CHAPTER XIII

ON THE BILLOWY PRAIRIE

DURING this day there was hardly a stretch of half an hour but Dick and Roger made some new and interesting discovery. Now it was a little herd of antelope that, scenting the presence of human enemies on the wind, sprang from the grass where they had been lying, and went off with graceful bounds that awoke the ardent admiration of Dick, while Roger aimed his gun after them, though he was not foolish enough to waste precious ammunition when his good sense told him he had not a ghost of a show to bring the game down.

A little later they stumbled upon a village of prairie dogs, the first either of the boys had ever set eyes on. In fact, the first sign they had of the settlement was when one of the horses broke through into a burrow, and came near throwing its rider, or breaking a leg.

Then there was a great clatter as scores of the queer little fellows started to bark, and then vanish inside their burrows, from which they later cautiously thrust their noses, curious to see what these strange intruders were like.

"Better slow down to a walk until we are clear of this place," warned Dick, as he suited his action to his words. "Did you ever see such a sight, Roger? There must be thousands of these little chaps around here; and hear the fierce way they bark at us before they run indoors."

"I wonder if they are good to eat?" asked the practical Roger, for the elk meat was all gone, and he had begun to wonder what they might find next.

"I'm sure I don't know," his cousin replied; "and I wouldn't like to try before I saw some one else eat one. The Indians are very fond of baked dog, you know; but I never heard that it was this breed. Better give that idea up, Roger; a little later we may find a chance to knock over one of those fast-running antelope, or else get a young buffalo calf for a change."

"That sounds good enough for me," remarked the other; "and so I think I'll let the prairie dogs alone just now. But look there, isn't that a rattlesnake lying in the sun outside that burrow?"

"Just what it is," Dick answered, quickly. "Which reminds me that I've been told that the snakes seem to occupy the burrows along with the dogs. Perhaps they've got some sort of arrangement between them; or else the prairie dog isn't afraid of the poison of the rattlesnake. See, there's another, yes, and even a third one, much larger than any of the rest!"

"Ugh! wouldn't I hate to have to walk through this village in the dark!" Roger exclaimed, with a shudder, as they passed several more snakes lying in the warm sunshine, not at all bothered by the thud of horses' hoofs.

"It's a bad job going through it, even on horseback, and in the daytime," Dick observed, "because you have to watch closely to keep from having the animal break through the roof of a burrow; and, first thing you know, one of those nasty rattlesnakes might be striking at the horse's legs. It would be a shame to lose so valuable an animal in that way, when we need them both so badly."

That caused Roger to awaken to the fact that he was not paying as much attention to his progress through the populous town as he should; and, having had his fears aroused, he now began to keep a close watch for signs of trouble ahead.

Being thus fully on their guard they were able to reach the border of the prairie dog settlement without having met with any disaster; and, the last they saw of it, several of the boldest of the natives had crept out of their burrows, and seemed to be "barking them a farewell," as Roger laughingly said.

While they were jealous concerning their ammunition, hoarding it against a possible emergency, they seldom lost an opportunity to wet a line in the great river, whenever their camp was close by the bank.

Roger always carried hooks and lines along with him, so that on the present occasion he was well equipped to capture all the finny prizes they needed for food.

Many a night, while Dick slept, the other would sit on the river bank, with his line in his hand, waiting for a bite, and seldom did his vigilance go unrewarded, so that they had fish for breakfast on numerous occasions.

It happened that once again they discovered a place where undoubtedly the expedition they were following must have waited over night. There were the plain tracks of horses' hoofs, and also the ashes of several fires, for, being in such numbers, the explorers of the Missouri did not feel compelled to hide whenever they made camp, in order to keep their location a secret from spying eyes.

Of course Roger asked his companion to try to find out from various signs, which could be readily picked up, whether they were now any closer to the column than on that other occasion, when they rested in the abandoned camp of the explorers.

This Dick did in a most thorough fashion, and, after concluding his labors, he announced it as his belief that they had indeed gained another day.

"Is that all?" remarked Roger, evidently disappointed; and from his manner one might believe he had expected to hear Dick say they would overtake Captain Lewis by another day or so.

