CHAPTER XXVII

FROM SADDLE TO CANOE AGAIN

IT was soon planned that a short stop should be made here, in order to recuperate to some extent after their recent strenuous experiences. A number of the men had become ill through long exposure to the burning sun, and the lack of proper food. Captain Lewis hoped to have them in good shape presently, so that they could start forth upon the last dash for the Pacific Coast.

Besides, the chief being absent, there was really no one of authority in the Nez Perces village with whom to deal; and just then the explorers wished to make a covenant, or bargain.

From now on they could make much better use of boats than of horses, and it was hoped to effect an arrangement with the Nez Perces chieftain to care for the animals they owned through the coming winter. Then, the adventurers hoped to borrow canoes and to finish the long journey by the water. When, in the spring, they returned that way, they could change back, and reward the friendly Indians for taking care of the horses, which would, of course, be needed again in crossing to the mountains.

Several pleasant days in September passed away, while the members of the expedition waxed hale and hearty again. They had plenty to eat, and even made out to secure an amount of food from the Indians to last them for some time ahead, in case game proved to be scarce.

No one anticipated such a thing, however, because from all reports they judged there was great hunting along the lower river that emptied into the sea; Then there was the multitude of splendid fishes, the flesh of which they were told resembled that of the mountain trout.

These the travelers had already classified as salmon, because Captain Lewis had seen that noble game fish caught in Maine and Canada, where it came in fresh from the ocean to spawn in the headwaters of the rivers.

Many were the stories the Nez Perces told, in their sign language mostly, about the Indians who frequented the lower reaches of this broad river, where the "shining fish" swarmed at times so that no man could count their number, which was like the grains of sand on the beach.

As near as the boys could make out these natives, from some peculiarity connected with their person, were known far and wide as the Flat Heads. They seemed to be of an exceedingly warlike disposition, and great hunters, as well as persistent fishermen.

Their method of taking the salmon was with a spear, and in the season an adept could daily throw up on the bank a glittering pile of the big fish calculated, when dried after a manner in vogue among them, to last his lodge all winter.

Many were the interesting things the boys learned when they found a means of talking with the peaceful Nez Perces. The days passed almost too quickly for even Roger, impatient as he was to set eyes on the goal of their hopes.

And, just as had been anticipated, the fame of Dick as a "big medicine" spread through all the skin lodges of the tribe. People even came from other settlements to consult the "wonder boy," who could chase the evil spirits out of a suffering body by simply sending down a pill to wrestle with the monster.

Dick had his hands full, much to the amusement of his cousin. He did not shirk his duty, though careful not to utterly exhaust his precious store of drugs, compounded for the most part by his mother's own hands.

The head chief finally returned, and with him the band of warriors who had been on the grand hunt. They brought back with them a large store of fresh meat, which the squaws immediately set to work to dry after their crude fashion, thus converting it into "pemmican," black, tough stuff which made the boys shudder to look at, but which could sustain the human frame wonderfully.

Success having attended the annual hunt, the chief was in a particularly good humor. He felt that the coming of these "palefaces" must have had something to do with the bountiful supply of game he and his warriors had come across.

Besides, the whites intended going down into the country of the dreaded Flat Heads, and their influence might be exerted to make peace between those Indians and the Nez Perces. So a feast was spread, at which all of the whites had the pleasure of tasting baked dog, which they agreed was fair eating, though none of them came back for a second helping.

The chief readily entered into a covenant whereby, for a certain consideration, he agreed to care for the horses of the whites until they came up the river in the spring, upon which the animals were to be returned to their owners.

Besides this, canoes were loaned to the "palefaces," boats made of skin, and a little insecure, but nevertheless serviceable for the purposes of the explorers.

"Do you think the chief will keep his word about the horses, Dick?" asked Roger, after they had heard of the arrangement between the two captains and the head men of the tribe, after passing the pipe solemnly around the circle at the council fire.

"Yes, I feel sure he will," Dick replied. "I like his looks, and in nearly every case the word of an Indian, once given, is better than the bond of many white men."

"But you remember how that false guide deceived us in the desert, and ran away with one of our horses?" objected Roger.

"There never was a rule that did not have an exception," Roger was told. "Now and then you may find a red man who dishonors his word, but in the main they would sooner be torn to pieces than betray a trust. We shall see our horses when we come back this way, Roger, if we are so lucky as to be able to return."

"Then there was that news we had about those two white men who were seen by a Nez Perces hunter far down the river," said Roger, uneasily. "They were in a canoe, and had evidently passed the village in the nighttime, unseen. At the time the Nez Perces saw them they were dickering with some of the Flat Heads, as though meaning to make allies of those fighters."

