XXI
The Triumph Of Guy
The boys had hunted the Woodchuck quite regularly since first meetingit. Their programme was much the same--each morning about nine or tenthey would sneak out to the clover field. It was usually Guy who firstdiscovered the old Grizzly, then all would fire a harmless shot, theWoodchuck would scramble into his den and the incident be closed forthe day. This became as much a part of the day's routine as gettingbreakfast, and much more so than the washing of the dishes. Once ortwice the old Grizzly had narrow escapes, but so far he was none theworse, rather the better, being wiser. The boys, on the otherhand, gained nothing, with the possible exception of Guy. Alwaysquick-sighted, his little washed-out optics developed a marvellouskeenness. At first it was as often Yan or Sam who saw the old Grizzly,but later it was always Guy.
One morning Sam approached the game from one point, Guy and Yan fromanother some yards away. "No Woodchuck!" was the first opinion, butsuddenly Guy called "I see him." There in a little hollow fully sixtyyards from his den, and nearly a hundred from the boys, concealed in abunch of clover, Guy saw a patch of gray fur hardly two inches square."That's him, sure."
Yan could not see it at all. Sam saw but doubted. An instant laterthe Woodchuck (for it was he) stood up on his hind legs, raised hischestnut breast above the clover, and settled all doubt.
"By George!" exclaimed Yan in admiration. "_That is great_. Youhave the most wonderful eyes I ever did see. Your name ought to be'Hawkeye'--that should be your name."
"All right," shrilled out Guy enthusiastically. "Will you--willyou, Sam, will you call me Hawkeye? I think you ought to," he addedpleadingly.
"I think so, Sam," said the Second Chief. "He's turned out greatstuff, an' it's regular Injun."
"We'll have to call a Council and settle that. Now let's to business."
"Say, Sapwood, you're so smart, couldn't you go round through thewoods to your side and crawl through the clover so as get between theold Grizzly and his den?" suggested the Head Chief.
"I bet I can, an' I'll bet a dollar--"
"Here, now," said Yan, "Injuns don't have dollars."
"Well, I'll bet my scalp--my black scalp, I mean--against Sam's that Ikill the old Grizzly first."
"Oh, let me do it first--you do it second," said Sam imploringly.
"Errr--yer scared of yer scalp."
"I'll go you," said Sam.
Each of the boys had a piece of black horsehair that he called hisscalp. It was tied with a string to the top of his head--and this waswhat Guy wished to wager.
Yan now interfered: "Quit your squabbling, you Great War Chiefs, an''tend to business. If Woodpecker kills old Grizzly he takes Sapwood'sscalp; if Sappy kills him he takes the Woodpecker's scalp, an' thewinner gets a grand feather, too."
Sam and Yan waited impatiently in the woods while Guy sneaked around.The Woodchuck seemed unusually bold this day. He wandered far from hisden and got out of sight in hollows at times. The boys saw Guy crawlthrough the fence, though the Woodchuck did not. The fact was, that hehad always had the enemy approach him from the other side, and was notwatching eastward.
Guy, flat on his breast, worked his way through the clover. He crawledabout thirty yards and now was between the Woodchuck and his den.Still old Grizzly kept on stuffing himself with clover and watchingtoward the Raften woods. The boys became intensely excited. Guy couldsee them, but not the Woodchuck. They pointed and gesticulated. Guythought that meant "Now shoot." He got up cautiously. The Woodchucksaw him and bounded straight for its den--that is, toward Guy. Guyfired wildly. The arrow went ten feet over the Grizzly's head, and,that "huge, shaking mass of fur" bounding straight at him, struckterror to his soul. He backed up hastily, not knowing where to run. Hewas close to the den.
The Woodchuck chattered his teeth and plunged to get by the boy, eachas scared as could be. Guy gave a leap of terror and fell heavily justas the Woodchuck would have passed under him and home. But the boyweighed nearly 100 pounds, and all that weight came with crushingforce on old Grizzly, knocking the breath out of his body. Guyscrambled to his feet to run for his life, but he saw the Woodchucklying squirming, and plucked up courage enough to give him a coupleof kicks on the nose that settled him. A loud yell from the other twoboys was the first thing that assured Guy of his victory. They camerunning over and found him standing like the hunter in an amateurphotograph, holding his bow in one hand and the big Woodchuck by thetail in the other.
The hunter]
"Now, I guess you fellers will come to me to larn you how to killWoodchucks. Ain't he an old socker? I bet he weighs fifty pounds--yes,near sixty." (It weighed about ten pounds.)
"Good boy! Bully boy! Hooray for the Third War Chief! Hooray for ChiefSapwood!" and Guy had no cause to complain of lack of appreciation onthe part of the others.
He swelled out his chest and looked proud and haughty. "Wished I knewwhere there was some more Woodchucks," he said. "_I_ know how toget them, if the rest don't."
