ment of his prelude with a deep sigh, by way of modulation. As for me, I turned and rolled, but spent a sleepless night." In due time they reached Fort Union. After a few days of the hospitable entertainment which that fine trading post always furnished to guests of merit, and after having baptized a good many half-breed children, the two travelers resumed their journey September 23d. They went by land down the left bank of the Missouri to near the Mandan village, where they crossed to the right bank. Here were also the Aricaras and the Minnetarees, or Grosventres of the Missouri, all of whom welcomed the black-gown and did all in their power to entertain him. They stopped a short time at Fort Clark, the trading post for these Indians, and then, in company of a Canadian voyageur, set out down the west, or right, bank of the river for Fort Pierre.
On this part of the journey they came near getting into serious trouble. They had stopped for noon in a concealed little nook on the brink of a clear spring, and were congratulating themselves on the security of their position, when they were suddenly pounced upon by a band of Blackfeet Sioux who had been stealthily following them for some time. The Indians were bedaubed with paint and otherwise decked out as if on the warpath. "I rose at once," says Father De Smet, "and presented my hand to him whom I believed to be the chief of the band. He said coldly, ‘Why are you hiding in this ravine?' I answered him that we were hungry and that the spring had invited us to take a moment's repose. He looked at me with wonder, and addressing the Canadian, who could speak the Sioux language a little better, said to him, ` I have never seen such a man in my life. Who is he?' My long black robe and the missionary cross that I bore upon my breast especially excited his curiosity. The Canadian answered (and under the circumstances he was prodigal of his titles): `It is the man who talks to the Great Spirit. It is a chief Blackgown of the Frenchmen.' His fierce look changed at once; he ordered his warriors to put away their weapons and they