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THE 
 
 BORDER ROVER. 
 
 BY 
 
 EMERSON BENNETT. 
 
 AUTHOR OP "CLARA MORELAND," "VIOLA," "THE FORGED WILL," "PIO 
 NEER S DAUGHTER," "BRIDE OP THE WILDERNESS," " KATE CLAREN 
 DON," "HEIRESS OP BELLEFONTE," " WALDE-WARREN," ETC. 
 
 Complete in two large duodecimo volumes, neatly bound, in paper cover. 
 Price One Dollar. 
 
 Bead the following opinion of the work from one of our most 
 celebrated critics. 
 
 "Perhaps it is enough to say of the Border Rover, that it is one 
 of Emerson Bennett s best productions, and will be sure to delight 
 all readers who were pleased with the * Prairie Flower and * Clara 
 Moreland, to which it may be considered a companion the scenes 
 and incidents being something similar, and yet the story totally un 
 like either of the others. The scene of the Border Rover is in the 
 Territory of Kansas, beginning at Independence, Missouri, and ex 
 tending all over the plains or prairies to the Rocky Mountains. It 
 is full of thrilling adventure and hair-breadth escapes, love, ro 
 mance and humor, and the characters are trappers, traders, hunters, 
 travelers, guides, Indians, &c., &c. Furthermore, the scenes are 
 geographically correct, the incidents of actual occurrence, and those 
 who wish to see Kansas as it was a few years since, will find in this 
 most exciting story some very accurate and valuable information. 
 
 " We feel no hesitation in placing Mr. Bennett as foremost among 
 our American writers. Of course we do not include metaphysics, 
 nor history, nor philosophy, (although it must be confessed that his 
 writings prove his perfect familiarity with each,) but we mean that 
 he is the best writer, taken all in all, of any in this country, in the 
 particular field of literature which he has chosen. There are doubt 
 less many writers who excel him in some minor points, but taken as 
 a whole, his works are unrivaled on this side of the Atlantic. 
 
 " In all that he writes, there seems to be an irresistible charm, 
 holding the reader spell-bound from the beginning to the end. That 
 this gift is natural, and not acquired, we assume from reading some 
 
 (S3) 
 
34 E:IERSON BENNETT S WORKS. 
 
 of his earlier productions. We well remember the eagerness with 
 which the * Prairie Flower was sought after and devoured upon 
 its first appearance in the West. Every body read it every body 
 talked about it, and for a time, not to have seen the Prairie 
 Flower, was to acknowledge yourself guilty of unpardonable igno 
 rance. Since then many other of his works have appeared, descrip 
 tive of western and southern life, with the characters drawn so 
 faithfully, that one can hardly go on board a steamboat, or enter a 
 hotel, without recognizing some of the living shapes of his ideal he 
 roes and heroines. 
 
 " Of Mr. Bennett, personally, we know nothing ; having never seen 
 him, or even heard a person speak of him who has been honored with 
 his acquaintance. But his reputation is the common property of 
 all lovers of the noble maxims which he inculcates, the morality 
 which he teaches, and the virtue which he adorns, in a style at once 
 the purest and most fascinating. Under his glowing pen, vice is 
 stripped of its gaudy coloring and held up for abhorrence in all 
 its haggard deformity ; while virtue, humble and lowly, clothed in 
 rags, is won from its timid retreat, and brought forth that the good 
 in heart may do it homage. 
 
 "Let those who have never yet been familiar with his writings 
 read, and they can then judge for themselves whether we have over 
 estimated the abilities of Emerson Bennett as a writer." 
 
 EMERSON BENNETT S OTHER WORKS. 
 
 PIONEER S DAUGHTER; and, THE UNKNOWN COUNTESS. 
 
 Complete in one large octavo volume. Price 50 cents. 
 CLARA MORELAND. Price 60 cents; or in cloth, gilt, $1.00. 
 VIOLA. Price 50 cents; or in cloth, gilt, 75 cents. 
 THE FORGED WILL. Price 50 cents; or in cloth, gilt, $1.00. 
 ELLEN NORBURY. 50 cents; or in one volume, cloth, $1.00. 
 BRIDE OF THE WILDERNESS. Price 50 cents. 
 KATE CLARENDON. Price 50 cents; or in cloth, gilt, 75 cents. 
 HEIRESS OF BELLEFONTE AND WALDE-WARREN, 50 cents. 
 
 Jgg^T* Copies of any of Emerson Bennett s works will be sent to any 
 one to any part of the United States, free of postage, on remitting the 
 price of the works they may wish to the publisher, in a letter. 
 
 Published and for sale at the Cheap Book and Publishing Esta 
 blishment of T. B. PETERSON, 
 
 Xo. 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 To whom all orders should come addressed. 
 
SCENE ON THE PRAIRIE. 
 
THE 
 
 BORDER ROVER. 
 
 BY 
 
 EMERSON BENNETT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "CLARA MORELAND," "VIOLA," "FORGED WILL," 
 
 "PIONEERS DAUGHTER," "BRIDE OF THE WILDERNESS," 
 
 "HEIRESS OF BELLEFONTE," " WALDE-WARREN," ETC. 
 
 " We have perused this work with some attention, and do not hesitate to pro 
 nounce it one of the very best productions of the talented author. The scenes 
 are laid in Kansas and the adjoining frontier. There is not a page that does not 
 glow with thrilling and interesting incident, and will well repay the reader for 
 the time occupied in perusing it. The characters are most admirably drawn, and 
 are perfectly natural throughout. We have derived so much gratification from 
 the perusal of this charming work, that we are anxious to make our readers 
 share it with us; and, at the same time, to recommend it to be read by all 
 persons, who are fond of romantic adventures. Mr. Bennett is a spirited and 
 vigorous writer, and his works deserve to be generally read ; not only because 
 they are well written, but that they are, in most part, taken from events con 
 nected with the history of our own country, from which much valuable informa 
 tion is derived, and should, therefore, have a double claim upon our preference, 
 over those works, where the incidents are gleaned from the romantic legends of 
 old castles, and foreign climes." Saturday Courier. 
 
 T. B. PETEUSON, NO. 102 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 T. B. PETERSON, 
 
 la the Clerk s Office of the District Court of the United Slates, in and for the 
 Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
TO 
 
 pl^v 
 OSSIAN E. DODGE, ESQ. 
 
 LATE OP BOSTON, MASS, 
 
 NOW OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, 
 
 (Bbifor, Composer, Wotnlht anb 
 
 WITH SINCERE FEELINGS 
 
 OP FRIENDSHIP AND ESTEEM, 
 
 THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 28, 1857. 
 
 (37) 
 
 MM5530 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 LEAVING HOME, 43 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE OLD TRAPPER, 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A NEW FRIEND, 72 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 PREPARATIONS FOE OUR JOURNEY, 85 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BORDER INCIDENTS, 99 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 OUR FIRST CAMP, 115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A THRILLING ADVENTURE, 128 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 ADELE AND MYSTERY, 139 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RETURN TO CAMP, 156 
 
 (39) 
 
40 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. PAGB 
 
 OUR JOURNEY RESUMED, 169 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 STARTLING NEWS, 186 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 ON TUB GRAND PRAIRIES, 201 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED, 215 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 ATTACKED BY INDIANS, 226 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 AN OLD COMPANION, 237 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, 248 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 REJOIN MY FRIEND, 264 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 THE PARTING AT BENT S, 271 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 THE EXPEDITION, 280 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 TAKEN PRISONER, 291 
 
CONTENTS. 41 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. fua 
 
 THE LOST FOUND, 302 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 FLIGHT AND PURSUIT, 313 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 THE PARCHED DESERT, 329 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS, 342 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION, 357 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 SURROUNDED BY PERILS, 371 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 A NIGHT OF HORROR, 382 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 ON THE MOUNTAINS, 397 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 SICKNESS AND DESPAIR, 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 A LONG CAPTIVITY, 414 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 A WONDERFUL SURPRISE, 428 
 
42 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. PAQE 
 
 THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE, 443 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 SERIOUS SPECULATIONS, 455 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 NEWS FROM HOME, 467 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 A LONG JOURNEY, 478 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY, 488 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 THE MYSTERY SOLVED, , . . . . 498 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 THE FINALE , 508 
 
THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEAVING HOME. 
 
 I BELIEVE it is customary, when an individual sets 
 out to write an autobiography, to begin at the begin 
 ning that is to say, with his first recollection and 
 give a detailed account of the passing of his earliest 
 years. I shall not adopt this plan ; because, in the 
 first place, the earlier years of my existence were not 
 marked with events of peculiar interest to the reader; 
 and in the second place, my narrative is intended 
 merely as a chronicle of the most remarkable scenes 
 and adventures through which I passed after arriving 
 at the age of manhood. It may not be improper, 
 however, to devote a few words to my birth, parent 
 age and past life, in order to fairly introduce myself 
 to the reader, with whom it is my design to make a 
 rather long, and I hope agreeable, journey. 
 
 I was born in the city of Philadelphia, and am the 
 
 youngest child of four, and an only son. My father, 
 
 (43) 
 
44 : 0: HE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 Colonel Rivers, was a highly respected importing 
 merchant ; and though now retired from the cares of 
 business, is still living ; as are, also, my mother and 
 two of my sisters the last mentioned being married 
 and settled in the city of my nativity and both of 
 their husbands, I may add, are active partners in 
 what was once the house of Eivers & Co. It was the 
 cherished design of my father to have me succeed 
 him in business, and so perpetuate the firm, which 
 first took its name from his father and father-in-law ; 
 for my father married the daughter of Lemuel Roland, 
 the co-partner of my grandfather Rivers, and I was 
 appropriately christened Roland, the surname of my 
 mother: I say it was the cherished design of my 
 father that I should succeed him in business, and 
 certainly it was reasonable in him to wish to see the 
 firm of Rivers & Co. carried down at least another 
 generation. Moreover, I took a youthful pride in 
 the knowledge that I had a legal right to support and 
 extend a mercantile title begun with my ancestors on 
 both sides, and so harmoniously cemented; and could 
 I, on arriving at the proper age, have been contented 
 with an even, peaceful business-life, the darling hope 
 of my worthy father would have been realized. 
 
 But, unfortunately for this design, there was a 
 restless something implanted in my very nature 
 which demanded change, even in my earlier years, 
 and rapidly grew and developed with my growth, till 
 at last inclination and desire became too strong for 
 reason and judgment. In my school-boy days I bat- 
 
LEAVING HOME. 45 
 
 tied against it ; and a thousand times, when treading 
 the venerable counting-room of my father, did I 
 resolve to conquer, and force contentment with my 
 lot. A thousand times did I mentally say, "The firm 
 of Eivers & Co. shall never be changed while I have 
 being ;" and a thousand times did some evil genius 
 seem to whisper, " You will never tread in the foot 
 steps of your honored predecessors." 
 
 Why could I not be contented while surrounded by 
 the luxuries of wealth? Why came that incessant 
 longing for change, which made unhappy my waking 
 hours, and mingled ever in my dreams? Had I a 
 destiny to fulfil, which would take me far from 
 home and friends, and surround me with hardships 
 and perils, and bow with grief the venerable heads 
 most dear to me ? I shuddered at the thought, and 
 yet felt that the thought was only the precursor of 
 the reality. 
 
 My father, though ever willing to indulge me in 
 any and every rational and reasonable pastime, was 
 withal too strict a disciplinarian of the old school to 
 permit a single hour of the twenty-four to pass in 
 what might be termed sheer idleness. Every minute 
 had to be as strictly accounted for as if every minute 
 were a dollar. Though wealthy to an extent which 
 cast many so-called opulent families in the shade, it 
 was a principle with him to have his children in 
 structed in every branch of learning and labor which 
 was likely to be of use to them, in the event of being 
 reduced to a state of comparative poverty. A 
 
46 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 thorough business-working man himself, he did not, 
 like too many indulgent fathers, think his children of 
 so superior a mould as to be disgraced by honest toil. 
 On the contrary, his daughters were taught to manage 
 the kitchen as well as adorn the parlor, and I often, 
 found my task with clerks of the lowest salary ; and 
 in my rough, worsted roundabout, "with my labor- 
 soiled hands and face, was not unfrequently mistaken 
 for one of them, by pompous, perfumed, and dashingly 
 dressed customers. I had my hours for schooling, 
 recreation and labor ; and though I sometimes 
 thought the last unnecessary and degrading, yet I 
 knew too well my father s inflexible adherence to 
 system, to think of remonstrating. I thus began to 
 labor so young that I remember not a period of idle 
 ness ; and sorely was my pride many times wounded, 
 during the years of my minority, by seeing the sons 
 of clerks better dressed and having more freedom 
 than the only son of a princely merchant. But I 
 have lived to thank my father for his upright course, 
 for it saved me perhaps from dissipation, and certainly 
 from many a temptation, and begot habits of manly, 
 energetic activity and self-dependence, in contradis 
 tinction to effeminate indolence and infantile helpless 
 ness, which so generally curse the lives of rich men s 
 sons. "Would to Heaven, for the good of mankind, 
 that every father were like mine in this respect I 
 
 I rose, by degrees, from the position of a hard 
 working clerk the common packer of bales and 
 boxes to be assistant book-keeper in my father s 
 
LEAVING HOME. 47 
 
 counting-room ; and two years at the desk made 
 me thoroughly acquainted with his system of doing 
 business and the extensive operations of the establish 
 ment. I had now completed my twentieth year, and 
 another twelve-month would see me my own master, 
 and, as my father most ardently hoped, the head of 
 the house ; for it had been his favorite project for 
 years, to celebrate his retirement from business and 
 my succession on my twenty-first anniversary. How 
 he was doomed to disappointment, which almost 
 broke his heart, I shall presently show. 
 
 I have spoken of a restless desire for change, begin 
 ning with my earlier years, growing upon me with my 
 growth, and strengthening with my strength. Not 
 withstanding my constant and arduous employment, 
 and my earnest striving to be contented in the envied 
 position where fortune had placed me, I could not 
 control or govern my fancy, which, during every 
 unoccupied moment, awake or asleep, was continually 
 roving far, far away, to some unknown region beyond 
 my natural view. Yet my desire did not extend to 
 Oriental lands the pomp and degradation, the splen 
 dor and misery of ancient cities but to the grandeur 
 and solitude of nature ; of nature unchanged by art; 
 of nature wild, free, primitive ; of nature as found on 
 the ocean, the desert, the prairie, or the rocky steeps 
 of the howling wilderness. Vainly did I struggle to 
 crush this desire, which I kept locked in my breast ; 
 vainly did I bring reason, filial affection, pride, ambi 
 tion, and all the opposing faculties of which I was 
 
48 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 master, to bear against it; the never-ceasing voice 
 within a voice like that which bade the Wandering 
 Jew move on cried, " Go I go ! go !" 
 
 Discontented and unhappy for years, I now grew 
 melancholy and abstracted. I could not relish my 
 food ; my sleep became broken and feverish ; and my 
 pale, sickly complexion, hollow eyes, and sudden, 
 nervous starts, gradually betrayed my mental suffer 
 ings. For a long time my father seemed not to notice 
 the change a change which I remarked with regret 
 and concerning which, when questioned by my 
 mother, or some of my intimate friends, I made evasive 
 replies, and added a forced laugh, to imply it was 
 nothing serious. 
 
 At last, one day, my father called me aside, and 
 with considerable show of feeling, said : 
 
 " Koland, you are not well !" 
 
 " I certainly do not feel well," I answered, for with 
 him I was resolved to be frank. 
 
 " I have for some time remarked a change in you," 
 he continued ; " and I perceive you get thinner every 
 day, although you evidently struggle to overcome 
 your disease, whatever it may be. Is your mind at 
 ease ?" 
 
 " Why do you ask, father ?" 
 
 " Because, in your case, I fancy I detect a mental 
 anxiety with which the body sympathizes." 
 
 My father, it will thus be seen, had observed me 
 closely, and with a discernment for which I had not 
 given him credit. 
 
LEAVING HOME. 49 
 
 " I cannot say that my mind is at ease," I replied 
 to his question. 
 
 " Well, Koland, speak out, and frankly." 
 
 " I will, father. I feel that I am too much confined 
 here. I long for travel for change." 
 
 "And where would you go, my son?" 
 
 " Anywhere," I replied, eagerly, " so that the jour 
 ney be long ; but I would prefer" 
 
 "Well," he said, as I hesitated, " what would you 
 prefer?" 
 
 I thought of the Western prairies, of which I had 
 recently read some glowing accounts, and had fre 
 quently seen in my dreams, and felt prompted to 
 name them as my destination ; but a moment s reflec 
 tion convinced me that I should thus be asking a 
 favor which would be refused, and I instantly substi 
 tuted : 
 
 " I would go westward." 
 
 " A long journey westward !" he repeated, musingly, 
 and closely eyeing me the while ; " that is rather a 
 vague request.* I really do not like to spare you, for 
 in less than three months now you will be of age, and 
 then, you know, I intend to put the responsibility of 
 the house on your shoulders. But, really, you need 
 rest and change, and so I have a mind to send you to 
 St. Louis, to settle a long standing account with Wil- 
 lard & Brothers." 
 
 " Do, father, please I" I eagerly rejoined, while my 
 nerves seemed to thrill with rapture, and my blood to 
 leap wildly through my veins ; for the city which he 
 2 
 
50 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 intended for my destination, only rested in my mind 
 as the way-mark to a longer journey. 
 
 "You seem excited, Koland," said my father; "I 
 have not seen your eyes so sparkle, and so much color 
 in your face, for a long time. Are you really so de 
 lighted at leaving home ?" 
 
 " Pardon me, father ! I really was not thinking of 
 the parting from you and mother ; but of the delights 
 of travel and change." 
 
 " You will not find the journey so delightful as you 
 anticipate, my son; but experience will best prove 
 the truth of my words. But you must not disappoint 
 me of your presence here on your birth-day. I have 
 looked forward to that point of time for many years, 
 and your absence would make it a day of gloom in 
 stead of a day of rejoicing." 
 
 I made no reply, and my eye sought the ground, 
 for my heart acknowledged the guilt of deceiving a 
 parent I loved and venerated. My father probably 
 mistook the expression for one resulting from a far 
 different cause, for he immediately inquired : 
 
 u When would you like to start, Eoland ?" 
 
 " As soon as you think proper, father." 
 
 " Let me see this is Friday. Be ready to leave on 
 Monday next." 
 
 The night following this decision I could not sleep. 
 I lay tossing to and fro, my fancy revelling in the de 
 lights of unbounded freedom, and my heart heavy 
 with a half-formed design of doing wrong. Should I 
 thus go forth to return at some distant period, or per- 
 
LEAVING HOME. 51 
 
 chance to return no more? Could I bid my kind 
 parents farewell with a lie in my heart, if not upon my 
 tongue ? Had I been so carefully and fondly reared, 
 to be the instrument, in the hands of Fate, to strike a 
 cruel blow against the happiness of those I loved ? 
 Should I let selfish desire, with one fell swoop, bear 
 down every principle of right and honor, reason, duty 
 and love? But then, the glowing pictures of fancy 
 how bright, how beautiful, how enchanting they 
 rose before my mind s vision] A green earth, with 
 gorgeous flowers, a balmy air, a blue sky, and a glor 
 ious sun, with the freedom of the untamed eagle, 
 seemed stretching away beyond the narrow path of 
 duty. Should I not for once overstep its circum 
 scribed limits, and let my soul feast, and fill, and 
 expand with the divine of nature ? Should I not rise 
 superior to any earthly tie strained but not severed 
 for the reward of a life-long gratification ? Well, I 
 could not say I could not decide. There was weight 
 and force on either side ; and, set in motion by doubt, 
 they rocked the mind till every fount of feeling cast 
 troubled waters to the surface. 
 
 I will not detain the reader with the tedium of 
 preparation, or the scenes of parting. All separations 
 from those we love, when a long future, with its fear 
 ful uncertainties, stretches between the present and 
 the point of probable reunion, are periods of trial; 
 and the heart pours forth its gathered affections with 
 the truth and purity of something holy, and then 
 struggles in anguish to recover the vitality which has 
 
52 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 gone from it, as the virtue went forth from the Great 
 Master. 
 
 The parting from my parents and friends was the 
 more trying to me, that I felt guilty of a deception 
 concerning my return; for already I knew myself 
 secretly yielding to the temptation of a prolonged 
 absence; and once away, and the poignancy of parting 
 dulled by time, I could not say to what extent the 
 power of desire might prevail over affection and duty. 
 
 " Something tells me you will not speedily return," 
 said my mother, with maternal tenderness, a tear 
 glistening in her eye. "You are going from home 
 for the first time, Koland, and may your journey 
 prove a safe and pleasant one ! Take care of your 
 health, and avoid temptation, and may Heaven bless 
 and prosper you ! " 
 
 " Eemember my instructions, and bring not dis 
 appointment to my hope ! " said my father, as he 
 grasped my hand for the last time. 
 
 My heart was fall ; my eyes were dim ; and silently 
 turning away, I sprung into the carriage, and was 
 rapidly whirled from the most touching scene which 
 had ever been presented in my then uneventful exist 
 ence. 
 
THE OLD TKAPPEK. 53 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE OLD TRAPPEK. 
 
 YEARS have glided down the stream of time into 
 the great ocean of the past, since I first bade adieu to 
 friends and home years teeming with events that 
 stand out in my memory like mountains from a plain 
 and yet vivid, as if they were of yesterday, is the 
 recollection of the sensations I experienced when first 
 rejoicing in the liberty for which my imprisoned 
 spirit had so ardently longed. The first keen mental 
 pangs of parting over, and T felt as if I had entered 
 upon a new existence. My soul seemed to soar into 
 boundless regions of eternal sunlight, and every nerve 
 thrilled with a rapture indescribable. With what 
 emotions did I view the scene below me from some 
 lofty summit of the Alleghanies ! "With what enchant 
 ment did the picture of hill and vale and silver stream, 
 mellowed by distance, and reposing in a dreamy 
 atmosphere of blue, present itself to my vision I while 
 green leaves waved above me, bright flowers bloomed 
 beside me, and forest minstrels all around me filled 
 my ear with music ! It was the spring of the year, 
 and the spring of my soul ; and I looked up at the 
 bright sun, and inhaled the pure air, and thanked 
 God I had a conscious being among the beauties of 
 His creation. 
 
54: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 My journey to St. Louis was marked with, no inci 
 dents worthy of record. I formed no acquaintance 
 with any of my fellow travellers, and took no part nor 
 interest in the amusements with which many of them 
 whiled away a goodly portion of their time, as we 
 steamed down the beautiful Ohio and up the turbid 
 waters of the Mississippi. The time unoccupied by 
 sleep, I mostly spent on the upper deck, filled with a 
 delight that sought no vent in words, at the constant 
 change presented to my view. It seemed as if I could 
 never weary of the green lawns, the shady groves, 
 the gentle undulations, made picturesque by thriving 
 villages and solitary dwellings, which margined La 
 Belle Riviere for hundreds of miles ; and even when 
 these charming scenes were lost, by entering upon 
 the Father of Eivers, I found a new source of delight 
 in the contemplation of that mighty body of water, 
 rolling on in stern, gloomy grandeur, year after year, 
 and age after age, unceasing, eternal, to mingle its 
 collected thousands of fresh water streams with the 
 briny waves of the Gulf. 
 
 I arrived at St. Louis much improved in health and 
 spirits. I felt that my journey, with change of clime 
 and scene, had infused a new life into my whole 
 being ; and I only seemed to need the consent of my 
 parents to prolong that journey into the great wilder 
 ness of the West, to render my happiness complete. 
 
 But could that consent be obtained ? And if not, 
 should I venture to go without it ? On leaving home, 
 as the reader knows, I had partially resolved not to 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER. 55 
 
 return until I had in reality, as I often had in fancy, 
 visited the great prairies ; and now I "began to fear 
 lest the combined sin of filial disobedience and decep 
 tion should meet with a just retribution, and for 
 several days my mind was much troubled concerning 
 my future course. I could not bear the thought of 
 returning to the toil of a business unsuited to the- 
 bent of my mind, and for which I felt a strong repug 
 nance ; I did not believe my father would yield his 
 consent to the project I had in view, and which would 
 necessarily destroy his long-cherished hope ; and to 
 act in disobedience to his wishes and commands, 
 seemed little short of a crime. 
 
 Under the circumstances, what was I to do ? True, 
 I should soon be of age ; a few more weeks, and I 
 should have a right, according to the laws of man, to 
 prosecute my desire ; but should I have any more 
 right, according to the laws of God, to strain, if not 
 sever, the ties of parental affection, and add a heavy 
 weight of sorrow to the weight of years of those I 
 loved ? No ! I could not set forth into the wilderness 
 with a painful feeling of self-condemnation. Honor, 
 duty, gratitude and love demanded a sacrifice of my 
 selfish purpose and I would make it. I would re 
 turn I would relinquish my brightest hope, or 
 reserve my design for a more fitting period. 
 
 With this decision my mind became tranquil, and 
 I sought and found enjoyment in everything around 
 me. Now that I had removed the cloud from my 
 spirit, nature seemed to wear a more cheerful aspect. 
 
56 THE BORDER KOVEK. 
 
 The sun shone brighter, the air grew purer, and the 
 breeze blew softer. I turned my eyes longingly 
 toward the west, sighed a farewell to my desire, and 
 believed I had conquered myself. Alas ! how little 
 do we know ourselves ! If it be true that we know 
 not our friends till we have tried them, it is equally 
 true that we know not the strength of our own re 
 solves till we have put them to the test. 
 
 My business with Willard & Brothers occupied a 
 portion of my time for a couple of weeks. During 
 that period, however, I had leisure to ramble about 
 the city and its environs ; and when the ostensible 
 purpose for which I had left home was accomplished, 
 I found myself ready to set out upon my return. 
 With this view I one day repaired to the steamboat 
 landing, intending to select a boat to my liking, and 
 engaged a passage to Louisville or Cincinnati. As 
 chance, or fate, or Providence would have it for by 
 some one of these terms we are wont to designate 
 whatever happens unexpectedly, or with that coinci 
 dence which seems to tend to a mysterious design 
 and bears upon the supremacy of our present or 
 future good or ill as chance would have it, I say, in 
 strolling along the landing, I espied a steamer about 
 to start on its periodical voyage up the Missouri, its 
 final destination being Fort Leavenworth. Without 
 the remotest intention of engaging a passage, and 
 only prompted by an idle curiosity, I stepped on 
 board. I found the firemen busy in engendering 
 steam, and learned that in the course of an hour the 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER. 57 
 
 boat would be under way. Several passengers were 
 lounging about the decks and cabin, and among them 
 a few whose dress and appearance indicated a long 
 familiarity with the prairie and the wilderness. 
 
 Here then came temptation in another guise. Why 
 not extend my journey to the borders of that region 
 I so longed to explore ? I could return with the boat, 
 and have plenty of time to reach home before my 
 birth-day. And besides, I fancied I could derive 
 much gratification, and increase my knowledge of 
 wild western life, by a conversation with men who 
 had spent years beyond the limits of civilization and 
 law, and who had perhaps seen the fierce savage on 
 his native soil and the wild beasts in their very lairs. 
 In short, I was resolved to go ; and a few minutes suf 
 ficed to put my baggage on the steamer, and within 
 an hour I was gliding up the great river on a still 
 westward journey. 
 
 It was natural, under the circumstances, that I 
 should seek an early occasion to form something of 
 an acquaintance with these daring and hardy bor 
 derers ; and for this purpose, as soon as the boat was 
 fairly under way, I descended to the lower deck, 
 where I found a single party, with a pack of greasy 
 cards, already deeply absorded in the popular game 
 of euchre, a small amount of money being staked, just 
 to make it interesting. They had drawn up some 
 salt bags for seats, around a box of goods, which 
 served them for a table, and were as intently engaged 
 as if life and death depended on the result therefore 
 
58 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 it was out of the question for me to think of inter 
 rogating them. A little further on was a small party 
 of soldiers, on their way out to the Fort, under the 
 charge of a very pompous little sergeant, who 
 seemed determined to keep them apart from all per 
 sons not in the line military, and allow them as little 
 liberty as if on a regular drill. It was amusing to me 
 though probably not to those to whom his word 
 was law to see this little officer strutting about, and 
 occasionally giving orders to this one and that, with 
 the air of a general directing the movements of an 
 army. I could not avoid smiling at his peacock 
 attitudes ; and chancing to observe me, he frowned as 
 heavily as his little forehead and thin eyebrows would 
 permit, and putting on some extra dignity, and cross 
 ing his arms a la Napoleon, he remarked, in a general 
 way, though looking fiercely at me the while : 
 
 " It is a pity that ignorant civilians have not 
 
 been under that system of discipline which teaches 
 every man to mind his own business ! " 
 
 At this I laughed aloud, and attracted the attention 
 of the whole military corps. Some of the men smiled, 
 and gave me a mischievous wink, unseen by the 
 pompous little sergeant, who immediately turned his 
 back upon me with an air of supreme contempt. 
 
 Near the stern of the boat was a party of German 
 emigrants, some forty in number men, women and 
 children on their way to take possession of a govern 
 ment purchase, which in their hands would doubtless 
 become a thriving settlement in a few years. There 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER. 59 
 
 were a few other rough specimens of the frontier, 
 lounging about in various attitudes ; but none, save 
 the card-playing party, that seemed by their peculiar 
 dress and appearance to be familiar with that life in 
 the remote wilderness which for me had all the attrac 
 tions of genuine romance, and concerning which I was 
 so eager to obtain further information. 
 
 After sauntering up and clown the after deck some 
 two or three times, to the no small annoyance of my 
 particular friend, the little sergeant who, in seamen s 
 phrase, took care to give me a wide berth I finally 
 seated myself near the players, and carefully scanned 
 their dress and equipments in which, for reasons 
 already stated, I found myself far more deeply inter 
 ested than in the fluctuations of a game I did not 
 understand. 
 
 These mountaineers, as I will term them for under 
 this term are generally classed all those who live a 
 free, roving life beyond the settlements, whether profes 
 sional hunters, trappers, traders, or guides these 
 mountaineers, I say, were four in number, and were 
 all distinguished by that costume which has become 
 a peculiarity of these wilderness-wanderers, who 
 oftener see the moving villages of the savages, than 
 the stationary villages of those of their own blood and 
 race. As many of them are, in fact, only so many 
 connecting links between the white man and the red, so 
 their dress partakes something of the character of 
 both civilization and barbarism ; and one description, 
 with perhaps a trifling variation, the result of some 
 whim of the owner, will answer for the whole class. 
 
60 THEBOHDEKROVEK. 
 
 A hunting sliirt of dressed buckskin, ornamented 
 with long fringes, covers the breast and arms, and 
 descends to about half way between the hip and 
 knee. This is left full and loose about the breast and 
 shoulders, but tightened around the waist by a strong 
 belt, either of the same material, black leather, or 
 wampum, as the taste of the wearer may decide. This 
 belt generally supports a sheath of buffalo hide, into 
 which is thrust a large hunting-knife, with the haft 
 most convenient to the hand ; and a little buckskin 
 case, containing a whetstone, is also considered an 
 indispensable attachment. His powder-horn and bullet- 
 pouch in which latter he carries his balls, flint, steel, 
 et cetera are supported under his right arm, by a 
 belt passing transversely across his breast and back 
 and over his left shoulder ; and around his neck is 
 suspended his pipe-holder, not unfrequently the 
 wampum-worked keepsake of some love-stricken In 
 dian maid. His pantaloons, also of dressed buckskin, 
 are ornamented, down the outside of the legs, with 
 porcupine quills and long fringes, and a flexible felt 
 hat and moccasins complete his singular attire. A 
 long, heavy rifle is his never-failing accompaniment ; 
 and sometimes a brace of pistols and a tomahawk are 
 added for defence. 
 
