Altsheler, Joseph - [Great West 01] Read online

  "Good-bye, Friend Lake," he said. "You're not large, but you're very beautiful, and some day I hope to come back and bathe in you again."

  "The great ranges of mountains which run all about over the western part of the continent are full of such pleasant valleys and cool little lakes," said the hunter. "Often the lakes are far up the slopes, many thousands of feet above the sea, and sometimes you don't see 'em until you break right through the trees and bushes and come square up against the water. If,_we keep on, as I intend we shall, it's likely that we'll see a lot of

  'em."

  The lad's eyes kindled.

  "That being so," he said, "I don't mind turning aside a while from our real hunt, because then we'll be ex- plorers. It will be glorious to find new lakes and streams."

  "Yes, it'll make the waiting easier, provided, of course, that we don't have rain and storms. Rain can turn a wilderness paradise in fifteen minutes into a regular place for the condemned. We've almost as much to fear now from the sky as we have from the Indians on the ground. When you see a little cloud up there you can begin to worry."

  "But I don't see any, and so I refuse to worry yet."

  They reached the farther edge of the valley and began to climb a slope, which, easier at first, soon be- came rather stiff. But the horses once more justified the hunter's praise and pressed forward nobly. He and Will dismounted again, and they let Selim lead where he would.

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  "All horses have wilderness sense," said Boyd, "and Selim, having both an educated sense and a wild sense, is sure to pick out the best way."

  His confidence was not misplaced, as the horse in- stinctively chose the easiest path, and, before the twi- light came, they reached the crest of a lofty ridge, from which they saw a sea of mountains in all direc- tions, a scene so majestic that it made Will draw a sharp breath.

  "I think we'd better go down the slope until it be- comes too dark for us to see a way," said Boyd, "be- cause we're up so high now that the night is sure to be biting cold here on the very top of the ridge."

  In an hour they found a glen sheltered well by high trees all about and with a pool of icy cold water at the edge. It was a replica on a small scale of the valley and lake they had left behind, and glad enough they were to find it. They drank of the pool, and the horses followed them there with eagerness. Then, eating only cold food, they made ready for the night.

  "Get an extra pair of blankets from your pack, Will," said Boyd. "You don't yet know how cold the night can be on these mountains, at any time of the year."

  The hunter's advice was good, as Will the next morning, despite two blankets beneath him and two above him, felt cold, and when he sprang up he pounded his chest vigorously to make the circulation brisk. Boyd laughed.

  "Pm about as cold as you are," he said, "and, in view of the winter into which we've suddenly dropped,

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  we'll have hot coffee and hot food for breakfast. I don't think we risk anything by building a fire here. What's the matter with our horses ?"

  They had tethered the horses in the night, and all four of them suddenly began to rear and stamp in terror.

  "There's a scout watching us !" exclaimed Will.

  "A scout?" said Boyd, startled.

  "Yes! See him standing on the big rock, far off there to the right/'

  The hunter looked and then drew a breath of re- lief.

  "OldEphraimP'hesaid.

  A gigantic grizzly bear was upreared on a great rocky outcrop about three hundred yards away, and the opalescent light of the morning magnified him in the boy's eyes, until he was the largest beast in the world. Monstrous and sinister he stood there, un- moving, gazing at the strange creatures in the little camp. He seemed to Will a symbol of this vast and primeval new world into which he had come. Re- membering his glasses he took them and brought the great grizzly almost before his eyes.

  "He appears to be showing anger and a certain cu- riosity because we're here," he said. "I don't think he understands us, but he resents our invasion of his territory."

  "Well, we're not going to explain who we are. If he don't meddle with us we won't meddle with him."

  The grizzly did not stay long, retreating from the rock, then disappearing in the underbrush. Will had

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  qualms now and then lest he should break through tHe bushes and appear in their little glen, but Boyd knew him better. He was content to leave alone those who left him alone.

  The breakfast with its hot coffee and hot food was very grateful, and continuing the descent of the slope they passed through other narrow passes and over other ridges, but all the while ascending gradually, the world about them growing in majesty and beauty. Four days and a large part of four nights they traveled thus after leaving the little valley with the blue lake, and the bright air was growing steadily colder as they rose. Boyd talked a little now of stopping, but he did not yet see a place that fulfilled all his ideas of a good and safe camp, though he said they would soon find it.

  "How far do you think we've come into the moun- tains?" asked Will.

  "About a hundred miles, more or less," replied the hunter.

  "Seems to me more like a thousand, chiefly more. If the Sioux find us here they'll have to be the finest mountain climbers and ravine crossers the world has ever seen. Just what are you looking for, Jim ?"

  "Four things, wood, water, grass and shelter. We've got to have 'em, both for ourselves and the horses, and we've got to find 'em soon, because, d'you see, Will, we've been wonderfully favored by Provi- dence. The rains and storms have held off longer than they usually do in the high mountains, but we can't expect 'em to hold off forever just for our sakes. Be-

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  sides, the hoofs of the horses are getting sore, and it's time to give 'em a long rest."

