CHAPTER XIX
THUNDER-MAKER'S DOWNFALL
During the rest of the journey through the hills and along Trapper'sPass, no further accidents occurred to hinder progress, and once free ofthe hills the trail was level and across a stretch of prairie.
Towards night the Pleasant Valley was reached, and the three travellersdescended to the part of the river known to trappers as the OldCrossing, though it was a ford where no water flowed.
On reaching this camp-ground there were evidences of the recent presenceof strangers. Moreover, these strangers were not travelling in anysecret way, since they had taken no pains to conceal their tracks, andthe ashes of trampled-out fires were still warm.
Mackintosh carefully examined the surroundings, and came to thedecision, from certain signs, that it had been an Indian camp.
"To my mind the best thing for us to do is to rest here for an hour ortwo," the man said.
"I shan't be sorry," said Bob. "We pressed on rather rapidly, and, totell you the truth, I'm rather fagged."
"But what of the others--your father and mine?" questioned Alf. "Theymay need help----"
"Not yet," Mackintosh interrupted. "It's no' possible for them to reachFlood Creek before morning, and the--the ceremony must take place atmoonlight. Oh yes, I ken fine how you are both feeling. You're wantingto be off until you break down with weariness. But that's no' the way todo things in the backwoods. Work until you are out-and-out weary, thenrest, and you'll be able to work again. But to keep on slaving tillyou're worked out--that's nothing but a gowk's game, and can bring nogood."
"I suppose you are right," said Holden slowly.
"Of course I am. Don't you fear, laddie. I'll no' be too late. I knowthe ways o' the Indian, and I know the Dacotahs. Depend upon it, yourfaithers are being kindly treated, as best the redskins know how totreat friends. The Dacotahs are firm in their superstition, but they'rekindly folk all the same."
So the boys resigned themselves to the ruling of their guide, though itwas irksome to be idle when each was longing to be up and doing. And nowthat they were so near to the achievement of their quest, it was evenmore galling to be inactive than it had been when there was distance asan excuse.
It was a dreary place. The valley was deep, and there was a river-bedwhere once--before the memory of living man--water had flowed in a swiftand wide flood, but where now there was nothing but dust. Not a tree waswithin sight. There was hardly any grass. Only a few cacti appeared tothrive on the barren soil. The rest was rocks, sand, and borderingprecipices.
The boys shuddered as they looked around.
"It's a terrible spot," Bob commented, as he viewed the dreary scene."It feels like being in prison."
"There's a well with the finest of cool water about six feet away," wasMackintosh's remark. It was his quiet way of forcing home the truth thatthere is a bright speck in everything, if we only take the trouble tolook for it.
A meal was made from the supplies with which each had been provided, andan hour or two later Haggis turned up with the pack-horse.
It was not considered necessary to pitch the tent that night, as a veryearly start was proposed to be taken at the streak of dawn. So each laydown as he was, with a sand-heap for a pillow, and soon the little campwas fast asleep. They needed no rocking. Sleep came almost with theclosing of eyes.
As morning broke, Mackintosh was the first to waken. He quickly rousedthe others, and a swift "eve-of-battle" meal was served out. Thebusiness being ended, the pack-horse was once more loaded, and thejourney resumed toward Flood Creek, which was now only about five milesdistant.
The Dacotah camp was sighted some way off, and it may be imagined howexcited the lads felt when they found themselves practically at the endof their journey.
But once there, what would be the result?
That was the question that was exercising the minds of both; and whenBob gave it voice, the Scotsman smiled grimly.
"What'll happen? Well, no one can foresee the future, but I can imagineit."
"And what do you imagine?" asked Bob.
"That there will be a pickle o' bother before all comes out right.Superstition is no' that easy baulked; but if we ever have to fight forit, don't think that the ancient Highland blood of the Mackintosh iswater in the veins of the clan."
"I hope it won't come to that," remarked Alf quietly, and the Highlanderrejoined--
"That's my hope too. But there's no telling. We've _got_ to conquer----"
"And conquer we shall!" added Bob, with determination.
On reaching the camp, the rescuers were met by a host of Indians, whowere all filled with curiosity regarding the strangers. The white menlooked around them, but no signs could they see of the captives.
Then Mackintosh recognised a friend in Swift Arrow.
"Ha, Nitchie!" he exclaimed, holding out his hand for the Indian tograsp.
"It is pleasant for the eyes of Swift Arrow to see the Black Bear in thecamp of the Dacotahs," said the redskin as he returned the greeting.
