tress men shout the questions that they ask themselves. Why had Baptiste motioned me to go back, when by doing so I must run right in

it, where the bank was apparently very high, but obliquely, toward a point not far above the mouth of

he narrow strip of willows and the edge of the water there was

, as my last chance. First up the river for several hundred yards, then straight south, away from it. Both parties immediately perceived my intention, and spurted to close the gap. Harder and harder I thumped the horse, although by this time he had waked up, and was ent

age one another to greater speed. I could see their

y me with the sound of tearing paper. I did not try to use my rifle. In that first e

ke myself as small a target as possible. More guns boomed close on each side of me. Arrows whizzed, too, and the shaft of one stru

r point. Having looked back to make sure of this, I changed my course, crossed the Musselshell, and w

o the bank, in such a position that I rode right on the deck. I was still so frightened that it was difficult for me to talk, but my unc

tried employee, was sent ahead of them to scout, and Uncle Wesley took his place at the sweep. The howitzer was freshly primed, and one of the men instructe

signaled us to take him aboard. That was done with the skiff. As soon as he came on deck he ran to me, in his impetuous French way, gave me a hug and a t

ry was deferred. I learned from Baptiste later that the Indians we

ired their guns at us. As the distance was three or four hundred yards, only a few of their balls struck anywhere near the boat. Uncle Wesley himself sprang to the howitzer, swung it round, tilted up the barrel, and fired it. Some of the balls d

trange grandeur of it all that the sensations I experienced were at times actually oppressive. At every turn there was something to astonish the eye. There were gleaming white and gray turreted castles, perched high above the stream; cities

cannon fired in our honor, and more than five thousand Blackfeet, headed by the factor, Alexa

men; that they wore beautiful garments of tanned skins; that their hair was done up in long, ne

g a neat calico dress, a plaid shawl, and beautifully embroidered moccasins, came running to us, threw her arms round my uncle, and kissed him. I must have looked as surprised as I felt, especially when I not

ever, but tried not to show

me, smoothing my hair, and talking Blackfoot to me in her strangely clear and pleasant voice. My uncle interpreted. "

e my heart go straight out to her. I gave her hand a squeeze, while tears came to my eyes as I snuggled up close to her. Right willingly I went with her and U

on the courtyard side afforded plenty of light. There were a strong table and comfortable chairs, all home-made. A settee covered with buffalo-robes was placed before the fire. A curtained set of shelves in the

u saw that three long buildings, of which the easterly one was two stories high, formed three sides of the quadrangle, and that a high wall containing the gate formed the fourth, or south side, facing the river. The outer walls of the buildings were thus the defensive wall

tle library and my school-books filled a new set of shelves, and that evening I began, under my uncle

ed their language and customs. In this I was encouraged by Tsistsaki (Little Bird Woman), my uncle's wife. She had no children, and all her natural mother love was given to me. In her way of thinking, nothing that I did could be wrong, and the best of everything was not good enough for

onnecticut friend, where I was to prepare for Princeton. I said nothing to him, but I had many talks with my aunt-mother, Tsistsaki; and one night we poured

and every time we met we became firmer friends than ever. "Friend" means much more to Indians-at least, to the Blackfeet-than it does to wh

y, and brave, too. He gets all that from his father, who is one of the very best and most trustworthy Indians in

lo and the other game which swarmed on the plains near by. What with my daily studies, occasional hunts, and the constant pleasure I had in

visible from the high plains to the north and south of the river, their pine-clad slopes

amakan's father, White Wolf (Mah-kwi′-yi ksik-si-num), was chief, outfitted at the fort for an expedition to trap be

d several thousand horses, and when the moving camp was strung out on the plain, the picturesque riders, the pack-animals lad

lodge of the plains Indians was the most comfortable portable shelter ever devised by man. One of average size was m

impedimenta of the occupants, extended upward for five or six feet, where it was tied to a rope that was fastened to the poles clear round. There was a space as wide as the thickness of the poles between the "skin" and the lining, so that the cold, outside air rushi

into camp for several weeks, long enough for the hunters to trap most of the beavers, not only on the main stream, b

. The trapping area of this stream was small. On the first day of our camp there Pitamakan and I foolishly went hunting, with the result that when, on t

or the beavers to make dams and homes, that we made this discovery. Our disappointment was keen, for from Cut-Bank the camp w

stretched along the mountainside above the

y can come over to our plains and steal our buffalo. You can see that it has not been used this summer. It will not be used at all now, since winter is so near. Now, down on the other side there are

tarted to camp, to prepare for an early start in the morning. We decided to say nothing

e neck. Rising the next morning before any of the others were awake, and each taking a heavy buffalo-robe from our bedding, we quietly left the lo

ownward, along a narrow divide, across to the next mountain. The south side of the divide was a sheer drop of several thousand feet. The top was a narrow, jagged knife of rock, along which a man could not

that passed had been filled. Even while we stood there, small particles of shale were constantly rolling and tinkling

what to do," he said. "I can make

f detritus which he dislodged rattled off the edge of the cliff, but strain my ears as I might, I could not hear them strik

ne. When part way across, my horse's hind feet broke down the little path, and he went with the sliding shale for several feet, all the time madly pawing to get back on the sound portion on

ing down and off the slide. Wherever we put down our feet the shale started slipping, and the struggle to climb faster than it slipped exhau

l him trembling, while he said, in a choking voice, "Oh, I thought you would never get here, and I just had

he snow sliding. Three Blackfeet had once lost their lives there. In that manner, the avalanche which they loosened had swept them with it over the cliff,

d come into another world. Near by there were some tremendous peaks, some of t

e no plains, only one great, dark, evergreen forest that covered the slopes of the mountains and filled the endless

e came, toward sunset, to what my friend called the Salt

r we were anxious to reach the low vall

ite food. There were some signs of the animals here, but as we expected to find them more plentiful farther down, we kept on until nearly sundown, when we cam

akan. "Let us hurry and picket the hor

pling and crackling of sticks off to the left of the beaver-pond, and so s

nd children, rode into the meadow. Perceiving us, the

run!" Pitamakan exclaimed. "I do not think they will har

ery detail of our outfit. There was something ominous in their behavior; there came to me an almost uncontrollable impulse to make a move

my rifle; another the ammunition; another snatched off my belt, with its knife, and the little pouch containing flint, steel, and punk, while the chief and anot

so did the rest. Finally, commanding silen

ief, and tell him that we keep our beaver for ourselves, just

lows across the back with his whip. At that my friend broke out crying; not because of the pain, but because of the t

r back trail, and seldom speaking, walked on and on. When night came, rain began to fall and the wind rose to a gale in the treetops. At that Pitamakan shoo

ht. Worse still, if it was snowing on the summit, if winter had really set in, we must inevitably perish. I remembered hearing the old trappers say th

ckfoot hunter's prayer for good luck. It sounded weir

of C