  They were now far up the high slopes, but not be- yond the timber range. The air was thin and cold, and at night they always used two pairs of blankets, spreading the under pair on thick beds of dry leaves. In the morning the pools would be frozen over, but to- ward noon the ice under the slanting rays of the sun would melt. The march itself, and the air laden with odors of pine and spruce, and cedar and balsam, was healthful and invigorating. Will felt his chest expand. He knew that his lung power, already good, was in- creasing remarkably and that his muscles were both growing and hardening.

  Another day and crossing a ridge so sharp that they were barely able to pull the horses over it, they came to a valley set close around by high mountains, a val- ley about three miles long and a mile wide, one-third of its surface covered by a lake, usually silver in color, but varying with the sky above it. Another third of the valley was open and heavy in grass, the remainder being in forest with little undergrowth.

  "Here," said Boyd, "we'll find the four things we need, wood, water, grass and shelter, and since it's practically impossible for the original band of Sioux to trail us into this cleft, here we will stay until such time as we wish to resume our great hunt. What say you?"

  "Seems to me, Jim, that we're coming home. This valley has been waiting for us a great many years, but the true tenants have arrived at last."

  THE LITTLE GIANT

  "That's the right spirit. Hark to Selim, now ! He, too, approves."

  The great horse, probably moved by the sight of grass and water, raised his head and neighed.

  "If we had felt any doubts the horses would have settled it for us," said Will. "I understand their lan- guage and they say in the most correct English that here we are to bide and rest, as long as we wish. The presence of the lake indicates a running stream, an entrance and exit, so to speak. I think, Jim, it's about the most beautiful valley I ever saw."

  They descended the last slope, and came to the creek that drained the lake, a fine, clear, cold current, flowing swiftly over a rocky bottom. After letting the hors
es drink they forded it, and rode on into the valley. Will noticed something white on the opposite slope, and ex- amining it through his glasses saw that it was a foam- ing cascade.

  "It's the stream that feeds the lake," he said. "It rushes down from the higher mountains, and here we have a beautiful waterfall. Nature has neglected noth- ing in preparing our happy valley, providing not only comfort and security but scenic beauty as well."

  The hunter looked a moment or two at the waterfall, and the tremendous mountains about them with a care- ful eye.

  "What is it, Jim?" asked Will.

  "I'm looking for tracks."

  "What tracks? You said we wouldn't find any Sioux in here."

  "Not the footprints of the Sioux."

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  "It's not in the range of the Crows, Blackfeet or Assiniboines. Surely you don't expect them."

  "I don't expect Crows, Blackfeet or Assiniboines."

  "Then what do you expect ?"

  "Wild animals."

  "Why bother about wild animals? Armed as we are we've nothing to fear from them." "Nothing to fear, but a lot to hope. I think we're likely to stay here quite a spell, and we'll need 'em in our business. Remember that for the present, Will, we're wild men, and we'll have to live as wild men have lived since the world began. We want their meat and their skins."

  "The meat I understand, because I'd like to bite into a juicy piece of it now, but we're not fur hunt- ers."

  "No, but we need the skins of big animals, and we need 'em right away. This weather can't last forever. We're bound to have a storm sometime soon. We must first make a wickiup. It's quite simple. The Sioux always do it. A Sioux warrior never sleeps in the open if he can help it, and as they've lived this sort of life for more hundreds of years than anybody knows they ought to know something about it."

  "But I don't see that cloud you told me several days ago to watch for."

  "It will come. It's bound to come. Now here's the lake ahead of us. Isn't it a beauty? I told you we'd find a lot of these fine little lakes all along the slopes of the ridges, but this seems to be the gem of them all. See how the water breaks into waves and

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  looks like melted silver! And the banks sloping and firm, covered with thick green turf, run right down to the water's edge, like a gentleman's park."

  "It's all that you claim for it," said Will, making a wide, sweeping gesture, "and, bright new lake, I christen thee Lake Boyd !"

  "The lake accepts the name," said the hunter with a pleased smile, and then he added, also making a wide, sweeping gesture:

  "Green and sheltered valley, I christen thee Clarke Valley."

  "I, too, accept the compliment," said Will.

  "The far side of the valley is much the steeper," said the hunter, "and I think it would be a good idea for us to build the wickiup over there. It would be sheltered thoroughly on one side at least by the lofty cliffs."

  "Going back a moment to the search you were mak- ing a little while ago, have you noticed the footprints of any wild animals?"

  "Aye, Will, my lad, so I have. I've seen tracks of elk, buffalo and bear, and of many smaller beasts."

  "Then, that burden off your mind, we might as well locate the site of our house."

  "Correct. I think I see it now in an open space under the shelter of the cliff."

  They had ridden across the valley, and both marked a slight elevation under the shadow of the cliff, a glen forty or fifty yards across, protected by thick forest both to east and west, and by thin forest on the south, from which point they were approaching.

