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11 - In the Heart of the Rockies by G A Henty · In the Heart of the Rockies

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Speaker 1: Recording is in the public domain. Read by Alan Kammer,
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Speaker 1: Chapter ten, an avalanche. You don't think Chief Harry asked
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Speaker 1: that there is any chance of the Rappahose taking it
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Speaker 1: into their heads to come up to have a look around.
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Speaker 1: Indians keep in lodges. No like cold. They think we
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Speaker 1: have gone on over pass. If weather gets fine, perhaps
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Speaker 1: they come to look for our guns and packs. They think,
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Speaker 1: sure we die in snowstorm when we up and pass.
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Speaker 1: When snow stops falling, we make no more fire. But
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Speaker 1: path from valley all shut up by snow. Now, Yes,
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Speaker 1: I don't think anyone would try to climb it till
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Speaker 1: the sun has cleared the track. It was a pretty
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Speaker 1: bad place when we came up, Harry said, I don't
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Speaker 1: say that men on foot could not make their way up,
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Speaker 1: But as you say, the Redskins are not likely to
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Speaker 1: try it until the weather has cleared up a bit,
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Speaker 1: though I don't say that they wouldn't if they knew
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Speaker 1: we were camped here close to the top. What noise
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Speaker 1: is that, tom, I have heard it several times before,
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Speaker 1: but not so loud as that snowslide. Leaping Horse said,
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Speaker 1: snow come down from mountains break off trees, brow rocks down,
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Speaker 1: bad place all along here. Yes, I saw that you
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Speaker 1: looked up at the hills behind there before you looked
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Speaker 1: over the edge here, Chief Ben Gulston said, and I
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Speaker 1: reckoned that you had snowslides in your mind. I thought
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Speaker 1: myself that it was like enough. The snow might come
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Speaker 1: tumbling over the edge of that high wall and then
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Speaker 1: come scootin down here over where we were, and there
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Speaker 1: would have been no sort of show for us if
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Speaker 1: we had been camped where that trail goes along. Leaping
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Speaker 1: Horse has heard from his red brothers, with whom he
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Speaker 1: has spoken, the trail from top a valley very bad
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Speaker 1: when snow falls. Many Indians, stopping too long at fort
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Speaker 1: to trade goods, have been swept away by snowslides when
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Speaker 1: caught in storm here. I thought it looked a bad place.
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Speaker 1: Hurry remarked. There ain't no foolin with a snow slide anyway.
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Speaker 1: I have come across us bones once or twice, lying
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Speaker 1: scattered about in snug looking valleys, bones of horses and men,
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Speaker 1: and it was easy to see that they had been
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Speaker 1: killed by a snow slide coming down on them. Rocks
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Speaker 1: were heaped about among them. Some of the bones were smashed.
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Speaker 1: They had been hunting or trapping and sheltered up in
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Speaker 1: a valley when the storm came on and the slide
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Speaker 1: had fallen on them, and there they had laid till
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Speaker 1: the sun melted the snow in summer, when the coyotes
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Speaker 1: and the vultures would soon clean the bones. He broke off.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly there was a dull sound, and at the same
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Speaker 1: moment a distinct vibration of the ground. Then a rustling
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Speaker 1: murmur mingled with a rumbling as of a wagon passing
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Speaker 1: over a rocky ground. There is another one, Jerry exclaimed,
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Speaker 1: and it is somewhere just above us. Keep your back
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Speaker 1: to the wall, boys, louder and louder grew the sound,
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Speaker 1: the trimmer of the earth increased, the horses neighed with fright.
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Speaker 1: The men stood with their backs against the rock next
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Speaker 1: to the hill. Suddenly the light was dark, and as
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Speaker 1: a vast mass of snow, mingled with rocks of all sizes,
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Speaker 1: leaped like a torrent over the edge of the cliff,
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Speaker 1: the impetus carrying it over the outer wall of their
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Speaker 1: shelter and down into the ravine. There was a mighty
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Speaker 1: sound of the crashing of trees mingled with a thumping
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Speaker 1: and rolling of the rocks as they clashed against the
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Speaker 1: side of the ravine and went leaping down into the valley.
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Speaker 1: The ground shook with a continuous tremor, and then the
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Speaker 1: light returned as suddenly as it had been cut off,
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Speaker 1: and a few seconds later a dead stillness succeeded the
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Speaker 1: deafening roar from below. The passage of the avalanche overhead
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Speaker 1: had lasted but a minute, though to the men standing
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Speaker 1: below it the time had seemed vastly longer. Instinctively, they
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Speaker 1: had pressed themselves against the rock, almost holding their breath,
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Speaker 1: and expecting momentarily that one of the boulders in its
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Speaker 1: passage would strike the top of the outside wall and
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Speaker 1: fall in fragments among them. The silence that followed was
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Speaker 1: unbroken for some seconds, and then Sam hixed to pace
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Speaker 1: forward je Jerusalem. He said, that was a close call.
