Old Bear-Paw, the trapper king; or, The love of a Blackfoot queen

by Henry M. Avery

Away off, as far as the eye could reach, he saw straggling parties of Indians moving about, as if endeavoring to find the trail of the escaped prisoner.

Some of them were very near the foot of the hill upon which he stood, but the scout was satisfied that they had not yet found the trail.

There was one thing, however, which seemed somewhat singular to the scout. He noticed that a large addition had been made to their force. But it was soon made plain to him.

He saw large parties coming from the north, and knew that they were not all Sioux who where there, but that the Blackfoot braves had come to answer the call of Gray Eagle made by the smoke-signals, which the scout had sent up for the old chief.

"By Jingo!" he muttered, "I wish I could be down there to help one side or the other; but then, where is the difference? It is only dog eat dog after all, and they can fight it out without my assistance. Wish I only knew whether Jehiel is in the scrimmage or not? Reckon not, though, for he has not had time to go to the Blackfoot village and back. Wonder where the dickens he is, anyhow?"

But no answer came to any of the scout's queries, and the gnawings of hunger brought him back to his senses.

In a few minutes a drove of mountain sheep were discovered, slowly feeding toward him, and drawing his revolver he waited until they were near enough, and shot one. Shouldering his meat, he retraced his steps toward the ravine, only pausing once on the way to secure an armful of dry wood. He then descended to the stream, and once more presented himself before the group in the cavern.

"All right, here?" he asked, as he entered and deposited his armful of wood and meat upon the floor.

"Yes; all right!" replied Curtiss. "Did you learn any thing of our Indian friends, down in the valley?"

"Not much," replied the scout. "They seem to be having lively times down there, but I don't know as it is any thing that can interest us as much as a good roast of this mutton will, so I propose that we eat now. After breakfast I will take another look at them."