3

___________________
___________________________________________

Real Injuns – Cholera – Trading for Laudanum – Wampum and Tomahawk

Well, the trip, all six months of it, was long and tedious, cept for the part with the Injuns.  Yeah, we actually saw real Injuns. And talked to them, too  It was better'n any adventure book.  We was short on food, as the brothers ate more'n they expected to and we was held up with a sick ox for a spell.

Anyways, one day Huck sees an Injun, on a horse, with war paint and wampum, comin' towards us!  I, of course, was running to tell the brothers the Injuns was about to attack us, when Huck caught up to me and said the Injun wanted to trade with us.  I was just plumb shocked at that, cause all Injuns want is scalps, and I was a kinda lookin' forward to whuppin all of 'em, but Huck said that we needed food, so we'd best trade with him. The Parkersons came over with us. 

The Injun was taller'n any man I'd ever seed.  He had nothing on but a loin cloth and a blanket round his shoulders.  He said, "You want food, I want white medicine, trade good for both".  I ran to get our small medicine kit while the brothers talked for food.  Huck told me later that the Injun said, "They get sweaty, they get the runs, then they die," meaning cholera.  Of course, we all knew that laudanum could cure it, but the Parkersons wouldn't trade it to the Injun.  I was wunderin why they wouldn't when I suddenly thunk that I didn't see no food on the Injun. 

In the end, the oldest Parkerson, Jeb, did the trading with the Injun, saying "If youse wantin' medicine, where's the food, the eating stuff?"  The Injun then when back to his horse and brought a deer carcass, still bleeding, along with a pouch full of dried buffalo meat.  Jeb made a noise in his throat, either of greed or hunger.  Huck said he reckoned it were greed.  Jeb then took the laudanum we had out of our kit.  The Injun said he needed lots and lots of it. 

"Many bottles, much medicine, good," was the way he put it.

"Give us a minute, and you'll get your many bottles" Jeb replied. 

Well, then Jeb took the laudanum we had, and to my shock, poured one bottle into one of our water sacks, then proceeded to fill up several of the smaller ones!  Huck noticed too, and said that Jeb were a'goin to cheat the Injun.  I didn't think it was too wrong until Huck got me athinkin bout the graves we'd seen alongside the trail and the sick people we'd seen with cholera.  I reckon there's no crueler death possible than with cholera, that's like the evil bandits that the good bandits fight for the honor of all bandits. 

So's I figured we aughta get the Injun some good medicine.  Huck just wanted ta up and give it to the Injun, but that wouldn't be the right way to do it.  I told Huck all about the plan, sayin' it would be a right good plan to do, seeing reason for once.  I came up with a really great plan, which went something like this.  We would wait until Jeb and the rest of them left, then ask the Injun to follow us a whiles until dark, then we'd "borrow", according to Huck, some of the food they got from the Injun, take it for ourselves, and give the Injun the good medicine from our packs.  Huck reckoned we aughta also tell the Injun about the brother's treachery, but I didn't think it too keen an idea, as you never know with Injuns what'll set them off. 

But, Huck convinced me, as the Injun might just use the bad medicine and then the little papooses and squaws would die, so I agreed.  The only problem was the Injun set off before the Parkersons left.  So, I was forced to run over to him, while Huck distracted the Parkersons.  He told me later that he'd told 'em that I wanted some wampum from the Injun.  Well, I reckon'd that the Injun would just kill me on the spot, but instead he stopped, got off the horse and talked to me like any reg'lar gent back home. 

"Those men bad, medicine not as good, follow us till no light, then we bring good medicine" I told him, simplifying it, as he was an Injun after all. 

He nodded, letting us know he understood, adding "The bad men will no see me.  Meet behind wagon," letting me know where to expect them.  He then made like he rode off, but he really had just disappeared into the grass.  I came back to the group.

Jeb asked, "Did you get yourself some wampum?" 

I was kinda surprised but said right away, "Nope, the Injun said it was sacred to his tribe, passed from his great granddaddy and couldn't trade it unless I gave him twenty enemy scalps," using a bit I read from one of my adventure novels.  Huck kinda smiled and turned away to keep from laughing.  The Parkersons looked kinder disappointed but we went on.

From there on the plan worked to perfection.  The Injun was so grateful that he gave Huck a genuine Injun tomahawk and I got the string of wampum and a hunting knife, which I reckoned was right decent of him, and he rode off. 

Not much close to that caliber of excitement happened the rest of the way.  A couple of right frightening lightning storms which spooked all the animals, one accidental shooting of one man shooting his neighbor, thinking him a deer, but nothing really exicting like with that Injun.  The next adventure didn't happened until hit Sacramento.