148 A PLEASANT SURPRISE. 



ness of the whole Martin family. They made me all kinds of 

 good things, and came and sat with me nearly all day ; it was 

 only on the fourth day that I could walk down stairs, and then 

 with difficulty. 



Having now been away from camp so long, I insisted on 

 starting, and Miss Martin kindly lent me her favourite pony, 

 whose name was " Libb," and I promised to bring her back 

 before leaving for St. Joe, so about noon I left the ranche, the 

 little pony carrying me capitally, though she was somewhat 

 lazy. I reached the Little Blue River that night, passing a 

 fresh Indian camp, the marrow-bones which lay about all over 

 the camp being still moist. 



As I happened to recognize this part of the stream, and 

 knew that I was not far from where I had left my saddle and 

 pack, I rode down till I reached it, when what should I see 

 standing within a hundred yards of where I had slept, but the 

 horse I had lost, with the rope still round his neck, and a 

 portion of the bush to which I had tied him at the end of it. 

 He had evidently been unable to find his way back to the 

 ranche, so he had returned to where he had been tied, and had 

 remained about there for the last seven days. At first I 

 thought that the Indians must have caught him, and that they 

 were somewhere near ; but when I saw that he was loose, I 

 knew that this could not be the case. He was as glad to see 

 me as I was him, and galloped round the pony several times, 

 very nearly throwing us down with his rope. I camped on the 

 old spot, and in the morning started at a good pace, riding 

 Jeif and putting my small pack on the pony, Jeff being 

 so much more comfortable to ride, as my feet almost touched 

 the ground when on Libb. 



