d by an excited boy with a long "gad."

The fact that he had eaten no breakfast was one which hardly occurred to
Two Arrows, in his eager determination to get his runaways home in the
shortest possible order. Once they were headed in the right direction
there was but little difficulty in guiding them rightly, and now the old
mule took his accustomed place in the advance. It was as if he had
repented and was even willing to get some credit for leading his
reformed command in the way they should go.

The Nez Perce community had all eaten a good breakfast that morning;
there had been no vegetables, to be sure, but not a soul had missed
them. With plenty of fish and fresh meat they had all that red Indians
expect to be provided with, and they asked for no more. Their kind of
human life can be kept a-going upon a very narrow diet. The laziest
brave in camp was well fed, but for all that there was a general air of
dejection and despondency. Long Bear himself sat in front of his lodge,
cross-legged and moody, all the forenoon: his children were away from
him, on a visit to the pale-faces; his ponies were away upon another
visit, he could not guess with whom; his dogs, with the solitary
exception of One-eye, had all visited the camp-kettles. His only
remaining consolation seemed to be his pipe, and he was rapidly and
extravagantly using up all the tobacco he had obtained from Yellow Pine.
The shadow of the mighty maple near him grew shorter until it had little
more left to lose and could almost announce the arrival of midday. Just
then there arose, at the edge of the woods, a long, ear-piercing howl,
followed by such a volley of yelps and barking as can only be fired off
by a very remarkable dog. One-eye was informing the camp that something
great was drawing near, and was doing his best to make up for the
absence of the other dogs.

The Nez Perce warriors went for their weapons instinctively but somewhat
listlessly, until they heard a tremendous whoop join in with the barking
of One-eye and recognized the powerful voice of the Big Tongue. He could
out-whoop any other brave he knew of, and he was now doing his best. He
had been strolling out towards the open country when One-eye began, and
had found and seized upon a sudden heap of unexpected glory.

Away in advance of his command, farther and farther, had wisely trotted
the long-legged, long-eared, long-absent wicked old mule. Not another
quadruped was in sight when One-eye