CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
SUPPING UPON A SKELETON.
Our young travellers had now arrived upon the great buffalo-path.Without halting, they turned their horses to the right, and followed thetrail. It led directly towards the north, and they had no difficulty infollowing it, as the prairie, for a tract of miles in width, was cut upby the hoofs of the animals; and, in some parts, where the ground wassofter and more loamy, the surface presented the appearance of havingbeen turned up by the plough! At other places the hard green turf hadresisted the hoof, but even there the grass was so beaten down, that thetrail was a perfectly plain one. Without troubling themselves about thedirection, therefore, the little party rode briskly forward, full ofhope that they would soon overtake the buffaloes. But their hopes werenot so soon to be realised. These animals had gone upon their annualmigration to the north; and as they were keeping almost continually uponthe run--scarcely stopping to rest or pasture themselves--it would be noeasy matter to come up with them. At night our travellers were obligedto diverge from the trail, in order to get grass for their horses; for,upon a belt of at least four miles in width which the buffaloes hadpassed over, not a blade of grass was left standing.
But another want now began to be felt by the party--one that filled themwith serious apprehensions. At the end of the second day their stock ofdried bear's meat gave out--not an ounce of it was left--and they laydown upon the prairie supperless and hungry. What rendered the prospectstill more disheartening, they were passing through a region entirelydestitute of game--where no animal is ever seen except the buffaloesthemselves, an occasional antelope, or the ever-present prairie-wolf.It was a region essentially _desert_ in its character; although the dryplains were covered with a sward of the famous "buffalo-grass"(_Sesleria dactyloides_), which forms the favourite pasture of thesewild cattle. As for the antelopes, they love these desert solitudes; astheir free open range affords them an opportunity, from their superiorfleetness, of escaping from every enemy. But in these parts they aremore than usually shy; and although several of them were seen on theway, our hunters vainly endeavoured to approach within shooting distanceof them. Wolves they could have shot; but they were not as yet preparedto satisfy their hunger upon the flesh of these filthy, fox-like,creatures. That large troops of wolves had gone forward, hanging afterthe great herd, was evident. Every now and then our hunters saw proofof this, in the clean-picked skeletons of buffaloes that lay along thepath. These they knew were such as had got disabled and separated fromthe drove; for numerous accidents of this kind--owing to the bullsgoring one another, or being enfeebled by age and disease--take placeduring the migration of the vast herds. Were it not so, the wolveswould never think of following them as they do; for a buffalo in goodhealth can scatter a whole pack of these cowardly, skulking jackals.But the average accidents which occur when such numbers of buffaloes aretogether--the prospect of old ones, weak and weary, being separated fromtheir companions--of numbers getting mired upon the banks of some muddyriver, or drowned in crossing it--of cows heavy with calf fallingbehind, or with calves already on the hoof, loitering for the purpose ofsuckling them--the prospect of these chances, combined with the stillmore enticing hope that the buffaloes will be attacked by a party ofIndian hunters, often carries a pack of wolves for hundreds of milesacross the prairie on the heels of a great herd. In fact, some of thesewolves, both of the white and prairie species, seem to have no fixedplace of abode; but hang upon the skirts of the buffalo "gangs"throughout all their extended migrations.
I have said that, upon the second night after leaving the butte, ourtravellers went to sleep supperless. On the third day, they began tofeel the cravings of hunger in good earnest. Neither beast nor birdappeared in sight upon the wild desert plains that stretched inimitablyaround them. About noon, as they were riding through a thicket of thewild sage (_Artemisia tridentata_), a brace of those singular birds,sage-cocks or prairie-grouse (_Tetrao urophasianus_), the largest of allthe grouse family, whirred up before the heads of their horses.Francois, with his ever-ready gun, fired at them, but they were toodistant for the shot; and the next moment both disappeared over theswells of the prairie. The sight only tantalised the unsuccessfulhunters, and added to the hungry craving of appetites already sharpalmost beyond endurance. They felt that there was no chance of gettinganything to eat, before they should come up with the buffaloes. Thatwas their only hope; and they spurred their horses afresh, and rode onas fast as the animals could travel.
Towards night their hunger had increased to a painful degree; and theeyes of all wandered occasionally upon Jeanette and the dog Marengo.They began to contemplate the necessity of sacrificing one or other ofthese animals. It would be a sad alternative--as both the mule and thedog were looked upon more in the light of companions than slaves. Bothhad done good service during the expedition. But for Marengo, Francoismight never have been found; and Jeanette, in addition to havingsatisfactorily accomplished the duty assigned to her, had saved themfrom an encounter with one of the cougars. But all these services mustnow be forgotten, when starvation was the alternative; and ouradventurers began to talk seriously about which of these two faithfulservants should be made the first victim. Neither was fat. Jeanettehad never been so in all her life--at least so long as her presentowners had been acquainted with her--and Marengo had grown gaunt andbony upon this lengthened expedition. Jeanette could not be otherwisethan tough, and Marengo looked anything but tender. So far as that wasconcerned, it might be a toss-up which of them was first "put to theknife."
