Some fifteen or twenty horsemen were, in truth, to be seen riding, in quick circuits, about a noble bull, which stood at bay, too grievously hurt to fly, and yet seeming to disdain to fall, notwithstanding his hardy body had already been the target for a hundred arrows.

A thrust from the lance of a powerful Indian, however, completed his conquest, and the brute gave up his obstinate hold of life with a roar, that passed bellowing over the place where our adventurers stood, and, reaching the ears of the affrighted herd, added a new impulse to their flight.
"How well the Pawnee knew the philosophy of a buffaloe hunt!" said the old man, after he had stood regarding the animated scene for a few moments, with evident satisfaction.

"You saw how he went off like the wind before the drove.

It was in order that he might not taint the air, and that he might turn the flank, and join--Ha! how is this! yonder Red-skins are no Pawnees! The feathers in their heads are from the wings and tails of owls .-- Ah! as I am but a miserable, half-sighted, trapper, it is a band of the accursed Siouxes! To cover, lads, to cover.

A single cast of an eye this-a-way, would strip us of every rag of clothes, as surely as the lightning scorches the bush, and it might be that our very lives would be far from safe." Middleton had already turned from the spectacle, to seek that which pleased him better; the sight of his young and beautiful bride.