CHAPTER XX
CASTING BREAD UPON THE WATERS
THE presence of the panther so terrified the horses that they kept up acontinual prancing; and it would have been next to impossible for anyone to have taken a sure aim while in the saddle.
"WITH THE SHARP CRASH OF THE GUN THE GREAT GRAY BODY OFTHE CROUCHING BEAST FLEW UPWARD."]
Roger understood this, for his first act was to slip from his seat, gunin hand. His next was to draw back the hammer of his rifle. It was tobe hoped that the powder lay properly in the pan, so that there wouldbe no false flash.
Dick, too, had gripped his rifle, and was bent on using it to the bestof his ability in case his comrade failed to kill the panther, thoughhe had confidence in the marksmanship of Roger.
The time could be measured only in seconds, from Roger's leaving hissaddle to when he pressed the trigger. And with the sharp crash of thegun the great gray body of the crouching beast flew upward, with all ofits legs in motion at once.
It fell almost at the feet of the Indian squaw, who drew back hercharge, and at the same time kept her stout cudgel ready, so as to makeuse of it in case of necessity.
But there was no such need. Roger's bullet had done its work well; theferocious beast was already quivering in its death throes.
"Good shot, Roger!" cried the gratified Dick, as he lowered his own gun.
The other was already reloading his long rifle. That was a hunter'sinstinct which had been impressed so urgently on the minds of theseboys when mere striplings that they could never neglect the precaution.An empty gun is the nightmare of a wise hunter, for it makes him worsethan helpless.
Roger was making haste, wishing to be the one to add the finishingtouches in case anything more was needed; but such did not prove to bethe case, for even as he completed the task of reloading his weapon theanimal expired.
Dick was by now out of his saddle. He found a place to hitch his horseby tossing the bridle over a broken limb, caught the second animal'slines and did the same; after which he turned for a look at the strangepair who had been saved from death, it might be, through the coming ofthe white boys.
The squaw was not much different from all of her kind, being wrinkled,and squat of figure as one accustomed to bearing heavy loads, for itis the women who do all the work in Indian villages, while the braveshunt, and carry on wars.
Evidently the squaw did not know whether to look upon these strangersin the light of friends or enemies. True, one of them had saved hercharge and herself from a terrible fate; but then the white boys mightdecide to make prisoners of them, and carry them far away to theirsettlement.
She still gripped her cudgel, and her beady black eyes flashed fire asDick approached. He saw that she was like a fox at bay, and ready tomeet him half way if he gave evidence of wishing to do them harm.
So Dick, who had hastily slung his gun to his back by means of thestrap, held up both his hands, palms extended toward the squaw. That isthe universal "peace sign," recognized all over the world, even amongthe blacks of darkest Africa.
The wrinkled face of the squaw lost some of its grimness. She evenseemed to smile a little, Dick thought; at any rate those fierce blackeyes glistened in a friendly way as she nodded her head, and also heldup both hands, letting the club fall to the ground.
"Friends--no hurt squaw, pappoose. How come here? Much bad job,panther. Shake hands. Me Dick!"
Although it might have seemed a little comical, the way the boyexpressed himself, somehow, either through her knowledge of a littleEnglish, or because his gesture explained more than his few wordsdid, the squaw seemed to understand him. She accepted his hand, andher black eyes snapped some more when he gave her fingers a friendlysqueeze. Thus it is possible for two people to communicate, even whenlanguage fails.
"Me Karmeet, pappoose Dove Eyes. Prisoner so long in Shoshone village.Get away. Now on trail to lodges of Sioux. Much good paleface boy,shoot big cat. Ugh!"
And that was about the extent of her willingness to impart information.Whoever Karmeet might be, she evidently had long ago been taught thatit was a woman's place to hold her tongue when any of the other sexwere around.
"We make camp, have meat to eat. Karmeet hungry; Dove Eyes want food.You much welcome join us. Stay all night in camp. In morning go toSioux wigwam. How?"
Dick in this way was trying to make the squaw understand that they wereabout to halt for the night, and camp; also that she and her chargewould be perfectly welcome to stay there, and share in the supper ofthe white boys.
