IN THE OLD WEST 209 



Then taking the sick man's shoulder, he raised him 

 tenderly into a sitting posture, and invited, in 

 kindly accents, " the old hoss to feed," thrusting 

 at the same time a tolerable slice of liver into his 

 hand, which the patient looked at wistfully and 

 vaguely for a few short moments, and then 

 greedily devoured. It was nightfall by the time 

 that La Bonte, assisted by many intervals of hard 

 eating, packed in the last of the meat, which 

 formed a goodly pile around the fire. 



" Poor bull " it was, in all conscience : the labor 

 of chewing a mouthful of the tenderloin was equal 

 to a hard day's hunt; but to them, poor starved 

 fellows, it appeared the richest of meat. They 

 still preserved a small tin pot, and in this, by 

 stress of eternal boiling, La Bonte contrived to 

 make some strong soup, which soon restored his 

 sick companion to marching order. For himself, 

 as soon as a good meal had filled him, he was strong 

 as ever, and employed himself in drying the re- 

 mainder of the meat for future use. Even the 

 wolf, bony as he was, was converted into meat, and 

 rationed them several days. Winter, however, 

 had set in with such severity, and Killbuck was 

 still so weak, that La Bonte determined to remain 

 in his present position until spring, as he now 

 found that buffalo frequently visited the valley, as 

 it was more bare of snow than the lowlands, and 

 afforded them better pasture ; and one morning he 

 the satisfaction of seeing a band of seventeen 



