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The Prairie

J >> J Fenimore Cooper >> The Prairie




The former was effected by dragging the trunks of a few trees into the
intervals left by the wagons, and along the open space between the
vehicles and the thicket, on which, in military language, the
encampment would be said to have rested; thus forming a sort of
chevaux-de-frise on three sides of the position. Within these narrow
limits (with the exception of what the tent contained), both man and
beast were now collected; the latter being far too happy in resting
their weary limbs, to give any undue annoyance to their scarcely more
intelligent associates. Two of the young men took their rifles; and,
first renewing the priming, and examining the flints with the utmost
care, they proceeded, the one to the extreme right, and the other to
the left, of the encampment, where they posted themselves within the
shadows of the thicket; but in such positions as enabled each to
overlook a portion of the prairie.

The trapper loitered about the place, declining to share the straw of
the emigrant, until the whole arrangement was completed; and then,
without the ceremony of an adieu, he slowly retired from the spot.

It was now in the first watch of the night; and the pale, quivering,
and deceptive light, from a new moon, was playing over the endless
waves of the prairie, tipping the swells with gleams of brightness,
and leaving the interval land in deep shadow. Accustomed to scenes of
solitude like the present, the old man, as he left the encampment,
proceeded alone into the waste, like a bold vessel leaving its haven
to enter on the trackless field of the ocean. He appeared to move for
some time without object, or, indeed, without any apparent
consciousness, whither his limbs were carrying him. At length, on
reaching the rise of one of the undulations, he came to a stand; and,
for the first time since leaving the band, who had caused such a flood
of reflections and recollections to crowd upon his mind, the old man
became aware of his present situation. Throwing one end of his rifle
to the earth, he stood leaning on the other, again lost in deep
contemplation for several minutes, during which time his hound came
and crouched at his feet. A deep, menacing growl, from the faithful
animal, first aroused him from his musing.

"What now, dog?" he said, looking down at his companion, as if he
addressed a being of an intelligence equal to his own, and speaking in
a voice of great affection. "What is it, pup? ha! Hector; what is it
nosing, now? It won't do, dog; it won't do; the very fa'ns play in
open view of us, without minding so worn out curs, as you and I.
Instinct is their gift, Hector and, they have found out how little we
are to be feared, they have!"

The dog stretched his head upward, and responded to the words of his
master by a long and plaintive whine, which he even continued after he
had again buried his head in the grass, as if he held an intelligent
communication with one who so well knew how to interpret dumb
discourse.

"This is a manifest warning, Hector!" the trapper continued, dropping
his voice, to the tones of caution and looking warily about him. "What
is it, pup; speak plainer, dog; what is it?"

The hound had, however, already laid his nose to the earth, and was
silent; appearing to slumber. But the keen quick glances of his
master, soon caught a glimpse of a distant figure, which seemed,
through the deceptive light, floating along the very elevation on
which he had placed himself. Presently its proportions became more
distinct, and then an airy, female form appeared to hesitate, as if
considering whether it would be prudent to advance. Though the eyes of
the dog were now to be seen glancing in the rays of the moon, opening
and shutting lazily, he gave no further signs of displeasure.

"Come nigher; we are friends," said the trapper, associating himself
with his companion by long use, and, probably, through the strength of
the secret tie that connected them together; "we are your friends;
none will harm you."

Encouraged by the mild tones of his voice, and perhaps led on by the
earnestness of her purpose, the female approached, until she stood at
his side; when the old man perceived his visitor to be the young
woman, with whom the reader, has already become acquainted by the name
of "Ellen Wade."

"I had thought you were gone," she said, looking timidly and anxiously
around. "They said you were gone; and that we should never see you
again. I did not think it was you!"

"Men are no common objects in these empty fields," returned the
trapper, "and I humbly hope, though I have so long consorted with the
beasts of the wilderness, that I have not yet lost the look of my
kind."

"Oh! I knew you to be a man, and I thought I knew the whine of the
hound, too," she answered hastily, as if willing to explain she knew
not what, and then checking herself, like one fearful of having
already said too much.

"I saw no dogs, among the teams of your father," the trapper remarked.

"Father!" exclaimed the girl, feelingly, "I have no father! I had
nearly said no friend."

The old man turned towards her, with a look of kindness and interest,
that was even more conciliating than the ordinary, upright, and
benevolent expression of his weather-beaten countenance.

