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J* i\ Ac'^'^y-f^. t', f t s ROB NIXON, THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. ^ 3^ale of ^entml Sntisl^ l^oit^ ^mtttau BY W. H. G. KINGSTON, ▲ UTHOB OF "PBTXB THX WHALEB ;" "TOUNO rOBRXaTEBt." NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY JAMES MILLER, (BVOOnSOB TO O. B. FRANOIB * 00.) 322 BBOADWAT. 1866. Rio I ROB NIXON, THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. » I CHAPTER I. FiOTUBE a wide, gently undulating expanse of land covered with tall grass, over which, as it bends to the breeze, a gleam of light ever and anon flashes brightly. It is a roll- ing prairie in Korth America, midway be- tween the Atlantic and Paciflc oceans. On either hand the earth and sky seem to unite, without an object to break the line of the horizon, except in the far distance, where some tall trees, by a river's side, shoot up out of the plain, but appear no higher than a garden hedge-row. It is truly a wilder- 10 ROB NIXON, ness, which no wise man would attempt to traverse without a guide. That man has wandered there, the rem- nants of mortality which lie scattered about — a skull and the bare ribs seen as the wind blows the grass aside — afford melancholy evidence. A nearer inspection shows a rifle, now covered with rust, a powder-flask, a sheath-knife, a flint and steel, and a few other metal articles of hunters' gear. Those of more destructible materials have disap- peared before the ravenous jaws of the hosts of locusts which have swept over the plain. Few portions of the earth's. surface give a more complete idea of boundless extent than the American prairie. "Not a sound is heard. The silence itself is awe-inspiring. The snows of* winter have lain thickly on that plain, storms have swept over it, the rain has fallen, the lightning flashed, the thunder roared, since it has been trodden by the foot of man. Perhaps the last human being who \ I THE OLD WHITK TBAPPEB. has attempted to cross it was he whose bones lie blanching in the summer sun— «that sun which now, having some time passed its meridian height, is sinking towards the west. Southward appear, coming as it were from below the horizon, some dark specks, scat- tered widely from east to west, and moving slowly. On they come, each instant in- creasing in numbers, till they form one dark line. They are animals with huge heads and dark shaggy manes, browsing as they advance, clearing the herbage before them. They are a herd of bison, known by the wild hunters of the west as buffaloes — countless apparently in numbers — powerful and fero- cious in appearance, with their short thick horns and long heads. Kow they halt, as the richer pasturage entices ; now again ad- vance. A large number lie down to rest, while others, moving out of the midst, seem to be acting as scouts to give notice of the 12 ROB NIXON, approach of danger. They go on as before, darkening the whole southern horizon. The wind is from the west; the scouts lift up their shaggy heads and sniff the air, but dis- cover no danger. From the east another dark line rises quickly above the horizon : the ground shakes with the tramp of horses. It is a troop of huntsmen — savage warriors of the desert. What clothing they wear is of leather gayly adorned. Some have feath- ers in their heads, and their dark red skins painted curiously. Some carry bows richly ornamented: a few only are armed with rifles. A few, who, by their dress, the feathers and adornments of the head, appear to be chiefs, ride ahead and keep the line in order. Every man holds his weapon ready for instant use. They advance steadily, keeping an even line. Their leader waves his rifle. Instantly the steeds spring for- ward. Like a whirlwind they dash on : no want of energy now. The huntsmen are ■ s TBS OLD WHITB TaAPP£B. 13 amoDg the bewildered herd before their ap> proacli has been perceived. Arrows fly in quick succession from every bow — bullets from the rifles. The huntsmen have flUed their mouths with the leaden messengers of death, and drop them into their rifles as they gallop on, firing right and left — singling out the fattest beasts at a glance — and never erring in theu aim. In a few minutes the plain is thickly strewn with the huge car- casses of the shaggy bu£faloes, each hunts- man, as he passes on, dropping some article of his property by which he may know the beast he has killed. Kow the herd begin to seek for safety in flight, still keeping in the direction they had before been taking, some scattering, however, on each side. The eager hunters pursue till the whole prairie, from right to left, is 'covered with flying buffaloes and wild horsemen ; the crack of the rifles sounding distinctly through the calm, summer air, in which the tiny wreath 2* 14 SOB NIXON, of smoke ascends unbroken and marks the hunter's progress. Among the huntsmen rides one distin- guished from the rest by his more complete, yet less ornamented clothing ; by a leather cap without feathers, and by the perfect order of his rifle and hunting accoutrements. On a nearer inspection, his skin — though tanned, and wrinkled, and furrowed, by long exposure to the weather, and by age and toil — might 1)3 discovered to have been of a much lighter hue originally than that of his companions. Old as he was, no one was more eager in the chase, and no one's rifle brought down so great a number of buffaloes as did his. To all appearance he was as active and strong as the youngest huntsman of the band. In the course of the hunt he had reached the extreme left of the line. A superb bull appeared before him. " I'll have you for your robe, if not for your meat, old fellow," exclaimed the hunter, galloping on THE OLD WHITB TBAFPEB. 15 towards the animal's right flank, so as to turn him yet further from the herd, and to obtain a more direct shot at his head or at his shoulders. There are occasions when the most practised of shots will find himself at fault — ^the firmest nerves will fail. The old hunter had reached a satisfactory position — he raised his rifle, and fired. At that in- stant, while still at full speed, his horse's front feet sunk into a hole made by a badger, or some other of the smaller creatures in- habiting the prairie ; and the animal, nnable to recover itself, threw the hunter violently forward over its head, where he lay without moving, and apparently dead. The horse struggled to free itself; and then, as it fell forward, gave utterance to one of those piercing cries of agony not often heard, and, when heard, not to be forgotten. Both fore- legs were broken. Its fate was certain. It must become the prey of the ravenous wolves, who speedily scent out the spots 16 ROB NIXON, , '.f where the hunters have overtaken a herd of buffaloes. Meantime the buffalo, who had been struck by the hunter's bullet, but not so wounded as to bring him instantly to the gi'ound, galloped on for some distance in the direction he was before going, when, feeling the pain of his wound, or hearing the cry of the horse, he turned round to face his enemies. Seeing both steed and rider pros- trate, he tossed his head, and then, lowering his horns close, to the ground, prepared to charge. The last moments of the old hunter seemed approaching. The cry of agony- uttered by his favorite steed roused him. He looked up and saw the buffalo about to make its charge. His hand had never re- laxed its grasp of his rifle. To feel for his powder-flask and to load was the work of an instant ; and, without an attempt to rise, he brought the muzzle of his piece to bear on the furious animal as it was within a few paces of him. "Kob Nixon never feared \ •• fF^^OJK.J "TSSSSSSH"'!!!'' TUB OLD WHITB TRAPPEB. 17 man nor beast, and will not this time, let an old bull bellow as loud as he may," he mut- tered, as he raised his rifle and fired. The bullet took effect, but did not stop the head- long career of the enraged monster, which came on, ploughing up the ground, towards him. The hunter saw his danger and tried to rise, but in vain. He then made a despe- rate endeavor to drag himself out of the way of the creature. He but partially suc- ceeded, when the buffalo, sinking down, rolled over and over, crushing, with his huge carcass, the already injured legs and lower extremities of the unfortunate hunter. In spite of the pain he was enduring, the old man, raising himself on his elbow, grimly surveyed his conquered foe : " You've the worst of it, though you nearly did for me, I own," he exclaimed, nodding his head ; " but a miss is as good as a mile, and when I'm free of you, maybe I'll sup off your hump." 18 BOB KIXON, : t To liberate himself from the monster's carcass was, however, no easy task, injured as he was already by his fall, and by the weight of the buffalo pressing on him. He made several attempts, but the pain was very great, and he found that his strength was failing him. While resting, before making another attempt to move, he per- ceived his poor horse, whose convulsive struggles showed how much he had been in- jured. On looking round, also, he discov- ered that the accident had taken place in a slight hollow, which, shallow as it was, shut him out from the view of his companions, who were now pursuing the remainder of the herd at a considerable distance from where he lay. Again and again he tried to drag his injured limbs from beneath the buffalo. He had never given in while con- sciousness remained, and many were the ac- cidents which had happeaed to him during his long hunter's life. Would he give in "MMiffitMS: THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 19 now? **No, not I," he muttered; "Rob Nixon is not the boy for that." At length, however, his spirit succambed to bodily suf- fering, and he sank back exhausted and fainting, scarcely conscious of what had happened, or where he was. Had he re- tained sufficient strength to fire his rifle he might have done so, and summoned some of the hunters to his assistance; but he was unable even to load it, so it lay useless by his side. Thus he remained; time passed by — no one approached him — the sun sank in the horizon— darkness came on. It ap* peared too probable that the fate of many a hunter in that vast prairie would be his. How long he had remained in a state of stupor he could not tell-; consciousness returned at length, and, revived by the cool air of night, he sat up and gazed about him. The stars had come out and were shining brilliantly overhead, enabling him to see to the extent of his limited horizon. The dead buffalo 20 BOB NIXON, still pressed on his legs — a hideous night- mare ; his horse lay near, giving vent to his agony in piteous groans, and every iiow and then making an attempt to rise to his feet. " My poor mustang, you are in a bad way, I fear,'' said the hunter, in a tone of commiser- ation, forgetting his own sufferings; "I would put an end to thy misery, and so render thee the only service in my power, but that I cannot turn myself to load my rifle. Alack I alack ! we shall both of us ere long be food for the wolves ; but, though I must meet my fate as becomes a man, I would save you — ^poor, dumb brute that you are — ^from being torn by their ravenous fangs while life remains in you." Such were the thoughts which passed through the hunter's mind, for it can scarcely be said he spoke them aloud. He would probably again have relapsed into a state of stupor, but that a hideous howl, borne by the night breeze, reached THE OLD WHITB TRAPPEB. 21 his ears. " Wolves 1" he exclaimed ; " ah I I know you, you brutes." The howl was repeated again and again, its increased loudness, showing that the creatures were approaching. The well-known terrible sounds roused up the old hunter to make renewed exertions to extricate himself. This time, by dint of dragging himself out with his arms, he succeeded in getting his feet from under the bufifalo; but he then dis- covered, to his dismay, that his thigh had either been broken, or so severely sprained by his fall, that to walk would be impos- sible. He managed, however, to load his rifle. Scarcely had he done so when the struggles of his horse reminded him of the pain the poor animal was suffering. Al- though he knew that every charge of powder in his flask would be required for his own defence, he did not hesitate in per- forming the act of mercy which the case re- quired. He uttered no sentimental speech, 22 ROB NIXON, tbongh a pang of grief passed throngh his heart as he pointed the weapon at the horse's head. His aim was true, and ^the noble animal fell dead. ^^ He's gone ; not long before me, I guess," he muttered, as he reloaded his piece. " Those brutes will find me out, there is no doubt about that ; but I'll have a fight first — Rob Nixon will die game." The old hunter drew a long knife from a sheath at his side, and, deliberately examining its point, placed it on the ground near him while he reloaded his rifie. Thus did the old man prepare for an inevitable and dreadful death, as he believed ; yet not a prayer did he offer up, not a thought did he cast at the future. Eternity, heaven, and hell, were matters unknown ; or, if once* known, long since forgotten. Yet forgetfnl- ness of a fact will not do away with it. They are awful realities, and will assuredly be found such, however much men may strive to banish them from their thoughts. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 23 The young especially are surprised to hear that old men have forgotten what they learned in their youth, that they neglect to pray, to read the Bible, to think about God and their own souls ; but let them be as- sured that if once they give up the habit of praying, of studying God's holy Word, of obeying His commands, there is one ever ready to persuade them that there is no harm in this neglect ; that it will save them much trouble ; and that it is far more manly to neglect prayers, to be irreligious and profane, than to love, serve, and obey their Maker. A downward course is sadly easy ; let them beware of taking the first step. Each step they take in the wrong di- rection they will find it more and more diflBcult to recover, till, like the old hunts- man, they' will cease to care about the matter, and God will no longer be in their thoughts. There lay that old man on the wild prairie, a melancholy spectacle, — not 24 SOB inxoN, 80 much that he was surrounded by dangers — that he was wounded and crippled — that wild beasts were near him — that, if he escaped their fangs, starvation threatened him, — but that he had no hope for the future— that he had no trust in God — that he had not laid hold of the means of salvation. As Rob Nixon lay on the ground, support- ing his head on his arm, he turned his gaze round and round, peering into the darkness to watch for any thing moving near him. He knew that before the sun set his Indian comrade© would have carried off the flesh from the buffaloes they had killed, and that after that they would move their camp to a distance, no one being likely to return. He probably would not be missed for some time, and, when missed, it would be supposed that he had fallen into the hands of the Salteux, or Ojibways, the hereditary enemies of their nation, and / THE OLD WHITE TBAPPER. 25 that already his scalp had been carried off as a trophy by those hated foes. ** They'll revenge me, that's one comfort ; and the Ojibways will got paid for wliat the wolves have done." These were nearly the last thoughts which passed through the brain t of the old hunter, as the howls and yelps of the wolves, which had formed a dreadful concert at a distance around him, approached still nearer. "I guessed the vermin wouldn't be long in finding me out," he muttered; and, on looking up, he saw through the darkness, glaring fiercely down on him from the edge of the hollow in which he lay, the eyes of a pack of wolves. " I'll stop the howling of some of you," he exclaimed, lifting his rifle. There was no cry ; but a gap in the circle of eyes showed that a wolf had fallen, and in- stantly afterwards the loud barking and yelp- ing proved that the savage creatures were tearing their companion to pieces. This gave time to the old man to reload and to 26 BOB NIXON, pick off another wolf. In thk manner he killed several, and, though he did not drive them away, they were prevented from ap- proaching nearer. On finding that such was the case, his hopes of escaping their fangs rose slightly, at the same time that the lightness of his powder-flask and bullet- bag told him that his ammunition would soon fail, and that then he would have his hunting-knife alone on which to depend. He accordingly waited, without again firing, watching his foes, who continued howling and wrangling over the bodies of their fel- lows. Now and then one would descend a short way into the hollow, attracted by the scent of the dead horse and buffalo, but a sudden shout from the old hdnter kept the intruders at a respectful distance. He was well aware, however, that should exhausted nature for one instant compel him to drop asleep, the brutes would be upon him, and tear him limb from limb. Thus the hours THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 27 of the night passed slowly along. Many men would have succumbed ; but, hardened by a long life of danger and activity, Robert Nixon held out bravely, in spite of the pain, and thirst, and hunger from which he was suffering. Never for one moment was his eye off his enemies, while his fingers were on the trigger ready to shoot the first which might venture to approach. More than once he muttered to himself, "It must be near morning, and then these vermin will take themselves off, and let me have some rest. Ah, rest ! that's the very thing I have been wanting," he continued ; " it's little enough I've ever had of it. I've been working away all my life, and where's the good I've got out of it ? There's been something wrong, I suppose, but I can't make it out. Rest I Yes, that's it. I should just like to find my- self sitting in my lodge among a people who don't care, like these Dakotahs, to be always fighting or hunting ; but they are not a bad 28 BOB inxoN, <i people, and they've been good friends to me, and I've no fault to find with their ways, though I'll own they're more suited to young men than to an old one like me. But there's little use my thinking this. Maybe, I shall never see them or any other of my fellow- creatures again." It was only now and then that his mind framed any thoughts as co- herent as these ; generally he remained in a dreamy condition, only awake to the ex- ternal objects immediately surrounding him. Gradually, too, his strength began to fail, though he was not aware of the fact. The howls, and barks, and snarling, and other hideous sounds made by the wolves, in- creased. He could see them moving about in numbers, around the edge of the basin, their red fiery eyes ever and anon glaring down on him. At last they seemed to be holding a consultation, and to have settled their disputes, probably from not having longer a bone of contention unpicked \ . THE OLD WHITE TEAPPEB. 