Chance befriended us.  While we were drinking the coffee thus left as a prize to the conquerors, we heard at a distance the trampling of horses.  I seized one of the rifles, and Gabriel, after a moment of intense listening, prepared his lasso, and glided behind the bushes.  It was not long before I perceived my own horse, who, having undoubtedly thrown his rider, was galloping back to the camp.  He was closely pursued by one of the rascals, mounted upon Gabriel’s horse, and calling out to the three robbers, “Stop him; Russy, Carlton—­stop him!” At that moment, Gabriel’s lasso fell upon his shoulders, and he fell off the horse as dead as if struck by lightning:  his neck was broken.

Having gained our horses, we saddled them, and took our rifles, not doubting but that we would easily capture the remaining rascals, as the speed of our two steeds was very superior to that of the others.  After half an hour’s hard riding, we fell in with Roche and our companions, who had been equally fortunate.  It appeared that the fellow who had been riding my horse had received a severe fall against a tree; and while one of his companions started in chase of the animal, who had galloped off, the two others tied their horses to the trees, and went to his assistance.  When thus occupied, they were surprised, and bound hand and foot by Roche and his party.

We brought back our prisoners, and when we arrived at the burrow, we found that, far from having lost anything by the robbers, we had, on the contrary, obtained articles which we wanted.  One of the lawyers found in the stone jug enough of whisky to fill his flask; the parson got another rifle, to replace that which he had lost in the prairie, and the pouches and powder-horns of the three first robbers were found well supplied with powder and balls.  We also took possession of four green Mackinau blankets and a bag of ground coffee.

We heartily thanked Providence, who had thrown the rascals in our way, and, after a good meal, we resumed our journey in a southern direction, each of the three lawyers leading, by a stout rope, one of the brigands, who were gagged and their hands firmly bound behind their backs.  During the whole day, the parson amused himself with preaching honesty and morality to our prisoners, who, seeing now that they had not the least chance to escape, walked briskly alongside of the horses.

Towards evening we encamped in one of those plains, a mile in circumference, which are so frequently met with in the forests of the west.  We had performed a journey of twenty miles, and that, with the forced ride which our beasts had performed in the morning, had quite tired them out.  Besides, having now four men on foot, we could not proceed so fast as before.  We lighted a fire and fed our prisoners, putting two of them in the centre of our circles, while the two others, who were much braised by their falls of the morning, took their station near the fire, and we covered them with a blanket.  Though we believed we had nothing to fear from our prisoners, the two first being bound hand and foot, and the two last being too weak to move, we nevertheless resolved that a watch should be kept, and as Gabriel and I had not slept during the night before, we appointed Roche to keep the first watch.