"And it's good for him to look upon the face o a friend," said theScotsman. "I wish to speak with Mighty Hand. Where is he?"
"The chief of the Dacotahs is here," replied a voice from the crowd, andthe great man himself stepped forward.
"H'm. That's good. Saves a deal of seeking when folk come ofthemselves." Then the speaker launched straight into the subject oftheir quest.
"Now then, Mighty Hand, you and me are old friends, and we can talkfreely. You're wondering the noo what has brought us here, and you mayken without palaver. We have come for your captives."
"Captives?" The chief looked puzzled as he repeated the word.
"Ay, captives," emphasised Mackintosh. "Perhaps you don't know themeaning of the word."
"Mighty Hand knows the language of the pale-face. But there are nocaptives in the Dacotah camp."
At this the boys felt their hearts sink. Could it be that, after all,Mackintosh had been mistaken, or that Red Fox had deluded them? Could itbe that they had come too late?
But Mackintosh did not share these doubts. He understood the working ofthe native mind too well.
"That is good," he resumed. "If the Dacotahs have no captives, then thewhite men are free. They will travel back with me to their camp now!"
Instantly a stern change came over the face of the chief, and such ofthe other Indians as understood English began to murmur with ominousdisapproval.
"My white brother speak not wise words," said Mighty Hand firmly. "Thefiery totem call that water-spirits suffer. What the totem call must beanswered. Only great medicine can bid the fire sleep now."
"Idiots! Fools!" exclaimed Mackintosh, for once allowing his irritationto betray him. "Do you think that we are going to allow our own peopleto suffer at the service of a lie? I tell you that we will take thosewhite men from your hands whether you wish it or not!"
The Indian was unmoved by the Scotsman's outburst.
"My white brother speak hot words. It saddens heart of Mighty Hand tosee anger in face of his brother. But he is wrong. The call of thetotem shall be answered when the moon is round--to-night."
How this strain of argument might have progressed it is hard to say, butit was cut short by a cry like that of a wild beast, as Thunder-makersprang through the crowd, dressed in all the hideous regalia of hisprofession.
"Dogs!" he cried furiously. "Do the pale-faces come to insult the greatchief of Dacotahs and say that the fiery totem lie? Ugh! Spit upon them,Mighty Hand! Chase these dogs from the camp!"
Mackintosh had resumed his temper by now, and he turned to greet thenewcomer with a look of feigned amusement.
"Who's this?" he asked pleasantly. "Is it a monkey that Mighty Hand hascaught to please him, or is it maybe a little dancing-bear tricked outin feathers for the braves and warriors to laugh at?"
Thunder-maker well understood the jibe, and he flung himself about withpassion.
"Ma conscience! Don't go making all that noise," was the quiet reproof
."And if you'll take my advice, you'll go home and put on warmerclothes. You've little enough on to keep you cosy when the wind blowschill."
Poor Thunder-maker! He had never been treated with such scant respect.Even the young papooses were putting "tongue in cheek" towards him, andsome of the women could be seen pointing their fingers at hisdiscomfited self.
Blind with passion the Indian threw himself upon the Scotsman. Instantlythe boys had their guns ready to protect their friend. But the nextmoment they could not have pulled a trigger if it had been necessary tosave their lives thereby, for they and the whole concourse of Indianswere shaking themselves with laughter at what was taking place.
What was it?
Well, merely that Thunder-maker had not reckoned with the enormousstrength that was latent in the Scotsman, nor the peculiar sense of hishumour; for, no sooner had the Indian charged, than he found himselfgripped by powerful hands, turned face downwards on a bent knee, andsmacked in good old homely style of punishment, which the medicine man'sscanty attire rendered exceedingly suitable.
Thunder-maker yelled and kicked, but he was held as if in a vice, whilethe slaps rang out in rapid succession and the valley echoed withlaughter.
At last Mackintosh released the delinquent, and the poor man slunk awayamid jeers and laughter. His day was over, and from that hour our whitefriends saw him no more.
When the hum had subsided, Mackintosh once more appealed to the chief,but without success.
"We must obey the totem," was reiterated doggedly, though it was plainthat the chief was sorry to be at enmity with the strangers.
"But how do you know that you are obeying the totem?" questioned Bob,who could remain silent no longer.
At this question Mighty Hand turned to the boy with an indulgent smile.
