Bill Biddon, Trapper Part 21

"That's it 'zactly, Ja.r.s.ey, you're a trump."

"It's my private opine," called out Biddon, "that this c.o.o.n is goin'

inter these eatables, and ef you wants a bite, Ja.r.s.ey, you'd better jine."

All now crowded around the meal-pot, and commenced devouring its contents with the avidity of wild animals. It consisted mainly of pemmican (dried buffalo flesh), a food much in vogue in the northwest, with several biscuits and some scalding tea. The meal finished, the men instantly produced their pipes, which they indulged in for ten or fifteen minutes. The boats were then shoved into the water, the cooking-utensils placed on board, and preparations made for starting.

"Whar you bound to?" asked Biddon, just as they were ready.

"The Blackfeet-Sioux," I answered, unable to repress a smile.

"The Blackfeet-Sioux?" he repeated.

"Yes; do you know their grounds?"

"I's 'bout twenty miles down-stream--that is the village. We cac'late to camp thereabouts to-night. What, in the name of beavers, do you want with them?"

"I'll explain matters when we have a better opportunity," I answered.

"Jump in with me then, an' I'll git Tom Wilson to rest a while, and we'll talk over matters and things."

I sprang into the boat, and the brigade was soon under way. The Yellowstone, being broad and deep and the current quite powerful, the work was comparatively light. The song was again taken up by the _voyageurs_, all joining in the chorus and keeping time with the measured dip of their paddles. I seated myself in the stern, beside the steersman, who I found to be a clerk in the Hudson Bay Company, and a gentleman.

"How long will you remain with us, Mr. Relmond?" he asked.

"Only until night."

"I was in hopes you would accompany us to the settlement."

"I should be glad to do so, but circ.u.mstances forbid."

"It was quite fortunate," he smiled, "that you and Biddon were acquainted. He is a n.o.ble fellow."

"Most a.s.suredly he is. I accompanied him, as a seeker of adventures, last summer from Independence, and we separated in the autumn, while in the wilderness. I was considerably surprised to find him in your service."

"He had a misunderstanding with his employers, I believe. He had a dispute with one of their agents, and gave him a severe pounding. He was reproved rather sharply for this and left the company in disgust.

This was during the winter. Shortly after he visited Red River settlement, and volunteered his services, and they were gladly accepted, as his skill was known to many."

"He has been then but a short time with you."

"Only a few weeks--but long enough to let us know the value of his services. This brigade is all owing to him."

"How so?"

"You are aware we are now in the United States territory. It is not often that we extend our work into it, except in Oregon, which has lately fallen into the hands of the Americans. Biddon had engaged a large quant.i.ty of furs of the Indians in the neighborhood, intending them for one of their fur companies, but after his dispute he offered them to us, and this brigade was dispatched for the purpose of collecting them. He will find there is quite a pile of money due him at York fort when he arrives there."

Further time was spent in conversation with the clerks when I noticed a person had taken Biddon's place at the oars. The trapper motioned me beside him, and seating ourselves in the opposite end of the boat he said:

"Now we'll have a talk, Ja.r.s.ey, ogh!"

"The first thing to be knowed," said Biddon, "is how in the name of human natur you come in these parts. How war it, Ja.r.s.ey?"

"You must remember, Biddon, I've been a prisoner for the last six months."

"Did you ever hear nothin' of Greeny?"

"Yes; a rumor reached me that he was living with a tribe of Indians to the east of us."

"Altogether onpossible," answered the trapper, with a shake of his head.

"Why is it impossible?"

"He's had his ha'r raised sure, and never seed the next day arter we seed the last on him."

"I am more hopeful than you are. Recollect _I_ have been a captive and am now here without bodily harm."

"It's qua'r, I allow, how you come out, as you did. The reds down in them parts are ramparageous, and if it hadn't been for that Jim, you spoke about, and that gal, you'd a gone under sure. I's tuck once by them same chaps one time. Me an' Snapper Jack was sat on one dark night in an awful snowstorm by a hundred on 'em. They blazed right into us, and Jack rolled over with a pound of lead in him and never said a word. I's purty well riddled in my lower story, but I tuk through and got off with my ha'r, while Jack never knowed who tuk his.

