I sprang upon him in an instant, and
seized his right arm; which, by a violent
effort, he succeeded in disengaging. He
aimed a deadly blow at me with his knife,
but I evaded it, and drew my own. With a
yell at his disappointment, he began to draw
his tomahawk from his belt with the view of
hurling it at my head; but I darted upon
him, pinioning his arms. His feet gave way,
and we both rolled together on the snow. A
struggle for life between us succeeded. The
Indian kept making little digs at me with his
knife, but he could not get purchase enough
to do more than penetrate my clothes and
inflict slight wounds upon me. He rolled over
with me, hoping to get me undermost; but I
always rolled farther than he wished, and got
on the upper side again. At length I lost
patience; and. still holding his right arm tightly
down, I loosened the hand which held my
knife. But, quick as thought, Mamiskogahjhe
changed his knife into his left hand also.
Then commenced another rolling and tearing
struggle, more like that of tigers than of
men, for my foe assailed me fiercely with his
teeth. We stabbed at each other wildly, and
many a wound I gave and received. At
length the Indian relaxed his hold, fell back,
and I arose victorious.

My first thought, now, after a fervent
prayer for my deliverance, was for my poor
guide. I found that, though desperately
wounded and bleeding profusely, he was not
dead. I bound up his wounds as I best
could, and placed him on his bed. My own
wounds, though numerous, were marvellously
slight; more cuts than stabs, and even those,
my thick clothing had prevented from doing
much damage. I dressed them, and, heaping
more wood on the fire, sank down beside it
to watch my poor Shegashie.

The next morning Shegashie was so weak
from loss of blood that each moment I
expected to see him pass away, and leave me
alone in the woods, to die in my turn.
I now bitterly regretted that I had ever
entered on this disastrous enterprise.
However, there I was, and I had nothing for it
but to make the best of it; so I set to work,
buried my dead enemy in a snow bank,
collected wood, shot a hare, dressed it, and
returned to my sad task of watching my
wounded guide.

At the end of ten days, despite every adverse
circumstance, Shegashie was a great deal
better; yet it was evident to both of us that
it would be a long time before he could travel.
The poor fellow earnestly entreated me not
to stay with him, but to leave him to his fate;
and he directed me in the right way to pursue
my journey. I would not have deserted an
enemy thus, much less one with whom I had
faced sorrow, danger, and death. Yet powder
and shot were rapidly failing. After much
cogitation, I took all the spare snow shoes, and,
by the aid of a bearskin, succeeded in making
a sleigh capable of holding Shegashie very
comfortably, as well as all our belongings. I
rose proudly the next morning; and, placing
my companion in the sleigh, re-commenced
my journey.

It was weary work to drag that clumsy
sleigh, the wasted Indian looking out now
and then to direct me on our way. I was
often obliged to make long detours to avoid
thickets and places where the trees grew too
close to admit my sleigh between them.
When day was done, I had the fuel to collect,
the fire to make, shelter to prepare,
Shegashie to move, his wounds to dress, and then
the game to cook which I had killed during
the day. Many a time I thought I should
be obliged to give up the struggle. When I
lay down to rest I was sometimes so tired
that I could not have resisted another
Mamiskogahjhe, had he come to end the work
the first one had begun; and, when morning
reappeared, I re-commenced my tugging and
dragging with arms so weary, that I did not
care if another snow-storm came and sent
us to sleep till the great day of awakening.

Neither Indian nor snow-storm came, and I
was compelled to go on from day to day enacting
by turns the parts of horse, forager, fire-
maker, cook, builder, and nurse. At length I
became so exhausted, that one morning, though
it was scarcely mid-day, I began to look about
me for a suitable place to encamp for the
remainder of the day and night: hoping, after
such a rest, to start fresher on the following
morning. Suddenly, a thin column of smoke
ascending from the trees at a short distance,
caught my eye; and, turning off from our
route, I made the best of my way towards it.
It rose from the hut of a newly-arrived
settler. The man gave us a hearty welcome,
and we slept beneath a roof, for the first
time for considerably more than a month.
The next day he put his horse to his wood-
train; and, in two days more, brought us to
head-quarters—less, I believe, for the reward
I promised, than from pity for our worn and
miserable condition.

The time appointed for the trial was now
nearly three weeks past, and I did not doubt
that it was over. But the severe illness of
the accused had again deferred it. The
proceedings were only now coming to a close. So
far, they left on the minds of all who
witnessed them, but one impression—that my
poor friend's military career was ended.
Suddenly I entered the court, attired in worn-
out rags, my face haggard, my eyes inflamed, my
swollen feet hobbling awkwardly on the floor.

Order restored, my testimony was received
with the greatest attention; and Lowther
was acquitted with honour.

Poor Shegashie! When the spring came,
he left me, and returned by a schooner to
Green Snake River; whence, accompanied
by his relatives, he travelled down to the
scene of his only brother's death. They dug a
deep grave for Chingoos, and laid him in it on
the spot where his life had departed. But