The young hunter staggered and cried out with pain and surprise. The crane had cut a deep gash in Bill’s cheek and the blood ran freely down his face.
At first his three friends laughed at him, but when they saw how badly Bill was wounded, Tatanka quickly chewed a handful of choke-cherry twigs and put them on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Thus ended the crane-hunt near Inspiration Point.
CHAPTER XVI—SMELLING THE STORM
Inspiration point was the first camp at which the lads had enjoyed the magnificent panoramic view of the great river and its valley and where they had tasted the joy of roaming about freely through upland forests and fields.
Some camps one finds so attractive that it is hard to break away, and after one has at last rolled up tents and blankets, memory involuntarily returns to the scene.
The lads enjoyed the camp at Inspiration Point so much that they begged Mr. Barker to stay there at least another night.
“I don’t know, boys,” the old man objected mildly. “It may not be so pleasant to-night. I think we are going to have rain.”
“Where can the rain come from?” the boys questioned. “There isn’t a cloud in the sky.”
“Not yet,” the old trapper admitted, “but clouds will come soon enough. I sort of feel and smell rain in the air.”