stol-shots. 'Quick,' lads, says I, 'catch up a hatchet and stave
a hole in the other boats, and push ours a little way out from the
bank.' We warn't long in doing that, and then we stopped and listened.

"There was a sharp fight going on, that we could hear, and guessed how
it must be going when they war twenty to one. Presently the shouting and
firing ceased, and then against the sky-line--for they had lots of fires
blazing in camp--we saw a crowd of Injuns come rushing down to the
river. We shoved the boat off, and took to our oars; they shouted to us,
and then fired at us, and shot their arrows, and swarmed down into the
other two boats to come after us, and there was a fresh burst of yells
when they found that they wouldn't swim. We didn't stop to talk, you may
be sure, but rowed as hard as we could.

"The night was pretty dark, and though several bullets hit the boat, and
a dozen of their arrows fell into it, only one of us had a scratch, and
that wasn't serious. As soon as we war fairly away, we set to work to
roll up the buffalo robes and skins into big bales, and lay them along
on each side of the boat, so as to form a protection for us from their
bullets and arrows; for we guessed they would follow us down, and in
many places the river was so shallow they could ride pretty well out to
us. They did follow us, on horseback, for the next two days, and shot at
us pretty hot at times. Once they rode so far out in the shallows that
we dared not pass them; so we dropped anchor above, and took to our
rifles, and gave them a pretty sharp lesson, for they lost seven men.
After that they didn't try that game any more, but just followed down in
hopes we might stick on a sandbank. I tell you I never looked out so
sharp for shallows as I did on that there voyage.

"Fortunately, at the end of the first day a breeze sprang up from the
north, and we got up a sail, for we war pretty nigh done, having rowed
by turns from the time we pushed off. We war afraid, you see, as they
might patch up the other boats and set out after us, though we hoped
they mightn't think of it, for these horse Indians don't know nothing of
river work. They gave it up at last, and we got safely down to St.
Louis. What the trouble was about I never heard, for not one of those
who had landed ever got away to tell us. I expect it was some trouble
about the quality of the goods, and that the Indians got a notion they
were being cheated,--which, sure enough,