CHAPTER IV.
ANNETTE'S LOVER IN DANGER.
When Annette parted from Captain Stephens and his companions, shereturned homeward through a region of the prairie over which lay notrail. She approached her cottage with noiseless tread; but the quickeyes of Julie saw her coming, and she stole forth like a kitten.
"Welcome mademoiselle;--is he safe?"
"Oui Julie. He is now--they are now--in Fort Pitt."
"Bon, Bon! To-morrow all the warriors upon the plain and all theBreeds arise; and your father leads them. Oh, such throngs as camearound our house since you went away mademoiselle, beating drums,dancing in the ring, and singing chansons de guerre. And, Omademoiselle, there was among the Crees one chief, so tall, and sonoble-looking; and he will some day come back again to, to--see me."She squirmed very gently, and poised upon one dainty foot, till herpretty hip curved outward; and she pecked at her little forefingerwith her rosy mouth as she made this pretty speech: "I think I likethe chief so much mademoiselle; I know he is brave, and I do notthink that he is altogether un sauvage."
"Oh! has my little Julie lost her heart? I hope your chief has lefta little for me."
"I like mon chef, a good deal, but I love mademoiselle better thananybody in the world;" and the sweet, round, dimpled little maidenput her smooth arms closely and tenderly about the neck of hermistress.
"But how came about this sudden captivation of heart?" They were nowin Annette's sweet tasty bed chamber, fresh and cool with the nightair, and delicately fragrant with the breath of prairie flowers.
"You will not wonder when I tell you mademoiselle. You know I wentaway, shortly after the arrival of the warriors, to the little grayfountain. I sat here listening to the gurgle of the water, for myheart was sad, and filled with troublesome forebodings about you, andyour deliverer 'Ah, I said, before ma maitresse fell into the freshetriver, she wanted no stranger's love but mine. Now he who deliveredher from death below the Chute, has crept into her heart; and she maythink no more of her fond, and faithful Julie."
"What an absurd, sweet, little creature it is," murmured Annette.
"There I sat, dabbling my fingers in the babbling water when I saw astraight, tall, handsome man approaching me. He walked direct to thefountain and lifting his cap said:
"'Pardonnez, ma chere Julie.' His large eyes were very bright, butthe light shining in them was a great tenderness.
"I did not know what to reply, but I rose to go, saying.
"'Monsieur le chef will excuse me. It is late; and I must return.'
"He folded his arms across his breast, and turned so that themoonlight shone full upon his face.
"'Does not the sweet Julie remember?'
"I looked at him in astonishment, but could not see any familiarlikeness in his face."
"'Does little Julie remember many years ago? Wild men stole her awayfrom her home, and a Cree chief rode to the village of the robbers,and smote them in their tents. Then he took upon his saddle a littlegirl with skin like the peach, and lips like the rose in bud. Hecarried her to his home upon the banks of the Saskatchewan, and shelived two years in his tent. During the summer days she played amongthe flowers, or hooked gold-fish in the river. She had a companionwho was ever at her side, the chief's son, whom the people calledLittle Poplar. He loved the maiden, and when they took her away toher home upon the far prairie, he mourned by day and by night, andvowed that he would leave no house or wigwam unsearched till he sawhis maid again. To-night as he came to this cottage he saw the facethat he has sought in vain for so many years. He now stands beforethe maiden of his heart. Sweet, ma Julie, do you forget your littleboy lover of the sunny Saskatchewan?'
"Ah, my mistress, what could I say when it all came back so plain,and told in his rich, deep, musical voice? I do not know whether itwas wrong or no; but without speaking any word to my beautiful chiefI went up to him and laid my head against his breast. And he kissedme, and kissed me again, and stroked my hair; and whispered in my earthat when the war was over he would come and wed me, and fetch mewherever my heart desired. But I said that I would not live apartfrom you; that I had consecrated my life to the service of my sweetmistress.
"'I have seen her,' he replied. 'Her face is beautiful and good;'and then, mademoiselle, the silly chief said a great big untruth, butI know he only did so because he loves me so much. He declared, mabelle mademoiselle, that I was just as pretty as my mistress."
"Your beauty is only equalled by your naivete;" Annette exclaimed,fondly brushing back a stray lock from the forehead of the littlemaid.