"Well, that should count for a _grand coup_, Sappy."
"Guy gave a leap of terror and fell."]
"You tole me you wuz goin' to call me 'Hawkeye' after this morning."
"We'll have to have a Grand Council to fix that up," replied the HeadChief.
"All right; let's have it this afternoon, will you?"
"All right."
"'Bout four o'clock?"
"Why, yes; any time."
"And you'll fix me up as 'Hawkeye,' and give me a dandy Eagle featherfor killing the Woodchuck, at four o'clock?"
"Yes, sure, only, why do you want it at four o'clock?"
But Guy seemed not to hear, and right away after dinner hedisappeared.
"He's dodging the dishwashing again," suggested the Woodpecker.
"No, he isn't," said the Second Chief. "I believe he's going to bringhis folks to see him in his triumph."
"That's so. Let's chip right in and make it an everlasting oldblowout--kind of a new date in history. You'll hear me lie like sixtyto help him out."
"Good enough. I'm with you. You go and get your folks. I'll go afterold Caleb, and we'll fix it up to call him 'Hawkeye' and give him his_grand coup_ feather all at once."
"'Feard my folks and Caleb wouldn't mix," replied Sam, "but I believefor a splurge like this Guy'd ruther have my folks. You see, Da hasthe mortgage on their place."
So it was agreed Sam was to go for his mother, while Yan was toprepare the Eagle feather and skin the Woodchuck.
It was not "as big as a bear," but it was a very large Woodchuck, andYan was as much elated over the victory as any of them. He still hadan hour or more before four o'clock, and eager to make Guy's triumphas Indian as possible, he cut off all the Woodchuck's claws, thenstrung them on a string, with a peeled and pithed Elder twig an inchlong between each two. Some of the claws were very, very small, butthe intention was there to make a Grizzly-claw necklace.
Guy made for home as fast as he could go. His father hailed him as heneared the garden and evidently had plans of servitude, but Guydarted into the dining-room-living-room-bedroom-kitchen-room, whichconstituted nine-tenths of the house.
"Oh, Maw, you just ought to seen me; you just want to come thisafternoon--I'm the Jim Dandy of the hull Tribe, an they're going tomake me Head Chief. I killed that whaling old Woodchuck that pootynigh killed Paw. They couldn't do a thing without me--them fellers incamp. They tried an' tried more'n a thousand times to get that oldWoodchuck--yes, I bet they tried a million times, an' I just waitedtill they was tired and give up, then I says, 'Now, I'll show youhow.' First I had to point him out. Them fellers is no good to seethings. Then I says, 'Now, Sam and Yan, you fellers stay here, an'just to show how easy it is when you know how, I'll leave all mybosenarrers behind an' go with nothing.' Wall, there they stood an'watched me, an' I s-n-e-a-k-e-d round the fence an' c-r-a-w-l-e-d inthe clover just like an Injun till I got between him an' his hole, andthen I hollers and he come a-snortin' an' a-chatterin' his teeth atme to chaw me up, for he seen I ha
d no stick nor nothin', an' I neverturned a hair; I kep' cool an' waited till jest as he was going tojump for my throat, then I turned and gave him one kick on the snootthat sent him fifty feet in the air, an' when he come down he wasdeader'n Kilsey's hen when she was stuffed with onions. Oh, Maw, I'mjust the bully boy; they can't do nothin' in camp 'thout me. I had tolarn 'em to hunt Deer an' see things--an'--an'--an'--lots o' things,so they are goin' to make me Head Chief of the hull Tribe, an' callme 'Hawkeye,' too; that's the way the Injuns does. It's to be at fouro'clock this afternoon, an' you got to come."
Burns scoffed at the whole thing and told Guy to get to work at thepotatoes, and if he left down the bars so that the Pig got out he'dskin him alive; he would have no such fooling round his place. But MrsBurns calmly informed him that _she_ was going. It was to hermuch like going to see a university degree conferred on her boy.
Since Burns would not assist, the difficulty of the children nowarose. This, however, was soon settled. They should go along. It wastwo hours' toil for the mother to turn the four brown-limbed, nearlynaked, dirty, happy towsle-tops into four little martyrs, befrocked,beribboned, becombed and be-booted. Then they all straggled across thefield, Mrs. Burns carrying the baby in one arm and a pot of jam inthe other. Guy ran ahead to show the way, and four-year-old,three-year-old and two-year-old, hand in hand, formed a diagonal linein the wake of the mother.
They were just a little surprised on getting to camp to find Mrs.Raften and Minnie there in holiday clothes. Marget's first feeling wasresentment, but her second thought was a pleasant one. That "stuck-up"woman, the enemy's wife, should see her boy's triumph, and Mrs. Burnsat once seized on the chance to play society cat.
