of his winter hut at all. But he bore it all with gentle patience.
Scouwa had to do all the hunting for himself, the old man, and the boy.

Almost the only food to be had was deer meat. From time to time Scouwa
succeeded in killing a deer. But at last there came a crust of snow.
Whenever the hunter tried to creep up to a deer, the crust would break
under his feet with a little crash, and the noise would frighten the
deer away. After a while there was no food in the cabin.

Once Scouwa hunted two days without coming back to the cabin, and with
nothing to eat. He came back at last empty-handed.

The wise Indian asked him, "What luck did you have, brother?"

"None at all," said Scouwa.

"Are you not very hungry?" asked the Indian.

"I do not feel so hungry now as I did," said the young man, "but I am
very faint and weary."

Then the lame Indian told the little boy to bring something to eat. The
boy had made a broth out of the dry old bones of foxes and wild-cats
that lay about the camp. Scouwa ate this broth eagerly, and liked it.

Then the old chief talked to Scouwa. He told him that the Great Spirit
would provide food for them. He talked in this way for some time.

At last he said, "Brother, go to sleep, and rise early in the morning
and go hunting. Be strong, and act like a man. The Great Spirit will
direct your way."

In the morning James set out early, but the deer heard his feet
breaking through the snow crust. Whenever he caught sight of them, they
were already running away. The young man now grew very hungry. He made
up his mind to escape from the Indians, and to try to reach his home in
Pennsylvania. He knew that Indian hunters would probably see him and
kill him, but he was so nearly starved that he did not care for his
life.

He walked very fast, traveling toward the east. All at once he saw
fresh buffalo tracks. He followed these till he came in sight of the
buffaloes; then, faint as he was, he ran on ahead of the animals, and
hid himself.

[Illustration: Scouwa shoots a Buffalo.]

When the buffaloes came near, he fired his gun, and killed a large
buffalo cow. He quickly kindled a fire, and cut off a piece of the
meat, which he put to roast by the fire. But he was too hungry to wait.
He took his meat away from the fire, and ate it before it was cooked.

When his hunger was satisfied, he began to think about the wise Indian
and his little boy. He could not bear to leave them to starve, so he
gav