A Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1HG8, by COL. HANKINS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New v rk. DAKOTA LAND; OR, THE BEAUTY OF ST. PAUL. AN ORIGINAL, ILLUSTRATED, HISTORIC AND ROMANTIC WORK ON MINNESOTA, THE GKREAT NORTH-WEST. BY COL. EDITOR OF " THE NEW YORK HOME GAZETTE," And Author of "Agnes Wilto " "Maniac Father," "The Apostate Quaker,' "The Idiot of the Mill," "The Orphan's Dream," "The Banker's Wife," " The Mother's Prayer," " The Beautiful Nun," " Hearts That Arc Cold," Besides innumerable Serial Productions of Truth and Fiction. SECOND EDITION. 1869: HANKINS & SON, PUBLISHERS, Office of tlie " 3STew York Home Gazette,' NEW YORK CITY. TO THE CITIZENS OF ST. PAUL, GREETING. AN ACCEPTANCE OF THIS VOLUME, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED MARK OF SINCERE ESTEEM FOR YOU PERSONALLY, AND ALSO AS A TOKEN OF ENTHUSIASTIC ADMIRATION FOR YOUR BRIGHT NEW CITY, WILL BE VERY GRATIFYING TO THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. MY first visit to Minnesota was not until the latter part of September, ; and then it so happened that I could tarry but twenty-four hours in the vicinity of St. Paul. With the popular disbelief of all strangers to that region, I anticipated the real existence of no very great attractions there, and ac- cordingly had made arrangements for returning to New York the first week in October. However, I saw and felt enough during the speedy lapse of that one day, to convince me of my error. And although I could not then prolong my stay, there was much comfort in hopefully promising myself the pleasure of a more extended visit some other time. But the next day after my departure down the river, on board a " white collar " steamez', and while dreamily gazing upon the lovely scenery of Lake Pepin, and musing upon the marvelous enchantment of the Great North-west, I was suddenly inspired with the idea of publishing a Dioristic and Statistical History of the bright, new city which I had so recently seen. And that inspiration eventually terminated in a fixed resolve. For even though a stranger there, I could not fail to perceive how greatly such a book was needed, and also the prospective surety that the pub- lisher thereof would be well compensated by its ready sale. The result was that I hastened back to St. Paul early in No- vember. And on arriving there, the editors of the Daily Pioneer and the Daily Press kindly encouraged me by compli- mentarily noticing my intention. But very soon afterward, they also noticed the similar individual purposes of several native " brothers of the scissors and the quill," whom my com- ing effectively roused to a full sense of the " golden opportu- nity " which I had in view. And as I prudently declined any rivalry or contest with those who were so much better qualified to successfully accomplish the proposed undertaking, it only 2068018 8 PREFACE. remained for me to " interpret well that meaning cry of ' Ship ahoy,' and into smoother waters quickly steer." (See page 397.) Yet, one pleasant evening before I sailed from the port of St. Paul, the Spirit of " Good Dame Fortune " appeared to me with her charming face all dimpled in a patronizing smile. And, while a sweet, hope-beguiluig expression stole out of her coquettish eyes, she said to me, " Come, disheartened mortal, cheer thee up ! Be of good heart, and listen ! With the aid of my magic power, ere to-morrow's sun goes down, thou shalt have the Key to a Mystery that's been long concealed. With that talisman in thy hand, and the story of the beautiful, golden-haired Fleurette, whom thou know'st so well, strange fatalities may be revealed ! Come ; get thee to thy task ! And remember that we shall meet again ! Farewell !" So, having acted upon the Spirit's suggestion, I am now vain enough to believe that this Volume of " DAKOTA LAND ; or, The Beauty of St. Paul" will prove both interesting and instructive to every reader who may honor it with a fair peru- sal through. Dakota Land proper, originally included nearly all the terri- tory which is now occupied in part by the States of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota only that distant section north of Ne- braska and west of Minnesota, yet retaining the Dakota name. So after all, Dakota Land and the Great North-west are simply different appellations for the same region. The former was chosen for the title of this volume, because it harmonized more pleasantly with the peculiar character of the objects and themes which I purposed treating upon. Whether that choice may have been an appropriate one, the reader will now determ- ine unknown to me and regardless of my opinion. THE AUTHOR. INDEX TO CONTENTS. A Synoptical Reference to Scenes and Events of the Volume, Necessarily or Incidentally Connected with the Eemarkablc Denouements of " LOST, and FOUND !" CHAPTER I. The Solitary Pine. . .A Strange Fancy. . .Upon a Lofty Hill. ..A Sunset View. . . The Bright New City... Children of the -Bo/s brule... Round Blue Stones... A Cu- rious Mound... No More Crimson Hues.. .A Twilight Dream.. .Church Spires and Council Fires. ..The Plowman's Whistle, and the Farm-house Dinner-horn. . ..The Red Man's Blood... Enchanted Ground... A Lost Spirit... Theory of the Past. ..A Weird Sentinel of Time ! 1 CHAPTER II. Magic Arts. ..The Prophet's Tomb.. .A " Shrine of Life". ..The Franciscan Ad- venturer... Cavern of Wakan-tebee...Back Two Hundred Years. ..The Gospel Missionary... A Temple of Ruin. .."Pig's Eye" Pandemonium... Hell of Virgil and Dante... Incantation of the Fiends... Poison for the Aborigine... The Dawn of Light... Finding a Lost ^ej/...Parrant'a Fate to be Revealed... Consulting the Stars. . .The " Angel of Love," and the " Eye of God !" 27 CHAPTER III. Northern Wilds... An Ambitious Earl.... The Marquis Dupontavifise...Frora Paris to Red River... "Morganatic Ties". ..A Singular Town... Unknown El Do- rado... Beauty Will Fade... History of a Life... Widowhood and Despair... The Fair Adventuress. . .A Fur Trader's Love. . .What Jealousy Will Do. . .Kaskadino, the "Medicine Man". ..A Heartless Nurse. ..Cool Draughts and Poison. ..The Mother Dies. . . Hear that Voice ! 41 CHAPTER IV. The Grave-Digger's Mound... Marriage a la mode du pays...' 1 No Pedigree, 110 Nation, no God!"... What History Does Not Tell... Approach of "The Destroy- er". ..Wooing a Brother's Child!... Staking a Human Soul... Marvelous Coinci- dence In Life Prodigal Coquettes.... "God Bless thnt Man!" Farewell to Mother's Grave. ...The "Ox-Train" Moving... .Intoxicating Sounds... Modern Sons of Ishmael... Encampment at Night... A Novelty more Primitive than Tubal Cain! 57 CHAPTER V. Imaginary Fears..." Voice of the Bells "...When Graveyards Yawn... The Tavern Keeper's Son... Something About Cats... A Country School. ..An Idiot's Love.. .Village Superstition... A Deed of Blood.. .The Haunted House. ..Chal- lenge Accepted. ..A "Million Sighs! '...Journey in the Dark. ..The Forest of Pines. ..Unearthing a Ghost... Did the Devil Enter Swine ?...Moonrise in Minne- sota. ..An EuchautiugSciMie...The Yawning Chasm... A Devious Path I 71 1* 10 INDEX TO CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. Delicious Repose... Flight with Morpheus... Back to the Solitary Pine... That Curious Mound... Presentiment of Evil. ..Philosophy of Fear. . .Natural Melo- dies... An Imbecile Statue... The Sobbing of Grief. ..Spell-bound... In the Claws of a Demon.. .A Stysian Imp. ..Prince of Darkness..." Was it of Woman Born?". ..The Paralyzed Arm. ..A Gorgon Laugh. ..One of God's Creatures, alter all... A Wild "Ha, ha !".. .The Vision Dissolves! 87 CHAPTER VII. Hah-zah-ee-yun-kee- win... "Running Injun with Bis Moon "...St. Paulians Should all Have Wives. ..An Old Squaw's Grief. . .Alas, "Me Choonkshee!"... Angry Wakan Stole her Child away... Beautiful Lament... Round Blue Stems, from Minne-in-ee-o-pa... Mystery of the Curious Mound...A Balm for Sorrow... Strange Beliefs... The Land where Spirits Dwell... Scalps and Love... A Mother's Superstition. . .Strange Adventure, and Terrific Fall ! 95 CHAPTER VIII. Shoulder-straps and Champagne... Drawing it Mild... Tea versus Wine... The Two Canoes... St. Paul in the Year 1845... Unexpected Recognition of Parrant... Scene in his Shanty... A Fair Acquaintance... "Go. I want to be free !"..." Give it to me, or you die!". ..A Mystery Unexplained... Rescued by Old Betz...In tlio Cavern of Wakan-Tebee!...The Rendezvous... Square Rock below Mendota... The Indian Assassin... Parrant Left to Die 1 113 CHAPTER IX. Kaskadino in Disguise... A Death Struggle... The Body not Found... Friendship of Old Betz... Disappointments all Around... Philosophy of Erratic Love. ..The "Old Story" That's Often Told.. .Gone. ..Other Destinies to Fill... Nuptial Vows...A Painful Suspicion... The False Piiest... Desertion... Phiueas O'Brieu, the Inebriate Attorney. ..Uncertainty of the Law... The Graudmother's Affec- tion. . .Justice or Revenge ! 125 CHAPTER X. Indian Summer in Minnesota... Dreamy Seance of Nature... St. Paul by Moon- light, in November. ..New York City at Nij;ht, in a Storm... Colossal Tombs... Gloom Without; What's Within 1. . .Prayers for the Dawn. . . A Girl-Mother and her B.ibe. . .The Palace and the Attic Room. . .The Gold Screen and the Broken Pane. . . A Heart of Stone. . .Three Common Wrougs. ..Portrait oa the Wall. ..An Evil Spirit Hovering Near ! i:ia CHAPTER XI. The Infant Heiress. ..Marriage without Love... Love without Marriage... Pre- cept and Example for Ambitious Young Girls. . .The Two New Mothers. . .A Bitter Heart. ..The Dark Resolve... Saved by a Picture... Bribes Refused... Every thing to Gain, and Nothing to Lose. ..A Housekeeper's Letter. . .Warning for Rich Mothers. ..Counterplotting. ...Expiation for The Destroyer.... More than Re- venge..^ Cruel Wrong. ..Wonderful Instinct of a Mother! 153 INDEX TO CONTENTS. 1 1 CHAPTER XII. Personal Charms... Beauty and Mind... Belle of the Crescent City... Wedded Life. . .Nothing we have or eujoy can ever remain the same !. . .The Unhappy Hus baud. ..A Loving Wife. ..The Poor Old Slaves. ..Who Re.ueuiber Levasseur... The Financier aud Ladies' Man.. .Nobles iu Disguise... Social L;UVB... Theory of Love . . . Marriage Often a Fraud. . .Festered Hearts and Souls. . . Duty and Desire. . . The False Go-between. . .The Apostate's First Repentance. . .Searching for his Lost Love . . .Gyneocracy and Divorce ! 167 CHAPTER XIII. The Shadows Falling. . .Torture aud Despair. . .The Apostate Warned. . .Marvel- ous Daring... Gathering of the Storm... The Stolen Child... Trick and Strata- gem... Uncouscious Meeting of the Rival Mothers. ..The Abyss of Ruin.. .A Dis- tressing Scene... The Fatal Truth Revealed... The Destroyer and Avenger face together... The A/ecting Denouement of LOST!... A Compact and the Oath!... Be- hold the Sacrifice, uow ! 183 CHAPTER XIV. The Desecrated Sanctuary... Last Link Broken. ..The Betrayed Wife. .."Oh, let me die!"...TIie Adventuress' Last Hope. ..The "Beautiful Snow!"... Where Cobwebs Grow. ...The Deserted Dwelling... Inquisitive Old Maid ...." Them blasted Niggers !". . .The Chamber of Mystery. .. Something Wrong. . .Bells Tolling Fire... Burning of Levasseur's City Mansion... McJudas, the Detective, in Search of Crime Concealed 1 198 CHAPTER XV. Satan Panting for Souls. ...The Dismal Palmetto Tree.... Jupiter Dim'd by Mars... Juno in Tears... The Siren Spy... Potency of Gold... Out of Rebeldom into the Union Lines... .A " Consumptive Invalid and her Slaves"...." Hear that cough!". ..The Great "Dr. Passion;" a Christian Quack.. .A Jersey Farmer, whose Dog " Goliali " has an " Opinion".. .The Farmer's Strange Suspicion that he sees "Mini," the Convict, who escaped many years ago... Going to Minne- sota... The Four Sisters..." O, must she die?" 207 CHAPTER XVI. The Deserted Wife.... Her Slaves' Affection.... "O, when his heart grows sad!"... Doom of the Fair Adventuress... A Sectarian Asylum... The Poor Little Orphans... Those Sad Blue Eyes... A Sweet Foundling. ..The Necklace of "Job's Tears"... Something to Love... The Hectic Flush... Old Mortality... The "Two Lands of Flowers". ..See the Vampire Smile... Pure Air better than Medicine... Force of Example. ..Steamboat Captains in the East and iu the West... Arrival at St. Paul. . .Dr. Passion iu the River 1 223 CHAPTER XVII. A Piercing Scream... Goliah quickly Flies to the Rescue of Fleurette, and coolly Leaves the Vampire to Drown... A Grand Ovation to Goliah... The Wid- ower's Heart. . .Friends Must Part. . .Sincere Regrets. . .Sancho and the Quacks. . . Southern Ideas of Cold... Spring and the Blue Bird's Song. . .Rosy Cheeks when the ButterCups Bloom... The Sioux War-whoop!... A Sea of Blood... The " Tur- key and the Crow I"... "7s there Such a Man J"... The, Captive Girls... Horrors Untold. . .The Escape. . .Poor Goliah ..." Father is dead !" 239 12 INDEX TO CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. Tradition of the "Flood "...The Three Sons of Noah... A Chiefs Power... Family Relations. ..Indian Laws... Prisoners of War. ..Caligula Outdone... Obse- quies of their Dead... Marriage... "Plenty of Wives!"... Virtue and Divorce... Utility of Squaws. . .In and Around the Teepees. . .Brutal Feelings. . .Immortality of their Souls. .."Dog Pie "...Mounted for the Chase... Cunning of Wolves... Voracious Gluttons The Blanket "Carryall" The Red Man's Redemp- tion! 257 CHAPTER XIX. Anti-Sectarian Germans... Churches Forhidden...The Girl-Captives saved by a Whisky-Keg... Execution of "Bad Injuns"..." Good Injuns" Sent Away... Amusing Interview with Old Betz... Phrenological Inquisition... Kosh-popee all the time. ..The Marvelous Creature Sings a Song. ..Indian Etiquette... Ghastly Toys.... Plumes of the Brave.... Classic Aborigines... .God's Handiwork Gone Astray. . .Tho Dying Squaw ! 273 CHAPTER XX. Smoldering Ruins... Goliah Not Dead; but Saves his Master's Life... A Joyful Return..." We're beggars now!"... Prospects of the Future. ..A Friend in Need.. The "Scare," and Fall in Real Estate... A "Dog-Train" from Red River... Farmer Denfou's " Sledge " Adventure. . .Worse than Dr. Bartlett's Camels. . .Novel Jour- ney Over the Snow... Dogs and Wolves..." Playing 'Possum "...Canine Hotels... The Hunger of a Blighted Heart. ..An Old Ardor Anew... "I ne'er jiniiiii slinll wed 1" 278 CHAPTER XXI. The " Angel Heart " Proves Faithful Still. . .Wooing the " Beauty of St. PauL". . The Prodigals of Stolen Bliss in Paris yet. . .But God has heard the Wife's Prayer, and at length the Husband's Heart does grow sad... The Grandmother's Affec- tion proves a Fatal Curse... Jealousy and the Result. ..A Pleasure Dream of Six- teen Years at its Eud... Darkest before Dawn... The Forsaken, Penitent Man... Sleep of Remorse and Vision of Joy... And then, instead of Love Returned with Life, only a Corpse is Promised to the Wife... Put Flowers on his Grave... Moon- beams from Above t 3U5 CHAPTER XXII. "He comes I"... "Ma, dear, God is always near!". ..The Coffin on board the Steamer. ..Strangers in St. Paul... Hospitality Accepted... A Solemn Scene... Prayer of the "Angel Heart". .."Let our Graves be One!". ..The Dead Alive... Startling Denouement of FODND!..." Your corpse; what of that?". ..The Prototype Beauties ! . . . Wonders Multiplied. . .Truth Stranger than Fiction. . .The Joy of" Lost Love Returned !" 32 1 CHAPTER XXIII. A Speculation... Four Crimson Blushes... The Three Brides..." She's my only boy!".. .Jane "Counted In."... Up in the Wo rid... Elegance of St. Paul... Nothing Like Money Anywhere... The Citizens of St. Paul... Who Live in the Palaces, and What's "Behind the Scenes"... Under the Gaslight Glare. ..The Diatin-mished and the Wealthy... A long List of Kmiaeut Names in full... Smiles of Welcome... INDEX TO CONTENTS. 13 Getting into "Society !"...The Same Man Still... Fighting the Cold. ..A Word to "Consumptives!"... The "Beavers "...Their Habits and Customs.. .A Curioua Study. . .Real-estate " Fiiianciera !" 335 CHAPTER XXIV. Summer Resorts... Pharaonic Apollyons, and Cytherian Decoys... Where Souls are Prepared for Hell....ZVb "Black Crook" in the Retreats of Dakota Laud, where Virtue Sweetly Breathes... Scenery on the Mississippi River... Castellated Blufl's... Mountain Graves.. .The "Lake of Tears "...Traditions of the Past... When the Bottom of Lake Pepiu Fell Out. ..The Garrard Estate... Society of Frontenac. . . A Summer Paradise in Embryo. . .The Ahode of Happiness. . .Myste- rious Boiling River. . . A Terraqueous Problem for Geologists to Solve ! 353 CHAPTER XXV. Winter in Minnesota. . .Consumptives in the " Promised Land " . . .Celestial Phe- nomena... Sun-Dogs; Moon-Dogs, and Lumen .Boreafe...Nicollet House, in Minne- apolis. .." Louise " and the Author Laughing at Zero... L' Hotel de Shantie... The Mystic Tree... Shivering Romance... A Frozen Beauty... The " Weeping Waters " Entombed in Ice... A World of Pure White Glass. ..Rendezvous of the Great... Where Lovers Can Woo... Boulevard of St. Paul... What Strangers Desire to Know. . .Skeleton of Tah-o-ah-ta-doo-ta. . .Po-^o-na-ghe-shick On a Spree I 3G9 CHAPTER XXVI. Delightful Drives. . .The ' ' Round Trip " . . .Legend of Anpetusapa. . . Devotion of Scarlet Dove. . .Fast Horses. ..Race to Lake Como...A Genius in St. Paul. ..The "Calumet of Peace". ..A Happy Home. ..Exhuming a Skeleton... The Knife and Pistol... Scene in "Alpine Cottage "...Solving aMysteryof the Past... Bones of Old "Pig's Eye"...rft "Lost Key" Found /...Editors Playing "Bluff "...Story of Parrant's Ghost. ..The very Best of Men. ..Burning of Barnum's Museum... Among the Ashes of Snakes and Bears ! 383 CHAPTER XXVII. The Grandmother's Repentance, and the Granddaughter's Grief. ..Pursuit of the "Forsaken Husband"... The Beautiful Maniac. .."My child, not hers!".. .A Misspent Life. . .The Self-willed Man. . .Flight of " Irene " . . .The Wife's Prophecy Fulfilled... Memories of the Past. ..The Dead-house... Fate of Leonore... Dying Confession of the Avenger. . .The Beautiful Prototype Sisters... One Accursed, and the other a Happy Bride... Revisiting St. Paul... The Vampire Caught at last... Pity of the "Angel Heart". ..The Destroyer's Remorse... A Tomb in Greenwood Cemetery. . . Now, and Forevermore ! ! 405 ILLUSTRATIONS. Illuminated with over One Hundred Engravings of Descriptive Scenery, Authentic Portraits and Dramatic Tableaux. 1 . ENGRAVED PHOTOGRAPH OF THE AUTHOR (Frontispiece.) 2. PORTRAIT OF FLEURETTE, "THE BEAUTY OF ST. PAUL" ...(Illuminated Title.) 3. The " Solitary Piue," beyond the wide river Page 17 4. Sunset View of the ' ' Bright New City " 17 5. A Rolling Prairie in Dakota Land 26 6. View of Upper Fort Garry, on Red Ki ver 27 7. Portrait of " Winneshiek," with his " Pipe of Peace " 27 8. Old Indian Graves, near the town of Crow Wing 32 9. Aboriginal method of traveling "On Rail" 36 10. Portrait of the Sioux Chief ' ' Little Crow " 40 11. A Fur Trader wooing "Leonore's" Mother 41 12. Moonlight View iu Dakota Land 44 13. Lovely Night Scene in the Red River Region 48 14. Church and Mission School at Pembina 52 15. The Great " Golgotha "of Dakota Land 56 16. An " Ox-Train " from Red River to Mendota 57 17. Fort Pembina, with Ox-Train and Half-breed Teepees 6 1 18. An Ox-Train Encampment at Night 70 19. The Idiot tormenting his Favorite Cat 71 20. Portrait of 'Cut Nose," or "Me Good Injun" 76 21. Portrait of Ex-Governor Ramsey 82 22. An Object but vaguely suggesting a " Habitation " 86 23. Primeval View on Lake Miunetonka 87 24. Traditional Throne of the Spirit of War 87 25. An Indian Burial Scaffold 92 26. Portrait of ' Old Betz," the Centenarian Squaw 98 27. Marriage Ceremony of the Chippeways 99 28. Moonlight. View of Burial Scaffolds on Dayton's Bluff 101 29. A Naudowessian Sibyl, or " Imaginary Witch" 112 30. The Lovely Ideal of a Youthful Dream 112 31. Scene on White Bear Lake, near Murray's Hotel 113 32. A First-Class Hotel, during the Reign of " Pig's Eye " 1 13 33. The Surroundings of Fort Snelling 124 34. Near the " Square Rock" below Meudota 125 35. The Assassination of Old Parrant 12."> 36. Portrait of "Standing Buffalo" ("Sweet Corn's" friend) 132 37. Fancy Portrait of " One Good Little Injun Boy " 138 38. The "Girl Mother" and lier Babe, in the Attic Room 139 39. Cathedral of St. Bonifare, near Fort Garry 146 40. Landscape at " Red Wood," witli an Indian Camp 1"'J 41. Scene in the Rich Wife's Luxurious Chamber 153 ILLUSTRATIONS. 15 42. A Life Saved by the Eyes of a Picture 153 43. The " Laughing Water," or Minnehaha Falls 160 44. View of Fort Abercrombie, on Red River 166 45. Soire Dansanle, in Washington City 167 46. The Recreant Husband, a Ladies' Man 167 47. City of St. Paul, viewed from Dayton's Bluff, in 1853 176 48. Pembina Settlement, Mouth of Peinbina River 182 49. The Desecrated Sanctuary 183 50. Oath of the Apostate Husband 183 51. Portrait of " Red Irou," an "Ugly Savage" 190 52. View of Otter Tail City and Lake 196 53. The Deserted Mansion and the Beautiful Snow 197 54. Indian Girls Engaged in Useful Occupation 202 55. The "Magic Ferry" across Rum River. 206 56. A Convict's Family, and the Necklace of Bear's-Claws 207 57. Lake Pepin. with Distant View of ' ' Maiden Rock " 207 58. Rock Island, where the Sioux Monsters are confined 216 59. Party of Summer Tourists "Camping Out" 222 60 . The Inside of a New York City Orphan Asylum 223 61. View of Castellated Bluffs, near Lake Pepin 230 62. Romantic Scenery on the Upper Mississippi River. 238 63. A "White-Collar 1 ' Steamer at the St. Paul Levee 239 64. The Dog " Goliah " rescues ' Fleurette " from Drowning 239 65. View at Crow Wing, Minnesota, in 1353 '. 250 66. The Widowed Mother, and Her Heroic Boy 256 67. Mounted Indians, chasing a Herd of Buffalo 257 68. View of Pelican Lake, near Otter Tail River 265 69. Countless Mounds of the "Ancient Dead!" 272 70. A Scene During the Sioux Massacre of '62 273 71. The Dog" Goliah "Killing the Assassin of his Master. 273 72. Portrait of a Murderous Indian 280 73. White Women attacking the Captured Sioux 286 74. A " Dog-Sledge" Train, approaching at full speed 287 75 . Tourists enraptured at t ho sight of Red Elver 294 76. Picturesque View of "Wild-Goose-Nest" Lake 304 77. A Sunbeam on the head of the Penitent Man 305 78. The Dream of Remorse and Vision of Joy. 305 79. An Eccentric Horse giving his Rider a Bath 312 80. Wild Scenery on the "Aasouri" River 320 81 . The ' ' Angel Heart " expecting the Corpse of her Husband 321 82. View of St. Paul and River, as seen from the Western Heights 321 83. St. Andrew's Church, at Selkirk Colony 328 84. Tourists fording the "Calumet" River 334 85. Fleurette, " The Beauty of St. Paul," riding her Pet Horse 335 86. A View of St. Paul, looking toward Dayton's Bluff. 335 8? Spontaneous Strawberry Festival, hi Dakota Laud 342 88. The modest "Claim" of Johannes Oborhoffer 351 89. View of "Devil Lake," where "Little Crow" was Killed 352 90. Bennett, the Red-Wing Artist, and his Sister 353 91. A Lovely Scene on the Upper Mississippi River 353 92 The Peculiarity of " Sandstone " Hills 360 93. A Panoramic View of River Islands 368 94. The Grand Plaza, iu the City of Minneapolis 369 1C ILLUSTRATIONS. 95. Tourists enjoying the " Round-Trip " Drive > 369 96. Suspension Bridge, at the Falls of St. Anthony 3 4 97. Portrait of Po-go-na-gbe-shich, or ' ' Hole-in-the-Day " 382 98. A Ride to Lake Como, with " Beauty and Fashion " 383 99. "Webb's" Team distancing "Farmer Denton'a" 383 100. The " First Shanty " erected where the "Bright New City "now stands. 390 101. View on the Ash-ki-big-isibi, or " Green-Leaf River " 404 102. Scene in Greenwood Cemetery, New York City 405 103. The Graves of ' ' Zorah and Leonore !" 40.) 104. Distant View of Pembina Mountain. 414 105. The " Silver Cascade," abeautiful waterfall 42 106. Impatient "Sight-Seers" Starting on a Tour 378 107. River-Side View "Where tho Iron Horso Runs in Dakota Land" 344 108. An Ex-Consumptive Invalid, taking it Easy 402 109. A Hungry Tourist Left Behind 379 110. Portrait of Governor Marshall, of Minnesota 377 111. The old Flag-tower of Fort Snelling. 319 112. Happy Tourists HOJTFWAKD BOUND ! 403 Also, (finely engraved on copper-plate, and nicely colored,) a Large and Accurate Map Of The Entire Great North-West! CHAPTER I. MY eyes are full yet not in tears! There is magic in this lovely scene, and inspiration in the delicious air that I breathe ! In my veins there is a current of electrical delight, and my heart expands with a rapturous thrill ! My soul is absorbed and my senses are lost in the transport of an enchanting dream, while my tongue is eagerly dancing to utter wild words of joy ! But where am I, and what do I see ? I live not here. My home is far away ! They told me of a bright realm of flowers, of beautiful lakes and winding streams, where health and happiness might dwell forever ! Then, with the lightning speed of mod- ern travel, I journeyed hither, this paradise to see. \ And yonder, where the gray stone walls and the church spires are gleaming, I arrived a few days ago. Away in the distance, beyond a wide river, I beheld a dark bluff" towering upward high. And upon the dark 18 THE SOLITARY PINK. bluff I saw a lonely pine ! The people, in their daily rounds of leisure or of business strife, could behold the bluff, and they might perceive the pine. I scanned their faces well, yet saw not one who paused to glance that way. But, musingly, I said, why should they pause, when to them the sight was nothing new? For just there, the same from day to day, the dark bluff ever reared its form. And as all novelties lose their attrac- tion when constantly seen, so the people thought not of what I saw. Thus, how true it is that we often under- value or overlook the greatest blessings which are given us to enjoy. Even beauty must be scarce or new to gain notice more than common things ! And as the passing multitude strode or rode along, I stood lost in contemplation of the scene. Pensive I was and my heart grew sad. I could not help imagin- ing that I saw the giant form of a sorrowful and weary sentinel, who had been left standing there upon the bluff by some strange long-past decree, to count the lapse of time, and then to guard the bright new city which was to be ! And how forlorn it appeared to me ! Without regard from any one, for days and nights unnumbered, in sum- mer suns and winter snows, there it had been for many, many years ! Solitary and alone! No comrades near. Not so much as a little dwarf oak, or a scraggy bush, could I then discern upon the rocky summit where it grew. The longer I mused upon the mournful tree, the more I wished to hie me thither and cheer it with a human smile. And puerile as that impulse may seem to other minds, I could not resist it then. We all have little fancies at certain times, which might be sneered at by the world, if they were disclosed without a redeeming A SUNSET VIEW. 19 cause. Neither the wisest, nor the very great, are exempt from the general rule. But to sympathize with a solitary tree, would sound so silly in adult ears that I quietly resolved to indulge my weird fancy, without consulting any one. Thus, At the close of a lovely autumn day, In " Dakota-land," I wander away To the solitude of a lofty hill, Where the throbbing of life is hush'd still And here, upon this bleak and barren stone, Amid the solemn silence, all alone, As the evening shadows, lengthening, fall, I sit and gaze in rapture on St. Paul ! Reclining upon the brow of this gigantic bluff, beneath the solitary pine, with great hill-tops around me, all rearing toward the steel-blue sky ; and From doubtful-meaning smiles apart, My soul is unrestrained and free To linger sadly with my heart, Or sail out on a pleasant sea ! But I came too late for a grand view in the full blaze of day. Even now the sun is disappearing behind a dark promontory which seems to defy the hostile frowns of old Fort Snelling, whose gloomy walls across the river overshadow the " meeting of the waters !" The western horizon is glowing with gorgeous crimson hues, and the little cloudlets are brightly fringed with lumi- nous tints of gold, while a pleasant murmur in the soft and mellow air hushes nature to repose ! Below the rock whereon I am sitting, Away down there, four hundred feet and more, Millions of golden ripples are flitting Along the Mississippi's pebbly shore Flowing on thousands of miles to the sea, Like Time rolling into Eternity ! 20 CHILDREN OF THE BOI.; 1JUULK In the edge of a small forest, further back upon the bluff, a mile or so away, I behold a slender volume of smoke curling up from the mud chimney of a rude cabin. And down in the sloping ravine, near that great spring of water bubbling all the year, I can perceive three objects, half concealed among the bushes. Mov- ing slowly around, they presently emerge upon the bare rock ; and now I can distinguish a woman and two little ones. An old Indian squaw had a favorite daughter who married the son of a bois brule ; and she is now with her grand-children there upon the rock above the ravine. The children live with their parents in that abode where the volume of smoke is curling up in the air. The cabin itself is in the edge of the forest and scarcely visible from here. There they go up the steep, and then down again into the ravine. The old squaw leads the way, and the little ones cling to her blanket as they scramble through the briers. She reminds me of a hen quail or a maternal turkey, skulking out of sight to screen her young ones from im- pending harm. The children hover each side of their old grandma just as I have seen timid young birds nestle up to their dam, when the hunter and his dogs were near. And I can not help fancying that she is actually cluck- ing to the little chicks, while leading them through the bushes, up and down among the stones. Perhaps she is cherishing a desire which she can not realize. It occurs to me that she is yearning to entice those children away to the haunts of her tribe. She loves them, and they are fond of her. And impelled by that unconquerable habit or instinct of nature which characterizes her race, I A CURIOUS MOUND. 21 imagine her to be wishing within her heart that she could o o lead them hence and have them all her own. Yet that can never be. Civilization has partly reclaimed their father, and lie has taught their mother to live in a man- ner less barbarous than she did in the wigwam, or tee- pee, of her parents before he made her his wife. But there they go down into the narrow glen, and are soon entirely out of sight ! And now I discover an object of much greater interest quite near. With vague conjectures I try to account for the origin of that huge pile of round blue stones not many rods from the edge of the bluff! It seems to have been the work of human hands. The stones are nearly all of the same shape and size, and evidently heaped up there for some particular purpose and with great care like one of those Indian mounds, but entirely of stones, and to all appearance more recently formed. I have not seen any stones precisely like those anywhere about St. Paul. Can it be possible that they were all brought by the Indians from some distant place and piled up I :re in such a shape ? Really, I would like to know why they were placed here thus. But it is tiseless to study out any theory for these prairies and hills, and lakes, and rivers, are full of mystei-ious evidences of the past, which neither history nor science will ever unseal ! Again I turn my eyes upon the beautiful city to per- ceive that its walls are no longer gleaming. The flood of sunlight that made them look so bright when I first gained the top of this elevated wild, has now entirely gone. Even the lurid fires that seemed to blaze from the window-panes of glass have lost all their glow. But what a tranquil scene ! The hush of silence is sublime ! 22 A TWILIGHT DREAM. The bright glory of sunset i& dying Upon the gilded expanse in the west, And the hawk and the crow both are flying To the far-off hills for a place of rest. No more golden hues, nor a sign of red- The lingering twilight is lost in gloom Silently it mourns for the day that's dead Then softly slumbers in its airy tomb ! And now stars bedeck the great blue arch above. But the surface of the river is still in sight. A little archipelago divides the stream lengthwise between ; and the waters resemble a great white ribbon, in the centre all rent and torn, and stretching westward until lost behind the black outline of invisible hills. Sharp gleams of gas-light are plainly seen over in the city where vacant space admits a view, and feebler lights are glimmering among the humble abodes down on the plain between the base of this great bluff and the water's edge. In the distance, there is a monster light, with many smaller ones spread around. They belong to a packet just coming up the river with passengers and merchan- dise. I hear the steam-pipe signal howling fierce and wild, and mark its echoes far and near. Would I were among the throng now gathering on the levee there to see the passengers step ashore; for I have already learned that strangers least expected are coming hither every day. All the world is beginning to think and talk of Minnesota because it offers some attraction or inducement to every one. But I shall not leave this pleasant solitude yet awhile. One night, many years ago, I sat upon Bergen Hights-, before Hudson City became a town, and gazed at the immense metropolis across the North River. That scene ENCHANTED GROUND. 23 was grand, but then I did not feel the indescribable charm experienced by me now. There never was any- thing around New York so peculiarly romantic as the scenery connected with St. Paul. At least I never knew it, if there was. New York is mighty and grand, as an emporium of commerce, an abode of luxury, and a reservoir of misery and want while this bright new city seems to be an enchanted rendezvous for the acquisition of joyous health and buoyant hope. A new city, because less than a quarter of a century has elapsed since all this region was an uncultivated wild. Just there where the city now sleeps in repose, only rocks and trees were seen but a few years ago. And in the identical spot where I am sitting now, doubtless many a savage sat long before the first pale- face came this way. It was but yesterday that the red man's canoe glided noiselessly to and fro upon the pel- lucid lakes and the Father of Rivers that beautify this wonderful land. Wonderful, because so unlike countries elsewhere. Church-spires are now gleaming in the light of day where council fires then burned at night. Instead of the savage war-whoop " on the prairies and in the hills," we now hear the " plowman's merry whistle and the farmhouse dinner-horn." The scenes and sights of twenty-five years ago nearly all have past away. Only a few tame savages remain prowling hereabout to beg or to steal. The multitude have been sent further to the West, The revengeful Chippeways and the insa- tiate Sioux no longer are permitted to fight their terri- ble battles here. The soil of Minnesota is rich with human blood ! Many a thrifty farmer is accumulating wealth from the 24 THE KED MAN'S BLOOD. products of land made -fertile by the carcases of war- riors long since slain ! Here it was that a deadly strife between the aboriginal Algonquin and the encroaching Sioux waged incessantly for a period of at least three' hundred years ! Tradition tells us that the Sioux came hither ten times three hundred and fifty moons ago. From which I infer that their advent had some connection with the con- quest of Mexico. When the Spaniards occupied the halls of the Montezumas, a large and powerful host of Indians were driven to the North. And the marked dissimilarity of the Chippeways (who declare that their Algonquin ancestors have been here forever) and the encroaching Sioux (who came from afar), is some evi- dence in favor of the hypothesis I suggest. Indeed, the relationship of the Sioux and the older native Indians of Minnesota must have been like that of the Greeks in Asia, the Romans in Greece, the Goths in Italy, and the English in Ireland. Conquest gave them a strong footing. Another Thermopylae was here ! Dakota land is really classic ground. And though no chiseled marble leaves a trace to mark any spot where heroes lie, innumerable mounds of buried dead are seen to prove that a race far superior to the miserable red man lived and died here in time long since past. When I first beheld the great rolling prairies of this region my mind was filled with wondering retrospection. The rich soil is filled with roots of esculent production that have deteriorated in the course of time. Millions of acres are silently waiting for the plow to come and bring forth immense harvests of grain ! And I can not resist the conviction that the timber was removed from the land now forming these immense prairies by a race THEORY OF THE PAST. 25 of agricultural antediluvians, or an industrious and, per- haps, civilized nation existing and extinguished since the flood ! The surface of Minnesota is found by set- tlers precisely in the shape and condition that the culti- vated farms of- the East might be thousands of years hence, if the inhabitants were to leave them now. Long- continued decay would remove every vestige of houses, barns, fences and walls. All the improvements would crumble to dust and totally disappear. But after an agricultural pulverization of the earth for years and years, the fields would remain cleared of timber to the end of time. With an annual decomposition of spon- taneous crops perpetually increasing the fertility of the soil, in the course of incalculable time, abandoned farms would become quite as rich as the land of Minnesota. So far as I have seen, there is no doubt of the correct- ness of this theory. I am aware that some great schol- ars will sneer at my deplorable ignorance of the learning which they pride themselves in. Yet the conclusion here stated, is happily established in my humble mind, and I record it without any fear of unanswerable contra- diction. But, hark! The stillness in yonder thicket is dis- turbed by a voice of complaint. A melancholy owl gives vent to his feeling by an occasional utterance that is very unpleasant to my ear. And in the distance, other birds of the same feather, and eyes, are amusing themselves with similarly unmelodious sounds. Then from the pine tree-top, high above my head, there comes a breathing of sorrow ! In the sobbing of the wind, Methinks I can hear the deep sigh Of some lost spirit who can find No place of rest up in the sky I 26 A SENTINEL OF TIME. There is something about this solitary tree that makes me sad. I can not help thinking how long it has been standing sentinel here, cruelly neglected by the living world. And were I of that persuasion who believe in the transmigration of souls, I might imagine that it had been imbued with the spirit of a departed mortal per- haps one of that extinct race who lived here and culti- vated these great prairie fields long before even the red man claimed them for his hunting grounds. And when my musings wander into a mystic vein, it is quite easy for me to interpret that weird voice of sadness up there among those ever-green boughs, as articulated grjef which has not been answered since the hour when its last kindred spirit fled ! A Rolling Prairie, iu Dakota Laud. CHAPTER II. ALADDIN'S magic lamp produced upon the instant all that his capri- cious fancy might suggest. But Aladdin and his wonderful lamp existed only in story. No magic arts, nor charms, nor incantations ever built a city where mankind could live. And that " God made the country, leaving men to build the towns," is a significant allu- sion submitted to infant minds at school. In the usual course of progress, it requires considera- ble time to build a town of only moderate size. Many towns have been building ever since architecture was known to the inhabitants of the world, and a majority of them are not completed yet. Settlements are fre- quently made and towns begun in a rude wooden style, which never rise beyond the dignity of their beginning. Numerous cities have been founded in eligible situations and elaborately mapped out upon paper with prodigious expectation. Some of those paper cities continue to exist only in imagination, or with a melancholy display of failure evident at every door. 28 A SHRINE OF LIFE. And before visiting St. Paul I amused myself with catechetical exercises of mind as to a repetition of sights previously seen. Hearsay indicated perfection ; but ex- perience has taught nie not to rely upon all that I am told while different people see the same object and regard the same subject in various lights according to the prejudice of their minds or in conformity with the pecuniary interests they may have in view. Invalids came hither to regain their health. I was well aware of that. Many of them found what they sought. Some were doomed to die ! A few continued to reside here after the recovery of their health, and a majority of them accumulated riches in addition to their worldly store. A number of the wealthiest citizens of St. Paul came to Minnesota with scarcely a dollar left in their pockets, after distinguished physicians had made significant allusion to the certainty of a premature grave. I heard all that some time ago. But seeing is believing ; and I am now convinced beyond a doubt. The history of St. Paul could not be written without including innumerable instances of regained health and acquired wealth. Devout pilgrims journey to Mecca for the salvation of their souls, to be made certain by prostrating their weary bodies near Mohammed's tomb. That is a pious delusion in Arab-land while here the sick and the needy are sure to find redemption from disease and want by breathing the atmosphei-e and participating in the rare advantages peculiar to this beneficent shrine of life! Two hundred years ago, a couple of Canadian voy- ageurs paddled Father Ilennipin's canoe up the Missis- sippi River. Near Lake Pepin the Indians captured him and his men. They confiscated his goods and CAVERN OF WAKAN-TEBEE. 29 smashed the fragile Lark in which he came. And then lie was taken to lodge near the " Lake of Tears," so called because Aquipaguatin, the chief, wept half the night and finally compelled one of his own sons to par- ticipate in that recreation until morning. Nearly a hundred years later, a venturesome Yankee trader, known as Captain Carver, also came up the Mis- sissippi River in a canoe. Carver was the first white man to discover that mysterious subterranean council- chamber, or incantation hall, which the Indians called Wakan-tebee. The unexplored magnitude of that won- derful cavern was then said to contain a curious lake of transparent water and a fathomless abyss. It is under Dayton's Bluff, just beyond Trout Brook, a lively stream, fed by perpetual springs and gurgling amid the railroad improvements in the lower suburbs of St. Paul. When Father Galtier, a missionary from the Catholic diocese of Dubuque, passed this spot, on his way to Fort Snelling, in April of the year 1840, he saw only a solitary log-cabin upon the site where the bright new city of so many thousand inhabitants now stands be- yond the river there with its gas-lights gleaming in the darkness of night. Soon after then, a number of families from Red River built their shanties near the solitary cabin; and the priest erected a log-house in which they might worship God. Fancying the need of a powerful protector, he named the new church "St. Paul," after his patron model of patience and courage. And then he desii'ed that the settlement should take the same name. But a very baneful influence was retarding the happy results labored for by the priest. Two great spirits were at war in the neighborhood of the new St. Paul's Church. While Galtier solicited salvation for 30 A TEMPLE OF RUIN. the souls around him, the inspiration of a fiend caused his labors to be treated with scorn and he found his field a hard one to till. One Pierre Parrant, who was in the service of the fiend, opened a temple for his followers to worship in. Parrant was a Canadian voyageur, who acquired some notoriety from a facial deformity not very dissimilar to that of Caliban. Many people believed that he had but one eye. That was a mistake. He had two eyes. But the singularity of defect in his optical expression was so swinish, that even the Indians as well as the whites, unanimously bestowed upon him the derisive title of " Pig's Eye." Yet he cared not for that so long as they were his deluded slaves. He had a miserly heart, and loved nothing better than gold. Parrant's temple became a popular resort. There was no sign over the door, nor any emblem of Deity or God to be seen upon the outside of the temple ; and yet it was thronged with Dakotas and pale-faces who thirsted for minne-wakan which is called " whisky" in our less poetical vernacular idiom. Parrant was a frontier rum-seller. No excise law could reach his jugs, his kegs, or his barrels. Business was lively in his groggery. It was lively during the day, and more than lively at night. " Injun love rum !" I heard a Chippeway chief boast- ing that. And he added, " Injun's father love minne- wakan great many moons ago !" The Dakotas, couriers de bois, voyageurs, bois brule, and degraded adventurers hanging around, soon elevated Parrant to the exalted position of chief liquor merchant in the place. Numerous other white skins, with heart- feelings figuratively darker than the color of their mangy hides, also established groggeries hard by. But PIG'S EYE PANDEMONIUM. 31 none of them were patronized so liberally as Parrant. And indeed, if the recollection of my informant is cor- rect, all the merchants who first opened stores in the^ settlement, sold as much whisky as they could. I may say that whisky formed a great part of the early history of St. Paul ; and for some years after, the place was spoken of only as " Pig's Eye," in honor of Parrant, the rum-fiend, rather than " St. Paul," out of respect to the church there of that name. And the small flock who availed themselves of pastoral teaching were almost hourly shocked by the terrible doings among the groggeries down near the water's edge. The drunken Indian hordes, and the inebriate white men, went on carousing, until their own conduct threat- ened to exterminate them all together. Their orgies were frightful ! They must get drunk. And Parrant and his brothers in evil were eager to drench them with liquid ruin ! Dakotas then called St. Paul the " place where Injun get minne-wakan !" Some would tramp hundreds of miles, in the worst of weather, to procure a keg full of the fire-water, so delicious to them. Without ininne- wakan they were unhappy, and with it they were dan- gerously savage. If possible, they would be drunk months at a time and, in all probability, until death terminated their existence entirely, if the liquor held out to the end. They would have minne-wakan ; and to obtain it, barter away the very garments they wore just as the miserable drunken creatures in some dismal precincts of New York are doing now while I am tra- cing these lines. " Big Injun need much minne-wakan. Made to drink ! Must have him now !" And as every Dakota fancied himself big, each one drank all he could get. POISON FOB THE ABORIGINE. 33 Savages, when sober, must necessarily become de- mons under the inspiration of intoxicating drink. Pure whisky would have been bad enough for them to swal- low. But Parrant and his colleagues in crime did not always sell even an inferior grade of that. Intent only upon enriching themselves at all hazards, the traffickers in ruin sold the ignorant red men a horrible liquid, which, by its virulent concitation of the mucous mem- brane, inflamed all their passions. Into an ordinary barrel of thirty-two gallons capacity they placed at least a bushel of rank "black-twist" chewing tobacco, three or four gallons of bad whisky, and a quantity of raw vitriol, with river water sufficient to fill the cask ! After standing some time the destruc- tive fluid was served out to thirsty Dakotas, who almost immediately demanded dram after dram to satisfy those cravings produced by the inflammatory corrosion at work upon their intestines and organs of digestion ! And I might add that this " Injun whisky" is still sold to the aborigines wherever they are found. I once heard of an old toper who abandoned rum and took to camphene a short time before he murdered his wife and children ! But the juice of rank tobacco, tinc- tured with any ingredient like vitriol, is unquestionably worse than burning fluids of ordinary kind. Parrant poured out the poison and clutched his pay with an exulting smile ! He sneered at the entreaties of the poor man's wife, and made no reply to the pursua- sion of those who feared the danger that was brewing ! And the wretched inebriates rolled out of his shanty into the mire, when they could find that soft and agree- able material to lie in. And then they quarreled and fought ! They bit off noses, broke craniums, dislocated spines, gouged out 34 INCANTATION OF THE FIENDS. eyes and disemboweled each other with knives ! They went raving mad, and killed each other with guns, bil- lets of wood, stones and axes, and burned each other with bundles of blazing straw, and drowned themselves or their opponents in the river ! They died from sui-. cide, from freezing, and in all manner of ways ! The Furies, the Eumenides, Medusa, and all the mon- sters of history or fiction, were eclipsed in the frightful exhibitions produced by inebriated men and women ! The hell of Virgil and of Dante was not more impress- ive than that created by ferocious passions, boiling with hatred, jealousy, old quarrels, and deadly antip- athies in full blast ! Shrieks from women and children, mingled with the yells of demons, and the howling of terrified dogs, added the terrors of hearing to the appal- ling sights enacted in " Pig's-Eye Pandemonium !" And it required the strenuous co-operation of the "people" to abate the "increasing cause" of alarm. Finally, re- spectable merchants began to arrive and erect stores, and a number of wealthy strangers were looking around for pleasant places. And yet the whisky traffic continued until "Little Crow," chief of the Lightfoot band, who occupied the Indian village of Kaposia, on the opposite side of the river, some miles below, was shot by his own brother while in an inebriated condition. The chief did not die, but he began to foresee the terrible danger that threat- ened himself and his people, and thereupon solicited the mediation of the Indian agent stationed at Fort Snel- ling, which resulted in establishing a school ! And one dark, rainy Sunday morning in July, 1847, the first school in Minnesota was opened by Miss Har- riet E. Bishop, a young lady of Eastern origin, who seemed to have been born purposely and educated ex- THE DAWN OF LIGHT. 