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Speaker 1: I don't know how you felt, boys, but it seemed
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Speaker 1: as if all the sand had gone out of me,
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Speaker 1: and I weakened so that my knees have not done
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Speaker 1: shaking yet. The men, accustomed as they were to danger,
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Speaker 1: were all equally affected. Tom felt relieved to see that
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Speaker 1: the others all looked pale and shaken, for he was
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Speaker 1: conscious that he had been in a terrible fright, and
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Speaker 1: that his legs would scarcely support his weight. I am
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Speaker 1: glad to hear you say so, Sam, for I was
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Speaker 1: in an awful funk. But I should not have said so.
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Speaker 1: If you hadn't spoken, you needn't be ashamed of that, Tom,
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Speaker 1: his uncle put in. You showed plenty of pluck when
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Speaker 1: we were in trouble with the Redskins. But I am
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Speaker 1: sure there was not one of us that did not
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Speaker 1: weaken when that snowslide shot over us, and none of
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Speaker 1: us need to be ashamed to say so. A man
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Speaker 1: with good grit will brace up, keep his head cool
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Speaker 1: and his fingers steady on the trigger to the last
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Speaker 1: though he knows that he has come to the end
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Speaker 1: of his journey and has got to go down. But
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Speaker 1: it is when there is nothing to do, no fight
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Speaker 1: to be made, when you are as helpless as a
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Speaker 1: child and have no sort of show, that the grit
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Speaker 1: runs out of your boots. I have fought Red Skins
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Speaker 1: and Mexicans a score of times. I have been in
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Speaker 1: a dozen shooting scrapes in saloons at the diggings. But
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Speaker 1: I don't know that I ever felt so scared as
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Speaker 1: I did just now. Ben, there is a jar of
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Speaker 1: whiskey in our outfit. We agreed we would not touch
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Speaker 1: it unless one of us got hurt or ill. But
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Speaker 1: I think a drop of medicine all round now wouldn't
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Speaker 1: be out of place. There was a general assent, But
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Speaker 1: before we take it, he went on, we will take
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Speaker 1: off our hats and say thank God for having taken
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Speaker 1: us safe through this thing. If he had put this
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Speaker 1: shelter here for us, express he could not have planted
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Speaker 1: it better for us, And the least we can do
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Speaker 1: is to thank him for having pulled us through it safe.
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Speaker 1: The men all took off their hats and stood silent
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Speaker 1: for a minute or two with mint heads. When they
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Speaker 1: had replaced their hats, Ben Golston went to the corner
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Speaker 1: where the pack saddles and packs were piled, took out
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Speaker 1: a small keg and poured out some whisky for each
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Speaker 1: of the white men. The others drank it straight. Tom
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Speaker 1: mixed some water with his and felt a good deal
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Speaker 1: better after drinking it. Ben did not offer it to
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Speaker 1: the Indians. Either of whom would touch spirits on any occasion.
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Speaker 1: It is a good friend and a bad enemy, Harry said,
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Speaker 1: as he tossed off his portion. As a rule, there
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Speaker 1: ain't no doubt that one is better without it. There's
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Speaker 1: no better medicine to carry about with you. I have
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Speaker 1: seen many a life saved by a bottle of whisky
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Speaker 1: taken after the bite of a rattlesnake. It is as
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Speaker 1: good a thing as there is in case of fever.
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Speaker 1: And when a man is just tired out after a
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Speaker 1: twenty four hours tramp, a drop of it will put
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Speaker 1: new life into him for a bit. But I don't
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Speaker 1: say as it hasn't killed a sight more than it
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Speaker 1: has cured. It is at the bottom of pretty nigh
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Speaker 1: every shooting scrape in the camp, and has been the
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Speaker 1: ruin of hundreds of good men who would have done
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Speaker 1: well if they could have but kept from it. But
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Speaker 1: you ain't a temperance man yourself, Harry, no sam. But then,
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Speaker 1: thank God, I am master of the liquor and not
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Speaker 1: the liquor of me. I can take a glass or
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Speaker 1: perhaps two without wanting more. Though I have made a
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Speaker 1: fool of myself in many ways since I have come
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Speaker 1: out here, no man could say he ever saw me drunk.
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Speaker 1: If liquor were to get the better of me once,
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Speaker 1: I would swear off for the rest of my life.
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Speaker 1: Don't you ever take to it, Tom? That is not
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Speaker 1: to get so as to like to go on drinking it.
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Speaker 1: In our life we often have to go for months
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Speaker 1: without it. And a man has got to be very
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Speaker 1: careful when he goes down to the settlements, else it
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Speaker 1: would be sure to get over him. I don't care
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Speaker 1: for it at all, uncle. See, you don't get to
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Speaker 1: care for it, Tom. There are plenty start as you do,
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Speaker 1: and before they have been out here long they do
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Speaker 1: get to like it, and from that day there are
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Speaker 1: ever any good. It is a big temptation. A man
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Speaker 1: has been hunting or trapping or fossicking for gold in
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Speaker 1: the hills for months, and he comes down to a
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Speaker 1: fort or town, and he meets a lot of mates.