"I have no doubt that your chief is good, brave, and handsome; buthe should be all these in a high degree before he is worthy to getsuch a girl as yourself, ma Julie. Now, away to your bed, and sleepof your lover. I go, too, for I am tired."
With the morrow's sun all the neutral tribes were astir and mixingtheir paint; and long before Annette or her little maid had risen,Colonel Marton had saddled his horse, and ridden towards therendez-vous at Burnt Hills.
The bright, windless day passed over the prairie, and wheneverAnnette spoke of the bravery of Captain Stephens, Julie would tellsome praises of the chief with the graceful loins and the greatluminous eye.
"Your lover has said that he would come to see you, Julie, but, ahme, in these troublesome times Captain Stephens can no more return toour cottage. Do you know, my little friend, that I cannot bear beingcooped up here during all this strife and tumult, when brave men anddefenceless women are at the mercy of savages and ill-advised men ofour own class. There have been evil and oppressive doings bygovernment and its agents, but I do not think that Monsieur Riel andmy father have taken the prudent course to remove the wrongs. It willnot be fair or honorable war; for when the savage and cruel instinctsof the red men are once aroused, they will treat the innocent likethe guilty, and neither woman nor child will be safe from theirhorrible vengeance. Therefore, Annette, I have made up my mind to goforth tomorrow in my Indian-boy disguise.
"I shall not betray my people or bur friends, but I shall pass fromone force to the other, and whenever I can warn the loyal troops, orapprise their people of danger, I shall do it. You Julie I shallleave in the care of my aunt at the Portage; for it is not safe foryou, it would not be safe for you and me together, to remain in thisdeserted cottage alone during these looting and lawless times."
The two maidens were now alone, save for the presence of a Creedrudge; for Paul had mounted a pony and followed his father, withpistols in his holster-pipes, and a large bowie knife stuck into hisbelt.
So as evening drew on Annette had packed, in little, portableparcels all the valuables about the house; and when she sat down tosupper with Julie at her side, she said that everything was nowready, and that they needed but to get into the saddle in themorning. Little did these two girls know, as they sat quietly eatingtheir supper, that there was at this very moment a band of paintedenemies hurrying across the dim prairie toward their cottage!Everything was perfectly still in the house, and the tick-tack of theclock smote the silence. The heart of each girl was far away, and theeyes of both were on the white, sweet floor.
Annette was the first to raise her eyes, and a short cry of terrorburst from her lips. For there in the entrance of the little dining-roomstood the tall, straight figure of an Indian chief. The cry broughtJulie to her senses, and she too looked up: but she gave no cry; theblood came surging into her sweet head till her cheeks, and her smooththroat, and her little shell-like ears, became the color of a blowncarnation.
"Little Poplar," she exclaimed. "Mademoiselle," turning toward hermistress, "it is about him that I have told you;" and the daintymaiden crept softly as a kitten over to the side of the handsomechief. He smiled, stooped, and touched her forehead with his lips.Then he rose to the height of his splendid stature again, and tookoff his cap.
"There is danger to mademoiselle and to ma Julie. Just now a band ofpainted Crees with Tall Elk and Jean, Le Grand Chef's man, at theirhead are coming to make you prisoners. Follow
me instantly."
In a few moments the two girls were gliding swiftly from the housetoward the corral where their horses stood tethered, the chiefbearing the little packages of valuables in his arms. There was notime to be lost, and as the trio rode away from the corral, theneighing of the enemies' ponies close at hand burst in a wild showerupon their ears.
"Follow me," whispered the chief, and as he rode around the shoulderof the gloomy hill, the cries of the disappointed Indians were borneupon the night. When they reached the level prairie the chief reinedin his horse, and the three paced along side by side.
"How can we thank the brave chief enough for his care and help,"Annette said in the heartiest tones of her sweet voice.
"I was passing through the village of Tall Elk at the set of sun,and heard the great chief's man, Jean, say, 'It will be a good catchto-night for master and man, won't it? I take Julie; Le Grand Chefgets the other.' I then enquired of Tall Elk, and he told me of theirplans. The house was to be surrounded before moonrise; mademoisellewas to be seized and taken away to the hut of the hag Jubal, andJulie was to be borne to the cabin of Jean's mother." As he spokethese words a terrible light gleamed in his eyes, and he muttered,
"Had this man. Jean, succeeded I should have hunted him down andtaken out his heart."
