Rance was wrong by suddenly coming to a
dead halt and dropping the last morsel he was in the act of raising to
his mouth. He then heaved a deep sigh and looked round on the whole
party with a radiant smile, which was literally sparkling by reason of
the firelight which glittered on his greasy countenance.

"What! stuffed full at last?" exclaimed Jeffson, as they all burst into
a fit of laughter.

"Ay, chock full to the beams," said Joe Graddy; "moreover, hatches
battened down, topsails shook out, anchor up, and away!"

This was indeed the case. Having eaten as much as he could hold, the
poor Indian attempted to rise and walk off, but he suddenly fell down,
and rolled about groaning and rubbing himself as if in great agony. The
alarmed travellers began to fear that the poor little man had
absolutely, as Joe said, eaten himself to death. He recovered, however,
in a few minutes, rose again with some difficulty, and went off in the
midst of a splendid burst of moonlight which appeared to have come out
expressly to light him on his way! His gait was awkward, and he was
obliged to sit down every twenty or thirty yards like a man resting
under a heavy load. When last seen on his diminutive legs he looked
like a huge bloated spider waddling into the obscurity of the forest.

"How disgusting!" perhaps exclaims the reader. True, yet not _much_
more disgusting than the gormandising which goes on among too many
civilised men, who, besides possessing better knowledge, have got
dyspepsia to inform them that they daily act the part of the Californian
savage, while many learned doctors, we believe, tell them that it is not
so much quality as quantity that kills.

That eventful night did not terminate, however, with the departure of
the Indian. Another scene was enacted, but, unlike the popular mode of
theatrical procedure, the farce was followed by a tragedy.

Before lying down to rest, the fire was drawn together, fresh logs were
heaped upon it, and a great blaze was made to scare away the wolves.
Frank, Jeffson, and Douglas, then rolled themselves in their blankets,
and lay down with their feet towards the fire and their rifles beside
them. The others lighted their pipes for a finishing whiff--a nightcap
as Joe styled it.

They had not sat long thus, making occasional quiet remarks, as fatigued
and sleepy men are wont to do before going to rest, when they were
startled by the sound of heavy footsteps in the woods. R