otten by barter with tribes on the other side of the Rockies, who in
turn managed to buy them from the few ships that were beginning to
trade with the savages about the lower waters of the Columbia. These
guns were comparatively few in number, and it is hardly probable that
there were a score among the whole tribe. Few as were the firearms,
several good marksmen had been developed among the Blackfeet, and they
were naturally proud of their skill. When a party engaged in one of
their raids, all the muskets were taken with them. But ammunition was
used sparingly, for it necessitated long and expensive journeys through
the mountains to renew the supply. You remember that Mul-tal-la left
home with only his bow and arrow.

The messengers, when spending their brief time with our friends while
they were pushing toward the Pacific, heard of that new religion which
was professed not only by Deerfoot the Shawanoe, but by his companions.
It was so different from the pagan belief that the couple, upon their
return to the village, took care to make no mention of it; better to
leave that until the arrival of Deerfoot. At the same time the two
Blackfeet trembled when they thought of what was almost certain to take
place. Taggarak was a fierce heathen who would savagely resent any
interference with the crude belief that had belonged to his people from
time immemorial. A collision between him and Deerfoot, and perhaps with
his companions, was among the certainties of the near future.

Thus everything had been prepared for Mul-tal-la and the Shelton
brothers when one afternoon the three rode into the village, with
Zigzag the packhorse plodding at the rear of the procession. The
arrival made a hubbub of excitement, and it seemed as if the whole
settlement--men, squaws and children--gathered clamorously round the
horsemen, who dismounted and gazed about them with scarcely less
wonder.

The parents of Mul-tal-la remained in their own lodge. They must have
been more eager than any to welcome the son that had been gone so long
out of their world, but it would have been weakness on their part to
hasten to greet him. Besides, he must needs look after the white
youths, who had now become more dependent than ever upon him.

The two former acquaintances were among the first to crowd forward to
welcome the boys and their old companion. There was no mistake as to
the genuineness of _their_ pleasure. They told of the quarters awaiting
the lads, w