When they were far beyond the enemy's reach, Annette said,
"Will the chef ride to yonder cottonwood and wait there until hisJulie and myself have put on apparel more suited to our presentinclinations?" Tall Poplar rode away; but when he joined the maidensagain a great look of dismay came into his eyes.
"Where are--" but before he ended the words, the truth flashedacross him, and he burst out in a tone of mirth and approval: "Brava,brava: there is not a man in all the plains that can name these twoIndian boys."
Annette remained during the balance of the night with her aunt; butshe arose before the dew was dry, and with the other lad at her side,for Julie would not remain behind her mistress, was off at a briskcanter towards Fort Pitt. The news which she had heard lent speed toAnnette. From far and near the Crees had come to enroll themselvesunder the banner of the blood-thirsty chief, Big Bear; and themurderous hordes were at that very moment, she knew, menacing thepoorly garrisoned fort with rifle, hatchet and fire.
All over the territory, I may say, the Indians had now begun to singand dance, and to brandish their tomahawks. Their way of livingduring late years has been altogether too slow, too dead-and-alive,too unlike the ways of their ancestors, when once at least in eachyear, every warrior returned to his lodge with scalp locks danglingat his belt.
Les Gros Ventres for the time, forgot their corporosity, and beganto dance and howl, and declare that they would fight till all theirblood was spilt with M. Riel, or his adjutant M. Marton.
The Blackfeet began to hold pow-wows, and tell their squaws thatthere would soon be good feasts. For many a day they had been castingcovetous eyes upon the fat cattle of their white neighbours. Alongtoo, came the feeble remnant of the once agile Salteaux, inquiring ifit was to be war; and if so, would there be big feasts?
"Oh, big feasts, big feasts," was the reply. "Plenty fat cattle inthe corrals; and heaps of, mange in the store." So the Salteaux werehappy, and, somewhat in their old fashion, went vaulting homewards.
Tidings of fight, and feast, and turmoil reached the Crees, and theysallied out from the tents, while the large-eyed squaws sat silent,marvelling what was to come of it all.
High into the air the Nez Perce thrust his nostril; for he had gotscent of the battle from afar. And last, but not least, came theremnant of that tribe whose chief had shot Custer in the Black Hills.The Sioux only required to be shown where the enemy lay; but in hisenthusiasm he did not lose sight of the fat cattle grazing upon theprairies.
But we return for a time to Captain Stephens and his party. Whentheir deliverer, the Indian boy, departed, they rode along the bankof the Saskatchewan, according to the lad's instructions, and in halfan hour were in sight of Pitt. Inspector Dicken was glad enough toreceive this addition to his little assistance; and informed CaptainStephens that he had resolved to fight it out against the forcesmenacing him.
"What is the number of the enemy?" enquired Stephens.
"About a hundred armed braves I should judge," Inspector Dickenreplied. "Big Bear accompanied by a dozen wives came under thestockade this morning, and invited me to have a talk. With thecoolest effrontery he informed me that if I would leave the fort,surrender my arms, and accompany him, with my men, into his wigwams,that he would give me a guarantee against all harm. If I refusedthese terms, he said he would first let his young men amusethemselves by a couple of days' firing at our forces; and thatafterwards he would burn the Fort and put the inmates to death.
"I expostulated with the greasy, swaggering ruffian, but he onlyswore, and reiterated his threats. Then I told him to be gone for aninsolent savage, and that if I found him prowling about the Fortagain, I should send my men to take charge of him. Thereat his squawsbegan to jeer, and cut capers; and squatting upon the sod in a rowthey made mouths, and poked their fingers at me. Then they aroseyelling and waving their arms, and followed the savage. It appearsthat after the chief left me, he went to the people of our town andproposed the same terms; for an hour later, to my horror, I saw thechief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, his wife and daughters, andseveral others following the Indian to his wigwams. Had these peopleput themselves under our protection, and the men aided us in defence,we might have laughed defiance at the five score of the enemy whothreaten."
"But," returned Stephens, "I fear that you do not count at its fullthe force preparing itself to attack. From all I can gather a hundredor so of Plain Crees will come here to-day under Tall Elk; while thetotal strength of the Stonies, who will rise at Big Bear's call,cannot be less than five hundred."
Inspector Dicken looked grave; but he was a brave man and busiedhimself in making preparations. The total number of his force,including mounted police and civilians was 24; and each man had aWinchester and about twenty rounds of ammunition.
