»Lord, Lord! what a weak creatur' is man, when the gifts of natur' are
smothered in bookish knowledge, and womanly manners! Such another start would
tell these imps at our elbows that we were plotting against them, just as
plainly as if it were whispered in their ears by a Sioux tongue. Ay, Ay, I know
the devils: they look as innocent as so many frisky fawns, but there is not one
among them all that has not an eye on our smallest motions. Therefore what is to
be done is to be done, in wisdom, in order to circumvent their cunning. That is
right, pat his neck, and smile as if you praised the horse, and keep the ear on
my side open to my words. Be careful not to worry your beast, for though but
little skilled in horses, reason teaches that breath is needful in a hard push,
and that a weary leg makes a dull race. Be ready to mind the signal when you
hear a whine from old Hector. The first will be to make ready, the second to
edge out of the crowd, and the third to go. Am I understood?«
    »Perfectly, perfectly,« said Middleton, trembling in his excessive eagerness
to put the plan in instant execution, and pressing the little arm which
encircled his body, to his heart. »Perfectly. Hasten. Hasten.«
    »Ay, the beast is no sloth,« continued the trapper in the Teton language, as
if he continued the discourse, edging cautiously through the dusky throng at the
same time, until he found himself riding at the side of Paul. He communicated
his intentions in the same guarded manner as before. The high-spirited and
fearless bee-hunter received the intelligence with delight declaring his
readiness to engage the whole of the savage band should it become necessary to
effect their object. When the old man drew off from the side of this pair also,
he cast his eyes about him to discover the situation occupied by the naturalist.
    The Doctor with infinite labor to himself and Asinus had maintained a
position in the very centre of the Siouxes, so long as there existed the
smallest reason for believing that any of the missiles of Ishmael might arrive
in contact with his person. After this danger had diminished or rather
disappeared, entirely, his own courage revived while that of his steed began to
droop. To this mutual but very material change was owing the fact that the rider
and the ass were now to be sought among that portion of the band who formed a
sort of rear guard