With Axe and Rifle - Part 5
Library

Part 5

As the "patriarchs" of the pack had somewhat appeased their hunger, the younger members rushed, in uttering sharp yelps, to which the elders replied with still louder snarls, greatly increasing the horrible din.

The Dominie and Dan started up, fancying that the wolves were upon us.

Neither of them could after this go to sleep.

"Come, Mike, I'll take your place," said Mr Tidey. This I declined, for I knew it would be useless to lie down. We therefore all three sat round the fire, hoping that the wolves would at length leave us quiet.

The savage brutes, however, having finished the bear began to tear up the bodies of their companions, wrangling over them as they had done over that of bruin.

At last the Dominie, losing patience, jumped up exclaiming, "We must drive these brutes off, though they are not worth any more of our powder and shot."

Each of us taking a burning brand, we advanced towards the wolves, and, waving our torches, raised a loud shout. The brutes hearing the noise and seeing us coming, took to flight, disappearing in the depths of the forest. Where the body of the bear had been, part of the skull, and a few of the larger bones alone remained, while most of the wolves had also been torn to pieces and the whole ground round was strewn with the fragments and moist with gore. Disgusted by the sight, we hurried back to our camp.

"We shall get some rest now, I hope, for I don't think the wolves will come near us," said Dan.

"Not so sure about that," observed the Dominie; "however, we will try and obtain some sleep."

Before our eyes were closed the horrible chorus of howls and yelps and barking recommenced, and continued apparently on every side of our camp; still, while the fire burned brightly, there was no fear of the brutes rushing in on us. To sleep, while those dismal howls broke the stillness of night, was simply impossible. Now the creatures appeared to be coming nearer, now they retreated, now they seemed on this side, now on that; their voices had summoned a fresh pack, who, rushing in, quickly devoured the remainder of the feast. All night long the tumult was kept up. Occasionally Mr Tidey or I rose to attend to the fire.

Upon each occasion I caught sight of numerous glaring eyes staring out at us from amid the darkness. As morning approached the sounds gradually ceased, and we had the satisfaction of believing that the wolves had retreated to the recesses of the forest. I immediately fell asleep, and when Mr Tidey roused Dan and me, the sun was already several degrees above the horizon. We breakfasted on some bear-steak, which we had fortunately secured, then set to work to sc.r.a.pe the skin and to pack it up in a tight compa.s.s. As we had no wish to carry the skin further than we could help, we put about and steered a course for home, which we calculated it would take us four days to reach. Nothing occurred worth narrating for the next three days.

We had still a march of about twenty-five miles to accomplish, and were looking for a convenient spot to camp in near a stream bordered by a wood, when we heard a low moan, which seemed to proceed from no great distance off.

"That's a human voice," observed Mr Tidey; "some poor fellow wounded by the Indians, or who perhaps has been injured by some other means."

We hunted about, being still uncertain of the exact spot whence the sound proceeded. Again a moan reached our ears, and guided by it we hurried on, when behind a bush we found stretched on the ground, apparently at the last gasp, a negro dressed in the usual costume of the slaves, a rough shirt and loose trousers. His feet were cut and bleeding, probably from the sharp rocks and p.r.i.c.kly bushes among which he had pa.s.sed. He opened his languid eyes as the sound of our footsteps reached his ears, and pointing to his mouth murmured--

"Eat, eat,--ma.s.sa, eat."

Having fortunately the remains of our last dinner in our knapsacks, we were at once able to give him some food, while Mr Tidey poured some rum and water down his throat. The effect was most satisfactory. In a few minutes he was able to sit up, when he gazed at us earnestly.

"Where were you wanting to go, my poor fellow?" asked the Dominie in a kind tone.

The black's eye brightened.

"Oh, ma.s.sa, you kind to poor n.i.g.g.e.r," he said in a weak voice.

"White man or n.i.g.g.e.r, we are all of the same stock, whatever the philosophers may say to the contrary. I won't ask where you came from, except you wish to tell us; but perhaps we can help you on your way if you have friends you desire to reach."

I don't think the black quite understood the Dominie's remarks, but he comprehended enough to know that they were dictated by a kind spirit and that he might trust us.

"You no gib up de poor slave to his hard ma.s.sa?" he said in a whisper, his voice trembling as if he was divulging a secret on which his life depended.

"No, that I'll not," said the Dominie; "I don't hold with those who think they have a right to buy and sell their fellow-creatures, and in my opinion those fellow-creatures are perfectly justified in endeavouring to get away from them, though if I was to say so down east, I might chance to be the victim of 'Lynch law.'"

The countenance of the negro brightened still more.

"Dis n.i.g.g.e.r go whar you go, ma.s.sa," he said, attempting to rise. His strength, however, was insufficient for the exertion, and he sank back to the ground.

"You are not able to journey yet, and it will take you two or three days to regain your strength," observed the Dominie; "so we will camp here, boys, and as we are not expected home for a day or two, it will be no great loss to us. We have light enough yet to shoot our suppers, and I heard a turkey 'gobble' not far off. You stay by the black man, collect wood for a fire and boughs for a shanty, while I go and try my luck."

