jumped up very supple. He wasn't asleep. He had knowed better than to
swaller a yard o' meat.

"Whar was the wimmen? I knowed that a part o' the band would be back
in the bush with them 'ere wimmen. I'd seed suthin' in the trail over
by the drownded lands that looked kind o' neevarious. It were like the
end o' a wooden leg with an iron ring at the bottom an' consid'able
weight on it. An Injun wouldn't have a wooden leg, least ways not one
with an iron ring at the butt. My ol' thinker had been chawin' that
cud all day an' o' a sudden it come to me that a white man were runnin'
the hull crew. That's how I had gained ground with the red scout I
took him out in the aidge o' the bush an' sez I:

"'What's yer name?'

"'Buckeye,' sez he.

"'Who's the white man that's with ye?'

"'Mike Harpe.'

"'Are the white wimmin with him?'

"'Yes.'

"'How many Injuns?'

"Two.'

"'What's yer signal o' victory?'