"On my part," declared Dick, "I think that we are doing as well as we ought to expect. All I ask is that things go right along as they have been doing. We are seeing some wonderful sights while we keep on the move each day. And, besides, you forget, Roger, that the sooner we come up with the expedition, the sooner we must be taking the back trail. Now that we're away out here in this strange country I'd like to see all I can of it."

"Yes, that's so," Roger replied, nodding his head to show that he quite agreed with his cousin; "and, do you know, Dick, if only we could find some safe way to get that paper home, after it has been signed by Jasper Williams, I'd like nothing better than to keep right on with Captain Lewis, and go with him all the way to the ocean. Oh! what a glorious thing that would be; and what strange sights we would see when we got to the mountains we've heard so much about, that they say reach far up into the clouds, and abound in all sorts of game, such as can be found nowhere else."

Dick himself heaved a sigh, on hearing his companion speak in that way.

"Yes, that would be almost too good for us to enjoy, Roger," he said, "much as we might wish it to come true. Our first duty is to make sure that the paper gets to our grandfather, since so much depends on it. I wouldn't take any chance about its safe delivery, because we would never forgive ourselves if it went astray."

"But, Dick, if we found that Captain Lewis meant to dispatch some of his men over the back trail, with an important message of his own, telling President Jefferson what success he had met with so far, couldn't we trust the paper in their charge?"

"Well, we won't discuss that unless the opportunity comes," the other remarked; for, to tell the truth, the temptation was almost irresistible, even to steady, reliable Dick Armstrong. Both boys possessed a strong yearning for exploration, and during their various hunts they had sought out new fields in every direction, whenever it was at all possible.

Another temptation had come to Roger with almost every hour of the day. This was the presence of innumerable prairie hens that were flying up from the long grass in every direction, as the horses passed along.

Roger kept his bow and arrows handy, and was frequently tempted to make use of them in trying for some of these plump and edible fowl, which often presented what looked like easy shots; but Dick was for hurrying, and did not wish to delay, at any time, long enough for his companion to creep up on the "chickens."

But when they rested at noon, or in the early evening stopped to make camp, Roger would be denied his pleasure no longer, but started to stalk some of the ever present birds.

Nor was success wanting, for he succeeded in sending his feathered shafts through a brace of plump hens, which they managed to cook over a fire that was built in a hole dug in the ground, so that the flame might not be seen afar and draw the attention they sought to avoid.

Another day saw them crossing a wide stretch of the prairie, to avoid a slough that seemed to extend for many miles along the border of the river.

It had been a rather warm day, and several times they had eyed the heavens, as if half expecting that the clouds would gather and send down a deluge of rain. Up to now they had been singularly fortunate in having escaped many storms, and it chanced that those that did come had found the young explorers in some snug shelter. To be caught out on the open might not turn out to be such a pleasant thing for them.

Although they had now been on the march for weeks, neither of the boys seemed to feel in any way anxious for their journey to end, save that Roger's impatience occasionally leaped beyond bounds; for he kept wondering whether they would find Jasper Williams after all, and their mission prove a success.

There were so many new sights to look upon as they went on, that it seemed as though they were continually expecting novel things. Around the settlement it had been pretty much all woods, so that this wonderful prairie was a source of never-ending delight to both lads, filling them with something of the same awe that one who is accustomed to the interior feels when first he sets eyes on the great ocean.

"I hope, though, we can make the river by to-morrow," Roger was saying when the sun seemed to be well down in the sky, and it looked certain that they were to make camp again in the open.

"Chances are that it lies away over yonder, where you can just see a fringe of something that must be trees," Dick observed, pointing as he spoke.

"And miles away at that, so there's no use in trying for it to-day," Roger said.

He was feeling a little provoked, for, after begging his companion to hold up half an hour for him, when he thought he saw a chance to stalk a small band of antelopes that afternoon, Roger had spent considerable time and energy in creeping through the grass, and getting behind a _motte_ of timber that grew around some little slough, only to see the timid animals flying away when he thought he must be close enough to use his bow.

