INTENSE SUFFERING. 101 



the red man, and sneak around from place to place ; — for they have no 

 home ; they have no country ; they are no people ! 



" One of these it was who bade the medicine-iron speak its death-word 

 to Little Lodge, and sought to spill the blood of a Lacota brave, after that 

 he had made him a fool by means of his thickened* fire-water! 



" Should Little Lodge fall by the hand of the Warceicha ? He might 

 fall by the hand of a Long-knife, and the nation would honor his memory, 

 — but never, should the Warceicha bring him low ! 



" Then, is it not good that Little Lodge should be avenged upon this lost 

 dog — this outcast of the world — that the whelps of a motherless breed may 

 cease to insult and wrong the Lacotas ? Which of all my brothers will 

 say nay ?" 



The address was received in silence, — no one presuming to oppose an 

 answer to its sentiments. Whether the speaker executed his threats of 

 vengeance against the offending trader, I am yet unadvised. 



Having remained two nights and a day at Fort Platte, we again started 

 for White river, taking with us three yoke of oxen and several horses, one 

 of which was laden with dried meat. 



The snow greatly retarded our progress from the first, and so obscured 

 the trail we were compelled to travel mostly by guess. The sun, too, was 

 shut out by a tenebrous atmosphere, and we could judge of our proper 

 course only by observing the movements of the clouds,f with the general 

 range of the hills and ravines, or inclination of the grass. 



The broad expanse of unbroken snow lying from Rawhide to L'eau-qui- 

 court, brought a chill tremor with the thought of crossing it. Yet, go we 

 must ! It was no time to falter when the fate of others, perhaps, depend- 

 ed upon our prompt advance. 



But the effort was no child's play. If we had experienced a tedious 

 time during a former journey, what could we expect now ? The whole 

 interval of thirty miles was covered with snow, that grew deeper and deep- 

 er as we proceeded. Every hollow and ravine was filled, and the route 

 otherwise seriously impeded by huge drifts and embankments. 



We were frequently compelled to break foot-paths for our animals, and 

 ever and anon pull them by main strength from the deep pitfalls into which 

 they would plunge and become almost lost to view. In this manner our 

 progress was slow, — the average depth through which we waded being 

 but httle less than two feet. 



The rising of a fierce head wind, piercing as the blasts of Nova Zem- 

 bla, drove the snow into our faces with mad fury and added immeasurably 

 to our sufferings. 



* Allusion is here made to the drugged liquor supposed to have been palmed upon 

 him by the trader. 



t The idea of directing our course by the movements of the clouds is doubtless a 

 novel suggestion to most readers ; but its philosophy will be readily comprehended by 

 a bare mention of the fact, that the winds of these regions almost invariably blow 

 from a west-southwest point ; and, as they are usually high, it is no very extraordi- 

 nary performance to calculate the bearing of north or south, even in the most obscure 

 weather. 



