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WHITE TUAPPEH

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Inuiji^

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Ac'^'^y-f^.

t',

ROB NIXON,

THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER.

^ 3^ale of ^entml Sntisl^ l^oit^ ^mtttau

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

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-

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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."

BOB KIXON,

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.

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

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.

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,

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

BOB inxoN,

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.

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.

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.

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

ROB NIXON,

■^'

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

ire

THE OLD WHITE TBAPPEB.

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

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.

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-

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.

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.

..-•^

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 '

THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER.

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

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.

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."

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.

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

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."

THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER.

"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

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."

■■♦:

THE OLD "WHITE TRAPPER.

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

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.

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

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

THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER.

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-

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.

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

Jt-vi^-'

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.

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."

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

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.

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

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.

' ' '^

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,

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.

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

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

THE OLD WHITE TRAPPER.

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»

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,

THE OLD WHITE TBAPFEB.

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

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.

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

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.

" 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,*

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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

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.

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-

EOB NIXON,

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.

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

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.

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*

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.

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-

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'^V^

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.

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 \

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 ^

,.'. • •■*''*"'*.— '-^^

THE OLD WHTTB TBAPPEB.

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

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.

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

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.

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,

" 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

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

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.

■^\

v 4

|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

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,

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

i,.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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-

152

ROB NIXON,

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

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

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."

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

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

.*♦

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.

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