"Why then do you venture in a place where none but the strong should
come?" he demanded. "Did you not know that, when you crossed the big
river, you left a friend behind you that is always bound to look to
the young and feeble, like yourself."

"Of whom do you speak?"

"The law--'tis bad to have it, but, I sometimes think, it is worse to
be entirely without it. Age and weakness have brought me to feel such
weakness, at times. Yes--yes, the law is needed, when such as have not
the gifts of strength and wisdom are to be taken care of. I hope,
young woman, if you have no father, you have at least a brother."

The maiden felt the tacit reproach conveyed in this covert question,
and for a moment she remained in an embarrassed silence. But catching
a glimpse of the mild and serious features of her companion, as he
continued to gaze on her with a look of interest, she replied, firmly,
and in a manner that left no doubt she comprehended his meaning:

"Heaven forbid that any such as you have seen, should be a brother of
mine, or any thing else near or dear to me! But, tell me, do you then
actually live alone, in this desert district, old man; is there really
none here besides yourself?"

"There are hundreds, nay, thousands of the rightful owners of the
country, roving about the plains; but few of our own colour."

"And have you then met none who are white, but us?" interrupted the
girl, like one too impatient to await the tardy explanations of age
and deliberation.

"Not in many days--Hush, Hector, hush," he added in reply to a low,
and nearly inaudible, growl from his hound. "The dog scents mischief
in the wind! The black bears from the mountains sometimes make their
way, even lower than this. The pup is not apt to complain of the
harmless game. I am not so ready and true with the piece as I
used-to-could-be, yet I have struck even the fiercest animals of the
prairie in my time; so, you have little reason for fear, young woman."

The girl raised her eyes, in that peculiar manner which is so often
practised by her sex, when they commence their glances, by examining
the earth at their feet, and terminate them by noting every thing
within the power of human vision; but she rather manifested the
quality of impatience, than any feeling of alarm.

A short bark from the dog, however, soon gave a new direction to the
looks of both, and then the real object of his second warning became
dimly visible.



CHAPTER III

Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood, as any in Italy;
and as soon mov'd to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved.
--Romeo and Juliet.

Though the trapper manifested some surprise when he perceived that
another human figure was approaching him, and that, too, from a
direction opposite to the place where the emigrant had made his
encampment, it was with the steadiness of one long accustomed to
scenes of danger.

"This is a man," he said; "and one who has white blood in his veins,
or his step would be lighter. It will be well to be ready for the
worst, as the half-and-halfs,[*] that one meets, in these distant
districts, are altogether more barbarous than the real savage."

[*] Half-breeds; men born of Indian women by white fathers. This race
has much of the depravity of civilisation without the virtues of
the savage.

He raised his rifle while he spoke, and assured himself of the state
of its flint, as well as of the priming by manual examination. But his
arm was arrested, while in the act of throwing forward the muzzle of
the piece, by the eager and trembling hands of his companion.

"For God's sake, be not too hasty," she said; "it may be a friend--an
acquaintance--a neighbour!"

"A friend!" the old man repeated, deliberately releasing himself, at
the same time, from her grasp. "Friends are rare in any land, and less
in this, perhaps, than in another; and the neighbourhood is too thinly
settled to make it likely that he who comes towards us is even an
acquaintance."

"But though a stranger, you would not seek his blood!"

The trapper earnestly regarded her anxious and frightened features,
and then he dropped the butt of his rifle on the ground, like one
whose purpose had undergone a sudden change.

"No," he said, speaking rather to himself, than to his companion, "she
is right; blood is not to be spilt, to save the life of one so
useless, and so near his time. Let him come on; my skins, my traps,
and even my rifle shall be his, if he sees fit to demand them."

"He will ask for neither:--he wants neither," returned the girl; "if
he be an honest man, he will surely be content with his own, and ask
for nothing that is the property of another."

The trapper had not time to express the surprise he felt at this
incoherent and contradictory language, for the man who was advancing,
was, already, within fifty feet of the place where they stood.--In the
mean time, Hector had not been an indifferent witness of what was
passing. At the sound of the distant footsteps, he had arisen, from
his warm bed at the feet of his master; and now, as the stranger
appeared in open view, he stalked slowly towards him, crouching to the
earth like a panther about to take his leap.