 For some half an hour, I sat and watched the four 
 hardy and weather-browned mountaineers, as they 
 continued to play at what an old gentleman, who had 
 been fleeced by some gamblers, once very truthfully 
 described to his son, as "a most infernal game, in 
 
THEOLDTKAPPEK. 61 
 
 which the jack takes the ace." It was interesting to 
 watch the expressions which made joyous or doleful 
 the faces of the players, as the game continually alter 
 nated in favor of an opponent; and the eagerness with 
 which success was hailed by the different parties, 
 showed clearly that each considered his reputation at 
 stake as well as his money. They said little, but they 
 looked volumes. 
 
 Two of the party were comparatively young men, 
 their ages ranging from twenty-five to thirty; but the 
 other two were verging upon fifty, and had evidently 
 seen hard service ; for their well-tanned skins showed 
 more than one broad scar, to which evidently be 
 longed a thrilling tale of desperate encounter with 
 man or beast. Oh ! how impatient was I to get these 
 old mountaineers into conversation! for to my natural 
 desire for a description of the wild life beyond the 
 borders, was added a very troublesome curiosity to 
 know something of their personal history. But as it 
 was folly to expect them to quit a game of such ex 
 citing interest, to gratify the whim of a stranger they 
 had not yet noticed in any way, and as others, some 
 boat hands and some passengers, began to collect 
 around them, actuated by an entirely different 
 curiosity than mine, I concluded to withdraw and 
 abide an auspicious opportunity. 
 
 I therefore strolled to the forward deck, intending 
 to amuse myself by looking up the broad river ; but 
 what was my surprise and delight, to find here another 
 mountaineer, sitting cross-legged upon the floor, 
 
62 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and busily engaged in repairing a half worn-out 
 moccasin ! 
 
 Here was the very opportunity for a private con 
 versation which I had so much desired, and it may 
 readily be believed I lost no time in addressing him. 
 Gently dropping down by his side, in a careless atti 
 tude, I said, in a very bland tone : 
 
 " Pardon me, sir, if I intrude upon you ; but really, 
 I have a great curiosity concerning all that pertains 
 to one of your profession." 
 
 The old trapper, for such he was old at least in 
 experience, and his age could not have been less than 
 fifty the old trapper, I say, raised his head slowly, 
 and presented to my view a face, which, had I never 
 seen it again, I should never have forgotten. Its 
 color was a dark, dingy red ; and over the lower 
 part were patches of coarse, grizzly beard, which 
 seemed to be making desperate efforts to keep neigh 
 borly, and overshadow several very frightful-looking 
 scars. One corner of his mouth was drawn down in 
 a very comical way ; and two round white spots, one 
 on either cheek, showed where a bullet had passed 
 through, performing a very sudden, but none the less 
 disagreeable, dental operation. The tip of his nose 
 had been chipped off, one eye gouged out, and a long 
 scar, across the base of the forehead, made a very 
 ugly substitute for eyebrows. His one eye was small, 
 shrewd, black and keen ; and this took a very careful 
 survey of my features and person, before its owner 
 deigned to honor me with a reply. Meantime, I 
 
THE OLDTRAPPEE. 63 
 
 glanced from his face to his hands, which were dingy, 
 rough and scarred and I further noticed that he was 
 lank, bony, and muscular being altogether, as I 
 thought, a pretty hard specimen of an Indian fighter, 
 but certainly no Apollo. 
 
 " Stranger," he said at length, in a very queer tone 
 for the accidents of his life had evidently injured his 
 voice, which seemed to be pitched upon a key between 
 a squeal and a grunt " Stranger, whar do you hail ?" 
 
 " You wish to know my native place ?" I said, in 
 quiringly. 
 
 " Eayther." 
 
 11 1 was born in Philadelphia." 
 
 He gave -a grunt and resumed his work. 
 
 u I see you are repairing your moccasins, probably 
 for another long journey into the wilderness ?" I 
 resumed, determined to draw him into conversation. 
 
 This time he did not even grunt, but continued his 
 work, without taking any further notice of me. "Well, 
 thought I, this is a very interesting beginning, and if 
 I keep on, I shall perhaps be as wise as when I left 
 home. I felt a little nettled, and made my next 
 remark rather pointed. 
 
 " Is it a fact, that a life in the wilderness transforms 
 a gentleman into a boor ?" I inquired. 
 
 His one eye slowly left his work, and, beginning at 
 my feet, continued its survey upward, till it reached 
 my face, where it seemed to fasten, while the lips 
 articulated : 
 
 " Stranger, what s the sign?" 
 
C4 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 u I don t understand you," I replied. 
 
 " A draw-game, then, by !" he rejoined, again 
 
 resuming his occupation. 
 
 Determined not to be baffled in this way, I said, 
 rather sharply : 
 
 " Will you, or will you not, answer a few civil 
 questions ?" 
 
 " What for?" 
 
 " For my gratification." 
 
 "Your what?" 
 
 " For my gratification. I have a strong desire to 
 hear something about the wilderness, from one who, 
 like yourself, has evidently spent much of his life there." 
 
 " Kin you wet?" he inquired, with a sly look from 
 his one eye. 
 
 " Can I wet." 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Please explain your singular expression." 
 
 " A dry mouth wets. Augh I" 
 
 " Oh, you wish me to stand treat ?" 
 
 " Eayther." 
 
 " By all means ; what will you drink ?" 
 
 "Half a pint." 
 
 "Of what?" 
 
 " Ked-eye." 
 
 " What is that ?" 
 
 Whiskey." 
 
 " Certainly," said I ; and hurrying to the bar in 
 the saloon, I procured a tumbler full of his favorite 
 beverage, and returned to my eccentric friend. 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER. 65 
 
 His eye glistened as he received it ; and putting 
 the glass to his lips, one half of the contents suddenly 
 disappeared. With a satisfied grunt, he placed the 
 tumbler on the deck ; and then turning to me, with a 
 half-sympathetic, half-quizzical expression, he said : 
 
 "Stranger, you re decent, but powerful green." 
 
 I hardly knew whether to get angry or not ; but 
 finally forced out a laugh, though I did not see the * 
 joke. 
 
 " I trust, with the aid of the liquor," I said, " you 
 will be able to overlook my imperfections." 
 
 " Eight, thar, stranger your decency shall kiver 
 your greenness to old One-Eyed. Blaze away !" 
 
 " To begin, then, what is your profession ?" 
 
 " What this hyer old nigger does to fill his meat- 
 trap, d ye mean ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I cotch beaver, and raise ha r." 
 
 " What kind of hair beaver s ?" 
 
 "No, Injin s. You ll spile, stranger, you will 
 chaw me." 
 
 "Never mind me," I said, rather testily; "I may 
 be green in your eye, but I flatter myself I am not a 
 fool for all that." 
 
 " Some at to punks in your natyve village, hey ?" 
 he replied, with a quizzical grin. 
 
 " /think so, at all events." 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Can you not tell me something about the prairies 
 their grandeur and beauty?" I continued. 
 3 
 
66 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " I goes under thar, stranger haint the needful. I 
 kin throw a red-nigger, or a bull buffler, at long 
 range, and set a beaver trap to the next ; but hyer s a 
 coon as al ays gins in when it kirns to the fancy 
 Augh 1" 
 
 "That is your green spot then," I said, mischie 
 vously. 
 
 " Wall, it mought be," he replied, with a good- 
 natured laugh, taking up the tumbler; "but this 
 hyer old one-eyed nigger won t spile nary once 
 chaw me 1" 
 
 " Not if whiskey can save you," I rejoined, as he set 
 down an empty glass. " I must tell you," I proceeded, 
 I have for years felt a strong desire to visit the 
 great wilderness of the West ; and everything that 
 pertains to that vast region has for me a romantic 
 fascination." 
 
 " Stranger, you re right thar," returned the old 
 trapper, with something like enthusiasm. " You re 
 right thar, younker, and old One-Eyed Sam ll gamble 
 on to that. The perrairie and mountains is the only 
 spots whar a feller kin git fresh air ; and him as haint 
 lived thar, haint lived no whar but has jest smoked 
 it out in the settlements. Augh ! how I hate them 
 brick and mortar fixings cramping a feller up so s 
 he has to grow crooked, and can t lay straight to 
 nights. Stranger, I never seed St. Louey, that I 
 didn t wonder how sich a heap of infernal scamps and 
 fools got planted together fur a choke. Augh !" 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER. 67 
 
 " And yet St. Louis is a small city, compared with 
 Philadelphia," said I. 
 
 " "Tis, hey ?" he replied, looking wistfully at the 
 empty tumbler. " Wall, stranger, I d jest like to wet 
 agin on to your good sense in putting out." 
 
 " Oh, by all means !" returned I, laughing ; asid I 
 hastened to procure another half pint. 
 
 " Younker," he said, as he again received the full 
 tumbler from my hands, "if it wasn t fur this hyer, 
 old One-Eyed Sam ud spile every time he seed them 
 
 thar brick cabins, sure ;" and down went the first 
 
 half of the fiery and exhilarating contents. "Aughl" 
 he pursued, smacking his lips ; " that thar s the stuff; 
 and a few stiffs to them al ays fetches old Sam on to 
 his pegs. So Phila-what-d ye-call-it, beats St. Louey, 
 hey?" 
 
 " As six to one." 
 
 " That s all right, expect but hyer s a beaver as 
 don t see the sign nary once. Augh I" 
 
 " Well, then, to give you an illustration that you 
 will understand," I rejoined, "Philadelphia is as 
 much superior to St. Louis, in point of size, as six 
 half pints of whiskey are to one." 
 
 The old trapper eyed me sharply for a while, as if 
 he thought I might be playing upon his credulity ; 
 and then, apparently satisfied of my sincerity, he 
 scratched his head and looked puzzled. At length he 
 rejoined : 
 
 " Wall, chaw me up fur a liar, ef I kin see how you 
 all draw breath thar, and git your feed. Now to this 
 
68 THE BORDER ROVE K. 
 
 hyer old boss, what s used to stretching my legs and 
 swinging my arms, without kicking and hitting no 
 body, this hyer country feels orful close some at to 
 a b ar-hug; but penned up whar you tell me about, 
 I d strangulate ; ef I wouldn t, why war cubs made ?" 
 
 " I suppose you are now on your way to the wilder 
 ness ?" I said, inquiringly. 
 
 " You kin gamble on to that thar." 
 
 "Are you in company with the party playing cards 
 yonder ?" 
 
 "Nary once. I ve got a pardner though, but old 
 Brimstone hisself couldn t fotch him nigh a city. He 
 thinks he s gwine to spile whensomevcr he gits to 
 Independence; and ef thar s business to St. Louey, 
 I ve got to do the tramp alone. Augh 1" 
 
 " How long have you been in the beaver trade ?" 
 
 " Six foot one." 
 . " No, I mean how many years ?" 
 
 " Wall, chaw me up fur a liar, ef I don t expect I 
 went in the next day arter I was born leastways, ef 
 I didn t, I mought hev did it, fur anything I kin re 
 member about it now." 
 
 " I see, by your scars, you have been through some 
 perilous scenes." 
 
 "Why, yes, stranger, I ve fit in, and fit out, a few, 
 you kin gamble on to that ; but I tell you what it is, 
 
 no red nigger ever raised my h ar though I ve 
 
 took top -knots enough to make a lariat on I hev 
 chaw me !" 
 
THE OLDTKAPPEB. 69 
 
 <{ I should be delighted to hear you describe one of 
 your fights with the Indians Will you gratify me?" 
 " Whar you bound?" 
 
 " Just making a trip to Fort Leavenworth." 
 " Ef you has sich a like for the perraries, why don t 
 you jest sun yourself out thar ?" 
 
 " I should like to do so, but my father would not 
 give his consent." 
 
 One-Eyed Sam gave a contemptuous grunt, and re 
 joined : 
 
 " At your time I hadn t no master. Augh 1" 
 " My father is not my master," I replied, quickly, 
 feeling a good deal nettled ; " but I respect and love 
 him, and therefore would do nothing to displease him, 
 or cause him sorrow." 
 
 "Every body to thar likes, but the wilderness for 
 this hyer nigger I" responded my new acquaintance. 
 " And for me, too, could I have my wish," said I. 
 " How old, younker ?" 
 "Almost twenty-one." 
 "Fust time out hyer?" 
 " Yes." 
 
 "And never seed a perrarie?" 
 "Never." 
 
 " Never mongst bufflers ?" 
 "Never." 
 
 " Never raised h ar ?" 
 " What do you mean by that ?" 
 "Scalped a Injin." 
 " Never." 
 
70 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Then, stranger, you hain t lived, and you is only 
 fit for wolf-meat. Augh 1" 
 
 Strange as it may seem, I felt lowered in my own 
 estimation by this reply of the old trapper ; for I saw 
 that, from his point of observation and calculation, I 
 was a mere cipher in existence. His world was the 
 wilderness, beyond which there was nothing worth 
 living for ; and however much superior I might be to 
 him in my own peculiar sphere, yet in all that per 
 tained to his, I was forced to acknowledge my 
 inferiority, and I did it with a conscious blush of 
 shame. At home I should have looked upon him as 
 a human curiosity rough, low-bred, and vulgar, in 
 whom the animal greatly predominated over the 
 intellectual and, as such, scarcely worth more regard 
 than a half-civilized Indian between whom, and one 
 of my education, there could be no comparison that 
 would do him credit ; but here, bordering on a country 
 where the animal and its instincts, united with phys 
 ical force, held a supremacy over inexperience of 
 peril and the knowledge gained from books, I was 
 humiliated at the reflection that there was not a single 
 event in my even, monotonous, city life, the relation 
 of which would excite his admiration ; while he, on 
 the contrary, as proclaimed by his disfiguring scars, 
 was the envied hero of perhaps a hundred bold 
 encounters, whose simple narration would cause my 
 hair to rise, and the blood to leap through my veins 
 with a wild thrill. 
 
 He noticed my confusion, and saw that I felt the 
 
THE OLD TKAPPEE. 71 
 
 sting of his remark ; and with a delicacy for which I 
 had not given him credit, he promptly added : 
 
 " But I sees you ve got grit and speret, boy ; and 
 ef I only had you out with me for one tramp, I could 
 larn ye some at, and make ye useful." 
 
 "And how far are you going?" I eagerly inquired, 
 feeling strongly tempted to break my last resolution, 
 and not return till I could speak from experience of 
 life in the Far West. 
 
 "Jest over a piece fur now." 
 
 "And when do you expect to return?" 
 
 " Thar I goes under. Dont like this hyer country, 
 no how. Augh I" 
 
 " Are you going alone ?" 
 
 " Me and Jake Stericks is all him as is to In 
 dependence my pardner." 
 
 "Would you take me along?" 
 
 " Jest to keep you from spy ling." 
 
 " But could I get back by fall ?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 "I could join some party on their return?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Will you pass any of the forts ?" 
 
 " Bent s." 
 
 " I am tempted to accompany you as far as there, 
 at all events," said I. 
 
 " Green, but kin be seasoned I " was the sententious 
 rejoinder of One-Eyed-Sam, as he raised the tumbler, 
 with a nod and a leer, and sent the remainder of the 
 pint past the bullet marks. 
 
72 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A NEW FRIEND. 
 
 IT is fair to conclude, from my own experience in 
 observing the different grades of the genus homo, that 
 one pint of whiskey in a human being will either 
 make him very loquacious, or seal up his organs of 
 speech. Much to my chagrin, the effect of my libe 
 rality on One-Eyed Sam was of the latter kind ; for 
 from the moment the last drop disappeared, he became 
 very stupid, and I could get no further rational 
 answers to my questions. But he had started an idea 
 in keeping with my desire, which I felt there could 
 be no harm in giving serious consideration ; and so I 
 left him, and repaired to my state-room, where, stretch 
 ing myself in my berth, I held quite an argument with 
 myself, concerning the propriety of extending my 
 travels beyond the limits I had laid down in my mind 
 at the time of taking passage on board the boat which 
 was now bearing me further from home. The first 
 thing I considered was, the anxiety with which my 
 father would look for my return, and the disappoint 
 ment he would experience in not having me present 
 at the time he had appointed for his emancipation 
 from the cares of a long mercantile life ; and secondly, 
 how I could avoid being present on my birth-day, 
 and not have a too serious account to settle with my 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 73 
 
 conscience. I could write to him and say, that my 
 health not being perfectly restored which was true 
 I had thought it best, all things considered, to take 
 a trip across the prairies, intending to be absent only 
 the summer season, and reach home early in the fall ; 
 and having got my conscience to side with me in this 
 arrangement, I leaped from my berth, and hastened 
 to execute the letter- writing portion of my new-formed 
 design. 
 
 I dated my letter on board the steamer Missouri ; 
 and, after entering into a good deal of round-about 
 detail, came to the important point, and supported it 
 with so much logical force, that I was quite surprised 
 myself, on reading it over, to perceive how strong a 
 case I had made out in my own favor, and how dis- 
 creetively and reasonably I had met all objections 
 which might, could, would, or should be raised 
 against my doing exactly as I desired. Having 
 finished, read, and superscribed the epistle, I held 
 another very anxious debate with myself as to whether 
 I should send it or not. I could step on shore, at 
 some of the villages on the route, and put it in the 
 post ; but as I already began to suspect myself of 
 being rather fickle-minded, I thought it advisible to 
 keep it in my possession till such time as I should 
 arrive at a positive decision. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that, having surmounted the 
 one great obstacle to the gratification of my desire, 
 conscientious scruples, I had rather a down-hill path 
 to travel ; and once started, I moved over the ground 
 
74 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 with accelerated motion. I was not wanting in means, 
 for I had reserved from my collections in St. Louis 
 sufficient to meet all contingencies ; and a little per 
 suasion, which I soon received from an unexpected 
 source, settled the matter, and entirely changed the 
 career which my father, if not Providence, had marked 
 out for me. 
 
 The state-rooms, so termed, of the Western steamers, 
 are small apartments, entered from a long, general hall, 
 or saloon, and contain two berths ; so that, when the 
 boat is full, each traveller has one room-mate at least 
 who may be a personal friend or acquaintance or, 
 if travelling without company, an entire stranger. As 
 I was travelling alone, the individual allotted an equal 
 right and share in my sleeping apartment, was a per 
 son I had not seen at the time of writing the letter to 
 my father ; but on entering my state-room an hour 
 subsequent to that important event, I found a pale, 
 delicate-looking young man seated on the lower berth, 
 with a recently published map of the territories spread 
 out across his knees, and over which his dark, bright 
 eye was languidly wandering. On perceiving me, he 
 slowly raised his head, made a slight salutation, and 
 commenced refolding the map. 
 
 "Pardon me," said I ; "but as I am about half- re 
 solved to travel over a portion of the country which 
 you have mapped out before you, I should like to 
 glance at the land-marks there laid down." 
 
 "It is very imperfect, sir, I am told," he replied, as 
 he handed me the map ; " but it is the best I could 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 75 
 
 procure. To what part of the territories, if I may 
 make so bold, are you bound ?" 
 
 "I have not positively decided on going beyond 
 the settlements," I answered ; " but I have a strong 
 inclination to venture across the prairies to Bent s 
 Fort, merely for change of scene, and to gratify my 
 curiosity concerning a part of the world which has 
 long held a prominent place in the picture gallery of 
 my mind." 
 
 "Have you selected your companions for the jour 
 ney ?" he inquired, with some interest. 
 
 "No ! on the contrary, as I said before, I am still 
 hesitating about the propriety of going myself." 
 
 "I hope you will decide on going, and that you will 
 allow me to accompany you," said the young man 
 earnestly, a faint flush tinging his wan cheek. 
 
 " It is your intention, then, to cross the plains to 
 Bent s Fort ?" I inquired, with increased interest in 
 my room-mate. 
 
 " It is my intention to spend one season among the 
 mountains, if God sees fit to preserve me that long," 
 was the solemn reply ; and, as he spoke, he coughed 
 two or three times, in that short, dry, hacking manner 
 peculiar to persons afflicted with pulmonary disease. 
 
 " You are in bad health, I perceive." 
 
 " Yes," he sighed ; " and I have set out on a 
 perilous journey, for the purpose of prolonging my 
 life. I have been told that consumptive patients, after 
 having been given over by physicians as incurable, 
 have been restored to health by a year s sojourn iu 
 
76 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 the pure, bracing airs of the Rocky Mountains : I am 
 about to make the trial but what the result will be 
 God only knows ! I trust it will be favorable for 
 much do I now desire to live ; but if otherwise, I must 
 say, God s will be done! even though my bones 
 bleach in the wilderness, afar from the quiet church 
 yard where they should repose." 
 
 " And have you actually set out alone on this long 
 journey?" I inquired. 
 
 " Yes, I am alone ; and that is why I so earnestly 
 desire the company of one in whom I can confide. 
 You, sir, are a stranger to me; and yet I seem to 
 know you as one who has a noble and sympathetic 
 heart as one whose spirit answers to the yearnings 
 of mine for a true companion. This suddenly formed 
 opinion may seem strange to you ; and I am unable 
 to give a satisfactory reason for it myself for my 
 natural disposition is to be reserved, except toward 
 those I have tried and most highly esteem. I see I have 
 excited your curiosity to know something more of 
 one, in whom, as every expression of your countenance 
 betrays, you already take more than a passing interest. 
 Sit down I will tell you in brief something of my 
 history for I feel it is important that we know more 
 of each other. 
 
 " My name is Alfred Yarney. I am twenty -four 
 years of age, and was born in a midland county of 
 the State of Tennessee. My father was a planter of 
 some note for several years a member of the Legis 
 lature but died when I was quite young. An expen- 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 77 
 
 sive lawsuit, the particulars of which I need not 
 relate, subsequently absorbed all the property he left 
 behind him ; and my mother and myself, her only 
 child, would have been left in destitute circumstances, 
 had not a wealthy relative generously stepped for 
 ward, and, partly by persuasion and partly by force, 
 put her again in possession of a. competency. I was 
 sent to college, and graduated, in my twenty-first 
 year, full of honors ; but it may be those honors will 
 cost me my life ; for hard study seems to have planted 
 the seeds of disease in a constitution never remark 
 ably strong. 
 
 " My collegiate course finished, I went to reside 
 with my mother, and remained with her till her 
 death, which took place something more than a year 
 ago. Grief for her loss prostrated me for several 
 months ; and when at last I began to recover from 
 the first heart-rending pang, I found myself attacked 
 with a cough, which my family physician informed 
 me proceeded from a serious affection of the lungs. 
 He ordered me to travel, and I was nothing loath to 
 take his advice for there was no longer any tie to 
 bind me to the place of my nativity, and T felt the 
 need of change of scene to relieve the mind if not the 
 body. I repaired to New Orleans, and thence set sail 
 for Havana, where I spent the winter. But I grew 
 worse instead of better ; and believing my time of 
 departure from this world to be near at hand, I 
 decided upon returning to the land of my birth, that 
 my bones might rest in the quiet churchyard, beside 
 
78 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 those of my honored father and dearly beloved 
 mother. 
 
 " On leaving Havana, I had no desire but to reach 
 home and die. The world looked gloomy to me I 
 had firm faith in a better beyond and my soul yearned 
 for that eternal reunion with those I loved, for which 
 all good Christians hope and pray. How trivial an 
 incident trivial perhaps to all save those whom it 
 affects as a Providence, or a destiny may change the 
 whole current of our feelings, causing the hopes and 
 desires that were setting strongly onward toward eter 
 nity, to flow backward upon time, like the waters of 
 a rushing stream when suddenly obstructed. On the 
 passage to New Orleans, I one day chanced to per 
 ceive a very beautiful young lady, standing on the 
 poop, near the taffrail, with a glass in her hand, through 
 which she appeared to be scanning some distant 
 object. There was a heavy sea, and the vessel was 
 rolling and pitching in a manner that should have 
 warned her that her position was one of peril. Yet, 
 careless of her footing, she stood, absorbed in her 
 view, heedless of danger. Life, though of little 
 account to me, was doubtless of much to her; and 
 impulsively I moved toward her, for the purpose of 
 giving her a timely caution. I had scarcely taken 
 three steps, when a sudden lurch of the vessel pros 
 trated me, and at the same moment a shriek of despair 
 pierced my very soul. I looked up, and to my horror 
 perceived that the young lady had disappeared. I 
 was a good swimmer, my life I did not value, and I 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 79 
 
 hastened to her assistance. The cry of A lady over 
 board 1 had scarcely resounded, when I leaped over 
 the taffrail into the crested waves, and reached the 
 object of my solicitude just as she was disappearing. 
 It was a hard struggle to keep her and myself above 
 water till a boat came to our assistance but I suc 
 ceeded in my effort, and she was saved. 
 
 " She proved to be the daughter, and only surviv 
 ing child, of an immensely wealthy Louisiana sugar- 
 planter ; and when she was placed in the arms of her 
 nearly distracted father, I thought he would go mad 
 with joy. His gratitude for the service I had ren 
 dered knew no bounds. He hugged me in his arms 
 till I gasped for breath, shook my hands till I feared 
 he would dislocate the bones, and then informed me 
 that an ample fortune was at my disposal. I replied 
 that I was already more than repaid for the little I 
 had done, and that, having means wherewith to live 
 comfortably the brief period allotted me, a fortune 
 could add nothing to my happiness. The state of my 
 health excited his deepest sympathy ; and after some 
 inquiries into my history, he said I must go home 
 with him, and he would consult some of the best 
 physicians in the country in regard to my case. I 
 would have declined his invitation, but he would take 
 no refusal ; and so I consented, on condition that, if I 
 died on his premises, he would have my remains 
 interred beside those of my ancestors. 
 
 " The day following, I was introduced to his 
 daughter as the preserver of her life. She took my 
 
80 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 hand, and in a tremulous voice, with tearful eyes, 
 thanked me from her heart; and added, looking 
 upward, with the rapt, holy and touching expression 
 of the Madonna : 
 
 " May God reward you, when you stand in His 
 glorious presence ! 
 
 " As this holy invocation passed her lips, I felt a 
 strange thrill pervade my whole being a sensation as 
 of something unearthly communing with my spirit, 
 and saying : 
 
 " Live, Alfred, for her for she was born for 
 thee I 
 
 " This might have been fancy, a freak of the senses, 
 and it might have been something more I do not 
 know. I was excited, but weak in body ; and how 
 much involuntary power the mind in such a case may 
 possess, it is not for me to say. It came as a reality, 
 palpable to the senses, was felt through the innermost 
 recesses of my soul, and left on me an impression of 
 something superhuman. I am not naturally super 
 stitious ; but I believe the spirit exists after the death 
 of the body ; and it is reasonable to suppose it may, 
 through some law not generally understood, make 
 itself manifest to the spirit still in its earthly taber 
 nacle. That it has done so, we have the solemn affir 
 mation of the righteous ones of old, and the testimony 
 of thousands who have lived since. But I am weary 
 ing you, and I promised to be brief." 
 
 " No ! no! go on I am deeply interested," said I. 
 
 " I wish," continued Yarney, " I could picture to 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 81 
 
 you the appearance of the beautiful being who stood 
 before me, as she thus invoked my eternal happiness ! 
 But I cannot. Words are inadequate to the portrayal, 
 and I am wanting in that power of words which limns 
 to the imagination as the artist to the sight. Call up 
 your ideal of something holy and beautiful, transfused 
 with inspired devotion, and let that suffice. From 
 that moment I date my acquaintance with the lovely 
 being I had saved from a watery grave ; from that 
 moment I date a friendship eternal through its purity ; 
 from that moment I date the knowledge of a love 
 which sees a universe of happiness with the object 
 which inspired it, and which, from its very nature, 
 must be as undying and enduring as the Great Source 
 of all good. From that moment I no longer desired 
 death ; but ever since a silent and incessant prayer 
 has gone up for life for life in the mortal state for 
 life in a world I was longing to bid farewell. 
 
 " Let me hasten to a conclusion. I have not spoken 
 so much for days, and already I feel the debilitating 
 effects of over-exertion. The gnawing of the worm at 
 the seat of life warns me to cease for every word 
 seems to feed the foe I dread. I accompanied General 
 Edwards and his lovely daughter to their splendid 
 home, and remained their guest for several weeks. 
 Everything was done for me that humanity could 
 suggest; and though at first my health seemed to 
 improve, I soon discovered it was only one of the 
 illusions of a disease that flatters with hope while grim 
 death stands by and strengthens his relentless grasp. 
 4 
 
82 THE BORDER HOVE P.. 
 
 A slight cold at length prostrated me, and my attend 
 ing physician gave it as his opinion that I could not 
 long survive in a southern latitude. 
 
 1 "Is there no hope for me, Doctor? I one day 
 inquired, in a despairing tone for while the lovely 
 Mary Edwards lived, the very thought of death made 
 me shudder. 
 
 " There is a last resort, he answered, l which I 
 have heard of as being efficacious in cases similar to 
 yours ; but I only speak from hearsay, and must admit 
 that I think the remedy as fearful as the disease. 
 
 " Name it, Doctor ? said I, eagerly. 
 
 " * A year s residence among the Kooky Mountains. 
 
 "A ray of hope broke in upon me, and my reso 
 lution was instantly taken. 
 
 " I will make the trial, was my reply ; * for it can 
 be but death at last. 
 
 " I mentioned my design of speedily setting out for 
 the Far "West, to General Edwards, and he tried to 
 dissuade me from making the rash attempt. 
 
 " You may die on the journey, he said, with feel 
 ing, and have not a single friend by to speak a 
 consoling word. 
 
 " l Then know, I rejoined, ( my last prayer shall be 
 for you and yours, and that shall be my consolation 
 on the verge of eternity. 
 
 "In a few days I bade my new friends a solemn 
 adieu, as one who might never look upon them again 
 in mortal life. Mary wept freely, her father was 
 deeply affected, and I tore myself away with an aching 
 
A NEW FRIEND. 83 
 
 heart. The general sent me in his carriage to the 
 river landing, some ten miles distant from his plan 
 tation; but ere I reached my first destination, a 
 mounted negro overtook me, and placed in my hands 
 a sealed note. I knew the writing, and eagerly tore 
 it open. It read : 
 
 " I shall never cease to remember and pray for the 
 preserver of my life. God bless, preserve and restore 
 you. Shall I ever hear from you again ? 
 
 <MARY. 
 
 " There was the trace of a single tear on the page, 
 and I felt that every word came from her gentle 
 heart." 
 
 Here the narrator paused, apparently exhausted by 
 his effort in speaking, and evercome by mingled 
 emotions of pleasure and pain. Eecovering himself, 
 he added, in a feeble tone : 
 
 " My story is ended. You see me thus far on a 
 journey that may be my last. Why have I made you, 
 a stranger, my confidant? I have spoken from an 
 impulse almost foreign to my nature, and I am sur 
 prised at myself." 
 
 " Your confidence, Mr. Yarney, has made me your 
 friend," said I, taking his thin, transparent hand in 
 mine, and giving it a gentle pressure. " You shall 
 now hear my story, and then I will take counsel of 
 you as to whether I shall return to my native city, or 
 extend my journey, as your companion, to the rocky 
 steeps of the great wilderness." 
 
 In as few words as I could, I now made him ac- 
 
84: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 quainted with my early history, the hopes and 
 expectations of my father, my own desires, how I came 
 to leave home, my subsequent anxieties in short, all 
 I have laid before the reader. 
 
 " And now," I said, in conclusion, " what do you 
 advise me to do?" 
 
 "My friend," he said, "as much as I desire your 
 companionship, I would not advise you to do what 
 you think is wrong. If you go, you will disappoint 
 your father; if you return, you will make yourself 
 unhappy with regrets. The only moral point which 
 I perceive is, whether it is right to gratify your father 
 or yourself for whichever is done, will be at the ex 
 pense of the other. It seems you have faithfully 
 served your father the term allotted him by law and 
 custom, and it is certainly your right, as a responsible 
 man, to dispose of the remainder of your time as you 
 think best. It is therefore not a question of obligation, 
 but of affection and inclination; and as they draw 
 different ways, I would rather you should decide for 
 yourself. One thing I may venture to add I do not 
 think your father would have carried out the wishes 
 of his father, had they been repugnant to his own." 
 
