"'Pears to me you've been on a powerful long tramp."
"We have. We spent last winter among the Blackfeet, and are homesick."
"I reckon your camp ain't fur off, and we may as well go there."
"We shall be glad to have you with us, for you have proved the best of friends."
"Thar! Thar! Drop that; talk about something else."
When Victor tried to walk he had to lean on the shoulder of his brother, and the pain from his bruises compelled him at times to stop and rest. The burly trapper offered to help, but Victor thanked him and got on quite well with the assistance of George. The man walked a few paces behind the two, that he might not hurry them too much, and because it belonged to the boys to act as guide.
"Who is the man you've got with you?"
"He is a young Shawanoe Indian named Deerfoot," replied George Shelton.
"What!" exclaimed the trapper, stopping as if shot. "Do you mean that handsome young warrior who went through the country below us last summer with a Blackfoot redskin and two younkers?"
"The same. We are the boys that were with him."