CHAPTER XIX
THE INDIAN HORSE-RACE--KATE'S PONY WINS--THE TRADE WITH THE PAWNEES--THE DANCES AT NIGHT--THE INDIANS SAY GOOD BY TO THE FAMILY--NOBLE ACTION OF WHITE WOLF
THE Pawnees having remained on the Oxhide much longer than in anyprevious season, they began to make preparations for departure. Joeasked the chief to give a dance with his warriors at the ranche, for hisparents and his sisters to see how the Indians enjoy themselves.
White Wolf said he would be sure to do so the night before they left.To-morrow, they were going to have a horse-race, and, should his fatherbe willing, they would use that long, level stretch of prairie betweenthe house and the creek. It was a distance of about four miles, theusual length of a race-course with the Indians.
White Wolf said that the wagers would be ten horses, and that if YoungPanther wanted to bet, he would make one with him. Joe replied thatneither he nor his father approved of betting, but that both of themdearly loved to see horses run. "If I believed in betting, though," saidJoe to the chief, "I would bet that my sister's pony, Ginger, can outrunany pony you have." The chief smiled, and told Joe that if he would notbet, he might ride that pony in the race, and if he came out ahead, thenhe would know whether his sister's animal was the fastest. Joe agreed toit, and when he returned to Errolstrath he obtained Kate's permission toride Ginger in the race the following day. Mr. Thompson had readilygiven his consent to the Indians to use the trail in front of the houseas a race-course.
Joe went down to the camp that evening and told the warriors that theymight have the use of the course. White Wolf then said: "We will be upthere by the time the sun is so high," pointing with his hand to wherethe sun would be at eight o'clock.
"All right," replied Joe; "we will be ready for you. The folks can siton the porch and see the whole length of the course. Be sure to comepromptly."
When Joe returned to the ranche, he announced that he wanted to get upvery early in the morning, and as Rob was always the first one in thehouse out of bed, he asked him to call him the moment he awoke.
Rob, as usual, was out before sunrise. He promptly called his brother,who lost no time in dressing, washing at the spring, and going out tothe pasture to catch Ginger. He led him to the corral, gave him a mostvigorous currying, after which he fed the pony an extra ration of oats,to give him heart for the race.
Shortly after breakfast was out of the way, Kate, who was on theveranda, feeding the mocking-birds, came rushing into the sitting-room,crying, "The Pawnees are coming; I can hear their tom-toms beating; theywill soon be here!"
All the family went out, and sure enough, there were the Indians alldressed up in feathers, and painted in every imaginable savage manner.White Wolf had a row of white dots on one cheek, flanked on each side bya streak of vermilion, while the other was green and blue. He had on awar bonnet with eagle feathers sticking in it around the upper edge,making it look like a grotesque crown. Down his back dragged a longtrail of buffalo hair plaited into his own, and at every few inches forits whole length (it reached the ground when he walked) there werefastened bright metal disks nearly as big as the top of a tomato can.Around his wrists were a dozen or more brass rings, and on his bareankles he wore as many rings of the same material. He had an embroideredbuffalo robe thrown gracefully over his shoulders, half concealing hiscoat of beaded buckskin. His leggings were of the same stuff, and werealso gayly decorated with colored porcupine quills deftly woven in them.The other warriors were similarly dressed and painted, but wore only oneeagle feather in their bonnets, which was the distinguishing featurebetween them and their chief.
Following the warriors were the boys of the band, each riding a pony,and leading others which had been wagered on the race.
The race animals were ridden by their owners, and came after all theothers; among them was the wild coal-black stallion that White Wolf hadcaptured on the Cimarron. He looked like himself now, as he proudlypranced along, his mouth frothing as he champed on his rawhide bit, andhis neck arched as he stepped like a thoroughbred over buffalo-grassturf leading to the house.
Several of the warriors had tom-toms in front of them, which they werebeating vigorously with a stick as they rode proudly along. Thetom-toms, or drums, are made of tanned buffalo hide stretched over awillow hoop, and the sound resembles that of a drum, but as the poundingis simply a continuous series of strokes without any variation, it isnot music, but a very monotonous noise.
When the band had arrived at the house the Indians dismounted, and aftera series of "Hows?"--their customary salutation--to the family on theveranda, they dismounted and began to converse among themselves in anexcited manner. Presently one of the warriors started on a run towardthe creek. He soon returned with some sticks, and then he and anotherwarrior began to mark out the course.
This took them some time, and while they were at the work, the boys whowere to ride the race began to cinch up their buffalo-hide saddles, andprepare themselves for the impending struggle.
Joe was already prancing about on Ginger, and he could hardly hold thespirited little beast, so anxious was it to be off, as if it perfectlyunderstood the meaning of all the preparations. The Indian ponies, too,seemed to enter into the spirit of the thing, for they also commenced tocavort around, and it was with much difficulty that their riders couldrestrain them from bolting down the track.
