Chapter XXXII · A WELL WON VICTORY—CONCLUSION

The astonishment of Jasper Williams was apparent as he saw Dick and Roger Armstrong before him. Up to that time he had supposed the attack to be simply one of those ordinary Indian surprises to be expected when white men are hunting on ground that the tribes of the Northwest claimed as their own territory.

“Saving me seems to be getting quite a habit with you lads,” he told them, as his bonds were hurriedly severed, and he could grasp a hand of each. “How did the news reach camp; and what made the captain allow you to start out almost alone into this heathen land in order to rescue me?”

Dick quickly informed him concerning the reason for their presence.

“We did not dream that you were in trouble,” he said. “Mayhew, who was taking the document to our people down on the Missouri, was robbed of the paper. He came back to the camp to let us know; and we could see the fine hand of that French trader over there back of it.”

“François Lascelles!” cried the hunter, as a look of understanding crossed his rugged features. “Now I begin to see what it all means. He was afraid you would get another signature from me, and to block the game he had me taken prisoner by the Blackfeet. Why,” he added, in a burst of anger, “they even threatened to carry me off to their village and make me teach their squaws how white women sew and bake bread, and all such civilized ways!”

“We immediately started out to overtake you,” continued Dick, “and Mayhew insisted on being one of our party. What strange adventures we have met with you shall hear about another time; for I take it that you do not mean after this to head any further into such a terrible country?”

Williams shrugged his broad shoulders, and made a wry face.

“I suppose, lads, I would be a fool to try it, since my comrades deserted me,” he told them.

“Yes,” replied Roger, “we met them on the way, and both Hardy and Mordaunt vowed nothing could tempt them to go a step further. What with the working of the Evil Spirit, and the danger from hostile reds, they had had enough.”

“We are glad to hear you say such a sensible thing,” Dick added, “because this does not seem like a white man’s country. Only for our good luck in meeting these friendly Sioux, who come from the village of Running Elk, we might have had a much harder time in getting you free. But it is all right now!”

“The sooner we start back to the camp the better I will be pleased,” Williams admitted. “Then there’s that document we ought to have on its way. What will you do with the Frenchmen?”

“If we let them go free now,” affirmed Roger, “no matter how they give us their solemn word of honor, I believe Lascelles would try to intercept our messenger again.”

“You are right about that, son,” said Williams, warmly. “Better let the Indians knock them on the head, and have done with it. They surely deserve little mercy at your hands.”

Dick, however, could not agree to such a thing.

“No,” he said, firmly, “if Beaver Tail will agree to take them to camp with us, I believe Captain Lewis will hold them as hostages until Mayhew has had time to get so far along on his journey east that he can not be headed again. After that the Frenchmen might be turned loose.”

Between Williams and Mayhew this was explained to Beaver Tail, who agreed. Nothing was said about a reward, but Dick had already made up his mind that he would endeavor to induce the two captains in charge of the exploring party to deal generously with the Sioux in this respect.

“It will not be thrown away, either,” he told Williams, “because to have Running Elk and his tribe friendly with us might mean much for the success of our trip when spring comes.”

Naturally Lascelles and his comrades were very much concerned as to what their fate was going to be. When they heard what Dick had to say they seemed rather pleased, though the old trader frowned, and muttered to himself from time to time, as though he did not like the idea of being frustrated in his cherished scheme.

There was apparently no help for it, unless he wished to try to escape, when the chances were he would be quickly hunted down and lose his scalp to the Sioux.

Accordingly a start was made for the camp, the entire band of Indians accompanying the boys and the Frenchmen. During that weary march the old trader was given an opportunity of learning about the character of the two lads whom he had been pursuing so heartlessly, with the intention of robbing their parents of the property that he claimed through a flaw in the title.

Whether this knowledge did him any good or not it would be impossible to say. He was too old to change his ways of life, and, while openly protesting to have seen a light, so that he would no longer try to injure the Armstrongs, Dick and Roger put little faith in his repentance.

