andsome skin
of that cob of yours."

When still five or six miles from camp they separated.

"The old boy may, of course, be gone," said the Inspector as he was
parting from his friend. "By Superintendent Strong's report he seems to
be continually on the move."

"I rather think his son will hold him for a day or two," replied
Cameron. "Now you give me a full half hour. I shall look in upon the
boy, you know. But don't be longer. I don't as a rule linger among these
Piegan gentry, you know, and a lengthened stay would certainly arouse
suspicion."

Cameron's way lay along the high plateau, from which a descent could
be made by a trail leading straight south into the Piegan camp. The
Inspector's course carried him in a long detour to the left, by which
he should enter from the eastern end the valley in which lay the Indian
camp. Cameron's trail at the first took him through thick timber, then,
as it approached the level floor of the valley, through country that
became more open. The trees were larger and with less undergrowth
between them. In the valley itself a few stubble fields with fences
sadly in need of repair gave evidence of the partial success of the
attempts of the farm instructor to initiate the Piegans into the science
and art of agriculture. A few scattering log houses, which the Indians
had been induced by the Government to build for themselves, could be
seen here and there among the trees. But during the long summer days,
and indeed until driven from the open by the blizzards of winter, not
one of these children of the free air and open sky could be persuaded to
enter the dismal shelter afforded by the log houses. They much preferred
the flimsy teepee or tent. And small wonder. Their methods of sanitation
did not comport with a permanent dwelling. When the teepee grew foul,
which their habits made inevitable, a simple and satisfactory remedy
was discovered in a shift to another camp-ground. Not so with the log
houses, whose foul corners, littered with the accumulated filth of a
winter's occupation, became fertile breeding places for the germs of
disease and death. Irregularly strewn upon the grassy plain in
the valley bottom some two dozen teepees marked the Piegan summer
headquarters. Above the camp rose the smoke of their camp-fires, for it
was still early and their morning meal was yet in preparation.

CHAPTER VI

THE ILLUSIVE COPPERHEAD

Cameron's approach to the Piegan camp was greeted by