"Two of my scouts are abroad," he said, "reconnoitering; they shouldbe here by this time." While he was yet speaking a storm of yellingcame from the wigwams of Big Bear, and three or four score of braveswere seen pouring from their tents, like bees bundling out of a hive.Each one had a gun in his hand, and a hatchet in his belt. The causeof this sudden commotion was soon apparent: about half a miledistant, two police scouts were riding leisurely along the plaintowards the Fort, and evidently not suspecting the danger whichmenaced them. They advanced to a point about two hundred yards fromthe stockades; then a yell went up from a body of prostrate savages,and immediately half a hundred rifles were discharged. One of the menfell from his horse, dead, upon the prairie; but the other rodethrough the storm of lead to the Fort, and entered struck by half adozen bullets.
"The devils have begun!" muttered the Inspector, and he quiveredfrom head to foot, but not with fear.
The first taste of blood set the savages in a high state ofexultation. They gathered yelling and dancing, and flashing theirweapons in the sun around the door of the chief. Big Bear pulled offhis feathered cap and threw it several times in the air. Then turningto his wives he told them to make ready for a White Dog feast; and hebade his braves go and fetch the animals.
So a large fire was built upon the prairie, a short distance fromthe chief's lodge, and the huge festival pot was suspended from acrane over the roaring flames. First, about fifteen gallons of waterwere put in; then Big Bear's wives, some of whom were old andwrinkled, others being lithe as fawns, plump and bright-eyed, busiedthemselves gathering herbs.
Some digged deep into the marsh for "bog-bane," others searchedamong the knotted roots for the little nut-like tuber that clings tothe root of the flag, while a few brought to the pot wild parsnips,and the dried stalks of the prairie parsley. A coy little maiden whommany a hunter wooed, but failed to win, had in her sweet little brownhands a tangle of wintergreen vines, and maiden-h
air.
Then came striding along the young hunters with the dogs. Each dogselected for the feast was white as the driven snow. If a black hair,or a blue hair, or a brown hair was discovered anywhere upon his bodyhe was taken away; but if he were _sans reproche_ he was put into thepot just as he was, with head, and hide, and paws, and tail, his throatsimply having been cut.
Six dogs were thrown in, and the roots and stalks of the prairieplants, together with salt, and bunches of the wild pepper-plant, andof swamp mustard, were added for seasoning. Through the reservesround about for many miles swarthy heralds proclaimed that the greatChief Big Bear was giving a White Dog feast to his braves beforesummoning them to the war-path. The feast was, in Indian experience,a magnificent one, and before the young men departed they swore toBig Bear that they returned only for their war-paint and arms, andthat before the set of the next sun they would be back at his side.
True to their word the Indians came, hideous in their yellow paint.If you stood to leeward of them upon the plain a mile away you couldclearly get the raw, earthy smell of the ochre from their hands andfaces. Some had black bars streaked across their cheeks, and hideouscrimson circles about their eyes. Some, likewise, had stars inpipe-clay painted upon the forehead, and others were diabolical in thefigures of horrid beasts, painted with savage skill upon their nakedbreasts.
The beleaguered could notice all these preparations with theirglasses; and the men spoke to each other in low tones. Savages seemedto be gathering from all points of the compass, and massing upon theplateau round about the camps of the Cree Chief. But several bandswere stationed around the Fort, in such a manner as to cut offretreat from the stockades should escape be attempted.
Close to the fort was the shining, yellow Saskatchewan; and formiles, with a glass, you could see the bright coils of its leisurelywaters, as that proud river pierced its way through the great stretchof plain till it became lost in the haze of the distance.
"If you were only upon the river in yonder flat boat," said CaptainStephens, "you might drop quietly down to Battleford. Thereinforcement would come quite opportunely to Morrison."
"I do not care to leave here without giving the rebels a little ofour lead," the Inspector replied. "But even though I desired to doso, now, the thing as you see is impossible."
Night fell, and when it came there was not a star in the sky. Aheavy mass of indigo-coloured cloud had risen before the set of sun,in the south east, and crept slowly over the whole heavens, wideningits dark arms as it came. So when night fell there was not a point oflight to be seen anywhere in the heavens.
"It would seem," murmured one, "as if God were going to aid thesavages with His darkness."
