Part 25 (2/2)
Hunger induced h it ith no pleasant feelings that I did so For sonaay at the unsavoury morsel, till nausea compelled me to stop I then set to work to collect sticks and branches, the waning daylight scarcely affording me sufficient time to pick up as hted a fire, spreading it in a circle; then, satisfied that it would burn brightly for a couple of hours, and that no wolves would venture to break through it, I lay down to obtain the rest I so much needed
When I awoke, a circle of hot embers alone rean to throw on stick after stick, to keep up the fire as long as possible, when I again heard that horrid yelping close toeyeballs of nu round They dared not, however, pass the fiery boundary, and I knew that I was safe as long as I could keep up even a slight blaze; still,less and less, and should a black gap appear in the circle, so exhausted the last twig, I saw that Ibranch, the end of which remained unconsumed, I waved it round and round in the faces of the wolves, shouting at the same time at the top oftheover the fire and collecting a sufficient quantity of wood to enable
The wolves did not return; and at dawn, having cut some more slices from one of the wolves which I had drawn inside the circle, I set off, with ainst hope that I ht find theexistence till I could strike the trail of old Sarant-train, should they have got so far south Happily I saw nothe bank of the river, which here ran north and south, I avoided the district ravaged by the fire Through not falling in with any of the Spaniards, I began to fear that they must have perished
The first day I fortunately shot a beaver; and having cooked it, Iaway the rest inthe branches of a tree, which were so placed that I had no fear of falling down; and next reatly refreshed, I pushed forward on my solitary journey
CHAPTER TWELVE
I FIND POOR PABLO, AND assIST HIM--ROASTED SQUIRREL--PABLO'S REASON FOR DESIRING TO JOIN THE ENGLISH--WE STALK A BUFFALO--PABLO'S TERROR AT THE APPROACH OF INDIANS--MY SURPRISE AT BEING WELCOMED BY MANILICK--MIKE'S JOY AT SEEING ME ALIVE--WE AGAIN START IN THE DIRECTION OF THE WAGGON-TRAIN--OLD SAMSON, REUBEN, AND SANDY NEARLY ROASTED ALIVE BY THE APACHES--QUAMBO'S CARE OF ”DE FIDDLE”--LILY'S RELATIONshi+P TO OLD SAMSON--KEPENAU AND MANILICK--CONCLUSION
I had been trudging on for sohtly fro weary, I sat down to rest under the shade of a tree not far fros, when I heard a voice, in a tone of suffering, calling toin the direction fro the branches of a tree, er!” he cried out ”I aet down of ave him some of the beaver-flesh, which soon revived hihtened up the tree by the wolves, and that, having lost his gun and his flint, he had noa fire, and should certainly have perished had I not co assisted him down, I led him towards the river, where he quenched his thirst
We ress that day, for Pablo was ill able to walk; so, having reached a spot where we could obtain sufficient bark and wood to build a hut and keep up a blazing fire all night, we enca Pablo to finish the hut, I set off in search of gaht doo black squirrels; and I afterwards came upon several bushes of berries, which would add a variety to our meal
On my return to the cae before the fire
Pablo opened his heart tohis life, and he should ever be grateful The reason, he told lish, was, that he had met with a missionary--who proved to be no other than our friend Martin Godfrey-- and that his object, therefore, was to live with those who held the saht ones He cared nothing for all the fatigue and danger he ained his wishes at last
We travelled on for several days, so to encamp in the open prairie, where ereattacked by wolves, or run over by a stah we did not trouble our headsany bands of hostile Indians whothe open prairie, as it would be scarcely possible to conceal ourselves fro seen, they would not attack torn travellers who could not injure them
Pablo, however, observed that there were some tribes ould murder us for the sake of our scalps, so as to be able to boast that they had killed two enemies in battle He had no affection for the Indians, and was inclined to doubt whether they possessed any good qualities
Hoe should have got across the wide extent of prairie we traversed I know not, had we not been able to stalk a buffalo, by getting well to leeward of it, whereupon I brought it doith my rifle Its stomach was full of water, hich we quenched our thirst; and the flesh afforded us food for many days--partly eaten fresh, and partly dried in the sun, and turned into a coarse description of pe soon to strike another river, where we could obtain water This kept up our spirits; and we certainly needed so tramp across the open country As may be supposed, too, we kept our eyes about us as alked along; for should we espy any suspicious horsereed, would be to fall flat on the ground, where we ing towards the west, when Pablo, who happened at theeastward, exclaimed, ”Here come Indians!
here coround, hoping that we had not been seen, and that they would pass by on one side or the other I could catch sight, as I lay, of their feather,in the sun, and of their spear-heads with long tufts waving in the wind They were pushi+ng rapidly across the prairie; but at the distance they still were frouish the tribe or nation to which they belonged Theyup a friendly intercourse with the white men
At first I was doubtful in what direction they were going, but I was soon convinced that they were riding directly towards the spot where we lay, and that our chance of escape frole-eyes was sth stand up in his stirrups and gaze around From this I felt nearly sure that we had been seen, and that he was looking for us
”We are sure to be discovered,” I whispered to Pablo ”Our wisestwill be to stand up and face them boldly It will be better to die on our feet, than to be speared like skulking foxes”
”Do as you think best,” answered Pablo