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Speaker 1: One says, have a drink, and another asks you. And
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Speaker 1: it is mighty hard to be always saying no. And
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Speaker 1: there ain't much to do in these places but to
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Speaker 1: drink or to gamble. A man here ain't so much
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Speaker 1: to be blamed as folks who live in comfortable houses
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Speaker 1: and have got wives and families, and decent places of amusement,
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Speaker 1: and books and all that sort of thing. If they
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Speaker 1: take to drink or gambling, I have not any right
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Speaker 1: to preach, for if I don't drink, I do gamble.
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Speaker 1: That is I have done, though I swore off that.
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Speaker 1: When I got the letter telling me that your father
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Speaker 1: had gone, then I thought what a fool I had
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Speaker 1: made of myself for years? Why if I had kept
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Speaker 1: all the gold I had dug it, I could go
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Speaker 1: home now and live comfortably for the rest of my
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Speaker 1: life and have a home for my nieces as I
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Speaker 1: ought to have. However, I have done with it now,
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Speaker 1: and I am mighty glad it was the cards and
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Speaker 1: not drink that took my dust. For it is a
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Speaker 1: great deal easier to give up cards than it is
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Speaker 1: to give up liquor when you have once taken to it. Now,
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Speaker 1: let us talk of something else. I boat. We take
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Speaker 1: a turn up on to the trail and see what
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Speaker 1: the snow slide is done. Throwing the buffalo robes around
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Speaker 1: their shoulders, the party went outside. The air was too
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Speaker 1: thick with snow to enable them to perceive from the
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Speaker 1: platform the destruction it had brought in the valley below,
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Speaker 1: but upon ascending the path to the level above, the
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Speaker 1: track of the avalanche was plainly marked. Indeed, for the
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Speaker 1: width of a hundred yards, the white mantle of snow
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Speaker 1: that covered the slope up to the point where the
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Speaker 1: wall of cliff rose abruptly had been cleared away, as
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Speaker 1: if with a mighty broom. Every rock and boulder lyne
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Speaker 1: upon it had been swept off, and the surface of
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Speaker 1: the bare rock lay flat and unbroken by even a
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Speaker 1: tuft of grass. They walked a along the edge until
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Speaker 1: they looked down upon their shelter. The bear's hide was
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Speaker 1: still in its place, sloping like a penthouse roof from
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Speaker 1: its upper side two or three inches below the edge
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Speaker 1: of the rock to the other wall three feet lower.
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Speaker 1: It was, however, stripped of its hair as cleanly as
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Speaker 1: if it had been shorn off with a razor, by
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Speaker 1: the friction of the snow that had shot down along it.
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Speaker 1: That is the blame doest odd thing I ever saw,
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Speaker 1: Sam Hicks said, I wonder the weight of the snow
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Speaker 1: didn't break it in, I expected, just shot over it.
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Speaker 1: Sam Harry said, it must have been traveling so mighty
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Speaker 1: fast that the whole mast jumped across, only just rubbing
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Speaker 1: the skin. Of course, the boulders and stones must have
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Speaker 1: gone clean over. That shows what a narrow escape we
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Speaker 1: have had, for if that outer rock had been a
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Speaker 1: foot or so higher, the skin would have caved in,
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Speaker 1: and our place would have been filled chock up with snow.
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Speaker 1: In a moment, well, we may as well turn in again,
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Speaker 1: for I feel cold to the bones. Already. On the
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Speaker 1: evening of the fifth day, the snow ceased falling, and
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Speaker 1: next morning the sky was clear and bright. Preparations were
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Speaker 1: at once made for a start. A batch of bread
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Speaker 1: had been baked on the previous evening, some buckets of
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Speaker 1: hot gruel were given to the horses. A meal was
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Speaker 1: hastily eaten, the horses saddled, and the packs arranged, and
11:22
Speaker 1: before the sun had been up half an hour they
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Speaker 1: were on their way. The usual stillness of the mountains
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Speaker 1: was broken by a variety of sounds. From the valley
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Speaker 1: at their feet. Came up sharp reports, as a limb
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Speaker 1: of a tree, or sometimes the tree itself, broke beneath
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Speaker 1: the weight of the snow. A dull, rumbling sound echoing
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Speaker 1: from hill to hill told of the falls of avalanches.
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Speaker 1: Scarcely had the echoes of one ceased than they began
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Speaker 1: again in a fresh quarter. The journey was toilsome in
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Speaker 1: the extreme for the horses who have sank deep in
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Speaker 1: the freshly fallen snow, rendering their progress exceedingly slow. If
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Speaker 1: we had been sure that this weather would hold, Chief,
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Speaker 1: it would have been better to have waited a few
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Speaker 1: days before making our start, for by that time the
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Speaker 1: snow would have been hard enough to travel on. The
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Speaker 1: Chief shook his head. Winter coming for good, he said,
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Speaker 1: waving his hand towards the range of snowy summits to
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Speaker 1: the north clouds. There still if stop, not able to
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Speaker 1: cross pass till next summer. That is so we agreed
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Speaker 1: as to that yesterday, and that if we don't get
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Speaker 1: over now, the chances are we shall never get over
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Speaker 1: at all. Yet it is a pity we can't wait
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Speaker 1: a few days for a crust to form on the snow.
