acaroni."

"Maclony? Good! Maclony--maclony." he continued, repeating the word to
fix it in his memory.

Our only vegetable was some canned asparagus. Washington was
delighted with it after he had been initiated into the mystery of its
consumption. He did not stop at the white. "What you call--_him_?"

"Asparagus."

"Spalagus--spalagus? Goo-oo-d!"

"Did you never eat asparagus before, Washington?"

"Never eat him--nev' see him. Spalagus--spalagus! Goo-oo-d!"

Hustleburger now brought in the dessert, which consisted of canned
currant-jelly, served in the can. Each guest helped himself from the
original package, using a "hard tack" for a dessert-plate, _more
antiquo_. Washington was bidden to help himself. Before doing so,
however, he wished to test the substance placed before him, and,
taking a little on the end of his spoon, he carried it to his lips.
Then an expression of intense enjoyment overspread his dusky face; his
black eyes sparkled like diamonds; his full lips were wreathed in a
smile. "Ah! goo-oo-oo-d!" he cried, with a mouthful of _o_'s. "What
you call HIM?"

"Jelly."

"Yelly? Ah! yelly goo-oo-ood! Me--like--yelly--much." And he helped
himself plentifully.

A smell of burning woollen became unpleasantly noticeable. Washington
still had the stove between his legs: it was red-hot. He never moved,
but ate "yelly."

"Washington, you're burning!" cried the lieutenant.

Washington smiled. "Much wah-r-rum!" he remarked in the coolest manner
possible.

"Throw open the front, then."

A long, shrill cry now rang through the silence and the darkness.
Washington jumped up suddenly, ran out of the tent, and uttered a cry
in response so similar that it might pass for an echo of the first.
Then, returning, he said, "He call. He--ready--put--dead man--down.
Come! Me--come back--eat--yelly."

Fortunately, the Indian camp was not far off. The night was
pitch-dark. Led by Washington, we got through the thick underbrush
without much trouble. The grave was dug near the water's edge, where
the Missouri and the Yellowstone, meeting, form an angle. A large fire
of dry cottonwood at the head of the grave fitfully lit up the dismal
scene. A bundle of blankets and buffalo-robes lay by the open grave.
Some Indians of both sexes with bowed and blanketed heads stood near
it. Washington was evidently awaited. As soon as he appeared a little
hand-bell was rung, and a number of dark, shrouded figures with
covered faces