Bill, however, did not change his opinions. Although still as warmly as ever attached to me, he said on the same evening, while sitting round our camp-fire: "I don't care, Mose! It would 'ave been more square to give 'em the lead, face to face." Late on the following day we reached Thousand Spring Valley, where the head-waters of the Humboldt River take their rise. Here water and game were good and abundant, and the train remained two days to rest the stock, while I and some others scoured the adjacent country in quest of fresh meat. A lovelier spot than this valley, it would, perhaps, be impossible to find in the whole continent, and I could, while I wandered through it, scarcely avoid reflecting on the change which a hundred, or in all probability no more than fifty, years might produce here. Then, it will be thoroughly peopled. Possibly, a great inland city may have been reared by the bustling and intelligent life of my country. The red man will have been effaced by the onward march of civilization, or compelled by sheer necessity to accept a settled life. A Sharp's rifle or a colt will no longer be possessions of paramount necessity to him who travels thitherward. The buffalo will have been cleared out from this section of the States, and an antelope steak will be a rarity. At that period a man of my, at this time, nomadic instincts will be compelled to search for fresh ground in which to develop and enjoy them. The interior of Africa or South America will be the only parts of the world in which he can follow the life of a wanderer, unchecked and unhindered. CHAPTER VI. THE MISTY MORNING--ANOTHER INDIAN SCRIMMAGE--MOUNTAIN-FEVER--NEVER SAY DIE--A RASCALLY PROCEEDING--MY SIX-SHOOTER AND A SOMERSAULT--"LO! THE POOR INDIAN!"--HIS LETTER OF INTRODUCTION--THE ULTIMATE WARMTH OF HIS RECEPTION--NEARLY SQUARING ACCOUNTS--A RELAPSE--LEFT BEHIND IN HIGHLY DRAMATIC ATTIRE--FIRST RESULTS WITH NEW ACQUAINTANCES--KINDNESS OF MY CAPTAIN--GREATER KINDNESS OF HIS FRIEND--BECOMING A GOLD-DIGGER. It was what sailors term a nasty day when we left this valley. A heavy mist, which was almost rain, veiled the surrounding range of country. Little beyond the eighth of a mile, in front of us or on either side, was visible. About noon, some of our scouts brought the Captain information that matters looked squally, ahead of the train. In fact, they had discovered some fresh traces of our red enemies. A halt was at once ordered, and I was despatched ahead with forty of the men to discover, if possible, what the present danger might be.