CHAPTER XIX.
THE CHASE.
When Natah Otann entered the lodge inhabited by the white men, underpretext of warning them to prepare for the chase, his searching eye ina few seconds had explored every corner of the building. The IndianChief was too clever to omit noticing the Count's constraint andembarrassment: but he understood that it would be impolitic to show thesuspicions he had conceived. Hence he did not in the slightest degreeaffect to notice the annoyance caused by his presence, and continuedthe conversation with that politeness the Redskins can display whenthey choose to take the trouble. On their side the Count and Bright-eyeat once regained their coolness.
"I did not hope to find my White brother already risen," Natah Otannsaid with a smile.
"Why not?" the young man replied; "a desert life accustoms one tolittle sleep."
"Then the Palefaces will go and hunt with their red friends?"
"Certainly, if you have no objection."
"Did I not myself propose to Glass-eye to procure them a true chase?"
"That is true," the young man said, with a laugh; "but take care,Chief, I have become uncommonly fastidious since I have been in theprairie; there is hardly any game I have not hunted, as it was the loveof sport alone that brought me into these unknown countries; hence, Irepeat, I shall expect choice game."
Natah Otann smiled proudly.
"My brother will be satisfied," he said.
"And what is the animal we are about to follow?" the young man asked.
"The ostrich."
The Count made a sign of amazement.
"What, the ostrich?" he exclaimed, "that is impossible, Chief--"
"Because?"
"Oh, simply because there are none."
"The ostrich, it is true, is disappearing; it fled before the whitemen, and becomes daily rare, but it is still numerous on the prairies;in a few hours my brother will have a proof of it."
"I desire nothing better."
"Good, that is settled: I will soon come and fetch my brother."
The Chief bowed courteously and retired, after taking a parting lookaround. The curtain had scarcely fallen behind the Chief ere the pileof furs that covered the young girl was thrown off, and Prairie-Flowerran up to the Count.
"Listen," she said to him, seizing his hand, which she pressedtenderly, "I cannot explain to you now, for time fails me; still,remember, you have a friend who watches over you."
And before the Count could reply, or even think of replying, she fledwith the bound of an antelope. He passed his hand several times overhis brow, his eye being fixed on the place where the Indian girl haddisappeared.
"Ah!" he at length murmured, "have I at last met with a true woman?"
"She is an angel," the hunter said, replying to his thought. "Poorchild! she has suffered greatly."
"Yes; but I am here now, and will protect her!" the Count exclaimed,with exaltation.
"Let us think of ourselves first, Mr. Edward, and try to get away fromhere with whole skins; it will not be an easy task, I assure you."
"What do you mean, my friend?"
"It is enough that I understand it all," the hunter said, shaking hishead; "let us only think now of our preparations: our friends, theRedskins, will soon arrive," he added, with that derisive smile whichcaused the Count to feel increased embarrassment.
But the impression caused by the Canadian's ambiguous language waspromptly dissipated, for love had suddenly nestled in this young, man'sheart; he only dreamed of one thing, of seeing the woman again whom headored with all his strength.
In a man like the Count, who was gifted with a fiery organization,every feeling must necessarily be carried to an excess; and it was thecase in the present instance. Love is born by a word, a sign, a look,and scarcely born, suddenly becomes a giant. The Count was fated tolearn this at his own expense.
Scarcely half an hour after Natah Otann's departure, the gallop ofseveral horses was heard, and a troop of horsemen stopped in front ofthe cabin. The three men went out, and found Natah Otann awaiting themat the head of sixty warriors, all dressed in their grand costume, andarmed to the teeth.
"Let us go," he said.
"Whenever you please," the Count answered.
The Chief made a signal, and three magnificent horses, superblycaparisoned in the Indian fashion, were led up by children. The whitesmounted, and the band set out in the direction of the prairie.
It was about six in the morning, the night storm had completely sweptthe sky, which was of a pale blue; the sun, fully risen in the horizon,shot forth its warm beams, which drew out the sharp and odoriferousvapours from the ground, The atmosphere was wondrously transparent, aslight breeze refreshed the air, and flocks of birds, lustrous with athousand hues, flew around, uttering joyous cries. The troop marchedgaily through the tall prairie grass, raising a cloud of dust, andundulating like a long serpent in the endless turnings of the road.
The spot where the chase was to come off was nearly thirty milesdistant from the village. In the desert all places are alike, tallgrass, in the midst of which the horsemen entirely disappear; stuntedshrubs, and here and there clumps of trees, whose imposing crowns riseto an enormous height;--such was the road the Indians had to follow upto the spot where they would find the animals they proposed chasing.
