The Indian Sat With His Eye Fixed
Steadily Upon Him, And In Spite Of The Rigid Immobility Of His
Features, It Was Clear At A Glance That He Perfectly Understood His
Military Companion's Character And Thoroughly Despised Him.
The
exhibition was more amusing than politic, and Tete Rouge was directed
to finish what he had to say as soon as possible.
Thus rebuked, he
crept under the cart and sat down there; Henry Chatillon stopped to
look at him in his retirement, and remarked in his quiet manner that
an Indian would kill ten such men and laugh all the time.
One by one our visitors rose and stalked away. As the darkness
thickened we were saluted by dismal sounds. The wolves are
incredibly numerous in this part of the country, and the offal around
the Arapahoe camp had drawn such multitudes of them together that
several hundred were howling in concert in our immediate
neighborhood. There was an island in the river, or rather an oasis
in the midst of the sands at about the distance of a gunshot, and
here they seemed gathered in the greatest numbers. A horrible
discord of low mournful wailings, mingled with ferocious howls, arose
from it incessantly for several hours after sunset. We could
distinctly see the wolves running about the prairie within a few rods
of our fire, or bounding over the sand-beds of the river and
splashing through the water. There was not the slightest danger to
be feared from them, for they are the greatest cowards on the
prairie.
In respect to the human wolves in our neighborhood, we felt much less
at our ease. We seldom erected our tent except in bad weather, and
that night each man spread his buffalo robe upon the ground with his
loaded rifle laid at his side or clasped in his arms. Our horses
were picketed so close around us that one of them repeatedly stepped
over me as I lay. We were not in the habit of placing a guard, but
every man that night was anxious and watchful; there was little sound
sleeping in camp, and some one of the party was on his feet during
the greater part of the time. For myself, I lay alternately waking
and dozing until midnight. Tete Rouge was reposing close to the
river bank, and about this time, when half asleep and half awake, I
was conscious that he shifted his position and crept on all-fours
under the cart. Soon after I fell into a sound sleep from which I
was aroused by a hand shaking me by the shoulder. Looking up, I saw
Tete Rouge stooping over me with his face quite pale and his eyes
dilated to their utmost expansion.
"What's the matter?" said I.
Tete Rouge declared that as he lay on the river bank, something
caught his eye which excited his suspicions. So creeping under the
cart for safety's sake he sat there and watched, when he saw two
Indians, wrapped in white robes, creep up the bank, seize upon two
horses and lead them off. He looked so frightened, and told his
story in such a disconnected manner, that I did not believe him, and
was unwilling to alarm the party. Still it might be true, and in
that case the matter required instant attention. There would be no
time for examination, and so directing Tete Rouge to show me which
way the Indians had gone, I took my rifle, in obedience to a
thoughtless impulse, and left the camp. I followed the river back
for two or three hundred yards, listening and looking anxiously on
every side. In the dark prairie on the right I could discern nothing
to excite alarm; and in the dusky bed of the river, a wolf was
bounding along in a manner which no Indian could imitate. I returned
to the camp, and when within sight of it, saw that the whole party
was aroused. Shaw called out to me that he had counted the horses,
and that every one of them was in his place. Tete Rouge, being
examined as to what he had seen, only repeated his former story with
many asseverations, and insisted that two horses were certainly
carried off. At this Jim Gurney declared that he was crazy; Tete
Rouge indignantly denied the charge, on which Jim appealed to us. As
we declined to give our judgment on so delicate a matter, the dispute
grew hot between Tete Rouge and his accuser, until he was directed to
go to bed and not alarm the camp again if he saw the whole Arapahoe
village coming.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE CHASE
The country before us was now thronged with buffalo, and a sketch of
the manner of hunting them will not be out of place. There are two
methods commonly practiced, "running" and "approaching." The chase
on horseback, which goes by the name of "running," is the more
violent and dashing mode of the two. Indeed, of all American wild
sports, this is the wildest. Once among the buffalo, the hunter,
unless long use has made him familiar with the situation, dashes
forward in utter recklessness and self-abandonment. He thinks of
nothing, cares for nothing but the game; his mind is stimulated to
the highest pitch, yet intensely concentrated on one object. In the
midst of the flying herd, where the uproar and the dust are thickest,
it never wavers for a moment; he drops the rein and abandons his
horse to his furious career; he levels his gun, the report sounds
faint amid the thunder of the buffalo; and when his wounded enemy
leaps in vain fury upon him, his heart thrills with a feeling like
the fierce delight of the battlefield. A practiced and skillful
hunter, well mounted, will sometimes kill five or six cows in a
single chase, loading his gun again and again as his horse rushes
through the tumult. An exploit like this is quite beyond the
capacities of a novice.
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