anger," admonished the most cautious Howard.

"It's the only chance we've got to save ourselves from starving, and for
me getting a shmoke out of a pipe, which I am as hungry for as I am for
a few pounds of mate."

The three, the Irishman taking the lead, did not hesitate longer, but
stepped forward, and the Indian immediately resumed his guidance. The
boys could not avoid some alarm and misgiving in thus following blindly
an Indian whom they had not seen until a few minutes before, and who,
they had every reason to believe, was hostile; but there seemed no other
course, and they obeyed the suggestion of Tim O'Rooney.

The Indian led the way for several hundred yards, when he halted before
one of the rudest and oddest habitations imaginable. It was made of
stones, stumps, limbs, dirt and skins, its dimensions being about twenty
feet in every direction. The savage paused but a moment when he shoved a
large skin aside, entered and held it open for his friends to do the
same. Tim O'Rooney peered cautiously into the lodge before trusting
himself within it, but seeing nothing alarming, he stepped briskly
forward, and was followed by the two boys and Terror.

A dim fire was burning in one corner, against the face of a rock, and
opposite it lay a bundle of clothes, which, upon being rather roughly
touched by the foot of the Indian, resolved itself into a being of the
feminine gender, unquestionably the partner of the master of the lodge.
A few words were exchanged between the two, when the squaw busied
herself in preparing a meal, while her husband stirred the fire into a
cheerful blaze that brightly illuminated every portion of the singular
dwelling. He seemed entirely forgetful of the presence of the strangers,
who seated themselves upon a broad flat stone and calmly awaited the
result of his doings.

The old lady speedily appeared with a huge piece of meat, which was soon
roasting on the fire, its savory odor filling the apartment, and
rendering our friends half frantic in their starving condition. It was
quickly cooked; the Indian severed it into four equal portions with his
hunting-knife, and tossed one to each of his visitors, including the
dog, which was really suffering for the want of nourishment.

As Elwood and Howard ravenously ate the well-cooked, juicy meat, free
from pepper and salt, they were sure they had never tasted such a
delicious morsel in all their life. The pieces were of a generous size,
and after