In the prairies of Arkansas and the Upper Missouri, at the time ofour story, ostriches were still numerous, and their chase one of thenumerous amusements of the Redskins and wood rangers. It is probablethat the successive invasions of the white men, and the immenseclearings effected by fire and the axe, have now compelled them toabandon this territory, and retire to the inaccessible desert of theRocky Mountains, or the sands of the Far West.
We will say here, without any pretence at a scientific description, afew words about this singular animal, still but little known in Europe.The ostrich generally lives in small families of from eight to ten,scattered along the banks of marshes, pools, and streams. They liveon fresh grass. Faithful to their native soil, they never quit thevicinity of the water, and in the month of November lay their eggs inthe wildest part of the plain, fifty to sixty at a time, which arebrooded, solely at night, by male and female in turn, with a touchingtenderness. When the incubation is terminated, the ostrich breaks thebarren eggs with its beak, which are at once covered with flies andinsects, supplying nourishment to the young birds. The ostrich of theWestern prairies differs slightly from the _Nandus_ of the Patagonianprairies and the African species. It is about five feet high, and fourand a half long, from the stomach to the end of the tail; its beak isvery pointed, and measures a little over five inches.
A characteristic trait of the ostriches is their extreme curiosity.In the Indian villages, where they live in a tamed state, it is offrequent occurrence to see them stalking through groups of talkers,and regarding them with fixed attention. In the plain this curiosityis often fatal to them, for it leads them to look unhesitatinglyat everything that seems strange or unusual to them. We will give acapital Indian story here in proof of this.
The jaguars are very fond of ostrich meat, but unfortunately, thoughtheir speed is so great, it is almost impossible for them to run thebirds down; but the jaguars are cunning animals, and usually obtainby craft what they cannot manage by force. They, therefore, employthe following stratagem. They lie on the ground as if dead, and raisetheir tails in the air, where they wave them in every direction; theostriches, attracted by this strange spectacle, approach with greatsimplicity--the rest may be guessed; they fall a prey to the cunningjaguars.
The hunters after a hurried march of three hours, reached a barrenand sandy plain; during the journey, very few words were exchangedbetween Natah Otann and his white guests, for he rode at the head ofthe column, conversing in a low voice with White Buffalo. The Indiansdismounted by the side of a stream, and exchanged their horses forracers, which the chief had sent to the spot during the night, andwhich were naturally rested and able to run for miles. Natah Otanndivided the hunting party into
two equal troops, keeping the commandof the first himself, and courteously offering that of the second tothe Count. As the Frenchman, however, had never been present at sucha chase, and was quite ignorant how it was conducted, he courteouslydeclined. Natah Otann reflected for a few moments, and then turned toBright-eye:--
"My brother knows the ostriches?" he asked him. "Eh!" the Canadianreplied, with a smile; "Natah Otann was not yet born when I huntedthem on the prairie."
"Good," the chief said; "then my brother will command the second band?"
"Be it so," the hunter said, bowing: "I accept with pleasure."
On a given signal, the first band, under Natah Otann's command,advanced into the plain, describing a semicircle, so as to drive thegame towards a ravine, situated between two moving downs. The secondband, with which the Count and Ivon remained, was echelonned so asto form the other half of the circle. This circle, by the horsemen'sadvance, was gradually being contracted, when a dozen ostriches showedthemselves; but the male bird, standing sentry, warned the family ofthe danger by a sharp cry like a boatswain's whistle. At once theostriches fled in a straight line rapidly, and without looking back.All the hunters galloped off in pursuit.
The plain, till then silent and gloomy, grew animated, and offered thestrangest appearance. The horsemen pursued the luckless animals at fullspeed, raising in their passage clouds of impalpable dust. Twelve tofifteen paces behind the game, the Indians, still galloping and buryingtheir spurs in the flanks of their panting horses, bent forward,twisted their formidable clubs round their heads, and hurled themafter the animals. If they missed their aim, they stooped down withoutchecking their pace, and picked up the weapon, which they cast again.
Several flocks of ostriches had been put up, and the chase then assumedthe proportions of a mad revel. Cries and hurrahs rent the air; theclubs hurtled through the space and struck the necks, wings, and legsof the ostriches, which, startled and mad with terror, made a thousandfeints and zigzags to escape their implacable enemies, and buffetingtheir wings, tried to prick the horses with, the species of spikewith which the end of their wings is armed. Several horses reared,and, embarrassed by the ostriches between their legs, fell with theirriders. The ostriches, profiting by the disorder, fled on, and camewithin reach of the other hunters, who received them with a shower ofclubs.
