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Franz Kronthaler
Silke Zöllner

Data Analysis
with RStudio
An Easygoing Introduction
Data Analysis with RStudio
Franz Kronthaler Silke Zöllner
•

Data Analysis with RStudio

An Easygoing Introduction
Franz Kronthaler, Silke Zöllner
University of Applied Sciences Grisons Institue of Business and Regional
Chur, Switzerland Economics IBR
Lucerne University of Applied
Sciences and Arts
Lucerne, Switzerland

ISBN 978-3-662-62517-0 ISBN 978-3-662-62518-7 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-62518-7
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE,
part of Springer Nature 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does
not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective
laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are
believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give
a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that
may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.

Planung: Iris Ruhmann

This Springer Spektrum imprint is published by the registered company Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of
Springer Nature.
The registered company address is: Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin, Germany
Comment

R is a powerful freely available open-source tool for analyzing data and creating graphs
ready for publication. In just a few years, R has become the leading statistical software in
science and is now becoming even more widespread in practice and in business. R can be
used to analyze data and to generate knowledge for companies and institutions that they
can include in their business decisions.
The objective of the text is to introduce R—specifically RStudio—to students from
different fields of study and to practitioners and enable them to use R in their everyday
work. The script is not a substitute for statistical textbooks. The focus lies on the use of
RStudio for data analysis, but at the same time, also some statistical knowledge is
conveyed. If someone feels the need to deepen the statistical knowledge, he or she should
read a textbook of statistics. At the end of the script, various textbooks are briefly
described.
The main purpose however is to hand over the joy of analyzing data with RStudio!
We would like to thank Irenaeus Wolff for his critical review of the script.

v
Contents

1 R and RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 A Note on How to Use the Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 About R and RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 How to Install R and RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 The Structure of RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 A First Data Analysis Application with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 How to Install RStudio Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Data Analysis Basics with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 How to Read Data with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 How to Check Data with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Creating and Modifying Variables and Selecting Cases with RStudio . . . 17
2.4 Commands and Command Structure in RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.5 Script Files and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.6 Time to Try . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3 Data Tourism (Simulated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4 Describing Data with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1 Descriptive Key Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.2 Statistical Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.3 Time to Try . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5 Testing Normal Distribution with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.1 Graphical Ways to Check for Normal Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.2 Numerical Ways to Check for Normal Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.3 Time to Try . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6 Testing Hypotheses with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.1 One-Sample t-Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.2 Two-Sample t-Test Independent Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.3 Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.4 Two-Sample t-Test Dependent Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

vii
viii Contents

6.5 Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test . . . . . . . . . ............... . . . . . . . . . 71

6.6 Analysis of Variance ANOVA . . . . . . . ............... . . . . . . . . . 71
6.7 Correlation Test for Metric, Ordinal and Nominal Variables . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.8 Time to Try . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............... . . . . . . . . . 85
7 Linear Regression with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.1 Simple and Multivariate Linear Regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7.2 Regression Diagnostic with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
7.3 Time to Try . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
8 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.1 Appendix 1: Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2 Appendix 2: Dataset tourism.xlsx Including Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.3 Appendix 3: How to Deal with Missing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
9.4 Appendix 4: Solutions for the Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 r-project.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fig. 1.2 R Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Fig. 1.3 RStudio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Fig. 1.4 Structure of RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Fig. 1.5 Script dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Fig. 1.6 Compile report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Fig. 1.7 Report dogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fig. 1.8 Package installation with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Fig. 2.1 Import data with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Fig. 2.2 Importing excel data using the command syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Fig. 2.3 Have a look at the dataset with the View() command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fig. 2.4 Create a R script file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Fig. 2.5 Example script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fig. 2.6 Reporting with RStudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Fig. 2.7 Save working results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Fig. 3.1 Viewing the dataset in the R window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fig. 4.1 Export graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Fig. 6.1 Guide to select tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Fig. 7.1 Causal relationship between dependent and independent variable . . . . . . 88
Fig. 7.2 Causal relationships in regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Fig. 7.3 Creating dummy variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Fig. 9.1 Questionnaire tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Fig. 9.2 Dataset tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Fig. 9.3 Legend dataset tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

ix
List of Tables

Table 1.1 Some functions to calculate with in the R Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Table 2.1 Commands used repeatedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 2.2 R commands learned in Chap. 1 and in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Table 4.1 R commands learned in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Table 5.1 R commands learned in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Table 6.1 R commands learned in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Table 7.1 R commands learned in this chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

xi
R and RStudio
1

1.1 A Note on How to Use the Script

This script is designed to make it easy to get started with R and RStudio. To benefit fully
from the script you should run the applications and commands shown below while
working through the script itself. The required data can be found on the website www.
statistik-kronthaler.ch.
The data should be saved on your computer in a working directory of your choice. This
working directory is used to load the data into RStudio and to save the results. How to
load data into RStudio and how to save working results is shown in detail in Chapter 2.
For even better learning results while working through the script, you can try to modify
commands and test what happens, and you can apply the commands to other data sets.
To make the use of the commands as easy as possible and to design the script as clearly
as possible, the commands are inserted with the usual addition of the R Console “>” at the
beginning of the command. The results of the data analysis in the script are marked with
the double hashmark “##”.
Let’s start now with some information about R and RStudio.

