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To The West, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 22. We Start Up The River |
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_ CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. WE START UP THE RIVER "Esau!" I cried, half hysterically, as the canoe was paddled up to the wharf; "you frightened us horribly." "You?" he said, coolly, "frightened you? Why, you should have been me." I said nothing then, but made signs to the Indians, who, partly from my motions, and partly from their understanding a few words of English, paddled the boat up to where we had undressed; and as Esau leaped ashore, and hurried on his clothes, he went on talking readily enough, though I could hardly say a word. "Yes, I did begin to get a bit scared when I found I couldn't do anything to paddle ashore," said Esau quietly. "It does run fast. And as soon as I was in the full stream, away I went. Didn't have no trouble about swimming, only a stroke now and then to keep one's head right; river did all the rest. I could have gone on for an hour, I dare say, if I could have kept from being frightened, but--don't tell old Gunson--I was scared, and no mistake." "Till you saw the Indians with the canoe," I said huskily. "What?" cried Esau, staring at me in astonishment. "Why that made me ever so much more frightened. How did I know but what they wanted to pull all the hair off my head? Why, I tried to swim away from them, and dived down when they were getting close, so as to let them paddle right by. I stopped under too as long as I could, and when I came up, if they hadn't managed their boat just so as one of 'em could duck his hand down and catch hold of my curly hair." "Esau!" "I shouted and struggled, but he held tight, and another came to help him, and they dragged me over the side into the boat, where I durstn't kick for fear of poking my feet through the bottom, for it's only skin stretched over a frame, just as you might make a boat as one would an umbrella, only I don't think they could shut it up." "But they didn't attempt to hurt you." "No; they were civil enough their way, and kept on jabbering at me, and saying something about Si wash, si wash. I'd had si wash enough, but they never offered to lend me a towel, and I had to get dry in the sun." "Esau," I said, as he was finishing dressing, "you ought to be thankful that you have had such an escape." "Ought I? Well, I suppose I ought, lad; and I am thankful, though I take it so easy, for my poor mother would have broke her heart if I'd been drowned. She thinks a deal of me." "Of course," I said. "I say, what did old Gunson say?" "Don't ask me; don't talk about it," I said, for I felt half choking, I was so overset by the whole scene. "Why, Mayne Gordon," said Esau softly, as he laid his hand on my shoulder, "don't go on like that. I ain't nothing to you, and--" "Esau," I cried angrily, "will you hold your tongue? Hush! don't say another word. Here's Mr Gunson." "Yes," said Esau, in rather an ill-used tone, "it always is 'Here's Mr Gunson!'" "Breakfast's waiting, my lads," he said. "Make haste; I don't want to keep the Indians long." "Keep the Indians?" I said. "Ah, you mean we ought to pay them something for saving him." "Yes, for one thing; but that is not all. They will easily be satisfied." "I sha'n't give them anything," said Esau sourly. "One of 'em tried to pull the hair off my head." "Nonsense! It must have been to get you into the boat. Here we are." He signed to us to go into our room in the shanty, and I felt puzzled at his quiet calm way of speaking now, just as if there had been nothing the matter that morning. But it was not so with Esau. The shock and its accompanying fright had had a peculiar effect upon his temper. As we entered the room there was the bright fire with the boiling water; and the landlady had been busy for us, and broiled some bacon, the smell of which was very welcome at that time in the morning; but as Esau was about to take his place he looked sharply round. "Where's my box?" he said. And as he spoke I saw that mine and the others were gone. "In the canoe," said Gunson, quietly. "What's it in the canoe for?" cried Esau. "Those Indian chaps will run away with it." "If they do," said Gunson, who was busy making the tea, "they'll take your companion's and mine too." "What's the good o' that to me?" cried Esau angrily. "That won't bring mine back. Here, I want my box." "Sit down, and don't be stupid, my lad. You've given us quite enough trouble this morning." "But I want my box," cried Esau. "There's lots o' things in that I wouldn't lose on no account." He moved toward the door, but Gunson set down the kettle and stepped before him. "Go and sit down," he said sternly. "But I want--" "Sit down!" roared Gunson. "Your companion here does not make an idiot of himself because his box is in the canoe. Do you think I want to run away with it?" "No; but those Indians--" "Are more honest than you are, my lad, or as