CHAPTER XXIV

AN INDIAN'S GRATITUDE

FOR some time the three fugitives plodded through the pine forest that lay along the side of the mountain ridge, enclosing the wide valley in which the camp of the Indians had been pitched.

The snow was coming down in earnest now. It acted as though bent on making up for lost time; and, unless all signs failed, there would be an exceedingly heavy fall before they saw the sun again.

One comfort they found in this coming of the white mantle--they could not be tracked by Lascelles and his allies when their escape was discovered.

"Dick!" ventured Roger, after quite a long time had elapsed, and they found the snow getting constantly deeper underfoot.

"Well?"

"We have our guns, it is true, and that I count a fine thing, but of what use are they to us without our powder horns?"

"That was our misfortune, Roger, but we can borrow from Mayhew here. By being prudent we ought to make his supply go around."

Imagine the feelings of the two boys when the guide gave utterance to an exclamation of disgust and chagrin.

"I hate to tell you, lads," he said, "but it must have happened during my flight. I had fired twice, and given the red hounds cause to be sorry they chased after me; and then I suddenly missed my powder horn. It must have been torn loose while I was passing through some dense bushes."

"Did you go back and try to find it?" asked Dick, while Roger seemed mute with consternation.

"Yes, but it was no use," replied the guide, "and I had to give it up."

"Then we are in a bad way, without any ammunition for our guns," Dick continued, though he did not attempt to criticize Mayhew, for he realized that, after all, it had been an accident, liable to happen to any one, and he felt sure the frontiersman must be suffering in his mind on account of it.

"I have the load in my gun, and one in my pistol," said Mayhew. "Besides that I found a little powder wrapped in a paper in one of my pockets, enough to charge one of your guns, and some left over for priming."

"That was lucky, at any rate; how came you to have it with you?" asked Dick.

"I remember that, some time before I left on that trip back to the Missouri and down to the outposts of civilization, I was cleaning out my powder horn, and the little it contained I placed in that paper, and then in my pocket. I forgot all about it when I filled the horn from the stores. Now, it may be, that one charge will stand between us and starvation."

"Oh! I hope it will never get as bad as that, Mayhew," said Dick; and yet, deep down in his heart, he knew they were facing a desperate condition, so far away from the rest of the expedition, and surrounded by perils of every type.

"Two charges in all!" summed up Roger, finding his voice. "That means that we must make each one tell. And, Dick, I want you to load your gun with that spare powder Mayhew has. You are a surer shot than I, and when we use that load it must bring returns."

"We'll see about that later on," was all Dick replied.

"But now that we can talk without running any danger," continued Roger, anxious to learn whether either of the others had noticed the same strange happening in the camp of Blackfeet, "I want to ask you why that Indian, who was watching us go away, failed to give the alarm?"

Dick stopped short. He seemed to be astonished beyond measure at what the other had just said.

"Do you mean to tell me, Roger, that you believe any such thing?" he asked.

"I certainly do," came the response. "I looked back more times than I can tell you, and there he was, craning his neck and watching everything we did. To the very last I saw him still looking."

"Yes, he is right!" declared Mayhew, breaking in upon the dialogue as though he, too, had been grappling with a mystery that he could not understand. "I saw the same thing. The Indian was watching you, I could swear to that. Once he dropped his head, only to raise it again. He seemed to be having some difficulty about holding himself up long, for he was bandaged about the shoulder."

"Oh!"

The way Dick said that one word told Roger that he must have seen a great light. But why should Dick show signs of satisfaction; for that was clearly expressed in his tone?

"You have guessed the answer, Dick?" exclaimed Roger, hastily. "Please tell us what it is, because, for one, I am groping in the dark."

"You heard what Mayhew just said, and how the man who looked was wounded in the shoulder? Stop and think, and you will remember that he must be the one who had chased after Mayhew, and came back with a bullet wound in the muscles of his shoulder."

"Which you dressed as neatly as any doctor could have done it," said Roger.

"At the time the brave gave little sign that he was grateful," continued Dick, as he figured things out; "but you know that all Indians practice hiding their real feelings. They think it weak to show signs of fear or anything like that. But, at the same time, an Indian can be grateful, and I believe that brave proved it."

"He did, oh! he did!" exclaimed Roger, no longer groping in darkness since Dick had thrown light on the mystery. "He knew we were escaping, but he could not find it in his heart to betray the one who had been so kind to him! I shall never believe so badly of Indians after this. My father was right when he told me they could be reached by kindness; and surely he and Uncle Bob ought to know."

Somehow all of them fell silent for some time. No doubt they were thinking how strangely they had been favored by Providence. (Note 9.)

Several hours had elapsed since the escape, and they were some distance away from the scene of the adventure. The snow was more than ankle deep, and coming down at a furious rate.

Walking was difficult, especially since all of them were weary, and in great need of rest. Roger staggered at times, and once fell flat, though he hastened to assure the others, as he scrambled to his feet, that he had not suffered by his awkwardness.

"We will have to seek shelter of some sort," declared Dick, finally.

