THE BUFFALO. 217 



or prairie schooner, we moved off into the open country in 

 the dim twilight. After marching until near midnight, we 

 went into camp by simply halting, and after picketing our 

 horses so that they could graze, we took our blankets out 

 of the wagon, and, rolling ourselves up in them, we lay 

 down to sleep under the shelter of the vehicle. Slum- 

 ber was rendered impossible, however, by the sharp attacks 

 of innumerable mosquitoes, whose " little bills " pierced 

 through our heavy woollen blankets and clothes with appar- 

 ently as much ease as if they did not exist. The first hour 

 of retirement was devoted to tumbling about uneasily, in 

 order not to have all the pricks on one side, and to blessing 

 mosquitoes and all their race; but just as they were be- 

 coming unendurable, a fierce and sudden wind, to which 

 the prairies are often subjected, came sweeping toward us 

 with a howl of seeming rage, and in another moment our 

 pests were swept away. The gale, though strong, was not 

 very cold, and by cuddling close together we managed to 

 keep warm enough to fall into a restless doze. 



I had scarcely lost consciousness, however, before I was 

 aroused by an alarmed shout of " Get up, boys ; the In- 

 dians are coming !" The words were scarcely uttered be- 

 fore we were all thoroughly wide-awake and unrolled from 

 our blankets. In searching for my boots, which were the 

 only part of my vestments of which I had divested myself, 

 I caught the man who was sleeping near my feet by the 

 hair of the head, and gave it a strong pull in my haste to 

 find what I wanted. This act must have thoroughly sur- 

 prised him, and recalled visions of scalping to his mind; 

 for he yelled out, "Holy Jerusalem! what is that?" This 

 brought as a response a suppressed chorus of " Shut op, you 

 d — n fool;" but the incident seemed so ludicrous to me that 

 I chuckled heartily, notwithstanding the apparent danger. 

 We were soon dressed, and, with rifles in hand, we ranged 

 ourselves on one side of the wagon, prepared to sell our 

 lives as dearly as possible. As the night was exceedingly 

 dark, we were in hopes that our position might not be seen, 

 and that the announced enemy might pass us by ; but this 



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