 I read him the letter I had just written, and asked 
 his opinion of that. 
 
 " You have certainly made out a very strong case 
 for yourself," he replied; " the arguments preponder 
 ate in your favor." 
 
 "Are they substantial and just ?" I inquired. 
 
 "They appear so to my view." 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR OUR JOURNEY. 85 
 
 "Then," said I, grasping his hand, " the matter is 
 settled. I will go with you." 
 
 His hollow cheek flushed, and his bright eye 
 glistened, as he rejoined : 
 
 " Thank God ! I am no longer alone, and have a 
 friend in my companion I" 
 
 CIIAPTEK IY. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR OUR JOURNEY. 
 
 HAVING arrived at a final decision, my mind once 
 more became tranquil. I took an early opportunity 
 to post my letter, and then busied myself in making 
 calculations and arrangements for my long journey. 
 My new friend and I kept together the remainder of 
 the day, and talked over our plans, hopes, and antici 
 pations, till a late hour of the night. However much 
 he might have been improved in spirits by my com 
 pany, he was certainly not benefitted in body by the 
 fresh excitement and the unusual task upon his con 
 versational powers. On retiring to rest, his cough 
 became very troublesome ; and the next morning I 
 found him quite feverish and unrefreshed so much 
 so, that I insisted upon his remaining in his berth till 
 noon. 
 
 " I fear, my dear friend," he said, in a dejected, 
 melancholy tone, " I have set out too late." 
 
86 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 He certainly did not look as if he could bear the 
 fatigue and excitement of a long, hard and perilous 
 journey beyond the comforts of civilization exposed 
 to all the change of atmosphere and climate, heat and 
 cold, a scorching sun, damping dews, and drenching 
 rains to say nothing of a thousand other inconve 
 niences, privations, and troubles, which often break 
 down the hardiest constitutions ; but I spoke encour 
 agingly, and cheered him as much as lay in my 
 power. 
 
 In person, Alfred Yarney was of medium height, 
 slender, and gracefully formed. In health, his limbs 
 had been plump and round the bones being small, 
 with very little display of muscle. His complexion 
 would have been termed dark for such was the 
 color of his hair and eyes but his skin had always 
 been remarkably clear and white ; and now, under 
 the effects of his disease, it had a pearly hue, with a 
 kind of alabaster transparency. His face was oval, 
 with fine, regular features, which only required the 
 freshness and plumpness of health to render them 
 extremely handsome; and even sunken and wasted 
 as they were, there was still a fascination in their 
 bright intellectuality for the soul seemed to permeate 
 the whole countenance with its light, as the rays of 
 the sun do a gossamer cloud. His dark hair slightly 
 curled above a broad, high, white forehead ; he had a 
 full, clear, expressive, pleasant, and winning eye, and 
 a mouth and chin of decided character the former 
 containing two rows of white, even teeth, and the latter 
 
PREPAKATIONS FOR OUR JOURNEY. 87 
 
 being almost beardless, and cleanly shaved. As I 
 contemplated his now emaciated form, going rapidly 
 downward, with scarcely a ray of hope to strengthen 
 his spirit against his disease, and pictured to myself the 
 happiness which lay before him, could he only regain 
 the health which had once been his, I turned away 
 with a saddened heart, and silently and secretly 
 prayed for his recovery. 
 
 Descending to the lower deck, I found the old 
 trapper seated on a coil of rope, near the bow, quietly 
 smoking his pipe, and listlessly watching the blue 
 vapor, as it slowly curled and lazily ascended in the 
 clear morning air. 
 
 "Well," said I, "I find you enjoying yourself this 
 fine morning." 
 
 " Augh 1" he grunted ; " d ye call this hyer fun, 
 
 snagging it up the Missouri, on this old grunting 
 
 boat ? Chaw me up for a liar, ef I wouldn t rayther 
 be picketed to a rattlesnake s den. Yes, sir-ee I Augh! 
 wagh ! shagh ! Wall, hoss, how goes it ? Got over 
 your drunk, hey?" 
 
 " The very words which might, with more propriety, 
 be addressed to you," said I. 
 
 "Expect." 
 
 " When I left you yesterday, the pint appeared to 
 be your master." 
 
 " I looked drunk to you, hey ?" 
 
 "You certainly did." 
 
 " Wall, you did to old One-Eyed so we re quits 
 thar. Augh!" 
 
88 THE BO R DEB ROVE B. 
 
 "But as loth are sober now," returned I, laughing, 
 " suppose we talk rationally." 
 
 " Blaze away." 
 
 "You intend to cross the prairies to Bent s Fort?" 
 
 "Beyond, boy." 
 
 " You will take the fort in your route ?" 
 
 "Expect" 
 
 "You said something yesterday about permitting 
 me to accompany you as far as there." 
 
 " Eayther." 
 
 I You are still of the same mind ?" 
 " You kin gamble on to it." 
 
 " Do you expect to travel fast?" 
 
 "Some at." 
 
 " Do you intend to join any large party?" 
 
 " Nary once." 
 
 " You have one companion, I think you said ?" 
 
 " Me and Jake Stericks Wolfy Jake I calls him 
 hitches teams." 
 
 " But the route I have heard spoken of as one of 
 great peril, passing as it does through the summer 
 hunting-grounds of some of the most savage of the 
 predatory Indian tribes." 
 
 " Every nigger takes his chance. Augh !" 
 
 " But is there not more safety in a large party ?" 
 
 II Feared of your ha r, younker?" 
 
 " I certainly have no desire to have it grace an 
 Indian lodge." 
 
 " Them as is born to be hanged, needn t be skeered 
 to Injins." 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR OUR JOURNEY. 89 
 
 " But not having a positive assurance of being des 
 tined to that elevated position myself, I do not think 
 your sagacious remark will relieve me of any anxiety. 
 It is possible, however, the idea may have sustained 
 you through your perilous adventures for you ap 
 pear to have entered into your fights with a very 
 strorjg presentiment of coming out of them alive, 
 which you have certainly done." 
 
 For the first time, I perceived the muscles of the 
 old trapper s face relax into a broad grin ; and ex 
 tending his hard hand, he gave me a grip like a vice, 
 and rejoined : 
 
 "Chaw me up fur a liar, younker, but you is 
 some at to punks ; and when you slid the covert, the 
 old man, your dad, lost a beaver. Them s old Sam 
 Better s sentiments, and he s a nigger as has seed 
 snakes afore now. Augh !" 
 
 " Well," I rejoined, " I am happy to find I stand 
 well in your good opinion at last ; and now I have 
 a proposition to make, which is one of business." 
 
 " Let her slide, younker. Stop a minute 1 What s 
 your handle ?" 
 
 "My name?" 
 
 "Augh!" 
 
 " Eoland Kivers." 
 
 " Boiling Rivers, hey ? Chaw me, but that s queer. 
 I once knowed a feller called Brooks, and he was jest 
 the driest human I ever seed. Me and him got off on 
 a perrarie together, and water wasn t nowhar. Arter 
 our throats got swelled so as we felt thar was a sand-bur 
 
90 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 inside, I says to him, says I, * Brooks, you re the 
 dryest stream ever this hyer old nigger seed. Ef you 
 was what you re called, hyer s a beaver as would take 
 a dive. Good meat was Brooks but he got rubbed 
 out to the Blackfoot and lost his ha r. No relation of 
 yourn, expect ?" 
 
 " I think not," returned I, with a laugh. 
 
 " "Wall, younker, you re not bad named, fur you 
 kin wet, as this hoss knows. Augh !" 
 
 " Now then to business," said I. " Since I saw you 
 yesterday, I have met with a young man, who is 
 afflicted with a disease, supposed to be consumption 
 of the lungs, and who is on his way to the Eocky 
 Mountains for the recovery of his health. I have de 
 termined to be his companion as far as Bent s Fort at 
 least, but I do not think he will be able to travel fast. 
 Now I wish to know if we can make any arrangement 
 with you and your partner, so that you will time your 
 progress to what he can perform without too much 
 exertion ? for which, of course, we are willing to give 
 you reasonable remuneration." 
 
 " Seasonable what ?" 
 
 " Kemuneration. In other words, pay you a rea 
 sonable price in money;" 
 
 " Don t know, Freshwater, how that mought be. 
 Hev to ax Wolfy Jake, afore this child kin decide on 
 to that." 
 . " Well, what do you think ?" 
 
 " Can t say how it mought come across his scent. 
 He s powerful to growling, is Jake, and that s why I 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR OUK JOURNEY. 91 
 
 calls him wolfy, and we re behind time more n a month. 
 Ought to been on the mountains long afore this hyer 
 for ef beavers aint spyling to lose their ha r to us, 
 why was perraries made ? Augh." 
 
 "Under the circumstances then," said I, "since you 
 are unable to decide, I think I had better speak to the 
 other mountaineers here, and see if we can make any 
 arrangement for travelling with them." 
 
 " Freshwater, don t !" replied One-Eyed Sam, empha 
 tically. " Boy, I ve kind o tuk to you slash my old 
 carcass ef I haint and you kin gamble high on my 
 fetching Wolfy Jake plum centre." 
 
 "Now you are talking to the point, sir, and I am 
 glad to find you take any interest in me whatever. 
 When I first addressed you yesterday, your actions 
 seemed to imply that my company was not particu 
 larly agreeable." 
 
 " You re right, younker, it wasn t. I haint much 
 liking fur strangers, no how; and when I sees a feller 
 
 rigged out in sich silky, black, preacher toggery 
 
 as you ve got on, I ginerally puts him down as sp ilt 
 meat jest fit for turkey buzzards, and them things. 
 But you broke in x decent, and kind o tuk me afore I 
 knowed it; and ef I didn t keep letting on, it was 
 bekase I didn t like to own up beat the fust jerk." 
 
 " Well, shall I consider it settled, that my friend and 
 I are to journey with you on the conditions proposed? 
 You seemed just now to think your partner might 
 make positive objections." 
 
92 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " He ll hev to gin in, Wolfy will, or else thar ll be 
 powder burnt." 
 
 " I should not like to be the cause of any disagree 
 ment between you." 
 
 " Wall, he ll growl a few that s his natur he 
 al ays does that thar, anyhow ; but hyer s a nigger as 
 has some b ar into him ; and when old Sam plants his 
 hoof, it s thar. You and your friend jest git off to In 
 dependence, and leave the rest to this child." 
 
 "But there must be a good understanding with all 
 parties before we set out together." 
 
 "Freshwater, you kin take this hyer coon s davy 
 (affidavit) thar won t be nothing shorter nary once 
 chaw me. Augh !" 
 
 " Very well then we will leave the boat at Inde 
 pendence-landing." 
 
 " You ll want a hoss apiece, and another rig for the 
 plains." 
 
 " Certainly but I suppose we can procure all we 
 may need at Independence?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Then I may consider the matter as settled ?" 
 
 " Eayther." 
 
 " What will you drink?" 
 
 "Only half a pint," he replied, with a sly wink. 
 " "When this hyer beaver got up to-day, he says, says 
 he, Sam, you old sinner, it don t do to indulge. 7 
 
 Nary once, says Sam ; but while you re in this 
 
 climate, you d better season nor spile. Eight, says 
 this beaver, c and half a pint is enough fur seasoning/ 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR OUR JOURNEY. 93 
 
 So we agreed on to that thar ; and chaw me up fur a 
 liar, ef we re going to drink nary drop more to once. 
 Augh!" 
 
 " A very reasonable resolution," said I, not a little 
 amused at the old trapper s singular notions of tem 
 perance; and on reaching the saloon, I dispatched 
 him the stipulated half pint by one of the waiters. 
 
 My friend, as I now felt I had a right to term 
 Alfred Varney, succeeded in getting a good sleep 
 during the morning, and arose about noon, much 
 refreshed in body and improved in spirits. I im 
 mediately informed him of the partial arrangement I 
 had made with the trapper, which met with his 
 approval. In fact this very matter had been talked 
 over between us the night before, and we had decided 
 either to join some small party, who might for a 
 reasonable consideration be induced to time their 
 journey to our convenience, or else employ a guide, 
 and set off, in colloquial phrase, " on our own hook." 
 True, we knew the journey under consideration to be 
 one of great peril ; but we knew it to be perilous for 
 both large and small parties the former, of course, 
 being better able to withstand an attack of some 
 roaming band of savages but the latter, from its 
 smallness, being less liable to attract the notice and 
 excite the cupidity of hostile neighbors ; so that, on 
 the whole, the chances of getting safely through, 
 might be set down as about equal. Besides, as my 
 friend said, the object of his journey was the prolon 
 gation of his life ; and it would be worse than folly 
 
94 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 to run the risk of losing it, by overtasking himself on 
 the way, as he might be compelled to do, were he to 
 travel with a large company, all anxious to reach 
 their destination in the shortest possible time. 
 
 In the course of the day, I introduced Yarney to 
 One-Eyed Sam ; who observed that " he was a power 
 ful thin beaver, and it would take a heap of meat to 
 make him fat enough to butcher" the pleasantry and 
 oddity of the remark causing my friend to laugh out 
 right. We held a conversation concerning the outfit 
 we would require, the probable outlay, and agreed 
 upon the amount we should pay the trapper for escort 
 ing us safely to Bent s Fort the latter item being 
 neither more nor less than one hundred dollars or 
 fifty dollars apiece for I insisted, much against the 
 wish of my friend, on being permitted to bear one- 
 half of the whole expense, the extra charge for delay 
 on his account included. 
 
 Having now done all we could in the way of arrang 
 ing our land journey, we waited, with some impatience, 
 the slow progress of the boat up the muddy and snag- 
 bottomed channel of the Missouri. The river being 
 high, and the current strong, with immense rafts of 
 drift-wood floating down, rendered the navigation of 
 the stream tedious and perilous ; but though we met 
 with some troublesome delays, no serious accident 
 occurred ; and on the afternoon of the fourth day, we 
 disembarked at Independence-landing, as much elated 
 as ever were two school boys at an unexpected holi 
 day. That night we lodged at a comfortable inn, in 
 
PREPARATIONS FOE OUR JOURNEY. 95 
 
 the very heart of a great western rendezvous, on the 
 very borders of civilized and savage life, surrounded 
 by a motley collection of people from all parts of the 
 world, consisting of emigrants, travellers, hunters, 
 trappers, traders, coureurs des lois, Indians, half-breeds, 
 and negroes. The novelty of our situation tended to 
 excite my companion and myself; and in talking 
 over our plans and hopes for the eventful future, we 
 consumed many hours that should have been devoted 
 to sleep. 
 
 The trapper left us at the village, to go in quest 
 of his friend, who was supposed to be encamped, with 
 his animals, somewhere in the vicinity for he dis 
 liked the settlements so much, that he could not be 
 prevailed upon to remain in one a moment longer 
 than was absolutely necessary for the transaction of 
 his business, whatever that might be. 
 
 On the following morning Botter returned, and 
 reported having found his friend encamped on a small 
 creek, about five or six miles distant, and nearly on 
 the line of our route; and that having laid before him 
 the matter which most concerned us, and done some 
 " pretty tall swearing," he had carried his point, and 
 they had finally parted like two kittens, to meet again 
 on the following day and commence their journey 
 across the plains. 
 
 "So now you see, Freshwater, that you and your 
 friend Shadbones (excuse me ! but this hyer old 
 nigger al ays has to put a handle to suit hisself ) you 
 and your friend Shadbones, I say, has got desperate 
 
96 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 little time to buy up all you want for the tramp, and 
 you d better stir your stumps and go in." 
 
 " And will you only give us twenty -four hours to 
 prepare for our long journey ?" I inquired, in some 
 surprise. 
 
 Aint that thar enough ? Chaw me, but I could 
 
 buy the whole settlement in three hours, ef I 
 
 only had the tin." 
 
 "Why, just- now you seemed to think the time 
 very short yourself." 
 
 " Yes, for you city chaps, who al ays make a 
 
 rumpus about nothing." 
 
 "Then suppose, in consideration of our igno 
 rance and greenness, you give us three days instead 
 of one?" 
 
 " Can t do it, Freshwater." 
 
 " Then will you assist us in our purchases ?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Yery well, then we will set about them at once." 
 
 I need not enter into details concerning that day s 
 work for work it was, and of the most fatiguing 
 kind at least I thought so at the time ; for in order 
 to spare my friend, I took upon myself all the labor 
 and responsibility of purchasing two riding horses, 
 and one pack-mule, together with saddles, bridles, 
 water- proof packs, rifles, pistols, knives, ammunition, a 
 portable tent, blankets, costumes, and many other 
 articles too tedious to mention. Then we had to 
 overhaul our baggage, to select what we considered 
 indispensable, and stow away all the clothing to be 
 
PREPARATIONS FOB OUR JOURNEY. 97 
 
 left behind, so as to guard against moths all of which 
 we finally consigned to the care of our landlord, trust 
 ing to his honesty by virtue of necessity. Then our 
 new mountain-costumes had to be put on, our packs 
 packed, our bridles and saddles fitted to our animals ; 
 and, what with one thing and another, it was twelve 
 o clock at night before I was ready to lie down, and 
 take my last sleep, for a long time to come, upon 
 what, by way of distinction, I will term a civilized 
 bed. 
 
 I had just fallen into a comfortable doze, and was 
 dreaming of home, when I was suddenly awakened 
 by a rough shake, and the harsh voice of One-Eyed 
 Sam sounded most unpleasantly in my ear. 
 
 "Come, Freshwater, out of this hyer feathered 
 nest!" he said; "out on t, I say, and git ready to 
 tramp! Daylight s about, and the owls is gone to 
 roost, and this hyer old nigger wants to break for 
 better quarters. Augh ! " 
 
 " Look you, Mr. Botter," returned I, not in the best 
 humor imaginable for I could see no reason in such 
 haste, and I had not been used to having my sleep 
 disturbed, especially in so rough a manner: "Look 
 you, sir! if my memory serves me rightly, we pay 
 you a round sum to travel with us to suit our con 
 venience, and this is certainly not the way I had 
 expected you to begin the performance of our con 
 tract. I fatigued myself yesterday to please you, and 
 now I am going to sleep a few hours to please myself." 
 
 " Wall, you kin do as you like !" growled the old 
 5 
 
98 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 trapper ; " but chaw me up for a liar, ef this hyer 
 
 nigger stays in this settlement another hour ! 
 
 Augh! wagh! shagh!" 
 
 "We had better humor him, and make an early 
 start," said Yarney to me in an under tone as One- 
 Eyed Sam was leaving the room. 
 
 "Are you able and willing to set out now, my 
 friend?" I inquired. 
 
 " Yes, I feel quite strong." 
 
 " Very well, then, for your sake I will not be obsti 
 nate. Mr. Botter," I called, " if you will see to 
 having the animals got ready, we will set off as 
 soon as you like." 
 
 We hastily arose, donned our new costumes, col 
 lected our weapons, roused the landlord, and paid our 
 reckoning ; by which time the horses and mule were 
 at the door, and ready for the journey. Ere the sun 
 rose, we were in our saddles, and were following close 
 in the wake of the old trapper, who, with the vigor 
 and activity of youth, was leaving the town, due west, 
 by long and rapid strides. We soon crossed a little 
 stream, and ascended a grass-covered knoll; when, 
 turning in our saddles, we looked back on the town, 
 by the dim morning light, and silently bade farewell 
 to the last civilized settlement we were destined to 
 behold, till many a day of peril and suffering, priva 
 tion and sorrow, had placed its sad record on the 
 tablets of our memories. 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. 99 
 
 CIIAPTEK Y. 
 
 BORDER INCIDENTS. 
 
 IT was the latter part of May, and the morning was 
 bright and beautiful. The atmosphere was clear, the 
 air serene, and not a cloud was visible in the broad, 
 blue sky, that dome-like rose above us. In the east 
 the seven hues blended in perfect beauty, and gradu 
 ally grew more and more brilliant, till the god of day 
 himself appeared, surrounded by a halo of glory. 
 
 The scene that opened before us was an undulating 
 surface, carpeted with bright green grass, and flowers 
 of gorgeous beauty, and shaded here and there with 
 delightful groves, among whose branches fluttered 
 and twittered and sung ten thousand warblers. Bright 
 dew-drops rested on leaf and blade and flower; and 
 as the sunlight fell upon them, they glistened and 
 sparkled like so many diamonds. The view in all 
 directions was refreshing was delightfully invigora 
 ting ; and had my mind been wholly at ease, I should 
 undoubtedly have experienced an exhilaration akin 
 to rapture. But with the sensations of pleasure came 
 sensations of pain. I was leaving home, leaving civi 
 lization, for an indefinite period. My bark was now 
 fairly adrift upon the ocean of adventure, bound on 
 a voyage of discovery, and might never anchor again 
 in a peaceful and quiet haven. I had taken leave 
 
100 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 of all who loved me ; had parted from all I loved ; 
 and this as it were by stealth in a clandestine man 
 ner in a manner to make my conscience in some de 
 gree my accuser. Rivet my eyes upon whatsoever object 
 of interest, turn my thoughts upon whatsoever subject 
 of contemplation, I could not shut out the images 
 of those who had given me being and reared me so 
 fondly, nor cease to remember my transgression of the 
 sacred law of filial affection. I had not done right in 
 leaving my parents for this perilous journey, without 
 an explicit and mutual understanding; I had been 
 wanting in moral courage ; I had left them in a cow 
 ardly manner ; and no reasoning to the contrary could 
 be other than sophistry. I felt this felt it deep in my 
 soul ; it was an internal conviction that no external 
 argument could eradicate ; and it depressed my spirits, 
 and made me unhappy. The more bright and joyous 
 the scenes around me, the more sensibly I felt the 
 contrast of a heart made gloomy and sad by the re 
 membrance of what iny conscience could not approve. 
 But the die was cast, my destiny was sealed, and it 
 was not a time for repentance now. 
 
 " How beautiful ! how glorious 1 how enchanting !" 
 exclaimed my companion, as we rode slowly along 
 through green, dewy grass, and bright, sweet-scented 
 flowers ; and as he spoke, his dark eye sparkled, and 
 his wan features flushed with animation. " See ! 
 Roland see that tiny stream of silver, winding 
 around between emerald banks, and playing hide and 
 seek through yonder groves, where a thousand gay 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. 
 
 birds are singing as they might have sung in Para 
 dise ! Surely, this must be the Garden of Eden ; and 
 this morning s ride will well repay me for days of 
 pain and gloom. Oh ! why should I want to die, 
 when God s earth is so beautiful ?" 
 
 " I am glad the sight reanimates you," I replied; 
 " and it is my earnest prayer, that you may be spared 
 to behold it in years to come. It is certainly the 
 most charming scene I ever beheld, and I must regard 
 it as an auspicious beginning of our journey." 
 
 "And yet you seem sad, Kolandl" he rejoined, 
 with feeling. 
 
 "My mind goes home in spite of me, Alfred. I am 
 forced to reflect that, whatever pleasures may sur 
 round me, I have done that which will cause the hearts 
 of my fond parents to beat with sorrow." 
 
 " Can I rest assured that I did not influence your 
 decision with regard to this journey ?" inquired Yar- 
 ney, with some anxiety. 
 
 "You may rest assured that, if that decision be 
 wrong, not the faintest shadow of blame can attach to 
 you. To say you had no influence upon my decision, 
 would be to assert that I took no interest in you or 
 your fate, which would not be true; but my own mind 
 reasoned, weighed, and resolved." 
 
 "Thank Heaven! your words give me relief!" said 
 Yarney. " But, Eoland, if you regret your resolve, it 
 is not too late to retrieve it. If you have any com 
 punctions of conscience, I pray you turn back, and 
 consider me in the matter not at all !" 
 
102 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "No!" said I, firmly; "I shall go forward, be the 
 consequences what they may." 
 
 Steadily the old trapper pursued his course, taking 
 long and rapid strides, turning neither to the right 
 nor left, and apparently heeding nothing around him: 
 I say apparently, for it was not so in reality the truth 
 being that nothing escaped his eagle glance. About 
 two miles west of Independence, we passed a pleasant 
 grove, where a large party of emigrants and adven 
 turers had encamped the night before, only one of 
 whom was now to be seen. He was a tall, raw-boned, 
 green-looking specimen of a country rustic, and was 
 mounted on a slab-sided skeleton of a beast, which, 
 by dint of kicks and curses, he urged up to us on a 
 trip-hammer trot. 
 
 " I say, whoa, you scamp, you !" he sung out to his 
 shadowy animal, as he came up along side of me, at 
 the same time giving the cord rein a violent, sudden 
 jerk, which brought the horse s nose to a nearly per 
 pendicular position, while his legs seemed to keep 
 wilfully moving forward. "I say, you fellers, you 
 haint seen no stray mules nor nothing along your way, 
 I calculate, have you?" 
 
 "Nary mule, stranger," replied the trapper, sud 
 denly wheeling about, and slyly tipping me a wink ; 
 " but I seed a stray jackass." 
 
 " Where, neow ?" inquired our peaked-faced friend, 
 with a nasal whine, that said "wooden nutmegs" as 
 distinctly as ever a clock said "tick." " Whoa ! you 
 consarned old beast, you 1" jerking the rope-bridle, as 
 
BOBBER INCIDENTS. 103 
 
 his half-starved animal made a sudden lurch forward 
 for a tempting bunch of green grass. U I guess I ll 
 larn ye, you denied old gormandizer, you! Didn t 
 you have enough last night tew last you a month 
 say, neow?" 
 
 "I should not suppose, from the condition of your 
 horse, he would ever want to eat again," said I, turn 
 ing away to conceal a laugh. 
 
 " That s a fact, I sweow ; but, dern him ! he s jest 
 like Phar oh s lean kind he don t want to dew nothing 
 else but eat. Wai, Mister, where d you see that are 
 jackass?" 
 
 " Straddle a pile of hoss-bones. Augh I" 
 
 " Dew tell !" was the innocent reply of our Yankee 
 friend. " Calculate he was dead ?" 
 
 " Nary once, greeny wagh! haghl waghl" roared 
 One-Eyed Sam, which was the first time I had ever 
 heard him laugh boisterously. 
 
 " Say, you, Mister, (addressing me,) what s the 
 matter with that are feller? So thing up here, I 
 guess !" tapping his head. 
 
 "Yes," said I, "you can see he has been injured;" 
 and I drew my finger across the base of my forehead, 
 to indicate the long white scar of the trapper. 
 
 " Wai," pursued the Yankee, " about them are 
 mules, consarn em I You see my name s Pease !" 
 
 "Green in the pod, chaw me!" interrupted Botter, 
 with another roar. 
 
 Mr. Pease looked very sharply, very savagely at 
 the trapper, and rejoined : 
 
104 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " I know a tiling or two about taming you fellers. 
 You ve been hurt in the upper story; but a sharp 
 eye ll fetch you down, if you don t look eout. Yes, 
 (turning to me,) look him sharp in the eye that s the 
 way to make a lunatic haul in. "Wai, as I s saying, my 
 name s Pease, and I m all the way from the State of 
 Connecticut, going over tew Oregon, to look eout some 
 prime land. There s a big party on us, and we camped 
 down there last night, and I ve lost two mules, which 
 I want to find the wo st kind. The other fellers have 
 gone on and left me to dew it alone ; and I ve looked 
 all areound, without seeing a derned thing of em. 
 What llldewneow?" 
 
 " Hyer s a nigger as will tell you what you d better 
 do, afore you spile," put in One-Eyed Sam, advancing 
 to the side of the forlorn traveller. "Ef you ever 
 expect to see your friends agin, you d better put some 
 salt on to your top-knot, and start old bones arter em. 
 Augh!" 
 
 The Yankee looked savagely at the speaker, and 
 then inquiringly at me. 
 
 " I think the advice is good," I said. " I am afraid 
 you will notsfind your mules; and the longer you re 
 main behind your friends, the more difficulty you will 
 have in overtaking them, especially with your horse 
 in his present condition." 
 
 " Consarn it, what ll I dew ?" whined Mr. Pease of 
 Connecticut. " Them are derned mules carried all 
 my duds. I got a feller to let me put em in his 
 wagon, till I found em ; but he ll make me pay li 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. 105 
 
 thunder, if they has to go all the way in his team. 
 But I guess I ll have to gin em up. I don t see 
 nothing on em nowhere. Much obleeged to yo K, 
 Mister. "Whoa! hold up your consarned old head, 
 will you ? You ll have to dew so thing besides eat, 
 you old fool ! Wai, good-bye ; and now, go lang 1" 
 and with a few jerks at his rope-bridle, and sundry 
 kicks on the ribs of his skeleton beast, Mr. Pease set 
 off in the direction taken by his travelling companions, 
 and, riding through the before-mentioned grove, was 
 soon lost to our view. 
 
 This incident created a fund of merriment, and 
 proved highly beneficial to me, by diverting my 
 thoughts from more serious matters. 
 
 Thus far we had kept upon the regular western 
 trail ; but we now turned off in a southerly direction ; 
 and after travelling an hour longer, over a fine, beau 
 tiful country, partly open, and partly timbered, with 
 bright, green grass and gay flowers all around us, we 
 came suddenly upon the camp of Jake Stericks. It 
 was in a little valley, hidden from our view until we 
 had ascended the hill which overlooked it. A clear 
 little stream purled through the valley, margined by 
 green " tall grass" so called, by way of distinguish 
 ing it from the short " buffalo grass" of the plains or 
 prairies while a grove of trees, consisting for the 
 most part of hickory, walnut, ash and cottonwood, 
 threw over it a delightful shade. Tour mules and 
 two horses, hoppled and tethered, were quietly crop 
 ping the green herbage, within pistol shot of the 
 
106 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 trapper, who was squatted upon the ground, beside 
 his " kit," lazily smoking his pipe. 
 
 On perceiving us, Stericks slowly gathered himself 
 upon his feet, and giving himself a shake, like a water 
 spaniel, awaited our approach in a kind of dogged 
 silence. He was a short, square-built man, about 
 forty years of age, with a broad, bronzed, phlegmatic- 
 looking face, light brown, curly hair, and a small, 
 cold blue eye. As we drew up along side of him, he 
 fixed his eye upon the animals, which he scanned like 
 a connoisseur, but appeared to take no notice of the 
 riders. 
 
 " Hyer we is, "Wolfy !" said Botter, dismounting. 
 " Got arything to feed ?" 
 
 Wolfy Jake pointed to a quarter of a deer, sus 
 pended to the limb of a tree, and then to the sun. 
 
 " I knowed it," he grumbled ; " never will git off. 
 Why didn t you git your feed whar you did your 
 work ?" 
 
 " Ef you knowed it, old growler, whar s your fire ?" 
 inquired One-Eyed Sam, as, whipping out his knife, 
 he cut down the meat, and proceeded to divide it into 
 slices for toasting. " Yes, you knowed it," he con 
 tinued ; " and not a spark to swa r by. Whar s 
 
 your kindlings?" 
 
 Stericks pointed to a handful of dry twigs and 
 leaves, which he had collected ; and while Botter 
 struck fire with flint and steel, he set to work to har 
 ness, pack, and prepare the animals for the journey. 
 
 " Come 1" said the old trapper to us, as, having dis- 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. 107 
 
 mounted, we stood watching his proceedings, with 
 the interest which anything novel generally excites ; 
 " ef you want your feed, you d best go in ;" and hav 
 ing by this time started a fire, he thrust a sharp, stick 
 into a large slice of meat, and held it to the blaze. 
 " A-u-g-h 1" he resumed, with a long drawn grunt of 
 satisfaction, as, having scorched the meat outside and 
 heated it through, he tore out a large mouthful with 
 fingers and teeth ; " this hyer s living agin, chaw me ! 
 Come, Freshwater, jest you and Shadbones go in fur 
 this hyer nigger d like to make a long tramp, to 
 please that thar "Wolfy, and the thing s agin natur 
 with a empty meat-trap. Augh !" 
 