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Speaker 1: Twice in the course of the next hour avalanches came
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Speaker 1: down from the hills above them, the first sweeping down
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Speaker 1: into the valley a quarter of a mile behind them,
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Speaker 1: the next but two or three hundred yards ahead of them.
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Speaker 1: Scarcely a word was spoken from end to end of
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Speaker 1: the line. They traveled an Indian file, and each horse
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Speaker 1: stepped in the footprints of its predecessor. Every few hundred
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Speaker 1: yards they changed places, for the labor of the first
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Speaker 1: horse was very much heavier than those following. At the
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Speaker 1: end of an hour, the men drew together for a consultation.
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Speaker 1: There was a wide break in the line of cliffs,
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Speaker 1: and a valley ran nearly due south. What do you think, chief,
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Speaker 1: This confounded snow has covered up all signs of the trail,
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Speaker 1: and we have got to find our own way. There
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Speaker 1: is no doubt this valley below is running a deal
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Speaker 1: too much to the west, and that the trail must
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Speaker 1: strike off somewhere south. It looks to me as if
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Speaker 1: that were a likely valley through the cliff. There is
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Speaker 1: no hiding the fact that if we take the wrong turn,
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Speaker 1: we are all gone. Coons. Leaping horse knows no more
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Speaker 1: than his brother. The chief said gravely. He knows the
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Speaker 1: passes on the western side of the Great Peak. The
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Speaker 1: Great Peak lies there, and he pointed a little to
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Speaker 1: the west of the break in the hills up which
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Speaker 1: they were looking. It may be that we must cross
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Speaker 1: the hills into another valley, or perhaps this will turn
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Speaker 1: west presently. I tell you what Harry sam Hicks said.
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Speaker 1: My opinion is that our best plan, by a long chalk,
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Speaker 1: will be to go back to our last place and
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Speaker 1: to stop there for a bit. We have got Bar's
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Speaker 1: flesh enough for another fortnight, and we may kill some
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Speaker 1: more game afore that is done. If this is but
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Speaker 1: a spell of snow, it may melt enough in another
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Speaker 1: ten days for us to make out the trail and
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Speaker 1: follow it. If, as the Chief thinks, we have got
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Speaker 1: winter right down on us, we must wait till the
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Speaker 1: snow crust hardens. If it is a month or double.
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Speaker 1: Anything is better than going on like this, What with
14:35
Speaker 1: this soft snow an these tarnal snow slides. There ain't
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Speaker 1: no more chance of our getting over that pass in
14:40
Speaker 1: one day's journey than their air and our flying right
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Speaker 1: down to Salt Lake City. If the worst comes to
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Speaker 1: the worst, I tell yer, I would rather go back
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Speaker 1: and take our chance of following the big wind river
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Speaker 1: down and fighting the Redskins than I would have crossing
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Speaker 1: over these dog on hills. The other three men were
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Speaker 1: of the same opinion. Well what do you say, chief
15:01
Speaker 1: Harry asked, the Indian leaping Horse thinks that the trail
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Speaker 1: will not be found until next summer. The chief replied quietly.
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Speaker 1: Heap of hills in front, and heap of snow. If
15:12
Speaker 1: snow storm catches in the hills, no find way anywhere.
15:16
Speaker 1: Leaping horse is ready to do whatever his white brother thinks. Well,
15:20
Speaker 1: I am with the others, Harry said, I don't like
15:23
Speaker 1: the look of those clouds. They are quiet enough now,
15:26
Speaker 1: but they may begin to shift any time. And as
15:29
Speaker 1: you say, if we are caught in a snow storm
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Speaker 1: on the hills, there is an end of us. I
15:34
Speaker 1: think Sam is right. Even if we have to rustle
15:37
Speaker 1: all through the winter in that hut there, I would
15:39
Speaker 1: rather face it than keep on. That's settled it. The
15:43
Speaker 1: horses heads were turned and they retraced their steps until
15:46
Speaker 1: they reached the shelter. The bear's skin had been left
15:50
Speaker 1: where it was. The fire was soon set going, and
15:53
Speaker 1: there was a general feeling of satisfaction as they laid
15:56
Speaker 1: out the robes and blankets. Again, Look here, boys, Harry,
16:00
Speaker 1: this is not going to be a holiday time. You bet.
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Speaker 1: We have got to make this place a sight snugger
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Speaker 1: than it is now. For I tell you when the
16:07
Speaker 1: winter sets in in earnest, it will be cold enough
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Speaker 1: here to freeze a buffalo solid in an hour. We
16:14
Speaker 1: have got to set to work to make a roof
16:16
Speaker 1: all over this place, and we have got to hunt
16:18
Speaker 1: to lay in a big stock of meat. We have
16:21
Speaker 1: got to get a big store of food for the horses,
16:23
Speaker 1: for we must be mighty careful with our flower. Now
16:26
Speaker 1: we can wait a fortnight to see how things go.
16:29
Speaker 1: But if it is clear then that we have got
16:31
Speaker 1: to fight it out here through the winter, we must
16:33
Speaker 1: shoot the pack ponies at once, and I reckon the others.
