UNWILLING SERVICE. 181 



horned cattle quenched their thirst. No buffalo, 

 however, were in sight, although their footprints 

 were so fresh that they could not be formed over 

 twenty-four hours. This 'the old man' assured 

 me was an indication that Indians had lately been 

 hunting in the vicinity. As the stream at the part 

 where we struck it ran with a sharp turn towards 

 the west, my companion, who had been here before, 

 stated that we were still some way from the 

 camp of the people we sought, which was on 

 a small tributary of one of the feeders of the 

 Missouri flowing in from the north. Their exact 

 position, 'the old man' remarked, was easily re- 

 cognised by a high clay bluff opposite where it 

 debouched into the parent stream, as well as by the 

 proximity of a ridge of high ground, the summit of 

 which was fringed with pines. In his belief, we had 

 not over twenty miles more to traverse before reach- 

 ing our destination. If his supposition was correct, 

 there was no advantage to be gained by hurrying, 

 as such a distance was more than our cattle in their 

 exhausted condition could accomplish that day, 

 without being goaded on in a manner that would 

 be absolutely cruel. In fact, for the last day 

 or two, to save my mare as much as possible, I 

 had ridden the mule, a service he appeared most 

 unwilling to submit to. While the sun was yet 

 about two hours high, we found a suitable camping- 

 ground, which had apparently been used for that 

 purpose before, as portions of charred wood, and 