They cac'lated on toastin' you up brown, and would ef it want fur that gal, as I's sayin' while he's had it all."

"I cannot yet see, Biddon, why there is not a probability of Nat's being alive. The Indians in these parts are on friendly intercourse with the traders, and it is in this region, if anywhere, that he will be found."

"I don't b'lieve he's about. They got him down thar, and he got it down thar, _sure_."

These words of the trapper dampened my expectations greatly. Much of the joy of my hope was that I expected to again grasp the hand of my old friend, and the thought that he had long been dead made me sad and gloomy. However, I was not ready to give up all hope, and determined that I should be satisfied of his fate before I returned to the States.

The brigade proceeded regularly and rapidly down the Yellowstone, until the sun sinking in the west, warned them that night was at hand.

The steersman informed me they should not be able to reach the Indian village that night, but would early the next day. Just as the shadows were blending with the darkness on the river banks, the brigade ran into sh.o.r.e for the night's encampment. There was a dense forest on either side of us, which rendered our situation dark and gloomy; but this was soon dispelled by the jolly _voyageurs_. Fuel was collected, and a great roaring fire crackled and blazed cheerily around us; and the men pa.s.sing to and fro, chatting and joking, the confusion of preparations for supper, made a scene well calculated to dispel all gloomy reveries. The three boats were hauled up on the banks, turned over, and their contents scattered among the owners, and all gathered around the hearty evening meal. These hardy fellows after the laborious day's work, their appet.i.tes sharpened, and healthy truly,

"Ate like horses, when you hear them eat."

The meal finished, the indispensable pipes were in requisition. Three or four huge fires were kindled, around which the men lazily stretched themselves, to while away the hour that must elapse ere they "turned in" for the night. The brigade included men in it, who had trapped and hunted the sh.o.r.es of the Frozen Sea to the plains of the Kansas, and from Labrador to the mouth of the Columbia, beyond the Rocky Mountains. They had encountered every imaginable foe: the intense cold and the polar bear of the far North, and the innumerable hordes of savages of the more temperate regions; and now they recounted their thrilling reminiscences to each other, and speculated upon the fate still in store for them. The hour pa.s.sed rapidly, and ere I was aware, the _voyageurs_ were gathering their blankets around them for the night's rest.

"Come, bundle up, Ja.r.s.ey," said Biddon, "for thar'll be no time to snooze in the daylight."

The men were stretched at every point around the fire, their feet being toward it, their heads radiating outward, so that the three groups resembled the same number of immense wheels. As most of the places were occupied, I lay a little beyond the circle, within a foot or two of Biddon. The fires now smoldered, and the heavy darkness again settled over wood and river. Nothing disturbed the deep silence save the faint flow of the Yellowstone, or the dull noise of an ember as it broke apart, and now and then the distant wail of some wild animal. But a short time elapsed ere I joined the rest in the land of dreams.

The night pa.s.sed away without any event worthy of note; and the first apprisal I had of the approach of day, was by hearing loud cries of "Leve! leve! leve!"[7] uttered by numerous voices.

[7] Arouse, or get up.

Starting up, I saw the _voyageurs_ were all astir, and making ready to embark. The boats were launched, and being too early for breakfast, the men sprang in and seized the oars.

"When we halt for breakfast," said the steersman, "it will be at the Indian village, which I understand is your destination."

With the same inspiring song of yesterday, the men bent to their oars, and the boats shot rapidly through the foaming water. In the course of an hour or more, the brigade put in for breakfast, and the same bustling scene that had taken place the night before was re-enacted.

The place chosen was a broad, open plot of gra.s.s, reaching down to the water's edge, and extending some hundred feet back, when the edge of the forest was reached. No signs of Indians were seen, and I was somewhat puzzled to know how it was known they were in the vicinity.

The clerk mentioned before, explained to me that Biddon had described the halting spot, and the distance so accurately, that there could be no mistake, and the savages would soon make their appearance.