Mount,
and leave us in the hands of the Lord."
"Stoop your head, old trapper," returned the voice of Paul, "down with
ye both into your nest. The Teton devil is in your line; down with
your heads and make way for a Kentucky bullet."
The old man turned his head, and saw that the eager Mahtoree, who
preceded his party some distance, had brought himself nearly in a line
with the bark and the bee-hunter, who stood perfectly ready to execute
his hostile threat. Bending his body low, the rifle was discharged,
and the swift lead whizzed harmlessly past him, on its more distant
errand. But the eye of the Teton chief was not less quick and certain
than that of his enemy. He threw himself from his horse the moment
preceding the report, and sunk into the water. The beast snorted with
terror and anguish, throwing half his form out of the river in a
desperate plunge. Then he was seen drifting away in the torrent, and
dyeing the turbid waters with his blood.
The Teton chief soon re-appeared on the surface, and understanding the
nature of his loss, he swam with vigorous strokes to the nearest of
the young men, who relinquished his steed, as a matter of course, to
so renowned a warrior.
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