e not to fire for
fear the report should reach the ears of the Indians. That night for the
first time we considered that the danger to which we were exposed was
of a somewhat serious character; and to those who are unacquainted with
Indians, it may seem strange that our chief apprehensions arose from
the supposed proximity of the people whom we intended to visit. Had any
straggling party of these faithful friends caught sight of us from the
hill-top, they would probably have returned in the night to plunder us
of our horses and perhaps of our scalps. But we were on the prairie,
where the GENIUS LOCI is at war with all nervous apprehensions; and
I presume that neither Raymond nor I thought twice of the matter that
evening.

While he was looking after the animals, I sat by the fire engaged in
the novel task of baking bread. The utensils were of the most simple
and primitive kind, consisting of two sticks inclining over the bed of
coals, one end thrust into the ground while the dough was twisted in a
spiral form round the other. Under such circumstances all the epicurean
in a man's nature is apt to awaken within him. I revisited in fancy the
far distant abodes of good fare, not indeed Frascati's, or the Trois
Freres Provencaux, for that were too extreme a flight; but no other than
the homely table of my old friend and host, Tom Crawford, of the White
Mountains. By a singular revulsion, Tom himself, whom I well remember
to have looked upon as the impersonation of all that is wild and
backwoodsman-like, now appeared before me as the ministering angel of
comfort and good living. Being fatigued and drowsy I began to doze, and
my thoughts, following the same train of association, assumed another
form. Half-dreaming, I saw myself surrounded with the mountains of
New England, alive with water-falls, their black crags tinctured with
milk-white mists. For this reverie I paid a speedy penalty; for the
bread was black on one side and soft on the other.

For eight hours Raymond and I, pillowed on our saddles, lay insensible
as logs. Pauline's yellow head was stretched over me when I awoke. I
got up and examined her. Her feet indeed were bruised and swollen by the
accidents of yesterday, but her eye was brighter, her motions livelier,
and her mysterious malady had visibly abated. We moved on, hoping within
an hour to come in sight of the Indian village; but again disappointment
awaited us. The trail disappeared, melting away upon a ha