The animal was of course wholly uncontrollable, and stretched away at full speed over the prairie, till he and his rider vanished behind a distant swell.I never saw the man again, but I presume no harm came to him.An Indian on horseback has more lives than a cat.
The village encamped on a scorching prairie, close to the foot of the mountains.The beat was most intense and penetrating.The coverings of the lodges were raised a foot or more from the ground, in order to procure some circulation of air; and Reynal thought proper to lay aside his trapper's dress of buckskin and assume the very scanty costume of an Indian.Thus elegantly attired, he stretched himself in his lodge on a buffalo robe, alternately cursing the heat and puffing at the pipe which he and I passed between us.There was present also a select circle of Indian friends and relatives.Asmall boiled puppy was served up as a parting feast, to which was added, by way of dessert, a wooden bowl of gooseberries, from the mountains.
"Look there," said Reynal, pointing out of the opening of his lodge;"do you see that line of buttes about fifteen miles off? Well, now, do you see that farthest one, with the white speck on the face of it?
Do you think you ever saw it before?"
"It looks to me," said I, "like the hill that we were camped under when we were on Laramie Creek, six or eight weeks ago.""You've hit it," answered Reynal.
"Go and bring in the animals, Raymond," said I: "we'll camp there to-night, and start for the Fort in the morning."The mare and the mule were soon before the lodge.We saddled them, and in the meantime a number of Indians collected about us.The virtues of Pauline, my strong, fleet, and hardy little mare, were well known in camp, and several of the visitors were mounted upon good horses which they had brought me as presents.I promptly declined their offers, since accepting them would have involved the necessity of transferring poor Pauline into their barbarous hands.
We took leave of Reynal, but not of the Indians, who are accustomed to dispense with such superfluous ceremonies.Leaving the camp we rode straight over the prairie toward the white-faced bluff, whose pale ridges swelled gently against the horizon, like a cloud.An Indian went with us, whose name I forget, though the ugliness of his face and the ghastly width of his mouth dwell vividly in my recollection.The antelope were numerous, but we did not heed them.
We rode directly toward our destination, over the arid plains and barren hills, until, late in the afternoon, half spent with heat, thirst, and fatigue, we saw a gladdening sight; the long line of trees and the deep gulf that mark the course of Laramie Creek.
Passing through the growth of huge dilapidated old cottonwood trees that bordered the creek, we rode across to the other side.
The rapid and foaming waters were filled with fish playing and splashing in the shallows.As we gained the farther bank, our horses turned eagerly to drink, and we, kneeling on the sand, followed their example.We had not gone far before the scene began to grow familiar.
"We are getting near home, Raymond," said I.
There stood the Big Tree under which we had encamped so long; there were the white cliffs that used to look down upon our tent when it stood at the bend of the creek; there was the meadow in which our horses had grazed for weeks, and a little farther on, the prairie-dog village where I had beguiled many a languid hour in persecuting the unfortunate inhabitants.
"We are going to catch it now," said Raymond, turning his broad, vacant face up toward the sky.
In truth, the landscape, the cliffs and the meadow, the stream and the groves were darkening fast.Black masses of cloud were swelling up in the south, and the thunder was growling ominously.
"We will camp here," I said, pointing to a dense grove of trees lower down the stream.Raymond and I turned toward it, but the Indian stopped and called earnestly after us.When we demanded what was the matter, he said that the ghosts of two warriors were always among those trees, and that if we slept there, they would scream and throw stones at us all night, and perhaps steal our horses before morning.
