say, Kill the beast."

"Friends," said the naturalist, looking with a sorrowful eye from one to
another of his bloodily disposed companions, "slay not Asinus; he is
a specimen of his kind, of whom much good and little evil can be said.
Hardy and docile for his genus; abstemious and patient, even for his
humble species. We have journeyed much together, and his death would
grieve me. How would it trouble thy spirit, venerable venator, to
separate, in such an untimely manner, from your faithful hound?"

"The animal shall not die," said the old man, suddenly clearing his
throat, in a manner that proved he felt the force of the appeal; "but
his voice must be smothered. Bind his jaws with the halter, and then I
think we may trust the rest to Providence."

With this double security for the discretion of Asinus, for Paul
instantly bound the muzzle of the ass in the manner required, the
trapper seemed content. After which he proceeded to the margin of the
thicket to reconnoitre.

The uproar, which attended the passage of the herd, was now gone, or
rather it was heard rolling along the prairie, at the distance of a
mile. The clouds of dust were already blown away by the wind, and a
clear range was left to the eye, in that place where ten minutes before
there existed a scene of so much wildness and confusion.

The Siouxes had completed their conquest, and, apparently satisfied with
this addition to the numerous previous captures they had made, they now
seemed content to let the remainder of the herd escape. A dozen remained
around the carcass, over which a few buzzards were balancing themselves
with steady wings and greedy eyes, while the rest were riding about, in
quest of such further booty as might come in their way, on the trail of
so vast a drove. The trapper measured the proportions, and scanned
the equipments of such individuals as drew nearer to the side of the
thicket, with careful eyes. At length he pointed out one among them, to
Middleton, as Weucha.

"Now, know we not only who they are, but their errand," the old man
continued, deliberately shaking his head. "They have lost the trail of
the squatter, and are on its hunt. These buffaloes have crossed their
path, and in chasing the animals, bad luck has led them in open sight
of the hill on which the brood of Ishmael have harboured. Do you see yon
birds watching for the offals of the beast they have killed? Therein is
a moral, which teaches the manner of a prairie