112 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



council held, it was determined to abandon the camp and 

 neighbourhood immediately. Old Bill was already pack- 

 ing his animals, and as he pounded the saddle down on the 

 withers of his old Rosinante, he muttered" Do 'ee hyar, 

 now? this coon 'ull cache, he will." So mounting his 

 horse, and leading his pack-mule by a lariat, he bent over 

 his saddle-horn, dug his ponderous rowels into the lank 

 sides of his beast, and, without a word, struck up the bluff 

 and disappeared. 



The others, hastily gathering up their packs, and most 

 of them having lost their traps, quickly followed his ex- 

 ample, and "put out." On cresting the high ground which 

 rose from the creek, they observed thin columns of smoke 

 mounting into the air from many different points, the 

 meaning of which they were at no loss to guess. How- 

 ever, they were careful not to show themselves on elevated 

 ground, keeping as much as possible under the banks of 

 the creek, when such a course was practicable ; but, the 

 bluffs sometimes rising precipitously from the water, they 

 were more than once compelled to ascend the banks, and 

 continue their course along the uplands, whence they 

 might easily be discovered by the Indians. It was nearly 

 sundown when they left their camp, but they proceeded 

 during the greater part of the night at as rapid a rate as 

 possible; their progress, however, being greatly retarded 

 as they advanced into the mountain, their route lying up 

 stream. Towards morning they halted for a brief space, 

 but started again as soon as daylight permitted them to 

 see their way over the broken ground. 



The creek now forced its way through a narrow canon, 

 the banks being thickly clothed with a shrubbery of cotton- 

 wood and quaking-ash. The mountain rose on each side, 

 but not abruptly, being here and there broken into pla- 

 teaus and shelving prairies. In a very thick bottom, 

 sprinkled with coarse grass, they halted about noon, and 

 removed the saddles and packs from their wearied animals, 

 picketing them in the best spots of grass. 



La Bont and Killbuck, after securing their animals, 

 left the camp to hunt, for they had no provisions of any 



