CHAPTER III.
--Ho! who's here? If anything that's civil, speak; if savage, Take, or lend--
Cymbeline
Not another syllable did le Bourdon utter to the Chippewa, or theChippewa to him, in that sitting, touching the important event justcommunicated. Each carefully avoided manifesting any further interest inthe subject, but the smoking continued for some time after the sun hadset. As the shades of evening began to gather, the Pottawattamie arose,shook the ashes from his pipe, gave a grunt, and uttered a word or two,by way of announcing his disposition to retire. On this hint, Ben wentinto the cabin, spread his skins, and intimated to his guests that theirbeds were ready for them. Few compliments pass among border men on suchoccasions, and one after another dropped off, until all were stretchedon the skins but the master of the place. He remained up two hourslater, ruminating on the state of things; when, perceiving that thenight was wearing on, he also found a nest, and sought his repose.
Nothing occurred to disturb the occupants of "Castle Meal," as leBourdon laughingly called his cabin, until the return of day. If therewere any bears scenting around the place, as often occurred at night,their instinct must have apprised them that a large reinforcement waspresent, and caused them to defer their attack to a more favorableopportunity. The first afoot next morning was the bee-hunter himself,who arose and left his cabin just as the earliest streaks of day wereappearing in the east. Although dwelling in a wilderness, the "openings"had not the character of ordinary forests. The air circulates freelybeneath their oaks, the sun penetrates in a thousand places, and grassgrows, wild but verdant. There was little of the dampness of the virginwoods; and the morning air, though cool, as is ever the case, even inmidsummer, in regions still covered with trees, was balmy; and, at thatparticular spot, it came to the senses of le Bourdon loaded with thesweets of many a wide glade of his favorite white clover. Of course, hehad placed his cabin near those spots where the insect he sought mostabounded; and a fragrant site it proved to be, in favorable conditionsof the atmosphere. Ben had a taste for all the natural advantages of hisabode, and was standing in enjoyment of its placid beauties when someone touched his elbow. Turning, quick as thought, he perceived theChippewa at his side. That young Indian had approached with thenoiseless tread of his people, and was now anxious to hold a privatecommunication with him.
"Pottawattamie got long ear--come fudder--" said Pigeonswing; "gocook-house--t'ink we want breakfast."
Ben did as desired; and the two were soon side by side at the spring, inthe outlet of which they made their ablutions--the redskin being totallywithout paint. When this agreeable office was performed, each felt inbetter condition for a conference.
"Elkfoot got belt from Canada fadder," commenced the Chippewa, with asententious allusion to the British propensity to keep the savages inpay. "KNOW he got him KNOW he keep him."
"And you, Pigeonswing--by your manner of talking I had set you down fora king's Injin, too."
"TALK so--no FEEL bit so. MY heart Yankee."
"And have you not had a belt of wampum sent you, as well as the rest ofthem?"
"Dat true--got him--don't keep him."
"What! did you dare to send it back?"
"Ain't fool, dough young. Keep him; no keep him. Keep him for Canadafadder; no keep him for Chippewa brave."
"What have you then done with your belt?"
"Bury him where nobody find him dis war. No--Waubkenewh no hole in heartto let king in."
Pigeonswing, as this young Indian was commonly called in his tribe, inconsequence of the rapidity of his movement when employed as a runner,had a much more respectable name, and one that he had fairly earned insome of the forays of his people, but which the commonalty had just thesame indisposition to use as the French have to call Marshal Soult theDuc de Dalmatie. The last may be the most honorable title, but it is notthat by which he is the best known to his countrymen. Waubkenewh wasan appellation, notwithstanding, of which the young Chippewa was justlyproud; and he often asserted his right to use it, as sternly as the oldhero of Toulouse asserted his right to his duchy, when the Austrianswished to style him "le Marechal DUC Soult."
"And you are friendly to the Yankees, and an enemy to the red-coats?"
Waubkenewh grasped the hand of le Bourdon, and squeezed it firmly. Thenhe said, warily:
"Take care--Elkfoot friend of Blackbird; like to look at Canada belt.Got medal of king, too. Have Yankee scalp, bye'm by. Take care--mustspeak low, when Elkfoot near."
