d bringing water to the camp.

"Old Wamegon one day put a bridle into my hand, and pointing in a
certain direction motioned me to go. I guessed that he desired me to
bring him a horse, so I caught the first I could find, and to my
satisfaction discovered that I had done what he intended.

"I remembered the words he had used, as I tried to do whenever I was
spoken to, and thus by degrees picked up the language of the people.

"Sometimes I accompanied the men out hunting, and had to return to the
camp with as heavy a load of meat as I could carry. Though I was almost
starved, I dared not touch a morsel.

"My Indian mother, who showed some compassion for me, would lay by a
little food, and give it when the old man was not in the way. Another
day I felt a blow on the head from behind, and immediately fell
senseless to the ground. It was not till many hours afterwards that I
returned to consciousness, when I saw Netnokwa bathing my head with cold
water.

"The old man coming in exclaimed, `What! is he there? I thought that I
had killed him. He'll not come to life again the next time!'

"This remark made me in future carefully avoid the old tyrant.

"On reaching a place where deer abounded, the Indians built up a long
screen of bushes, behind which they concealed themselves, and when any
deer came near they shot the animals with their arrows. This was,
however, an uncertain mode of obtaining venison.

"Some of their more active hunters would go out into the plain, and
creep up to leeward of any deer they might see, till they could get near
enough to shoot them. Sometimes when the grass was short they were
unable to conceal themselves. On such occasions they would lie down
flat on their backs, lifting their legs up in the air so as to resemble
the branches of a tree.

"The deer, who had much curiosity in their nature, would then frequently
approach, now stopping, now drawing nearer, till the hunter would
suddenly lift his bow, drawing his arrow to let it fly at the nearest
animal, which would in most instances suffer the penalty of its
inquisitiveness. Still they often missed.

"At one time, when the camp was in great want of venison, I offered to
go out and shoot some deer. The young men laughed at me; but I
persuaded the old man to let me have my gun. At first he refused; but
induced by Netnokwa, he at last consented, threatening me with severe
punishment if I did not bring back some meat. It was the f