Books: The Lost Trail
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Edward S. Ellis >> The Lost Trail
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It was gratifying to find that in spite of an occasional digression,
his general course was as named. It is pleasant to discover that
the missing wanderer is steadily making his ward, even though he is
a long time in arriving at his destination.
It was comparatively early in the afternoon when Deerfoot the
Shawanoe bade them good-bye, and for two hours the route underwent
little change; but at time, Jack Carleton was forced to admit that
the course they were following was not the one to take them to the
settlement.
Shortly after the departure of their friend, they crossed the trail
over which Otto had ridden some days before, and then the hoof-prints
tended more to the north, so that, in a general way, the boys took
the direction of the Mississippi itself. It could not be expected
that while keeping a considerable distance from water, would follow
its amazing tortuosity, probably surpasses that of any river on the
globe. Thus it came about that sometimes Jack and Otto found
themselves close to the immense stream and then again they were a
long ways inland.
"It seems to me," said Jack, when the afternoon was drawing to a
close, "that we ought be quite near the colt; we have gone steadily
forward, while he has often stopped, and as yet has not traveled
faster than a walk."
"But he starts a long time pefore we starts," said Otto.
"Not so very long. There's one thing quite certain: he doesn't care
whether he finds his way to the settlement or not, for he isn't
trying to do so."
"He changes agin, don't he?"
"Likely enough, and he may turn still further off from the right
course. It is getting so late that we shall have hard work to reach
home with him to-morrow."
"When we fluds him we gots on him and makes him go like he nefer
goes mit pefore."
"We won't be able to travel fast until we get him back to the
regular path, where the trees and limbs won't interfere with us."
"If Deerfoot vos mit us he tells us how close he be to us," said
Otto, alluding to the skill of the Shawanoe in interpreting the age
of a trail.
"He would do so at a glance. Helloa!"
Just then Jack, who was slightly in advance of his friend, caught
sight of a bundle similar that which the Shawanoe found several
hours before.
Hurrying forward, it was seen to be the blanket of Jack Carleton,
which, like the other, had come displaced and fallen from the back
of the wandering horse. Like that, too, it was saturated with
Mississippi water, which, as far as could, the boys wrung from it.
CHAPTER XXI
THE NEIGH OF A HORSE
The stray horse appeared to be distributing the property of the boys
in a promiscuous fashion. So far as they knew, he still retained
his equipments and a roll of personal effects, fastened in front of
the saddle instead of behind it, as was the case with the blankets.
"Seems to me," remarked Otto, who began to feel some weariness and
impatience, "dot the animal ish not a good vile getting tired so as
he vants to sot down and rest."
"He is likely to do so when it begins to grow dark, which will be
before long," added Jack Carleton, noting the closing day.
The friends had been hopeful from the first that they would overtake
the missing horse before sunset. They had been cheered by the
belief that they were not far behind him at the start, and it was
certain they had made much better progress than he, but it now
looked as if they were to be disappointed.
When they arrived on the edge of a natural clearing, several acres
in extent and covered with a luxuriant growth of grass, they were
sure the horse was there, but a careful scrutiny showed no signs of
him, though his tracks indicated that he had cropped some of the
grass before passing on.
It was comparatively easy traveling for the boys, the woods being
notably clear of the vines and undergrowth, which often added to the
labor of journeying through them. They had not yet seen bird,
animal or living person after parting company with Deerfoot, and
Jack was conscious more than once of a strange feeling of
loneliness, such as comes over the traveler when wandering in a vast
and desolate land.
"Is this so different from Ohio and Kentucky?" he asked himself;
"are there no Shawanoes because there is no game for them to hunt?"
He smiled when he asked himself the latter question, for his own
knowledge rendered it pointless. He knew that the game was as
limitless on one side of the Mississippi as on the other.
The sun-had gone down behind the rim of forest, when they found
themselves on the edge of a clearing more extensive than the former,
and intersected by a small, winding stream of water.
"Here, we will camp," said Jack, throwing down his moist bundle and
leaning his rifle against a tree; "it will soon be so dark that we
can't see the tracks of the horse, and, if we push on, we'll only
have to do our work over again."