"I begin to understand you, Chippewa; you wish me to believe that YOUare a friend to America, and that the Pottawatamie is not. If this beso, why have you held the speech that you did last night, and seemed tobe on a war-path AGAINST my countrymen?"
"Dat good way, eh? Elkfoot den t'ink me HIS friend dat very good inwar-time."
"But is it true, or false, that Mackinaw is taken by the British?"
"Dat true too--gone, and warrior all prisoner. Plenty Winnebago, plentyPottawatamie, plenty Ottowa, plenty redskin, dere."
"And the Chippewas?"
"Some Ojebway, too"--answered Pigeonswing, after a reluctant pause."Can't all go on same path this war. Hatchets, somehow, got twohandle--one strike Yankee; one strike King George."
"But what is your business here, and where are you now going if you arefriendly to the Americans? I make no secret of my feelings--I am for myown people, and I wish proof that you are a friend, and not an enemy."
"Too many question, one time," returned the Chippewa, a littledistastefully. "No good have so long tongue. Ask one question, answerhim--ask anoder, answer HIM, too."
"Well, then, what is your business, here?"
"Go to Chicago, for gen'ral."
"Do you mean that you bear a message from some American general to thecommandant at Chicago?"
"Just so--dat my business. Guess him, right off; he, he, he!"
It is so seldom that an Indian laughs that the bee-hunter was startled.
"Where is the general who has sent you on this errand?" he demanded.
"He at Detroit--got whole army dere--warrior plenty as oak in opening."
All this was news to the bee-hunter, and it caused him to muse a moment,ere he proceeded.
"What is the name of the American general who has sent you on thispath?" he then demanded.
"Hell," answered the Ojebway, quietly.
"Hell! You mean to give his Indian title, I suppose, to show that hewill prove dangerous to the wicked. But how is he called in our owntongue?"
"Hell--dat he name--good name for so'ger, eh?"
"I believe I understand you, Chippewa--Hull is the name of the governorof the territory, and you must have mistaken the sound--'is it not so?"
"Hull--Hell--don't know--just same--one good as t'other."
"Yes, one will do as well as the other, if a body only understands you.So Governor Hull sent you here?"
"No gubbernor--general, tell you. Got big army--plenty warrior--eatBreesh up!"
"Now, Chippewa, answer me one thing to my likin', or I shall set youdown as a man with a forked tongue, though you do call yourself a friendof the Yankees. If you have been sent from Detroit to Chicago, whyare you so far north as this? Why are you here, on the banks ofthe Kalamazoo, when your path ought to lead you more toward the St.Joseph's?"
"Been to Mackinaw. Gen'ral says, first go to Mackinaw and see wid owneye how garrison do--den go to Chicago, and tell warrior dere whathappen, and how he best manage. Understan' dat, Bourdon?"
"Aye, it all sounds well enough, I will acknowledge. You have been toMackinaw to look about you, there, and having seen things with your owneyes, have started for Chicago to give your knowledge to the commandantat that place. Now, redskin, have you any proof of what you say?"
For some reason that the bee-hunter could not yet fathom, the Chippewawas particularly anxious either to obtain his confidence, or to deceivehim. Which he was attempting, was not yet quite apparent; but that
oneor other was uppermost in his mind, Ben thought was beyond dispute.As soon as the question last named was put, however, the Indian lookedcautiously around him, as if to be certain there were no spectators.Then he carefully opened his tobacco-pouch, and extricated from thecentre of the cut weed a letter that was rolled into the smallestcompass to admit of this mode of concealment, and which was encircledby a thread. The last removed, the letter was unrolled, and itssuperscription exposed. The address was to "Captain--Heald, U. S. Army,commanding at Chicago." In one corner were the words "On public service,by Pigeonswing." All this was submitted to the bee-hunter, who read itwith his own eyes.
"Dat good"-asked the Chippewa, pointedly-"dat tell trut'-b'lieve HIM?"
Le Bourdon grasped the hand of the Indian, and gave it a hearty squeeze.Then he said frankly, and like a man who no longer entertained anydoubts:
"I put faith in all you say, Chippewa. That is an officer's letter, andI now see that you are on the right side. You play'd so deep a game, atfirst, hows'ever, that I didn't know exactly what to make of you. Now,as for the Pottawattamie--do you set him down as friend or foe, inreality?"