1.2 About R and RStudio

The development of R began in the early 1990s. R was initiated by George Ross Ihaka and
Robert Gentleman (see Ihaka and Gentleman 1996). With R, they tried to use the
advantages of the two programming languages S and Scheme. Since then, the project has
been so successful that in just a few years R has become the standard for data analysis at
universities, many companies and public authorities. As an open source solution, R does
not require a license and runs on any operating system.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer-Verlag 1

GmbH, DE, part of Springer Nature 2021
F. Kronthaler and S. Zöllner, Data Analysis with RStudio,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-62518-7_1
2 1 R and RStudio

R can be understood as a platform with which the most diverse applications of data
analysis are possible. These applications are usually organized in so-called packages. For
almost all needs, special analyses, exotic colors and other special requests, R can be
extended with a suitable package. R can also be used to produce graphs ready for pub-
lication that can be exported directly in various file formats. R and its analysis packages
are continuously developed by an R development team and the large community of users.
With R, the users have a statistical software at their disposal which includes the statistical
possibilities of professional and paid statistical programs but with a much higher dynamic.
However, R, which is operated via the so-called console, which many people do not find
very user-friendly, and additional tools have been developed to simplify the use of R. In
particular, RStudio has become established.
RStudio is a standalone application based on R, where all functions available in R can
be used. However, in contrast to the pure R, RStudio offers an appealing and modern
interface. This makes it possible to analyze data comfortably and to prepare it graphically.
RStudio offers a window for creating scripts, supports command entry and includes
visualization tools. RStudio’s interface is divided into four sections, providing a simul-
taneous overview of the data, commands, results, and graphics produced. The philosophy
of RStudio, which is developed and provided by RStudio, Inc., is to empower users to use
R productively.
Data is the raw material of the twenty-first century. RStudio is the tool to exploit this
raw material.
It is worth to learn RStudio!

1.3 How to Install R and RStudio

To install RStudio, install R first. We can find R on the website https://www.r-project.org/

(Fig. 1.1).
We follow the link “download R” and come to a page called Cran Mirrors. A mirror is
a place where R and its packages are available. If we look at the page we see that R is
usually provided by universities of the respective countries, in Germany this is e.g. the
University of Münster, in Switzerland the ETH Zurich or in Austria the Vienna University
of Economics. We usually select the country in which we are located and go to the
download area. Here you can download R for Linux, (Mac) OS X and Windows. We click
on download, follow the installation instructions and install R. https://www.r-project.org
is the central website for the large community of R users. It is worth taking a look at this
site. Here we find a lot of information about R, its development, the developers, manuals,
a journal and the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).
After we have installed R, the R Console is at our disposal. R is now fully functional.
However, when we open the R Console, we see that it appears very rudimentary and
uninviting. We only see some information about R, e.g. that it is an open source software,
and an input line where we can type in commands (Fig. 1.2: R Console).
1.3 How to Install R and RStudio 3

Fig. 1.1 r-project.org

Fig. 1.2 R Console

4 1 R and RStudio

Table 1.1 Some functions to calculate with in the R Console

Function Description Example
+ Addition of values 5+3=8
− Subtraction of values 2 − 4 = −2
* Multiplication of values 8 * (−2) = −16
/ Division of values −16/16 = −1
sqrt() Square root of a number sqrt(9) = 3
(y)^(1 / x) x-th root of the number y 7776^(1/5) = 6
^ Power of a number 3^3 = 27
log() Natural logarithm log(120) = 4.79
exp() Exponential function exp(10) = 22,026.47

Even if we do not normally use the Console directly for data analysis, as we said
before, we can still use it very comfortably as a calculator on our computer. This is already
a first introduction, which we warmly recommend.
In Table 1.1, we see some important calculator functions (also Fig. 1.2: R Console).
After installing R and maybe looking at the website and the console, we can start
installing RStudio. The software for the different operating systems can be found on the
website https://www.rstudio.com/ (Fig. 1.3).
Again we follow the link Download and get to a page where we can download several
versions of RStudio, free desktop and server versions as well as paid desktop and server
versions. We select the free desktop version, go to the installation files and take the
installation file required for our operating system. We follow the installation instructions
and install RStudio on our computer. If everything went smoothly, we can start RStudio
now. Usually there are no problems, but if there are, we will look for help in the internet.
1.4 The Structure of RStudio 5