When finally the camp was reached the prisoners were handed over to the care of some of the soldiers accompanying the expedition, who were charged with the task of seeing that none of them escaped.

Jasper Williams readily signed another document which Captain Lewis himself arranged, and both the leaders of the expedition put their names down as witnesses. Then Mayhew started once more for the lower Missouri. The other two messengers had agreed to wait at a certain place for him to join them; and he believed he still had ample time to arrive before the specified time would be up.

When the two boys waved him farewell they felt that a great load had been taken from their shoulders.

“This time there should be nothing to prevent him from reaching our homes and delivering the precious paper, besides our letters,” said Dick.

“Something seems to tell me he will do it,” added Roger, “and so I have decided not to let it worry me any longer. We will keep Lascelles and his son here for some weeks, so that they will be powerless to catch up with Mayhew, even if they wished to try it. And Beaver Tail seemed greatly pleased with the generous way Captain Lewis treated him, too, so we have made good friends of the Sioux.”

“He gave the chief a gun and some ammunition,” remarked Dick. “He was as pleased with it as a child would be with a new toy. And every brave also received something to show that we wanted them to be our friends. But the dinner we gave them did not seem to reach the right spot. I saw more than one slyly throw the tea away when they thought no one was looking.”

“They will stick to roast dog as a feast dish,” laughed Roger. “I was afraid at one time there might be trouble between the Mandans and the Sioux, for they are old rivals of the chase and the warpath. But Captain Lewis managed to patch up a truce that may last while we are here, at any rate, even if the old warfare breaks out again afterwards.”

“It took a good deal of talk, though,” suggested Roger, “to induce the Mandans to hide those old Sioux scalps they had swinging about their teepees. If the braves of Running Elk had glimpsed those nothing could have kept them from making trouble. But it is simply wonderful what power Captain Lewis has over men.”

“If we ever do set eyes on the great ocean that lies far beyond the range of rocky mountains,” Dick affirmed, “it will be owing mostly to the cleverness of the President’s private secretary.”

History has recorded the facts, and the young pioneer in stating his opinion was only saying what other men have conceded.

A few days after Mayhew left the camp, well provisioned and armed for his dangerous trip over the back trail, winter set in in earnest. The boys were well satisfied to be so comfortably housed and among friends, instead of wandering amidst those strange scenes of which they never seemed to tire of talking, where the earth appeared to be on fire deep down under the outer crust, and continually spouted those colossal streams of steaming water.

The four Frenchmen were kept prisoners until several weeks had elapsed, and then allowed to go. They had a cache somewhere, they admitted, with an abundance of ammunition as well as other supplies, so there was little fear of their perishing in the severity of the winter weather.

As the days and weeks drifted along Dick and Roger carried out many of their little plans. They hunted when the weather admitted, and accompanied Jasper Williams on trapping jaunts that covered several days. They also had intercourse with the peculiar Mandan Indians, and learned a multitude of interesting things connected with the tribe called the “White Indians,” a race which has always been a mystery to historians.

As the long winter drew near a close the boys began to feel their pulses thrill in anticipation of being once more on the move with their faces turned toward the magical setting sun.

The talk around the fires was all of the wonders that still awaited them beyond the chain of mountains of which they heard so much. Every scrap of information was garnered and repeated. Captain Lewis lost no opportunity to learn new facts, or rumors concerning what they might expect to meet in their further advance into the country which up to then had never known the impression of a white man’s foot.

It can be easily understood, then, that as the snows began to melt with the gradual increase of the sun’s warmth in the early spring, preparations were feverishly undertaken for a start. And in that camp there was none more deeply interested in the final outcome than were our two pioneer boys.

“I think we’ll see some wonderful sights,” said Roger.

“Perhaps,” was the answer Dick made.

How the forward march into the Great Unknown was resumed, and what adventures fell to the lot of our young heroes, will be related in the next volume of this series, to be called “The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia”; but, come what may, it is not likely that they will witness anything more wonderful than the marvels they encountered in the territory of the Yellowstone.

THE END