HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS OF THE FAR WEST. 65 



out of my hump," he continued, bending forward to the fire, 

 and exhibiting an arrow sticking out under his right shoulder 

 blade, and a stream of blood trickling down his buckskin coat 

 from the wound. . 



This his nearest neighbor essayed to do ; but finding, after 

 a tug, that it "would not come," expressed his opinion that 

 the offending weapon would have to be " butchered" out. This 

 was accordingly effected with the ready blade of a scalp-knife ; 

 and a handful of beaver-fur being placed on the wound, ^nd 

 secured by a strap of buckskin round the body, the wounded 

 man donned his hunting-shirt once more, and coolly set about 

 lighting his pipe, his rifle lying across his lap, cocked, and 

 ready for use. 



It was now near midnight dark and misty ; and the clouds, 

 rolling away to the eastward from the lofty ridges of the 

 Rocky Mountains, were gradually obscuring the dim starlight. 

 As the lighter vapors faded from the mountains, a thick 

 black cloud succeeded them, and settled over the loftier peaks 

 of the chain, faintly visible through the gloom of night, while 

 a mass of fleecy scud soon overspread the whole sky. A hol- 

 low moaning sound crept through the valley, and the upper 

 branches of the cotton woods, with their withered leaves, be- 

 gan to rustle with the first breath of the coming storm. Huge 

 drops of rain fell at intervals, hissing as they dropped into 

 the blazing fires, and pattering on the skins with which the 

 hunters hurriedly covered the exposed baggage. The mules 

 near the camp cropped the grass with quick and greedy bites 

 round the circuit of their pickets, as if conscious that the 

 storm would soon prevent their feeding, and already humped 

 their backs as the chilling rain fell upon their flanks. The 

 prairie wolves crept closer to the camp, and in the con- 

 fusion that ensued from the hurry of the trappers to cover 

 the perishable portions of their equipment, contrived more 

 than once to dart off with a piece of meat, when their peculiar 



6* 