Roger looked at the lined face to see whether she understood, andimmediately realized that Dick knew how to go about it; for again shenodded her head, looked anxiously at the girl, and then muttered:
"We stay night with paleface boys. Much good. Karmeet remember. Ugh!"
And so the two young pioneers went about the duties of the hour asthough they were alone. They carefully selected the place where thefire was to be made; and the keen eyes of the squaw followed all theirmovements with considerable curiosity. Roger, looking up later, sawher nodding her head, and from this he understood that she approved oftheir cunning in thus providing against discovery of the small blaze byhostile eyes.
The horses were provided with a feeding place, because there was grassin the forest glade where the wandering Indian squaw and her charge, inescaping from one peril, had almost met their fate in another way.
Then supper was started. When Roger prepared to cook the meat, to hisamusement it was taken from his hands by the old squaw, who insistedon carrying out the rest of that labor--though possibly the lads mighthave preferred to do it their own way. But evidently Karmeet had allher life been accustomed to never seeing a warrior bending over thefire whenever there was a squaw in the camp; they might do the drudgerywhen out hunting, or on the warpath, but never at home. That was awoman's duty.
There was plenty for all. Little Dove Eyes had been visibly frightenedat first sight of the white boys, for doubtless they were the onlypalefaces upon whom her eyes had ever rested. But by degrees the smilesand nods of Roger assured the child that he was a friend. Besides, hadnot it been his "speaking-stick" that had sent the terrible woods-catto its death, just when it seemed that nothing could prevent it fromspringing on her guardian?
And so by slow degrees she even tried to talk with Roger, repeatingafter him the words he uttered. He would pick up his weapon, and say"gun" very distinctly; so in a little while, when he asked her what itwas, she would say the word plainly, showing that the lesson had beenlearned.
And so it was with other things, even to his name, which proved prettymuch of a stumbling-block; for words of two syllables were hard for thechild to pronounce.
Meanwhile, as the evening passed, Dick from time to time tried toengage the squaw in conversation; but she was most uncommunicative, forsome reason or other, and answered his questions either by shrugs thatgave him to believe she did not understand, or else by single words.
But by dint of hard work he managed to get enough information fromher to understand that she had been captured by a roving band ofShoshones, then, as nearly always, at war with the fighting Indiansof the Northwest, the fierce Sioux, and, together with the child, whowas related to her, carried away as captives to one of their villages,where they had been kept for months.
Finally a chance came to make her escape, though she would not gowithout Dove Eyes. They had stolen two horses, which had carried themmany miles on their way toward the village of her people. Then troublecame, for her horse died of exhaustion, while that which the littlegirl rode broke a leg by stepping in a prairie dog hole.
After that they had gone afoot, existing as best they could on berriesand such things as an Indian woman best knew would sustain life,until, without warning, they had been confronted by that hungry beast,which would surely have pounced upon them had not the paleface boysinterfered.
Beyond that the squaw would not venture. Just who and what she was Dickcould not ascertain, though once she did mention the f
act that thechild's father was a big chief among her people.
And when it came time for seeking rest, Roger willingly gave up hisblanket in order that their visitors might be provided with some of thecomforts to which their sex entitled them.
As was customary, the boys kept a wary eye out, though they had come todepend partly on their horses to alarm them, should a creeping Indiancome near the camp during the night. The animals seemed to fear theredskins as much as any lonely settler's wife might; and would snort,and pound their hoofs upon the ground, should they detect the presenceof a marauder.
Perhaps towards morning both of the boys slept more soundly than usual,for they were tired, and sleep is more apt to overpower a watcher justbefore day comes on apace.
Roger was the first to get up. The earliest peep of dawn could be seenin the far east, through the trees, as he started to revive the littlefire in the cavity, so that they might have an early breakfast, andmove on. He found himself hoping that this day might see them once morelooking out across the great river they had followed so far.
Having managed to get the blaze started, Roger turned to speak to hiscompanion, to find that Dick was already on his feet, and lookingaround.
"Well, it happened just as I thought it would," Dick was saying.
"What do you mean?" demanded his companion, wonderingly.
"Look around, and tell me if you see our visitors," the other went on.
And Roger, turning his eyes in the quarter where the squaw and hercharge had been lying, was astonished and dismayed to find that theyhad disappeared.