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Show ( 28 ) the only favour I ask you, for having related my misfortunes to you." . . . We all shook hands with the noble Indtan, onr brother, m grati - tude and sympathy for him, promising to comply \\'it.h .his l a~ t \vi :-ll. It W[IS now midni ght, and every one of us rellred to hts couch Uj)Oil the ground. i.Jarly on the mor ning of 1!on cl:ly, our r.:-~ra van moverl 01~ towuds Fort. Laramie, along the great Oregor route, on t.he so uth-stde of the Platte or Ncbra ka river, which we expected soon to rc at:h, according to our m<1ps. The weather was as fine as \VC might wi sh il for an Indian summer. On the next Saturday, about noon, while we were dinin~, one of our scouts-Roger-ericcl, suddenly, pointinp: t.o the North," There are Jncli ans!" Jn a few moments, we were all mounted, ready to fl ght , while Ned held and led our animals, fa ~ tcncd to each other by the common halter, and escorted by Gaston , Bertie and Gilot, their safcf_!; llardR during the eventful flght. Waanataa look ed out for a moment and , aid,'' They arc Sioux, but none of my acC}u aiotances; stay here, and be silent! I will ride thither and tell then1 that we are th ei r friend s." He talked with th em for about a quart r of an hour, wh ere~ upon he return ed in their company. They did not show the lc ~t s l mis l i'Usl, lut look ed qtrite nnemharrassed when he presented thcrn to us. He said, they invited us to vi sit th eir neighhonring villat2;e, :1s he hnd warranted for our pear.cfu] and fri endly sentim ents towards all the Sioux. ri'hcir drc · ~ was somewhat different from, and inferior to, that of \Va anat:1a. A rter some consultation, we accepted their inv ' tation, and foll owed th em, who rode ah ead with \Vaauataa. After two hours' riding, we reach ed a pretty ]urge vill age, \1\' hirh was C}llite a no;·c lty for us, in this wilderness. About one hu ndred lod ges were s ta!lcli n ~, upon a Vfl5t pl~in, alm ost CC}nally di stant from each other, but rather irregularly ranged. In the middle of the pln ee we saw a lodge better in ap pl'arance ~li Hl larger thr:~n the oth ers, :'lnd \N a a 1 1a ta<~ tolJ us th at it belonged to the chi ef. \Vc encamp d at a l itt le di stance from the village, while ~7 aanataa and his l \vo com pa ni ons rode strai ght into it. Soon after, he return ed with the chief, a venerable old w <~ rrior, who took Carrel by his hand, with a :o;c ri out-~ fr ie ndliness, and made a short speech to us. whi ch Waanctaa, now our interpreter, translated thus: "M ~ fa t her, ~ a n ~l' my bre.thren! listen to me! Keewllgonshlm m, t !~c ch1cf of tlw; village, htds you weleomc. He is told by your ~., roux brother, \-Vaanatna~ that you nrc friend s to the Sioux, and wi ll not harm any of them~ that yon have come hither to sh<lke hands with us, nnd to smoke the calumet with us; th erefore, none of my people shall harm any of yon, for the Sioux are friends to the whit e people. If yo~ want something of what b c lon~s to us, spenk! ar.d you shall have It! vVe arc your fri ends. 1 lt avc spoken!" ~ This epi.thet-." Father "-~c orn ed rathm funny to ns, anu we were a11 oblrged to smile a ltttle, as the old man c:ould , by his a g'~ ltave beAn himself the father of Carrel or any other of us: but Waanataa told u:; that the name " father'~ is givt>n by the Indians to every n)an whom they will honour. • ( 29 ) Carrel rep lien: "Kecwn~oushkum , ~ur fnther, is a wise chief, and a great warrior . We are ~lad to take h1s hllnd, and to smoke the calumet with him nmon~ his pe?ple. vVe wish him to accept from his white friends i; hlankct, a l.w1fc and a pou11d of tobacco, for his calumet; but, in ro· turn, we w1sh to mnke some trade with his red children. ~fhe oltl man received onr presents with becoming dignity and CVHJent pleasure, whereupon he ordered his people to orin~ forward whatever t~ey had to spare, and to se ll ;-provi~ions, horses, dogfi, &c., for which we gave the adcqunte value in Mackinav,r blankets pieces of reel cloth, pinehe: of vermilion &c. But we made th ~ best a?quisition in p~rchasing three lod ges 'of huffalo skins, for which we r~ud three fire rtfl cs, .three pound:s of balls, and three pounds of powder. !hese .t~ansa~llons took us three days, during which we became qutte famd1ar w1th our red brethren and sisters. Wtth one of the btter, our brother Gaston fell in love in consequcnc. e of '"·hich, we nll , aswcll.in fun as in e:1rnest.,anticipat~d some inf · er~sttng ro~nnce. She was, 1n deed, a beautiful girl, by the name of A h1bah, and If . he had been rcssod like a whiLe" latly," every man, young or ol d, would have dec arcd her to he a "belle." Gi1ston was w muc~ takc.n by he~· charr.ns, that he freely resolved upon marrying her,-CJther 1 n the S10u x manner, by a regular purchase, or in the Frenc.h manner, by. a reg11lnr wcdd i n~. Ah1bnh ":as not 1n the least contrary to Gaston's wishes, but she belonged .stdl t.o her .father, who con sid ered her :ts a good piece of mer~hantl1se, With '~· luch he \Vould not. part for a sm::dl price. When Gnston senously decl ared that. he would ra·ther stay amonO' lhe S~oux than leave .A hi bah l~ehind, Carrel took the responsibility ~or htm, '"·ho wns lHs favourite, to offet·, through the medium of Waanataa, our constant interpreter,-a fine rifle, two pounds of balls, an? one pound of P?wcl er to A hi bah's father, for his daughter. T he nflcr was too tcmpttn~: he could not refu se to accept it. . But, ta]{ing ;td v ~~ t ag e of the passiOn ate lover's anxi ety, the old fellow asl\ed the .1d.d1t ton ?fa new 1\~a c l< in:-~w blanlcet, and-of Gaston's tobacco pipe! \~ 1 tb whJCh he, Ah1bah's fnther, fell in love, probably because it was ~dvcr-mottntcd. Gaston did not hesitate one moment to sacrifice his silver-mounted tobacco pipe to his love, and generously added a pound of tobacco into the bargain! 'J'hese merry marriage negotiations produced. a great deal of amusement and laughter among our rompfl~y, p a rt1cn~arly on account of the old Indi;,n's earnestness, in mana~mg and brmging them to a close, while innocent Ahibah wns full ol pride, because Gaston lil<ed her better than his silver-mounted tohacco pipe ! . The good bargain which A hi bah's fathrr had struck with Ga ton In selling his daughter to her lover, made quite a sensation among ;1!1 the fathers, who had marriageable daughters, in the Sioux village. I he consequence was, that soon a great number of Sioux fathers :ind rlaughters made their appearance among us, to our greatest amaze-ment and amusement. . Among the young squa<v5,exhibited in this match-market, there was |