POKE RECEIVES A CUR'OSITY AND TELLS A YARN. 249 



The Doctor picked it up, but it was too dark to tell what it 

 was. It looked like the boy's toy called a sucker, made of a 

 circular piece of leather, about three inches in diameter, with a 

 string fastened to it. 



"What is it, Mike?" 



" Somebody's heyar." ' 



"A scalp?" 



" Reckon." 



" Where did that come from ? It is not a fresh one." 



"Stole it from those beggars; too lazy to watch their own 

 boats ! " 



" How many of them are there ? " 



" Nine, and five squaws. I stole the only scalp they had, and 

 jist marked my cross on their canoe with my knife, so they'll 

 know 'twas me. It's that cussed old Tiger Tail. Drat his red 

 skin ! won't he swear some to-morrow ! I reckon we 'd better go. 

 Marbee it wouldn't be safe to be loafin' 'beout here when he finds 

 his canoe punched and his scalp stole." 



No one obeyed this suggestion to depart with more alacrity 

 than the Doctor, who already felt Tiger Tail's fingers clutching 

 his own scalp-lock in revenge for the lost one, and a few minutes 

 found us on the lake pushing fast and silently for the St. John's. 



The next morning we learned the cause of the movement of 

 Tiger Tail's band. The flight of several flocks of water-birds, and 

 the chattering of the blue jays, gave us warning of the approach of 

 some stranger, and, taking to the bushes that fringed the banks, 

 we watched for what would appear. Soon we heard the measured 

 stroke of oars, and then several Indian and negro scouts in canoes 

 passed without observing us, and then swept along six barge-loads 

 of soldiers — a part of the Second Regiment moving up the river 

 on one of their forays, by which they sought to disturb the 

 security and destroy the products of their foes. The American 

 flag was flying at the bow of the leading boat, and the merry 

 laugh of the men, and the loud joke and call passed from front to 

 rear showed how inadequate they were to catching their fleeter foes. 



"Hulloa!" said Mike, pushing out his canoe from the reeds, 

 "goin'a-fishin'?" 