"Call in your dog," said a firm, deep, manly voice, in tones of
friendship, rather than of menace; "I love a hound, and should be
sorry to do an injury to the animal."

"You hear what is said about you, pup?" the trapper answered; "come
hither, fool. His growl and his bark are all that is left him now; you
may come on, friend; the hound is toothless."

The stranger profited by the intelligence. He sprang eagerly forward,
and at the next instant stood at the side of Ellen Wade. After
assuring himself of the identity of the latter, by a hasty but keen
glance, he turned his attention, with a quickness and impatience, that
proved the interest he took in the result, to a similar examination of
her companion.

"From what cloud have you fallen, my good old man?" he said in a
careless, off-hand, heedless manner that seemed too natural to be
assumed: "or do you actually live, hereaway, in the prairies?"

"I have been long on earth, and never I hope nigher to heaven, than I
am at this moment," returned the trapper; "my dwelling, if dwelling I
may be said to have, is not far distant. Now may I take the liberty
with you, that you are so willing to take with others? Whence do you
come, and where is your home?"

"Softly, softly; when I have done with my catechism, it will be time
to begin with yours. What sport is this, you follow by moonlight? You
are not dodging the buffaloes at such an hour!"

"I am, as you see, going from an encampment of travellers, which lies
over yonder swell in the land, to my own wigwam; in doing so, I wrong
no man."

"All fair and true. And you got this young woman to show you the way,
because she knows it so well and you know so little about it
yourself!"

"I met her, as I have met you, by accident. For ten tiresome years
have I dwelt on these open fields, and never, before to-night, have I
found human beings with white skins on them, at this hour. If my
presence here gives offence, I am sorry; and will go my way. It is
more than likely that when your young friend has told her story, you
will be better given to believe mine.

"Friend!" said the youth, lifting a cap of skins from his head, and
running his fingers leisurely through a dense mass of black and shaggy
locks, "if I have ever laid eyes on the girl before to-night, may I--"

"You've said enough, Paul," interrupted the female, laying her hand on
his mouth, with a familiarity that gave something very like the lie
direct, to his intended asseveration. "Our secret will be safe, with
this honest old man. I know it by his looks, and kind words."

"Our secret! Ellen, have you forgot--"

"Nothing. I have not forgotten any thing I should remember. But still
I say we are safe with this honest trapper."

"Trapper! is he then a trapper? Give me your hand, father; our trades
should bring us acquainted."

"There is little call for handicrafts in this region," returned the
other, examining the athletic and active form of the youth, as he
leaned carelessly and not ungracefully, on his rifle; "the art of
taking the creatur's of God, in traps and nets, is one that needs more
cunning than manhood; and yet am I brought to practise it, in my age!
But it would be quite as seemly, in one like you, to follow a pursuit
better becoming your years and courage."

"I! I never took even a slinking mink or a paddling musk-rat in a
cage; though I admit having peppered a few of the dark-skin'd devils,
when I had much better have kept my powder in the horn and the lead in
its pouch. Not I, old man; nothing that crawls the earth is for my
sport."

"What then may you do for a living, friend? for little profit is to be
made in these districts, if a man denies himself his lawful right in
the beasts of the fields."

"I deny myself nothing. If a bear crosses my path, he is soon the mere
ghost of Bruin. The deer begin to nose me; and as for the buffaloe, I
have kill'd more beef, old stranger, than the largest butcher in all
Kentuck."

"You can shoot, then!" demanded the trapper, with a glow of latent
fire, glimmering about his eyes; "is your hand true, and your look
quick?"

"The first is like a steel trap, and the last nimbler than a buck-
shot. I wish it was hot noon, now, grand'ther; and that there was an
acre or two of your white swans or of black feathered ducks going
south, over our heads; you or Ellen, here, might set your heart on the
finest in the flock, and my character against a horn of powder, that
the bird would be hanging head downwards, in five minutes, and that
too, with a single ball. I scorn a shot-gun! No man can say, he ever
knew me carry one, a rod."

"The lad has good in him! I see it plainly by his manner;" said the
trapper, turning to Ellen with an encouraging air; "I will take it on
myself to say, that you are not unwise in meeting him, as you do. Tell
me, lad; did you ever strike a leaping buck atwixt the antlers?
Hector; quiet, pup; quiet. The very name of venison quickens the blood
of the cur;--did you ever take an animal in that fashion, on the long
leap?"

