"Wull, go on then, an' don't yer stop ter play!"
The panther bounded past the party and disappeared in the gloom beyond.
"How in the world can he get out?" asked Curtiss. "Surely he can not swing over the chain?"
"Wull, I reckon he could ef I'd ever l'arnt him! But yer see ther's no occasion—this yer hole goes clean through ther mountain. But I'll show yer thet some other time."
"Hark! What is that?"
"It's Andy Jackson passin' ther guard," replied the trapper.
"Who do you have for a guard?"
"He's er brother uv Andy Jackson, but I calls him Barnum jest 'cause he kin humbug more Injuns than any other feller in ther kentry, 'thout it ar' ther king uv humbugs, old Barnum his self. Tell yer what, stranger, he's ther knowin'est varmint uv 'em all. 'Tain't more'n ten days ago, I war out looking arter things gineraly, when I run inter a nest uv 'bout er dozen Blackfeet. They had er white feller what they war a-goin' ter roast, an' I allowed it didn't look jest right, so I kem back an' got Andy Jackson an Barnum, an' we went fur ter stop ther fun. Wull, they war so 'tarnal busy with ther white man that they didn't see us at all, tell jest as they war goin' ter set fire ter ther brush. Then I shot ther feller what was ther leader, an' you'd jest orter see'd them two boys, Andy an' Barnum, sail in, an' go ter sp'ilin' Injuns! Fact, thar didn't a one uv 'em git away! All ther Injuns in this kentry are scart uv me, an call me a heap big medicine; so they don't very often kem around here—an' thet leaves me all uv ther trappin' ter myself. Kem, let's go back now to ther fire."
"But what will become of Andy Jackson?" asked the scout.
"Oh, he'll kem back purty soon, an' be in his stall when I want him!"