and pointed to the scars of their husbands,
and Indian girls rewarded the young braves with songs of triumph. The
trophies of their fallen enemies were exhibited, as conquered standards
are displayed in more civilised regions. The deeds of former warriors
were recounted by the aged men, and declared to be eclipsed by the glory
of this victory. While Hard-Heart himself, so distinguished for his
exploits from boyhood to that hour, was unanimously proclaimed and
re-proclaimed the worthiest chief and the stoutest brave that the
Wahcondah had ever bestowed on his most favoured children, the Pawnees
of the Loup.

Notwithstanding the comparative security in which Middleton found his
recovered treasure, he was not sorry to see his faithful and sturdy
artillerists standing among the throng, as he entered in the wild train,
and lifting their voices, in a martial shout, to greet his return.
The presence of this force, small as it was, removed every shadow of
uneasiness from his mind. It made him master of his movements, gave him
dignity and importance in the eyes of his new friends, and would enable
him to overcome the difficulties of the wide region which still lay
between the village of the Pawnees and the nearest fortress of his
countrymen. A lodge was yielded to the exclusive possession of Inez and
Ellen; and even Paul, when he saw an armed sentinel in the uniform of
the States, pacing before its entrance, was content to stray among the
dwellings of the "Red-skins," prying with but little reserve into their
domestic economy, commenting sometimes jocularly, sometimes gravely, and
always freely, on their different expedients, or endeavouring to make
the wondering housewives comprehend his quaint explanations of what he
conceived to be the better customs of the whites.

This enquiring and troublesome spirit found no imitators among the
Indians. The delicacy and reserve of Hard-Heart were communicated to his
people. When every attention, that could be suggested by their simple
manners and narrow wants, had been fulfilled, no intrusive foot presumed
to approach the cabins devoted to the service of the strangers. They
were left to seek their repose in the manner which most comported with
their habits and inclinations. The songs and rejoicings of the tribe,
however, ran far into the night, during the deepest hours of which, the
voice of more than one warrior was heard, recounting from the top of his
lodge, the deeds of his people a