AN UNPLEASANT ADVENTURE. 23 



impossible story, and no one looking at their villainous faces 

 would have believed that they did not come for some bad pur- 

 pose. Their being on foot, too, was a very suspicious circum- 

 stance, as an Indian never walks on the prairie, unless he is 

 going to steal a horse. 



After they had had some supper they said they would go, 

 but this our guide would not permit, telling them that they 

 must remain till morning, and if they tried to go before then 

 they would be shot, so they remained very unwillingly and lay 

 by the fire all night. Had we let them go, they would probably 

 have visited us again before morning, and have tried to run off 

 our horses. 



I had one unpleasant adventure before the end of the summer ; 

 I had been running buffalo, and had killed two old bulls after 

 a very long run, during which I had turned so many times, that 

 when I had taken the tongues I found I did not know the way 

 back to camp. It was beginning to get dark as I took the 

 second tongue, and I at once started in the direction in which 

 I thought the camp was, but I had not ridden far when a snow- 

 storm came on, making my chance of finding camp very doubt- 

 ful. However, I rode on for about an hour, when I was wet 

 through, and so cold that I had to get off and lead my pony. 



For some miles I trudged on, firing my gun every now and 

 then and stopping to listen for an answering shot ; but hearing 

 nothing, and as my pony was tired, I thought I would light a fire 

 and remain by it until the morning, so at the next willow bushes 

 I came to, I cut some of the driest-looking of them, and striking 

 a match tried to light a fire ; but everything was very wet and 

 would not burn, so after I had struck some twenty matches 

 without avail, I gave it up, and started again, firing occasionally 