At last everything was in readiness, the animals in place, Joe on theoutside of the four who were to run. The animals were all jumping up anddown, stiff-legged, and bucking with all their strength to throw theirriders.
In a few moments White Wolf gave the signal, and away they darted likemeteors. Ginger kept his place well, the black stallion leading for thefirst half-mile until a big roan of one of the warriors took the lead;then Ginger made a dash ahead. For a moment it was nip and tuck whichwould keep the lead, but when the second mile was half run, the animalsbegan to show their powers of endurance. Some flagged, others were farbehind, and Ginger and the roan were going relatively slower; when allat once, just as the home stretch was reached, Ginger took a spurt andseeming to gain his second wind, like a pugilist in the ring, came inforty feet in advance of the roan, the black stallion twenty feet behindhim. The other ponies were so far away, that if they had been running ona white man's course they would have been declared "distanced."
Such a shout went up from the veranda of the house, where the familywere sitting, as they saw Ginger dash ahead, and Joe caught the sound ofit as the wind wafted the paean of victory to his ears.
White Wolf was disappointed in the result. He thought that his blackhorse had great powers of endurance, and as soon as they were assembledin front of the veranda, he offered Kate five of the best and youngestof his horses in exchange for Ginger. Kate hesitated for a moment, butconsidering that Ginger was now nearly eight years old, and afterconsulting with her father and Joe, she decided to make the swap.
As the chief owned the roan that had really won the race,--Ginger beinga mere outsider just to test Joe's belief that he was the fastestanimal,--White Wolf was, in fact, the winner, and took the ten poniesthat were wagered.
With the assistance of her father and brothers, Kate selected five ofthe best and youngest of the chief's bunch, including the roan. TheIndians then returned to their camp, promising to come up that eveningand give a series of dances, as they intended to start for theirreservation the next morning.
After they had left the front of the house, and Joe had taken the fivenew ponies to the corral, he told Kate that he would now let her haveCheyenne back, and he would take the roan, as the latter was too large ahorse for her to ride. Kate agreed readily to the proposition, so sheonce more owned the little animal that had brought her so safely fromthe Indian village.
When the family had finished their supper, Joe and Rob, with a team ofwork horses, dragged several large logs from the creek to the front ofthe house to make a big bonfire, for the Pawnee dance.
Shortly after dark the redskins came up with their best toggery o
n, andwhen Joe, who had donned his Indian suit for the occasion, told WhiteWolf he was ready, the Indians commenced to circle around the great fireof logs, in their savage fashion. Some of them jumped stiff-legged likean antelope when he is first startled. Others, bending nearly double,shuffled in pairs, each one on his own hook, trying to see which couldmake the most ridiculous postures, for they have no regular figures, butkeep admirable time to the drumming on the tom-toms.
When the first dance was finished, they gave a representation of thescalp dance. The chief crept along the ground, putting his ear close toit, in the attitude of listening on the trail of the enemy, then wavinghis hand for his warriors to come on, they rushed into a supposed Indiancamp, and went through the simulation of killing their victim, andwrenching off his hair with their knives. The motions, which at timeswere really graceful, were carried on in perfect unison with themonotonous pounding of the drums.
The next dance was named "Make the buffalo come." The medicine-men, whoclaim to possess mysterious powers, tell the warriors to dance, forthat will make the buffalo come, and then they can get their meat. Thecrafty old fellows are sure never to order the dance until about theseason that the animals come to that part of the country where the tribemay happen to be. They are kept dancing night after night until thebuffalo really make their appearance, then the medicine-men claim thatthey brought them by their incantations and the wonderful power of theirmedicine.
For this dance, White Wolf's warriors and himself covered their headswith the skin of a buffalo's head, horns and all, so that they lookedlike a lot of men with the heads of that animal as part of theiranatomy. It was a long dance, and during its performance, the mostindescribable antics were gone through.
The family were well pleased with the entertainment, and when it wasover, Mrs. Thompson invited the Indians into the sitting-room, where thegirls had prepared a little supper for them, consisting of cake andlemonade. The latter was new, and created quite a sensation, but Joetold them it was not fire-water, and they might drink a barrel fullwithout becoming crazy.
At midnight when the dances and the supper were over, the Pawnees rodeback to their camp, delighted with their evening's entertainment.
The next morning Joe was down at the Indian camp very early to see hisdusky friends make ready for their departure. The chief told him thatthey had camped on the Oxhide for the last time; the whites had taken upall the country, and the buffalo would come there no more. Now when theyneeded buffalo meat, they would be obliged to go out as far as theWalnut, and in a few more years there would be no buffalo at all. Hispeople would have to take the "white man's road" if they expected tolive. He and the other warriors made their youthful friend somepresents, and told him that they had to go by the house to take thetrail down the Smoky Hill Fork to their distant home. He said that theywould stop a moment at the ranche to say good by to all the people whohad been so kind to him and the tribe every year since they had campedon the creek.