35 pressly for the trying and thankless Vocation of intel- lectual and moral preceptress. She migrated nearly two thousand miles from her native home, with the in- tention of devoting herself to the task of enlightening the red-skin papooses of the wild Dakota, and also teach- ing the progeny of the pale-face who shied away from the approach of civilization, as well as instructing the children of Christians seeking a habitation in what then appeared to be an unreclaimed earthly elysium. She " opened to a slim house," in a little log hovel cov- ered with bark and chinked with mud, and previously used as a blacksmith shop. One apartment, ten by twelve feet square, with pegs driven into the logs on three sides to support board seats. Another seat was made by placing one end of a plank in a crack between the logs and then on a chair. This was for visitors. A rickety cross-legged table in the centre, and a " hen's nest in one corner," completed the " fixtures and good- will." Seven scholars came three whites and four half- breeds, with a half-breed female visitor. One half-breed acted as interpreter. Thus, Miss Bishop not only estab- lished the first Sunday school in Minnesota, but she sus- tained it for at least one year without any assistance. And from that rude hovel of simple tuition, since then have nucleated countless school edifices which even sur- pass those of the older States. A bright future was dawning there. The vulgar appellation of " Pig's Eye " grew intoler- ably odious to the ears of the better class of new-comers, and even the Dakotas were learning to grunt Sip-all in- stead of Im-in-i-jas-ka, which in their language signifies white rock. They had always called the place so because of the white, sugar-like color of a singularly beautiful FINDING A "LOST KEY." 37 sandstone which lies beneath the top stratum of grayish rock forming the bluif upon which the city now stands. But one night Parrant mysteriously disappeared, and none of his patrons could tell why he did not return. Some said he had made money enough, and wanted to find a place for the enjoyment of his wealth. Others contended that he went away quite poor. Many questions were asked which none could answer. Very few cared to know why he went, and some were glad that he had really gone. Singular as it may seem, he had no enemies. All sober or pious people disliked him because of his nefarious traffic, but in other respects he escaped personal malice. In short, he loved no one, and no one loved him. His acquaintances only knew that he had gone. How he went and where his destination might be, never transpired to the knowledge of the pale-faces whom he left behind. And until they read this volume, the people of St. Paul can not tell what became of old Parrant. For now that nearly twenty-five years have elapsed since his mysterious de- parture, it remains for me to disclose his singular fate ! By the merest chance one day I trod upon a " Lost Key." I always pick up whatever I am lucky enough to find ; and perhaps my readers would laugh to see me in the humble attitude of search for a pin in the carpet or on the floor. However, that key unlocked the mys- tery so long concealing Pan-ant's grave ! But what terrible noise is that I hear ? It is like the rumbling of far-off thunder, coming nearer at every growl ! Now a wild scream startles the hooting owl, and it flutters to another bush. Louder roars the noise, and then a double scream, piercing enough to rouse the ancient dead who lie in dust upon these hills ! Hah ! It is the wild neighing of an " iron-horse " and 39 KOUSIXG THE DEAD! the roar of a train of cars upon the track of the Mil- waukee, St. Paul, and Minneapolis Railway, bringing the Eastern passengers and mail. Nearer comes the noise. The train is dashing down from Mendota Junc- tion, and will presently arrive at its final destination, opposite the city. Before the sun went down, I noticed that the depot in the distance was plainly seen from this lofty cliff while now, in the feeble starlight, I can only imagine the arrival of the train. But presently I see the lan- terns darting around and bobbing up and down, and fancy an undiscerned multitude of people, all travel- worn and eagerly impatient for their suppers. But the iron horse is puffing and snorting again. Perhaps he, too, is impatient to enter his smoky stable and enjoy a night of repose. And by the dispersion of the flitting lights, I presume that the omnibuses, the baggage wagons, the carriages and the pedestrians are now ascending the great inclined bridge to the pave- ments of the city. There! They have all gone, and quietude prevails once more upon this side of the river. The sky is deeply blue and serenely clear. Like soli- taire diamonds of colossal magnitude set in a sapphire ground, the planets fairly blaze, and the little orbs of borrowed light intensely shine. I am not addicted to star gazing, but the entire firmament has unusual attrac- tions for me to-night. Surely I never saw so many celestial luminaries at one time before. Venus is my favorite among the stars. I remember asking questions about her when a very small child. Somebody then told me that the "Evening Star" was the beautiful eye of the " Angel of Love !" The same person had previously impressed upon my infantile CONSULTING THE STAKS. 39 mind that the Sun was the " Eye of God !" And I also remember how I hid myself one day in a dark cellar, so that " God's Eye " could not see me while devouring a nice mince-pie which I had been tempted to purloin from the pantry in the house of my aunt. And then, when the pie was all eaten, I went out and skulked beneath the arbor vita bushes and the Norwegian pines that decorated the lawn a miserable, trembling thief with a penitent resolve never to steal any more pies ! But what is Jupiter now doing so near the " Angel of Love ?" I never saw him in such close proximity to Venus before. I wonder if the astronomers will note this fact ? It is certainly a rare phenomenon. The old fellow has gone away down into the southwestern hori- zon to meet her there. And he must have left one of his satellites behind, for I can perceive only three attending him now. Oh, if I had a powerful telescope in my hands, what a treat it would be to look at them while thus so near together ! So near, did I say ? I had forgotten that they are yet millions of miles apart ! How wonderful are the works of nature the crea- tions of Almighty God ! Learned astronomers tell us that we can not see more than a thousand stars in the clearest atmosphere, although from the first to the sixth magnitude inclusive, there are precisely three thousand one hundred and twenty-eight actually visible to mundane eyes. How exactly the science of astronomy can estimate numbers and size ! And then, besides the visible stars, there are countless millions that shine throughout infinite space beyond the reach of mortal vision. It is also said that those orbs of light emit a vast amount of warmth for the benefit of the planet upon which we live. Without their assistance the heat of the 40 WOXDKRS OF THE SKY. sun would not be sufficient to sustain either vegetable O or animal life upon the surface of the earth. And if we credit the assertion of Pouillet, who has formed an ocular acquaintance with all the heavenly bodies, the heat furnished by the stars during a single year would be enough to melt a crust of ice seventy-five feet thick ! But the pretty stars do not deter me from thinking of the past and my mind again reverts to this sphere of human life. And here I will present a likeness of " Little Crow," the chief whose misfortune resulted in the dawn of light ! Tah-o-a-(loo ta ; or ' Lit lie Crow." CHAPTEE III. A LONG train of lied River " Ox- carts " came down to Mendota in the summer of 1845. And accom- panying the train were six individu- als, actuated by counter designs. Three of them were females the other three men. But before re- vealing their intentions, I will men- tally review the early history of the "pale-face encroachments" in the Red River region. I think it was Prince Rupert who oi>:ained a charter from Charles II., about two hundred years ago, covering the "rights of territory" bordering upon all the waters flowing into Hudson Bay. But the treaty of Utrecht, in 1714, somewhat divided the operations of the English and the French, who had both been competing for the fur traffic with the Indians. The French subsequently turned their endeavors more par- ticularly in the direction of " The Lakes," the Assine- boine and the Saskatchewan Rivers, until by the treaty of Versailles, they were compelled to retire with morti- 42 AN AMBITIOUS EAEL. fication and disgust. British subjects then had it all their own way and in 1803, a wealthy organization was formed to establish a lucrative trade across the con- tinent, by way of the " line of lakes," from Montreal to the Pacific Ocean. Then followed a savage contest between the Hudson Bay Company and the new Association, which finally resulted in the erection of a fort on Red River and also the establishing of a colony by " Earl Selkirk, a Scotch nobleman of high rank and large fortune " as the flaming prospectus of his scheme at that time stated. But the ambitious Earl was not quite as successful as he anticipated. And yet a great number of Europeans were enticed thither by false representations. Some of the emigrants perished with hunger and cold ; others escaped as best they could and if they survived the hardships of a journey to the more hospitable settle- ments of " Brother Jonathan Pioneers," their future was generally made comfortable with realized hope and plenty. Notwithstanding the sad fate of so many victims, the colony grew, and it became the chief source of agricul- tural supplies for the numerous trappers and traders employed by the Hudson Bay Company. The few hund- red survivors made concubines of the Indian squaws, and with continual accessions of Irish and Scotch, the population went on increasing, until it now includes some ten thousand. Part of them are British Protest- ants, and part half-breed French of the Catholic feith while many of them have no religion at all ! Selkirk Colony, with its ten thousand or more inhab- itants, is perhaps the most curiously arranged settle- ment in the world. It consists of " strip-divided" farms, each having a narrow frontage of only six chains upon IN THE NORTHERN WILDS. 43 the banks of the Red River and Assineboine thus extending for nearly a hundred miles ! And those men who are pecuniarily interested in the fur trade, have good reasons for jealously guarding that wonderful El Dorado, which is almost entirely unknown to the more civilized people of the " outer" world. But I may add that the British Government is now taking possession of the entire domain hitherto con- trolled by and belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. This is of some importance to the people of the United States, who have recently acquired such a vast territory beyond there. The fur-trading grant covers an area of more than two millions of square miles, lying east and west from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mount- ains, and north and south from the Arctic Ocean to Canada, and is intersected in every part by large rivers. A great portion of it abounds in agricultural and min- eral wealth, and means of communication with the United States and the Atlantic Ocean may be easily established at every point by its numerous lakes and streams. The cession of this territory to the British Crown means the establishment of a regularly organized government there instead of the domination of a few trappers, who of course are only concerned about their own private interests, and therefore have made no at- tempt to develop the immense resources of their posses- sions. Whatever may -be the ultimate disposition of the territory, the people of the United States should be interested and gratified in its development and eventual civilization. In its early existence, many ladies of refinement and education were taken to the Colony. Some of them are said to have been quite beautiful. But the most charm- ing was the wife of a gentleman having a consanguinity " MORGANATIC TIES. 45 with the Earl. Her husband had been sent out as an agent to look after the interests of his noble relation, and he took her with him. She was also accompanied by her daughter Leonore, and her aged mother, who was called Zorah. A name similar to that of her hus- band may be seen in the recently published business directory of St. Paul. Madame Zorah, the wife's mother, was of Scotch birth. But she spent the best part of her youth in the gay city of Paris, where her beauty attracted the notice of the old Marquis Dupontavisse. She became the wife of the Marquis according to the rites of "morganatic" mar- riage a popular institution among European noblemen who find it inconvenient to assume the responsibility of " cherishing" a beloved or an admired "object" for life. While her noble morganatic husband continued alive, he denied her nothing. But when he died, she had no further claims upon his estate. For awhile she sub- sisted upon the fragments of her lost position. But as beauty fades from the cheek, so vanish the charms of many a belle who foolishly imagines that her powers of fascination will endure to the end of existence and the morganatic widow of the deceased Marquis eventually found herself nearly destitute in the beauti- ful city of pleasure and the frightful city of want. And then she wept in anxiety, how she might also provide for the maintenance of her young daughter. Trouble, misfortune, sickness a thousand asperities, were not long in changing her appearance, so that nearly all the acquaintances of her youth and prosperity turned their eyes away. Her effeminate face and graceful person were gradually transformed into a masculine exterior, and finally she was bereft of every charm that might inspire love. The multitude coldly passed her by, and 46 HISTORY OF A LIFE. scarcely a smile encouraged her to live. Yet she was not of that desponding nature which seeks to end its sorrow in death. Suicide did not enter her mind then. She would rather fight than die. If her fellow-mortals jostled her rudely, she could try to jostle them in return. When fair means did not avail, other plans might suc- ceed. At all events, she existed through the variations of sorrow that is unavoidable to her class and position, with at least one pure and holy feeling ever actuating the best impulses of her heart and that was entwined around her child, whom she loved with almost an idola- trous devotion. Circumstances induced her removal to London, where, through the patronage of a wealthy family, her child was not only reared and educated, but afterward ad- mitted into society as an accomplished and beautiful lady. And almost the first thing she did was to fall in love with and marry a young exile from France. Soon after marriage, her husband ventured back to his native country, and there he died ! The Marquis Dupontavisse left two grandsons whom Zorah had never seen. And, unknown to her, one of those grandsons actually married her daughter who, according to the denomination of consanguinity, thus became the wife of her nephew ! But the singular cir- cumstance was not revealed for many years after. The fruit of that unnatural alliance was a daughter. It seemed useless to expect anything from her hus- band's estate for, in the fashion of noble exiles, he had even concealed his proper name and title. There was no clue to aid her in establishing the just claims of a widow, and she finally married again. She resided with her second husband for some time in Quebec, Canada. Eventually he became the Earl's THE FAIR ADVENTURESS. 47 agent to the Red River Colony, and she accompanied him thither. Thus her daughter Leonore was really the grandchild of the Marquis Dupontavisse by a double line of pedigree ! On their way to the Colony, they were joined by a lady from Montreal, who expressed a determination to journey thither with them. The Agent was rather pleased to have her society, and so she went along. An agreeable traveling companion is not obnoxious at all times. Her name was Florinda. But she said very little about her previous history. Whether she had been married or always single, was a question that she left unanswered, for her new acquaintances to solve if they could. None failed to recognize her accomplish- ments and personal charms. Madame Zorah did not like her any too well, nor did the Agent's wife. However, they fraternized with tol- erable satisfaction to the end of their journey. Soon after their arrival at the Colony, the Agent was recalled to Quebec and he persisted in leaving his wife and her daughter, Leonore, to the care of Madame Zorah. His wife begged hard to accompany him ; but replying that he would return in a short time, her tears and en- treaties were all of no avail. Cheerfully she would have undergone any hardship or privation rather than be separated from him for a single day. It was love and devotion that induced her to brave the fatigue and the exposure of going with her husband from the com- forts of a city residence to a rude wilderness habitation in the centre of America, and surely she would go back with him if he consented. But he positively refused. She must remain in the Colony to weep until his return. She wept a long time. Many days came and went without even an affectionate letter to cheer her drooping WIDOAVHOOD AND DESPAIR. 49 heart. Three whole months passed in expectation, and still her husband did not return. Numerous strangers arrived, but none brought tidings from him. At length one of the voyageurs who accompanied her husband, returned to say that he was drowned in Lake Superior. She then determined to leave the wilderness without further delay. Her mother askdff how that was possible, when they were utterly destitute of money. She replied that she would borrow money of the fac tors ; for they were her husband's friends. And she did try ; but without success. Then she wrote a letter to his relations in Montreal. It was easy enough to write, but an answer would be a long time coming. She wrote six letters one a month in succession, without getting any response. Then she wrote the seventh, to which an answer promptly came. But instead of getting consolation and relief, she was filled with deeper anguish by a curt intimation that the benevolent father of her deceased husband could not think of acknowledging her claims of relationship, for reasons Avhich he vaguely named ! Such a letter very naturally sent her to bed heart- sick and nearly bereft of reason. And while her mother and her daughter did all they could to cheer and com- fort her, Florinda showed even greater solicitude than previous circumstances might seem to warrant. And those previous circumstances were questionable to a great extent. An opulent man named Tashae, connected with the fur-trading interests of that region, after having enjoyed quite an animated flirtation with Florinda, gave unmis- takable signs of admiration for the widow, whose hus- band had very evidently gone forever. Indeed, from the conduct of Tashae, it was evident that he correctly 5U AVHAT JEALOUSY WILL DO. surmised or really knew more about the actual position of the grief-stricken widow than she did herself. But his sentimental addresses had been strictly confined to Florinda, until the reported death of the husband gave him an opportunity for transferring them. And as Flo- rinda and the widow lodged beneath the same roof, the former was qutok to perceive a decline of her influence with Tashae. Then she watched them closely in and out of doors. Jealousy does not always exhibit a violent demon- stration. In some hearts there lurks a subtile deceit particularly adapted for safe concealment of the direst purposes of revenge. Hence it frequently occurs that an innocent victim is unconsciously fettered in the toils of hate. And thus for some time Florinda had been in- dustriously planning evil. Quite probably she under- stood domestic intrigue, though it did not appear cer- tain that she would succeed in becoming the wife of Tashae. She tried hard enough and it was a very laud- able intention for an unprotected woman ; but not proper- ly appreciated by a less anxious individual of the oppo- site sex. The " green-eyed monster " has ever been a prime instigator of ruin alike to the evil and the pure-minded believers in that juvenile god who does so much mis- chief with his bow and arrows, and it was not surprising that Florinda should increase her malice toward the innocent widow in proportion to the growing preference which Tashae made no effort to conceal. But the widow cared nothing for Tashae's admiration. She was insensible to every feeling save grief for the loss of her husband, and distress from the tone of that cruel letter and therefore did not perceive the alarming exigency of her position. Her only remaining wish was A FUR-TRADER'S LOVE. 51 to leave the Colony forever. Yet she could not accom- plish that without friends or money. Despair knows no law but that of self-preservation ; and, counting upon Tashae's friendly attentions, the sorrowing widow reluctantly solicited him to loan her sufficient means to convey herself, her daughter and her aged mother, to any locality within the bounds of civil- ization, where they might obtain employment, and thereby earn enough to repay him and eventually re- cross the ocean. Florinda was heartily pleased with that proposition. But Tashae did not intend to part with the widow yet. He and Florinda had different opinions regarding the widow's health. Tashae contended that she would not be able to endure the fatigue of an " Ox-cart " journey for thirty or forty days. Florinda declared that it would completely restore her. As a rival, she wished her at the other side of the world and then she might have the field all to herself. And even before the period of mourning was over, Tashae asked the widow to become his wife. He would then gratify her every wish. His presumption brought a flat refusal. And still he persisted. Arguments and persuasion were used upon one side, while resentment or scorn was hurled from the other. Tashae was a bold, bad man, with plenty of money ; and he disliked to be baffled. He could and he would do whatever he pleased, where neither religious influ- ences, nor courts, nor juries compelled a strict adherence to moral laws. But an influence which he could not control was already at work. The unhappy widow fell sick, and Florinda became a very attentive nurse. Physicians of great knowledge or skill were scarce in THE " MEDICINE MAN." 53 the Colony ; and Florinda suggested that Kaskadino, a half-breed, who had some reputation as a " medicine man," should be called in to prescribe. The medicaments of an Indian doctor are very simple, and precisely those used by Chiron and Esculapius, in olden time. The half-savage physician may be ignorant, but I have read that when Hippocrates began to mix theories with medicine, its healing powers grew less. And while some sneer at the mummery of the " medi- cine dance" and manipulative pow-wows of the savage, 1 contend that such imposture is not a tenth as bad as the frauds of sectarian " systems " or antagonistic " schools" of materia medica, as practiced in the midst of civilization. The Indians know of certain herbs or roots that will cure almost any disease they are liable to contract; and with all their unnecessary juggling over the sick, or the " possessed," they maltreat and kill fewer than do our pretending qiiacks. But Indian doctors are sadly ignorant of physiology. They only know that a particular remedy is generally efficacious in certain diseases or injuries. In their opin- ion, all maladies are bilious ; and they administer either the emetics or cathartics of their humble pharmaco- poeia. External wounds or eruptions are speedily cured. The small-pox is an exception. Some years ago, that horrible disease was sent among them by goods from Canada ; and, despite all their remedies, it carried off whole bands ! A " medicine man " is supposed to possess some mys- terious influence beyond the curative power of the phar- maceutical ingredients that he may compound. The early French explorers used the word "medecin" for doctor, and since then " medicine " has signified any- thing of a mysterious meaning. But " medicine men " 54 A HEARTLESS XURSE. are prophets and conjurers, who claim to perform won- derful miracles through charms and incantations. A sick Indian imagines that he is afflicted by the spirit of some animal, or, more likely, by the spirit of an enemy ; and he sends a horse or a blanket for the doctor to come and turn it out. The messenger is stripped to run swiftly, retaining only his " breech-cloth " and carrying a bell. Entering the doctor's teepee, he kicks him with his foot and rings the bell. Then there is a race back to the sick man's lodge. If the doctor overtakes the messenger and kicks him in* return, he will keep his fee and stay at home until sent for again. However, Kas- kadino was not summoned in that way to attend the widow. Florinda had already agreed with the rascal. She not only suggested his services, but proceeded to act without the delay of consultation, and at once began to administer the remedies prepared by him. The grandmother and the daughter were too intent upon the condition of their loved one, raving in delirium upon her bed, to scrutinize the conduct of Kaskadino and Florinda. And if there was a peculiar look of inquiry in the face of the latter as the former delivered his potions, it escaped observation ! Florinda smoothed the pillow for the sufferer's head, bathed her temples with cold water, and presented the draughts for her to drink. It did not take long to wear out a frail remnant of existence with fever and doubtful remedies given. And not even the neighbors were able to interpret the strange flashing of exultation in Florinda's eye as she daily witnessed the ebbing of life. The pale forehead became smoother, and the blue veins might be traced under the skin. The eyes grew dim, 3 COOL DRAUGHTS AND POISON. 55 and occasionally wandered with a vacant stare, showing that reason had gone. And the pinched nostrils and the parched lips were drawn tighter each succeeding day. One night the dying mother tried to speak, but it was only an incoherent whisper. A convulsion and a shiver, and then a deep sigh announced that her spirit had gone forever ! In the brief silence, Madame Zorah bowed her head to weep. But Leonore rose gasping for breath, and frantically shrieked, " Mother !" A voice was heard in response. It came from Kaska- dino, the medicine-man, who, unobserved, had been watching at the outer door. In a hollow tone he said, " I can do no more !" As the dark man spoke those words, a tremor dis- turbed the composure of Florinda. She could not meet his piercing gaze ; and with a sign of fear, her head was turned away. When she ventured to look at him again, he pointed at the corpse; and then pressing one hand against his heart, in a significant manner, abruptly quit the house ! CHAPTEE IV. suffering and endurance for the sake of her darling child, had given Madame Zorah an ex- pression of features somewhat older than she really was. But most of her trials were experi- enced before little Leonore came into the world to share the love she had to bestow. With the anxious solicitude of a mother, she watched the ma- turing of her beloved offspring into a lovely woman ; and, after seeing her twice a bride and once a mother, it was hard to look upon that young mother lying in death ! She kissed her forehead the last time, when it was icy cold, and then saw the dismal coffin-lid screwed down, before they put it away in the damp earth ! The Kceurs (/rises, or " gray nuns," came out of their cloister in the Colony, and assisted in the sad prepara- tion of the corpse. They were " Sisters of Charity," and such missions self appointed to perform. The obsequies were simple and plain. Only grandma 58 THE GRAVE-DIGGERS MOUND. and the orphan wept in mourning ! They were frantic with bitter woe, while other eyes calmly looked on in sober silence, undimmed by a sign of tears ! The grave was in a quiet corner of the field of the dead, near the grove at the river side, where many others had been buried before. And when the heavy clods fell in upon the coffin with that appalling sound, the mourners' hearts almost ceased to beat, so suffo- cating was their grief! The old grave-digger reverently heaped up a little mound ; and with his spade he patted the fresh earth into shape ! And then they all slowly turned away ! O, how cruel it seemed to leave the loved one there to feed the worms, and dissolve in eternal decay ! But Florinda desired not to accompany the mourners when they followed the coffin to the grave. She stayed at home to brood over her crime and to wonder if the living would ever discover the wrong done to the dead ! And Tashae did not look upon her with any more favor after her rival's death. He then began to woo the daughter, whose greatest inheritance was her moth- er's magnificent eyes. Leonore was scarcely sixteen, and beautiful enough to inspire a purer heart than Tashae's with admiration and love. But Tashae could not appreciate such love as Leonore might give. His mind was gross and his heart was cold. Strange that he interested Florinda ! But whether she loved him or not, her ambition was to be his wife. One life had been sacrificed with that object, and another would leave her mistress of the situation. Kaskadino quickly perceived her thoughts, and shook his head with a hoarse grunt, which signified a very emphatic " No !" He was a cunning as well as a wicked demi-savage. Well aware that she aspired to be Ta- MARRIAGE U A LA MODE DU PAYS. 59 shae's wife, he easily understood why the widow had been in her way ; and it became equally as evident that the life of the innocent daughter was in danger, too ! Kaskadino lent his aid in the first crime, hoping to get Florinda in his power. Moreover, according to his theory, what he had already done, should induce her to follow him ever after as his obedient slave. And per- ceiving that her regard for Tashae continued as strong as it was before he conspired with her against the widow, he not only grew jealous himself, but firmly re- solved that the daughter should not be harmed, while there remained the least prospect of his rival continuing to woo her. Tashae and Kaskadino were said to be friends. But I will not believe that any tie of friendship could act- ually exist between two men of such widely different origin and position. However, they were not enemies, to judge from the pleasant words exchanged by them whenever they met. It soon became necessary for Tashae to visit Mendota in person, upon business of great importance connected with the settlement of pecuniary affairs controlled en- tirely at that place. And Kaskadino would accompany him thither. The half-breed was very familiar with the route. In summer, he often traveled it with an " Ox- cart," and in winter with " Dog-sledges " and snow shoes. From Kaskadino's great interest in Florinda, a stran- ger would infer that he was an unmarried man, while he really had a gigantic wife and half a dozen robust chil- dren, all living within half a mile of her abode. For, in conformity with an established rule of the Hudson Bay fur-trading interests, all their vassals are required to appropriate squaws and he long ago married a la mode du pays, just as his father did before him. 60 WHAT HISTORY DOES NOT TELL. Kaskadino was only a simple bois brule and a rough teamster one of those mongrel beings of illegitimacy and miscegenation, who have no pedigree, no nation, and no God ! If the true history of Selkirk Colony should ever be written, it would reveal every species of fraud, crime and atrocity that is enacfed in a populous city, made hideous there by its isolation from the civilized world. A naturally beautiful region but the unfortunate settlers were controlled by relentless speculators and surrounded by insatiate savages, in the midst of a wilderness, where the summer is very short and the winter so intensely cold that the mercury freezes in the thermometer, and large trees and great rocks are split asunder with the frost ! There is no probability that its history will ever be written. It was the middle of summer when Tashae found it necessary to visit Mendota. Of course he would accom- pany the Ox-train then preparing to start. Had it been in the winter time, dogs would have taken the place of oxen. A week or so before the Ox-train was ready to start, Major Levasseur arrived from Fort Snelling. That was not his real name, but it answered every purpose. He bore the stamp of a gentleman. His cultivated demeanor and distinguished personal appearance commanded the profound deference of all whom he met. He spoke English fluently, though that was not his native tongue. Major Levasseur's mission there was to perfect a ne- gotiation of commercial importance with the so-called Governor of the Colony. And consummating which almost immediately, he gave notice to his small retinue that, he intended to return the next morning. But hear- PRODIGAL COQUETTES. 61 ing that an Ox-train would soon go down, he resolved to wait and join the expedition. The Governor referred him to Tashae, through whose courtesy he made the acquaintance of Florinda; and she, in turn, could not avoid introducing him to Madame Zorah and Leonore, the beautiful orphan, who were still crushed with grief. There certainly was some strange fatality following in the path of Madame Zorah. One grandson of her noble morganatic husband made her daughter his wife in London, and then away there in the far-oif wilder- ness of America, the other grandson came to besiege the heart of Leonore ! But Madame was ignorant of that. Had she known the truth, Major Levasseur would have been less welcome. As it was, she hoped that Leonore's beauty might prove their salvation. Should she captivate him, he would remove them from the Colony. Levasseur had seen his brother's bride in London, and indistinctly remembered her magnificent eyes. But when he tried to recollect where he had seen such eyes as Leonore's, it was impossible to tell. Little did he dream of their real origin ! Florinda went to work again. She seemed to enter- tain the most prodigal views of flirtation. In her opin- ion, every individual of the opposite gender was legiti- mately a fair prize, if she could catch him. I have encountered similar birds of passage in various grades of society. And how unaccountable it is that they so seldom marry. It is also a notable fact that when one of these prodigal coquettes succeeds in nabbing a hus- band, the unfortunate individual almost invariably and speedily seeks consolation from celibate companions, who, after ridiculing his folly to their heart's content, 62 WOOING A BROTHER'S CHILD. kindly receive him as a tolerated protege for a butt of reference when the bliss of matrimony is brought into question. However, Levasseur's skillful address quickly dis- armed Florinda. He eifectually assumed a strictly paternal interest in the gentle orphan, without the remotest idea that she was really his own niece. But he understood the art of wooing too well to fail when the object was so richly worth the pure love of a noble heart in return. The grave held Leonore's mother, and yet it seemed to Madame that she was with her still. Leonore's presence kept that love alive. Nevertheless, the resem- blance between Leonore and her mother was noticeable in nothing except her eyes. Those were precisely like her mother's. Perfectly black, and remarkably large, with a melting lustre that the beholder would hardly ever forget. Her mother's eyes captivated her father, and now his brother came to fall in love with hers ! A marvelous coincidence in life ! Not an imaginary position but an actual misadventure in social life ! ! Madame was not aware that the grandson of the proud old Marquis Dupontavisse stood ready to kneel at her granddaughter's feet. But she smiled when Levasseur said that Leonore's lustrous black eyes re- called another pair he had seen somewhere before. She had no reason to suspect that Levasseur ever saw the eyes of Leonore's mother ! Had Levasseur arrived before her mother died, there might have been a recognition. But entirely ignorant of all that, Madame congratulated herself on the proba- bility of realizing the scheme which suddenly inspired her heart. She would let the stranger woo Leonore un- til he took them back to the civilized world, and there "GOD BLESS THAT MAN." 63 he must either marry her or go his way, and leave them to pursue theirs. Thus the grandmother planned to lose or to win ! In that desperate game she was staking at least one pure human soul ! Tashae obliged Levasseur with such arrangements as he required to accompany the Ox-train ; and Florinda exerted herself to look captivating. But while merely thanking them for their good natui'e, Levasseur became deeply interested in the sorrows of the beautiful orphan. He listened to her story, and generously oifered to con- vey them hence. Tashae was sorely vexed when Levasseur made known his magnanimous intention, and would have opposed it if he dared. But he feared to displease a man whose influence could remove him from his position. So while chafing beneath compulsion, he put on a smile of appro- bation, and hoped for a favorable result during their long journey. The evening before their departure, Levasseur accom- panied Leonore and her grandmother to take a last look at her mother's grave ! It was a sad picture to see those stricken hearts weep- ing over the little mound of earth that covered the re- mains of their dear one gone forever ! And when Levasseur raised Leonore from the crouching posture in which she wept with her head buried in her grand- mother's arms, and kissed her as a father might a dar- ling child, an observer would have ejaculated, " God bless that man !" The night passed, and morning came. Already the Ox-carts were moving. One after the other they fell into line. And when the last started, the foremost was far away. FAREWELL TO MOTHEK's GRAVE. 65 Madame Zorah's hollow cheek was not so pale, nor were Leonore's beautiful eyes so red, when their bene- factor kindly and tenderly lifted them both upon easy riding horses. A long and a rough road lay before them but hope urged them on ! The sun rose bright and fair, the wild birds were car- oling in the trees, and the delicious odor of neglected flowers perfumed the air. Adieu, Selkirk adieu ! And mother's grave ? Dear mother ! Farewell ! Then also good-by to the " land of windmills " with their grotesque wheel-sails whirling upon giant arms, or hanging motionless when there was no breeze to give them motive power. They are a feature of antiquity blended with the other romantic associations peculiar to Selkirk Colony. At the junction of the Assineboine and Red Rivers, they passed Fort Garry, floating above the gloomy walls of which a blood-red flag revealed the monogrammatic signum of the Hudson Bay Company. And opposite the fort, they saw the half-ruined walls of the cathedral which was erected many years before and never finished outside or in. The rough stone abutments and facades were surmounted with two steeples. And the heavy chime of bells in one of them seemed to jar the dingy timbers in the open tower with its framework still naked to the eyes of every passer-by. All those quaint objects faded from the travelers' sight as they journeyed on in hope of enjoyment yet to come. Kaskadino had duties to perform. But while trudg- ing along at the side of his oxen, he now and then hurled a revengeful glance far to the rear, where Tashae was riding on horseback accompanied by Florinda. That wicked woman had become one of the party 66 THE BED RIVER OX-CARTS. through the skillful exercise of her cunning. She did not want to lose sight of Tashae, while Leonore was near him ; and he acquiesced in her going, for the sake of a pleasant traveling companion on his return. The Red River Ox-cart has wheels at least six feet high. Such a great diameter is to facilitate their progress over roads that would seem utterly impassable to a citizen's eye. The shafts are similar to those of an ordinary dray, but extend from the animal's shoulder beyond the rear of the box and rest on a level. Thus, the load is not easily displaced by violent jolting nor liable to dip into the muddy sloughs. The spokes pass entirely through the deep, wide rim of the wheels, and slant out some inches beyond the hub, thus forming a brace at each side of the vehicle to prevent it upsetting. Only a single ox is attached to each cart though sometimes a lazy driver has been known to tie the horns of his patiently toiling beast to the rear end of the cart ahead ; and so on, stringing a lot together in which position their poor necks must suffer at any unexpected jolt. The most singular feature of the cart and harness is that not a particle of iron need be used in their con- struction. Only ash or swamp-oak wood, roughly hewn with hatchets, forms the vehicle. The harness is similar to that used in more civilized parts of the world two hundred years ago. A buffalo-hide collar, stuffed with moss, supports the names, which are connected with the shafts by short traces of rawhide and wooden pins. A band passes entirely around the animal's body, resting upon a small rude saddle at the back, after wrapping the shafts to keep them from shaking about. The hold- back strap passes over the hips and connects with the shaft on each side in a peculiar way. Nine hundred pounds is considered a good load for LNTOXICA.TIKG SOUNDS. 67 an Ox-cart, and thirty miles far enough to travel in one day. Every six or eight miles, the oxen are allowed to feed. Prairie grass is the only food they get. While the oxen crop the grass, the people lunch on wild game or pemican. After an hour's delay, they resume their journey as before. An army of one hundred thousand crazy soldiers, marching with a calithumpian band, could not surpass the awful noise made by a train of several hundred Ox-cart wheels when in motion. The axle-trees are greased with a composition of lye and buffalo fat, which quickly slushes out, leaving the friction to produce the most doleful sounds ever devised to torture human ears or to demoralize a sensitive mind. A lazy, creaking whine, as if all the imps of pandemonium were singing themselves to sleep after a high old spree. At Red River, a cart costs from fifteen to thirty dol- lars, and, with proper care, may be used five or six years, providing a new axle-tree is put in every spring. They are employed in carrying merchandise out to the British possessions and bringing in furs. The Hudson Bay Company use at least eight hundred at the pres- ent time ; and individuals are running a thousand or so more. Each load is packed under a second- quality buffalo hide, which is first soaked to be tightly drawn thus forming a sure protection against the weather. The train that brought down Madame Zorah and Leonore, included nearly fifty carts, and quite as many people. The Captain had his wife, and some of the driv- ers had their wives and children with them. At sunset, the flag was pulled down. And then the cattle were unharnessed, and the carts all backed up in a circle around the camp-fires, inside of which they and the 68 THE ENCAMPMENT AT NIGHT. people, and dogs and horses, were comparatively secure from external harm. The evening was spent in telling stories and card-playing, or whatever might suit their fancies. After a horrid sleep, the flag was hoisted again ; and they were all up and away the next morn- ing an hour before the sun appeared in the sky. But as if the "wheel melodies" of the previous day were not abundantly sufficient for the extreme enjoy- ment of the organic sense of human hearing, two other styles of music were introduced at night. Purely nat- ural, both of them. The barking of prairie wolves not unfrequently deterred the inexperienced travelers with the caravan from sleeping as soundly as they might in bed at home. Indeed, the close proximity of significant growls had some tendency to produce a trifling sensa- tion in the minds of the half-breed ox-drivers who were accustomed to such lullabies to intensify their dreams. The wolves not only growled and barked, but they seemed to be carnivorously inclined. And the tradi- tional theory of their indiscriminate appetites has been well established by them devouring mankind, regard- less of age or sex. The ladies were somewhat alarmed when they heard a retaliative whine between the dogs inside the circular camp, and their uncivilized cousins who prowled hungrily without. Then the exquisite song of the mosquitoes that filled the air in quest of nourishing subsistence, also disturbed the composure of Madame in particular. She violently abominated that species of insectile torments, and mentally vowed never to incur similar punishment by a second journey in the land where they exist at certain, or rather uncertain, seasons to an extent entirely beyond the conjectural scope of people who have not been there to realize the truth by personal experience. MODERN SONS OF ISHMAEL. 69 With the primitive simplicity of conveyances, invent- ed before the existence of Tubal Cain, the quaintly- fashioned carts creaking, and the bovine hoofs clatter- ing upon the trail and with men, women and children in romantic attire, the winding cortege-caravan some- what resembled a procession of crusaders foraging for plunder, or a horde of pilgrims in quest of promised rewards that lie afar. The captain's authority is absolute when once in com- mand, and the multitude all obey. As the pillar of cloud was to the camp of the children of Israel, so is the flag of these modern sons of Ishmael to them. When it is hoisted at dawn, every one must rise and be moving. It flutters in the breeze all day upon the march, and goes down with the sun at night. A leading ensign, a guide an animated signum of life, in the tramp, tramp, over the hills and far away ! Hah ! Again my reverie is broken by a startling sound. Now I hear the tolling of a bell beyond the wide river ! The strokes ai-e regular and solemn and I count ten, eleven, twelve ! Precisely the midnight hour! And while the multitude of people in the city are nearly all slumbering comfortably abed, I am linger- ing here alone upon this uninhabited hill. An irre- sistible impulse brought me up here to enjoy a sunset view, and for seven long hours since then, some strange spell has kept me chained to these rocks. CHAPTER Y. I AM not addicted to imagi- nary fears ; but, at this particu- lar moment, a very unpleasant sensation disturbs the usual pla- cidity of my nerves. To be L candid, I am suddenly and se- ,,'/ riously impressed with a vague comprehension of the weird-like scene surrounding me at such an hour. Midnight solitude in a spot like this, does not tend to inspire a common mortal with the most exhilarant feelings. The tones of that bell must have produced this strange emotion. I can not tell why, but the tolling of a bell is sure to make me sad. Even those " holiday chimes" in the church towers, sound doleful to me. And then, too, the " merry marriage bells," so often meant for joy, seem to say in my ear, " Come and laugh with us to-day, for perhaps to-night we'll die !" What if an inebriated savage, either Sioux or Chip- peway, should chance to wander this way and ruth- 72 WHEN GRAVE-YARDS YAWN ! lessly despoil me of my scalp ? Having " no hair upon the top of my head," might not save me from his san- guinary intention. And what if half a dozen aborigi- nes, filled with the evil inspiration of minne-wakan, should surprise me here ? Yet that is not possible now for the "bad Injuns" have all been sent away. And then that mournful breathing up in the pine tree-top, is so sadly suggestive of a lost spirit hovering near ! Nevertheless, I am not fearful of a ghostly ap- parition. Even when a child, I could not be taught to dread spectral horrors, nor to shun grave-yard terrors, the darkest night in the year. Indeed, I once slept at night upon a marble tomb. Strolling through a grand old cemetery on a pleasant evening, I sat down to muse. Sleep overpowered me ; and, instead of a visit from ghosts or goblins, I realized a marvelously romantic dream, in which there was much more truth than fiction. Haunted houses are very terrifying to morbidly super- stitious people, whose absurd fancies lead them to sus- pect that a spiritual emissary of evil is lurking in every dark nook and gloomy retreat. And now I remember a ghost adventure, or rather a ghost hunt, in which I participated some years ago. The sighing of the breeze among the branches of the solitary pine, recalls that adventure. It was in a de- serted school-house standing at the edge of a small forest of pines. A little edifice of stone, erected long before I came into the world, was standing somewhat remote from any habitation ; but in the midst of a thickly-populated agricultural district, so that it might be convenient to the farmers living in either direction. O Not far distant was the shii'e town with its stores, and its shops, and a particularly shabby tavern. The tav- THE TAVERN-KEEPElt's SON. 73 ern was all the more unpleasant in consequence of the landlord having a nearly grown-up idiotic son, who fre- quently terrified the neighbors and the guests by ma- licious depredations or raids of lunatic diversion. He had, nevertheless, learned to read and write but math- ematics he could not understand. His favorite amusement was industriously tormenting the neighbors' cats. So far did he carry his diversion in the feline community, that nearly all the affrighted Tommies and Tabbies would scamper out of sight the instant he appeared or even his voice was heard. This tantalizing propensity of the imbecile, in such a delightful pursuit, won for him the appropriate sobriquet of " Cattey " by which he was familiarly designated among the more comp->s mentis inhabitants of the town. I believe that all villagers select some particular indi- vidual of the community upon whom they unanimously crack their jokes and play their tricks. In conformity with that popular rule, Cattey was made the acknowl- edged butt of those who were addicted to ridicule or fond of fun. He never killed any cats, but displayed a marvelous talent for devising novel methods of annoying and tor- turing them. One old masculine rather disputed his right to "hiss and skat!" and frequently inflicted gashes upon his legs, arms, hands and face, puynis et cal- cibus. But instead of exasp?rating the Idiot into a vio- lence that might have resulted in his own destruction, the spunky old cat thereby won the admiration and esteem of his foolish tormentor. This theme reminds me of the ethical discourse of " one old maid in a thousand," who cherishes an abhor- rence for the entire feline race. She compares their characteristics to everything mean in human nature 4 74 SOMETHING ABOUT CATS. and says, " I hate eats. They havn't one of the virtues, but all the vices. They are deceitful and ungrateful and they'll steal. You can't bribe them to be faithful, nor can you arouse their pride by ill-treatment. Spurn a dog's friendly advances, and it will shy off insulted ; but you may kick a cat out of the house ten times a day, and it will sneak in and pur-r-r-r around you hypo- critically whenever it smells cream. It will caress you without any love. It will return to the house you have left because it has been comfortable there. But it will never follow you like a do^ does through sickness, sor- row and want, and then lu moaning on your grave when your friends have all gone off and forgotten where you lie. I tell you that I abominate them all from the old gray cat squalling out of doors after people have all gone to bed, to the Maltese kitten on the rug in front of the parlor fire." The old school-house near the forest of pines, had been managed by a male pedagogue in the winter and by an exemplary " marm " in the summer, from year to year, until eventually a young lady of New England origin filled the vacant chair. C7 The tavern-keeper's silly son saw the new teacher, and fell in love with her. He said he was old enough to have a wife. But she declined his offer of marriage, and repulsed him so harshly that he resolved to seek revenge. She thought lightly of his threat, and went on in the even tenor of her way without the least fear of harm. Her school consisted of only nine pupils, all told. Six little girls, two little boys, and Jane, a large wench, made up the number. In Jane, the teacher had a very warm friend. The Idiot was frequently seen lurking about in the AN IDIOT'S REVENGE. 