upon
him, and that would be worse than being lost, so he determined to wait
patiently until he was able to see some of his party; and no sooner had
he come to this determination than he cheered up, for he recollected
directly that the Beaver, or some one or other of his men, would be sure
to find him by his trail, even though it had been amongst the trampling
hoof-marks of the bison. The prints of a well-shod horse would be
unmistakable, and with this thought he grew more patient, and waited on.

It was towards evening, though, before he had the reward of his patience
in seeing the figure of a mounted Indian in the distance; and even then
it gave no comfort, for he felt sure that it might be an enemy, for it
appeared to be in the very opposite direction from that which he had
come.

Bart's first idea was to go off at a gallop, only he did not know where
to go, and after all, this might be a friend.

Then another appeared, and another; and dismounting, and turning his
horse and the bison into bulwarks, Bart stood with his rifle resting,
ready for a shot, should these Indians prove to be enemies, and
patiently waited them as they came on.

This they did so quickly and full of confidence that there was soon no
doubt as to who they were, and Bart at last mounted again, and rode
forward to meet them.

The Indians came on, waving their rifles above their heads, and no
sooner did they catch sight of the prize the lad had shot than they gave
a yell of delight; and then, forgetting their customary stolidity, they
began to chatter to him volubly in their own tongue, as they flung
themselves from their horses and began to skin the bison as it lay.

Bart could not help thinking how thoroughly at home these men seemed in
the wilds. A short time before he had been in misery and despair
because he felt that he was lost. Here were these Indians perfectly at
their ease, and ready to set to work and prepare for a stay if needs be,
for nothing troubled them--the immensity and solitude had no terrors for
their untutored minds.

They had not been at work above an hour before a couple more Indians
came into sight, and soon after, to his great delight, Bart recognised
Joses and the Beaver coming slowly over a ridge in the distance, and he
cantered off to meet them at once.

"Thought we lost you, Master Bart," cried Joses, with a grim smile.
"Well, how many bufflers did you shoot?"

"Only one," replied Bart, "but it was a very b