MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Chapter VIII

The Umbiquas Came At Last; Their Want Of Precaution Showed their

Certainty Of Success. At All Events, They Did Not Suspect There Were Any

Firearms In the Block-House, For They Halted within Fifty Yards From

The Eastern Tower, And It Required more Than Persuasion To Prevent Roche

From Firing. The Horses Were Not With Them, But Before Long We Saw The

Animals On The Other Side Of The River, In a Little Open Prairie, Under

The Care Of Two Of Their Party, Who Had Swam Them Over, Two Or Three

Miles Above, For The Double Purpose Of Having Them At Hand In case Of

Emergency, And Of Giving Them The Advantage Of Better Grazing Than They

Could Possibly Find On Our Side. This Was An Event Which We Had Not

Reckoned upon, Yet, After All, It Proved to Be A Great Advantage To Us.

 

 

 

The Savages, Making a Very Close Inspection Of The Outer Buildings, Soon

Became Convinced of The Utter Impossibility Of Attacking The Place By

Any Ordinary Means. They Shot Some Arrows, And Once Fired with A Fusil

At The Loop-Holes, To Ascertain If There Were Any Men Within Capable Of

Fighting; But As We Kept Perfectly Quiet, Their Confidence Augmented;

And Some Followed the Banks Of The River, To See What Could Be Effected

At The Principal Entrance. Having ascertained the Nature Of Its

Material, They Seemed rather Disappointed, And Retired to About One

Hundred yards To Concert Their Plans.

 

 

 

It Was Clear That Some Of Them Were For Firing The Building; But, As We

Could Distinguish By Their Gestures, These Were Comparatively Few.

Others Seemed to Represent That, By Doing So, They Would Indubitably

Consume The Property Inside, Which They Were Not Willing To Destroy,

Especially As There Was So Little Danger To Be Feared from Within. At

Last One Who Seemed to Be A Chief Pointed first With His Fingers In the

Direction Where The Canoes Had Been Left; He Pointed also To The River,

And Then Behind Him To The Point Of The Horizon Where The Sun Rises.

After He Had Ceased talking, Two Of His Men Rose, And Went Away To The

South-West. Their Plan Was Very Evident. These Two Men, Joined with The

Two Others That Had Been Left In charge, Were To Bring The Canoes Round

The Point And Enter The River. It Would Take Them The Whole Night To

Effect This, And At Sunrise They Would Attack And Destroy The Front Door

With Their Tomahawks.

 

 

 

With The Darkness Of Night A Certain Degree Of Anxiety Came Over Us, For

We Knew Not What Devilish Plan The Indians Might Hit Upon; I Placed

Sentries In every Corner Of The Block-House, And We Waited in silence;

While Our Enemies, Having Lighted a Large Fire, Cooked their Victuals,

And Though We Could Not Hear The Import Of Their Words, It Was Evident

That They Considered the Post As In their Power. Half Of Them, However,

Laid Down To Sleep, And Towards Midnight The Stillness Was Uninterrupted

By Any Sound, Whilst Their Half-Burnt Logs Ceased to Throw Up Their

Bright Flames. Knowing How Busy We Should Be In the Morning, I Thought

That Till Then I Could Not Do Better Than Refresh Myself By A Few Hours'

Repose. I Was Mistaken.

 

 

 

I Had Scarcely Closed my Eyes When I Heard The Dull Regular Noise Of The

Axe Upon Trees. I Looked cautiously; The Sounds Proceeded from The

Distance, And Upon The Shores Of The River, And Behind The Camp Of The

Savages, Dark Forms Were Moving In every Direction, And We At Last

Discovered that The Umbiquas Were Making Ladders To Scale The Upper

Doors Of Our Little Towers.

 

 

 

This, Of Course, Was To Us A Matter Of Little Or No Consideration, As We

Were Well Prepared to Receive Them: Yet We Determined not To Let Them

Know Our Strength Within Until The Last Moment, When We Should Be

Certain With Our Firearms To Bring Down Five Of Them At The First

Discharge. Our Indians Took Their Bows And Selected only Such Arrows As

Were Used by Their Children When Fishing, So That The Hostile Party

Might Attribute Their Wounds And The Defence Of Their Buildings To A Few

Bold And Resolute Boys.

