THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

It Was Absolutely Necessary, Or Could Be Done With Perfect Safety.

On Occasions When He Had No Beaver, Upon Which He Generally Subsisted,

He Ventured to Kill A Deer, And After Refreshing His Empty Stomach

With A Portion Of The Flesh, He Placed the Carcass In one End Of The

Canoe.  It Was His Invariable Custom To Sleep In his Canoe At Night,

Moored to The Shore, And Once When He Had Laid In a Supply Of Venison

He Was Startled in his Sleep By The Tramping Of Something In the

Bushes On The Bank.  Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! Went The Footsteps,

As They Approached the Canoe.  He Thought At First It Might Be An

Indian That Had Found Out His Locality, But He Knew That It Could

Not Be; A Savage Would Not Approach Him In that Careless Manner.

Although There Was Beautiful Starlight, Yet The Trees And The Dense

Undergrowth Made It Very Dark On The Bank Of The River, Close To Which

He Lay.  He Always Adopted the Precaution Of Tying His Canoe With

A Piece Of Rawhide About Twenty Feet Long, Which Allowed it To Swing

From The Bank At That Distance; He Did This So That In case Of An

Emergency He Might Cut The String, And Glide Off Without Making

Any Noise.  As The Sound Of The Footsteps Grew More Distinct,

He Presently Observed a Huge Grizzly Bear Coming Down To The Water

And Swimming For The Canoe.  The Great Animal Held His Head Up As If

Scenting The Venison.  The Captain Snatched his Axe As The Most

Available Means To Defend Himself In such A Scrape, And Stood With

It Uplifted, Ready To Drive It Into The Brains Of The Monster.

The Bear Reached the Canoe, And Immediately Put His Fore Paws Upon

The Hind End Of It, Nearly Turning It Over.  The Captain Struck One

Of The Brute'S Feet With The Edge Of The Axe, Which Made Him Let Go

With That Foot, But He Held On With The Other, And He Received

This Time A Terrific Blow On The Head, That Caused him To Drop Away

From The Canoe Entirely.  Nothing More Was Seen Of The Bear,

And The Captain Thought He Must Have Sunk In the Stream And Drowned.

He Was Evidently After The Fresh Meat, Which He Scented from A Great

Distance.  In the Canoe The Next Morning There Were Two Of The Bear'S

Claws, Which Had Been Cut Off By The Well-Directed blow Of The Axe.

These Were Carefully Preserved by Williams For Many Years As A Trophy

Which He Was Fond Of Exhibiting, And The History Of Which He Always

Delighted to Tell.

As He Was Descending The River With His Peltries, Which Consisted of

One Hundred and Twenty-Five Beaver-Skins, Besides Some Of The Otter

And Other Smaller Animals, He Overtook Three Kansas Indians, Who Were

Also In a Canoe Going Down The River, As He Learned from Them,

To Some Post To Trade With The Whites.  They Manifested a Very

Friendly Disposition Towards The Old Trapper, And Expressed a Wish

To Accompany Him.  He Also Learned from Them, To His Great Delight,

That He Was On The Big Arkansas, And Not More Than Five Hundred miles

From The White Settlements.  He Was Well Enough Versed in the

Treachery Of The Indian Character To Know Just How Much He Could

Repose In their Confidence.  He Was Aware That They Would Not Allow

A Solitary Trapper To Pass Through Their Country With A Valuable

Collection Of Furs, Without, At Least, Making an Effort To Rob Him.

He Knew That Their Plan Would Be To Get Him Into A Friendly

Intercourse, And Then, At The First Opportunity, Strip Him Of

Everything He Possessed; Consequently He Was Determined to Get Rid

Of Them As Soon As Possible, And To Effect This, He Plied his Oars

With All Diligence.  The Indians, Like Most North American Savages,

Were Lazy, And Had No Disposition To Labour In that Way, But Took It

Quite Leisurely, Satisfied with Being Carried down By The Current.

