﻿LIFE AMONG THI INDIANS. 325 



Now, I loved hunting, and the eagerness with which my spirited 

 companion went through his imaginary exploits quite aroused me. 



" Well," said I, " I will go ; but why this hurry ? You '11 give 

 me time to dress myself, wont you ? ' : 



" Hardly," responded my tormentor, " unless you are handy, for 

 Mah-to-he-ha and Jack Sanford are now waiting for us in the 

 canoe. The rest have been gone an hour or more." 



" The rest of the party? why, where are we going?" 



" O, up the creek." 



Jollie always called the Missouri river " the creek." Before I 

 was ready, I learned that fifteen or twenty of the best hunters in the 

 village had left early in the morning upon horses, and that we were 

 to follow up the river in a canoe, and to come ashore at night and 

 remain with them. By pretty constant labor we could easily go as 

 far in the canoe before night-fall as the men upon horses, and Mah- 

 to-he-ha and Jack were the best boatmen in the vicinity. I hurried 

 on my dress, and equipped myself for several days' absence up the 

 river, and in a short time we were on the smooth, unruffled surface 

 of the great Missouri river. We set out in high glee, and our frail 

 bark canoe glided over the water with the swiftness of a bird. 



Nothing of importance, or worth relating, occurred during the 

 day. We occasionally shot at game upon the banks of the river, or 

 stopped to admire the charming landscapes which almost every bend 

 of the river revealed to us. The further one ascends the Missouri 

 river, the greater variety he will find for his admiration. Just at 

 sundown we spied the red flag upon the banks, the signal agreed 

 upon, and we paddled our canoe ashore, and found the party already 

 encamped for the night. Early the next morning, we set off again 

 as before. 



As we hauled up our canoe the fourth evening after our departure, 

 I found, by the preparations which were being made in the camp 

 among the hunters, that something was going to be done. The 

 rifles were examined, tomahawks and scalping-knives sharpened 

 and put in order, and a watch stationed, for the first time since we 

 left home, about our tents. Besides, I saw three or four of the 

 bravest warriors in " secret session," as legislators say, deeply en- 

 gaged in discussing some important matters. The next morning, 



