One Evening, After Halting On The Banks Of The Platte, We
Heard Distant Sounds Of Tomtoms On The Other Side Of The
River.
Jim, the half-breed, and Louis differed as to the
tribe, and hence the friendliness or hostility, of our
neighbours.
Louis advised saddling up and putting the night
between us; he regaled us to boot with a few blood-curdling
tales of Indian tortures, and of NOUS AUTRES EN HAUT. Jim
treated these with scorn, and declared he knew by the 'tunes'
(!) that the pow-wow was Sioux. Just now, he asserted, the
Sioux were friendly, and this 'village' was on its way to
Fort Laramie to barter 'robes' (buffalo skins) for blankets
and ammunition. He was quite willing to go over and talk to
them if we had no objection.
Fred, ever ready for adventure, would have joined him in a
minute; but the river, which was running strong, was full of
nasty currents, and his injured knee disabled him from
swimming. No one else seemed tempted; so, following Jim's
example, I stripped to my flannel shirt and moccasins, and
crossed the river, which was easier to get into than out of,
and soon reached the 'village.' Jim was right, - they were
Sioux, and friendly. They offered us a pipe of kinik (the
dried bark of the red willow), and jabbered away with their
kinsman, who seemed almost more at home with them than with
us.
Seeing one of their 'braves' with three fresh scalps at his
belt, I asked for the history of them.
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