CHAPTER XIV.
ONCE MORE IN THE OLD HOME.
"We can rest a little now, Kit. We are so far away that nobody couldcatch us if they tried. They won't try, any way, I guess. They'llthink we'll go back."
"Didn't the horses do finely, Gaspar! I never rode like that, I guess.Where are we going? What did you mean about saving Wahneenah's life?Where is she?"
"Don't ask so many questions. I've got to think. I've got to thinkvery hard. I'm the man of our family, you know, Sun Maid. Wahneenahand you are my women."
"Oh! indeed!" said the girl, moving a little nearer her foster-brotheron the grassy hillock where they had slipped from their saddles, torest both themselves and the beasts.
"You see: we've all run away."
"Pooh! That's nothing. I've always been running away. Black Partridgesaid I began life that way."
"You're about ten years old, Kit. You're big enough to be gettingwomanly."
"Father Abel said I was. I can sew quite well. If I'm very, very good,I'm to be let stitch a dickey all alone, two threads at a time, forhim. Mercy said so."
"Do you like stitching shirts for that old man?"
"No. I hate it."
"Poor little Sun Maid. You were made to be happy, and do nothing butwhat you like all day long. Well, I'll be a man some day, and build acabin of my own for you and Wahneenah."
"That will be nice. Though I'll be of some use some way, even if Idon't like sewing. Where shall we go when we get rested, boy?"
"To the Fort."
"The--Fort! I thought it was all burned up."
"There is a new one on the same old ground. It is our real home, youknow. We will be refugees. When we meet Wahneenah, we'll go and claimprotection."
"Oh! Gaspar, where is she? I want her terribly. I am afraid somethingwill happen to her."
In his heart the lad was, also, greatly alarmed; but he felt it unwiseto show this. So he answered, airily:
"Oh! she's on, a piece. I pointed her the road, and told her where tomeet us. At the top of the sandhills, this side the Fort."
"The sandhills! That dreadful place. You must be getting a real'brave,' Gaspar boy, if you don't mind going there again. I've heardyou talk--"
"I don't want to talk even now, Kit. But I had to have some spot weboth knew, where we could meet, and we chose that. I expect she'll bethere waiting, and as soon as the horses get cooled a little, and wedo, we'll go on."
"I'm hungry. I wish we had brought something to eat."
"I did. It's here in my blouse. I noticed at the dinner that you didmore serving than eating. There's water yonder, too; in that clump ofbushes must be a spring," and the prairie-wise lad was right.
The supper he produced was an indiscriminate mixture of meats andsweets and, had Kitty not been so really in need of food she wouldhave disdained what she promptly pronounced "a mess." But she ate itand felt rested by it; so that she began to remember things she hadscarcely noticed earlier in the day.
"Gaspar, Wahneenah must have known about this--this money beingoffered for her and other Indians. She had taken everything out of herwigwam. I thought she was terribly grave this morning, and she keptlooking at me all the time. Do you think she knew she was going to runaway as she was?"
"Course. She's known it some days."
"And didn't tell me!"
"She couldn't, because she loves you so. She wouldn't do a thing toput you in danger. So I thought the matter over, and I tell you I'vejust taken the business right out their hands. I was tired, any way.I'm glad we came. I'm almost a man, Kit; and I won't be scolded by anywoman as Mercy has scolded me. And when I found Abel was gettingstingy, too, and claiming our horses for their keep, when they'vereally just kept themselves out on the prairie, or anywhere ithappened, I--"
"Boy, you talk too fast. I--I don't feel as if I was glad. Except whenI remember Other Mother. They were horrid, horrid about her. I hatethem for that, though I love them for other things. I wonder whatMother Mercy will say when we don't come home!"
"She'll have a chance to say a lot of things before we do, I guess.Well, we'll be going. I wouldn't like to miss Wahneenah, and I don'tknow but they close the Fort gates at night."
"Did she ride Chestnut?"
"Course. What a lot of questions you ask!"
The Sun Maid looked into the boy's face. It was too troubled for hercomfort, and she exclaimed:
"Gaspar Keith! There's more to be told than you've told me. What is ityou are keeping back?"
"I--I wonder if you can understand, if I do tell you?"
"I think I can understand a good many things. One is: you are makingme feel very unhappy."
"Well, then, I'm going to take Wahneenah to the Fort, and give her upmyself!"
They had remounted their horses, and were pacing leisurely alongtoward the rendezvous, keeping a sharp lookout for the Indian woman;but at this startling statement the Sun Maid reined up short, anddemanded:
"What--do--you--mean?"
"Just exactly what I say. I'm going to give her up and get the money."
Kitty could not speak; and with a perplexity that was not at allcomfortable to himself, the lad returned her astonished gaze.
"Then--you--are--just--as--mean--as--Mercy--Smith!"
"I am not mean at all! Don't you say it. Don't you understand? Ido--or I thought I did. It's this way. She can't be given up but once,can she? Well, I'll do it, instead of an enemy."