29 among them. They were evidently, once more, about to make an attack on him. A large brute, who had long been prowling round, first crept on, gnashing his teeth. The old man lifted his rifle, and the crea- ture, with a loud cry, fell dead. Another and another came on, and, before he could load, the foremost had got close up to him. He fired at the animal's head. It rolled over, and, the flash of his rifle scaring the rest, with hideous yelps they took to flight, the old man firing after them directly he could reload. He could scarcely believe that he was to remain unmolested, and, once more loading his rifle, he rested as before, on his arm, watching for their re- appearance. Gradually, however, exhausted nature gave way, and he sank down uncon- scious on the ground, to sleep, it might be, the sleep of death. 8* 30 BOB NIXON, -,v CHAPTER n. The sun rose and shone forth brightly on the earth. There was the sound of winged creatures in Robert Nixon's ears as he once more awoke and gazed languidly around. His first impulse was to attempt to rise, but the anguish he suffered the instant he moved reminded him of the injuries he had received. Yain were his efforts ; to stand up was im- possible. Although the wolves for the time were gone, they, to a certainty, would return at night, and thus, without ammunition, how could he defend himself against them ? Ho might subsist on the meat of the buffalo for a day or two, but that would soon become uneatable, and as he could scarcely hope to recover from his hurt for many days ; even if THE OLD WHITE TBAFPEB. 31 he escaped the wolves, he must die of star- yation. Again he sank into a state of men- tal stupor, though his eye still remained cog- nizant of external obj ects. As the old hunter thus lay on the ground his eye fell on a horseman riding rapidly by. He was a Sal- teux, or Ojibway Indian, a people having a deadly feud with his friends, the Sioux. The sight roused him. To kill the man and cap- ture his horse was the idea which at once occurred to him. Rousing himself by a violent exertion he levelled his rifle and flred. Not for an instant did he hesitate about taking the life of a fellow-creature. That fellow-creature was a foe of his friends, whose badge he wore, and would, he be- lieved, kill him if he was discovered. He had miscalculated his powers — his eye had grown dim, his arm had lost its nerve ; the bullet which once would have proved a sure messenger of death flew wide of its mark, and the Indian sat his horse unharmed. He 82 ROB NIXON, ■^' I. turned, however, immediately, and galloped towards the spot whence the shot came. The old hunter had expended his last bullet. With grim satisfaction he awaited the In- dian's approach, and the expected flourish of the scalping knife, or the kinder blow of the tomahawk, which would deprive him at once of life. " Better so than be torn by the fangs of those vermin the wolves,'^ he mut- tered, for though he clutched his knife to strike back, he well knew that he was at the mercy of his adversary. The Indian, though a rifle hung at his back, rode stead- ily up without unslinging it. "A friend!" he shouted in the Salteux, or Ojibway dialect; "a friend! fire not again.'' " A friend ! How so ?" exclaimed the old hunter. "Your people and mine are mortal foes." " I would be a friend to all the suffer- ing and distressed," was the unexpected lot he ire ed THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 83 answer. "I see what has happened — you have fought bravely for your life ; the re- mains of the wolves tell me that, but before another sun has risen you would have been torn limb from limb by their fellows. Truly I am thankful that I was sent to save yon from death." "Sent! Who sent you?" cried the old hunter, gazing up at the strange Indian. The other having just dismounted from his horse stood looking compassionately down on him. * " He who watches over the fatherless and widows, and all who are distressed," an- swered the Indian. "A generous kind person I doubt not, but I know of none such in this land ; He must live far away from here," said the old hunter. " He lives in heaven, and His eye is every- where," said the Indian, solemnly. "He loves all mankind ; without His will not a u BOB mXOTSf, sparrow falls to the ground ; and I am sure, therefore, that it was His will that I should come to you." " Truly you speak strange words for a redskin I" exclaimed the hunter. *^ I have heard long ago white men talk as you, but never an Indian. You are one I see ; there is no deceiving me. I cannot under- stand the matter." " I will tell you as we go along," said the Indian; "but we must no longer delay, father ; we have many miles to travel be- fore we can reach my people, and I kno\^ not how I can restore you to your friends. It wdiild be dangerous for me to approach them, for they could not understand how i can only wish them good." "I will go with you, friend," said the old man. "I would gladly dwell with your people, and hear more of those strange matters of which you have been speaking." Without further exchange of words the THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 35 Indian, having examined the old man's hurts, gave him some dried meat and a draught from his water-flask, and lifted him with the utmost care on his horse ; he then took the hunter's rifle and horse's trappings before moving off. He also secured the tongue and hump, and some slices from the buffalo's back, which he hung to his saddle- bow. "We may require more provision than our own rifles can supply before we reach our journey's end," he observed ; as he did so, pointing to the northeast. Eobert Nixon without hesitation yielded to all his suggestions. The day was already considerably ad- vanced, and the Indian seemed anxious to push on. Keeping up a rapid pace, he walked by the side of his companion, who, overcome by weakness and want of sleep, would have fallen off, had not his strong arm held him on. Thus they jour- 86 BOB NIXON, neyed, hour after hour, across the prairie. The Indian, from the first, employed various devices for rendering his trail invisible. On starting, he moved for some distance west- ward, till he reached the bed of a small stream, on which even the sharp eye of a native could scarcely perceive a trace; then, circling round, he commenced his intended course. Many miles were passed over, and the bank of a rapid river was reached, when the setting sun warned him that it was time to encamp. Instead, how- ever, of doing so, he at once led his horse into the stream, and, keeping close to the shore, waded against the current, often having the water up to his waist for a con- siderable distance ; then, coming to a ford, he crossed over and continued along in the same direction, till he once more returned to dry ground. The bank was fringed on each side by a belt of trees, which in the warm weather of summer afforded ample THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 87 ehelter from the dew, and concealment from any passing enemy. The chief trees were poplar, willow, and alder; but there were also sprnce and birch Round the latter lay large sheets of the bark. A quantity of those the Indian at once col- lected, and with some thin poles, which he cut with his hatchet, he rapidly con- structed a small hut or wigwam, strewing the floor with the young shoots of the spruce-fir. On this couch he placed his injured companion, putting his saddle under his head as a pillow. He then brought the old man some food and water, and next pro- ceeded to examine his hurts with more at- tention than he had beforr been able to be- stow. Bringing water from tht river, he fomented his bruises for a long time, and then, searching for some leaves of a plant possessed of healing qualities, he bound them with strips of soft leather round his swollen limbs. 4 ..-•^ 38 ROB NIXON, More than once the old hunter expressed his surprise that a stranger should care so much for him, and should actually feed and tend him before he had himself partaken of food and rested. " I serve a loving Master, and I am but obeying His wishes," was the laconic an- swer. " Yery strange I very strange!" again and again muttered the old man. " You must tell me something about that Master of yours. I cannot understand who He can be." " I will not disappoint you, father, for I love to speak of Him," said the Indian ; ^* I will come anon, and sit by your side, and tell you what I know. It will interest you, « I doubt not, and maybe you will wish to know more about Him." Some time passed, however, before the Indian was able to fulfil his promise. He had to tend his horse, and to set some traps to catch any small game 1 ' ,1 n THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 39 which might pass, and to search for cer- tain roots and berries for food. He showed, too, by all his movements, that he considered himself in an enemy's coun- try, or in the neighborhood of an enemy from whom it was necessary to keep con- cealed. When he came back the old man had fallen asleep. "Let him sleep on," said the Indian to himself; " our Father in Heaven will watch over and protect us both. I would that I could, watch, but my body requires rest.". Having tethered his horse close at hand, strewed the ground with a few spruce fir-tops, and placed his rifle by his side, he knelt down and prayed, not as once to Manitou, to the Great Spirit, the un- known God, but to the true God — a God no longer feared as a worker of evil, but beloved as the source of all good, of all blessings, spiritual and temporal. His 40 BOB NIXON, prayer fiDished, he stretched himself on his couch, and was in an instant asleep. The silvery streaks of early dawn were just appearing in the eastern sky, seen amid the foliage of the wood, when the Indian, impulsively grasping his rifle, started to his feet. His quick ear had caught, even in his sleep, the sound of a distant shot. It might be fired by a friend, but very likely by a foe, and it behooved him to be on the alert. The old hunter heard it also, but it did not awake him. " Ah ! they are on us. No matter, we'll fight for our lives," he muttered in his sleep. " Hurrah, lads ! Kob Nixon will not yield — ^never, while he's an arm to strike." He spoke in English, which the Indian seemed to understand, though the observa- tion he made was in his own language. "Our own arms will do little for us, father, unless we trust in Him who is all- powerful to save.** THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 41 His voice awoke the old man, who sat up and looked around from out of his hut. Seeing the Indian in the altitude of listening, he at once comprehended the state of matters. "Few or many, I'll stand oj you, friend Redskin," he exclaimed, apparently forget- ting his helpless condition ; " load my rifle, and hand it to me. If foes are coming, they shall learn that Rob Nixon has not lost the use of his arms and eyes, whatever he may have of his legs." "I doubt not your readiness to fight, father," said the Indian, addressing the old man thus, to show his respect for age ; " but we may hope to avoid the ne- cessity of having to defend ourselves. Friends, and not foes, may be near us, or we may escape discovery ; or, what is better still, we may overcome the en- mity of those who approach us with bad intent." 42 ROB NIXON, "Yonr talk is again strange, as it was yesterday," answered the hunter. " I know not what you mean by overcoming enmity. There is only one way that I have ever found answer, both with pale-faces and redskins, and that is by killing your enemy." "Try what kindness will do, father. Love is the law of the true God," said the Indian ; " but we will anon talk of these things. I will go forth and learn what the shot we heard just now means." " Load my rifle, and give it me first, I pray you," said the white hunter ; " I have great faith in my old way of doing things, and am not likely to change." The Indian loaded the i-ifle and handed it to him, and, without saying a word more, set off through the wood, and was soon out of sight. Rob INTixon lay still, with his rifle resting across his body, ready to fire should an enemy appear. Over and THE OLD WHITE TBAFPEB. 43 over again he muttered : " Strang^ I strange I that a redskin should talk so. I cannot make it out." Several minutes passed by, and the In- dian did not return. The old man grew more anxious than he would have acknow- ledged to himself. He had some natural feeling on his own account, should his new friend have been cut off, but he was also anxious for that new friend, to whom he could not but be grateful for the service he had rendered him. At length he saw the bushes move, and the Indian appeared, and crept close up to him. " There are foes, and many of them," he said, in a low voice ; " they are near at h-and, but they are not seeking for us ; and thus, if they do not cross our trail, we may yet es- cape discovery." The Indian had already concealed his horse in a thicket, and by carefully sur- rounding the spot where they lay with u BOB NIXON, boughs their little camp was completely hidden from the sight of any casual passer by. The boughs he had cut from the inter- ior part of a thicket, for had they been taken from the outer side the eye of an In- dian would at once have observed the white stumps which were left, Again, by cross- ing the river in the mode tLey had done, there was no trail to lead to their camp. For these reasons the Indian and the white hunter had good cause to believe that they might escape discovery. As their enemies were as yet at some distance, it was not deemed necessary to keep altogether silent. The old hunter was the most loquacious. " I would, friend Redskin," said he, " that I had the use of my legs and half a dozen of my old companions at my back, and I wouldn't fear as to holding my own against three-score or more of Crees, or Ojibways ; no offence to you, friend ; for there are not many like youj I guess." m THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 45 "Your people fight bravely but fool- ishly, according to Indian notions," an- swered the Indian; "for, instead of ad- vancing on their foes under shelter and trying to take them unawares, they dress themselves in fine clothes, make a great noise when going forth to battle, and expose their bodies to be shot at. I was once esteemed a mighty warrior, and was a man of blood; I have engaged in much fighting, but would now wish to bury the hatchet of war with all the world. I thank you for what you say of me ; but things of which I once boasted, I boast of no longer. I am a chief of many people ; but instead, as at one time, of wishing to lead them to war, I now desire to lead them to a know- ledge of the Lord and Master whom I serve — the Saviour of the world." "Every man to his taste, friend Red- skin," said the old hunter; "when I was a young man like you I could not have V 46 BOB NIXON, fighting or hunting enough. Now, I own, I am growing somewhat weary of the work ; and if we get to the end of this journey with our scalps on, maybe I'll settle down with your people." It may seem strange that the old man could not comprehend what was the mean- ing of the Indian, when he spoke thus. If he had a glimmering of the truth, he turned away from it. Many do the same. Felix has numberless imitators. Both the Indian and Rob Nixon were silent for some min- utes, attentively listening for the approach of the strangers. Not a sound, however, being heard, they began to hope that their enemies had gone a different way. " There'll be no fighting this time, I guess, friend Redskin," said the old man. "It's all the better, too, considering that, you don't seem much inclined for it ; and I'm not in the best trim for work of that sort, or any work, truth to say." ■■♦: r W^ THE OLD "WHITE TRAPPER. 