of leaves."

The muzzle of the rifle fell as he concluded, and the weapon was
gradually settling into a steady, and what would easily have proved a
fatal aim, when a tall Indian sprang from beneath that bed of leaves and
brush, which he had collected about his person at the approach of the
party, and stood upright, uttering the exclamation--

"Wagh!"

CHAPTER XVIII

My visor is Philemon's roof; within the house is Jove.
--Shakspeare.

The trapper, who had meditated no violence, dropped his rifle again,
and laughing at the success of his experiment, with great seeming
self-complacency, he drew the astounded gaze of the naturalist from the
person of the savage to himself, by saying--

"The imps will lie for hours, like sleeping alligators, brooding their
deviltries in dreams and other craftiness, until such time as they see
some real danger is at hand, and then they look to themselves the same
as other mortals. But this is a scouter in his war-paint! There should
be more of his tribe at no great distance. Let us draw the truth out
of him; for an unlucky war-party may prove more dangerous to us than a
visit from the whole family of the squatter."

"It is truly a desperate and a dangerous species!" said the Doctor,
relieving his amazement by a breath that seemed to exhaust his lungs of
air; "a violent race, and one that it is difficult to define or class,
within the usual boundaries of definitions. Speak to him, therefore; but
let thy words be strong in amity."

The old man cast a keen eye on every side of him, to ascertain
the important particular whether the stranger was supported by any
associates, and then making the usual signs of peace, by exhibiting the
palm of his naked hand, he boldly advanced. In the mean time, the Indian
betrayed no evidence of uneasiness. He suffered the trapper to draw
nigh, maintaining by his own mien and attitude a striking air of dignity
and fearlessness. Perhaps the wary warrior also knew that, owing to the
difference in their weapons, he should be placed more on an equality, by
being brought nearer to the strangers.

As a description of this individual may furnish some idea of the
personal appearance of a whole race, it may be well to detain the
narrative, in order to present it to the reader, in our hasty and
imperfect manner. Would the truant eyes of Alston or Greenough turn, but
for a time, from their gaze at t