which made the water gush out of his
tattered moccasins, then doffed his nondescript cap and nodded his
scalpless head in salutation to the commander.

Clark looked inquiringly at him, while the old fellow grimaced and
rubbed his shrunken chin.

"I smelt yer fat a fryin' somepin like a mile away, an' it set my
in'ards to grumblin' for a snack; so I jes thought I'd drap in on ye
an' chaw wittles wi' ye."

"Your looks are decidedly against you," remarked the Colonel with a dry
smile. He had recognized Oncle Jazon after a little sharp scrutiny. "I
suppose, however, that we can let you gnaw the bones after we've got
off the meat."

"Thank 'ee, thank 'ee, plenty good. A feller 'at's as hongry as I am
kin go through a bone like a feesh through water."

Clark laughed and said:

"I don't see any teeth that you have worth mentioning, but your gums
may be unusually sharp."

"Ya-a-s, 'bout as sharp as yer wit, Colonel Clark, an' sharper'n yer
eyes, a long shot. Ye don't know me, do ye? Take ernother squint at me,
an' see'f ye kin 'member a good lookin' man!"

"You have somewhat the appearance of an old scamp by the name of Jazon
that formerly loafed around with a worthless gun on his shoulder, and
used to run from every Indian he saw down yonder in Kentucky." Clark
held out his hand and added cordially:

"How are you, Jazon, my old friend, and where upon earth have you come
from?"

Oncle Jazon pounced upon the hand and gripped it in his own knotted
fingers, gazing delightedly up into Clark's bronzed and laughing face.

"Where'd I come frum? I come frum ever'wheres. Fust time I ever got
lost in all my born days. Fve been a trompin' 'round in the water seems
like a week, crazy as a pizened rat, not a knowin' north f'om south,
ner my big toe f'om a turnip! Who's got some tobacker?"

Oncle Jazon's story, when presently he told it, interested Clark
deeply. In the first place he was glad to hear that Simon Kenton had
once more escaped from the Indians; and the news from Beverley,
although bad enough, left room for hope. Frontiersmen always regarded
the chances better than even, so long as there was life. Oncle Jazon,
furthermore, had much to tell about the situation at Vincennes, the
true feeling of the French inhabitants, the lukewarm friendship of the
larger part of the Indians for Hamilton, and, indeed, everything that
Clark wished to know regarding the possibilities of success in his
arduous undertaking. The old man