to be seen a set of
beings of an entirely different origin. Taller and far more muscular in their
persons, the lingering vestiges of their Saxon and Norman ancestry were yet to
be found beneath the swarthy complexions, which had been bestowed by an American
sun. It would have been a curious investigation, for one skilled in such an
inquiry, to have traced those points of difference by which the offspring of the
most western European was still to be distinguished from the descendant of the
most remote Asiatic, now that the two, in the revolutions of the world, were
approximating in their habits, their residence and not a little in their
characters. The groupe of whom we write was composed of the family of the
squatter. They stood, indolent, lounging and inert, as usual when no immediate
demand was made on their dormant energies, clustered in front of some four or
five habitations of skin, for which they were indebted to the hospitality of
their Teton allies. The terms of their unexpected confederation were
sufficiently explained, by the presence of the horses and domestic cattle, that
were quietly grazing on the bottom beneath, under the jealous eyes of the
spirited Hetty. The wagons were drawn about the lodges in a sort of irregular
barrier, which at once manifested, that their confidence was not entirely
restored, while, on the other hand, their policy or indolence prevented any very
positive exhibition of distrust. There was a singular union of passive enjoyment
and of dull curiosity slumbering in every dull countenance, as each of the party
stood leaning on his rifle, regarding the movements of the Sioux conference.
Still no sign of expectation or interest escaped from the youngest among them,
the whole appearing to emulate the most phlegmatic of their savage allies, in an
exhibition of patience. They rarely spoke; and when they did, it was in some
short and contemptuous remark, which served to put the physical superiority of a
white man, and that of an Indian, in a sufficiently striking point of view. In
short, the family of Ishmael appeared now, to be in the plentitude of an
enjoyment which depended on inactivity, but which was not entirely free from
certain confused glimmerings of a perspective, in which their security stood in
some little danger of a rude interruption from Teton treachery. Abiram alone,
formed a solitary exception to this state of equivocal repose.
    After a life passed in the commission of a thousand mean and insignificant
villainies, the mind of the kidnapper had become hardy enough to attempt the
desperate adventure which has been laid before the reader, in the course of the
narrative. His influence over the