e appearing at least a
foot the taller, while the shorter man had twice this advantage in
girth!

"What, in Old Nick's name, kin they be?" inquired my companion--though
only in soliloquy, for he saw that I was as much puzzled as himself.
"Kin ye make 'em out wi' your glass, capt'n?" I chanced to have a small
pocket-telescope. Adopting the suggestion, I drew it forth, and
levelled it. In another instant, I had within its field of vision a
tableau that astonished me.

The figures composing it were but two--a very tall man, and a very short
one. Both were dressed in round-about jackets and trousers. One, the
shorter, had a little dark cap upon his head; while the height of the
taller man was increased full ten inches, by what appeared to be a black
silk or beaver hat. The cut of their respective costumes was nearly the
same; but the colour was entirely different--the tall personage being
all over of a bottle-green tint, while his shorter companion shone more
conspicuously in sky-blue. Notwithstanding their vivid colours, neither
costume had anything Indian about it: nor was it like any other sort of
"rig" that one might expect to encounter upon the prairies. What
fashion it was, did not occur to me at the moment; for the sun, glancing
upon the object-glass of the telescope, hindered me from having a fair
view. Moreover, my attention was less directed to the dress of the men,
than to their movements. The backs of both were towards us; and they
were going forward in the same direction as ourselves. The tall man was
in the lead, carrying what appeared to be two guns--one over his left
shoulder, and another in his right hand. He was advancing in slow
irregular strides, his thin body slightly stooped forward, and his long
neck craned out in front of him as if trying to look over the ridge,
whose crest he was just approaching. The short man was some half-dozen
paces in the rear; and moving in a fashion altogether different. His
body was bent against the hill at an angle of less than forty-five
degrees with the horizon; and his short stout legs were playing in rapid
steps, as if keeping time to a treadmill! He appeared to be pushing
something before him; but what it was, I could not guess: since it was
completely covered by the disc of his body spread broadly against the
hill. It was not till he had reached the summit, and made a slight turn
along the ridge, that I saw what this object was. The exclamation of
l