Apparently the frontiersman was only waiting to hear something like this; for, as a grown man, he did not fancy being the first to call quits, as long as those boys saw fit to keep on tramping.

"It would not be a bad idea, I think," he now remarked.

"If we could have a fire like we did that other night it would feel good to me," Roger told them.

"We might try," said Dick.

"And when morning comes, how about breakfast?" continued Roger. "What meat I had was taken away from me, and you must be in the same fix."

"Yes, they thought it was useless to let me keep on carrying fresh elk meat when we all needed something to eat. But I am thankful they left me my ditty bag; and I have my knife too, you remember. How about you, Mayhew?"

"I still have some meat with me; about enough for one meal around," replied the guide. "After that is gone we will have to shoot game of some sort, either elk or buffalo, so as to lay in a stock."

"Here is a place that looks as though it would afford shelter from the storm among these fissures in the rock," announced Dick, which declaration brought cheer to the heart of Roger.

A little investigation, the best that conditions allowed, showed them that they could enter one of the fissures and avoid the sweep of the rising wind that was now causing the snow to blow in sheets.

Determined to do all in their power to obtain some comfort, they selected the best shelter, and then crept within. Roger was the first to discover some scattered bits of wood lying around, a tree that grew further up the abrupt face of the mountain having dropped some of its branches.

Accordingly they obtained a light by means of the tinderbox and flint and steel. This enabled them to collect some of the fuel, and in the end they had a cheery fire.

Sitting near this for an hour made them so sleepy that they were glad to roll over wherever they chanced to be, and give themselves up to slumber.

The snow continued to fall heavily during the balance of the night. The wind howled through the adjacent trees in a mournful fashion, but within that fissure all was peaceful.

Once or twice the old frontiersman would awaken on feeling cold, and toss more fuel on the smoldering embers of the fire, after which he would again lie down.

So morning found them. They would not have known that the day had come if Dick had not made his way to the mouth of the fissure and looked out. Apparently some hunter instinct had warned him that sleeping time had passed.

The snow was falling as thickly as ever. There was already a foot, and more, of it on the ground. Up on the mountain, where a previous fall had remained, it probably was twice as deep.

To go out while the storm prevailed was hardly wise, much as the boys wanted to be on the move.

Dick had taken note of certain things while the French trader was talking to them, and particularly of the fact that, when Lascelles spoke of the "other camp" in which Jasper Williams was held a prisoner, he had, possibly unconsciously, nodded toward the east.

It was in that direction the great lake lay of which they had heard so much, and from one thing and another Dick came to the conclusion that the camp must be located on the border of this large body of water.

Roger was looking anxiously at the meager stock of meat which Mayhew had produced from his pockets. There might be enough to satisfy their present hunger, but, once it was gone, the future did not seem very inviting.

They cooked it as on the former occasion.

"And it tastes much better than that the Indians gave us," Roger asserted, for the Blackfeet took little pains to keep the meat from scorching, and this had given it a taste not at all pleasant to the boys.

All too soon was breakfast over, and the last scrap of meat devoured. Roger heaved a sigh of regret as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"I wish I knew where we would get the next bite," he remarked. "It seems to me we eat in queer places on this trip. But I wouldn't mind that so much if I only felt sure there _would_ be another meal."

After that they sat around and talked as they attended to the fire. Now and then one of them would get up to make another hunt for fuel, the stock of which was beginning to get low.

It was far from a pleasant prospect staring them in the face. The wonder was how Dick could appear to be so cheerful through it all, and keep on saying he felt certain it would all come out right in the end.

Roger at least had the good sense to keep his fears to himself. Whenever he felt that he could almost give a shout, such was the nervous tension under which he was laboring, he would jump up and busy himself in hunting wood. In action he managed to gain control over his nerves, so that he could resume his seat, and once more listen to what the others were debating.

Plans were gravely discussed. To hear Dick laying these out one would never dream that they were based upon such a slender shred of hope. Two charges in their guns; many days' journey from the home camp; surrounded by mysterious workings of Nature calculated to make most men flee in terror; sought after by a revengeful French trader and his Indian allies; and now overtaken by a snowstorm that promised to make traveling additionally difficult--what a prospect for two half-grown lads and a single man to face!

The last time Dick came back from making an investigation as to the conditions outside, he brought a little satisfactory news. The snow was falling in diminished volume, and there was a promise that by another hour it might cease entirely. Then they could issue forth, and begin to beat their way toward that section of the country where they believed the big lake to lie.

Hardly had he imparted this information than they were startled by a deep roaring noise from without. It seemed as though the foundations of the mountain were shaken and, remembering what a strange country they were in, Roger could hardly be blamed for starting up with a cry of alarm.

The light that came in through the mouth of the fissure suddenly gave way to darkness; only the flickering gleam of their fire remaining to show them which way to move.

"Oh, what has happened now?" asked Roger, and as usual Dick seemed to know.

"It is a snow avalanche," he told them, "and I am afraid it has blocked our only means of leaving here, so that we are once more prisoners!"