honest." "But who told them to take the boxes?" "I did. For if you go and nearly drown yourself there is no opportunity for consulting you about matters. You want to go up the river, do you not?" "Well, I don't know," cried Esau, whose anger was now comical. "Then we know for you. As it happens, my first halting-place is at a settlement twelve miles up the river. I wanted my chests taken up there, and I ventured to think it would be doing you lads a good turn to take you and your boxes as well. So I engaged these Indians with their canoe. They will paddle us up there and land us." "Oh," said Esau discontentedly. And I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry you do not like it, Mr Dean; but if you wish it, I will apologise for the liberties my Indians have taken in saving your life as they came, as well as in taking your chest." "Well, I--that is--if I'd--" "Will you hold your mug this way for some tea, Mr Dean?" said Gunson, with mock politeness. "Oh!" exclaimed Esau. "There, help yourself to sugar and milk. Gordon, my lad, help the bacon, and give our much-injured friend the best piece." "Look here," cried Esau fiercely, "you may hit me, or you may kick me, but I can't stand being made fun of. Say another word like that, and I won't eat a bit." "I have said my say," cried Gunson, with a look at me. And after gulping down his tin mug of tea, Esau seemed to get better, and the meal was hastily finished in peace. "Now, Gordon," said Gunson, "our landlady has been very civil to us, what shall we give her beside the pay for what we have had?" "If I did what I liked, I should give her a little paper of tea." "Well done, Solomon of wisdom," said Gunson, taking something from his pocket; "here it is, done up all ready. Now then, the sooner we start the better." Our arrangements with the settler's wife were soon concluded, and it was still early morning when we took our places in the big skin canoe with all our personal belongings under our eyes now; and the Indians having been well fed, pushed off rather sluggishly. But they kept time with their paddles, and soon set up a low, sad, crooning kind of chorus as they carefully avoided the powerful stream by keeping well inshore, where I gazed up in wonder at the magnificent trees which appeared in masses and clumps at every turn. It was a wonderful experience that first ride on the fierce river, whose snow-charged waters gave quite a sting to the fingers whenever they were immersed. And there was always something fresh to see. Now it was a vast shoal of salmon gliding up over the shallows, or collecting about the edges of one of the many falls we passed, where some stream or another came down from the high grounds to swell the already full bed of the river. Then some bird flew up within tempting distance for one who handled a gun, and then there would be a little bit of excitement as we neared some fierce part of the river where the bed was dotted with rocks, a touch upon any of which must mean a hole through the bottom of our canoe, and her freight sent whirling helplessly down the stream. It was at one of these rapids that Esau, who had been very quiet and rather ashamed of himself, suddenly half rose in his place, exclaiming-- "Don't let them go there; it isn't safe." "They know best how to manage the canoe," said Gunson quietly. "But you won't let them go up that bit of water? It's like a mill-race." "Yes; only fiercer," said Gunson coolly. "Feel startled, Gordon?" "I do feel a bit nervous," I said. "And not ashamed to say so," he replied, laughing. "Well, you are a strange lad. Of course you are not frightened, Dean?" "Why it's enough to scare any one," cried Esau. "We shall all have to swim for it directly, and nice chance we shall have. Get stunned with stones before we know where we are. Here, look! what are they going to do?" "Sit still, and you'll see," said Gunson; and he joined me in looking eagerly at the men, who ran the boat as far as they could go toward the shallow rapids by energetic use of their paddles, and then, at a grunt from the one who seemed to take the lead, they dropped their paddles in the canoe, and, as if by one movement, swung themselves over into the rapids, and began to wade and drag the vessel against the surging stream. "Look here," said Gunson, with his lips close to my ear, for the noise of the rushing water was deafening, "if we do go over, make for that big piece of rock below there, and try to climb up." "Yes," I said rather breathlessly; "but tell Esau too." "Oh no; there is no need," he said sarcastically. "Your companion is too clever to want help." Meanwhile we were being dragged slowly up and up against the fierce current, and in and out among rocks, any one of which would have overset the canoe; and as I looked forward and to right and left, where the sides of the river were formed by precipices which ran up so high that the trees growing here and there on the ledges looked quite small, I felt a kind of shrinking sensation at my own