Ah's me! what have I not known the young, and the delicate, and the
virtuous, and the modest, to undergo, in my time, among the
horrifications and circumventions of Indian warfare! Come, it is a
short quarter of a mile to the other bank, and then our trail, at
least, will be broken."
Paul had by this time assisted Ellen to dismount, and he now stood
looking, with rueful eyes, at the naked banks of the river. Neither
tree nor shrub grew along its borders, with the exception of here and
there a solitary thicket of low bushes, from among which it would not
have been an easy matter to have found a dozen stems of a size
sufficient to make an ordinary walking-stick.
"Harkee, old trapper," the moody-looking bee-hunter exclaimed; "it is
very well to talk of the other side of this ripple of a river, or
brook, or whatever you may call it, but in my judgment it would be a
smart rifle that would throw its lead across it--that is, to any
detriment to Indian, or deer."
"That it would--that it would; though I carry a piece, here, that has
done its work in time of need, at as great a distance.
Pages:
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563