The Prairie (35 page)

As the stream divided, the place became clear; the two dark columns
moving obliquely from the copse, to unite again at the distance of
a mile, on its opposite side. The instant the old man saw the sudden
effect which the voice of Asinus had produced, he coolly commenced
reloading his rifle, indulging at the same time in a heartfelt fit of
his silent and peculiar merriment.

"There they go, like dogs with so many half-filled shot-pouches dangling
at their tails, and no fear of their breaking their order; for what the
brutes in the rear didn't hear with their own ears, they'll conceit they
did: besides, if they change their minds, it may be no hard matter to
get the Jack to sing the rest of his tune!"

"The ass has spoken, but Balaam is silent!" cried the bee-hunter,
catching his breath after a repeated burst of noisy mirth, that might
possibly have added to the panic of the buffaloes by its vociferation.
"The man is as completely dumb-founded, as if a swarm of young bees had
settled on the end of his tongue, and he not willing to speak, for fear
of their answer."

"How now, friend," continued the trapper, addressing the still
motionless and entranced naturalist; "how now, friend; are you, who make
your livelihood by booking the names and natur's of the beasts of the
fields and the fowls of the air, frightened at a herd of scampering
buffaloes? Though, perhaps, you are ready to dispute my right to call
them by a word, that is in the mouth of every hunter and trader on the
frontier!"

The old man was however mistaken, in supposing he could excite the
benumbed faculties of the Doctor, by provoking a discussion. From that
time, henceforth, he was never known, except on one occasion, to utter a
word that indicated either the species, or the genus, of the animal. He
obstinately refused the nutritious food of the whole ox family, and even
to the present hour, now that he is established in all the scientific
dignity and security of a savant in one of the maritime towns, he turns
his back with a shudder on those delicious and unrivalled viands, that
are so often seen at the suppers of the craft, and which are unequalled
by any thing, that is served under the same name, at the boasted
chop-houses of London, or at the most renowned of the Parisian
restaurants. In short, the distaste of the worthy naturalist for beef
was not unlike that which the shepherd sometimes produces, by first
muzzling and fettering his delinquent dog, and then leaving him as a
stepping stone for the whole flock to use in its transit over a wall, or
through the opening of a sheep-fold; a process which is said to produce
in the culprit a species of surfeit, on the subject of mutton, for ever
after. By the time Paul and the trapper saw fit to terminate the fresh
bursts of merriment, which the continued abstraction of their learned
companion did not fail to excite, he commenced breathing again, as if
the suspended action of his lungs had been renewed by the application
of a pair of artificial bellows, and was heard to make use of the ever
afterwards proscribed term, on that solitary occasion, to which we have
just alluded.

"Boves Americani horridi!" exclaimed the Doctor, laying great stress on
the latter word; after which he continued mute, like one who pondered on
strange and unaccountable events.

"Ay, horrid eyes enough, I will willingly allow," returned the trapper;
"and altogether the creatur' has a frightful look, to one unused to the
sights and bustle of a natural life; but then the courage of the beast
is in no way equal to its countenance. Lord, man, if you should once get
fairly beset by a brood of grizzly bears, as happened to Hector and I,
at the great falls of the Miss—Ah, here comes the tail of the herd, and
yonder goes a pack of hungry wolves, ready to pick up the sick, or such
as get a disjointed neck by a tumble. Ha! there are mounted men on their
trail, or I'm no sinner! here, lad; you may see them here-away, just
where the dust is scattering afore the wind. They are hovering around a
wounded buffaloe, making an end of the surly devil with their arrows!"

Middleton and Paul soon caught a glimpse of the dark group, that the
quick eye of the old man had so readily detected. Some fifteen or twenty
horsemen were, in truth, to be seen riding, in quick circuits, about
a noble bull, which stood at bay, too grievously hurt to fly, and yet
seeming to disdain to fall, notwithstanding his hardy body had already
been the target for a hundred arrows. A thrust from the lance of a
powerful Indian, however, completed his conquest, and the brute gave up
his obstinate hold of life with a roar, that passed bellowing over
the place where our adventurers stood, and, reaching the ears of the
affrighted herd, added a new impulse to their flight.

