It was late when we got back to camp, still our appetite had been excited again, and instead of going to sleep, we sat joking round the fire, each with some spitted bear-meat before him. The coffee-pot also went the round, and the steaming pipe accompanied us to our buffalo hides, on which we lay conversing for some time. Clifton insisted that he ought to be rewarded handsomely by Königstein for saving his life by the pistol-shot, while the latter tried to prove to him that he had aimed too low to hit the bear's heart, and hence, as a punishment, ought to have its paw stuck on his hat. The answers, however, gradually became rarer, and we soon were all fast asleep. Excellent health, and a consciousness of strength, of which the polished world is ignorant, are the blessed companions of such a natural life; and no awful nightmare, no frightful dreams, such as visit the silken beds of civilization, venture to approach the hard couch of our Western hunters. I was awakened by the cold about an hour before daylight; sprang up, poked the fire, which was nearly burnt out, wrapped myself in my buffalo robe, and fell asleep again soundly, till my comrades shouted to me that the coffee was ready. The whole neighbourhood was covered with a thick white rime, and though the frost was not heavy, we felt it severely. Our large fire, however, soon dispelled the cold, and we lay very cozily round it eating our breakfast. We soon mounted, crossed the stream without difficulty, and followed a buffalo-path up the hills. Our journey during the last day had been fatiguing for the horses, and, in spite of the long distance we had ridden, we had advanced but little northwards, so we gladly followed an easterly course, which brought us nearer the great prairies. From here we also noticed that the highest mountain peaks were a little farther to the west, and consequently off our track. The sky became overcast, and in the afternoon it began raining, so that we were obliged to put our buffalo robes over us, and at night pitched our small tents to protect us from the heavy, incessant rain. Tiger, though, refused to crawl into the tent, but collected a great heap of brushwood near the fire, laid his saddle-cloth on it, sat down a-top, with his knees drawn up to his chin, and pulled his buffalo-hide with the hairy side out over him, tucking it under him, so that he looked like a huge hairy ball. During the night we were frequently obliged to feed the fire to keep it burning, and in the morning we saw no sign that the clouds were about to break. We could hardly distinguish the nearest peaks, and round our camp rivulets had formed that conveyed the rain to the valley. We could not think of starting, as all our traps were wet through. Hence we grinned and bore it; killed time with eating and smoking, and looked at our cattle, which, with hanging head and tail, let the rain pour off them.