"Dot ish vot I dinks," said Otto, imitating the action. It must not
be forgotten that the German, since the reproof received from the
young Shawanoe, had resolved to improve his manner of expressing
himself. He was of the age that he could do so rapidly, and he had
(what he never possessed before) an earnest wish to succeed.
Something in the way of food would have been appreciated by both the
sturdy youths, but nothing of the kind presented itself, and it was
no great hardship for them to wait until the morrow.
"Vill a fire we kindle?" asked Otto.
"We may as well do so, for we shall need it to help dry our
blankets, which have enough moisture, even after wringing them, to
last a week."
The night was more chilly than the preceding one, and the warmth of
the blankets would have been pleasant to both. As it was, their
only resource was the extra fire, for which they began preparations.
They were plentifully supplied in the way of fuel, which they
gathered, throwing it down in a pile near where they intended to
start the blaze. The stream was small, but the water was clear,
cool and refreshing. Whoever has been burned with consuming fever,
or tormented by a torturing thirst, can never forget the ecstasy
which thrilled every nerve, when he quaffed his full of the
colorless, odorless and tasteless fluid, more exquisite in the
delight it imparted than can be the "nectar of the gods."
"Ali!" said Otto, with a long-drawn sigh of happiness, "I could live
on dot."
"It's certain you couldn't live very long without it," remarked his
friend, as be drew down another armful of dry and decayed wood. "I
don't think there is much to fear in the way of thirst in this part
of the world. There may be deserts further west toward the Pacific,
such as they have in other parts of the world, but I don't believe
we can reach them in a week's journey."
"Ish not looking for them," said Otto, with a grin, "'cause I does
not see vot I does with them ven I finds 'em."
"Our country is too rich in its natural resources to make it
probable that it has much in the way of waste land--"
"Mine gracious!" exclaimed Otto, with a start, "didn't you hear
dot?"
"Of course I did," replied Jack, turning his head like a flash and
gazing across the clearing.
Indeed it would have been impossible for either to avoid noting the
sound, which was the unmistakable neigh of a horse at no great
distance from them.
"Dot vos de golt," said Otto, with a beaming countenance. "He vos
near by and not far off."
Night was closing in so rapidly that the vision of the two was
necessarily shortened. They could not see entirely across the
clearing or opening, but in the dim, uncertain light, Otto Relstaub
was positive he detected the animal they were so anxious to find.
"Dot ish he," he insisted, leveling his arm with the extended finger
pointed at a certain spot. "He ish looking mit dis way; he has seen
us and he dinks he don't know us, and he sings out mit dot way to ax
us who we ain't; dot ish his style."
Jack Carleton was naturally strong of vision, and he believed his
companion was right. He was able to discern some object, which,
through the gloom, resembled a horse that seemed to have become
aware of the presence of strangers, and, throwing up his head, had
challenged them in the manner named.
"I think you are right," said Jack, still going across the
intervening space, "though we can't make sure without getting closer
to him. It is barely possible that he may be a horse of another
color."
Otto shook his head by way of dissent. He could not be convinced be
was not looking upon the very animal for which they had been hunting
ever since they reached the western bank of the Mississippi.
The only way to settle the doubt was at their command. Nothing was
to prevent a closer inspection of the quadruped that had awakened
such interest.
They felt the necessity of great care. The horse was high-spirited
and wild, and the taste gained of freedom had undoubtedly increased
the difficulty of his capture. Great caution would be necessary to
avoid scaring him away altogether.
It will be seen also that if they frightened the colt into dashing
into the woods, it would be hard, under any circumstances, to secure
him. He would run a good distance, and the morrow would compel
another long and laborious search.
A simple plan suggested itself: one would make a cautious advance
across the clearing, while the other worked his way around to the
other side, so that the two would close in upon the animal, as may
be said, and if he fled from the first he would run into the custody
of the second.
As Jack was quicker in his movements, beside being a better
horseman, than Otto, it was agreed that he should pass through the
woods until beyond the animal; when he arrived at the proper point
be was to notify Otto by means of the whistle which had served them
so often as a signal. Then the young German would use the most
seductive methods of which he was master soothe the colt into
submission.
What was to be feared was that in the gloom the animal would fail to
recognize his master an would be unusually timid on that account.