Fig. 1.3 RStudio

1.4 The Structure of RStudio

When you start RStudio, a four-parted screen opens, with the script window at the top left,
the R Console at the bottom left, the data and object window at the top right, and the
environment window at the bottom right. This is a good setup for data analysis. If RStudio
does not appear in the view shown below after opening or if we want to have a different
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
a stuffed raven, to the legs of which were attached bits of human
scalp-locks of varying lengths. To Pitamakan, who became a great
favorite with him, the old man said that the raven was his dream, his
sacred vision, and very powerful. It had by its great power brought
him safe through many a battle with the enemy and had four times
in his dreams warned him of the approach of enemies, so that he
and his warriors had been able to surprise them and count many
coups upon them. Every evening now he prayed the raven to give
him a revealing vision of the cut-throats and any other enemies who
might be approaching us, and his companions joined him in singing
the songs to his medicine.
"Far Thunder, my man," said Tsistsaki, the first evening that we
heard the old men praying and singing, "I feel that the gods are with
us in this matter of our fort-building upon this hostile war trail. As
fast as our troubles have come we have conquered them, and now
come these five old men, whose leader is favored of the gods, to
help us. I have great faith in his raven medicine."
"All right. You put your faith in that raven skin. I put mine in our
watchfulness and in our rifles," my uncle laughed.
"Ah, well," she answered, "the day will come when your eyes will be
opened to these sacred things."
During the next few days three different steamboats passed up the
river en route to Fort Benton, and when the first of them came down
it answered our hail and put in to shore. The captain had intended
to put in, anyhow, for he had a letter to us from Carroll and Steell.
My uncle handed him a letter for the Fort Union traders, asking them
to tell the Mandans that their five old men were staying with us to
help fight the Assiniboins, and that they were unable to get Far
Thunder's fast runner because of his vow to the sun that he would
never part with it. He had prepared the letter at the request of Lame
Wolf, and the old man heaved a sigh of satisfaction when he saw it
pass into the captain's hands.
Our letter apprised us that the Pikuni, the whole tribe, warriors and
all, had forded the river at Fort Benton, on their way to us, only four
days before. That news made us low-hearted, for, if the warriors
continued on with the tribe at the slow rate it was obliged to travel,
we feared that they would never arrive in time to help us in the big
fight that every rising sun brought nearer to us.
My uncle declared that, short of logs as we still were, a beginning
must be made at once upon the walls of the fort; and after dinner
Pitamakan, Abbott, and I went out to assist him in laying the first
four logs of what was to be the southwest corner building of the
fort, the one that was to be my uncle's quarters, and Pitamakan's
and mine as well. We rolled the two bottom logs into place and
made them level by putting flat stones under the ends; and then
Abbott, with quick and skillful axe, saddled the ends; that is, cut
deep notches in them. We then rolled on them two end logs and cut
notches in the ends to match the saddles in the others. The first
fitted snugly down into place; the second did not fit well and was
notched deeper at one end; and then, when it fitted into place and
we rested, Tsistsaki, who had come to watch, raised her hands to
the sky and cried out: "O sun! this home that we are starting to
build, let it be a home of peace and plenty; a home of happy days
and nights. Have pity upon us all, O sun. Give us, we pray you, long
life upon these, your rich and beautiful plains!"
Our team horses, working all day and corralled in the barricade the
greater part of the night, were rapidly losing their flesh and spirits
and no longer minded the flick of the whip. It was plain enough, said
my uncle at our evening meal, that they must be put upon good
feed at night, or else we must soon stop work. He looked at
Pitamakan and me.
"Well, say it!" I cried. "What do you want us to do about it?"
"Night-herd them. Night-herd the whole outfit, saddle-horses and all,
up west on the high plains where the feed is good. Leave here after
dark so that any wandering war party hanging about will not know
just what way you are going or be able to follow you."
"Oh, my man!" Tsistsaki exclaimed, "I do not like them to do that.
Think! Just they two against all the travelers upon this great war
trail!"
"Many are the hunters of the fox; he eludes them all," said
Pitamakan.
"We shall strike out with the outfit as soon as it is dark," I said to my
uncle, and that settled the matter.
Of course I rode Is-spai-u when we started out, driving the loose
stock ahead of us. We headed southwest—almost south up along
the gentle slope, then, when well out from the valley, northwest—
and finally brought the animals to a stand at the head of the breaks
of the Missouri, about two miles due west from camp. We then
hobbled all but two, Is-spai-u and Pitamakan's buffalo horse, which
we picketed with long ropes. By turns we watched our little band
during the short night and at sunrise drove them back to the
barricade.
"Boys," Tsistsaki said to us after we had finished breakfast, "I have
something to say to you before you sleep."
"Say it! We are all but asleep now," Pitamakan answered from his
couch.
"It is this: you must not take your horses to-night to feed where you
had them last night; every night you must drive them to a different
place."
"As if we didn't know enough to do that! We decided upon to-night's
grazing-ground when we were coming in this morning!" Pitamakan
exclaimed.
"Wise almost-mother. What good care you have for us!" I told her.
And what a loving, cheerful smile she gave me! Ah, that was a
woman, let me tell you!
There was too much going on in our lodge for us to sleep well; so
we took a robe and a blanket apiece and sneaked quietly into the
lodge of the old Mandans, who were sleeping after their night watch
in the barricade.
At about four o'clock the old men aroused us, and Lame Wolf signed
that they were going to bathe; would we go with them? We did, and
were refreshed. Then, after we were back in the lodge and dressed,
old Lame Wolf painted our faces with red-earth paint, the sacred
color, and prayed for us. We could not, of course, understand what
he said, for he did not accompany the prayer with signs, but
Pitamakan said that made no difference; it was, of course, good and
powerful prayer.
At supper that evening we talked about the big fight we were
expecting to have with the Assiniboins, and wondered whether our
people would arrive in time for it. It was possible that the warriors
were coming on ahead, and if they were they might come riding
down at any moment.
"If we could only figure the probable time of the coming of the cut-
throats as well as we can that of our people!" my uncle exclaimed.
"Wal, now, Wesley, you're goin' to know what I've had in my think-
box for some time; I can't keep it shut any longer," Abbott said.
"We've heard that the Assiniboin camp is away off on the Assiniboin
River. But you can hear a lot that ain't so. Maybe it is nowhere like
that far off. Ag'in, that there war party that we routed don't have to
