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Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Summary

The outfit crosses the Missouri near Fort Benton, where an astonished Major Court buys two hundred head. Old Hugh Auld takes over as the outfit's talker. Old Dog is eaten by grizzlies; Jasper nearly drowns and swears off rivers for good. Call rides on until they reach the Milk, one river short of Canada, and picks a creek with timber for a headquarters — though he no longer feels any interest in the work, dreams of Gus nightly, and is increasingly irritated that grown men still wait on his orders. A three-day blizzard teaches the men what the country is, and they build a log house with a chimney of Po Campo's mud bricks. Call refuses to live in it, wintering in Wilbarger's tent. Dish draws his wages and rides for Nebraska through the snow. Newt discovers he can break horses, and Call — watching him work quietly, without talk — begins taking him along on the beef deliveries to the forts.

Analysis

The goal is reached and produces nothing. Call keeps riding north out of habit, refuses to live in the house they build, and is irritated that men still await orders. Meanwhile Newt is quietly promoted by demonstration rather than word — the only paternity Call knows how to perform.

Plates

Major Court comes out of the little post at Fort Benton and finds the Hat Creek herd spread across the plain on the far side of the Missouri.
00 Major Court comes out of the little post at Fort Benton and finds the Hat Creek herd spread across the plain on the far side of the Missouri.
Jasper Fant, blue with cold after being spilled into the Missouri, is wrapped in blankets at the great fire on the north bank while Old Hugh Auld explains that he could have waded out.
01 Jasper Fant, blue with cold after being spilled into the Missouri, is wrapped in blankets at the great fire on the north bank while Old Hugh Auld explains that he could have waded out.
Call keeps riding on ahead into the north-west, silent for days, with the line of the Rockies clear to the west and Old Hugh hanging back, shy about offering advice.
02 Call keeps riding on ahead into the north-west, silent for days, with the line of the Rockies clear to the west and Old Hugh hanging back, shy about offering advice.
Beyond the Marais, Newt and the Raineys find two grizzlies making a meal of Old Dog, and their horses bolt.
03 Beyond the Marais, Newt and the Raineys find two grizzlies making a meal of Old Dog, and their horses bolt.
They reach the Milk River on a crisp fall day, the men in their new coats, and Old Hugh tells Call that it is the last one — north of it is Canada.
04 They reach the Milk River on a crisp fall day, the men in their new coats, and Old Hugh tells Call that it is the last one — north of it is Canada.
Camping alone east of the Milk after a day's riding over the empty country, Call wakes at his small fire having heard Gus's voice so clearly that he looks around for him.
05 Camping alone east of the Milk after a day's riding over the empty country, Call wakes at his small fire having heard Gus's voice so clearly that he looks around for him.
The three-day blizzard — the men huddled between two big fires, freezing on the side away from the flames, unable to see as far as the horses.
06 The three-day blizzard — the men huddled between two big fires, freezing on the side away from the flames, unable to see as far as the horses.
The rough log house stands finished with Po Campo's mud-brick chimney drawing smoke — and Call, refusing to live in it, has pitched Wilbarger's old tent down on the creek.
07 The rough log house stands finished with Po Campo's mud-brick chimney drawing smoke — and Call, refusing to live in it, has pitched Wilbarger's old tent down on the creek.
Dish Boggett, paid off and loaded down with Po Campo's provisions, shakes hands all round and mounts for Nebraska while Pea Eye weeps and Newt feels that leavings and dyings are much alike.
08 Dish Boggett, paid off and loaded down with Po Campo's provisions, shakes hands all round and mounts for Nebraska while Pea Eye weeps and Newt feels that leavings and dyings are much alike.
Call comes back from Fort Benton to find Newt in the sapling corral talking a hammer-headed bay quiet, and is pleased by the boy's silent way of working.
09 Call comes back from Fort Benton to find Newt in the sapling corral talking a hammer-headed bay quiet, and is pleased by the boy's silent way of working.