The moon would shed no light on the scene for an hour or two, and
from what has been said it will be admitted that the friends had
undertaken a delicate and difficult task.
But the anxiety of both to obtain the animal was too great for them
to throw away an opportunity, however slight. Jack, therefore,
passed the few paces necessary to reach the cover of the wood, and
with the promise that he should soon be heard from, disappeared.
The fire had not yet been started, and Otto, stood leaning on his
gun and looking off in the gloom toward the colt that had led him on
such a long chase. The darkness had increased since the first sight
of the animal, so that he was no longer visible; but the lad was
confident he had not changed his position, nor was he likely to do
so for some time to come. The trail showed that he had been on the
move almost continuously since morning, and he must feel a certain
degree of fatigue that would make such a rest acceptable.
Otto held his position until Jack bad time to reach a point beyond
the colt, when he laid down his gun and began his cautious advance.
He walked straight across the clearing, until once more he was able
to trace the outlines that caught his eye some time before.
"I doesn't knows vot he don't change mit, he stands where he stood a
few minutes after awhile," said Otto to himself, relapsing into his
old unintelligible style of expression, now that no one was at his
elbow to criticize him. "Mebbe he don't do dot and mebbe he does,
don't it?"
What the lad meant to express was his doubt whether the colt had
moved during the preceding few minutes. If he had done so, it was
to so slight extent, that it was hardly noticeable.
So soon as the boy's eyes rested on him again he was satisfied the
colt was asleep in the standing position. His head was down, and
his whole demeanor was that of rest, and consequently ignorance of
what was going on near him.
"Dot ish goot," was the thought of Otto, "for he don't hear me ven I
creeps up to him, and perfore he don't knows it he don't know
nodings and I have him."
There was promise of such an issue of the attempt be proposed to
make, provided he should succeed in stealing up to the animal
without detection.
Otto stood motionless a moment, hoping to hear some signal from Jack
Carleton, but none came, and it was only simple prudence on his part
to move forward without delay.
"I dinks I does it," he muttered, hopefully, when he found himself
within a couple of rods of the colt without having disturbed it in
the slightest degree. "It ish as easy as nefer vos, and I will grab
him in one two dree minute, and den I whips him 'cause he runs mit
away, and den--mine gracious!"
It seems as if the vines which had tormented him so much during the
day were not yet through with the honest German. Even on the tract
of open-forest or clearing they intruded themselves, and he suddenly
felt the familiar rasping vegetable wire twisting about his ankles.
Impatient that such an obstruction should be encountered, he made a
spiteful kick of the foot, meant to snap the vine asunder and to
free himself; but he miscalculated the strength of the resistant.
His foot was more inextricably entangled than before, and a second
fierce effort sent him forward on his hands and knees. Had his
rifle been in hand it is more than likely it would have been
discharged.
Otto was angered, because he was sure he had frightened the colt
into dashing off at full speed. He sprang to his feet and made for
the horse, resolved to secure him at all hazards.
He was spurred on by observing that the animal was slumbering so
soundly that he had not yet taken the alarm. The distance was
short, and he was very hopeful.
"Whoa, whoa dere," called out Otto, in a soothing voice, "don't you
runs away agin dimes more, or py gracious I vill whip you so dot you
vill want to die--"
While uttering the words he was advancing with the utmost haste.
Feeling himself nigh enough to make the leap, he did so, and threw
both arms around what he supposed to be he head of his colt. And as
he did so he discovered that it was not the colt at all!
CHAPTER XXII
A STRANGER
No boy could feel more chagrin and humiliation than did Otto
Relstaub, when he sprang forward, and, seizing what he supposed to
be the stray colt, found instead that he had grasped the stump of a
tree.
He was speechless for a full minute, and could only stand still and
wonder how it was possible for him to make such a blunder. A tree
close to the edge of the clearing had been stricken by lightning,
and partly breaking off some three or four feet above ground, a
couple of yards of length lay with the top on the earth. In the
gloom of the evening it could be readily mistaken for a different
object, though Otto might well wonder where the resemblance to a
horse could be figured out. But for the neigh which reached the
ears of the young pioneers, they never would have made the mistake.
Still the fact remained that a short time before a horse was within
call, and Otto was quite sure it was the one he was seeking. Night,
however, had fully descended, and it was useless to hunt further
before the morrow.