"Enemy--take your scalp--take my scalp, in minute only can't catch him.He got belt from Montreal, and it look handsome in his eye."
"Which way d'ye think he's travelling? As I understood you, he and youfell into the same path within a mile of this very spot. Was the meetingaltogether friendly?"
"Yes; friendly--but ask too many question--too much squaw--ask onequestion, den stop for answer."
"Very true--I will remember that an Indian likes to do one thing at atime. Which way, then, do you think he's travelling?"
"Don't know--on'y guess--guess he on path to Blackbird."
"And where is Blackbird, and what is he about?"
"Two question, dat!" returned the Chippewa, smiling, and holding uptwo of his fingers, at the same time, by way of rebuke. "Blackbird onwar-path;--when warrior on dat path, he take scalp if can get him."
"But where is his enemy? There are no whites in this part of thecountry, but here and there a trader, or a trapper, or a bee-hunter, ora VOYAGEUR."
"Take HIS scalp--all scalp good, in war time. An't partic'lar, down atMontreal. What you call garrison at Chicago?"
"Blackbird, you then think, may be moving upon Chicago. In that case,Chippewa, you should outrun this Pottawatamie, and reach the post intime to let its men know the danger."
"Start, as soon as eat breakfast. Can't go straight, nudder, orPottawatamie see print of moccasin. Must t'row him off trail."
"Very true; but I'll engage you're cunning enough to do that twice over,should it be necessary."
Just then Gershom Waring came out of the cabin, gaping like a hound, andstretching his arms, as if fairly wearied with sleep. At the sight ofthis man the Indian made a gesture of caution, saying, however, in anundertone:
"How is heart--Yankee or Breesh--love Montreal, eh? Pretty good scalp!Love King George, eh?"
"I rather think not, but am not certain. He is a poor pale-face,however, and it's of no great account how he stands. His scalp wouldhardly be worth the taking, whether by English or American."
"Sell, down at Montreal--better look out for Pottawatamie. Don't likethat Injin."
"We'll be on our guard against him; and there he comes, looking as ifhis breakfast would be welcome, and as if he was already thinking of astart."
Le Bourdon had been busy with his pots, during the whole time thisdiscourse was going on, and had warmed up a sufficiency of food tosupply the wants of all his guests. In a few minutes each was busyquietly eating his morning's meal, Gershom having taken his bittersaside, and, as he fancied, unobserved. This was not so much owing toniggardliness, as to a distrust of his having a sufficient supply of theliquor, that long indulgence had made, in a measure, necessary to him,to last until he could get back to the barrels that were still to befound in his cabin, down on the shore of the lake.
During the breakfast little was said, conversation forming no materialpart of the entertainment, at the meals of any but the cultivated. Wheneach had risen, however, and by certain preliminary arrangements itwas obvious that the two Indians intended to depart, the Pottawatamieadvanced to le Bourdon, and thrust out a hand.
"Thankee"--he said, in the brief way in which he clipped hisEnglish--"good supper--good sleep--good breakfast. Now go. Thankee--whenany friend come to Pottawatamie village, good wigwam dere, and no door."
"I thank you, Elksfoot--and should you pass this way, ag'in, soon, Ihope you'll just step into this chiente and help yourself it I shouldhappen to be off on a hunt. Good luck to you, and a happy sight ofhome."
The Pottawatamie then turned and thrust out a hand to each of theothers, who met his offered leave-taking with apparent friendship. Thebee-hunter observed that neither of the Indians said anything to theother touching the path he was about to travel, but that each seemedready to pursue his own way as if entirely independent, and without theexpectation of having a companion.
Elksfoot left the spot the first. After completing his adieus, thePottawattamie threw his rifle into the hollow of his arm, felt at hisbelt, as if to settle it into its place, made some little disposition ofhis light summer covering, and moved off in a southwesterly direction,passing through the open glades, and almost equally unobstructed groves,as steady in his movements as if led by an instinct.
"There he goes, on a bee-line," said le Bourdon, as the straight form ofthe old savage disappeared at length, behind a thicket of trees. "Ona bee-line for the St. Joseph's river, where he will shortly be, amongfriends and neighbors, I do not doubt. What, Chippewa! are you in motiontoo?"
