Dick and his friends visit the Indians and see manywonders--Crusoe, too, experiences a few surprises, and teachesIndian dogs a lesson--An Indian dandy--A foot-race. The Pawnee village, at which they soon arrived, wassituated in the midst of a most interesting andpicturesque scene.
It occupied an extensive plain which sloped gentlydown to a creek,[*] whose winding course was markedby a broken line of wood, here and there interspersedwith a fine clump of trees, between the trunks of whichthe blue waters of a lake sparkled in the distance.
Hundreds of tents or "lodges" of buffalo-skins coveredthe ground, and thousands of Indians--men, women,and children--moved about the busy scene. Somewere sitting in their lodges, lazily smoking their pipes.
But these were chiefly old and infirm veterans, for allthe young men had gone to the hunt which we have justdescribed. The women were stooping over their fires,busily preparing maize and meat for their husbandsand brothers; while myriads of little brown and nakedchildren romped about everywhere, filling the air withtheir yells and screams, which were only equalled, if notsurpassed, by the yelping dogs that seemed innumerable.
[Footnote *: In America small rivers or rivulets are termed "creeks."]
Far as the eye could reach were seen scattered herdsof horses. These were tended by little boys who weretotally destitute of clothing, and who seemed to enjoywith infinite zest the pastime of shooting-practice withlittle bows and arrows. No wonder that these Indiansbecome expert bowmen. There were urchins there,scarce two feet high, with round bullets of bodies andshort spindle-shanks, who could knock blackbirds offthe trees at every shot, and cut the heads off the tallerflowers with perfect certainty! There was much need,too, for the utmost proficiency they could attain, for thevery existence of the Indian tribes of the prairies dependson their success in hunting the buffalo.
There are hundreds and thousands of North Americansavages who would undoubtedly perish, and their tribesbecome extinct, if the buffaloes were to leave the prairiesor die out. Yet, although animals are absolutely essentialto their existence, they pursue and slay them withimprovident recklessness, sometimes killing hundreds ofthem merely for the sake of the sport, the tongues, andthe marrow bones. In the bloody hunt described in thelast chapter, however, the slaughter of so many was notwanton, because the village that had to be supplied withfood was large, and, just previous to the hunt, they hadbeen living on somewhat reduced allowance. Even theblackbirds shot by the brown-bodied urchins before mentionedhad been thankfully put into the pot. Thusprecarious is the supply of food among the Red-men,who on one day are starving, and the next are revellingin superabundance.
But to return to our story. At one end of this villagethe creek sprang over a ledge of rock in a low cascadeand opened out into a beautiful lake, the bosomof which was studded with small islands. Here werethousands of those smaller species of wild water-fowlwhich were either too brave or too foolish to be scaredaway by the noise of the camp. And here, too, dozensof children were sporting on the beach, or paddlingabout in their light bark canoes.
"Isn't it strange," remarked Dick to Henri, as theypassed among the tents towards the centre of the village--"isn'tit strange that them Injuns should be sofond o' fightin', when they've got all they can want--afine country, lots o' buffalo, an', as far as I can see,happy homes?""Oui, it is remarkaibel, vraiment. Bot dey do morelove war to peace. Dey loves to be excit-ed, I s'pose.""Humph! One would think the hunt we seed a littleagone would be excitement enough. But, I say, thatmust he the chiefs tent, by the look o't."Dick was right. The horsemen pulled up and dismountedopposite the principal chief's tent, which wasa larger and more elegant structure than the others.
Meanwhile an immense concourse of women, children,and dogs gathered round the strangers, and while thelatter yelped their dislike to white men, the formerchattered continuously, as they discussed the appearanceof the strangers and their errand, which latter soonbecame known. An end was put to this by San-it-sa-rishdesiring the hunters to enter the tent, and spreadinga buffalo robe for them to sit on. Two bravescarried in their packs, and then led away their horses.
All this time Crusoe had kept as close as possible tohis master's side, feeling extremely uncomfortable in themidst of such a strange crowd, the more especially thatthe ill-looking Indian curs gave him expressive looksof hatred, and exhibited some desire to rush upon himin a body, so that he had to keep a sharp look-outall round him. When therefore Dick entered the tent,Crusoe endeavoured to do so along with him; but hewas met by a blow on the nose from an old squaw, whoscolded him in a shrill voice and bade him begone.
Either our hero's knowledge of the Indian languagewas insufficient to enable him to understand the order,or he had resolved not to obey it, for instead of retreating,he drew a deep gurgling breath, curled his nose,and displayed a row of teeth that caused the old womanto draw back in alarm. Crusoe's was a forgiving spirit.
The instant that opposition ceased he forgot the injury,and was meekly advancing, when Dick held up hisfinger.
