Page:Barbour--Metipoms Hostage.djvu/123

Rh past many wigwams to where a spring issued forth from beneath a granite ledge. A rude box of small logs, barked and chinked  with clay, had been laid about the mouth of  the spring so that the water was held ere it  trickled away in a little runnel across the  gently sloping ground. As there was no vessel to drink from, David knelt and dipped his mouth to the pool and drank deeply,  though the water was lukewarm from standing in the sun. When he had finished, feeling vastly refreshed, the Indian took his place. But instead of following David’s method, he scooped the water up in his right hand and  bore it to his lips, and did it so quickly and  deftly that scarcely a drop was wasted. Whereupon David attempted the same trick and failed, the water running down over  his wrist ere he could get his mouth to his  palm. There was a grunt from the Indian and David saw that the latter was greatly  amused.

“You show how,” laughed David.

The Indian youth smiled broadly and obeyed, and after several attempts David at  length succeeded in mastering the trick fairly  well, and his instructor applauded with many  nods and said, “Good! Good!”