The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great NorthwestRathborne, St. George
General
The Pioneer Boys of the Columbia; or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest
Rathborne, St. George
Columbia River -- Juvenile fiction; Frontier and pioneer life -- Juvenile fiction
"And, unless the weather goes against us when morning comes," continued
Roger, as he fastened up the box so that nothing could get at the bait
during the night, "we ought to do some tall fishing, it strikes me. I'd
just like to give the whole camp a splendid treat to those beauties of
speckled rainbow fish which we believe to be a species of trout."
All evening long the subject was frequently in his mind, for Roger was
one of those persistent persons who, once they have planned anything,
can think of little else.
"I tell you what I mean to do after we've had our breakfast," he said
at one time during the evening.
"All right," remarked Dick, who knew how useless it was to try to keep
Roger's mind off his fishing, "suppose you do then, and I'll jot it
down in my notebook, for I'm making up my day's log, you see. Go on and
tell me."
"If you look over there, Dick, you can see that friendly Indian who has
insisted on sticking to us for two days now, walking along the shore,
squatting close to our fires, and watching everything we do as though
he was head over heels in love with the ways of the palefaces."
"Yes, I've often wondered what he could be thinking about," admitted
Dick. "I've seen Captain Lewis trying to talk with him by signs, and
often calling one of the men up to help out. From that I judged the
Indian might be giving him some valuable information, which was why
they allow him to tag after us so long, and even see that he gets his
share of food at meal times."
"Well," continued Roger, "my idea is to go over to him now, and see if
he can understand that we'd like to have him tell us about a good place
for fishing in the morning; for, after all, what's the use of waiting
until breakfast time; he might be gone in the night. What do you say to
it, Dick?"
"Not a bad scheme," his chum assented. "And, do you know, I think the
brave has taken some little interest in both of us, because a number of
times it seemed to me he was watching us closely. There's your chance
now, for that matter, Roger; and, if you find it too hard to make him
understand, get Jasper Williams, our good friend, to act as interpreter
for you."
Upon that the impulsive Roger scrambled to his feet and presently he
could be seen sitting close to the friendly Indian brave, engaging him
in a strange conversation in which hands and smiles took the place of
words.
Apparently, Roger finally found the task greater than he could manage,
for he called to genial Jasper Williams, who joined them. Then the
business of explaining to the dusky son of the wilderness was taken up
anew; and with fair success, if the look on Roger's boyish face meant
anything.
When he once more rejoined his chum he was fairly bubbling over with
enthusiasm, so that Dick was not at all surprised to hear him exclaim:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account