"You--wicked--boy! I can't believe it! I won't! You shall not do it;never!"
"Oh, don't be silly! Of course, I'll not keep the money. I'll give itright back to her. Then she can do what she likes with it--make a nicenew wigwam near the Fort, and she can get lots of skins, or evencanvas, there. Come, let's ride on."
But there was a silence between them for some time, and the schemethat had seemed so brilliant, when it had originated in Gaspar's mind,began to lose something of its glitter under the clear questioninggaze of the Sun Maid.
It was fast falling twilight when they came to the sandhills; andthough, by all reckoning, Wahneenah should have been long awaitingthem there was no sign of the familiar Chestnut or its beloved rider.
"Gaspar, will Wahneenah understand it? Will she believe it is rightfor you to do what is wrong for another to do? Will the soldier menpay you--just a boy, so--the money, real money, for her, anyway?"
Gaspar lost his patience, with which he was not greatly blessed.
"Kit, I wish you wouldn't keep thinking of things. I didn't tell OtherMother, of course. She might--she might not have been pleased. I actedfor the best. That's the way men always have to do."
The argument was not as convincing to the Sun Maid as she herselfwould have liked; but she trusted Gaspar, and tried to put the moneyquestion aside, while she strained her eyes to search the darkeninglandscape for the missing one.
But there was no trace of her anywhere; even though Gaspar dismountedand scanned the sward for fresh tracks, as his Indian friends hadtaught him; and when, at length, he felt compelled to hasten to theFort and seek its shelter for the Sun Maid, his young heart was heavywith foreboding. However, he put the cheerful side of the subjectbefore the little girl, observing:
"It's the very easiest thing in the world for people to make mistakesin meeting this way. What seems a certain point to one person may lookvery different to another. I've noticed that."
"Oh! you have!" commented Kitty. "I think you've noticed almost toomuch, Gaspar. I--I think it's awful lonely out here, and I don'tbelieve Abel would have let anybody hurt Wahneenah, even if Mercywould. And--I want her, I want her!"
"Sun Maid! Are you afraid?"
"No, I am not. Not for myself. But if some of those dreadful whitepeople whom Wahneenah thought were her friends should overtake her ontheir way home, and--and--take her prisoner! I can't have it,--I mustgo back, and search again and again."
"Sing, Kit! If she's anywhere within hearing, she'll come at the soundof your voice. Sing your loudest!"
Obediently, the
Sun Maid lifted her clear voice and sang, at thebeginning with vigor and hope in the notes, but at the end with asorrowful trembling and pathos that made Gaspar's heart ache. So, tostill his own misgivings, he commanded her, also, to be silent.
"It's no use, girlie. She's out of hearing somewhere. Maybe she hasgone to the Fort already. Any way, it's getting very dark, and theclouds are awful heavy. I believe there's a thunder-shower coming, andif it does, it will be a bad one. They always are worse, Mercy says,when they come this time of year. We would better hurry on to shelterourselves. If she isn't there, we can look for her in the morning."
"I like a thunder-storm. I believe it would be fine to go under thatclump of trees yonder and watch it. I have to go to bed so early,always, that I think it is just grand to be up late and out-of-doors,too."
"You are not afraid of anything, Kitty Briscoe! I never saw a girllike you!" cried the lad, reproachfully.
"But you don't know other girls, boy. Maybe they are not afraid,either. I can't help it if I'm not, can I?"
Gaspar laughed. "I guess I'm cross, child, that's all. Of course Iwouldn't want you to be a scared thing. But, let's hurry. The later weget there the more trouble we may have to get in."
"Why--will there be trouble? If there is, let's go home."
"We can't go home. We've run away, you know. Besides, there would bethe same anxiety about Wahneenah. All 's left for us is to go on."
So the Sun Maid settled herself firmly in her saddle and followedTempest's rather reckless pace forward into the darkness. Memory madethe dim road familiar to Gaspar, and soon the garrison lights cameinto sight.
But martial law is strict and the gates had been closed for the night,as the lad had feared. The sentinel on duty did not respond to hisfirst summons with the promptness which the boy desired, so, springingto his feet upon the gelding's back, he shouted, over the stockade:
"Entrance for two citizens of the United States! In the name of itsPresident!"
"Ugh. There is no need for such a noise, pale-face."
These words fell so suddenly upon Gaspar's ears that he nearly tumbledbackward from his perch. He was further amazed to see the Sun Maidleap from her horse, straight through the gloom into the arms of atall Indian who seemed to have risen out of the ground beside them.
In fact, he had merely stepped from a canoe at the foot of the pathand his moccasined feet had made no sound upon the sward as heapproached. He received the girl's eager spring with grave dignity,and immediately replaced her upon the Snowbird's back.
GASPAR AND KITTY REACH THE FORT. _Page 188._]
"Why, Black Partridge! Don't you know me? Aren't you glad to see me?Four years since we said good-by, that day at poor Muck-otey-pokee."