"How well the Pawnee knew the philosophy of a buffaloe hunt!" said
the old man, after he had stood regarding the animated scene for a few
moments, with evident satisfaction. "You saw how he went off like the
wind before the drove. It was in order that he might not taint the air,
and that he might turn the flank, and join—Ha! how is this! yonder
Red-skins are no Pawnees! The feathers in their heads are from the wings
and tails of owls.—Ah! as I am but a miserable, half-sighted, trapper,
it is a band of the accursed Siouxes! To cover, lads, to cover. A single
cast of an eye this-a-way, would strip us of every rag of clothes, as
surely as the lightning scorches the bush, and it might be that our very
lives would be far from safe."

Middleton had already turned from the spectacle, to seek that which
pleased him better; the sight of his young and beautiful bride. Paul
seized the Doctor by the arm; and, as the trapper followed with the
smallest possible delay, the whole party was quickly collected within
the cover of the thicket. After a few short explanations concerning the
character of this new danger, the old man, on whom the whole duty
of directing their movements was devolved, in deference to his great
experience, continued his discourse as follows—

"This is a region, as you must all know, where a strong arm is far
better than the right, and where the white law is as little known as
needed. Therefore does every thing, now, depend on judgment and
power. If," he continued, laying his finger on his cheek, like one who
considered deeply all sides of the embarrassing situation in which he
found himself,—"if an invention could be framed, which would set these
Siouxes and the brood of the squatter by the ears, then might we come
in, like the buzzards after a fight atween the beasts, and pick up the
gleanings of the ground—there are Pawnees nigh us, too! It is a certain
matter, for yonder lad is not so far from his village without an errand.
Here are therefore four parties within sound of a cannon, not one of
whom can trust the other. All which makes movement a little difficult,
in a district where covers are far from plenty. But we are three
well-armed, and I think I may see three stout-hearted men—"

"Four," interrupted Paul.

"Anan," said the old man, looking up simply at his companion.

"Four," repeated the bee-hunter, pointing to the naturalist.

"Every army has its hangers-on and idlers," rejoined the blunt
border-man. "Friend, it will be necessary to slaughter this ass."

"To slay Asinus! such a deed would be an act of supererogatory cruelty."

"I know nothing of your words, which hide their meaning in sound; but
that is cruel which sacrifices a Christian to a brute. This is what I
call the reason of mercy. It would be just as safe to blow a trumpet,
as to let the animal raise his voice again, inasmuch as it would prove a
manifest challenge to the Siouxes."

"I will answer for the discretion of Asinus, who seldom speaks without a
reason."

"They say a man can be known by the company he keeps," retorted the old
man, "and why not a brute? I once made a forced march, and went through
a great deal of jeopardy, with a companion who never opened his mouth
but to sing; and trouble enough and great concern of mind did the fellow
give me. It was in that very business with your grand'ther, captain.
But then he had a human throat, and well did he know how to use it, on
occasion, though he didn't always stop to regard the time and seasons
fit for such outcries. Ah's me! if I was now, as I was then, it wouldn't
be a band of thieving Siouxes that should easily drive me from such a
lodgment as this! But what signifies boasting, when sight and strength
are both failing. The warrior, that the Delawares once saw fit to call
after the Hawk, for the goodness of his eyes, would now be better termed
the Mole! In my judgment, therefore, it will be well to slay the brute."

"There's argument and good logic in it," said Paul; "music is music,
and it's always noisy, whether it comes from a fiddle or a jackass.
Therefore I agree with the old man, and say, Kill the beast."

"Friends," said the naturalist, looking with a sorrowful eye from one to
another of his bloodily disposed companions, "slay not Asinus; he is
a specimen of his kind, of whom much good and little evil can be said.
Hardy and docile for his genus; abstemious and patient, even for his
humble species. We have journeyed much together, and his death would
grieve me. How would it trouble thy spirit, venerable venator, to
separate, in such an untimely manner, from your faithful hound?"

"The animal shall not die," said the old man, suddenly clearing his
throat, in a manner that proved he felt the force of the appeal; "but
his voice must be smothered. Bind his jaws with the halter, and then I
think we may trust the rest to Providence."

