Читать книгу The Mystery of The Woods - W. H. H. Murray - Страница 8

Table of Contents

In the morning the Trapper rose at the usual hour. It was his habit in the summer time to rise with the sun; and his custom each morning after rising, and before he had begun the morning tasks, to go and open the great wide door of his cabin, and, standing on the threshold with uncovered head, look out upon the world as it stood revealed in the dewy light of morning. We cannot say what his thoughts were, but judging by the looks of his face they were such as a man at peace with himself, and at peace with his Maker, when looking at the beautiful works of His hands in their loveliest phase, might have. Indeed, his countenance at such times, in the peaceful gravity and grateful happiness of its expression, was a picture of so fine a sort as to remain for years fresh and unfaded in memory's hall. If the day through the delightful coolness of its air, the cool stretch of water, the distant mountains, and the newly-risen sun, breathed a benediction upon him, in the grateful, reverent, and happy reflection of his heart, he seemed to pronounce a benediction upon the day; for, in the old man was that fine sense of appreciation, that childlike quality of greeting anything beautiful as a surprise, that to his simple mind caused each morning to seem not merely as the beginning of a new day but a new beginning of the world.

This morning, as he stood barefooted and with uncovered head in the doorway that opened toward the east, the beauty of the outward appearance was so extraordinary as to fill his receptive mind with reverent wonder.

"The Lord is sartinly great in his power, and great is he in his wisdom," said the old man talking to himself, as the winds of the morning played on his brow, and the light of the rising sun warmed his features with its glow, "for his devices be many, and the beauty of his doing beyend man's thinkin'. I have lived on the 'arth till my head be whitenin' and studied natur' with an eye marcifully fitted for notin' things, but sartin it is that the 'arth grows han'somer each year, and the mornin's as they foller each other be prittier and prittier. I sartinly hope that the Lord has a nose to smell the sweet things he has made; and that his ear this minute hears that robin as he strains his leetle throat on that maple out there; and he sartinly loses a good deal ef he don't come down off and on and take a look at the woods from the top of Mount Seward there, not to speak of the streams, and the lakes, and the sunrises and sunsets that he might see from that p'int ef he chose the spot for his outlook with jedgment. And there's sartinly some bends in the Racquette that he orter look at more'n once; for Henry says that the Racquette is the han'somest river in the world, and Henry is careful of speech, and his jedgment is good," and here the old man paused a moment, and a yearning look came into his face, and his eyes changed their expression so that, though open, they seemed not to see, at least, see nothing nigh; for to them came a far-away look as if their vision had overleaped the mountain, and was stretched to see the distant and, to him, the unknown world of cities and crowding men beyond their blue rim; and then he said,—

"May the Lord forgive the discontent of my sperit when his marcies be round me thicker than the pine-stems on the ground; but I must own that I feel a leetle lonesome at times, and the sight of the boy's face would be sweeter to me this minit than the sight of the mornin'. It may not be right to have such feelin's, and I trust the Lord will look in marcy on the weakness ef he be displeased at the cravin'. And I have fought agin it,—yis, I have fought agin it, for fear it wasn't right; for it's wrong for mortal man not to be content with enough,—and I sartinly have enough: victals to eat and good strong garments, and a rod that the boy himself gave me, and a weepon that a man can trust his life to; and the pups—yis, the pups be a great comfort,—sartinly, I ought to be content and not wish for anything more,—leastwise, not crave it with yearnin'. And yit, ef I could hear the crack of the boy's piece a mile or two down the river this minit, and know that he was actally comin', I doubt ef the thought of all His goodness—well, well," muttered the old man, as he turned back into the cabin, "sunrise is sunrise, and Henry is Henry, and it's the Lord's own temptin' when he gives to a man of my years two sech boys as he gin me: Henry and the Lad;" and he paused a moment and gazed at the two picture-frames hanging on the wall,—the one filled with the portrait of Henry, the other empty to all eyes but his; but to his eyes the empty frame was filled with a simple, innocent, heroic face that he and Henry had buried under the pine in the grave by the sea.

Half an hour later the old Trapper was seated at his table, enjoying with finest relish a breakfast which, in variety of food, was limited; but in delicacy of quality would have satisfied the cultivated taste of an epicure. The two hounds were sitting on their haunches at the end of the table, looking at the eater with that most wistful and imploring of all looks—the look of a hungry dog.

