The Prairie

as hot a Jack in thy

be moody, and as so

and J

approaching him, and that, too, from a direction opposite to the place where the emigrant ha

e lighter. It will be well to be ready for the worst, as the half-and-halfs,[*] that one

rn of Indian women by w

vity of civilisation

sa

as of the priming by manual examination. But his arm was arrested, while in the act of th

ty," she said; "it may be a fri

p. "Friends are rare in any land, and less in this, perhaps, than in another; and the neighbourho

nger, you would no

eatures, and then he dropped the butt of his rifle on the g

s not to be spilt, to save the life of one so useless, and so near his time. Let him com

rl; "if he be an honest man, he will surely be content with

place where they stood.-In the mean time, Hector had not been an indifferent witness of what was passing. At the sound of the distant footsteps, he had arisen, from his war

tones of friendship, rather than of menace; "I love a h

"come hither, fool. His growl and his bark are all that is l

n Wade. After assuring himself of the identity of the latter, by a hasty but keen glance, he turned his attention, with

careless, off-hand, heedless manner that seemed too natural to

trapper; "my dwelling, if dwelling I may be said to have, is not far distant. Now may I take the libe

e time to begin with yours. What sport is this, you follow by

avellers, which lies over yonder swell in the lan

n to show you the way, because she knows it so

ght, have I found human beings with white skins on them, at this hour. If my presence here gives offence, I am sorry; and wil

unning his fingers leisurely through a dense mass of black and shaggy

familiarity that gave something very like the lie direct, to his intended asseveration. "

Ellen, have

ng I should remember. But still I say

Give me your hand, father; our t

y and not ungracefully, on his rifle; "the art of taking the creatur's of God, in traps and nets, is one that needs more cunning than manhood; and yet

peppered a few of the dark-skin'd devils, when I had much better have kept my powder in the

profit is to be made in these districts, if a man denie

ost of Bruin. The deer begin to nose me; and as for the buffaloe, I have

th a glow of latent fire, glimmering about his

r of black feathered ducks going south, over our heads; you or Ellen, here, might set your heart on the finest in the flock, and my character against a horn of powder,

yself to say, that you are not unwise in meeting him, as you do. Tell me, lad; did you ever strike a leaping buck atwixt the antlers? Hecto

ere is no fashion, old stranger, that a deer has not

s; but, if it was given me to choose my time, and place, again,-as such things are not and ought not ever to be given to the will of

r a meal, and sometimes to keep my finger true to the touch; but when hunger is satisfied, the prairie wolves get the rema

nder a little; but shaking

iness that can be foll

at his neck before the other's eyes, and springing its lid, the delicious odou

h not without some little surprise at discovering one of the other's spirited mien engaged in so humble a pursuit.

out a few hundred miles farther west than common, to taste your honey. And, now, I have bated your curi

with a haste that implied some little consciousness of the singularity if not of the imp

; and am just as ready to go down to the place where your uncle, if uncle you can call one, who I'll swear is no relation, has hoppled his teams,

when I am safe with you. How can you, who know the danger of our

ashamed?" demanded the trapper, who had not m

but which may not yet be told. And, so, if you will wait, father, near yonder willow bush, until I have heard wh

d patiently awaited the moment when he might renew his conversation with beings in whom he felt a growing interest, no less from the mysterious character of their intercourse, than from a natural sympathy in the welfare of a pair so young, and who, as in the simplicity of

ned recollections and emotions, to which his sturdy but honest nature had latterly paid but little homage, and his thoughts began to wander over the varied scenes of a life of hardships, that had been strangely blended with scenes of wild

person of his master, and looked abroad into the prairie, as if his instinct apprised him of the presence of still another visitor. Then, seemingly content with his ex

which he had the caution, however, to utter in an under tone;

as practised as the trapper could not turn an inattentive ear. He again spoke to the dog, encouraging him to watchfulness, by a low guarded

gaged in their own discourse, to notice his approach; "and none but a conceited settler would hear it and not respect it, as he ought. Children," he added, when nigh eno

oung bee-hunter, with great vivacity, and in tones that might easily have been excited to a me

f them asleep, myself, except the two on watch; and their natures have greatly changed, if th

erhaps, he too is dreaming. I had a pup of my own, in Kentuck, that would start upon a long chase from a deep sleep

qualities of his dog.-"Youth sleeps, ay, and dreams too; but age is awake and watchful.

n him upon the t

en, after the venison, in its season; but then I knew the reason of the dog, would tell him the object!-No-no, Hec

n the track of a wolf, and his nose has a better mem

en view. A wolf might eat out of his tray without a snarl, unless ther

leap at a sick deer, as the sun was setting. Go; go you back

in cadences that rose and fell, like its own undulating surface. The trapper was impressively silent, listening intently. Even the reckless bee-hunter, was struck with the wailing wild

lf knows so much; but that evil is nigh, and that wisdom invites us to avoid it, I have heard from the mouth of one who never lies. I did think, the pup had become unused to the footsteps of man, and that your presence made him uneasy; but his nose has been on a l

uch a moment," exclaim

both by its delicacy and colour, have graced a far more elevated station in life; "m

his side-"Hist! do you hear nothing? There are buffaloes playing their pranks, at n

ny and such startling warnings. The unusual sounds were unequivocally though still faintly audible. The youth and his female companion had made several hurried, and vacillating

ther is driving a herd before him; or may

represent deep attention:-"the leaps are too long for the buffaloe, and too regular for terror. Hist! now they are in a bottom where the grass is high, a

ing his companion by the hand, "let

re in open view; and a bloody band of accursed Siouxes they are,

e as if he led a party of superior strength, and of a courage equal to his own.-"You h

weeds, which grew, in a denser body than common, near the place where they stood. "You've not the time to fly, no

kirted the horizon, leaving just enough of its faint and fluctuating light, to render objects visible, dimly revealing their forms and proportions. The trapper, by exercising that species of influence, over his companions, which experience and decision

trapper and his companions lay. At intervals, the clattering of hoofs was borne along by the night wind, quite audibly in their front, and then, again, their progress through the fog of the autumnal grass, was swift and silent; adding to the unearthly appearance of the s

w their own errand! If there were just six of us, lad, what a beautiful ambushment we might make upon them, from this very spot-it won't do, it won't do, boy; keep yourself closer, or your head will be seen-besides, I'm not altogeth

ild horsemen whirled by them, with the noiseless rapidity in which it might be imagined a troop of spectres would pass. The dark and fleeting forms were already vanished, when the t

arded tones; "no, they halt in the bottom, and are clustering together like deer, in co

ly manner, on the very summit of the little elevation on which the trapper and his companions lay. It was now soon a

the grass in which they were concealed, not only served to skreen them from the eyes of the savages, but opposed an obstacle to prev

hid. As the young man looked up and saw the fierce aspect of the group, which was increasing at each instant by the accession of some countenance and figure, apparently more forbidding than any which had preceded it, he drew his rifle, by a very natural impulse, from beneath him, and comme

ece-lay down the piece-should the moon touch the barrel, it could not fail to be seen by the devils, whose ey

ted brow and threatening eye of the young man, that a discovery would not bestow a bloodless victory on the savages. Finding his advice disregar

in the character of his dangerous neighbours) had terminated their council, and

rs are too true to be cheated in the distance. Keep close, lad, keep

et, and trust to manhood," re

th was not disposed to become a captive so easily. Quicker than the flash of his own gun he sprang upon his feet, and was throttling his opponent with a power that would soon have terminated the contest, when he felt the arms of the trapper thrown round