 

 

 

At Morn, The Umbiquas Made Their Appearance With Two Ladders, Each

Carried by Three Men, While Others Were Lingering about And Giving

Directions, More By Sign Than Word. They Often Looked towards The

Loop-Holes, But The Light Of Day Was Yet Too Faint For Their Glances To

Detect Us; And Besides, They Were Lulled into Perfect Security By The

Dead Silence We Had Kept During The Whole Night. Indeed, They Thought

The Boat-House Had Been Deserted, And The Certain Degree Of Caution With

Which They Proceeded was More The Effect Of Savage Cunning and Nature

Than The Fear Of Being Seen Or Of Meeting With Any Kind Of Resistance.

 

 

 

The Two Ladders Were Fixed against One Of The Towers, And An Indian

Ascended upon Each; At First They Cast An Inquisitive Glance Through The

Holes Upon Both Sides Of The Door, But We Concealed ourselves. Then All

The Umbiquas Formed in a Circle Round The Ladders, With Their Bows And

Spears, Watching The Loop-Holes. At The Chiefs Command, The First Blows

Were Struck, And The Indians On The Ladders Began To Batter Both Doors

With Their Tomahawks. While In the Act Of Striking For The Third Time,

The Umbiqua On The Eastern Door Staggered and Fell Down The Ladder; His

Breast Had Been Pierced by An Arrow. At The Same Moment, A Loud Scream

From The Other Tower Showed that There Also We Had Had The Same Success.

 

 

 

The Umbiquas Retired precipitately With Their Dead, Uttering a Yell Of

Disappointment And Rage, To Which Three Of Our Boys, Being Ordered so To

Do, Responded with A Shrill War-Whoop Of Defiance. This Made The

Umbiquas Quite Frantic, But They Were Now More Prudent. The Arrows That

Had Killed their Comrades Were Children-Arrows; Still There Could Be No

Doubt But That They Had Been Shot By Warriors. They Retired behind A

Projecting Rock On The Bank Of The River, Only Thirty Yards In our

Front, But Quite Protected from Our Missiles. There They Formed a

Council Of War, And Waited for Their Men And Canoes, Which They Expected

To Have Arrived long Before. At That Moment, The Light Fog Which Had

Been Hovering Over The River Was Dispersed, And The Other Shore Became

Visible, And Showed us A Sight Which Arrested our Attention. There, Too,

The Drama Of Destruction Was Acting, Though On A Smaller Scale.

 

 

 

Just Opposite To Us Was A Canoe, The Same In which Our Two Indians Had

Gone Upon Their Expedition The Day Before. The Two Umbiquas Keeping The

Stolen Horses Were A Few Yards From It; They Had Apparently Discovered

It A Few Minutes Before, And Were Uncertain What Course To Pursue; They

Heard Both The War-Whoop And The Yell Of Their Own People, And Were Not

A Little Puzzled; But As Soon As The Fog Was Entirely Gone They

Perceived their Party, Where They Had Sheltered themselves, And Probably

In Obedience To Some Signals From It, They Prepared to Cross The River.

At The Very Moment They Were Untying The Canoe, There Was A Flash And

Two Sharp Reports; The Indians Fell Down--They Were Dead. Our Two

Scouts, Who Were Concealed behind Some Bushes, Then Appeared, And Began

Coolly To Take The Scalps, Regardless Of A Shower Of Arrows From The

Yelling and Disappointed umbiquas. Nor Was This All: In their Rage And

Anxiety, Our Enemies Had Exposed themselves Beyond The Protection Of The

Rock; They Presented a Fair Mark, And Just As The Chief Was Looking

Behind Him To See If There Was Any Movement To Fear From The

Boat-House, Four More Of His Men Fell Under Our Fire.

 

 

 

The Horrible Yells Which Followed, I Can Never Describe, Although The

Events Of This My First Fight Are Yet Fresh In my Mind. The Umbiquas

Took Their Dead And Turned to The East, In the Direction Of The

Mountains, Which They Believed would Be Their Only Means Of Escaping

Destruction. They Were Now Reduced to Only Ten Men, And Their Appearance

Was Melancholy And Dejected. They Felt That They Were Doomed never More

To Return To Their Own Home.

