that, Jim?"

He answered, "In the first place you provided meat for our supper, and
in the next, you drove the Buffalos off so we have plenty of grass for
the stock for their supper."

By this time nearly all the women were standing around us. This was the
first Buffalo they had ever seen and they were a great curiosity to
them. With the rest was a middle-aged lady, and with her she had two
daughters nearly grown. The mother stood near me watching me work.

She said, "Mr. Drannan, may I have a piece of that yearling's hind
quarter? I will tell you what I want to do with it; my girls and I have
picked a lot of wild onions today, and I want to make a stew, and we
want you and Mr. Bridger to come to our tent and eat supper."

I assured her she could have all the meat she wanted from my little
heifer. One of the girls ran to their wagon to get an ax and her father
to come and chop it off for them. By this time the men had about
finished dressing the Buffalo, and every body helped themselves to what
part they wanted. There was plenty for all, and some of the rough part
left over. It did not seem long to me when one of the girls came to Jim
and me and told us that her mother had sent for us to come and take
supper with them, and I think that was one of the times we did justice
to a meal, for a stew with onions was a rare dish for us woodsmen, and
a woman to cook it was a still more rare occasion. As soon as we had
finished eating, Jim stood up and in a loud voice said, "Ladies, how
many of you can dance?"

I think there were as many as twenty-five answered, "I can dance."

Jim said, "All right, get ready, and after dark we will have lots of
music."

One of the men asked, "Where are you going to get your music?"

Jim answered, "Why dog gone it, Will and Mr. Henderson have engaged a
band to play for us to night."

And in a few moments the band struck up in a Coyote howl, and Jim
laughed and said, "There, didn't I promise you a band? Isn't that
music?" And from then until midnight the howling never ceased. It was
something fearful to listen to. The smell of the Buffalo blood made them
wild, and they howled worse then usual that night. A great number of the
emigrants did not lay down until after midnight, and time after time
asked me if I thought there was any danger of them attacking the camp.
I told them there was no danger from them, and that if I knew there
weren't any Indians within twenty miles of us I could stop