Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
At first Kate shrank from going out, but after each parley the noise
would resume, as it seemed automatically; and still the bride would
not, as she afterwards said, show herself. Finally a torch-bearing
party was seen approaching, and sweet singing voices were heard--as
much of a surprise to the noisy party outside the residence as to
those inside the house.
It was the church choir giving a serenade. The old Scotch tailor
with his bagpipe was there; the glee club of the village rendered its
best song; the violin and flute added to the music, and with it
dancing began on the sod. "Let's go," said Pelton. "All right,"
answered the bride; and before they could realize it, they were
dancing with the joyous crowd.
It was near midwinter; the falling of the leaves had stripped the
deciduous timber growth of the valley bare, but the evergreens of the
tablelands retained their color as in the summer time. The sheltered
ferns in the deep recesses of the forests were preserved in all their
delicate beauty, while here and there a modest flower peeped from a
sheltered nook. Grass was green in favored places on the common and
in the gardens of the village.
Pelton could scarcely believe his eyes as he viewed the scene,
particularly when it included a ship {121} sailing by; the square
rigged sails of the three-mast schooner was to him a thing of
exquisite beauty, moved by some invisible power. Everything looked
bright, and he was happy; the girl he had sought and won, now his
beloved wife, never before looked so lovely to him.
Kate, no less happy than her husband, pictured to herself a quiet
home where she could live as her mother had done amid the joys of a
pioneer life. Now, more than ever, she realized her deep love for
Isaac, and wondered what life would have been to her without him.
But there was one disturbing element; Bess and Sarah were
unmistakably jealous of Pelton. They had been accustomed to the
undivided love of "mamma," as they continued to call Kate, and were
not easily reconciled to sharing that affection with another. Kate
consulted with Isaac, then with her father, and finally all three
conferred together as to how best to convince the little girls that
her love for them was just as intense as ever.
The Squire suggested that he take the girls on a visit to Ben; they
would enjoy it, and besides he wanted to see the "dear boy" himself.
Pelton thought it would be better not to disturb them until the close
of school, adding that he intended to make a trip to see the country
and wanted Kate to go along if "father" would not be too much
inconvenienced during their absence.
Mulhall cordially seconded the suggestion, saying {122} that he and
the girls could get along splendidly; he would have Clara Laighton,
Kate's dearest friend, come to prepare the dinners in the evening,
while he and the girls could get breakfast, and they take their lunch
to school. The Squire's evident sincerity, bordering on enthusiasm,
relieved Pelton and Kate from any uneasiness regarding his
willingness that the trip should be made, and how the little girls
would get along while they were absent.
So the question came up as to where they should go, how and the
length of time they would probably be gone. The conclusion was
finally reached to take a cruise on Puget Sound; "We can always get
plenty of clams," Kate said, "when the tide is out." She had
utilized clams to feed prisoners in the jail, and knew their value;
besides it would be jolly to dig them and bake them as the Indians
did.
Pelton was in doubt whether to take a boat or canoe; Kate said by all
means a canoe, and explained their pattern for speed and safety, as
exemplified by the clipper ships[2] which carried the Stars and
Stripes to all parts of the world. The marvel of shaping these
canoes from the body of a large tree, guided by the eye alone,
remains a mystery to this day; the Indians did so, but it is
difficult to fully understand how.
{123}
First, the exterior parts are cut down to a solid trunk of wood the
size and shape of the finished canoe. Then follows the more
intricate labor of removing the center, either by chipping off pieces
with rude tools or burning out the excess. Coming down to what is
left for the framework of the canoe, the problem is how deep to cut
without penetrating the outside shell, which seems to be determined
more by instinct than by measurement. They are made in various
dimensions, from the one-man canoe up to a size in which thirty
Indians go boldly out to sea on their fishing excursions.
Pelton secured the service of the native Steicca and his Indian
"klootchman" (wife), who were recommended by the Chief Factor of the
near-by Hudson's Bay Company fort; and hired their five-man size
canoe. Steicca was a person of note among his people, and had gained
the confidence of the men at the fort. He was above the average
stature for his tribe, popularly designated as the "Fish" Indians,
because they depended almost entirely upon sea food; his klootchman
was a comely native from the over-mountain tribe known as the "Horse
Indians."
She kept herself and clothing clean, in contrast with the
carelessness or uncleanliness generally seen among the women of the
tribe to which her husband belonged. Their four-year old boy was
likewise always neat and tidy; and Kate thought he was one of the
most likable urchins she had ever seen.
Pelton had procured a closed tent with complete {124} camping outfit,
which included a mirror for Kate and a bootjack for himself. Nothing
seemed to be overlooked to make her feel at home on their bridal
trip--a honeymoon in a Garden of Eden to them.
