"What a brave man you are, to fear an old wo-
man! We are free; the country is wide. We
can go away, and come back when the storm is
over."

"Ho," he replies. "It is not that I fear her,
or the consequences of an elopement. I fear noth-
ing except that we may be separated!"

The girl goes into the lodge for a moment, then
slips out once more. "Now," she exclaims, "to
the wood or the prairie! I am yours!" They dis-
appear in the darkness.

IV: A Meeting on the Plains

WE were encamped at one time on
the Souris or Mouse river, a tribu-
tary of the Assiniboine. The
buffaloes were still plenty; hence
we were living on the "fat of the
land." One afternoon a scout
came in with the announcement that a body of
United States troops was approaching! This re-
port, of course, caused much uneasiness among
our people.

A council was held immediately, in the course
of which the scout was put through a rigid exam-