Evening star., 1924-02-23
from Yesterdays starr
CHAPTER ".
The ABYSS.

Is master, whose head WAS DoWeu
| ron his arms, Now and then 1t had
|tooped. as if it would have looked
h his face, but dared not, if for very
Ncess of love. 1t turned an inquir-
|hs eye to the door, which, after a
me, opened.
William Clark, silent, stood once
bore at the side of his friend. He
boxed on the sad and haggard face
|vhich was turned toward him. and
|ell back. His eye caught sight of
he folded paper crushed between
evils fingers. He asked no ques-
lons, but he knew.
Enough" broke out Meriwether
.ewis hoarsely. NO more of this
10 must be gone. Are the men
|aadyr Why do we delay? Why are
Fn not away for the journey home?"
So impatient, so incoherent, did his
I7eech seem that for 4 time Clark
lmost feared lest his friends reason
|niy stood looking at Lewis, ready
be of such aid as might be.
In two hours, Merne," said he, we
lill be on our way"
X was now near the end of March.
they dated and posted up their bulle-
fns. They had done their task. They
|ad found the great river, they had
hund the sea, they had mapped the
lay across the new continent. Th cir
florious work had gloriously been
lone.
Such was their JOY at starting
he doWn-coming current of the great
aters-they sang at the paddles,
fsted- Only their leader was silent
ND unsmilinS and he drove them
ard. Short commons they knew
ften enough beforc they reached the
4 Nf ta
icy found friendly Indians, who
ave them horse meat-which seemed
fyceedingiv good food.
The NeZ Perces. whose country was
fached next beyond the Walla
| alias. offered guides across the Bit
pc horTes could not travel For
feeks they lay in camp on the
{ooskooskie, eating horse meat as
he Indians then were doing, waiting,
letting.
1t was the middle of June before
4ey made the effort to pass the Bit
r Roots. Sixty horses they had now.
ith abundance of jerked horse meat,
I'D half-dozen NeZ Perces guides.
Y the third of July--just three years
ON the date of the Louisiana pur-
base as it was made known at Mr..
RerSon's simplicity dinner-they
ere across the Bitter Roots once
-
hstern slope.
That way" said sacajawea, point
EE. big faIls."
She meant the short cut across the
|,Ing of the bow, which would lead
|ver the Continental Divide direct to
|he Great Falls of the Missouri. Roth
he leaders had pondered over this
Tort cut, which the Nez Perces knew
fefl.
I'VE must part. WILL" said Meri-
Fether Lewis. 1T is our duty to learn
II we can of this wonderful country.
will take the Indian trail straight
cross. Do you go on down the way
Fe came. Pick up our caches above
he three forks of the Missouri. and
hen cross over the mountains to the
-ellowstone. Make boats there. and
'nme on down to the mouth of that
liver. You should precede me there,
,arhaps, by some days. Wait ther
i1ti1 I come"
with little more ado these self-re-
ant men parted in the middle of the
'ast mountain wilderness. They
tanned a later junction of their two
4rties at the mouth of river which
hen was less known than the Column
one of them had ever seen.
Lewis had with him nine men.
mong them Sergt. GasS, the two
'ieids boys, Drouiliard and Cruzatte.
he voyageurS. SacaJawea, in spite OF
er protest, remained with the Clark
arty, where her wonderful knoWl-
dfe Of the country again proved in
aluable. This band advanced direct
y to the southwark by easy and
leasant daily stages.
That way short path oyer noun
aims" said Sacajawea at length. at
ne point OF their journey.
She pointed out the Big Hole Trail
nd what was later known as Clarks
,ass over the Continental Divide.
'hey came to a new country, a peau-
ifni valley where the grass was good;
ut Sacajawea still pointed onward.
THAT way" said she, hnd DoaI
ind cache"'
She showed them another gap In
he hills. as yet unknown, and SO leu
hem out by short cut directly 10
he caches on the Jefferson!
But they could not tarry long. Boots
md saddles again. pole and paddle
lso. for now some of the men must
axe to the boats while others
rought on the horses. At the Three
'orks rendezvous they made YET other
hanges, for here the boats must pe
eft. Capt. Clark must cross the
nountain range to the eastward TO
md the Yellowstone, OF which the
aid. not quite q full days march
i rough a notch in the lofty noun
aims. they would come to the river.
nich ran off to the east
Not one of them had ever heard. OF
hat gap In the hills; there was no
ne to guide them through IL e8cep!
he Indian girl, whose memory had
,itharto been so positive and so
rlstworthy. They trusted her inn
'licitly.
Always she pointed on ahead conh-
en- tIy, and always she was right. she
as laying out the course OF a rali-
5ad which one day shouia cotne up
ne Yellowstone and cross here TO the
.They found it to be no more than
phteen or twenty miles, SacaJaWea
y xtraordinary short cut between the
fissburi and the Yellowstone. They
truck the latter river pelow ths
routh OF it's great canyon. found good
irnber and soon were busy telling
;rsat cottonwoods to make dugout
'anoes. Two of these, some thirty
'set in length, when laShed sIoe oy
ide served TO carry all their gooos
nd some of their party. The rest
'ryor. Shannon. Hall and one or two
to come on down with
he horses.
The mounted men did we'll enough
-tfI one night the Crows stole all
heir horses and left them on foot IN
he middle of the wilderness. Not
aunted. they built themselves boats
T bull hide, as they had seen Indians
., and soon they followed on down
ne river they could not tell how
ar, to the rear of the main boat
,arty. With the marvellous good for
iIne. which attended the entire ex-
edition, they had no accident. and
n time they met the other explorers
! the mouth Of the Yellowstone.
.fter travelling 900 miles on a sepa-
II was on the Sth of August that
he fast of Ciark's boats arrived at
he Yellowstone rendezvous. His men
cit now as If they were almost at
iome. The Mandan villages We're not
sf below AS soon as Capt Lewis
,ho1Id come they would be on their
rav. rejoicing. Patient, hardy, un-
they did not know that
hey were heroes.
What Of Lewis, then gone so long?
-, ha