"Dot ish too bad," he said to himself, "but ishn't I glad dot Jack
didn't come up and sees me, for he vould laugh till he went dead--
mine gracious!"
It seemed indeed as if the youth had arrived in a strange latitude,
for while he remained communing with himself, he caught the
unmistakable odor of tobacco-smoke in the air. Some one was smoking
a pipe whose fumes were too rank to permit any mistake on his part.
The discovery was startling enough to cause a shiver of fear, for it
was manifest he was close to a stranger, since Jack Carleton did not
use the noxious weed in any form. Otto bitterly reproached himself
for leaving his rifle beyond reach, for his was the situation of the
individual who may not have needed such a weapon often, but when he
did, he wanted it with an emphasis beyond question.
"Dis ish de spot where I doesn't vant to be," was his truthful
conclusion, "so I dinks I goes somewhere else."
He felt a strong yearning to break into a run, but dared not do so.
Though filled with fear, his right policy was to conceal all
evidence of it. He therefore turned about with the purpose of
walking off with a dignified air; but he had taken only the first
step, when a shock like that from an electric battery went through
him, caused by the single exclamation:
"Oof!"
It was the hail of an Indian. Otto was riveted to the spot by the
sight of a brawny savage striding toward him. He came from the
darkness of the wood, and, when he moved into the clearing, was just
in time to catch the first beams of the moon rising above the
forest.
The warrior was large, and his size was magnified by the blanket,
which, wrapped like a shawl about him, reached below his knees. The
long, black hair dangling around his shoulders, was ornamented at
the crown by a number of eagle feathers; but the countenance, when
shown by the moonlight, was devoid of paint, which, it may be said,
was not needed to add to its ugliness.
His forehead was low and broad, the eyes small, black and restless,
while the cheek-bones were not only protuberant, but were unusually
far apart. Instead of the aquiline nose, which is so often a
feature of the American Indian, his was as broad as that of the
African, badly disfigured by a scar across the bridge, probably made
by a knife or tomahawk.
When it is stated that his mouth was wider than that of Otto, enough
has been said on that score. In one corner, the warrior held a pipe
made of red clay, whose stem was a foot in length. He must have
stood placidly puffing this during the entire time the boy was
stealing upon the supposed horse. In the increasing moonlight, the
strong vapor rose in blue puffs from both sides of his face and
poisoned the air above and around him.
The position of the Indian was such that the blanket covered both
arms, and Otto could not see whether or not he grasped a rifle
beneath.
The entire manner of the red man showed that he knew he was master
of the situation. He could not have felt otherwise, when he saw a
partly grown boy standing before him, without any firearms with
which to defend himself.
"Howdy, brudder?" he asked, in a gruff, guttural voice, extending
his huge hand to Otto, who dared not refuse it.
"I isb--ish--dot be--ish well," stammered the poor fellow, vainly
trying to speak in a steady voice.
The Indian gave a fervency to his grip of Otto's fingers which made
him wince with pain, though he dared utter no protest.
The act of the warrior in advancing and saluting, caused his blanket
to open in front, so as to disclose an untidy sash around his waist.
The view was not clear, as the rays of the moon came over his
shoulder, but the lad saw enough to satisfy him that the Indian
carried a tomahawk and hunting-knife. However, as the other hand
removed the pipe from between the leathern lips and held it, there
was no instant intention of using either weapon.
It is only justice to the young German to say that, had he possessed
his gun, he would not have permitted the Indian to take his hand.
He knew the treacherous character of the race too well to give them
the least advantage; but his belief was that the best, and indeed
the only thing to do, was to avoid, so far as he could, giving any
offence to his captor.
"Ven he don't be looking at me," was Otto's thought, "then I gives
him the slip, and runs and gots mine gun, and shoots him afore heban
do nodings."
The programme was a good one, provided it could be carried out, but
it cannot be admitted that it offered much chance of success. Otto
was never fleet of foot, and as his rifle was fully a hundred yards
distant, there was no way of recovering it except by permission of
the red man.
"Where brudder's home?" was the query, as he allowed the hand of the
lad to fall from his grasp.
Otto felt authorized to answer that question at least truthfully.