Saying this, our kind-hearted tutor took his rifle and soon disappeared in the forest. We, in the meantime, were too much occupied in obeying his directions to put any further questions to the negro, whose eyes, however, were turned towards us as we moved about. We had soon collected sufficient fuel to last us during the night, and then employed ourselves in cutting down some young trees and lopping off some boughs.

While thus engaged we heard two shots. A short time afterwards the Dominie appeared, carrying a turkey in one hand and a small fawn over his shoulder.

"We've food here, boys, for ourselves and enough to set the negro on his legs again," he exclaimed as he approached us. "Well done, I see you haven't been idle; now kindle the fire while I fix up the shanty. I should like to get our poor friend here under cover as soon as possible, for more reasons than one, and he'll be the better for a mug of soup."

The Dominie, among other articles, had carried, I should have said, a small saucepan, which had served to fetch water, boil our tea, and was equally applicable for making a small quant.i.ty of soup. While I made up the fire, Dan, having filled the saucepan from the stream, plucked the turkey and cut up a part of it into small pieces. We then put it on to boil. The Dominie in the meantime had flayed the deer and spitted a couple of joints to roast, together with the remainder of the bird.

This done, he finished the shanty, into which we lifted the black, and placed him on a bed of small twigs and leaves, a far more comfortable couch than from his appearance we suspected he had enjoyed for a long time. His looks, more than his words, expressed his grat.i.tude, though he continued to murmur--

"Tankee, tankee, ma.s.sa; G.o.d bless ma.s.sa!" his vocabulary not enabling him to use any set phrases.

It was dark before the soup was ready. As soon as it was sufficiently cool, and I had added some pepper and salt, I took it to him.

"Oh, ma.s.sa! dis too much good to poor n.i.g.g.e.r," he murmured as he supped it up; and almost immediately afterwards sinking back, he fell into a deep slumber.

"I don't care whether the black is a runaway slave or not, but I tell you what, boys, we must be cautious how we proceed with him, the chances are that he is pursued," said the Dominie as we were seated before the fire eating our ample supper. "If so, the fellows who come after him are likely to treat us with scant courtesy."

"I'm sure my father would wish to help the black, if he is a runaway slave, for he hates the system of slavery as much as any man," observed Dan.

"I tell you what we must do, then," continued the Dominie, "if any strangers appear, we must keep him inside the hut and cover him up with boughs and leaves. They will scarcely suspect he is with us, and you must leave me to answer any questions they put to us."

"Suppose they have blood-hounds with them, the brutes are sure to scent him out."

"If we see the dogs approaching, we must shoot them without ceremony, and take our chances of the consequences. I am only supposing what may not happen, but we must be prepared for contingencies."

As on other nights, we kept watch, giving Dan a short one, the Dominie and I taking the longest. Our object, however, was to scare away wolves or bears, for no human enemies were likely to approach us during the night.

We got up as soon as it was daylight, but the black did not awake until the sun rose and we had finished our breakfast. We gave him some more soup, which suited him better than our own fare, but it was evident that he was still too weak to move.

"The chances are that he remains in this state several days, and your mother will become alarmed if you do not make your appearance," said the Dominie. "You know your way home as well as I do, and I wish that you would set off alone, while I remain with the black. State what has happened, and perhaps your father will think fit to send the waggon to bring us in."

As there appeared no objection to this proposal, Dan and I agreed to start immediately. Tears came into the eyes of the negro when we went into the hut to wish him good-bye.

"Oh, ma.s.sa, you like angel from heaven, so good to poor black fellow,"

he exclaimed.

We had a pretty long day's march before us, for although on a beaten road the distance would have been nothing, we had to make our way through forests and across streams and bogs, some pretty rough hills to climb, and valleys to pa.s.s. We carried a portion of the venison with us, which was still uncooked, and felt sure that without going out of our way we should be able to kill something or other to serve us for supper should we not reach home in time. At first we had some difficulty in making our way, and without great care we knew that we might be steering too far to the right or left. Every mile we advanced the country became more and more familiar. At noon we camped, lighted a fire, and cooked the venison. We calculated that by this time we had done about twelve miles, so Dan thought, but I was not quite sure of that. There was no means of ascertaining which was right. "At all events, we must not spend much time here," I exclaimed, as we finished the last of our venison, and jumping up I buckled on my knapsack, and took my rifle in my hand. Dan was in no hurry to start. Seeing that I was determined to go, he got up, and we trudged on together at the same speed as before. We had not got far when, as we reached the brow of a hill, we caught sight of two men on horseback pa.s.sing along the valley at our feet. We instinctively drew back, hoping that we had not been seen, but their voices reached our ears hailing us.

"Hulloa! youngsters, have you seen a n.i.g.g.e.r-boy running in this direction?" asked one of the men as we drew near.

"We have seen no n.i.g.g.e.r-boy running in this direction," I replied, such being the fact.

"If you do, just take him along with you, and threaten to shoot him if he won't move; don't do it though, for he's worth a heap of dollars, and if you don't catch him, some one else will."

"It's not our business to catch runaway slaves," Dan answered unwisely.

"Whew! my young c.o.c.k sparrow, to whom do you belong?" asked the man, squirting a stream of tobacco juice out of his mouth, which Dan narrowly escaped.

"We belong to our father," answered Dan, "and to no one else."

"And who is your father, master c.o.c.k-a-hoop?" asked the man.