47 Rob Nixon had remarked that the Indian had winced more th*» once when addressed as Redskin, which was cer- tainly not a respectful or complimentary mode of. addressing him. The reason of this became still more evident when he spoke of himself as a chief. Chiefs in general would not for an instant have suffered such familiar- ity. Rob Nixon saw that it was time to apologize. He did so in his own way. " I say, friend, I've just a thing to ask you. You've a name, I doubt not, showing forth some of the brave deeds you have done, the enemies you have slain, the miles you have run, the rivers you have swam across, the bears you have captured, or the beavera you have trapped. Tell me, what is it? for I've a notion the one I've been giving you is not altogether the right or a pleasant one." The Indian smiled, as he answered quietly, " The name I bear, and the only one by which I desire to be called, is Peter. It was # 1 1 I II 48 ROB NIXON, ^i;t: given me, not for killing men or slaughter- ing beasts, but at my baptism, when I was received into the Church of Christ, and un- dertook to love, honor, serve, and obey Him in all things as my Lord and Master." " Peter I Peter ! that's a strange name for an Injun," said the white hunter half to him- self. "Why, that's such a name as they give in the old country to a Christian." "' And I, too, am a Christian, though an unworthy one, father," answered the Indian, humbly. " Never heard before of a Christian In- jun!" exclaimed the old man bluntly ; "but strange things happen, I'll allow. I don't doubt your word; mind that, friend. It was strange that when you saw I was a friend of the Dakotahs you didn't scalp me, without asking questions, and leave me to be eaten by wolves. That's the true Injun way. It was strange that you should take me up, put me on your horse, walk yourself THE OLD WHITE TRAPFEB. 49 all these miles, with some hundreds more before you, and risk your own life to save mine. All that is strange, I say ; and so, friend, I don't know what other strange things may happen. "Well, if so you wish, I'll call you Peter ; but I'd rather by far call you by your Injun name. It was a good one, I'll warrant. Come, tell it now. You need not be ashamed of it." " In the sight of man I am not ashamed of it, for by most of my people I am called by it still ; bur in the sight of God I am ashamed of it, and still more am I ashamed of the deeds which gained it for me. How, think you, blood-stained and guilty as I was, could I stand in the presence of One pure, holy, loving, and merciful? I tell you, aged friend, neither you nor I, nor any man, could appear before God without fear and trembling, if it were not that He is a God of love, and that through His great love for us, His creatures, whom He has placed on the 4 II 60 BOB inxoN, world, He sent His .only Son, that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The youi.g Christian Indian warmed, as he went on in his discourse, which was inter- mingled with many beautiful illustrations and figures of speech, which it would be vain to attempt to translate. Gradually he thus unfolded the fundamental truths of the Gospel. The old white hunter listened, and even listened attentively; but, far from warming, seemed scarcely to comprehend what was said. "Strange! very strange I" he muttered frequently ; " and that an Injun should talk thus. Forty years I lived among the red- skins, and never believed that they knew more than their fathers." Peter, as he desired to be called, — though his heathen name was Aronhiakeura, or otherwise the Fiery Arrow, from the rapid- ity of his onslaught and the devastation he it THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 8f Iw )r caused, — now stated his belief that they might venture to proceed without the like- lihood of being molested. Scarcely, how- ever, had he emerged from their leafy cover when another shot was tired close to them ; and, before he coirid again seek concealment, three fully armed Dakotahs appeared direct- ly in front of him. The Dakotahs instantly rushed behind the trees, to serve as shields should he fire, but he held up his hands to show that he was unarmed, and in a low voice entreated his companion to remain quiet. That resistance would be hopeless was evident by the appearance, directly afterwards, of a dozen or more Indians, who were seen flitting amidst the wood, each man obtaining the best shelter in his power. Peter stood fully exposed to view, without flinching or even contemplating concealing himself. Fearless behavior is sure to obtain the admiration of Indians. Naturally suspicious, they possibly sup- 52 ROB NIXON, posed that he had a strong force concealed somewhere near at hand, and that they had themselves fallen into an ambush. Had they found and followed up his trail, they would have discovered exactly the state of the case. That he had a wounded compan- ion would not have escaped their notice, and that he had but one horse, and travelled slowly would also have been known to them. By his having crossed the stream, however, and come along its bed for some distance, they were at fault in this respect. , Peter kept his post without flinching ; he well knew that the Dakotahs were watching him ; indeed, here and there he could dis- tinguish the eye of a red-skinned warrior glimmering, or the top of a plume waving among the trunks of the trees or brush- wood. . , .. - All the time Hob Nixon, on his part, was watching his preserver with intense anxiety. He had conceived a warm regard for him, THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 53 and, knowing the treachery so often ex- hibited by the natives, trembled for his safety. Peter, at length, waved his hand to show that he was about to speak. " "What seek you, friends ?" he said in a calm tone ; " I am a man of peace, I desire to be friends with all men, and to injure no one; moreover, I would that you and all men had the wisdom and enjoyed the happi- ness which I possess. See, I cannot harm you." As he spoke, he raised up both his hands high in the air. -^ The Dakotahs, totally unaccustomed to an address of this description, were greatly as- tonished. Their chief, not to be undone in fearlessness, stepped from behind his covert, completely exposing himself to view. "Who are you, friend? and whence do you come ?" he asked ; " you cannot be what you seem ?" . - " I am a man like yourself, friend, and I 5* Jt-vi^-' 54 ROB NIXON, / am truly what I seem — a native of this land, and of a tribe unhappily constantly at en- mity with yours," answered Peter firmly ; " but know, O chief, that I differ from many of my people; that I love you and your people, and all mankind. Will you listen to the reason of this ? Let your people ap- pear, there is no treachery intended them ; I am in your power — why doubt my word ?" One by one the Dakotahs crept from be- hind the trees which had concealed them, and a considerable number assembled in front of the Indian, who spoke to them of the Gospel of love, and of the glorious scheme of redemption. They listened attentively; most of them with mute astonishment. Now and then one of the chief men would give way to his feelings by a sound signifying either appro- bation or dissent, but not a remark was uttered till the speaker ceased. For a time all were silent, then with />■ ' THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 55 gravity and deliberation one of the chiefs waved his hand and observed — " These are strange words the man speaks — he must be a great medicine man." " Truly he has the wisdom of the white faces," said a second ; " has he their treach- ery? Can he be trusted?" "The things he says may be true, but they concern not us," remarked a third. " WikH i is wisdom, whoever speaks it," said a gic4./e old warrior, who had. shown himself as active in his movements as the youngest of his companions. "What the stranger tells us of must be as good for one man as for another. Rest is good for the weary ; who among my brothers, too, would not rather serve a powerful and kind chief than an inferior and merciless one. He tells us of rest for the weary; of a great and good chief, who can give us all things to make us happy, — I like his discourse, my brothers." c 56 BOB NIXON > The last speaker seemed to be carrying several with him, when another started up exclaiming — " "What the stranger says comes from the pale-faces — it may be false ; there must be some treacherous design in it. Let us rather dance this night the scalp-dance round his scalp than listen to his crafty tales. See, I fea,r him not." The savage, as he spoke, lifted his rifle and was abort to fire it at Peter, when the rest drew him back, crying out — " He is a medicine man — a great medicine man, and may work us ill; interfere not with him ; though we do not listen to his counsel, let him go free. Even now, while we are speaking, we know not what injury he may be preparing to do us !" Thus the discussion went on for a consider- able time, Peter waiting patiently for its re- sult. Although the speakers had retired rather THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. too far off for him to hear all that was said, he gathered sufficient to know the tenor of the discussion ; still, no fear entered his bosom, he knew that his life was in the hand of One mighty to save. While he stood waiting the result he prayed for himself certainly, but yet more earnestly that the truth might be brought home to the dark hearts of his countrymen. North American Indians are deliberate in their councils. Peter knew that his fate would not be decided quickly ; but neither by word, look, nor action did he show the slightest impatience. The old white hunter, meantime, had made up his mind to risk every thing rather than allow any injury, which he could avert, to happen to his new friend. That they would recognize him, he had no doubt; and the fact that he was found in company with a member of a hostile tribe would be considered so suspicious, that they would possibly put ll 68 ROB NIXON, him to death without stopping to ask questions. However, should Peter be killed or made prisoner by the Dakotahs, he would be left to perish ; so that he felt, indeed, that his fate depended on that of his friend. From where he lay he could see, amid the branches, the Indians holding their council. His trusty rifle was by his side, and noiselessly he brought it to cover their principal chief. His purpose was to fire at the first hostile movement, hoping that on the fall of their leader the Indians, fancying that they had got into a trap, would take to flight. At length the Da- kotahs' leader advanced a few steps. He little thought that the lifting his hand with a menacing gesture might cost him his life. "Stranger, with you we would gladly smoke the pipe of peace," he began ; " but your ways are not our ways, or your no- tions our notions — we have nothing in THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 59 common. Go as you came; we wish to have no communication with you. We desire not to desert our fathers' ways as you have done ; yet, undoubtedly, the Spirit you serve w" piv '3t you — go— fo -go, ?> In vain Peter entreated the savages to hear him once again, assuring them that he would tell them only what was for their good. One by one they quitted the spot where the council had been held ; the first walked off with becoming dig- nity, but, as more departed, the pace of each in succession increased, till the last scampered off almost as fast as his legs would carry him, fearful lest he should be overtaken by the strangg medicine man, whose supposed incantations he dreaded. Peter was loss astonished than a white man would have been at the be- havior of his countrymen. Still, he had gained an unexpected triumph. The Da- .*■ < 'J 60 BOB NIXON, kotahs did not stop, even to look behind tiiem, but continued their course towards the west, through the wood and across the prairie, till they were lost to sight in the distance. The old hunter, to his surprise, saw Peter fall on his knees, on the spot where he had been standing, to return thanks to Heaven for his de- liverance from a danger, far greater than it might appear to those unacquainted with Indian customs, for seldom or never do two parties of the Dakotahs and Ojib- ways encounter each other, without the stronger endeavoring to destroy the weaker with the most remorseless cruelty. Mercy is never asked for nor expected. The scalp- ing knife is employed on the yet living victim, should the tomahawk have left its work unfinished. •i.:5K -'S^\ .^ ■'•^^. THE OLD WHITE TBAPPBB. 61 ' ' '^ CHAPTEE III. " Well, you are a wonderful man, friend Peter," exclaimed Robert Nixon, when the Indian returned to hini and narrated what had occurred ; " I nev6r yet hare seen the like of it.'' "The reason is simply this, father, most men trust to their own strength and wis- dom, and fail. I go forth in the strength of One all-powerful, and seek for guidance from One all-wise," answered the Indian, humbly. " It is thus I succeed." "That's curious, what you say, friend Redskin," answered the old man in a puzzled tone; "it's beyond my under- standing, that's a fact." "The time will come shortly, I hope, (I 62 BOB NIXON, father, when you will see the truth of what I say. But we must no longer delay here, we should be moving on." The mustang was caught and saddled, the old hunter placed on it, and once more the two travellers were on their way eastward, or rather to the northeast, for that was the general direction of their course. They were compelled, however, to diverge con- siderably, in order to keep along the course of streams, where many important advantages could be obtained : water, wood for firing, shelter, and a greater supply of game. On the open prairie there was no want of deer of several descriptions, and of small animals, like rabbits or hares ; but, unless by leaving the horse with his burden, the Indian could seldom get near enough to shoot them. ' For some distance the- open country was of a sterile and arid description ; but as they got further away from the United THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 63 States border it greatly improved, and a well-watered region, with rich grass and vetches, was entered, which extended north, and east, and west, in every di- rection, capable of supporting hundreds and thousands of flocks and herds, for the use of man, although now roamed over only by a comparatively few wild buffalo, deer, wolves, and bears. Although they were in British territory, the arm of British law did not extend over this wild region, and Peter, therefore, kept a constant look-out to ascertain that no lurk- ing enemies were near at hand. When he camped at night, also, he selected the most sheltered spot he could find, and concealed his companion and himself amid some thicket or rock, where any casual passer- by would not be likely to discover them. At first, as Peter watched his companion, he thought that he would scarcely reach a place of safety, where he might die in peace 64 BOB NIXON, I ! among civilized men ; but gradually the old hunter's strength returned, and each day, as he travelled on, his health seemed to im- prove. He also became more inclined to talk ; not only to ask questions, but to speak of himself. Eeligious subjects, however, he avoided as much as possible ; indeed, to human judgment, his mind appeared too darkened, and his heart too hardened, to enable him to comprehend even the simplest truths. " You'd like to know something about me, friend Redskin, I've no doubt," said the old man to Peter, when one day he had got into a more than usually loquacious mood. " It's strange, but it's a fact, I've a desire to talk about my early days, and yet, for forty years or more, maybe, I've never thought of them, much less spoken about them. I was raised in the old country — that's where most of the pale-faces you see hereabouts came from. My father employed a great 4. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 85 many men, and so I may say he was a chief; he was a farmer of the old style, and hated any thing new. He didn't hold education in any great esteem, and so he took no pains to give me any, and one thing I may say, I took no pains to obtain it. My mother, of that I am certain, was a kind, good woman, and did her best to instruct me. She taught me to sing little songs, and night and morn- ing made me kneel down, with my hands put together, and say over some words which I then thought very good — and I am sure they were, as she taught me them ; but I have long, long ago forgotten what they were. She also used to take me with her to a large, large house, where there were a great number of people singing and often talking together; and then there was oua man in a black dress, who got up in a high place in the middle, and had all the talk to himself for a long time, I used to think ; but I didn't mind that as I used generally to go 6» I 66 ROB NIXON, to sleep when he began, and only woke up when he had done. " I was very happy whenever I was with my mother, but I didn't see her for some days, and then they took me into the room where she slept, and there I saw her lying on a bed ; but she didn't speak to me, she didn't even look at me, for her eyes were closed, and her cheek was cold — very cold. I didn't know then what had happened, though I cried very much. I never saw her again. From that time I began to be very miserable ; I don't know why ; I think it was not having my mother to go to and talk to. "After that I don't know exactly what happened to me ; for some time I got scold- ed, arid kicked, and beaten, and then I was sent to a place where there were a good many other boys ; and, thinks I to myself, I shall be happier here ; but instead of that I was much more beaten and scolded, till I got a feeling that I didn't care what I did, 4- THE OLD WHITE TBAPFEB. 