k after breakfast with a hoss and fetch
him in. Where's the redskin?"

Sile rapidly explained the cause of his delay in getting back to camp;
but what he did not know or explain was the fact that the Nez Perces had
had no idea that their drove of lost ponies had wandered into that
valley.

"Glad they've got 'em," said Yellow Pine. "Every hoof of ourn'll be
safer from this time on, treaty or no treaty, good Indians or bad."

"Would they really steal from us, after all?" asked Sile, soberly.

"Steal hosses? Well, now, that isn't jest the way it looks to them.
They're brought up to it. All hoss-flesh is fair game to a plains
redskin. The more they have of their own, the easier it is to get 'em to
keep their hands off from them that you have and to make believe good.
These 'ere Nez Perces ain't a bad lot. Hope we won't run afoul of any
that's worse than they are, and more of 'em."

Sile was proud of his fish, and tenfold prouder of his bear, but the
proudest person in the mining-camp that morning was Na-tee-kah. Her
wonderful brother had earned some more glory. The next proudest being
was probably Ha-ha-pah-no, and she asked, several times in succession,
of both herself and Na-tee-kah, and without any satisfactory answer,

"What Big Tongue say, now? Tell how he caught pony?"

CHAPTER XX

A FULL CORRAL

Two arrows was a born horseman. About the earliest memory he had was of
riding rather than walking. The pony he was now on was one which had
carried him many a time. As soon as he had cut and trimmed a very long
and serviceable tree-branch all the other ponies and the mules perfectly
understood what it was for.

He was in a serious hurry. It was the most important affair of his life.
So far as he could see, the only ponies now missing from the drove were
the ones which had not been stampeded, but had remained in camp to be
eaten. All the rest had been rescued and kept in good order by the
genius and generalship of the wicked old mule. Two Arrows could but wish
that a dozen or so of the best dogs had been stampeded at the same time.
He rode busily hither and thither, shouting vigorously and lashing his
charges away from every tuft of grass they lingered over. He knew
exactly where to find his people, and he meant to find them quickly. The
distance was nearly the same that had been travelled the day before by
the mining party, but the loaded wagons had taken more time upon it
than loose ponies would, followe