go clear home to get help to try to wipe us out; the Assiniboins and
the Yanktonnais are about the same breed of pups—both Sioux
stock. All those pals of Slidin' Beaver's have to do is to let the
Yanktonnais know that we have that there Is-spai-u horse with us,
and they'll come a-runnin' after him, even if they don't care shucks
about avengin' the death of Slidin' Beaver. I'll lay four bits that the
Yanktonnais camp is a long way this side of the Assiniboin River.
Let's look the thing in the face. It's possible, fellers, that the ball
may open this very night!"
"Let her come; we're here first!" Josh exclaimed.
"You bet you! I'm jest a-achin' for a scrap with those cut-throats!"
his twin chimed in.
 CHAPTER VIII
THE MANDANS SING THEIR VICTORY SONG
My uncle was not anxious for a fight with our enemies. I had never
seen him so worried. When Abbott and the Twins had gone out of
the lodge, he said to us: "I was too eager for this undertaking.
Carroll and Steell warned me of its dangers, but I wouldn't listen. I
shouldn't have come down here until I had engaged thirty or forty
men to build the fort. We may all be wiped out! What would become
of you, my woman, and of you, Thomas, if I were to go under now
with the load of debt that I have incurred in St. Louis? And after all
my years of endeavor, what a bad name would be mine!"
"Now, Far Thunder, just you quit that worrying, for everything is
going to come out right for us. I know it! I just know that the gods
are with us," said my almost-mother.
I could think of nothing to say. As I nodded to Pitamakan and we
went out to drive the horses to their night-grazing I wished that I
were not so tongue-tied.
"What was he saying?" Pitamakan asked me. I told him, and back to
the lodge he went, thrust his head inside the doorway and said: "Far
Thunder, you have overlooked our main helper. That loud-mouthed
gun of ours can defeat the cut-throats and all their brother tribes,
too."
"Maybe so, if they give us time to point and fire it at them," my
uncle answered; and my almost-brother came back to me lightly
humming his favorite war song.
A cloudy sky made the night very dark. We mounted and drove the
loose stock straight west out of the valley, then went southwest for a
couple of miles and hobbled them. We picketed Is-spai-u and my
runner, which Pitamakan had saddled that evening. We then drew
back outside of the sweep of the long ropes, and were about to
spread our buffalo robe and lie down when we heard the whir of a
rattlesnake close in front of us and another at our right. "Ha! This is
worse than facing a war party!" Pitamakan exclaimed. At the sound
of his voice the snakes rattled again, and a third somewhere close
on our left answered them. We were afraid to move lest we step
upon one of the rattlers and get a jab in our moccasined feet from
its poisonous fangs.
"We must get back upon our horses and move on," I said.
"Well, you have matches. Begin lighting them and we will do that,"
said Pitamakan.
I felt in the pocket of my buckskin shirt where I usually carried a few
matches wrapped in paper and waterproof bladder skin. The pocket
was empty. I felt in my ball pouch and in my trousers pockets,
although I knew it was useless to do so, and Pitamakan groaned,
"You have lost them?"
"Yes!"
"We just have to pray the gods to guide us," he said.
As we turned, it seemed to our straining ears that snakes rattled
upon all sides of us.
"Go slowly!" Pitamakan cautioned. "Stamp the ground hard, and
keep swinging your rifle out in front of you."
Thus step by step we drew away from the rattlers, fearing all the
time that we should encounter one that would strike before warning
us of its presence.
At last we came to Is-spai-u, a dim shadow in the darkness, and
took up his rope and led him on to the other picketed animal. Our
scare was still with us as we went among the horses and removed
their hobbles, but, getting into our saddles, we drove the stock on
for fully a mile. Before hobbling them again, we circled round and
round and made sure that we were not occupying another patch of
snake-infested plain.
"Well, we survived that danger! I believe it is a sign that we are not
to be bitten by the two-legged snakes that will soon attack us," said
Pitamakan after we had spread our robe and were resting
comfortably upon it.
Since I was no believer in signs, I did not say anything on the
subject.
"You sleep; I'll take the first watch," I told him.
The heavy clouds soon disappeared, the moon came up, and I could
see our surroundings very well. The horses were ripping off great
mouthfuls of rich bunch-grass and lustily chewing it. Their deep,
satisfied breathing gave me a glad feeling. All round us wolves were
howling and coyotes were yelping in high falsetto voices. How
different were these two branches of the great wolf family, I
thought. The wolves were of a serious, dignified nature; they
seemed never to howl except to communicate with one another. The
coyotes gathered in bands and wandered aimlessly from ridge to
ridge, stopping frequently and raising their sharp, pointed noses to
the sky and yelping.
My thoughts were not long upon the wolves. I remembered how
worried my uncle was when I had left our lodge; how serious was
the expression of Abbott's eyes when he predicted that the attack by
the cut-throats was about to take place.
I stared at the faint, moonlit outlines of the Moccasin Mountains,
away off to the southwest. Somewhere along the trail at the foot of
them the Pikuni were doubtless camping that night. Unwittingly I
cried out in Blackfoot, "Oh, hurry! Hurry to us, you men of the
Pikuni, else you will come too late!"
"What? What did you say? Do you see enemies?" Pitamakan
whispered as he sat up suddenly at my side.
"Oh, nothing. I was just calling to our people to hurry to us. I am so
afraid that they may not get here in time to help us," I answered.
"You forget that the loud-mouthed gun is of great strength. It can
shoot one of those big, hard metal balls a long way. And at short
range just think what it can do with a sackful of our small, soft
balls!"
"Yes, true enough. But think how long it takes to move and sight
and fire it! Loud-mouth is now pointing out the south side of the
barricade. Should the cut-throats suddenly attack us from the north
side, we should never even get a chance to fire it!"
"Ha! What a crazy head I am, never to have thought about that!
Loud-mouths are of sure help only when there are two of them,
each in a little outsetting house of its own, at opposite corners of a
fort. Almost-brother, Far Thunder should send us at once to meet
our people and get the warriors here as fast as their horses can
carry them."
"You have spoken my thought, too. We will tell him about it in the
morning," I answered.
"Yes, we will do that. Let us drive the horses in very early."
After a time we detected off to the west a dark, wide, cloud-like
mass slowly moving over the plain. It was composed of buffaloes, of
course, a large herd of them grazing straight toward the horses. It
would not do to let them come on, for in the stampede that was
sure to occur the frightened horses might go with them. We went
slowly and silently toward them and suddenly sprang forward,
waving our blankets. They paused, stared at us for a moment, then
turned and went thundering off to the south. There must have been
a thousand of them, judging by the noise that they made.
We returned to our watching-place, and I lay down and soon was
