his cap. "We have come with a
message from the great chief of the Pale-faces, who lives in the village
far beyond the great river where the sun rises. He says, why should the
Pale-face and the Red-man fight? They are brothers. The same Manitou
[the Indian name for God] watches over both. The Pale-faces have more
beads, and guns, and blankets, and knives, and vermilion than they
require; they wish to give some of these things for the skins and furs
which the Red-man does not know what to do with. The great chief of the
Pale-faces has sent me to say, `Why should we fight? let us smoke the
pipe of peace!'"

At the mention of beads and blankets the face of the wily chief
brightened for a moment. Then he said, sternly--

"The heart of the Pale-face is not true. He has come here to trade for
himself. San-it-sa-rish has eyes that can see--they are not shut. Are
not these your goods?" The chief pointed to the pack-horse as he spoke.

"Trappers do not take their goods into the heart of an enemy's camp,"
returned Joe; "San-it-sa-rish is wise and will understand this. These
are gifts to the chief of the Pawnees. There are more awaiting him when
the pipe of peace is smoked. I have said,--What message shall we take
back to the great chief of the Pale-faces?"

San-it-sa-rish was evidently mollified.

"The hunting field is not the council tent," he said. "The Pale-faces
will go with us to our village."

Of course Joe was only too glad to agree to this proposal, but he now
deemed it politic to display a little firmness.

"We cannot go till our rifle is restored. It will not do to go back and
tell the great chief of the Pale-faces that the Pawnees are thieves."

The chief frowned angrily.

"The Pawnees are true--they are not thieves. They choose to _look_ at
the rifle of the Pale-face. It shall be returned."

The rifle was instantly restored, and then our hunters rode off with the
Indians towards their camp. On the way they met hundreds of women and
children going to the scene of the great hunt, for it was their special
duty to cut up the meat and carry it into camp. The men, considering
that they had done quite enough in killing it, returned to smoke and eat
away the fatigues of the chase.

As they rode along Dick Varley observed that some of the "braves," as
Indian warriors are styled, were eating pieces of the bloody livers of
the buffaloes in a raw state, at which he expressed not a little
disgust.