 * * We may as well make a beginning," said I to 
 Yarney. " The smell of the toasting meat gives me 
 an appetite, and we can season with salt besides, you 
 know, we have laid in a good stock of sea-biscuits." 
 
 We accordingly set to work, and prepared our first 
 meal beyond the settlements, which we devoured with 
 a relish known only to those who have made the 
 trial. I was pleased to see that Varney ate heartily ; 
 and when we had concluded our simple repast, and 
 washed it down with clear water from the running 
 stream, he exclaimed, somewhat enthusiastically : 
 
 " Roland, my friend, this is delightful ! I seem to 
 feel stronger already." 
 
 Meantime, Stericks had saddled the two horses, to 
 be ridden by himself and Botter, and had packed the 
 mules with the kit to be used by them on their jour 
 ney into the wilderness, so that, all being ready for a 
 
108 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 new start, we had only to mount and set forward. 
 Shaping our course to the northward, we soon struck 
 the great Santa Fe Trail, and followed it for some 
 twenty miles, over the same rolling, delightful country, 
 which continued to present to the view one of the 
 most pleasing landscapes it has ever been my fortune 
 to behold. The day was warm ; but a refreshing 
 breeze blew steadily from the west, and relieved it of 
 anything like sultriness. My friend bore the fatigues 
 of equestrianism, so new to both of us, much better 
 than I had anticipated ; but when the sun had passed 
 the meridian some three hours, he signified his wish 
 to rest for the night, in order not to overtask his feeble 
 system. At this, Wolfy Jake, who so far had scarcely 
 noticed us, began to grumble and complain that such 
 foolish, childish delays would keep him from the 
 mountains till too late to trap beaver enough to buy 
 his tobacco. 
 
 11 It is for these very delays that we have agreed to 
 pay you a good round sum," said I, in a tone calcu 
 lated to assure him I knew my rights, and did not 
 intend to be cheated out of them, to please one who 
 had taken no. pains to render himself an agreeable 
 companion. 
 
 " See hyer, boy," he replied, turning to me with a 
 look of fierce contempt, "who axed you to put in 
 your blab ?" 
 
 Though taught from youth to curb my temper, 
 and keep a rein upon my passions, I had never so 
 mastered myself, or been so mastered, as to quietly 
 
BOEDER INCIDENTS. 109 
 
 brook an intended insult ; and as he spoke, I felt my 
 features flush, and the hot blood leap through my 
 veins. My first impulse was, to spring from my horse 
 and drag him from his ; but by a great effort I re 
 strained myself, and rejoined, as quietly as I could, 
 though it seemed to me the words fairly hissed as 
 they came forth : 
 
 " Sir ! when you address we, boy though I may be 
 in your aged estimation, I will thank you to do so in 
 a more respectful manner !" 
 
 " Come, come, friends no quarrelling !" said Yar- 
 ney, anxiously, spurring his horse in between us. 
 "Bather than have a quarrel, I will endeavor to ride 
 a few miles further. * 
 
 " Not a mile further !" said I. " We stipulated that 
 this journey should be made to suit your convenience; 
 and if our guides do not intend to adhere strictly to 
 these conditions, we will turn back at once, and let 
 them go on alone." 
 
 " Them s the tarms, and you knows it, Wolfy," put 
 in One-Eyed Sam, riding up along side of his dis 
 satisfied partner ; " and so it s the advice of this hyer 
 old beaver, that you jest shut up your meat-trap ! 
 D yehe-ar?" 
 
 " That boy s insulted me ; and I ll lick him for t, or 
 die !" growled Stericks. 
 
 " Wolfy Jake, that thar ain t so," returned Sam. 
 " I seed and heerd the whole on t ; you insulted him ; 
 and ef you dar to put a paw on to him, hyer s a nig 
 ger as 11 let daylight through you agin, by !" 
 
110 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 This threat silenced Stericks, who now relapsed 
 into a sulky mood, and rode slowly along, evidently 
 brooding revenge in his heart. In the course of a 
 few minutes, the old trapper, as if without design, 
 brought his horse along side of mine, and in a lo\v 
 tone, so as not to be overheard by his companion, 
 said : 
 
 " Freshwater, I can t say you didn t do right in 
 speaking up like a man ; but I m desperate sorry you 
 and Wolfy has quarrelled for he s the devil to git 
 along with has got a memory like a red nigger 
 and thar ain t another human on the borders kin shut 
 him up cept me. Me arid him once had a grand go 
 in ; and when we kim out, he d got daylight clean 
 through him, and this hyer old nigger hadn t one eye, 
 four teeth, and jest only a chunk of a nose. This 
 happened up to the Svveetwater Divide, long time 
 ago; and nary human seed the fight cept me; for 
 Wolfy laid out in his tracks, as dead as a skinned 
 buffler. I dug a hole, and was gwine to cache* him, 
 when I seed him begin to fotch sensible. This child 
 took care on him, and fed him for two months ; and 
 when he got about, he swo rehe d never fight sich a 
 
 . cantankerous old hoss agin, and he hain t. 
 
 Augh !" 
 
 " Well," said I, "I regret that I have had occasion 
 for hard words, on a journey which I had hoped 
 
 * A terra used by the mountain men, signifying to bury or 
 hide from the French word " cacher." 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. Ill 
 
 would prove agreeable to all parties but what would 
 you have me do ?" 
 
 " Let him growl, and don t say nothing. Growling 
 is into his natur , jest as nateral as a bite ar into a 
 snapping turkle ; and all you has to do, is to jest let 
 him hev his say, and no bones broke. It s desperate 
 hard to do it, to a lad of speret like you ; but what 
 good ud kim fur getting into a fight, and leaving 
 your carcass out in these hyer diggings, jest below 
 wolf-smell?" 
 
 " True," said I, after a moment s reflection ; " what 
 good would come of fighting a man who seems to 
 know little else ? I will take your advice, sir, and 
 remain silent or civil, unless he encroaches too much 
 upon good nature. But understand one thing, Mr. 
 Better " 
 
 " Sam, I is One-Eyed Sam leastways sence I fit 
 Wolfy Jake and I don t know no sich beaver as Mr. 
 Botter." 
 
 "Very well, then, Sam if you prefer being so 
 called I want it distinctly understood, before we 
 proceed any further, that you are to make each day s 
 journey no longer than my friend can perform with 
 out excessive fatigue ! It is in consideration of this we 
 have agreed to pay you your own price ; and if you 
 think you and your partner cannot conform to the 
 contract, without even so much as grumbling, why 
 then we part here." 
 
 " That thar seems all fa r and squar 7 , chaw me !" 
 
 " It is as it seems, Sam." 
 
112 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " "Wall, you drop behind, and let this hyer nigger 
 Lev a confab with Wolfy." 
 
 I made a halt, and called Yarney to my side, while 
 Botter spurred on and overtook his friend. I related 
 to Yarney what had passed between the trapper and 
 myself, and he shuddered as he replied : 
 
 " Oh, my dear friend, how fortunate it is that you 
 did not get into a physical contest with that danger 
 ous fellow ! You would have been killed, I feel 
 assured ; and then what would have become of poor 
 me ? Oh, for my sake, Koland, if not for your own, 
 avoid quarrelling with men who would think no more 
 of killing you than they would a wolf I" 
 
 " Would you have me act the coward when insul 
 ted ?" I inquired, with some asperity. 
 
 "Answer me, Koland !" returned Yarney; "which 
 requires the most true courage to bear a harsh, 
 unkind, contemptuous word-insult, or to resent that 
 word-insult with a retort, and perhaps a blow ?" 
 
 " To bear in silence," said I. 
 
 " Then I would have you courageous beyond what 
 the world terms courage." 
 
 "It is not in my nature to be so." 
 
 "We can mould our nature, in a great degree, 
 Eoland, I know by experience ; and we often throw 
 the blame of some hasty action upon our natural 
 disposition and passions, when the blame should rest 
 upon our acquired infirmities, through inattention to 
 the laws of proper mental government or self-control 
 upon the inner man, that should govern the outer." 
 
BORDER INCIDENTS. 113 
 
 " I feel you are right I know you are right yet 
 it is much easier to feel and know right, than to do 
 it." 
 
 " Ay, my friend ; and there comes the struggle in 
 which every reasoning being, made in God s image, 
 immortal as his Maker, should engage the struggle 
 to conquer himself." 
 
 " And would you, if attacked, not defend yourself?" 
 
 " Most assuredly, else would I not go armed ; but 
 bear in mind, there is a great difference between an 
 insult and an attack. Self-preservation is the first law 
 of nature, seen in the instinct of every living thing ; 
 and if attacked to the danger of life, then we have a 
 right to protect life, even should such protection 
 require the life of the assailant." 
 
 " And yet, after all," said I, "you come far short of 
 what Jesus Christ taught and practiced ; he justified 
 no retort, retaliation, or resistance ; but if smote on 
 one cheek, to turn the other." 
 
 " I grant you," said Yarney, with a smile ; " but if 
 my platform of self-guidance falls short of that laid 
 down by the Great Master, how much more so yours ? 
 No man living can be wholly like Jesus Christ ; but 
 the nearer we approach him in principle, the more we 
 purify and fit our spirits for eternal communion with 
 the spirits of just men made perfect. But see! Bot- 
 ter has separated from his companion, and is awaiting 
 us : let us ride on." 
 
 "One question more," said I, as we started our 
 horses forward. "You heard Stericks threaten to 
 G 
 
114 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 chastise me for my insolence : if he lay hand on me, 
 what would you have me do ?" 
 
 He looked hard at me, his eye "brightened, and his 
 thin lips compressed, as he answered : 
 
 " I am a very weak, erring mortal, I find, after all, 
 Koland. If he touch you, without further provoca 
 tion which Heaven forbid I cannot expect you 
 will forget you are armed against savages and wild 
 beasts." 
 
 " Enough, my friend I understand you !" 
 
 On coming up to Botter, he said : 
 
 " I ve gin Wolfy Jake a right smart chance of a 
 talking to, and it s the opine of this hyer old hoss 
 he ll keep down. D ye see that thar clump of trees 
 yonder ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 I. " We camp thar. Augh !" 
 
 "You have triumphed, Koland," whispered Yar- 
 ney ; " but God send you do not have cause to re 
 gret it!" 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OUR FIRST CAMP. 
 
 WELL do I remember our first camp beyond the 
 borders of civilization. It is one of the pictures which, 
 still hang in the cabinet of memory. The spot selected 
 was in a little dell, beneath a clustering grove of 
 hickory, maple, ash, linden and sycamore, through 
 whose interlocking branches the grape-vine wound in 
 gay festoons, and made an arbour fit for a lady s siesta. 
 Through this delightful retreat rippled a rivulet, its 
 bright, clear waters rolling over a bed of white sand 
 and pebbles that sparkled like gems. The green, 
 luxuriant grass was variegated with flowers of many 
 hues, and birds of gay plumage played bo-peep and 
 sung songs amid the heavy foliage, or clove the air, 
 like winged jewels, as they passed over the adjacent 
 openings. 
 
 The face of the country was still the same as wo 
 had passed over during the day a rolling prairie of 
 high grass and flowers, alternating with ridges rocky 
 and steep, and wood-lined streams. Our camp, which 
 Varney christened Calyptra, was about a quarter of a 
 mile south of the great trail, and had evidently not 
 been visited by any of the parties passing so near. 
 We at once unsaddled our animals, which seemed 
 eager for the enjoyment before them, and, having 
 
116 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 hoppled, turned them loose. Yarney and I next set 
 to work to erect our portable tent ; which consisted 
 of small strong ash poles, made to lengthen by means 
 of iron slides, unite at the top, and fold together like 
 an umbrella. A sharp iron spike, at the bottom of 
 each pole, readily penetrated the earth, and made the 
 base firm ; and there were rings and short hand spikes, 
 by which we could farther secure it, with very little 
 trouble. Over the frame, when spread, we drew a 
 water-proof canvass, which we fastened down with 
 hooks ; and thus our house was erected, with the cost 
 of only ten minutes labor. Underneath this tent 
 we placed all our baggage, and swung our hammocks 
 to rings in the poles ; so that, whatever might be the 
 weather without, we could sleep above ground, and 
 escape being drenched. 
 
 " There," said Yarney, when we had put everything 
 in order, " if the Indians will only be kind enough to 
 let us alone, I think we can sleep as comfortably as 
 twin monkeys in a menagerie." 
 
 11 It s all powerful nice fur you settlement fellers," 
 said Botter, as he inspected outside and inside, with 
 a look of curiosity; "but I tell you what it is, hyer s 
 a nigger as ud sooner hev arth for a bed, and heaven 
 for a kivering, nor all sich squaw contrivances ever 
 made. Augh I" 
 
 " Every one to his liking," said I. 
 
 "Wall, yes, expect and that thar s what this hyer 
 old coon telled old Joe Nesbit s darter, Sal, when she 
 tuk to a hump-backed, squint-eyed tailor, stead of 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 117 
 
 rae. But I say, Freshwater, how long do you spect 
 that thar flimsy fixing is gwine to float out this hyer 
 way?" 
 
 I see no reason why we may not carry it through 
 with us." 
 
 " Don t ye now?" said Sam. "Wall, jest you wait 
 till one of them perrarie storms gits afoul on t, and 
 you ll hear so thing howl, or else thar aint no b ars. 
 Augh!" 
 
 "You think it wouldn t stand a storm-gust, then?" 
 
 " Some I ve seed afore to-day, ud fotch it out like 
 a Kaintuck dandy-nigger s dickey, you kin gamble on 
 to that." 
 
 "Well, we must take the chances. My friend, 
 being in delicate health, was afraid to venture sleeping 
 on the ground at least until inured to the climate 
 and change of life. But where is your companion ?" 
 
 " Gone fur meat. He seed a deer over yonder, and 
 felt like chawing fur Wolfy s one of them as is 
 powerful on to feed." 
 
 " I feel inclined to try the sport myself," said I. 
 
 " Ever do arything to that sort ?" 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " Then its like you ll hev more fun nor meat." 
 
 " You think I can t kill a deer, eh ?" 
 
 " You kin try, Freshwater." 
 
 "And try I will," said I; "though I am free to 
 acknowledge myself more familiar with a day-book 
 than with a rifle." 
 
 " Do not go far," said Varney, with some uneasi- 
 
118 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 noss; "for not being familiar with the country, you 
 might get lost." 
 
 " Have no fear, my friend ! I will keep the camp 
 in view, and return by sunset, at the very latest." 
 
 " Let s see what you ve got fur a shooter," said Sam ; 
 and he gave my rifle a careful inspection. Then 
 levelling it for an aim, and holding it with an iron 
 nerve, that had no tremor, he discharged it adding, 
 as he brought the breech to the ground : " Ef she s fit 
 fur a old hunter to sw ar by, thar s a hole plum centre 
 in yon yaller leaf." 
 
 We hastened to the object which he had selected, 
 at the distance of some seventy paces, and found it 
 bored through the centre. 
 
 " An admirable shot !" exclaimed I. 
 
 "Not a bad shooting-iron," said Sam, indifferently. 
 11 With a good eye, and steady arm, she ll do herself 
 a heap of credit; and that s more n kin be said of 
 
 every gim-crack like her!" alluding to the 
 
 silver-plated mountings. "I say, Freshwater, what ll 
 you gin fur a shoot to this hyer old nigger, a hundred 
 paces off." 
 
 " I have no desire to kill you," said I. Botter burst 
 into a horse-laugh. 
 
 " I d jest like to gamble on to it, you can t hit nary 
 tree to that thar distance." 
 
 "What will you bet?" inquired I, supposing him 
 to be joking. 
 
 "Money?" 
 
 " Anything you please." 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 119 
 
 " I ll try your narves on to five dollars." 
 
 " That I can t hit a tree at a hundred paces ?" 
 
 " Kayther." 
 
 " Done!" said I : " select your mark, and prepare to 
 Jose ;" and hastily, and under some excitement, I pro 
 ceeded to reload my rifle. 
 
 Botter pointed out a tree, and said : 
 " Ef you graze the bark, old One-Eyed owes you 
 live ; ef you don t" 
 
 " Young Two-Eyed owes you ten 1" rejoined I, 
 toughing; and bringing my rifle to my shoulder, 
 with a quick and somewhat careless aim, I fired. 
 
 " Nary once, chaw me !" rejoined Sam, fixing his 
 one eye upon me, with a most ludicrous expression. 
 " I knowed it you city chaps hain t the narve you 
 reckon you has." 
 
 I hurried to the tree, and felt deeply chagrined to 
 find no trace of the bullet, high nor low. 
 
 " Perhaps you would like to double that bet ?" said 
 I, somewhat nervously. 
 
 " Kayther." 
 
 I went back, loaded, and fired again, with the same 
 result. 
 
 "The piece does not carry true," said I, greatly 
 mortified. 
 
 " Double to quits," returned Botter, with a broad 
 grin, " that this hyer one-eyed old nigger bores a 
 dollar with that thar same shooter." 
 
 "Done!" 
 
 I fastened a white flower, the size of a dollar, to the 
 
120 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 tree; and One-Eyed Sam, standing at the required 
 distance, loaded and fired with great deliberation. 
 The flower fell. I hastened to pick it up, and, to my 
 utter astonishment, found the ball had driven the pin 
 through its centre. 
 
 " The de il is in it I" said I, perplexed and crest 
 fallen. " I will give over hunting deer for to-day, 
 and practice at a mark." 
 
 " Let me try my hand !" said Yarney. 
 
 " Two to one agin you, Shadbones 1" roared Bot- 
 ter, fairly holding his sides. 
 
 " That I don t hit the tree at this distance ?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " My horse against yours, Sam !" said Yarney, 
 flushing with excitement. 
 
 " Them s em let her went !" 
 
 Yarney loaded, fired, and missed the tree. 
 
 He looked perfectly blank at the result, and I en 
 joyed a laugh at his expense. 
 
 " If I were as superstitious as some I have known," 
 he said, looking curiously at the old trapper, " I would 
 be willing to swear you had bewitched this rifle. I 
 never missed sucn a mark before, at such a distance, 
 in my life." 
 
 " Thar s tricks to all trades cept ourn," rejoined 
 Botter, throwing himself upon the ground, in a 
 paroxysm of laughter. 
 
 Never had I seen the old trapper so completely 
 convulsed with merriment : he rolled, yelled and 
 screamed, till our horses pricked up their ears, and 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 121 
 
 snorted with fear : and no wonder for his was a most 
 unearthly cachinnation, something between the screech 
 of a catamount and the bellow of a bull, alternating 
 upon the upper and lower keys. 
 
 " He has played us some trick, you may depend 1" 
 said Yarney. " I know I am. not such a bad shot as 
 to miss a tree at a hundred yards, even though I 
 might not hit a dollar." 
 
 " But what can be his trick ?" inquired I : " wo 
 loaded the rifles ourselves." 
 
 Varney again levelled the piece, ran his eye along 
 the barrel, and exclaimed : 
 
 " I have it ! I have it I he has altered the hind 
 sight : no wonder we could not hit the tree 1" 
 
 " Let that thar 1 arn ye to al ays keep your eya 
 skinned, and look to your hind sights as well as tar 
 get ! look close around your nose as well as a mile 
 ahead ! them s the lessons we old mountain-men larn 
 arly I" said Better, gathering himself up, and wiping 
 the tears from his one eye. " Augh !" he continued, 
 drawing a long breath ; " this hyer old nigger hain t 
 had sich a right down good old Kaintuck yell, senco 
 he barked around his mamma s float-sticks chaw 
 me !" 
 
 " And do you claim the bets for your trick ?" I 
 inquired. 
 
 " Nary once, Freshwater I ll gin in on to them 
 thar. Shadbones wants his hoss, I expect, and you ve 
 been decent fur a greeny ; so we ll quit squar or ef 
 you rayther, we ll wet on t to Bent s." 
 
122 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " I shall remember my first lesson," said I and 
 I did. 
 
 " Trust in God and keep your powder dry," was a 
 remark, which the position of the speaker, together 
 with its peculiarity and force, rendered immortal ; 
 and " look close around your nose, as well as a mile 
 ahead," though homely phraseology, certainly con 
 tained good advice for one who, like myself, was ven 
 turing upon an unknown region of danger. 
 
 Having properly adjusted the hind sight of my rifle, 
 and reloaded it, I made another trial of marksmanship; 
 and found I not only hit the tree, but within three 
 inches of the point at which I had aimed ; and this, 
 even the old trapper admitted, was remarkably good 
 shooting for one having as little practice as myself. 
 
 " But fur all that thar, Freshwater," he continued, 
 " I wouldn t be afeard to gamble high on to it, that 
 you don t fotch nary deer ; and what s more to the 
 pi nt, that you couldn t plug a live one to thirty 
 yard I" 
 
 " Why so ?" 
 
 " Kase you re young, green, and hain t the narve." 
 
 " A fig for your sage opinion !" said I, with a laugh. 
 " You might have made me believe something of this, 
 if I had not discovered the trick you just now played 
 me ; but nothing, save repeated failure, can convince 
 me I cannot lodge a ball in a deer as well as a tree." 
 
 " You kin try it," grinned Sam. 
 
 11 And try it I will, this very day that is, if there 
 are any deer to be found." 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 123 
 
 " Skase, but about," returned Better, "and it s 
 good three hour to sundown. Now see hyer, boy I ef 
 you fotch in ary part of a deer, that you ve shot, this 
 hyer old nigger ll back water agin all he s said about 
 greenness, and stand a heavy wet to Bent s hisself. 
 Augh !" 
 
 " If I don t," rejoined I, "I will give you leave to 
 laugh and drink at my expense, and to call up as 
 many friends as you like." 
 
 " Be careful, my friend, not to lose sight of the 
 camp, in your eagerness to establish a reputation as a 
 hunter!" said Yarney. 
 
 "Have no fear! I will take the best of care of 
 myself, in every particular," was my confident reply. 
 
 I then proceeded to equip myself for a hunt on 
 foot ; and in less than a quarter of an hour, I had left 
 the camp, secretly exulting in my anticipated triumph. 
 
 I have said that the country was partly open and 
 partly timbered the ground rolling, with an appear 
 ance similar to large swells of the ocean. The face of 
 the country was so much alike in every direction, that 
 I saw one might easily lose himself, unless proper 
 precautions were adopted; but I set off directly south, 
 resolved not to go beyond a certain point, from which 
 I could easily retrace my steps. I soon started some 
 prairie-chickens from the covert of the tall grass; but 
 as I was bent upon bringing in a deer, I did not waste 
 any ammunition upon them. Next I came upon some 
 animals resembling the hare; but for the same reason, 
 I did not molest them. Deer, in this region, were 
 
124 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 rather scarce ; but after a tramp of a couple of miles, 
 I espied a group of four in the distance; and creeping 
 carefully along to the leeward, I soon had the satis 
 faction of placing a wooded knoll between them and 
 myself, which enabled me to draw near them with 
 less caution, and without being scented or seen. 
 
 I had never fired at an animal of the size of a deer 
 in my life; and I now felt myself laboring under 
 more excitement than I had anticipated; much of 
 which, however, I attributed to my eager desire to 
 convince the old trapper that he had greatly under 
 rated my hunting qualities. On reaching the knoll, 
 or ridge, I made a cautious ascent, through tangled 
 brush and brambles, fearful lest each snap of a dry 
 stick or twig might alarm the wary game. At length 
 I reached the summit ; and crawling carefully on my 
 hands and knees over a ledge of rocks, I parted some 
 intervening bushes, and, to my great delight, beheld 
 four sleek, beautiful deer, daintily cropping the green 
 herbage within fifty yards of me. I now became so 
 nervously excited, that my long rifle shook like an 
 aspen, as I slowly pushed the muzzle forward, prepa 
 ratory to a fatal aim. I had just got my nerves a 
 little quieted, and was in the act of glancing along the 
 barrel, with my breath suspended, when I heard a 
 loud, ominous rattle close to my side. I started with 
 a thrill of horror, and a single glance showed me an 
 enormous rattlesnake, partly coiled, with head erect, 
 forked tongue, and fiery eyes, within three feet of me. 
 To say that I sprung to my feet, and went down the 
 
OUK FIRST CAMP. 125 
 
 other side of the hill, regardless of alarming the deer, 
 in the shortest possible time, is only to admit that the 
 instincts of nature acted for my preservation, without 
 calling upon reason, or any of the slow, operating 
 faculties. 
 
 It is no use to deny it I was scared. I felt cold 
 chills run down my back, and my hair gather itself 
 on end ; while my legs displayed a power of locomo 
 tion, as they bore me through the valley below and 
 after the flying deer, which even my long familiarity 
 with them had previously failed to discover and place 
 to their credit. I will not say I ran ; for to run, even 
 from a rattlesnake, would by some be considered 
 cowardly; but I will venture to assert, that, in, 
 Western parlance; " I did some pretty tall walking." 
 Ere I reached the opposite slope, my rifle and hat 
 went off at the same instant the one in front, the 
 other behind. As I stopped and stooped for my hat ; 
 something whizzed over my head ; and immediately 
 after, I heard the report of a rifle; while from a 
 thicket, distant some hundred and fifty or two hun 
 dred yards, I saw a wreath of thin blue smoke float 
 lazily upward and disperse in the light breeze. 
 
 Here was another narrow escape from another 
 danger, and for the time being the rattlesnake was 
 driven from my mind. I had evidently been shot at 
 by a good marksman, and the stooping for my hat 
 had saved my life. But why had I been shot at ? and 
 by whom ? I was in a region of country thinly peo 
 pled by Indians ; but then they were known to be 
 
126 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 friendly to the whites, and were living on lands ceded 
 to them by our Government. Had I been mistaken 
 for a deer? I glanced do\vn at my green hunting 
 frock, and fringed buckskin trousers, and could fancy 
 no resemblance to that innocent quadruped, except in 
 the quickness with which I had lifted one foot after 
 the other from among the tall grass. 
 
 Suddenly, a horrible suspicion seized me. Wolfy 
 Jake, who was out hunting deer like myself, had pro 
 bably seen me, and sought to gratify his malignant 
 passions by a cold-blooded murder. I shuddered all 
 over as the thought flashed through my mind, and I 
 made all haste to bury myself in the brushwood of 
 the swell or ridge toward which I had shaped my 
 flight from my more magnanimous foe, and which 
 fortunately was within fifty yards of where I had 
 made my second escape from an awful death. 
 
 Being now fairly screened by a dense copse, I drew 
 a long, quavering breath of momentary relief, and 
 proceeded to reload my rifle with a trembling hand ; 
 while my knees knocked together from a sort of ner 
 vous weakness, and a cold, clammy perspiration 
 seemed to start from every pore. My rifle again 
 loaded, I felt my courage again return ; and with the 
 reaction from an almost paralytic surprise and terror, 
 came a wicked indignation ; and as my blood again 
 leaped through its natural channels, with a burning 
 sensation, I solemnly resolved, if I discovered Ster- 
 icks anywhere in the vicinity, to shoot him down as 
 I would a wild beast. 
 
OUR FIRST CAMP. 127 
 
 This was not a very Christian-like Intention, I 
 know; and under less excitement, I should never 
 have so determined ; but I was not then in a condi 
 tion to reason calmly on a matter involving crime. I 
 was beyond the limits of civilization, and in a country 
 where the strong arm, keen eye, and sure rifle must 
 stand me in place of law. My life had been sought ; 
 I had the right of self-protection, by any and every 
 means ; and the fact of his being in the vicinity, would 
 have then been sufficient proof to my mind, that he 
 alone was the deadly foe whom personal safety re 
 quired me to destroy. 
 
 Fortunately for my subsequent peace of mind, to 
 say nothing worse, I did not discover him. I ^crept 
 through the bushes to a point whence I could over 
 look the covert from which the smoke had issued, 
 and also the adjacent country ; but though I kept a 
 careful watch till the sun, large and red, went down 
 behind the western line of earth and sky, I saw no 
 human being. The gathering shades of night now 
 warned me that it was high time to set out upon my 
 return to camp ; and looking carefully to the priming 
 of my rifle, and laying my course with my eye, I was 
 soon hastening through the tall grass of the valley 
 already mentioned. Avoiding Eattlesnake Eidge, as 
 I mentally christened the point of my first peril, I 
 kept along the hollow some half a mile, and then 
 turned off to the right, over what I supposed to be the 
 very undulations I had previously traversed. 
 
 So confident was I of pursuing the proper direc- 
 
128 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 ticm, and so occupied was my mind with the startling 
 events of the last few hours, that the possibility of 
 missing my way did not occur to me till night had 
 fairly set in ; when suddenly looking up and around, 
 a moment s reflection convinced me that I had already 
 passed over more ground than lay in a direct line be 
 tween the furthest point I had % visited and the camp. 
 Instantly a glow of heat passed over me, a new alarm 
 thrilled through me, and I fairly shuddered at the 
 thought that perhaps I was lost. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 A THRILLING ADVENTURE. 
 
 LOST in the wilderness ! Lost on the prairie ! What 
 terrible associations are linked with these two phrases, 
 in the mind of him who has ever experienced their 
 heart-sickening reality! No situation, probably, in 
 which a human being can be placed, can more forcibly 
 bring home to him the enervating, overpowering sense 
 of human littleness and human helplessness the 
 crushing, blasting sense of loneliness and desolation 
 than being completely lost in the awful solitudes of 
 nature. He looks around him, as far as his strained 
 and aching sight can reach, and beholds solitude 
 stretching away and away, seemingly limitless; he 
 looks above him, and beholds the heavens spread with 
 
A THRILLING ADVENTURE. 129 
 
 cheerless grandeur over all; while excited fancy 
 places him in the immediate presence of the Great 
 Principle which wrought a world from chaos; and 
 standing there, a conscious atom of the Universe, his 
 sins, like culprits, rise up before him, and ready con 
 science pronounces a severe judgment a judgment 
 from which there is no appeal to human sympathy. 
 Time misspent wrongs committed all the errors of 
 a life passed in the whirl and turmoil of a human 
 vortex now rise up for dispassionate review ; and 
 his inner-self writes the sentence that expels him from 
 all that is pure and holy. 
 
 It was not my misfortune, in the present instance, 
 to experience all these sensations in the full poignancy 
 of despair for I did not, for a moment, consider my 
 self lost beyond hope but I felt enough to make me 
 wretched. That I should find my companions, either 
 soon or late, I did not doubt for I had not as yet 
 advanced far enough into the wilderness to preclude 
 the possibility of a sudden return to the settlement I 
 had left in the morning, where I could procure another 
 horse and take a fresh start upon the broad trail ; but 
 should I find them during the night that had now just 
 dropped its dark curtains around me ? And if not, 
 what physical sufferings might result to myself! and 
 what prostrating, mental anguish to my dear friend ! 
 who had already begun to cling to me, and put his 
 hope in me as the mariner puts his trust in the bark 
 which bears him over the great deep and to whom, 
 therefore, my absence would be a source of grief and 
 
130 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 alarm, that would banish sleep from his debilitated 
 frame 1 And for myself, I was much fatigued with 
 my day s ride ; foot-ramblings, and intense nervous 
 excitement, and felt the need of both food and rest. 
 With the exception of a single sea-biscuit, I had eaten 
 nothing since morning ; and the keen, gnawing sense 
 of hunger, which I now experienced, brought addi 
 tional dejection to my oppressed spirits. 
 
