In the Rocky Mountains: A Tale of AdventureKingston, William Henry Giles
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In the Rocky Mountains: A Tale of Adventure
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction; Rocky Mountains -- Fiction
"I cannot tell to what dangers you may be exposed, and I shall be in a
miserable state of anxiety until I once more have the happiness of
seeing you," he said to her. "My intention is to point out the state of
affairs to the commandant at Fort Harwood, and induce him to obtain such
a body of troops as will effectually overawe the savages and drive them
back to the southward, so that your uncle and other settlers may be able
to resume possession of their property, and for the future live in
peace. The sooner, therefore, I set out, the more quickly will this
desirable object be attained."
"I highly applaud your intention, lieutenant," said Uncle Jeff; "and I
speak honestly when I say that, if you wish at any time to turn your
sword into a ploughshare, as the saying is, I shall be happy to have you
for a neighbour; and come when you may, you shall always be welcome at
Roaring Water. I hope that it will not be long before I am back there
again. I only wish I knew what has become of Bartle and Gideon; if they
are alive, we shall very soon get the farm built up again, and
everything put to rights."
The first of the scouts who had been sent out soon came back, with the
information that the enemy were still in considerable numbers in the
neighbourhood. Winnemak and Uncle Jeff agreed, therefore, that it would
be prudent to move further to the north, in consequence of what Piomingo
had told me. Camp was accordingly struck, and the baggage
animals--which, I am sorry to say, for the sake of my Redskin friends,
included a number of the squaws--were loaded. A small party of warriors
going ahead acted as an advance-guard, while the remainder of the tribe
brought up the rear, or went as scouts on either hand.
As the lieutenant had to follow the same road for some distance, we
continued together,--he, as may be supposed, riding alongside of
Clarice. I do not know what Uncle Jeff thought about the matter, but it
was evident to me that Clarice and Manley were very fond of one another.
However, as I thought highly of him, I did not feel myself called upon
to interfere in the matter.
We had proceeded some distance, when another of the scouts came in with
the alarming intelligence that the enemy, in considerable numbers, were
ahead of us, and that it was too probable they intended to attack us on
our march. We had therefore to proceed with greater caution than before;
and the advance-guard was considerably strengthened, so that they might
be able to keep an enemy in check until the remainder of the tribe could
come up.
It was too evident that the Arrapahas had overrun the country, and that
it would be some time before they could be expelled; and, such being
the case, Uncle Jeff said he would fix upon another location, perhaps to
the west of the Rocky Mountains, where the Indians were friendly, and
where he would still be near enough to the high-road to obtain a market
for his produce.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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