67 or what became of me. That feeling never left me. I was always ready to do any thing proposed by other boys, such as rob- bing orchards, or playing all sorts of pranks. " I now and then went home to see my father; but I remember very little about him, except that he was a stout man, with a ruddy countenance. If he did not scold me and beat me, he certainly did not say much to me ; I never felt towards him as I had done towards my mother. " I must have been a biggish boy, though I was still nearly at the bottom of the school, when another lad and I got into some scrape, and were to be flogged. He pro- posed that we should run away, and I at once agreed, without considering where we should run to, or what we should gain by our run. There is a saying among the pale- faces, * out of the frying pan into the fire.' . "We soon found that we had got into a very hot fire. I ■I / 68 ROB NIXON, • "After many days' running, sleeping under hedges and in barns, and living on turnips and crusts of bread, which we bought with the few pence we had in our pockets, we reached a seaport town. Seeing a large ship about to sail, we agreed that we would be sailors, if any one would take us. We were very hungry and hadn't a coin left to buy food, so aboard we went. The ship was just sailing, — the cook's boy had run away, and the captain's cabin-boy had just died, — and so we were shipped, without a question being asked, to take their places. They didn't inquire our names, but called us Bill and Tom, which were the names of the other boys. The captain took me into his service, and called me Bill ; and my companion, who fell to the cook, was called Tom. I don't know which was the most miserable. Tom had the dirtiest and hardest work, and wai not only the cook's but everybody else's servant. I received the most kicks and ^.' THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEE. 69 thrashings, and had the largest amount of oaths and curses showered down on my head. We were both of us very ill, but our mas- ters didn't care for that, and kicked us up to work whenever they found us lying down. " Away we sailed ; we thought that we should never come to land again. I didn't know where we were going, but I found we were steering towards the south and west. Week after week I saw a wild, high head- land on our right hand, and then we had mist, and snow, and heavy weather, and were well-nigh driven back ; but at last we were steering north, and the weather became fine and pleasant. The ship put into many strange ports ; some were in this big coun- try of America, and some were in islands, so we heard ; but neither Tom nor I was ever, for one moment, allowed to set foot on shore. Often and often did we bitterly repent our folly, and wish ourselves back home ; but wishing was of no use. We found that 4 10 ROB mxoN, ! ♦ we were slaves, without the possibility of escape. " Tom, who had more learning by a great deal than I had, said one day that he would go and appeal to the consul, — ^I think he was called, a British officer at the port where we lay, — ^when the mate, who heard him, laughed, and told him, with an oath, that he might go and complain to whomso- ever he liked; but that both he and Bill had signed papers, and had no power to get away. By this Tom knew that if we com- plained the captain would produce the papers signed by the other boys, and that we should be supposed to be them, and have no remedy. Tom then proposed that we should play all sorts of pranks, and behave as badly as we could. We tried the experiment, but we soon found that we had made a mistake ; for our masters beat and starved us till we were glad to promise not again do the same. THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 11 " Our only hope was that we should some day get a chance of running away ; and, if it hadn't been for that, we should, I believe, have jumped overboard and drowned our- ' selves. Month after month passed by, the ship continued trading from port to port in the Pacific Ocean, — as the big lake you've heard speak of, friend Redskin, is called, — over to the west there ; but the chance we looked for never came. We then hoped that the ship would be cast away, and that so we might be free of our tyrants. If all had been drowned but ourselves we shouldn't have cared. "At last, after we'd been away three years or more, we heard that the ship was going home. We didn't conceal our pleas- ure. It didn't last long. Another captain came on board one day. I heard our cap- tain observe to him, ' You shall have them both at a bargain. Thrash them well, and I'll warrant you'll get work out of them,* % 72 BOB NIXON, I didn't know what he meant at the time. " In the evening, when the strange cap- tain's boat was called away, Tom and I were ordered to get up our bags and jump in. We refused, and said we wanted to go home. We had better have kept silence. Down came a shower of blows on our shoulders, and amid the jeers and laughter of our ship- mates, we weie forced into the boat. We found ourselves aboard a whaler just come out, with the prospect of remaining in those parts three years at least. "You've heard speak, Peter, of the mighty fish of the big lake. The largest sturgeon you ever set eyes on is nothing to them — just a chipmonk to a buffalo. We had harder and dirtier work now than before — catching, cutting out, and boiling down the huge whales — and our masters were still more cruel and brutal. We wore beaten and knocked about worse than ever, and THE OLD WHITB TBAPPEB. rs often well-nigh starved by having our rations taken from us. How we managed to live through that time I don't know. I scarcely like to think of it. The ship sailed about in every direction ; soraetir 3S where the sun was so hot that we could scarce bear our clothes on our backs, and sometimes amid floating mountains of ice, with snow and sleet beating down on us. "At last, when we had got our ship nearly full of oil, and it was said that we should soon go home, we put into a port, on the west coast of this continent, to obtain fresh provisions. There were a few white people settled there, but most of the inhabi- tants were red-skins. The white men had farms, ranchos. they were called, and the natives worked for them. " Tom and I agreed that, as the ship was soon going home, tlie captain would prob- ably try to play off the same trick on us that our first captain had done, and so u ROB NIXON, we determined to be beforehand with liim. We were now big, strongish fel- lows; not as strong as we might have been if we had been better fed and less knocked about ; but still we thought that we could take good care of ourselves. "We hadn't much sense though, or know- ledge of what people on shore do ; for how should we, when you see that since the day we left our native country, when we were little ignorant chaps, we hadn't once set our feet on dry land. Tom swore, and so did I, that if we once did reach the shore, we'd get away as far from the ocean as we could, and never again smell a breath of it as long as we lived. How to get there was the difficulty. We had always before been watched ; and so, to throw our ship- mates off their guard, we pretended to think of nothing but about going home ; and our talk was all of what we would do when we got back to old England, THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 75 We said that we were very much afraid of the savages on shore, and wondered any one could like to go among them. After a time, we found that we were no longer watched as we used to be. This gave us confidence. The next thing was to arrange how we were to get on shore. We neither of us could swim; and, be- sides, the distance was considerable, and there were sharks — fish which can bite a man's leg off as easily as a white-fish bites a worm in two. We observed that, in the cool of the evening, some boats and canoes used to pull round the ship, and sometimes came alongside to offer things for sale to the men. Tom and I agreed that if we could jump into one of them, while the owner was on board, we might get off without being discov- ered. "Night after night we waited, till our hearts sunk witliin us, thinking we should 76 ROB NIXON, never succeed j but, the very night before the ship was to sail, several people came below, and, while they were chaffering with the men, Tom and I slipped up on deck. My heart seemed ready to jump out of my skin with anxiety as I looked over the side. There, under the fore-chains, was a canoe with a few things in her, but no person. I glanced round. The second mate was the only man on deck besides Tol>, who had gone over to the other side. I beckoned to Tom. The mate had his back to us, being busily engaged in some work or other, over which he was bending. Tom sprang over to me, and together we slid down into the canoe. The ship swung with her head towards the shore, or the mate would have seen us. We pulled as for our lives ; not, however, for the usual landing-place, but for a little bay on one side, where it appeared that we could THE OLD WHITE TBAFPER. 11 easily get on shore. Every moment we expected to see a boat put off from the ship to pursue us, or a gun fired; but the sun had set, and it was grow'ng darker and darker, and that gave us some hope. Still we could be seen clearly enough from the ship if anybody was looking for us. The mate had a pair of sharp eyes. " ' He'll flay us alive if he catches us,' said I. " * Kever,' answered Tom, in a low tone ; *ril jflm^ overboard and be drowned, whenever I see a boat make chase after us.' "*Don'c do that, Tom,' said I; 'hold on to the last. They can but kill us in the end, and we don't know what may happen to give us a chance of escape.' " You see, friend Peter, that has been my maxim ever since ; and I've learned to know for certain that that is the right thing. Well, 78 ROB NIXON, before long we did see a boat leave the ship. It was too dark to learn who had gone over the side into her. We pulled for dear life for a few seconds, when Tom cried out that he knew we should be taken. I told him to lie down in the bottom of the canoe, and that if the ship's boat came near us I would strip off my shirt and pretend to be an Injun. At first he wouldn't consent ; but, as the boat came on, some muskets were fired, and sud- denly he said he'd do as I proposed, and he lay down, and I stripped off my shirt, and smoothed down my hair, which was tus long as an Injun's. On came the boat. I pulled coolly on, as if in no way concerned. The boat came on — she ueared us. Kow or never, I thought; so I sang out, in a feigned voice, and pointed with my paddle towards the other side of the harbor. " I don't think I ever felt as I did at that moment. Did they know me, or should I deceive them? If the mate was there, I THE OLD WHITE TBAFFEB. 79 knew that we should have no chance. The people in the boat ceased pulling. I didn't move either, though the canoe, with the last stroke I had given, slid on. Again I pointed with my paddle, gave a flourish with it, and away I went as if I had no business with them. I could not understand how I had so easily deceived my shipmates, and every instant I expected them to be after us. '^ At last we lost sight of them in the gloom ; but Tom, even then, was unwilling to get up and take his paddle. I told him that, if he didn't, we should have a greater chance of being caught. The moment I said that, up he jumped, and paddled away so hard that I could scarcely keep the canoe in the right course for the place where we wanted to land. The stars helped us with their light ; and, as we got close in with the shore, we found the mouth of a stream. 80 BOB NIXON, / .<?" Though we had so longed to get on shore, we felt afraid to land, not knowing what we should do with ourselves. The shore looked so strange, and we expected to see all sorts of wild animals and snakes, which we had heard talk of. Tom was the most timid. " ' It was bad aboard. Bill,' said he, * but if we was to meet a bear or a buffalo, what should we do?' " 1 couldn't just answer him ; but, when we found the river, we agreed that we would pull up it as far as we could go, and it would carry us some way into the country, at all events. - " We little knew the size of this mighty land, or of the big, long, long rivers run- ning for hundreds of miles through it. This America of yours is a wonderful country, friend Kedskin, if you did but know it. " Well, up the river we pulled for some miles ; it was but a mere brook, you'll un- THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 81 derstand, but we thought it a great river. It was silent enough, for there were no habi- tations except a few native wigwams. We had all the night before us ; that was one thing in our favor. As on we went, we heard a roaring, splashing noise, which in- creased. "• ' Hillo ! here's a heavy sea got up ; I see it right ahead,' cried Tom. " ' We must go through it, however,' said I; and so I tried to paddle the canoe through it. " We very nearly got swamped ; it was, you see, a waterfall and rapid, and higher up, even, our canoe could not have floated. We now agreed that go on shore we must, like it or not ; I stepped out first, and then helped Tom, or in his fright he would have capsized the canoe. " There we were both of us on firm ground for the first time since, as little boys, we left old England. I did fell strange, and ./ BOB NIXON, when I tried to walk, I could scarcely get along. Tom rolled about as if he was drunk, hardly able to keep his feet. The rough ground hurt us, and we were every instant knocking our toes and shins against stumps and fallen branches. "We both of us sat down ready to cry. "'How shall we ever get along?' asked Tom. '♦'We shall get accustomed to it,' I an- swered ; ' but it does make me feel very queer.' " We found a good supply of provisions in the canoe, and we loaded ourselves with as much as we could carry ; and we then had the sense to lift our canoe out of the water, and to carry her some way, till we found a thick bush in which we hid her. "'If they find out we got away in the canoe, they'll think we are drowned, and not take the trouble to look for us,' observed Tom, as we turned our backs on the spot. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 83 "We were pretty heavily laden, for we didn't know where we might next find any food ; and as we walked on we hurt our feet more and more, till Tom roared out with pain, and declared he would go no further. "'Then we shall be caught and flayed alive, that's all, Tom,' said I. * But let us see if we can't mend matters ; here, let us cut off the sleeves of our jackets and .bind them round our feet.' " We did so, and when we again set-off, we found that we could walk much better than before. "We hadn't been so many yeare at f^ca without learning how to steer by the stars. What we wanted was to get to the east ; as far from the sea and our hated ship as possi- ble — that one thought urged us on. Through brushwood, which tore our scanty clothes to shreds ; and over rough rocks, which wound- ed our feet ; and across marshes and streams, which wetted us well nigh from head to % / / 84 ROB NIXON, foot, we pushed our way for some hours — it seemed to us the whole night — till we got into an Indian track. We didn't know what it was at the time, but found it was an easy path ; so we followed it up at full speed. On we ran ; we found that it led in the right direction, and that's all we thought of. " Unaccustomed to running or walldng as we were, it seems surprising how we should have held out; but the truth is, it was fear helped us along, and a burning desire to be free. Daylight found us struggling up a high hill or ridge, rather running north and south; we reached the top just as the sun rose above a line of lofty and. distant moun- tains. We turned round for a moment to look on the far-off blue waters which lay stretched out below us, and on which we had spent so large a portion of our existence. "*I've had enough of it,' cried Tom, fiercely shaking his fist ; and then we turned along again, and rushed down the ridge Oif. i THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 85 towards the east. It was the last glimpse I ever had of the wide ocean. " Still we did not consider ourselves safe. We should have liked to have put a dozen such ridges between our tyrants and our- selves. "On we went again till at last our ex- hausted strength failed, and we stopped to take some food. Once having sat down, it was no easy matter to get up again ; and be- fore we knew what was happening, we were b©th fast asleep. We must have slept a good many hours, and I dreamed during that time that the mate, and cook, and a dozen seamen were following us with flen- sing-knives, and handspikes, and knotted ropes, shrieking and shouting at our ]ieels. We ran, and ran for our lives, just as we had been running all night, but they were always close behind us. The mate — oh! how I dreaded him — had his hand on my shoulder, and was giving a growl of satisfac- 8 sv 86 EOB NIXON, ^f tion at having caught me, when I awoke ; and, looking up, saw not the mate, but the most terrible-looking being I had ever set eyes on, so I thought. *' I had, to be sure, seen plenty of savages w!ij vdxne off to the ship from the islands at whic]> we used to touch, but they were ncj: of them so fierce ai he looked. I won s; describe him, because he was simply a red-skin warrior in his war paint and feathers. It was his hand that was on my shoulder ; his grunt of surprise at finding us awoke me. I cried out, and Tom and I jumped