XXIV DANGER
The camp was stirring early, and the sheltering grove was soon leftbehind. On every side the prairie, empty and peaceful, stretched awayinto misty distance. The fears and alarms of the night had beenimaginary.
As on the day before, the route lay over flat, poorly drained, oftenmarshy country, where the grass grew tall and rank. By going directlyeast, the travelers might have reached the Wild Rice River in a fewhours, but far from the place where St. Antoine had advised them tocross. Even if they succeeded in crossing, they knew they would loserather than gain time by going that way. If they went straight east theywould come to the Red River a number of miles below the Ottertail, wherethe Red was much larger and more difficult to ford. St. Antoine hadexplained all that, showing them how, by going southeast, instead of eastand then south, they would find better fording places as well as saveactual distance. So they continued to the southeast.
By the position of the sun and the little grove behind him, Louis stroveto keep a straight course, a difficult feat for anyone less experiencedin prairie travel. Louis himself found it far from easy, especially whenhe had to make detours around impassable ground. Many times that day hewished for St. Antoine or some other older and more prairie-wise man.
As the sun rose higher, the day grew very hot. Even the ponies felt theeffect of the heat, as they plodded steadily on. At noon the party haltedfor an hour on the open prairie, to let the horses rest and feed. Therewas not a stick of fuel anywhere, so the pemmican was eaten cold, andwashed down with a sip of the warm, brackish water they had brought fromthe _ile des bois_.
In mid afternoon, hot and tired, the little caravan reached the bank of astream Louis knew must be the Wild Rice. A narrow, crooked, muddy streamit proved to be, like a deep ditch between high and scantily woodedbanks. At the top of the bank the carts halted, while Louis and Neilscrambled down, leading their horses, to look for a ford. After a halfhour's search for a place that appeared safe, the two boys came upon atrail. The slope was a little less steep in this spot, and, winding downto the water's edge, was the well-worn track of men and animals. Therewas no mistaking it.
"Here is a ford," Louis announced confidently. "It is here that theIndians cross."
"It looks like it," Neil agreed. "We might as well go back for the carts.This is the easiest place we've seen to bring them down."
Louis shook his head. "Wait a bit," he commanded. "I must see if thecrossing is safe. The trail is old. There are no signs that anyone hascrossed recently, and the river is yet far from its lowest point. Youstay here, and I will try to trace the ford and make sure it is not toodeep."
"All right," consented Neil. "I'll keep an eye on you. If you get intotrouble, I'll go to your help."
The water was so thick and muddy, Louis could scarcely see whether it wasdeep or shallow. His pony was sure footed, and picked its way carefully.So he left the finding of the ford to the animal's instinct andintelligence. Slowly they made their way across. The water rose to thehorse's sides, but did not carry it off its feet, as the current wassluggish. There was one deep place, however, where the pony was forced toswim a few yards.
Neil, mounted and ready to go to the rescue, watched anxiously. His helpwas not needed. The pony found foothold, and was soon scrambling up thefarther bank to dry land. Dismounting, Louis patted the animal and rubbedits nose. Unlike the _bois brules_, he treated his beasts kindly. He hadbrought this horse up from colthood, and it had no fear of him. Afterresting a few minutes, boy and pony made their way back again.
"Can we get the carts across?" asked Neil, as Louis, wet to the waist,reached shore.
"Yes, if we pull them over with ropes. We can take my mother and thechildren on the horses. There is only the one deep place, and the currentis not strong. Cesar knew the way. He took me out where the trail goes upfrom the water. This is an old fording place."
"St. Antoine said nothing about a trail."
"No, I think this is not the place where he crossed. We may be miles fromthat spot."
"If we can get across here, that is all we care about," returned Neil.
The old trail was steep but not impossible for vehicles. With the boysacting as brakes by hanging on to the rear, the carts made theirscreeching, groaning way down. The horses were unhitched, and rawhideropes attached to one of the carts. Then Louis and Walter rode over theford, wound the ropes around a willow tree for greater security, andbegan to pull. The others steadied the cart into the water. Neil,mounting hastily, rode behind it to prevent disaster.
Part way across, the wheels stuck in the muddy bottom and would not turn.Neil jumped off his horse, and Raoul waded out to help him. They pushedand heaved vigorously, while Louis and Walter pulled, and got the cartmoving again. In the deep place the box body floated, and the boyssucceeded in pulling it to shore before it took in much water. Knowingthat the dry box would leak more or less, they had lined it with hides.The load came through uninjured.
The same process was repeated with the second cart, which was not solucky and took in more water. Then Mrs. Brabant and the girls, theirskirts gathered up under them on the horses' backs, were brought across,wetting no more than their feet and ankles. Max, sitting cross legged infront of his father, did not even get his feet wet. The older boys andMr. Perier were well soaked. The day was so warm they did not mind awetting.
The search for the ford and the crossing had taken a long time. The sunwas low when the weary little party started up the old trail to seek acamping place. It happened that Walter, leading one of the horses alongthe steep track, was ahead. As he reached the top, picking his way, heturned to look back at the pony. After the horse was up, he continued tostand looking down, watching the carts making their slow way up, theponies pulling steadily, the boys pushing. He ought to be down therehelping, he thought.
The neighing of a horse startled him. He swung around, gave one gasp, andfairly tumbled down the bank, dragging the surprised pony after him.
