indulgence while he evinces so much rebellion and disrespect."

So she made up her mind how to act; and overtaking Arthur at the top of the street, she and her friend quietly and decidedly conveyed him home again.

"Now, Arthur," she said, in wishing him good-bye, "I leave you to Hannah's care, while we proceed on the excursion which your disobedient behaviour has forfeited, as far as regards yourself. To-morrow we are going to another very pretty place; and if I hear a good report of your behaviour during our absence, you shall go with us.'

Arthur set up a bellowing cry as soon as the young ladies were out of hearing; but Hannah fetched the cage of doves, and he soon forgot his disappointment, in playing with the pretty

creatures.

And here I find that I have hitherto quite forgotten to tell you about the three doves and the parrot. They were the joint property of Miss Maude Collinson and her sister, a very amiable girl, who was just now absent from home. The doves were the prettiest creatures imaginable, with meek, bright eyes, and rings of dark feathers round their necks; and they were named Tiny, Bijou, and Prince. They had two large cages; but might hop about the kitchen and area whenever they pleased, and were well supplied with corn and soaked bread. Prince was a very grand fellow at bowing; he could strut and make reverences like a courtier, accompanying his performances with a sweet and sonorous coo-oo-o! coo-oo-o! Tiny was the daughter of the other two; a gentle, timid bird, who scarcely understood her papa's pompous gallantry, or Arthur's noisy patronage. She would not perch on the little boy's finger, as her parents were always ready to do, nor eat corn out of his hand.

It was his great delight to let them do this for a few moments at a time; and then, with a shout from him they were off at once, fluttering through the air, and sometimes almost bouncing against his head in their sudden flight.

But the green parrot, in the cage in the dining-room, perhaps afforded him still greater amusement. This pretty bird was emerald green, with a small head, and meek wistful eyes, and a smaller and more delicate beak than the ordinary parrot. It fed upon rape-seed, and = crumbs of bread and potatoes; or a morsel of any kind of fruit and a lump of sugar, when you were so good as to offer it a treat of the kind.

looked, it was very susceptible of anger, and would fly at his finger when introduced between the bars of its cage, and bite it furiously. If the finger were rattled against the bars, Miss Poll would twitter loudly for a while, and at length twirl round and round with a shrill scream until apparently exhausted.

Well, to make our story short, we will pass on to the evening, when Miss Collinson and Miss Herbert returned from their pleasant excursion. They immediately enquired for Arthur, and heard with alarm that he had had a severe fall, and had been put to bed with " a broken head," as the servant termed it. Running up stairs to see him, and examine into the extent of his injuries, Miss Maude found him a dreadful-looking object, with a swollen nose, a forehead with a lump as large as an egg upon it, and his head still bleeding, so that one corner of the pillow was saturated. Having carefully examined his skull, to ascertain that the bone was not broken, she applied certain remedies; and leaving him comfortably asleep, went down stairs to ascertain the cause of the accident.

It seems that there was a large and heavy rocking-chair in the kitchen, with a long straight back. Arthur had got a trick of climbing this chair behind, and clinging to the back while he rocked it. On the evening in question, while the servant was engaged in the scullery, he placed one of the doves' cages on the seat of the chair, with the doves in it; and then he climbed into his favourite position and began to rock.

The chair went backwards and forwards, the doves fluttered with fright, there was an overturn, a loud scream, and heavy fall; and when Hannah rushed on to the scene of disaster, she found Arthur on his back on the hard kitchen floor, the chair, cage, doves, and all overturned upon him. He was quite unable to extricate himself; and when Hannah lifted up the chair and raised him, and attempted to restore a little order, he cried and screamed so much that two or three neighbours came running in, under the impression that he must be on fire. small crowd, likewise, collected at the area railings; and one weak-minded individual cried out wrathfully, "Don't kill the child!" until Hannah, overwhelmed with shame and annoyance, was glad to get her unruly charge into bed out of the way, there to await her mistress' arrival.

A

I am sorry to say that Arthur's great pleasure with this bird was teasing it until it nearly went into a fit with rage; for, weak and gentle as it

friend, who happened to be proceeding to London that very day, she sent him home to his parents-very remorseful, a good deal humbled, and, let us hope, a little wiser for the future,

CHAP. II.

When near the source of the Platte, Captain Sablette divided his company into several parties, to explore the principal affluents. But before dispersing his trappers he contrived several cachés, in which were stored all the provisions and baggage not immediately required. These cach s consisting of deep pits dug in the earth, and carefully covered over with turf and shrubs, form the sole depôts of the desert. With certain land-marks on the surrounding trees and hills, there is generally no difficulty in finding them again; and the native tribes of Indians themselves have no other store-houses for the furs in which they traffic.

The art of rendering the existence of these

places invisible has been carried to such an extent by the trappers, that, however great the sagacity of the Blackfeet, and their skill in espionage, they rarely succeed in discovering a trapper's cach.