"How do ye do, Mrs. Raften; hope you're well," she said with a tingeof malicious pleasure and a grand attempt at assuming the leadership.
"Quite well, thank you. We came down to see how the boys were gettingon in camp."
"They've got on very nicely _sense my boy j'ined them_," retortedMrs. Burns, still fencing.
"So I understand; the other two have become very fond of him,"returned Mrs. Raften, seeking to disarm her enemy.
This speech had its effect. Mrs. Burns aimed only to forestall thefoe, but finding to her surprise that the enemy's wife was quitegentle, a truce was made, and by the time Mrs. Raften had petted andpraised the four tow-tops and lauded Guy to the utmost the air oflatent battle was replaced by one of cordiality.
The boys now had everything ready for the grand ceremony. On theCalfskin rug at one end was the Council; Guy, seated on the skin ofthe Woodchuck and nearly hiding it from view, Sam on his left handand Yan with the drum, on his right. In the middle the Council fireblazed. To give air, the teepee cover was raised on the shady side andthe circle of visitors was partly in the teepee and partly out.
The Great War Chief first lighted the peace pipe, puffed for a minute,then blew off the four smokes to the four winds and handed it to theSecond and Third War Chiefs, who did the same.
Little Beaver gave three thumps on the drum for silence, and the GreatWoodpecker rose up:
"Big Chiefs, Little Chiefs, Braves, Warriors, Councillors, Squaws,and Papooses of the Sanger Indians: When our Tribe was at war withthem--them--them--other Injuns--them Birchbarks, we took prisoner oneof their warriors and tortured him to death two or three times, and heshowed such unusual stuff that we took him into our Tribe--"
Loud cries of "How--How--How," led by Yan.
"We gave a sun-dance for his benefit, but he didn't brown--seemed toogreen--so we called him Sapwood. From that time he has fought his wayup from the ranks and got to be Third War Chief--"
"How--How--How."
"The other day the hull Tribe j'ined to attack an' capture a bigGrizzly and was licked bad, when the War Chief Sapwood came to therescue an' settled the owld baste with one kick on the snoot. Deedslike this is touching. A feller that kin kick like that didn't orterbe called Sapwood nor Saphead nor Sapanything. No, sirree! It ain'tright. He's the littlest Warrior among the War Chiefs, but he kin seefarder an' do it oftener an' better than his betters. He kin see rounda corner or through a tree. 'Cept maybe at night, he's the swell seerof the outfit, an' the Council has voted to call him 'Hawkeye.'"
"How--How--How--How--How--"
Here Little Beaver handed the Head War Chief a flat white stick onwhich was written in large letters "Sapwood."
"Here's the name he went by before he was great an' famous, an' thisis the last of it." The Chief put the stick in the fire, saying, "Nowlet us see if you're too green to burn." Little Beaver then handedWoodpecker a fine Eagle feather, red-tufted, and bearing in outlinea man with a Hawk's head and an arrow from his eye. "This here's aswagger Eagle feather for the brave deed he done, and tells about himbeing Hawkeye, too" (the feather was stuck in Guy's hair and the clawnecklace put about his neck amid loud cries of "How--How--" and thumpsof the drum), "and after this, any feller that calls him Sapwood has todouble up and give Hawkeye a free kick."
There was a great chorus of "How--How." Guy tried hard to lookdignified and not grin, but it got beyond him. He was smiling rightacross and half way round. His mother beamed with pride till her eyesgot moist and overflowed.
Every one thought the ceremony was over, but Yan stood up and began:"There is something that has been forgotten, Chiefs, Squaws andPappooses of the Sanger Nation: When we went out after this Grizzly Iwas witness to a bargain between two of the War Chiefs. According to acustom of our Tribe, they bet their scalps, each that he would be theone to kill the Grizzly. The Head Chief Woodpecker was one and Hawkeyewas the other. Hawkeye, you can help yourself to Woodpecker's scalp."
Sam had forgotten about this, but he bowed his head. Guy cut thestring, and holding up the scalp, he uttered a loud, horriblewar-whoop which every one helped with some sort of noise. It was thecrowning event. Mrs. Burns actually wept for joy to see her heroic boyproperly recognized at last.
Then she went over to Sam and said, "Did you bring your folks here tosee my boy get praised?"
Sam nodded and twinkled an eye.
"Well, I don't care who ye are, Raften or no Raften, you got a goodheart, an' it's in the right place. I never did hold with them as says'There ain't no good in a Raften.' I always hold there's some good inevery human. I know your Paw _did_ buy the mortgage on our place,but I never did believe your Maw stole our Geese, _an' I neverwill_, an' next time I hear them runnin' on the Raftens I'll jestopen out an' tell what I know."
The picture on the Teepee Lining, to record Guy'sExploit.]