“Well, I had crawled under,—every thing was very quiet,—there was no noise, except every now and then Old Jupe would give a short yelp, as if she was tired waiting; and I had fallen into a sort of doze, when I was waked up by something scratching at the bark; my waking up made some noise, and it went off a little distance, and then I could hear a low restless whine, and hear it moving its tail. I knew by the noise, 'twas a panther. Said I, there will be tough work to night, and just as I said so to myself, the thing lit all in a heap, right over my breast, on the bark; the bark creened up a little, but I soon gathered it down and gave a whoop; the panther squalled, and cut dirt, and which was the worst scared, I never knowed. Well, I hugged the bark down agin, and thought all was quiet, and was getting into another doze, when what should I hear, but that same low whine, and with the whine came the panther, right upon the top of the bark agin. I pulled it down, and whooped like thunder, and the panther went off a little way, and screamed. I heard another one answer it, and, shortly after, I could hear them both walking round me. I now whooped agin and agin, and made a big noise; but they did'nt mind me, and if they did, it was only for a few moments; and then they would come back and scratch around the bark. All I could do was to keep them from turning it over, and hard work it was. I never slept a wink more that night; but worked hard until day, when they went away, and I got out;—and wa'nt I mad? Yes, I was swelled up like one of these high land moccasins. I do believe I could have poisoned any thing by biting it. Old Jupe was still at the tree, and I made right for her; and did'nt I make that old 'coon pay for all I suffered that night.” “Well, now, Rolfe, give us a story, you have heard mine.” “Thank you, Earth, I can't tell stories; but I would have let that 'coon off.” Thus whiling away their time, they journeyed along through a country as beautiful and wild as boundless forests and extensive prairies could make it, and to all appearance untenanted, save by deer and buffalo, together with the hungry howling tenants of the waste. Avoiding the high bluffs and rivers, where the Indian villages were most likely to be situated, they travelled through the wildest portion of the country, and continued their journey in safety, governing their direction by the sun when it shone, and at other times by the moss, which indicated to them the north, as plainly as it could have been marked out by the magnet.