230 HUNTING THE GRISLY. < 



man who had gone down the river appeared, 

 out of breath with his desperate run, having 

 been surprised by several Indians, and just 

 succeeding in making his escape by dodging 

 from bush to bush, threatening his pursuers 

 with his rifle. 



These proved to be but the forerunners of 

 a great war party, for when the sun rose the 

 hills around seemed black with Sioux. Had 

 they chosen to dash right in on the camp, 

 running the risk of losing several of their men 

 in the charge, they could of course have eaten 

 up the three hunters in a minute ; but such a 

 charge is rarely practised by Indians, who, 

 although they are admirable in defensive war- 

 fare, and even in certain kinds of offensive 

 movements, and although from their skill in 

 hiding they usually inflict much more loss than 

 they suffer when matched against white troops, 

 are yet very reluctant to make any movement 

 where the advantage gained must be offset by 

 considerable loss of life. The three men 

 thought they were surely doomed, but being 

 veteran frontiersmen and long inured to every 

 kind of hardship and danger, they set to work 

 with cool resolution to make as effective a de- 

 fence as possible, to beat off their antagonists 

 if they might, and if this proved impracticable, 

 to sell their lives as dearly as they could. 

 Having tethered the horses in a slight hollow, 

 the only one which offered any protection, 

 each man crept out to a point of the triangular 

 brush patch and lay down to await events. 



In a very short while the Indians began 



