scovering that their
new friend was not a common shepherd, and signified his intention of
becoming thoroughly informed of all the manners and customs of the
North American Indians.

Nothing could have been more agreeable to the young people than this
unlooked-for addition to their enjoyment. They had heard of the
Esquimaux, of Negroes, Malays, New Zealanders, Chinese, Turks, and
Tartars; but very little of the North American Indians. It was
generally agreed, as leave had been given them to call at the
stranger's, that the sooner they did it the better. Little Basil was
to be of the party; and it would be a difficult thing to decide which
of the three brothers looked forward to the proposed interview with
the greatest pleasure.

Austin, Brian, and Basil, had at different times found abundant
amusement in reading of parrots, humming birds, and cocoa nuts; lions,
tigers, leopards, elephants, and the horned rhinoceros; monkeys,
raccoons, opossums, and sloths; mosquitoes, lizards, snakes, and scaly
crocodiles; but these were nothing in their estimation, compared with
an account of Indians, bears, and buffaloes, from the mouth of one who
had actually lived among them.

[Illustration: Indian Scenery.]

CHAPTER II.

Austin Edwards was too ardent in his pursuits not to make the intended
visit to the cottage near the wood the continued theme of his
conversation with his brothers through the remainder of the day; and,
when he retired to rest, in his dreams he was either wandering through
the forest defenceless, having lost his tomahawk, or flying over the
prairie on the back of a buffalo, amid the yelling of a thousand
Indians.

The sun was bright in the skies when the three brothers set out on
their anticipated excursion. Austin was loud in praise of their kind
preserver, but he could not at all understand how any one, who had
been a hunter of bears and buffaloes, could quietly settle down to
lead the life of a farmer; for his part, he would have remained a
hunter for ever. Brian thought the hunter had acted a wise part in
coming away from so many dangers; and little Basil, not being quite
able to decide which of his two brothers was right, remained silent.

As the two elder brothers wished to show Basil the place where they
stood when the oak tree and the red sand-stone rock fell over the
precipice with a crash; and as Basil was equally desirous to visit the
spo