"Must go, now," returned Pigeonswing, in a friendly way. "Bye'm by comeback and eat more honey-bring sweet news, hope-no Canada here," placinga finger on his heart-"all Yankee."
"God be with you, Chippewa-God be with you. We shall have a stirringsummer of it, and I expect to hear of your name in the wars, as of achief who knows no fear."
Pigeonswing waved his hand, cast a glance, half friendly halfcontemptuously, at Whiskey Centre, and glided away. The two who remainedstanding near the smouldering fire remarked that the direction takenby the Chippewa was toward the lake, and nearly at right angles to thattaken by the Pottawattamie. They also fancied that the movement of theformer was about half as fast again as that of the latter. In less thanthree minutes the young Indian was concealed in the "openings," thoughhe had to cross a glade of considerable width in order to reach them.
The bee-hunter was now alone with the only one of his guests who was ofthe color and race to which he himself belonged. Of the three, he wasthe visitor he least respected; but the dues of hospitality are usuallysacred in a wilderness, and among savages, so that he could do nothingto get rid of him. As Gershom manifested no intention to quit the place,le Bourdon set about the business of the hour, with as much method andcoolness as if the other had not been present. The first thing was tobring home the honey discovered on the previous day; a task of no lightlabor, the distance it was to be transported being so considerable, andthe quantity so large. But our bee-hunter was not without the meansof accomplishing such an object, and he now busied himself in gettingready. As Gershom volunteered his assistance, together they toiled inapparent amity and confidence.
The Kalamazoo is a crooked stream; and it wound from the spot where leBourdon had built his cabin, to a point within a hundred yards of thefallen tree in which the bees had constructed their hive. As a matterof course, Ben profited by this circumstance to carry his canoe to thelatter place, with a view to render it serviceable in transportingthe honey. First securing everything in and around the chiente, heand Gershom embarked, taking with them no less than four piecesof fire-arms; one of which was, to use the language of the west, adouble-barrelled "shot-gun." Before quitting the place, however, thebee-hunter went to a large kennel made of logs, and let out a mastiffof great power and size. Between this dog and himself there existed thebest possible intelligence; the master having pai
d many visits to theprisoner since his return, feeding and caressing him. Glad, indeed, wasthis fine animal to be released, bounding back and forth, and leapingabout le Bourdon in a way to manifest his delight. He had been cared forin his kennel, and well cared for, too; but there is no substitute forliberty, whether in man or beast, individuals or communities.
When all Was ready, le Bourdon and Gershom got into the canoe, whitherthe former now called his dog, using the name of "Hive," an appellationthat was doubtless derived from his own pursuit. As soon as the mastiffleaped into the canoe, Ben shoved off, and the light craft was pushedup the stream by himself and Gershom without much difficulty, and withconsiderable rapidity. But little driftwood choked the channel; and,after fifteen minutes of moderate labor, the two men came near to thepoint of low wooded land in which the bee-tree had stood. As they drewnigh, certain signs of uneasiness in the dog attracted his master'sattention, and he pointed them out to Gershom.
"There's game in the wind," answered Whiskey Centre, who had a goodknowledge of most of the craft of border life, notwithstanding hisungovernable propensity to drink, and who, by nature, was both shrewdand resolute. "I shouldn't wonder"-a common expression of his class--"ifwe found bears prowling about that honey!"
"Such things have happened in my time," answered the bee-hunter, "andtwice in my experience I've been driven from the field, and forced tolet the devils get my 'arnin's."
"That was when you had no comrade, stranger" returned Gershom, raising arifle, and carefully examining its flint and its priming. "It will be alarge family on 'em that drives us from that tree; for my mind is madeup to give Doll and Blossom a taste of the sweets."
If this was said imprudently, as respects ownership in the prize, itwas said heartily, so far as spirit and determination were concerned. Itproved that Whiskey Centre had points about him which, if not absolutelyredeeming, served in some measure to lessen the disgust which one mightother-wise have felt for his character. The bee-hunter knew that therewas a species of hardihood that belonged to border men as the fruitsof their habits, and, apparently, he had all necessary confidence inGershom's disposition to sustain him, should there be occasion for aconflict with his old enemies.