Williams Soon Left Them In the Rear, And, As He Supposed, Far

Behind Him.  When Night Came On, However, As He Had Worked all Day,

And Slept None The Night Before, He Resolved to Turn Aside Into A

Bunch Of Willows To Take A Few Hours' Rest.  But He Had Not Stopped

More Than Forty Minutes When He Heard Some Indians Pull To The Shore

Just Above Him On The Same Side Of The River.  He Immediately

Loosened his Canoe From Its Moorings, And Glided silently Away.

He Rowed hard For Two Or Three Hours, When He Again Pulled to The

Bank And Tied up.

Only A Short Time After He Had Landed, He Heard Indians Again Going

On Shore On The Same Side Of The Stream As Himself.  A Second Time

He Repeated his Tactics, Slipped out Of His Place Of Concealment,

And Stole Softly Away.  He Pulled on Vigorously Until Some Time After

Midnight, When He Supposed he Could With Safety Stop And Snatch A

Little Sleep.  He Felt Apprehensive That He Was In a Dangerous Region,

And His Anxiety Kept Him Wide Awake.  It Was Very Lucky That He

Did Not Close His Eyes; For As He Was Lying In the Bottom Of His Canoe

He Heard For The Third Time A Canoe Land As Before.  He Was Now

Perfectly Satisfied that He Was Dogged by The Kansans Whom He Had

Passed the Preceding Day, And In no Very Good Humour, Therefore,

He Picked up His Rifle, And Walked up To The Bank Where He Had Heard

The Indians Land.  As He Suspected, There Were The Three Savages.

When They Saw The Captain, They Immediately Renewed their Expressions

Of Friendship, And Invited him To Partake Of Their Hospitality.

He Stood Aloof From Them, And Shook His Head In a Rage, Charging

Them With Their Villanous Purposes.  In the Short, Sententious Manner

Of The Indians, He Said To Them: "You Now Follow Me Three Times;

If You Follow Me Again, I Kill You!" And Wheeling around Abruptly,

Returned to His Canoe.  A Third Time The Solitary Trapper Pushed

His Little Craft From The Shore And Set Off Down Stream, To Get Away

From A Region Where To Sleep Would Be Hazardous.  He Plied his Oars

The Remainder Of The Night, And Solaced himself With The Thought

That No Evil Had Befallen Him, Except The Loss Of A Few Hours' Sleep.

While He Was Escaping From His Villanous Pursuers, He Was Running

Into New Dangers And Difficulties.  The Following Day He Overtook

A Large Band Of The Same Tribe, Under The Leadership Of A Chief,

Who Were Also Descending The River.  Into The Hands Of These Savages

He Fell A Prisoner, And Was Conducted to One Of Their Villages.

The Principal Chief There Took All Of His Furs, Traps, And Other

Belongings.  A Very Short Time After His Capture, The Kansans Went

To War With The Pawnees, And Carried captain Williams With Them.

In A Terrible Battle In which The Kansans Gained a Most Decided

Victory, The Old Trapper Bore A Conspicuous Part, Killing a Great

Number Of The Enemy, And By His Excellent Strategy Brought About

The Success Of His Captors.  When They Returned to The Village,

Williams, Who Had Ever Been Treated with Kindness By The Inhabitants,

Was Now Thought To Be A Wonderful Warrior, And Could Have Been

Advanced to All The Savage Honours; He Might Even Have Been Made

One Of Their Principal Chiefs.  The Tribe Gave Him His Liberty For

The Great Service He Had Rendered it In its Difficulty With An

Inveterate Foe, But Declining all Proffered promotions, He Decided

To Return To The White Settlements On The Missouri, At The Mouth

Of The Kaw, The Covetous Old Chief Retaining all His Furs, And Indeed

Everything He Possessed excepting His Rifle, With As Many Rounds

Of Ammunition As Would Be Necessary To Secure Him Provisions In the

Shape Of Game On His Route.  The Veteran Trapper Had Learned from

The Indians While With Them That They Expected to Go To Fort Osage

On The Missouri River To Receive Some Annuities From The Government,

And He Felt Certain That His Furs Would Be There At The Same Time.

