a great
leathern lodge, where Lewis announced his mission and prepared the
Indians for the coming of the main force in the boats.

[Illustration: Indian Camp at Foothills of Rockies.]

The Snakes scarcely knew whether to believe the white man's tale. The
Indian camp was short of provisions, and Lewis urged the warriors to come
back up the trail to meet the advancing boats. The braves hesitated.
Cameahwait, the chief, harangued till a dozen warriors mounted their
horses and set out, Lewis and his men each riding behind an Indian.
Captain Clark could advance only slowly, and the Indians with Lewis grew
suspicious as they entered the rocky denies without meeting the
explorers' party. Half the Snakes turned back. Among those that went on
were three women. To demonstrate good faith, Lewis again mounted a horse
behind an Indian, though the bare-back riding over rough ground at a mad
pace was almost jolting his bones apart. A spy came back breathless with
news for the hungry warriors that one of the white hunters had killed a
deer, and the whole company lashed to a breakneck gallop that nearly
finished Lewis, who could only cling for dear life to the Indian's waist.
The poor wretches were so ravenous that they fell on the dead deer and
devoured it raw. It was here that Lewis expected the boats. They were
not to be seen. The Indians grew more distrustful. The chief at once
put fur collars, after the fashion of Indian dress, round the white men's
shoulders. As this was plainly a trick to conceal the whites in case of
treachery on their part, Lewis at once took off his hat and placed it on
the chief's head. Then he hurried the Indians along, lest they should
lose courage completely. To his mortification, Captain Clark did not
appear. To revive the Indians' courage, the white men then passed their
guns across to the Snakes, signalling willingness to suffer death if the
Indians discovered treachery. That night all the Indians hid in the
woods but five, who slept on guard round the whites. If anything had
stopped Clark's advance, Lewis was lost. Though neither knew it, Lewis
and Clark were only four miles apart, Clark, Chaboneau, the guide, and
Sacajawea, the Indian woman, were walking on the shore early in the
morning, when the squaw began to dance with signs of the most extravagant
joy. Looking ahead, Clark saw one of Lewis' men, disguised as an Indian,
leading a company of Snake warriors that the squaw had recog