insignificance, and turned at last to see what effect all this had upon Esau. He was seated holding on to the bottom of the canoe with all his might, and staring at the threatening rocks with eyes and mouth wide open. "Afraid?" I shouted in his ear. "Not a bit," he replied; "but be ready for a swim if some of those rocks up above don't tumble down and sink us." And all the time the Indians dragged hard at the canoe, and with so much success that they proceeded over some three hundred yards of rapid, and then stopped where the water looked deep and glassy, and where it was evident that they could wade no further. Here, as they held the canoe fast to keep it from being swept back down the rapids, one of the foremost swung himself in, took his paddle, and began to use it with all his might. Then another sprang in on the other side, and paddled hard to keep the canoe stationary, two still holding tightly. Then the third leaped in, and the one still holding uttered a hoarse cry, which made the others ply their paddles with all their might, for it seemed as if the stream would be too strong for them. Finally the fourth gave another cry, and his muscles stood out in the sunshine on his forehead and neck, as he gave the boat a tremendous thrust, swung himself in, and began to paddle rapidly. The thrust he gave the boat sent it on a couple of yards, and then it became stationary, with the water, which looked white and glassy, now rushing by us, and threatening to drive the canoe on to the rocks just behind, or else to capsize us, and sweep the party headlong down the long water slope up which we had been so toilsomely drawn. And I believe we should have been mastered, for what with three passengers and the chests, the canoe was heavily laden; but Gunson suddenly pressed himself close to the last Indian, reached out one strong arm, and grasped his paddle, swaying with him, and bringing the full force of his powerful muscles to bear. The hint was sufficient. I gave Esau a look, and crawled right forward to the first paddler, and did precisely the same, and Esau acted likewise, so that there was the addition of our arms on the port side of the boat to balance Gunson's on the starboard. For the moment my Indian, the first, seemed ready to start up, leap overboard, and swim for his life, evidently thinking I was attacking him; but he saw what it meant directly, and as soon as we boys were in regular swing with them, the chief man gave a shout, and the paddles were plied with such effect that the canoe began to move from where it had been stationary, as if one end were fixed on a rock, which allowed the hows to sway a little. Then we gained a foot or two, the feet became yards, and the Indians set up a triumphant chorus, as we glided on and on, more into smoother water, and at last right in, under the lowering precipice on our left, where we got along more rapidly, till the vessel was steered in behind a huge projecting mass of rock, where one paddle was sufficient to hold her in the eddy that was caused by the stone, and here all paused to rest. "Well done, Bri'ish muscles!" said Esau, looking round, and smiling as he wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "I say, I thought it was all over once." "Yes," said Gunson, "they had all they could do to hold their own, and of course they would soon have given way." "Is there much more like this?" I asked. "You know the river as well as I do, my lad," said Gunson. "As far as I can make out, it is nearly all like this, and runs through canons and wild places, where at times the sides are so high that it is quite gloomy below." "Well, I like it," said Esau. "There's something in it. I've been on the river at home in the steamers, but there's nothing to see." "You'll see enough here," said Gunson, dryly. "What do you think of your journey up the river now? Didn't I hear one of you speak about walking on the bank?" I looked to right and left, and felt my forehead pucker up as I saw the difficulties we should have to contend with. "But will the banks be always like this?" I said. "Of course not. I should say that we shall find everything, from piled-up masses of rock to pleasant patches of meadow, and no two miles alike." "But no steamers could ever come up here," said Esau. "Oh yes, out there in the broad channel in the middle, but they will need very powerful engines and careful pilots. Ah, they are getting ready for a fresh start." "But it will take us a long time to get up to where we are to stop for to-night," I said. "Twelve miles at the outside," replied Gunson. "Yes, I am beginning to be in doubt as to whether we shall get there to-night." The leader of the Indians shouted, they plunged in their paddles, and the next minute we were again struggling with a rapid bit of the river between two rocks; but they soon got into smooth water again, and, evidently quite at home in the intricacies of the navigation, they took advantage of every sheltering clump of rocks, and cut across swift rapids to get into