He had taken revenge, however, in shooting several prairie chickens, although, having once "made up his mouth" for venison, this was a poor substitute, good eating though the birds had proved on the other occasion.

"It lies to the west of us," Dick chanced to say, as they looked toward the low fringe along the horizon which, as he had said, must be trees, and evidently bordering the river.

Later, Dick had occasion to congratulate himself that he had taken notice of the exact quarter where those trees seemed to lie, as he saw them just before sunset.

Once again they dug a hole, in which Roger expected to cook the prairie fowl which had fallen to his skill as an archer. Dick saw to the staking of the two horses, and made them additionally secure.

The clouds still hung overhead, and it would be strange if the night passed, he believed, without some sort of storm breaking over the prairie. The boys began to wish that they had their Indian tent along, for, old though it was, in a heavy downpour not a drop of water penetrated it.

Dick made preparations looking to a change of base if the threatening storm proved severe. He insisted that the bundles be kept almost intact, so that they could be fastened on the backs of the horses without the customary delay. That proved to be another fortunate move on the part of the boy, and for which he had much cause to be thankful.

The supper was finally prepared, though the fire had to be made as before from dead grass and dry buffalo chips, and was anything but a joy to Roger, accustomed as he had always been to plenty of good fuel.

Though they might have had the benefit of a fair moon but for the clouds, the latter were so dense that the night seemed inky dark. The usual noises of crickets and katydids and other insects appeared to be hushed, so that a strange silence rested on the wide expanse around them.

They were tired, and lay down soon after eating, not knowing how long they would have a chance to sleep before the coming of the storm disturbed them again. Dick, in fact, hardly expected to even doze, for he felt that some sort of watch should be kept; but, after lying there a while, his eyes gradually closed, and almost before he was aware of what was coming he went to sleep.

Neither of the boys ever knew how much time passed in this way when they were aroused by the growling of thunder, as they believed; and, sitting up, Dick called out to his companion:

"It's coming at last, Roger!"

"Yes, I heard it; but what are we going to do?" answered the other, fretfully; for the prospect of getting a wet jacket was not very inviting.

"We'll have to stand it, I guess; grin and bear it, as father says," Dick returned, being much more philosophical than Roger.

"But some of our bundles will be soaked," declared Roger.

"We can't help that; and I've made sure to wrap our extra ammunition in the waterproof cloth, so as to save it. Both of us have our horns filled with powder, which will be sure to keep dry, no matter how we are drenched. I think I could jump into the river, and stay there an hour, without a drop getting into that good old horn father gave me long ago, and which he used himself when a boy."

In this fashion did Dick seek to buoy up the low spirits of his companion.

"It's getting closer, Dick, and that thunder is rattling pretty steady, seems to me. I'm sorry for both of us, because we're due for a fine ducking. I hope the horses don't get frightened, if the storm is a bad one, and break their ropes. Hadn't we better bring them in close by, Dick? Looks like we've got to worry over our mounts, one way or another, right along. First it's Indians stealing them; then the chance of some panther jumping the beasts for a meal; and now a stampede, if the lightning flashes too brightly, or the thunder breaks over us with a roar. How about it, Dick?"

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to get them in here, and keep hold of the ropes," the other replied; "horses are always more contented if they find themselves near human beings in a storm, so I've heard. So come on, then!"

They were now on their feet. The blackness of the night still held good, only every little while a flash of lightning along the horizon whence the storm was coming dispelled it for a brief interval, when they could see a long distance away.

Just as they started to get the horses Dick noticed that the distant rumbling sound had grown heavier. Suddenly he stood still, and clutched the sleeve of his companion's tunic.

"Roger, perhaps that isn't thunder we hear, after all!" he exclaimed, with a catch in his voice, as though the presence of some new and never before experienced danger influenced him.

"Why, what could it be then?" demanded the other, instantly.

"Oh! look! look yonder!" cried Dick.

Just then another friendly flash of lightning illuminated the heavens, and for the space of several seconds the prairie was lighted up almost like day. And the two pioneer boys, staring toward the region where the storm seemed brooding, saw a spectacle that chilled their blood, it was so wonderful, so full of tremendous possibilities for evil!