r. The scent of a
white man, or the sight of a skulking form, will cause him to snort and
neigh; so that a whole camp will either be _stampeded_ or put upon the
alert in a few minutes. Many a well-planned attack has been defeated by
the warning-snort of the sentinel mustang.

It is not that the prairie-horse feels any peculiar attachment for the
Indian; strange if he did--since tyrant more cruel to the equine race
does not exist; no driver more severe, no rider more hard, than a
horse-Indian.

It is simply the faithfulness which the noble animal exhibits for his
companion and master, with the instinct which tells him when that master
is menaced by danger. He will do the same service for a white as for a
red man; and often does the weary trapper take his lone rest, with full
confidence that the vigil will be faithfully kept by his horse.

Had there been dogs in the Indian camp, my apprehensions would have been
still more acute--the danger would have been more than doubled. Within
the lines, these cunning brutes would have known me as an enemy: the
disguise of garments would not have availed me by the scent, an Indian
dog can at once tell the white from the red man; and they appear to hold
a real antipathy against the race of the Celt or Saxon. Even in time of
truce, a white man entering an Indian camp can scarcely be protected
from the wolfish pack.

I knew there were no dogs--we saw tracks of none. The Indians had been
upon the war-trail; and when they proceed on these grand expeditions,
their dogs, like their women, are left "at home." I had reason to be
thankful that such was their custom.

Of course it was my intention to go disguised; it would have been
madness to have gone otherwise. In the darkest night, my uniform would
have betrayed me; but necessarily, in my search for the captive, I
should be led within the light of the fires.

It was my design, therefore, to counterfeit the Indian costume; and how
to do this had been for some time the subject of my reflections. I had
been congratulating myself on the possession of the buffalo-robe. That
would go far towards the disguise; but other articles were wanting to
complete my costume. The leggings and moccasins--the plumed head-dress
and neck ornaments--the long elfin locks--the bronze complexion of arms
and breast--the piebald face of chalk, charcoal, and vermilion--where
were all these to be obtained? There was no _costumerie_ in the desert.

In