 But it was folly to stand idle, or sit down and brood 
 over my misfortune ; and so, collecting all my forces 
 with a will, both mental and physical, I determined to 
 find the camp, if it were possible to be found. Ascend 
 ing the highest knoll or ridge in my immediate vicinity, 
 I surveyed the landscape in every direction, as far as 
 my sight could penetrate in the star-light darkness 
 but saw nothing to determine my course. I shouted 
 with the whole strength of my lungs but only the 
 echo of my voice, the hooting of some owl, or the 
 dismal howl of a distant wolf, came back in answer. 
 I discharged my rifle but my hearing remained 
 unrejoiced by another report ; and reloading my 
 piece, I again set off, taking a more westerly course. 
 
 In a few minutes I came upon a small stream of 
 water, which I supposed to be the same that flowed 
 past our camp but could not decide whether that 
 camp were above or below. Being undetermined, I 
 mounted another elevation, and away to the westward 
 discerned a light, which I believed to proceed from 
 the fire of a camp but whether from the one I was 
 in search of or not, I could not say. At all events, it 
 
A THKILLING ADVENTURE. 131 
 
 was a welcome sight, for it showed the locality of 
 human beings ; and with my eyes riveted upon it, 
 with as eager a gaze as ever miser bestowed upon his 
 gold, I made all haste over the intervening ground, 
 and reached it within a quarter of an hour after mak 
 ing the discovery. 
 
 It proved to be the camp of a party of emigrants 
 and traders, united for the journey, on their way to 
 New Mexico. There were some twenty or thirty 
 wagons in all, which were arranged in a circular form, 
 in regular order, on the bank of a little creek, the side 
 next to the water being left open. Here, at different 
 fires, the several parties, or families, were having pre 
 pared their evening meal the women, some eight or 
 ten in number, being the principal cooks ; while the 
 men were packing and unpacking, smoking, lounging, 
 and looking after their animals, which were picketed 
 within rifle range. As I drew near the camp, no one 
 seemed to take any notice of me ; and before I had 
 addressed any one, my attention became arrested and 
 riveted upon an object, that for the time caused me to 
 forget where I was and what I sought. 
 
 In the full blaze of a bright fire, over which was 
 suspended a kettle, which she seemed to be watching, 
 stood a pale, delicate, but beautiful girl, of perhaps 
 sixteen or seventeen years, bare-foot, and clad in 
 coarse garments. The style of her dress was rather 
 Mexican than American, and consisted of a scarlet 
 petticoat, with a full, flowing sack, which covered her 
 bust and a portion of her arms, and fell half way below 
 
132 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 the waist, around which it was secured by a blue belt 
 thus giving her a somewhat fanciful and picturesque 
 appearance. The usual appendage of the head the 
 long muffler, or rebozo was wanting ; and her long 
 raven ringlets fell in wanton profusion around her 
 pale face, neck and shoulders. 
 
 But it was the expression of that pale face which 
 riveted my gaze. The features were fine and beauti 
 ful, seemingly intellectual, but melancholy to a degree. 
 They did not lack soul, but lacked the soul of happi 
 ness. They seemed as if a blight had fallen upon the 
 young heart as if a secret sorrow were nestled in the 
 soul. The eyes were large, dark, full and dreamy ; 
 and beaming through long, drooping lashes, the ex 
 pression was very sweet and fascinating the more 
 fascinating, perhaps, that its constant sadness seemed 
 to demand constant sympathy. 
 
 As I stood somewhat in the shade, and silently re 
 garding her, I could not but fancy that some fairy had 
 been expelled from her bright realm, and been doomed 
 for a season to wander over an unsympathizing, un 
 congenial world. I felt a strange interest in her an 
 interest for which I could not account. I had never 
 before experienced such peculiar sensations in the 
 presence of one of her sex. It was as if some unknown 
 superhuman force were drawing me to her, and com 
 pelling the conviction that her destiny and mine were 
 in some unaccountable manner united. For a time I 
 was fascinated spell-bound. What could it mean? 
 
A THKILLING ADVENTURE. 138 
 
 I aroused myself, with a start of surprise, and, without 
 a moment s reflection, advanced straight to her side. 
 
 " Fair being," said I, " who are you ?" 
 
 My voice broke her reverie for until I spoke she 
 did not perceive me. She looked up suddenly, and 
 for a moment her soft, dark eyes timidly rested upon 
 mine. I felt a strange thrill pass through every nerve 
 and fibre of my system, and a strong impulse to rush 
 forward and clasp her in my arms. What did it all 
 mean? and what foolish thing might I have done, 
 had my magnetic infatuation continued without inter 
 ruption I But it was harshly interrupted. 
 
 " Who are you, stranger ? and what do you want ?" 
 demanded a gruff voice, that instantly transported me 
 from Paradise to Pandemonium. 
 
 I started, and my fairy shrank timidly away. I 
 looked around, and discovered that the voice proceeded 
 from a black-haired, swarthy, ill-favored, very earthly- 
 looking human being, who was reclining on the 
 ground near one of the wagons. He had a pipe in 
 his hand, from which, as he spoke, he knocked the 
 ashes ; and gathering himself upon his feet, he came 
 swaggering forward to where I stood. His height 
 was about five feet ten inches, his frame bony, his fea 
 tures cadaverous, his eye black and devilish, and his 
 age about forty-five years. 
 
 "Were you addressing yourself to me, sir?" I 
 inquired, in a subdued tone; while I felt certain that 
 a close examination would discover anything but 
 
134 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 a pleasant mood in my flushed face and flashing 
 eyes. 
 
 " Yes," he gruffly replied ; " I was talking to you, 
 and to nobody else ! I want to know who you are ? 
 and what you want ?" 
 
 "And I want to know what right you have to 
 make the inquiry ?" returned I. 
 
 "I ll let you know, soon, if you don t give me 
 
 a straight-forward, civil answer." 
 
 " When you put your questions in that courteous 
 manner which is due from one gentleman to another," 
 said I, "I will answer you civilly and correctly; but 
 if you think to bully me into a gentlemanly reply, 
 you have mistaken your man." 
 
 " Well, I want no more words with you !" he re 
 joined, biting his lip ; " so take yourself off! Away 
 with you now !" 
 
 " I am not used to being ordered away like a dog," 
 said I. 
 
 " Well, you had better get used to it then for a 
 decent dog is worth two of you !" 
 
 " You are an insolent scoundrel !" said I. 
 
 "By ! no man tells me that and lives," he 
 
 fairly shouted with rage ; and as he spoke, he darted 
 to his wagon and seized his rifle. 
 
 Ere he could bring it to a level, my fairy, who had 
 been standing back, a witness of all that had taken 
 place, suddenly bounded forward, with a scream, and, 
 seizing his arms, exclaimed : 
 
A THRILLING ADVENTURE. 135 
 
 " Oil ! don t shoot him, father ! for God s sake, don t 
 shoot him !" 
 
 "Back, spawn of a heil-cat!" he cried, gnashing his 
 teeth with fury ; and raising his hand, he dealt her a 
 blow on the side of the head which laid her prostrate 
 on the earth. 
 
 I could bear no more; I was beside myself with a 
 thousand wild fancies ; my brain was in a whirl ; I 
 thought of nothing but that I was in a country with 
 out law, where my life had twice been sought ; that 
 my angel protector had been struck down by a demon 
 in the human form ; that it was his life or mine ; and 
 bringing my piece to a level, I darted forward, and 
 discharged it within ten feet of his breast. 
 
 He fell. I saw him fall, and heard him groan. But 
 I stood as one paralyzed. What had I done? Had 
 I committed murder? 
 
 "Oh, sir! oh, sir! you have killed him!" broke in 
 the sweet, mournful voice of the being for whose life I 
 would have given mine; and seemingly unmindful of 
 the foul, brutal blow she had herself received, she 
 crawled to him, and bent over him affectionately, I 
 fancied, she bent over the prostrate monster whom 
 she had called father, and whom my act had laid low, 
 perhaps in death. 
 
 I stood transfixed my eyes riveted upon two ob 
 jects an angel and a demon. There came a rush 
 of feet a buzz of voices. Shadowy spectres seemed to 
 flit past the different firelights to the right to the 
 left before, and behind. I was soon surrounded; 
 
136 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 my strained sight no longer rested upon the angel 
 and the demon ; other objects intervened ; I felt rude 
 hands grasp me, and comprehended that I was being 
 hurried away. 
 
 All this, I think, occupied no more time than I 
 have in recording it ; and I was finally aroused from 
 a kind of mental lethargy, by words uttered in a tone 
 of stern reproof and inquiry. 
 
 " Young man, you have probably killed one of our 
 party ? Who are you ? how came you here ? and 
 what led you to shoot Gaspard Loyola ?" 
 
 I looked up, and saw myself surrounded by some 
 ten or twelve strong, muscular, hardy, bronze-fea 
 tured, resolute men. The speaker was advanced in 
 years, and had iron-gray hair, and a commanding 
 appearance. To him I addressed my reply. 
 
 "Sir I" said I "most deeply do I regret the sad 
 occurrence of which you speak ; and half an hour 
 since, I should have regarded as insane the man who 
 had predicted that I was on the point of staining my 
 hands with the blood of a total stranger." 
 
 I then proceeded to state who I was ; whence I 
 came ; the peculiar circumstances which had led me 
 to their camp ; the cause of my quarrel with the per 
 son they called Loyola ; and how, while acting in self- 
 defence, I had been governed by a kind of insane 
 impulse. 
 
 " I think Mr. Eivers speaks the truth," said one of 
 the party ; " for you know this Loyola makes it a 
 point to quarrel with every one who crosses his path ; 
 
A THRILLING ADVENTURE. 137 
 
 and I myself heard a portion of the conversation just 
 repeated, and saw the Spaniard run for his rifle, and 
 knock down the girl for interfering." 
 
 " He deserves all he s got !" said another, with an oath. 
 
 " We will examine the girl," rejoined the first spea 
 ker, "and if she corroborates the statement of the 
 young man, we must acquit him." 
 
 Leaving some three or four of the party with me, 
 as a kind of guard, he then walked away with the 
 others, to where the wounded man was lying. 
 
 " I feel faint," said I, to those remaining with me; 
 "I have scarcely tasted food since morning : will you 
 permit me to sit upon the ground ?" 
 
 " Come with me," returned one, " and I will give 
 you food." 
 
 He led the way to a wagon, on the opposite side 
 of the camp, where his supper which he was in the 
 act of devouring, when interrupted by the general 
 alarm was still spread out on the end-board the 
 latter being turned down and supported horizontally, 
 to serve as a table. The repast before me consisted 
 of hot coffee, with sugar a great luxury in the 
 wilderness a freshly baked corn-cake, and several 
 smoking slices of meat, with salt. He got another 
 cup and poured it full of coffee first asking me if I 
 would take some whiskey, which I declined. 
 
 " Eat, young man," he said, in a kindly tone ; " you 
 are welcome." 
 
 I did not feel the same keen appetite as when 
 wandering over the rolling prairie ; but being very 
 
138 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 faint, I considered it essential to take food to sustain 
 nature. Accordingly, I drank off half the coffee at 
 once, and then ate a few mouthfuls of the corn-cake 
 and meat which, owing to the weak and nervous 
 state of my system, I swallowed with difficulty, and 
 with a sensation of nausea. 
 
 While thus engaged, the wife of my kind and hos 
 pitable entertainer, who gave me his name as Phillips, 
 came running up and exclaimed : 
 
 " William, they think he ll die, though he is still 
 alive." 
 
 I staggered at the words ; for till now, knowing 
 Loyola to be alive, I had some hope that his wound 
 would not prove mortal ; and had Phillips not caught 
 me, I should have fallen to the ground. 
 " Hush, Martha I" he said to his wife ; " have you 
 no regard for the young man s feelings ?" 
 
 " I beg your pardon, sir !" returned the woman, 
 addressing me in a kindly tone. " I did not think be 
 fore I spoke. But nobody seems to blame you : they 
 say you did it in self-defence." 
 
 lt God forbid the man should die !" groaned I, sink 
 ing down upon a box, in great distress of mind. 
 
 Mr. Phillips, and the men who were with him, used 
 such words as they could to console me ; but I had a 
 terrible consciousness, that, should the man die, I 
 should never know peace of mind again. While they 
 were yet talking to me, the venerable head of the 
 party for such he was by election returned and 
 said: 
 
ADELE AND MYSTERY. 139 
 
 "Mr. Elvers, you stand honorably acquitted of 
 crime. The testimony of Adele corroborates yours ; 
 you acted in self-defence ; and though I think you 
 might, by prudence, have avoided the tragic quarrel, I 
 take pleasure in adding, that I am empowered, by 
 the verdict of twelve of our party, to discharge you 
 from custody." 
 
 " Will the man die?" inquired I. 
 
 " The wound, which is in the right breast, is thought 
 to be mortal." 
 
 " Then God arrests me, and takes the case to the 
 High Court of Eternity 1" I groaned, feeling most 
 deeply the pangs of remorse and despair. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ADELE AND MYSTERY. 
 
 I HAVE, in the course of my adventurous life, passed 
 through many trying scenes scenes of horror, scenes 
 of peril, and scenes of acute physical and mental 
 suffering ; but I do not think I have ever experienced 
 more real soul -torture in the same time, than during 
 the first two hours succeeding the announcement of 
 the venerable Captain Hillyard, that Gaspard Loyola 
 had received from my hands what was supposed to 
 be a mortal wound. It was in vain that persons of 
 both sexes gathered around, and strove to console me, 
 
140 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 by declaring that I was not to blame that the act 
 was one of self-defence and that I must have been, 
 more than human, or an arrant coward ; to have done 
 otherwise than I did. I knew in my own heart that 
 I could have avoided taking a fellow-creature s life ; 
 that I could have borne an insult, and walked quietly 
 away from the insulter; and my conscience con 
 demned me for allowing my passions and impulses to 
 prevail over my reason, judgment, and education. I 
 had begun my career of manhood by deliberately 
 thwarting the wishes of my father and here was one 
 early and awful result of the first wrong step. I had 
 been brought up to regard the life of man as the gift 
 of God, which no human being had aright to destroy; 
 I had not yet been long enough beyond the reach of 
 law to have my keen sensibilities dulled ; and conse 
 quently I felt that the deed I had done, however justi 
 fiable in the eyes of man, was a heinous sin in the 
 sight of Him who had given the stern decree, amid 
 the smoke, the lightnings, and the thunders of Mount 
 Sinai" Thou shalt not kill /" 
 
 For two hours, I say, I sat buried in the most 
 intense agony of mind with remorse and despair, 
 like an incubus, upon my heart the most wretched 
 of all -wretched beings when word was brought me 
 that the ball had been extracted from the breast of 
 Loyola, and that, though dangerous, the wound was 
 thought not necessarily mortal. The parched traveller 
 in the desert, when his eye falls upon the cool waters 
 of a spring ; the lost mariner, drifting for days on the 
 
A DELE AND MYSTERY. 141 
 
 great deep, when lie finds himself discovered by a 
 friendly sail ; or the drowning man, when he beholds 
 a rope within his grasp ; leaps not more suddenly 
 from despair to hope from misery to joy than did 
 I at this unexpected announcement. 
 
 " Great God, let him live I" was my first ejaculation ; 
 and if ever a sincere prayer came from the heart, that 
 came from mine. " Can I be permitted to see him?" 
 I inquired. 
 
 There was some consultation among three or four 
 leading members of the party, and then I was an 
 swered in the affirmative. I hastened to the wounded 
 man, and found him lying upon his back, on a rude 
 bed, in his own wagon, his eyes closed, his face pale 
 from loss of blood, and his respiration somewhat 
 difficult and irregular. By his side knelt the beautiful 
 Adele, with a green bush in her hand, which she was 
 slowly waving to and fro, to keep off the musquitoes, 
 and other night insects, which had already, in this 
 part of the country, become very troublesome. I saw 
 them both by the light of a glass lantern, which 
 depended from one of the ribs of the covered vehicle ; 
 and its pale gleams, falling upon their pale faces, and 
 upon the rough, uncouth surroundings, and only faintly 
 revealing the sober features of others peering in at 
 the opposite end, presented a picture of death-like 
 solemnity, which haunted me for days, and even now 
 rises vividly before the eye of the mind. I drew back 
 with a shudder, and addressed myself to a person 
 standing near. 
 
142 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Can I be permitted to speak a word with the 
 daughter of Loyola ?" I inquired. 
 
 " I think so ; but do not speak too loud, for I reckon 
 Loyola is asleep." 
 
 " No ! not there, my friend : do me the favor to ask 
 her to step outside." 
 
 He did as I requested; and getting some one to 
 take her place, Adele descended from the wagon. 
 
 "This way!" said I, in a tremulous voice: "let us 
 step aside ! I wish to speak a few words with you 
 privately." 
 
 She seemed not a little agitated ; but silently, and 
 with downcast eyes, complied with my request. I 
 led her toward the centre of the camp, that she might 
 have no fear; and the moment I thought we could 
 converse without being overheard, I stopped, and 
 gently taking her hand, said : 
 
 "Adele for so I understand you are called this 
 is a terrible affair to both of us ; and no one can know 
 what agonies I have suffered, in consequence, during 
 the last two hours; and yet, properly considered, I 
 know not that I am to blame. I did not come here 
 with the intention of quarreling, but because I had 
 lost my way ; you yourself were the first with whom 
 I spoke ; and God knows, Adele, I had anything but 
 a wicked design in my heart at that moment. Your 
 singular beauty nay, start not, and think I am pass 
 ing unmeaning compliments, for my soul is too heavy 
 to deal in frivolities ! your singular beauty, I say, 
 united, as it is, with a melancholy expression of sor- 
 
ADELE AND MYSTERY. 143 
 
 row, demanding sympathy, arrested my attention, and 
 attracted me to your side; and what followed you 
 know. My life was menaced ; and, but for your inter 
 position, would undoubtedly have been taken. I saw 
 you foully struck to the earth ; I knew that blow was 
 given on my account ; and excited to that point where 
 reason is lost in frenzy, I darted forward and shot 
 down the aggressor. Can you forgive me for an act 
 done as much upon your account as my own, Adele?" 
 
 She drooped her head, and sobbingly replied : 
 
 U 0h, yes, I forgive you because, as you say, you 
 did not intend anything wrong when you came and 
 spoke to me ; and my father God and the Saints for 
 give him also! forced you to quarrel, and would 
 certainly have killed you, in his rage, had you not 
 disabled him. He is a very passionate man, sir ; and 
 when he has been drinking freely, as he had to-day, 
 is very much disposed to quarrel, even with his 
 friends ; but I trust you will forgive him, too, sir !" 
 
 The voice of the fair speaker was low and silvery, 
 and had a melancholy sweetness which touched my 
 heart. Her accent was slightly foreign ; but she 
 spoke my native language with an ease and fluency 
 that argued a long familiarity with it ; and, from 
 various causes, I found myself most deeply interested 
 in her and her hard fortune. 
 
 "For your sake, Adele," I replied, "I will and do 
 forgive him though through hirn I have been led to 
 the commission of a deed which may render the rest 
 of my life unhappy ; for should he die, the awful re- 
 
144 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 membrance, that my hand had sent a fellow-being to 
 eternity, would ever haunt me." 
 
 "And should he recover/ rejoined my fair compan 
 ion, with a shudder, " I hope and pray you may never 
 meet again ! for if he found the opportunity, he would 
 certainly take your life." 
 
 " Is he then so revengeful ?" 
 
 " Alas! yes : he never forgives any one that he has 
 ever looked upon as an enemy." 
 
 " And is it possible that he can be your father ? 
 that the blood of a man of such vindictive passions 
 flows in the veins of one so fair and pure, forgiving 
 and gentle, as yourself?" 
 
 " Keally," said Adele, with some agitation, with 
 drawing her hand which till this moment had, with 
 seeming unconsciousness on her part, rested in mine : 
 " Keally, I must go back ! I am afraid he will wake 
 and ask for me ; and then he will get excited, seeing 
 others about, and excitement now might prove fatal 
 to him." 
 
 " You must not go yet 1" said I, detaining her. 
 " Stay a few minutes longer, I pray you ! I am about 
 to leave you, and may never see you again ; and I 
 would like very much to have you answer me a few 
 questions." 
 
 " Are you going away to-night ?" she timidly in 
 quired, but in a tone that indicated surprise ; and 
 looking up as she spoke, I saw, by a gleam of fire 
 light that fell upon her pale face, that a deeper shade 
 
ADELE AND MYSTERY. 145 
 
 of sorrow rested upon it, and that her dark, dreamy 
 eyes were swimming in tears. 
 
 " I must leave to-night, Adele, or very early in the 
 morning, to search for my friends." 
 
 And then, in as few words as I could, I told her who 
 I was, and what chance, accident, or Providence, had 
 brought me to the camp. She listened attentively, 
 earnestly, sadly. 
 
 " And now," continued I, " will you not so far con 
 fide in me, as to say whether or not Gaspard Loyola 
 is your father ?" 
 
 " Why do you ask ?" she said, quickly. 
 
 " Because I take more than a passing interest in 
 you, and much desire to know something of your 
 history ; and because, as I said before, I cannot bring 
 myself to believe that his blood flows in your veins." 
 
 " Weil," sighed Adele, " I do not know. I have 
 been told that he is my father, and I have been told 
 that he is not." 
 
 "If there is any doubt, Adele, in the name of 
 humanity, give it for the negative do not consider 
 such a brutal wretch the author of your existence I 
 Excuse me for speaking plainly and boldly I I saw 
 him strike you to the earth, with the blow of a cow 
 ardly ruffian, when your only offence was an attempt 
 to withhold him from the commission of murder ; and 
 it was that brutal act, I think, rather than fear for my 
 own safety, that impulsively urged me on to a deed 
 which I have since repented of in the deepest agonies 
 of remorse and despair. But mark you ! I had no 
 
146 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 sympathy for him; nor have I now strange and 
 anomalous as it may seem; my contrition was for 
 having shot down, and probably killed, a fellow-being, 
 when I might either have avoided the quarrel, or beat 
 him down, and severely punished him, without taking 
 life. If God spares him, I shall not regret being the 
 cause. of his retributive sufferings; and though, for 
 your sake, and on account of those sufferings, I will 
 pardon his design upon my life, yet my sympathies 
 will be with you only. Do you understand me ?" 
 
 " I think I do, sir !" she timidly replied, casting 
 down her eyes. 
 
 "So far as you are concerned, mark me in so 
 much as his sufferings may cause you pain shall I 
 sympathize no more. I would have him live ; but 
 live to repentance ; live to know and feel that life is 
 not given for the mere gratification of hellish desires 
 and passions; not given to the strong to be used 
 against the weak ; not given for the purpose of making 
 all around him miserable. And now tell me, Adele, 
 can I be of any service to you ? I have been the un 
 fortunate cause of bringing fresh trouble upon one 
 who has seen much sorrow ; and if I can in any man 
 ner serve you, I am in honor and duty bound to do 
 so." 
 
 "I thank you, for your kind offer!" half sobbed 
 the afflicted girl ; " but I do not know of anything 
 you can do for me." 
 
 "I pray you to have no hesitation in answering 
 frankly; for though I am a stranger, whose brief 
 
ADELE AND MYSTEKY. 147 
 
 acquaintance you have made under circumstances the 
 most painful, not to say horrible under circumstances 
 rather calculated to excite your antipathy than regard 
 yet I solemnly assure you, I would peril my life to 
 do you a favor." 
 
 Adele burst into tears, but made no reply. 
 
 "Why do you weep?" I said, taking her hand 
 again, and impulsively drawing . her to me. " There 
 is something you wish to tell me. Speak out, I pray 
 you!" 
 
 But she only wept and sobbed the more. 
 
 "Adele," I continued, "you are young; I am 
 several years your senior; do not be afraid to confide 
 in me ; speak as to a brother ; and I solemnly assure 
 you, you shall not find your confidence misplaced! 
 Tell me, Adele why do you weep ?" 
 
 " Because," she sobbed, " you speak so kindly to 
 me so like a true friend ; and I am not used to kind 
 ness ; and I never had a friend or if I ever had, it 
 was a long, long time ago." 
 
 " Poor girl !" said I ; "no wonder your features are 
 stamped with sorrow ! But you shall not want a friend 
 again, while I live and have the power to serve you. 
 Let me be your brother ! Will you let me be your 
 brother, Adele ?" 
 
 " Oh, no ! I dare not I my father would kill us 
 both!" she said, wringing her hands. "He does not 
 allow me to speak to any one but himself; and it was 
 because you came and spoke to me, that he became so 
 angry with you." 
 
148 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "But you need not fear him now, Adele," I said, 
 with something like secret exultation for the more I 
 learned of the base character of Loyola, the less I re 
 gretted my hasty deel : "you need not fear him now; 
 it will be a long time, should he eventually recover, 
 before he will regain sufficient strength to interfere 
 with us, or again misuse you ; and should he ever at 
 tempt the latter again, in my presence, he must again 
 abide the consequences I" 
 
 " Oh I you do not know him !" cried Adele : " and 
 you must avoid him ; for should he recover, and ever 
 see you again, he would find some way to take your 
 life ! But you said you were going away !" 
 
 " True, so I am. I have a friend, who is even now 
 miserable because of my absence ; and I must find 
 him as soon as I can ; but the party to which I belong 
 cannot be far from yours ; and as you will necessarily 
 travel slow, on account of this dark man, whom you 
 call your father, I shall endeavor to overtake you. 
 Will you permit me to be your brother, and befriend 
 you as a brother should ?" 
 
 " I do not know ; I am afraid ; and yet I have often 
 wished I had a brother," she sighed. 
 
 " Say no more then it is settled ; have no fear ; I 
 will be prudent ; but I must see you, for I feel myself 
 drawn to you in an unaccountable manner. And 
 now, before we part, will you not confide in me, and 
 tell me what you know of your history ?" 
 
 " What shall I tell you ?" she inquired, with a 
 
ADELE AND MYSTEKY. 149 
 
 startled air, looking cautiously around, as if fearful 
 of a harsh interruption. 
 
 " Tell me what you remember of your history, 
 Adele I Tell me where you were born ; what has 
 become of your mother ; how long you have known 
 this man you call father ; how you became separated 
 from your friends ; and how long you have been 
 engaged in this hard, perilous life, so unsuited to one 
 of your years and delicate organization I" 
 
 " I could not answer all your questions if I would, * 
 she replied; "and even those I can answer, would 
 take more time than can now be spared ; and besides, 
 I am afraid to tell what little I do know." 
 
 " Fear not, my poor Adele! I will protect you ; 
 and if wrong has been done you, as I have reason to 
 believe, I will see you righted, or perish in the 
 attempt. There is something mysterious in your past 
 history, I feel assured is it not so ?" 
 
 "Yes! yes!" she answered, quickly; "there is 
 something mysterious in my past life ; I do not my 
 self understand it ; but " 
 
 " Speak, I pray you!" I urged, as she hesitated ; 
 " tell me all you know ; and, rely upon it, you are 
 confiding in a friend, who will not only keep your 
 secret sacred, but will, so far as lies in his power, 
 guard you from further oppression and wrong. 
 Where were you born ?" 
 
 " I do not know, sir !" 
 
 " Did no one ever tell you ?" 
 
 " Not that I remember, sir 1" 
 
150 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " "What are your earliest recollections?" 
 
 " I have a confused recollection it is like a dream 
 of being in a place of splendor, where there were 
 a great many persons coming and going, and where 
 kind words were always spoken to me." 
 
 "Do you refer to a dwelling, or a city?" 
 
 " I think it must have been a dwelling and it 
 might have been in a city but I do not know. I 
 remember walking over a marble floor, and seeing 
 beautiful flowers, and fountains, and paintings ; and 
 one, more than all the rest, dear, sweet face, which I 
 think was my mother s ; but all the rest is confused, 
 and perhaps it was all a dream." 
 
 "I think not," said I, most deeply interested: 
 " Children, too young to distinguish the real from the 
 ideal, are not apt to dream of such realities and 
 retain the impression for years. Does your memory 
 connect this place with a southern climate?" 
 
 " I have no recollection concerning the climate, sir !" 
 
 " Have you any remembrance of feeling cold there ? 
 of seeing any thing like snow?" 
 
 * Oh, no, sir ! it seems as if it were summer-time ; for 
 the trees were always green, and the flowers were 
 always bright at least I cannot recall them as being 
 otherwise." 
 
 "And do you remember leaving this beautiful 
 place?" 
 
 " No, sir ! I have often tried to do so, but I cannot; 
 and that leads me to think it might have been a dream." 
 
 " Well, what next do you remember ?" 
 
A DELE AND MYSTERY. 151 
 
 " Something dark and awful 1" said Adele, with a 
 perceptible shudder. "It seems as if I were in a 
 dark place, like a prison, and was rolling about, and 
 felt very sick, and heard the roar of winds and the 
 rush of waters." 
 
 " For how long a time were you in this dark and 
 awful place ?" 
 
 "I do not know, sir ! but it seems as if it were a 
 long time." 
 
 "Does it seem as if you were in a ship on the 
 ocean ?" 
 
 "I cannot say : I only remember what I have told 
 you." 
 
 ""Well, what is your next impression, or recollec- 
 lion?" 
 
 "I remember being in a convent, and having cer 
 tain lessons to recite to a tall, stern, austere woman ; 
 and likewise having a good many religious duties to 
 perform. I learned to read and write there, in Spanish, 
 Latin and English." 
 
 " Which language did you. use in common conver 
 sation ?" 
 
 " Oh, the Spanish." 
 
 "Was that your native language?" 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 " How long did you remain at this convent ?" 
 
 " Till I was ten years of age." 
 
 " And what were you called while there ?" 
 
 "Adele." 
 
152 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " And did no one tell you anything of your his 
 tory?" 
 
 " No, sir ! I one day inquired of the abbess who I 
 was ; but she only frowned, and said she knew nothing 
 of worldly affairs ; and that it mattered not who I was, 
 so I conducted myself properly." 
 
 " Well, you were in the convent, you say, till you 
 were ten years of age how came you to leave ?" 
 
 " My father came and took me away." 
 
 " Had you ever seen him before that time ?" 
 
 " I did not remember his face." 
 
 " How did you know he was your father ?" 
 
 " He and the abbess both said so." 
 
 "And was he the same person now in yonder 
 wagon?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, you said, a few minutes since, you had 
 been told he is not your father who told you so ?" 
 
 " Sister Agnes one of the nuns." 
 
 "Did she know anything of him? or of your his 
 tory?" 
 
 " No ! but she saw him at the convent, and heard 
 the abbess speak of him as my father ; and she said 
 to me, before I left, that she knew he could not be my 
 father, for there was no resemblance between us ; and 
 that one like myself could never have had being from 
 so dark and wicked-looking a man I" 
 
 " And depend upon it, my poor Adele, Sister Agnes 
 was right!" said I. "Nature could not so falsify, as 
 
ADELE AND MYSTERY. 153 
 
 to produce, from such a cause, such an effect so totally 
 at variance, in person, mind, and innate principle." 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed Adele, again looking hurriedly 
 around I must go ! I must not remain here another 
 moment. Suppose he should wake, and find me 
 absent ? and suppose any one should inform him of 
 my interview with you, here, alone ? He might, in a 
 moment of passion, do me a serious injury!" 
 
 " He shall not," said I ; "for I am going to take 
 your case in hand : you shall not remain with him to 
 be maltreated 1" 
 
 " Oh, sirl I could not leave himl" 
 
 " Why not ? You do not, you cannot, have any 
 regard for him ?" 
 
 " I do not know ; perhaps he is my father ; he says 
 he is." 
 
 " And even grant that he is he has sundered every 
 tie, human and divine, that should bind a child to a 
 parent. You do not feel any affection for him, do 
 you, Adele ?" 
 
 "Sometimes, sir, I think I do, when he speaks 
 pleasantly to me." 
 
 " That is not properly affection, my poor Adele ; 
 but is rather a grateful sense, arising from the absence 
 of fear. You know that you are in his power that 
 he is generally harsh and cruel ; you fear him in con 
 sequence ; and when, for a time, he gives you cause 
 not to fear him, you feel so grateful, that it seems as 
 if you almost loved him : is it not so ?" 
 
