CHAPTER XV

SAFE IN THE TIMBER

THAT five minutes seemed a terribly long time to Roger. He could hear the oncoming herd close at hand now, so that stragglers began to pass them by on either side, and this fact gave new alarm. What if one of the buffalo chose to turn and gore the nearest horse with its wicked horns? Even though only a wound followed, it would mean a spill, and that would be the same as the end of it all.

But evidently the frightened animals had all they wanted to do in looking out for their own affairs. Perhaps they considered the running horses, with those queer bunches on their backs, only in the light of some singular fellow animals, seeking safety in flight. Roger had heard it said that, when a fire chased over these vast prairies, all manner of wild animals--deer, wolves, and buffaloes--ran side by side, only concerned in making their escape. He had heard his father read out of the Bible about the time when the lion and the lamb would lie down together, and he guessed that it would be something like this universal fear that must bring it about.

The trees began to loom up ahead, and both lads began to feel a new concern with regard to how they could manage, first of all, to pass in among the sheltering timber, so as to avoid meeting with an accident; and then, after this had been accomplished, escape being crushed in the dense mass of buffaloes that would be surging forward, bent on finding a haven from the pelting rain.

"Be careful now, Roger!" shouted Dick, as they passed the first outlying tree.

It required considerable control over the laboring horses to keep from colliding with the obstacles that began to be strewn across their path; but by degrees the boys managed to regain control over their steeds, which were almost winded, on account of their long run; and after that it was not so difficult.

Sure enough, the river proved to be close at hand, and, finding that there was an open stretch of beach bordering it, Dick led the way along this, his object being to reach a point as far up-stream as possible, so as to get beyond the range of the buffalo herd.

Now their horses were floundering knee-deep in the water, and again running along the shore; but all the while making progress, and that satisfied the two lads.

"That was as close a shave as we ever had, Dick!" called out Roger, who was in the rear, quite content for once to let his cousin do the leading, for he was still quivering with the recent excitement, and could hardly believe that they had come out of it with whole skins.

"Yes, and it's a good thing for us this little stretch runs along the edge of the water," was what the other answered back.

"Listen to the buffaloes coming into the timber. There seems to be no end to them. Do you think they'll crowd down to the water before we can get above the edge of the drove? Is there any end to it, Dick?" (Note 4.)

"Oh! yes," replied Dick, "and already I think we're getting to where there are not so many, for the sound of their hoofs seems less. Keep right on coming, Roger, and in the end we'll have a fire, and dry off."

"That suits me, because already I'm shivering with the cold. This thing of riding at top speed with a wet jacket isn't much fun, Dick, I tell you."

So long as there was danger that they might be trampled under the hoofs of the herd, Roger had not given his soaked condition a single thought, for the excitement kept him up. It was only after safety seemed assured that he could allow himself to consider his feelings; and then, as he said, he discovered that he was shaking all over.

Dick proved a true prophet, for after a while they managed to get to a point that seemed to be beyond the limits of the vast drove. Further down the river they could hear the greatest splashing imaginable, as thousands of the beasts pushed into the water, either to drink, or because the press behind was so great as to crowd them off the bank.

Roger was only too willing to pull up when Dick gave the word.

The rain had stopped entirely, and the mutter of thunder was only heard now in the distance, showing that the storm was past.

So the two young pioneers jumped to the ground, and the first thing they did was to slap their chilled arms vigorously back and forth, after the customary method of starting a circulation of the blood.

"Now, how about a fire?" asked Roger.

"Wait until we stake the horses, and then I'll hunt around for an old stump, or a log, from which to tear the dry heart to make a beginning," Dick declared.

Of course these boys, having roamed the woods in search of game since they were capable of handling one of the long-barreled rifles known to the settlers of the day, understood just how to go about getting fire, no matter if everything around them seemed to be soaking wet.

Having found the needed stump, Dick used knife and hatchet, and presently announced that he had enough dry tinder to make a start.

Meanwhile Roger had also been collecting twigs that would be apt to take fire quickly, and had selected the site on which the cheery blaze should be built. In doing this he had been influenced in some measure by the idea of hiding the fire as much as possible, although the boys did not believe hostile eyes could see it in the thick timber.

Once Dick had got out his tinder box, and his flint and steel, there was little time wasted in sending the spark where it glowed amidst the inflammable stuff, being quickly fanned into a tiny flame by the breath of the fire-maker. Matches may be a great invention, and a labor-saving device, but in those pioneer days, under favorable conditions it was amazing how rapidly an expert could light a fire. And in rainy weather the "matches" did not get wet, which must have been more or less of a consolation.

