unt, mount," shouted the trapper, the instant he beheld them; "mount
and fly, if you value those who lean on you for help. Mount, and leave
us in the hands of the Lord."

"Stoop your head, old trapper," returned the voice of Paul, "down with
ye both into your nest. The Teton devil is in your line; down with your
heads and make way for a Kentucky bullet."

The old man turned his head, and saw that the eager Mahtoree, who
preceded his party some distance, had brought himself nearly in a line
with the bark and the bee-hunter, who stood perfectly ready to execute
his hostile threat. Bending his body low, the rifle was discharged, and
the swift lead whizzed harmlessly past him, on its more distant errand.
But the eye of the Teton chief was not less quick and certain than that
of his enemy. He threw himself from his horse the moment preceding
the report, and sunk into the water. The beast snorted with terror and
anguish, throwing half his form out of the river in a desperate plunge.
Then he was seen drifting away in the torrent, and dyeing the turbid
waters with his blood.

The Teton chief soon re-appeared on the surface, and understanding the
nature of his loss, he swam with vigorous strokes to the nearest of
the young men, who relinquished his steed, as a matter of course, to so
renowned a warrior. The incident, however, created a confusion in the
whole of the Dahcotah band, who appeared to await the intention of their
leader, before they renewed their efforts to reach the shore. In the
mean time the vessel of skin had reached the land, and the fugitives
were once more united on the margin of the river.

The savages were now swimming about in indecision, as a flock of pigeons
is often seen to hover in confusion after receiving a heavy discharge
into its leading column, apparently hesitating on the risk of storming a
bank so formidably defended. The well-known precaution of Indian warfare
prevailed, and Mahtoree, admonished by his recent adventure, led his
warriors back to the shore from which they had come, in order to relieve
their beasts, which were already becoming unruly.

"Now mount you, with the tender ones, and ride for yonder hillock," said
the trapper; "beyond it, you will find another stream, into which you
must enter, and turning to the sun, follow its bed for a mile, until
you reach a high and sandy plain; there will I meet you. Go; mount;
this Pawnee youth and I, and my stout friend the physician, who is a