The first measure of the bee-hunter, after landing and securing hisboat, was to quiet Hive. The animal being under excellent command, thiswas soon done; the mastiff maintaining the position assigned him in therear, though evidently impatient to be let loose. Had not le Bourdonknown the precise position of the fallen tree, and through that theprobable position of his enemies, he would have placed the mastiff inadvance, as a pioneer or scout; but he deemed it necessary, underthe actual circumstances, to hold him as a reserve, or a force to bedirected whither occasion might require. With this arrangement, then,le Bourdon and Whiskey Centre advanced, side by side, each carrying twopieces, from the margin of the river toward the open land that commandeda view of the tree. On reaching the desired point, a halt was called, inorder to reconnoitre.
The reader will remember that the bee-elm had stood on the edge of adense thicket, or swamp, in which the trees grew to a size several timesexceeding those of the oaks in the openings; and le Bourdon had causedit to fall upon the open ground, in order to work at the honey withgreater ease to himself. Consequently, the fragments lay in full viewof the spot where the halt was made. A little to Gershom's surprise,Ben now produced his spy-glass, which he levelled with much earnestnesstoward the tree. The bee-hunter, however, well knew his business, andwas examining into the state of the insects whom he had so violentlyinvaded the night before. The air was filled with them, flying aboveand around the tree; a perfect cloud of the little creatures hoveringdirectly over the hole, as if to guard its treasure.
"Waal," said Gershom, in his drawling way, when le Bourdon had taken along look with the glass, "I don't see much use in spy-glassin' in thatfashion. Spy-glassin' may do out on the lake, if a body has only thetools to do it with; but here, in the openin's, nature's eyes is aboutas good as them a body buys in the stores."
"Take a look at them bees, and see what a fret they're in," returnedBen, handing the glass to his companion. "As long as I've been in thebusiness, I've never seen a colony in such a fever. Commonly, a fewhours after the bees find that their tree is down, and their plansbroken into, they give it up, and swarm; looking for a new hive, andsetting about the making more food for the next winter; but here are allthe bees yet, buzzing above the hole, as if they meant to hold out for asiege."
"There's an onaccountable grist on 'em"--Gershom was never veryparticular in his figures of speech, usually terming anythingin quantities a'grist"; and meaning in the present instance by"onaccountable," a number not to be counted--"an onaccountable grist on'em, I can tell you, and if you mean to charge upon sich enemies, youmust look out for somebody besides Whiskey Centre for your vanguard.What in natur' has got into the critters! They can't expect to set thattree on its legs ag'in!"
"Do you see a flight of them just in the edge of the for-est--here, moreto the southward?" demanded le Bourdon.
"Sure enough! There is a lot on 'em there, too, and they seem to becomin' and goin' to the tree, like folks"--Gershom WOULD put his nounof multitude into the plural, Nova-Anglice--"comin' and goin' like folkscarryin' water to a fire. A body would think, by the stir among 'em,them critters' barrel was empty!"
"The bears are there," coolly returned the bee-hunter; "I've seen suchmovements before, and know how to account for them. The bears are in thethicket, but don't like to come out in the face of such a colony. I haveheard of bears being chased miles by bees, when their anger was up!"
"Mortality! They have a good deal of dander (dandruff) for sich littlevipers! But what are WE to do, Bourdon? for Doll and Blossom MUST tastethat honey! Half's mine, you know, and I don't like to give it up."
The bee-hunter smiled at the coolness with which Gershom assigned tohimself so large a portion of his property; though he did not thinkit worth his while, just then, to "demur to his declaration," as thelawyers might have it. There was a sort of border rule, which gave allpresent equal shares in any forest captures; just as vessels in sightcome in for prize-money, taken in time of war by public cruisers. At anyrate, the honey of a single tree was not of sufficient value to induce aserious quarrel about it. If there should be any extra trouble or dangerin securing the present prize, every craft in view might, fairly enough,come in for its share.
"Doll shall not be forgotten, if we can only house our honey," answeredthe bee-hunter; "nor Blossom, neither. I've a fancy, already, forthat blossom of the wilderness, and shall do all I can to make myselfagreeable to her. A man cannot approach a maiden with anything sweeterthan honey."
"Some gals like sugar'd words better; but, let me tell you one thing,STRANger-"
"You have eaten bread and salt with me, Whiskey, and both are scarcearticles in a wilderness; and you've slept under my roof: is it notalmost time to call me something else than stranger?"
