the disabled limb he would have leaped to the earth and assailed the
other. He would have done the same had there been two enemies before
him; he would have done the same had there been three; but he was not
the fool to engage in a fight when he had but a single leg to stand
upon.

The panic-stricken horse, having clambered to his feet, dashed away.
Whirlwind assumed his statue-like pose and Deerfoot brought his rifle
to a level, with the Assiniboine staring into the muzzle.

The fight had been of the cyclone order, but, brief as it was, Deerfoot
had become himself again. He was the Christian who could not shed the
blood of one that was unable to defend himself, even though that one
was his deadly enemy.

The Assiniboine had dropped his gun when assuming his position at bay,
and it lay several feet away on the ground. Lowering his own weapon,
Deerfoot pointed after the fleeing horse and said sternly in the tongue
of the Blackfeet:

"Run! run after the horse!"

The gesture, as much as the words, explained the command. It was so
unparalleled, so utterly unexpected, that the Assiniboine stood in a
daze. Deerfoot knew that the report of the gun would speedily bring the
warriors to the spot, and there was not a minute to spare. He repeated
his order more sharply than before and accompanied it with a
threatening lifting of his gun to a level.

The other could not misunderstand the significance of voice and
gesture. He stepped forward to pick up his rifle.

"Stop!" shouted the Shawanoe, before the other could stoop. "Leave it
where it is! Follow the horse."

The hammer of the leveled rifle was at full cock. Still unable fully to
comprehend all that had taken place, the chieftain faced about and
broke into a lope after his horse, which acted as if it would keep up
its pace for the remainder of the day.

Deerfoot waited till the chief had gone a hundred paces, when heading
the other way he gave the word to Whirlwind, whom, however, he held
down to a walk. The rider wished to witness developments.

Looking back he saw the Assiniboine motionless and gazing after him
with emotions that can hardly be imagined or described. He stood thus
for a minute, when he started on a run to recover his rifle from where
it lay on the ground. Just before reaching the spot the party of
horsemen emerged from the mouth of the canyon and paused while their
leader rejoined them.

It would be interesting to know how he squared matters with