"You might just as well ask me, did you ever eat? There is no fashion,
old stranger, that a deer has not been touched by my hand, unless it
was when asleep."

"Ay, ay; you have a long and a happy-ay, and an honest life afore you!
I am old, and I suppose I might also say, worn out and useless; but,
if it was given me to choose my time, and place, again,--as such
things are not and ought not ever to be given to the will of man--
though if such a gift was to be given me, I would say, twenty and the
wilderness! But, tell me; how do you part with the peltry?"

"With my pelts! I never took a skin from a buck, nor a quill from a
goose, in my life! I knock them over, now and then, for a meal, and
sometimes to keep my finger true to the touch; but when hunger is
satisfied, the prairie wolves get the remainder. No--no--I keep to my
calling; which pays me better, than all the fur I could sell on the
other side of the big river."

The old man appeared to ponder a little; but shaking his head he soon
continued--

"I know of but one business that can be followed here with profit--"

He was interrupted by the youth, who raised a small cup of tin, which
dangled at his neck before the other's eyes, and springing its lid,
the delicious odour of the finest flavoured honey, diffused itself
over the organs of the trapper.

"A bee hunter!" observed the latter, with a readiness that proved he
understood the nature of the occupation, though not without some
little surprise at discovering one of the other's spirited mien
engaged in so humble a pursuit. "It pays well in the skirts of the
settlements, but I should call it a doubtful trade, in the more open
districts."

"You think a tree is wanting for a swarm to settle in! But I know
differently; and so I have stretched out a few hundred miles farther
west than common, to taste your honey. And, now, I have bated your
curiosity, stranger, you will just move aside, while I tell the
remainder of my story to this young woman."

"It is not necessary, I'm sure it is not necessary, that he should
leave us," said Ellen, with a haste that implied some little
consciousness of the singularity if not of the impropriety of the
request. "You can have nothing to say that the whole world might not
hear."

"No! well, may I be stung to death by drones, if I understand the
buzzings of a woman's mind! For my part, Ellen, I care for nothing nor
any body; and am just as ready to go down to the place where your
uncle, if uncle you can call one, who I'll swear is no relation, has
hoppled his teams, and tell the old man my mind now, as I shall be a
year hence. You have only to say a single word, and the thing is done;
let him like it or not."

"You are ever so hasty and so rash, Paul Hover, that I seldom know
when I am safe with you. How can you, who know the danger of our being
seen together, speak of going before my uncle and his sons?"

"Has he done that of which he has reason to be ashamed?" demanded the
trapper, who had not moved an inch from the place he first occupied.

"Heaven forbid! But there are reasons, why he should not be seen, just
now, that could do him no harm if known; but which may not yet be
told. And, so, if you will wait, father, near yonder willow bush,
until I have heard what Paul can possibly have to say, I shall be sure
to come and wish you a good night, before I return to the camp."

The trapper drew slowly aside, as if satisfied with the somewhat
incoherent reason Ellen had given why he should retire. When
completely out of ear shot of the earnest and hurried dialogue, that
instantly commenced between the two he had left, the old man again
paused, and patiently awaited the moment when he might renew his
conversation with beings in whom he felt a growing interest, no less
from the mysterious character of their intercourse, than from a
natural sympathy in the welfare of a pair so young, and who, as in the
simplicity of his heart he was also fain to believe, were also so
deserving. He was accompanied by his indolent, but attached dog, who
once more made his bed at the feet of his master, and soon lay
slumbering as usual, with his head nearly buried in the dense fog of
the prairie grass.

It was a spectacle so unusual to see the human form amid the solitude
in which he dwelt, that the trapper bent his eyes on the dim figures
of his new acquaintances, with sensations to which he had long been a
stranger. Their presence awakened recollections and emotions, to which
his sturdy but honest nature had latterly paid but little homage, and
his thoughts began to wander over the varied scenes of a life of
hardships, that had been strangely blended with scenes of wild and
peculiar enjoyment. The train taken by his thoughts had, already,
conducted him, in imagination, far into an ideal world, when he was,
once more suddenly, recalled to the reality of his situation, by the
movements of the faithful hound.

