imal he was following up. Here
he received a great disappointment, and an equally great surprise--a
disappointment on finding that the track he followed was _not_ that of a
bear, and a surprise on discovering that it _was_ that of a man!

On first making this discovery, Gibault stopped short, laid his gun on
the ground, stooped down, planted a hand on each knee, opened his eyes
to their utmost, pursed his lips to the tightest, and stared at the
footprint, the very embodiment of astonishment. After a few seconds he
gave vent to a low whistle, and said "Ho!" Exactly ten seconds after
that, he said "Ha!" and, raising his right hand, scratched the point of
his nose, which, being too red naturally, was not improved by the
operation.

None of these acts and exclamations, either collectively or singly,
seemed to afford him any enlightenment, for he began to shake his head
slowly from side to side, as if he had come to the conclusion that the
whole affair was utterly beyond his limited comprehension; then he
started up, shouldered his gun, and followed the track of the man with
as much ardour as he had formerly pursued that of the bear.

Perseverance is almost invariably rewarded. This would seem to be one
of those laws of nature which fail to operate only on very rare and
peculiar occasions. Gibault had not advanced more than a hundred yards
when he came suddenly upon the man whose feet had made the tracks he had
been following.

"The Vild-Man-of-de-Vest! certainement!" muttered Black Gibault slowly,
as he gazed at the creature before him, and quietly cocked his rifle to
be ready for any emergency.

Certainly the man upon whom our trapper had stumbled thus suddenly might
have been styled the wild man of any region--west, north, east, or
south,--with perfect propriety. On his legs were a pair of dark grey
fustian trousers, which had seen so much service that, from the knee
downwards, they were torn into shreds. His feet were covered by a pair
of moccasins. Instead of the usual hunting-shirt he wore one of the
yellow deerskin coats of a Blackfoot chief, which was richly embroidered
with beads and quilt work, and fringed with scalp-locks. On his head he
wore a felt hat, with a broad rim and a tall conical crown, somewhat
resembling a Spanish sombrero, and beside him, on the bough of a tree,
hung a long blue Spanish cloak. The countenance of this extraordinary
man was handsome and youthful, but wild and somewhat hag