"White spirits come from waters that are silver when moon round. By thiswe know. But if redmen foolish, totem wise. Totem will not let redmen dowrong. Totem will appear serpent of fire to warn redmen no' lightflames."
"We can do nothing more at present," said Mackintosh, as he turned tothe lads. "We'll pitch our camp over yonder and talk things over."
After the camp was pitched and food partaken, Mackintosh decided to paya visit to Swift Arrow, to see if he could not manage to argue that oldman into a state of reason, so as to support another appeal to MightyHand. It had not been considered advisable to press for an interviewwith the captives, lest they might be too closely watched, and anyfuture attempt at rescue be thus frustrated.
"I'll just go by mysel'," the man explained. "Swift Arrow is an oldfriend o' mine, and no' a bad creature in many ways. Haggis is awaycracking with some o' his friends also. You'll not mind being left alonefor a time? I'll no' be long."
"We don't mind," said Bob. "Anything to see light in this difficulty.We'll be all right."
"Very well. I'll be back as soon as I can, and I'll hope to have goodnews for you."
Left to themselves, the lads did not speak much, for their hearts werevery heavy, knowing that if some plan of rescue was not thought ofwithin a few hours it would be too late.
For a considerable time they were absolutely silent, lying within thetent, surrounded by stores and the various tins and boxes of thenaturalist's outfit.
Then Bob's mind began to wander over all the events that led up to thepresent day, and, in wondering at the blind ignorance that could yieldso much to a mere legend, he recalled the chiefs last words--
"'The totem will not let the redmen do wrong,'" he quoted mentally."Fools! As if a serpent could tell them to do anything in the firstplace! How can any reasoning person be so---- Alf!"
Bob had suddenly sprung to his feet as he uttered the exclamation, andHolden started to look at his friend, as if he had suddenly lost hissenses.
"Why, what's the matter, old man?" he exclaimed. "Have you been asleep?"
"Asleep? No! Never was wider awake in all my life. Why, I've got it.They are saved! They are saved!" And the boy laughed for very joy at thethought.
"What do you mean?" questioned Holden anxiously. It was little wonderthat he believed for the moment that anxiety had brought his chum to afever.
"Mean?" the elder boy echoed. "Simply this--that our fathers shall besaved, and you and I will do it. It's all so simple. We must have beenfools not to think of it before!"
CHAPTER XX
THE FIERY TOTEM
The two men--Arnold and Holden--were sitting alone in the teepee thathad been assigned for their use. Neither was speaking, for the day wasdrawing to a close, and they were almost hopeless of seeing any avenueof escape from the fate that the Indian superstition had ordained forthem.
We said "almost hopeless." Of course it was necessary to make thatproviso, for no one is ever hopeless in extremity, so long as he retainsfaith in Providence. But every scheme that they had planned had beenproved void on consideration. Though free to a certain extent, they werewell watched. Escape was impossible, and their only remaining hope wasthat when they were led forth for the sacrifice they might be able totake advantage of some opportunity to make a last stand for freedom.
"It would not matter so much for ourselves, if it were not for theboys," Arnold said at last. "Their position is too terrible."
"Of course they will be able to find their way back to Edmonton, whenthey see that there is no hope of our returning----"
"_No_ hope?" repeated Arnold. "Don't say that. I don't want to give uphope until the very last moment. Something _may_ turn up, and in anycase I intend to make a good fight for freedom."
"I suppose I do, too, when I think about it," returned Holden, with ashort forced laugh. "We both mean to kick up a bit of a dust when theexciting moment comes----"
"And you may bet it will be exciting for the first redskin who comesagainst my fist. I promised myself to have a go at that skunkThunder-maker, before I make my bow to the world. But for him, I believethis trouble would never have gone so far."
"He certainly did his best to pile it on," agreed the younger man. "Iimagine that he was rather in hot water this morning, for I thought Iheard him yelling. There's no mistaking that harsh voice of his. Andthere were sounds, too, for all the world as if some person weregetting a jolly good spanking. You were dozing at the time, so I didn'tdisturb you. But I know I nearly waked you with laughing at the thoughtof Thunder-maker receiving a good old-fashioned correction."
"It would take more than that to do him good," said Arnold, with afrown. "The man is a cheat and a scoundrel of the worst sort. He showedus what he was worth when he told us, two nights ago, that he had thetribe by the nose. Even now, after telling us that he knew better, Isuppose he's working up the people for to-night's show."
Holden grunted contemptuously.