75 pines. But Jane kept on the alert. One day he ap- proached the school-house and looked in at the window near Jane's seat. After frightening the little children and winking at the teacher, he wrote with a pencil on the window-sill. Then laughing in a strange manner, ' O O / he slowly walked off out of sight among the pines. When the Idiot was gone, Jane read in the large characters plainly written upon the window-sill : " I'll come when that nigger aint here, and fix you off then. If you resist me, I shall take out your heart and keep it to carry on my watch-chain. My knife is a new one. Yesterday I sharpened it up on father's grind- stone. Its edge is as keen as Uncle Josh's razor." A few hours afterward school was dismissed for the day, and the children scampered off to their homes. But, suspecting danger, Jane lingered to accompany the teacher. They closed up the shutters as usual, and were just ready to emerge from the door, when the Idiot stood before them. His face was distorted with an exulting grin, and uttering an incoherent exclamation he grasped the teacher's arm. Totally paralyzed with fear from his sudden reappear- ance after what he had written upon the window-sill, she could neither resist nor scream. And with mouth- ing, maniacal chuckles, the Idiot dragged her back into the dark room ! The struggle was quickly over ! Two blows from an axe and a heavy fall ! A long moan and gurgling sounds ! And then all was still ! A stream of warm, crimson blood ran across the floor and gathered in a pool where the light shone in at the open door ! " You have killed him !" shrieked the teacher. " He is dead !" CUT NOSE; or "Me Good lu.jnn." A Tender-hearted Sioxtx Convict, who was executed for Butchering Nineteen White People. VILLAGE SUPERSTITIOX. ^7 A long, loud, wild scream came from Jane as she darted out of the school-house, and fled into the pines ! The teacher called and called, but Jane did no" , return ! Flying, whither none could tell, she disap- peared forever ! A farmer then chanced to be passing along that way, and, lifting the corpse into his wagon, he carried it to the village tavern. O The teacher's story was believed in consequence of Jane's flight. But after the corpse of the Idiot was laid in the ground, she departed for a distant town. And there was no more school in the old stone house at thu edge of the forest of pines ! I slept in that miserable village tavern eight or ten years after the school-house tragedy had been performed. Business connected with the opening of a new railway called a friend of mine thither, and I accepted an invita- tion to accompany him. While there, a villager related to me the whole story, with a declaration that the house was haunted. After the Idiot's funeral it had not been visited by any one. But groans, such as he was supposed to have uttered with his last breath, were frequently heard at night-time by persons obliged to journey that way. It was generally believed that a ghost must be there at such hours, in just the same condition which the Idiot's body was when he struggled in the agony of death. I laughed at the villager when he related the ghost part of his story ; and a very large, swarthy teamster thought to intimidate me by saying that I was "afeered" to enter the old school-house after night. He boasted that the neighbors dare not go in ; and also assured me that the window-shutters still remained closed precisely as the teacher and Jane had left them. 78 JOUHNEV IN THE DARK. I accepted the teamster's challenge upon condition that he and some of his comrades should accompany me and point out the location of the house. To this he very reluctantly assented. There was no moon at the time ; and so we started off in the twilight, followed by nearly all the villagers who knew what was going on. We soon came to the edge of the forest, and there the team- ster stopped short. He said that I might easily find it by continuing on through the pines, which seemed im- penetrable to me. I heard a million sighs among the ocean of green boughs as they responded to the wafting of the evening breeze ! A doleful requiem that would express all the grief in the world ! And the narrow road was shrouded in gloom ! I could not think of groping my way alone through such a dreary place to confront the ghostly inhabitant of a haunted house. I spent some time trying to ridicule the teamster's fears, and he finally concluded to "see me through," as he expressed it, if first allowed to " wet his whistle " with the whisky-bottle carried in a comrade's pocket. And when his whistle was in tune, he insisted that the "whole crowd" should go along. They finally con- sented ; and we marched on through the sighing pines to the air of Yankee Doodle, which the teamster whistled with marvelous skill. But as we approached the far edge of the pines, his whistle grew fainter, and finally ceased altogether. He then squeezed my arm tightly, and informed me in a whisper that the haunted house was not more than a hundred yards ahead. I peered through the opening among the trees and saw a dim outline of some- thing. Having an axe and a dark lantern, I made them promise not to desert me while I reconnoitered. Silently UNEARTHING A GHOST. 79 and cautiously I drew near the dilapidated edifice and, sure enough, I distinctly heard a heavy groan ! But it seemed to me that the sound came from under the house ; and so I very quietly proceeded to walk around the premises with minute inspection. At the rear I discov- ered, by the aid of my lamp, an open passage-way lead- ing down into the cellar; and just at that moment a repetition of the mysterious noise caused me to halt. It occurred to me that such groans could not proceed from a ghost, or from anything unnatural. I noticed a peculiar cadence that was familiar to my ear ; and at once turned the full light of the lantern through the o o opening in the wall, to behold what brought a peal of laughter from me loud and merry enough to inspire the trembling villagers with courage to approach. And then the teamster frankly admitted that they were all " darned fools " for imagining the lamentations of swine to be those of an Idiot's ghost ! The cellar dcor was unclosed at the time of the trag- edy, and a small herd of " wood-hogs " found therein a very comfortable retreat. And as it is impossible for those eccentric animals to lodge together without a per- petual indulgence in piteous complainings about each other's selfish encroachment in bed, the unknown ten- ants of the old school-house cellar quite innocently and very naturally disturbed the stillness of the night with their doleful griefs. The villagers all laughed very heartily over their long-entertained supposition of a ghost ; and two or three of them emphatically declared that they never believed in " hants " of any kind. While one of the disbelievers was vehemently reiter- ating his contempt for the foolish superstition of his neighbors, he suddenly ceased talking and stood petri- fied with terror, caused by a nimble scratching up in THE HAUNTED HOUSE. oU the caves of the house. Instantly every one of the hilarious villagers ceased their blabbering and ran away at the top of their speed. Assuring them that the cause of their alarm was merely the noise made by the claws of a raccoon climbing out of the garret in fright at our presence and the glare of the lantern, they re- turned laughing and vociferating all together. The wood-hogs (wild swine) " boo-hoo'd " and left their stye. Escaping into the pines, we siibsequently heard them there in grunting and grumbling consulta- tion. We explored the cellar, and then pried open the door, which had been closed ever since the last teacher turned the key in the lock that night after the farmer carried out the Idiot's dead body. Everything stood precisely as it was left. There lay the rusty axe ; and when the thick accumulation of dust was brushed away, the blood stains were yet to be seen. The mice and woodchucks had eaten the books. Cobwebs filled the corners, and a dozen scared bats flew down from the walls. My friend revisited that neighborhood last June ; and he says that the walls of the old school-house were long since torn down. And a very remarkable fact which he heard in connection with the demolition of the house, was that a white man had purchased the stone to build a residence for himself and his " colored wife," in which they now live together ! Perhaps that old school-house ghost was really as genuine as a majority of other apparitions, or manifesta- tions of supernal or infernal spirits, which are supposed to exist in gloomy or deserted places, where any unusual sound might occur to suggest associations with a pre- vious crime or some traditional mystery. But, see ! " While I am reviewing my ghost adven- MOONEISE IN MINNESOTA ! 81 ture, a paler tint of azure is suffusing all the Eastern horizon ! It comes like the dawning of day, only not so ruddy as a reflection from the rays of the sun. A pleasant glow, softly expanding in brightness, until the twinkling stars totally disappear and the larger ones are scarcely seen. And as the lovely radiance spreads far and wide, a new sensation accelerates the throbbing of my heart ! My feelings are jubilant with an emotion such as might be inspired by a beautiful dream. I seem borne aloft and soaring in the sky ! Lost in admiration, I gaze with anxious inquiry for a solution of the bright phenomenon, and presently catch a glimpse of the rising moon ! It is peeping up slowly from behind Dayton's Bluff, all red, and huge in size, strangely unlike what I have seen it elsewhere. In the clear, dry atmosphere on this part of the globe, the mag- nitude of the rising moon is wonderfully strange! With its features so plainly defined, I can hardly con- vince myself that it is not merely just beyond the bluff, instead of being so many thousand miles away. Travelers who have been in those exotic lands where undying summer continues all the year, assure me that the glory of the rising moon is more sublime there than pen can write or tongue can tell. A view of the moon coming up out of the sea, has often inspired poetical minds with emotion which could find expression only in glowing rhymes. I once saw the moon rise amid mountains in a clime where cold winds never blow. That was a beautiful sight ; but the vision I now behold is more charming than any similar scene in my recol- lection. A friend told me that the moonlight beneath these skies was beyond my conception, and truly I find it so to-night. In this transparent air, the firmament itself seems nearer to the earth than it does in anv other lion. Alexander Kamsey, First Governor of Minnesota. AN ENCHANTING SCENE. 83 region where I have been. The very stars appear close enough to be reached with the hand ! But as the moon ascends toward the zenith of the sky, it turns paler and decreases in size until its color and its magnitude are familiar to my eye. And now the eastern side of the bluffs are almost as light as day. Scattered over that semicircular range of hills, and nest- ling among vines and trees, I catch glimpses of many a palacious villa in which wealthy citizens abide, with the elegance and the refinement that distinguish the more an- tique habitations of their peers who dwell near cities and towns existing long ago. And down in the bright, new city, among the thoroughfares of trade, I can distinguish the gray stone walls, filled with costly merchandise, and that contain plethoric vaults of undoubted currency, if not silver and gold. Between the warehouses in which busy men traffic during the active hours of the day, and the superb villas grandly reposing along the continuous hill, I behold the undulating outline of variform houses that constitute the great magnitude of the growing city, spread out for miles around. And above the river's surface, silver'd o'er Witli quiv'ring ripples that reacli from shore to shore, I plainly see the complicate frame-work of that im- mense inclined bridge which reaches from the towering front of the city down to the low flat bordering this side of the mighty stream. Great shadows are behind the rocks which surround the lofty cliff where I am sitting, and thin, airy phan- toms seem to lie in waiting under those bare-armed bushes above the gorge. The street-lamps over in the city have lost their sharp gleam, and dimly flicker beneath the resplendent brightness of the moon. Even the hooting owl in yonder thicket has ceased to com- 84 THE YAWNING CHASM. plain ; and up in the pine tree-top I do not hear such a mournful sighing of the wind as I did before this new light came to smile upon nature in repose. The entire universe seems utterly still ! A solemn enchantment hovers around. Experiencing a feeling of awe, I am also at the same time filled with a strange delight. I mentally ejaculate as light as day ! But it is not so. For even in this rarefied atmosphere, the smiling face of Luna is but a mirrored reflection of the rays of light borrowed from Sol, whose eternal living fire is now shining down upon our antipodes in China and in Japan, while their enterprising and prosperous cousins in Columbia-land are nestled in the arms of Morpheus, the consoling god of sleep. And, behold ! Newspaper print is quite legible to the eye ! for I actually peruse a paragraph of " leaded brevier " type in the St. Paul " Daily Pioneer " at mid- night by the light of the moon ! ! Removing the paper from before my eyes, I unavoid- ably perceive the moonbeams playing amid the con- fusion of rocks far down beneath me. At the bottom of the yawning chasm, there is a deep pit, all in dark- ness like an abyss of oblivion, over which I have been sitting with my nether limbs dangling in the frightful void, entirely unconscious of the peril of my position. I saw the precipice before the sun went down, and, though its depth seemed immense by daylight, it is a thousand times more appalling now ! With a shudder, I very cautiously work further back from the smooth edge of the projecting cliiF and, nerv- ously and carefully drawing up my limbs, I do not breathe until I gain a safer footing a few yards nearer the solid centre of the great rock. When I reflect how many hours I sat so carelessly " I WANT TO GO HOME !" 85 perched out at the very point of that thin ledge of stone, I tremble with fright. The tiny projection might have snapped off at any moment and precipitated me into the air, to be dashed among the chaos of rocks, down there so far below ! Recovering from fright at the dangerous position I unconsciously had been in, I find all my romantic aspi- rations absorbed in a new desire. I now want to go home ! I've had enough midnight solitude in this un- frequented mountain. Even the joyous moonlight now se.ems melancholy. Every object wears a mournful ex- pression. These reactions of feeling will occur at times ; and now I would give something considerable to know that I was safely lodged in the cozy bed that is waiting for me at the International Hotel. Indeed, most people would say that it was very foolish to stroll away up here among these rugged rocks to spend seven hours alone with Nature, when I might have remained in the city surrounded by gas-light and social companions. And now I am somewhat doubtful about finding the right road back to town. It is at best a very devious path. First I must cross yonder glen, and pick my way through the small forest sloping down into the gloomy gorge. Then I shall be obliged to clamber and stumble among the broken rocks to the open lawn, where the low-roofed farm-house stands a mile from here. At that point I shall try to find the wagon-track of a blind road, which, after winding up and down, apparently at ran- dom, to shun a rock or to avoid a clump of trees, will lead me to a mountain brook. I crossed the stream with some difficulty before sunset, by leaping from one stone to another ; but now the dense growth of trees -on the other side will hide the crossing from the rays of 86 A DEVIOUS PATH. the moon. Doubtless I shall there experience the pleasurable sensation of very wet feet. After ascend- ing the very steep hill beyond the stream, and walking half a mile further, I can reach the public highway. Then on, around, down continually around, down, for a mile or so, I shall emerge from the wilderness and receive fresh courage by treading upon a more civilized level of the earth, with a good macadamized thorough- fare leading to the great inclined bridge, over which I can cross the river and ascend to the streets of the city. Arriving there, I shall breathe much easier than I do now in this solemn wild ! An I u-rpeusive Edifice, call.-d a " Claim Shanty," not untrerjjiently seen in remote parts of Minnesota. CHAPTEE VI. MY peregrinations of the day and part of the night are ended, and at length I am once more snugly couched for repose. To an exhaust- ed body and a weary mind, I know of nothing more pleasurable than the sensation of a horizontal atti- tude upon a cosy bed with the prospect of quiet slumber. And I fully realize that enjoyment now. It is nearly two o'clock in the morn- ing ere I have attained a recumbent position between these nice linen sheets. It is unneces- sary to say that my " carnal " sensibilities are eagerly yearning for beatific repose. After such a protracted reverie on the wild hill-top, terminating with an extend- ed detour over dark, rugged and uncertain paths in the night air, I am not at all surprised to experience a " goose flesh " creeping outside, while a chill reaches my very vitals within. However, a few extra blankets piled on top of me will soon dissipate all that. 88 A SINGULAR DREAM. Heigho ! Such gigantic yawns ! The shivers per- ceptibly decrease, and oscitant wandering lulls me into a pleasant unconsciousness of sleep to dream ! And now my spirit goes back again to that great bluff. Entirely forgetful of having returned home and come to bed, I seem to be lingering there yet. I am in the same spot beneath the solitary pine, and can plainly hear the whispering sobs and sighs among its green boughs. The moon is calmly smiling, and all the ob- jects around me are reposing with the quietude in which I left them an hour ago. Receding from the edge of the cliff, I am sensible of the night chill, and give my coat an ex , a, button. I am perfectly conscious of all that passed through my mind while here in person, during the evening, up to the moment of my departure for the city. At that point, my double identity has lost its impression, and I am about to start on a devious journey, unconscious of having actually passed through the tiresome ordeal. But ere proceeding ten paces, I suddenly pause with a disagreeable presentiment of evil. Perhaps it is all fancy ; but a voice of lamentation seems to issue from that curious mound of round blue stones which I no- ticed so intently in the light of day. I experience a numbness in my veins, and then a warm nervous thrill makes my head feel as if the hair all stood stiff on end. What can it mean? Were I awake, such a feeling would scai-cely put a tremor in my knees. But I am dreaming and powerless to resist at will. Yet everything appears real. How vividly the past comes up in my recollection. I very distinctly remember never seeing an apparition in all my life. I also recall my juvenile explorations wherever any unac- countable manifestation was said to exist or expected to THE SOBBIXG OF GRIEF. 89 occur ; and all without once having realized the coveted * ~ gratification of a personal interview with supernal beings. Breathlessly I pause to listen. And when I have made up my mind that it is merely imagination, or per- haps caused by the breeze frolicking in sadness among the rocks further on, I am suddenly and seriously startled by its repetition. My hair is now really strug- gling to get on end, and a distressing weakness is tor- turing my knees. Is it possible that I have come all the way here to be foolishly frightened ? I must banish this cowardly feeling. Yet there it is again ! Deep and mournful, like the sobbing of long-fostered grief! Motionless I stand, in doubt what to think and afraid to start ! I can perceive no movement except the gen- tly waving tall dead grass and the small bushes. I hear no noise, save only a faint rustling over in the thicket, where the crisp brown leaves are clinging to their dry parent stems, and the soft murmuring of that tiny cascade down in the gorged ravine, which comes up like a pleasant lullaby that might hush angels to re- pose. Beside those trivial sounds, which are the purest melodies of nature, whispering their primevous requi- ems of sorrow and chansons of joy, all else above, below and far around, is sunk in silence, and seemingly at rest. Surely no spirit of evil can be lurking here be- neath the lovely moon ; and I shall not permit any superstition to haunt my mind. I am ashamed of my- self for thus pausing in silly dismay, because the wind chances to frolic with audible sound in a cleft or a fissure of those prodigious broken rocks. Fonvard march ! One step two, three, four, five ! Despite my bold resolution, those knees of mine will play the coward ! And that crawling numbness is tin- 90 PHILOSOPHY AXI) FEAR. gling up and down my back, while the hair on my head feels as if it would dislodge my hat and stand stiffly erect. My breathing is difficult ; and I do not remem- ber hearing my heart thump so ever before. Instead of taking courage, I stand like a statue representing the stolidity of an imbecile transfixed with fright. I can not go that way and there is no other path ! It must be something more than a wind frolic in the cavities of rock ! Such sounds as I now hear can not be tuned by a random current of the wind. And they surely emanate from that curious mound. It is a breathing lamentation emitted from among those round blue stones which I am obliged to pass. An unearthly noise that would startle the nerves of any civilized mor- tal who might hear it in a dreary mountain wild like this, at such an hour of the night. But I shall not admit a prevalence of anything super- natural, even here. The philosophy of only common sense assures me that the indubitable laws of nature will not permit unearthly manifestations where the living can breathe. With this conviction shaming me to action, and really provoked at myself for credence of what could never be, I once more boldly start in the direction of the curious mound. But as I approach, the mysterious noise becomes louder at every pace. Facing an open enemy in deadly conflict requires a deal of courage ; but I am inclined to the opinion, from my peculiar sensations at this unpleasant crisis, that undue nervous delinquency would quickly incapacitate me for proceeding any further. But I shall go! Avaunt there ! Spirit, demon, devil, or mortal of human form ! I still hear you ; but though I feared your wail a moment ago, I am resolved to brave your presence now ! AN ABNORMAL REIXG. 91 Tramp, tramp. Firm and steady. And at every stride, the lamentation comes plainer to my ear. My heart will throb quicker than it usually does. But what of that ? I am now on a line with the curious mound, out of which the wailing noise seemed to come a moment ago. Hah ! Another step reveals a dark object to my sight ! It is crouching in a heap at the edge of the round blue stones ! What can it be ? A wild beast, surely for it bears no semblance to anything of human form! And here I suddenly pause once more ! In fact, if I continue on that way, my presence will rouse the crea- ture from its apparently unconscious condition. Thus I tremblingly stand. The moonlight throws my shadow almost to where the dark object is crouching, and I half shudder at the thought of its touching even that. Twisting and writhing, with moans and mournful O ~ / sighs, it sways from side to side and conceals its head beneath its shapeless trunk. A strangely animated mass of life whether flesh, fish or fowl ! I know it lives and breathes, because I can see it move and hear its piteous noise. A ghost, if such spirits ever do appear to human eyes, would be too ethereal to utter any sound. A lost soul could not, and in all reasonable expectation would not, inhabit such a hideous material substance as that. A hobgoblin a spirit damned would scarcely be allowed to escape from the mythological regions of conflagrant sulphur in that supposed terra incognita beyond the grave ! A beast, a brute, a dumb animal of any species or undiscovered kind, would not thus exhibit emotional distress. And yet a wounded animal might roll in agony of body and utter cries of pain. But a beast has in Indian Burial Scaffold, upon which the bodies rf the Dead were placed to decay. THE CLAWS OF A DEMOX I 93 a hide of hair or some other external features devoid of the handiwork of art ; while, in the flood of moonlight, I perceive the ends of a tcxtural garment unworn by wolves .or bears. And now I discern long tresses of hair streaming down from this creature's head and wiping the dust off the rock. That looks more human ! But can a human being double up into a wad or a ball and execute a vocalism so unearthly dissonant as what I hear ? But see ! I have done it now ! The crushing of a small stone beneath my foot has produced a counter noise, which the creature hears. And, with a startled cry, it suddenly bounds upright on its hind legs. I can per- ceive its wild stare of surprise, and then I hear a hoarse grunt and a defiant snarl. An instant it pauses; and immediately I experience a chill of horror as it darts upon me, grasping my arm like the pressure of an iron vice. Confused with fright, I have but one distinct idea and that is to escape the claws of a demon ! Though all my life averse to believing in disembodied devils, a careful study of the dark side of human nature has firmly convinced me that incarnate fiends numer- ously walk the earth with bold impunity among the best of men. But this monster strikes me dumb. In the beautiful moonlight, I can plainly discern its hideous features and they are partly human ! Its hot breath burns upon my face as it stretches its long, lean neck to peer into my eyes, while I am utterly powerless to struggle, much less to resist. To describe my feelings would be impossible. Like a group from the sculptor's chisel, we both stand transfixed and immovable as stone. I cannot speak, and the demon tightens its grasp with- out uttering any sound. The terror paralyzing my strength is not greater than the revulsion of my senses 94 A DRIED MUMMY ALIVE ! from the close contact of the demon's visage which bears a tomb-like deformity somewhat similar to one of those mummies exhumed from the catacombs of ancient Egypt, where they had lain thousands of years ! Now the monster smiles a ghastly expansion and con- traction of its hard, dry features, from which every par- ticle of flesh and moisture appears to have gone ! A repulsive grin not of rage but in exultation at my capture and evident fright. A huge mouth, with harsh cartilaginous lips drawn wide apart, disclosing a pale, sickly front of toothless gums. There may be two or three bodkin-shaped snags in the lower jaw, the remote expansion of which is hinged by a square breadth of angle such as bull-dogs are noted for while but one useless fang is quite pendulous above. Particularly coarse black hair, in cleanliness and texture suggestive of the vertebrate capiliform posterior extremity of the equine or the bovine species, separated into rough stringlets and matted flakes, is dangling before and be- hind from the frounced and frouzy vertex of the demon's head ! The wrinkled cuticle of its face is with- ered and dry, and tightly drawn across a great Roman nose. It has small black eyes, that glare in the moon- light streaming upon them. They are deeply sunken into its head, and each is surrounded with the protruding rim of a bony cavity, not unlike those huge sockets shown in the front of that noted criminal's skull which I have seen among the phrenological specimens on ex- hibition at a celebrated academy where they elucidate anatomical wonders ! Doubtless those black eyes were large and luminous when the demon was young ; but as all living things must mature and decay, this creature has long since passed its youthful prime. Even a demon's existence GLARING SMALL BLACK EYES ! 95 can not extend beyond a limited span. Though from external appearances, the longevity of this one is very great. I imagine that some marvelous liberality in the usually inexorable laws of nature has permitted this being to retain a vital tenacity and a herculean strength beyond all the established physiological theories of life. And, without any stretch of my already excited imagina- tion, I can not refrain from comparing 1 those deeply sunken and fiercely glaring small black eyes to the outlets of some mysterious cavern, where the prince of darkness sits upon his cabalistic throne, with grim ex- ultation in mockery of the weeping angel of light, who is a suppliant captive kneeling at his feet ! A dingy blanket is wrapped loosely around the de- mon's form as far down as the knees, and its slender ill- shaped nether extremities are swathed in what appear to be the shreds of a discarded coat, or a pair of old pantaloons ! Male or female, whichever it is, no out- ward indication now reveals. And I should not be sur- prised if it had no sex at all ! Was it born of woman, the offspring of man ? Is it a creature of God, or a gor- gon from some purgatorial limbo unknown? In those theatrical representations of Stygian waters, and in the Tartarean realms over which Pluto and Hades rule, I have seen hideous masks to personate the satellites of that Luciferean dignitary who occupies the honorary position of Beelzebub-in-chief but none of them were any more hideous than the infernal visage before me now. In this lonely spot, at the midnight hour, under these circumstances, and in such manner, with a great flood of magical moonlight streaming upon its form and illumi- nating its horrid face, how could my reason be otherwise than partly overturned ? But I am in bodily pain ! 96 A PARALYZED AUM. What a powerful grasp the demon has ! It does not relax in the least. On the contrary, I feel it clutching tighter still! And as its great bony fingers harshly indent my flesh, a strange numbness begins to destroy all sense of feeling. My arm is unnerved and apparently stiff! The blood has ceased to flow in the veins beyond my shoulder, and I fancy that the entire limb is already cold. In the violent clutch of this demon there seems to be some mythologic power that can paralyze living things with a magic spell, at its will. And if my arm is thus withered by its terrible grasp, what else have I to ap- prehend ? Will the blight extend any further than my arm? With that question, a horrible suspicion enters my mind, and a sickening perspiration suffuses every part of my body. What if I should be transformed into a rock or a tree, and so continue to exist through the lapse of countless ages, without volitive animation, and yet retaining all the consciousness of intellect char- acterizing a human heart and brain ? Is it possible that I am doomed to stand here ever like the solitary pine, among whose green boughs the moaning of a lost spirit is so often heard in response to the night wind and the evening breeze ? Surely there must be some magical influence pervad- ing these hills, as yet unknown to the science of the w r orld. That indescribable sensation experienced by every one when they first breathe the intoxicating at- mosphere of this wonderful land, is significantly sug- gestive of invisible charms which may operate upon the body and even the soul of an individual who sympa- thizingly yearns for a more intimate acquaintance with that psychological mystery connecting the celestial and mundane spheres. THE VISION DISSOLVES. 97 But how strange it is that I can pause to moralize with theory and reflection, while the clutch of this demon is palsying my limbs and evidently depriving me of the natural functions which pertain to life ! Perhaps I have been lost in the hallucinatory imagination of a trance, which is gradually dispelled upon discovering the faint gleam of a smile that now lightens up the countenance of the demon. I certainly begin to feel more like my- self. The numbness of my arm is abating with the relaxation of that terrible grasp. Hah! and now I see the demon laugh! Not with pleasurable anticipation of devouring me ; but in merri- ment at my trembling fear. Its tongue moves ! It speaks ! Thank Heaven ! then it is one of God's crea- tures, after all ! But what does it say ? "Haugh! White man 'fraid of Injun! Hi-augh! Tremble at old Injun squaw ! Hoi-augh ! White man big knife, but don't know Old Betz ! Haugh ! White man sick ! Been hurt in head ! Ugh ! White man lost can't go to bed !" At this announcement I am lost in mental oblivion. The bluff instantly disappears, and I grasp at seeming objects that are but empty air ! A wild " Ha, ha !" is ringing in my ears while I pass entirely out of the world. Gone, I know not where ! Presently I awake and find myself lying on my back, scarcely able to breathe, with such a great pile of extra blankets pressing upon my lungs ! Hah-zah-ee-ynn-kee-win ; or "Old Betz" That remarkable Centenarian Female Savage, whom the Author first saw in. a Singular Dream. CHAPTEE VII. How strange that I should see Old Betz in a dream! I am not surprised that my spirit flew back to the moonlight scene upon the bluff, after lin- gering there such a length of time in meditation. But why did I encounter that centena- rian squaw? She is the most wonderful living curiosity in Minnesota ; and I presume that nearly every one acquainted with the North-west, has frequently heard her name. I had been hoping for a personal interview with her ; but did not expect that we should meet in a vision of sleep, or otherwise, at midnight upon a lonely mountain top. Ah, well ! Perhaps these dreams are Heigho ! I am much too drowsy for theorizing now. How I yawn ! It may be that is and My heavy respiration notifies the little mouse skulk- ing in the corner there behind the stove, that I am once more sound asleep. 100 " RUNNING INJUN WITH BIG MOON !" After a brief lapse in oblivion, while my weary body is reposing upon this comfortable bed, in spirit I fly off on another excursion. Space is no hindrance to my flight. Instantaneously, without even the trouble of conceiving a desire, I am once more on the back of that invisible genii who attends to this mysterious department of human exploits. He wafts me across the river and again I am in the identical spot where I saw Old Betz awhile ago. Hah ! and here she is now ! The moonlight is full upon her face ; and as she tries to smile, I notice the expression of her small black eyes. They seem rather diminutive in size, because incompu- table longevity has pushed them so far back into her head. Her smile is a prelude to speech. She inquires why "pale-face runs Injun with big moon ?" From which I infer that she is making a sig- nificant allusion to my nocturnal wandering at such an unusual hour. And then she wants to know why I am not at home and in bed with my wife ! Her manner is decidedly blunt. I may very justly accuse her of im- perturbable audacity for she quizzingly insinuates that every white man in St. Paul ought to have a wife of his own ! ! Again, entirely unconscious of being at home and in bed and asleep, I seem lingering in the identical state of existence while here previous to my first dream. But my feelings are precisely what they were immediately after this marvelous old creature revealed herself to me with that sarcastic allusion to my fear of " Injun squaw !" An idea opportunely occurs to me that she might greatly expedite the pedestrian labor which I imagine is yet to be performed. Will she guide me back to town ? But first, what is her Indian name ? AN OLD SQUAW'S GEIEF. 101 " Haugh ! Me go anywhere ! Big knife got kosh- popee ! Old Betz's name, Hah-zah-ee-yun-kee-win " (one who gathers huckleberries while running !) I ask her what she means by kosh-popee, and she sig- nifies " ten cents !" She evidently presumes that I have " plenty ten cents " which denominated numeral may be the limit of her arithmetical education. For kosh- popee, she is willing to escort me anywhere. Cheap enough ! If she would contract on such terms, I might employ her as a guide for daylight excursions among the thousand lakes, the great prairies and the romantic hills. At that proposition, she gives her uncombed head and tangled hair a quick negative shake, to say : "Injun nowhere when pale-face want him! Old squaw be way over there, fore sun come back in morn- ing. Can't find old Betz sometime !" I imagine not, if she is in the habit of gathering huckleberries while on a run. But see ! she points to- ward the west, as if intending to go far that way before sunrise. I now inquire what brought her here at this time of night. Not berries, at this season of the year ? When I have spoken, she squats down at the edge of that curious pile of round blue stones, with her head be- tween her hands, and immediately begins rocking to and fro. What moans and lamentations ! She is re- peating the performances at which I at first found her. All this seems very much at variance with the charac- ter she bears by reputation. Is it possible that people judge too harshly when they speak of her as an old dragon of the female gender ? From her conduct, she is evidently mourning the loss of something that was once near and dear to her and that impression is quickly confirmed when I hear her sorrowfully cry : 102 ANGRY WAKATJ STOLE HEB CHILD. " Me choonkshee ! Me choonkshee /" which in the Da- cota language means, " My child ! My child !" Then the despised old Indian squaw has been a moth- er ; and her weary heart is even now full of grief for the loss of a beloved child. I listen to her words ; which, though uttered in her native tongue, are very beautiful in meaning. "Alas, alas! me choonkshee ! me choonkshee ! Thou art gone from my sight forever ! The Great Wakan came to my humble teepee in his anger and stole thee away ! It was a dark night ; and when the full moon rose, thy spirit had fled ! The brightness of the moon was like the sunshine of the day ; yet when thou wert taken from my sight, I saw nothing but desolation around ! Alas ! me choonkshee, my first-born child, who lived here in my heart, which is now old and sad ! My voice is hoarse with that wailing song which I have sung so many moons for the bitter loss of thee ! I have no joy, no comfort, no hope of to-morrow ! The pale- face has lost no child and if he has lost many children, he does not mourn for them all as I do for thee ! He can swallow his grief; but poor old squaw's heart must bleed till she dies ! Alas, me choonkshee ! Without thee life is cheerless to me now ! My eyes are dim from weeping ! I have been wandering from the lakes to the rivers, from the bluffs to the gorges in the hills, from the forest to the prairies ever wandering without a warm teepee or home of my own ! But I shall continue to wander on, on, on until I fall into the great boiling lake over which I must pass before I can touch thee ! Alas, I loved thee so much, and thou didst love me so dearly in return ! My people laugh at my grief, and say thou wert only a female child ! Hadst thou been a boy, a strong young brave, panting to scalp thine ene- MYSTERY OF THE CURIOUS MOUND. 103 mies, my heart could not have loved thee more ! Long grief for a -daughter the Sioux mother is taught to despise and yet I cannot relinquish my sorrow for thee ! Thou \vert my light, my life and my all ! My limbs are shrunken from age and constant travel ; but whenever the full moon rises up from beyond the ancient cavern of Wakan-tebee, where lie the bones of the illustri- ous Naudowessies, thy great warrior forefathers, here I shall place another round blue stone brought from be- neath the singing waters of Minneineeopa, in which, like the young elks, thou didst so fondly love to play! Hither I have brought a stone at every full moon since angry Wakan took thee away for the moon was rising full at the very moment I saw thy warm lips turn to clay ! Many moons have come and gone since that sad hour, and many stones are now piled up here ! Thy bones the bones of my first-born child are carefully hid away in the rock, down beneath this pile of stones, and the ugly wolves cannot gnaw them with their sharp teeth ! Alas, me choonkshee ! I cannot eat when I think of thee ! I have brought thee ofttimes many choice things ! In the spring, young ducks ; in the sum- mer, sweet berries ! Sugar I have begged and stolen from the white man's store to gladden thy pretty tongue ! Ribbons of red and yellow, and green and blue, and handkerchiefs of beautiful design, I have pilfered from the white woman's grand teepee ! All these things I have gathered together for thee! But the Chippeway dogs come by stealth and tear them from thy grave ! All thy playmates have died long ago ! The wild crows have eaten the parched corn I placed here ! Many snows have covered thee o'er ! The keen frosts of many winters have hardened the earth, and howling storms of wind and rain have swept 104 A BALM FOK SOEEOW. across the hill with doleful requiems to make thy rest- ing-place dreary and wild ! But no grass nor flowers shall mock thy decay ! While I live this mound shall be sacred to thee ; and, like my heart, sleep in sadness that is forever ! Alas, me choonkshee ! I am weary of life, and long to come and lie with thee here !" At this juncture, I succeed in silencing her lamenta- tion by the offer of a ten-cent currency stamp with an articulation of the word, " Kosh-popee !" " Kosh-popee !" she echoes in response. And reach- ing out one of her horny claws to clutch the money, with the other she endeavors to wipe the tears out of her eyes. What a sudden change in her manner has been pro- duced by the acquisition of kosh-popec ! One would imagine to see the complete transition of her mind from the bitterest grief to emphatic manifestations of joy, that kosh-popee was the surest balm for the sorrows of a sav- age breast. Rising to her feet, she quickly adjusts her blanket and slings back her coarse matted hair, with a vehement grunt, in prelude to a declaration of willingness to do anything or to go anywhere. I take advantage of her obliging humor and suggest how she might at once guide me through the uncertain path to the public high- way. " Injun no go round ! White man too much fraid him fall. Injun go down there /" She points into the frightful gorge over which I sat so long in ignorance of my perilous position ! She can not mean that a safe descent is practicable through the yawning abyss ? It is nearly five hundred feet above the liver ! And yet she insists that I must follow. I assure her that I am very much obliged for the invita- STBANGE BELIEFS. 105 tion, but at the same time respectfully decline to break my neck. Smiling at my trepidation, she further astonishes me by promptly offering to carry me down upon her back ! The proposition is so very absurd that I try to laugh. But I seldom can laugh in a dream. If I do, it is sure to wake me up. I fancy myself upon her shoulders, while she is climbing down the almost perpendicular precipice at our feet; but the picture is too awkward and thrilling for my contemplation ; and I ask her if she is not afraid of death. She shrugs her shoulder and seems to think the question too trifling for serious con- sideration. Where does she expect to go when she dies ? Her answer is a prolonged grunt. Has she any idea of God ? Oh, yes many ! She reveres everything incomprehen- sible, which, in the language of her people, is called walcan signifying " sacred." She believes that a spirit inhabits every natural object, from the little pebbles strewn along the margins of the lake and the banks of the river, to the twinkling stars and fixed planets in the sky. She believes that articles owned by a man is wakan after his death, but not so with those left by a woman. If she sees any one with the toothache, she recommends an appeal to the spirit of a worm or of a woodpecker concealed within the tooth. A cough comes from the machinations of the sacred men through goose-down or buffalo-hair. It is sinful to run a sharp instrument into a piece of meat, and equally wicked to cut a stick of wood taken from the fire. To smoke a pipe with a black stem would bring evil upon a woman ; and ill fortune would lie in the path of a man wearing a woman's moccasins. And to throw gunpowder in the fire would be a great crime ! 5* Moonlight View of an Ancient Naudowessie Burial Place, for- merly on the verge of that Great Bluff above the Cavern of Wakan-tebee, and overlooking the Mississippi River, near the site of St. Paul LAND WHERE SPIRITS DWELL. 1Q7 I find many strange beliefs in the old creature's heart and head. Instead of only one soul, she imagines that she has/era?-/ When she dies (if she ever should die), one of her souls will go with some article which she has worn, until a friend can throw it into the Chippeway country; one will remain with her body to guard it from injury ; one will enter the form of a child or of a dog ; and one will go into the happy land where only good spirits dwell ! She has no fear of punishment hereafter for her sins, nor does she expect future reward for the good acts of her life ! That happy land, where the good spirits dwell, is somewhere across a wide lake of boiling water! An old squaw, like herself, is sitting in the sand upon the other side, steadying the end of a slender pole, along which the souls have to climb in order to reach the celestial shore ! Warriors with scars from wounds in battle can easily walk the slender pole. Papooses with blue veins are carried across by the breeze. Many slip off the pole in trying to pass over, and they sink into the boiling water to be heard of no more. She does not esteem an honest person any better than a thief and a liar ! But if a woman commits suicide, she will be compelled to drag a pole fastened to her feet and in her wanderings through the happy land, if the pole should break down the growing corn, the spirits may beat her with heavy bludgeons. When her parents lost a child, the father went and killed a Chippeway ! When her mother died, he went and killed two enemies ! And when her father expired, their friends came and wrapped the corpse in his best clothes. Then one of them harangued the spirits, while another enumerated all his virtues. Smearing their 108 SANGUINARY AFFECTION. faces with a black pigment, they uttered loud lamenta- tions, and cut and lacerated their bodies with their finger-nails and with sharp-edged fragments of stone. Instead of putting the corpse into the ground, they laid it upon a high scaffold, with the scalps of enemies, and food and other articles, which his spirit was fond of while in the body. When the flesh had dried up or fallen from the skeleton, then it was deposited in the earth, and stakes driven around the spot, to protect it from wolves. She is very communicative, and reveals much that I never knew before. She has lived so many moons that she stopped counting a long time ago. Did she ever love? A long sigh implies more than words can tell ! She was once a maiden. To see her now, that would seem almost impossible. The son of a Chippeway chief loved her when she was young, and she loved him in return. But she belonged to the Sioux, who were eternally at war with the Chippeways. There was a temporary peace, and her lover would soon take her to his teepee. He was covering one with choice skins, and when it was completed they would be very happy. Then a band of Sioux killed a Chippeway mother and her child ! That was the signal for another war. The Chippeways surprised the village of Shakopee, where she lived when a girl. Her lover was among the infuriated invaders, and she and he met in the conflict. He raised his hatchet, but paused an instant to gaze at her up- turned face, while she begged for her life and implored him to make her his captive ! No ! he had sworn to kill every man, woman and child among the Sioux ! She must die ! And, without regard- ing her cries for mercy, he seized her long, black hair and ruthlessly gashed her forehead in execution of his SCALPS AND LOVE. 109 savage purpose. Another instant, and she would fall a bleeding corpse beneath the feet of the warriors who were yelling in delirious fury around them ! Closing her eyes in despair, she sank upon her knees to die ! But she was permitted to live. The strong arm of a young Sioux saved her. With a heavy, sharp-edged stone he dashed out the brains of her merciless lover, and then quickly tore the scalp from his head ! When the battle was over, and the invading Chippe- ways were driven back into their own country, her pre- server brought the scalp that he had torn from her lover's head. It was all reeking with gore, and he held it up so that she could see. Then he told her that he wanted a wife. If she would accept him for her master, and ever after be his slave, she might have the trophy to decorate their teepee ! She did not shudder at the ghastly scalp, nor did she recoil from his wooing embrace. Sioux maidens never were anything more than sav- ages of the feminine gender. This always has been my opinion and when I hear her enthusiastically talk of scalps and love, I feel satisfied with my previous im- pression. All those uncivilized maidens of the forest and the prairie, described as angelic heroines divine, by overly sentimental writers who compose epic legend, are after all merely creatures of imagination to delight credulously dreamy minds ! Doubtless this antiquated squaw was quite as lovely as the fairest of her tribe, when in the bloom of youth ; and yet she tells me she reached forth her hand and took that ghastly scalp without a pang of grief or a thrill of horror ! And I presume that her eyes were accustomed to seeing fresh scalps dripping with blood, and her ears might have often heard the night-winds 110 A MOTHER'S SUPERSTITION. rattling through a string of them all dried with time, as they swung upon a rawhide thong near the door of her father's teepee ! She accepted her preserver's offer of marriage. The nuptial ceremony was in accordance with the simple custom of her tribe. Together with their friends, they sat down upon the grassy hill-side, and presently arose united by the formal compact which they deemed bind- ing for life. It was her first-born child whose remains now lie buried among the rocks beneath that great pile of round blue stones. And now she begins to rock herself again, and to moan, " Me choonkshee ! me choonkshee !" I administer more kosh-popee, and she receives it with repeated grunts and a prodigious grin. Kosh- popee is an elixir a charm ! For ten cents, she will forget all her sorrows. But one other balm has more efficacy with her than money. She loves minne-wakan, or whisky, better than anything else ! There is one beautiful superstition in her half-savage breast. She believes that a mother's spirit is always with an absent child when it thinks of her, and that a pain in her heart signifies the agony or the misfortune of a child who is far away ! She is now impatient to depart, and significantly points down into the gorge, as if to inquire whether I am ready. No not down there! I perceive a less precipitous ravine further along, and perhaps we can prudently risk that. She pretends to know every inch of the rocks all the way down to the base of the bluff. But can I trust her? Possibly I can! Yet it is a question of doubt in my own mind. I have been told that she is an inveterate liar ! AN IMAGINARY FALL. Ill The moonlight discloses something like a safe foot- ing ; and I'll venture down with her. She instructs me how to lean upon her left shoulder, while she goes before. There are certain clefts and knobs where I can place my feet. They are all visible to her eyes, and she will point them out as we climb down ! Nevertheless, I do not begin the descent entirely free from suspicion of possible disaster. She laughs at my fear, and tells me to " look much big," and follow ! Down we go ! Two or three hundred feet without any mishap, and I begin to felicitate myself on a safe performance of the perilous undertaking, when a pro- jecting knob which she is standing upon, suddenly snaps off! Fortunately for me, I instinctively hug the rock and release all further claim upon her shoulder ! A moment or so she totters on a precarious balance in the air, and then plunges down among the broken rocks shouting out to me as she goes : " Old Injun squaw no care much for one big fall !" My footing is also giving way ! I feel it going now ! A dizziness comes over me ; and down, down I tumble, headlong to Hah, I awake ! Some one is knocking at my chamber door. Who's there ? The voice of the chambermaid replies: "Dinner's ready. Are you going to sleep all day ?" CHAPTER VIII. THE chambermaid did not jest when she said it was din- ner-time. I perceive the sun shining in at my window which faces the west ; and the hands of my watch indicate ten min- utes past two. Having fasted since yester- day afternoon, my appetite craves immediate attention. Twenty minutes is the time I usually devote to toilet per- formances for the day, but upon this occasion, the entire programme concludes somewhat sooner. " Dinner from one to three !" I mentally repeat, while hurrying to get down stairs. And entering the dining-room, "Luke" produces that indispensable cup of tea, which I would not exchange for the best bottle of wine in the cellar. But Brigadier General Festivus, with those extremely elaborate shoulder-straps, sitting in the opposite chair, sipping his champagne, eyes me compassionately and 114 SHOULDER-STRAPS AND WINE. proposes that I shall join him. I respectfully decline, and at the same time wonder why he persists in soaking three slices of roasted venison with a quart of effervescent grape-juice and alcohol, when his object in visiting Min- nesota was to recuperate his health. How absurd it is, while complaining of ill-health and incurring any amount of trouble and expense for recovery, to deliberately and persistently exasperate the functions of life. Now, this distinguished military gentleman has been told that he is consumptive ; and his " family physician " recommends a gentle stimulant, a generous diet and a trip to St Paul ! What he wants the stimulant for, I can not even guess. How wise some "family physicians" are, and how many patients they fail to cure ! I wonder if the Gen- eral innocently imagines that his quart bottle of cham- pagne is merely a gentle stimulative ? And I think that gorging three large slices of venison, with an extraordi- nary quantity of vegetables, and a perfect load of dessert, may be estimated as unmistakable symptoms of omnivor- ous inclination. If such a diet is requisite to eradicate the germs of consumption, it would be. entirely too ex- pensive for people of ordinary means who are obliged to eat at some of the hotels kept on the " European plan," in New York City. But here at the International, an inveterate glutton may devour all he wants without extra cost. Wine is extra everywhere in the United States. And General Festivus really has an ugly cough, which seems to worry his wife, who suspects nothing amiss in the wine. Fortunately, she is not inclined to be con- sumptive herself, and therefore eats very moderately and avoids the sparkling liquid of the bottle. But now she sniffs the delicious odor of my second cup THE TWO CANOES. 