32 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



ing in with either of the Eapaho bands was hardly con- 

 sidered ; to avoid this, they trusted to their own fore- 

 sight, and the legs of their mules, should they encounter 

 them. 



Between sundown and the rising of the moon, they 

 had leisure to eat their supper, which, as before, con- 

 sisted of raw buffalo-liver ; after discussing which, Kill- 

 buck pronounced himself " a heap" better, and ready 

 for "huggin." 



In the short interval of almost perfect darkness which 

 preceded the moonlight, and taking advantage of one 

 of the frequent squalls of wind which howl down the 

 narrow gorges of the mountains, these two determined 

 men, with footsteps noiseless as the panther's, crawled 

 to the edge of the little plateau of some hundred yards 

 square, where the five Indians in charge of the animals 

 were seated round the fire, perfectly unconscious of the 

 vicinity of danger. Several clumps of cedar bushes 

 dotted the small prairie, and amongst these the well- 

 hobbled mules and horses were feeding. These animals, 

 accustomed to the presence of whites, would not notice 

 the two hunters as they crept from clump to clump 

 nearer to the fire, and also served, even if the Indians 

 should be on the watch, to conceal their movements 

 from them. 



This the two men at once perceived ; but old Kill- 

 buck knew that if he passed within sight or smell of 

 his mule, he would be received with a hinny of recog- 

 nition, which would at once alarm the enemy. He 

 therefore first ascertained where his own animal was 



