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proper to his age and incident to his character, had taken quite a fancy to him. Nothing would suit but he must have the young Osage as a companion and squire in his expedition into the wilderness. The youth was easily tempted, and, with the prospect of a safe range over the buffalo prairies and the promise of a new blanket, he turned his bridle, left the swamp and the encampment of his friends behind him, and set off to follow the Count in his wanderings in quest of the Osage hunters. Such is the glorious independence of man in a savage state. This youth, with his rifle, his blanket, and his horse, was ready at a moment's warning to rove the world; he carried all his worldly effects with him, and in the absence of artificial wants possessed the great secret of personal freedom. We of society are slaves, not so much to others as to ourselves ; our superfluities are the chains that bind us, impeding every movement of our bodies and thwarting every impulse of our souls. Such, at least, were my speculations at the time, though I am not sure but that they took their tone from the enthusiasm of the young Count, who seemed more enchanted than ever with the wild chivalry of the prairies, and talked of putting on the Indian dress and adopting the Indian habits ''during the time he hoped to pass with the Osages. CHAPTER VI. TRAIL OF THE OSAGE HUNTERS DEPARTURE OF THE COUNT AND HIS PARTY A DESERTED WAR-CAMP A VAGRANT DOG—THE ENCAMPMENT. In the course of the morning the trail we were pursuing was crossed by another, which struck off through the forest to the yest in a direct course for the Arkansas River. Beatte, our half-breed, after considering it for a moment, pronounced it the trailof the Osage hunters, and that it must lead to the place where they had forded the river...
