902

INDIAN TRAGEDIES AND ROMANCES.

ever, the noise did n't matter, for I had got several severe bites on my arms and legs, and the pain I suffered from them would have kept me awake anyhow.

"Just at daylight the next morning the wolves began to sneak off, and when the sun rose not one was to be seen, except three dead ones at the root of the tree, that had come in contact with 'old butch.' I Waited awhile longer to be certain they had all left, when I crawled out of my den, gave myself a shake, and found I was all right, except a pound or so of flesh taken out of one of my legs, and a few scratches on my arms. I hobbled back home, and for a long time afterward when I heard the howling of wolves I always felt uneasy. I found out the next day why the wolves acted as the}' did. I had a bottle of assafcetida that was broken and run over my clothes. I had often heard that assafcetida wTould attract wolves, but I had always thought it an old woman's yarn. But it is a fact, and if you do n't believe it, go some dark night into a thick chaparral where wolves are numerous, and pour about a gill over your clothes, and then wait a little, and see what will turn up; and if you do n't hear howling and snapping and snarling, I '1) agree to be stung to death by bumble-bees."

In the fall of 1842 the Indians troubled the frontiers of Texas more than at any previous time. A party of forty men, of which Big Foot was a member, set out to punish the red skins. When they camped, on the evening of the third day, Wallace noticed a smoke a few miles to the north-east, and was directed by the captain to make a scout before daylight, and find out what the thing meant. He rose about three o'clock in the morning, and stumbled across the rough country until he came to a canon leading in the direction he was going.

Lying by until daylight, Wallace then started up the canon, which was very crooked and at times not more than four feet wide. Making a sudden turn at one place, Wallace, who was stooping over, ran violently into an Indian, who was descending the canon, knocking him down.   Both men scrambled to their