ck him! What have you to say to _that_?"

"I shoot at the same time as brother. That where my bullet go in. Dere
where it come out."

Reflection convinced Fred of the unpleasant fact that this Indian was
speaking the truth. The relative position of the lad and the dead buck
had been such that it was impossible for his bullet to take the course
of the one that had slain the animal. The decisive shot, therefore, was
not his.

"But I know mine struck him somewhere," was Fred's desperate
exclamation; "could it have taken the same course as yours?"

The tantalizing smile came back to the face of the red man, who shook
his head.

"My brother's bullet strike dere--hurt antler bad."

The Indian thrust the toe of his moccasin against the buck's antlers. It
was plain that one of the prongs had been chipped off, as if by the
impact of a glancing bullet. Fred could no longer deny the mortifying
fact that his shot had no more to do with the death of the animal than
if it had been a pebble tossed up the cliff by hand.

The discovery did not add to his temper, and he was in an unreasonable
mood.

"You hadn't any business to fire at the buck when I did! I had picked
him out for my game and it was a mean act on your part. We both struck
him, and I shall claim one-half of him, for I'm hungry, and it will soon
be supper-time."

A dangerous light shone in the black eyes of the Indian. Evidently he
had no liking for the race of the young man, and his resentment was
roused by his words and manner.

"He mine; me take him; you thief!"

It occurred to Fred Greenwood at this moment that it would be unwise as
well as perilous to quarrel with this denizen of the wilderness. He was
in middle life, active, powerful, wiry and unscrupulous. The youth was
no match for him in a personal encounter; besides which he noticed that
the fellow carried a Winchester like his own, not to mention the
formidable knife at his waist.

Still the lad was too proud to yield the point without protest. Besides,
he was growing anxious about that supper which hung suspended in the
balance.

"It's only fair that you should give me a part of the body; you can't
eat a tenth part of it. You must divide."

"He mine--me take all--white dog have none--me kill him."

"You will, eh? I shall have something to say about that."

It was Jack Dudley who uttered these words as he strode into view from
the direction taken a few minutes before by his comrade.

The In