Dick's Desertion: A Boy's Adventures in Canadian Forests / A Tale of the Early Settlement of Ontario

rip of t

of stinging snow; a continuous, angry murmur, as the icy particles struck the tall, stiff, prairie grasses, sometimes deepening to a roar as the wind momentarily increased; and, in the

and Peter Many-Names had gone blindly on their painful way, trusting to the Indian's sense of direction, yet not knowing where they were going. An Indian's bump of locality is a marvellously developed organ; but it is of little use in a blizzard. And now the two lads were staggering forward, with n

hanged to a very lively realisation of danger. "We will tur

ront-everywhere. P'raps so we go on we find band of Indians that we followed. P'raps we do. All too late go back now,

ke another, one poplar-bluff is not distinguishable from the next, and most sloughs have a family likeness to each other, especially when one's circle of vision is limited to a couple of yards' radius, and everything beyond is blotted out with pitiless, hurrying, scurrying clouds of white fl

rcles. That what you doing, an' if you do so, you die pretty quick. You come on with me." And actually they had kept

uch the worse for it. It was then that they somehow lost one of their ponies through inexc

hreatened to end in fatal unconsciousness at any moment. But even Peter's keen senses were dulled by the cold, and his movements, though little less agile, were more mechanical. His face was grey and pinched

said repeatedly; "but sorrow can't do any good now. Nothing can do any good. Oh, what a fool, what a sill

ough Dick, in his despairing mood, scarcely noticed the

ie had crowned herself with all the first frail blossoms of the year, and had then danced over the miserable log-hut, brightening it with the spirit of grace and childhood, and sweetening it with the shy fragrance of spring flowers. He had forgotten the little incident entirely, but now he remembered it

s a slough, haunted by wild-fowl, but now it was dry, and covered with grass, thin and poor, but much relished by the trembling, famished pony. It was sheltered on all sides by the three-foot banks, crested with little straggling bushes, against which the snow had drifted. So cosy did this de

ck pleaded. "Go on if you like and

S SAKE, LET

. 'GO ON AND

there that your bones scare the birds away

lming him. They huddled in their blankets silently, and ate some pieces of dried a

peless tramp, his thoughts turned to the probable fate that awaited them. Once more he seemed to hear himself say, "Nothing, nothing to help us!" And once more he seemed to hear Peter's solemn answer, at the time unheeded, "Nothing, ex

rling haze of white, he gave full sway to those softened thoughts which he had hitherto rejected, seeing his past conduct in a clearer light-the light of repentance. "Before I ask for help," thought poor Dic

ur might pass, Dick would never again be quite what he was before. Some of his careless

ealised that, even if a man is responsible to no earthly duties of kinship and labour, h

his breath-a brave's death-song, if Dick had known. The pony lagged more and more, and Dick noticed nothing, felt nothing any longer. He was benumbed, mind and body, with the cold. Peter's song ble

the snow, while the whirling haze of white, the pony, and Peter Many-Names, s

y, and then crouched down with his back to the worst of the wind, and waited stoically-waited for death, which was all he looked for. He thought of it quite calmly; but then through all his s

y came close to him with drooping head, as if for company; but by then the Indian was too far gone to

ls. His last distinct thought was of the great broad woods through which

mane, and pointing its nose to the blast, neighed shrilly, piercingly, as o

ually large bluff of willows upon the bank of a river. There was an open space in the middle of this thick growth of stunted trees, which was occupied by several horses and a cluster of tepee

e loud whinnyings of their own horses at last aroused Man-afraid-of-a-Bear, who had been sleepin

ad been added to their little herd; so he carefully followed that pony's track for a few yards, and came upon D

hat might have led Man-afraid-of-a-Bear to suppose that they were enemies. Besides, their advent had added a very

edies were applied to ward off frost-bite, and after a time

fell to the men. Day after day passed, and still Dick lay helpless on the pile of skins in the dusky tepee, waited on by the grim, silent old squaw, and knowing nothing of his surroundings. He fancied the Indian woman was Stephanie, and kept calling out to her and begging her to forgive him. "For

ter Many-Names, after a few weeks, was counted a valuable add

through all its shifting winds, and brilliant sun and sudden tempest. And still the old squaw tended Dick, filling him with fearful herb-drinks, feeding him nobly, wrapping him close in soft skins. It was a fancy of hers that Death should not have the

ng hours in which to realise the fulness of that mercy which had shielded him in danger and saved him from death. And he went out into the sunshine again, resolved that as soon as he was strong en