The dog, who, in submission to his years and infirmities, had
manifested such a decided propensity to sleep, now arose, and stalked
from out the shadow cast by the tall person of his master, and looked
abroad into the prairie, as if his instinct apprised him of the
presence of still another visitor. Then, seemingly content with his
examination, he returned to his comfortable post and disposed of his
weary limbs, with the deliberation and care of one who was no novice
in the art of self-preservation.

"What; again, Hector!" said the trapper in a soothing voice, which he
had the caution, however, to utter in an under tone; "what is it, dog?
tell it all to his master, pup; what is it?"

Hector answered with another growl, but was content to continue in his
lair. These were evidences of intelligence and distrust, to which one
as practised as the trapper could not turn an inattentive ear. He
again spoke to the dog, encouraging him to watchfulness, by a low
guarded whistle. The animal however, as if conscious of having,
already, discharged his duty, obstinately refused to raise his head
from the grass.

"A hint from such a friend is far better than man's advice!" muttered
the trapper, as he slowly moved towards the couple who were yet, too
earnestly and abstractedly, engaged in their own discourse, to notice
his approach; "and none but a conceited settler would hear it and not
respect it, as he ought. Children," he added, when nigh enough to
address his companions, "we are not alone in these dreary fields;
there are others stirring, and, therefore, to the shame of our kind,
be it said, danger is nigh."

"If one of the lazy sons of Skirting Ishmael is prowling out of his
camp to-night," said the young bee-hunter, with great vivacity, and in
tones that might easily have been excited to a menace, "he may have an
end put to his journey sooner than either he or his father is
dreaming!"

"My life on it, they are all with the teams," hurriedly answered the
girl. "I saw the whole of them asleep, myself, except the two on
watch; and their natures have greatly changed, if they, too, are not
both dreaming of a turkey hunt, or a court-house fight, at this very
moment."

"Some beast, with a strong scent, has passed between the wind and the
hound, father, and it makes him uneasy; or, perhaps, he too is
dreaming. I had a pup of my own, in Kentuck, that would start upon a
long chase from a deep sleep; and all upon the fancy of some dream. Go
to him, and pinch his ear, that the beast may feel the life within
him."

"Not so--not so," returned the trapper, shaking his head as one who
better understood the qualities of his dog.--"Youth sleeps, ay, and
dreams too; but age is awake and watchful. The pup is never false with
his nose, and long experience tells me to heed his warnings."

"Did you ever run him upon the trail of carrion?"

"Why, I must say, that the ravenous beasts have sometimes tempted me
to let him loose, for they are as greedy as men, after the venison, in
its season; but then I knew the reason of the dog, would tell him the
object!--No--no, Hector is an animal known in the ways of man, and
will never strike a false trail when a true one is to be followed!"

"Ay, ay, the secret is out! you have run the hound on the track of a
wolf, and his nose has a better memory than his master!" said the bee-
hunter, laughing.

"I have seen the creatur' sleep for hours, with pack after pack, in
open view. A wolf might eat out of his tray without a snarl, unless
there was a scarcity; then, indeed, Hector would be apt to claim his
own."

"There are panthers down from the mountains; I saw one make a leap at
a sick deer, as the sun was setting. Go; go you back to the dog, and
tell him the truth, father; in a minute, I--"

He was interrupted by a long, loud, and piteous howl from the hound,
which rose on the air of the evening, like the wailing of some spirit
of the place, and passed off into the prairie, in cadences that rose
and fell, like its own undulating surface. The trapper was
impressively silent, listening intently. Even the reckless bee-hunter,
was struck with the wailing wildness of the sounds. After a short
pause the former whistled the dog to his side, and turning to his
companions he said with the seriousness, which, in his opinion, the
occasion demanded--

"They who think man enjoys all the knowledge of the creatur's of God,
will live to be disappointed, if they reach, as I have done, the age
of fourscore years. I will not take upon myself to say what mischief
is brewing, nor will I vouch that, even, the hound himself knows so
much; but that evil is nigh, and that wisdom invites us to avoid it, I
have heard from the mouth of one who never lies. I did think, the pup
had become unused to the footsteps of man, and that your presence made
him uneasy; but his nose has been on a long scent the whole evening,
and what I mistook as a notice of your coming, has been intended for
something more serious. If the advice of an old man is, then, worth
hearkening to, children, you will quickly go different ways to your
places of shelter and safety."

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