nd the flats of the Mississippi, sweeping with them, in
their passage, trees, houses, and villages. Suddenly, in the midst of
the storm, a gentle tapping was heard at the window-shutter of the
block-house, to which succeeded, after a short interval, a series of
heavy blows, causing the timbers of the dwelling to quiver to their
foundations. Presently the door of the house was partially opened, and a
man's head protruded through the aperture, as if to reconnoitre the
cause of the uproar. At the same moment that this occurred, a tall, dark
figure stepped quickly forward, pushed the door wide open, and, stalking
into the dwelling, took his seat opposite the fireplace, followed, in
deep silence and with noiseless stride, by a line of similar
apparitions. When all had entered, the door was again closed, and a man
of almost colossal frame approached the hearth, where some embers were
still smouldering. Throwing on a supply of wood, he lit one of a heap of
pine splinters that lay in the chimney corner, and then producing a
tallow candle, lighted it, and placed it upon the table. By its
glimmering flame, and that of the reviving fire, the interior of the
hut, fully corresponding with the rough and inartificial exterior,
became visible. In the corner opposite the fireplace was the bar or
counter, behind whose wooden lattice stood a dozen dirty bottles, and
still dirtier jugs and glasses. Below these were three kegs daubed with
blue paint, and marked with the words, French Brandy, Gin, Monongahela.
On one side of the room a pile of deer hides, of beaver, bear, and fox
skins, denoted a frequent intercourse and active trade between the
inmates of the tavern and the red men. Near the skins stood a huge
tester-bed, surrounded by three small bedsteads, and a cradle, or rather
trough, made out of a fragment of a hollow tree, with boards nailed
across the ends. In these receptacles, to judge by the loud snoring that
proceeded from them, the family of the tavern-keeper were enjoying a
deep and uninterrupted repose. The walls of the apartment were of unhewn
tree-trunks, varied only by broad stripes of clay filling the
interstices.

On a stool in front of the fire sat the man who had first entered, a
bloodstained blanket thrown over his whole person, concealing both
figure and face. Behind him about twenty Indians squatted upon the clay
floor, their legs crossed, their faces shrouded in their blankets, the
crimson spots upon which seemed t