With rude tents pitched, without order or method, in an
open glade of the forest, with horses tethered around, and little
dusky imps fighting with the lean dogs that lay lolling their tongues
lazily about, there was yet a picturesque air about the place and its
extraneous features, which would have captivated the eye of one in
search of nature's sunshiny spots. Deeply embosomed within the
autumnal tinted wood, a purling spring that burst from the green
slope of a little mound was the feature which had attracted the
Indians to the locality. Rank grass had once covered the whole
surface of this forest meadow, but this the cattle had closely
cropped, leaving a sward that would have rivalled any European lawn
in its velvety beauty, and that, falling away before the eye, became
inexpressibly soft as it sunk away in the distance.
The setting sun, gilding and crowning the tree tops in wreathed
glory, was gradually paling behind the heavy belt of forest that
enclosed the Sioux camp; the animals, both plumed and four-footed,
that filled the woods, were seeking their accustomed rest; the squaws
were busily engaged in preparing for their expected husbands their
evening meal, just as a long line of grim and painted warriors issued
from the shelter of the trees.
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