"I tell ye, pups," said the old man, as he stopped for a moment in his eating—holding between his thumb and forefinger a trout small of size and brown to a turn,—"I tell ye, pups, ye ain't more than half-mannered. Ye act well enough, for ye keep yer places; but yer looks be onusually arnest; and I can't take hold of a morsel without yer looking as ef it belonged to ye, and I was sorter robbin' ye in eatin' it myself. Now, Rover, ye ain't rational. What's the use of givin' ye sech a trout as that? Ef ye swallered it ye wouldn't know where 'twas; and a boatload of sech fish wouldn't fill ye. I heerd Henry say one day that there was a kind of men down in the settlements that would eat an' eat, and the more they'd eat the thinner they'd git. The victals didn't seem to do 'em any good; didn't fill 'em up and thicken 'em out; and a man whose emptiness can't be filled with swallerin' is"—and here the old man paused a moment, evidently at fault for a word. But human nature in the hunter's cabin is very like human nature—well, in a pulpit, say,—and so the old Trapper backed up verbally for a new start, and, with an earnestness and unction entirely uncalled for by the exigency of the case, exclaimed, as he flourished the trout, "A man whose emptiness can't be filled by swallerin' is a miracle! Sartin, sartin!" said the Trapper, as if relieved. "Lord, what things words be! and how they relieve the feelin's when ye drive 'em out with a leetle more'n ord'nary arnestness!"

With such remarks, half serious and half humorous, the old Trapper was accustomed to enliven his repast. The hounds, with the facility of canine intelligence, had become entirely familiar with the programme, and no one could see them and not feel that they had become so wonted to the discourse of the Trapper as to give countenance to his belief, that, beyond what is expected of their species, the dogs understood the drift of his remarks. Indeed, there seemed to be a subtle understanding between the three that inhabited the cabin, for more than one stranger had noted that the hounds shared the mood of their master, and that their companionship rested on the foundation of mutual sympathy. That the Trapper's belief in the capacity of his canine companions to understand was entirely sincere, no one who watched his treatment of them could for a moment doubt.

When the old Trapper had finished his breakfast he moved, as was his custom, his chair back from the table, and, facing round toward the hounds, proceeded to give them their repast. The dogs took their position, one at either knee, and with a decorum which would have done credit to human members of a civilized community, received their allotted portions, eating the morsels, as the old Trapper fed them alternately, in grave but grateful silence.

"Well, well," said the Trapper, while thus deliberately feeding his dogs, "how happy-like it makes a man feel to feed somethin' that's hungry! Now, pups, I don't conceit, knowin' as ye be, that ye know the happiness it gives me to give ye the morsels that ye're swallerin'. I dare say ye feel happy-like yerselves,—yis, I know ye do, for a dog can't lie with his tail, and the way ye be waggin' 'em is sartinly proof that yer sperits be peaceful, and yer eyes shine like the eyes of a leetle redskin when ye give him a trinket. The Maker of the 'arth must sartinly be happy to see the creeturs that he's made at their feedin'. I've often conceited that he kept his eye on things a leetle closer than the missioners preach, and it may be that he gits a good deal of his happiness in makin' the creeturs he has made comfortable, and watchin' them as they go about on their business, each arter his natur'. There, pups, ye've eaten the last morsel, and ye've had a mighty small meal, jedgin' by yer size, for ye're both as ga'nt as ye was when I started; but I've given ye a good meal, and though I know how yer innards are put together, yit I never could understand how one of yer kind, Rover, could eat as much as ye can, and look no bigger arter ye'd eaten than afore ye'd begun. It may be," said the old man calculatingly, "it may be my eyes be a leetle faulty, but I've conceited more'n once, Rover, that the more I fed ye the ga'nter ye got. I can say in sartinty that I never seed ye filled yit, or turn yer muzzle from a morsel that was offered ye."

The old Trapper cleared away the dishes, and, after he had swept the floor and brought a fresh pail of water from the spring, stood for a moment in the centre of the cabin. The look on his face was the look of a man engaged in profoundest thought,—of a man studying a subject that the more he studied the more it puzzled him. In a few moments he took his rifle from the brackets, and going to the doorway, he stepped forth, and, seating himself on a bench, called the dogs to his side, and said,—