It was not only necessary, however, to disembarrass themselves of useless baggage and merchandise, but also to secure provision for the coming trapping season; and Captain Sablette decided that a grand buffalo hunt should take place before they separated. A recent trail proved that a herd was in the neighbourhood, and the whole party made a detour in order to meet it at a stream that the animals must pass.

It was not long before their approach was announced by clouds of smoke, a strong odour

of musk, and the peculiar cracking noise produced by the gallop of a large herd of buffalos. There were about five thousand, advancing like a savage army in a solid mass, though without order. The trappers immediately arranged themselves in a semi-circle, whilst the best mounted rode rapidly towards the herd, and were soon lost to sight among the immense animals. Before long, however, they again made their appearance, driving before them towards their companions about a hundred buffalos which they had separated from the herd. A mélée followed that it is impossible to conceive: the shots and shouts of the hunters, the neighing of the horses, and the bellowing of the buffalos were incessant; and when, at last, the noise had partially ceased, and the dust and smoke subsided, a large portion of the plain was discovered strewn with dead or wounded buffalos.

The tongue and liver were all that they took of the bulls, but the entire carcase of the heifers was cut up. The hump, heart, sirloin, and the hunter's roast (cut near the shoulder blade), were set apart as the finest pieces for particular occasions. The marrow from the four large bones of the legs and thighs was then carefully collected as the most delicious of desert dainties; and, lastly, the whole was salted, packed upon the mules, and each division commenced its march to its appointed station.

That to which David belonged was commanded by Peter, and proceeded to the prairie du Cheval. Soko, almost entirely recovered from his wounds, followed him.

During their first day's march, they had discovered in a valley they were traversing, a riderless horse, of which the Kansas possessed himself, and David then tried to persuade him to return to his own people.

"Is my brother weary of me?" asked Soko, gravely.

"Far from it," replied David; "but there must be those among your own people who deplore your absence."

Soko's eyes gleamed and his nostrils quivered with emotion.

"I have a sister, beautiful, good, and clever as the beaver."

"Why then do you not rejoin her?" For a moment Šoko remained silent. "My brother has never trapped upon the streams, and I wish to teach him."

"Thanks," replied David; "but there are others to teach me what I do not know. Return to your sister, and reassure her as to your fate." "Soko will perform what he has promised," returned the savage briefly. And he ceased to reply to the entreaties of David.

It was evident that the Kansas had determined to prove his gratitude to David by assisting him with his experience during the trapping season, and watching over his safety. Now such a decision was, as Peter told the young American, irrevocable.

"You have chanced upon a good nature," added the trapper," and may thank God for it ; for red-men are either wholly good or bad. The

greater number have hearts like barren plains full of rocks and precipices; but here and there at rare intervals, one meets with one more fertile, like the happy buffalo territories, watered by streams, shaded by trees, and carpeted with soft green grass-and Soko's is one of these." Meanwhile the division commanded by Peter had reached the affluents, and begun their preparations for trapping the beavers. Their scouts had discovered musks, which are to be met with only in the neighbourhood of beavers ; and all seemed to promise a fortunate campaign, when one of the men of the advance-guard arrived at a gallop, crying, "Stakes! stakes!"

Peter hastened to the spot, and soon perceived branches of trees driven into the mud, proving that trappers had already preceded them. Everything, as they advanced, served to confirm this discovery-the beaver-huts were empty, the buffaloes had been driven off, and traces of a recent encampment were visible.

Peter saw that if he continued to proceed in the same direction he ran the risk of losing the entire trapping season, so, abruptly changing his route, he proceeded towards the Rivière du Serpent.

Unfortunately, the road they were obliged to follow was long and fatiguing. According as the party advanced, the country became more hilly, and herbage more scanty, until the horses were obliged to content themselves with the bark of the willow-tree and the wild sage; and they became so weak as to be scarcely capable of supporting their riders. As a climax to their misfortunes, their provisions were exhausted and water began to fail.

A mule was killed, then a second, in the hope of reaching a less desolate country; but the mountains became more and more sterile, till, at last, the band of dying men halted on an elevated plain whose horizon was bounded by still higher ranges of hills, overtopping each other; and the trappers, exhausted by famine, thirst, and fatigue, threw themselves on the rocky soil in mute despair.

Peter even had lost all courage.

Soko alone remained standing, his eyes fixed on the horizon, seemingly studying every undu lation of the distant mountains. He drew near to the old trapper.

"Does not my brother see a blue cloud of vapour rising between those two pointed rocks

below there ?"

"Well?" asked Peter.

"Well!" returned the Kansas. "Where va pour rises it must come from water; and where there is a stream, neither pasturage nor buffalos are lacking."

The trapper shook his head unbelievingly.

"Let my white brother give me the freshest horse, and a rifle, and I will return before nightfall with good tidings."

Peter granted his request, and he quickly disappeared down one of the mountain gorges. Scarcely three hours had elapsed before he was again among them, laden with a buck hanging across his horse's shoulders, and a skin full of water fastened to his saddle. The trappers set