f his
field of vision, but the day was drawing to a close before anything
like success came to him. He had learned that the warriors to the east
and west of the Rockies made journeys now and then back and forth.
Sometimes these were raiding expeditions, at other times were merely
rambles or visits, when the red men proved themselves capable of
hospitality and friendship.

These people must be acquainted with the readiest means of travel, and
wherever they walked or rode they left inevitable signs to guide
others. The sun was still two hours above the horizon when Deerfoot
came upon a plainly marked trail, leading almost due east and west.
Without hesitation he turned into it. Instead of being a comparatively
narrow passage, however, like that traversed by Mul-tal-la and George
and Victor Shelton when they thought they were embroiled with the
Shoshones, it was two or three miles wide, and even wider in some
places. The ground was so depressed that it partook of the nature of a
valley, through the middle of which a considerable stream of water had
flowed, fed no doubt, as was the rule, by the melting snows and ice of
the mountains.

The surface of this pass varied greatly. There were portions where
boulders, rocks and ravines seemed to bar all progress, but these
obstructions, upon a closer approach, revealed passages which could be
easily traversed by horse or animal. Then came long stretches of fairly
level land, where grass, trees and shrubbery were abundant. The
mountains towered on the right and left, and now and then directly in
front, some of the peaks piercing the sky far above the snow line.

Deerfoot would not have dared to attempt this passage but for the
proofs that it had been traversed before by others. In fact, shortly
after he made the change of direction he came upon a spot where a large
party had encamped not long previous. It was too early in the day to
halt for the night, and he allowed the stallion to pass on.

An hour later, when casting about for a suitable camping site, he
descried an Indian party not far in advance, but a fourth of a mile to
the left. While they were using the same pass with himself, they were
traversing another portion and pursuing the same direction as he.

Not convinced that it was well to seek their company, the Shawanoe
brought his glass to bear and surveyed the motley group that were
straggling eastward. The sight was interesting even to him, for the
Indians were compo