82 THRILLING ADVENTURES. 



nised his old grizzled mule making good play at the rich 

 buffalo grass with which these mountain valleys abound. 



" If we don't make i a raise' afore long, I wouldn't say so. 

 Thar plans is plain to this child as beaver sign. They're after 

 Yuta hair, as certain as this gun has hind-sights ; but they 

 arn't a-goin' to pack them animals after 'em, and have crawled 

 like 4 rattlers' along this bottom to cache 'em till they come 

 back from the Bayou and maybe they'll leave half a dozen 

 4 soldiers' with 'em." 



How right the wily trapper was in his conjectures will be 

 shortly proved. Meanwhile, with his companion, he descended 

 the bluff, and pushing his way into a thicket of dwarf pine 

 and cedar, sat down on a log, and drew from an end of the 

 blanket, strapped on his shoulder, a portion of a buffalo's 

 liver, which they both discussed, raw, with infinite relish ; 

 eating in lieu of bread, (an unknown luxury in these parts) 

 sundry strips of dried fat. To have kindled a fire would 

 have been dangerous, since it was not impossible that some 

 of the Indians might leave their camp to hunt, when the 

 smoke would at once have betrayed the presence of enemies. 

 A light was struck, however, for their pipes, and after enjoy- 

 ing this consolation for some time, they laid a blanket on the 

 ground, and side by side, soon fell asleep. 



If Killbuck had been a prophet, or the most prescient of 

 "medicine-men," he could not have more exactly predicted 

 the movements in the Indian camp. About three hours before 

 " sun-down," he rose and shook himself, which movement was 

 sufficient to awaken his companion. Telling La Bonte to lie 

 down again and rest, he gave him to understand that he was 

 about to reconnoitre the enemy's camp ; and after carefully 

 examining his rifle, and drawing his knife-belt a hole or two 

 tighter, he proceeded on his dangerous errand. Ascending 

 the same bluff whence he had first discovered the Indian camp, 

 he glanced rapidly around, and made himself master of the 

 features of the ground choosing a ravine by which he might 