"Pups, I be worried in my mind. Yis, I sartinly be worried nigh on to frettin', and a man who worries unto frettin' does a most onrational deed. And ef ye want to know what it's about, pups, I'll tell ye. Rover, do keep yer mouth shet! It worries me to see ye lap yer chops in that way. Why don't ye keep yer manners when ye be in council? It's that camp down there,—that camp on the p'int. I run in on it last night, Rover, and though I used my eyes in a jedicious manner, and seed about all there was to see outside of canvas, yit I am not sure that I seed all; no, I'm not sure I seed all," repeated the old man with emphasis. "There's too much tent on that p'int, pups; there is a good deal too much tent," and here the old man paused, and, taking a piece of buckskin from his pocket, he rubbed the silver plate on the cheek-piece of his rifle, on which his name was graven; and then, resuming, he said,—

"They're a hard set; they're a harder set than I ever seed in the fur country, them chaps be. Now I know a vagabond, whether he be half-breed, white, or redskin,—that is, sech vagabonds as we have in the woods,—but them chaps down there be another sort. I doubt ef one of 'em could tell a buck's track from a doe. They don't look as ef they was raised in the woods. They look a good deal like them sort of chaps Henry told me about. He said there was a kind of vagabonds in the cities that took their schoolin' from the devil at the start, and growed into wickedness as they growed into strength; larnt themselves all evil ways, and didn't fear God nor man," and here the old man paused again, and taking the caps from the hammers, he wiped the tubes with the buckskin rag. "And I sartinly conceit," resumed the old man, as if he had not lost his thread of thought, "that them vagabonds be city vagabonds, and a sassy set they be, too. And the chap that drawed his knife on me drawed it as ef he'd drawed it a good many times, and acted jest as ef he'd used it a good many times. And he had a quick eye, too, and a sort of a rational way with him, for he wasn't long in finding out that I'd covered him when he jumped; and he sartinly stopped at the right p'int, for ef he had taken another jump I'd opened daylight through him. Brave? Yis, he's brave and he's cool, and a man that faces that chap on equal tarms would have to do pritty quick work to save his life, as I jedge.

"How did they git in?" said the Trapper, after a moment's pause; "I see by yer eye, Rover, that ye think some one guided 'em in, and ye're right; and whoever guided them chaps in, knowed enough to wash his trail clean out on the carries, for Wild Bill said that there wasn't a sign of a party in all the north country. And the question comes up, who was cap'en of that gang? for he must be the man that guided 'em in;" and here the old man paused again, and placing a couple of caps on the tubes of his rifle, he raised it to his eye and fired. The smoke cleared in an instant, and the report of the left barrel followed the right.

"I thought it would," said the trapper to himself, "for it's been loaded a week, and the fog was heavy as I come through the Chain of the Lakes. Yis, that left barrel barnt a leetle slow, and the hole is bigger by half the width of the lead than it ought to be. It isn't much; no, it isn't much; the half the width of a bullet at fifty paces, but it's more by half a bullet than it would be ef the powder had been perfectly dry. I won't drive home another bullet till I have taken the breech pins out and made the barrels shine, for there's no tellin' what's ahead; no, pups, there's no tellin' what's ahead; and ef they should git sassy, down there on the p'int, and Henry be late in comin' in, it may be that lead will be flyin' round here afore a week;" and then, as a graver expression came over the old man's face, he said:—

"I hope not; I sartinly hope not; for ef they should try to play any of their pranks on me there'd be close work round the shores of this lake, for they be five to my one; and the leader of the gang wasn't there last night, for sartin."

An hour later, the old Trapper had finished cleaning his rifle, and standing in the spot where we left him soliloquizing he was in the act of loading. Even an ordinary observer would have noticed that he paid more than average attention to the charging; and when the act was accomplished he lifted it to his cheek and ran his eye through the sights. And then dropping the barrel into the hollow of his left arm, he gazed for a moment out upon the lake, and muttered to himself:—

"I'll ambush that camp to-night; there's deviltry somewhere there for sartin. Ef I knew who the leader was, the riddle would be half guessed. And then there's that big tent with no door to it, leastwise none that opens toward the lake, as it oughter ef it be a pleasure tent. And the question arises, what's in that tent? Why be they so skeered that an honest man should come into their camp? Why be they in sech a hurry to git him out? Why do they draw a knife on a man because he axes a question? Lord!" said the old man, "what good things habits be. Now ef I'd left my rifle down in the boat, and that chap had drawed the knife on me, there would have been a scrimmage sure as jedgment; but I lined him as he jumped, and that helped things toward peace. No man's a right to leave his gun in the boat when he goes into a strange camp ef he wants to have a peaceable time.

