When Captain Lewis was told about it, he declared it to be the judgment of Heaven upon the heads of those two wicked men. They had sought to stir up the resentment of the Flat Heads against the little party, and, had their plans succeeded, the members of the expedition would be in constant danger of their lives during the whole of the coming winter.
As it was, the Indians must believe the white wanderers were under the protection of Manitou, and should not be harmed. Captain Lewis could see how a peace could be made with their leading chiefs, so that, for the months that were to come, the red men and their “paleface” brothers should live together as friends.
After all their trials and tribulations things seemed to be working in the boys’ favor at last. With the disappearance of the scheming trader their greatest source of uneasiness had vanished. The future looked bright once more, and the boys felt they could sleep without fearing that something terrible hung over their heads.
That night was really the happiest they had all known for many months. The fact that they were close to the goal that had tempted them across the continent did much to bring smiles to the careworn faces of the voyagers.
“If all the accounts we’ve been able to pick up are correct,” Dick told Roger that night, while they sat near the fire, the camp being well guarded every minute of the time, “we ought to reach our destination by the end of the second day, perhaps sooner.”
“Which means we will be able to look out into the west and see nothing but the vast ocean,” Roger added, with a contented sigh. “Well, I feel glad—yes, doubly glad, for Captain Lewis and Captain Clark.”
“I understand why you say that, Roger. To us it means only that our curiosity will be satisfied; but think what they have risked to carry out the plan of the President! It will be the greatest day in their lives when they reach that ocean they have come thousands of miles to look upon.”
“And think of all they have braved to win their end,” added the other boy, his whole expression speaking his deepest admiration for the bold leaders of the exploring expedition.
Well might the boys say what they did. A thousand perils had waylaid those daring spirits, yet never once had they dreamed of giving up their plan. Over unknown trails, through dark canyons, across trackless plains and burning deserts, up mighty rivers with their strong currents and swirling rapids—all these and uncounted other dangers had spread out before them, but without daunting their souls.
No wonder then that the boy of to-day, who reads of this most wonderful journey ever undertaken in our great country, reveres the names of those two bold spirits who conducted the expedition to a successful finish.