to our feet and tried to run away; a dozen Indians, however, surrounded us, and escape was impossible. *" " * Let us put a bold face on the matter, Tom,' I sang out ; * I don't think they mean to kill us.' ^ " Our captors talked a little together, and they seemed pleased with the way we looked at them, for they showed us hj signs Hi ! THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 87 that they meant us no evil. They were a portion of a war-party on their way to de- stroy the pale-face settlement on the coast They guessed by our dress and looks, and from our clothes being torn, that we were runaway English seamen; and, knowing that we should not wish to go back to our ship, considered that we should prove of more value to them alive, thar our scalps would be if they took them. We under- stood them to say that they wanted us to go with them to attack their enemies, but we showed them by our feet that we could not walk a step, and as they were not ill-tem- pered people they did not insist on it. After a talk they lifted us up — two taking Tom, and two me between them — and car- ried us along at a quick rate for some miles to their camp ; there we saw a large num- ber of Indians collected, some armed with bows, and some few with fire-arms. "There were a few women, in whose It 88 ROB NIXON, % charge we were placed. "We could not make out whether we were considered pris- oners or not; at all events, we could not run away. Leaving us, the whole party set forth towards the west on their expedition. "Two days passed, and then, with loud shoutings, and shriekings, and firing of mus- kets, the party appeared, with numerous scalps at the end of their spears, and some wretched captives driven before them. I remember, even now, how I felt that night, when the war-dance was danced, and the prisoners tortured; how fearfully the men, and even the women, shrieked, and how the miserable people who had been taken, as they were bound to stakes, writhed under the tortures inflicted on them. "While we looked on, Tom and I wished ourselves back again, even on board the ship, thinking that we ourselves might next be treated in the same manner. "At last the savages brought fire, and then, •* \ THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 89 as the flames blazed up, we saw three people whom we knew well — the captain, and mate, and one of the men, who had been among the worst of our tyrants. Though their facee were distorted with agony and horror, as the light fell on them, there was no doubt about the matter. They might have seen us. If they did, it must have added to their misery. They had come on shore to visit some of the settlers, we concluded, and, at all events, were found fighting with them. " We got accustomed, after a time, to such scenes, and learned to think little of them, as you doubtless do, friend Peter; but at that time I went off in a sort of swoon, as the shrieks and cries for mercy of the burn- ing wretches reached my ears. "The Indians had got a great deal of booty, and having taken full revenge for the injury done them, and expect- ing that they would be hunted out if they remained in the neighborhood, they -7 8* -^ i 90 ROB NIXON, judged it wise to remove to an otter part of the country. " Our feet had sufficiently recovered during the rest of two days to enable us to walk, or I am not certain that we should not have been killed, to save our captors the trouble of carrying us. " It took us a week to reach the main camp, where most of the women and children were collected. We limped on, with difficulty and pain, thus far concealing our sufferings as much m we could. "We could not have gone a mile further, had not the tribe re- mained here to decide on their future course. The rest, and the care the women took of us, sufficiently restored our strength to enable us to move on with the tribe to the new ground they proposed taking up. "Your Indian ways, friend Peter, were very strange to us at first, but by degrees we got into them, and showed that we were every bit as good men as the chief braves THE OLD WHITK TRAPPER. 91 rere we rere ^ Lvea themselves. Whatever they did, we tried to do, and succeeded as well as they, except in tracking an enemy, and that we never could come up with. They, atHrst, trta '^d us as slaves, and made us work for thei as they did their women ; but when they saw what sort of lads we were, they began to treat us with respect, and soon learned to look upon us as their equals. " We both of us became very diflferent to what we were at sea, Tom especially. There we were cowed by our task-masters; here we felt ourselves free men ; and Tom, who was looked upon as an arrant coward on board ship, was now as brave as the bravest warrior of the tribe. We were braver, in- deed ; for while they fought Indian fashion, behind trees, we would rush on, and never failed to put our enemies to flight. " We were of great service to our friends in assisting them to establish themselves in their new territory, and to defend them- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I I.I 1.25 US '■■ Ui 122 12.2 :s u£ 12.0 lit 1.4 .> <% Photographic Sciences Corporalion 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) S72-4S03 '^V^ V .^ 1^ 92 BOB NIXON, selves against the nnmerous foes whom they very soon contrived to make. Still, we held oar own, and our friends increased in num- bers and power. " Our chief was ambitious, and used every means to add fresh members to his tribe by inducing those belonging to other tribes to join us. • His object, which was very clear, excited the jealousy of a powerful chief es- pecially, of the great Dakotah nation, in- habiting the country northeast of our terri- tory. He, however, disguised his intentions, and talked us into security by pretending the greatest friendship. Through his means, our other enemies ceased to attack us, and we began to think that the hatchet of war was buried for ever. "Tom and I had been offered wives — daughters of chiefs — and we had agreed to take them to our lodges, when we both of us set out on a hunting expedition to pro- cure game for our marriage feast, and skins THE OLD WHITB TRAPPEB. 93 to of ro- to pay for the articles we required. We had great succeus, and were returning in high spirits, when night overtook us, within a short distance of the village. "We camped where we were, as we would not travel in the dark, hoping to enter it the next morn- ing in triumph. "About midnight, both Tom and I started from our sleep, we knew not why. Through the night air there came faint sounds of cries, and shrieks, and shouts, and warlike noises. We thought it must be fancy ; but presently, as we stood listening, there burst forth a bright light in the direction of the village, which went on increasing, till it seemed that every lodge must be on fire. What could we do ? Should we hasten on to help our friends ? " It was too late to render them any as- sistance. We must wait till daylight to learn what way the foe had gone, and how we 9^uld best help our friends ; so we stood L \ 94 BOB NIXON, watching the flames with grief and anger, till they sunk down for want of fuel. " "We had not lived so long with Indians without having learned some of their cau- tion, and, concealing our game and skins, as soon as it was dawn we crept on towards the village. " As we drew near, not a sound was heard -—not even the bark of a dog. We crept amid the bushes on hands and feet, closer and closer, when, from a wooded knoll, we could look down on the lately happy vil- ' lage, or, I should say, on the spot where it lately stood. « By the gray light of the morning a scene of desolation and bloodshed was revealed to us, which, in all my experience of warfare, I have never seen equalled. Every lodge was burned to the ground ; here and there a few blackened posts alone remaining to show where they once stood ; but a burnt village I have often seen. It was the sight of ^ i ,.'. • •■*''*"'*.— '-^^ THE OLD WHTTB TBAPPEB. 95 the mangled and blackened bodies of our late friends and companions, thickly strewed over the ground, which froze the blood in our veins. For some moments we could scarcely find breath to whisper to each other. When we did, we reckoned up the members of the tribe, men, women, and children, and then counting the bodies on the ground, we found that our foes had killed every one of them, with the exception of perhaps a dozen, who might have been carried off. This told us, too correctly, how the event had occurred. ^^ In the dead of night the village had been surrounded, torches thrown into it, and, as the peop>e rushed out confused, they were murdered indiscriminately — old and young, women and children. Were our intended wives among them? We almost wished they were ; but we dared not descend to as- certain. The place was no longer for us. " ' I wish that I was back in England, Tom,' said L t 96 BOB NIXON. " * So do I, Bill, right heartily,' said he. " 'East or west, Tom V said I. " * Not west ! — no, no !' he answered, with a shudder, ' we might be caught by another whaler.' " ' East, then,' said I, pointing to the rising sun ; * we may get there some day, but it's a long way, I've a notion.' " ' If we keep moving on, we shall get there though, long as it may be,' said Tom. " So we crept back to where we had left our goods, and having taken food for a couple of days, we went and hid ourselves in some thick bushes, where we hoped our enemies would not find us. " For two days and nights we lay hid, and on the third morning we agreed that we might as well chance it as stay where we were, when the sound of voices, and of people moving through the woods, reached our ears, and, peeping out, we saw Several THB OLD WHITE TBAPPBB. 07 md iwe I we of led iral waniors passing along at no great distance. FroDi the way they moved, we knew that they weTe not looking for any one, nor be- lieving that any enemy was near ; but still, should any one of their quick eyes fall on our trail, they would discover us in an instant. " I never felt my scalp sit more uneasy on my head. Suddenly they stopped and looked about ; I thought that it was all over with us ; the keen eyes of one of them, especially, seemed to pierce through the very thicket where we lay. We scarcely dared to breathe, lest we should betray ourselves. Had there been only five or six, we might have sprung out and attacked them with some chance of success ; but there were a score at least, and more might be following, and so the odds were too great. They were most of them adorned with bcalps — those of our slaugh- tered friends, we did not doubt, and we longed to be avenged on them. On they ft 98 BOB NIXON, came ; and jnst as we thought that we had seen the end of them, more appeared, and several of them looked towards us. "How we escaped discovery, I do not know. Long after the last had passed on into the forest, we came out of our hiding- place, and, gathering up all our property, prepared to commence our journey. We pushed on as fast as our legs would carry US, every moment expecting to come upon some of our enemies, or to have them pouncing out upon us from among the trees or rocks. AH day we pushed on, almost without stopping, and For several days rest- ing only during the hours of darkness, till at last we hoped that we had put a sufHcient distance between our enemies and ourselves to escape an attack. " We now camped, to catch more game, and to make arrangements for our course. "We had got some little learning at Bchool, though most of it was forgotten ; but THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 99 we remembered enough to make us know that England was to the northeast of ns, and 80 wo determined to travel on in that direc- tion. " I won't tell you now all about our jour- ney. " We had not got far before we found the country so barren, that we were obliged to keep to the north, which brought us into the territory owned by the Dakotah people. We knew nothing of the way then, except from the accounts picked up over the camp- fires of our former friends, and we had man- aged hitherto to keep out of the way of all strangers. We were ignorant, too, of the great distance we were from England ; and of another thing we were not aware, and that was, of the cold of winter. « ' "We were still travelling on, when the nights became so cold, that we could scarcely keep ourselves from freezing, though sleep- ing close to our camp-fires. It got colder. ' 100 BOB NIXON, and colder, and then down came the snow, and we found that winter had really set in. To travel on was impossible ; so we built ourselves a lodge, and tried to trap and kill animals enough to last us for food until the snow should disappear. They became, how- ever, scarcer and scarcer, and we began to fear that the supply of food we had collected would not last us out till summer. We had, however, a good number of skins, and, though we had intended to sell them, we made some warm clothing of them instead. " "We had too much to do during the day, in hunting and collecting wood for our fire, to allow of the time hanging very heavy on our hands. At first, we got on very well, but our fbod decreased faster than we had calculated ; and then Tom fell down from a rock, and hurt himself so much, that I could scarcely get him home. " While he was in this state, I fell sick ; and there we two were, in the middle of a \ THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 101 desert, without any one to help ns. Tom grew worse, and I could just crawl out from our bed of skins and leaves to heap up wood on our fire, and to cook our food. That was growing less and less every day, and starvation stared us in the face. Our wood, too, could not hold out much longer; and though there was plenty at a little distance, I was too weak to go out and fetch it, and cut it up, and poor Tom could not even stand upright. " Day by day our stock of food decreased. All was gone ! There was wood enough to keep our fire alight another day ; and then we knew that in one, or, at most, two days more, we must be starved or frozen to death. Tom groaned out that he wished we had but a bottle of rum to keep us warm, and drive away dreadful thoughts. So did I wish we had. That was a hard time, friend Peter." " Fire-water I Was that all you thought 102 BOB mxoN, of? Did you never pray ? Did you never ask God to deliver you ?" inquired the In- dian, in a tone of astonishment. " No ! "What had God to do with us poor chaps, in that out-of-the-way place? He wouldn't have heard us if we had prayed ; and, besides, we had long ago forgotten to pray," answered the old man, in an uncon- cerned tone. "Ah! but He would have heard you; depend on that. The poor and destitute are the very people He delights to help," observed the Indian. "Ah I old friend, you little know what God is, when you fancy that He would not have heard you." As he spoke, he produced a Testament in the Ojibway tongue, from which he read the words, " God is love ;" and added, " This is part of the Bible, which your countrymen, the missionaries, have translated for us into our tongue." *'AyI maybe," remarked the old man, \. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 103 after considering a time ; ** I remember about the Bible when I was a boy, and it's all true ; but I don't fancy God could have cared for us." " Why ? is that wisdom you speak, old friend?" exclaimed Peter. "See God did care for you, though you did not even ask Him, or you wouldn't be alive this day. He has cared for you all your life long. You have already told me many things which showed it, and I doubt not if you were to tell me every thing that has hap- pened to you since you can remember up to the present day, many, many more would be found to prove it. "Was it God's love which sent me to you when you were on the point of death, or Was it His hatred ? Was it God's love which softened the hearts of the Sioux towards us ? Come, go on with your history. I doubt not that the very next thing that you have to tell me will prove what I say." 104 BOB NIXON, 1 " Well, friend Kedskin, what you say may be true, and I don't wish to differ with you," answered the hunter, still apparently unmoved. " As I was saying, Tom and I expected nothing but starvation. It was coming, too, I have an idea ; for my part I had got so bad that I did not know where we "v^ere, or what had happened. The hut was dark, for I had closed up the hole we came in and out at with snow and bundles of dry grass, or we should very quickly have been frozen to death. "The last thing I recollect was feeling cold — very cold. Suddenly a stream of light burst in on my eyes, and, that waking me up, I saw several Indians, in full war- dress, standing looking at Tom and me. I felt as if I did not care whether they scalped me or not : I was pretty well past all feel- ing. One of them, however, poured some- thing down my throat, and then down i X THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 105 Tom's throat : it did Dot seem stronger than water, though it revived me. " I then saw that their looks were kind, and that they meant us no harm. The truth was that our forlorn condition touched their hearts. It is my opinion, friend Peter, that nearly all men's hearts can be moved, if touched at the right time. These men were Sioux — very savage, I'll allow — but just then they were returning home from a great meeting, where, by means of a white man, certain matters were settled to their satisfaction, and they felt, therefore, well disposed towards us. Who the white man was I don't know, except that he was not a trader, and was a friend of the Indians. " The Sioux gave us food, and lighted our fife, and camped there for two days, till we were able to move on, and then took us along with them. We lived with them all the winter, and soon got into their ways. "When we proposed moving on, they 106 ROB NIXON, would, on no account, Hear of it, telling us that the distance was far greater than we supposed ; and that there were cruel, treach- erous white men between us and the sea, who were always making war on their people to drive them off their lands, and that they would certainly kill us. " The long and the short of it is, that Tom and I gave up our intention of proceeding ; and, having wives offered to us much to our taste, we concluded to stay where we were. Every day we got more accustomed to the habits of our new friends ; and we agreed also, that our friends in England would not know us, or own us, if we went back. "We were tolerably happy ; our wives bore us children ; and, to make a long story short, we have lived on with the same tribe ^er since. " Tom has grown stout and cannot join in the hunt, but his sons do, and supply him with food. If Tom had been with the rest, THE OLD WHTTB TRAPPER. 