"Good ways from dish place--a way off yonder."
The boy meant to locate his home correctly, but when he pointed
toward the north, he unconsciously made a great error. However, it
was unimportant.
The Indian slowly shoved the stem of the pipe in the comer of his
immense mouth, sent out several pungent puffs towards the face of
Otto, who, accustomed as he was to the sickening odor of his
father's tobacco, was forced to recoil a step and cough the
strangling vapor from him.
Then the warrior solemnly turned his head and looked behind in the
gloomy depths of the wood, as though he expected to see the home of
the boy. It isn't necessary to say that, if such was his
expectation, he was disappointed.
When Otto observed the face of his dreaded captor turned away, he
was thrilled by the sudden belief that the chance for which he had
been praying had come at last. This was his time to make a sudden
dash, regain his gun, and become master of the situation.
Was it possible? Beyond question, it was literally life or death
with the lad. The red man would pursue and show him no mercy. If
Otto failed to reach his rifle in time, a second trial would never
be given him.
Absurd! he saw there was not an earthly chance of success; he could
only wait and hope.
Failing to discern the log cabin in which Otto made his home, the
Indian turned back his head, swinging it as on a pivot, so that the
end of the pipe-stem, which, for the moment, he had been holding
stationary in his hand, resumed its former place in the comer of his
mouth.
"Where brudder's gun?"
"I--I don't not have him mit me," was the awkward reply of Otto,
nervously anxious to escape saying anything which would give his
captor a clue to his property.
The warrior did not press the question, as he might easily have
done, but he smoked his pipe another minute in dignified silence,
while Otto stood trembling and wondering how many more breathe he
would be permitted to draw before the savage would leap upon him
with upraised knife.
"Brudder go with Osage chief--he big warrior--oof!"
This was the first announcement the Indian made of his tribe, and
the declaration that he was a chief astonished Otto Relstaub, who
held no suspicion that he was in the presence of such a dignitary.
But he had been commanded to go with him, and the youth could only
await more pointed instructions. The Osage motioned him to turn
about and he did so, hopeful that his captor meant to drive him
across the clearing toward the spot he and Jack Carleton had fixed
upon for their camp. If such was the intention of the chief, it
would be extremely favorable to the lad, but, unfortunately, the
opposite course was the one fixed upon.
While Otto's face was away from his master, the latter stalked
around in his front, where, taking the pipe from his dusky lips, he
repeated his order, by means of gesture.
"I vonder if he don't make a top mit me," muttered Otto; "vy don't
he tie von string round me and spin me dot way?"
But the boy was not in a situation to refuse, and, when ordered to
walk, he did so. While seeking to obey the Osage, Otto unwittingly
turned too far to the right.
"Oof! Dog!" grunted the Indian, catching him by the shoulder and
wrenching him part way around; "go--go--go!"
The lad was startled, for the grip was of that violent nature that
it pained him severely. It effectually dissipated his purpose of
making a break for liberty, at least until a much more promising
opening presented itself.
He began timidly feeling his way through the darkness, dreading
every moment that he would take a misstep, that would bring down the
anger of the Indian in a more dangerous form than before. He was
enveloped in gloom, so that he kept both hands extended in front to
protect his face.
"I goes as right as I can," he observed, seeking to avert the wrath
of the terrible being that was at his heels: "when I doesn't goes
right dot ish, 'cause I goes wrong--mine gracious!"
It was only a twig which just then collided with his eye. It
inflicted no injury, and he still pushed forward as obediently as if
it was his father who was driving him. The Indian said nothing, but
he rustled the leaves with his moccasins, as if to prevent the lad
forgetting his presence.
Here and there the arrowy moonlight pierced the foliage and afforded
Otto a glimpse of his surroundings, but most of the time the gloom
was so dense as to be absolutely impenetrable. Passing across a
dimly-lit space, he could not avoid turning his head and looking
back at the Osage chief as he stepped into the feeble light.
The figure of the Indian was striking. He was striding slowly
along, as if impressed with his own importance, his arms folded
beneath the blanket in front, so as to hold it together and keep
them out of sight. His teeth were still closed on the red
pipe-stem, and the blue puffs passed over his head as if it were
steam which was working the machinery of his legs.
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