118 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



times I determined to rout them out, and as often gave up 

 the idea : for one was quarrelsome whenever his rest was 

 disturbed ; the other had a disagreeable way of telling the 

 most doleful stories, and keeping the listeners in a constant 

 state of excitement, for in every shadow, every movement 

 of the horses, every unusual sound, he professed to see an 

 indication that a whole tribe of Indians, fully decked with 

 war-paint, and thirsting for scalps, were about to make an 

 onslaught on our defenceless bivouac. Further, I must 

 inform my readers that Cap. is an abbreviation of captain, 

 used over the western portion of the United States, for 

 every man who has borne arms, whether in the militia or 

 regulars ; whether he has been a full private or only a 

 camp-follower. 



Yes, I was awake, as wide awake as a pool of water 

 under each arm, each knee, and every protuberant portion 

 of the figure, could make me. With an anathema against 

 weather, country, and out-door life, T sprang up, and 

 willingly busied myself in raking together the fragments of 

 what had been a fire ; long and tedious were the efforts to 

 coax a blaze, but at length the reward of patience was 

 vouchsafed, and in spite of the almost insurmountable 

 obstacles a sufficient heat was obtained, by which to cook 

 the debris of last night's supper, the sole remnants of 

 provisions the larder could boast of. 



At the time to which I allude we were on a branch or 

 small fork that flowed from the south into the Pawnee 

 River I and my companions had come from the westward, 

 and had experienced as hard a time as it is possible to 

 conceive ; we had been about two weeks together, and 