"Indians!" he gasped.
"Where?" Louis let go his hold on the first cart, and scrambled up tojoin Walter.
"Coming across the prairie. A whole band of them."
"How far away? Did they see you?"
"They must have seen me. There are no trees. I stood right in the open."
Louis dropped flat and wormed his way up the slope. He raised his headcautiously, lowered it quickly, and slid back.
"They certainly saw you. They are too close to have missed you. We can'tavoid them. They come straight to the ford. We have no time to get out ofthe way. There is not enough cover to hide in. And they must have seenyou and the horse. We must put on a bold front and not act afraid. Thatis the only thing we can do."
The rest of the party, alarmed by the two boys' actions, had stopped intheir tracks. Not many seconds were spent in telling them what washappening. All realized that Louis was right when he said there wasnothing to do but put on a bold front. In a few moments the tiny caravanwas moving again. Raoul held Askime by the collar to keep him fromrunning ahead.
Louis and Walter went first, side by side, leading their horses. When hecame in view of the prairie, Walter's heart beat fast. He struggled tocontrol his trembling knees, and to appear cool and unconcerned.
A very short distance away, coming straight towards the two lads, was alittle group of mounted men, with bare, black heads and feathers in theirhair. Some wore loose buckskin shirts. The bronze bodies of others werebare. Beyond them more mounted men, men, women, and children on foot,pack animals, and travois covered the prairie in a wide, irregular,disorderly procession.
"A whole band out on the hunt," said Louis. "Well, that is less to befeared than a war party of braves only."
The advance group let out a yell, a wild, menacing sound it seemed to theSwiss boy, hammered their horses' sides with their heels, and came on ata gallop. Louis swung himself into the saddle, and advanced to meet them,one arm raised in the friendship sign. Walter m
ounted and followed,imitating the gesture.
The leading Indian responded with upraised arm, and the group came on.Surrounding the lads, they reined in their ponies. Walter's heart wasthumping against his ribs, but the trembling had passed. He sat straightand steady in the saddle, and kept a calm exterior.
"_Bo jou_," said Louis pleasantly.
"How," stolidly returned the leader of the advance party. He was awell-built, broad-shouldered fellow in the prime of life. A piece ofbuffalo robe was his only saddle. He guided his horse with a cord oftwisted hair around the jaw, and rode with free and easy grace.
As Louis knew only four or five words of Dakota, communication had to becarried on principally in sign language. Recognizing the word for traderwhen the Indian spoke again, Louis replied with a shake of his head, thenpointed to the carts just appearing over the top of the bank. Heinterpreted the Indian's next gesture as a question about the size of theparty, and held up ten fingers in answer. Wishing to convey the idea thatthe ten were only part of a much larger party, he pointed across theriver, and spread out his fingers, closing and opening them severaltimes.
The Indian nodded, stared fixedly at the carts, and inquired,"_Minnewakan?_"
That was one of the few words Louis knew. "No _minnewakan_, no liquor,"he replied. His questioner looked disappointed, so Louis hastened to add,"We can give you a little tobacco. _Tabac_," he repeated with emphasis.
Evidently the Indian had heard the word _tabac_ in intercourse with thetraders. He repeated it with a nod and held out his hand.
Louis pointed towards the carts, and said quickly to Walter, "Go get sometobacco. It will be all right. We're safe enough for the present."
The Indians made no move to hinder Walter's return to the carts. He wasback in a few moments with the tobacco, which Louis divided among thegroup of braves, taking care to give the largest portion to the leader.
The first of the main body of Indians had come on almost to the riverbank, a little way beyond where the carts were standing, and had haltedthere. The boys' new acquaintance pointed to the spot, then brought thetips of his forefingers together to indicate the pointed shape of a tipi.Walter guessed the man's meaning to be that the band would camp there forthe night. His heart sank. He had been hoping that the Indians would goon across the river.
If Louis was troubled, he did not show it. He pointed the other way,--upriver,--and made the same sign. Then he said "_Bo jou_" again and turnedhis horse in that direction.
The Indian gave a little grunt which might have meant either assent orprotest. Neither he nor his companions showed any wish to hinder theboys' freedom of movement. They remained motionless for a few moments,then turned towards the camping place of their own band.
"What are we going to do?" asked Walter, when he and Louis had put a fewyards between themselves and the Indians.
"We will have to make camp," Louis replied slowly. "We will not be anysafer if we go on. If they wish to steal our horses or interfere with usin any way, they will only follow. They can overtake us easily. Thosefellows' horses are fresher than ours. I saw that at once. We will campfarther up the river, as far as we can without seeming to run away. Itried to make them believe that we are an advance party. If we camp hereit will look as if we waited for the others to join us. It is a badsituation, but I do not see what else we can do."
"If they want to take our horses, though, and everything else we have, weare helpless. We are too few to fight a whole band. I suppose you areright about going on now. If they wished to harm us, some of them wouldfollow. But when they think we are all settled for the night, can't westeal away in the darkness?"
"I have thought of that," Louis returned quietly. "That is one reason Iwant to camp as far away as we can, without making them suspicious. Ifthey seem perfectly friendly, it may be best to remain in camp tillmorning. We can decide that later. The important thing now is to keep ourheads and act as if we had no fear."