But other considerations had their weight with the boys. Basil dislikedparting with his hound, that for many years had been a great favourite,and the dog was endeared to all from late circumstances. His conduct atthe time when Francois was lost--his usefulness as a sentinel at many alonely camp-fire--and his valuable services rendered upon otheroccasions, had fixed him firmly in the affections of his young masters;and they would have endured hunger to the utmost extremity rather thansacrifice him. Jeanette, on the other hand, was but a mule--a selfish,wicked, kicking mule. This was true; but to them she had been a usefulanimal, and would not have kicked any one of them, although she wouldhave kicked all the world besides. Still the feeling with whichJeanette was regarded was more a feeling of gratitude than of love. Itwas far different from the sentiment held towards Marengo.
With these considerations passing through the minds of our hungryhunters, it is easy to guess the result of their deliberations. Thesentence was at length pronounced--a unanimous one--_Jeanette must die_!
Poor old Jeanette! She little knew what they were talking about. Shelittle thought that her days were about being numbered--that the timewas nigh when she should carry a pack no more. She little expected thatshe was about to kick up her heels upon the prairie for the last time--that in a few hours her life-blood would be let forth--and her old ribsbe roasting and sputtering over a camp-fire!
Yes, it was decreed that Jeanette should die! but when and where thisterrible tragedy was to take place, was not yet determined upon. Attheir first halting-place, of course; but where was that to be? for,after having resolved upon the death of Jeanette, they travelled on formiles without arriving at any place where it would be possible to haltfor the night! No water appeared, and without water they could not withsafety encamp. Early in the afternoon they had entered upon a strangetract, over which the road of the buffaloes led them. It was a part ofthe prairie--a series of low hills composed of pure gypsum. Theseextended around them, as far as our travellers could see, presenting onall sides a picture of alabaster whiteness. Neither plant, nor tree,nor any sign of vegetable life relieved the monotonous uniformity of thelandscape. Turn to what side they might, their eyes were met by thelime-like surface of hill and dale, dazzling the sight with its milkywhiteness. The sun, reflected upward, pierced their bodies, and parchedthem with thirst. They breathed a hot atmosphere filled with gypsumdust, that by the trampling of the buffalo herd had been reduce
d to animpalpable powder, and floated about suspended in the air. This addedto the agony of their thirst; and it was difficult for them to tellwhether they suffered most from the want of food, or the want of water!
How far might this singular tract extend? They could form no conjectureas to the distance. Lucien had heard that such formations sometimesstretched for many miles. If so, they might never be able to cross it--thirsty and exhausted as both they and the animals were--for, eager tocome up with the buffalo, they had rested but very little during theprevious days. They began to labour under serious apprehensions. Theappetite of thirst became stronger than that of hunger--its cravingsmore difficult to be endured.
Guided by the buffalo-tracks, they rode gloomily on, in the midst of awhite cloud that enveloped them throughout all that fearful journey.They had no difficulty in following the trail. The heavy dust showedwhere the drove had passed; and every here and there great circularhollows showed where the buffaloes had "wallowed." The hope that theseanimals, guided by their usual instincts, had gone in the direction ofwater, to some degree sustained our travellers in their onward struggle.
The shades of evening were closing over the earth, and the alabasterhills were assuming an ashy blue colour, when the little cavalcadeemerged from the dusty ravines of gypsum, and once more trod the greenprairie. The country before them was still rolling, but they kept onalong the well marked trail--their animals stepping more freely, as ifinspired with new hope at the change which had taken place upon thesurface. There was something in the appearance of the landscape aheadthat led to the belief that water was not far distant; and, sure enough,it was not; for, on mounting the crest of a prairie-swell, over whichran the buffalo-trail, a small rivulet was espied in the glen below. Atthe sight, Jeanette, as well as the three horses, pricked up their ears;and, making an effort to trot, were soon at the bottom of the hill, andup to their knees in the water.
It was fortunate for them that it proved a freshwater stream. Had itbeen a salt one--and such are very common in the neighbourhood of thesegypsum formations--they could never have gone farther. They would allhave perished upon its banks.
But it was fresh water--cool and fresh--and our travellers first drankof it, and then bathed themselves in its flood, until they had washedtheir bodies free from the annoying gypsum dust. After this they setabout making some arrangements for their night bivouac.
