illon again dispatched The Horse to the
village, with a message to his squaw that she and her relatives should
leave the rest and push on as rapidly as possible to our camp.

Our daily routine soon became as regular as that of a well-ordered
household. The weather-beaten old tree was in the center; our rifles
generally rested against its vast trunk, and our saddles were flung on
the ground around it; its distorted roots were so twisted as to form one
or two convenient arm-chairs, where we could sit in the shade and read
or smoke; but meal-times became, on the whole, the most interesting
hours of the day, and a bountiful provision was made for them. An
antelope or a deer usually swung from a stout bough, and haunches were
suspended against the trunk. That camp is daguerreotyped on my memory;
the old tree, the white tent, with Shaw sleeping in the shadow of it,
and Reynal's miserable lodge close by the bank of the stream. It was a
wretched oven-shaped structure, made of begrimed and tattered buffalo
hides stretched over a frame of poles; one side was open, and at the
side of the opening hung the powder horn and bullet pouch of the owner,
together with his long red pipe, and a rich quiver of otterskin, with a
bow and arrows; for Reynal, an Indian in most things but color, chose
to hunt buffalo with these primitive weapons. In the darkness of this
cavern-like habitation, might be discerned Madame Margot, her overgrown
bulk stowed away among her domestic implements, furs, robes, blankets,
and painted cases of PAR' FLECHE, in which dried meat is kept. Here
she sat from sunrise to sunset, a bloated impersonation of gluttony
and laziness, while her affectionate proprietor was smoking, or begging
petty gifts from us, or telling lies concerning his own achievements,
or perchance engaged in the more profitable occupation of cooking some
preparation of prairie delicacies. Reynal was an adept at this work; he
and Delorier have joined forces and are hard at work together over
the fire, while Raymond spreads, by way of tablecloth, a buffalo hide,
carefully whitened with pipeclay, on the grass before the tent. Here,
with ostentatious display, he arranges the teacups and plates; and then,
creeping on all fours like a dog, he thrusts his head in at the opening
of the tent. For a moment we see his round owlish eyes rolling wildly,
as if the idea he came to communicate had suddenly escaped him; then
collecting his scattered thoughts, as if