"It sounds as if we might be in for another lot of trouble, before we reach the end of our voyage," admitted Dick.

"Then you agree with me, Dick, that those two men must be our bitter foes, François Lascelles and Andrew Waller?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to say they must be those men and no others. But, Roger, something seems to tell me that we may not be bothered much longer by their dark plotting. They are apt to overdo the matter, and perhaps be slain by the very power they set in motion to destroy us."

"You mean the fighting Flat Heads may turn on them, sooner or later; is that it, Dick?" asked Roger, eagerly.

"That is a fate which has overtaken many such schemers," came the answer. "Unscrupulous men often start fires that, in the end, consume them. My father has told me that many a time. We have been preserved through all our adventures, and for one I can face the future without flinching. I do not believe it will be our fate to die at the hands of such rascals as those men are."

It was on the following day after this talk between the two chums that, all preparations having been completed, the little party embarked for the last lap of their long trip, which in the case of Captain Lewis meant from coast to coast.

The friendly Nez Perces gave them a good send-off. There were even some whoops, and waving of hands, after the whites had pushed off from the shore.

Perhaps of all the party Dick would be most missed. His numerous patients would mourn the absence of the "big medicine," should there be a return of their maladies later on. Perhaps they feared that the Evil Spirit might venture to take double toll on account of the serious setback received during the presence in their midst of the "wonder doctor."

"And one thing sure," Roger told his cousin, as they worked their paddles industriously to keep ahead of the other boats, "you will have to get to work and make up a new stock of medicine after the manner you've seen your mother do it; for, when we come back this way in the spring, if we ever do, there'll be a crop of ailments waiting for you to take care of."

Dick only laughed good-naturedly.

"I was thinking about that myself," he stated; "and I believe I could do it, provided we can find the same kind of herbs growing out here. But it certainly feels good to me to be in a boat again, after all that hard work riding a horse across a hot desert."

Roger felt the same way, for the boys were much more at home with a paddle in their hands than in the saddle. Brought up on the bank of the Missouri, they had early become adepts on and in the water, and they spent much of their time fishing, in order to supply the families with the food that was needed.

That night they made camp on the bank of the Lewis. They were surrounded by the great trees that have since then made Oregon and Washington forests famous; and all this was so vastly different from their recent experiences amidst desert sands that it was no wonder every one's spirits were buoyant.

Of course the boys wanted to take a little turn around the camp before night set in, hoping to come across some game. This they could easily do because, at the time, they had nothing to do with getting supper ready, as it was not their turn to serve as cooks.

Once again success came their way, for they succeeded in starting a buck, and, although it took a double shot to bring the fleet animal down, Dick proved equal to the occasion, after Roger's bullet seemed to be wasted.

This circumstance seemed to annoy the latter very much, for he was jealous of his well-earned reputation as a marksman. It did not surprise Dick, then, when the other's first move upon reaching the fallen buck was to examine eagerly the quarry.

"I thought it was queer if I missed him entirely," declared Roger, with a ring of triumph in his voice; "you can see where my bullet passed through his body, but, as luck would have it, no vital part was touched. I'm glad you managed to finish him, Dick."

"Yes, so am I for several reasons," remarked the other; "in the first place we need the meat. Then again, it would be too bad for him to run for miles and in the end drop, and that wound you gave him would have proved fatal finally."

Of course the party rejoiced to see a supply of meat come in. They knew they could depend on the boys to procure it if there chanced to be any game in the vicinity; and when they heard the double shot more than one of the men licked his lips in full expectation of a treat.

It is a good thing to have a reputation for accomplishing things, for there are times when it spurs the possessor on, in order that he may not lose caste with his admirers.

Roger was not fully satisfied with the shooting of the buck. His fishing instinct had been aroused by the tales he had heard concerning the great finny prizes to be had in these rivers that ran down to the sea, and he longed to be able to capture his first prize in the shape of a salmon.

So, immediately after supper, he got his line in readiness, and set it in hope of a strike. Many times during the evening he left the vicinity of the campfire, where the men were sitting at their ease and exchanging stories, to make an eager investigation of his line.

Roger was, however, doomed to disappointment that night. Either the salmon did not run so far from the sea at this time of the year, or else his bait had not proven satisfactory. In time, no doubt, he would learn better; or he could possibly find a chance to make use of the spear he had secured from a Nez Perces brave, and which was used for striking the great fish as they passed through some narrow estuary of the river, running between the rocks.