It was a thrilling story which Terry Clark had to tell about his ride on the back of the , but, after all, it was not so stirring as the experience which befell Fred Linden, and the Irish lad declared that it surpassed his own in every respect.  
"Thim Winnebagos are gittin' altogether too plintiful," said he; "whin they come on horseback as will as on foot, there must be more than we can take care of, though you managed the three as well as I could have done the same mesilf. And so ye hit one of 'em whin ye touched off yer gun, did ye?"
 
"There is no doubt of it, though I am sorry to say that it did not end his career right away."
 
"It'll sarve him the good turn of givin' him time to think what a maan spalpeen he is any317 way, and that's a good deal. And so ye say they was mounted on horseback: what has become of thim?"
 
"They rode in among the trees over yonder, near where we the fire and cooked the buffalo steak."
 
Terry walked out to the edge of the prairie, and shading his eyes, peered in that direction.
 
"I can see nuthin' of thim; they must have found out that ye hadn't any frinds there after all the fuss ye made, and it may be they will come back to sittle with ye."
 
"If I alone could attend to them, do you think we together have any thing to fear?"
 
"Of course not, if it's only thim three, but we have seen so many of the spalpeens that they won't be loikely to foind much trouble in scarin' up a few hundred more and makin' it uncomfortable for us."
 
"Well," replied Fred, with a sigh, "I am so relieved and thankful to know how well we got through it all, that I am hopeful we shall have no great trouble during the rest of the way. We ought to be able to reach the camp318 by to-morrow night if we don't have any interruption."
 
The young friends surely had good reason to feel grateful for their deliverance from the of the morning, and with hopeful hearts they walked along the of the wood until they came to the point where the trail turned to the left. Over this they started at a brisk pace, Fred slightly in advance of his companion, for the path was not broad enough for them to walk any other way with freedom.
 
"Terry," said the elder, "do you think it possible that the three Winnebagos with whom I had the trouble could be the three that we met last night, when we were about to cross the stream?"
 
"Niver," was the reply; "how could they have got around so far in front? It was a good many miles the ither way that we saw the same!"
 
"I have thought of that, but, you know, we spent several hours in sleep, during which they might have turned back."
 
"But where could they have got their horses?"
 
"They may have had them within easy reach?"
 
"It couldn't be."
 
"I guess you are right; we hadn't a very good view of them last night, though the moon shone on them when they were the stream and I had a fancy that one of them looked like the fellow I hit when I fired."
 
"All a fancy," insisted Terry.
 
"Well, there's no use of guessing, for any way it must be only a guess; but where do you suppose Deerfoot is?"
 
"I've been thinkin' of the fellow and it saams to me that it's time he showed up."
 
"I wonder whether he could have passed us in the night."
 
"That couldn't be, for he meant to stay near the camp-fire where we lift him till he found out what the spalpeens were goin' to do, and he couldn't have got that chance till mornin'."
 
"Unless they made a start last night."
 
"Which the same they didn't do."
 
The boys were more in want of water than food, and fortunately they had not gone far when they struck another stream, narrow enough for them to leap across, and which afforded them a with which to their thirst.
 
"Now," said Fred, "since we have had such a good breakfast, we will think of nothing more to eat until night."
 
"I don't know about not thinkin' of the same," said Terry doubtfully, "but I am with ye in agraain' that we won't go out of the path to hunt any of the same onless—that is, onless we should think what I've brought along isn't aqual to our appetites."
 
"We must have passed more than half the distance between home and the camp in the mountains," added the elder, some minutes later; "so, if all goes well, we ought to be with our friends some time to-morrow afternoon."
 
"I'm of the opinion," remarked the sagacious Terry, "that Deerfut sint us on ahead last night so as to git us out uv the way; thim pritty legs of his can travel so fast that he wanted a chance to stritch the same without waitin' fur us."
 
"More than likely you are right; whenever he thinks it necessary, he will branch out ahead of the Winnebagos and us; so even though we see nothing of him, we ought not to feel much concern."
 
"How about the , me lad?"
 
Fred had noticed since resuming their journey, that the sky, which was clear and sunshiny in the morning, had become . The sun was no longer visible, and a in the air warned them that the fine weather could not last much longer. They had not only been favored in this respect, but for several days before leaving home equally charming skies had spanned them. And so, in accordance with the laws of our changeable climate, a disagreeable turn was to be expected.
 
"I was hopeful that it would keep off until we reached camp," said Fred, looking up through the tree tops at the darkening sky; "but that is too much, and we must take it as it comes."
 
"Push on as fast as ye choose."
 
Taking his friend at his word, Fred broke into a slow, easy , not much more rapid than an ordinary walking gait, but one which they could keep up a long time, where the ground was not too rough. Terry of............