115 of tea, and inquires of Luke if she can have some, too. Certainly she can. Whereupon she does not hesitate to express her delight by bestowing upon my humble self a sweet little smile. The General has a charming wife ! But I have eaten all I require, and bow myself from the table, while the General is pouring out the last of his champagne, and Mrs. F. sips her third cup of tea. She'll feel happier than her husband an hour hence ! Meanwhile I shall go and smoke; and quietly resume the discursive retrospection which occurred in my pro- tracted reverie last night over there on top of the great bluff beneath that lonely pine. I left the long Ox-cart train, and the male and female equestrians in motion, with their flag flying, at early dawn on the second day of their journey, and might review a great many pleasant and several irksome inci- dents which they encountered before arriving at Men- dota but shall reserve all that for similar scenes in a subsequent chapter. At present I shall follow a couple of canoes that were launched near the mouth of the Minnesota River, the next morning after the unique caravan came to its destination. Each of the canoes was managed by an Indian squaw ; and one of those squaws was no less a personage than Old Betz, the antediluvian female about whom I had such a singular dream last night. In her canoe sat Madame Zorah, and Leoriore and Major Levasseur. The other contained Tashae and Florinda, and jealous Kaskadino. After paddling up near the ferry at Fort Snelling, to look at that quaint fortification, they softly glided down the stream ; and in an hour or so, the whole party landed upon the spot where the depot of the St. Paul and Pacific Railway stands at the present time. They 116 OLD BETZ AND LEONOKE. came down to visit " Carver's Cave," or the Cavern of Wakan Tebee, which Major Levasseur had heard much about, but never seen. But Old Betz insisted that they should first explore the settlement of "Pig's Eye." And, without any per- mission on the part of her passengers, she put them ashore. The squaws pulled their canoes out of the water, and with the excursionists walked up hill. Old Betz had already attached herself to Leonore, whom she pretended to like because of a very great resemblance (?) to her own daughter, who died a great many moons ago and I presume the same one, accord- ing to my dream, who was buried beneath the curious mound of round blue stones upon the bluff. Leonore was not displeased with the affectionate declarations of the old squaw, but on the contrary she really evinced her gratitude by presenting the crone with a little fancy reticule, which her dear mother had made for her and taught her to carry at her waist, in accordance with a Parisian fashion then out of date. Old Betz, jubilant with delight, was more eager than ever to become the sole proprietress of every article that Leonore had upon her person. However, as Ta- shae's longing eyes were continually upon the lovely girl, he witnessed the squaw's greed of acquisition, and at once put a veto upon any further bounty. " Oh, let the poor creature have this little bit of rib- bon," persisted Leonore, completely fascinated with the deceitful crawling and the affectionate grimaces of her insatiate patron. "Augh!" grunted Kaskadino. "Give Injun squaw little, and she want all /" What Kaskadino said was true. But Old Betz made a sign to him in response, that signified how much she FLORESTDA EECOGNIZES PARRANT. 117 would like to have her hard, stiff fingers about his throat. And a frown from Florinda, in testimony of her disapprobation of the half-breed's ill-natured insinu- ation, not only gratified the old squaw's feelings, but at once established a bond of friendship between them. It is said that Indians never entertain a sincere friend- ship for pale-faced companions ; but that assertion is not established by facts, when the latter sympathize with the former in the accomplishment of their revenge. And in the instance here cited, Old Betz was quickly ready to hazard her own life for Florinda, if such serv- ice should be required. Kaskadino saw it all, and scornfully turned away with his characteristic grunt. Tashae and Madame were ahead, and Levasseur and Leonore followed them, leaving Kaskadino, Florinda, and the two squaws together in the rear. Standing near the path was a shanty where whisky could be had, and Kaskadino dropped in to get a dram. Florinda looked to see whither he was going, when sud- denly she beheld something which caused her to stop short and stare into the shanty ! She appeared greatly astonished at what she saw, and held her breath in won- der and doubt. Old Betz misinterpreted her emotion, and kindly in- quired if she was thirsting for minne-wakan. Florinda made no reply, but kept her eyes bent upon some object inside the whisky-shanty, until Kaskadino emerged with a grunt of contempt and proceeded to ascend the hill. By that time Florinda was ready to speak ; and, pointing within the shanty, she asked : " Who is that man ?" Imitating the "boo hoo" of swine, Old Betz jocularly closed one of her fiery black optics with the pressure of her thumb. THE WIIISKY-SELLEK SUBPKISED. 119 " No, no !" pettishly exclaimed Florinda. " The man there behind the bar. The slender man with light hair. Who is he?" " Boo-hoo !" repeated Old Betz, with a chuckling at- tempt at laughter and two or three sharp and decisive nods by way of an emphasizing assurance that what she endeavored to explain was really true. "Bah!" snarled Florinda. "I allude to the man with a defective eye !" " Augh ! Squaw mean one-eye, too !" But Florinda could not understand Old Betz's an- swer ; and, after a moment's thought, she motioned for her to " go on." The whisky-shanty was seldom empty; but just at that moment the customers were all absent, leaving the proprietor entirely alone and Florinda slowly but reso- lutely walked in, with her eyes fixed searchingly upon his face. Raising his head, their gaze met. The man was seriously startled ; but, quickly recover- ing his natural placidity of demeanor, he tried to say in a careless voice : " Well, ma'am, what can I do for you ? I can fill a bottle for you. My jugs are all gone." "You do not know me, then?" sneered Florinda, while advancing close to him, and thrusting her face very close to his. " Look again, sir ! The sight of your good eye was sharp enough when you held " " Yes ; I believe I do know you now !" quickly inter- rupted the man. There was a slight tremor in his voice and doubtlessly a thrill of emotion, perceptible only to himself. " But I thought you were dead !" he added, with stammering articulation. "They told 120 A MYSTERY UNEXPLAINED. " No matter what they told you," interposed Florinda. " You see me here now ! And, considering the cir- cumstances, I am resolved that you shall loan me a little money. I presume you understand what that means !" " I don't think I can no how. Money is awful skerse in this here part of the country." "Then I shall denounce you! I need not suggest what the result will be." The man was frightened pale at her words, and in a husky voice meekly replied : " Believe me. I don't lie any more. I'm awful poor ! He's rich, and always got plenty ! Ask him /" " He is dead ! I need aid from some other source now. It is very fortunate that I have discovered your hiding-place just at this time. Come, the money !" " Hah ! He is dead, hey ! Then I don't care a cent ! I can snap my finger in your face ! Ha, ha ! He's dead, and nobody'll believe you /" And the man did snap his fingers. He was highly elated at the death of some one. " Go go !" he con- tinued, with a suddenly assumed dignity that was entire- ly unnatural to him. "I want to be free! You clear out ! You're nothing to me, no how and you can't harm me in no way at all now ! Go ! This is not a nice place for sich ladies as you've been !" " Not so fast, if you please !" retorted Florinda, with increased determination. " Your memory is still good, I presume ; and it is scarcely possible that you have so soon forgotten the existence of . Ah ! You are changing your expression, and do not look so defiant now. A brave man you are, to quail at the mention of so trifling an object as that. I once told you that I intended to remind you of it some day when you least AN UNUSUAL CONFLICT. 121 expected. I have carried it with me ever since and can produce it any time !" " Let me have it, then !" he roughly demanded, and approaching as if he would take it by force. " I am not a fool !" sneered Florinda, unconsciously pressing one hand against her bosom and involuntarily shielding the object of contention. " Ah, I see where it is ! In your dress !" exclaimed the excited man, fumbling desperately in his pocket. " This knife will open the way ! Let me have it, or you die!" They were already in conflict when the great, horny fingers of Old Betz, who had been listening outside the door, violently grasped the man's hair from behind, and threw him sprawling upon the floor. And then, with the simple ejaculation of "Hugh!" she urged Florinda to go away. "Not yet," cried Florinda. "I must have three hundred dollars from him before I go a step !" She then slammed to the door and bolted it to prevent intrusion. "Will that satisfy you?" panted the fallen man, completely vanquished and eager to embrace a sudden gleam of hope. "If I give you all that much money, will you leave this place and never come back here no more, long as you live ?" Florinda thought an instant, and then said: "Give me the money, and I will surely, leave on the steamer going down the river to-morrow. But I shall keep that to remember you by !" "Your life may be shorter'n you 'xpect," he mut- tered but not quite loud enough for her to hear. Upon regaining his feet, he audibly replied, " You'shl have the money. I can't give it to you now ; but meet 122 IN CARVERS CAVE. me there by the square rock, below Mendota, at sun- down, and I'll bring you three hundred dollars all in gold every cent of it sure's I live !" Leonore's voice was then heard calling, and Florinda left the shanty, after agreeing to the man's proposition. Old Betz followed; but not until she had obtained a drink of whisky, which she demanded of the crest-fallen proprietor in ratification of the treaty just concluded between him and Florinda. Then shrugging her shoul- ders, and uttering that inevitable grunt, she joined the party as they were descending the hill. And when they repassed the whisky-shanty, to embark in their canoes, the proprietor hid himself from sight. And then the excursionists floated down to the edge of Dayton's Bluff, where they once more stepped ashore. They were then near the entrance of the great Cavern which Levasseur desired so much to see. Old Betz seemed perfectly familiar with the interior of the won- derful place. The mouth was about ten feet wide and five feet high ; and she led them through into the grand chamber, which extended a considerable distance over a floor of beautiful fine sand, to a lake of transparent water. The Major threw a stone into the lake with all his might, and, from the loud noise it made splashing in the water, he imagined the expanse of distance to be very large. But the darkness deterred them from see- ing far. Near the mouth of .the cavern, they could perceive many curious hieroglyphics of ancient origin, some of them almost entirely concealed with growing moss. And the cabalistic designs were inscribed upon walls of a peculiar stone, which might be easily dug out with a small knife. The singular formation was more like pressed sand than solid stone. PAREANT LEFT TO DIE! ]23 Old Betz said that the bones of her ancestors were lying in a mound above the cavern ; and she took them around to a path by which they ascended the bluff and there saw the old cemetery of the ancient Naudowessies. She pointed out the resting-place of several great chiefs, and particularly designated the exact spot where the remains of her own father were laid several generations ago. For that information the covetous old guide wanted extra pay. Indeed, she expected additional com- pensation at every turn. But then a mere trifle at a time would appease her avaricious craving. It was after sundown some time, and the evening twilight would soon fade in darkness, when the whisky- seller landed from a canoe half a mile below Mendota, and seemed to be waiting for some one. He finally en- sconced himself in a sandstone gorge of the bluff, and sat there quietly until an Indian, with painted face and soft step, emerged from concealment in the bushes a short distance up the stream. The Indian stealthily crept to the spot where the whisky-seller was crouching, and suddenly pounced upon him ! A brief struggle and then the Indian left his victim to die ! CHAPTEE IX. PERHAPS Kaskadino was -an unseen listener during the inter- view between Florinda and Par- rant, in the shanty at Pig's Eye landing. And inheriting the stealthy cunning of his aborigi- nal " ancestoresses," it was quite natural for him to make the most of an available opportuni- ty. Therefore, while the whisky- seller was ambushed in anticipa- tion of success in some design upon Florinda, the half red-skin pounced upon him to get possession of his gold. Rascal and rogue both struggled desperately together. But the assailant was vigorous and strong, and his victim at best rather feeble in muscular sti-ength. The result was fatal to the lat ter ; and the former unintentionally left him for dead ! Kaskadino then concealed the gold under a broken rock, and hastened to wash his face in the river, intend- ing to immediately alarm the camp by an announcement that he had just found the body of a murdered man. 126 FRIENDSHIP OF OLD BETZ. And as Tashae, his rival with Florinda, actually passed that spot a short time before, he would boldly accuse him of the crime. Such an accusation would seem all the more probable when Tashae's knife might be found with the body. The rascal had stolen Tashae's knife only yesterday, and accidentally lost it in the struggle with Parrant. But there was a witness to the whole transaction. Old Betz had restrained Florinda from a consummation of her rash intention, by proposing to go alone and bring either the gold or the whisky-seller himself into the camp. Florinda was naturally shrewd; and yet, while the experience of her life had been calculated to sharpen her sagacity, she frequently allowed herself to be outwitted. She might have surpassed Madame Zorah in deceit ; but the latter was one of those dauntless women whom we sometimes read of and very seldom meet in the every- day walks of life. Personal fear never deterred Madame from confront- ing anything in human form. And her recent acquaint- ance with the savages and half-breeds of Selkirk Colony had thoroughly familiarized her with rude and treach- erous people. Even Leonore, the beautiful flower of sixteen, possessed more real courage than a dozen city damsels all put together. But Leonore was not inor- dinately brave or daring by nature. And though cir- cumstances were tutoring her to combat with and to resist the harsh realities of life, her manner was grace- ful, her voice soft, her touch gentle, while her laugh rang in that silvery tone which rouses all the enthusiasm of a susceptible heart. Old Betz saw Kaskadino surprise Parrant ; and after he hid the gold, she stealthily took it away. Hastening A LITTLE CONFUSION. 127 back to the camp, she gave the alarm herself, and also declared that she had seen Kaskadino kill a man behind the rocks. But upon leading the excited traders to the place where the supposed murder had been committed, she was made a butt for all manner of sarcasm and verbal abuse, in consequence of no corpse being found. And Kaskadino actually produced several witnesses to prove that he was with them all the evening at a place which they named, on the other side of Mendota. At that time lying was common there. I can not say how it is now. Kaskadino was completely foiled, and Old Betz also failed in her revenge. What then ? Parrant's body disappeared ; but not in his own canoe ! The next day, when Kaskadino could not find the gold, he immediately suspected Old Betz of taking what he had stolen. And she gave the entire amount to Florinda, who went away the following evening in company with Levasseur, Madame Zorah and Leonore, on board a St. Louis steamer. Poor Tashae was left in the lurch. Having brought Florinda down to Mendota at his own expense, purpose- ly to have a pleasant companion in the tedious journey back to Red River, he was perfectly amazed when she suddenly departed on board the steamer, without pre- viously intimating any such intention. He was mad, and Kaskadino wild. There seemed to be nothing reliable in Florinda's affection, even after the perpetration of crime to ap- pease her jealousy. Perhaps moral philosophers are wrong when they say that the affection of a woman at thirty-five or forty is much stronger than the love of a girl but half that age. And yet many occurrences of peculiarity might be adduced to confirm the plausibility 128 UNAVOIDABLE RESULTS. of their theory. Observation has revealed to me a spe- cies of infatuated insanity a spasmodic manifestation of love or affection sometimes remarkably intense, and generally quite blind, which unmarried females of un- certain age and very sentimental predilection, are more or less subject to. I have also noticed that an incipient paroxysm of their untamed passions may suddenly be- come a perfect volcano; and then unaccountably and prematurely ripen into an iceberg or a hypochondriac simoom, to finally dissolve in the sea of despair, or van- ish on desert air. However, in all probability, Florinda's past history may not have been any more interesting than that of numerous other adventuresses of the same class. She certainly had a particular object in going to Selkirk Colony, and subsequently made a desperate effort to get a husband. And though deplorably unsuccessful in that attempt, she rashly involved herself with Kas- kadino so as to render the safety of a protracted sojourn in the community where he lived somewhat precarious. Under such circumstances, perhaps she acted prudently in seeking a home elsewhere. And thus the old story of social depravity was re- peating itself in connection with the early history of civilization in the vicinity of that beautiful spot whei-e the populous city of St. Paul now stands. I shall not attempt to estimate the quantity of maledictive vitupera- tion generated in the usually obdurate bosom of Tashae, the fur-trader, by the total loss of both Florinda and Leonore. Xor need I dwell upon the subsequent con- duct of Kaskadino, which clearly demonstrated his fixed resolution to be revenged on Old Betz, if not on any one else. Half-breeds are sure to inherit some of the direst pas- LOVING AND BELOVED. 129 sions of the Indian race but the venerable squaw was full-blooded, and she 'displayed a greater degree of cun- ning than Kaskadmo ever possessed. She could not be outwitted by any number of Kaskadinos; and conse- quently he went back to the bosom of his family at Sel- kirk Colony, a wiser and a far more disagreeable hus- band and father than he ever was before. Tashae also journeyed home again in a very melancholy humor. Meanwhile, Parrant, the queer-eyed whisky-retailer, disappeared from the vicinity of Im-in-i-jas-ka. And he would never return ! Madame Zorah and Leonore were going each to fill one of those remarkable destinies which are at variance with the course of common events. The future seemed full of promise ; but the " boy god " still had plenty of arrows in his quiver, and at least one more innocent would eventually be added to the Golgotha of love ! Major Levasseur, that polished man of the world, who took them from the Colony, could not deny himself the pleasure of possessing Leonore's confiding heart. But her grandma counted on good fortune, and, regardless of past experience, rashly allowed the tempter to ap- proach. Levasseur was no amateur in the art of wooing. He thoroughly understood the female heart; and erelong the beautiful girl worshiped him more as a god than a man. So handsome, so kind, so noble and so good ! How could she help giving him all the pure love she had to bestow ? And her grandmother spoke no words of warning until it was too late. They found a temporary home in St. Louis, where, for a time, Leonore seemed very happy. Levasseur was there, and she asked for nothing more. His caresses banished all else from her mind. They were soon to be 6* 130 NUPTIAL VOWS. married ; and then she would be his wife. To-mor- row not to-day ! But Madame said it was dangerous to wait. He offered one excuse for delay, and then another. Marriage there was to be but what of the marriage-day ? Madame felt ugly and sour, and said something un- unpleasant for Levasseur to hear. They nearly quar- reled, and Leonore threw her arms around his neck and kissed him very sweetly, with words of persuasion that he might gratify grandma. Pure, simple girl she did not then fully comprehend the ultimate necessity of such a ceremony in the light that grandma did ! Her educa- tion had been very imperfect in many particulars. He could not refuse her so trifling a favor ; and one evening a priest came to marry them. Madame witnessed the ceremony, and then signed a paper which purported to be executed in evidence of their union. Some months elapsed, and then Levasseur went away on a journey, waving a kiss for his pretty one to be of good spirits until he returned to caress her again. They imagined that Levasseur's journey must be a very long one, for he did not return. Days and weeks passed, and still the idol of Leonore's heai-t remained away ! While she sighed and wept, her grandma was absorbed in deep meditation. Madame could not weep. Her tears were exhausted long ago. Yet her brain was alive. Full of thought, one day she sat like a statue, gazing intently upon the floor until the wrinkles in her face seemed to expand with the intensity of emotion. What she was thinking about Leonore did not know. But at length some fixed resolve inspired her to move. Madame was not yet aware that Levasseur's pedigree went back to the old Marquis Dupontavisse. She un- A FALSE PRIEST. 131 suspectingly saw the grandson of her deceased noble morganatic husband take her grandchild for a bride ! And by that marriage, what a strange confusion of re- lationship was begun ! A genealogist of great percep- tion and skill would be required to elucidate the con- sanguineous position of Levasseur and Leonore after their matrimonial union ! As if moved by a presentiment of something wrong, Madame felt ill at ease when the brief and simple mar- riage ceremony was over. A vague comprehension of the technicalities of law suggested that the husband might not be effectually secured, after all. Yet she kept her own thoughts to herself; and when Levasseur did not return, she began to inquire of those who were supposed to know whither he had gone. Her inquiries were useless. And then a suspicion entered her mind. But Leonore must not know what that suspicion was. Without even the encouragement of a friend's advice, Madame went forth to pursue her inquiries almost every day ; and at length she was recognized very oddly by a man in a state of intoxication, who sneeringly exulted in her face. " Where's your daughter ?" he stupidly hiccoughed, with his arm wrapped around an awning-post in the highway. " I say, old lady, why don't you reverence the holy father who made her and the man she loved flesh of one flesh and bone of one bone ? Come hither, and receive my blessing. But first, you must confess ! And if you've got any loose change, I'll not decline a respectable fee. A priest can't save your wicked soul without remuneration. Ha hie ! No !" His last articulation terminated with a violent surge, ~ 7 that loosened his arm from the awning-post ; and a de- scending gyration rolled him at her feet. " Here's my TA-TANKA-NAJIN; or "Standing Buffalo." A Sioux Chief, and friend of " Sweet Corn ;" both of whom opposed the Massacre of 'C2. THE INEBRIATE ATTORNEY. 133 card," he muttered, after gaining a comfortable position in the gutter ! Madame snatched the card from his nervous hand, and read " Phineas O'Brien, Attorney at Law" office in such a street and at a designated number. "Is this yours?" she emphasized, without noticing the presence of several persons who stopped to witness the deplorable scene. " I am the son of Michael O'Brien, and I practice law in the State of Missouri. Come and see me day after to-morrow. I shall not go home till morning. Business with the municipal police department may detain me longer than I want to stay. But the majesty of the law must be respected, even by those who live from its frequent violation. I say the law must be respected !" A policeman came up and accorded with O'Brien's declaration, by hoisting him off to the lock-up, without even a word of explanation. " You see I'm wanted," jocosely hiccoughed O'Brien, with a parting leer at Madame, who stood transfixed in mental confusion. " They've sent for me now. The case is that of the Municipality vs. Phineas O'B. Call day after to-morrow, and we'll see what can be done. The law must be respected !" Madame returned to Leonore ; but said nothing about O'Brien. She was chafing within, yet smiled to cheer her drooping grandchild. And, pretending that she expected to get intelligence from Levasseiir in a few days, she waited as patiently as possible until, in accord- ance with the inebriated lawyer's invitation, she called at his office, and found him in. Phineas was quite sober by that time, and received Madame with evident confusion. She referred to his awning-post declarations, and exhibited his card. At 134 WORDS PLALNLY SPOKEN. first he prevaricated just enough to rouse her metal. She eyed him contemptuously, and then said : " Mr. O'Brien, do not trifle with a desperate woman ! Aid me in obtaining justice, and I will not only over- look your complicity with that bad man, but guarantee you a handsome reward !" Madame looked very resolute, and spoke with an em- phasis that he could not misunderstand. Pretending to arrange his papers for a moment or so, he concluded to receive a client in anticipation. " Bad man !" quoth he, with a severe shrug, and push- ing back his chair. "We need not argue that point, w r hile he is so abundantly able to compensate those who serve him. I fear that your reward can not equal his." " Mr. O'Brien, you are aware of the penalty incurred by personating a priest. And if I tell you that there is a witness ready to identify you, perhaps my proposition will be accepted." " A witness ! That is impossible !" " Very well ! In an hour's time we shall see ! Good- by, Mr. O'Brien !" Madame instantly rose to depart, and Phineas ex- pressed a desire for her not to be in too much of a hurry. " Will you assist me, then ?" " You forget that I might compromise myself in the undertaking. He is rich, and you are poor. His money can baffle justice itself. And who would believe your story ?" "Mr. O'Brien, open the book before you, and see what the law says in reference to that act of villainy on your part. One witness beside myself, and the evi- dence of Leonore, who can identify you by that cast in THE TRUTH AT LAST. 135 your left eye, will be sufficient to insure your convic- tion. Where is Levasseur ?" " Gone ! He is now entirely out of your reach !" " I ask whither he has gone." " To the City of New York. He is there with his wife !" Madame was unprepared for that announcement of O'Brien ; and she struggled to hide the sensation it produced in her brain. After recovering, she inquired how long he had known Levasseur. His reply was an evasive shrug. She then asked when he was married, to whom, and where ? "Major Levasseur married the daughter of a wealthy banker in New Orleans, at least six years ago !" " How do you know all that ?" " I was a clerk in her father's office at the time of their marriage, and also witnessed the ceremony, in the church of ." " What church ?" eagerly demanded Madame. " I do not remember," drawled O'Brien. " The banker's name ? You have not forgotten that !" " My memory is very poor, and I forget many things." "Villain! Give me Levasseur's address in New York." " That is out of my power. I can not acquaint you with what I do not know." Phineas O'Brien did put on the robes of a priest to marry Major Levasseur and Leonore. There was some- thing between the rich man and the tippling lawyer. A secret divulged might deprive Phineas of the com- mon privileges of a citizen. In St. Louis were many dark-skinned slaves, whose masters could barter them the same as common merchandise without any violation of the laws. And Phineas claimed to be the non of 136 PHINEAS O'BRIEN'S ORIGIN. Michael O'Brien ; but his Creole mother was included among the goods and chattels inventoried as part and parcel of the estate of Levasseur's father-in-law, who died in Xew Orleans soon after the marriage of his only daughter. Michael O'Brien, Phineas' father, was a negro-trader, who made money and spent it, until his temporal existence ended in a pauper's grave. Phineas was born a slave ; but being a likely lad, and very nearly white, he received an education fitting him for the duties of a clerkship in the banking office of his master, where he diligently occupied his leisure hours in studying law. In Phineas, Levasseur found an in- strument adapted to his wants ; and, after taking the banker's daughter for a wife, he negotiated for the vas- sal's freedom. Phineas subsequently practiced law in New Orleans and finally established himself in St. Louis, where he did a prosperous business until tippling ruined his expectations. When Levasseur arrived in St. Louis with his proteges from Selkirk Colony, Phineas was quite out at the elbows, and ready for participation in whatever might promise a reward. His services were required. It was not difficult for him to personate a priest. He could adapt himself to almost any emergency when not mud- dled with strong drink. Money he would have for his deception, and at the same time obey a command. Obedience was necessary for one in his position. He had been freed from bondage as an assessable chattel but forgery, adroitly executed, was the price of his liberty ! From legal bondage he passed into the clutches of the law. Levasseur could explain how the transfer was performed, and who profited most there- from. Therefore, detection was to be dreaded in accord- ance with the ill-will of the master. But, debased as 1.^ REVENGE BETTER THAN LAW. 137 was, Phineas O'Brien would have gladly exchanged his present bondage for that which he had been liberated from. Madame was satisfied that Levasseur had deserted them ! And then she went home to Leonore with a heart full of conflicting emotions. And though it might be utterly absurd to expect that the confiding girl would ever realize her pleasant anticipations of being a happy wife, the destroyer of all her future pros- pects in life should be made to suffer in some way, if possible, for such a cruel wrong ! The law seldom reaches the villain who thus despoils the unsuspecting and the pure. Madame knew that ; and she put no de- pendence in the law. She had long since learned that only the rich and the influential can rely upon legal issues. Her wits were trying to fix upon a scheme mere reliable than the law. Revenge is sometimes very sweet to a malevolent heart. Circumstances have ever been the incentives to evil. But Madame was not of a malignant nature. In girlhood none of her playmates were kinder to her than she was to them. Yet that was a long time past ; and the circumstances through which she had been living and enduring since then, eventually made quite a differ- ent being of her in the autumn of life. Those whom she once loved were false or in the grave. Indeed, the grave held all her best love, save that for Leonore and she would cheerfully re-endure the bitterest of past trials, if to spare her. All the world to Madame was centred in Leonore ! One " Good Little Injun Boy," elaborately Costumed, and then Postured with some care, expressly " to have his Photograph taken." CHAPTEE X. MY childhood was passed in a latitude not very remote from the Tropics, and I recol- lect the month of November there as always connected with associations of inclement weather. How different it is here in St. Paul ! During the lapse of that autumnal period of the zodiacal calendar, I am exuberantly enjoying the most delicious atmosphere ever breathed by man ! Indian-Summer occurs after the green foliage has been seared by early frosts, and is then a brief and delightful prelude to the season of inevitable ice and snow. It appears like a dreamy seance of the elements of Nature in sorrow for the smiling summer that is dead and in prayer for a safe transit through the gloomy Hades of the winter to come. It is universally loved and praised by all people who have an opportunity of realizing the enjoyment of its sweet yet mournful smiles. But in no 140 INDIAN-SUMMER IN MINNESOTA. other land on the face of the globe, does it produce anything like the enchantment experienced from it here ! Were I under the influence of opium, or mag- netized by that queer stuff sold in fancy drug stores to create dreams of intoxicating bliss, my senses could not realize emotions more delightful than those expe- rienced by me in my pleasant wandering to-day. But while the sun shone intensely bright, and no clouds darkened the sky, a luminous haze gently softened the ti-anquil light. I was perplexed to understand how the atmosphere could remain so perfectly pure and dry. Here in Minnesota I perceive none of that irksome inclemency which produces an unpleasant compromise between arid heats and stormy chills so peculiar to more Southern climes, and so intensely disagreeable in all localities contiguous to the sea. Rain seldom falls in O November for when the summer solstice has been attained, the clouds evaporate and become thin, and almost entii-ely disappear, until they return in Decem- ber heavily laden with snow. Thus the earth is left clean and dry after the sun recedes from the northern pole, and, remaining in that condition, it forms a hard bed for the snow-flakes in their fall. To-night now in the third week of November I sit writing, with the window of my apartment thrown wide open ! And this is what they call Indian-Summer in Minnesota ! The gas-light glare within is actually pain- ful to my imagination, while the beautiful moonshine without seems as bright as day ! The bell in a neighboring clock-tower tolls eleven; and it is time that I should lay aside my pen. (I'm sure to hear the bells.) But I must look out through the open casement a moment or two before going to bed. MOONLIGHT IN ST. PAUL. 141 First I will turn down the gas, so as to enjoy the lovely scene all the better. The tumult of traffic and the hubbub in the thorough- fares have died away, and, externally seen, the entire city appears to be wrapped in slumber. Now I hear the rumbling wheels of a belated omnibus passing in a distant street, and presently even that sound does not reach my ear. At intervals, a solitary pedestrian is heard " tramping the planks " while homeward bound. And the wakeful dogs are noisy to-night. What they are all barking at, is a difficult conjecture. Possibly at their own shadows, or perhaps at the seemingly prodig- ious moon. Dogs are very numerous in St. Paul ; and sitting here, as I do now, their incessant noise might annoy me, were my kind regard for them less. Let them bark. For while the bells are so saddening, they make me glad ! They are the only dumb creatures whom God has imbued with a devoted affection for man ! I have had good cause to appreciate their sympathy and devotion, and never pass a respectable individual of that species without desiring to salute him in some friendly way. I sit at the open window and contemplate the inter- esting scene until my eyes relinquish external vision, and I gradually lose present consciousness in dreamy retrospection. My mind wanders back through dim and through vivid memories of the past, and fancy re- calls two remarkably coincidental events that occurred in the City of New York just twenty years ago, and at this very hour of the night ! But instead of this clear sky and this balmy air, with the moon shining sweetly upon the city in slumber, as it now does here, a cold storm was then raging there. The rain pattered upon the pavements with audible 142 NIGHT IN A STOEM. sound, and splashed in the puddles and pools formed where the flagging was low. A mist dim'd the Avay- side lamps, and the atmosphere above seemed to be smoky and red, as if all illum'd by some distant fire ! The green bottles in the druggist's window shed a sick- ly glare, suggestive of misery and woe. Gusts of wind and rain swept around the corners and moaned among the chimney-tops, Avhile flapping awnings and banging loose window-blinds and rickety doors ! It was a cheerless night in the great metropolis. Few people were to be seen in the gloomy streets, and the muffled watchmen hugged their drenched garments about them as they slowly paced their wearisome rounds. I know of nothing more dismal to a stranger than the silent streets of a large city at midnight during the preA'alence of a storm ! The lone heart is depressed with a sense of utter desolation, as if walking among colossal tombs ! And though thousands of liAnng peo- ple are breathing in slumber within the sombre Avails so near, a solemnity of feeling calls up imaginary visions of eternity in death. The scenery of an impenetrable forest, or of a track- less mountain wild, does not inspire such emotions as those arising from a sight of the deserted highways of a sleeping city ! Nature in repose may give rise to thoughts sublime, Avhile a contemplation of the Avorks of man, devoid of his presence to infuse them Avith life, leads the beholder to a melancholy inference of ruin and decay ! The healthy and the prosperous were enjoying all the comfort of life in-doors, little caring for the cold pelting storm that was raging in the outer world. Love nes- tled in the arms of love, and affection dreamed of the past and of happiness in store for to-morrow. Infants PRAYERS FOR THE DAWN. 143 reposed upon their sleeping mothers' breasts, and pleas- ant smiles played around mothers' lips, revealing the joy they felt to have their sweet darlings there ! Storm-beaten walls concealed the luxury and the hap : piness the misery, the want, the sorrow, and the pain experienced within. Palaces yonder, and garrets there and damp cellars beneath the town ! For where so many breathe the same air, the rich and the poor must be very near each other. The greatest and the proud- est are but mortals even there ! And as time continues to come and go, not all the wealth in the world can keep the ills of human kind from the proud millionaire who scorns the penniless beggar. And the storm-wind howled among the house-tops while the rain drops continued to fall upon the great city, where lights dimly shone from windows that told of sickness and constant watching, and of prayers for the dawn of day. Through the casement of a mansion where the affluent are wont to dwell, an unusual light poured out between the elegant lace curtains draping the gold-trimmed screen. Then a carriage dashed around the next street corner, and drew up before the mansion-door. An eminent physician alighted and rang the bell furiously for admission. The door opened and he disappeared within ! Down in the city, another unusual light was seen at a miserable tenement house on a shabby street. From out the dingy attic window in the rear, a feeble ray of light scarcely made a shadow upon the opposite wall. But no carriage, nor even a humble physician, hastened to that wretched abode. The occupants of the attic room were too poor for indulgence in the expense of medical skill. 144 GIRL-MOTHER AND CHILD. In the corner of the room stood a cheap cot-bed. An old woman sat beside the cot, anxiously and tenderly nursing a young giii who had just become a mother. Anon the girl-mother fell asleep. And then the old woman sighed and murmured : " It's all over now ! Poor girl ! How cruel it was for one like thee ! And to think that I am to blame for all thy suffering and thy sorrow ! Oh, why did I so play the fool?" Silently pondering a while, with her eyes fixed upon the bare floor, and mechanically swaying her body, she scowled. " There must be some way for revenge, and I'll try and study it out ! He is rich, and we are here in want !" A slight movement of the sleeping mother silenced the old woman's tongue. But all was well. " Poor girl poor girl !" she mused. " If I thought the fate of thy babe would be no better than my own, or thy mother's, or thine, I'd strangle it while asleep, and not let it live to see the light of day. Ah, me ! This is a hard world to some ! Yes, yes ! But what can we do ?" Then the old woman sank into a quiet reverie again swaying her body, and occasionally breathing a deep sigh, with frequent glances of anxiety toward the girl- mother and her babe, who continued in slumber. A violent gust of wind startled her, and blew the stuffing out of the broken window-pane. The rain splashed in upon the sleepers' faces, but did not w r aken them. She quickly reclosed the opening and relapsed into an audible expression of what was passing in her mind. " If there is any mercy for the poor, we sadly need it now. They may send for me to-morrow, to-night this "BETTER THAT THAN STABVE!" 145 very hour ! And I must leave her here alone, to go and nurse some rich and happy wife. But that is our only chance. Oh, how cruel it is! Yet we must have money ; and the compensation that I shall receive from the rich lady for nursing her, will provide food and shelter for this poor, deserted girl ! Better that than starve !" A loud knocking terminated the old woman's solilo- quy, and startled the slumbering girl-mother and her babe! " Good ebenin ! Oney Sancho dat's all !" said a well-clad and extremely courteous mulatto man, who stood at the door when the old woman opened it with a trembling hand. "Missus taken suddenly bery ill, an wants de nuss, right way now, dreckley !" " I was fearful of this," muttered the old woman to herself. And then she said aloud to Sancho : " Wait and show me the way." " Sartinley ! Do dat wid tic'ler pleasure !" replied Sancho, looking round for a chair. But, seeing none, he slowly shook his head with a look of compassion, and glanced inquiringly at the cot. The old woman hurriedly put on her shawl to accom- pany Sancho, and whispered to the girl-mother that it would soon be daylight, when probably some of the lodgers on the same floor might look in. She would run back the first moment she could get away ! With kisses and tears she murmured, " God bless you and watch over you until I return !" Sancho escorted her to his master's mansion. It was the same that the physician entered a little while before. Presenting her to the housekeeper, he said : " Dis am Mad urn Zoree !" A DESPERATE RESOLVE. 147 Madame Zorah was her name ! And the girl-mother whom she had just left in the attic without a nurse, was her grand-daughter Leonore. They had very little money left after arriving in the metropolis, and securing a comfortable lodging. Three rooms, snugly-furnished, made them a tidy home. They did not stop at a boarding-house. Madame entertained an unconquerable aversion for that style of living ; and so became housekeeper in a small way. Meanwhile she sought revenge for Leonore. A wild, mad resolve for a poor old woman in a great, populous city ! Yet desperate as it was, a powerful incentive urged her on; and she solemnly vowed that the de- stroyer should make amends or bitterly rue the wrong. Major Levasseur's name was not in the published city directory, and she found no one who could give her any information of such a man. Their slender purse was getting more so every day. But Madame persevered in the search until her hope seemed entirely gone. Down in the world, and nearly buried with despair, she was unable to make a satisfactory return to the agent who called on rent-day for the monthly sum in advance. Poor people in New York are required to pay their rent in that way. Cash down in advance was not particularly objectionable to Madame, while she had the money in her purse. And old as she was, with all the experience of so many sharp vicissitudes, en- dured with more or less suffering and distress, she hoped that the agent would wait a few days longer. Something might turn up to-morrow. When she found Levasseur, he must make them comfortable, if nothing more. Perhaps he might ! But how long would she be finding him? House agents are not addicted to leniency. And 148 A HEART OF STOXK. why ? Ask landlords house owners. Perhaps they can tell ! Their code and practice is pay or go. Mad- ame endeavored to explain, and then she implored : " For Heaven's sake, do show us a little mercy now !" But the agent never gave himself any concern about the place which she mentioned. His Letter feelings were dried up before Madame offered her prayers. He had seen beautiful girls turned into the street without a home, and he had shut his ears against the moans of infirm women crouching in corners, hungry and cold ! Prayers and entreaties had no more effect upon him than the dissonant sound of the fish-man's horn. His business was to collect ir-oney. Leonore's beauty and Madame's wrinkles were all the same to his eyes. Neither joy nor sorrow met a feeling response from him ! A deceitful, cringing smile with the bill, and a sickly obeisance when the money touched his palm, or a halt-fiendish grimace when the money was not there ! Madame must move herself, or the merciless agent would call in the constable, who was anxious to come. She did move into a miserable attic room. But even that could not be accomplished without money ; and the no less unfeeling furniture-broker took nearly all they had at his own price. Perhaps not a third of what it should have been. Intelligence offices ! Well, what of them ? They are all at best very delusive institutions. The cunning managers generally receive remunerative compensation from both employer and employee, and sometimes make it convenient to swindle one while deceiving the other. Madame had dealt with similar mediums in Paris and also in London, but under different circumstances then. Necessity now drove her to one again. She desired a COMMON WRONGS. 149 position as nurse. References would be required, and she had none to give. "I might accommodate you with everything," sug- gested the manageress of the institution to which she applied. " I suppose I could do such a favor, if you are willing to pay for it. I have a number of excellent rec- ommendations in my possession. Applicants left them here, and forgot to take them away. You can be trusted, I presume ? Should the matter come to light, my reputation would suffer. I am very careful of my reputation. Most of the fashionables rely upon my word in matters of this kind. Say five dollars for an engagement, and ten for testimonials you understand ? Fifteen dollars down !" The pawnbroker loaned precisely fifteen dollars on a valuable ring that Leonore inherited from her dear mother. It was all they had to pawn and then, if the intelligence office failed, Madame might well ejaculate, " Heaven help them !" But, luckily, a great lady ap- plied that very day. The lady was not much acquainted in the city, and trustingly sent out her housekeeper to engage a nurse. Housekeepers are not always sincerely interested in the welfare of those from whom they receive pay to serve. All the better for employees seeking a place. Consequently, the matter was arranged without any questions asked or reference given ! Madame was duly notified that a lady had engaged her. The lady's name was not mentioned, and she did not think to inquire. She was very glad to get the en- gagement, and it made no difference to her whom the lady might be. Her services would be required at any moment. She must hold herself ready to attend with- out further warning. 