Shortly after dark the wind began to wail like a tortured spiritalong the plain; and in the lull between the blasts the cry ofstrange night-birds could be heard coining from each little thicketof white oak or cottonwood.
Louder and louder grew the screaming of the tempest, and it shriekedthrough the ribs of the stockade, like a Titan blowing through theteeth of a giant comb.
Inspector Dicken, with Captain Stephens at his side, was standing atthe edge of the stockade. Not a sound came from the plateau, and nota glimmer of light appeared in the darkness. Then the great, wide,black night suddenly opened its jaws and launched forth an avalancheof blinding, white light. The two men bounded in their places; thencame a roll of mighty thunder, as if it were moving on tremendouswheels and destroying all the heavens.
No enemy yet!
But the besieged had hardly breathed their breath of relief, beforethere arose upon the dark air, a din of sound so diabolical that youmight believe the gates of hell had suddenly been thrown open. Fromevery point around the fort went up a chorus of murderous yells, andthen came the irregular flash and crack from rifles.
The Inspector ran hastily back among his men:
"Don't waste your ammunition," he said, "in the dark. Part of theirplan is to burn the fort. Wait till they fire the torches, and thenblaze at them in their own light."
Every man clenched his rifle, and the eyes of the brave bandglimmered in the dark.
Crack! crack! crack! went the rifles of the savages, and now andagain a sound, half like a snarl, and half like a sigh, went trailingover the fort. It was from the Indians' bullets.
"Keep close, my men," shouted the Inspector; "down upon your faces."
Drawn off their guard by the silence of the besieged, the enemybecame more reckless, and lighting flambeaux of birch-bark, theybegan to wave them above their heads. The spluttering glare showedscores of savages, busy loading and discharging their rifles.
"Now, my men; ready! There, have at them." Crack, crack, crack, wentthe rifles, and in the blaze of the torches several of the enemy wereseen writhing about the plain in their agony. Together with theexultant whoop, came cries of pain and rage; and perceiving themistake that they had made, in exposing themselves to the guns of thegarrison, the savages threw down their torches and fled for cover.
The conduct of some of the savages who received slight wounds wasexceedingly ludicrous. One who had been shot, _in running away,_began to yell in the most pitiable way; and he ran about the plain inthe glare of the light kicking up his heels and grabbing at thewounded spot.
Thereafter the enemy's firing was more desultory, but it was kept upfor several hours, during which not a rifle flash came from the Fort.Then there arose the sharp yelp of a wolf through the night, andinstantly the firing ceased. Not a sound could be heard anywhere,save the uneasy crying, and the occasional howls of the wind.
"The attack is to commence in right earnest now," Stephens whisperedto Mr. Dicken; but in what shape the hovering assault was to comewould be hard to guess.
They were not to be kept long in suspense, however. The pandemoniumcry again went suddenly through the night and the storm; and anassault of axes was heard against the stockades.
"That is their game is it?" muttered the Inspector. "Now then, mylads, get your muzzles ready;" for the Indians had lighted a coupleof torches for the benefit of those engaged chopping.
"Fire carefully, picking them off singly. Off you go!" Away went therifles, and three more savages sprawled in the light of the torches.But others came into their places and chopped, and hacked, and smotelike fiends, yelling, jumping, and frequently brandishing their axesabove their heads; their eyes all the while gleaming with the verylight of hell!
"Pick away at them boys," cried the inspector; "they must not beallowed to get through." But the men needed no urging; each oneloaded nimbly, fired with deliberation, and hit his man. This part ofthe contest continued for fully ten minutes, but sturdy as were theposts, it was plain that they must soon give way. Sometimes, it istrue, the savages would draw rearward from their work, terrified atthe heap of dead and wounded now accumulating about them; but it wasonly to return, as the waves that fall from the beach on the sea-shorecome back to strike, with added fury. Meanwhile a number oflights had begun to appear upon the plateau, and the Inspector,turning to Captain Stephens said in a low grave voice:
"It cannot last much longer. See, they are coming with torch andfaggot." Scores of Indians were revealed in the blaze, hastening downthe hill; and troops of squaws were perceived dragging loads of brushwood. Then one of the posts gave way and another was seen to totter.In the gloom of the Fort, the paling of many a brave man's cheek wasnoticed.
"They will be here instantly, my lads," said Inspector Dicken in thesame calm, firm voice. "But we will sell our lives like men. Hurrah!"