INDIAN BELLE. 15. 
became eloquent whilst dwelling upon their ancient grandeur. 
I was charmed beyond measure, surprised to a degree, for 
with a majority, I had hitherto considered Indian worth and 
character, a matter of tradition; it was like sunset upon a 
ruin, or like the last strains of distant melody, which linger 
upon the ear as if loathe to leave. Subsequent experience has 
proven to me, however, that she was but one in a thousand,— 
the death knell of Indian greatness has sounded, and ere long 
he will have vanished forever from the scene. 
The wagons coming up I was obliged to leave, when she 
proposed to accompany me a short distance, as she wished to 
visit a sick person in the neighborhood. Taking down an 
excellent double barrelled gun, and equipping herself regn- 
larly for hunting, with powder and shot flasks, gamebag, &c., 
she smiled at my surprised look, and remarked, “I hope to 
have the opportunity to show you I can use them;” and so 
she did, as a squirrel and two quails were the result of her 
unerring aim and steady nerves, in the short space,—halfa 
mile,—that she accompanied me. With this double battery 
of eyes and arms, wo betide a susceptible bachelor, so thought 
I, but in my case it was Ulysses and Calypso, so bidding 
adieu to my quondam syren, I galloped off to the unromantic 
drudgery of the camp. Arriving there, I found the missing 
oxen and horses had been brought in, and all hands busy 
in preparing a hearty meal, after which tents were pitched, 
and we spent a comfortable night. 
The prairie, on mek we were encamped, ‘was about 
