On the day following the council, the articles of peace were signed, and most of the tribes departed for their respective homes. A few of the Pawnees and Otoes remained to accompany the Commissioner to the village of the Osages, for the purpose of negotiating a peace with that tribe; with whom they had long been at deadly enmity. Here then I will conclude this series of Indian Sketches; for the council being ended and my curiosity satisfied, I determined to return homeward on the following day. A feeling of sadness came over me as I prepared to leave those, with whom I had for months associated. However different in dispositions and feelings, we had until then, been united by a link of sympathy. We had led the same life; viewed the same scenes, and undergone the same privations. For months together one tent had sheltered us, and we had eaten from the same board. A rough, untramelled friendship had sprung up between us, increasing with the distance between ourselves and our homes, and strengthening as we retired farther from the abode of civilized man. But now we had returned from our wanderings, and were once more in the circle of our fellows. Still old recollections bound us together by a golden tie, that was painful to sever; and although my home with all its attractions rose in my fancy, yet I felt sad, when one of the orderlies informed me that all was ready. I shook hands with my friends and comrades of the wilderness, and mounting my mule, with a heavy heart, turned my back upon Leavenworth. THE END. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation have been standardized but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - Footnotes placed at end of their respective paragraph.