asleep. When I awoke, I knew by the position of the Seven Persons,
as the Blackfeet name the constellation of Ursa Major, that day was
not far off. I said that I would take the remainder of the watch, but
Pitamakan had no more than lain down when the faint, far-off boom
of a gun brought us both to our feet.
"Where was it?" he asked.
"Off to the north," I answered.
Again we heard shots, four or five of them, faint and low, like distant
thunder, then one that was sharper, like the crack of a whip.
"That last one was from Far Thunder's rifle!" Pitamakan exclaimed.
"Yes. Great Rider's words have come true: the cut-throats are
attacking camp!"
We ran to the horses and fumbled at their hobbles; then we coiled
the ropes of our picketed saddle-animals, mounted and drove the
little band on the run for camp.
"There is no more shooting!" I exclaimed.
"Not another shot! It looks bad to me! Maybe our people are wiped
out!" Pitamakan answered.
He expressed my own fear. We forced the horses to their utmost
speed. It was all of three miles to the mouth of the Musselshell, and
never were there such long miles. Day was breaking as we neared
the valley rim overlooking camp. A hundred yards or so away from
the edge we slowed up, dropped the loose stock, and with ready
rifles rode slowly on.
When at last we looked down upon the camp, I could have yelled
my relief. I saw smoke peacefully rising from the lodges and a
couple of women going from the barricade to the river for water.
Then we heard the old Mandans singing a song that we had not
heard before, a triumphant song in quick, strongly marked time.
"All is well!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, something pleasant has happened. What can it be?"
With light hearts we turned back to our loose stock, drove them
down near the barricade, and let them go to graze as they would
until it was time for the work of the day to begin. I was in the lead
as we drove into the barricade to unsaddle, and as I passed through
the entrance Is-spai-u gave a sudden turning leap that nearly
unseated me, and then stood staring and snorting at a huge grizzly
that lay at one side of the path. My uncle and Abbott came out of
our lodge and grinned broadly at us.
"Well, boys," said my uncle, "that's a real bear, isn't it!"
"We've had some excitement here, and 't isn't all over yet. Listen to
the old boys in there, singin'!" said Abbott.
"We heard the shots and thought that you were all wiped out, they
ceased so suddenly," I said.
We unsaddled and followed the men into the lodge, where Tsistsaki,
who was preparing breakfast, gave us cheerful greeting.
"This is what happened, as near as we can make out from the old
Mandans and from what we saw of it," my uncle said to us.
"It was about an hour back when old Lame Wolf, who was on guard
at the north side of the barricade, saw a big bear close in front of
him. It was a chance to count a coup that he couldn't resist. Taking
good aim with his old fuke, he fired and let out a yell. But his yell
wasn't so loud as the roar of the bear when the bullet spatted into
his side. We all waked and rushed outside, but the other old
watchers were ahead of us. They ran to Lame Wolf, and the first of
them fired at the bear, which was growling and biting at its wound.
At that, the bear came with a rush over the logs right in among
them. He was badly hurt, but would surely have mauled and killed
some of them had it not been for the powder smoke from their
fukes, which blinded him and made him cough. The old men were
running away in all directions, but he couldn't see them. He sat up
to get his bearings, and just then the smoke lifted; and there he
was, a mountain of a bear close in front of me. I took quick sight at
him and broke his neck. It all happened so quickly, and the old men
were so intent upon getting out of reach of the bear, that they never
knew that I gave him the finishing shot. One of them, looking back,
shouted something to the others, and all turned and ran to the bear;
and old Lame Wolf tapped him on the head with the barrel of his
fuke and counted coup on him. He claimed it, no doubt, because he
had fired the first shot into his carcass."
"And what did the engagés do?" Pitamakan asked.
"What did they do! You should have heard Henri Robarre praying to
be saved. The others joined in and ran about among the lodges,
carrying their guns as though they were so many sticks!" Abbott
exclaimed.
"They did better than that in our Sliding Beaver fight," I said.
"So they did, and they probably will be of some help when another
real fight takes place. I have just given them my opinion of their
actions in a way they will not soon forget," said my uncle.
We washed and had breakfast while the old men still sang their
quaint song of victory. Afterwards, when we went out, old Lame
Wolf was cutting the claws from his coup. He did not want the hide,
nor did we; the hair was the old, sunburned, and ragged winter
coat. So the engagés hitched an unwilling team to the carcass,
dragged it to the edge of the river-bank, and rolled it into the water.
They all then went down into the grove, and the Tennessee Twins
came up from it for their breakfast and their sleep. The night had
been quiet down there. One of them had come to learn the cause of
the firing in camp and had gone back, my uncle said, almost
bursting with anger at the cowardly and disgraceful exhibition the
engagés had made of themselves.
That day Pitamakan and I had Tsistsaki waken us shortly before
noon, and when my uncle and Abbott returned to the lodge for
dinner we proposed that we be allowed to go to meet the Pikuni and
bring them on—a part of the warriors, at any rate—with all haste.
Abbott said he thought we should do that, but my uncle decided
against it. If we did not night-herd the horses, he said, they could
not work. He thought that the Pikuni would arrive in time to fight the
cut-throats.
"I think you are making a mistake, Wesley; you had better let them
go for help; we'll probably be needing it sooner than you think,"
Abbott told him.
If my uncle had a fault, it was that he relied too much upon his own
judgment. In reply to Abbott he merely said: "No, we'll take a
chance on another day of good, hard work. Then if the Pikuni don't
show up, the boys can go look for them."
Pitamakan and I had not much enthusiasm for the afternoon work,
and when, about two o'clock, the old Mandans came to us and told
us that they were going to scatter out upon discovery we so longed
to go with them that we fairly hated our log-laying. Tsistsaki stood
by, watching us with pitying eyes, but my uncle, never noticing our
dissatisfaction, whistled as he skillfully swung his axe.
"Thomas, boy," he said, "this log-laying reminds me of a church-
raising that I attended long ago, 'way back in the States. It was a
little log meeting-house that they were putting up, and your father
and I lent a hand with the chinking. Your grandfather was the
preacher of that sparse congregation, and a mighty man with the
axe as well as with the Word."
"How did you happen to leave the States?" I asked.
"Your father and I were different," he answered. "Somehow, the
farm life there did not appeal to us. We made a break for the West.
Your father, poor fellow, never got beyond St. Louis. If he had only
come on with me! How he would have enjoyed this life!"
"You know well why he didn't come," I said.
"Of course. It was your mother, dear soul! He promised her that he
would never engage in the Far West trade, and he was a man of his
word."