The copious draughts of water, which all of them had taken, in somemeasure relieved them from the painful sensations of hunger they hadexperienced; and they began to consider whether they might not be ableto give Jeanette a respite--at least until the morning. Whiledeliberating upon this, they noticed that Marengo had strayed away fromthem. They looked around, wondering what had become of him, or where hecould have gone. They espied the hound at some distance up the stream,and apparently engaged with some object upon the bank. They all rantowards him. On arriving near the spot, they perceived that it was theskeleton of a large buffalo with which the dog was engaged. The poorbrute, hungry as he was, could do but little else than lick it; for thewolves had not left as much meat upon it as would have filled thesmallest of his teeth! Even the pieces of torn skin that lay around hadbeen chewed dry by these ravenous animals; and the bones appeared asfree from flesh as if they had been scraped by a knife. Had ananatomist been ordered to prepare the skeleton for a museum, he couldnot have cleaned it more effectually.
It was not very cheering to contemplate this useless skeleton; and theboys were about returning to their camping-place, when the idea occurredto Lucien that the bones might, at least, yield a _soup_. He, ofcourse, communicated this idea to the others, and it was at once agreedthat they should boil them and try. It was quite a happy thought. Nodoubt the bones, which were fresh, and not yet dry, would make anexcellent soup; and all three at once set about preparing to cook it.Francois gathered sage-bushes to kindle a fire with, while Basil gothold of Lucien's little hatchet, and set to work to separate the ribsand joints of the skeleton. Lucien, seeing that there were severalkinds of plants growing on the margin of the rivulet, went down toexamine them--in hopes that he might find the wild onion or theprairie-turnip among them, or perhaps some other root or vegetable thatmight help to enrich their pottage.
While all three were engaged in their separate duties, a loudexclamation from Basil drew the attention of his brothers. It was ashout of joy, followed by a wild laugh, like the laugh of a maniac!
Francois and Lucien looked up in affright--thinking that somethingdisagreeable had happened--for they could not understand why Basilshould be laughing so loudly at such a time, and under such gloomycircumstances.
As they looked at him he still continued to laugh, waving the hatchetaround his head as if in triumph.
"Come here, brothers!" shouted he; "come here! Ha! ha! ha! Here's asupper for three hungry individuals! Ha! ha! ha! What shallow fellowswe are, to be sure! Why, we are as stupid as the donkey that preferredeating the hay with the bread and butter beside him. Look here! andhere! and there! There's a supper for you. Ha! ha! ha!"
Lucien and Francois had now arrived upon the ground; and seeing Basilpoint to the great joints of the buffalo, and turn them over and over,at once understood the cause of his mirth. _These joints were full ofmarrow_!
"Pounds of it," continued Basil; "the very tit-bits of the buffalo--enough to make suppers for a dozen of us; and yet we were going to sleepsupperless, or the next thing to it--going to starve in the midst ofplenty! And we have been travelling among such treasures for three dayspast! Why, we deserve to starve for being so simple. But come,brothers! help me to carry these great joints to the fire--I'll show youhow to cook a supper."
There are eight marrow-bones in the buffalo, containing several poundsof this substance. As Basil had heard from the old hunters, it isesteemed the most delicious part of the animal; and is rarely leftbehind when a buffalo has been killed. The best method of preparing itis by simply _roasting it in the bone_; although the Indians andtrappers often eat it raw. The stomachs of our young hunters were notstrong enough for this; and a couple of the shank-bones were thrown intothe fire, and covered over with red cinders.
In due time the marrow was supposed to be sufficiently _baked_; and thebones having been cracked by Lucien's hatchet, yielded up their savourystore--which all three ate with a great relish. A cup of cool waterwashed it down; and around the camp-fire of the boy hunters thirst andhunger were now contemplated only as things of the past. Jeanette was_respited_, without one dissentient voice.
Our adventurers were surrounded once more with the cheerful atmosphereof hope. There was still enough of marrow in the remaining bones tolast them for two days at the least; for this marrow is a mostnourishing food. Moreover, by following the buffalo-trail, they wouldbe likely to fall in with other skeletons of these animals; and allapprehensions on the score of food now vanished from their minds.Another fact, which the skeleton of the buffalo revealed to them, addedto their joyful anticipations. They had observed on first going up toit--that the _bones were still fresh_! The wolves had not been longgone from it. It could not have been a long time killed. All thisshowed, that the buffaloes themselves had but very recently passed overthe ground, and could not be far distant. These were cheering thoughts;and for a while the young hunters sat around the sage-fire, revolvingthem in their minds, and conversing upon them. Then, having offeredthanks to that Being who had so many times miraculously preserved them,they rolled themselves in their blankets, and, notwithstanding a heavyshower of rain that fell, once more found the solace of a good night'ssleep.