"I remember all things. Why is the Sun Maid here, at this hour?"
Gaspar had recovered himself and now broke into a torrent ofexplanation, which the chief quietly interrupted as soon as he hadgathered the facts of the case.
"But don't you think, dear Feather-man, that our Wahneenah will sooncome?" demanded Kitty, anxiously.
"The gates are open. Let us enter," he answered evasively; and thenovelty of her surroundings so promptly engrossed the girl's mind thatshe forgot to question him further then. Somewhere on the dimlylighted campus a bugle was sounding; and it awakened sleeping memoriesof her earliest childhood. So did the regular "step-step" of soldiersrelieving guard. A new and delightful sense of safety and familiaritythrilled her heart, and she exclaimed, joyfully:
"Oh, Gaspar! it is home! it is home! More than the cabin, more thanOther Mother's tepee, this is home!"
"I hope it will prove so."
"Do you suppose I will find any of the dear white 'mothers' who wereso good to me? Or Bugler Jim, who used to play me to sleep under thetrees in the corner? I wish it wasn't so dark. I wish----"
"It's all new, Kit. They are all strangers. The rest, you know--well,none of them are here. But these will be kind, no doubt. Yet to me,even in this dark, it seems--it seems horrible! It all comes back:that morning when I first rode Tempest. The massacre----"
The tone of his voice startled her, and she begged at once:
"Let us go right away again. I am not afraid of the storm, nor thedarkness, and nothing can harm us if we pray to be taken care of. TheGreat Spirit always hears. Let us go."
"It is too late. It's beginning to rain and that man is ordering us todismount, that he may put the horses in the stables. Jump down."
There were always some refugees at the Fort. Just then there were morethan ordinary; or, if all were not such, there were many passingtravellers, journeying in emigrant trains toward the unsettled west,to make their new homes there, and these used "Uncle Sam's tavern" asan inn of rest and refreshment.
Amid so many, therefore, small attention was paid to the arrival ofthese two young people. They were furnished with a plain supper, inthe main living room of the building which seemed a big and drearyplace, and immediately afterward were dismissed to bed. Kitty wasassigned a cot among the women guests and Gaspar slept in the men'squarters.
But neither had very comfortable thoughts, and the talk of herdormitory neighbors kept the Sun Maid long awake. Here, as in Mercy'scabin, the dominant subject was the reward offered for the capture ofthe Indians, and a fresh fear set her trembling as one indignantmatron exclaimed:
"There's one of those pesky red-skins in this very Fort this night. Hecame with that girl yonder, but I hope he won't be let to get away aseasy. The country is overrun with the Indians, and is no place fordecent white folks. They outnumber us ten to one. That's why I've gotmy husband to sell out. We're on our way back East, to civilization."
"Well, if one's come here to-night, I reckon he'll be taken care of!Massacres are more plenty than money, and some man or other'll makeout to claim the prize. What sort of Indian was he?"
"Oh, like them all. All paint and feather and wickedness. I wishsomebody'd take and hang him to the sally-port, just for an example."
This was too much for loyal Kitty Briscoe. She could no more helpspringing up in defence of her friends than she could help breathing.
"You women must not talk like that! There are good Indians, and theyare the best people in the world. They won't hurt anybody who letsthem alone. That Indian you're talking against is the Black Partridge.He is splendid. He is my very oldest friend, except Gaspar. Hewouldn't hurt a fly, and he'd help everybody needed help. It's thishorrible offer of money for every Indian caught that has set myprecious Other Mother wandering over the country this dark night, andmade Gaspar and me homeless runaways."
There was instant hubbub in the room, and no more desire for sleep onanybody's part until Kitty had been made to tell her story, the storyof her life as she remembered it, over and over again; and whenfinally slumber overtook her, even in the midst of her narrative, herdreams were filled with visions of Wahneenah fleeing and foreverpursued by uniformed soldiers with glistening bayonets, who firedafter her to the merry sound of a bugle and drum.
In the morning she found Gaspar and related her night's experience.He received it gravely, without the sympathy she expected.
"Kit, I don't understand. What you said was true, and right enough forme to say. But it's not like you to be so bold. Yesterday, you weresaucy to the harvest-women and now again to these. Is it because youare growing up so fast, I wonder? All women are not like Other Mother.They might get angry with you, and punish you. If I should go----"
"If what, Gaspar Keith?"
"Kitty, _I can't stay here_. It would kill me. I must get out into theopen. I am going away. Right away. Now. This very hour even. You mustbe brave, and understand."
"Go away? I, too? All right. Only don't look so sober. I don't care. Ipromised to go anywhere you wished and I will. I'm ready."
"But--but--It's only I, my Kit. Not you."
"You would go away, and--leave me here? Just because you don't likeit?"
All the color went out of her fair, round face, and she caught hishead between her ha
nds, and turned it so that she could look into hisdark eyes, which could not bear to look into her own startled andreproachful ones.