es before him. He yelled and hooted in vain; then turned and rode
after me. Two others had started in pursuit, but my horse was a good
one, and I easily outdistanced them at the start.

"After I had fairly circled the camp, I turned again toward the river,
hoping to regain the bottom lands. The traveling was bad. Sometimes we
came to deep gulches filled with snow, where my horse would sink in
up to his body and seem unable to move. When I jumped off his back and
struck him once or twice, he would make several desperate leaps and
recover his footing. My pursuers were equally hindered, but by this
time the pursuit was general, and in order to terrify me they yelled
continually and fired their guns into the air. Now and then I came to
a gulch which I had to follow up in search of a place to cross, and at
such times they gained on me. I began to despair, for I knew that the
white man's horses have not the endurance of our Indian ponies, and I
expected to be chased most of the day.

"Finally I came to a ravine that seemed impossible to cross. As I
followed it up, it became evident that some of them had known of this
trap, and had cut in ahead of me. I felt that I must soon abandon my
horse and slide down the steep sides of the gulch to save myself.

"However, I made one last effort to pass my enemies. They came within
gunshot and several fired at me, although all our horses were going at
full speed. They missed me, and being at last clear of them, I came to a
place where I could cross, and the pursuit stopped."

When Zuyamani reached this point in his recital, the great drum was
struck several times, and all the men cheered him.

"The days are short in winter," he went on after a short pause, "and
just now the sun sank behind the hills. I did not linger. I continued my
journey by night, and reached Fort Berthold before midnight. I had been
so thoroughly frightened and was so much exhausted that I did not
want to talk, and as soon as I had delivered my letters to the post
commander, I went to the interpreter's quarters to sleep.

"The interpreter, however, announced my arrival, and that same night
many Ree, Gros Ventre, and Mandan warriors came to call upon me. Among
them was a great chief of the Rees, called Poor Dog.

"'You must be,' said he to me, 'either a very young man, or a fool! You
have not told us about your close escape, but a runner came in at dusk
and told us of the pursuit. He reported that you had been ki