16:37
Speaker 1: All will have to go later. However, we will give
16:40
Speaker 1: them a chance as long as we can take them
16:43
Speaker 1: down into the valley, the chief said, all Indian horses, ah,
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Speaker 1: I didn't think of that. Chief. Yes, they are accustomed
16:51
Speaker 1: to rustle for their living, and they may make a
16:53
Speaker 1: shift to hold on down there. I don't think there
16:56
Speaker 1: is much fear of Indians coming up. No indians, horse said.
17:00
Speaker 1: Indians go away when winter's set in. Some go to forests,
17:04
Speaker 1: some go to lodges right down valley. No stop up
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Speaker 1: here in mountains when winter comes. Plenty game, big horn
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Speaker 1: wa pity ah, that is a more cheerful outlook. Chief.
17:16
Speaker 1: If we can get plenty of meat, we can manage
17:18
Speaker 1: without flour, and can go down and give the ponies
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Speaker 1: a pail of hot gruel once a week, which will
17:23
Speaker 1: help them to keep life together. The first thing I
17:26
Speaker 1: take it is to cut some poles for the roof.
17:29
Speaker 1: I'm afraid we shall have to go down to the
17:31
Speaker 1: bottom for them. Why we needn't begin that till tomorrow,
17:35
Speaker 1: Sam Hicks said, if we had them, we had got
17:38
Speaker 1: no skins to cover them. Cut brushwood, Indians said, first,
17:43
Speaker 1: put plenty of brushwood on poles, then put skins over. Yes,
17:47
Speaker 1: that is the plan. Chief. Well, if we get down there,
17:51
Speaker 1: we shall have to take our shovels and clear the
17:53
Speaker 1: snow off some of the narrow ledges. If we do that,
17:56
Speaker 1: we can lead one of the horses down to pack
17:58
Speaker 1: the poles up here. The chief went out on to
18:01
Speaker 1: the platform. No use clear snow, now, clouds moving, and
18:06
Speaker 1: two hours snow fall again. The others joined him outside.
18:10
Speaker 1: I reckon, you're right, Chief, Jerry said, it is mighty
18:14
Speaker 1: lucky we didn't go on. It can't be much worse
18:17
Speaker 1: here than it was before. At three in the afternoon,
18:20
Speaker 1: it began to snow heavily again. There was less wind
18:23
Speaker 1: than there had been on the previous occasion, and the
18:26
Speaker 1: snow drifted through the entrance less than before. Just as
18:30
Speaker 1: they were turning in for the night, an ominous crack
18:32
Speaker 1: was heard above. All leaped from their blankets, and looking
18:36
Speaker 1: up they could see by the light of the fire
18:38
Speaker 1: that the poles supporting the skin were all bent in
18:41
Speaker 1: a curved downwards. Cheer erusalem, Sam Hicks exclaimed, the whole
18:46
Speaker 1: outfit will be comin down on us. That it will. Sam.
18:51
Speaker 1: You see, there is no wind as there was before,
18:54
Speaker 1: and one of our jobs will be keeping the roof
18:56
Speaker 1: clear of snow. Turn out, boys, we must get rid
18:59
Speaker 1: of it somehow. They at once set to work to
19:01
Speaker 1: lash two poles some eight feet long, to the handles
19:05
Speaker 1: of the shovels, and as soon as this was done
19:07
Speaker 1: they all turned out. On reaching the edge of the
19:10
Speaker 1: ravine above the roof, they first cleared away the snow
19:13
Speaker 1: down to the rock so as to have firms standing,
19:17
Speaker 1: and then proceeded to shovel the snow off the surface
19:19
Speaker 1: of the skin. It was easier work than they expected,
19:23
Speaker 1: for as soon as it was touched it slid down
19:25
Speaker 1: the incline, and in a very few minutes the hole
19:28
Speaker 1: was cleared off. I think that is good until morning. Now,
19:32
Speaker 1: Harry said, as long as the snow lasts, we shall
19:35
Speaker 1: have to do it every few hours. Directly we get
19:38
Speaker 1: a spell of fine weather, we must put some more
19:40
Speaker 1: poles under it to strengthen it. For six days the
19:43
Speaker 1: snow continued to fall without intermission at daybreak. At midday,
19:47
Speaker 1: and the last thing before they turned in at night,
19:50
Speaker 1: the snow was cleared off the hide. With this exception,
19:53
Speaker 1: they did not stir out of the shelter. They had
19:57
Speaker 1: also each day to clear out the inner portion of
19:59
Speaker 1: the fish, as the snow now frequently broke through the
20:02
Speaker 1: trees in masses, startling the horses and keeping them in
20:06
Speaker 1: a state of restlessness. The sixth day it stopped snowing,
20:10
Speaker 1: and the next morning the sky was bright and clear.
