Captain Lewis added that he would stay at
the forks for his brother chief, but would send a man down the river;
and that if Cameahwait doubted what he said, one of their young men
could go with him, while he and the other two remained at the forks.
This story satisfied the chief and the greater part of the Indians; but
a few did not conceal their suspicions, observing that we told different
stories, and complaining that their chief exposed them to danger by
a mistaken confidence. Captain Lewis now wrote, by the light of some
willow-brush, a note to Captain Clark, which he gave to Drewyer, with
an order to use all possible expedition in descending the river, and
engaged an Indian to accompany him by the promise of a knife and some
beads.
"At bedtime the chief and five others slept round the fire of
Captain Lewis, and the rest hid themselves in different parts of the
willow-brush to avoid the enemy, who, they feared, would attack them in
the night. Captain Lewis endeavored to assume a cheerfulness he did not
feel, to prevent the despondency of the savages. After conversing gayly
with them he retired to his mosquito-bier, by the side of which the
chief now placed himself. He lay down, yet slept but little, being
in fact scarcely less uneasy than his Indian companions. He was
apprehensive that, finding the ascent of the river impracticable,
Captain Clark might have stopped below Rattlesnake bluff, and the
messenger would not meet him. The consequence of disappointing the
Indians at this moment would most probably be that they would retire
and secrete themselves in the mountains, so as to prevent our having
an opportunity of recovering their confidence.
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