Since the Great Spirit made me a man, I have lived in the wilderness, or on these naked plains, without lodge or family.

I am a hunter and go on my path alone." "My father has a good carabine.

Let him point it in the bush and fire." The old man hesitated a moment, and then slowly prepared himself to give this delicate assurance of the truth of what he said, without which he plainly perceived the suspicions of his crafty companion could not be lulled.

As he lowered his rifle, his eye, although greatly dimmed and weakened by age, ran over the confused collection of objects, that lay embedded amid the party-coloured foliage of the thicket, until it succeeded in catching a glimpse of the brown covering of the stem of a small tree.

With this object in view, he raised the piece to a level and fired.