Chapter 25
We had a good deal of trouble finding the exact spot where we had left him, for we could get no answer to our calls. He was down in a heap, covered with blood, and quite dead. The savages had scalped him. In our long companionship we had grown very fond of him, for he was a merry, good-natured, willing soul. “God!” cried Bagsby, deeply moved. “I’ll put a ball through the next one of those devils I meet!” We returned slowly to the fire, carrying the body, which we laid reverently one side and covered with a blanket. In all our hearts burned a fierce, bitter anger. Sullenly we turned to prepare ourselves a meal from the supplies our hosts offered us. The latter were the father and five sons of a backwoods family from the northwest–Pine, by name. They were all tall, heavily built men, slow
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