Beatt« was up at early dawn, aud over the river
with Antoine, The former returned soon after sun-rise
with all the horses that were missing belonging to our
mess. The latter, who had gone off in search of them
ia another direction, didnot overtake us till the following
morning. On returning to the Bear's Glen, with some
of the Rangers, from his fruitless quest after the horses,
a few hours after we bud evacuated it, it was found



COOKING CAMP. 189

that the rightful poasessors had begun to resume theit
old quarters, grumbliDg no doubt most heartily at the
iu convenience they had been put to, to make way for
such saucy and thankless intruders. Poor fellows 1
tUcy were badly remunerated for the use of their
lodgings, for two were straightway killed, and the
laggards came up loaded with their venison.
They found us encamped in a little secluded penin-
sula, formed by a creek in the vicinity of the Red
Fork. The stream, as it strayed from one deep clear
pool, over broken rock and tangled grass, to another
within high banks, formed a kind of natural en-
trenchment for us.
From this point, a few of the party, who were in-
valids, were here allowed to retrace their steps to the
Fort, from which we might now be about one
hundred miles distant. From the banks of the
Arkansas we had traversed a number of elevated
ridges, partly open prairie and partly covered with
forest, from the crests of which we often surveyed a
most extensive horizon.
