r dams, to all appearance as thoughtless of danger as I felt myself.

My march was of long duration; I saw the sun sinking beneath the horizon
long before I could perceive any appearance of woodland, and nothing in
the shape of man had I met with that day. The track which I followed was
only an old Indian trace; and, as darkness overshadowed the prairie, I
felt some desire to reach at least a copse, in which I might lie down to
rest. The night-hawks were skimming over and around me, attracted by the
buzzing wings of the beetles which formed their food, and the distant
howling of wolves gave me some hope that I should soon arrive at the
skirts of some woodland.

I did so, and almost at the same instant a fire-light attracting my eye,
I moved toward it, full of confidence that it proceeded from the camp of
some wandering Indians. I was mistaken. I discovered by its glare that
it was from the hearth of a small log cabin, and that a tall figure
passed and repassed between it and me, as if busily engaged in household
arrangements.

I reached the spot, and presenting myself at the door, asked the tall
figure, which proved to be a woman, if I might take shelter under her
roof for the night. Her voice was gruff, and her attire negligently
thrown about her. She answered in the affirmative. I walked in, took a
wooden stool, and quietly seated myself by the fire. The next object
that attracted my notice was a finely formed young Indian, resting his
head between his hands, with his elbows on his knees. A long bow rested
against the log wall near him, while a quantity of arrows and two or
three raccoon skins lay at his feet. He moved not; he apparently
breathed not. Accustomed to the habits of the Indians, and knowing that
they pay little attention to the approach of civilized strangers (a
circumstance which in some countries is considered as evincing the
apathy of their character), I addressed him in French, a language not
unfrequently partially known to the people in that neighborhood. He
raised his head, pointed to one of his eyes with his finger, and gave me
a significant glance with the other. His face was covered with blood.
The fact was, that an hour before this, as he was in the act of
discharging an arrow at a raccoon in the top of a tree, the arrow had
split upon the cord, and sprung back with such violence into his right
eye as to destroy it forever.

Feeling hungry, I inquired what sort of fare I might expect. Such a