Brave and True | Page 6

log cabin and
cleared his own fields, with no other assistance than that of his little son;
this was, however, by no means small, for frontier boys are, of
necessity, brought up to be helpful, hardy, and self-denying. Jem
therefore felt his life of incessant labour and deprivation no hardship:
he was as happy and merry as the day was long. But the misfortune that
had now fallen upon the brave little man was so severe and unexpected,
he did not know how to bear it. The thought of the dear, suffering
Mother waiting patiently for the medicine which would relieve her, and
of the anxious, careworn Father, who would look so vainly along the
forest track for his return, was too much for his affectionate little heart;
so, leaning his arms against a tree, he dropped his head upon them and
sobbed bitterly. Then, struggling up, he made another attempt to walk,
for he knew he had accomplished more than half the journey, but the
injured foot would not support him, and the attempt to stand caused
him the sharpest agony.
"It is of no use--I cannot stand," groaned Jem half-aloud, as, resolving
to make the best of circumstances, he sat down, settled his back against
a tree, and munched up his hunch of bread. Then he said his prayers,
with the addition of a special one that God would make his dear
Mother better without the medicine, and prepared to wait with what
patience he might till morning, when he knew that some fur traders or
hunters would surely be passing along the track, who would give him
the assistance he needed. One thing Jem was determined about: he
would not go to sleep. He set himself to count the stars which peeped
through the leaves above his head, and listened to the occasional stir of
birds and squirrels in their nests.

He knew and loved them all, and they on their parts knew that Jem
never stole birds' eggs or merry baby squirrels, as the other boys did.
"It is only Jem," they would say when they saw him coming, and they
never thought of hiding from him.
But somehow Jem did not get very far in his counting of the stars--they
danced about too much, his head would drop down, and his eyes would
not keep open. It is not easy for a tired little boy of eleven years old to
keep awake at night, and so in a very few minutes Jem was fast asleep.
It seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes when a slight
noise caused him to open them, and then he was wide awake in a
moment, for, with a thrill of horror, he became aware of two Indians
standing close beside him in the strange pale-green light of early dawn.
As they silently gazed down upon him his heart seemed to stand still,
and his next impulse was to cry out, but he had learned to keep his wits
about him, and remember that even an Indian has a certain respect for
a manly spirit. So he sat up and boldly returned the gaze of the fierce
black eyes--but at the same time he had heard too many tales of the
cruelties practised by Indians on their captives not to realise the
danger he was in.
The younger of the red men was already fingering his hatchet, whilst he
muttered some hostile words which boded no good to our hero, but the
elder, who appeared to be a man of some importance, silenced his
companion with a gesture, and then, crossing his arms, said, in musical,
broken English: "My young brother is abroad early."
"I was going across the forest to get medicine for my Mother," replied
Jem.
"But the medicine-man of the palefaces does not live in the forest,"
returned the Indian. "Where does the Mother of my brother live?"
"In the clearing of the entrance to the west track. It was nearly dark
when I started and I fell and hurt my leg, so that I can go no farther."

"Hu," exclaimed the Indian, kneeling down, and taking Jem's injured
foot gently in his hand. "Then my brother is the son of the good
paleface woman who tended Woodpecker when he was sick, and made
him well again?"
"Are you Woodpecker?" exclaimed Jem gladly. "My Mother has told
me about you."
The Indian nodded, and, tearing a strip from his blanket, he dipped it in
a spring of water which was near at hand, and bound it firmly round
the boy's swollen ankle. "The Mother of my young brother is very
sick?" he inquired.
"Yes," replied Jem, "and she is waiting for the medicine, and I cannot
fetch it." He winked bravely to keep back the tears