Part 20 (2/2)
My first impulse was to run in the direction from whence the shot came, but on looking at the deer I perceived that it was slackening its pace; and after a few more bounds, down it sank to the ground, not one hundred yards from me.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
I KILL THE DEER--MORE WONDERS--MEET MANLEY AND SERGEANT CUSTIS AT LAST-- A PLEASANT EVENING--PARCHED WITH THIRST AMIDST SPARKLING STREAMS--OUR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY OVER THE MOUNTAINS--SAFE ARRIVAL AT FORT HARWOOD-- WELCOMED BY THE COMMANDANT--AN EXPEDITION ORGANISED TO DRIVE THE INDIANS FROM THE COUNTRY--MANLEY COMMANDS IT--I ACCOMPANY HIM--MEET BARNEY AND KLITZ, STILL BOUND FOR CALIFORNIA--BARNEY GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR ESCAPE--THEIR JOURNEY STOPPED--THEY RETURN WITH US--WE MEET PIOMINGO AND HIS SQUAW--TELLS US THAT HE HAS BURIED THE WAR-HATCHET--HEAR AN ALARMING ACCOUNT OF BARTLE--ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN TO WHERE WE LEFT UNCLE JEFF--FIND HIM AND CLARICE WELL--HE HAS OBTAINED A LARGE SUPPLY OF PELTRIES--OUR RETURN TO WINNEMAK'S CAMP--MAYSOTTA ACCOMPANIES CLARICE TO ROARING WATER.
Although I had not forgotten the friends I hoped soon to see, my instinct as a hunter made me anxious to secure the deer, as it might possibly get up again, and be lost to us by springing into the river.
Acting on this impulse, therefore, I ran up to the wounded animal. The poor brute was endeavouring to rise on its knees, so, ham-stringing it with my knife, I effectually prevented it from escaping. I had, however, to approach it cautiously, for a blow from its antlers, even in its present state, might prove dangerous. I managed at length to reach its throat, when its struggles speedily ceased.
I now looked round for my friends, in the expectation of seeing them at any moment, for I was sure they would follow the deer; but they did not come. Still I could not have been mistaken. The animal had been shot by a rifle bullet; it was a rifle I had heard fired. Had Indian hunters shot the deer, they would certainly have followed more closely at its heels; and besides, they were not likely to have rifles.
After having secured the deer, I hastened in the direction from whence it had come, expecting that every moment would solve the mystery. Yet, eager as I was, my eyes could not avoid remarking the wonderful objects around me. On one side was a basin, its projecting rim carved with marvellously intricate tracery, while the waters within were tinted with all the colours of the rainbow. On the other side appeared a ma.s.s greatly resembling an ancient castle. It rose more than forty feet above the plain, while in its midst was a turret of still greater dimensions. A succession of steps, formed by the substances in the water which had become hardened, led up to it, ornamented with bead and sh.e.l.l work; while large ma.s.ses, shaped like cauliflowers or spongy-formed corals, projected from the walls. Out of this curious structure, as I was pa.s.sing it, shot a column of water sixty feet or more in height, vast volumes of steam escaping at the same time.
It seems curious that I should have been able to remark these objects at a time when my mind was occupied by a matter of so much importance.
Still I could not avoid seeing the objects; and although I did not at the time think much about them, they stamped their impression on my mind as I went along. Suddenly two figures appeared, which put every other object out of my sight. My eyes were fixed upon them; I had no doubt that they were Manley and Sergeant Custis. I shouted. They saw and heard me, and came hurrying forward, and we were soon warmly shaking hands.
”Ralph, my dear fellow! we feared that you were lost,” exclaimed Manley, ”and we have been hunting for you day after day. How haggard you look!
How did you manage to lose us? and what has become of your rifle?”
These and numerous other questions I had briefly to answer. How they had missed me, they could not very clearly tell. Instead, however, of coming westward, they had for some time hunted about in the very neighbourhood where they had at first lost sight of me. At length they reached one of my camps, and from thence they had followed me up, although they had been compelled, as I had, to take shelter during the storm.
Of course, they were as much delighted as I was with the extraordinary region in which we found ourselves; and I could now enjoy an examination of its wonders far more than I did at first.
We were very anxious to push on, in order to carry relief to our friends, and to punish the Arrapahas for their audacious raid on our territory, but that evening we could proceed no farther. We therefore cut up the deer, and carried as much of its flesh as we required to camp, where we built a hut, and employed the evening in preparing the venison for the remainder of our journey--for we had snowy heights to surmount, where we might be unable to meet with game. An abundant meal and a night's rest completely set me up; and my friends insisting on alternately keeping watch, I was allowed to sleep on without interruption.
