seeing this, procured a round log, and placing it before
him as he lay prostrate, rolled it forward toward the trunk of the
tree behind which his enemy lay crouched. It was a moment of breathless
interest; whoever first showed himself would be in danger of a shot.
The Nez Perce put an end to the suspense. The moment the logs touched he
Sprang upon his feet and discharged the contents of his fusee into the
back of his antagonist. By this time the Blackfeet had got possession of
the horses, several of their warriors lay dead on the field, and the Nez
Perces, ensconced in their lodges, seemed resolved to defend themselves
to the last gasp. It so happened that the chief of the Blackfeet party
was a renegade from the Nez Perces; unlike Kosato, however, he had no
vindictive rage against his native tribe, but was rather disposed, now
he had got the booty, to spare all unnecessary effusion of blood. He
held a long parley, therefore, with the besieged, and finally drew off
his warriors, taking with him seventy horses. It appeared, afterward,
that the bullets of the Blackfeet had been entirely expended in the
course of the battle, so that they were obliged to make use of stones as
substitute.

At the outset of the fight Kosato, the renegade, fought with fury rather
than valor, animating the others by word as well as deed. A wound in the
head from a rifle ball laid him senseless on the earth. There his body
remained when the battle was over, and the victors were leading off the
horses. His wife hung over him with frantic lamentations. The conquerors
paused and urged her to leave the lifeless renegade, and return with
them to her kindred. She refused to listen to their solicitations, and
they passed on. As she sat watching the features of Kosato, and giving
way to passionate grief, she thought she perceived him to breathe. She
was not mistaken. The ball, which had been nearly spent before it struck
him, had stunned instead of killing him. By the ministry of his faithful
wife he gradually recovered, reviving to a redoubled love for her, and
hatred of his tribe.

As to the female who had so bravely defended her husband, she was
elevated by the tribe to a rank far above her sex, and beside other
honorable distinctions, was thenceforward permitted to take a part in
the war dances of the braves!

17.

Opening of the caches--Detachments of Cerre and Hodgkiss
Salmon River Mountains--Superstition of an Indian trapper--