107 he would not have left the neighborhood of the ground where I fell, without searching for me. It is through he and I being together that I can still speak English, and recollect things about home and our early- days. We have been friends ever since we were boys, and never have we had a dis- pute. Four of my children died in infancy, and I have a son and a daughter. The only thing that tries me, is leaving Tom and them, for their mother is dead ; and yet I should like to go and hear more of the strange things you have told me about, and see somg^of my countrymen again before I die. They won't mourn long for the old man ; it is the lot of many to fall down and die in the wilds, as I shou d have died, if you hainot found me. Tom, maybe, will miss me ; but of late years, since he gave up hunting, we have often been separate, and he'll only feel as if I had been on a longer hunt than usual." 108 BOB KIXON, " And your children ?" said Peter. " They'll feel much like Tom, I suppose," answered the white hunter. "You know, friend Eedskin, that Injun children are not apt to care much for their old parents. Maybe I will send for them, or go for them, if I remain with the pale-faces." , The Indian was silent for some time. He then observed, gravely: "Maybe, old friend, that the merciful God, who has protected you throughout your life, may have ordered this event also for your benefit; yet, why do I say * maybe?' He orders all things for the best; this much I have learned respecting Him ; the wisest man can know no more." Were not the Indians of North America indued with a large amount of pati^ce, they could not get through the long jour- neys they often perform, nor live the life of trappers and hunters, nor execute the curious carved work which they produce. THE OLD WHITB TBAPPEB. 109 ?> Patience is a virtue they possess in a won- derful degree. Day after day Peter travelled on, slowly, yet patiently, with his charge, at length reaching the banks of the Assiniboine Eiver, a large and rapid stream, which empties itself into the Ked River, at about the cen- tre of the Selkirk settlement. The banks, often picturesque, were, in most places, well clothed with a variety of trees, while the land on either side, although still in a state of nature, showed its fertility by the rich grasses and clover which covered it. The old hunter gazed with surprise. " Why, friend Peter, here thousands and thousands of people might live in plenty, with countless numbers of cattle and sheep !" he exclaimed. "I knew not that such a country existed in nny part of this region." "We are now on the territory of the English, a people who treat the red man as they should — as fellow-men, and with ^ 10 110 BOB NIXOK^ justice," answered the Indian. "It may be God's will that, ere many years are over, all this vast land, east and west, may be peo- pled by them, still leaving ample room for the red men, who, no longer heathen hun- ters, may settle down in Christian commu- nities, as cultivators of the soil, or keepers of flocks and herds." Still more surprised was the old hunter when, a few days after this, they came upon several well-cultivated fields, and saw beyond them a widely scattered village of neat cottages, and the spire of a church rising amid them towards the blue sky. " What I are those the houses of English settlers?" asked the old man; "it will do my heart good to see some of my owu countrymen again." "You will see few of your countrymen here, father ; the inhabitants are settlers, truly, but nearly all my people. There is, howeverj here a good minister, and a « THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. Ill len lers, lere a schoolmaster, white men, who will wel- come you gladly. Their hearts are full of Christian love, or they would not come to live out here, far removed from rela- tives and friends, laboring for the souls' welfare of my poor countrymen." The old man shook his head. " No, no ; I have no desire to see a par- son. I remember well the long sermons— the last I ever heard was when I was at school — the parson used to give ; and I used to declare that when I was a man I would keep clear of them, on this account." " You would not speak so of our minister here, were you to hear him," said the In- dian. " I will not ask you to do what you dislike. But here is my house ; those with- in will give you a hearty welcome." An Indian woman, neatly dressed, with a bright, intelligent countenance, came forth, with an infant in her arms, to meet Peter, several children following her, who clung 112 BOB NIXON, around him with affectionate glee. A few words, which Peter addressed to his wife, made her come forward, and, with gentle kindness, assist the old man into the cot- tage, where the elder children eagerly brought a chair, and placed him on it. One boy ran off with the horse to a stable close at hand, and another assisted his mother to prepare some food, and to place t on a table, before his father and their guest. The old man's countenance exhibited pleased surprise. " Well I well I I shouldn't have believed it if I had heard.it," he muttered. " I re- member many a cottage in the old country that did not come up to this." Many and many a cottage very far be- hind it, the old hunter might have said; and why? Because, in them the blessed Gospel was not the rule of life ; while in that of the Indian, God's law of love was THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 113 be- laid; ssed |e in was the governing principle of all. Christ's promised g^'ft, the gift of gifts, rested on that humble abode of His faithful fol- lowers. Several days passed by, and, to Peter's regret, the old hunter showed no desire to converse with the devoted missionary min- ister of the settlement. He came more than once, but the old man, shut up within him* self, seemed not to listen to any thing he said. ' At length he recovered sufficiently to go out, and one evening, wandering forth through the village, he passed near the church. The sound of music reached his ears, as he approached the sacred edifice ; young voices are raised together in singing praises to God, for His bounteous gifts be- stowed on mankind : " Glory to Thee, mj God, this night, For all the blessings of the light ; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings ! 0> Beneath Thine own Almighty wings.** ♦^ 10* 114 BOB KIXON, The old hunter stopped to listen; slowly, and as if in awe, he draws near the open porch. Again he stops, listening still more earnestly. The young Christians within are singing in the Indian tongue. Closer he draws — his lips open — his voice joins in the melody. Words, long, long forgotten, come uncon- sciously from his lips. They are the Eng- lish words of that time-honored hymn, sung by children in the old country. Scarcely does his voice tremble ; it sounds not like that of a man, but low and hushed, as it might have been when he first learned, from his long-lost mother, to lisp those words of praise. The music ceases. The old hunter bursts into teays — tears unchecked. Now he sinks on his knees, with hands up- lifted — " Our Father, which art in heaven" — he is following the words of the missionary within. Are a mother's earnest, ceaseless prayers heard — sprayers uttered ere she left r> X f A.'-' THE OLD WHITB TBAPPEB. 115 this world of trial? Yes; undoubtedly. But God's wajt are not man's ways; though He tarry long, yet surely He will be found —ay, "found of them who sought Him not." The children's prayer-meeting is ovej^ The old man remains on his knees, with head bent down, and hands clasped, till thi shades of evening close over him. h ■^\ v 4 W m |ry ' }SS jft ^ ,^ 1 1 116 BOB KIXON, # CHAPTER lY. That was the turning-point ; from that ay Kob Kixon was an altered man. Of course, I do not mean that he at once found all his difficulties gone, his heart full of love, his prayers full of devotion ; but from this time he felt, as he had never felt before, that he was ^' blind, and poor, and naked," and far away from his home. His good and faithful friend, Peter, had given him wise and good advice, and had introduced him to the excellent minister of the settlement. Archdeacon Hunter, who soon became a daily visitor at Peter's cottage. Skilful in imparting religious knowledge, he was able, by slow degrees, to instruct the old hunter in the leading truths of Ghristi- % TBB OLD WRITE TBAPPEB. 117 a ^ \ i. :^ anity. Once comprehendeJ, the old man grasped them joyfully; and though long unaccustomed to the sight of a book, he set to work again to learn to read, that he might himself peruse the sacred volume. He, of course, learned in English ; and it was curious to remark how his countenance beamed with pleasure as he recognized once familiar, but long-forgotten, letters and words, and how rapidly he recovered the knowledge he had possessed as a boy. His great delight was to attend the school- children's service, and to hear them after- wards catechized by the minister ; and the gray-headed, gaunt old man, might have been seen constantly sitting among them, truly as a little child, imbibing the truths of the Gospel. But, after a time, a change came over him. He appeared no longer content to remain, as hitherto, quietly in the cottage of his friend Peter, but spoke of wishing. 118 BOB NIXON, n once more, to be in the saddle, following his calling of a hunter. His rifle and ac- coutrements had carefully been brought home by Peter, but they would be of no use without a horse, powder and shot, and provisions. The autumn hunt, in which a large number of the natives of the Red River settlement engage every year, was about to commence, and, to Peter's surprise and regret, Rob Nixon expressed his intention of accompanying them, should he be able to obtain the means of po doing. Peter trembled lest his old friend's conversion should not have been real — lest the seed, which he had hoped would have borne good fruit, had, after all, been sown on stony ground. He delicately expressed his fears, describing the temptations to which a hunter is exposed. A tear ap- peared in the old man's eye, as he called Peter's eldest boy to him. ;#?■ I- THE OLD WHITE TEAPPER. 119 " Friend, you love this boy ?" he said. " I do, fondly,'* was the natural answer. " And you love his soul V^ he asked. " Far more, surely. It is the most pre- cious part of him," said the Christian father. " I, too, have a son, and I love him ; but I knew that he could take good care of him- self, and so I left him with little regret," said the hunter. " But now, friend, I know that he has a soul which is in danger of perishing, I long to seek him out, to tell him of his danger, to win him back to that Saviour from whom he has strayed BO far. I have a daughter and a friend too, and that friend has children. To all I would show how they may be saved. I loved them once, thinking noth- ing of their souls. How much more do I love their souls, now that I know their value I" Peter warmly grasped the old hunter's hand, as he exclaimed — 120 BOB NIXON, "Pardon me, father, that I had hard thoughts of you. I understand your object, and I doubt not that aid will be aiforded you to carry it out, for it is surely one well- pleasing in God'^s sight. * He who convert- eth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.' " The whole matter being laid before the missionary minister the next day, he highly approved of the old hunter's intention, and promised to aid him as far as he had the power. He was on the point of setting out to visit the settlements, as the Ked River colony is called, and he invited Eobert Nix- on to accompany him, that he might there obtain the necessary aid for the accomplish- ment of his enterprise. It was agreed, in the first place, that the old man should not undertake the journey alone. The difficulty was to find a com- panion for him. * " V m i,. i* II THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 121 Fortunately, two years before, a young Sioux had been taken prisoner by a party of Crees, a numerous people, who inhabit the country round Lake Winnipeg, their lodges being found far in other directions. They, like the heathen Ojibways, are always at war with the Sioux, and no opportu- nity is lost of taking each others' scalps. This young Sioux, to whom the name of Joseph had been given, was anxious to carry the glad tidings of salvation to his country- men, and hearing of the old hunter's wish, gladly volunteered to accompany him. Peter would willingly himself have been his companion, but that he had his duties as a teacher to attend to, and his family to care for ; besides which, a Sioux would be able to enter the country of his people with less risk of being killed by them, than would one of the Cree, or Ojibway nation. Peter, however, insisted on Nixon taking his horse. "You can repay me for the hire some 11 122 BOB NIXON, day, or your son can repay my children, should you bring him back. If it is not God's will that you should succeed in your mission, yet I fear not that He will repay me, as the loan is for an object well-pleasing in His sight." A horse for the young Sioux, as well as provisions and articles as gifts to propitiate any chiefs of tribes who might not know him, were still considered necessary, and these could only be procured at the Ked Kiver. The distance between the little colony of Prairie Portage and Red Eiver is about sixty-five miles, but this neither the old hunter nor his companions thought in any way a long journey. The astonishment of Robert Nixon was very great on finding a well-beaten road the whole distance, over which wheeled car- riages could pass with perfect ease; still ir/^re when he passed several farms, even to THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER, 123 the west of Lane's Post, which formed the termination of their first day's journey. Their course was in the same direction as that of the Assiniboine, which very winding river they occasionally sighted. The banks were generally well clothed with fine wood, and the soil everywhere appeared to be of the richest quality. Considerably greater than before was the old man's astonishment when, on the second day about noon, the party arrived at a com- fortable farm, where the owner hospitably invited them to rest, and placed before them the usual luxuries to be found in a well- ordered farm-house in the old country, such as good wheat and maize bread, cheese, but- ter, bacon, and eggs, with capital beer, and in addition, preserves and fruit, several vegetables, and fresh maize boiled, answer- ing the purpose of green peas. A joint of mutton was roasting at the fire, and pota- toes were boiling. 124 ROB NIXON, After this repast, the farmer brought out a supply of tobacco, which, he told his guests, grew on the farm. "Indeed, gentlemen, I may say we here live in plenty," he observed; "and all we want are people to settle down about us, and make our lives more sociable than they now are. We have drawbacks, I'll allow ; and what farmer, even in the old country, can say that he has not ? Ours are, early and late frosts, though chiefly the latter ; grasshoppers, which will clear a field of every green thing in a night; and, occa- sionally, wolves and bears ; but those gentry don't like the smell of our gunpowder, and have mostly taken their departure. On the Red River farms, they seldom or never hear of one, and the injury they can do us is but slight." This was the commencement of a long line of farms, which extends, with few breaks, the whole distance to the Red ( ,■ THE OLD "WHITE TBAPPEB. 125 River, into which the Assiniboine falls. Often the old hunter was silent, considering the unexpected scenes which met his sight, though he occasionally indulged in quiet remarks on them; but when, at length, the lofty and glittering spire of a large cathedral,* appearing, as the rays of the evening sun shone on it, as if formed of burnished silver; numerous edifices, some of considerable dimensions, scattered about ; public buildings and dwelling-houses ; other churches in the distance ; several windmills, with their white arms moving in the breeze, high above the richly tinted foliage of the trees, which formed an irregular fringe to the banks of the river flowing beneath them; while near at hand, at the point where the Assiniboine flows into the larger * * This cathedral belongs to the Eoinan Catholics, who have also a large convent near at hand. They maintam a considerable number of missionary sta- tions in different parts of the country. 