88 A SIOUX CAMP. 



and I found on questioning him that he felt sure that hostile 

 Indians were near us, and that the fire of the past night was 

 an attempt by some small party of them to stampede our 

 horses. Knowing that we were in friendly Indian country, 

 I did not agree with him, and in any case there was nothing 

 for it but to push on. The following day we got into an un- 

 burnt prairie again, the fire having taken a turn to the south, 

 as there was a good deal of wind blowing in that direction, and 

 a small stream, which sufficed to turn it. 



On the fourteenth day of our ride, we were off late, having 

 made another unsuccessful attempt to stalk some antelopes ; 

 but these had been so much frightened by the fire, and the 

 ground was so bare, that we could get no nearer than three 

 hundred yards too far for a round-ball rifle. 



Some time afterwards we fancied we saw a mounted man 

 disappear behind a hill ahead of us ; but as we saw nothing 

 more of him, we concluded it must have been an elk, and we 

 were riding along carelessly, when, on mounting a ridge, we 

 found ourselves close to a small Indian camp of nine lodges. 

 They were so elaborately painted and so large that Badger at 

 once said they must be Sioux ; but it was too late to retreat, 

 and the man we had seen was in the middle of the camp talk- 

 ing to some sixty or seventy Indians, who were evidently 

 expecting us, as there was no surprise expressed at our appear- 

 ance. As we rode up the Indians retired into their lodges, 

 only some boys remaining to look at us, and we noticed that 

 there seemed to be no women with them. 



The proper thing to do on arriving at an Indian camp is to 

 enter the chief's tent, so we looked round, and seeing a spear 

 and a number of scalps hanging over the door of the largest of 



