o sleds,
with six dogs to each. I shall want three good men to go with me." Angus
spoke with decision.

"Well, we can't afford to lose our best hunters; and you might also
bring home with you what furs and robes they have on hand," was his
father's prudent reply.

"I don't care particularly for the skins," Angus declared; but he at
once began hurried preparations for departure.

In the meantime affairs grew daily more desperate in the exile village
on the far-away Mouse River, and a sort of Indian hopelessness and
resignation settled down upon the little community. There were few who
really expected their messenger to reach the fort, or believed that even
if he did so, relief would be sent in time to save them. White Lodge,
the father of his people, was determined to share with them the last
mouthful of food, and every morning Winona and Magaskawee went with
scanty portions in their hands to those whose supply had entirely
failed.

On the outskirts of the camp there dwelt an old woman with an orphan
grandchild, who had been denying herself for some time in order that the
child might live longer. This poor teepee the girls visited often, and
one on each side they raised the exhausted woman and poured into her
mouth the warm broth they had brought with them.

It was on the very day Face-the-Wind reached Fort Ellis that a young
hunter who had ventured further from the camp than any one else had
the luck to bring down a solitary deer with his bow and arrow. In his
weakness he had reached camp very late, bearing the deer with the utmost
difficulty upon his shoulders. It was instantly separated into as many
pieces as there were lodges of the famishing Sioux. These delicious
morsels were hastily cooked and eagerly devoured, but among so many
there was scarcely more than a mouthful to the share of each, and the
brave youth himself did not receive enough to appease in the least his
craving!

On the eve of Angus' departure for the exile village, Three Stars, a
devoted suitor of Winona's, accompanied by another Assiniboine brave,
appeared unexpectedly at the fort. He at once asked permission to join
the relief party, and they set out at daybreak.

The lead-dog was the old reliable Mack, who had been in service for
several seasons on winter trips. All of the white men were clad in
buckskin shirts and pantaloons, with long fringes down the sides, fur
caps and fur-lined moccasins. Their guns were fastened to the long,
tobog