11* ^-j I ; 126 BOB NIXON, Btream, rose the walls and battlements of a strong fort, whose frowning guns com- manded the surrounding plains ; — when he saw all this, the scene appeared to his be- wildered eyes as if it had sprung up by the touch of the enchanter's wand, in the midst of the desert. - < "Weill well I" he exclaimed, "and I have been living all this time but a few weeks' journey from this place, and never should have thought of it." The sight of the large sails of the freight- ers' boats niiade him somewhat uncomforta- ble, lest he should be carried off to sea ; and he could scarcely be persuaded that he was still not far short of two thousand miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and that there was no chance of his being kidnapped. He was even more frightened than his steed, when a steamer came puffing up to a wharf below Fort Garry. " What creature is that they have aboard THE OLD WlJIiE TRAPPEB. 127 there ?" he exdaimed. " Where does the strange craft come from ? What is she go- ing to do?" He sprang from his horse, and stood look- ing over the cliff at the steamer. He at once recognized her as a vessel, though of a construction wonderfully strange to his eyes, as no steamers had been built when he left England, and he had never heard of their invention. The stream of steam puffed off, and the loud screams accompanying it, made him somewhat incredulous as to the nature of the vessel. When, however, all was quiet, and he saw a stream of people issuing from her side, he was satisfied that she was of mortal build, and he was at length per- suaded to go down and examine her him- self. It almost took away his breath, as he said, to find that vessels of far greater size now ploughed the ocean in every direc- tion, and that continents were traversed by long lines of carriages, dragged by single 128 ROB NIXON, locomotiveB, at the rate of forty miles an hour. After hearing of this, he was scarcely surprised at any of the wonders which were told him, and of the numerous discov- eries and inventions which have been brought into practical use during half a century. At the close of the day the travellers reached a well-built rectory, on the banks of the river, where they were hospitably received and entertained. While seated, in the evening, before the fire, with his host, the old man, as he looked round the room, and observed the various comforts which it contained, heaved a deep sigh. " Ah I I feel now how sadlv I have thrown my life away," he exclaimed. "I might, but for my early folly, have enjoyed all the comforts of civilization, and played my part as a civilized man, instead of living the life of a savage among savages." . , THE OLD WHITE TBAPPKE. 129 ** Friend," observed the minister, ** this is not the only life. There is another and a better — to last forever. "Then you have no desire to return to your former friends, the Sioux?" the min- ister continued, after a pause. " Ah I yes ; but not for the pleasure such a life as they lead could give me. There is the friend of my youth, and there are his children, and my children. My great desire is to return to them to tell them that they have souls, and what the Lord, in His loving-kindness, has done for their couls." The object of the old hunter was no sooner known in the settlement than he obtained all the assistance he could re- quire. Few persons who had for so long led a savage life could have appreciated, more fully than he now seemed to do, the advantages of civilization, and yet none of them could turn him from his purpose. Within five days he and his young Sioux "#* 150 ROB NIXON, companion, Joseph, were ready to set out They had a led-horse to carry their provi- sions and -presents, and they had arms, though rather to enable them to kill game for their support than for the purpose of jBghting. " I pray that our hands may be lifted up against no man's life, even though we may be attacked by those who are what we our- selves were but a short time back, and should still be, but for God's grace," said the old man, as he slung his rifle to his saddle-bow. Once more Robert ]N^ixon turned his back on the abodes of civilized men. Had it not been for the object in view, it would have been with a heavy heart. " If Tom and I had remained at school, and labored on steadily, we might have been like one of those ministers of the Gospel, or settlers, and our children the same, instead of the young savages they now are, ignorant of God and His holy laws." THE OLD WHITE TEAPPEB. 131 Thus he mused as he rode along. He and his young companion did not neglect the usual precautions, when they camped at night, to avoid discovery by any wandering natives who might be disposed to molest them. V The young Indian, though possessing much less religious knowledge than Peter, yet showed a sincere anxiety to fulfil his religious duties, and, without fail, a hymn was sung and prayer was offered up before starting on their day's journey, and when they lay down on their beds of spruce, fir- twigs, or leaves, or dry grass, at night. The travellers rode on day after day with- out encountering any material impediments to their progress. There were no rugged mountains to ascend, no dense forests to penetrate, or wild defiles amid which they had to find their way. There were rivers and streams ; but some were easily forded ; across others they swam their horses, and 132 BOB NIXOK, passed their provisions and goods on small rafts, which they towed behind them. Leaving British territory, and moving west, the country had a barren and arid appearance. In many districts sand pre- dominated, with sand-hills of more or less elevation ; in others, grass, growing in tufts out of the parched-up stony ground, was the only herbage. Indeed, from north to south, and east to west, for many hundred miles, there exists an extent of country known as the Dakotah territory, unfitted, from the absence of water, to become the permanent abode of civilized man. Here, however, at certain seasons, herds of buffalo find pas- turage on their way to and from the more fertile regions of the north ; and thus, with the aid of fish, and other wild animals, and roots and berries, considerable tribes of the Dakotah nation find a precarious existence. i THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 133 CHAPTER V. It was in the western portion of the Da- kotah territory, described in the last chap- ter, that a numerous band of the lords of the soil had pitched their skin tents by the side of a stream, whose grassy banks, fringed with trees, contrasted strongly with the dry and hilly ground before mentioned, which, as far as the eye could reach, extended on either side of them. Yet the scene was animated in the extreme. In the centre of a wide basin, into which a valley opened from the distant prairie, was erected a high circular inclosure of stakes, and boughs, and skins. There was but one entrance towards the valley, and on either side of this entrance commenced a row of young trees, or branches 18 134 ROB NIXON, of trees, the distance between each line be- coming greater and greater the further off they were from the in closure. The figure formed by the lines was exactly that of a straight road drawn in perspective on paper, being very wide at one end, and narrowing gradually till it became only the width of the entrance to the inclosTire at the other. Between each of the trees or bushes was sta- tioned an Indian, armed with bow or spear, and having a cloak, or a thick mass of branches, in his hand. Outside the inclo- sure were numerous persons, chiefly women, and old men and boys, the latter armed with bows and arrows, and the former having cloaks or boughs. They were flitting to and fro, apparently waiting some event of in- terest. As the travellers reached the top of a hill overlooking the inclosure, a cloud of dust was seen approaching the fur- ther end. "There they come, there they come!" \ THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 135 exclaimed the old hunter, with difficulty- refraining from dashing down the hill, as, at the instant, a herd of some three or four hundred buiFaloes burst, at headlong speed, from out of the dust — tossing their heads and tails, tearing up the earth with their horns, trampling, in their terror, over each other — ^followed closely by a band of red- skinned huntsmen, with bow or spear in hand, most of them free of clothing, and uttering the wildest cries and shouts, now galloping here, now there, as some fierce bull turned and stood at bay, sending an arrow into the front of one, dashing a spear into the side of another, while they hung on the flanks of the herd, keeping the animals, as nearly as possible, in the centre of the read. w Whenever any of the herd approached the line of bushes on either side, the Indians stationed there shook the cloaks or the boughs they held in their hands, and shout- 136 ROB NIXON, ed and shrieked, tlins effectually turning the bewildered animals into the main stream. Sometimes the whole herd attempted to to break through, but were turned with equal facility. If they attempted to stop, the hunters behind, closing in on them, urged them on, until, still more and more compressed, those in the interior of the herd being utterly unable to see where they were going, they were forced, by redoubled shouts and shrieks in their rear, through the narrow gateway into the inclosure. Through it they dashed, a dark stream of wild fierce heads and manes surging up and down, till the whole were driven in, and the hunters themselves, leaping the bar across the entrance, followed close in their rear. Wow, round and round the confined pound the affrighted creatures rushed, not discovering a single opening which might afford them a chance of escape, bellowing and roaring, the strong trampling on the THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. m young and weak, the calves soon falling and being crushed to death ; showers of arrows from the hunters' bows bringing many low, while others, wounded by the darts and spears of the people outside, or gored by their fellows, sunk down exhausted from loss of blood. It was truly a spectacle of wanton and barbarous slaughter, which none but those accustomed to it could have watched un- moved. Even Robert Nixon, though he had often joined in similar scenes, regarded it with feelings very different to what he would formerly have done. "Alas! alas! is it thus God's cieatures are destroyed to no purpose, by these poor savages?" he exclaimed to his companion. " Not one-twentieth part of the meat can be consumed by them; and the day will come when they will seek for food, and there will be none for them, and they themselves must vanish away out of the land." 12* 138 ROB NTXON, The two travellers had been moving along the height above the valley, but so entirely engaged were the Indians in the work of entrapping the buffalo, fhat they were ob- served by no one. . ., They now descended towards the tents. In front of one of them sat a somewhat portly man, his countenance, and the hue of his complexion, rather than, his costume, showing that he was of the white race. The tents were pitched on a spot sufficiently elevated above the valley to enable him to watch all that was taking place within the pound. His attention, also, was so com- pletely absorbed by the proceedings of his companions, that he did not perceive, for some time, the approach of the horsemen. When he did, starting to his feet, and up- setting the three-legged stool on which he was sitting, he exclaimed — I "What, old chum! is it you — ^you, in- deed ? I made sure that what they told me THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 139 was true, and that you were long, long ago food for the wolves. Let me look at you. I cannot yet believe my senses." Rob Nixon having dismounted, the two old men stood for some moments grasping each other's hands. It was some time before old Tom could persuade himself that his friend was really alive ; not, indeed, till the latter had given a brief account of the way he had been found and rescued by the Indian, Peter, and the chief events which had occurred to him. " Well, well ! I'm right glad to get you back ; and now you must give up your hunt- ing, as I have done, and just take your ease for the rest of your days," said old Tom. " Hunting I have done with ; but I have yet much work to do before I die," answered the old hunter. " You and I are great sin- ners ; we were brought up in a Christian land, and still we have been living the lives of heathens. But, Tom, since I have been I i 140 ROB NIXON, away, I have read the Bible ; I have there learned about Christ; and I see that we have been living lives as different from His as black is from white, as light is from dark- ness. Tom, would you like to learn about Him ?" Tom signified his readiness with a nod. it was all Kobert Nixon required, and he at once opened on the subject of God's love, and man's sin, and Christ the Saviour from 40 ' sin. The young Indian stood by holding the horses, and watching the countenances of the speakers. It must have been a great trial for him to remain thus inactive, while his countrymen were engaged in their ex- citing occupation; but a new rule of life had become his, and duty had taken the place of inclination. " There, Tom ; I've just said a little about the chiefest thing I've got to say to you," were the words with which Rob wound up his address. THE OLD WHITE TBAPFEB. 141 Tom looked puzzled, but not displeased, as some men might have been. His friend was prevented from saying more, by the loud shouts of the Indians, as the last bull of a herd of nearly three hun- dred animals sank, overcome by loss of blood from numberless arrows and darts, to the saturated ground. There lay the shaggy monsters, in every conceivable attitude into which a violent death could throw them ; some on their backs, as they had rolled over, others with the young calves, which they had run against in their mad career round the pound, impaled on their horns ; many had fallen over each other, and, dying from their wounds, had formed large heaps in every direction. It was truly a sickening spectacle.* ' * The chief object of the Indians in thus slaughter- ing so large a number of buffaloes is to lay in a store of their flesh, which they preserve and call pemmican. It is first cut off, free of fat, and hung up in thin strips to dry in the sun. It is then pounded between stones, 142 BOB Nixoir, The old hunter, after a pause, pointed towards it : " There^ Tom, that's just a picture of what has been going on in the world, time without mind," he remarked ; " the Indians are doing what the spirits of evil do, and the poor buf- faloes are like the people in the world, all driven madly together, destroying one an- other, till none remain alive ; but Christ de- livers men from the spirits of evil, and leads them into safety and rest." Hitherto the new-comers had escaped observation, but now numerous Indians and put into leathern bags, with the boiled fat of the animal poured in and mixed with it. The white fur- ^ traders also purchase this pemmican, as well as the skins known as robes, and also the sinews. Very many more animals are killed than can be used by the thoughtless savages, and thus thousands are left to rot uselessly on the prairie. As the buffaloes de- I crease in number, so do the red men disappear from \ the face of the earth. The settlement of civilized \men in the territory appears to be the only mode W saving the natives, by affording them the means yf subsistence. THB OLD WHITE TEAPPEE. 143 crowded round, some to welcome the old white hunter, others to inquire the cause wliich brought the young man with him. The first to approach the old man was a young girl ; her complexion was fairer than that of several other girls who accompanied her, and her dress was more ornamented with beads and feathers than theirs. She stopped timidly at a short distance — Indian etiquette would not allow her to approach nearer. She was very beautiful, but her beauty was that of the wild gazelle, it had not yet been destroyed by the hard toil, and often cruel usage, to which the older women of her people were exposed. "Come, daughter; come I" said the old man in the Dakotah tongue, holding out his arms, " I have good tidings for thee." The young girl bounded forward, and Bob Nixon, taking her in his arms, im- printed a kiss on her brow. flp?