15Q FLORIDA'S NEW HOME. And Sancho, the colored man, did summons her while she sat watching over Leonore, whose babe was not yet an hour old. But when Sancho announced her name to the housekeeper, there was a mutual surprise ! If the arrangement at the intelligence office had not been so loosely perfected, an unpleasant meeting might have been avoided ! Very unexpectedly, Madame stood face to face with Florinda, the Canadian adventuress, who exulted in the death of Leonore's dear mother at Selkirk Colony. But Madame did not know all that. She never suspected anything criminal in the conduct of Florinda and the last she had seen of her was in St. Louis, where they parted, after voyaging together down the Mississippi River. Madame simply manifested surprise, and really expe- rienced much pleasure in meeting some one in the great metropolis whom she had at least seen before. Florinda was no less surprised ; but at the same time exhibited confusion and alarm. She evidently wanted to prevent Madame going up stairs ; and her wits were already at work inventing a ruse to get her out of the house en- tirely. But at that moment the physician's voice was heard impatiently inquiring if the nurse had come ! Madame hastened up stairs into a luxurious chamber, and stood at the bedside of a beautiful lady with a newly-born babe, leaving Florinda speechless in the hall. " You are the nurse ?" said the physician, looking wisely over the top of his heavy gold-framed glasses. " Quiet very quiet ! She is dozing now ! You have been tardy ! Ahem ! This powder will make her sleep again when she wakes. The brown powder not the white ! Allow no one to enter the room until I return PORTRAIT ON THE WALL. 15^ In the morning. Much depends upon your experience and attention, as well as upon my skill. She is nerv- ous ! Very !" The physician moved out of the chamber with an air of conscious distinction. His carriage was waiting fo5- him, and he demurely rode away. Then Madame bent over the unconscious lady and gazed some time upon her beautiful pale face. What a contrast in the position of that great lady and the con- dition of poor Leonore ! Madame felt it all. The easy couch, with its fine linen and its orange-colored silk counterpane. Pillows of goose-down, with deep lace border. A magnificent canopy of blue silk drapery fringed with gold. Costly rosewood elaborately carved, supporting all. Rich velvet carpet, noiseless to the tread. Elegant cabinets, colossal mirrors, and decora- tive works of art. Pictures-f-aye, and a large portrait in a massive frame over the mantel. A portrait of whom ? Madame's eyes wandered from one object to another until a sight of the portrait caused her to start with intense wonder and surprise ! Her features relaxed, her chin fell, and her eyes gleamed strangely wild ! She seemed to be overcome with a dizziness, and, wiping the cold perspiration from her forehead, she appeared older by several years ! Choking a moment, she groaned, " Levasseur !" And, like an evil spirit, Florinda was lurking outside the door, which stood slightly ajar ; and a derisive smile relaxed the compression of her lips when she stealthily perceived that Madame already recognized the portrait on the wall ! CHAPTER XI. Two babes were born at the same hour ! One in a palatial mansion, the other amid poverty and want ! Lady Levasseur be- came a mother, and so did poor Leonore ! But the lady's daugh- ter would be an heiress, and the orphan girl's child must be un- blest with a father's name ! The rich mother lay sleeping upon her luxurious couch, while Leon ore's bed was a miserable cot. And was it any wonder, then, that Madame began to hate Lady Levasseur, the beautiful wife of the man who deceived and deserted her grand-daughter ? She bent over the sleeping wife, and sat for a time absorbed in meditation. A train of thoughts came up in her mind. She had found Major Levasseur at last ! But where, and how? Did he love his wife? Was his wife's love for him equal to that of Leonore ? Could the elegant lady love as devotedly as the simple girl ? Perhaps she did not love him at all. Many rich hus- 154 MARRIAGE WITHOUT LOVE. bands had wives who returned them no love ! It was customary for a lady to marry the wealthiest gentleman she could get. Indeed, husbands were frequently of less importance than their wealth ! Any rich man not already married, was a desirable object to catch ! Madame knew all that. She had been only a mor- ganatic bride; but the experience of an eventful life taught her lessons never dreamed of by an unloving or a devoted wife whose marriage was sanctified by holier rites and maintained by law. Mothers educated their daughters for a market. They were instructed how to be attractive, and thoroughly schooled in all the mod- ern arts of flirtation. Maneuvering mammas diligently assisted in conjugating the active verb catch, without any consideration whatever for that necessary little con- junction and, which joins it to the more important sub- stantive keep. No matter about love ! That might not realize dia- monds and costly dresses ! Love was not reciprocated in every fine mansion ! Pretension frequently brought much more luxury than that awarded to the purest love! Madame believed that love was seldom found among the rich ! She never experienced much afiection for any one except her daughter, who was dead, and for her darling Leonore. She had seen a great many married people who pretended vastly more than they ever estab- lished by their questionable habits of life ! Her opinion of society was extremely prejudiced from early associa- tion and disappointment in after years. Others have- adduced a similar conclusion by even pleasanter evi- dence than hers ! Madame's heart was very bitter ! She hated all the world. All except Leonore, and her babe that was just A DESPERATE RESOLVE. 155 born. She almost devoured Lady Levasseur's beautiful features as the latter lay wrapt in slumber. How could she destroy that beauty, and wean the Major's love en- tirely from her all for Leonore ? That babe would be rich, and Leonore's poor ! There must be some way to rob her for the sake of Leonore ! She would shrink from nothing that might accomplish Leonore's ascend- ancy over the wife. A thousand undeveloped thoughts flitted through her half-delirious mind. If that wife was dead, would Levasseur take Leonore back again to his arms ? He might ! Well, what then ? Madame glanced furtively round the elegant chamber. Her dim eyes gleamed with some sinister intention. She was meditating evil ! All alone ! Quiet ! Very still ! The storm beat against the glass in the window, and a faint moan went up the chimney with the heavy draft from the bright grate-fire ! The breathing of mother and babe was aadible to her ear, and the ticking of the mantel-clock went regular and clear ! Holding her own breath, she rose as if in a dream ! Placing one hand to her forehead to ease a painful throb, she convulsively twirled the other hand and twisted its fingers. Staggering to the marble edge of a costly escritoire, she took up one of the tiny papers of powder left there by the physician before he went away ! Opening it, she smiled just a little, and stood a moment to reflect. But gradually raising her eyes, they alighted upon the portrait of Levasseur. His look seemed to divine her thoughts, and she dropped the tiny paper, spilling the white powder upon a satin-cov- ered chair! Still she kept her gaze riveted upon the glowing canvas, as if petrified by his discovery of the wicked design just then in her heart ! 156 SAVED BY A PICTURE. Florinda, the housekeeper, was meanwhile hovering near. After disappearing- from her first position, she went into the dressing-room by another entrance, and there availed herself of the keyhole in the door com- municating with the chamber. She must have been greatly concerned about Madame's unexpected entrance into the Levasseur mansion else why did she act in that strange way ? The exciting circumstances attending Madame's expe- rience of the night, prevented any inquiries on her part; and thus far she remained totally ignorant of the means by which Florinda gained the position of housekeeper for Levasseur, while she and Leonore had been de- serted ! Madame really had no distinct idea of anything ex- cept that she was then in Levasseur's house alone with his wife and her babe who were reposing in luxury, while Leonore and her child lay iipon a comfortless cot in the squalid attic, unattended by nurse or friend. She keenly realized the wide contrast ! And with bit- ter contemplation of the extreme difference in their position, she was almost immediately transformed into a fiend ! Nearly delirious with the intensity of anger, jealousy and hate that were surging in her heart and whirling in her brain, from the complication of events which had taken place during the last hour, she rashly thought of poison ! But casually perceiving the picture against the wall, she was terrified by what seemed to be the living eyes of Levasseur. Their piercing stare went to her heart, and the powder dropped from her hand! At that instant Florinda softly entered through the communicating door, and with a whispered hush took her by the arm. She was very much bewildered, and BRIBES REFUSED. 157 mechanically followed Florincla into the dressing-room, where they remained some time whispering together. Floririda proposed that she should resign her engage- ment before Lady Levasseur awoke. Her compensation should be doubled and tripled, if she went quietly away and did not return ! There were good reasons for such a change. The Major would probably come home from Washington the ensuing day, and if he should find Madame installed, in his connubial sanctum, a hazardous denouement must be expected. Florinda argued the case with a great deal of cunning, but instead of inducing Madame to withdraw, she only roused suspicions against herself. And then Madame wanted to know how Florinda came to be there in the position of housekeeper. But that question was not answered quite clearly. And so Madame decided to remain precisely where she was. If Florinda chose to betray her in any way, she comforted herself with the possibility of some severe retaliation ! Leonore's wrongs demanded reparation, and if the lord of the mansion did not acknowledge her claim, his wife should know all. Madame included that desperate alternative in a new resolution instigated by the anxiety of Florinda. Instead of meditating harm to Lady Le- vasseur, she would be used to circumvent her own hus- band. His conduct should guide Madame's course of action ! If he denied the claim of Leonore woe betide him then. Florinda and Madame were becoming enemies. They spoke pleasantly to each other, and both endeavored to conceal the animosity goading them within. But ulti- mately their mutual deception would not succeed. However, their interview was terminated by Lady Le- vasseur waking from sleep. And as Madame felt the 158 A HOUSEKEEPER'S LETTER. awkwardness of her position, she asked Florinda for an introduction. A very unusual scene but apparently correct. Only a faint smile welcomed Madame. No matter ; she had a bold game to play, and resolved not to wince until the stakes were entirely lost. She really had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. In any event, she could not worse her own condition or that of Leonore. Madame began the duties of nurse, while Florinda went to her own room and wrote a letter to the Major, who intended to return from Washington as soon as he received notice of the event in expectation. Florinda had been instructed to notify him by telegram. In that she was then complete master of tlie situation. Levasseur was pushing a negotiation with the Gov- ernment, and did not wish to leave the capital until he attained the desired ultimatum. Florinda had familiar- ized herself with his alfairs sufficiently to warrant her in taking more liberty than an ordinary housekeeper would dare attempt ; and she wrote him a very business- like letter. It ran thus : " My lady has presented you with a little daughter. But I am sure you will pardon me for not telegraph- ing immediately when I tell you that, through some unfortunate fatality attending the engagement of her nurse at the intelligence office, old Madame Zorah, Leo- nore's grandmother, has been sent to wait upon my lady ! You are amazed at this announcement ; but cannot be any more so than I was when Sancho bixmght her in. I tried all prudent means to get her out of the house before she even saw my lady, but neither persua- sion nor the offer of money had the least influence what- ever. Of course she recognized your beautiful portrait over the mantel, and is now in my lady's chamber, im- THE OLD WOMAN'S CACKLE. 159 patient to meet you on your return. Therefore, if I may be allowed to offer advice, you had better not pre- cipitate yourself into domestic trouble at least not while my lady is in such a delicate condition. Remain away for a time, and I will do my best to dispose of the old witch. I might have acted more decisively; but as she evidently suspects me of personal motives, it is best that I should rely mainly upon finesse. Write to my lady on receipt of this, and feign a good excuse for your provoking detention. The old thing tells me that Leonore is not in the city ; but declines to reveal the girl's retreat. You may depend upon my fidelity at all hazards, and I shall anxiously await your reply." She also added, " Fondly and eternally yours !" At an early hour in the morning Sancho was dis- patched to the General Post Office with the letter, so that it might go out in the first mail. Madame asked to be excused also at an early hour in the morning. She would not be absent long. But igno- rance of the streets somewhat embarrassed her speedy flight to Leonore. However, she was fortunate enough to meet Sancho returning from the Post Office, and he cheerfully escorted her the right way. Leonore received her grandma with a smile, and their arms were instantly entwined about each other's neck. Baby was doing well; but presently Madame's eyes lighted up with some sudden thought while she affec- tionately scrutinized its scarcely defined features. She was in a rare humor, and fairly cackled to herself with the new idea in her mind. She did not tell Leonore what made her so jubilant and it was well for her scheme that she did not. A poor widow occupying the next attic was employed to nurse Leonore; and with another scene of mutual Minueliaba Falls, as seen from the Minneapolis side. EXPIATION FOB LEVASSEUR! 161 kisses and tears, the girl-mother and her grandma sepa- rated again. Madame chuckled as she went out, and then cackled to herself all the way down stairs. She was felicitating herself upon a terrible expiation for Major Levasseur ! " Just the same age and both girls !" she mused, in the exuberance of her feeling. "No one could tell them apart if they were placed together. Their own mothers would be none the wiser if I should change them ! If I should ? And why not ? Our child has as much right to be an heiress as theirs ! But one of the children can lawfully inherit their father's name and wealth, and and that one shall be Leonoras!" Florinda asked Sancho why he had been absent so long ; and in his simple goodness he not only boasted of showing Madame to her squalid home, but sorrow- fully added : "Ah, some us rich folks don't know how orf'l bad off dem ar poor critters am in de low streets and alleys, and down cellar, and way up in de garrets, dar. I seed a lady dat am lub'lee as a angel. She was li'n in Mad- urn Zoree's bed, an I spec she had a little small chile ! Old Sancho's heart felt berry sad to seem em dar widout any konweniences ob life !" And thus Florinda learned that Leonore was in the city notwithstanding her grandma's assertion to the contrary. But she did not clearly comprehend San- cho's intimation of the unhappy girl's maternal con- dition. However, she immediately penned another letter to the Major, and then nervously waited for whatever might occur. Lady Levasseur was rather pleased with her nurse which might not have been expected, when Madame's coarse face appeared so very masculine. But she en- 162 WARNING FOR RICH MOTHERS. deavored to make a favorable impression by the earnest- ness of her attention ; and the first few days passed without any external sign of the terrible mischief then brewing. There mi<;ht have been a sudden fluttering O O *-> in Madame's heart whenever she heard the street-door bell ring in expectation of the Major's return ; but only Florinda could even imagine that. Lady Levasseur's future life was not yet darkened by the slightest shadow of impending harm. More than a week elapsed, and still the Major did not return. Madame wondered why ; but prudence forbade inquiry. She knew that Florinda was corresponding with him daily that Lady Levasseur received letters from him, and employed her housekeeper to write the answers. She was cognizant of that only. Little did she imagine that Florinda was playing a desperate part. Both deeply interested in the consummation of their own plans, they did not anticipate the scheming of each other. The hour at length arrived for Madame to execute the first act of her revenge. Florinda accepted an invi- tation to spend the day with a lady in Jersey City who lived there in great style frV>m the proceeds of a remu- nerative " Clairvoyant " occupation. It was a pleasant afternoon, and Madame suggested that a little fresh air would be extremely beneficial to the baby. Lady Le- vasseur did not object. Ladies of her position seldom allow maternal solicitude and attention to occupy their minds. They too often leave their tender offspring entirely in charge of hirelings who rarely have any heart in the task. Lady Levasseur was naturally an affectionate mother. But her whole existence had not yet become identified with that of her babe. And why ? Because she was THE INFANTS CHANGED ! 163 not necessarily actuated by those tender sympathies which are fully developed in mothers whom humbler circumstances compel to act and feel with all the capa- cities of body and mind. Therefore, Madame could do whatever she thought best. Cackling with almost fiendish delight, Madame hur- ried away to Leonore in the attic room. The widow woman who nursed Leonore was sent off on a long errand. Then telling Leonore that she did not look as well as usual, it was not difficult to make her swallow three of the sleeping powders that were left by the physician after the accouchement of Lady Levasseur. A narcotic dose powerful enough to stupefy any one ! But Leonore must sleep very sound. And then Madame cackled again while hastening back to the Levasseur mansion. The lawful heiress to Major Levasseur's name and wealth was in Madame's arms, and it went out through the massive rosewood door never to return ! Leonore seemed dead to all the world when her grandma brought in Lady Levasseur's child. And then the first act of a drama in real life and sorrow was there performed! Quickly disrobing both infants, Madame clad the nameless progeny of the beautiful orphan in the costly apparel of the baby heiress! She then wrapped the other in the plain clothes and tucked it up in bed! Both babes were kicking and crowing, and seemed to enjoy the change that might be dooming them to misery in their future lives. But Madame scowled cruelly upon the little one left at the side of Leonore, while vehemently kissing the other, whom she hugged up to her bosom. Then she hurried back again to the mansion, carrying with her 164 INSTINCT OF A MOTHER. Leonore's child. She suddenly ceased her cackling at the mansion door for Dinah, the colored wife of Sancho, answered the bell and grinned a welcoming salutation. " Young misse kum home gin ! Lpr bress her nice, swete, preshus sef ! An' not bin ride'n in de caridge, need'r. Massa mus' get a bran new wun for 'is lubly darter, right away. Yes, indeed-ee, he mus' ! Bress er purty pictur she's good fur sore eyes !" Dinah pulled the child's mantle off its face, and that made Madame feel nervous. But she was much more agitated a moment later, when Lady Levasseur kissed it and embraced it as her own. And then Madame must see Leonore safely out of that deep slumber. It would not take long to run down there. So, pretending to have dropped some- thing at a store where she had not even been, Madame flew back to finish up the attic scene. Leonore was already awake and staring at the child by her side. " What now ? Have your senses left you, or are you dreaming ?" began Madame, in a kind and innocent tone. " Where is my darling ?" gasped Leonore, bewildered and in tears. " This is not mine !" " How absurd ! Why, you silly goose, not to know your own child ! Forsooth, here's a model mother ! I don't wonder it laughs at you so !" " Oh, no, grandma that is not my babe ! Take it away !" shuddered Leonore. " Bah ! See its clothes and that pretty cap made by your own hands. Surely you are not insane ! Its mamma disowns it eh ? She does ?" '* Oh, dear grandma, there is something wrong ! I shudder when I touch its little hands. See, its flesh does not feel like that of my darling! Oh, it is all A STBANGE IMPKESSION. Jg5 Strange to me ! Please do take it away, and bring back mine !" Leonore wept aloud. She shrank back and shud- dered instead of embracing the child. " Take it away, and return mine !" she continued to cry. Madame began to feel alarmed. She tried scolding without avail, and then soothing persuasion. The poor widow returned and Madame appealed to her. " She has been dreaming," laughed Madame ; " and now she don't know her own babe. Look she says it is not hers !" The poor widow was deceived by the likeness ; and she also laughed at Leonore's impression. Then they both tried to convince her that she was mistaken. But all to no purpose. She possessed the rare instinctive perception of a mother! And Madame was finally obliged to leave her sobbing in grievous distress ! The little innocent laughed and crowed to see Leo- nore's face all suffused with tears ; and its meaningless smile actually pierced her heart not with rebuke for her aversion, but like a sting of jealousy from some vague source through its unimpassioned gaze. And when she refused it the nourishment of her breast, the poor widow looked on perfectly amazed. " I can perceive the image of a beautiful blonde lady reflected in its eyes !" Leonore shiveringly cried " and she scowls at me ! Oh, do take it away !" CHAPTER XII. m, ^ml ASPASIA and Cleopatra were both remarkable exemplifications of sue* cessful beauty. Since their time, many other women have attained the most exalted position by the influence of personal charms. And without egotism I will suggest a study of this social phenomenon for convincing proof that beauty is the choicest gift of Nature. Such a theory on my part may not elevate me in the esteem of those very spiritual intellects who realize no enjoyment from ex- ternal things. Yet I am not entirely forgetful of the blessed endowment of mind. Though while the under- standing may be improved by education, all the arts known to science will fail to render a physical deformity comely in our sight. A repulsive face and form do not inspire us with emotions of delight. And yet empires have been overturned by the influence of physical attractions pertaining to the fair sex. The power of reason, embodied in pure morality and 168 PERSONAL CHARMS. a cultivated intellect, is very often outweighed by ex- ternal loveliness in women. However, this will not be admitted as a "good result" by those orthodox ex- pounders of the heinousness of sensual emotion, who contend that all personal beauty is only " skin deep." And it can not be denied that the ancient Puritans, with a profane lack of reverence for " God's Image," did their utmost to spoil the personal charms of their daughters by sombre raiment and coerced unemotional restraint. I have heard of one pious New England grandmother who actually caused a portion of her daughter's beautiful front teeth to be extracted, with the avowed purpose of deterring ungodliness that might arise from vanity ! And I also remember reading how some of those pious fanatics gratified their insane zeal by burning individuals, with the sincere though absurd belief, that " witches " ought to expire with torture. Thanks to the printing presx for its diifusion of knowl- edge, by which nearly all those pious prejudices have been extinguished I trust forever. Female beauty, in a corporeal sense, may be defined as a perfectly harmonious blending of the natural func- tions of life with the external form. When the princi- pal elements of vitality are in a sound state of health, and the general anatomy is developed in graceful out- line, may be seen those exquisitely formed limbs, those delicate hands and feet, and that transparent skin, the roseate blush of which is so warming even to an ob- server's eye. Beauty is the special adornment of woman and hence she is endowed with an exquisite sense of fondness for whatever pertains to the toilet. With some it becomes a ruling passion, and in excep- tional cases moral ruin. The Roman beauties wore masks at home to preserve their complexion. It is BEAUTY AND MIND. 169 said that Diana of Poictiers retained the freshness of youth to a great age by following the advice of Para- celsus. We are told that at sixty her beauty was ravishing to the dullest eyes of men. She bathed in rain-water every morning ; and Madame Tallien, who participated in those extravagant luxuries and aban- doned excesses revived under the rule of the first Napoleon, actually wallowed in a mash of strawberries and raspberries, after which her form was washed with sponges saturated with milk and costly perfumes. But while a beautiful form appeals only to our senses, a lovely face, where every other attraction might be wanting, will instantly touch our heart. And accord- ingly we kiss the eyes or the lips of those whom we love, leaving the cheek, the hand, or the like, to be caressed in token of unimpassioned affection. Admitting that beauty is so choice a gift to woman, I nevertheless distinctly remember more than one very homely lady whose educational attainments enabled her to be extremely fascinating. And not only the most charming, but by far the most bewitching lady I ever knew, really possessed very little physical attrac- tion. Her charms existed only in the imagination of those whom she fascinated by the adroit exercise of a naturally superior intellectuality, tutored to the highest perfection of mental skill. In plain terms, she was a remarkably accomplished cheat ! The appellation is not any harsher than it should be. Her name was quite familiar to the public some years ago but I pre- sume that it is nearly or quite forgotten now. When natural beauty efface and form accompanies a bright intellect, all heightened by the artificial attrac- tions and the educational accomplishments of the nine- teenth century, we have everything necessary for the 8 170 THE BLUSHING BRIDE. perfection of real divinities to enslave the affection of a masculine saint ! For modern appreciation, physical beauty certainly is the choicest gift that Nature can bestow upon a woman. Other attractions she may acquire. A beautiful face is absolutely natural. Art may hide defects but it can not physically transform ! Lady Levasseur had the double advantage of natural beauty and a polished mind. Her father w r as a wealthy banker, and she an only daughter. She was in all respects fitted for the wife of a gentleman occupying an exalted position. Alluding to her marriage, the " New Orleans Picayune " closed thus : " Elegantly robed in white, the belle of the Crescent City blushed and bowed at the hymeneal altar. The ceremony over, the happy couple, attended by the bridal guests, passed down the church aisle for exit at the door where their carriages stood in waiting. A long, white vail concealed the bride's features as they withdrew, but the face of the handsome and noble bridegroom was all radiant with joy." And Leonore was beautiful, too. Nature smiled ten- derly upon her. And though her education had been neglected from circumstances beyond possible control, she nevertheless possessed an innate delicacy equal to that of the most accomplished and refined. The sweet effeminacy of her comparatively unpolished mind and the classic contour of her exquisite form bespoke a superior origin. Yet there was no complimentary paragraph in either of the St. Louis papers after the same " handsome and noble bridegroom " gave his hand to Leonore. Did Major Levasseur marry the beautiful and accom- plished daughter of the wealthy banker for love ? He EVEN LOVE MUST CHANGE. 171 admired her. Many other gentlemen did that much. She was a city belle, and could have selected a husband from among scores of gentlemen whom she knew. And perhaps either of those admirers would have given her more tender love than what she acquired with the name of Levasseur. But she loved him to idolatry ; and it did seem that he ought to have been supremely happy with such a wife. But the world can not judge between man and wife. It is one thing to say what should be, and quite another to prophesy the result. That indescribable "some- thing " which is a stumbling-block to so many hopes and loves in this misguided world, existed (or did not exist) between Levasseur and his elegant bride. He was not happy, while she thought her happiness com- plete. She loved him, and he knew it. He said that he loved her, and she believed him. And their acquaint- ances pronounced them a model pair ! And thus their first year of wedded life soon passed away ! But changes continually occur with all things, and everywhere. Nothing can remain the same. Increasing or decreasing is the perpetually inexorable law govern- ing substance, life and feeling ! The instant of arrival at maturity is the beginning of decay. Even our love increases until attaining its zenith, and then diminishes every hour. We do not love and continue loving pre- cisely the same ! Either we love more or we love less ! All is transitory. What appears stationary and eternal, is changing while we look upon it as fixed forever! Perpetual change leaves nothing to-morrow as it was yesterday. Levasseur had his wife, and he had her love and her father's money. He bargained for all thtt, and gave his name and his hand, and -promised her his love in ex- 172 HUSBAND AND WIFE. change. 'Twas a bargain that he coveted, and yet it did not seem to satisfy him. He wanted to be a good husband ! At least he thought so. But in the bonds of mati-imony, how could he love any one except his wife, without a violation of the sacred ties binding him ? Legal statutes, social laws and divine mandates required him to love his wedded wife and only her ! How was it possible for him to do that while coveting what he did not possess ? The wealthy banker in New Orleans died ! His only daughter became Levasseur's bride in the autumn, and when summer brought its fruits and flowers, they laid him in the grave ! Lady Levasseur was parentless then. Her mother died before she could remember. She was not only an orphan, but had very few relatives whom she knew. Her father and her mother both came from abroad, and neither of them ever said much about their family con- nections. But her mother's brother, a wealthy bachelor engaged in some foreign trade, was then living in New Orleans. Yet the elegant lady, with but a solitary consanguin- eous tie, inherited a large fortune, and bore the name of a noble husband. The domestic slaves of her de- ceased father's estate thought no other lady could equal their beautiful young mistress ; and she regarded them with gratitude and affection in return. Only two of them, Sancho and Dinah. A venerable couple, who first taught her baby-limbs to perform their duties of life, and had ever after striven to anticipate and gratify her expanding wants. She even learned to call Dinah by the endearing name of Mamma, and Sancho by that of Uncle ! Her father made no objection to that. Most Northern parents would have experienced a PREJUDICE NOT FEELING. 173 dreadful shock to hear their daughter address a colored servant in such terms, while it was considered merely a pleasant kindness among those accustomed to the insti- tution of slavery. Such is the difference between acquired prejudice and spontaneous feeling ! The noble husband of the banker's daughter obtainec great riches which she did not trouble herself to count. He made investments and went into disastrous specula- tions, which lessened the bulk of a vast estate until it became advisable to remove his habitation. The City of New York is a favorite harbor for deluded adventurers when threatening storms darken the horizon of their chimerical sea ; and it seems to be the final re- sort of many a desperate mortal, where, for a brief period, avenging wrath can be stayed with the possi- bility of multiplied horrors when the last ray of hope has gone ! Levasseur sold out in New Orleans ; and he resolved to sell Sancho and Dinah with everything else. But their mistress shuddered at that suggestion. Sancho, with his head as white as snow ; and Dinah, with her hair all frosty, too. Poor old slaves ! Part with them ? No, no ! It was the first time in her life that she re- solved to oppose the decree of either father or husband. He said they must be sold, and she declared that they never should be taken from her. She repeated never in a tone emphatic enough for even Levasseur to fully Comprehend her meaning. What tears of gratitude Dinah and Sancho shed ! Sell them? She would a thousand times rather set them free. Yet neither Sancho nor Dinah wished for that. They had no use for freedom. How could they leave their dear young mistress, while loving her with the affection of fond parents for a darling child ? They 174 A CLEVEK FINANCIER. would be her slaves forever ! The master yielded with- out much persuasion when he saw their mutual affection. And then they all found a new home in the great Northern city, where Levasseur purchased a costly mansion to dwell in. And, as a manifestation of kind- ness toward his loving wife, he caused the deed to be executed in her name. How generous a husband may appear, when, with a small part of the wealth acquired by marriage, he buys a residence in his wife's name ! Such magnanimity is characteristic of some rogues who might be named ! The lord and master of the mansion deeded in his wife's name was induced to embark in certain specula- tions then carried on in the vicinity of the Upper Mis- sissippi River. And thus he was necessarily absent much of his time, on business matters at Washington, and in making journeys to the North-west. Five of the first settlers of Minnesota, now living in the City of St. Paul, still have some recollection of the handsome Major, whose clever financiering taught them to play sharp or lose. But none of them suspected that he was the grandson of a distinguished French marquis. Yet he could "handle choice corner lots" in embryo cities and incipient towns, with the shrewdest specu- lator and doubtless the gentleman from Pennsylvania who " disliked auburn hair," might enjoy a perusal of his subsequent career in life. I am quite positive that the remembrance of a " three-wheeled buggy " would recall a trifling incident to the mind of a "Western Judge who knew something of the Major's skill in pugilistic recreation. The Honorable - , of Spring- field, Illinois, paid a wine bill of one hundred and thir- teen dollars, in addition to several thousands staked at cards, one night on board a Mississippi steamer while THE LADIES' MAN. 175 going up to Prairie du Chien. Major Levasseur won that money, and afterward turned it into land, which the Honorable gentleman subsequently bought at a "forced" sale. Before his trip to Selkirk Colony, Levasseur had made the personal acquaintance of numerous " representative men " from the North-west, who visited Washington for State purposes or to secure their individual aggrandize- ment by National legislation. Yet, as he never alluded to his wife, it was generally inferred that no matrimo- nial obligations existed in denial of the privileges which he claimed in ladies' society. And the fair sex seemed to be unanimous in their admiration of him, either as a gallant cavalier or a capital prize in the marriage lot- tery. He was, in all respects, a popular man. Certainly he was handsome, or the ladies would not have been so eager for an introduction. That his natural gifts had been highly improved by education was plainly evident from the ease with which he infatuated so many almost at the first meeting. Handsome, intelligent, witty, ac- complished, refined and rich ! What other qualities were required to exalt a man in the estimation of the fair sex? A hereditary title of nobility would have made his individuality a captivating perfection in the eyes of every lady whom he met. And though Levasseur's acquaintances in this country were ignorant of his royal pedigree, it was surmised by more than one romantically inclined admirer that he might be some prince or duke in disguise. That he per- sistently declined to reveal his birth, and rank among noblesse, was not any more remarkable than a similar taciturnity maintained by other exiles from France. A political convulsion had then banished many proud grandees, who discreetly assumed untitled names and ** fa ^ *s 5 :* *3 Sj&fcSlsl >>5 -s-2 e | = = &&5 = ' s ^ i* BltlJz p-^^^sa^S o * "3 - = > ^sllig-si ? s - - - a s <* t, *s 3. ~ ^ * ~ * * "S ~ - WIFE. wild dream! But her husband had come back to her, and she was then lying in his arms ! The bliss of that moment was worth years of woe! She had no eludings, nor complaints to offer. His eyes beamed lovingly upon her own, and she saw in them what made him appear a perfect god ! Her arms were around his neck, and their kisses mingled in the unison of mutually intoxicating delight ! He was all hers ! But what a shudder came up with the recollection of that bed-chamber scene! Oh, what did all that mean? She tiled to ask, but his warm lips smothered her voice ! Madame looked on in the attitude of a strange statue, her eyes gleaming with delight, while the reconciliation of those two hearts was breaking another heart in the next room ! As usual, Florinda was hovering near. She saw the only chance for herself in pretending sympathy with the deserted wife ; and, gently placing her upon a lounge, she soon restored consciousness to her shat- tered mind. " O, let me die ! !" piteously wept the agonized wife. " He does not love me any more ! I am suffocating ! My heart is breaking ! Lost forever ! Only baby is left ! All else has gone !" Lady Levasseur embraced Leonore's child with the belief that it was her own, while her husband caressed its mother in the dressing-room ! As night shrouds the entire world in gloom at the close of day, so there came a dark cloud of mystery around and within the costly mansion of the Levasseurs. Autumn passed away, and the winter winds blew sharp and cold. The ground was frozen, thick ice cov- ered the rivers, and one night a great snow storm spread its burden of white flakes over the city. Early THE BEAUTIFUL SNOW. 199 the next morning, thousands of ragged boys and tat- tered men, with old shovels and fragments of brooms, were ringing door-bells and begging the privilege of removing the snow from the stoops and sidewalks, for a few shillings in money. Snow storms in a great city are harvests for the unemployed poor who can find utensils and are willing to earn the reward of toil. But alas, for any poor lost canine quadruped who has no home: his diet must be meager until the snow melts to uncover the loose offal and scattered bones ! . Up and down the aristocratic avenue, shovels were clattering until noon. The sidewalks and the stoops and areas were brushed off clean. All except one ! A hundred boys and men had been tugging at the bell-knob of a massive rosewood door ; but no answer came from within. The shutters were closed, and one little urchin suggested that the inmates might all be dead ! Then a policeman tried what he could do. He would make a formal complaint at head-quarters. The law required that residents should promptly remove the snow from the front of their premises within so many hours after its fall. Who could he have fined for neg- lecting the law? A silver plate upon the rosewood door announced the name of " Levasseur !" The police- man wrote something in a small blank-book, and then walked away. Days and weeks and months went into the past, and still the rosewood door of the Levasseur mansion did not open from without nor from within. Long neglect permitted an accumulation of rubbish around the colos- sal stone steps, and cobwebs were stretched across the recesses beyond the reach of the wind and storm. The silver knobs and the plate with the master's name upon it, grew tarnished and red and some naughty boys had 9* 200 THE DESERTED been disfiguring the walls with large comic figures in chalk. The people went up and down every day, w r ondering at the gloomy walls of the once enlivened mansion. And well they might for a deserted house standing in silence amid the animated whirl of a populous city, is a suggestive scene to contemplate ! The neighbors began to talk; and some hinted the necessity of an investigation. Where could the Le- vasseurs all be? No furniture was ever seen to go away. Mrs. Coe lived with her husband, one Mr. Coe, in the house exactly opposite, at the rear. The domicile of the Goes stood facing another street ; but the back yards of the two houses were adjoining. Mrs. Coe's sister was an unhappy old maid. Her dormitory looked out upon the deserted, or rather, as she said, the mysterious dwell- ing. And, in the singular manner of many other old maids, she was much addicted to malicious suspicion. She seemed to suspect all things, and the " other half" of mankind in particular. But she had more influence with Mrs. Coe than Mr. Coe would ever have. Indeed, the sisters belonged to the " Woman's Rights Society," at that time looming up in the already tainted atmos- phere of connubial disputants and dissenters ! Mrs. Coe finally agreed with her venerable maiden sister that something fearful must have happened among the Levasseurs. If the \isual appointment of Hibernian damsels had been domesticated in the Levasseur family, perhaps the neighboring Bridgets and Catharines might have learned all the secrets worth knowing, and indus- triously reported them everywhere. " Blast them niggers !" chafed the old maid. " They are the closest-mouthed fools I ever saw ' Harriet Jane A VERY TIMID MAN. 201 tried half a dozen times last summer to find out what pursuit the gentleman was engaged in, but they snubbed her off by saying, ' Massa tends to his bis'ness and we tends to de chores 'round de house !' I hate niggers ! They're so stupid and non-communicative !" The " blasted niggers," alluded to by Mrs. Coe's ven- erable maiden sister, were Sancho and Dinah the faith- ful and the only servants who waited upon the Levas- seurs. Mrs. Coe's curiosity increased with her sister's, until she insisted that her husband should force an entrance through the back way, and see all about it. Mr. Coe was a very timid man, and he could not undertake such a feat Avithout at least one or two confederates to ac- company him. So, rather than forego the luxury of appeasing their inquisitive desire, both Mrs. Coe and her sister convoyed the trembling husband in the dark adventure. The hour of night made it dark ; and that idea greatly horrified Mr. Coe. Wouldn't Mrs. Coe be merciful and relent ? No ! When her mind was once made up, she never swerved from her purpose. She was ashamed of Mr. Coe for his cowardice. But it afforded her some consolation to believe that all men were cowards, and that they never could do anything brave without the superior nerve of down-trodden women to help them on by intellectual inspiration. They reached the back area of the Levasseur man- sion. The fastening of the kitchen window was moved, and they told Mr. Coe to enter. Oh, dear ! He would deem it an especial and humane favor from Mrs. Coe, if he might be allowed to run away. She could not spare him just then; and with the assistance of her sister she grasped him, by the THE MTSTERIOUS CHAMBER, 203 shoulder and the most convenient part of his trowsers, and tumbled him in ! Mr. Coe was so nervous that for a long time the matches would not ignite against the wall ; and when one did snap, he fizzled it out trying to light the candle. Mrs. Coe then took the matches herself, and spitefully shoved him across the floor, where he tumbled over a chair and upset a table, and thereby incurred additional fright from the terrible noise. Mrs. Coe's hands were steady ; and she soon had two candles blazing to show them the way. Mr. Coe fell back in the rear of the reconnoitering advance, momentarily expecting that each shadow would prove to be a frightful spectre. Holding the candles high above their heads, Mrs. Coe and her sister began to explore the entire house. All the kitchen utensils and furniture appeared as if suddenly left while in use. In the drawing-room above a chandelier had fallen, and its broken fragments were strewn over the soft velvet carpet upon the floor. Then they went up stairs, and from one room to another, without seeing a dry skeleton or meeting a white apparition. Hah ! The door of Lady Levasseur's chamber w;is securely locked within. But the Major's sleeping apart- ment was more accessible than that of his wife. Noth- ing short of assistance from a locksmith could make an entrance through the fastened door ! So they inspected all the other rooms and recesses, from the cellar to the garret, and found every article remaining as if it had been left but yesterday. Dust covered the furniture, and dampness had soiled the beautiful papering upon the walls. Their verdict was, unanimously, " Something wrong !" 204 BELLS TOLLING FIRE. And they retired with a fixed determination that Mr. Coe should go to the police office early in the morning and have the chamber explored by virtue of the law. Fire! fire! The old Coes and the little Coes, and nearly all the inhabitants in that quarter of the city, were roused from sleep at the quietest hour of night by the ringing of bells and a tumult of rumbling wheels and tramping feet. The entire neighborhood was in a complete uproar. Fire! fii'e! tolled the bells; and red-shirted men, dragging engines and hose, bellowed loudly through brazen trumpets as they ran ! " Where is the fire ?" Mrs. Coe asked Mr. Coe the same question no less than three or four times in quick succession. " I declare I don't know, my dear. It is undoubtedly somewhere this side of the Battery !" was his mild and innocent reply. " Levasseur's !" screamed Mrs. Coe's maiden sister. " Over there. The house is burning down, and we shall never know what a shocking tragedy has been perpe- trated in that room !" It was the first and the only conflagration which to my knowledge ever occurred in that aristocratic quarter of the city. The match of a wicked incendiary must have ignited the element of ruin. Who could solve the mystery ? In the morning naught but charred and smoldering debris remained to mark the spot where the Levasseur mansion stood so proudly, and yet so drearily, the day before. The neighbors each gave an opinion; but none of them could determine, beyond the merest conjecture, why and wherefore such an event should happen. And if any mystery was purposely locked within Lady THE DETECTIVE. 205 Levasseur's luxurious chamber, it would never be re- vealed. But a police detective one of those Mc.Tudases who are so numerous at the present time was then intro- ducing his iniquitous system of fraud for the ostensi- ble purpose of discovering and eradicating (?) crime. McJudas put two of his minions, or more properly imps, upon the supposed trail of an absconding perpetrator of imaginary sins. He was desirous of finding Levasseur. But that seemed to be a much more difficult enterprise than was anticipated when he began. An entire year passed, and not even the astute old thief could unravel the mystery of that gentleman's departure, nor gain the remotest clue to his ultimate destination. Meanwhile, the people gazed at the pile of smutty bricks, and the fragments of stone among the ashes where the walls formerly stood so high. They gazed awhile, and wondered too. Only a short time, though for it is said that after the expiration of " nine days," the greatest sight or wonder ever known in New York ceases to attract public attention. I have frequently thought there was some truth in that saying. The lapse of two winters and one summer turned the ruins of the Levasseur mansion old and brown. The second May came, and then the second June and, in- deed, the second summer. And blades of grass, with tall weeds, were growing out from among the uncon- sumed ends of timber, the broken bricks, and the shat- tered blocks of chiseled stone. Yet none could tell why Levasseur did not return ! The simple Method of Crossing Ruin CHAPTEE XV. SATAN was hungry one day! And panting for a feast of souls, he breathed a whisper in men's ears that made them strangely mad ! At first they softly re- peated what he said, but their voices were louder anon ! And then a cry of frenzy rent the peaceful air ! Defiant shouts merged into ominous howls that grew wilder and fiercer as time quickly sped, until the roar of Secession terrified the world ! The "Stars and Stripes" were torn down, and a dis- mal emblem of the Palmetto-tree was hoisted in their stead ! One morning the sun rose with bright, radiant smiles, and sank to rest in the evening all red and bleared at the sight of human blood ! Millions of heai'ts were throbbing with rage or fright that night ! The bright blaze of Jupiter was dimmed 208 "THE EVIL EYE." by the ruddy glare of Mars ! Languishing Juno was bathed in tears ; and the frowns of Jehovah darkened the sky, while the devil laughed in exulting joy ! With the return of to-morrow's dawn, the shrill notes of the fife, followed by the rattling and the measured beating of drums, sent a thrill into the sanctuary of every American home, while long files of martialed men were hurrying from the North and hurrying from the South, to clash in the deadly strife of internecine war ! Consanguineous ties and bonds of love were rent O asunder. And there was a great wailing cry of anguish in daylight, with sobbing prayers at night, by fond ones for the safety of those dearest to their hearts. Mothers and wives, fathers and husbands, brothers, sis- ters, one and all, choked and paled at the demon of war ! Within the lines, and beyond the lines that separated kindred and friends, pent-up souls were shrieking and wailing in despair! Going North and going South! O ! anywhere to find the heart's love, with peace in a quiet home ! The booming of cannon gradually approached New Orleans, and passes signed by the chieftain in command, sent many citizens safely beyond the reach of harm. And cruel mortals, in the garb of men and in feminine guise, were lurking everywhere, while "female spies" haunted firesides and public places alike. It was a grand carnival time for the heartless, the abandoned and the vile, when both the North and the South stooped to the siren's guile, and she of " the evil eye " was freely tolerated in almost every camp to ply her arts and betray the lives of men. But I presume that no one will ever write a true history of the wanton spy service during the Southern war ! Those without influence to use might try the potency POTENCY OF GOLD. 209 of gold. Many did so in New Orleans. And verily the people of that city were doomed to remorseless plunder. First the rebels had their fill, and then the sequel was to come ! One thousand dollars nay, ten thousand, all in coin procured the simple order for a lady, her adopted child, and her two slaves to be passed beyond the rebel lines. Whither would she go ? Other ladies had been snugly domiciled in quiet Northern abodes, entirely beyond the dangers of the war, while their masculine connections remained at will or were forcibly held to do the fight- ing ; and ten thousand dollars paid into the pocket of one who wished to lay up a little something for future need, gave her an opportunity to depart. The sum was a large one to pay ; but it included the price of her slaves, whom she would not leave behind ! Then there was an intervening space of dark water and uncertain law. Up the river, passing grim bat- teries along the shore to where the " Stars and Stripes " proclaimed the bondman free ! Out of rebeldom, and, with a little white flag, into the Union lines ! Again, what was to pay? Echo repeated " to pay?" And then a joyful reverberation came in response : "The widow, the orphan and the slave, without money and without price, can find a refuge here !" And the lady, with her adopted child and her manu- mitted slaves, sailed on up the Father of Rivers. But they were not happy. Something made them sad ! On up the river, from one steamer to another and yet they continued on ! The state-rooms all along each side of the main saloon were designated with gilt numerals on knobs of porce- lain, while in the ladies' cabin alphabetical letters were used upon the doors. 