expressed himself upon the subject. But his convictions seldom produced
any practical results. In the present case, he contented himself,
as usual, with enlarging on the importance of his suggestions, and
wondering that they were not adopted. But his plan of sending out
vedettes seemed particularly dear to him; and as no one else was
disposed to second his views on this point, he took it into his head to
ride forward that afternoon, himself.

"Come, Parkman," said he, "will you go with me?"

We set out together, and rode a mile or two in advance. The captain,
in the course of twenty years' service in the British army, had seen
something of life; one extensive side of it, at least, he had enjoyed
the best opportunities for studying; and being naturally a pleasant
fellow, he was a very entertaining companion. He cracked jokes and told
stories for an hour or two; until, looking back, we saw the prairie
behind us stretching away to the horizon, without a horseman or a wagon
in sight.

"Now," said the captain, "I think the vedettes had better stop till the
main body comes up."

I was of the same opinion. There was a thick growth of woods just before
us, with a stream running through them. Having crossed this, we found
on the other side a fine level meadow, half encircled by the trees; and
fastening our horses to some bushes, we sat down on the grass; while,
with an old stump of a tree for a target, I began to display the
superiority of the renowned rifle of the back woods over the foreign
innovation borne by the captain. At length voices could be heard in the
distance behind the trees.