bad enough, as they found. Rob sat late at night alone by the little
fire.

"Come on to bed, Rob," called Jesse. "What do you see out there,
anyway?"

"Indians," replied Rob. "Sioux in robes and feathers. Two men in uniform
coats, one tall and dark, the other tall and with red hair. Don't you
see them, too?"

CHAPTER XIII

GETTING NORTH

"But we haven't found George Shannon yet," again insisted Jesse, at
their breakfast.

"And you haven't run your set line yet, Mr. Jess," reminded Rob; which
was enough to cause Jesse to run down to the bank with his mouth full of
bacon. He had forgotten all about his fishing at the time. At once they
heard him shout in excitement, and joined him on the bank.

"Geewhillikens!" called Jesse. "I got a whale on here now!"

He was playing a fish on his hand line, taking in and giving line as he
could, for the fish was strong. It was some time before they could get
to see it, and when Jesse at last landed it on the bank he called for
his .22 rifle and shot it through the head.

"There!" he said. "I knew I'd find some big game to shoot. Isn't he a
whale? I'll bet he'll go twelve pounds. He's a whiter cat, and a racier,
than the big yellows, down below. He looks gamier and better to eat."

"He goes in the gunny sack for supper," said Rob. "Do you suppose he'll
keep for three days, a hundred and fifty miles? I shouldn't wonder if
Shannon would enjoy a bite, for he'll be hungry by that time."

"It's a long, long way, up to the Mandans!" John began to sing again.
"Six hundred miles. And we'll have to have gas pretty soon."

They finished their breakfast, and, with the skill they had gained in
many camps together, soon were packed and on their way above the old
council camp of the Sioux.

"Buffalo and elk, every way you can look!" exclaimed John. "Elk swimming
across the river. Herds of game feeding on the bluff sides! Grouse,
foxes, prairie dogs, jack rabbits, pelicans, squirrels, deer,
wolves--the boats full of meat all the time, and two or three beaver
every night! Now there's cottonwoods. By and by the river'll begin to
take a straighter shoot north. It's a long, long way up to the Mandans!"

"And right through the country of those roaming, murdering Sioux!" added
Rob.

"Right you are, Rob," said Uncle Dick. "The Sioux used to hunt and rob
as far as Fort Laramie, six hundred miles up the Platte, and on the head
of the Jim River in Dakota, and all between. Their homes