210 "HEAR THAT COUGH!" The cough of a T GEL HEART." and totally regardless of the laws of peace or the rules of war." * Dead !" shrieked Lady Levasseur. She heard no more, until recovering from her emotion when she murmured, " Then, after all, this is the final answer to my oft-repeated and hopeful prayer ! He is dead ! And they killed him while he was seeking me ! O, why did not God spare him a little longer? But proceed, Mr. Downs. Where is his body ? Where is my child ?" " Ma, dear, I am here !" whispered Fleurette, with blanched cheeks and a trembling heart. " Not you, my darling ! My own babe, whom they robbed me of before it could realize a mother's smile. Mr. Downs, where is she now ; and what has been done with the remains of her father, Major Levasseur ?" " I have come to tell you that," resumed Mr. Downs. " The captain of the Union skirmishers a brother of mine, and formerly in the employ of Messrs. Crane & Burr recognized the body from papers found in the pockets, and also from a watch and a miniature portrait of yourself, which were known to have been in his pos- session before quitting the camp, a few days previous to his death. In consequence of a serious mutilation of the features there was, at first, some doubt as to their identity. But nearly every article of clothing even his boots and his hat were identified by persons who had seen him alive. Here is a ring taken from his finger. Do you recognize it ?" "I do!" she gasped. "It was a gift of mine soon after our marriage! And he has worn it ever since then." She pressed the ring to her lips with a long, deep sigh. " And here is the watch, and the miniature, and the other articles ! Do you also recognize them ?" "PUT FLOWERS ON HIS GRAVE!" 317 " Yes, yes ! They are all his ! But here is another portrait in the back of the case ! I wonder whose it can be ? Hah ! Take it away ! That is not mine ! It is hers /" and, with a shudder, she dropped the miniature case upon the floor. " Oh, what a beautiful lady !" cried Fleurette, gather- ing up the case and gazing at the miniature. " Only see what magnificent black eyes ! Ma, do you know who she is ?" Lady Levasseur had never told Fleurette the full par- ticulars of her own sad story. " Put it away out of my sight anywhere !" she groaned, while averting her face. Fleurette was amazed, but said no more. And yet she felt alarmed. " Then there is no doubt that the body is Major Le- vasseur's," observed Mr. Downs. " And we desire that you may choose a place for its final burial. It has been embalmed by some chemical process, and awaits your order. I might say that the captain, my brother, dis- covered your residence here, in St. Paul, from a rebel prisoner captured on the same day of your husband's death. But how, I am unable, as yet, to explain." "Bring my husband to St. Paul; and we will bury him in the quiet cemetery beyond the hill there, where I can cultivate summer flowers upon his grave, until God permits me to lie beside him forever ! And also bring my child. But I fear that she will not love me, even then. Oh, Mr. Downs, I am at a loss to know what more to say !" " Cheer up, my lady. Your wishes shall all be grati- fied so far as we have the power. I will telegraph immediately. And yet, upon reflection, I think it will be better for me to go in person and bring your 318 SANCHO AND DIXA1I. daughter, if we can find her, with the corpse of your husband. I shall communicate with you in the shortest possible time. Adieu !" Sancho was a silent witness and a sad-faced auditor of the distressing interview between his mistress and Henry Downs. He had never been denied her confi- dence in anything proper for him to see and hear. And that privilege not only elicited his appreciation, but imbued him with a profound respect and devoted regard for her. He deemed it a great honor to be her confi- dant and adviser so far as 'his humble reason and sus- ceptible heart might serve to lighten her sorrows. So, having conducted the visitor out, and earnestly express- ing an audible wish that " de Lor ud bress im fur de good ob de kaus," he repaired to the kitchen where Dinah was impatiently waiting to " hea'yr what de ko- moshum was all bout !" " Ah, my lub, sumf 'n orf '1 is hap'nd. De gem'men's frum Nu'york, and Massa's gwan tu ez long home, whar we mus all fotch up when Proveduns says to kum. An poor Miss Flurey's now kry'n kaze Missuses' own dart'r spects to step in er place." " She shant do nuflin ob de sort," wept Dinah. " Flurey musn't be shuv'd orph fur no udder dart'rs wen she's all tuck't up so swete in Mussuses' buz'm like dem brite cheerabims wid dar mudder ang'ls in de heav- enly sky." Thus the servants' sympathy already ran in favor of Fleurette, whom their own love had inseparably united with the very existence of Lady Levasseur. And while discussing the matter thoroughly with themselves, they unconsciously resolved to shut their hearts against Irene. " What ef she am Massa's chile and Missus wus er mudder ?" theorized Sancho. " Wont she be like im, an MOONBEAMS FROM ABOVE. 319 not a tall like er ? Didn't e lope wid clem ar wicked wim'n an leab Missuses' harte tu bust ? Massa wus a bad man !" " Hush !" started Dinah. " De speerits ob ded 1'ouks kan hear what de liv'n say bout dem art'r dey's unkon- nected frum dar bod'ez. Don't de preach' rs zort us tu pra fur does who am in de kingdumkumdum '?" " Ah, you'z bin read'n sum dem ar books what's writ- ten by sectariums who b'liev dar's no udder road but de wun dey am trab'ling demsev's !" And Farmer Denton was pardonable for frequently saying : " Darkies will be darkies, no matter how white they are !" But in that declaration with Sancho, he somewhat contradicted his arguments in reference to the force of example attending life. That night the gentle moonbeams calmly watched over the residence of Lady Levasseur ; and the rose- bushes, the green leaves, and the creeping vines seemed to smile in sweet response, while Fleurette lovingly nestled in her arms, and both were wrapt in slumber. Ft. Snelling Flag-lower. CHAPTER XXII. FARMER PENTON and his four daughters were all absent when Henry Downs appeared in St. Paul. They had gone to visit their relatives, and old acquaint- ances and friends, near West- field, New Jersey; and Lady Levasseur experienced great need of the good man's assist- ance and advice in the mo- mentous event of her husband's burial and the reception of her long-lost daughter, whom she still continued to think of as a mere child, without actually realizing the fact that during such a prolonged lapse of time, Irene must have matured into a young woman. But the farmer had not yet learned from Lady Levasseur the exact nature of that insurmountable obstacle to her marrying again, which she alluded to when he first asked her to become his wife ; and the melancholy denouement about transpiring, would cer- tainly astound him when he and his daughters came home. 14* 322 DIGGIXG A USELESS GRAVE. However, there was no time to lose ; and Sancho was authorized to negotiate for a grave in the cemetery. " Good gracious !" exclaimed the sexton. " What can Lady Levasseur want with a grave ?" " Massa am kum'n home ded !" replied Sancho. " De rebbels kill'd im when he wus gwine to fotch missus frum Orl'ins ! Yeas, dey's kill'n eb'ry boddy now, cept us folks, yar in Sent Paul !" So the wondering sexton went and dug a grave, while Lady Levasseur was all excitement and expecta- tion. But she found time to review the past and to re- live in imagination. She had never ceased to think fondly of her husband ; and the recollection of that period of marriage bliss was not any less vivid because of his cruel desertion. The enormity of her wrongs would never dim the bright remembrance that he was once so good and so kind. But all those long years of sorrow, of hope and prayer, had brought her only a dismal coffin, with the sad remnant of life and love. And yet she fervently prayed that God might pardon him as she had done. Then came intelligence that on a certain day the corpse would arrive, and also an announcement that Irene could not be found. The Major had neglected to leave her address with his attorneys, and perhaps it would take some time to discover where she was ; yet they would certainly find her after his remains were put away in the ground. But the joyful sadness that filled Lady Levasseur's heart was inspired by emotions more tenderly connected with the expected corpse of the father than the recovery of her child. Indeed, all her maternal feelings had blended so sweetly with the filial response of Fleurette, that she really experienced no sincere delight in the "ONLY ONE BAY MORE!" 323 promised restoration of Irene. And under the circum- stances, after so long a separation from the one which she saw for only a brief period in its infant form, and since Fleurette was so closely and sympathizing^ iden- tified with the only sunshine in her heart for so many years, how could she feel otherwise ? There was no room for a new idol in Lady Levas- seur's bosom, while occupied entirely with love for Fleurette and in mourning for the death of her hus- band. And though sixteen years had gone since her head was pillowed in rapture upon his breathing bosom, even the expected corpse, coming back to her despoiled of its life and its soul, would be a melancholy but tan- gible consolation to her sorrowing heart. It seemed like some precious balm for her blighted love. " He will soon be here !" she mournfully smiled, while clasping Fleurette in her arms. " And then, at last, I shall be permitted to plant flowers on his grave !" To-morrow ! Only one day more ! The sun rose brightly, the hours swiftly sped, and soon the western horizon was ablaze with the gorgeous rays of paiting light. Lady Levasseur and Fleurette stood in the piazza without, peering away through distant space at a point where the faint outlines of hill and water seemed to touch the sky. But they did not see the house-tops and chimneys, nor the church spires in the lower part of the city, spread out beneath them. Nor did they dwell in rapturous contemplation of the magnificent view. Dayton's Bluff to the left, with its grand villas and smiling verdure overlooking the mighty river, and the expanded sand-bar of la point basse, upon the other side, were then of equal interest to the anxious watch- ers in the vine-clad piazza. They were looking out 324 "GOD is ALWAYS NEAR!" upon the furtherest shimmer of water still bright from ruddy tints in the luminous air. But the deepening twilight soon began to obscure their vision; and then they stood closer together in silence, with hearts audibly beating, until at length a small speck appeared upon the still bright bosom of the distant river, and, swiftly rounding the great bar oppo- site the bluff, gradually neared the city. Presently the howling signal of a " white-collar " steamer came up to O O * them on the quiet air over the top of the city, and then went reverberating with loud echoes far away among the great hills along the water's side. " He comes !" whispered the mother. " Do not with- draw your hand. I must have it hei-e in mine, to give me strength. Oh, my heart is fluttering so ! Try to steady me, darling! There! Be near me when he arrives ! Close, close as you can get ! And do not let me die with emotion !" "Yes, ma ; you may rest upon me ! I shall not leave your side ! And remember, as you so often tell me, that ' God is always near !' " Sancho and the undertaker, with a conveyance, were upon the levee when the steamer came in. And there was a long box, which the strong deck hands lifted in silence and with care. Poor Sancho was weeping ; but in the darkness none could see his tears. Another steamer unexpectedly arrived within the hour. Farmer Denton and his daughters came on board of that. And among the passengers were a lady and a gentleman, both strangers in St. Paul. " Will you accept the hospitality of my house ?" said Mr. Denton, addressing the stranger, with whom he ap- peared to have formed a slight acquaintance on the way. I shall be most happy to entertain you, inasmuch THE STRANGE GUESTS. 325 as there is no chance at a hotel. So many tourists and business men are in town just now that the public houses are all more than full. At least I heard so a moment since. We've got as large hotels as you can find in any city of twenty times the size, and several of them at that ; but this is the greatest place that I ever read of for tourists in quest of health. You never saw the like ! And the fun of it is that they all go away benefited from the climate. Oh, such air! Minnesota beats the world for that ! But come with me ; and I'll show you the style in which we North-western settlers manage to live ! Come, girls, this way ! Mind the gang-plank, now, and be very careful that some of you don't tumble into the river, like that rogue, Dr. Pas- sion, did. You remember, eh ? I say, my friend ; 'tisn't every man who can trot out four such girls as those of mine. That's your wife, I reckon ?" Neither the farmer nor his daughters had as yet seen the strange lady's face. She not only kept her room during the passage up the river, but upon emerging to leave the boat she concealed her features by a thick veil. However, the gentleman gratified their curiosity somewhat by introducing her as his daughter. Yet, still she did not remove her veil. But as they were in the act of going ashore, no great importance was at- tached to the slight disregard of etiquette ; and her father, smiling, added : " My dear sii-, under the circum- stances, I shall gladly and thankfully accept your hos- pitable invitation." Meanwhile, the undertaker and his assistants con- veyed their sad burden to the residence of Lady Levas- seur. Carefully placing it in the hall, they quietly retired a moment or so before the farmer and his daughters, with the strange guests, drew near. 326 A VOICE OF PKAYER ! " Here we are at home once more !" sang Eliza, hur- rying on in advance and bounding up the piazza stairs. But there she suddenly paused. And when her com- panions joined her they were all dumbfounded together. Through the open door they plainly saw the lamp-lit spectacle in the hall. Lady Levasseur and Fleurette were upon their knees, locked in each other's embrace, near the coffin, and the old slaves also knelt beside them. Even Goliah sat upright in one corner, with downcast eyes, as if he fully comprehended the solem- nity of the scene. And while the wondering spectators stood there, speechlessly contemplating what they saw, their amazement was doubly increased by hearing the mournful voice of Lady Levasseur, which broke the stillness of evening in an earnest prayer that touched their hearts with a painful thrill ! " I thank Thee, O Lord, for this favor ! Thou hast brought home unto me the last remains of the beloved object of my wedded joy ; and now, whenever it is Thy pleasure, I will cheerfully resign myself in the arms of death, and lie down beside him. But, after our long separation in life, do not allow them to part us in the earth. Let our graves be one ! And then, O Lord, re- ceive our souls together, entwined with eternal love, unto Thy bosom forever ! Amen !" But the feelings of Sancho and Dinah were not so much absorbed in sorrow at the death of their master as in sympathy for the grief of their beloved mistress. And as Goliah's olfactive sensibility was not long in discovering the proximity of his friends, he un wittingly terminated the impressive ceremony of that simple bene- diction by a boisterous exuberance of delight which characterizes the canine species. His loud barking sa- lute at once dispelled the silent intensity of the general THE DEAD ALIVE! 327 gloom, and some confusion instantly followed as a mat- ter of course. Farmer Denton felt himself in an awkward position with his guests. It was an inopportune occasion for hospitality, and he sincerely wished that they were domiciled elsewhere for the time being. But while he was debating in his mind how to act or what to say, the stranger whispered something in his ear. " You don't tell me so !" started the farmer. "We shall see!" A light was ordered in the parlor ; the blinds were closed, and Lady Levasseur sat there alone ! " This way !" beckoned the farmer. " You will find her in that room !" The stranger entered. And closing the door after him, the farmer stood with his hand upon the knob out- side, so that he could hear what might transpire within. First a startling scream, and then a brief silence, fol- lowed by a vehement articulation of " Husband !" with another exclamation of " Wife !" in quick response. And when the farmer heard those words, his hand was trembling so that it made the door-knob rattle. " Are you not dead, when I have your corpse ?" "There has been some mistake, for I am certainly alive !" Lady Levasseur asked that question, and it was Major Levasseur who gave the answer. " It is all a dream !" she wildly cried. " Forgive the past, and let my arms and lips prove that I am real !" he said in reply. Then there was a long silence of reconciliation, un- heard and unseen beyond the walls of the room ! Presently the farmer stood aside, while Fleurette and Irene both passed in. St Andrew's Church, at Selkirk Colony. THE PROTOTYPE BEAUTIES ! 329 -" Our daughter : Irene, embrace your mother !" The husband and father paused in dismay ! He saw two Irenes staring at each other with evident fright ; and the wife and mother beheld two Fleurettes exactly alike, each in a similar attitude of mute surprise ! Irene had thrown off her traveling robe, revealing a simple costume, in color, material and fashion that pre- cisely resembled the dress worn by Fleurette ! " What is the meaning of this ?" choked the father. " Irene, speak !" And the mother, with equal embarrassment, called " Fleurette !" Irene shrank back to her father, while Fleurette clung to her mother, and the parents themselves were mutely begging each other for an explanation ! The same sunny curls falling upon the shoulders of one also beautified the head of the other. Both lovely brunettes, with sweet blue eyes, and prototypes in feat- ure, in stature, and in symmetry of form ! A light began to dawn upon Fleurette's mind, and she burst into tears ! And Irene whispered, " Father, take me away !" " There is some necromancy in this house !" exclaimed Levasseur. " If there is not, I begin to fear that I am insane. My corpse is in that box, you say, and yet I am standing here ! Irene is clasped in my arms, and I see her weeping in yours. I cannot believe what is im- possible ; but the vision seems real !" " Oh, ma," sobbingly whispered Fleurette, " you said that I should always be your child. Hold me tightly ; please do !" "Your child?" queried the father, who overheard what she said. " How is that ?" "I adopted her many years ago," replied the mother. 330 A SAD CONTKAST! " Adopted ! You bewilder me ! How can this won- derful resemblance be accounted for ?" Fleurette's origin was briefly explained. "And now, Irene, embrace your mother!" said the father, drawing them together. But it was a cold and formal pressure, with two mechanical kisses given ; and the murmuring of " daughter !" and " mother !" did not seem to come from their hearts. Oh, how scornfully Irene glanced at Fleurette when explanations had been made, and the general surprise was over. And Fleurette hardly dared to lift her gaze from the floor. Was it possible that two beings so exactly similar in all outward features could be directly opposite in tastes and feelings ? Alas, yes ! For, though bom alike in every faculty and sense, different associations, examples and precepts in education from infancy until that event- ful hour, had been continually molding their hearts to play each an adverse part in after life ! Irene was haughty, selfish and cold ; and Fleurette all sympathy and love. " Henceforth you shall be sisters !" the mother said. " Both so beautiful, and alike !" " Yes !" responded the father. " Embrace each other now !" Fleurette had not the courage to face that repelling look ; and Irene disdainfully refused to make the first advance. So the moment and the opportunity passed, and their arms were never after extended one to the other. Levasseur went out and whispered something in the farmer's ear. Then Sancho brought tools to open the long box. "Hah!" exclaimed Levasseur. "Quick punishment, LOST LOVE FOUND! 331 indeed ! Terrible and sure ! In this corpse I recognize one of the villains who plundred me in Tennessee. They not only robbed me of everything valuable, but even stripped off all my apparel and gave me a lot of rags to wear. However, they were soon overtaken by a squadron of Union cavalry, and, in the skirmish, this fellow must have been killed. And being clad in my garments when the victors discovered him dead, it was not strange that they should imagine the body mine. This might have been all the more probable when other prisoners in the hands of the outlaws were unavoidably slaughtered in the fight. Fortunately I had made good my escape before the fatal encounter. Acting upon that belief, the soldiers took charge of the valuables and the body, which were subsequently brought away, as the result proves, while I was journeying hither, after accidentally discovering the abode of her whom I expected to find in New Orleans. Thus the mystery is all solved !" There was but little sleep that night in the house of the Dentons and the Levasseurs. Such a combination of remarkable and surprising events produced emotions and excitement that would not subside very soon. But the beautiful moonbeams peeped in at the window to smile upon the reunion of hearts, where the forsaken wife was made happy once more. They also played among the rose-bushes outside, suffusing the green leaves w r ith a silvery glow, until finally disappearing from sight beyond the hills. And then the stars came out, laughing like choice spirits whom God had sent to watch over the abode of lost love found ! Two weary hearts, with much grief and but little joy in their pilgrimage of life. Years of sorrow for a mo- ment of bliss. And then destiny must be fulfilled. 332 TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. But the long box was not buried in the grave already dug for Levasseur. It went to an unhallowed excava- tion in Potter's Field, while the multitude wondered, and gossipers had a great deal to say. " We must now leave this place !" said Levasseur to his wife. " Town-talk will devour us, if we stay !" " Anywhere ! It's all the same to me, with you !" And thus Farmer Denton's dream of eventually get- ting Lady Levasseur for his second wife came to an abrupt end. But he tried to comfort himself with pro- tracted reveries, in which the mutability of human affairs was admitted by him beyond a doubt. He was also convinced that miracles would never cease ! And his daughters were quite unanimous in their belief that truth was sometimes stranger than fiction. But though Farmer Denton could never make Lady Levasseur his wife, he felt very grateful for the extra- ordinary liberality she had shown him. And there was that elegant residence deeded in his name. She said, "No matter about that," and refused to acquiesce in any settlement of the pecuniary account between them. "It is scarcely probable that I shall need a penny of what you have had from me. If I ever do come to want we can settle it then ! When you are tired of living in this fine house, no doubt it will bring a good price. Dispose of it as you deem best. And perhaps you can afford to give an equal share of the money to each of your charming daughters as a marriage-dowry in my name !" " She's one in a million !" thought the farmer. " And for the life of me I don't understand why it was that her husband should abandon her for another, nor how she could remain faithful to him an entire generation of time ! Some women are as queer as anybody, and par- DESTINY BEING FULFILLED! 333 ticularly in matters of love. If all wives were like her, the divorce-law would stand a dead letter so far as their action went ! A splendid woman that she is !" And it did seem advisable for the Levasseurs to seek a habitation elsewhere. For, even in St. Paul, at that time there existed the usual aggregate of " happy fam- ilies," who are impelled by a sort of gossiping piety to feast upon the sinfulness of their neighbors. I allude to those exemplary moralists who endeavor to substantiate their own virtue by exposing and denouncing the moral weakness of others. A merciless fraternity, alike devoid of pity and insensible to remorse ! But Major Levasseur would not escape the fearful penalty incurred by his rash violation of Divine law. Go or stay, retribution must overtake him in the end ! They were soon ready to leave St. Paul. But on the morning of their departure, a letter came in haste from the law firm of Crane & Burr, to notify the Major that Leonore and her grandma had just arrived from Paris, with the intention of instituting a civil and also a crim- inal action against him in the courts of law. No mat- ter; he would return to New York, and there meet the issue. But he was greatly disappointed when it became evi- dent to him that a proper degree of affection might not be established between Irene and her mother. That worried him. However, Irene's antagonism for Fleu- rette might be obviated by a removal of the latter whose claims were certainly less than the former. After a while he could attend to all those matters, and then be happy. But alas, the sequel will show the terri- ble result from his errors of the past, and then leave him in the depths of remorse, still fruitlessly seeking for one little moment of happiness that can never be found. CHAPTER XXIII. THE great Indian massacre of '62 is almost forgotten ; and new settlers are pouring into every part of Minnesota. They come from the East and from the South, from Canada and from across the sea. Sturdy laborers, experienced agriculturists, skillful artisans, and business men with money and enterprise, are industriously and successfully developing the won- derful resources of the State. Productive farms, work- shops and factories, towns and railways, churches and stoi*es, newspapers and hotels, school-houses and fine residences are multiplying everywhere while the bright new City of St. Paul goes on increasing in population, wealth and beauty with a marvelous rapidity that is not only astounding and gratifying to its enterprising citi- zens, but utterly incredible to people in other parts of the world. And Fanner Denton's prediction was more than ful- 336 FOUR CRIMSON BLUSHES. filled. That elegant property which he bought for five thousand dollars during the panic caused by the Sioux massacre, did prove a good investment for Lady Levasseur's money. Among the consumptive invalids who visited Minnesota the following year, was a certain very rich gentleman, whose health became restored almost immediately. And he joyfully resolved to live in St. Paul the remainder of his days. With that in- tention, he accordingly desired to purchase a nice house ; and willingly paid " thirty-three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars" as an inducement for the Dentons to move. The price is specified in the deed that was recorded by the county clerk, and hence I am able to here state the exact sum. But one sour old citizen exclaimed, " What a big sell !" Then, after deducting five thousand, with interest for the time he had been living there, Farmer Denton Divided the balance into four equal parts. And he looked very happy when he said : " Girls, you shall have just seven thousand dollars apiece when you com- ply with one irrevocable condition !" " And what is that ?" they all eagerly wished to know. " Each of you must first marry the man you love !" Four crimson blushes and four ejaculations of " O !" in simultaneous response, brought a loud laugh from their delighted father. "I see how it is!" he then teased. "You are all going to leave the old man alone, to darn his own stockings and sew on his own shirt-buttons. That's the way with most children in this ungrateful world !" "Oh, no!" came in a chorus of voices. And four sweet kisses, with sorrowful utterances of, "Father, you should not talk so !" caused his heart to flutter, and almost brought the tears. THE THREE BEIDES. 337 And there soon was one marriage. A retired mer- chant from the East made Julia his wife. And her seven thousand dollars were invested by him in such a way that she is receiving nearly eleven hundred a year interest money, and the chances are that her personal income will soon be a great deal more. She now re- sides in one of those elegant mansions that have recent- ly been erected in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Then another marriage created some extra gossip. And Mercy is extremely proud of a handsome husband, who distinguished himself in the Southern war. He was a furious rebel then. But he repented while re- cuperating his health in the climate of Minnesota, where he found an entirely new world of love in a pair of sparkling hazel eyes, which have since followed him all the way to Florida, where he lives. The well-pleased father then said, " Whose turn next ?" " Mine !" answered Eliza, with an arch roll of her eye. And in due time she did look very pretty as a bride. The bridegroom was either a lawyer or a banker, who said that he intended to retire from busi- ness and " tour in foreign lands." But he changed his mind ; and she now frequently tells him to " hurry up and go." He laughingly replies : " I hate to leave the atmosphere of Minnesota !" There has been no other marriage in the Denton family, as yet. Though it is well known that more than one masculine heart is attacked with severe palpi- tation when Miss Jane happens to be in the same room. " Ah, she's my only boy !" her father said jestingly one day to a friend, when Jane was by. " Except Goliah !" was her tart reply. " That's so ! And I hope he'll live until I die !" Farmer Denton's admiration and respect for his dog 15 338 A PRIZE FOB SOMEBODY. was not without the best of reason. Goliah is a splen- did fellow. And as the climate of the North- west is so much like that of Switzerland, where his canine ances- tors lived, he will probably attain a ripe old age before departing to the place where "all good dogs must go !" Tourists who take any interest in that species of "animal kind," should inquire for Goliah when they visit St. Paul. I might also mention that although Jane is the young- est of the four Denton sisters, she has a keen eye for business. And the lucky wooer who makes her his wife must be alive and stirring, or she will have him in lead- ing-strings before he is safely through the honeymoon. As an instance of her discrimination in the investment of funds, I may relate t3:at when the stock of the St. Paul and Chicago Railway was put in market, she expressed a desire to have her seven thousand dollars " dowry-money," which had been acquired through the remarkable generosity of Lady Levasseur, all invested in the bonds of that corporation. And it did sound very business-like for a lady to say, "The stock of that road will eventually pay large dividends, and I want to be counted in !" Mr. Edmund Rice, the President of the new air-line road, will not deny that the first seven one-thousand dollar bonds signed by him, at the St. Nicholas Hotel, in New York City, were subsequently delivered to 3Ii>s Jane Denton of St. Paul. From this I infer that tae" musical" young gentle- man of her choice may yet be a stockholder in the St. Paul and Chicago Railway, unless she is prematurely proselyted by the " new revolution" doctrine of those monomaniacal parr atonner res who emphatically declare that " what's a woman's is her own," including the prop- FARMER DENTON'S rosrnox. 339 erty of her husband, too. But, at all events, Jane has chosen a good investment for her dowry, and I can not believe that she will ever be inflamed by contact with any of the gynecian firebrands. Farmer Denton retired fi'om agricultural pursuits after the Indians made such havoc on his farm. He sold his farm the following spring, and engaged in a different occupation, at which he accumulated a great deal of money in a very short time. He is not in any business now. But, being an enthusiastic admirer of horses, he drives a team which is seldom dusted by his neighbors' wheels. O I imagine that he is just now very much concerned in railroad affairs. Perhaps he may also have an interest in the Vermilion Gold Mine. And, judging from the active part he took in a test of machinery for the prac- tical purpose of molding peat, an experimental operation of which I was invited to witness during my visit to St. Paul in the autumn of '67, he must be pecuniarily associated with his friend Sneak and other enterprising citizens, who seriously and enthusiastically contemplate realizing an immense fortune from that monstrous bed a short distance beyond the limits of the municipal cor- poration. But I think that fine residences, built on speculation, suit his ideas better than anything else. In fact, he has done a great deal toward adorning the city, which is so admirably situated for grand and ele- gant villas that admit of architectural display. The central part of St. Paul stands upon a beautiful, level plateau, which abruptly terminates in a precipi- tous bluff, with an elevation of nearly one hundred feet above the water of the river. Upon each side of the bluff there is a gradual slope, affording naturally easy landing for steamers. At one time there was consider- 340 ELEGANCE OF ST. PAUL. able rivalry between the two landings. But recent en- terprise has permanently fixed the great centre of trans- portation at the lower point, where all the railroads will soon be connected in a grand " union depot," ad- joining that of the North-western Packet Company. And then passengers and freight, by water or by rail, may be transferred from boats to cars, or from car to car, all in the same building, without the least incon- venience or expense. The architectural beauty of St. Paul is certainly superior to what I have met with in any other city of its size. This is saying a great deal but only what all experienced and observing travelers, who have seen it, enthusiastically declare. This peculiar feature of the city may be accounted for in the undeniable fact that a large proportion of its inhabitants are not only possessed of great wealth, but highly educated and socially re- fined. Some proudly represent distinguished old fami- lies in the East, and their establishments here, whether for business utility, or for domestic luxury, are, after all, but the grand result of improvement upon the modes of moneyed policy and opulent taste associated with their recollections of youth. And again, in the popular phrase, others are " self-made " men, who have accumu- lated abundant riches in the successful pursuit of a le- gitimate occupation, or from the profits of fortunate speculation and remunerative enterprise in the develop- ment of the extraordinary resources of the State. Far- mer Denton is one of that class. And they all seem to be perfectly well aware that the style of architecture in any place is the first interesting subject of consideration on the part of strangers just as the garments of an unknown individual are taken in judgment for or against him. And, accordingly, I may NOTHING LIKE MONEY ANYWHERE. 341 say that St. Paul (at home) is like a personage of re- markably fine form, clad in elegant and costly apparel of the latest fashion, and possessing a noble countenance, at once proud, dignified, intelligent and kind with a sparkling eye of hospitality and humor that is ever ready to laugh a fascinating welcome to any respectable visitor knocking for admission.* And there is a loud knocking every day. But the Denton family are greatly indebted to the patronage of Lady Levasseur for the social position which they now enjoy. Her reputation for " immense wealth " naturally attracted the " exclusives " from their haughty reserve. They were all eager enough to make her acquaintance. Thus the intimate relationship she maintained with the Dentons, compelled Society to re- ceive them or ignore her. And as all the "upper ten" gentlemen were intensely anxious to wed the " Beauty of St. Paul" the popular and very appropriate sobri- quet bestowed upon Fleurette the "Four Sisters" had an excellent opportunity for selecting husbands among those whom she refused. In this way the good, honest farmer and his amiable daughters were pleasantly elevated to high fortune and social position, which otherwise they might never have attained. I trust that these personal allusions will give no offense to those interested. And here I shall hint to strangers who are not imme- diately received into the "best society" of St. Paul, that the multiplicity of " external enjoyments " in and about the city are quite sufficient for the creation of new personal paradises of worldly bliss, in which they may contentedly revel all alone. There is a rapturous thrill experienced by every one when they first breathe the atmosphere peculiar to the * See " Appendix" for list of eminent and wealthy citizens. " SOCIETY " OF ST. PAUL. 343 place. I have felt it myself, and also heard others try to express similar feelings ; but am not yet sufficiently versed in the " physical laws of spiritual emotion " to attempt a satisfactory elucidation of the wonderful en- chantment pervading that " bright realm of flowers, of beautiful lakes and winding streams, where 7 health and happiness might dwell forever." The Society of St. Paul is really superior to that in a majority of American cities, either large or small. And I have noticed that the proportion of " eminent " and "distinguished" citizens is much larger than in any other community of the same population. Military chieftains, retired merchants, wealthy professionals, and affluent gentlemen of leisure are met at every turn. In- telligence and refinement are predominantly character- istic attainments of the people who constitute the society of the city. All those palatial residences in town, and the numerous suburban villas which dot the great semicircular range of hills overlooking the entire locality, with its magnificent expanse of bluff scenery up and down the river, are conclusively indicative that taste and luxury surround the elite " family circles " at home. The countless and elegant equipages, blooded teams, servants in livery, and the stylish whirl along the public thoroughfai'es, are significantly demonstrative of the existing presence of millionaires. And the pretty cottages, all neat and clean, where cheerful wives are heard in songs of content, while their rosy-cheeked children boisterously shout at play, impress strangers with a pleasant conviction that happy firesides are everywhere in the North-west. When church-bells ring, beauty and fashion answer to the call. The sidewalks are crowded with the lovely and the fair just before and after the hours of worship 344 INSTITUTIONS OF ST. PAUL. on a Sabbath-day. And the Opera House, Ingersoll Hall, the soirees, the festivals, and the balls, are well patronized, too. Le beau monde in St. Paul are har- moniously pious and gay. Sectarian, beneficial and educational institutions are very numerous. Churches of almost every denomina- tion ; Masonic, Odd-Fellow, Good-Templar and Druid- ical Lodges, fully and efficiently maintained ; a histori- cal society, library associations, classical seminaries and excellent common schools; Bible, benevolent, orphan, emigration, hospital and recreative societies ; a medical and surgical academy ; and, in fact, all and every or- ganization for promoting morality, intelligence, art and worldly happiness, in such a manner as to secure eternal salvation beyond the grave. River-sidj Viaw, where the "Iron-Horse" runs, in "Dakota Land." But as If demi monde will ever infest the precincts of wealth, so dissipated prodigals rattle the dice-box, take a hand at cards, fight the tiger at faro, or play keno on the sly, while old men, and striplings, too, may bask in the syren's smile, and riot with alcoholic ruin in their WHERE THE RIGHTEOUS LIVE. 345 downward career to perdition even "under the gas- light " of St. Paul. And yet the dark side of this picture is extremely bright in contrast with the criminal records of other cities and towns. For, though seemingly incredible, it is positively true that the criminals of Minnesota are comparatively fewer than those of any other State in the Union ! A careful comparison of city statistics everywhere shows that the ratio of crime in St. Paul is but one-half of New York and one-fifth of Boston. Thus, actual figures prove that the immorality of puri- tanical Massachusetts, with all its self-righteous profes- sion and noisy solicitude for the piety of the rest of the world, is five times worse than that of Minnesota ! The skeptical or the prejudiced reader can not refute this assertion. Perhaps the pellucid water, the pure atmosphere, and the steel-blue sky of "Dakota land" have the same powerful influence upon morals as upon health. Far- mer Denton is of that opinion. He says : " I wouldn't give Minnesota for all the rest of the world." But he persists in retaining every one of his eccentric notions. He is the same man with his great wealth and newly- acquired social position that he was while toiling on his Jersey farm. And during his first winter in St. Paul, he felt it his duty to reprimand " those plaguy girls " for the " new-fangled " ideas that would get into their heads. He frequently lectured them upon the absurd- ity of making " such a fuss " about the weather. They fancied that it must be very cold, because it was in Minnesota. And he sharply ridiculed them for " piling on ten thousand unnecessary garments, instead of fight- ing the cold with spirits and animation !" In that he was right, and soon convinced them by practical illus- 15* 346 THE CHANCE FOR CONSUMPTIVES. tration. And they are now ridiculing the similar prej- udices of those who have not yet realized the truth. Of late he freely expresses " his own ideas " about the "chance for consumptives" in that region. I had a long talk with him upon the momentous topic ; and he then declared, " What's physic for one, might be poison for another. Between the ignorant doctors where they come from and the unprincipled quacks who follow them here, they stand a very slim chance of being cured, or having any money left to bury them when they die. And that isn't all. This climate is intensely dry ! Of course it is. Well, then ; if it heals an invalid of a ' moist temperament,' it must kill one of a directly opposite peculiarity." I use the farmer's style of speech. He says : " I'm no physician ; but I do think there's a little common sense in my head. And when a con- sumptive asks me if I think he will recover here, I feel of his skin, and want to know whether his hands are apt to chap. I don't feel of his pulse. If he says his hands do chap easily, I urge him to go home as soon as possible. It's too dry for him in Minnesota. He should take a voyage to sea, and visit some region where there is more moisture in the air. That's what I tell him !" I fully concurred in his simple illustration of " com- mon sense ;" and am much surprised that physicians do not give the subject more attention. Certainly much depends upon the temperament of an invalid going thither for relief! Among other investigations made by that estimable though very eccentric man, was a minute inquiry con- cerning the singular habits of the wild beaver. Animals of every kind interest him. He went away up near Crow Wing ; and Chief Hole-in-the-day there introduced THE "BEAVERS." 347 him to a beaver community or town very eligibly situated in the middle of a small but perpetual stream emptying into the Mississippi River. When he re- turned, his narrative was a marvelous one, indeed. He says : " They're well worth going to see !" I had a conversation with him also upon the " beaver subject," as he calls it, and derived the information that they and muskrats are slightly consanguineous. He assured me that their habitations were quite similar in many features. Though the beaver is by far the great- er engineer and the more perfect artisan. A community of beavers will barricade the mouth of a small river with a dyke, displaying quite as much skill as though it had been constructed by human hands. They make that obstruction for the purpose of forming a pond in which to erect their habitations. And they invariably select a stream that is never dry. The most astonishing part of their labor is conveying the large limbs and trunks of trees which are to be laid crosswise or fixed in the bottom of the stream. It is also interesting to see how they procure those pieces of timber. And particularly so when they never use a tree after it has been prostrated by the wind or felled by the axe of man. Having selected a tree on the bank of a stream, five or six of them cut and saw the trunk with their sharp teeth, while another one stations himself in the middle of the water, and indicates by a peculiar sound or by striking his tail on the surface, which way the top in- clines to fall. Thus the cutters and sawyers may avoid being crushed to death. Soon bringing the tree down into the water, they then all unite their strength and skill in navigating the entire object to that particular 348 BUILDING DAMS. place where they purpose cutting it into proper lengths. When the stakes are arranged to suit them, they en- twine small twigs like basket-work and cement all with mortar, which was prepared by another party while the cutters were bringing down the tree, in accordance with their rule of impartiality in the equal division of labor between them. Under the dyke, when completed, they form a " flood-gate," to be opened in wet weather or shut during a drouth, as necessity requires. Their dwellings are made of wood and mortar, two stories high and double, of a dimension suitable for the fami- lies who are to occupy them. The first story is a food magazine, entirely beneath the surface of the water; and the second is divided into dormitories, abov.e the water, giving each family a separate chamber. Numer- ous avenues are opened under the dwellings for the pur- pose of going in and out beneath the water, and thus hiding their retreat from the keen-eyed Indians. Divided into tribes or bands, with separate chiefs, they conform to rules of government that might shame a hu- man being who disregards an obedience to moral law. When the magazines are stocked for winter, no pilfering is allowed ; nor is any of the provision to be consumed until the circumstances of season absolutely demand it ; and even then, no individual is permitted to take a mor- sel without the consent, and in the actual presence of, the chief. The store consists of very simple food, such as bark of the common willow and the wild poplar tree?. Should bark be scarce, they will also collect the wood, and divide it into distinct parcels with their teeth. A particular territory is allotted to each tribe ; and those who trespass are delivered up to the chief for pun- ishment. For the first offense a simple chastisement is deemed necessary to produce a reform ; while an incor- SOCIAL LAWS. 349 rigible thief or miscreant of any kind is doomed to lose his tail which is the greatest disgrace a beaver can realize ! And the miserable convict is henceforth a dis- franchized pauper. But in some of those cases of cor- poreal decimation, the whole tribe of the mutilated cul- prit will fight in his behalf upon the same ground that " State Rights " people defend themselves from national aggression. And in " war " the victors seize and con- fiscate with a rapacity almost equaling that of belliger- ent Christians (?) ! The homes of the conqiiered are ruthlessly taken possession of, and strongly garrisoned for the benefit of young colonies in expectation. The females produce their whelps with eyes open, and three or four at a time, in the spring, and sustain and instruct them with marked solicitude for nearly a year, when the educated juveniles are compelled to launch out in the " stream " of life, and build homes for them- selves contiguous to the parental abode. But if the community is already over populated, the youngsters are advised to join with other "new beginners," and make a new settlement elsewhere. They seldom migrate unless driven hence by the approach of civilization, in which extremity their misfortunes are somewhat identi- fied with the human aborigine. His Highness, the chief, told Farmer Denton that not unfrequently a bitter feud between two tribes was finally settled by their respective chiefs fighting in the pres- ence of the opposing armies, or by a set combat of three and three. And thus fought the Horatii and Curiatii of antiquity ! Being remarkably virtuous, they live in matrimony, without any laws of divorce, until one of the couple dies. The infidelity of a female is punished with death. In sickness, they express suffering by plaintive sounds 350 THE "OUTSIDERS." not unlike the human voice, and their wants are kindly provided for by sympathizing relations or friends. But, as in human society, there are some who decline to labor for subsistence. In zoographical terms, those are technically called Les paresseux. And they justly merit the appellation of idlers ; for they neither " dam nor toil " in any way further than to excavate long tun- nels for habitation. It is also a singular fact that the vagabonds are invai'iably of the male sex, who burrow together as many as possible in the same tunnel. The supposition is that they are mostly vanquished candi- dates for the possession of admired female favorites, and that their social improvidence and cynical barbarism resulted from mortification and disgust at seeing the success of bitterly-hated rivals. And thus the contest of wooing man is represented in the amphibious castor fiber of the dumb animal species. The Indians say that when the Les paresseux have sufficiently recovered their strength in solitude, they voluntarily return to the com- munity from which they seem to be ostracized, and once more endeavor to establish a satisfactory matri- monial alliance. Hunters easily entrap the lazy drones, and in that event their sorrows are at an end. There is a peculiar odoriferous substance secreted by the beaver which emits sufficiently perceptible to be recognized by hunters a long way off. Scholars call it castoreum, while trappers designate it by the plainer term of " bark-stone." When used for " bait," it neve"ir fails to lure into the death toil any unfortunate juvenile who may chance to sniff its odor, which is the most deliciously attractive sensation that their olfactory senses can possibly realize. Yet while young beavers are thus caught, the experienced, like old birds, fre- quently suspect harm, and so shy away, after cautiously "COME TO MINNESOTA !" 