sufficient to stun them; while it seemed to me that he might be able to
ward off either the arrows or the tomahawks of hostile Indians.

Kepenau and Ashatea returned to their settlement; and the old trapper,
who had now recovered, began to make preparations for his departure. He
had again invited Reuben to join him, but Mr Claxton, very wisely,
would not hear of his son going away with the old man.

"It is more than likely we shall never see him again," he observed.
"Whatever his fate may be, you would probably share it; either to be
killed by Indians, or starved, or drowned, or frozen to death, or torn
to pieces by bears or wolves."

Reuben was inclined to complain. "Father thinks I cannot take care of
myself," he said to me. "As old Samson has spent so many years out
trapping by himself, why should not I have as good a chance of escaping
from danger?"

"There is an old saying, `That the water-pot which goes often to the
well, gets broken at last,'" I observed. "Such may be the case with
regard to old Samson; and you know nothing of the country, or of the
cunning of the Redskins, and would be very sure to lose your life if he
lost his."

The old man, who had set his heart on obtaining a companion of some
sort, succeeded in persuading a half-breed to accompany him. This was a
man named Sandy McColl, whose father was a Scotchman and his mother an
Indian, and who had long been accustomed to the wild life of the
prairies. He had come to the settlement intending to remain, and had
built a hut and begun to cultivate a garden, with the intention, as was
supposed, of taking unto himself a wife; but the damsel on whom he had
set his affections had refused him. Sandy after this became very
downcast; he neglected his garden, and spent most of his time wandering
about gun in hand, shooting any game he could come across. He had few
associates, and was of a morose disposition. People, indeed, whispered
that he had been guilty of some crime or other, and was forced to leave
the part of the country where he had before resided. Uncle Stephen, who
occasionally exchanged a few words with him, did not believe that this
was the case, and declared that Sandy, in spite of his taciturnity and
love of solitude, was an honest fellow. Be that as it may, Samson was
satisfied with him, and the two agreed to start together.

Soon after the old man's arrival, he had asked Reuben and me to make a
journey to the place where he had l