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  "It's the building site that's been reserved for us five hundred years, maybe," said the hunter. "The mountain and the trees will shelter us from most of the big winds, and if any of the trees should blow down their falling bodies would not reach us here in the center of the open space. There is grass every- where for the horses, and water, both lake and run- ning, for all of us."

  They unsaddled the riding horses, took the packs off the others and turned them loose. All four neighed gratefully, and set to work on the grass.

  "They've done a tremendous lot of mountain climb- ing, and they've carried heavy burdens," said Boyd, "and they're entitled to a long rest, long enough to heal up their sore feet and fill out their sides again. Now, Will, you'll make a great hunter some day, but suppose, for the present, you guard the packs while I look for an elk and maybe a bear. Two of them would furnish more meat than we could use in a long time, but we need their skins."

  "I'm content to wait," said Will, who was saddle- tired.

  He sat down on the thick, soft grass by the side of the packs, and his physical system, keyed up so long, suffered a collapse, complete but not unpleasant. Every nerve relaxed and he sank back against his pack, content to be idle as long as Boyd was away. But while his body was weak then, his mind was content. Clarke Valley, which had been named after him, was surely wonderful. It was green and fresh everywhere and Boyd Lake was molten silver. Not far away

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  the cataract showed white against the mountainside, and its roar came in a pleasant murmur to his ears.

  He heard a distant shot, but it did not disturb him. He knew it was Boyd, shooting something, probably the elk he wished. After a while he heard another re- port, and he put that down as the bear. His surmise was correct in both instances.

  Boyd, with his help, skinned both the bear and the elk, and they hung great quantities of the flesh of both in the trees to dry. Boyd carefully scraped the skins with his hunting knife, and they, too, were hung out to dry. While they were hanging there Will also shot a bear, and his hairy covering was added to the others.

  A few days later Boyd built the wickiup, called by the Sioux tipiowinja. Taking one of the sharp axes he quickly cut a number of slender, green poles, the larger ends of which he sharpened well and thrust deep into the ground, until he had made with them a complete circle. The smaller ends were bent toward a common center and fastened tightly with withes of skin. The space between was thatched with brush, and the whole was covered with the skins of elk and bear, which Boyd stitched together closely and firmly. Then they cut out a small doorway, which they could enter by stooping. The floor was of poles, made smooth and soft with a covering of dead leaves.

  It was rude and primitive, but Will saw at once that in need it would protect both their stores and them- selves.

  "I learned that from the Sioux long ago," said Boyd, not without some admiration of his handiwork.

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  "It's close and hot, and after we've put the stores in we'll have to tuck ourselves away in the last space left. But it will feel mighty good in a storm."

  The second night after the wickiup was finished his words came true. A great storm gathered in the south- west, the first that Will had seen in the high moun- tains, and it was a tremendous and terrifying mani- festation of nature.

  The mountains fairly shook with the explosions of thunder, and the play of lightning was dazzling on the ridges. When thunder and lightning subsided some- what, the hunter and the lad crept into the wickiup and listened to the roaring of the rain as it came. Will, curled against the side upon his pack, heard the fierce wind moaning as if the gods themselves were in pain, and the rain beating in gust after gust. The stout poles bent a little before both wind and rain, but their elasticity merely added to their power of re- sistance, as the wickiup, so simple in its structure and yet so serviceable, stood fast, and Boyd had put on its skin covering so well that not a single drop of water entered.

  In civilization he might have found the wickiup toa close to be supportable, but in that raging wilderness, raging then at least, it was snug beyond compare. He had a thought or two for the horses, but he knew they would find shelter in the forest. Boyd, who was curled on the other side of the w
ickiup, was already asleep, but the lad's sense of safety and shelter was so great that he lay awake, and listened to the shrieking of the elements, separated from him only by poles and a bear-

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  skin. The power of contrast was so great that he had never felt more comfortable in his life, and after listen- ing awhile he, too, fell asleep, sleeping soundly until day, when the storm had passed, leaving the air crisper and fresher, and the earth washed afresh and clean.

  They found the horses already grazing, and their bear and elk steaks, which they had fastened securely, safe on the boughs. The valley itself, so keen and penetrating was the odor of balsam and pine, seemed redolent with perfume, and the lake itself had taken on a new and brighter tint of silver.

  "Boyd Lake and Clarke Valley are putting on their best in our honor," said Will.

  Then they ate a huge breakfast, mostly of elk and bear meat, and afterward considered the situation. Will had the natural impatience of youth, but Boyd was all for staying on a couple of weeks at least. They might not find another such secure place, one that fur- nished its own food, and nothing would be lost while much could be gained by waiting. It was easy enough to persuade the lad, who was, on the whole, rather glad to be convinced, and then they turned their thoughts toward the improvement of a camp which had some of the elements of permanency.

  "We could, of course, build a good, strong cabin," said Boyd, "and with our stout axes it would not take long to do it, but I don't think we'll need the protec- tion of logs. The wickiup ought to serve. We may not have another storm while we're here, but showers are pretty sure to come."

  To provide against contingencies they strengthened

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