With this double security for the discretion of Asinus, for Paul
instantly bound the muzzle of the ass in the manner required, the
trapper seemed content. After which he proceeded to the margin of the
thicket to reconnoitre.

The uproar, which attended the passage of the herd, was now gone, or
rather it was heard rolling along the prairie, at the distance of a
mile. The clouds of dust were already blown away by the wind, and a
clear range was left to the eye, in that place where ten minutes before
there existed a scene of so much wildness and confusion.

The Siouxes had completed their conquest, and, apparently satisfied with
this addition to the numerous previous captures they had made, they now
seemed content to let the remainder of the herd escape. A dozen remained
around the carcass, over which a few buzzards were balancing themselves
with steady wings and greedy eyes, while the rest were riding about, in
quest of such further booty as might come in their way, on the trail of
so vast a drove. The trapper measured the proportions, and scanned
the equipments of such individuals as drew nearer to the side of the
thicket, with careful eyes. At length he pointed out one among them, to
Middleton, as Weucha.

"Now, know we not only who they are, but their errand," the old man
continued, deliberately shaking his head. "They have lost the trail of
the squatter, and are on its hunt. These buffaloes have crossed their
path, and in chasing the animals, bad luck has led them in open sight
of the hill on which the brood of Ishmael have harboured. Do you see yon
birds watching for the offals of the beast they have killed? Therein is
a moral, which teaches the manner of a prairie life. A band of Pawnees
are outlying for these very Siouxes, as you see the buzzards looking
down for their food, and it behoves us, as Christian men who have so
much at stake, to look down upon them both. Ha! what brings yonder two
skirting reptiles to a stand? As you live, they have found the place
where the miserable son of the squatter met his death!"

The old man was not mistaken. Weucha, and a savage who accompanied him,
had reached that spot, which has already been mentioned as furnishing
the frightful evidences of violence and bloodshed. There they sat on
their horses, examining the well-known signs, with the intelligence
that distinguishes the habits of Indians. Their scrutiny was long, and
apparently not without distrust. At length they raised a cry, that
was scarcely less piteous and startling than that which the hounds had
before made over the same fatal signs, and which did not fail to draw
the whole band immediately around them, as the fell bark of the jackal
is said to gather his comrades to the chase.

Welcome, ancient Pistol.
—Shakespeare.

It was not long before the trapper pointed out the commanding person of
Mahtoree, as the leader of the Siouxes. This chief, who had been among
the last to obey the vociferous summons of Weucha, no sooner reached the
spot where his whole party was now gathered, than he threw himself
from his horse, and proceeded to examine the marks of the extraordinary
trail, with that degree of dignity and attention which became his high
and responsible station. The warriors, for it was but too evident that
they were to a man of that fearless and ruthless class, awaited the
result of his investigation with patient reserve; none but a few of the
principal braves, presuming even to speak, while their leader was
thus gravely occupied. It was several minutes before Mahtoree seemed
satisfied. He then directed his eyes along the ground to those several
places where Ishmael had found the same revolting evidences of the
passage of some bloody struggle, and motioned to his people to follow.

The whole band advanced in a body towards the thicket, until they came
to a halt, within a few yards of the precise spot, where Esther had
stimulated her sluggish sons to break into the cover. The reader will
readily imagine that the trapper and his companions were not indifferent
observers of so threatening a movement. The old man summoned all
who were capable of bearing arms to his side, and demanded, in very
unequivocal terms, though in a voice that was suitably lowered, in order
to escape the ears of their dangerous neighbours, whether they were
disposed to make battle for their liberty, or whether they should try
the milder expedient of conciliation. As it was a subject in which all
had an equal interest, he put the question as to a council of war, and
not without some slight exhibition of the lingering vestiges of a nearly
extinct military pride. Paul and the Doctor were diametrically opposed
to each other in opinion; the former declaring for an immediate appeal
to arms, and the latter was warmly espousing the policy of pacific
measures. Middleton, who saw that there was great danger of a hot verbal
dispute between two men, who were governed by feelings so diametrically
opposed, saw fit to assume the office of arbiter; or rather to decide
the question, his situation making him a sort of umpire. He also leaned
to the side of peace, for he evidently saw that, in consequence of the
vast superiority of their enemies, violence would irretrievably lead to
their destruction.