way, and fond of
collecting curiosities, produced a small skin, a great rarity in the
eyes of men conversant in peltries. It attracted much attention among
the visitors from beyond the river, who passed it from one to the other,
examined it with looks of lively admiration, and pronounced it a great
medicine.

In the morning, when the captain and his party were about to set off,
the precious skin was missing. Search was made for it in the hut, but it
was nowhere to be found; and it was strongly suspected that it had been
purloined by some of the connoisseurs from the other side of the river.

The old chief and his cousin were indignant at the supposed delinquency
of their friends across the water, and called out for them to come over
and answer for their shameful conduct. The others answered to the call
with all the promptitude of perfect innocence, and spurned at the idea
of their being capable of such outrage upon any of the Big-hearted
nation. All were at a loss on whom to fix the crime of abstracting the
invaluable skin, when by chance the eyes of the worthies from beyond the
water fell upon an unhappy cur, belonging to the owner of the hut. He
was a gallows-looking dog, but not more so than most Indian dogs, who,
take them in the mass, are little better than a generation of vipers. Be
that as it may, he was instantly accused of having devoured the skin
in question. A dog accused is generally a dog condemned; and a dog
condemned is generally a dog executed. So was it in the present
instance. The unfortunate cur was arraigned; his thievish looks
substantiated his guilt, and he was condemned by his judges from across
the river to be hanged. In vain the Indians of the hut, with whom he was
a great favorite, interceded in his behalf. In vain Captain Bonneville
and his comrades petitioned that his life might be spared. His judges
were inexorable. He was doubly guilty: first, in having robbed their
good friends, the Big Hearts of the East; secondly, in having brought
a doubt on the honor of the Nez Perce tribe. He was, accordingly,
swung aloft, and pelted with stones to make his death more certain.
The sentence of the judges being thoroughly executed, a post mortem
examination of the body of the dog was held, to establish his
delinquency beyond all doubt, and to leave the Nez Perces without a
shadow of suspicion. Great interest, of course, was manifested by all
present, during this operation. The body of the dog was open