It certainly did feel good to crouch near that hot little blaze, and let their wet garments steam on them, gradually feeling warmer, and in this manner drying.

The boys knew that they could not sleep again that night, so there was no use trying. Accordingly they sat there, keeping their small fire going, and talking of the thousand-and-one things connected with their mission, and the wonderful experiences through which they were passing.

When the clouds parted overhead, and they could see the stars, it was possible for either of them to give a good guess as to how the night was passing; for, since watches were almost unknown among the settlers, every boy was taught to read the heavenly bodies, and to observe things that might be passing around him.

So Dick and Roger knew just about when certain bright planets should set or rise; and a glance upward at any time when the sky was clear was sufficient to tell them how the day or night might be passing.

"We'll have daylight in less than two hours," Dick announced, when the break in the clouds came, allowing him to consult his "clock."

"And when it comes," Roger returned, with a shake of his head, "do you know what I intend to do? Why, try for a young buffalo with my bow and arrows. I never yet had the chance to shoot such a big animal with that Indian bow. If it can bring down an elk, why not a buffalo? And let me tell you, after the fright they gave us, I feel more like feasting on buffalo meat than ever before."

Dick declared that he would have no objection to tasting more fresh meat; and so it was arranged that, while he stayed with the outfit, Roger should set out for a little hunt.

He promised not to wander far away, and to stick to the timber belt. When Dick spoke of this latter condition his companion laughed aloud.

"Well, you wouldn't catch me stepping out on that prairie on foot with all those savage bulls around, no, sir, not if I was paid to do it," he declared. "It was bad enough to be chased while we had our horses to depend on, and, let me tell you, I don't hanker after trying a foot race."

When the time did come he started off, while Dick busied himself in the camp, for there were numerous duties to be looked after, besides keeping the fire going. In their mad gallop the horses had managed to get some of the bundles disturbed, which was not surprising, and these had to be rearranged.

Hardly an hour had passed when Dick heard a joyous whoop, and, looking up, as his hand involuntarily reached out toward his ready firearm, he discovered his camp-mate staggering in, bearing a package of meat done up in a portion of hide.

"You were lucky, then, I see," ventured Dick, as the other threw his burden down.

"It was as easy a job as I ever had," replied Roger, panting a little after his exertions. "Why, Dick, I could have shot a dozen, if I'd wanted, they were so thick through the timber, and seemed to be wanting to just lie there and rest. The hardest thing was to get a chance to cut up my game, after it had fallen. You see, I was afraid some old bull might take a notion to charge me; but I managed it all right, and without any fight, either."

"I hope you got a yearling, then," remarked the camp guard, as he started to open the meat pack.

"Just what I did," replied Roger. "With all those around to choose from, I picked the very choicest and fattest in sight. Oh! I can hardly wait to get some in the pan, I'm so hungry."

And so it came about that even the great buffalo stampede, that at one time had threatened to bring the journey of the young pioneers to a speedy termination, was the means of supplying them with food.

When the fresh meat was done to a turn, both lads pronounced it the very finest they had ever eaten; and somehow it seemed to remove some of the sting from their inglorious night gallop in front of the panic-stricken herd.

Then once more the forward movement was resumed; for their determination to overtake the expedition that was piercing the Western wilderness had not abated. Accustomed to meeting and overcoming difficulties, the boys thought little of things that might seem discouragements in the eyes of those less trained in the ways of borderers and hunters.

No doubt they would see more of these shaggy animals, if they stayed any length of time upon the prairies along the upper Missouri, for at that time the buffalo entered largely into all the history of the many Indian tribes living west of the Mississippi, and pictures of its chase could be found painted on thousands of the skin teepees used by the red hunters. Its meat, when dried, afforded their families sustenance through the long winters, and the annual drive, when hundreds of the ungainly beasts would be killed, was an event that took place every autumn. If the buffalo failed to show up in numbers, it promised to be a lean year for that unfortunate tribe, and the hunters would have to keep busy after the ground was knee-deep in snow, trying to bring in moose, caribou, or other animals that did not migrate each season to the warmer southland.

It was only fair that a period of peace should follow after a storm; and for many days the boys met with no particular adventure, but continued to make good time along the river.

At the same time they did not seem to be gaining to any appreciable extent on the explorers who were pushing on ahead; which fact gave Roger occasional fits of the blues, so that his companion was compelled to again show him that sooner or later they were bound to attain their end. For Captain Lewis had, before starting, announced that he expected to spend the winter somewhere short of the great mountain chain, which, it was believed, ran north and south somewhere in the distant country.