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Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Summary

Call sends Augustus and Pea Eye north of the Yellowstone to look for ranch country. They cross the river easily, chase buffalo for the pleasure of doing it once more, and are ambushed on the third day out by some twenty Indians. Augustus takes two arrows in the leg and a wound in the back; they fort up in a creek bed, kill several attackers, lose both horses to a knife in the brush, and dig a cave under a bank as the creek rises in a downpour. His leg festers and the fever climbs. He orders Pea Eye to float downstream past the Indians at night and fetch Call. Pea loses his rifle, boots and clothes in the flood and walks south for three days naked, barefoot and starving, killing a prairie chicken with a rock and believing Deets is walking ahead of him in the dark. Dish spots him. Call covers him with a slicker, learns Gus was alive when he left, and rides north alone.

Analysis

The wound that kills Augustus is taken while he rides over a hill for the pleasure of the view — carelessness he has been warned about since chapter one. Pea Eye's naked three-day walk, guided by a dead man, is the novel's strangest and most literal act of faith.

Plates

The outfit argues about the Yellowstone at the wagon, and Jasper Fant shows off the rude floats he has made from empty lard buckets.
00 The outfit argues about the Yellowstone at the wagon, and Jasper Fant shows off the rude floats he has made from empty lard buckets.
Call asks Augustus to take the first look north of the Yellowstone, and tells him to take Pea Eye along in case of trouble.
01 Call asks Augustus to take the first look north of the Yellowstone, and tells him to take Pea Eye along in case of trouble.
Riding out on the breezy morning under a dark cloud bank in the north-west, Augustus and Pea Eye pass Po Campo a mile from camp, out on the plain hunting wild onions.
02 Riding out on the breezy morning under a dark cloud bank in the north-west, Augustus and Pea Eye pass Po Campo a mile from camp, out on the plain hunting wild onions.
Past the Yellowstone, Augustus runs the buffalo for the pleasure of doing it once more while Pea Eye, caught by surprise, is left far behind.
03 Past the Yellowstone, Augustus runs the buffalo for the pleasure of doing it once more while Pea Eye, caught by surprise, is left far behind.
Augustus comes racing back down the little rise with two arrows in his leg and twenty mounted warriors on his heels, and Pea Eye is frozen in place watching him come.
04 Augustus comes racing back down the little rise with two arrows in his leg and twenty mounted warriors on his heels, and Pea Eye is frozen in place watching him come.
Forted up in the creek bed, Augustus props his saddle on the bank and shoots under it, dropping five of the war party's horses in six rapid shots.
05 Forted up in the creek bed, Augustus props his saddle on the bank and shoots under it, dropping five of the war party's horses in six rapid shots.
Both horses are found down in the brush with their throats cut, killed silently while Augustus and Pea Eye were working at the arrow.
06 Both horses are found down in the brush with their throats cut, killed silently while Augustus and Pea Eye were working at the arrow.
In the cave dug under the bank, with the flooded creek two yards away and his leg packed in mud, Augustus shakes Pea Eye's hand and sends him downstream for Call.
07 In the cave dug under the bank, with the flooded creek two yards away and his leg packed in mud, Augustus shakes Pea Eye's hand and sends him downstream for Call.
On the third day south, naked, barefoot and starving, Pea Eye stumbles on across the empty plain believing Deets is walking ahead of him, guiding him in.
08 On the third day south, naked, barefoot and starving, Pea Eye stumbles on across the empty plain believing Deets is walking ahead of him, guiding him in.
Pea Eye passes out against the chuck wagon between one spoonful of coffee and the next, and Call rides north alone with a led horse to get Gus.
09 Pea Eye passes out against the chuck wagon between one spoonful of coffee and the next, and Call rides north alone with a led horse to get Gus.