During the afternoon we brought the walls of the building up to a
height of five logs,—about the height of my shoulder,—and as we
knocked off work my uncle said, "Two more rounds of logs, well
chinked, and we'll have a pretty respectable defense against the
enemy."
Returning to the barricade, we found that three of the Mandans had
come back, unnoticed by us. They reported that they had been
some distance up the Musselshell Valley and had seen no signs of
enemies. Later, while we were eating supper, old Lame Wolf and his
companion came in, and the moment they passed through the
doorway I knew from the expression of their faces that they had
something important to tell. They hurriedly took seats upon my
couch, and Lame Wolf signed to my uncle: "Far Thunder, chief,
enemies are here! We climbed to the top of the point between the
two valleys, the point there across from the grove, and upon the
very top of it found where enemies have been lying, looking down
and watching us!"
"Probably a small war party, too small to attack us and gone upon
their way," my uncle answered.
"Not so! Decidedly not so!" the old man signed on. "They have
watched there for several days—at least five men. They sneaked
away when they saw us coming. Why did they do that when they
could easily have surprised and killed us? Because they are the
scouts of a multitude coming to attack us, and are to tell the chiefs
just how to do it."
"I believe that the old man is right!" Abbott exclaimed.
"He may be, but I doubt it," said my uncle. "Up there is the lookout
place for all the war parties passing along this great trail. I doubt not
that one was recently there. I can't believe, however, that five or six
enemies withdrew from the point upon the approach of these two
old men. Had they been there at that time, they would certainly
never have overlooked such an easy opportunity to count two
coups."
"Well, whether you believe they are right or not, I advise you to
keep a good guard round the barricade to-night and to keep the
horses in, too," said Abbott.
"The horses must go out to feed as usual. In any event, they will be
safe off there upon the dark plain."
Abbott threw out his hands with a gesture of despair. "All right, you
for it! I've said my say."
Old Lame Wolf, of course, understood nothing of what was being
said. He waited until the talk apparently was ended, got my uncle's
attention once more and signed, "What shall you do?"
"We shall some of us stand watch with you to-night," my uncle
answered.
"That is good. Be sure that the loud-mouthed gun is well loaded and
ready to fire," the old man concluded, and the two went out to their
evening meal.
When supper was over, my uncle called the engagés together, told
them the old Mandans believed that the enemy might attack us
during the night, and ordered them to look well to their guns. He
then called the names of those he wanted for extra guard duty, and
of those who were to help him with the cannon. But to this plan
Tsistsaki made strong objection.
"No," she said; "let each man use his rifle. We will help with the
gun." And my uncle promised that she should have her way.
As Pitamakan and I were preparing to take the horses out, I had a
last word with my uncle.
"If you are attacked to-night, what shall we do?" I asked.
"I would not be sending you out if I believed that was to happen.
However, if it does happen, you must do the best you can; your own
judgment must guide you," he answered.
 CHAPTER IX
BIG LAKE CALLS A COUNCIL
It was quite dark when Pitamakan and I drove the horses out from
the barricade for their night-grazing. We flicked them into a lope up
the rise to the plain, but when we were nearly to the top they
suddenly shied at something ahead and dashed sharply off to the
left. I was riding Is-spai-u as usual, and he was so frightened that it
was all I could do to keep him from running ahead of the loose
stock. Pitamakan and I went some distance before we managed to
head the horses up the slope; and as soon as we were well out on
the plain I asked Pitamakan what he thought had frightened our
animals.
"I will tell you my real belief," he answered. "It was the enemy,
maybe a number of them, lying there to see in what direction we
would drive the horses, so that they could trail on and take them
from us."
"It may have been a bear."
"If a bear had been there, we should have seen him; there is
starlight enough for that. The low, sweet sage growth along the
slope could not have hidden a bear from us, but it is high enough to
conceal men lying flat in it. Almost-brother, I believe with old Lame
Wolf that trouble is about to break upon us!"
"Well, they shall not get these horses," I declared.
When, at last, we hobbled the loose animals and picketed Is-spai-u
and Pitamakan's runner we felt sure that no enemy could find us.
But there was to be no sleep for us that night; we settled down to
listen for the far-off boom of the cannon, which would tell us that
the cut-throats had attacked our camp.
About midnight we nearly started for the west and southwest and
the Pikuni, but we decided to wait a little longer and listen for the
boom of the cannon. We watched the Seven Persons swinging round
in the northern sky, and at last they warned us that day was not far
off. The attack upon camp had not opened; so we decided to urge
my uncle to allow us to go at once in search of the Pikuni. We
unhobbled the loose stock and drove them in with a rush. There was
only a faint lightening of the eastern horizon when we arrived at the
barricade, and Abbott, standing on watch at the passageway, let
down the bars for us.
"You are in plenty early this mornin'," he said as we drove past him.
"We have reason for it. We want to persuade my uncle to let us start
right now after the Pikuni," I answered.
"You said it! That is just what he should have you do!" he exclaimed.
As we got down from our horses we saw dimly here and there the
other watchers approaching to learn whether we had anything to tell
of the night. Then in the direction of the grove we all heard the
patter of feet striking harshly upon the stony ground.
"It's the Twins!" Abbott exclaimed.
"Behind them the cut-throats!" said Pitamakan, and at the same
time our ears caught the faint thudding of many moccasined feet.
Then the Twins loomed up hugely in the dusk. They dashed in
through the passageway, and Josh gasped out, "They're right at our
tails! Run that cannon out!"
The cannon was in the center of the barricade, loaded with trade
balls, fused, and covered with a piece of canvas to protect it from
the weather. As Abbott, the Twins, and I ran to it, Pitamakan hurried
on to our lodge to rouse my uncle; and the engagés, who had been
on watch with the Mandans, quietly slipped round awakening the
inmates of the other lodges. I flipped the cover on the cannon, and,
just as we got it into the passageway, the fight opened with shots
and yells on the west side of the barricade. The thought flashed into
my mind that Pitamakan had been right. It had been some of the
enemy, lying concealed upon the slope, that our horses had shied
from when we were driving them out to graze.
"Never mind the racket back there; our job is right here! Now! Swing
her round!" Abbott shouted to us, and he had to shout in order to
make himself heard.
We swung the gun round. I kept hold on the tailpiece while Abbott
sighted and called, "To the right a little! Left a trifle! There!"
As he lighted the fuse I sprang out of the way of the recoil and for
the first time looked ahead. Out of the dusk of the morning, less
