CHAPTER XVII.

EXCURSION ON THE PRAIRIE. THE PARTY FALL IN WITH A VETERAN HUNTER.

We must now return to Reginald and his trusty follower, Baptiste, whom we left at St. Louis, where they were busily employed in disposing of Colonel Brandon's share of the peltries brought in by the trapping party, which he had partly furnished the preceding year. They did not find much difficulty in effecting an advantageous sale to two of the other partners in the expedition,active, enterprising men, who, from their connection with the Mackinaw Fur Company, were sure of reselling at considerable profit.

As soon as these affairs were settled, Reginald, who had been joined by Perrot, Bearskin, and the remaining crew of the canoe, resolved to defer no longer his proposed journey into the Osage country. He left all the arrangements to Baptiste and Bearskin, under whose superintendence

the preparations advanced so rapidly, that at the end of a week they were satisfactorily completed.

It had been determined to leave the canoe at St. Louis, and to perform the journey by land; for this purpose a strong saddle-horse was purchased for each of the party, together with six pack-horses, and as many mules, for the transfer of the ammunition, baggage, and presents for their Indian allies. Four additional Canadian "coureurs des Bois" were engaged to take charge of the packs; so that when they started for the Western Prairies, the party mustered twelve in number, whose rank and designation were as follows:

:

Reginald Brandon; Baptiste, his lieutenant; Bearskin, who, in the absence of the two former, was to take the command; M. Perrot, Mike Smith, with three other border hunters, and the four Canadians, completed the party.

Baptiste had taken care to place among the packages an abundance of mirrors, cutlery, and other articles most highly prized by the savages. He had also selected the horses with the greatest care, and two spare ones were taken, in case of accidents by the way. When all was ready, even the taciturn Bearskin

admitted that he had never

seen a party so well fitted out, in every respect, for an Indian expedition.

It was a lovely morning when they left St. Louis, and entered upon the broad track which led through the deep Missourian forest, with occasional openings of prairie towards a trading post lately opened on the Osage, a river which runs from S. W. to N. E. and falls into the Missouri. Of all the party, none were in such exuberant spirits as Perrot, who, mounted on an active, spirited little Mestang horse,* capering beside the bulky figure of Mike Smith, addressed to him various pleasantries in broken English, which the other, if he understood them, did not deign to notice.

It was now near the close of May, and both the prairie and the woodland scenery were clad in the beautiful and varied colours of early summer; the grassy road along which they wound their easy way was soft and elastic to the horses' hoofs; and as they travelled farther from the settlements scattered near St. Louis, the frequent tracks of deer which they observed, tempted Reginald to halt his party, and encamp for the

*Mestang, a horse bred between the wild and the tame breeds they are sometimes to be met with among the traders to Santa Fé.

night, while he and Baptiste sallied forth to provide for them a venison supper.

After a short hunting ramble they returned, bearing with them the saddle of a fine buck. A huge fire was lighted; the camp-kettles, and other cooking-utensils were in immediate request, and the travellers sat down to enjoy their first supper in the Missourian wilderness.

Monsieur Perrot was now quite in his element, and became at once an universal favourite, for never had any of the party tasted coffee or flourcakes so good, or venison steaks of so delicate a flavour. His good-humour was as inexhaustible as his inventive culinary talent; and they were almost disposed to believe in his boasting assurance, that so long as there was a buffalo-hide, or an old mocassin left among them, they should never want a good meal.

Having supped and smoked a comfortable pipe, they proceeded to biyouac for the night. By the advice of Baptiste, Reginald had determined to accustom his party, from the first, to those precautionary habits which might soon become so essential to their safety; a regular rotation of sentry duty was established, the horses were carefully secured, and every man lay down with his knife in his belt, and his loaded rifle at his side; the packs

were all carefully piled, so as to form a low breastwork from behind which they might fire in case of sudden attack; and when these dispositions were completed, those who were not on the watch, wrapped themselves in their blankets or buffaloskins, and with their feet towards the fire, slept as comfortably as on a bed of down.

For two days they continued their march in a north-west direction, meeting with no incident worthy of record; the hunters found abundance of game of every description, and Monsieur Perrot's skill was daily exercised upon prairie-hens, turkeys, and deer. On the third day, as they were winding their way leisurely down a wooded valley, the sharp crack of a rifle was heard at no great distance. Reginald, desiring to ascertain whether Indians or White-men were hunting in the neighbourhood, halted his party, and went forward, accompanied by Baptiste, to endeavour, unperceived, to approach the person whose shot they had heard. A smooth grassy glade facilitated their project, and a slight column of smoke curling up from an adjoining thicket served to guide them towards the spot. Ere they had advanced far, the parting of the brushwood showed them that the object of their search was approaching the place where they stood, and they had barely