351 springing the trap and averting the danger to any un- suspecting youth or thoughtless simpleton. But Farmer Denton did not confine his attention en- tirely to sledge-dogs, beavers, and the like. He was more deeply interested in the welfare of thousands of toiling and struggling men in the East, where he had left them wearing out their miserable existence upon land that would not pay to farm ; and that, too, when so many million acres of productive soil in the great North-west still remained waiting for the plow. His letters all reiterated : " Come out here. Don't stay where you are. Instead of working yourself to death to avoid starvation, pack up, or sell out, and take the first train. Get here in time to break up new land, and the first crop will set you crazy with joy !" And he told only the truth when he repeatedly wrote that the first crop would pay for the land. He also mentioned that the Exemption Law secured a home and a heritage for the poor man's family in case some misfor- tune left him hopelessly in debt, and named other extraordinary advantages which should induce his correspondents to " Come !" But as Col. Hewitt, an enter- prising lawyer and real estate financier of St. Paul, is now send- ing his " Book of Minnesota " free to all applicants by mail, Farmer Denton relies entirely upon that. It contains a resume of everything that would interest strangers who contemplate set- , .,^_ <*^ tling in the State. *" ** ^ A squatter s Claim. CHAPTER XXIY. SUMMER travelers in Dakota Land are numerically increasing every year. And I do not won- der at it. The only surprise to me is that a few thousand more of those " would-be happy but forever miserable" people who haunt, or rather infest the old worn-out watering places in the East, so pertinaciously every season, do not venture a little further from home, and seek the benefit of relaxa- tion where actual enjoyment can be found. I am well aware that merchants and others who can not leave their business for any length of time, must content themselves with spending only a day or two, now and then, at the nearest place of attraction. But it is none the less criminal, and unmitigatedly ridiculous to domi- cile their virtuous wives and innocent children at an over- crowded fashionable sea-side resort, or in a dissolutely perturbed spring-house, or even upon an aerially " top- loftical" mountain-crag where all the wedded and celi- 354 APOLLYOXS AND CYTHEKIANS. bate "spooney" Toms, Dicks and Harries, and "sim- pering" Susans, Betsies and Janes are alike desperately endeavoring to flirt themselves into the improper pos- session of new affinities! And, with seemingly bold assurance, I shall here sarcastically intimate that such family-arrangements are unpardonable in husbands and fathers who have the least particle of connubial or paternal solicitude in them. Also (fully justified by conclusive inferences, adduced from extended observa- tions in the past), I shall unhesitatingly take the liberty of insinuating that the husband who leaves his young wife in such promiscuous and pestiferous society, six days and five nights in the week, while he is away attending to pecuniary affairs, and then consoles him- self with merely visiting her from Saturday night to' Monday morning, may be a "darling duck" in the lady's estimation, and at the same time appear like a " silly gander " in the opinion of those who flirt with her when he is not there. And yet, how many such arrangements are annually consummated by those who consider it distingue to come in contact with the ephem- eral butterflies and grasshoppers of le demi monde ! I allude to those places of rendezvous only where parasitical Apollyons and their Cytherian decoys sport and flutter so notoriously in the devastation of all that is good and pure ; where midnight cards and wine, with paphian smiles and a voluptuous rendition of the lasciv- ious pas de cancan, fascinate innocence and prepare souls for hell ! Who says I am too severe ? He does ; and so does she! Indeed! Perhaps I ought to apologize. Then, also, perhaps I shall not. No ! I have been there, and seen it all. And while some stood in front, timidly gaping at the painted curtain, I looked in behind the "RETREATS" IN DAKOTA LAND. 355 scenes. Certainly. Why not ? I had the pass-word, and went in free. But how I got out, was quite another thing. Oh, sneer at these lines, in welcome! I admit that I am writing in the same spirit with which a noted reverend gentleman denounced the Black Crook. Well, what if I am ? He said that the voluptuous beauty of the Parisienne ballet might not demoralize his mind, al- though he cautioned the multitude against venturing too near. But as it was not my intention to make any consider- able portion of this volume read like a criticisingly " moral essay," I will simply add that the better class of visitors are beginning to shun those resorts which have become famous from prodigal extravagance, bought with ill-repute, to quietly rusticate in the sweet retreats of Dakota Land, where the moral atmosphere is not less pure than the health-giving air which the lungs of hon- esty and virtue love to breathe ! And since the opening of railways in harmonious con- nection with established lines of passenger steamers on the lakes and rivers, summer travelers in the delightful region of the great North-west will find first-class ac- commodations on their tour wherever the conveyances are propelled by steam. And, as with the salubrity of the climate there, the scenery is, in many respects, the loveliest upon which the sun ever shone. A steamboat voyage on the Upper Mississippi is now attended with the comfort and luxury of a city hotel while rap- turously enjoying the grand and romantic panorama of the strangely castellated bluffs of the mightiest river in all the world ! But as any description of the natural sublimity peculiar to the countless points of interest in that voyage alone would fill a huge volume, I can allude to only a few of them here. 356 AN OCTOBER SCENE. Trempeleau Bluff, on the east bank of the river, be- tween the cities of La Crosse and Winona, is a magnifi- cent study. (It has been successfully painted by Mr. Gilbert Munger, a talented young artist from New York, who did it while visiting his brothers, the popu- lar music dealers, on Third street, in St. Paul, when I was unraveling the mystery of that curious mound of round blue stones which had been accumulated by Hah- zah-ee-yun-kee-winn in memory of her first-born child. The painting proved very successful, not only in the estimation of those who were familiar with the original scene, but in the artistic judgment of a Scotch noble- man, who gladly paid a large sum for it while yet in an unfinished condition.) We will imagine that the soft haze of an October morning is subduing the sunlight, which apparently struggles to come forth in resplendent glory. And there, towering skyward with solemn grandeur, all clad in the richly-variegated colors of autumn, the giant hill is perfectly sublime. Then, creeping down its side, a great phantom shadow is faintly visible, not only upon the surface, but far into the pellucid deep. And the tiny pebbles along the silent shore seem to be kissing each truant ripple as it comes dancing softly and clear before the gentle breeze ; while further out in the bosom of the mighty stream, there is a smiling archipelago of clustered islets, where fairies might peacefully dwell in a miniature world all their own. The little archipelago presents a beautiful contrast with the stupendous bluff whose almost perpendicular crest looks down in vivid resemblance of some antique castle long since ruined by time's decay. And as the mellow morning light is quaintly gilding its imaginary walls, a strange fancy inspires the beholder to muse until thought loses all MOUNTAIN GRAVES. 357 conception in dreams that cannot be defined. I have enjoyed pleasurable musings there. Trempeleau is decidedly French. And I am told that it signifies " dipping into the sea." But the river pilots translate it " mountain island," from the fact that the lofty eminence has no apparent connection with the general range. It stands entirely alone; and the steamers land at a little village which appears to be doubtfully clinging upon the southern base of the dizzy and almost perpendicular height. Victoria and Prince Albert Peaks are seen upon the opposite shore, two miles or so below. They are twin bluffs, and the loftiest elevation along the entire river, being about eight hundred feet above the surface of the stream. The apex of one somewhat resembles the En- glish crown and hence their names. Driesbach Bluff, also upon the west bank of the river, and scarcely more than eight miles above La Crosse, is so called because it was formerly, owned by the once celebrated lion tamer of that name. But why he ever bought it I am at a loss to comprehend. The last time I passed there the sun was sinking to rest behind the monster hill; and I saw strange shadows hovering about that lonely cemetery w r ith its small white head- stones pointing out the graves of early settlers who had been buried there. What a singular spot, I mused, for a burial-ground ! At an elevation of nearly five hund- red feet upon a mountain side, among dwarf oaks, and broken rocks all moss-grown and gray. How desolate and wild ! And the weird-cast scene was all the more thrilling from the soft light of parting day. I leaned upon the guard-railing of the steamer, pen- sively questioning my own soul whether it would cheer- fully leave its poor body of clay in a lull-side grave as 358 THE CITY OF WIXOXA. dismal as those up there appeared to be. But a voice within me, in sad response, cried out, " No !" Then I fancied a beautiful night ; and tried to imag- ine how I would feel sitting up there all alone in solemn communion with the dead ! Spiritualists say they can talk with the dead. And they endeavor to convince everybody how beautiful their " theory " is, while I can not credit them with entertaining a very sincere belief in all they pretend. But I dreamily thought that an hour or so spent up there, in a calm moonlight night, would seem quite novel, if nothing more. And then, if I could have a magic wand to wave, my first wish would make the moon disappear behind dark clouds, leaving the air totally black. With another movement of my wand I would call up a terrible storm. And there, amid the tombs, with a tempest moaning through the broken rocks and howling amid the tree-tops over my head, I would invoke deafening peals of thunder to echo in response when the lightning flashed an appalling blaze ! Then, waving my wand once more, I would command all the storm clouds to vanish, and let the joyful moonlight reappear, so that I might contemplate a million gold and silver ripples quivering and glitter- ing upon the surface of the mighty torrent stream away down below ! The City of Winona is the most important place be- tween La Crosse and St. Paul. It occupies the same spot where the traditional village of Keoxa stood many centuries ago upon Wapashaw Prairie, a beautiful plain, which was dearly loved by the Winnebagoes of olden time. Here it was that the great chief Wapashaw lived and died. Some say he died in exile, in Canada. But I have been shown the spot where his remains, with those of his family, lay buried when white settlers be- THE "LAKE OF TEAKS." 359 gan to build the new town. They found it inclosed by a rude wooden fence, which soon disappeared, in the pro- gress of improvement, to make room for the erection of stores. And by and by the bones were removed in ex- cavating for a cellar, in which a barber has since pur- sued his tonsorial manipulations without even asking permission from the departed spirits of the illustrious dead. Gigantic bluffs rise up back of the pretty town, and almost overhang the habitations below; while five beau- tiful valleys, with each its stream, and bounded on either side by a range of diversified hills stretching away back to the interior of rich agricultural lands, all converge on the plain. The surrounding scenery is very grand from the tower of the colossal and magnifi- cent public seminary a new edifice, far surpassing any similar building which I have seen in the East. And a palatial temple, costing nearly a quarter of a million dollars, is also in course of erection there, at Winona, for the uses and purposes of the Minnesota Normal School. Lake Pepin is the choicest portion of the Mississippi River. Father Hennepin called it the " Lake of Tears," because Aquipaguatin, the old chief who captured him and his men, wept and compelled his own son to weep with him, all one night near the water's edge, for the purpose of inducing his "court and councilors" to ac- quiesce in his wish to deprive the reverend prisoner of life. But the tender-hearted old savage spilt all his tears in vain, and the wandering Franciscan lived to narrate his adventures for the edification of the woi'ld. The scenery of Lake Pepin is both lovely and grand. And there are few other localities of equal extent upon the face of the globe which can even remotely compare MYSTKKY OF THE DEEP. 361 with it as a pleasant study for the painter or the poet. The lake is ibrnicd by an expansion of the river to at least three times its average width for a distance of twenty-five miles, in shape like an amphitheatre, and inclosed by lofty bluffs, which rear their dark outlines in every variety of form, and at intervals seem to be disconnected by elevated valleys or deep ravines. The perspective in all directions is totally unlike any other part of the river, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico. Not a single island is in view. The Indians say that "once upon a time" the bottom of Lake Pepmfell out, and that the islands then all went down. Inasmuch as soundings to the depth of four hundred fathoms, or twelve hundred feet, have been made in some places without any result, this tradition would seem true. The water is remarkably clear, and does not appear to have any current. But it is perfectly alive with fish ; and among the aqueous novelties there, I might allude to an occasional splash of the ever-restive sturgeon, who is naturally addicted to a peculiar antic of leaping above the surface, and instantly disappearing again, to repeat similar performances in distant places. And when a storm occurs, the whole expanse of element is quite as tumultuous as an angry sea ! The bluffs surrounding the lake are from four to five hundred feet high, and the country recedes from them at about the same level, with the usual undulations of gently rolling land ; while numerous streams disgorge here and there. Beside splendid fishing in the lake, an abundance of grouse and other small game may be found in that vicinity ; and deer are numerous among the forest hills in winter time. The village of Frontenac, situated upon an elevated natural esplanade of singular beauty, seems to be nest- 16 ,362 LEGEND OF LOVE. linsr at the foot of the western bluff of that mountain- O like range called Point-no- Point, which rears its bold front ten miles or more along the Minnesota shore of the lake, while the dark outline of Cap de Sioux, or " Maiden Rock," is visible nearly opposite, on the Wis- consin side. And those great cliffs appear like two antediluvian monsters of earth in silent anger, perpet- ually frowning defiance at each other across the beauti- ful watei-s which bar their possible meeting in the actxial combat of physical strife. " Maiden Rock " was the scene of a love tragedy which occurred long before the first steam-signal of a roaring patah-watah, or ' fire-canoe," disturbed the pri- meval stillness of the then unexplored caves beneath those bluffs. And that tall promontory will ever be memorable among the Indian legends of Dakota Land, for a physical and historical peculiarity similar to that of Leucadia, where the muse of Mytilene, more learned than beautiful, precipitated herself into death as the most convenient means of curing a passion which the scornful Phaon requited with contempt. But it was upon the wild shore of Lake Pepin that Oholoaitha, or Winona, the " first-born," more beautiful than learned, and quite as desperate as her illustrious example, took a death leap because she was forbidden to love and to be loved by the brave Anikigi. There are many different versions of this romantic tradition. But the most plausible one is that Oholoaitha a Sioux child of ten years, whose parents lived at the village of Keoxa, in the time of the great chief Wapashaw, situated on the prairie where the City of Winona now stands was taken captive by a hostile band, and subse- quently reared in the teepee of the victorious chief. And upon attaining the irrepressible period of female THE GARRAUU KSTATE. 363 existence, she fell in love with the chief's son. That was all very proper, for the object of her love had him- self been the means of saving her life. Yet, unlike Phaon with Mytilene, Anikigi gallantly and heroically returned Oholoaitha's passion in the spontaneous ardor of a young Dakota brave. And they might have loved happily if their hopes had not been suddenly blasted by the conclusion of peace between their tribes, which made it compulsory that she should be restored to her own people. However, the chief made a formal request of her father that she might remain to marry Anikigi, and thus become his daughter-in-law. But the proposi- tion only resulted in exasperating the revengeful feel- ings of the paternal old Sioux, who was very anxious to avoid any alliance that might have a tendency to con- solidate peace. So he resolutely demanded his daugh- ter back again after her eight years' absence in very pleasant captivity. But Oholoaitha did not return to her father's teepee, nor to his tribe. For^on the very day that he intended sacrificing her by an odious union with one of his own choice, she ascended the bluff and precipitated herself to death among the rocks below. And as the Indians deem suicide an unpardonable crime, the living still curse her memory and attach eternal in- famy to her name ! " Winona's Grotto," a cave lined with various colors of sandstone, in strata of an inch or so thick, crumb- ling easily to the touch, and melting quickly in water, is but half a mile below Maiden Rock. The Garrard Estate embraces the extent of Point-no- Point range, the whole of Marsh Valley, and nearly all the hills and valleys for two or three miles ir width be- tween the towns of Red Wing and Lake City, I pre- sume the whole area is not less than ten thousand acres, 364 including the most picturesque and lovely scenery in any part of Dakota Land. Brigadier-General Garrard, and his two brothers, Dr. Garrard and General Garrard, are busily superintending the transformation of the en- tire estate into an immense ornamental park. They purpose making it the grandest and most delightful summer resort on the continent. And, judging from what I have seen already accomplished there by a lav- ish expenditure of money with " taste and wisdom," it is safe- for me to say that their enterprise will be entire- ly successful. When the valley gradings and the mountain passes are all completed, there will be pictur- esque driving enough for several days without twice going over the same track or repeating any one view. An enchanting scene may be enjoyed from Point Delight, an inland promontory of immense height, look- ing over Marsh Valley, and out upon the Lake, for at least twenty miles, to the dimly visible bluffs against the horizon. This is the loveliest landscape that I ever beheld ! ' The resident Society of Frontenac is that of educated, polished, refined and wealthy people, who offer every inducement for others of the same class to come and join them. Lady McLean, the elegant and accomplished relict of Judge McLean, late of the United States Su- preme Court, and also the mother of the Messrs. Gar- rard, is so delighted with the place that she intends to reside there the remainder of her days. Strangers will find a good new hotel upon the levee. Mr. Kennicott, the landlord, is a hospitable host and a very kind- hearted man. If happiness can dwell anywhere upon the earth, it may be found in the pretty village of Frontenac. It is quietly breathing in those peaceful abodes upon the ABODK OF HAPPINESS. 365 beautiful esplanade at the foot of that gray old hill, near where the waters ever flow ! I have seen it there in the dewy morning, at noontide, and in the twilight of evening:. And I remember once sitting at a chamber- O ^ window in the stylish residence of Dr. Garrard, during the midnight hour, when all was hushed and still ; and, while gazing out upon the silvery deep with sad and mournful memories of the loved and gone, my listening fancy heard a whispering murmur in the pleasant breeze, which seemed to say : " Where God is, and they his love doth keep, Sobs nor sighs shall ne'er disturb their sleep !" Some marks are still existing in the vicinity of Fron- tenac to point out the place where an old French fort stood nearly two hundred years ago. And Indian mounds are numerous in the neighborhood of Lake City, where Mr. Lyon, a wealthy New Yorker, is keep- ing an excellent hotel for the accommodation of tourists and invalids at all seasons of the year. The Lyon House is now standing on a spot where the bones of an extinct race have been found in such vast quantities as to in- duce the belief that, contemporaneous with the ante- diluvian boyhood of Noah, some vast city covered a large portion of the wide prairie which spreads out far beyond the limits of the present thrifty town. A small steamer plies between Lake City and other landings near, affording pleasure-seekers convenient facility for a delightful trip over to Maiden Rock, the Grotto, the Cave, and any picturesque locality which their fancy may select. When Le Sueur visited Lake Pepin, nearly one hund- red and sixty years ago, he saw numerous caverns of over seventy feet in extent and three or four feet high along the bluffs, in which bears slept during the winter. 366 OLD "RED WINGS GRAVE. The entrances to some of the caverns were entirely closed with saltpetre. In the summer they became the dens of rattlesnakes, who charged their gums with poison in the morning and cast it out at night. Red Wing is remarkable for the proximity of La Grange, or Barn Bluff, a solitaire eminence, nearly five hundred feet high, the western base of which is only a few rods from the levee in front of the Metropolitan Hotel, kept by Mr. Teele, an obliging host, who endeav- ors to make his guests feel at home. The grave of old " Red Wing," the noted chief, is on top of the bluff, overlooking an almost endless expanse of land and water, which has already entranced a painter's eye and fired a poet's brain. And, as if to compensate for the entire absence of them in the lake, a " thousand islands " intersperse the river above, forming the most romantic- ally diversified series of scenes. The site of Red Wing, now a large and prosperous town, was occupied only a few years ago by a group of teepees then forming the Indian village of Remnichah. But tourists voyaging upon the Upper Mississippi River must not imagine that all the beautifully undu- lated scenery of Dakota Land is visible from the deck of a steamer. For many of these great promontories are but the termination or the beginning of long ranges of bluffs, which meander beside tributary streams, in some instances a hundred miles or more from their outlets into the great arterial flood. And in that season when nature is full of bloom, the countless hills and dells are robed in dense foliage, imparting a joyful beauty to the almost inconceivable shapes and attitudes of precipitous heights, rugged cliffs and romantic slopes, which form the kaleidoscopic valleys intersecting the lovely country around. THE BOILING KIVEK. 367 The mighty river everywhere, except on Lake Pepin, is divided into numerous channels by intervening islands with a marvelously pleasant irregularity, which even the combined efforts of art and nature have no- where else attained. Thus the eye of a stranger is fre- quently deceived with the impression that modern horticulturists have been lavishing enormous expense to perfect rural beauty with the utmost profusion of foliage and flowers. In the Algonquin dialect, Sepe, or Sejjin, signifies " running water;" and hence the name Mississippi. De Soto called it St. Louis ; and Count Frontenac honored the then French minister of marine by calling it Colbert. But the groat Father of Waters is not only wonderful in magnitude, as seen to the living world, but still more amazing beneath the reach of mortal vision. Or, rather, it is supposed to be, according to a marvelous theory of Dr. Percival, late geologist for the State of Wiscon- sin. The startling discovery of boiling water, which suddenly spouted out from an artesian well at La Crosse, induced the learned gentleman to conclude that far beneath the bed of the Mississippi there exists another and even more immense stream flowing in the same direction, and whose waters are of much too high a temperature for the ordinary preparation of soft- boiled eggs. This strange theory v has been concurred in by " Brick Pomeroy," whose paper is more severely political and widely-circulated than any other journal west of the Allegheny Mountains. And the probability is that he intends to use the boiling water of the arte- sian well to generate steam for propelling those mam- moth printing presses in the basement of that splendid publishing house so recently erected there by him. CHAPTEK XXV. A VERY remarkable peculiarity of climate in Minnesota is that the winters are equally as de- lightful as the summers. And Southern and Eastern people of delicate health who know this fact, actually prefer a residence in that State to one in any other place during the frigid months of the year. Consumptives who might not survive the chilly weather of " raw " localities, will find the winter at- mosphere of the North-west not only pleasant, but marvelously exhilarating. No matter what the ther- mometer says. For, while freezing very hard, the air is generally so still and dry that smoke from the chimneys will ascend perpendicularly several hundred feet ; while at night, a lighted candle may be placed out of doors without perceptibly flaring. Numerous invalids are now in the habit of spending the winter in Minnesota; and since the Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and St. 16* 370 CELESTIAL PHENOMENA. Paul Railroad has been completed all the way through, the number will soon be increased to thousands. Among the natural wonders of Dakota Land are O many interesting celestial phenomena. And, as I am such an enthusiastic admirer and demonstrative patron of the canine species, I will first mention the PARHELIA, or " sun doy one, for sale support while abstractedly lost in rap- ture with their first glimpse of the loveliest waterfall in all the world. I need not relate how we shivered in speechless admiration ; for the tongue of a stranger sel- dom disturbs the exquisite silence of the soul, which is sure to be enjoyed at that particular moment, and per- haps never experienced so sweetly again in any emo- tional pleasure of remaining- life. "Is that all?" at length bursted Louise, in a sadly dis- appointed tone. I could not help regretting her lack of enthusiasm ; but the comical expression just then pervading her countenance from the effects of such a lengthy exposure in unaccustomed cold, and suddenly " blasted hope," thx*ew me into a violent fit of laughter, which in turn so startled her that she grasped my arm with a desperate violence that came very near precipi- tating us both together head foremost over the rocks into the abyss of water apparently boiling beneath the ice below. Her pretty cheeks were tinged to the hight of rosy red ; yet her melting eyes seemed rather dim ; and her luscious lips were tightly drawn and palely blue. An odd semblance for sanguine beauty to wear. But she was Louise, nevertheless. And I fancy that a simi- lar adventure would temporarily distort and discolor the face of any other lovely woman. Poets and authors have exhausted themselves trying to picture Minnehaha, without a word touching its sub- limity in winter. And Louise was too full of ideal ex- pectancy to realize satisfaction from what she then beheld. " You must not reproach me !" said I. "What Long- fellow wrote was no fault, or merit of mine !" Nor could I I'emove those huge columns of ice which had crept up around the gorge until only a small por- 376 A WOULD OF GLASS. tion of the upper part of the cascade was visible to her sight. It was too bad, after she had been for years pic- turing in her imagination How the Laughing Waters sweetly dance and play In the joyous sunshine of a summer's day. But she looked again ; and then saw something grand to admire. For the surrounding objects below the Falls were all covered with ice, presenting the most singularly sublime spectacle that I ever beheld. Perhaps the reader can imagine a world of pure, white glass, or rather a magic scene of earth, rocks, stones, bushes and trees, with every leaf and limb congealed into a bright- ly-crystallized form, while a million sparkling lights, re- flected from the rays of the blazing sun, are gleaming with gorgeous splendor in the frosty air ! Such a pic- ture will disclose an ideal vision of what the external features of Minnehaha represent when its eternally showering mists have frozen in their fall ! So, instead of hastening away, we lingered on in contemplation of the novel scene, which seemed to grow more and more enchanting as we gazed. And during the remainder of our lives, neither of us can forget the strange delight experienced then. But there was a sadness in the roar- ing of the Falls. For, shivering Together there, beneath that wintry sky, We heard the Weejnng Waters gurgle and sigh, While clad in funeral shrouds of drifting snow, They darted to their icy tomb below. But our toes were getting numb with cold ; and so we scrambled back to the quaint little hotel standing near. Then, promising to repeat our visit again the fol- lowing summer, we returned to the Nicollet House, after an absence of only four hours. And, although the weather must have boon very cold, we each admitted INTERNATIONAL HOTEL. 37V that our suffering was less than it would have been with the thermometer twenty degrees above zero in the raw atmosphere sometimes experienced at home. I also discovered a great mistake on the part of the colored boy who drove us to the Falls. He tied up his ears so warmly with " comforters " and furs, that they became moist from perspiration ; and then, when a dis- placement of the covering let in the outer air, they were not only all the more susceptible to the frost, but liable to instantly freeze. This hint may serve to cau- tion " white folks " against too much fussy bundling up instead of endeavoring to keep the exposed features dry, and warm from within. Hon. Lieutenant-Colonel \V. K. Marshall, the present very popular Governor of Minnesota. (1813.) impatient " Sight-seers," Starting ou a Tour. Many tourists who annually visit St. Paul are sure to stop at Park Place Hold, which is generally filled with gay cavaliers and charming belles from Eastern and Southern cities. The edifice stands upon Summit ave- nue, in the vicinity of the State Capitol, and nearly all its two hundred windows overlook the city. The waters of the majestic river, and the colossal bluffs beyond, give a picturesque and singularly romantic background to the extended view. The apartments are all well- furnished and airy, and many of them especially ar- ranged for the convenience and comfort of families. And there is a shady park adjoining the house, in which the ladies may amuse themselves at croquet and other health-improving games, while the little ones drive "goat-carts" and extemporize circuses, if they will. And then at even-tide, when tell-tale blushes are hid- den from sight, and the honeyed words of panting THE SUMMIT HOUSE. 379 ardor fall in accents soft and low, " the old love or the new " may sigh or dream there beneath the foliage of the trees. Many pleasant hours were spent in the Park Place Hotel l)y some who now have passed away. But in their places another and another throng of buoyant hearts return from year to year. A Hungry Tourist Left. Behind- The Summit House commands a fine view of the city and surrounding country the panoramic perspective reaching eight to ten miles down the Mississippi, four miles up the same river, and at least fifteen miles up the enchanting valley of the Minnesota, which lies between frowning high hills, where the flashing steel-blue waters of its serpentine stream resemble a poetical vision of beauty, appearing and disappearing among the green verdure of fairy meadows and miniature trees. The old trading-post of Mendota is plainly in sight ; and the quaint little church of St. Peter's can also be seen. In Dakota dialect, the word mendota signifies " meeting of the waters." And there we can behold the great Father of Rivers caressing his beautiful daughter, as she seems to come laughingly and lovingly unto his 880 MERCHANTS' HOTEL. panting, broad bosom. The Summit House is a large, comfortable, and well-kept hotel, situated upon the very verge of the great bluff overlooking the mighty river, and immediately upon Summit avenue, the boule- vard of the aristocratic part of the city, with its mag- nificent residences and suburban villas, all continually enlivened by equipages dashing along the beautiful and shady drive. It is not a commercial house ; being more particularly frequented by wealthy tourists and pleasure- seekers, whose refined tastes enable them to realize the enjoyment of such a delightful i-etreat. Commercial people, business men and hurrying trav- elers, frequent the Merchants' Hotel ; which, though im- mensely large and " roomy," was never known to have an empty bed. Its contiguity to the levee and railroad depots, is some inducement to strangers. But the great popularity of Col. Shaw, the "jolly landlord," would keep any house continually filled, if his acquaintances expected to find him there. When I say his acquaint- ances, I mean all those who have once tested his hospi- tality. It is now a generally admitted fact that many hotel proprietors are entirely too autocratic for their position. And I once overheard the unsocial monarch of a great caravansera in his closet-sanctum bewailing a lack of the popularity he so much craved! But Col. Shaw is always to be seen. And he is sure to have a welcome smile and a cordial shake of the hand for either rich or poor who seek food and shelter in his house. The reader will remember that Lady Levasseur and Fleurette made their home at this hotel for several months after arriving in St. Paul. It was at the Merchants' Hotel where I became ac- quainted with hio highness (?) Po-f/o-na-yhe-shick, the " HOLE-IN-THE-DAY ' ON A SPREE. 381 erratically misanthropic Chippeway chief, whose famil- iar title, from some analogical inference totally beyond my exploration of "Injun lore," is admitted even by himself to be Hole-in-the-day. He was partly inclined to assist in the extermination of the white race as demonstratively proposed by the Sioux in '62 ; but for- tunately his hereditary abhorrence for Little Crow deterred him from joining in the slaughter. And thus he escaped the vengeance that would have overtaken him as it did his mortal enemy. With bitter contempt he informed me how his (Chippeway) grandfather be- stowed that ornithological sobriquet upon the grand- father of his late foe because the old fellow was so pi-oud of wearing: a crow's skin across his breast like a shield. O He also expressed much delight when alluding to the manner of Little Crow's death. That wicked old Sioux perished in the vicinity of Minne-Wakan, or Devil Lake, whither ho fled, vainly hoping to escape pursuit. And visitors to St. Paul may now see his skeleton among the curious relics on exhibition in the rooms of the Minne- sota Historical Society. He was formerly chief of the Light-foot Band, who inhabited the village of Kaposia, a locality on the opposite side of the river, a few miles below the city, and now called Pig's Eye. His Indian name was Tah-o-ah-ta-doo-ta, His Scarlet People." But whenever Hole-in-the-day visits St. Paul, his excessive inebriety is sure to terminate in jail. He said to me, " Chippeway chief love rum. White man, stranger, much- whiskers (long-beard), come drink with Injun. No ? Augh ! Then big Injun drink for white man too. Rum ! Big Injun drink much rum !" He soon kicked up a pleasant little row, and somebody called in two sti'ong policemen to represent the munici- pal law. His correct portrait is on the next page. PO-GO-^A-GHK-SHICK ; or " Hole in the Day." The number of Eagle Plumes on his head indicate how many murders he has committed; but tell us of no good lie ever did. CHAPTER XXVI. THE Drives around !St. Paul are numerous and delightful. They include views of trans- parent lakes, rapid streams, verdant mountain ranges fad- ing awav on the distant hori- o / zon, leaping cascades, wild and rugged ravines, prime- val forests, cool bubbling springs, vine-embowered cot- tages, dark gloomy caves, vast rolling prairies, grain fields and farms, gigantic bluffs, and the great Father of Waters more wonder- ful than all ! By driving three miles to the south-east, a panoramic view may be had from the top of Mount Prospect. But to be realized, the eye must see all that as it really is. Description will fail to paint its beauty here. There is the city, away down below, apparently a variegated cluster of miniature abodes, where Liliputians might dwell near the banks of the grandly beautiful stream 384 DELIGHTFUL DRIVES. which bears upon its silvery bosom those floating palaces, with their banners of " red, white and blue " streaming in the breeze, while bands of music pour forth sweet lullabies or melodiously inspire the balmy air. And then, through dim distance far beyond, the enchanting scene becomes " absorbed, like memory in a dream !" " The Round Trip " is about twenty-three miles in all. First, up the river-drive; and while dashing out Sum- mit avenue there is a grand view of the mighty stream and the great, long bluff beyond. That solitary pine, beneath which I sat so long in reverie one November night, may also be seen away over there near the curious mound of round blue stones, where, at the ris- ing of each full moon, Old Betz is sure to add still another silent memento in evidence of eternal grief for her first-born child. Then, a few minutes at Fountain Cascade, with a peep at the mouth of that unexplored Cave, out of which ever flows a bright rivulet of delicious water. The "Fairies T Glen," with its tiny jet d'eau, and also the romantically spurting Mazas-ka, or " silvery fall," point the way to Bridal Veil, Silver Cascade (which I have had drawn and engraved for the reader), and the Mineral Springs. The roaring of " many waters " will break upon the ear, as the beautiful cities of St. Anthony and Minneapolis appear, with a showery mist sparkling in the sunlight between them, to startle the beholder's mind after calmly dreaming upon the river scenery of gorges and bluffs that were passed in the delightful journey thither. Then across the Suspension Bridge (which, I am told, was originally devised and erected by the intrepid Frank Steele, that pioneering gentleman who built the first saw-mill in the State, near the great Falls. He also LSGEND OF " ANPETUSAPA." 385 started the first lumber-train in that region, by hitching a single ox to a rude cart, and now virtually owns a large tract of land on the other side of the river, includ- ing the Falls of Minnehaha, Fort Snelling, and the Ferry near the fort, worth nearly half a million dollars). While crossing the river at a compulsory gait of " not faster than a walk," there is a fitting pause to call up the legend of Anpetusapa, whose jealousy was aroused by the presence of a rival wife, whom her husband brought into his teepee. She took her infant child in her arms and entered a canoe above the Falls. Then, pushing the frail bark out into the swift current of the mighty stream, she chanted a death-dirge while plung- ing down among the boiling waters below. That was many years before the first pale-face saw the Falls ; and in the morning mist the Indians believe that they can still perceive the spirit of the mother, with her child clinging around her neck, while her wailing death-song swells above the loud cataract roar of the element into which she disappears. I fancy there is no Indian wife now living in Dakota Land who would consider the presence of one or a dozen rivals in her husband's teepee sufficiently aggra- vating to warrant the immortalizing of her name in that tragically romantic way. The Indians originally called the great falls Kaboh Bikah, which signifies " Broken Rocks;" and they now bestow that name upon the Falls of Minnehaha. Having crossed over, the next enjoyment should be a sumptuous dinner at the " Nicol- let House." After which, while smoking a cigar (if the ladies do not object), an extensive view of the City of Minneapolis and its surroundings may be obtained from the lofty cupola of that grand hotel. A glance at the aqueous and mechanical wonders of those immense roar- 17 386 DEVOTION OF "SCARLET DOVE. ing and rumbling mills need not take long ; and then the coachman will announce that he is ready for motion again. In turn, the " Laughing Waters," Fort Snelling, the valley of the Minnesota River, and Mendota will be seen. There is another legend connected w T ith Pilot Knob, that great, dark bluff beyond where the rivers come together. More than a hundred years ago, Eagle Eye, the son of a great war prophet, won the love of a maiden called Scarlet Dove. And while on a hunting expedition near the " Lake of Tears," he was accidentally killed by a friend. But he uttered the name of Scarlet Dove with his last breath. After mourning a few days and cutting her flesh, she subsided into silent grief, and wrapped the corpse of her lover in skins to carry upon her back all through the long day's march. At night she laid it out upon a scaffold erected with her own hands. And thus she continued wearily carrying the ghastly corpse by day and mourning beneath it at night, for more than a hundred miles ! Finally arriving at Pilot Knob, Scarlet Dove built her last scaffold overlooking the spot where the antique chapel of St. Peter now stands. Placing the remains of Eagle Eye thereupon, she took her portage strap with which she had been carrying them so far and so long, and then hung herself to the scaffold and died. After crossing the " Magic Ferry," the road may be up the high hill, or along the meandering glen. In either choice, the mind will be entirely lost in rapture made delicious with a mental comparison of the poetic- ally romantic names of Osceola and Minneineeopa while rolling back into the bright new City of St. Paul, scarcely conscious whether the past six hours were en- chanting reality or a kaleidoscopic delusion ; and all at "BEAUTY AND FASHION." 387 a trifling cost, as proven by the reasonable charges of the livery men, who, smiling, inquire " How were you pleased?" Lake Como is three miles to the north, through a rolling and romantic " oak opening," which terminates at a remarkably pleasant spot. The waters of the lake are the clearest I ever saw. And millions of fish may be seen darting and leaping in those scaly pastimes pe- culiar to the finny tribe. Hotels, summer residences, and rural cottages adorn the vicinity, and wealthy citi- zens love to congregate there. Equipages, quite as stylish as anything in New York City, are frequently met going to or returning from the lake. The track is particularly delightful on a summer evening. Lovers choose it after sundown, in the soft twilight, or beneath the gentle rays of the silvery moon. A twilight drive out there is very pleasant in Novem- ber. I ascertained that fact by riding thither with Mr. Webb, the owner of that celebrated team, Beauty and Fashion, as shown in the illustration at the beginning of this chapter. Beauty is a superb iron-gray, and Fashion a splendid black. They flew out to the lake in fine style ; and so swiftly, that I was obliged to shut one eye and hold on to my hat. It was a dashing flight, and terminated very unexpectedly to me in a contest and a sensation. Just beyond the hill overlooking the city, I noticed that Webb seemed rather uneasy, and I asked him the cause. " He's coming !" said Webb, in a feeble tone of voice, followed by an encouraging chirp to Fashion ! " Who's coming ?" quoth I, with a look of inquiry through the corner of my open eye. 388 A RACE TO LAKE COMO. " Farmer Denton ! I hate to let him pass ; but his team beats anything I ever saw !" I heard a terrific clattering of hoofs in the rear, and began to feel my own blood rising. "Pull tighter!" I suggested, with a nudge. " Can't pull any tighter than I am !" " Then sing out, and let 'em go !" was my next sug- gestion. " That won't do ; they'll break and run !" " Keep 'em steady, then !" I said. " And look alive, now !" Quickly doubling up my forefinger, I thrust it into my mouth. The clattering of Denton's team behind us seemed to come nearer and nearer at a very rapid gait ; and Webb groaned : " By George ! I believe he's bound to pass !" At that instant, I blew with all my might. And such a blast ! Beauty and Fashion must have fancied the shrill scream to be an Indian war-whoop, or some other sudden premonition of terrible destruction. It was at least a tolerable imitation of a full-grown locomotive signal. " Hall'ow !" ejaculated Webb, as his horses shot ahead like two w r ild arrows. But the alarm that put his horses down to a quicker gait, broke up Denton's team. And so we arrived at Como first. Farmer Denton afterward said : " That wan't fair !" Perhaps not. Yet fair or foul, it forever settled the contest between his bays, and Webb's gray and black ; and I am quite sure that the gentleman farmer will never pass Beauty and Fashion again, while Webb holds their reins. But that same evening, after our return to St. Paul, I THAT " LOST KEY !' 389 saw Farmer Denton, and Mr. Dalryraple, who is com- monly called the " Minnesota Farmer," " confidentially " seated vis-a-vis in the remotest corner of the gentlemen's parlor at the International Hotel, and evidently dis- cussing the merits of some new enterprise. I judged what the nature of their tete-a-tete might be from the meditative attitude of Dalrymple, whose wide-brimmed hat of " Southern dimension " and style, slantingly con- cealed his features, while Denton vigorously manipu- lated the tip of his nose a very inelegant but apparent- ly soothing habit, to which he always was addicted when absorbed in speculative deliberation. Perhaps it would interest the reader to learn that Dalrymple had something of a wheat crop last season. From only one thousand and seven hundred acres of land, he gathered over thirty-five thousand bushels of grain ; which, at the price then ruling the market, certainly netted him a comfortable little income. No wonder they call him the " Minnesota Farmer !" And tourists who are inter- ested in modern agriculture will be pleased to form a personal acquaintance with him, and learn to what an immense extent he is carrying it on. He is an unas- suming, intelligent and pleasant man. I may add that he and Denton are very intimate friends. And while those representative farmers were matur- ing their plans for greater aggrandizement in the future, I luckily slipped into a current of simple events, which unexpectedly led me on to an interesting, if not actually startling discovery. In the second chapter of this extemporaneously writ- ten volume of heteroscian characters and agglomerated scenes, there is an allusion to a Lost Key, which I acci- dentally found one day. I will here explain what that means ; and at the same time reveal how it enabled me ACCEPTING AN INVITATION. 391 to unlock the mystery which had been so long con- cealing the ultimate fate of Pierre Parrant, the notori- ous old whisky-trafficker, who impiously retarded the good results labored for by the better part of the com- munity identified with the early history of St. Paul. But first I will simply recur to that adventure near the square rock below Mendota, where Kaskadino and Old Betz each played a part in lieu of Florinda. Dur- ing the encounter of the treacherous half-breed and Parrant, the latter was supposed to have been killed. But almost immediately after the tragedy his body and his canoe disappeared. And the following day he was seen back again in his whisky-shanty at St. Paul. His head was bandaged, and he looked remarkably pale. He seemed to be unusually active ; but during the en- tire day was not heard to speak. At night, a candle was left burning near his bed until it flickered out at the end of the wick. The next morning Parrant could not be found. Nearly a quarter of a century had elapsed after the disappearance of the old whisky-trader, when, while Denton and Dalrymple were discussing their plans, as already stated, I made the acquaintance of an " Over- seer," who was superintending a gang of laborers en- gaged in the work of opening the route for the upper division of the St. Paul and Chicago Railway, at that time just begun. The Overseer was a good-natured man, and kindly invited me to drive down and see how they got along. But the invitation did not strike me as being a very tempting one. However, just then Professor Dodge chanced to join us ; and he said, " Go, by all means !" I accordingly thanked the man, and promised to come. The natne of Ossian E. Dodge is familiar to almost 392 A GENIUS IN ST. PAUL. every one in the United States. As a poet, a musician and a wit, he is quite inimitable. Thousands remember him as the editor of the " Boston Literary Museum !" At present he is one of the most enterprising geniuses in St. Paul. He went to Minnesota, some years ago, for the health of one of his little boys. The lad was soon afflicted with very rosy cheeks, and the father enthu- siastically concluded to stay. Having already laid up a snug fortune by the exercise of his talents as a writer and a vocalist, not only in this country, but nearly all over the world, he said to himself: " I'll travel no further ! Paradise is here !" But Professor Dodge is endowed with one of those extraordinary intellects which are too irrepressible for inactivity anywhere. And lie is remarkably fond of blending ideality with the substantial requirements of life; in which rare peculiarity he is more than a match for a dozen "wiseacres" who persist in ciphering out original problems by exploded or obsolete rules. He has invested largely in city lots, and also built a number of model cottages, each one of them being ornamentally designated by an appropriate name. Indeed, he is never at a loss to find the right name for anything. He dwells in Alpine Cottage, an unique edifice, constructed to suit himself. His extensive Cabinet of Indian relics, curios- ities culled from nature and produced by art, including many antiquities and modern inventions, is not sur- passed by that of any other gentleman in this country. Among the relics of historic interest treasured up by Professor Dodge, is the " sacred pipe," or Calumet of Peace, formerly owned by Winnesheik, the war-chief of the Winnebago nation. (The pipe is seen in the hands of the chief as he " squatted " to have his photo- graph taken for the engraving which adorns the second THE CALUMET OF PEACE. 