eddies here, there, and everywhere. Now we were right in the middle of the stream, now crossing under the left bank, now making for the right, but always advancing slowly, with the sides of the river growing grander every hour, and Gunson smiling at our ecstasies, as we kept getting glimpses of ravines down which tumbled silvery streams, whose spray moistened the gigantic pines which shot up like spires. "Wouldn't have ketched me sitting on the stool in old Dempster's office all that mizzable time," cried Esau, "if I'd known there were places like this to come and live at." "It is a grand valley," said Gunson thoughtfully, and looking at me as he spoke; "but as it is, what is it? Only something beautiful to be admired. You couldn't live on waterfalls and pine-trees here. Suppose I landed you two lads in that lovely gorge, where the water comes down like a veil of silver, and--yes, look, there's a rainbow floating in that mist just above the big fall. Look at the ferns, and perfect shape of that great fir-tree, with its branches drooping right to the ground. You could sleep under its spreading boughs, and find a soft bed of pine-needles; but I don't think it would be possible to climb up the sides of the gorge, and in a short time you would starve." "Oh would we?" cried Esau. "We'd soon build a hut, and we could catch the salmon." "Yes, you might catch some salmon in the season; but there is nothing else you could eat. It is very beautiful too, and those pine-trees that stand there are as they stand worth nothing, but if you had them cut into square timbers, and lying in one of the London docks, they would be worth from ten to forty pounds each." "But it is glorious to see all this," I said eagerly. "Yes; glorious. In all my travels I have seen nothing more beautiful," said Gunson; and he added laughing, "I never went up a river that was so rugged and so swift." It was just in such a nook as that which we had admired so much that the Indians ran the boat ashore about midday, and after making her fast in a glassy little pool, they signed to us to get out, after which they all sat down among the ferns, and under the shelter of the spreading boughs of a pine, and brought out some food. We imitated their example, and made a hearty meal, washing it down with a tin of water from a little fountain which gushed from a moss-covered rock. By this time the Indians were lying down apparently asleep, and it set me thinking about what our position would be if we followed their example and they decamped with our boxes and stores. Suppose there was no way out of this neck, for the sides looked as if it would be impossible to climb them, and it was evidently a rare thing for any boat to go up or down. However, these were only fancies, for after about an hour's rest the Indians suddenly jumped up and pointed to the boat. We got in, and the struggle with the river began again, to be kept up till the sun had descended behind the mountains, and it was beginning to look gloomy where the river ran. Places that would have been glorious to the eye in the bright sunshine now seemed weird and terrible, impressing even our hard, stern friend, so that he suddenly said-- "We had better land at the first suitable place, and make camp for the night. We can easily get a good fire." I was glad to hear him say this, for with the advancing evening the waters looked cold, and the echoing roar of torrent and fall had an awful sound that began to affect my spirits, and Esau's as well, for he suddenly said to me-- "I say, this part ain't half so beautiful as some of the others." Gunson set himself the task of explaining to the Indians that we wanted to land, a want that they grasped directly; the leader nodding and pointing forward beyond a sudden bend of the river, where it made a sweep to our right round a towering buttress of rock, which projected so far that it seemed to block up the channel, and turn the place into a lake. Then bending once more to their paddles, they set up their monotonous chant, and in about an hour we were round the great rocky buttress, and making for a meadow-like patch surrounded by magnificent trees, and upon which dotted here and there were rough shanties. "Why this is the settlement!" cried Gunson. "They have done as they promised after all. Now, my lads," he said, "what do you say?--shall we try and get shelter at one of those places, or camp out for the first time, and you can try what it's like?" "Camp out," I said eagerly, for there was an attraction about the idea. "What do you say, Esau?" "Same as you do, sir, same as you." "Then we will camp out," said Gunson; and directing the Indians to a nook away from the tents, they landed us there by a spring of cold water, and then began to take out the chests. "No, no. To-morrow," said Gunson. "Now then; first thing is a fire when we have chosen our tent." Just then Esau cried sharply--"I say, lookye there!" and burst into a fit of laughter. _ |
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