till be seen stealing along the edge of the
willows. Basil chose one of these which appeared in the dim light to be
a large grey one; and, levelling his piece, fired at it. As he was not
very anxious whether he killed the animal or not, he fired carelessly.

Following the shot there was heard a loud scream, that was answered by
fifty others, from all sides of the valley. It awoke the sleeping
hunters; who, along with Basil, sprang to their feet. It was not the
scream of wolves they had heard, but a cry of far different import. It
was the yell of human voices--_the war-cry of Indians_!

All three stood speechless with terror; but, even could they have
spoken, there was scarcely time allowed them to have uttered a word;
for, almost simultaneous with the yells, there was a rushing forward of
dark forms; and the next moment fifty tall savages were around them.
Basil, who had been farthest out from the fire, was knocked senseless by
a blow; while Lucien and Francois, who did not think of using their
guns, were seized by the brawny arms of the Indians and held fast. It
was fortunate for them that they did not make any resistance, else the
savages would have killed all three upon the spot. As it was, even,
they seemed for a while undetermined whether to do so or not--as it was
one of their number that Basil had mistaken for a wolf, and the shot had
wounded the Indian, which, of course, exasperated them greatly.
Perceiving, however, the small force of the party, and that the boys
made no farther resistance, they gave up the idea of killing them on the
spot, but bound the arms of all three behind their backs; and then,
after having mounted them on their horses, and gathered up their guns
and blankets, led them out of the valley. At a short distance off, the
Indians reached a spot where their own horses were tied. Here they
halted for a moment--until each had got into his saddle--and then the
whole party, prisoners and all, set off at a brisk trot over the
prairie.

In about an hour they arrived at a large encampment upon the bank of a
broad shallow river. There were nearly an hundred lodges standing upon
the plain; and the ground was littered with buffalo-horns and hides,
while vast quantities of the flesh of these animals were hanging from
poles in front of every lodge. There were fires, and camp-kettles, and
dogs, and Indian ponies, and women, and children--all mixed up together,
or moving to and fro among the ten