20:13
Speaker 1: The whole party at once started out, two of them
20:16
Speaker 1: taking shovels and the rest brooms that they had made
20:19
Speaker 1: during the long hours of their confinement. By the middle
20:22
Speaker 1: of the day they had cleared the path down into
20:25
Speaker 1: the valley, and on their way back to dinner, each
20:27
Speaker 1: carried up a large bundle of faggots. The meal was
20:30
Speaker 1: cooked and eaten hastily, and the whole of the horses
20:33
Speaker 1: were then led down into the valley. Here a couple
20:36
Speaker 1: of dozen stout poles for the roof were cut by
20:39
Speaker 1: the Whites. The two Indians at once going up the
20:42
Speaker 1: valley in search of game. In half an hour, two
20:46
Speaker 1: rifle shots were heard, and presently hunting dog ran in
20:49
Speaker 1: with the news that they had killed two Wapiti. Jerry
20:52
Speaker 1: and Sam Hicks at once went off with him leading
20:55
Speaker 1: two horses, and presently returned with the dead deer fastened
20:59
Speaker 1: across their back. They are very like pictures I have
21:02
Speaker 1: seen of moose, Tom, said to his uncle as he
21:05
Speaker 1: examined the great stags. Newcomers often call them moose Tom.
21:09
Speaker 1: But there is a difference between them. Though what the
21:12
Speaker 1: difference is I cannot tell you, for I have never
21:14
Speaker 1: hunted moose. I believe the Wapiti are peculiar to the west.
21:19
Speaker 1: They often go in great herds of three or four
21:21
Speaker 1: hundreds together. The chief says, there are a great many
21:25
Speaker 1: of them up the valley. Jerry put in, They made
21:28
Speaker 1: off when he fired, but I could see their foot
21:30
Speaker 1: tracks myself all about. He says, they have been driven
21:34
Speaker 1: down here by the storm for shelter. He has gone
21:37
Speaker 1: round with the lad to head them back. That is
21:39
Speaker 1: good news, Jerry. The meat we have God already will
21:42
Speaker 1: last some time, but it is as well to lay
21:45
Speaker 1: in a good stock, and we want the skins badly
21:48
Speaker 1: to make our roof. You had better lead these horses
21:51
Speaker 1: to the foot of the path, and then we will
21:53
Speaker 1: all take our posts behind trees across the valley. An
21:57
Speaker 1: hour later they heard the reports of two rightfles a
22:00
Speaker 1: long way up the valley, and all stood in readiness.
22:04
Speaker 1: A few minutes later there was a dull trampling sound,
22:07
Speaker 1: and almost directly afterwards a herd of Wapiti came along
22:10
Speaker 1: at a heavy trot, plowing their way but slowly through
22:13
Speaker 1: the snow. Don't use your revolvers, boys, Harry had said,
22:18
Speaker 1: except to finish off a stag you have wounded with
22:20
Speaker 1: your rifle. The chances all against your bringing them down,
22:24
Speaker 1: and the poor brutes would only get away to die.
22:27
Speaker 1: One after another. The rifles rang out. Tom and his
22:30
Speaker 1: uncle both had the satisfaction of seeing the stags they
22:33
Speaker 1: had aimed at plunged forward. Before they had gone many
22:35
Speaker 1: yards farther and roll over dead. The other three had
22:40
Speaker 1: each hit the animal they aimed at, but as these
22:43
Speaker 1: kept on their course, they dashed out in pursuit, firing
22:46
Speaker 1: their coats, which in their hands were as deadly weapons
22:49
Speaker 1: as a rifle, and the three stags all fell, although
22:53
Speaker 1: one got nearly half a mile down the valley before
22:55
Speaker 1: he succumbed. A carcass was hoisted on to each of
22:59
Speaker 1: the horses backs, and the loaded animals were then let
23:02
Speaker 1: up the track. Shall I wait until the Indians come back, uncle,
23:07
Speaker 1: and tell them why you have gone up? There is
23:10
Speaker 1: no occasion for that. Tom They would hear the shots
23:13
Speaker 1: and will have guessed what has happened. The poles were
23:16
Speaker 1: divided among the men, carried up to the top of
23:18
Speaker 1: the path and laid down just above the shelter. Harry
23:22
Speaker 1: and Sam Hicks at once proceeded to cut them up
23:24
Speaker 1: into proper lanes, while the others skinned and cut up
23:27
Speaker 1: the deer. A number of thongs were cut from one
23:30
Speaker 1: of the hides for lashing cross poles across those that
23:34
Speaker 1: were to act as ridge poles. The bear's skin was
23:37
Speaker 1: removed and additional poles placed at that spot, and all
23:40
Speaker 1: working together the framework of the roof was completed by nightfall.
