to carry his pack, and build his lodge, and make his fire, and bear his cross humors and dry blows.
No;
there is no comparison in the eyes of an aspiring belle of the wilderness, between a free trapperand
an Indian brave.
With respect to one of the parties the matter was easily arranged. 'The beauty in question wasa pert
little Eutaw wench, that had been taken prisoner, in some war excursion, by a Shoshonie. She wasreadily ransomed for a few articles of trifling value; and forthwith figured about the camp in finearray, "with rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes," and a tossed-up coquettish air that madeher
the envy, admiration, and abhorrence of all the leathern-dressed, hard-working squaws of heracquaintance.
As to the other beauty, it was quite a different matter. She had become the wife of aShoshonie brave.
It is true, he had another wife, of older date than the one in question; who, therefore, tookcommand
in his household, and treated his new spouse as a slave; but the latter was the wife of his lastfancy,
his latest caprice; and was precious in his eyes. All attempt to bargain with him, therefore, wasuseless; the very proposition was repulsed with anger and disdain. The spirit of the trapper wasroused, his pride was piqued as well as his passion. He endeavored to prevail upon his quondammistress to elope with him. His horses were fleet, the winter nights were long and dark, beforedaylight they would be beyond the reach of pursuit; and once at the encampment in Green RiverValley, they might set the whole band of Shoshonies at defiance.
The Indian girl listened and longed. Her heart yearned after the ease and splendor ofcondition of a
trapper's bride, and throbbed to be free from the capricious control of the premier squaw; but shedreaded the failure of the plan, and the fury of a Shoshonie husband. They parted; the Indian girlin
tears, and the madcap trapper more than ever, with his thwarted passion.
Their interviews had, probably, been detected, and the jealousy of the Shoshonie bravearoused: a
clamor of angry voices was heard in his lodge, with the sound of blows, and of female weepingand
lamenting. At night, as the trapper lay tossing on his pallet, a soft voice whispered at the door ofhis
lodge. His mistress stood trembling before him. She was ready to follow whithersoever he shouldlead.
In an instant he was up and out. He had two prime horses, sure and swift of foot, and of greatwind.
With stealthy quiet, they were brought up and saddled; and in a few moments he and his prizewere
careering over the snow, with which the whole country was covered. In the eagerness of escape,they
had made no provision for their journey; days must elapse before they could reach their haven ofsafety, and mountains and prairies be traversed, wrapped in all the desolation of winter. For thepresent, however they thought of nothing but flight; urging their horses forward over the drearywastes, and fancying, in the howling of every blast, they heard the yell of the pursuer.
At early dawn, the Shoshonie became aware of his loss. Mounting his swiftest horse, he setoff in hot
pursuit. He soon found the trail of the fugitives, and spurred on in hopes of overtaking them. Thewinds, however, which swept the valley, had drifted the light snow into the prints made by thehorses'
hoofs. In a little while he lost all trace of them, and was completely thrown out of the chase. Heknew, however, the situation of the camp toward which they were bound, and a direct coursethrough
the mountains, by which he might arrive there sooner than the fugitives. Through the most ruggeddefiles, therefore, he urged his course by day and night, scarce pausing until he reached the camp.
It
was some time before the fugitives made their appearance. Six days had they traversed the wintrywilds. They came, haggard with hunger and fatigue, and their horses faltering under them. Thefirst
object that met their eyes on entering the camp was the Shoshonie brave. He rushed, knife inhand,
to plunge it in the heart that had proved false to him. The trapper threw himself before thecowering
form of his mistress, and, exhausted as he was, prepared for a deadly struggle. The Shoshoniepaused.
His habitual awe of the white man checked his arm; the trapper's friends crowded to the spot, andarrested him. A parley ensued. A kind of crim. con. adjudication took place; such asfrequently occurs
in civilized life. A couple of horses were declared to be a fair compensation for the loss of awoman
who had previously lost her heart; with this, the Shoshonie brave was fain to pacify his passion.
He
returned to Captain Bonneville's camp, somewhat crestfallen, it is true; but parried the officiouscondolements of his friends by observing that two good horses were very good pay for one badwife. [Return to Contents].
