sister's
authority, complied; though it was with a reluctance so evident, as
to excite sneers, even among the unobservant and indolent sons of the
squatter. Ishmael, himself, moved among his tall children, like one who
expected nothing from the search, and who was indifferent alike to
its success or failure. In this manner the party proceeded until their
distant fortress had sunk so low, as to present an object no larger nor
more distinct than a hazy point, on the margin of the prairie. Hitherto
their progress had been silent and somewhat rapid, for as swell after
swell was mounted and passed, without varying, or discovering a living
object to enliven the monotony of the view, even the tongue of Esther
was hushed in increasing anxiety. Here, however, Ishmael chose to pause,
and casting the butt of his rifle from his shoulder to the ground, he
observed--

"This is enough. Buffaloe signs, and deer signs, ar' plenty; but where
ar' thy Indian footsteps, Abiram?"

"Still farther west," returned the other, pointing in the direction he
named. "This was the spot where I struck the tracks of the buck; it was
after I took the deer, that I fell upon the Teton trail."

"And a bloody piece of work you made of it, man," cried the squatter,
pointing tauntily to the soiled garments of his kinsman, and then
directing the attention of the spectators to his own, by the way of a
triumphant contrast. "Here have I cut the throats of two lively does,
and a scampering fawn, without spot or stain; while you, blundering dog
as you ar', have made as much work for Eester and her girls, as though
butchering was your regular calling. Come, boys; it is enough. I am
too old not to know the signs of the frontiers; no Indian has been here
since the last fall of water. Follow me; and I will make a turn that
shall give us at least the beef of a fallow cow for our trouble."

"Follow me!" echoed Esther, stepping undauntedly forward. "I am leader
to-day, and I will be followed. Who so proper, let me know, as a mother,
to head a search for her own lost child?"

Ishmael regarded his intractable mate with a smile of indulgent pity.
Observing that she had already struck out a path for herself, different
both from that of Abiram and the one he had seen fit to choose, and
being unwilling to draw the cord of authority too tight, just at that
moment, he submitted to her will. But Dr. Battius, who had hitherto been
a silent and thoughtful attendant on the woman