FOOTPRINTS IX THE SNOW. 103 



ness of the night ; and with the help of so excellent a mark 

 we could easily lodge a bullet in their skull. But if, 

 after bringing down the animal, we neglected to bring 

 him in, on the following morning we found the ground 

 clear. His comrades had devoured him, flesh and bone. 



We remained in this place for a fortnight, and our 

 provisions began rapidly to diminish ; thanks to our In- 

 dian friends, who " borrowed " assiduously our whiskey 

 and our bread. My friend and I decided, therefore, that 

 we would cross the Mississippi, in quest of some village 

 where we could lay in a supply of flour and eau-de-vie. 



The next morning we set out alone, leaving our camp 

 under the protection of the Osages ; but we had scarcely 

 arrived within thirty paces of the river when we fell in 

 with a troop of deer, which we pursued in the direction 

 of the prairies. One of these animals being killed 

 by my comrade, we hoisted it on the branch of a tree, 

 and having marked the spot, resumed our march. But 

 we had lost our way, and wandered all through the night 

 without coming upon the river-bank. Great was our 

 terror when, on the glittering snow, we saw the imprints 

 of a number of feet ! But ten minutes later, we sud- 

 denly found ourselves at the entrance of our log-cabin, 

 surrounded by the Indians, who laughed gaily at our 

 misadventure, and jested at our want of perspicacity. As 

 the reader will guess, we had described a vicious circle, 

 and returned to the spot from which we had started. 



After a night's rest we felt recovered from our fatigue, 

 and set out again at early morning, this time marching 

 straight for the river. Nothing checked us ; neither 

 flights of wild turkeys nor troops of deer ; and at about 



