of admiration,
and then pursued their course until they had taken another glance at each
individual of the party.
    »My brother sees that my tongue is not forked,« continued the trapper
watching the emotions the other betrayed, with a readiness of comprehension
little inferior to that of the Teton himself. »The Big-knives do not send their
women to war. I know that the Dahcotahs will smoke with the strangers.«
    »Mahtoree is a great chief! The Big-knives are welcome,« said the Teton,
laying his hand on his breast with an air of lofty politeness that would have
done credit to any state of society. »The arrows of my young men are in their
quivers.«
    The trapper motioned to Middleton to approach, and in a few moments the two
parties were blended, in one, each of the males having exchanged friendly
greetings, after the fashions of the Prairie warriors. But even while engaged in
this hospitable manner, the Dahcotah did not fail to keep a strict watch on the
more distant party of white men, as if he still distrusted an artifice, or
sought further explanation. The old man, in his turn, perceived the necessity of
being more explicit, and of securing the slight and equivocal advantage he had,
already obtained. While affecting to examine the groupe, which still lingered at
the spot where it had first halted, as if to discover the characters of those
who composed it, he plainly saw that Ishmael contemplated immediate hostilities.
The result of a conflict, on the open Prairies, between a dozen resolute border
men, and the half armed natives, even though seconded by their white allies, was
in his experienced judgment a point of great uncertainty, and, though far from
reluctant to engage in the struggle on account of himself, the aged trapper
thought it far more worthy of his years, and his character, to avoid than to
court the contest. His feelings were, for obvious reasons, in accordance with
those of Paul and Middleton, who had lives still more precious than their own to
watch over and protect. In this dilemma, the three consulted on the means of
escaping the frightful consequences which might immediately follow a single act
of hostility on the part of the borderers, the old man taking care that their
communication should, in the eyes of those who noted the expression of their
countenances with jealous watchfulness, bear the appearance of explanations, as
to the reason why such a party of travellers was met so far in the deserts.
    »I know that the Dahcotahs are a wise and great people,« at length the