The Captain's Dog Read Online Free PDF Page B

all their legs moving in unison like a centipede's, turning right and left at the sound of Sergeant Ordway's booming voice.
    "Company, halt!" Ordway shouted. "Present arms!" The rifles were raised to their shoulders. "Fire!"
    This got a jump out of the Otos. Next Captain Lewis fired his air rifle, which astonished them even more.
    "And this," he said, "makes things appear closer." He handed one of the chiefs a brass tube. I had seen similar instruments when I was aboard the ship. "Hold it up to your eye."
    The chief peered through the tube and let out a startled cry. "It turns my sight into eagle eyes," he said to Dorion, who was translating.
    "Yes," Captain Lewis said. "And we have even greater magic than this."
    He gathered the Otos around him and began reading his speech.
    "Children ... we have been sent by the great Chief of the seventeen nations of America to inform you that a great council was held between your old fathers, the French and Spaniards..."
    He went on to tell them that the French and Spaniards, with whom the Otos had traded for many years, had returned to their homes across the sea and would never come back, and that President Thomas Jefferson was now their new father. I wasn't quite sure what Captain Lewis meant by all of this. It seemed important and I tried to pay close attention, but all I could think was that I wished the mosquitoes, who were out in great numbers, would return to their homes and never come back.
    "The president is your only father; he is the only friend to whom you can now look for protection, or from whom you can ask favors, or receive good counsel, and he will take care to serve you, and not deceive you..."
    Drouillard and Dorion did the best they could to try to translate these words with hand-talk, but I could see it was somewhat difficult for them.
    "Children, our great Chief has sent us out here to clear the road, remove every obstruction, and make it the road of peace between himself and his red children who live here. He wants to know what you want. When we return we will tell him your desires, and they will be satisfied..."
    He told them to stop warring among themselves and not to make war on the white tribe when they came to trade.
    "If you make war on our people, you will bring upon yourselves the displeasure of your great father, who has the power to consume you as the fire consumes the grass of the plains. If you displease him, he will also stop all traders from coming up the river..."
    The speech went on for some time, but at last Captain Lewis concluded and with Captain Clark began to hand out gifts to the chiefs. I could tell the chiefs were a little disappointed at the gifts, but they were too polite to complain. They got together and delivered a speech of their own, saying that they wanted to be friendly and that they could also use some gunpowder and whiskey. Captain Lewis obliged them by giving them a casket of powder, fifty balls, and a bottle of whiskey, and the chiefs left with a promise to send Little Thief to the captains as soon as he returned from hunting.
    Overall the captains seemed quite pleased with how the parley went. After the Otos departed, Captain Lewis gathered the men and complimented them on their conduct. "I venture to say that if all of our councils go like this, President Jefferson will be well pleased with our success."
    Then, as the captains were fond of saying, we proceeded on.

    That evening at our new camp I was lying at Captain Lewis's feet as he scratched in the red book, and I was just about to doze off when I smelled Private Moses Reed approaching. My eyes snapped open and I stifled a growl before it left my throat. Captain Lewis did not tolerate my growling at the men, even men like Private Reed.
    "Captain Lewis, sir?"
    The Captain was so engrossed in the red book he had not seen Reed walk up, and was startled at the sound of Reed's voice. He looked up angrily. "What is it, Reed?"
    "I left my knife at Council Bluff. I'd like to go back