CHAPTER XIV. 



ONGr after the Indians went to sleep I lay there, 

 looking into the fire and thinking. Many and 

 varied were the fancies that chased 

 each other through my restless brain 

 some pleasant, some unpleasant. I pondered on 

 the novelty, even the danger, of my situation. I 

 was away up there in that wild, trackless, mountain 

 wilderness, alone, sp far as any congenial com- 

 panionship was concerned. Yes, I was worse 

 than alone, for the moment I might close my eyes and 

 sleep I would be at the mercy of these two reckless 

 red men. True, they are not of a courageous, war- 

 like race, but what might they not do for the sake of 

 plunder ? They could crush my skull at a blow and 

 conceal my body beyond all possibility of discovery; 

 or they could leave it and, saying I had killed my- 

 self by a fall, reveal its resting place to anyone who 

 might care to go in search of me. I had some prop- 

 erty with me, especially my rifle, sleeping-bag, and a 

 small sum of money, that I knew they coveted, and 

 I reflected that they might already have concocted 

 some foul scheme for disposing of me and getting 

 possession of my effects. 



8 (113) 



