Sunset Ranch: A Story of a Boy's Adventures in the West — page 138: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

CHAPTER X. AN INDIAN BRAVE. Once outside the tepee and Cuthbert saw a sight that was full of interest for him. An Indian village is always picturesque, no mat- ter how dirty, just as a gypsy camp charms the eye, while the nose may at the same time take objections to the facts. Especially interesting is the early hour when the blue smoke from many fires is curling upward into the clear morning air, and the odor of cooking greets the hungry observer. Doubtless the rollick- ing orgies of baked dog and its accompaniments, to- gether with a celebration that lasted far into the small hours of the night, had proven a little too much for the usually early rising inhabitants of the big Sioux village, for, although the sun was up, hav- ing stolen a march upon them, they were still creep- ing out of their lodges, looking the worse for their frolic. It was in truth a pretty scene, and Cuthbert found himself able to admire it, forgetting his own troubles for the moment. . The village was delightfully situated, with trees around its borders, a bulwark of hazel bushes skirt- ing one end, and the river gurgling close by. ‘Overhead flew the king bird—buzzards sailed ma- jJestically in the heavens, or perched upon neighbor- ing trees, scavengers of the village, while here a long-legged blue crane stalked along the river bank intent upon his morning meal, which he waded in to secure. Yes, the lodges, marked with rude drawings in- tended to represent the prowess of their owners in ConniclooOolkks.€©