THE PUESUIT. 235 



upon US, when, suddenly wheeling, he darted 

 off into the forest. 



Do^vn I sat on the snow, and, as well as 

 my then limited knowledge of the language 

 would allow, poured forth a torrent of 

 Puharrie Billingsgate, and pointed out to the 

 men how easy it would have been, as I had 

 at first proposed, to have stood at his bed- 

 room door, and given him his quietus at 

 once with the hatchet. This was certainly 

 foolish, for it was my own fault, being 

 master of the ceremonies, but it gave vent 

 to some of the disgust I experienced, and 

 was a relief at the time. 



Loading again, we followed the track. 

 Hurrah ! here's blood, and lots of it, as if 

 poured from a watering-can, on both sides of 

 the track. We shall find him lymg dead, at 

 no great distance ; he can't go far. Never 

 were we more mistaken. All that day, till 

 we could see no longer, did we follow the 

 trail, which first led us for a mile straight 

 down the hill, then turned and brought 

 us up again, the red stains all the way 



