ool one winter with a sort o' half-mad parson that came to the head
waters o' the Yellowstone river, an' took to teachin'--dear me, how long
ago was it now? Well, I forget, but somehow you seem to add up the
figgurs raither faster than I was made to do. Howsever, we'll go an'
see what's to be done for Tom Brixton."

The trapper, who had been leaning on his gun, looking down at his bold
little comrades during the foregoing conversation, once more took the
lead, and, closely following the trail of the robber-band, continued the
ascent of the mountains.

The Indian village was by that time far out of sight behind them, and
the scenery in the midst of which they were travelling was marked by
more than the average grandeur and ruggedness of the surrounding region.

On their right arose frowning precipices which were fringed and crowned
with forests of pine, intermingled with poplar, birch, maple, and other
trees. On their left a series of smaller precipices, or terraces,
descended to successive levels, like giant steps, till they reached the
bottom of the valley up which our adventurers were moving, where a
brawling river appeared in the distance like a silver thread. The view
both behind and in advance was extremely wild, embracing almost every
variety of hill scenery, and in each case was shut in by snow-capped
mountains. These, however, were so distant and so soft in texture as to
give the impression of clouds rather than solid earth.

Standing on one of the many jutting crags from which could be had a wide
view of the vale lying a thousand feet below, Tolly Trevor threw up his
arms and waved them to and fro as if in an ecstasy, exclaiming--"Oh, if
I had only wings, _what_ a swoop I'd make--down there!"

"Ah, boy, you ain't the first that's wished for wings in the like
circumstances. But we've bin denied these advantages. P'r'aps we'd
have made a bad use of 'em. Sartinly we've made a bad use o' sich
powers as we do possess. Just think, now, if men could go about through
the air as easy as the crows, what a row they'd kick up all over the
'arth! As it is, when we want to fight we've got to crawl slowly from
place to place, an' make roads for our wagins, an' big guns, an'
supplies, to go along with us; but if we'd got wings--why, the first
fire eatin' great man that could lead his fellows by the nose would only
have to give the word, when up would start a whole army o' men, like
some thousand Jack-in-the-boxes