^ 144 BOB NIXON, " Father, father, that you have come back when we thought you lost, is good news enough ; you cannot bring me better" — looking up into the old man's face, not without some surprise, however, at the affectionate manner in which she was treated, contrasted with the stern way in which the Indians treat the females of their people. " I will tell thee of the good news anon. You might not value it as it deserves," said Robert Nixon. "Thy brother, where is he?" " He left the camp with a score more of our young braves, nearly ten moons ago, to make war on the Crees of the plain, and he ha§ not yet returned. Scouts have been sent out, but no tidings have been received of the party." The father did not conceal his disap- pointment. "I have a rich gift to offer him," he - THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 145 thought; "would that he had been here to have accepted it. Alas ! alas ! how great is my sin, who was born a Christian, to have allowed my children to grow up ignorant heathens." It is sad to think that many white men, in many parts of the vast territory known as Kupert's land, may have cause to feel as did Robert. Nixon. Two of old Tom's sons were also away on the same hazardous expedition ; but, though anxious about them, for he was a kind- hearted man, he could not enter into Rob Nixon's feelings in the matter. Now, as the evening camo on, the people crowded into the encampment, all eager to hear how their white friend, and one of their chief, as well as the oldest, of their leaders, had escaped death. He used no bitter ex- pressions, but he could not help asking, ironically, how it was that — among so many who professed regard for him — ^no 13 146 KOB NIXON, one had thought of turning back to look for him, when he was missed ? Numerous were the excuses offered, and all were glad when he dropped the sub- ject, and held up a book, out of which he proposed to read to them, in their own language. Not knowing the nature of a book, they naturally supposed it to be some powerful charm, and declared that he had become a great medicine-man. " If it is a charm, and I do not say that it is not, it is one that, if you will listen, may do you good, and will make you wiser than you have ever before been," he answered. " Do you, or do you not, wish "to hear me ?" There were no dissentient voices, and he then read to them how God, the Great Spirit, so loved the world, that He sent His Son into the world, that all who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life, — "men, women, and children, old asnd THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEE. 147 young alike," he added. " I will tell you more about the matter by and by, friends. Talk over now what I have said. This book, though small, contains a great deal ; many a day must pass before you know its contents. Those who wish to know more may come to my lodge when they will, and I will read to them." Eob IT'xon made a very efficient mission- ary in 1^ rumble, unpretending way. He did not attack Manitou or any of the super- stitions, but he placed the better way before them, that they might have the opportunity of comparing it with their own foolish cus- toms and notions. With his own daughter and his old friend, whom he knew he could trust, he proceeded in a different method; his friend he re- minded of what he had been taught in his youth, how he had spent his life, and again and again inquired what hope he had for the future. 148 ROB NIXON, To his daughter he pointed out the folly of the religious belief and the customs of red people, and showed her the advantages of those of true Christians. To an artless, unsophisticated mind, where sin has not ruled triumphantly, the Gospel will always prove attractive, if offered — as its divine Originator intended it should be offered — as a blessing — as a charter of freedom, not a code of legal restrictions. The young girl received it joyfully, and day by day in- creased in knowledge and grace. He was, however, often in despair with regard to old Tom. His friend listened to what he read and said, but the truth did not appear to find an entrance into his mind ; still he listened, and tried to pray, and as he tried, he found praying less difficult; and when he listened, he comprehended better and better what he heard. Tom's sons and daughters still remaining with him began also to listen, and came THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 149 oftener and oftener to the old hunter's lodge, as their interest increased, till they declared that they were ready to go wlierever they could constantly hear the Word of God, and be more fully instructed in its truths. A large part of Kobert Nixon's object was accomplished, but not the whole. A great grief lay at his heart — the loss, and probable death, of his son. The winter had now set in, snow covered the whole face of nature in every direction, for many hundreds of miles. Travelling, though not impracticable, had become more difficult and dangerous ; it could, however, be accomplished by means of dog-sleighs or carioles, though all the wealth possessed by Nixon and his friend could scarcely furnish dogs sufficient to transport all the party and provisions to the banks of the Assiniboine. No news had been received of the miss- ing band. Old Tom shared his friend's 18* i;i \ ', 150 ROB NIXON, grief, and now he began to dread their loss for the most important reason. Nixon's time was also engaged among the tribe generally ; even the chief listened to him attentively, and offered no opposition to his proceedings. For himself, he said that he was too old to change, but that his people might follow the new way, if they found it better than the old. Joseph, the young Sioux, was a great assistance to him. Nixon offered to allow him to go back to his own people, but he declined, saying that he was not strong enough to resist temptations, and might be inclined to go back to their evil ways, if he found himself among them ; an example which more civilized youths might wisely follow — not to run into temptation. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 151 CHAPTER YI. It was during the short spring of the North American continent, which so sud- denly breaks into perfect summer, that a camp might have been seen pitched on the side of the bank of a broad and rapid river. The spot selected for the camp formed a bay of the river, or it might be called a nook in the bank. It appeared to have been chosen for the purpose of concealment: for only from one point on the opposite bank could it be seen, while above it was completely sheltered by the thick growth of trees which fringed each side of the river. From the conical shape of the ekin-covered tents, the accoutrements of the steeds tethered near, the dog-sleds, for carrying goods and pro- t< 152 ROB NIXON, it visions, and the people standing or sitting about, it would have been known at once to be a Sioux encampment. On a nearer inspection, however, several points of difference would have been dis- covered. In front of one of the tents sat two old men, whose complexion showed that they were not Indians, while the dress of one of them was that of a civilized man. Several young women and girls were busily preparing the evening meal, some young men were bringing them a supply of fire- wood and water, while others were engaged in fishing in the river. Several, both of the young men and girls, had complexions much lighter than those of Indians, though others, from their dark color, were evidently of the native race. They seemed to be fearless of interruption ; indeed, they probably relied on due notice of danger being given them by their scouts or sentries, who were watching from some « • * •'*» THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 153 of the more elevated spots in the neighbor- hood. One of the old men had been reading to the other from the Bible. He closed the sacred volnme. " Let us thank God, old friend, that with- in a week we may hope once more to be among our Christian countrymen, and be able to join with them in His worship and praise, and to thank Him for His loving mercy to us," said Kobert Nixon. "For my part, I have only one desire : to recover ™y boy and yours, and to see them belong- ing to Christ's flock." "Ah, Bill!"— Tom always called his friend by that name, — " I, too, should like to see the day ; but it's far off, I fear. But I hope they'll go to heaven somehow." This conversation was interrupted by a loud cry of alarm from the young women of the party; and looking up, they saw a dozen red-skin warriors, who had just issued ! t 154 ROB NIXON i from among the trees on the summit of the bank above them. Several had rifles, others were armed only with bows. They were in the act of taking aim with their weapons, when Nixon saw them. Forgetting the native language in his agi- tation, he shouted out to them, in English, to desist. They hesitated. Some of the girls took the opportunity of rushing off to seek for shelter behind the trees. Tom went into the tent for his gun. Nixon advanced towards the Indians, whom he perceived to be Orees, the mortal enemies of the Dakotahs. His daughter, believing him to be in danger, instead of running for shelter, like her companions, flew after him. Old Tom reappeared at the moment with his rifle. The Crees, believing that resistance was about to be offered, fired. Their powder or THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 165 weapons were bad : some did not go off, the bullets, generally, flew wide, but one, alas I took effect. It was in the bosom of Rob Nixon's daughter. Her cry made him turn round; and, forgetting all else, he caught her in his arms, as she was sinking to the ground. Before the savages had time to reload, and as they were about to rush down the hill, scalping-knife in hand, to complete their cruel work, they were set upon by an equal number of Sioux, who sprang so suddenly on them from behind, that not one of them had time to use his weapon in self-defence. A desperate struggle ensued, each man trying to pin his antagonist to the ground. Two Crees, desperately wounded, lay faint- ing from loss of blood. Tom, climbing up the hill, still further turned the balance in favor of the Sioux. The Sioux were, Tom perceived, of his own party. They had been warned by one (I 166 ROB NIXON, of their scouts that an enemy was at hand, and without disturbing the rest of the camp had gone out to intercept them. They had, however, missed them, but again discover- ing their trail, had followed close in their rear, though not fast enough to prevent the unhappy catastrophe which had oc- curred. The struggle was fierce and desperate. Neither party expected any mercy from the victors. Three of the Crees were killed, and this releasing three of the Sioux party, aided by old Tom, the latter were able to assist their companions. Their aim was, however, not to kill. The Crees were quickly dis- armed, and being bound, stood expecting the usual fate of the vanquished. At a signal from Nixon, they were led down the bank to where he knelt by the side of his daughter, in vain attempting to stanch the life-blood streaming from her wound. *e .. I THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER. 15t "Father!" she whispered; "I am leav- ing you. I feel death coming, but I am happy, for I know One, powerful to save, is ready to receive me. 1 would have lived to have comforted you, but I believe my pray- ers are heard, and that my brother will yet be restored to you." She was silent for some time; then her eyes, opening, fell on the prisoners, as they stood bound on the top of the bank, and she continued : " I have but one petition to make. It is, that those ignorant men may not be pun- ished. They followed but the way^ of their people, and thought not of the wicked act they were doing. I would speak to them." In a faint voice, the dying girl addressee the prisoners, and urged them to listen to the words her father would speak to them, adding: "Truly do I forgive you, and may you find forgiveness from the Great Good Spirit, whom you know not." 14 I < 158 BOB NIXON, - It would be difficult to describe the as- tonishment of the .Crees when they found that not only were they not to undergo tor- ment before being killed, but that they were actually freely pardoned. After consulting for some time, one of them, who appeared to be the leader, step- ped forward and said: " We have heard that there are praying men among the pale-faces, but that their praying made their people diflferent to us we did not know, for most of the things we do they do; they fight with each other and with us, they drive us from our lands, they cheat us when trading, they shoot us with- out pity, whenever they catch as, and they bring disease and death among us ; so that, though once we were numerous as tlie stones which strew the prairie lands of the Dako- tahs, now we can count our people while the sun rests at its midday height in the sky. Such was our notion of the palo-faccs, THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEE. 159 but you have given us a different notion. Though we have done you a great injury, though our weapons have cruelly cut down one who is surely the most lovely of the flowers of the prairie, instead of slaying us, you forgive us ; she too, even, not only for- gives us, but prays to the Great Spirit for us. Our minds are astonished ; our hearts are softened, melted within us. We would be yodr friends, and we wish to prove it. Wo know the pale-faces who dwell towards the rising of the sun, and we will accompany you on your way to them, and guard you from further attacks. You doubt us. You fear treachery. You are wise. We will prove that we are honest. Some moons past, ere the snows of winter had covered the ground, our tribe was assailed by a party of Dakotah braves. We had notice of their coming, and had an ambush pre- pared for them. Among them we discerned three whom we knew by their color to be M 160 ROB NIXON, u>:i'. the children of the pale-faces. We judged that they had been carried off when young, and we hoped to obtain a reward by restor- ing them to their parents or countrymen, our friends. The Dakotahs we slew, but, though they fought desperately and were much wounded, we succeeded in saving the three young men alive. We could not then travel with them, so we kept them in our lodges while the snow remained. We were on our way to the east with them when, in our folly, we resolved to attack your camp. Our prisoners we left with a small number of our band, w^ho are but a short way from this." "Oh! bring them — haste! — ^haste!" ex- claimed the wounded girl, alone divining who they were of whom the Cree spoke ; " I would see my brother ere I die. I have much — much to say to him." Anxious to gratify his daughter, and satisfied that the Cree chief spoke the truth, THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB. 161 and would not prove treacherous, Robert Nixon allowed two of hk followers, known as fleet of foot, to hasten to his camp to bring in the young men spoken of, having no doubt that his own son, and his friend's two sons, were the prisoners spoken of. Meantime, it appeared doubtful whether the dying girl would survive till their arrival. While the rest of the party stood round grieving, she reclined in her father's arms, occasionally whispering a few words of comfort in his ear, and assuring him of her happiness. At length, she lifted up her head in the attitude of listening. Her quick ear had caught the sound of approaching footsteps, even before the rest of the party. It was some time before any one appeared. " I knew it — ^I knew it — my brother I" she cried out, as several young men, running at full speed, burst from among the trees at the top of the bank. One of them, who was leading, taking a 14* 162 BOB NIXON, hurried glance around, rushed down, and, with an expression in which surprise and grief were mingled, threw himself by her side. She took his hand, and strange to His ear were the communications she made. Another of the youths approached her. She gave him her other hand, and turned her countenance towards him as she did so. " I was the cause of your going on that expedition. I was ignorant, dark-minded, wicked. I knew well that you loved me. I know it now ; but, oh I listen to my father. He will tell you of One who loves you far more than I could do, whose love will make ample amends for the loss of mine; and then we may meet in the realms of hap- piness, to dwell forever and ever together." . To the young heathen, this language was an enigma. Ere it was solved, the speaker had ceased to breathe. "The Lord's will be done!'' said the old .*♦ V. THE OLD WHITE TRAPPEB. 163 «•» hunter ; and those who knew how he loved his child understood what a mighty change religion had wrought in his heart. They buried her in that secluded spot, be- neath the green turf, on which she had lately trod so full of life and beauty ; and those who had loved her, and their late foes, assisted to raise a monument, of materials furnished by the river-bed and the surround- ing trees, above her tomb. Eob Nixon and all the party reached the settlements in safety. He mourned as a father for his daughter, but his mourning was full of hope. "- Her dying words were not thrown away on her brother, or on his companions, be- fore long, they were all baptized, and ad- mitted to the privileges and blessings of Christ's Church. When the father knelt at the Lord's table, for the first time after his daughter's death, and thought of the dead for whom thanks had been given, because 164 BOB HnXOTSfj they had died in Christ'a faith and feai, he felt that his beloved daughter had not died in vain. He declared that he had not been preserved from so many and great dangers of body and spirit, to lead a life of idleness ; and while life remained, he never wearied in striving to bring others to a knowledge^ of Him, whom he had found to be bo precious to his own soul. THB END. ^tk luliinili^ TWUVOMD BT JAMES MILLEB, 629 BROADWAY, N. Y. MAQNET STORIES. Fpr Summer Days and Winter Nighta SEOOITD BBBIBB. IMPUISS AND PaiNCIPLB, AND OTHBR STORIES. BY MISS ABBOTT. THE PRIVATE PURSE, Qlnb otl)er Storiea. BY MRS. S. O. HALU rURNS OF FORTITTsrS BT MRS. 8. a KAUL JPublithed by James Miller^ 622 jBroadwa/y, OR THREE MONTHS AT SEA. BY PETER PARLEY. |m %n)imtxl% SS0ntoM f ales. ILLUSTRATED. HANS MBSMSN'S S70RI BOOS. ILLUSTRATED. Jans Jlnhrsttt's |airj faUs. ILLUSTRATED. O-ULLIVER'S TRAVELS. New Edition. Illastrated. Now Edition. IlluBtrated. ^nnt Canit's |i|inus itst Cpktn. LIFE OP &E0. WASHINaTON. With ninstrations by Darley. y'}ii\