I must pa.s.s rapidly over the next few days of our journey. We worked our way along the rugged gorges through which the river forced a pa.s.sage, and we had torrents to cross, precipitous mountains to climb, amid glaciers and ma.s.ses of snow, where by a false step we should have been hurled to destruction. But we were mercifully preserved.
Game in these wild regions is scarce, and we were frequently hard pressed for food. In one of the valleys, at the beginning of this part of our journey, nowhere was a drop of drinkable water to be found. For hours we walked on, with bright fountains bubbling up on every side; but they were scalding hot, or so impregnated with minerals that we dared not touch them. Our fate promised to be like that of Tantalus: with water on every side, we were dying of thirst. At length I espied, high up on the mountain slope, a little green oasis, scarcely larger than a small dinner-plate. I scrambled up to it, and, putting down my hand, found a fountain of cool bright water issuing forth. I shouted to my companions, who quickly joined me. Never was nectar drank with more delight; and, revived and strengthened, we again pushed on.
Sometimes we slept in caverns, sometimes in huts built of clods and boughs. Frequently we had to camp on the bare ground, without shelter, our feet as close to the fire as we could venture to place them without running the risk of their being scorched.
At last, to our great joy, we saw the western plains stretching out before us. I call them the plains, although hills of all heights rose in their midst. Far away to the south-west was the great Salt Lake; while in front of us were the mountainous regions bordering the Pacific,--California and its newly-discovered gold-mines. Now descending steep slopes, now traversing gorges, now climbing down precipices, now following the course of a rapid stream, we ultimately reached level ground, and at last arrived at Fort Harwood.
”Why, Broadstreet, my dear fellow!” exclaimed the commandant, who, with a number of other officers, came out on seeing us approach, ”we had given you up as lost! Some emigrants who escaped from a train which was attacked reported that every white man on the other side of the pa.s.s, for miles to the southward, had been murdered. They had heard, also, that an officer and his men had been cut off, so we naturally concluded you were the unhappy individual.”
”Such would have been our fate, if we had attempted to get through the pa.s.s; but, guided by my friend here, we crossed the mountain, for the purpose of asking you to send a force of sufficient strength to drive back the Indians, with their rascally white allies,” answered the lieutenant.
”The very thing I purposed doing, if I could obtain a trustworthy guide,” said the commandant.
”You could not have a more trustworthy one than my friend, Ralph Middlemore,” answered Manley. ”He knows the mountains better than any white man we are likely to find; and as for Indians, I would not put confidence in one of them.”
Of course, I at once expressed my willingness to undertake the duty proposed; and the expedition was speedily arranged. Our troops may not have had a very military appearance, but the men knew how to handle their rifles, and had had experience in border warfare. We numbered fifty in all, besides the drivers of the baggage horses and mules conveying our provisions and ammunition. All not absolutely necessary enc.u.mbrances were dispensed with, our camp equipage consisting of a few iron pots, tin cups, and plates. Lieutenant Broadstreet had command of the party, and he was directed to select a fit site for a new fort in the neighbourhood of Roaring Water, to a.s.sist in holding the Arrapahas in check for the future.
Not an hour was lost; and by sunrise, two days after our arrival, we commenced our march. I had advised Manley to let me go ahead with a few of the most experienced men, to act as scouts, that we might ascertain whether the enemy still held the pa.s.s; but two days had gone by without any signs of the Indians. The remains of their fires, however, showed that they had been there not long before. At the end of the second day, just as we were about to encamp, I caught sight of two figures coming over the brow of a slight elevation. I rubbed my eyes; was it fancy, or did I really see Klitz and Barney before me, precisely as I had seen them on a previous occasion, when attempting to make their escape from the farm? No doubt about it. There was Barney wheeling a barrow, and Klitz, with a couple of muskets on his shoulder, marching behind him.
Had I been inclined to superst.i.tion, I might have supposed that I beheld a couple of ghosts, or rather beings of another world; but I was convinced, unless I was the victim of some optical delusion, that the two worthies were there in flesh and blood.
I did what every one should do when there exists any doubt about a matter,--I hastened forward to solve the mystery. No sooner did they see me than Klitz dropped his muskets, and Barney, letting go the handles of his wheel-barrow, stood gazing at me with open eyes and outstretched hands.
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