"Out of the road," commanded Lewis. "Whoever steals shall be shot instantly."
The crowds fell back. Every man toiled on with gun in hand. But from village to village, dishes, blankets, and whatever the Indians could get their hands on, disappeared. Soon there would be no baggage.
It seemed impossible to detect a thief. "Nothing but numbers protects us," said the white men.
Worse even than the pirates of the Sioux, it came almost to pitched battle. Again and again Lewis harangued the chiefs for the restoration of stolen property. Once he struck an Indian. Finally he set out to burn a village, but the missing property came to light, hidden in an Indian hut.
So long did it take to make these portages that food supplies failed. In the heart of a thickly populated and savage country the expedition was bankrupt.
With what gratitude, then, they met Yellept, chief of the Walla Wallas, waiting upon his hills.
"Come to my village. You shall have food. You shall have horses."
Gladly they accompanied him to his village at the mouth of the Walla Walla river. Immediately he called in not only his own but the neighbouring nations, urging them to hospitality. Then Chief Yellept, the most notable man in all that country, himself brought an armful of wood for their fires and a platter of roasted mullets.
At once all the Walla Wallas followed with armloads of fuel; the campfires blazed and crackled. Footsore, weary, half-starved, Lewis and Clark and their men supped and then slept.
Fortunately there was among the Walla Wallas a captive Shoshone boy who spoke the tongue of Sacajawea. In council the Captains explained themselves and the object of their journey.
"Opposite our village a shorter route leads to the Kooskooskee," said Yellept. "A road of grass and water, with deer and antelope."
Clark computed that this cut-off would save eighty
