until spring was well chosen and the
steep hills about them fended off the worst of the blast. Yet the snow
came soon in great, whirling flakes and fell all one night. The next
morning the boy saw the world in white and he found it singularly
beautiful. The snow he did not mind as clothing of dressed skins had
been given to him and he had a warm buffalo robe for a blanket. Now,
young as he was, he became one of the best hunters for the village and
with the others he roamed far over the snowy hills in search of game.
Many were the prizes that fell to his steady aim and eye, chief among
them the deer, the bear and the buffalo.

His fame in the village grew fast, and it would be hiding the fact to
deny that he enjoyed it. The wild rough life with its limitless range
over time and space appealed to every instinct in him, and his new fame
as a tireless and skillful hunter was very sweet to him. He thought of
his people and Wareville, it is true, but he consoled himself again with
the belief that they were well and he would return to them when the
chance came, and then he plunged all the deeper and with all the more
zest into his new life which had so many fascinations. At Wareville
there were certain bounds which he must respect, certain weights which
he must carry, but here he was free from both.

Meanwhile his body thrived at a prodigious rate. One could almost see
him grow. There was not a warrior in the village who was as strong as
he, and already he surpassed them all in endurance; none was so fleet of
foot nor so tireless. His face and hair darkened in the wind and sun,
his last vestige of civilized garb had disappeared long ago, and he was
clothed wholly in deerskin. His features grew stronger and keener and
the eyes were incessantly watchful, roving hither and thither, covering
every point within range. It would have taken more than a casual glance
now to discover that he was white.

The winter deepened. The snow was continuous, fierce blasts blew in from
the distant western plains and even searched out their sheltered valley.
The old men and the women shivered in the lodges, but sparkling young
blood and tireless action kept the boy warm and flourishing through it
all. Game grew scarce about them and the hunters went far westward in
search of the buffalo.

Henry was with the party that traveled farthest toward the setting sun,
and it was long before they returned. Winter was at its height and when
they came out