Each hunter leaped from his horse, killed the victim he had felled,cut off its wings as a sign of triumph, and renewed the chase withincreased ardour. Ostriches and hunters rushed onwards like the_cordonazo_, that terrible wind of the Mexican deserts, and fortyostriches speedily encumbered the plain. Natah Otann looked round him,and then gave the signal for retreat; the birds which had not succumbedto this rude aggression, ran off to seek shelter. The dead birds werecarefully collected, for the ostrich is, excellent eating, and theIndians prepare, chiefly from the meat on the breast, a dish renownedfor its delicacy and exquisite savour. The warriors then proceeded tocollect eggs, also highly esteemed, and secured an ample crop.
Although the chase had scarce lasted two hours, the horses panted andwanted rest before they could return to the village; hence Natah Otanngave orders to stop. The Count had never been present at so strangea hunt before, although ever since he had been on the prairie he hadpursued the different animals that inhabit it; hence he entered into itwith all the excitement of youth, rushing on the ostriches and fellingthem with childlike pleasure. When the signal for retreat was given bythe Chief, he reluctantly left off the amusement, which at the momentcaused him such delight, and returned slowly to his comrades. Suddenlya loud cry was raised by the Indians, and each ran to his weapons. TheCount looked around him with surprise, and felt a slight tremor. Theostrich hunt was over; but, as frequently happens in these countries, afar more terrible one was about to begin--the chase of the cougar.[1]
Two of these animals had suddenly made their appearance. The Countrecovered at once, and, cocking his rifle, prepared to follow thisnew species of game. Natah Otann had also noticed the wild beasts;he ordered a dozen warriors to surround Prairie-Flower, whom he hadobliged to accompany him, or who had insisted on being present; then,certain that the girl was, temporarily at least, in safety, he turnedto a warrior standing at his side.
"Uncouple the dogs," he said.
A dozen mastiffs were let loose, which howled in chorus on seeing thewild beasts. The Indians, accustomed to see the ostrich hunt disturbedin this way, never fail, when they go out for their favourite exercise,to take with them dogs trained to attack the lion. About two hundredyards from the spots where the Indians had halted, two cougars werenow crouching, with their eyes fixed on the Redskin warriors. Theseanimals, still young, were about the size of a calf; their heads borea strong, likeness to a cat's, and their soft smooth hide of silveryyellow was dotted with black spots.
"After them!" Natah Otann shouted.
Horsemen and dogs rushed on the ferocious beasts with yells, cries,and barks, capable of terrifying lions unused to such a reception.The noble animals, motionless and amazed, lashed their flanks withtheir long tails, and drew in heavy draughts of air; for a moment theyremained stationary, then suddenly bounded away. A party of huntersgalloped in a straight line to intercept their retreat, while theothers bent over their saddles, and guiding their horses with theirknees, fired their arrows and rifles, without checking the cougarswhich turned furiously on the dogs, and hurled them ten yards fromthem, to howl with pain. Still the mastiffs, long habituated to thischase, watched for a favourable moment, leaped on the lions' backs,and dug their nails in their flesh; but the latter, with one strokeof their deadly claws, swept them off like flies, and continued theirflight.
One of them, pierced by several arrows, and surrounded by the dogs,rolled on the ground, raising a cloud of dust under its claws, anduttering a fearful yell. This one the Canadian finished by putting abullet through its eye, but the second lion remained still unwounded,and its leaps foiled the attack and skill of the hunters. The dogs,now wearied, did not dare assail it. Its flight had led it a few pacesfrom the spot where Prairie-Flower stood: it suddenly turned at rightangles, bounded among the Indians, two of whom it ripped up, andcrouched before the young girl, ere making its leap. Prairie-Flower,pale as a corpse, clasped her hands instinctively, uttered a stifledcry, and fainted. New cries replied to hers, and at the moment the lionwas about to leap on the maiden, two bullets were buried in its chest.It turned to face its new adversary; it was the Count de Beaulieu.
"Let no one stir!" he exclaimed, stopping by a sign Natah Otann andBright-eye, who ran up, "this game is mine--no other than I shall killit."
The Count had dismounted, and with his feet firmly planted, his rifleat his shoulder, and eyes fixed on the lion, he waited. The lionhesitated, cast a final glance at the prey lying a few paces from it,and then rushed on the young man with a roar. He fired again: theanimal bit the dust, and the Count, hunting knife in hand, ran upto it. The man and the lion rolled together on the ground, but soonone of the combatants rose again--it was the man. Prairie-Flower wassaved. The maiden opened her eyes again, looked timidly around her, andholding out her hand to the Frenchman.
"Thanks!" she exclaimed, and burst into tears.
Natah Otann walked up to her.
"Silence!" he said, harshly; "what the Paleface has done Natah Otanncould have achieved."
The Count smiled contemptuously, but made no reply, for he hadrecognized a rival.
[1] The _felis discolor_ of Linnaeus, or American lion.