"Then there was a man in front of that tent; I seed him; and when the talkin' got arnest why didn't he come down and jine in? He acted a good deal as ef he was put there to stay; and a man don't do sentinel duty in front of an empty tent. I tell ye," said the old man, and he brought his fist down into the open palm of his other hand, "I tell ye there's somethin' in that tent, and John Norton will find out what it is, ef the clouds be thick to-night."

The clouds were thick at night, thick as nature could pile above the earth. The darkness was of the kind that could be felt. It was just the night the Trapper would have wished in which to attempt the deed he was about to do. In the bottom of the boat he had spread a blanket. On the blanket he placed his rifle, and by its side an extra paddle. Thus, perfectly prepared for the work he was to do, the old Trapper entered the boat, and shoving off, started up the lake.

In less than an hour's time, he reached the vicinity of the camp. But instead of there being a large, clear flame rising upward, the camp-fire was of very moderate dimensions, scarcely lighting the interior of the shanty, and only bringing dimly into view the three neighboring tents.

"The vagabonds larn a lesson quick," said the Trapper to himself. "A jedicious hint about the big fire, and the way in which it helped a man to draw on 'em, has sartinly larnt them economy techin' the use of wood. But ef a low fire sarves them, it sartinly sarves me; for I can lay myself up within fifty feet of the beach, and onless their eyes be better than I think, they won't know what eyes be on 'em, and what ears be listenin' to 'em. They'll have to talk a good deal lower than they did the other night, ef they don't want to be heared by the man they treated onreasonably the fust time he called on 'em."

Talking thus to himself he moved his boat in toward the beach. He doubled the point that stretched out to the right of the camp, and inspected it as well as he could in the dim light, from the further side.

Little was to be seen beyond what he had already seen. The camp was nearly hidden in the darkness, and only a murmur of voices came to his ears. He moved his boat round to the front again, and laid it up almost against the sands of the beach. Indeed, it was not ten feet from the beach when he brought it to a stand, and sat straining his ears to catch the murmuring conversation; but strive never so hard, he could not make out what they were saying. He heard his own name mentioned twice, and one or two oaths came to him distinctly; but, beyond this, his efforts were unavailing; and had it not been for a sudden and unexpected occurrence, he would have backed his boat from that beach into deeper waters, no wiser as to the character or plans of the party, no wiser as to their leader's name, and no wiser as to the contents of the big tent than when he came. But something did happen,—happen suddenly; happened in a way that would have proved fatal to a man of less experience and fertility of resource than was the Trapper.

The Trapper had left the stern of his boat, and stepping softly along the blanket that lay stretched on the bottom, was now kneeling at the forward end,—kneeling, with his left hand laid on the gunwale and his paddle grasped in his right struck into the sands by which to steady himself as he kneeled, bent forward, in the attitude of listening. As he thus knelt, with his body projecting forward, and all his senses strained to the utmost tension, fastened on the camp and its occupants barely fifty feet in front of him, another boat, moving as noiselessly as had his and more rapidly, from the lake toward the beach, struck his fair in the end, and out of a man's mouth, not twenty feet back of him, tore a frightful oath.

It was well for the Trapper that he was kneeling and well braced when his boat received the shock, or he would have been pitched forward on to the sanded beach. The instant that the oath sounded in the darkness back of him, the camp was in an uproar. The men who had been sitting in the shanty, only partially revealed by the light, poured out and started toward the water's edge.

"What the devil," said the voice back of the Trapper, "do you fellows mean to leave a boat loose for a man to run against in the dark, when he comes into camp?"

"There is no boat there, captain," said one of the men, speaking up sharply. "The canoes are all hauled up on the beach as you left orders."

"What do you mean," exclaimed the man with another dreadful imprecation, "what do you mean to tell any such stuff as that to me? Don't you suppose I know a boat when I've got my hand on it? If you're drunk I'm not. Come here with a li——"

He never finished the word, for the sound he had started to form ended in a gurgle. The Trapper had not been idle. The shock had not dislodged him, and he knew from whence it came and the cause of it. With a quickness and coolness which had made his name famous, the instant the incoming boat struck, he shoved the end of his own, in which he was sitting, around, describing a half circle; shoved it round steadily, firmly, and quickly, until it was lying side by side with the other, and he himself sitting within arm's reach of the new-comer; and as he called for a light, even when the words were on his lips, the Trapper's hand clutched his throat and the strong fingers settled into the flesh of the neck like the clasp of a vise.