23:45
Speaker 1: The Indians had returned soon after the party began their work,
23:49
Speaker 1: and taking their horses down, fetched up the deer they
23:52
Speaker 1: had killed. In the morning, the roof was completed, hides
23:57
Speaker 1: being stretched over the framework and securely lashed too it
24:00
Speaker 1: with thongs. The whole of the trees and brushwood were
24:04
Speaker 1: then chopped down close to the ground so as to
24:06
Speaker 1: leave a level floor. The foliage was given to the horses,
24:10
Speaker 1: and the wood cut up and piled for fuel. The
24:13
Speaker 1: chief reported that at the upper end of the valley
24:16
Speaker 1: there was a thick pine wood which would give good
24:18
Speaker 1: shelter to the horses. Near it were plenty of bushes
24:22
Speaker 1: and a level tract which had been a beaver meadow
24:25
Speaker 1: and was thickly covered with grass, as he could see
24:29
Speaker 1: where the Wapeti had scratched away the snow to get
24:31
Speaker 1: at it. This was excellent news, for the question of
24:35
Speaker 1: how the horses could be fed through the winter had
24:37
Speaker 1: troubled them much more than that of their own maintenance.
24:40
Speaker 1: The joints of venison were hung up on a pole
24:42
Speaker 1: outside what they now called their hut, one or two
24:45
Speaker 1: hams being suspended from the rafters over the fire to
24:48
Speaker 1: be smoked. We shall have to rig up a bar
24:51
Speaker 1: trap outside, men said, or we shall be having them
24:54
Speaker 1: here after the meat, and a bar's ham now and
24:57
Speaker 1: then will make a change while peaty flesh ain't. But
25:00
Speaker 1: we should get dog gone tired of it after a bit.
25:03
Speaker 1: You may bet we shall ben Jerry agreed. But I
25:07
Speaker 1: reckon that we shall be able to get a lot
25:09
Speaker 1: of game through the winter. That valley down there is
25:12
Speaker 1: just the place for them to shelter in. And I
25:14
Speaker 1: hope we shall get a big horn now and then.
25:17
Speaker 1: It will be a difficult thing to make a bear
25:19
Speaker 1: trap outside. A grizzly wants a pretty strong pen to
25:23
Speaker 1: keep him in. And though the horses might drag up
25:25
Speaker 1: some big beams from below, there ain't no fastening them
25:29
Speaker 1: in this rock. No, I don't think we can make
25:32
Speaker 1: that sort of trap, Harry said. We must contrive something else.
25:36
Speaker 1: We need not do all our work at once. We
25:38
Speaker 1: have got plenty of time before us. We want three
25:41
Speaker 1: or four more skins to finish our hut. You mean
25:44
Speaker 1: to fill up the entrance. Yes, we will sew them
25:47
Speaker 1: together and make a curtain to hang from the edge
25:50
Speaker 1: of the roof to the ground. I tell you it
25:52
Speaker 1: is going to be mighty cold here, and besides it
25:55
Speaker 1: will keep the snow from drifting in. I wish to
25:58
Speaker 1: goodness we could make a chin, Tom said. The smoke
26:01
Speaker 1: went up through the leaves, all right, But my eyes
26:03
Speaker 1: are watering now. And if you fill up the end
26:06
Speaker 1: with skins, it will be something awful. You will get
26:09
Speaker 1: accustomed to it. Tom. But of course we must make
26:12
Speaker 1: a hole at the top when we fill up the entrance.
26:15
Speaker 1: What do you think is the next thing to be done? Chief?
26:18
Speaker 1: Get wood? The chief said emphatically. Must fill all the
26:22
Speaker 1: end of a hut with wood. That will be a
26:24
Speaker 1: big job. Chief, But there is no doubt we must
26:27
Speaker 1: lay in a great store of it. Well, there is
26:29
Speaker 1: plenty of timber down in the valley, and with ten
26:32
Speaker 1: horses we can bring up a tidy lot every day.
26:35
Speaker 1: Let us cut quick before snow comes again. We will
26:39
Speaker 1: begin tomorrow morning. Chief, I agree with you, the sooner
26:41
Speaker 1: the better. Accordingly, the next morning they went down to
26:46
Speaker 1: the valley. They had but two axes, and Jerry and
26:49
Speaker 1: Sam Hicks, who had both done a good deal of
26:51
Speaker 1: wood cutting, undertook this portion of the work. The others
26:55
Speaker 1: took the horses up to the beaver meadow, where they
26:58
Speaker 1: at once began scraping at the st and were soon
27:01
Speaker 1: munching away at the rich grass. Why do you call
27:05
Speaker 1: it a beaver meadow, Uncle, I don't see any beavers.
27:08
Speaker 1: They have gone long ago, perhaps a hundred years. As
27:11
Speaker 1: we know, this valley is occupied by the Indians in summer.
27:15
Speaker 1: But they would soon clear out the beavers. But it
27:18
Speaker 1: is called a beaver meadow because it was made by them.
27:21
Speaker 1: They set to work and dammed up the stream, and
27:24
Speaker 1: gradually all this flat became a lake. While in time,
27:27
Speaker 1: you know, leaves from the woods above, and soil and
27:30
Speaker 1: dead wood and other things brought down by the stream
27:34
Speaker 1: gradually filled up the bottom. Then the beavers were killed,
27:37
Speaker 1: and their dams went to ruin, and the water drained off,
27:41
Speaker 1: and in a short time grass began to grow. There
27:44
Speaker 1: were hundreds, aye and thousands of beaver meadows among the
27:47
Speaker 1: hills and on the little streams that run into the
27:50
Speaker 1: big rivers. And nowhere is the grass so rich. You
27:54
Speaker 1: will often see an Indian village by one of these meadows.
