bove. The moisture, which
filled the tent and trickled from everything in it, did not add to the
comfort of the situation. About twelve o'clock Shaw went out to stand
guard amid the rain and pitch darkness. Munroe, the most vigilant as
well as one of the bravest among us, was also on the alert. When about
two hours had passed, Shaw came silently in, and touching Henry, called
him in a low quick voice to come out. "What is it?" I asked. "Indians,
I believe," whispered Shaw; "but lie still; I'll call you if there's a
fight."

He and Henry went out together. I took the cover from my rifle, put a
fresh percussion cap upon it, and then, being in much pain, lay down
again. In about five minutes Shaw came in again. "All right," he said,
as he lay down to sleep. Henry was now standing guard in his place. He
told me in the morning the particulars of the alarm. Munroe' s watchful
eye discovered some dark objects down in the hollow, among the horses,
like men creeping on all fours. Lying flat on their faces, he and Shaw
crawled to the edge of the bank, and were soon convinced that what they
saw were Indians. Shaw silently withdrew to call Henry, and they all
lay watching in the same position. Henry's eye is of the best on
the prairie. He detected after a while the true nature of the moving
objects; they were nothing but wolves creeping among the horses.

It is very singular that when picketed near a camp horses seldom show
any fear of such an intrusion. The wolves appear to have no other object
than that of gnawing the trail-ropes of raw hide by which the animals
are secured. Several times in the course of the journey my horse's
trail-rope was bitten in two by these nocturnal visitors.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE SETTLEMENTS

The next day was extremely hot, and we rode from morning till night
without seeing a tree or a bush or a drop of water. Our horses and mules
suffered much more than we, but as sunset approached they pricked up
their ears and mended their pace. Water was not far off. When we came to
the descent of the broad shallowy valley where it lay, an unlooked-for
sight awaited us. The stream glistened at the bottom, and along its
banks were pitched a multitude of tents, while hundreds of cattle were
feeding over the meadows. Bodies of troops, both horse and foot, and
long trains of wagons with men, women, and children, were moving over
the opposite ridge and descending the broad declivity in front. These
were the Mor