Joe returned to Errolstrath, feeling very sad, because he had becomemuch attached to the Indians, and he knew that he would miss them somuch, and feel lonely for a long time. He told the family that thePawnees would come soon to say farewell, and that they must be sure tobe out on the veranda when they came.
By nine o'clock, Kate, whose ears were well trained to faint sounds,through her vigilance when a captive in the Cheyenne camp, came into thehouse from the porch where she had been attending to her birds as usual,and said the Pawnees were coming; she could hear the tread of theirponies' hoofs.
Then the family took their places on the veranda, as they had promisedJoe. Presently, slowly coming up the trail, with White Wolf in the lead,the band of Pawnees were seen approaching the house. Arrived in front,they all halted, and with their usual "How? How?" saluted the family.
All came down from the porch to shake hands, when Ginger, who with theother ponies was running loose in the bunch, came up to Kate and,neighing affectionately, began to rub his nose against her arm andshoulder. The salutation of her once favorite pony was too much for thewarm-hearted girl, and she burst into tears as she returned theanimal's love for her by throwing her arms around his neck.
"Oh, father!" said she, "why did I ever consent to part with Ginger? Iam so sorry now. I would give worlds to have him back again."
White Wolf, noticing her weeping, asked in his own language why thelittle squaw was feeling so badly. Joe told him how she loved Ginger andhow sorry she was she had ever consented to give him up.
White Wolf then said: "Tell her she shall have her pony again. I am achief and do not like to see the white squaws cry." He dismounted fromhis animal, and going up to Kate, took Ginger's foretop in his hand;then taking hers, he pressed into it the bunch of hair.
Ginger neighed when the rude ceremony of returning him to his formermistress was over, seeming to understand just what had been effected.
Kate took the chief by the hand and thanked him as earnestly as shecould find language to express herself, which, of course, had to beinterpreted by Joe.
Then Rob brought from the stable the five other ponies that had beengiven for Ginger, and after a few more parting salutations the Pawneesrode down the trail.
Ginger was restored to his stall in the stable, and Kate was thehappiest girl in the settlement that day.
CHAPTER XX
CONCLUSION
RETROSPECTIVE--THE OLD TRAPPER PASSES AWAY--MR. AND MRS. THOMPSON ARE DEAD--GENERAL CUSTER AND COLONEL KEOGH ARE KILLED--ERROLSTRATH BELONGS TO JOE AND ROB
TWENTY-NINE years have elapsed since the events related in this story.The Indians, buffalo, and antelope have all disappeared. There is nolonger any frontier. Granite monuments mark the dividing line betweengreat states. The children of this generation will never know byexperience the hardships, the perils, and the amusements which soconspicuously characterized the life of Joe, Rob, Gertrude, and Kate atErrolstrath.
General Custer, Colonel Keogh, and nearly all of the famous cavalryregiment commanded by the great Indian fighter went down to their deathin the awful massacre at the battle of the Little Bighorn, or Rosebud,as it is sometimes called.
The old trapper, Mr. Tucker, who was such a warm friend of the family,has long since passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are buried in thequiet cemetery on the hill, near the ranche. Kate and her sister havebeen married for many years and still live in Kansas, but not at thedear old home. Errolstrath belongs to Joe and Rob. It is now a largeranche, comprising many thousand acres. Where the buffalo and theantelope used to roam in such vast herds are to be seen, peacefullygrazing, hundreds of mild-eyed Jerseys and the broad-backed Durhams. Anew house with all modern improvements has been erected on the site ofthe old one. On its broad veranda may be seen every evening in summerthe children of the two brothers, to whom, as the shadows lengthen, theytell of their own early experiences when they too were children and whenthe ranche was far out in the wilderness of the great central plains.
The shrill whistle of the locomotive may be heard at the ranche as thepalace trains with their load of living freight dash along the bank ofthe Smoky Hill, toward the Rocky Mountains. Ellsworth has grown to be abeautiful town with electric lights and all the appliances of ourwonderful nineteenth century civilization.
The moon shines as brightly and the birds sing as sweetly as of yorearound Errolstrath, but of all the familiar faces that knew it so manyyears ago, only those of Joe and Rob may be seen. Even they are bearded,their hair is slightly mixed with gray. They are growing old; but thelaughter of their merry children serves to keep green the memory oftheir own happy childhood.
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Transcriber's note:
Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
Page 127, "lighting" changed to "lightning" (like lightning and forced)
Page 225, "lightedl" changed to "lighted" (prairie was lighted)
Page 225, "th" changed to "that" (and mellow that)
Page 226, "n" removed from
text at start of new paragraph. Original read(n When the leader of the)
Page 226, on the line below the previous note, "hu" changed to "the"(the spot where his)
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