393 chapter of this volume.) It was made from a very fine- grained, soft red-stone, quarried from the "Red-stone Ledge" of the Yellow-stone River. There are two colors used for Indian calumets. The blue represents the " good spirit of peace ;" the dull red, that of the " evil spirit of war." The " evil " is esteemed more than the " good." Indian like ! They call the red-stone eyanskah. When thoroughly polished, it is not only impervious to acids, but perfectly infusible. So sacred have the Indians considered this stone, that for nearly fifty years they guarded the quarry night and day from the approach of white men. But, since the great massacre of '62, there is no holy ground to the foot of the pale-face in any part of Minnesota. The Winnesheik pipe, for many generations, was used by the head chiefs at the close of their hostilities with other bands, as a pipe of peace or treaty contract. A few years ago, Hon. A. T. Sharp, then Mayor of Wabasha, by legal skill and many months of untiring labor, suc- ceeded in saving to Winnesheik and his band a large and valuable tract of land, which had been "jumped " by speculative sharpers. In gratitude for that service, Winnesheik called upon Mayor Sharp one morning and "You serve poor Indian and refuse gold! Indian heart big ! warm ! grateful ! Indian give as pledge of endless love what money no buy. Take this pipe, hund- red years in my family, and remember Winnesheik !" Major Sharp subsequently presented the pipe to Pro- fessor Dodge. But, aside from the innumerable curiosi- ties in Alpine Cottage, it is a peaceful sanctuary of domestic bliss, made bright and happy by the perpetual smiles of a beautiful and loving wife. Dodge dined with me the day after I accepted the 17* 394 EXHUMING A SKELETON! Overseer's invitation. We fared sumptuously at the International Hotel, and then drove down to look at the workmen on the line of the new railway. Just before our arrival at the scene of operation, there had been quite an excitement among the men in conse- quence of discovering some portions of a human skele- ton, which they unavoidably exhumed while delving at a point near the bank of the Mississippi River. They were then in the act of replacing the bones in the earth, just beyond the line, as we alighted. " What's that ?" cried Dodge, at the sight of such a crowd around one spot. " Ah, an' be dad, your honor, ets the decayed re- manes uv a bhloody Injun baste, shure's me metherr's name wus Biddy Mucklevarney !" replied a Celtic indi- vidual attached to the very short stem of an inexpen- sive but unpleasantly odoriferous pipe. "That's so!" coincided the Overseer. "No doubt we shall find lots of 'em between here and Hastings. The Injuns did nothing but fight and kill one another hereabouts, for I don't know how many hundred thou- sand years 'fore us white folks made 'em stop !" "Put that down!" Dodge murmured in my ear. " Item one. Fine enough for a large book anywhere in Minnesota !" After viewing the pieces of grim and frightful anato- my, we proceeded to inspect the locality where they had been found. And there I trod upon a curiously shaped object and stooped to pick it up. Upon close examina- tion, it proved to be a formidably large knife. With considerable hammering we removed the adhesive rust, and saw an unintelligible inscription. Then I looked at Dodge for some suggestion. " Here's another !" said the Overseer, handing us what SCENE IN "ALPINE COITAG'E!" 395 proved to be a very much neglected double-barreled pis- tol. I thought it was sadly out of repair. And, en- graved upon the upper stock-plate of that, we saw another alphabetical signum. And then Dodge looked at me for my opinion. But I had arrived at no conclu- sion. Dodge and I continued to exchange glances, until at length he said, " If you don't keep them I shall !" Thereupon I expressed much gratitude for his sug- gestion, and threw the old weapons into the bottom of the buggy, saying, "We'll take them home and de- cipher those inscriptions !" " I comprehend !" shrugged Dodge. " You want to find the plot for another one of those marvelous stories which you are addicted to writing." I smiled as ghastly as usual. We then lighted fresh cigars ; during the process of which I mumbled, " You're very clever at surmising." " Just so ! I 'tended guessing school once half a day," was his quick retort. Hastening to Alpine Cottage, Dodge and I imme- diately began to scour the old pistol and the rusty knife. Dodge's curiosity equaled mine ; and we went to work unfastidiously, in true scullion style. Indeed, he was much delighted with the promise of a solution to some- thing perhaps worth knowing. " What are you at ?" cried the sweet voice of Mrs. Dodge, who came into the kitchen rolling her pretty optics with inquisitive surprise. " That's a mystery to be got at by soap and sand !" said Dodge in grave response, and at the same time casting a side wink for me to see. " More of those horrible Indian traps, I'll be bound !" 396 THE "LOST KEY" FOUND! continued Mrs. Dodge with a " Humph !" from which I inferred that she did not cherish a very exalted opin- ion of the aboriginal race, " If you intend greatly in- creasing the number of such horrible objects, it will be necessary to erect a building expressly to hold them. The house is now entirely filled with curiosities. Per- haps you and the Colonel had better establish a hypo- dramatic museum in St. Paul.* He might introduce the performing dogs and horses, and other living ani- mals, while you exhibit the inanimate wonders of the world, extemporize poetry, and make funny speeches !" " Bravo ! And 'twould pay, too !" cried Dodge. " You see, Fannie, dear " He did not finish his sentence. My scouring at the old knife was successful; and I abruptly broke in, " Look here ; I have it now ! The first letter is T. The next A. Then s, and, and " "And HAE !" Dodge articulated for me. "Why, it spells Tashaef" I cried. "That was the name of a fur trader who lived at Selkirk Colony, twenty-five years ago !" " And here's the other name !" exclaimed Dodge. " P-a-r-r-a-n-t ' PIG'S EYE !' sure as you live !" And there it was, engraved in plain English upon the upper stock-plate of the old pistol. "You're a lucky fellow!" Dodge remarked to me the next day. " Mr. Williams, Secretary of the" Histori- cal Society, would have given anything for Parrant's old pistol." " Can't help that !" was my reply. " After I came here all the way from Xew York, for the avowed pur- pose of compiling and writing up an illustrated history of St. Paul, he announced in the editorial columns of * Since then, Dodge has taken a lease of " IXGERSOLL HALL." A GAME OF " BLUFF !" 397 the ' Pioneer ' that he intended to do the same thing. And then another gentleman made a similar announce- ment in the ' Daily Press.' Mr. McClung published a like intention. And, as if to frighten me off entirely, a country editor added his name to the list of my rivals. Thus at leas-t four members of the Minnesota press, each of them infinitely better posted than I am, and much more competent in every other respect, have opened their 'masked batteries' upon me, while I have not even a squib-cartridge to pop or ' fizzle ' in return." I paused at this period for Dodge to reply. But he continued to smoke his cigar without any sign of speech, and so I went on to say, "Five Histories of St. Paul at the same time, will be rather too many ; and, therefore, I shall unvalorously, but expediently, retire !" Then Dodge took a long pull at his cigar, and hur- riedly blew out a mouthful of smoke to say, " Go ahead and write your book, old boy. I'll bet on you !" I bowed in acknowledgment of his kindly-intended response, and suggested that he should have a fresh cigar. He approved of the suggestion, and I resumed : " Mr. Williams can send down and get what is left of old Parrant's bones. They'll do to place in the rooms of the Historical Society, beside the skeleton of Tah-o- ah-ta-doo-ta, alias 'Little Crow,' for the inspection of inquisitive people. But, with your permission, I shall retain the pistol and the knife, and leave to him and his equally ambitious contemporaries, the coveted and re- munerative task of doing up St. Paul, separately or con- jointly, in as many histories as they please. Meanwhile, I can retire to the peaceful quietude of that obscure little village sportively called Gotham, but anciently known as New Amsterdam, and more recently sobri- 398 " GOD BLESS HIM !" queted New York. And as a denizen of that remote hamlet, I might boastingly say that it has some promi- nence in connection with the current events of the day because of its contiguity to the more noted localities of Hoboken, Coney Island, Tilletudlum and Tubby Hook. There, in undisturbed seclusion, I will write aye, write a book! Nor shall the ' subject matter ' thereof ' even ever ' so slightly interfere with the grand project which the aforesaid gentlemen 'collectively' have in view. And such a book !" I jocosely emphasized, for the amusement of Dodge. " Such a book it shall be. And the name " "What?" interrupted Dodge, suddenly roused to a demonstrative pitch of inquiry. "What will be the name of your book ?" "Dakota Land!" I spouted, in mock theatrical dis- play. "Good! The best idea you ever had in all your life !" Dodge exclaimed in a similar melodramatic style. " And ' if 'twere done when 'tis done, then 'twere well 'twere done quickly !' And, what's more, I'll help you if I can !" A few days after that conversation, I left St. Paul. And since then, Dodge has proven, in more ways than one, that he is not only a true friend to me, but also the friend of every honest man ! His frequent encour- agement by letter has inspired me in the task and con- siderably lightened the tedium of my toil. May God bless him and all that he loves in this life, and not for- get him when he dies ! But neither he nor I can tell how old Parrant's body came to be buried in that lonely spot, through which the track of the St. Paul and Chicago Railway now runs. And if Mr. Williams, or " any other man " should GHOST OF OL1) P ARRANT. 399 meet with better success than we have in elucidating the problematic fate of " Old Pig's Eye," I trust that the public will be duly informed of the singular facts. The " ghost story " which I have heard in connection with the old whisky-shanty will not be doubted by credulous people who believe in spiritualism. For my part, I am unable to arrive at any satisfactory conclu- sion in reference to what they say. Those who knew him intimately before he went away, still persist in say- ing that a strange light frequently glimmered in the room where he slept the last time in St. Paul. And my informant assures me that he can remember hearing old Parrant's voice late one night several months after he disappeared. He thought it sounded as if the old miser was then in a violent encounter with some person. " Let me have it, or you die !" was uttered perfectly plain. At least, so my informant declares. He was casually passing by the shanty at the time, and also observed a dim light through the small window. But when he approached to learn the cause, the voice was silent, and the light vanished with a fitful flicker, like that of a tallow candle burning the last particle of grease at the end of the wick. Another time he saw a light at the window when there was every reason to be- lieve that no living being could be in the shanty. Again he approached, more cautiously than before, in hope of solving the mystery. But, just as he came near enough to see through the window, one or two feeble flashes extinguished the last glimmer, and left him in a frightened state of feeling for several days afterward. Perhaps when the gentleman here alluded to learns what I have disclosed in this volume, he will come to the conclusion that old Parrant's spirit did actually return to the shanty every night in quest of some treas- 400 '* KASKADIXO STILL ALIVE. ure concealed there. Most likely this will be his theory, inasmuch as he has always differed from a general belief that the ill-fated Avretch was extremely poor. He has contended from the first that Parrant was rich; but, being miserly in the extreme, carefully buried every piece of gold that came into his grasp. Therefore, if he became the victim of an assassin, it is probable that his buried treasures will never be obtained. The knife found with Parrant's skeleton was undoubt- edly the same that Kaskadino stole from Tashae and which he unintentionally dropped in the sandstone gorge of the bluff near the square rock below Mendota, where he had such a desperate struggle to rob the old whisky-seller of the gold intended for Florinda, as had been agreed upon that day at the shanty in St. Paul now almost a quarter of a century ago. An individual supposed to be Kaskadino was among the savages who escaped justice after participating in the massacre of '62. But the laws of mortality will shortly bring him to a final account. He is getting old, and must soon yield up his life. From the perpetration of that remorseless crime, instigated by Florinda, which sent Leonore's mother to a grave near the waters of the Red River, he went on with bad deeds, until eventually- deserting his numerous family by flight, to join a ma- rauding band of outlaw Indians, who were the crudest demons engaged in that work of death and plunder at- tributed to the Sioux. Tashae has already gone to settle his account. Since writing those allusions to his liaison with Florinda, his unsuccessful design upon Leonore and her mother, and his subsequent discomfiture at Mendota, I have discov- ered the existence of a very estimable gentleman of the same name, who is now living in the settlement at Red A COMMODORE MILLIONAIRE. 401 River ; and in justice to the latter, I shall here state that there was no relationship between them. But I am obliged to leave future historians the task of unraveling the mysterious connection previously ex- isting between Parrant and the incomprehensible Flo- rinda, who subsequently committed suicide in the Le- vasseur mansion, before its destruction by fire. And I will merely suggest, in consideration of the everlasting benefit which he conferred upon future gen- erations, that the skeleton of " Old Pig's Eye " should be carefully preserved as a companion to the anatomical deformity representing " His Scarlet People !" Verily, everything about St. Paul is marvelous to see or hear. And tourists voyaging thither on board the white collar steamers of the " Xorth-westeru Union Packet Company," are here informed that much of their enjoy- ment has been provided for by the enterprising liberality of Commodore Davidson, the monarch of that immense concern. His magnificent residence is situated upon Dayton's Bluff, the gigantic hill which seems to be tow- ering immediately above the steamers as they make their final turn just before arriving at the levee of the bright new city. And in the once sacred Cavern of Wakan-tebee, all wrapt in funereal, silence, those myste- rious relics of the ancient dead are yet lying, far down beneath the cozy chamber where the Commodore now sleeps at night. And he is a "whole soul" man, whose popularity has won for him an enviable reputation, while recording his name among the millionaires of Minnesota. His private office, banking-house, and the executive offices of the " Company," entirely fill that elegant new block which stands directly Opposite the Merchants' Hotel, and adjoining the extensive " Livery Establishment" of Messrs. Cook & Webb. THE ASHES OF SNAKES AND BEARS. 403 One more paragraph, and then this chapter will be done. To avoid the inconvenience of answering antici- pated applications for photograph pictures of Tashae's old knife or Parrant's old pistol, I will state that I de- posited them in Barnum's Museum, on my return to New York. They were hung up near the collection of Indian Portraits, just at the top of the first flight of stairs as I then thought, all nice and secure. But alas ! a fire broke out during the coldest night in win- ter, at that unseasonable hour when editors and authors are generally supposed to be in bed and asleep. I rode down Broadway about noon the next day ; and where the Museum so gaily stood the evening before, I then saw only a magnificent spectacle of ruin, all enveloped in strange and fantastic forms of ice. So I am sorry to say that those singular relics are now unavoidably mixed up with the ashes of snakes and bears ! Happy Tourists Homeward Bound. CHAPTEE XXVII. NOTWITHSTANDING the appar- ently indifferent and contemptu- ous feeling of Madame Zorah at the time of her abrupt departure from the house of Levasseur, it was but a turbulent prelude to bitter regrets. For the Major had scarcely quit Paris when she began to realize the deplorable consequences of her folly. In the perpetual whirl of excite- ment, intensified by novel ex- travagances and costly pleasures, she seemed to have forgotten the existence of any possible uncertainty that might sustain the then exalted position of herself and Leonore. When they both indignantly flouted from the presence of the then irate man, and defiantly scorned his support and protection, neither of them seriously esti- mated the enormity of their individual losses. The demonstrative episode was not merely one of those peri- odical freaks of passionate ebulliency which immoderate- ly idolized beauties are specially privileged to by their 406 THE GRANDMOTHER'S REPENTANCE! doting and indulgent lords, and therefore necessarily susceptible of that delicious reconciliation generally associated with the terminal crisis of a lover's quarrel or a family jar. It was too serious for that. Madame's untimely impertinence widened the trifling breach to the impassable width of a boundless chasm, and thus destroyed all opportunity for connubial restoration by the personal exercise of an entente cordiale between them. A novelist has the power of creating characters at will, and placing them in any conceivable position that his fancy may choose ; and if I were now writing a ro- mance, instead of narrating a series of biographical events, the relative circumstances of Major Levasseur and Leonore should be vastly different from what the reader finds them here. And the devoted grandma would accordingly occupy a less prominent position in the story. But then, if all these seemingly preposterous realities were omitted, I would not have any remarkable developments to make. So, with a strict adherence to the most extraordinary facts, I shall proceed to state that when Leonore abandoned Levasseur at Madame's command, she was unconsciously opening the first scene in the last act of the petit drama of her own life, which destiny seemed to have marked for a double tragedy in the end ! It was quite natural that Madame should rave, and that Leonore should go wild with grief, when they dis- covered how the forsaken father had taken Irene from the convent. And why not take her with him ? He innocently and sincerely believed them when they told him that she was Lady Levasseur's child. And thus at length they perceived the fatal consequence of that long-fostered lie ! Tears will destroy facial beauty in a very short time ; THE GRANDDAUGHTER'S GUIEF! 407 and Leonore's great, lustrous, black eyes were trans- formed into optical frights. Madame said that would never do. She could not be seen in such a plight by the gallant nobleman who admired her so. " Let the nobleman go, in welcome !" she wept and stormed. "I want Irene! Oh, it's all your fault, grandma ! He has left us forever ; and even Irene will never love me any more ! You have made me incur his hate ! Oh dear, there is no one to love me now ! But, grandma, I say you must and you shall bring Irene back ! And I can not live with the thought that, per- haps, he has returned to the arms of his beautiful wife ! Oh, I'm sure she will forgive him ; for he is so hand- some, so noble, so good, and so loving and kind ! Grandma, I must get back the treasures of my heart or die !" A speedy repentance, a frantic struggle, and then the dreary curtain would fall in mental darkness brought on by despair ! And so they followed Levasseur across the sea. Madame knew that he was a client of the great law firm of Crane & Burr ; and, upon their arrival in New York, she inquired at the office in Wall street to find out where he was. Unluckily, they had just been noti- fied of his supposed death in Tennessee, and without any hesitation told her all they knew. She asked only one more question, and then hurried back to Leonore, carrying the fatal news. "Well, well," impatiently cried Leonore. "You found him ; and we shall meet again very soon ! Why don't you speak ?" Madame related what she had heard, and Leonore fairly shrieked, " No, no ! Not dead ! That can not be!" 408 PURSUIT OF THE FOKSAKEX HUSBAND! But Madame bowed her head and murmured, " Alas, they say it is true !" "I will not believe it," persisted Leonore. "They told you what they knew was false, to prevent our meeting ! Yes, yes ; I see what they want to do ! A ruse to deceive me. Ah, they'll fail in that. But Irene ! Where is she ?" " Gone ! They say she can not be found !" sighed Madame. " It's all a lie !" screamed Leonore. " I will go and see them myself! They dare not tell me so. Come, quick !" And she seized Madame violently by the arm, ejaculating, " Now ! Now !" Madame could not appease her short of immediate compliance with that sudden resolve to go. And as they went forth, Leonore half deliriously reiterated, " Be quick ! Come, hurry ! Oh, why don't you run ?" They reached the law office, and were shown into a private room. The great Mr. Crane received them with some condescension for a man like him ; and he certainly had a particular motive when he was so re- spectful to the former mistress of his wealthy client, whom he supposed to be dead. Perhaps there would be additional litigation, and that was whereof he rapidly accumulated abundant riches. Yet, despite Leonore's impatience, he leisurely replied to her questions ; and when he felt his dignity touched by her doubting insin- uations, he imperiously said: " If you desire anything more than the truth, apply to some other counsel. We never prevaricate here. I repeat that Major Levasseur is dead, and his daughter has not been found !" To that Leonore mildly replied, "Husband dead! Irene gone!" For a moment she seemed to reflect; THE BEAUTIFUL MANIAC ! 409 and then, as if gradually realizing the solution of a dif- ficult problem, her eyes expanded to their utmost capa- city, while every muscle in her face harmonized with the startling expression. Drawing a heavy breath, she uttered a slight shriek, and smiled with a vacant stare. The next moment Mr. Crane bounded from his chair, while he and Madame were both appalled to hear her neighing a maniac's wild laugh. Leonore was insane ! Mr. Crane sent for a carriage to take her home ; and all that day, and for many days to come, the fair lunatic continually wandered about her chamber as if seeking some one. Occasionally, she would burst into hysterical paroxysms of insensate laughter; but she was much oftener heard mournfully articulating : " Irene ! Husband ! My child not hers ! He is dead ! And she killed him, because he loved me so ! Now they are both gone ! Irene was to be the heiress ; and they have lost her somewhere in the great world ! Lost! Dead! Oh, this choking at my heart and this pain in my head ! I feel it here, and here ! The day is very tiresome and long. Will the night come soon ? Ah, grandma made me do it all !" The beautiful maniac could moan, and talk, and laugh; but she would never shed another tear! Madame visited the great law office again to inquire if they had any tidings of Irene ; and then they told her that Levasseur was not dead ! They said he was still living, and had taken Irene with him to the City of St. Paul. And, without learning what he had gone there for, she gladly hastened back to tell Leonore the joyful news ! But alas, reason had entirely left that beautiful form. She could not understand. Oh, how sad it was to see those magnificent eyes all swollen and staring like 18 410 A MISSPENT LIFE. globes of glass ! Her lips were blue, and a strange pallor o'erspread her cheeks. Yet her heaving bosom was soft and warm, and her heart went on throbbing as it did when she felt happy with conscious love. But now it was utterly devoid of any manifestation to indi- cate the slightest emotion of a soul ! Pity it was that Levasseur could not look upon her then, and contem- plate the speedy transition of loveliness to that inevita- ble doom of even the fairest of the fair. In vain did Madame Iry to make Leonore compre- hend the joyful news. She uttered endearing words and lavished caresses; but the only uttered responses she could get were like live coals of fire heaped upon her own head. " Yes, lost !" laughed Leonore, as though with joy. " Away in the boundless w r orld ! My child not hers ! She would have been his heiress, too. Dead ! And I loved him so much !" Then she would look sad, and con- tinue, " They are all gone now ! But grandma made me drive them away! Oh, my head! And there is such a weight on my heart !" Madame was an old woman. She would soon be threescore and ten ! Her faculties were failing fast, and the terrible results of a misspent life began to palsy her senses, too. One moment she thought of appealing to the law, and the next she resolved to personally sec Levasseur, and either coerce his return, or upon her knees beg and implore him to take pity on Leonore. She would confess her crime in substituting Leonore's child for that of Lady Levasseur's, and go and seek the true heiress. And then she recoiled from all those prop- ositions. She was undecided what to do, and really powerless for any decisive action. At that juncture Lcvasseur returned to New York. THE SELF-AVILLED MAN. 411 The letter of Messrs. Crane & Burr, which he received previous to his departure from St. Paul, announcing the arrival of Madame and Leonore for the avowed purpose of settling certain matters in the courts of law, would have caused most any other man in a similar strait to prudently avoid the needless risk of an unpleasant collision between the parties interested. And the safest guarantee for avoiding that risk would seem to be in O O their wide distance apart. But Levasseur never did anything like other men. He had his own way, and in all cases predicated by personally selfish decisions. It would be no injustice to say that the Major was a de- terminedly self-willed man. An individual possessing that predominant trait of character is more than likely to incur no little unhappiness for himself while creating an abundance of trouble, if not downright misery, for those who become associated with him in any position of life. And the past, present and future events con- nected with Levasseur's existence would ultimately satisfy even him that there is " a right and a wrong," which, in the choosing, leads one way to sunshine and another way to impenetrable gloom. Having already started when the letter came to hand, he resolved to continue on. And it was quite possible that the chances of a collision would really be less in the great city, though they were near together, than by remaining at the mercy of scandal-mongers, whose thirst might not be quenched with an ocean full of tears. But, anxious to remain incognito until a secluded abode could be obtained, he took the precaution of re- cording an assumed name at the hotel. Yet even that did not avert the wrath to come. And while Madame was not aware of his presence, he did not suspect the deplorable condition of "Leonore. 412 FLIGHT OF IKEXE. He was in no haste to meet coming events by a visit to the office of his attorneys, where intelligence of his dis- carded proteges awaited him. But even though he was tardy in that particular inquiry, the agglomeration of variform fatalities rapidly thickened about him un- awares. Irene acted very strangely, and he could not help noticing the fact. She had changed greatly since her sojourn in Louisville, during his adventure in Tennes- see; but he attributed it all to the inharmonious feel- ings pervading his newly organized family, and accord- ingly endeavored to decide upon some plan of permanent reconciliation. And while he thus exercised his mind in her behalf, she stepped out of the hotel to take a walk, leaving a letter addressed to him, in which she intimated a preference for sharing life with some one whom she loved ! He never was more astounded than when reading the contents of that letter. But still Lady Levasseur did not seem to worry herself much about Irene's choice. And Fleurette whispered, " Ma, dear, perhaps it is very wicked in me to do so, but I can not help wishing that Irene would never return !" " Hush, darling !" was the warning reply. " Be care- ful that he does not hear what you say !" The father then had a heavy heart, indeed! He sought Irene, but she was not to be found. With whom and whither she had eloped he could not even conjecture, much less ascertain. And the apparent apathy of his wife was so painful to him that he quite readily accused Fleurette, in his own mind, of steel- ing the mother's love against her natural child. Thus he permitted an ugly feeling of jealousy to enter his miifd. THE WIFE'S PROPHECY FULFILLED. 413 Yet he no longer loved Leonore. From that fatal moment, when she turned her back npon him in Paris, he had been shuddering with vivid reminiscences of the past. The mad spell was broken. And his fond wife, who was Availing for him, said that he would return just as he had done. She also said, that as he left her at night, he would reappear to her in the twilight of evening. How fully her prophecies were verified in his final restoration to her arms. She said that her spirit would not leave him and that the old love must tri- umph when his heart grew sad. And thus all her pre- dictions had come to pass ! But if Levasseur really did not wish even to see Leonore again, what would be the final consequence of his oath? Had he entirely ceased to remember the nature of that vow, while his wife was listening at the door, and Leonore unconsciously lay in his arms ? And what did Madame say to him when he swore to cherish Leonore in future instead of Lady Levasseur ? With his hand raised and his arm tightly grasped by the old woman, he articulated : " I solemnly swear that Leonore shall be my only love to the end of life !" Then she responded : " Your oath is recorded in the Book of Fate ! Violation of it will be death !" And the sacrifice was then before his eyes. But atonement and repentance were not both one ! He had repented. Atonement would follow soon. If the words of his wife came to pass, why not dread those uttered by Madame ? Yes ; he would realize the terri- ble end, all in a very short time. Even then a strange event was about to happen. And Fleurette would be instrumental in accomplishing that. She saw a melan- choly item in a morning paper, which read thus : "Among the bodies now lying at the Moryue for THE "DEAD HOUSE!" 415 identification, is the corpse of an apparently beautiful young lady that was discovered, some time yesterday afternoon, floating in a dock on the East River." Fleurette could not banish that sad announcement from her mind ; and the answers she received in reply to numerous questions only increased her desire to know more. And, at the solicitation of Lady Levasseur, the Major half reluctantly ordered a carriage to visit the Morgue. She naturally shrank from such associa- tions ; but in that instance some irresistible inspiration seemed to be urging her on. The porter at the Morgue informed them that the corpse of the beautiful young lady had been identified and taken away. But whither? Fleurette must see that one in particular. She did not so much as pause to view the other bodies lying there. The porter wrote the street and number upon a blank card, and evidently wanted to be paid for the favor. Lady Levasseur placed a dollar bill in his hand, and then he took off his hat to bow and blarney : " Thanks ! You are a lady, I'm sure !" " This is the place !" said the coachman, opening the door of the vehicle for them to alight. " A boarding- house. Mrs. Cline keeps it. Her name's on the door!" They rang the bell, and were admitted. " Front room, up first flight of stairs !" grunted the servant girl who received them. She did nothing more. Quite the style of reception in many boarding-houses where the scale of prices would certainly warrant some respect from the mistresses, and a little more attention, if not civility, on the part of the Celtic females who superintend the domestic performances necessarily re- quired. But as the front room door was slightly ajar, it did not seem necessary to knock. 416 FATE OF LEONOKE. The Major softly peeped in, and then started hack all pale, and gasping " Leonore !" Lady Levasseur shrank from the door with the in- tention of quitting the house ; for she remembered that name, alas, too well ! The corpse lay with its face uncovered ; and those who had ever seen Leonore alive, would recognize her in death. " You must not leave !" said the Major, in a hoarse whisper, as he tightened his lingers around his wife's arm. " She is dead ! Do not permit your feelings to overcome you now. Heaven " " Who comes here to talk of Heaven ?" wailed Madame Zorah, lifting her head off the bosom of the corpse, where she had been crouching in tearless grief. "Hah! Major Levasseur ! Then you are here to exult in mockery over the destruction of my child ! But you come too late ; for the poison is here !" and she pressed her finger against her throat ! " Peace, woman ! The occasion is xinsuitable for re- crimination or random talk, by you or me !" Then, perceiving Fleurette, she naturally mistook her for Irene, and exclaimed : " So, so ! And you've brought her back with you to look at her mother now !" " I am not Irene," promptly answered Fleurette. " She has fled !" A shadow crossed the Major's brow ; and Madame started up as if to inquire for explanation, when a severe spasm pulled her down. But she muttered in half- strangling accents, " No m mat er ! It w will all be be over very soon ! That stuff is wor king home ! There, upon the the table !" She pointed while writhing in pain ; and they beheld an empty vial that told too plainly what she meant. THE GRANDMOTHER'S CONFESSION. 417 And with a violent effort she rose and staggered for- Avard upon a chair. Rousing herself, she endeavored to say something else ; and began with, " Lady lady !" and pointing at Leo- uore's corpse, " I ch changed her babe babe for for yours /" And there she failed again. " Oh, what is she saying ?" cried Fleurette. " Do listen, ma, and try to understand !" Then Madame hysterically resumed by saying, "I took tock your child child to the orphan phan asy- lum and forgot to remove move move !" " What what ?" frantically implored Fleurette. " What did you forget to remove ?" " That neck lace of Job's tear beads ! Engraved upon pon the locket, was the name of my my own child ! Leonore's mother ! Ah ! I am dying ! Hold me ! Air ! Oh, I want air ! I am blind ! Let me breathe !" " The name upon the locket ?" they cried all together, as the miserable old Avoman fell back into the Major's arms. " The name ? The name ?" "Fleu Fleurette!'''' came in a scarcely articulated groan. And then almost immediately a sudden and vio- lent spasm raised her up once more, to fall back upon the corpse. Quivering there a moment, her muscles all relaxed, and her body slid doAvn in a heap upon the floor. "O, merciful Father!" exclaimed Lady Levasseur, kneeling in horror. With her also knelt the Major and Fleurette ! Neither of them prayed aloud ; but when they rose again, a flood of tears was streaming from each of their eyes! " I can at least see that they are decently buried !" groaned the Major. 18* 418 ALL AT LAST KEVEALED. "Yes. I forgive them as I have already forgiven you !" replied Lady Levasseur. And, after that terrible scene, what else could there l>c yet to find ? Husband and wife ! Parents and child ! They were all restored, while other hearts would beat no more ! But poor Irene ! Where was that rash and way ward girl ? Though, Avhile reflecting upon the circumstances in which she was reared, I am more inclined to pity than to condemn ! The blame rested with her mother, or rather her mother's grandma, who was an unwise pre- ceptress for a beautiful girl. The old creature's love and affection might have been very deep and pure for the offspring of her darling grandchild ; but alas ! she thought too much of the vanities of the hour to instill, into the susceptible young heart such lessons as would serve to guide her happily through the temptations and vicissitudes which must inevitably come ! And Levasseur did not become aware of the actual consanguinity of himself and Leonore until after he had put her and her grandma in the grave. He then dis- covered all from a perusal of some letters which were among Madame's hoarded treasures. The terrible truth staggered his very reason. But it was then too late for any purpose except to make his unhappiness all the more complete; and he resolved that the secret should remain in his breast and go with him to oblivion when that grew cold. Yet, a short time before her death, Madame had also learned the fraternal relation- ship of Leonore's father and the man whom she so dear- ly loved ; and in her complaints against Levasseur, at the office of Crane & Burr, she divulged the singular fact. And from that mere chance I was enabled to un- ravel the entire web of their fate, which may be dis- THE "ACCURSED" CHILD! 419 cussed here without fear of wounding the feelings of those particularly interested, or in the least compro- mising any one, since a sharp contest at law has already made known to the world what Levasseur and his living wife would have concealed for the sake of Fleurette. Nearly four years have elapsed since the flight of Irene, the accursed child of that almost incestuous alli- ance ! And still her father does not find any one who can tell him where she is. Possibly she will never know the curse of her origin, nor how her mother be- came a maniac, nor yet the manner of her death. She may also remain ignorant of the melancholy fate of her great-grandma. And indeed, even now, her own soul may have already gone to join theirs beyond the grave ! Major Levasseur is failing fast. There is a fixed sor- row in his eye, and his hair is almost entirely gray. He tries to be happy; but recollection haunts him so that there is very little pleasure in what he realizes now. If wealth could smooth his path, he might pleasantly glide along to the end. If the devotion of an angel heart, Avhich is throbbing warmly near him, could destroy the canker eating into his own, some earthly hope might be left for him still. He perceives that Fleurette is more affectionate to him than Irene ever was. And then their wonderful resemblance haunts him. What a contrast between two lovely sisters, so perfectly alike in all the external beauties of life ! And what a sorrowful reflection for their father. Yes ; and far more painful to me than my readers will believe for I once saw them both together ; and could here relate much that is left unsaid, for rea- sons not necessary to explain ! The world will never know all ! ! But now, whenever I meet a young lady whose head 420 MARRIAGE OP FLEURETTE. is adorned with a great profusion of exquisite, light golden hair, I inquiringly scrutinize her face. I am 'irresistibly and perpetually seeking for Irene. And I have seen very many tresses of light golden hair ; but none so beautiful as that of the prototype daughters of Major Levasseur. I often see Fleurette ! She was married some time ago ; and is now a fond mother herself, as well as a happy wife. Her husband was formerly a Navy Cap- tain; and he did much good service at the bombard- ment of several of those strong fortifications defended by the rebels during the war. But he resigned when he saw her. Their nuptial ceremony was performed at a fashion- able church in New York City, and chronicled in some of the newspapers the following day. The joyful hus- band proposed a voyage to Europe, a tour of the Conti- nent, and a visit to the Paris Exposition. But his bride much preferred a trip to St. Paul, where she might revel once more in the delicious atmosphere of Minnesota. And never having been there to " see and feel," of course he reluctantly assented to her choice. Yet, instead of going direct to St. Paul, Fleurette suggested the Nicollet House, in Minneapolis, until she could settle her nerves, as she said. The circumstances of her departure from St. Paul had been rather peculiar ; and she trembled somewhat at returning. However, they quietly went down to the Summit House one day. And when the Captain asked permission to " scratch his name on the register," Mr. Carpenter did not for a mo- ment dream that he was the husband of Fleurette, "The Beauty of St. Paul." But when he saw her in the parlor, he could hardly believe his eyes. Of course he wanted to tell everybody " who had come." And FLEURETTE AND " GOLIAI1 !" 421 such a guest would have made the other landlords in the city just as proud as he was. But that very even- ing Fleurette had a delightful call. Farmer Denton drove up with his " double team," not only bringing 3Iiss Jane, but also the dog Goliah ; and the Captain was amazed to see the enthusiastic meeting of that sagacious quadruped and his lovely bride. The next day there was a continual coming and going of the elite, w r ho were " ever so much pleased (or delighted) to see her, though ' ma' did not come along !" Indeed, some of them were determined that she and her husband ("the Naval Officer," as Carpenter persisted in calling him) should go home with them and stay. " That's all very well !" said the Captain to his bride. " But I never was fond of staying to test the hospitality of my friends. We'll return their calls, and dine, sup, dance, or ride, or drive, or hunt, or fish, or 'pic-nic' with them, and gladly, too. But I prefer lodging at a hotel, or on shipboard, unless it is in my own house." Fleurette replied that there were some ladies in the city whose kindness to her dear ma and herself she could never forget. And she must visit them imme- diately. " But that terrible dog !" said her husband. " I can no understand why you should make such a time over him !" " Goliah my old preserver, " laughed Fleurette. "He surely doesn't make you jealous. Remember, I have told you how he once saved my life." " That may all be," persisted the Captain. " But it would have been quite as well if some of the men on board had done so in his stead." " But they didn't, though !" retorted Fleurette, with slight derision. " And I shall always believe that no 422 THE "VAMPIRE" FINALLY CAUGHT. other assistance would have been in time to rescue me from drowning. Those heroically gallant gentlemen who plunge into rivers at the risk of their own lives to save others, are loss numerous than you imagine. Goliah had me out of the water while Dr. Passion was still struggling in the current, and vainly shouting for help !" "Speak of the 'Old Nick,' and he's sure to appear!" observed Mr. Carpenter, who casually entered the parlor while the Captain and Fleurette were in conversation. "Dr. Passion has just passed the window. I believe he is coming in. And here he is !" The Vampire softly glided in, like a feline monster, fearful of making the least noise. As he removed his hat, the whole of his face suddenly dissolved into a great confusion of wrinkles and smiles. And he made a short, queer bow, while smoothly uttering, " Ah, how'de do ? Ehem !" And his fat hand carefully ran through the greasy black hair upon his very round and very large head. Then Fleurette raised her eyes with a shiver, and the Captain stared. Whereupon Mr. Carpenter courteously articulated the words of a formal introduction. "Oh," said the Vampire, with a pathetic smile of sentiment which made the Captain frown. " I purposely came to congratulate the beauty of St. Paul ! It gives me intense pleasure to see her still looking so beautiful and fair !" Fleurette courtesied coldly in reply ; and motioning to her husband that she wished to retire, he politely led her to the door, where she whispered something in his ear. " I understand," he murmured in reply. And then, turning to Mr. Carpenter, he said: "Now then, if you are ready, sir, we will go down into the city. I wish to call on Bishop Grace and also see Father Ireland !" PITY MINGLED WITH LOVE. 423 " Of the Catholic religion, I presume ?" inquisitively quoth the Vampire. " No, sir ; not at all. My visit to one is strictly a matter of business ; the other I became acquainted with elsewhere some years ago." And when they walked down the avenue toward the city, the Vampire did the same thing. But Mr. Car- penter felt sorry for his cool reception, and kindly inquired how long he intended to remain in St. Paul. " Oh, business is very dull up here, now-a-days. So many quacks ; they disgust all the invalids, and leave us physicians nothing to do." As the Vampire spoke thus, Carpenter quietly smiled with a slight twitch of his mustache, in his own comfortable way. But the great man also said, " I arrived here last night, and shall take a steamer back again this evening." Since then the newspapers have published a startling case of criminality in St. Louis which seriously involved a notorious " quack," whose description corresponds with that of Dr. Passion ! But Fleurette's visit was a very pleasant one ; and when they left, the Captain acknowledged that he would need no coaxing to return. Poor Irene has not been heard from, since the hour when she fled. Where she is none can tell. And her father's mind continually wanders out into the world after the absent one. He begins to court solitude, and restlessly walks the chamber-floor while his thoughts are living over the past. Pity mingles with love in every look and action of Lady Levasseur, when she sees how melancholy he is. And while her own eyes seem to brighten more and more, she frequently weeps for him when alone. They travel in the summer, and visit pleasant scenes ; 424 THE DESTROYER'S REMORSE. and yet no place nor view lias attraction enough to divert his troubled mind. Associations of what " has been," will intrude to cast a pall upon the surface of every glad picture that meets his gaze. But when at home, he frequently steals off to Green- wood Cemetery. And he goes there alone. He gen- erally chooses a stormy day, when no other visitors are likely to be there. And lest his wife might know of his going, he even does not ride down in his own car- riage. The coachman would talk about it, if he did. Therefore he hires a livery coach to convey him, and takes a different one each time. The gate-keeper has become accustomed to his eccentricity of a stormy day, and invariably salutes him with a nod and a smile. And while the shivering coach-horses and driver wait for him, all wet with rain, at a particular crossing of the avenues in the city of the dead, he wanders away among the tombstones and monuments, with a huge umbrella hoisted over him to effectually hide his face from the scrutiny of other visitors, if any should chance to pass ever so near. A strange fancy, to steal away in a great cemetery on a stormy day and stroll among the sober white columns and the elaborately chiseled obelisks, which are more spectral than otherwise to an imaginatively superstitious mind. To meditate there alone beneath an immense umbrella, while the pouring rain patters down upon the marble slabs, and floods the bending grass, and washes the graveled walks so clean. A sad enjoyment for one like Major Levasseur ! The world would say it was. But the world does not know what is passing in his unhappy mind. The world does not see him wandering or standing in silent contempla- tion of the memorials sculptured by the living for the NO\V, AND FOUEVEUMOKE ! 425 loved who are lost in eternal decay. Yet, he knows and he feels what the world cares nothing about. And God is watching him there all the time, when he imagines himself entirely alone. Yes; and God and his soul go down there together with him, to commune in that retired spot upon the steep hill-side facing the water of New York Bay there, not far from the old vault near the weeping willow tree there, in the vicin- ity of that grand floral design, carved upon a colossal monument of polished marble there, at the foot of a plainer, and seemingly sadder, memoria technica of white stone, upon which he can read the simple words of " Zorah and Leonore /" And near that spot there is now an empty tomb, en- tirely new, in which a living victim of bitter remorse has willed that his own body shall be laid when he dies. There is abundant space in that new empty tomb for others beside himself. So that, perhaps, in time to come, those who live may also read another inscription on marble there, in which the names of Levasseur and his more than faithful wife shall both appear ! Then, perhaps, by and by, the dust of the lovely orphan victim and her avenging grandma will mingle in the earth together with that of the beautiful " angel heart" and her destroying husband, while their souls have gone to meet the great Judgment which is FOR- EVERMORE ! I now pause in a sad reverie, and mournfully wonder if Irene will ever visit Greenwood, and there, on the hill- side beneath the weeping willow, shed tears over the spot where her devoted grandma and her misguided mother both lie in the same grave ? The " Silver Cascade," between Minneapolis and St. PaoL THE MUTUAL Life Insurance Company, OF NEW YORK. F. S. WINSTON, PRESIDENT, Furnishes Insurance combining the Advantages offered by all other Companies, with unequaled Financial Security. ASSETS OVER $28,000,000 IN CASH. RICHARD A. McCURDY, Vice-President. JOHN M. STUART, Secretary. F. SCHROEDER, Ass't Secretary. SHEPPARD HOMANS, Acturary. LEWIS C. LAWTON, Ass't Actuary. TKEMONT HOUSE, COR. LAKE AND DEARBORN STS. 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