 " I think, perhaps, that is it, sir !" she replied. 
 
154 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " It is your nature to love, Adele ; your heart is 
 warm ; you feel the want of that iron strength and 
 will which can give adversity strong battle ; and, like 
 the tender, drooping vine, you must needs twine 
 around the hardy, storm-enduring oak for support. 
 It has never been my fortune to meet another of so 
 sweet, so gentle, so loving, so forbearing, and so for 
 giving a disposition as yourself. Nay, do not think I 
 am paying unmeaning compliments for an evil pur 
 pose ; I mean what I say ; and what I say, I know to 
 be true ; for it is all stamped on your soul, and your 
 soul is seen in your face. Your countenance is an 
 open book, easily read by one who has made human 
 nature a study. But time is precious, and I would 
 know more of your history. What was the name of 
 the convent where you received your education ?" 
 
 "Santa Maria." 
 
 " Where was it located ?" 
 
 " I am not certain about the location, but I think it 
 was in the interior of Mexico." 
 
 " And where did you go after leaving there ?" 
 
 Just at this moment a voice called Adele. 
 
 " There !" she exclaimed, hurriedly, and in a tone 
 of alarm ; " I feared it would be so ; he has awakened ; 
 good-bye !" and she darted away to the wagon. 
 
 I followed more leisurely, and cautiously looked in 
 at one end of the vehicle, keeping my features in the 
 shade, so that 1 might not be seen and recognised by 
 Loyola, who was not only awake, but giving evidence 
 of some strength, and a devilish disposition, by scold- 
 
ADELE AND MYSTERY. 155 
 
 ing Adele in Spanish. I could not understand what 
 he said; but the tone in which he spoke, and the 
 manner of the poor girl, who was trembling and 
 weeping, were enough to assure me that he was playing 
 the base tyrant, and wounding her gentle, sensitive 
 soul, by using harsh and vicious language. He was 
 lying upon his left side, his head supported by his left 
 hand, while his right clasped and pressed the bandage 
 over the wound. I could just dimly see his features 
 dark, scowling, and malignant the muscles contort 
 ing with anger and pain the black, beetling brows 
 knitted, and the small, black, sunken eyes emitting 
 gleams of malice; and I thought that Satan, if not 
 more wicked than he has been represented, might 
 have had his likeness taken by proxy. Adele, as I 
 have said, who was crouching, trembling and weeping 
 by his side, suddenly hastened, as if by an order, to 
 hand him a cup of water from a bucket near ; and no 
 sooner had he drank, than the cup was hurled at her 
 head, barely missing it by an inch. 
 
 I could bear to see no more ; I dared not longer 
 trust myself in such a presence; and I quietly has 
 tened away feeling, after what I had just witnessed, 
 that my conscience would no longer condemn me, 
 even should my deed result in ridding the world of a 
 demon incarnate. 
 
166 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RETURN TO CAMP. 
 
 THE camp had now become comparatively still, 
 tlie different fires were gradually dying out, and most 
 of the tired wayfarers had retired to rest, some under 
 cover of the different wagons, and many in the open 
 air, with only a blanket spread on the earth for a bed, 
 and a stone, a log, a saddle, or whatever was at hand, 
 for a pillow. A few were still strolling about outside 
 of the wagons, keeping watch over the horses, mules 
 and cattle, which were getting their fill of the luxu 
 riant grass along the little valley of the rippling 
 stream, and which were soon to be driven in and pick 
 eted close around the camp. The night was warm 
 and close, with scarcely a breath of air stirring ; and 
 though cloudless overhead, a thin haze, gradually 
 thickening with vapors rising from the earth, permit 
 ted only the brighter stars to be dimly visible, and 
 betokened the final eclipse of all. 
 
 Among those still astir, I found Mr. Phillips. He 
 was sitting, a la Turque, on the ground, by his wagon, 
 smoking his pipe, and repairing some portion of a 
 harness by the light of a lantern. As I had had little 
 conversation with any one save Adele, owing to my 
 depressed state of mind after shooting Loyola, I now 
 approached him, for the purpose of making some im 
 portant inquiries. 
 
RETURN TO CAMP. 157 
 
 " Well, my friend," he said, in a kindly tone, look 
 ing up from his work as I drew near "how is it 
 with you now?" 
 
 " I feel much better, I thank you 1" was my reply. 
 " I have had some conversation with Adele, of an 
 important nature, and have just come from looking 
 in upon the wounded ruffian for I cannot call him, 
 after what I have just witnessed, by any gentler term. 
 If it be true, as some physicians assert, that ill-temper 
 is a sign the invalid is in no immediate danger of 
 dying, then I think his life might be insured at a very 
 small per centage." 
 
 " You found him savage, did you?" 
 
 " Yes, savage is a very good term ; unless, in ap 
 plying it to him, it scandalizes the natives of this 
 region ;" and I proceeded to give an account of his 
 late brutal treatment of Adele. 
 
 "Poor girl!" said Phillips, sympathetically; "I 
 wish she were beyond his reach !" 
 
 " How is it," I inquired, "that you permit such a 
 brute of a man to travel in such respectable company ? 
 for all the rest of you, that I have seen, appear to have 
 human feelings." 
 
 " Why, the fact is," answered Phillips, " though we 
 travel together, for mutual protection against our com 
 mon enemy, the Indians, we are all separate traders, 
 each man owning his team and freight, which he dis 
 poses of to please himself. I say all ; but I should 
 except some four or five families, now going out to 
 Santa Fe with us, for permanent settlement. I am 
 
158 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 one that have been in this line of trade for a couple 
 of years. About a year ago, this Loyola, whom we 
 first saw in San Miguel, begged the privilege of being 
 allowed to join us. Some objected ; but on a vote 
 being taken, the decision was in his favor. He 
 brought this girl, whom he calls his daughter, with 
 him ; and with the exception of sometimes treating 
 her rather harshly, and being, now and then, especi 
 ally when he has been drinking, sullen, savage, and 
 quarrelsome, he has behaved himself pretty well, and 
 kept within the rules and regulations by which we 
 are governed. With a man s private affairs, if he 
 does not intrude upon and disturb his neighbors, our 
 general law has nothing to do our motto being, 
 each one mind his own business ; and though few 
 of us like Loyola as a man and all of us more or 
 less pity the poor girl, who is kept under the most 
 savage restraint, not being permitted to speak to any 
 one without the consent of her father yet, according 
 to the code which binds us together, no one has a 
 right to interfere in his domestic matters." 
 
 "And does not common humanity authorize you 
 to interfere, when a poor, innocent girl is the re 
 cipient of a ruffian s blows?" inquired I, with some 
 asperity. 
 
 " I never knew him to strike and knock her down 
 before to-night, and I think you will admit he is pretty 
 well punished for that." 
 
 " Yes," I replied, "and I am now inclined to believe 
 he got no more than he deserved." 
 
HE TURN TO CAMP. 159 
 
 " So I have heard several say already. If you had 
 not punished him severely, Mr. Rivers, you may rest 
 assured he would have met the proper chastisement 
 from other quarters, and that is why your act is 
 viewed so leniently. If he recovers, he will have to 
 carry himself pretty straight hereafter, or he will find 
 himself expelled from the company. Even as it is, I 
 have heard several declare, that if he is to be per 
 mitted to travel with us, they will withdraw. I do 
 not know how it will be. With the exception men 
 tioned, Loyola is not a bad travelling companion. 
 He has his good points. He never meddles with his 
 neighbors affairs, and a better Indian fighter it would 
 be hard to find. Last winter, when we were attacked 
 by the Camanches, he fought like a hero ; and with 
 rifle, pistols, and knife, killed four, and wounded two 
 more, besides chasing the others, when they fled, 
 further than any other white man dared to venture." 
 
 " I should suppose he would make a good fighter," 
 said I, u and good Indian fighters are valuable. Do 
 you know anything of his history ?" 
 
 " Nothing he is not communicative." 
 
 " Is the girl, Adele, generally supposed to be his 
 daughter ?" 
 
 " We know nothing to the contrary though I 
 have heard many express their doubts." 
 
 " And rightly, I judge. At all events, as I have 
 taken a deep interest in her, I shall endeavor to see 
 her again, and make some further inquiries, whether 
 
160 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 he like it or not that is, if others of your party 
 have no reasonable objections." 
 
 "Loyola will have objections, you may rest 
 assured ; and you will have to be cautious, or your 
 life may be the penalty. I believe he would shoot 
 the man who interferes in his affairs, as he would a 
 dog." 
 
 " There are two that can play at that game," said 
 I, " as he already knows to his cost. But I will be 
 cautious ; and if others do not intermeddle, I think I 
 can manage the matter very safely. And now, my 
 friend, give me a candid, straight-forward answer. 
 Should I ascertain that Adele has been removed from 
 her friends and I can, through her, find any clue to 
 them, and wish to restore her, with her own consent, 
 do you think any of your party, save Loyola him 
 self, would object to my taking her away ?" 
 
 " Why, if satisfied of your intentions being per 
 fectly honorable as I doubt not they are I do not 
 think any one would ; because, should the girl desire 
 to leave, that would be her own business; but it 
 would be better that none of our party rendered 
 you any assistance ; for I have seen enough of 
 Loyola, to know that he would be a dangerous man 
 to tamper with." 
 
 " I will ask no help beyond my own friends ; and 
 nothing shall be done to compromit any of your 
 party ; and as to my intentions toward the poor girl, 
 if I do not mean her well, in every respect, may my 
 tongue wither, and my eyes refuse me sight 1" 
 
KETURN TO CAMP. 161 
 
 " I see how it is !" rejoined Phillips, with a smile 
 of meaning ; " it is already whispered about that you 
 are in love with the girl." 
 
 " Is it so ?" returned I, with a start of surprise ; 
 for though I had been drawn to Adele in an unac 
 countable manner, I had never once thought of her 
 in such a connection : " Then tell your friends they 
 labor under a mistake. I never was in love in my 
 life ; and if I know myself, I am not now ; but I 
 have much sympathy for her, and I will do her a 
 service if I can though my feelings are rather those 
 df a brother than a lover. I have just left home to 
 see something of the world in the wilderness, and do 
 not intend to fall in love for ten years to come five, 
 at least." 
 
 " Say what you will, Mr. Kivers," returned Phiilips, 
 with a pleasant laugh, " you could not convince the 
 women to the contrary and they are pretty shrewd 
 in matters pertaining to the heart. However, it is 
 none of my business ; though I venture to say, that 
 you might fall in love with a less attractive girl, judg 
 ing from the little I have seen of her." 
 
 " Pray do me the favor to undeceive your lady 
 friends in this respect," said I. " And yet," I added, 
 after a moment s reflection, " it may, on the whole, be 
 best to let them think as they do." 
 
 "I think it will," laughed Phillips; "at least, I 
 
 am certain nothing I could say would change their 
 
 opinion ; for I have seen enough of the sex to know, 
 
 that if a woman has once fairly got a crotchet in her 
 
 9 
 
162 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 head, all the reasoning powers of man, or angel, 
 would not be sufficient to drive it out." 
 
 I continued my conversation with Mr. Phillips for 
 some half an hour longer ; and I found him, as I have 
 shown him, a shrewd, intelligent man, with pleasing 
 conversational powers, and an education superior to 
 the majority of Western traders. He informed me 
 that he was originally from one of the Eastern States ; 
 that he had been a merchant in St. Louis ; but having 
 failed in business, he had adopted his present mode 
 of life in order to get another start in the world, and 
 liberally educate his two boys, both of whom were now 
 at college. His wife, by her own choice, accompanied 
 him in his hard, perilous journeys back and forth 
 across the plains ; which at times made his travels 
 more pleasant to him ; and at others, especially when 
 surrounded by danger, caused him extreme anxiety. 
 He said he thought if he could get safely through 
 another year, with the same good fortune in trade 
 that had hitherto attended him, he would be able 
 to start again in business in St. Louis, where he could 
 have all the comforts of a happy home. I wished him 
 success, with all my heart. He dealt partly in dry goods, 
 and partly in teas, coffee and sugar on all of which 
 he made enormous profits generally selling out at 
 Santa Fe, and getting his pay in cash, or furs which 
 latter were even better than cash, because he realized 
 on them a second profit on his return to the States. 
 Most of those with him were Missourians each, like 
 himself, trading on his own account and, like him- 
 
RETUKN TO CAMP. 163 
 
 self, most of them at home were men of some stand 
 ing. 
 
 " Well," he said, at length, " it is time for us to turn 
 in, for these hot days we must start early. I have 
 no tempting accommodations to offer you ; but I can 
 lend you a blanket, and show you the soft side of a 
 turf; and to such accommodations you must get accus 
 tomed, if you continue your journey over the prairies." 
 
 " I kindly thank you !" said I ; " but I am still too 
 much excited to sleep ; and I think I will make 
 another effort to find my own camp ; it certainly can 
 not be far from here." 
 
 " By-the-by," he rejoined, " was your camp a little 
 south of the regular trail ?" 
 
 " Yes, about a quarter of a mile, in a very pleasant 
 woodland-bottom, on the bank of a little stream." 
 
 " Had you a tent ?" 
 
 " Yes 1" I returned, quickly. 
 
 " Then we passed it about half an hour before sun 
 down. I saw the tent, and called attention to it. It 
 is about a mile and a half, or two miles, east of here." 
 
 " Then I can certainly find it," said I, joyfully ; 
 "and I must find it to-night ; for my friend will not 
 sleep till I return ; and one night s loss of sleep will 
 unfit him for to-morrow s journey." 
 
 " Well, if you think you had better go, I will not 
 try to detain you, for I appreciate your feelings ; but 
 you scarcely tasted of your supper ; so, for fear of 
 accidents, I shall insist on your taking some food 
 with you." 
 
164 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 I gladly assented to his proposition, for I now began 
 to feel a very keen appetite ; and he hastened to pro 
 cure me a large slice of meat, and one entire corn- 
 cake apologizing, at the same time, for not having 
 anything better to offer me. 
 
 " And now," he said ; giving my hand a hearty grip 
 and shake, "I will bid you good-bye, with the hope 
 that we shall meet again. You will probably over 
 take us for we travel slow with teams and I think 
 your heart and Adele will hasten the meeting. And, 
 my friend, should it chance that Loyola does not 
 recover, do not be too much cast down I You acted 
 on the defensive ; and there is not one of us, pro 
 bably, that would not have done as you did under 
 the circumstances. If we have any human right 
 more than another, it is the right to protect our own 
 lives, by our own strong arms, in this wild, lawless 
 country ; and even in the settlements, you could not 
 find a jury that would not, in your case, even had the 
 man been killed outright, bring in a verdict of justifi 
 able homicide. Good-bye !" 
 
 " Good-bye, and God bless you, for proving your 
 self a friend in need!" I replied; and I spoke in a 
 tremulous voice, and left him with tearful eyes. 
 
 On quitting the kind-hearted Phillips, I crossed over 
 to Loyola s wagon, to take one parting look at the 
 wounded man, and perhaps speak another word with 
 Adele. While we had been conversing, one after 
 another had betaken themselves to rest; and only 
 here and there a person could be seen stirring ; while 
 
RETURN TO CAMP. 165 
 
 all the fires had gone out, or were smouldering in 
 their own ashes. I approached the wagon cautiously, 
 and stealthily, and quietly looked in. Loyola was 
 lying on his left side, apparently asleep; and poor 
 Adele, sitting on a box, with her back against a bale 
 of goods, was nodding with drowsiness, though evi 
 dently struggling to keep herself awake, probably 
 because she had been ordered to do so by her tyran 
 nical master. I wished to say a parting word to her, 
 but did not think it prudent to speak, and so with 
 drew as stealthily as I came. 
 
 Loyola s wagon was near the runlet or creek, which 
 was the proper outlet to the camp ; and springing 
 over the tiny stream, I ascended the opposite slope, 
 and once more found myself upon the broad, beaten 
 trail. Here I remembered I had left my rifle at Phil 
 lips wagon, and went back for it. He had just re 
 turned from looking at his animals, and was in the 
 act of crawling into his vehicle. I exchanged another 
 good-bye with him, and hastened away. Once more 
 over the little stream, and upon the trail, I proceeded 
 to load my rifle, and then set off eastward upon a run, 
 so anxious was I to reach my camp and relieve the 
 distress of my friend. 
 
 The night had now become quite dark. The rising 
 vapors had completely veiled the heavens, and, stretch 
 ing along the earth, like a cloud, had wrapped a close 
 mantle around every object ; so that the speed with 
 which I had ventured to start, was suddenly checked 
 by an obstruction, over which I went headlong, but 
 
166 THE BORDEK KOVER. 
 
 fortunately without breaking a bone, or seriously in 
 juring my rifle. On gathering myself up, I came to 
 the conclusion, that the race, in this case, might not 
 be to the swift ; and that the slightest variation from 
 the trail, would be likely to detain me from my friend 
 till morning, to say nothing worse ; so I resumed my 
 route at a very slow walk, and allowed my mind to 
 run over in haste the events of the day. 
 
 And a most eventful day it had been to me. I had 
 travelled twenty miles into a new country ; had seen 
 a trifle of wilderness life and sport ; had quarreled 
 twice ; had been lost once ; had three times narrowly 
 escaped with my life ; had shot a man, perhaps mor 
 tally ; had received a brief trial and acquittal ; and 
 last, though not least, had, according to the opinions 
 of some, fallen in love with a young and beautiful 
 girl, whom I had for the first time beheld within the 
 last three or four hours. 
 
 But was the inference, which had been drawn from 
 my actions, a correct one ? Was I in love with Adele 
 Loyola ? I did not think so. True, I had taken a 
 strange interest in her ; had felt peculiar sensations 
 in her presence, which I had never before experienced 
 in the presence of one of her sex ; and I still regarded 
 her, now that she was absent, as one of the brightest 
 links in the chain of my existence ; as one whom I 
 was bound to snatch from a tyrannical master, and 
 to succor and protect ; but did it follow that I was in 
 love? Was the feeling I had for her other than 
 brotherly sympathy? other than I might have felt 
 
RETURN TO CAMP. 167 
 
 toward another similarly circumstanced ? Love ! 
 what was love ? I knew nothing about it. I had 
 never been in love in my life. I had always sup 
 posed it to be the passionate desire of two persons, of 
 different sexes, to unite their fates and fortunes for 
 the journey of life. Had I any such desire with re 
 gard to Adele ? No ! Had she any such wish or 
 thought with respect to myself? Probably not. Did 
 I wish to marry at all? and more especially the object 
 of my present solicitude? No ! Then how could I be 
 in love ? I was not. It was only mere fancy on the 
 part of those who knew nothing of my nature. 
 
 Besides, when looking forward to an event which 
 might possibly happen in the course of my life, though 
 not yet for years, I had set up an ideal being in my 
 mind an ideal which I had never as yet seen in 
 human form an ideal as unlike Adele Loyola as any 
 other of her sex. Then why think of love in con 
 nection with her ? Pshaw ! what folly ! Who was 
 she ? I did not know : she did not know herself. I 
 was interested in the mystery, of course ; interested 
 in her as an unfortunate being ; interested in serving 
 her, so far as lay in my power ; interested in seeing her 
 made happy ; interested in wanting and retaining her 
 good opinion : but it was the interest of a brother 
 rather than a lover, or else warm friendship and 
 ardent passion had not the marked distinction I had 
 always supposed. 
 
 Thus I pondered, as, with slow pace and weary 
 limbs I pursued my course the deep cart-ruts of 
 
168 THE BORDEK ROVER. 
 
 the road, or trail, being sufficient guide to my steps, 
 even though I could not perceive an object a foot 
 from my eye. At length, on calculating time and 
 progress, to the best of my ability, I came to the 
 conclusion that I had advanced about far enough 
 eastward to be on a line with the camp of my friend ; 
 but as I could see nothing in any direction, I began 
 to feel renewed uneasiness, lest after all I should be 
 compelled to pass the night away from him. Once 
 more I bethought me of my rifle, and discharged it ; 
 but the fog lay so dense around, that the report did 
 not go far, and I listened in vain for an answering 
 sound. I still kept moving slowly forward, and 
 presently the rippling sound of water caught my ear. 
 I now fairly shouted for joy. That this was the 
 stream on which my companions were encamped, I 
 really believed; and if so, I had only to enter its 
 bed, and follow it up, for a quarter of a mile, to find 
 them. 
 
 Fifteen minutes more put me out of suspense, and 
 filled my heart with joy ; for I now beheld the light 
 of a fire ; and, sitting beside it, his elbows on his 
 knees, his face buried in his hands, was the figure of 
 my friend. I approached him stealthily, and placed 
 my hand on his shoulder. He looked up with a start, 
 and a flash of joy brightened his pale, sad features. 
 
 " Why, Koland 1" he exclaimed ; " my friend ! you 
 have come at last God be praised 1" and springing to 
 his feet, he threw his arms around my neck, and 
 wept like a child. 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 169 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 
 
 " HELLO 1" shouted another voice, that seemed to be 
 half smothered ; and at the same moment a dark 
 bundle, a few feet distant, came rolling toward the 
 fire, and the rough, ugly features of One-Eyed Sam 
 popped out into the light. " Hello I Freshwater 
 that thar you ?" 
 
 " It is me, Sam, thank God !" 
 
 " Thought you d got lost, or gone under I" 
 
 11 1 have been lost." 
 
 "Expect I Ary deer, boy ? 
 
 "No!" 
 
 " Nary once I knowed it chaw me ! Hyer s a 
 old nigger as ll wet on to that thar. Augh ! Glad 
 you ve come, lad ! Shadbones war quite down in the 
 mouth. Better turn in and snooze it off^ and talk it 
 over to-morrow. Eight smart chance of fog, and the 
 muskeeters bite like the d 1. Augh !" 
 
 With this the head ducked into the blanket, like a 
 turtle into its shell, and the bundle rolled back to its 
 place, when something like a snore gave evidence 
 that the old trapper had put off care till another day. 
 
 " Oh, my friend !" exclaimed Yarney, in a tremu 
 lous voice " how shall I express my joy at your safe 
 return ! Oh ! if you only knew what I have suffered 
 
170 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 on your account ! and yet, to some extent; a selfish 
 suffering, as I am free to admit." 
 
 "I do know, Alfred," returned I; "at least I have 
 in imagination seen your mental anguish. But come! 
 it is late ; you have been much disturbed, and need 
 rest ; let us take Better s advice, turn into our ham 
 mocks, and talk over the matter to-morrow." 
 
 "But you need food, Roland!" 
 
 " No ! I have already eaten all I require. Are the 
 animals safe ?" 
 
 " Yes, they are all picketed close around us. Mr. 
 Better was kind enough to take care of ours as well 
 as his own. But tell me where have you been? 
 why did you not return at the time promised? and 
 how did you obtain food ?" 
 
 " The story is too long for to-night, my friend. I 
 have met with some remarkable adventures, but am. 
 weary ; and so I pray you restrain your curiosity till 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " I will try and do so," he said, feebly ; and as he 
 spoke, he was seized with a fit of coughing, which 
 lasted a long time, and left him greatly exhausted. 
 
 " You should have gone into your tent before dark, 
 and avoided this damp air!" said I, reprovingly. "If 
 you do not take better care of yourself, I am afraid 
 you will never see the mountains." 
 
 "My dear friend," he replied, "do not blame me! 
 I did go into the tent and lie down ; but I could not 
 even remain there. I could not avoid thinking of 
 you ; and the more I thought, the more excited I be- 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 171 
 
 came ; till at last it seemed as if I should suffocate ; 
 and I was, as it were, compelled to get up and sit by 
 the fire. Oh ! Koland, for the love of Heaven, do not 
 leave me so again ! If anything were to happen to 
 you, I believe it would kill me. I am so feeble so 
 dependent and, without you, I feel so lonely so 
 wretched." 
 
 He spoke in such a feeble, mournful, pleading tone, 
 that I was affected even to tears. I took his thin, 
 trembling hand in mine, and, in an unsteady voice, 
 rejoined : 
 
 " Alfred Yarney, unless severed by the overruling 
 power of Divine Providence, I will not leave you 
 again, till you are better able to bear the parting." 
 
 " Thank you, Koland ! my more than brother 1" he 
 responded, with tearful eyes. "I am asking much of 
 you, I know ; I am a dead weight upon your enjoy 
 ment; I am a poor, miserable, selfish mortal un 
 nerved unmanly perhaps with the seeds of death 
 in my system ; I may never be able to repay your 
 kindness; but I know there is a world beyond, 
 where all will be rewarded for the good they do in 
 this; and when the time shall- come, as you know it 
 must come, for you to go hence, your spirit will be 
 buoyed up by the knowledge that you did all you 
 could to render happy the last hours of a dying 
 friend." 
 
 "Say no more, Varney!" I replied, most deeply 
 affected; u do not talk in this desponding, melan 
 choly strain ; for you not only make me very sad, but 
 
172 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 unfit yourself for the hard, perilous journey before 
 you. I will do all I can for you, and feel it no sacri 
 fice; I promised as much when I consented to be 
 your companion ; but you must, for my sake, try and 
 look on the bright, instead of the dark, side of the 
 picture. The mind, in your case, has much power 
 over your disease ; and if you give way to despon 
 dency, it will only hasten the doom we both seek to 
 avert." 
 
 " I know it I know it," he rejoined ; " and I will 
 try and be cheerful and hopeful ; only do not give 
 me the same cause for despondency which you have 
 to-night. Koland," he continued, earnestly, after a 
 moment s pause, during which he seemed to be lost 
 in deep reflection "did it ever occur to you, that 
 when, as in my case, the spirit is partially severed 
 from its bonds of clay, it might at times receive cor 
 rect impressions concerning the unknown future? 
 that it might, as it were, become invested with pro 
 phetic knowledge ?" 
 
 " I do not know that I have ever thought upon the 
 subject ; but why do you ask ?" 
 
 " You remember, when you spoke of going in quest 
 of deer, how anxious I seemed that you should not 
 lose sight of the camp ?" 
 
 " Yes," said I ; " and I felt some surprise that you 
 should be fearful of my getting lost." 
 
 " That," returned Yarney, " might have been natu 
 ral to any one so dependent on another, as I acknow 
 ledge myself to be upon you but that was the least 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 173 
 
 of my fear. I did not express all I felt then for one 
 does not like to subject himself to ridicule ; but I will 
 speak frankly now for you are now prepared to say 
 what claim I have to prophetic inspiration. If none, 
 I shall be glad to know it was mere fancy, and not 
 truth for I desire not to see into a future so fraught 
 with danger to those I love." 
 
 " Say on !" returned I, with newly awakened in 
 terest. 
 
 "Remember, Roland, you have told me nothing; 
 and if I hit upon facts, that have transpired to your 
 knowledge, you must at least regard it as something 
 singular." 
 
 " I certainly shall so do," said I, " if you are even 
 able to tell me one tithe of what has taken place since 
 I parted from you." 
 
 " I shall make no attempt to tell you what has hap 
 pened, my friend for my impression was general, 
 rather than particular ; but I felt, and believed, your 
 life would be in danger three several times ere I 
 should see you again." 
 
 " Great God !" exclaimed I, with a start ; " does 
 Destiny indeed walk before us, pointing out the path 
 which we must follow !" 
 
 " There s a divinity that shapes our ends, 
 " Hough-hew them how we will/ " 
 
 replied my friend, with deep solemnity. " How near 
 right was I, Roland ?" 
 
 11 Right to the letter. I have three times narrowly 
 
174 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 escaped death since I saw you. But had you any 
 intimation in what manner, and by what means, my 
 life would be menaced ?" 
 
 None." 
 
 "Did you think I would escape?" 
 
 " Twice I knew you must, else your life could not 
 a third time be in danger but for the third time I 
 trembled ! But tell me how it happened, Koland ?" 
 
 " Not now ! not now !" said I, glancing cautiously 
 around, and dropping my voice to a whisper. "Is 
 Stericks here ?" 
 
 "Yes! he is asleep yonder, just beyond Botter," 
 was the whispered reply. 
 
 " What time did he come in ?" 
 
 " About dark." 
 
 " Did he bring any game ?" 
 
 " He was loaded with deer meat, of which we made 
 our supper." 
 
 " Did he inquire for me?" 
 
 " Not in my hearing." 
 
 "Come I" said I, aloud " let us to bed ; you for 
 get we have a journey before us to-morrow." 
 
 We accordingly repaired to our tent, and it was my 
 design to turn in and go to sleep at once ; but my 
 friend was so anxious to hear of my adventures, that 
 I thought it best to gratify him ; and in a very low 
 tone I hurriedly narrated the principal facts. He was 
 much depressed and distressed at what had occurred 
 but said he could not see that I was to blame in 
 shooting Loyola, everything being taken into consid- 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 175 
 
 eration. As to the mysterious shot, he thought, like 
 myself, that it was an attempt of Stericks to take my 
 life ; but advised me to make no mention of it to 
 either of the trappers, and appear as if nothing had 
 happened though, thenceforth, to take every precau 
 tion against a secret foe, and be ever on the watch for 
 a sinister indication. 
 
 " As regards that poor girl, Eoland," he said, 
 " much as I pity her and pity her, I do, from my 
 very soul I do not think it would be wise in you to 
 interfere. You would, in all probability, get yourself 
 involved in a more serious difficulty, without being 
 able to better her condition in the least." 
 
 " But my conscience would ever reprove me," re 
 turned I, " should I leave her in the hands of such a 
 brutal monster." 
 
 " And provided you took her away from him 
 what would you do with her ?" he inquired. 
 
 " Do with her ?" said I, not a little puzzled for a 
 rational answer ; " why, take her to her friends." 
 
 " And who are her friends ? and where, Roland ?" 
 he pursued. "I understand you to say, that she 
 knows little or nothing of her early history, and is 
 not certain that she has a friend or relative in the 
 world." 
 
 "But I think I could find the convent where she 
 was educated." 
 
 "And what then?" 
 
 " I think I could there learn something more 
 of her." 
 
176 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " You might, and you might not ; suppose the 
 latter what then ?" 
 
 " I do not know what," said I ; " but doubtless Pro 
 vidence would aid me in my efforts to do right." 
 
 " Pray answer me, frankly, a simple question 1" 
 continued Yarney, with much earnestness. " Would 
 you, under any circumstances, make this girl your 
 wife?" 
 
 " Frankly, then," replied I, " I have no such design 
 in view. I do not wish to marry at present and if I 
 did, she is not my ideal." 
 
 " Then, for a single moment, my dear friend, con 
 sider the whole matter in a reasonable and rational 
 manner ; and tell me, if you do not think it would be 
 Quixotic in the extreme for you, a young man of twenty- 
 one, to take this girl of seventeen from her father, or 
 one who passes for her father, and set off alone with 
 her into a strange country, for the purpose of restoring 
 her to friends of whom she has no knowledge, and 
 who, for all you know to the contrary, may have no 
 existence save in your excited imagination ?" 
 
 " You certainly place the matter in a very Quixotic 
 point of view," said I, much struck with the force of 
 his remarks. 
 
 " I certainly place the matter in its true light," he 
 answered. 
 
 " Well, I will sleep upon it, perhaps dream upon 
 it," said I ; " and we will confer upon it to-morrow. 
 We both need rest, after the exciting events of to-day 
 you especially. Good night, my friend." 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 177 
 
 " Good night, and God bless you S" he returned. 
 
 "We both turned into our hammocks, without saying 
 anything further, but neither went immediately to 
 sleep. He coughed for an hour, and I lay awake and 
 listened to him, my brain racked with painful and 
 perplexing thought. At last he became quiet, and I 
 gradually fell into a slumber, which was more or less 
 disturbed, through the night, with strange and start 
 ling dreams. Toward morning, however, my nerves 
 became quieted, and I became oblivious to the cares 
 of mortality. 
 
