378 JOHN JAMES AUDUBON. 



was not long in satisfying the demands of my 

 own appetite. 



" The Indian rose from his seat as if in extreme 

 suffering. He passed and repassed me several 

 times, and once pinched me on the side so vio- 

 lently, that the pain nearly brought forth an ex- 

 clamation of anger. I looked at him ; his eye met 

 mine, but his look was so forbidding that it struck 

 a chill into the more nervous part of my system. 

 He again seated himself, drew his butcher-knife 

 from its greasy scabbard, examined its edge, as I 

 u'ould do that of a razor suspected dull, replaced 

 it, and, again taking his tomahawk from his back 

 iilled the pipe of it with tobacco, and sent me 

 expressive glances whenever our hostess chanced 

 to have her back towards us." 



Audubon now perceived his danger. "I asked 

 the woman for my watch, wound it up, and, under 

 the pretence of wishing to see how the weather 

 might probably be on the morrow, took up my gun, 

 and walked out of the cabin. I slipped a ball into 

 each barrel, scraped the edges of my flints, renewed 

 the primings, and, returning to the hut, gave a favor- 

 able account of my observations. I took a few 

 bear-skins, made a pallet of them, and, calling my 

 faithful dog to my side, lay down, with my gun 

 close to my body, and in a few minutes was, to all 

 appearance, fast asleep. 7 ' 



Soon two young, stalwart Indians arrived at the 

 cabin, bearing a dead stag on a pole. These were 

 the Indian woman's sons. She and they drank 



