from the package that
contained the general stock of ammunition, so that there were only two
or three charges out of it. His percussion caps, however, were
completely destroyed, and even though they had not been, it would have
mattered little, for he did not possess more than half a dozen. But
this was not so great a misfortune as at first it might seem, for he had
the spare flint locks and the little screw-driver necessary for fixing
and unfixing them stowed away in his shot pouch.

To examine his supply of bullets was his next care, and slowly he
counted them out, one by one, to the number of thirty. This was a
pretty fair supply, and with careful economy would last him many days.
Having relieved his mind on these all-important points, he carefully
examined every pouch and corner of his dress to ascertain the exact
amount and value of his wealth.

Besides the leather-leggings, moccasins, deerskin hunting shirt, cap,
and belt which composed his costume, he had a short heavy hunting-knife,
a piece of tinder, a little tin pannikin, which he had been in the habit
of carrying at his belt, and a large cake of maple sugar. This last is
a species of sugar which is procured by the Indians from the maple-tree.
Several cakes of it had been carried off from the Pawnee village, and
Dick usually carried one in the breast of his coat. Besides these
things, he found that the little Bible, for which his mother had made a
small inside breast pocket, was safe. Dick's heart smote him when he
took it out and undid the clasp, for he had not looked at it until that
day. It was firmly bound with a brass clasp, so that although the
binding and edges of the leaves were soaked, the inside was quite dry.
On opening the book to see if it had been damaged, a small paper fell
out. Picking it up quickly, he unfolded it, and read, in his mother's
handwriting, "_Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver
thee, and thou shalt glorify me. My son, give me thine heart_."

Dick's eyes filled with tears while the sound, as it were, of his
mother's voice thus reached him unexpectedly in that lonely wilderness.
Like too many whose hearts are young and gay, Dick had regarded
religion, if not as a gloomy, at least as not a cheerful thing. But he
felt the comfort of these words at that moment, and he resolved
seriously to peruse his mother's parting gift in time to come.

The sun was hot, and a warm breeze gently shook the leaves, so th