Page:Ballantyne--The wild Man of the West.djvu/97

Rh glowing embers of the camp-fire with an expression that led the trappers to infer that experience had somewhat moderated his enthusiasm. After a few minutes he resumed:&mdash;

"I have done wrong to make this venture alone. On reaching Canada I succeeded, through the kindness of the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, in obtaining a passage in one of the company's canoes through that series of rivers and lakes by which the fur-traders penetrate into the regions of the far north. Arrived at Red River Settlement, I pushed forward on horebackhorseback [sic] over the plains with a small party of horsemen to the head-waters of the Saskatchwan. Here I succeeded in engaging a party of twelve men, composed of half-breeds and Indians, and set out on a journey of exploration over the prairies toward the Rocky Mountains. Circumstances led me to modify my plans. We diverged towards the south, and finally came to within a few days' journey of the region in which we now are. We were suddenly surprised one night by a war-party of Blackfoot Indians. My men had grown careless. They neglected to keep a strict watch, and before we were aware that danger threatened us, all our horses were carried off.

"This was a terrible calamity. My men declared that it was impossible to advance without horses, and refused to accompany me any further. I remonstrated in vain, then, filled with indigna-