Notwithstanding the
surprise and the disadvantage of his attitude, the youth was not
disposed to become a captive so easily. Quicker than the flash of his
own gun he sprang upon his feet, and was throttling his opponent with
a power that would soon have terminated the contest, when he felt the
arms of the trapper thrown round his body, confining his exertions by
a strength very little inferior to his own. Before he had time to
reproach his comrade for this apparent treachery, a dozen Siouxes were
around them, and the whole party were compelled to yield themselves as
prisoners.
CHAPTER IV
--With much more dismay,
I view the fight, than those that make the fray.
--Merchant of Venice.
The unfortunate bee-hunter and his companions had become the captives
of a people, who might, without exaggeration, be called the
Ishmaelites of the American deserts. From time immemorial, the hands
of the Siouxes had been turned against their neighbours of the
prairies, and even at this day, when the influence and authority of a
civilised government are beginning to be felt around them, they are
considered a treacherous and dangerous race.
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