“B’ars and bufflers! what does that mean?” muttered the trapper, who could scarcely believe the evidence of his own eyes.
But such was the case; the dreaded creature, the horrid beast that was impervious to powder and ball, that crushed in the skull of a man at one blow, and was literally the terror of the country, was frolicking with their young friend!
“Come, old fellow, it is time you went home,” suddenly exclaimed the latter, as he ceased playing, and pointed down-stream.
The unknown obediently turned, and uttering its faint bark, trotted away, and speedily disappeared.
Black Tom concluded to say nothing of what he had witnessed to any one. He returned to his waiting friends and informed them that the way was clear. A few minutes later, and the three emerged from the cave, and, in the course of half an hour, safely reached “headquarters,” with their newly acquired wealth intact.
CHAPTER XIII.
BETWEEN TWO CLOUDS.
“Now,” said Fred Hammond, after they had safely reëntered their own cavern home, “you have made your fortune, and I suppose are ready to start homeward to-morrow.”
A general assent followed, and Black Tom added that, on account of the Blackfeet, it was to their interest to get away without a moment’s unnecessary delay.