Deerfoot in The Mountains

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

Naturally his first scrutiny was directed to the northeast. In that direction the surface was rolling, with numerous valleys and mountain spurs, but none of the latter was of great height. The towering peaks rose more to the north and west. There was variety and yet sameness in the vast undulating expanse, with its wealth of wood, of rocks, some bleak and dark of color, and others fringed with vegetation, of swelling hills, many of which elsewhere would have been called mountains, and beautiful valleys, with numerous streams hidden through most of their flow, all seeking an outlet in the Atlantic or Pacific, hundreds of miles away.

The bed of one mountain torrent could be traced for a long distance by the mist that hovered over it, though the spectator could not catch the first sight of the water itself. At another point to the right the Shawanoe saw what appeared to be a curved streak of silver, fifty feet in height and but two or three feet wide. It looked to be absolutely motionless, and yet it was a waterfall, from whose foamy base little clouds of steam floated upward or were wafted aside by the wisps of wind.

Deerfoot refrained from using the instrument until he had done all he could with his unaided vision. His reason for this was his wish to place himself in the same situation as the Assiniboine party. None of them knew what a spyglass is, and he tried to reason from what he saw upon what point they would be likely to fix as their halting place.

Had he known the precise minute or hour when the horsemen had ridden past the spot near where he was standing, the problem would have been easy of solution, but no Indian or white hunter ever lived who could settle such a question without more definite data. We hear stories of achievements of that nature, but most of them are mythical, though the woodcraft of many a trailer has enabled him to do things which to others were impossible.

The Shawanoe believed the Assiniboines had ridden past at a moderate pace about the middle of the preceding day. Acting on that supposition, he selected a point somewhat more than a dozen miles to the northeast as the one where they would have been likely to encamp for the night. The trouble was that there was little in the wooded place, near a small body of water, bearing a striking resemblance to the lake of the previous day, to favor it above others in the neighborhood. They might have halted several miles beyond or that much nearer the standpoint of the Shawanoe.

At the best it was guesswork; but having made his conjecture, Deerfoot now raised the glass to his eyes and centered his attention upon the spot. As he did so he was thrilled by a discovery which set his nerves at once on edge.

On the edge of the trees, near the lake itself, he saw two Indians, standing as if in conversation. When he lowered the glass it was impossible to make them out at so great distance, but the instrument revealed them clearly. Suddenly one of the couple came forward to the body of water, lay down on his face and drank. The other walked part of the way and then stopped, and was rejoined by the former. It looked as if they resumed their converse over some subject in which they were unusually interested.

Deerfoot was almost certain that the two were members of the party for whom he was hunting. If such were the fact, something must have occurred to cause them to linger on their return to their villages.

While he was speculating as to whether this was probable, smoke began filtrating through the tops of the pines, behind the couple. A fire had been started, though the hour of day was one when the party naturally would have been in motion.

The question remained as to whether the horsemen intended to stay where they were until the morrow or would soon resume their journey. The last supposition seemed the most likely.