They embarked in the early morning observed by many friends and
acquaintances, both men and women, the latter representing nearly
every household of the village. Children were there with handsful of
rice to shower good will upon the heads of their departing friends;
Sarah and Bess looked on, but could not understand what the throwing
of rice meant.
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{125}
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Just as Kate and Isaac were settled comfortably side by side in the
capacious canoe, Mrs. Steicca--"Sally" let us call her, instead of
_klootchman_, sat at the post of honor as both captain and pilot,
with paddle in hand ready for the start whenever the word was given.
This was the usual custom among the Indians, who skillfully guided
the canoe in rough waters and boisterous winds, as well as in the
placid waters usually prevailing on the bays of Puget Sound.
As Steicca pushed off the bow of the canoe both paddles were dipped
vigorously into the water, and the handles struck the sides with
resounding thumps, while each hummed in harmonious minor key an
Indian ditty common to the tribe. The dull sound of the paddles
knocking against the side of the canoe, and the voices in unison,
could be heard long after the view of the slowly disappearing craft
had {126} become dimmed to the assembled villagers, who then
reluctantly returned to their homes.
Propelled by the combined strength of both experts, the canoe passed
rapidly through the water, accelerated by the swift current of an ebb
tide. The morning haze had not cleared away and the water was of a
glassy smoothness--not a ripple on the surface near-by--though not
far away there were slightly disturbed patches, when Kate caught
sight of what appeared to be a human head rising out of the deep
water in the wake of the rapidly passing canoe.
"What in the world is that?" she exclaimed as she gazed for a moment
at the seeming apparition, which now quickly disappeared from sight,
and excitedly grasped the arm of her husband. Pelton jocosely
suggested it was a mermaid.
"Do you believe in that stuff?" Kate asked, to which Isaac replied
that at least it looked like the picture of one; and she admitted it
did. In her childhood Kate had read the old-time legends about
mermaids; and knew that all down the ages, the belief in creatures
half human and half fish had existed among thousands. And now, was
it possible that she had a glimpse of one? Kate was not
superstitious, but the sight startled and puzzled her; and the reader
will doubtless also wonder what it could have been.
An old record describing the mermaid states that "they have a way of
lifting their round heads and shoulders from the water with a queer
look of almost {127} human intelligence upon their faces;" and that
is exactly what Kate had seen. The head that had come above the
surface only a few rods in the wake of the canoe, as if to
investigate what had disturbed the repose of its abode, was about the
size of a half-grown girl, with a suggestion of languid eyes and a
plaintive countenance.
Only the face could be seen, and that but for a moment--long enough
to indelibly fix the features in Kate's mind. It was the head of a
hair-seal, common at that time in the waters of Puget Sound. The
sudden appearance of these strange creatures has startled and puzzled
many travelers; and led large numbers of people to believe in the
existence of a real mermaid.
As the canoe sped on its way, the hills on the east shut off the sun,
the channel became narrow and crooked, and the view of waters ahead
vanished, leaving only the high elevations, covered with dense
forests of evergreen fir, in sight on either side. The outlook ahead
seemed as if the party had come to the end of the waters, with a bold
elevation--almost a mountain--directly in front. Just then the canoe
lurched to the eastward, and despite the utmost efforts of the
Indians, shot off the line of travel; then it started as suddenly in
the opposite direction, as if possessed by an evil spirit.
The shadows of the hills bordering the narrow passage and a fleeting
cloud darkened the view as if night was approaching. A dull, subdued
roar {128} comparable to an indistinct echo of a distant sound,
reached the ears of the party. Just ahead, the waters apparently
swelled up above the common level and then broke away to form again
either to the right or left, or both to spread currents running in
circles.
Now the sound became louder from the choppy sea of broken waves,
forming small conical volumes of water mounting in the air and
falling back to the surface. To make matters worse, the whirlpools
drew in short bits of driftwood; and some of the larger pieces
thumped against the sides of the canoe, interfering with the paddles.
The canoe had encountered a tide-rip--water roughened by conflicting
tides or currents, a phenomenon of which neither had ever heard.
Kate spoke first; "I wish we were landed, Isaac, don't you?" Pelton
felt about the same, but made an effort to speak encouragingly.
It was a battle of the tides in a narrow channel of the Sound with a
swift current due to the tide receding toward the sea. The whirling
waters extended from shore to shore, while whirlpools of varying
extent suddenly formed and as quickly vanished, all moving rapidly in
one direction--a grand sight to the beholder from a safe point of
vantage, but to Kate an object of terror.
"_Tenas alia copet_" (it will soon quiet) Sally said, more to herself
than otherwise, perceiving Kate's perturbed state of mind; and
pointed the canoe toward the eastern shore-line. A few minutes {129}
sufficed to reach an eddy outside the disturbed waters, and to shove
the nose of the canoe obliquely and gently over to a pebbly beach.
Sally's boy, named Pete after the great humanitarian, Peter Skene