Jack Among the Indians; Or, A Boy's Summer on the Buffalo Plains

by George Bird Grinnell

It was exciting to watch, and Jack felt afraid that the girl might be knocked off into deep water and drowned. Without thinking of his pack horses, he galloped to the water's edge. The loose horses immediately in front of him started again, and then the whole bunch made a rush for the other bank. There was a confused struggle, and, to his dismay, he saw the old travois horse run against by some of the other horses, and knocked down into the deep water, and the girl and travois horse both disappeared. He heard Hugh call to him, "Ride in and swim for her!" and closing his legs about Pawnee, he galloped him through the shallow water, and in a moment the good horse was swimming over where the girl had disappeared. Jack saw the old horse, still followed by its load of wood, striking out bravely for the other bank, but where was the girl? In a moment he caught a gleam of something white in the water, and almost at the same instant her struggling form appeared. She was just ahead of Pawnee, and a light pressure on the right hand rein, turned the horse so that he swam close beside her, and Jack, reaching over, caught her by the shoulder of her buckskin dress, and pulled her toward him.

As soon as her head was above water she reached out and grasped the horn of his saddle, and then, after resting a moment, drew herself close to the horse, and, helped by Jack, clambered up behind him. By the time she was seated, they were half way across the river, and now Jack did not know whether to guide his horse toward the other bank, or to swim back to the bar. The double weight made Pawnee swim low in the water, but his head was stretched out, his nostrils were well above the surface, and he struck out strongly—as Hugh said afterwards—"like a loon chasing shiners." The question as to which way he should go was soon decided, for in a moment or two the horse's hoofs touched bottom, and he climbed up the rapidly shoaling side of the bar.

"She reached out and grasped the horn of his saddle."—Page 138

During all this time Jack had not looked about him very much; he had been thinking how he should get hold of the girl, and then, how he should get to shore. If he had looked, he would have seen the girl's mother sitting on her horse, near the bank where the camp stood, scanning the water just ahead of him, and twisting her hands, but uttering no word. He would have seen Hugh gallop into the water, followed by the pack horses, and ride off the bar, not very far behind him, and then, when Jack got the girl, ride back to the bar and go on toward the other shore.

Now, when Jack was on the bar once more, he saw just before him, the old woman sitting looking at him, and, hearing a splashing in the water behind, he looked around and saw Hugh following.

"Is the girl hurt?" called Hugh.

"I don't know," answered Jack, "I didn't think to ask her. Are you hurt, little girl?" he added, twisting in his saddle, so that he could look into her face. As he did so he saw that blood was trickling down over her forehead. She did not answer him, but shook her head.

In a moment more he stopped by the woman, who reached out her hand and took hold of the girl's arm, and spoke to her; but of course Jack did not understand what she said, though he felt that the girl shook her head. Then Hugh, who had come up, spoke to the woman in the Indian tongue. She replied, and after a moment's conversation, Hugh said to Jack, "Ride after the old woman, son; we will camp at her lodge to-night. I know her husband right well; he is a relation of old John Monroe's. You're in pretty good luck that you fished that girl out of the river the way you did. You'll surely be thought a heap of in this camp. She's Little Plume's daughter. He's an awful good man, a great warrior and a chief, and there won't be anything too good for you in this camp as long as you're here. I expect the little girl hurt her head when she rolled off that horse, but I reckon it ain't nothing but a little cut." He spoke to the girl, who did not answer him, but her mother spoke for her and Hugh said, "No, she ain't hurt a mite." By this time they had ridden up on the bank, and were entering the circle of the camp. Jack looked about him with the greatest interest, and forgot that he was wet, cold and shivering.

The lodges were great broad cones, and each one ended above in a sheaf of crossing lodge poles. Beneath where the lodge poles crossed, on one side, there was a dark opening from which smoke poured out, and on either side of this opening, stretched out a sort of three-cornered sail or wing. Near the ground, the skins, which covered the lodges were yellow or gray, but toward the top they grew darker, and some of them were dark brown. Some of the lodges had great patches on them, as if they had been mended. Some were ornamented with curious figures. Over the door of one was painted the black head of a buffalo cow. On another there was the figure of an elk. About yet another was a broad band of red, on which a procession of black birds seemed to be marching round the lodge. From the points of the wings of many lodges, hung buffalo tails, and sometimes great bunches of this black hair ran down from the smoke hole to the door. Scattered about through the camp were many people, busy about many different tasks. Groups of men smoked together. Women were busy hammering on stones. Here and there men sat by themselves, working with knives or other tools, at sticks of different sorts. On the ground were hides, over which women were bending.