 

 

 

We Gathered from Our Scouts Opposite That The Six Warriors Of The Post

Had Returned from The Settlement, And Lay Somewhere In ambush; This

Decided us. Descending By The Ladders Which The Indians Had Left Behind

Them, We Entered the Prairie Path, So As To Bar Their Retreat In every

Direction.

 

 

 

Let Me Wind Up This Tale Of Slaughter. The Umbiquas Fell Headlong On The

Ambush, By Which Four More Of Them Were Killed; The Remainder Dispersed

In The Prairie, Where They Tried in vain To Obtain A Momentary Refuge In

The Chasms. Before Mid-Day They Were All Destroyed, Except One, Who

Escaped by Crossing The River. However, He Never Saw His Home Again;

For, A Long Time Afterwards, The Umbiquas Declared that Not One Ever

Returned from That Fatal Horse-Stealing Expedition.

 

 

 

Thus Ended my First Fight; And Yet I Had Not Myself Drawn A Single

Trigger. Many A Time I Took A Certain Aim; But My Heart Beat Quick, And

I Felt Queer At The Idea Of Taking The Life Of A Man. This Did Not

Prevent Me From Being Highly Complimented; Henceforward Owato Wanisha

Was A Warrior.

 

 

 

The Next Day I Left The Boat-House With My Own Party, I Mean The Seven

Of Us Who Had Come From Monterey. Being all Well Mounted, We Shortly

Reached the Settlement, From Which I Had Been Absent More Than

Three Months.

 

 

 

Events Had Turned out Better Than I Had Anticipated. My Father Seemed to

Recover Rapidly From The Shock He Had Received. Our Tribe, In a Fierce

Inroad Upon The Southern Country Of The Crows, Had Inflicted upon Them A

Severe Punishment Our Men Returned with A Hundred and Fifty Scalps, Four

Hundred horses, And All The Stock Of Blankets And Tobacco Which The

Crows Had A Short Time Before Obtained from The Yankees In exchange For

Their Furs. For A Long Time, The Crows Were Dispirited and Nearly Broken

Down, And This Year They Scarcely Dared to Resort To Their Own

Hunting-Grounds. The Following Is A Narrative Of The Death Of The Prince

Seravalle, As I Heard It From Individuals Who Were Present.

 

 

 

The Year After We Had Arrived from Europe, The Prince Had An Opportunity

Of Sending Letters To St. Louis, Missouri, By A Company Of Traders

Homeward Bound. More Than Three Years Had Elapsed without Any Answer;

But A Few Days After My Departure For Monterey, The Prince Having Heard

From A Party Of Shoshones, On Their Return From Fort Hall, That A Large

Caravan Was Expected there, He Resolved to Proceed to The Fort Himself,

For The Double Purpose Of Purchasing Several Articles Of Hardware, Which

We Were In need of, And Also Of Forwarding Other Instructions To

St. Louis.

 

 

 

Upon His Arrival At The Fort, He Was Agreeably Surprised at Finding, Not

Only Letters For Him, Together With Various Bales Of Goods, But Also A

French Savant, Bound To California, Whither He Had Been Sent By Some

Scientific Society. He Was Recommended to Us By The Bishop And The

President Of The College At St. Louis, And Had Brought With Him As

Guides Five French Trappers, Who Had Passed many Years Of Their Lives

Rambling From The Rocky Mountains To The Southern Shores Of Lower

California.

 

 

 

The Prince Left His Shoshones At The Fort, To Bring On The Goods At A

Fitting Occasion, And, In company With His New Guests, Retraced his

Steps Towards Our Settlement. On The Second Day Of Their Journey They

Met With A Strong War-Party Of The Crows, But As The Shoshones Were Then

At Peace With All Their Neighbours, No Fear Had Been Entertained. The

Faithless Crows, However, Unaware, As Well As The Prince, Of The Close

Vicinity Of A Shoshone Hunting-Party, Resolved not To Let Escape An

Opportunity Of Obtaining a Rich Booty Without Much Danger. They Allowed

The White Men To Pursue Their Way, But Followed them At A Distance, And

In The Evening Surprised them In their Encampment So Suddenly That They

Had Not Even Time To Seize Their Arms.

 

 

 

The Prisoners, With Their Horses And