human
It was just about here that we found that poor old Indian, Lige,
gpt
Yes; I don’t see any sign of him now though,
human
What Indian?
gpt
When we were coming out to meet you we came upon the body of an Indian, dead and half-covered by snow, answered Joe.
human
I thought after we’d got you safe home we’d come back and bury him; but I guess the snow has done that better than we could, poor fellow!
gpt
Did you know him?
human
No, I never saw him before.
gpt
Did you see any signs of any other Indians about?
human
No, he seemed to be all alone. And the funny thing to me was that we didn’t see any signs of his pony. It seemed queer that an Indian should be way off here alone, on foot.
gpt
If you’d looked far enough you would probably have found his pony in some draw or ravine. The poor fellow probably got lost in the blizzard, and feeling himself freezing to death deserted his horse in a drift somewhere, perhaps, and was making for some place of shelter when cold and exhaustion overcame him.
human
Golly, it sure gave us a shock when we found him, broke in Lige;
gpt
I didn’t see him, but Joe thought at first it was you or Sam.
human
Thank God it was not, said Joshua Peniman fervently.
gpt
I know what the poor fellow must have suffered. I thought at one time his fate would surely be ours.