"Well, Bourdon, if you prefer that name; though STRANger is a name Ilike, it has sich an up and off sound to it. When a man calls all hesees STRANgers, it's a sign he don't let the grass grow in the roadfor want of movin'; and a movin' man for me, any day, before yourstationaries. I was born on the sea-shore, in the Bay State; and hereI am, up among the fresh-water lakes, as much nat'ralized as anymuskelunge that was ever cotch'd in Huron, or about Mackinaw. If I canbelieve my eyes, Bourdon, there is the muzzle of a bear to be seen, jistunder that heavy hemlock--here, where the bees seem thickest!"
"No doubt in the world," answered le Bourdon, coolly; though he hadtaken the precaution to look to the priming of each of his pieces, as ifhe expected there would soon be occasion to use them. "But what was thatyou were about to say concernin' Blossom? It would not be civil to theyoung woman to overlook her, on account of a bear or two."
"You take it easy, STRANger--Bourdon, I should say--you take it easy!What I was about to say was this: that the whull lake country, andthat's a wide stretch to foot it over, I know; but,
big as it is, thewhull lake country don't contain Blossom's equal. I'm her brother, andperhaps ought to be a little modest in sich matters; but I an't a bit,and let out jist what I think. Blossom's a di'mond, if there be di'mondson 'arth."
"And yonder is a bear, if there be bears on earth!" exclaimed leBourdon, who was not a little amused with Gershom's account of hisfamily, but who saw that the moment was now arrived when it would benecessary to substitute deeds for words. "There they come, in a drove,and they seem in earnest."
This was true enough. No less than eight bears, half of which, however,were quite young, came tumbling over the logs, and bounding up towardthe fallen tree, as if charging the citadel of the bees by preconcert.Their appearance was the signal for a general rally of the insects, andby the time the foremost of the clumsy animals had reached the tree, theair above and around him was absolutely darkened by the cloud of beesthat was collected to defend their treasures. Bruin trusted too much tothe thickness of his hide and to the defences with which he was providedby nature, besides being too much incited by the love of honey, toregard the little heroes, but thrust his nose in at the hole, doubtlesshoping to plunge it at once into the midst of a mass of the sweets. Agrowl, a start backward, and a flourishing of the fore-paws, withsundry bites in the air, at once announced that he had met with greaterresistance than he had anticipated. In a minute, all the bears were ontheir hind-legs, beating the air with their fore-paws, and nipping rightand left with their jaws, in vigorous combat with their almost invisiblefoes. Instinct supplied the place of science, and spite of the hidesand the long hair that covered them, the bees found the means of dartingtheir stings into unprotected places, until the quadrupeds were fairlydriven to rolling about on the grass in order to crush their assailants.This last process had some effect, a great many bees being destroyed bythe energetic rollings and tumblings of the bears; but, as in the tideof battle, the places of those who fell were immediately supplied byfresh assailants, until numbers seemed likely to prevail over power,if not over discipline. At this critical instant, when the bears seemedfatigued with their nearly frantic saltations, and violent blows uponnothing, le Bourdon deemed it wise to bring his forces into the combat.Gershom having been apprised of the plan, both fired at the sameinstant. Each ball took effect; one killing the largest of all thebears, dead on the spot, while the other inflicted a grievous wound ona second. This success was immediately followed by a second discharge,wounding two more of the enemy, while Ben held the second barrel of his"shot-gun" in reserve. While the hurt animals were hobbling off, the menreloaded their pieces; and by the time the last were ready to advance onthe enemy, the ground was cleared of bears and bees alike, only two ofthe former remaining, of which one was already dead and the other dying.As for the bees, they followed their retreating enemies in a body,making a mistake that sometimes happens to still more intelligentbeings; that of attributing to themselves, and their own prowess, asuccess that had been gained by others.
The bee-hunter and his friend now set themselves at work to providea reception for the insects, the return of which might shortly beexpected. The former lighted a fire, being always provided with themeans, while Gershom brought dry wood. In less than five minutes abright blaze was gleaming upward, and when the bees returned, as mostof them soon did, they found this new enemy intrenched, as it might be,behind walls of flame. Thousands of the little creatures perished bymeans of this new invention of man, and the rest soon after were ledaway by their chiefs to seek some new deposit for the fruits of theirindustry.