the men, "there goes Dick
Varley's horse."

"So it am!" cried Henri, and dashed off in pursuit, followed by Joe and
two others.

"Why, these are our own horses," said Cameron in surprise, as they drove
them into a corner of the hills from which they could not escape.

This was true, but it was only half the truth, for, besides their own
horses, they had secured upwards of seventy Indian steeds, a most
acceptable addition to their stud, which, owing to casualties and
wolves, had been diminishing too much of late. The fact was, that the
Indians who had captured the horses belonging to Pierre and his party
were a small band of robbers who had travelled, as was afterwards
learned, a considerable distance from the south, stealing horses from
various tribes as they went along. As we have seen, in an evil hour
they fell in with Pierre's party and carried off their steeds, which
they drove to a pass leading from one valley to the other. Here they
united them with the main band of their ill-gotten gains, and while the
greater number of the robbers descended further into the plains in
search of more booty, four of them were sent into the mountains with the
horses already procured. These four, utterly ignorant of the presence
of white men in the valley, drove their charge, as we have seen, almost
into the camp.

Cameron immediately organised a party to go out in search of Pierre and
his companions, about whose fate he became intensely anxious, and in the
course of half an hour as many men as he could spare with safety were
despatched in the direction of the Blue Mountains.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

CHARLIE'S ADVENTURES WITH SAVAGES AND BEARS--TRAPPING LIFE.

It is one thing to chase a horse; it is another thing to catch it.
Little consideration and less sagacity is required to convince us of the
truth of that fact.

The reader may perhaps venture to think this rather a trifling fact. We
are not so sure of that. In this world of fancies, to have _any_ fact
incontestably proved and established is a comfort, and whatever is a
source of comfort to mankind is worthy of notice. Surely our reader
won't deny that! Perhaps he will, so we can only console ourself with
the remark that there are people in this world who would deny
_anything_--who would deny that there was a nose on their face if you
said there was!

Well, to return to the point, which was the chase of a horse in the
abstract; from which we will rapidly di