Suddenly a loud, long, lasting yell was raised, which, however, seemed much farther off, and to come from the prairie on the south side of the forest. Probably, the Lepans had found my trail through the prairie, but it was a satisfactory sign to me that they had not attempted to follow me along the river bed. In all other directions my hiding-place was unassailable, unless there was a second entrance into the valley in my rear, as was probable. It had already grown so dark, that I could not distinguish my white horse from the rocks, although the stars shone brilliantly above me. Before it was quite dark I sat down by the side of Czar, to prevent him lying down. I grew very sleepy, but the yell of the Indians still sounded too loudly in my ears for me to indulge in repose. I tried to keep awake by smoking, which helped for a while; but smoking in perfect darkness is no enjoyment; hence I soon grew tired of it, and tried to keep awake by walking up and down. Czar, too, was tired of standing; he stamped impatiently with his fore-feet, and tried the strength of the lasso by tugging at it. At length, nature claimed her dues, and I could not possibly keep awake any longer: I took off Czar's load, laid it in the darkness against the stone to which he was secured, spread out my rug, and lay down on it with my rifle on my arm. Czar was not long in following my example, and tried as usual to have a roll before going to sleep, which might have injured me or the saddle in the darkness; hence I pressed his head to the ground, and we were both, ere long, as soundly asleep as the rocks around us.