27:57
Speaker 1: They grow their roots and plant their corn there. The
28:00
Speaker 1: horses will do first rate here through the winter, if
28:03
Speaker 1: the snow doesn't get too deep for them, and anyhow
28:06
Speaker 1: we can help them out with a bucket of gruel.
28:08
Speaker 1: Occasionally it will be awfully cold for them, though it
28:12
Speaker 1: will be coldish, no doubt, but Indian ponies are accustomed
28:15
Speaker 1: to it. I should think, Uncle, it would not take
28:18
Speaker 1: much trouble to make them a sort of shed up
28:20
Speaker 1: among the trees there. Sam laughed, and even the chief smiled.
28:25
Speaker 1: It would not be a bad plan, Tom, his uncle said,
28:28
Speaker 1: not so much for the sake of the warmth, though
28:30
Speaker 1: there is no doubt that the warmer they are, the
28:33
Speaker 1: less they can do with to eat. But if they
28:35
Speaker 1: have a place to go, they are less likely to
28:37
Speaker 1: wander away, and we shall not have the trouble of
28:40
Speaker 1: hunting for them. Well, we will think it over. Following
28:44
Speaker 1: the valley up they found that it extended some ten
28:48
Speaker 1: miles farther, for the last two of which it was
28:50
Speaker 1: but a narrow canyon a few yards wide. They shot
28:54
Speaker 1: a black bear and four small deer, and returned carrying
28:57
Speaker 1: the skins, the hind quarters of the deer and the
29:00
Speaker 1: bear's hands. We seem to have got meat enough for anything,
29:04
Speaker 1: Tom remonstrated when they shot the deer. Seven men will
29:08
Speaker 1: get through a lot of meat, Tom, when they have
29:10
Speaker 1: nothing else to go with it, and we may be
29:12
Speaker 1: weeks before we can put our heads out of our hut. Besides,
29:15
Speaker 1: the skins will be useful. We shall want deer skin shirts, trousers,
29:19
Speaker 1: and socks and caps. And the skin of those deer
29:22
Speaker 1: is softer and more pliable than that of the Wapiti.
29:25
Speaker 1: I don't want to kill more than I can help, lad,
29:28
Speaker 1: for I hate taking life without there is a necessity
29:31
Speaker 1: for it. But we can do with a lot more
29:33
Speaker 1: skins before we are stocked. When driving the horses before them,
29:37
Speaker 1: they returned to the woodcutters. They found they had cut
29:40
Speaker 1: down and chopped into logs a number of trees, and
29:43
Speaker 1: Tom was quite astonished at the great pile of firewood
29:46
Speaker 1: that had been got ready by them in the course
29:48
Speaker 1: of a day's work. The logs were made up into bundles,
29:52
Speaker 1: each weighing about eighty pounds. These were tied together with
29:55
Speaker 1: the horses lariats, and then secured one on each side
29:59
Speaker 1: of the saddle two of the horses carrying the meat.
30:03
Speaker 1: Harry took the bridle of his horse and started up
30:05
Speaker 1: the path, the others following at once. That is a
30:09
Speaker 1: good day's work, carry said, as the logs were piled
30:11
Speaker 1: at the inner end of the hut, that is about
30:14
Speaker 1: half a ton of wood. If we have but a
30:16
Speaker 1: week of open weather, we shall have a good store
30:18
Speaker 1: in our cellar. The work continued steadily for a week.
30:23
Speaker 1: The horses were each day taken to feed at the meadow.
30:26
Speaker 1: The two wood choppers continued their work while the rest
30:29
Speaker 1: of the party hunted. The Indians had on the second
30:32
Speaker 1: day gone down the valley and returned with the report
30:36
Speaker 1: that the Indian lodges had all disappeared, and that the
30:39
Speaker 1: valley was entirely deserted. Eight more Wapiti were killed during
30:43
Speaker 1: the week, and fourteen smaller deer. Of an evening they
30:47
Speaker 1: occupied themselves in sowing the skins together with thongs of leather,
30:51
Speaker 1: the holes being made with their knives, and a curtain
30:54
Speaker 1: at the mouth of the hut was completed and hung.
30:57
Speaker 1: Four wide slabs of wood had been cut. These have
31:00
Speaker 1: been bound together with thongs so as to form a
31:03
Speaker 1: sort of chimney four feet high, and with a good
31:06
Speaker 1: deal of difficulty. This was secured by props in its
31:09
Speaker 1: position over a hole cut through the skins above the fire.
31:13
Speaker 1: The first avalanche will carry it away. Tom. Yes, uncle,
31:17
Speaker 1: But we have had one avalanche here, and it seems
31:20
Speaker 1: to me the chances are strongly against our having another
31:22
Speaker 1: in exactly the same place. The skins of the smaller
31:26
Speaker 1: deer were carefully scraped with knives on the inner side,
31:29
Speaker 1: smeared with bears fat, and then rubbed andkneaded until they
31:33
Speaker 1: were perfectly soft. End of Chapter ten.