XX
CAPTAIN LEWIS MEETS THE ENEMY
The party seemed to be overhauling the cache here as if in a great hurry to go on; but the captain waved greeting, and Joe Fields straightened up, to grin.
“Yez got back mighty quick,” accused Pat. “Didn’t yez go? An’ where are the hosses?”
“Sure we went,” retorted Joe. “Hosses? We’ve turned ’em loose, of course; and you’ll be turnin’ yours loose, too, in a minute. So tumble off and I’ll help you unpack. There’s no time to waste. You ought to’ve been along, Pat. We had a beautiful brush with the Injuns.”
“Didn’t I tell yez?” reminded Pat. “Annywan hurt?”
“None of us. We wiped two of them out, though—and a ball cut the captain’s ha’r. ’Twas this way,” continued Joe, as he tugged at a rope end, to release the pack of meat: “On the fust day, ’fore we’d gone more’n twenty mile from the falls, we struck Injun sign in shape of a wounded-buffler trail; and after that we kept guard all night, for fear of our hosses. When we got to the Maria’s we turned down, after scoutin’ ’round a bit. Found a lot of old Injun lodges, but didn’t see any Injuns till the 26th. Then the cap’n sighted a bunch o’ hosses, thirty of ’em, through his spy-glass—and next several Injuns, on a hill, lookin’ at Drouillard, who was across the river.
“’Bout half the hosses were saddled, which meant more Injuns somewhere near. Our hosses were too tuckered to run far, and of course we couldn’t leave Drouillard; so the cap’n said: ‘We’ll go right on to those Injuns, boys; put on a bold front, and we’ll have it out with ’em. Don’t let ’em think we’re afraid. They may not be the Gros-vent’s.’ When the Injuns fust saw us comin’, they acted like they were more afraid of us than we were of them. But we finally got together, the cap’n made the peace sign, and told ’em our other man had the pipe and after he’d come in we’d smoke. So Reub and one of the Injuns went after Drouillard.
“There were only eight of ’em. They were the Big-bellies, all right, but they had nothin’ except two guns, and clubs and bows and arrers. We thought we could take care of ourselves; and that night we all camped together. The cap’n told us in case of trouble to stick up and keep together and save the baggage.
“We slept in the same lodge with ’em. The cap’n had given three of ’em a flag and a medal and a handkerchief; but he put Reub on guard for the night, and told him to watch sharp and wake us quick, so’s to look after the hosses, if the Injuns tried to sneak out. He and Drouillard lay down with the Injuns, and Reub and I stayed at the fire in the lodge entrance.
“I went to sleep. Just at sunrise I woke up with a jump. Reub had yelled—and there was an Injun runnin’ off with my gun and his, and Reub in chase. Drouillard was up and yellin’, too—‘Let go my gun! Let go my gun!’ he bawled, and I see him wrestlin’ with another Injun, and the cap’n aimin’ at another with his pistol. But I had to have my gun, so I ran after Reub and the fust Injun. Before I got there, Reub had caught him and knifed him, and had both guns. Drouillard had his gun by this time, and all the Injuns came pourin’ out of the lodge, makin’ for the hosses, with the cap’n and his pistol followin’ the third Injun.