It is true, that the savages might not scalp them on this account--being boys,--but they would be very certain to carry them into a captivity from which they might never return.

Or did their father anticipate that the excursion should extend no farther than the country of some friendly tribe?
He entertained no such idea.

Had this been their plan, their errand would have been likely to prove fruitless.
In a country of that sort they would have seen but little of the buffalo; for it is well-known that the buffaloes are only found in plenty upon those parts of the prairies termed "war grounds"-- that is, where several tribes go to hunt, who are at war with each other.

In fact, that is the reason why these animals are more numerous there than elsewhere, as the hunters are fewer, on account of the danger they incur of coming into collision with each other.

In a territory which is exclusively in possession of any particular tribe, the buffaloes are soon killed or run off by incessant hunting.