nes were buried, and the skulls ranged with great care, in
round rings, on the prairie, with two buffalo skulls and a medicine
pole in the centre.

_Austin._ Ay! it would be of no use for the wolf to come then, for
there would be nothing for him. I should very much like to see an
Indian burying-place.

_Hunter._ Were you to visit one, you would see that the heart and
affections are at work under a red skin, as well as under a white one;
for parents and children, husbands and wives, go there to lament for
those who are dear to them, and to humble themselves before the Great
Spirit, under whose care they believe their departed relatives to be.
The skulls, too, are visited, and every one is placed carefully, from
time to time, on a tuft of sweet-smelling herb or plant. Life is but a
short season with both the white and the red man, and ought to be well
spent. It is as a flower that flourishes: "For the wind passeth over
it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more." But
I have now told you enough for the present. Come again, as soon as you
will; I shall have some anecdotes of Indians ready for you.

[Illustration: Indian Cradle.]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IX.

With willing feet, sparkling eyes and happy hearts, Austin and his two
brothers again set off for the cottage near the wood. On an ordinary
occasion, they might have found time for a little pleasant loitering;
but the Indian anecdotes they expected to hear excited their curiosity
too much to allow a single minute to be lost. A pin might have been
heard falling on the ground, when, seated in the cottage, they
listened to the following anecdotes of the hunter.

_Hunter._ It has pleased God to endue Indians with quick perceptions.
They are amazingly quick in tracing an enemy, both in the woods and
the prairie. A broken twig or leaf, or the faintest impression on the
grass, is sufficient to attract their attention. The anecdotes I am
about to relate are believed to be true, but I cannot myself vouch for
their correctness, having only read them, or heard them related by
others.

An Indian, upon his return home to his hut one day, discovered that
his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After
going some distance, he met some persons, of whom he inquired if they
had seen a _little, old, white man_, with a short gun, and accompanied
by a small dog with a bob-