t live. I leaned over him, and made signs that I would
take him into my tent and try and heal him. A gleam of satisfaction
came over his countenance--I thought it was from gratitude at my mercy.
I was preparing to drag him into the tent, and to place him on my own
couch. I felt that I was doing what was right. I should gain a
companion in my solitude, perhaps make a friend, who would enable me to
escape from my perilous position. His eye followed me as I moved about
making the necessary preparations. He beckoned me to come and lift him
up. I was putting my arm behind him, when his right hand drew a long
knife with a flash from his belt, and before I could spring back he had
struck twice with all his force at my breast, wounding me severely. It
was not his fault that he did not pierce me to the heart. So firm a
grasp did his other hand retain of my collar that I could not escape
him. I had my own hunting-knife beneath my buffalo robe, my fingers
clutched it, and, as catching his right arm I pressed it to the ground,
I struck two or three blows with all my might at his throat and chest; I
felt his fingers relaxing; his arm fell back--he too was dead. I would
rather not dwell on that awful moment. The horrors of my solitude were
increased ten-fold. Still. I was obliged to rouse myself to action. I
knew not how many of the tribe to which the dead men belonged might be
in the neighbourhood.

That evening, however, I could do nothing. Night was coming on, and the
blood which trickled down my breast reminded me that I must attend to my
own wounds. If my former nights had been full of horrors, this was far
more dreadful. The wolves howled louder than ever, and came round me in
great numbers, and though I was continually firing my pistols out into
the darkness, I could scarcely keep them at bay. I will not dwell on
that dreadful time. The morning did come at last. The first thing I
did was to drag the bodies of the savages down to the river, and to
force them through a hole in the ice whence I had been accustomed to
draw water. The current quickly carried them down into far-off regions.
Then I made a fire over the spot where their blood had been spilt, and,
happily, during the day a heavy fall of snow coming on obliterated all
the remaining traces of their fatal visit to my tent. Still for many a
day I could not drive the picture of their hideous countenances out of
my head, as they lay stark and stiff on t