ved was able to lift his voice, in the councils of his nation, with
undiminished confidence.

The knife and the lance cut short the retreat of the larger portion of
the vanquished. Even the retiring party of the women and children
were scattered by the conquerors; and the sun had long sunk behind the
rolling outline of the western horizon, before the fell business of that
disastrous defeat was entirely ended.

CHAPTER XXXI

Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
--Shakspeare.

The day dawned, the following morning, on a more, tranquil scene. The
work of blood had entirely ceased; and as the sun arose, its light was
shed on a broad expanse of quiet and solitude. The tents of Ishmael were
still standing, where they had been last seen, but not another vestige
of human existence could be traced in any other part of the waste. Here
and there little flocks of ravenous birds were sailing and screaming
above those spots where some heavy-footed Teton had met his death, but
every other sign of the recent combat had passed away. The river was to
be traced far through the endless meadows, by its serpentine and smoking
bed; and the little silvery clouds of vapour, which hung above the pools
and springs, were beginning to melt in air, as they felt the quickening
warmth, which, pouring from the glowing sky, shed its bland and subtle
influence on every object of the vast and unshadowed region. The prairie
was like the heavens after the passage of the gust, soft, calm, and
soothing.

It was in the midst of such a scene that the family of the squatter
assembled to make their final decision, concerning the several
individuals who had been thrown into their power, by the fluctuating
chances of the incidents related. Every being possessing life and
liberty had been afoot, since the first streak of grey had lighted the
east; and even the youngest of the erratic brood seemed conscious that
the moment had arrived, when circumstances were about to transpire
that might leave a lasting impression on the wild fortunes of their
semi-barbarous condition.

Ishmael moved through his little encampment, with the seriousness of one
who had been unexpectedly charged with matters of a gravity, exceeding
any of the ordinary occurrences of his irregular existence. His sons
however, who had so often found occasions to prove the inexorable
severity of their father's character,