than a hundred yards away, a horde of warriors were coming toward
us swiftly yet with cautious, catlike steps. There was something
terribly sinister in their approach, far more so than if they had come
with the usual war songs and shouts of an Indian attack. Boom!
went the cannon. The flash of it blinded us; the smoke drifted into
our faces. Lem, who was carrying our rifles in his arms, shouted to
us to take them.
"No! Lay 'em down! Help load! Where's the powder for this gun?"
Abbott yelled.
"Right here!" cried my uncle as he and Tsistsaki and a couple of
other women joined us. "Use your rifles!"
We snatched them from Lem, and, lo! as the smoke drifted away we
could see no one to shoot at, nor could we hear anything but the
hollow murmur of the river, as if it were mocking us.
"By gum! They've just flew away!" Lem exclaimed.
"Not they!" said my uncle, proceeding to thrust a charge powder into
the cannon and ram it home. "Just step over to the river-bank and
look down, and you'll see them."
"Ha! So that's their scheme, is it? Goin' to shut us off from water! I
might have knowed it! What beats me is, why didn't they come on?
If they had, 't would have been all over with us in about two
minutes!" said Lem.
"What say they?" Pitamakan asked me, and I told him.
The Mandans and the engagés now came to us from the other side
of the stockade, with the women and children trailing after them.
"The cut-throats ran down over the river-bank," old Lame Wolf
signed to my uncle.
"Sare, M'sieu' Reynard," Henri Robarre said to him, "hon our side ze
cut-throats were but few. Zey holler much, zey fire deir guns no at
us. Zey shoot hup at ze stars, an' zen run hide behin' ze bank of ze
riv' M'sieu', what hit means, dat strange conducts?"
"I don't understand it myself, except that when the Twins discovered
them their plan of attack went all wrong," my uncle answered in a
puzzled voice.
"I know all about it," Pitamakan said in the sign language so that the
Mandans should understand.
"Well, let us hear," said my uncle.
"This is it," he went on. "The cut-throats want our scalps, but they
want also Is-spai-u. A few of them laid in wait for my almost-brother
and me, hoping to seize the runner when we drove the herd out last
night; but they failed. The chiefs then planned to wait until we
should bring the horses back into the barricade and kill us in a
surprise attack as we all stood fighting their few men on the west
side. Thus they would take no chances of shooting the black runner.
They would have wiped us out, had not the Twins discovered them
down there in the timber. Now they plan to make us go mad from
want of water and then wipe us out."
"You women, how much water have you?" Tsistsaki asked.
One by one they answered; there was not a bucketful in any lodge!
"Far Thunder, it is now time for my almost-brother and me to go
after our people," Pitamakan said to my uncle impressively.
"It is! Go—as fast as you can!" he replied.
"I ride Is-spai-u," I said.
"You do not! He is our shield, it seems. You ride your own runner!"
We had saddled up and were ready to start within five minutes. Day
had come. To the west and east there was not a single body of the
enemy. Abbott could hardly believe his eyes.
Tsistsaki, ever thoughtful of us, had tied little sacks of food to our
saddles, and now we mounted our runners. Nowhere along the bank
of the river was there the least sign of the enemy, but we were
certain that many a pair of eyes was watching the barricade from
clumps of rye grass and sweet sage.
"You'll better lie low on yer horses an' go out flyin'; they'll prob'ly
shoot at you," Abbott warned us.
My uncle came and grasped my hand. "It is a terrible risk you are
taking. I wish I could take it for you, but my place seems to be here.
I've got you all in a bad fix, my boy, but I hope you and Pitamakan
will pull us out of it." His voice was unsteady.
"We'll do our best," I answered.
"Go, I am praying for you both!" Tsistsaki called out to us.
We took a running start, hanging low upon the right side of our
animals, and went out through the passageway with a rush. We
turned sharply to the right, and in no time had the barricade
between us and the river. Not a shot was fired at us. We rode
straight up the valley for fully a mile before we turned out on the
plain. There we halted for a last look at camp. How peaceful it
seemed! But how terrible was the situation! There were at least two
hundred enemies between our few people and water.
As we rode on we kept looking for the trail of dust raised by
thousands of dragging, sharp-pointed lodge poles and travois and
horses' hoofs, that would mark the advance of the Pikuni. We were
not long in reaching Crooked Creek, and there at the rim of the
valley we parted, Pitamakan to go due west toward the buttes of It-
Crushed-Them Creek, I to follow up the stream. At the head of it,
close to the foot of the mountains, he said, I should find the deep,
well-worn trail of the Pikuni, which ran straight east past the foot of
Black Butte to the Musselshell. If I should fail to meet the Pikuni
along Crooked Creek I was to go west along the trail until I found
them or the place where they had turned northeast in the direction
of the buttes toward which he was heading.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when I struck the big east-
and-west trail at the head of the creek, not more than a mile from
the foot of the Moccasin Mountains. My horse went on more easily in
one of the broad, smooth tracks, and I was more expectant. The
Pikuni could not be far from me now, I thought.
Toward sundown I topped a long, wide, sloping ridge and looked
back along the way I had come—more than forty miles. My horse
was showing the strain of the long, hot ride. My throat was burning
hot from want of water; my lips were cracking.
A mile or two ahead were low, pine-capped hills, and between two
of them I saw a patch of the bright green foliage of cottonwoods, a
sure sign of water. It was growing dusk when I arrived at the place.
I slid from my horse and held his rope as he stepped into the narrow
stream. He all but fought me when I pulled him away from it and
picketed him near by. Then I drank and had a hard fight with myself
to stop long before I had had enough.
From the description of the country that Pitamakan had given me I
knew that I was at the head of the east fork of It-Crushed-Them
Creek. I did not know how far it was to the other fork, but, near or
far, it was impossible for me to go on until my horse had had a good
rest, with plenty of grass and water. In the gathering night I found a
good grazing-place a little way below the crossing, picketed him
upon it and sat down beside the small clump of buck-brush round
which I had fastened the end of his rope. An hour or so later I took
him again to water and that time I drank all that I wanted. Then
back at the grazing-place I ate the meat and hard bread that
Tsistsaki had tied to my saddle while my runner greedily cropped the
short, rich grass. Long and hard though my ride had been, I was too
worried to sleep. As plain as if it were right in front of me, I could
see our little camp at the mouth of the Musselshell and its weary
watchers staring out at the river-bank, expecting every moment that
the enemy would swarm up and attack them.
I fell asleep, and my dream was worse than my waking vision. I saw
our camp within the barricade a wreck, with smouldering heaps of
lodges, and scalped bodies strewn among them. The dream was so