 When I awoke, the sun was an hour above the 
 eastern horizon, and was shining bright and clear, 
 and gradually dispersing the mists and fog that still 
 lay in the little valleys along the courses of the dif 
 ferent streams. My friend was now sleeping tran 
 quilly ; and fearful of disturbing him, I crept care 
 fully from the hammock, and stealthily left the tent. 
 
 It was indeed a day to put one in good spirits. 
 The mists had left the elevations, and the bright sun 
 was scattering the fog in the valley of our camp; 
 birds fluttered and sung in the branches of the trees 
 above us ; squirrels chirruped, and leaped from limb 
 to limb, or darted up and down the stately trunks ; 
 bees hummed their drowsy song, as they flew from 
 one bright flower to another ; the little stream purled 
 musically, and sparkled like silver, as the light breeze 
 now and then lifted the mist and let the rays of the 
 sun strike it; and all nature seemed joyous and 
 decked in her holiday attire. I felt most sensibly the 
 10 
 
178 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 cheerfulness of the day, and resolved to show good 
 will to every living thing ; and had even a rattlesnake 
 at that moment crossed my path, I should have given 
 him a wide berth, and allowed him to pass on un 
 harmed, unmolested. 
 
 I found the trappers squatted upon the ground, at 
 a little distance from a dying fire, which had cooked 
 their morning meal. They had their pipes in their 
 mouths, and seemed to be enjoying their indolence ; 
 for One-Eyed Sam was talking glibly, and Wolfy 
 Jake was listening, and occasionally grunting ap 
 proval to his remarks. Neither seemed to take any 
 notice of me, as I drew near, till Botter had closed 
 his observations, with one of his peculiar laughs 
 when, turning to me, he said : 
 
 " Wall, Freshwater, ef snoozing can save you set 
 tlement chaps, there s no chance of your spyling. 
 Augh !" 
 
 " So it seems," returned I, with a cheerf ul smile. 
 " But you must bear in mind I had a very fatiguing 
 day of it yesterday ; and my sick friend, who is still 
 asleep, needs all the rest he can get, after the intense 
 anxiety and excitement he suffered on my account." 
 
 " Yes, Shadbones war rayther down in the mouth 
 about you, that s a fact ; though I knowed you d kim 
 out right side up, and hind-sight plum!" and he 
 winked his one eye mischievously, and his ugly fea 
 tures spread out into a broad grin. "But whar was 
 you all that time, and nary deer about ?" 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 179 
 
 " I was on the look-out for game till dark," replied 
 I; " and on my return I missed my way." 
 
 As I said this, I fixed my eyes upon Stericks, who 
 sat quietly smoking, and looking off down the stream, 
 taking no notice of me whatever. I thought if he 
 were guilty of an attempt upon my life, I should per 
 haps detect some change, however slight, in the ex 
 pression of his features. But I did not. There was 
 not the slightest variation in color nor the slightest 
 twinkle, expansion, or contraction of the eye ; and the 
 eye, be it observed, will often betray the consciousness 
 of an allusion to a secret fact, while all the rest of the 
 countenance, by an effort of the will, may remain in 
 an innocent repose. For some moments I looked 
 fixedly at Stericks, in order to decide in my own 
 mind if he held murder in his soul ; but his was one 
 of those hard, inexpressive, phlegmatic faces, that, in 
 general, give no reflex of the owner s thought; though, 
 on the present occasion, I fancied the harsh outlines 
 appeared softened ; and I was tempted to address him 
 in a kindly tone, in order, if possible, to do away with 
 that bitter animosity which must render our journey 
 disagreeable, to say the least, so long as we should re 
 main travelling companions. Botter glanced at me, 
 and seemed to understand my wish for he immedi 
 ately observed, in his peculiar way : 
 
 " Come, come what s the use, Wolfy? why can t 
 you and Freshwater make it up, and be friends ? I d 
 hate, most powerful, to hev anything agin anybody 
 on sich a day as this hyer I would chaw me !" 
 
180 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " For my part," said I, " I am desirous to forget 
 what has passed between Mr. Stericks and myself; 
 and if he is willing, we will shake hands, and be no 
 longer enemies." 
 
 " I don t believe in shaking hands," growled Ster 
 icks, without turning his head ; " but ef you ve a mind 
 to be civil, younker, we ll say no more about it ; but 
 ef you raise the devil in me agin, I ll shoot you, 
 by- -!" 
 
 I felt my blood tingle for a sharp retort. I was 
 tempted to tell him that he had already tried the 
 shooting game once and failed ; and that I could do 
 something with powder and lead, as well as himself; 
 but, for several reasons, I restrained my temper, and 
 replied : 
 
 "Very well let it end so then." 
 
 " Come," said Sam, judiciously turning the con 
 versation, "you want some feed, Freshwater; and 
 thar s meat, and thar s fire." 
 
 " Thank you I will help myself." 
 
 " And I say, Freshwater, I reckon you d best stir 
 up Shadbones ; for we don t see powerful many sich 
 days to this hyer, and we ought to make the most on 
 7 em yes-siree !" 
 
 " As soon as I have cooked my meat, I will call 
 him," said I. 
 
 " Then, Wolfy, we d best fotch in the critters, and 
 pack our traps," he continued, turning to his com 
 panion. "Never you mind, though; you got the 
 feed last night, and this hyer old nigger ll git the 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 181 
 
 critters ready ;" and knocking the ashes from his pipe, 
 he carefully placed it in his wampum-worked holder, 
 and set off to drive in the horses and mules, which 
 were feeding at no great distance. 
 
 By the time I had replenished the fire, and toasted 
 a slice of meat, Varney made his appearance. He 
 looked pale and exhausted, said he felt very weak, 
 and was afraid he would not be able to make a long 
 day s journey. He had some appetite, however, 
 which I considered a favorable sign ; and, after par 
 taking of our somewhat primitive meal, said he felt 
 
 stronger. 
 
 As the morning was wearing away, and I knew 
 the trappers were anxious to be on the move, I 
 hastened to catch our animals, saddle our horses, fold 
 our tent, and pack the mule ; and in less than half an 
 hour from Yarney s appearance, we were once more 
 mounted, and had bidden a long, an eternal, adieu to 
 Camp Calyptra. 
 
 We regained the Santa Fe trail, and, in the course 
 of another half hour, rode directly through the now 
 deserted camp of the Santa Fe traders. I did not pass 
 the ground without experiencing some very strange 
 and peculiar sensations ; and as I pointed out the 
 spot to Varney, he slightly shuddered, and said: 
 
 " I thank God, Eoland, you did not kill him 1" 
 
 " I pray God he may not die !" returned I. 
 
 " And what of the girl, my friend ?" he continued. 
 a Are you still resolved on your Quixotic adven 
 ture ? or have you thought better of it ?" 
 
182 THE BOEDER R V E K. 
 
 "I should like to see her again I must see her 
 again, Alfred but, further than that, I am not pre 
 pared to say." 
 
 " And are you really resolved on seeing her again, 
 Eoland ?" 
 
 " I am." 
 
 "But how will you accomplish your wish ?" 
 
 " We must overtake them." 
 
 " I fear it will be impossible, my friend, unless 
 they travel very slowly, or my health so improves as 
 to make long daily journeys." 
 
 " I think we shall travel faster than they, and they 
 have only very little the start," I replied. 
 
 "Well, to gratify you ; Eoland, I will exert myself 
 to the utmost of my strength/ said Varney, with a 
 troubled countenance. 
 
 " You shall do no such thing, and I beg you to 
 give yourself no uneasiness ! It is a long journey to 
 Santa Fe ; and if we do not overtake the party in 
 question for a week or two, it will make no material 
 difference. I wish to see Adele again, and have a 
 further talk with her ; I wish to learn the result of 
 the wound of Loyola ; but I am in no haste : there 
 fore cast the matter from your mind." 
 
 The country we travelled over on the second day, 
 was of the same general character as that of the day 
 preceding rolling prairie, green with grass, and gay 
 with bright flowers steep bluffs, winsome valleys, 
 and wooded streams. Much of the soil was rich, but 
 only a little of it was under cultivation. Here and 
 
 
OUB JOURNEY KESUMED. 183 
 
 there, at long intervals, were the log-cabins of Indian 
 farmers for, by treaty, no whites were allowed to 
 settle here ; but the different tribes, who owned the 
 land, in general preferred hunting and fishing to the 
 labor of cultivating more than an occasional corn-patch 
 and a patch for vegetables. They lived mostly in 
 moving villages that is to say, villages of tents, 
 which they could strike in the morning, transport 
 through the day, and pitch at night, with very little 
 trouble. Their territory was large for their numbers, 
 and their wealth lay mostly in horses, mules and cat 
 tle, which cost them little labor to raise, and which 
 found ready sale, at fair prices, with their eastern 
 white neighbors. 
 
 On our journey to-day we met a party of some half 
 a dozen, going to Independence with a small drove of 
 horses. They were superbly mounted, and were 
 dressed to Indian fancy being bedecked with feathers 
 and wampum, and bedaubed with paint; and they 
 had bows, and quivers of arrows, and rifles, and 
 lassos, the latter coiled and hung upon the horns of 
 their Mexican saddles. They were friendly, of course, 
 though looking very fierce; and being real, native 
 Indians, of whom I had heard and read so much 
 and being, moreover, more Indianfied than anything 
 I had seen at Independence I could not resist the 
 temptation of stopping one, on pretence of wishing to 
 know the price of a good horse. I was at first inclined 
 to be very romantic, and to fancy myself my great- 
 great-grandfather, or some other worthy pioneer- 
 
184 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 leader, on the point of making a very important 
 treaty with a bold, daring, cruel, pale-face-hating 
 Indian chief; but the moment he opened his mouth, 
 and assured me " his hoss was good a heap," I began 
 to feel quite common-place ; and when he wound up 
 by telling me " he liked good whisk to make drunk 
 come," and asked for a "chaw tobac," I thought him 
 akin to a very vulgar human importation from Hol 
 land, and could scarcely conceal my disgust. So we 
 parted neither particularly pleased he no richer, 
 but I some wiser. Shade of Cooper! had this red 
 man the cunning of the fox, the fierceness of the 
 tiger, the nobility of the lion ? No I rather say the 
 slouching vulgarity of the hound ! And this is the 
 half-civilized Indian of the nineteenth century ! 
 
 My friend proved not so well able to bear the 
 fatigues of the second day as the first; and by the 
 middle of the afternoon we encamped for the night. 
 During the night his cough became more troublesome 
 than usual ; and he had a slight haemorrhage of the 
 lungs, which quite alarmed me. The next day he 
 was still weaker; and we both began to despair of 
 his ever seeing the mountains ; but from that time he 
 gradually began to amend, and hope revived. 
 
 For several days, which I pass over with a word, 
 we were not in our saddles over four or five hours of 
 the twenty-four, and then we travelled very slowly. 
 
 This was a standing cause for grumbling on the 
 part of Stericks ; and even Botter himself, I fancied, 
 began to get tired of his bargain though he had, as 
 
 
OUR JOURNEY RESUMED. 185 
 
 yet, made no direct complaint. I had once or twice 
 heard of the Santa Fe traders, from parties we had 
 met but could learn nothing of Loyola or his daugh 
 ter. According to report, the company was now 
 many leagues ahead of us ; and I began to lose all 
 hope of overtaking them before they should reach the 
 point where our course would require us to diverge 
 from the grand trail. 
 
 During all this time, the weather had proved 
 remarkably fine ; and our route, each day, had been 
 over the same delightful, picturesque country already 
 described; but we were now approaching the borders 
 of these rolling and partially timbered lands; and 
 were about to enter upon the grand prairies upon 
 scenes of more exciting and thrilling adventure upon 
 scenes of hardship and peril compared to which, all 
 I had seen and experienced would sink into insig 
 nificance. Oh ! the eventful future which lay before 
 me! Could I have lifted the vail, which, by 
 Almighty wisdom, shut it from my view, I should 
 perhaps have turned back with trembling and fear. 
 But the beacon of hope seemed to beam brightly in 
 the distance; and I pressed onward, perceiving not 
 its ignis fatuus illusions, nor the quicksands of des 
 pair which lay between me and my goal ! 
 
186 THE BOBDEK KOVEE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 STARTLING NEWS. 
 
 THE breeze was blowing softly from the south, a 
 few fleecy clouds were floating through the blue of 
 heaven, and the bright, genial sun was some three 
 hours advanced on his western decline, when we 
 reached that little Paradise of the West known as 
 Council Grove. On our journey hither, I had seen 
 many beautiful places and scenes but none to equal 
 this. A grove of stately trees, their trunks standing 
 like huge columns to support the green Gothic canopy 
 above, formed a broad belt to the right and left of a 
 clear running stream, which purled through a gently 
 sloping valley, whose emerald hue was variegated 
 with thousands of bright flowers. All the sylvan 
 charms of the temperate zone were here in lavish pro 
 fusion. Giant trees of oak, beech, hickory, elm, ash, 
 maple and walnut, here seemed vieing for superiority, 
 yet with harmonious rivalry, and locking their huge 
 arms in fraternal embrace. Bees hummed their 
 drowsy songs, as they flew from one bright flower to 
 another sometimes seeming to dispute possession with 
 gay-colored butterflies while thousands of grass 
 hoppers went bounding from blade to blade, and the 
 innocent cricket chirped his music beneath them all 
 Above us, sleek, bright-eyed squirrels went leaping 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 187 
 
 from limb to limb, combining cunning, coyness, and 
 boldness in their every movement ; and while hun 
 dreds of showy-plumed aerial voyagers fluttered 
 among the green leaves, the well-known mocking 
 bird, cat-bird, and blue-jay, made the air vocal with 
 their melodies. 
 
 " Roland," exclaimed Yarney, as we rode under the 
 green arches, " is this the Garden of Eden ?" 
 
 11 The Garden of Eden could scarcely have been 
 more beautiful and enchanting," I replied. 
 
 " This hyer s one of the spots !" observed One- 
 Eyed Sam; u and this hyer old nigger says it, as has 
 seed some punks in his time. Augh ! But we ve 
 been a long time gitting here," he added, with some 
 hesitation ; " and though I hate to tell you so, Wolfy s 
 got opinionated that we d best quit to this hyer." 
 
 " Indeed!" returned I, in a tone of surprise ; "and 
 do you wish to be released from your bargain ?" 
 
 " Wait till we camp," was the reply, " and then I ll 
 tell you some at." 
 
 We pitched our camp in one of the shadiest nooks 
 of this sylvan retreat ; and then, for the first time, I 
 discovered we were not the only human tenants of 
 the grove. On the opposite side of the stream, some 
 distance below us, was a small moving village of 
 Feorias; and near it, the camp of "a party of white 
 traders from Missouri. I pointed them out to Better, 
 who said, in reply : 
 
 " Sartin, Freshwater I knowed thar d be white 
 and red humans hyer, so as you could take your pick, 
 
188 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 ef you didn t go no furder with me and Wolfy fur 
 this hyer s a grand stamping ground to all the friendly 
 red niggers, and them as wants to trade with em ; 
 and I ve seed em here as thick as fleas to a dog s 
 back ef I haven t, chaw me ! Augh 1" 
 
 " Then you are really in earnest about separating 
 from us ?" inquired I. 
 
 " Why, hoss, I don t like it, and I d like to take 
 you considerable ; but Shadbones keeps us back like 
 a sick muley, and Wolfy growls like the d 1, and so 
 what s a old one-eyed nigger to do except to gin in ?" 
 
 "Well," said I, "I don t know as I can blame you; 
 for when we made our bargain with you, I supposed, of 
 course, we should be able to travel much faster than 
 we have done between here and Independence." 
 
 "Yes," returned Botter; "and don t forgit we ve 
 had jam up weather, and been tramping through a 
 peaceable country ; but now we re agwine to leave all 
 them thar behind ; and what ud Shadbones do with 
 his tent tore up into lariats, all heaven kiming down 
 to water, and a hundred screeching devils arter his 
 top-knot ? You kin gamble high on to it, Freshwater, 
 that ef he don t jine some big party with wagons, he ll 
 never take his ha r to Bent s." 
 
 " But can we find such a party going directly to 
 Bent s." 
 
 " Expect leastways, thar s al ays some as is gwine 
 out about this time." 
 
 " Very well, I will have a talk with my friend, and 
 see what can be done." 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 189 
 
 This conversation occurred while Botter and myself 
 were unsaddling and unpacking our animals ; and as 
 soon as I had hoppled and picketed ours, I informed 
 Yarney what had passed between us. 
 
 " Well, Roland, he is right," he said, in a low, sad 
 tone. " I have myself been thinking I might never 
 get through on horseback, and Stericks impatience 
 and surliness is a great source of annoyance. "We 
 will pay them for their time, and let them go ; and if 
 I can find no means for getting on, I can die here. 
 It is at least a consolation to think my body will take 
 its last rest in the most beautiful spot I have ever 
 seen." 
 
 " Come! come !" returned I ; "do not talk of dying 
 here, or elsewhere! During the last three or four 
 days, your health has improved, and you only need 
 good spirits to make you still better. Let us take a 
 walk through this grove, and visit our neighbors." 
 
 "Have you given up all thoughts of overtaking 
 Adele?" inquired Yarney, as, arm-in-arm, we saun 
 tered down the flowery bank of the limpid stream. 
 
 " I should, if I have not for doubtless the traders 
 are fifty miles ahead of us." 
 
 " And are you contented to let her go ?" 
 
 " Why do you ask ?" 
 
 " Because it is my duty to study your pleasure and 
 happiness, as well as you mine ; and as we cannot 
 longer travel together in the company of the trappers, 
 perhaps you had better leave me here and go on with 
 them yourself." 
 
190 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Leave you here alone ?" 
 
 " No, not alone. I think I can make friends with 
 my countrymen here or at least with the Indians ; 
 and in their camp, and under their protection, I can 
 remain till I find an opportunity of prosecuting my 
 journey with a large company of wagoners. I am de 
 lighted with the place I feel the need of rest and 
 so I think I shall pass a few days very agreeably 
 here." 
 
 " And for what purpose shall I go forward ?" 
 mused I. 
 
 " That you best know yourself, Roland ?" 
 
 " True, I did promise Adele I would see her again 
 soon ; and, I frankly admit, it would give me pleasure 
 to keep my word ; but that pleasure would be height 
 ened to have you in my company." 
 
 " But you see that cannot be, Roland. I can only 
 trave] a few miles a day on horseback, under the most 
 favorable circumstances ; and the most favorable 
 circumstances, so far, we have had. What would 
 become of me, should I see the reality of the picture 
 which Better has drawn ? And, moreover, you could 
 go on to Bent s Fort, and there await me ; and there, 
 you know, we were to separate, according to your 
 original plan of returning home in the fall ; so that the 
 parting must come soon or late, and the only differ 
 ence between now and then is time." 
 
 " You grow philosophical," said I, " and seem anx 
 ious to get rid of me." 
 
 " Roland Rivers !" exclaimed Yarney, stopping sud- 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 191 
 
 denly, and facing me, with a sad, reproachful look, 
 that touched my heart " what have I ever done to 
 deserve such words from you ?" and his voice trem 
 bled, and his dark eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " Forgive me, my friend !" said I, grasping his thin 
 hand. " I was hasty ; I did not think before I spoke ; 
 but I was surprised to hear you speak so coolly of 
 separation, when all along I had been led to suppose 
 it would be painful to you as well as myself." 
 
 " If you could look into my heart this minute, 
 Eoland, and behold the anguish it has cost me to 
 make this proposition, you would not reproach me 
 with making it coolly, and without pain." 
 
 " Why then have you made it at this time of all 
 others ?" 
 
 " Koland, I have watched you closely for the last 
 few days, and have thus been made aware how much 
 your mind dwells upon that poor girl. Ah [ you 
 start you are surprised; but you must know that, 
 to me, the face of a friend is a glass, in whi,eh I see 
 the heart mirrored ; and to read your heart, in so 
 good a glass as your face, were an easy task, even to 
 a novice. I know you have sought to conceal from 
 me the fact of your mind being occupied with what 
 you fancied would give me pain to learn but which 
 I have learned, nevertheless and had it not been 
 that I indulged the hope of being able to make such 
 progress as would accomplish your desire, I should 
 have spoken to you on the subject ere this. Thus 
 you perceive why I have chosen the present time, of 
 
192 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 all others, to make my proposition it now being 
 rendered certain that I cannot go forward with the 
 rapidity required and I would not have you disap 
 pointed for the world." 
 
 " But, Yarney, much as I would like to see Adele, 
 and learn the fate of Loyola, I cannot bear to think 
 of leaving you here it seems like deserting a friend." 
 
 "It is not so in truth," replied Yarney; "though I 
 shall be selfish enough to exact a promise, that you 
 will either return on the trail and meet me, or go for 
 ward to Bent s and await my arrival for not to be 
 hold you again, would render me miserable indeed." 
 
 " But can you find a safe conveyance to the fort, do 
 you think ?" 
 
 " We will inquire ; and here we are at the traders 7 
 camp. How shall we cross the stream ? I would avoid 
 wetting my feet." 
 
 " Let me show you ;" and lifting him in my arms, 
 as if he had been a child, I quickly landed him on the 
 opposite bank for the stream was neither wide nor 
 deep. 
 
 We here found a few traders from Missouri, and a 
 small village of Peorias the " big village," as it was 
 termed, being out on the plains. The Indians here 
 were not painted, and really appeared quite civilized 
 many of them being clothed in garments purchased 
 from the whites, and several of them being able to 
 converse in the English language with ease and- 
 fluency. The males, some of them, were fine, ath 
 letic-looking fellows ; and a few of the women had in- 
 
STAKTLING NEWS. 193 
 
 teresting and intelligent, though not remarkably 
 handsome, features. There were about thirty in all 
 men, women, and children ; and though most of them 
 were rather flashily ornamented with gold and silver 
 rings, brooches, red scarfs, red blankets, beads, wam 
 pum, and so forth, I saw not one of decidedly repul 
 sive appearance, Their tents were pitched in a 
 semi-circle, fronting on the stream, and looked com 
 fortable and tidy ; and their cattle were grazing in the 
 vicinity, tended by half-grown boys. 
 
 The traders, about a dozen in number, were 
 awaiting customers from the plains Council Grove 
 being the grand rendezvous of all the friendly tribes. 
 They dealt in guns, knives, pistols, trinkets, gew-gaws, 
 cloths, blankets, powder, lead, whiskey, tobacco, sugar, 
 coffee, and so on ; and bartered their commodities for 
 furs, skins, horses, cattle, and such articles of Indian 
 manufacture as would find ready market in the 
 States. Their wagons were so disposed as to form a 
 hollow square ; and they displayed their articles in a 
 long, temporary booth, each trader having his allotted 
 place or stall. At present they were doing no busi 
 ness ; and while three or four were lounging about, 
 smoking their pipes, and talking over their affairs, the 
 others were playing cards and pitching quoits. 
 
 To our inquiries concerning a party for Bent s Fort, 
 we were answered, that it was supposed a small train 
 of wagons would be shortly going out, but at what 
 precise time no one could say. Yarney asked for the 
 privilege of being allowed to pitch his tent in their 
 11 
 
194 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 camp, and was told that he would be welcome to do 
 so ; and further, that he could mess with them, by 
 paying his share of the expense a proposition which 
 he accepted with pleasure. 
 
 41 You seem determined to so arrange your affairs 
 that I shall have no excuse for remaining with you," 
 I observed to him. 
 
 " I know enough of the human heart, to be almost 
 certain that you will not rest contented till you have 
 redeemed your promise to Adele," he replied. 
 
 "Well," I rejoined "I will talk with Better be 
 fore I decide though I have no great inclination 
 to travel further with his surly companion." 
 
 We were just on the point of leaving the traders 
 camp, and recrossing the stream to our own, when 
 we heard the tramp of horses feet ; and immediately 
 after, four men, in the usual hunting costume of 
 the West, rode up to the wagons and dismounted 
 their fine, noble animals, covered with sweat and dust, 
 fairly drooping their heads with fatigue, showing that 
 they had been ridden fast and far. The riders them 
 selves, all comparatively young men, and fine, athletic 
 fellows, looked weary and anxious so that it was 
 evident, from a single glance, that something had 
 gone wrong. 
 
 "You re back soon, Mr. Sutton," said one of the 
 traders, addressing one of the new-comers a tall, 
 handsomely-formed individual, with black hair, eyes, 
 and beard, and whose age could not be far from 
 thirty. l< Anything the matter ?" 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 195 
 
 " Yes I" replied Mr. Sutton, in a positive tone, with 
 compressed lips ; " the Indians are out in great 
 numbers, and several whites have been killed. You 
 perceive that two of our own party are missing !" 
 
 Instantly the parties playing cards and pitching 
 quoits, left their games, and gathered around the 
 speaker and his companions, to hear the news. 
 Yarney and myself also hurried up to the group. 
 
 " Let s hear all about it!" said the one who first 
 addressed Sutton. 
 
 " The story is soon told," pursued Sutton. " "We 
 were out on the plains, having some rare sport with 
 the buffaloes, in the vicinity of the Plum Buttes, when 
 we were suddenly set upon by a large party of Arra- 
 pahoes. As our numbers were too few to cope 
 with them, we fled, in a southeast direction, aiming 
 to strike the Santa Fe trail. The Indians followed us 
 for a few miles, and then apparently gave up the pur 
 suit. As it was near night, we selected a pleasant 
 spot, and camped, keeping a sharp look-out till day 
 light, when we were astonished to perceive the same 
 party not more than a mile distant. They had pro 
 bably been searching for us through the night, for 
 they immediately bore down toward us, and we made 
 a narrow escape, having barely time to saddle and 
 mount our beasts before they were upon our camp. 
 We left our tents, blankets, and camp utensils, which 
 they stopped to seize and divide, and this diversion 
 in our favor probably saved our lives. Determined 
 this time to put a safe distance between them and us, 
 
196 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 we continued our course eastward, and toward evening 
 reached Turkey Creek, where we found a company 
 of Santa Fe traders encamped on the western bank of 
 the stream. We joined them, and told them our 
 story. Some looked grave ; but a few of the young 
 men received the intelligence lightly enough, and 
 seemed to think we had been unnecessarily scared. 
 They said if we had stood our ground, doubtless the 
 Indians would have fled, as they do not like to face 
 the unerring rifles of the whites." 
 
 " That s a fact," said the Missourian ; " you see you 
 haint got seasoned out here yet !" 
 
 "Suppose you reserve your opinion, sir, till you 
 hear my story through !" rejoined Sutton, a little tes 
 tily. " When I have finished, you will be better able 
 to judge whether the Indians proved themselves arrant 
 cowards or not." 
 
 " Oh, sartin," returned the other, a little crest 
 fallen. " Go ahead !" 
 
 "I do not think," proceeded Sutton, with a touch 
 of irony, " I am more cowardly than people in gene 
 ral ; but as my companions and myself came out here 
 for a pleasure hunt, we were not in a proper condition 
 to see the propriety of recklessly throwing our lives 
 away, when caution and prudence could save them. 
 Well, as I have said, some of the younger members 
 of the party in question, made rather light of our 
 story, and none seemed to be apprehensive of their 
 camp being attacked, though they took the precau 
 tion to post sentinels. But it was attacked, neverthe- 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 197 
 
 less probably by the same large party of Arrapa- 
 hoes, who fought like devils. We did not fly this 
 time, sir ! but made as good a defence as we could. 
 Several of the Indians were killed ; but, alas ! that I 
 must add, several of the whites also, among whom 
 were two of our comrades. After a desperate fight of 
 more than an hour, our enemies retreated, bearing 
 away their dead, driving away several of the animals, 
 and taking with them two female prisoners." 
 
 " Shocking !" exclaimed several voices. 
 
 " Was there a wounded man in that camp when 
 you joined it?" inquired I, eagerly. 
 
 " There was, sir a Mexican, or Spaniard, I believe 
 but he was killed at the first onset, and his daugh 
 ter was one of the two taken prisoners." 
 
 "Good God! Adele a prisoner!" exclaimed I, in a 
 tone that drew the attention of the whole group upon 
 me. 
 
 " Yes," said Sutton, "that was the name I remem 
 ber hearing it mentioned with commiseration after the 
 fight was over." 
 
 " When did this occur?" 
 
 " Last night." 
 
 " You don t say you ve come from Turkey Creek 
 since last night ?" said one of the traders, in a tone of 
 surprise. 
 
 " Yes, since daylight this morning." 
 
 " Then you ve eyther killed your hosses or, dern 
 me, they re some punks !" cried another. 
 
 "They are the true mettle, or we should never 
 
198 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 have escaped those cursed savages," replied Sutton. 
 "But they need rest and food now; and as we are 
 almost worn out with our long ride, I will stand treat 
 for the whole, if any of you will unharness and 
 hopple them." 
 
 Three or four of the party instantly took charge of 
 the weary animals, and I inquired the distance to 
 Turkey Creek. 
 
 "Wall, stranger, it s seventy mile, or tharabouts," 
 was the answer ; " leastways, we put it down for two 
 jam-up days journey." 
 
 "Will you permit me a few minutes private con 
 versation with you?" I said, addressing one of 
 Sutton s companions a light-haired, blue-eyed, good- 
 looking young man, of perhaps twenty-five years of 
 age. 
 
 " Certainly," he replied, in a courteous tone ; and we 
 immediately withdrew from the crowd. 
 
 "As I know several of the company which was 
 attacked," I began, "and take a deep interest in the 
 fate of the poor girl who, as your companion says, 
 was taken prisoner I shall be much obliged to you 
 for some particulars of the tragic affair. Are you 
 sure the girl was not killed ?" 
 
 "I am not sure," he answered ; "but after the fight, 
 it was discovered that she and another female were 
 missing, and it is supposed that the Indians took 
 them away alive." 
 
 "Are you sure that her father was killed?" 
 
STARTLING NEWS. 199 
 
 " If you mean the wounded man, I am sure ; for I 
 saw him dead." 
 
 " Do you happen to know if his wound was con 
 sidered dangerous at the time of the attack ?" 
 
 " No, sir ! of that I know nothing." 
 
 " And how many of the whites were killed?" 
 
 "Seven in all, including two of our party but 
 several others were wounded." 
 
 " Was there any talk of following the Indians, in 
 order to rescue the captives ?" 
 
 " I heard one or two suggestions of that kind but 
 others said it would be the height of rashness and 
 folly so I think none will make the attempt." 
 
 " And what will the Indians do with these female 
 prisoners ?" 
 
 "Make wives and slaves of them, I suppose." 
 
 " Great Heaven 1" cried I "that must not be ! they 
 must be rescued !" 
 
 " More easily said than done, my dear sir !" replied 
 the other. " These Indians are said to be among the 
 most formidable of the Western tribes ; and it would 
 be sheer fool-hardiness to attack them in their own 
 country, without having a large force of experienced 
 Indian fighters." 
 
 " But might these females not be rescued by stealth 
 or stratagem?" 
 
 I cannot say, sir I but I think such things seldom 
 happen except in novels." 
 
 "Is it your intention to return to the prairies?" 
 
 "No, sir ! it is my intention to return to the States, 
 
200 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and there remain. A party of six of us came out for 
 a pleasure hunt, and we have had enough of it. Two 
 of our friends take their last sleep on the banks of 
 Turkey Creek, and the rest of us are going home, 
 sadder and wiser than when we came hither." 
 
 "It is curious," observed Yarney, reflectively 
 "you return to the States to prolong your life, and I 
 seek the wilderness for the same object." 
 
 " You go to regain your health ?" inquired the 
 other. 
 
 "I do." 
 
 11 Well, you may do that, and lose your scalp. As 
 for me, I think I should rather die among my friends, 
 in a civilized country, than live out here in constant 
 dread and terror." 
 
