IN THE OLD WEST 329 



a reply to his question, and exclaimed, " The old 

 mule smells Injuns, or I'm a Spaniard!" 



The hunter did the old mule justice, and she 

 well maintained her reputation as the best guard 

 in the mountains ; for in two minutes an Indian 

 stalked into the camp, dressed in a cloth capote, 

 and in odds and ends of civilized attire. 



" Rapaho," cried Killbuck, as soon as he saw 

 him; and the Indian catching the word, struck 

 his hand upon his breast, and exclaimed, in broken 

 Spanish and English mixed, " Si, si, me Arapaho, 

 white man amigo. Come to camp — eat heap 

 came — me amigo white man. Come from Pueblo 

 — hunt cibola — me gun break — no puedo matar 

 nada: mucha hamhre (very hungry) — heap 

 eat." 



Killbuck offered his pipe to the Indian, anu 

 spoke to him in his own language, which both he 

 and La Bonte well understood. They learned that 

 h^ was married to a Mexican woman, and lived 

 with some hunters at the Pueblo fort on the Ar- 

 kansa. He volunteered the information that a 

 war-party of his people were out on the Platte 

 trail to intercept the Indian traders on their re- 

 turn from the North Fork ; and as some " Mor- 

 mones " had just started with three wagons in that 

 direction, he said his people would make a " raise." 

 Being muy amigo himself to the whites, he cau- 

 tioned his present companions from crossing to 

 the divide, as the braves, he said, were a heap 