real, so terrible that the force of it woke me and I came to myself
standing and tensely gripping my rifle.
I looked up to the north and was astonished. The Seven Persons had
nearly completed their nightly course; morning was at hand. How
could I have slept so long? I sprang up and saddled my horse,
watered him, and, mounting in the light of the half-moon, again took
up the trail to the west.
When I had gone two or three miles from my camping-place my
horse raised his head and neighed loudly. I angrily checked his
attempt to neigh again and probably betray my presence to some
enemy near by. When he pulled on his bit and pranced sidewise,
eager to go on, I fought his attempts and looked up and down the
rise in front of me as far as I could see in the moonlight. I listened
and heard the far-off but unmistakable howling of dogs. How my
heart rose at the sound of it! Ahead was the camp of the Pikuni, I
was sure. Crows or other enemies would not dare bring their women
and children so far into Blackfoot country. I let my eager horse go.
We fairly flew up over the next rise and then over another, and there
at the foot of it, in the light of breaking day, scattered up and down
a willow-fringed streamlet, were the lodges of my people and their
herds of horses blackening the valley.
Smoke was rising from several of the lodges as I rushed into the
camp, sprang from my horse in front of White Wolf's lodge, and
dived into it.
"Hurry! Hurry! Call the warriors! The cut-throats are at our camp!
Oh, why were you so slow in coming?" I all but shouted.
"Now, calm yourself! Excited ones can't talk straight—" White Wolf
began.
But his head wife interrupted him by springing to my side, grabbing
my arm, and fiercely crying, "My son—Pitamakan! What of him?"
"Somewhere near here, looking for you," I answered; and with a
queer, choking croon of relief she sank back upon her couch.
"If we are too late, it is Far Thunder's fault," White Wolf said to me
sternly. "His message was that the cut-throats were encamped upon
their own river in the north. Why should we hurry, then, when they
were more than twice as far from you as we were? Well, tell us how
it is!"
I explained our situation in a few words, but, few as they were, they
set White Wolf afire. "There is no time to lose! Come! Quick to Big
Lake's lodge!"
We ran and burst in upon the head chief, who was still lying under
his robes. I had not half finished telling why I had come when he
had one of his women running for the camp-crier. Five minutes later
the crier and several volunteers were hurrying up and down the long
camp calling out the warriors and ordering the clan chiefs and the
chiefs of the bands of the All Friends Society to hurry to a council in
Big Lake's lodge.
They came, running and eager, and in a very short time it was
decided what bands of the society should hurry on to fight the cut-
throats and what ones should guard the following camp. About six
hundred men were ordered to be ready to start as soon as possible,
each one with his two best horses.
The boys and the old men were running in the herds as White Wolf
and I returned to his lodge. I told one of the women to catch for me
two certain horses in our band and fell upon the food that was set
before me. Then, just as we began eating, we heard a great outcry
near by, and Pitamakan came in and sat beside his father, who
fondly patted him on the shoulder. His horse had played out at the
It-Crushed-Them Creek buttes, and he had remained there all night.
Now the warriors were beginning to gather out in front of the center
of the camp, each band round its chief. We soon joined them with
our fresh mounts. Raising the war song, and followed by the cries of
the women calling upon us to be of good courage and win, we set
out upon our ride to the Musselshell.
 CHAPTER X
THE RIVER TAKES ITS TOLL
Pitamakan and I rode in the lead with the chiefs, because in a way
we were the guides of the relief party. Behind us came the different
bands of the I-kun-uh-kah-tsi, or All Friends Society, each one
herding its extra horses. Our pace was so fast that there was little
opportunity for talk; and Pitamakan and I had no desire to do so.
Our thoughts were with our little camp of besieged people.
At noon we halted for a short rest. The chiefs at once gathered in a
circle and began to plan just what should be done at the mouth of
the Musselshell; that is, if Far Thunder and his engagés still held the
barricade. Pitamakan and I told how they would be suffering from
want of water and urged that we ride as straight as we could to their
relief.
Then up spoke Heavy Runner, chief of the Braves, and the war chief
of the Pikuni:
"It is true," he said, "that Far Thunder and his people, if still alive,
must be choking from need of water, but for their own good and the
good of all the Blackfoot tribes they must choke a little longer.
Should we go charging straight to their barricade, the enemy would
see us from far off and have plenty of time to retreat from the bank
of the river into the grove, and there make a good fight, kill many of
us, perhaps, and escape in the darkness. What we must try to do is
to give the cut-throats a lesson that they and their children and their
children's children will remember as long as the sun makes the days.
I therefore propose that we ride down Crooked Creek into Upon-the-
Other-Side Bear River, right into the stream bed, and follow it to the
edge of the big grove. There half of us will leave our horses and go
on and surprise the enemy under the edge of the bank of Big River
and drive them out upon the open flat away from the grove. There
we afoot and the other half of us on horseback and Far Thunder
with his loud-mouth gun will just let one or two of the cut-throats
escape to tell his people what the Pikuni did to their warriors."
Without exception the chiefs approved this plan, but Pitamakan and
I made objections. "It is a roundabout way," said Pitamakan, "to go
clear to the mouth of this creek and then down the winding bed of
the other stream. We haven't the time to do it."
"If Far Thunder and those with him are still alive, their sufferings
from need of water are something terrible," I said. "Chiefs, let us
leave Crooked Creek right here and strike straight across the plain as
soon as possible!"
"I shall say a few words about this!" White Wolf exclaimed. "I have a
big interest in that little party down there in the barricade; my own
sister is there. And yet I say that as she is suffering, so must she
suffer a little longer for the good of the Pikuni. But not much longer.
In a time like this what is one horse to any of us? Nothing! We will
leave our tired horses right here, and if a Crow or other war party
comes along and takes them—well, we shall probably recover them
some day. Upon our fresh horses we can go this roundabout way
and certainly arrive at the head of the big grove before sundown.
Then we will wipe out those cut-throats, every last one of them,
before it becomes too dark for us to shoot straight. Come! let us
hurry on!"
"Yes! We will do that! There's nothing the matter with the bird's
head!" cried Heavy Runner as he sprang up, and all laughed and
cheered as we mounted our fresh horses. The chief's slang
expression was a favorite one of the Blackfeet, and equivalent to our
saying, "I don't care; everything goes with me!"
Away we went, leaving behind us more than three hundred fine
horses, fast buffalo-runners every one of them. Occasionally during
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