earer of news.

"Sappy, you grin so much your back teeth is gettin' sunburned," and
the Head Chief eyed him sadly.

"Well, it's so, an' I'm going to skin out his tail for a scalp. I bet
I'll be the Injunest one of the crowd."

"Why don't you skin the hull thing, an' I'll show you how to make lots
of Injun things of the hide," Caleb added, as he lighted his pipe.

"Will you help me?

"It's same as skinnin a Calf. I'll show you where to get the sewing
sinew after the hide's off."

So the whole camp went to Burns's field. Guy hung back and hid when he
saw his father there drawing the dead Horse away with the plough team.

"Good-day, Jim," was Caleb's greeting, for they were good friends.
"Struck hard luck with the Horse?"

"No! Not much. Didn't cost nothing; got him for boot in a swap. Glad
he's dead, for he was foundered."

"We want his skin, if you don't."

"You're welcome to the hull thing."

"Well, just draw it over by the line fence we'll bury what's left when
we're through."

"All right. You hain't seen that durn boy o' mine, have you?"

"Why, yes; I seen him not long ago," said Sam. "He was p'inting right
for home then."

"H-m. Maybe I'll find him at the house."

"Maybe you will." Then Sam added under his breath, "I don't think."

So Burns left them, and a few minutes later Guy sneaked out of the
woods to take a secondary part in the proceedings.

Caleb showed them how to split the skin along the under side of each
leg and up the belly. It was slow work skinning, but not so unpleasant
as Yan feared, since the animal was fresh.

Caleb did the most of the work; Sam and Yan helped. Guy assisted with
reminiscences of his own Calf-skinning and with suggestions drawn from
his vast experiences.

When the upper half of the skin was off, Caleb remarked: "Don't
believe we can turn him over, and when the Injuns didn't have a Horse
at hand to turn over the Buffalo they used to cut the skin in two down
the line of the back. I guess we better do that. We've got all the
rawhide we need, anyhow."

So they cut off the half they had skinned, took the tail and the mane
for "scalps," and then Caleb sent Yan for the axe and a pail.

He cut out a lump of liver and the brains of the Horse. "That," said
he, "is for tanning, an' here is where the Injun woman gits her sewing
thread."

He made a deep cut alongside the back bone from the middle of the back
to the loin, then forcing his fingers under a broad band of