"He seems bad to the core. In my opinion it has been he who has keptMighty Hand away. The chief was ready to reason, but I expectThunder-maker's boast that he could lead the tribe was a true one."
"The old case of kings being ruled by their subjects," commented Arnold.
After this conversation again flagged. Having little to say of anencouraging nature, the men deemed that silence was best, and each satengrossed with his own thoughts while the daylight waned and theshadows began to creep over the valley that a joking fate had called"Pleasant."
As time went on the Englishmen seemed to become aware of a sort ofdisturbance in the camp. Feet were hurrying here and there, and voiceswere speaking rapidly in low tones. Now and then, as some one passed theteepee, the words "fiery totem" could be heard by those within, sonaturally the Englishmen attributed the excitement to matters relatingto the approaching sacrifice.
But presently the excitement seemed to grow more intense, and the voiceswere raised to a higher pitch.
Unable to restrain curiosity any longer, the men went to look out fromthe door of the teepee, and as they reached the opening a strange sightpresented itself before them.
Gathered in many groups were all the Indians of the tribe, including allthe squaws and papooses, while the ta
ll figure of Mighty Hand could beseen through the gloaming, standing erect upon a hillock at a littledistance to one side.
All had their backs turned towards the Englishmen.
They were facing the towering blackness of a mighty cliff, while with asudden wave of silence they stood doubly transfixed, with eyes directedto one portion of the dark wall, where a sort of light was dimlyglimmering.
What could it be that had such a power to fascinate the whole tribe?
The Englishmen looked in the same direction, but the object seemed to benothing more than an irregular line of light that might have been somereflection caused by the setting sun.
Still all watched in silence.
And, as the darkness deepened so did the light become clear. From anirregular line about ten feet long it seemed to take form gradually,while it undoubtedly intensified in brightness. Clearer and still moreplainly was the outline revealed, until at last--when the sun had quitevanished--there stood out against the black wall the shape of a snake offire, poised in the very act to strike, just as it was outlined on thebreast of Mighty Hand!
Arnold and Holden were astounded at what they surmised to be some freshtrick on the part of Thunder-maker, or some special form of theimpending ceremony. And at the same moment a loud cry broke from thethroats of the watching multitude.
"The fiery totem! The fiery totem!"
Then the Indians fell face downwards to the ground with fear.
Surely such a prodigy had never been seen before?
The sacred totem of the tribe had itself appeared, to warn the Dacotahsthat the fire was not to burn that night; that the two prisoners weremen, not evil spirits.
While the two men were standing watching the prostrate Indians, threefigures crept round an adjacent tent--two of whom then darted forward,while the third followed at more dignified leisure.
"Bob!"
"Alf!"
These were the exclamations that burst from the lips of the captives astwo boys launched themselves forward to receiving arms. Then came thedignified Skipper Mackintosh.
"You are saved, good sirs," he said, without waiting for anintroduction. "My good phosphorus paint and the brains o' these fineladdies has called up the fiery totem. I'm thinking that there will beno sacrifice to superstition the--night, and that you'll a' be on yourway back to Crane Creek the morn."
* * * * *
And when next day the time came for departure, and the fathers and sonshad made their arrangements with the good wishes and help of MightyHand, Swift Arrow, and a host of eager redmen, it was Bob who was firstto notice that Skipper Mackintosh and the half-breed seemed in no hasteto accompany the party.
"Are you not coming with us?" the boy asked.
The Scot smiled and shook his head.
"No. I'm thinking to bide here for a few days, to hunt for yon hawk moththat I told you aboot. Besides, when you're safe out of the way, I meanto have a serious talk with Mighty Hand and his folk. I wouldn't havethem think that yon was a real fiery serpent. That would be idolatry. Wehad to cheat them to save life, but--well, I'll no' leave the Dacotahsuntil I've ceevilised them into believin' that the legend of the fierytotem is false, and that there's better ways o' living than by believin'such gowk's nonsense."
THE END
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH
[Transcriber's Note:
The following corrections and changes were made:
*Passages in italics are indicated by _underscores_.
*Illustrations have been moved closer to the relevant paragraphs.
*In the text version, the footnotes have been moved to the end of therelevant chapter.
*In the html version, the footnotes have been moved to the end of thebook.
*p. 30: Added missing period to end of "I guess the best thing we can dois to turn in"
*p. 64: Added missing hyphen to "Thunder maker" in "Thus speaking,Thunder maker dived a hand"
*p. 218: Added missing period after "returned Holden, with a shortforced laugh"]
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