and sleeping.
The sun rose early those June mornings, but before it appeared above thehorizon, the camp was astir. In an astonishingly short time the train wasin motion again. The route was to the west of the Red River in what isnow North Dakota. There were swampy stretches to cross, still wet enoughto make traveling difficult, then drier ground and better going. On everyside lay flat, open country, broken here and there by small groves orthin lines of trees along the streams. The prairie was green with newgrass, and dotted everywhere with the pink and white and yellow and blueof wild flowers growing singly or in masses. Elise and the Brabant andLajimoniere girls delighted in picking the sweet, pale pink wild rosesand decorating themselves and the carts. Mrs. Brabant warned them to lookout for snakes and Louis armed each with a stout stick. At the warningrattle, Marie Brabant and Reine Lajimoniere would search for the snakeand kill it. But little Jeanne and Elise, who had not grown used toprairie rattlesnakes, ran back to the carts in fright.
Snakes were not plentiful, however. Far more troublesome were themosquitoes that rose in clouds after the sun went down. On still nightsthe buzzing, stinging insects were a continual torment. Smudges werekindled everywhere within the circle of carts, but Elise and Max couldfind little choice between the stinging pests and the choking smoke.
Mr. Perier and Walter marveled at the control the leaders of the huntexercised over the wild crew. The hunters had chosen a chief and severalcaptains, who formed a governing council, and each captain had a numberof men under him to act as guards and police. When the guide lowered hi
sflag, every cart took the place assigned it in the circle, shaftsoutward. The captain and men on duty were responsible for the order andgood behavior, as well as the safety, of the camp.
The rules adopted by the council were much the same on all the hunts.Scouts were sent out each day to look for buffalo, but must not frightenthem. No one was allowed to separate from, or lag behind the main partywithout permission, or to hunt buffalo independently. The most seriousoffences were thievery and fighting with guns or knives. Punishmentsranged from cutting up a man's bridle or saddle, if he had one, todriving the guilty person from camp. Knowing that the penalty would beswift and severe, even the boldest seldom ventured to break the laws.
For several days no buffalo but a few scattered individuals were seen.When the beasts caught scent or sound of the caravan, they were off at anawkward gallop. They seemed to move slowly, but really made good speed.It was Elise's first sight of live buffalo, and she thought them veryugly creatures, with their great shaggy heads and clumsy movements.
Late one afternoon the line of carts wound down the bank of the TurtleRiver to a ford. Long before the rear of the caravan reached the stream,exciting news had been carried back from mouth to mouth.
"There are buffalo ahead," one of the Lajimoniere boys called to Neil,who was driving the first of the Brabant-Perier carts. "A great band hasbeen across the ford, and not long ago, they say."
A great band it must have been. The hunting party had left a plain andwell-trodden trail down the bank, and roiled, muddy water at thecrossing. But no cart-train running wild could have so ravaged thecountry. Far on either side of the ford, the willows and bushes were tornand trampled. From many of the trees the bark was rubbed off or hangingin shreds. The grass was worn away. The mud along the margin was troddenhard by thousands of hoofs. The devastation was fresh.
Would the hunters chase the buffalo that night? Walter hoped so, thoughthe sun was setting when the last cart crossed the ford. The chief of thehunt said no, however. Any attempt to pursue buffalo in the darknesswould probably result merely in frightening them away. Moreover thehorses, even those that had been running loose, were weary from atwenty-mile march. Real buffalo country had been reached. If the huntersmissed this particular band, there would be others.
So camp was made as usual, but the horses were picketed within thecircle, instead of being hobbled and turned loose to feed. Time would besaved by having the mounts handy in the morning. There was another reasonfor keeping close watch of the ponies that night. Where there werebuffalo there were likely to be Indians. South of the Turtle River wasdebatable ground between Sioux and Ojibwa, and the Sioux were notorioushorse thieves.
It was plain that the buffalo were not many miles away. All that nighttheir lowing and bellowing could be heard almost continuously.
"The country must be full of them," Walter whispered to Neil, as they layside by side.
"Aye, it's a big band. There'll be grand sport in the morning," was thesleepy reply.
South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys Page 31