"Go outside, pup, and wait."Crusoe's tail drooped; with a deep sigh he turnedand left the tent. He took up a position near the entrance,however, and sat down resignedly. So meek,indeed, did the poor dog look that six mangy-lookingcurs felt their dastardly hearts emboldened to make arush at him with boisterous yells.
Crusoe did not rise. He did not even condescend toturn his head toward them; but he looked at them outof the corner of his dark eye, wrinkled--very slightly--theskin of his nose, exhibited two beautiful fangs,and gave utterance to a soft remark, that might be described as quiet,deep-toned gurgling. It wasn't much,but it was more than enough for the valiant six, whopaused and snarled violently.
It was a peculiar trait of Crusoe's gentle nature that,the moment any danger ceased, he resumed his expressionof nonchalant gravity. The expression on thisoccasion was misunderstood, however; and as about twodozen additional yelping dogs had joined the ranks ofthe enemy, they advanced in close order to the attack.
Crusoe still sat quiet, and kept his head high; but helooked at them again, and exhibited four fangs for theirinspection. Among the pack there was one Indian dogof large size--almost as large as Crusoe himself--whichkept well in the rear, and apparently urged the lesserdogs on. The little dogs didn't object, for little dogsare generally the most pugnacious. At this big dogCrusoe directed a pointed glance, but said nothing.
Meanwhile a particularly small and vicious cur, with amere rag of a tail, crept round by the back of the tent,and coming upon Crusoe in rear, snapped at his tailsharply, and then fled shrieking with terror and surprise,no doubt, at its own temerity.
Crusoe did not bark; he seldom barked; he usuallyeither said nothing, or gave utterance to a prolongedroar of indignation of the most terrible character, withbarks, as it were, mingled through it. It somewhatresembled that peculiar and well-known species of thunder,the prolonged roll of which is marked at shortintervals in its course by cannon-like cracks. It wasa continuous, but, so to speak, knotted roar.
On receiving the snap, Crusoe gave forth the roarwith a majesty and power that scattered the pugnaciousfront rank of the enemy to the winds. Those that stillremained, half stupified, he leaped over with a hugebound, and alighted, fangs first, on the back of the bigdog. There was one hideous yell, a muffled scramble ofan instant's duration, and the big dog lay dead uponthe plain!
It was an awful thing to do, but Crusoe evidentlyfelt that the peculiar circumstances of the case requiredthat an example should be made; and to say truth, allthings considered, we cannot blame him. The newsmust have been carried at once through the canine portionof the camp, for Crusoe was never interfered withagain after that.
Dick witnessed this little incident; but he observedthat the Indian chief cared not a straw about it, and ashis dog returned quietly and sat down in its old placehe took no notice of it either, but continued to listento the explanations which Joe gave to the chief, of thedesire of the Pale-faces to be friends with the Red-men.
Joe's eloquence would have done little for him onthis occasion had his hands been empty, but he followedit up by opening one of his packs and displaying theglittering contents before the equally glittering eyes ofthe chief and his squaws.
"These," said Joe, "are the gifts that the great chiefof the Pale-faces sends to the great chief of the Pawnees.
And he bids me say that there are many more things inhis stores which will be traded for skins with the Red-men,when they visit him; and he also says that if thePawnees will not steal horses any more from the Pale-faces, they shallreceive gifts of knives, and guns, andpowder, and blankets every year.""Wah!" grunted the chief; "it is good. The greatchief is wise. We will smoke the pipe of peace."The things that afforded so much satisfaction to San-it-sa-rishwere the veriest trifles. Penny looking-glassesin yellow gilt tin frames, beads of various colours, needles,cheap scissors and knives, vermilion paint, and coarsescarlet cloth, etc. They were of priceless value, however,in the estimation of the savages, who delighted toadorn themselves with leggings made from the cloth,beautifully worked with beads by their own ingeniouswomen. They were thankful, too, for knives even ofthe commonest description, having none but bone onesof their own; and they gloried in daubing their faceswith intermingled streaks of charcoal and vermilion.
To gaze at their visages, when thus treated, in the littlepenny looking-glasses is their summit of delight!
Joe presented the chief with a portion of these covetedgoods, and tied up the remainder. We may remarkhere that the only thing which prevented the savagesfrom taking possession of the whole at once, withoutasking permission, was the promise of the annual gifts,which they knew would not be forthcoming were anyevil to befall the deputies of the Pale-faces. Nevertheless,it cost them a severe struggle to restrain theirhands on this occasion, and Joe and his companions feltthat they would have to play their part well in orderto fulfil their mission with safety and credit.
"The Pale-faces may go now and talk with thebraves," said San-it-sa-rish, after carefully examiningeverything that was given to him; "a council will becalled soon, and we will smoke the pipe of peace."Accepting this permission to retire, the hunters immediatelyleft the tent; and being now at liberty to dowhat they pleased, they amused themselves by wanderingabout the village.
"He's a cute chap that," remarked Joe, with a sarcasticsmile; "I do............