SPOETING KEi^nXISCENCES. 131 



top of the bhiff; so, turning off to the right into 

 irregular, broken ground, the effects of the previous 

 year's heat, I hobbled my animals, and started 

 cautiously to stalk my way to some high ground, 

 from whence I might obtain a view of the surround- 

 ing country, taking care to keep myself between the 

 suspicious direction and my beasts. I had not 

 traversed over 150 yards, and was halting, the 

 better to notice the most available cover for future 

 progress, when first the head and shoulders, then 

 the entire figure, of a man loomed o'er the top of 

 the swell. Camanche or Arrapahoe I knew at once 

 he was not — perhaps Osage or Pottawatomie ; but 

 what the deuce would bring them so many hundred 

 miles from their own hunting lands ? However, as 

 every thing in the shape of red skins is to be dealt 

 cautiously with, I changed my caps and got into 

 most convenient and unconspicuous shooting atti- 

 tude, determined not to throw away a shot, or, 

 much less, give my supposed foe a chance of return- 

 ing the compliment. That he was alone, being 

 dismounted, I knew could not be the case ; and as 

 he was coming in the very direction of my fresh trail, 

 which, if he was permitted to cross, he could not fail 

 to discover, and, with the discovery, bring his whole 