After Leaving The Kansans He Travelled on Toward The Missouri,

And Soon Struck The Beginning Of The Sparse Settlements.  Just As

Evening Was Coming On, He Arrived at A Cluster Of Three Little

Log-Cabins, And Was Received with Genuine Backwoods Hospitality By

The Proprietor, Who Had Married an Osage Squaw.  Williams Was Not Only

Very Hungry, But Very Tired; And, After Enjoying an Abundant Supper,

He Became Stupid And Sleepy, And Expressed a Wish To Lie Down.

The Generous Trapper Accordingly Conducted him To One Of The Cabins,

In Which There Were Two Beds, Standing In opposite Corners Of

The Room.  He Immediately Threw Himself Upon One, And Was Soon In

A Very Deep Sleep.  About Midnight His Slumbers Were Disturbed by

A Singular And Very Frightful Kind Of Noise, Accompanied by Struggling

On The Other Bed.  What It Was, Williams Was Entirely At A Loss To

Understand.  There Were No Windows In the Cabin, The Door Was Shut,

And It Was As Dark As Egypt.  A Fierce Contest Seemed to Be Going On.

There Were Deep Groanings And Hard Breathings; And The Snapping Of

Teeth Appeared almost Constant.  For A Moment The Noise Would Subside,

Then Again The Struggles Woud Be Renewed accompanied as Before

With Groaning, Deep Sighing, And Grinding Of Teeth.

The Captain'S Bed-Clothes Consisted of A Couple Of Blankets And A

Buffalo-Robe, And As The Terrible Struggles Continued he Raised

Himself Up In the Bed, And Threw The Robe Around Him For Protection,

His Rifle Having Been Left In the Cabin Where His Host Slept, While

His Knife Was Attached to His Coat, Which He Had Hung On The Corner

Post Of The Other Bedstead From Which The Horrid Struggles Emanated.

In An Instant The Robe Was Pulled off, And He Was Left Uncovered and

Unprotected; In another Moment A Violent Snatch Carried away The

Blanket Upon Which He Was Sitting, And He Was Nearly Tumbled off The

Bed with It.  As The Next Thing Might Be A Blow In the Dark, He Felt

That It Was High Time To Shift His Quarters; So He Made A Desperate

Leap From The Bed, And Alighted on The Opposite Side Of The Room,

Calling For His Host, Who Immediately Came To His Relief By Opening

The Door.  Williams Then Told Him That The Devil--Or Something

As Bad, He Believed--Was In the Room, And He Wanted a Light.

The Accommodating Trapper Hurried away, And In a Moment Was Back

With A Candle, The Light Of Which Soon Revealed the Awful Mystery.

It Was An Indian, Who At The Time Was Struggling In convulsions,

Which He Was Subject To.  He Was A Superannuated chief, A Relative Of

The Wife Of The Hospitable Trapper, And Generally Made His Home There.

Absent When Captain Williams Arrived, He Came Into The Room At A

Very Late Hour, And Went To The Bed he Usually Occupied.  No One

On The Claim Knew Of His Being There Until He Was Discovered,

In A Dreadfully Mangled condition.  He Was Removed to Other Quarters,

And Williams, Who Was Not To Be Frightened out Of A Night'S Rest,

Soon Sunk Into Sound Repose.

Williams Reached the Agency By The Time The Kansas Indians Arrived

There, And, As He Suspected, Found That The Wily Old Chief Had Brought

All His Belongings, Which He Claimed, And The Agent Made The Savages

Give Up The Stolen Property Before He Would Pay Them A Cent Of Their

Annuities.  He Took His Furs Down To St. Louis, Sold Them There

At A Good Price, And Then Started back To The Rocky Mountains On

Another Trapping Tour. 

In 1812 A Captain Becknell, Who Had Been On A Trading Expedition

To The Country Of The Comanches In the Summer Of 1811, And Had Done

Remarkably Well, Determined the Next Season To Change His Objective

Point To Santa Fe, And Instead Of The Tedious Process Of Bartering

With The Indians, To Sell Out His Stock