nd Clark.]

The explorers had not suffered from any lack of game. The catfish taken
from the river weighed three or four pounds apiece, and several deer,
elks and bears had been shot. Among the latter was one belonging to the
grizzly species. To show the tenacity of these mammoth brutes, the
journal of the explorers records that after the beast had been shot
through the heart "he ran at his usual pace nearly a quarter of a mile
before he fell." Wild geese were seen in such numbers that their
killing often became so easy that it could not be called sport.

By the time our friends had completed their meal night had fully come,
and the drop in the temperature made the warmth of the blaze pleasant.
A second fire had been started at some distance, where most of the men
gathered. Being apart from their leaders, there was more freedom of
action and speech. In the course of the evening the boys heard the
strains of a violin coming from the other camp, and, turning their
heads, saw one of the men seated on a boulder with his head thrown back
and vigorously sawing on his fiddle, while his companions were dancing
in the open space in front, which was lit up by the firelight. Most of
the hardy fellows solemnly swayed their bodies and shuffled back and
forth with their arms akimbo, but others were more lively and dashed
off jigs, reels and rigadoons. A French _voyageur_ suddenly threw up
his heels, supporting himself on his hands, and kept excellent time to
the notes of the fiddle.

Neither Lewis nor Clark had ever heard of Deerfoot, but it soon
developed that three of their men, Joseph and Reuben Shields and George
Shannon, of Kentucky, knew a good deal about him. Shannon was but a boy
himself, being only seventeen years old, but had once met the Shawanoe
along the Ohio, when he was in the company of Simon Kenton. Deerfoot
recalled the incident, and was glad to renew the acquaintance. At the
invitation of Shannon he walked with him to the farther camp fire, and
became a pleased witness of the boisterous sport of the men.

CHAPTER XXIII.

LEWIS AND CLARK'S EXPEDITION.

With George and Victor Shelton seated on the fallen tree on one side of
the camp fire, and Captains Lewis and Clark on the other, these two
famous explorers told the story of their expedition, which must always
retain an historical interest for all of us.

As early as 1785, while Jefferson was in Paris, he became impressed
with the value of the Northwe