 After some further conversation, we returned to 
 our own camp. 
 
 "Well," inquired Yarney, " what now, Roland?" 
 
 " That girl must be rescued, Alfred !" 
 
 " But how ?" 
 
 " I do not know I must have a talk with Botter." 
 
 "But surely, Roland, you will not be so venture 
 some as to set off in quest of her ?" 
 
 "And must she remain among them forever, poor 
 girl?" 
 
 " It is a hard fate," sighed Yarney, " and I appre 
 ciate your humane and noble feelings; but if you 
 attempt to rescue her, you will only lose your own 
 life, and she remain a prisoner still." 
 
 " I might, and I might not God only knows." 
 
ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 201 
 
 " You are resolved on the venture then, Roland ?" 
 " I will first consult Better, and take his advice ; 
 and, apropos, here he is." 
 
 " Bray Heaven he discourage him !" said Yarney, 
 in a tone not intended for my ear though I heard 
 the words, and the deep sigh which followed. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 
 
 I IMMEDIATELY made Botter acquainted with all I 
 had heard from the amateur hunters. 
 
 " Wall, them thar Injuns al ays was the devil s 
 own," he said in reply ; " and hyer s a old nigger as 
 has seed em within short smell ef I haven t, you kin 
 chaw me up fur a liar. Augh ! But they must hev 
 got cantankerous arter them green spoon ies, to make 
 sich a dash so fur east as Turkey Creek ; they d 
 looked a sight more like themselves the infer 
 nal, greasy scoundrels howling around to Pawnee 
 Fork; that s whar they ginerally spread out to do 
 thar dirty work." 
 
 " So Pawnee Fork is considered the most dangerous 
 point on the route, is it?" said I. 
 
 "Rayther though nobody s top-knot is parfectly 
 safe from thar to Bent s but I d not expected them 
 to Turkey Creek. Chaw me up fur a liar, Fresh- 
 
202 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 water, but this hyer old one-eyed corn-cracker would 
 jest like to been thar fur I jest feel myself spyling 
 fur a fight eh ! Wolfy?" 
 
 Stericks was squatted on the ground, within hear 
 ing, and replied, in his usual growling tone : 
 
 "Better keep cl ar of them thar Kappahoes that s 
 my notion, and I knows em a few." 
 
 4 Wall, you does, old hoss !" laughed Better. " D ye 
 remember the time, Wolfy, we both went in, plum- 
 centre, rubbed three on em out, and lifted thar ha r?" 
 
 " And how I toted you off ; with two or three arrers 
 sticking into ye ? Yes, I haint forgot to that." 
 
 " Augh ! them was times !" said Sam, with a satis 
 factory grunt. 
 
 " Suppose I pay you well for your time, how would 
 you like to go with me in search of these female pri 
 soners ?" inquired I. 
 
 " Go whar, Freshwater ?" 
 
 u Why into the Indian country." 
 
 " Arter them thar womens?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Botter looked at me, with a quizzical leer, as he in 
 quired : 
 
 "In arnest, Freshwater?" 
 
 " Certainly I am." 
 
 " What ! you jest want to run your wool into them 
 red niggers fists ; fur two womens?" 
 
 " You think, then, there would be no chance of our 
 return, should we make the attempt ?" 
 
 " Nary once not any more nor ef you was sunk 
 
ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 203 
 
 two foot below wolf-smell ! "What ! go dodging to 
 them thar niggers, to thar own stamping-ground, and 
 expect to keep your ha r? that s one of the notions 
 chaw me !" 
 
 " From what you have just said, T inferred you had 
 done as much already." 
 
 " Nary once, boy nary once not so green sence 
 
 I cut my eye-teeth. About fifteen of the imps 
 
 once pitched into me and Wolfy, and we went in and 
 drawed blood; but that thar wasn t walking into the 
 whole nation, in thar own country, by a long shot. 
 Augh !" 
 
 " Alas ! poor Adele 1" sighed I. 
 
 "Poor what?" 
 
 " One of the females captured was a young girl, a 
 particular friend of mine," said I, by way of explana 
 tion, for I had never told either of the trappers of my 
 adventure in the traders camp. 
 
 " Oh, she was, hey ?" returned Botter ; " that s the 
 reason fur you wanting to go, hey ? Expect ! Glad 
 you told me that thar, Freshwater." 
 
 Why ?" 
 
 " Bekase your wanting to tramp arter two strange 
 womens, right into the devil s own camp, made me 
 suspicion your whole senses had gone a wolfing. 
 Being your friend, Freshwater, I m sorry fur the gal; 
 but ef them thar Kappahoes has got her, thar s no 
 help for t she d better been dead fust." 
 
 It is impossible to describe my feelings, when I 
 found there was no hope of my ever beholding Adele 
 
204: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 again. It was as if one bright joy had been for ever 
 removed from the sum total of life. Now, for the 
 first time, I realized how strong was that attachment 
 which I had termed friendship. Was it mere friend 
 ship ? or was it love ? I began to doubt if I properly 
 knew my own heart but time, I knew, would show. 
 
 " You see," said I, sadly, turning to Yarney, " I 
 have no object in hurrying forward now, and so I will 
 remain with you." 
 
 He grasped my hand, and tears filled his eyes. 
 
 " You give me new life, my dear friend," he re 
 plied. " I should be miserable without you though, 
 for your happiness, I feigned a willingness to make 
 the sacrifice." 
 
 " Poor Adele!" I sighed. 
 
 " Roland, you love her," he whispered, " and I pity 
 you." 
 
 " She was good and beautiful, Alfred ; and since I 
 have lost her, I feel that one bright hope has been 
 struck from existence. Is that love, Yarney ?" 
 
 " It is akin to it, at least," he said ; and as he 
 spoke, he cast his eyes upward, with an air of ab 
 straction, and sighed. 
 
 " You are thinking of her you love ?" said I. 
 
 " Yes, Roland, I am thinking of my sweet Mary 
 shall I ever behold her again ?" 
 
 " You have hope," said I. 
 
 "Else would life be valueless," he rejoined. "I am 
 thinking, that were she lost to me forever, as perhaps 
 Adele is to you, not only one bright hope, but all 
 
ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 205 
 
 hopes, ends and aims would be struck from my exist 
 ence, which would then be a blank indeed." 
 
 " Yours is certainly true love," said I ; " but I can 
 not say I have the same feelings ; though, Heaven 
 knows, just now I feel quite wretched. Little did I 
 think, when I parted from that poor girl, in whom I 
 took so deep an interest, that such a horrible fate 
 awaited her, and that I should never behold her again. 
 Better, far better for her, had the ball, which I lodged 
 in Loyola s breast, been sent to her heart ; for I am sure 
 her gentle spirit would have found its way to Para 
 dise, and thus she would have escaped an earthly 
 doom which makes me shudder to contemplate. And 
 Loyola is dead 1 How much had I to do in shorten 
 ing his days? Ah! the whole subject is painful let 
 me not dwell upon it. Corne, Yarney, since we are 
 to travel no further in the company of the trappers, 
 let us settle with them, and talk over other plans it 
 will at least be a temporary relief to my mind. If it 
 were not for you, my friend, I would turn back, and 
 make glad the hearts of my parents. Oh ! Yarney, 
 just now I am very, very wretched." 
 
 " I perceive you are," rejoined Yarney, in a tone of 
 deep feeling; " and as I love you, my friend, I must 
 counsel you for the best. Do not make further sacri 
 fice for me ; but if you feel you are doing wrong, in 
 going forward on this perilous journey, return at 
 once to those who have more claim upon you than I. 
 I ahall always feel grateful for the kindness you have 
 shown to one who may never be able to repay you ; 
 
206 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 but much as I prize your companionship, I would 
 not, for the world, that on my account you should do 
 that which will cause you future regret." 
 
 "Say no more!" I replied "I arn going with you. 
 You have succeeded, during our brief acquaintance, 
 in twining yourself about my heart ; and come what 
 come may, a friend in your extremity I will not de 
 sert." 
 
 " Thank you, and may God reward you !" said 
 Varney, in a tremulous tone ; and he turned his head 
 away to conceal his emotion. 
 
 Better at first declined taking any pay for the time 
 he had lost in traveling to suit our convenience. He 
 said that as he was the first to break the bargain, he 
 was willing to consider the matter square ; and that 
 we had a better right to complain of our disappoint 
 ment than to pay for it. But I insisted on remune 
 rating him, because his time was valuable, and he had 
 really been very kind and obliging, which was not to 
 be offset by the disagreeable churlishness of his 
 partner. 
 
 " Wall," he said at last, with a mischievous grin, 
 and twinkle of his dark eye, "I reckon, Freshwater, 
 you sort o does owe this hyer old beaver a wet to 
 Bent s, fur not fetching in ary deer to say nothing 
 to hitting a tree to a hundred yard eh I boy ?" 
 
 U I certainly do, Sam ; and as you were to call up 
 all your friends, you know, I am sure twenty-five dol 
 lars will not be too large an appropriation for that 
 
ON THE GRAND PR A IKIES. 207 
 
 interesting occasion, at which I had hoped to be pre 
 sent." 
 
 " Chaw me, boy, but I wish you was gwine to be 
 thar fur this hyer old hoss likes you jam up ; but 
 them thar twenty-five shiners is too much bekase, 
 ef me and Wolfy s got to wet em out, there ll be two 
 
 lazy, drunken loafers fur a week. Eh ! Wolfy, 
 
 coon ?" 
 
 " Oh, take the money ; without no sich pala 
 ver 1" growled Stericks. l< We ve arned it, by the 
 hardest work I ever done to my life." 
 
 " Then s pose you take it, and shut your ugly meat- 
 trap 1" cried Botter, indignantly. And as I put the 
 specie into his hand, he gave it an angry toss to his 
 partner muttering, in an undertone : " Some two- 
 legged critters is more hog nor human ef they ain t, 
 why war decency diskivered ? Augh !" 
 
 Saying this, he turned short about, and walked 
 away but soon came back, and called me aside. 
 
 "Freshwater," he said, "you musn t take me fur 
 "Wolfy, nor Wolfy for One-Eyed Sam, when you kim 
 to think over your fust tramp. He s got some good 
 streaks, has Wolfy and this hyer old nigger s got 
 
 some bad ones and so, not being jest alike, I 
 
 want you to keep me and him from gitting mixed up 
 like to your thinking noddle." 
 
 " I certaioly shall do that, without the least diffi 
 culty," I replied. " I shall always remember you as 
 one it would give me pleasure to meet again, either in 
 
208 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 the settlements or in the wilderness but your com 
 panion " 
 
 " Wall, thar, Freshwater, s pose you quit to the 
 good word, and leave Wolfy go far I sees a sign in 
 your eye, that you ll say some at as I wouldn t like to 
 hear, being his friend like, ye see." 
 
 " Better," said I, grasping his hard, horny, weather- 
 stained hand, "would to Heaven there were more like 
 you in the world !" 
 
 " What ! more sich chawed-up, slashed-up, nose- 
 bitten, cheek-bored, one-eyed old niggers like to me, 
 hey?" 
 
 "Even so if, under their rough exteriors, a heart 
 could be found like yours." 
 
 " Wall, you won t find nary sich chopped-up hu 
 man agin you kin gamble on to that," returned the 
 old trapper. " As to the heart, Freshwater, I reckon 
 the less said about that thar ar the best. I knows 
 I ve got some decent feelings but the devil gits into 
 me at times, and then I mought be prayed for a heap. 
 Augh!" 
 
 We spent the night in our tent, in the trappers 7 
 camp ; and the next morning, at an early hour, I took 
 leave of Better, who expressed the hope that we 
 should meet again. I saw him mount his horse and 
 depart, with feelings of regret ; for I had got accus 
 tomed to his ways and, rough and uneducated as he 
 was, I liked him. 
 
 The new day, like those which had preceded it, was 
 bright and beautiful. The sun rose golden in the east, 
 
ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 209 
 
 and the birds, squirrels and insects surrounded us 
 with happy life, and filled the air with happy songs. 
 Yarney, too, made his appearance in good spirits, and 
 seemed stronger and more animated than at any time 
 since our acquaintance; and this had a revivifying 
 effect upon me, who might otherwise have been quite 
 despondent. What with dividing my thoughts, strange 
 as it may seem, between poor Adele and my parents, 
 I had slept but little through the night ; and had my 
 friend risen gloomy and dispirited, and the morning 
 been cloudy and unpropitious, I do believe I should 
 have been tempted, in spite of my resolution to the 
 contrary, to turn my steps homeward so much are 
 we, impressible beings the best of us, affected inter 
 nally by external surroundings. 
 
 Ah!" said Yarney, cheerfully, with an animated 
 glow, as his eye wandered around the grove "this 
 seems like living indeed ! So, the trappers are gone ? 
 "Well, I am not sorry. I liked Botter ; but his surly 
 companion constantly impressed me with dread a 
 kind of indefinite fear and I am glad to be relieved 
 of his presence." 
 
 " Come," said I, " let us go down to the traders 
 camp, get another civilized meal, and see if we can 
 gather any interesting news." 
 
 Not to enter too much into detail of that which can 
 be of no special interest to the reader, I will merely 
 remark, that we remained two days at Council Grove ; 
 when, to our great delight, a military company, having 
 in charge a small train of wagons, passed through the 
 12 
 
2Kb THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 place, on their way from Fort Leavenworth to Bent s 
 Fort. The commander of the company, whom I will 
 term Lieutenant Parker, being a very gentlemanly 
 and obliging individual, we had no difficulty in making 
 suitable arrangements to go out with him. We took 
 our animals, tent, and all our camp materials along ; 
 and Yarney had the privilege of riding on horseback, 
 and in one of the wagons, and changing from one to 
 the other as often as suited his pleasure, while the 
 lieutenant took care that we both fared as well as 
 himself. 
 
 "We now journeyed much faster than before ; and 
 there being some fifty of us in all, we felt perfectly 
 safe from Indian molestation ; and had the weather 
 proved fine, we should have had a few days of 
 agreeable traveling ; but during the afternoon of the 
 first day, it set in to rain and continued, with very 
 little intermission, for three or four days swelling 
 all the streams on our route, making the road in 
 many places muddy and miry, and causing the horses 
 and mules to chafe under the saddle and in the 
 harness. 
 
 Yarney, much to my relief of mind, did not appear 
 to suffer from the unpleasant change of weather ; but 
 he took care not to expose himself needlessly, and to 
 keep himself as dry as possible, under cover of the 
 wagon, in which he now rode altogether, (letting his 
 horse follow,) and which at night served him for a 
 
 tent. 
 
 Our first military camp was at Diamond Spring, 
 
ON THE GRAND PRAIRIES. 211 
 
 about twenty miles from Council Grove. This is a 
 spring of clear, cold water, some three or four feet 
 across, and is a noted stopping-place for caravans, 
 either going out or coming in. The second day we 
 started early, and pushed rapidly forward, through 
 the constantly falling rain, and camped, just before 
 dark, on Cottonwood Fork, a distance of some thirty 
 miles from Diamond Spring. The third day I date, 
 of course, from the time of our joining the company 
 we found our animals so chafed and fatigued, that 
 we made only a short march, and encamped, about 
 noon, on Turkey Creek. 
 
 This was the spot to excite in me the most pain 
 ful emotions; for here it was the fight had occurred, 
 in which Loyola had met his death, and Adele been 
 taken prisoner. I looked around, with a sad heart, 
 and shuddered to think upon the awful fate of the 
 poor girl, who might never know the blessings of 
 happiness in her weary journey through life. Her 
 early years had been passed in what might well be 
 termed misery but these, in comparison with her 
 present doom, might seem as sunny hours to a long 
 night of tempest. And would her present night of 
 wretchedness ever have a morn in life ? or was it her 
 hard destiny to groan on, in desolate wo, till her 
 bright spirit should float to its heavenly home beyond 
 the dark river of death? Was there no hope for 
 her ? was there no friendly hand to be stretched to 
 her relief? Should I, who had vowed to protect her, 
 go quietly on my way, and allow her to suffer? 
 
212 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "Was I always to think of her as one doomed to a 
 hopeless slavery, among a race of savages, and make 
 no attempt to save her? No! my soul revolted at 
 the thought ; and should nothing intervene in her 
 favor, I solemnly resolved, soon or late, to make one 
 attempt to rescue her even if compelled to go alone, 
 and unaided, into the very jaws, as it were, of a most 
 horrible death. 
 
 But it was not my intention to pursue a rash or 
 perilous course, if I could avoid it. I was resolved 
 that Adele, if living a prisoner among the Indians, 
 should be restored to civilized life ; I was resolved, 
 should all other means fail, to do for her all that one 
 man could do, ere I turned my face homeward; but 
 I had no romantic ideas of performing wonderful 
 feats, like the knights of old, merely to display my 
 heroism and devotion. I would not rush into peril 
 for peril s sake nor was I particularly desirous that 
 she should owe her liberty to me more than another. 
 My prime object was her restoration to civilization : 
 the means and manner of her deliverance, and by 
 whom performed, were of secondary importance. 
 
 I had strong hopes, too, this might be effected 
 without my personal assistance for I had laid the 
 whole matter before Lieutenant Parker, and he had 
 promised to report to his superior officer, and thought 
 it not unlikely a force might be sent against the tribe 
 in question, to chastise them for their presumption, 
 and snatch their ill-fated victims from their remorse 
 less grasp. But besides all this, my first duty was to 
 
ON THE GKAND PBAIEIES. 213 
 
 remain with my sick companion ; and I was now 
 determined not to part from him till there should 
 come a change, either for better or worse till, in 
 fact, I could leave him on the road to health, or know 
 his spirit had passed the portals of death. 
 
 We were now, it could be said, fairly upon the 
 margin of the Grand Prairies. The rolling and par 
 tially-timbered lands, had gradually given place to 
 the flat and arid-looking plains, that stretch away, 
 northward and westward, for hundreds of miles to 
 the very base, in fact, of that grand, rocky chain 
 which divides the rivers of the Atlantic from the 
 Pacific. No longer were our eyes to be greeted with 
 the tall green blade and bright flowers ; but, in place, 
 we were to have the short, brown buffalo grass, thinly 
 planted, and looking withered by contrast though 
 really sweeter and more nutritious, I was told, than 
 the ranker and more beautiful vegetation. No longer 
 were we to be delighted with stately groves, along the 
 banks of purling streams, with gay birds singing in 
 their green branches, and blithe squirrels hopping 
 from limb to limb, and darting up and down their 
 stately trunks ; but, in place, we were to have deep, 
 sunken, muddy, sluggish creeks, and a dull, monoto 
 nous view, unrelieved by a single tree, shrub, or 
 bush. Turkey Creek was entirely bare of timber ; 
 and it was only with great labor, and a search far and 
 wide, that sufficient fuel could be collected for culi 
 nary purposes. 
 
 But as a compensation, if I may so term it, for 
 
214 THE BOEDER EOVER. 
 
 the beauties of the country left behind us, we were 
 now entering upon the Paradise of hunters, the grand 
 buffalo range, where these formidable-looking animals 
 may be seen in droves of millions, covering the earth 
 for miles on miles beyond the reach of sight. As yet 
 we had seen none of the living ; but here and there 
 were old wallows that is, places where the animal, 
 lying on its side, as its wont, and using its feet to turn 
 itself round and round, has formed a cavity in the 
 yielding soil here and there, I say, were old wallows, 
 and grinning skulls, and decaying bones, showing that 
 once their range had been here and eastward, and 
 giving us an inkling of what we might shortly expect 
 to behold. 
 
 Toward evening the rain ceased ; but the air be 
 coming sultry and oppressive, I resolved to sleep on 
 the ground under cover of my tent. I chose the 
 ground there, because of its being drier, while I could 
 have all the advantage of a chance breeze, as my can 
 vas covering did not reach quite to the earth. Soon 
 after dark, I picketed my animals, and, being very 
 tired, threw off my clothes and laid down on one of 
 my blankets, with the other at hand to cover me in 
 case of a sudden change of temperature during the 
 night. For some time I laid awake, troubled with 
 painful thoughts ; but gradually my senses sunk into 
 a doze ; and, soon after, a deep, dreamless sleep suc 
 ceeded. 
 
 About midnight I was awakened by a stunning clap 
 of thunder. I was lying on my back, uncovered, and 
 
A NIGHT TO BE KEMEMBEEED. 215 
 
 felt chilly for the rain was beating furiously against 
 my tent, and quite a puddle of water had begun to 
 form against my side but as I attempted to rise, 
 there came another vivid flash of lightning and, 
 horror of horrors ! by its searching light I beheld an 
 enormous rattlesnake nestled close to my feet. My 
 movement had aroused him, so that I saw his arched 
 neck and fiery eyes ; and, almost at the same instant, 
 he gave his warning signal, and struck. I felt the 
 blow against my foot; and not doubting that his 
 deadly fangs had lacerated the flesh, I started up, 
 with a piercing yell of terror, and rushed forth from 
 the tent, more mad than sane. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 
 
 INSTANTLY the whole camp was alarmed. Men 
 started up in every direction, shouting " Indians ! 
 Indians 1" and for a few minutes a scene of the wildest 
 confusion prevailed. As soon as I could make a few 
 of them understand what had occurred, order began 
 to be restored ; and Lieutenant Parker, seizing me by 
 the arm, and a dark lantern which hung in one of the 
 wagons, hurried me into the tent, and ordered one of 
 his men to fetch a gallon of whiskey with the utmost 
 despatch. 
 
216 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " My dear fellow," lie exclaimed, in an excited 
 tone, " where is it ? where is the wound ? we must 
 burn it out at once !" 
 
 " Quick I" cried I " do what you can ! Oh, God ! 
 to die such a death !" and I threw myself down upon 
 the blanket, and pointed to my foot. 
 
 He held the light to it a moment, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Quick ! the other foot ! you have made a mistake 
 there is no wound here." 
 
 " No !" said I -" that is where I felt the blow." 
 
 At this moment Yarney burst into the tent, and, 
 dropping upon his knees by my side, seized my hand, 
 and fairly gasped : 
 
 " Great God ! Eoland, are you bit ? have you 
 received your death- wound ?" 
 
 " I fear so, my dear friend," I answered, in as calm 
 a tone as I could command. " Your prospects of life 
 are better than mine now." 
 
 " Oh ! say not so ! You will get over it you 
 must, dear Eoland ! Great God, do not, in Thy 
 mercy, snatch him away thus suddenly !" 
 
 " There is no wound," said Parker, in that peculiar 
 tone which shows that the mind of the speaker is 
 suddenly relieved of great anxiety. " You were 
 dreaming, perhaps !" 
 
 " No !" said I, examining my foot, with feelings of 
 joy and gratitude no language can express : " I was 
 not dreaming it was a horrible reality ; so horrible, 
 indeed, that the very recollection of it makes me shud 
 der and grow sick. I saw the reptile, by a bright 
 
A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 217 
 
 flash of lightning, as distinctly as I see you now; and 
 I heard his rattle, and felt the blow of his fangs." 
 
 " It is very strange! there is no wound to be seen !" 
 said the lieutenant. " Are you sure this is the place 
 where he struck ?" 
 
 "Yes, I am certain." 
 
 He mused a moment, and added : 
 
 " How were you lying ?" 
 
 " On my back. 
 
 " Please to take the same position again." 
 
 I did so. 
 
 "Now where did you see the snake?" 
 
 " Just where you stand." 
 
 "I have it!" he said, stooping and throwing a cor 
 ner of the blanket against my foot. " The snake was 
 here, and struck there. It was your blanket that 
 saved you." 
 
 " Whatever it was," said I, solemnly, " I humbly 
 thank God for my almost miraculous preservation ;" 
 and so overcome was I, at the reflection of what might 
 have been my fate, that I shed tears freely. 
 
 " These venomous reptiles are very abundant in this 
 part of the country," pursued the lieutenant ; " and it 
 is very dangerous to sleep on the ground, unless com 
 pletely covered by a blanket. I congratulate you on 
 your wonderful escape. For the future, you had better 
 swing your hammock, or get into the wagon with your 
 friend." 
 
 "I shall not soon forget your kindness," said I, 
 taking his hand ; "for had I really been poisoned, aa 
 
218 THE BORDEB ROVER. 
 
 I had every reason to believe, when I alarmed the 
 camp, I think, if in human power, you would have 
 saved my life." 
 
 " I should have done what I could," he replied ; "but 
 had any of the virus entered a blood-vessel, and been 
 carried to the heart, it is certain you would never 
 have returned to the States alive. You have indeed 
 had a narrow escape ; and if you go to the mountains 
 and return, you will doubtless have many more for 
 this is a country of peril, and no one can say his life is 
 his own from one hour to another. Ah ! what light 
 ning we have out here 1 " he continued, as a sudden 
 flash fairly blinded us, followed instantly by a crash 
 of thunder that seemed to lift us from our feet. " How 
 the storm rages ! Hark ! what cry is that ?" 
 
 The cry alluded to came from without, and was 
 instantly repeated, announcing the startling fact that 
 one of the men had been struck by lightning. We 
 all hurried from the tent into the beating storm, and 
 found a poor fellow stretched on the ground, by one 
 of the wagons, to all appearance dead. The wagon 
 itself the same which Varney had occupied a few 
 minutes before was much shattered ; and the very 
 spot where he had been lying, when my cry of terror 
 aroused him, was literally torn into splinters. As 
 soon as he became conscious of this fact, he grasped 
 my hand nervously, and in a tone made tremulous by 
 deep emotions, exclaimed : 
 
 "How mysterious are the ways of Providence! 
 
A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 219 
 
 Your peril, Roland, and its consequences, have been 
 the means of saving my life!" 
 
 " Which you may lose in another manner, if you 
 do not seek shelter from this furious storm I" said I, 
 anxiously. 
 
 " God is over all, and rules all for the best !" he re 
 joined, with great solemnity; "and after what has 
 happened to-night, we should not fear to trust to His 
 protection ! But as we can render no assistance here, 
 we may as well return to our tent." 
 
 We left Lieutenant Parker, with several of his men, 
 busy over the body of the unfortunate soldier, trying 
 to restore him to life ; but just as we reached our tent, 
 a fierce gust wrenched it from its fastenings, and sent 
 it whirling through the air. 
 
 " Great Heaven ! what a night !" cried Yarney ; and 
 he had scarcely uttered the words, when we heard 
 several fierce neighs, and heavy trampling sounds, 
 followed by a loud shout, above the roar of the 
 storm : 
 
 " A stampede ! a stampede ! the animals have 
 broken loose !" 
 
 " There go our horses and mule !" exclaimed Yar 
 ney ; "what next?" 
 
 " Heaven only knows I" said I. " We have lost our 
 animals, and tent, and my clothes ; and here we both 
 stand, almost as naked as when we came into the 
 world." 
 
 In fact, I only had on me a flannel shirt, with a 
 belt underneath, in which was secured my money 
 
220 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 all the rest of my wearing apparel, hanging in my 
 tent at the time of its demolition, having been carried 
 I knew not whither. I say all ; but I had another 
 suit in my mule-pack, which fortunately had been 
 thrown into one of the wagons; and I now made 
 search for it in the darkness and confusion which pre 
 vailed. We found the wagon, and both got into it, 
 glad to escape from the chilling winds and merciless 
 peltings of the tornado-driven rain. 
 
 For two hours the winds blew, the lightnings 
 flashed, the thunders crashed and roared, and the 
 rain fell in torrents; and then the storm ceased its 
 fury, and gradually disappeared to the eastward, 
 leaving the atmosphere at least thirty degrees colder 
 than at the going clown of the sun. With what joy 
 we hailed the departure of the storm, mingled with 
 feelings of gratitude for the wonderful preservation 
 of our lives I It is in times like these that we humbly 
 feel our dependence upon an All- wise Power ; and the 
 soul, drawn into direct communion with itself, gives 
 forth an offering of thankful prayer, which must be 
 acceptable to Him who reigns supreme over all, and 
 controls alike the fate of millions of worlds and the 
 smallest atom which His will, wisdom and love have 
 brought into existence. 
 
 Let me not dwell upon the incidents of that event 
 ful night for there is enough before me, of a more 
 exciting, thrilling, and even painful interest, to 
 occupy the space I have allotted to my narrative. 
 Day dawned at last, as bright and clear as if the 
 
A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 221 
 
 night had seen no tempest ; and we hailed the light, 
 as a weary spirit might hail a messenger of glad tid 
 ings from a better world. But it dawned no more 
 for him who had that night felt the visitation of an 
 inscrutable Providence. The poor fellow, prostrated 
 by the bolt of heaven, slept his last sleep; and his 
 body was consigned to dust, on the bank of the 
 stream, not far from our camp ; and the news of his 
 fate, in time, went home to his friends, and carried 
 sorrow to many a heart. I pitied him then cut 
 down, without warning, in the very bloom of life ; 
 but I lived to see a timo when I could envy his fate, 
 and regret the chance which had saved me from the 
 fangs of a deadly serpent. 
 
 After a long search, most of the animals were re 
 covered and, among them, our horses but our mule 
 we never saw again. I found our tent about half a mile 
 from camp but in such a wretched condition as to 
 cause me to abandon it to the further sport of the ele 
 ments. I also recovered my garments, which had 
 made quite a journey without their owner but I could 
 not perceive they were in the least improved by tra 
 veling through mud and rain on their own account. 
 My rifle and pistols were found lying on the ground 
 where our tent had stood having, through my ex 
 citement, been forgotten till morning but they were 
 in a condition to require considerable labor to again 
 fit them for use. 
 
 It was not till noon that we were prepared to break 
 up our camp and resume our march ; but once under 
 
222 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 way again, and the day being fine, we pushed rapidly 
 forward, and reached the Little Arkansas about dark. 
 Here we found some large elms, and box elder, and 
 were able to procure fuel, without difficulty, to cook 
 our meals ; which principally consisted of coffee, 
 sweetened with sugar, and stakes from a freshly- 
 slaughtered beef, several of which were driven over 
 the route to serve in case of need. 
 
 This stream, the Little Arkansas, is a tributary of 
 the river of the same name, and is usually about six 
 or eight feet wide, and some four or five inches in 
 depth ; but at this time it was much swollen by the 
 late rains, though not sufficiently so to render it diffi 
 cult to ford. By invitation of Lieutenant Parker, I 
 slept in the wagon with my friend who, I may re 
 mark, had not suffered from the drenching of the 
 night before, as I had feared at the time he would. 
 In fact, Yarney considered that, on the whole, he 
 had improved in health since leaving Independence 
 and this we both acknowledged to be quite encour 
 aging. 
 
 " If I can only hold out till I reach the mountains, 
 my dear friend," he said, " something tells me I shall 
 yet recover to return to her I love." 
 
 "God grant it!" said I; "and may the happiness 
 of the future compensate you for all the sorrows and 
 sufferings of the past !" 
 
 " You are the most unselfish friend I ever met !" he 
 added, with feeling. 
 
A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 223 
 
 " Because I wish you well, Alfred ? Surely, no 
 friend would do less." 
 
 " No, not altogether that; but because, at all times, 
 you seem to study iny happiness rather tKan your 
 own." 
 
 " Because, being your friend, my own happiness is, 
 to a certain degree, bound up in yours," said I. 
 
 " Well, I only hope I may live to repay you." 
 
 The next morning we made an early start ; and 
 scarcely were we under way, when we espied several 
 antelopes feeding at no great distance ; but on seeing 
 us they fled, before any of our party could get near 
 enough for a shot. On our journey to-day, we saw 
 several fresh signs of buffalo, but did not get a sight 
 of one of the animals. Early in the afternoon we 
 reached Cow Creek, which we found difficult to cross, 
 on account of high water and its muddy bottom. Tn 
 fact, it was some three hours before all the wagons 
 were got safely over, and then we camped on its 
 western bank. 
 
 On the following day we came upon a small drove 
 of buffaloes, the first I had ever seen ; and as it was 
 resolved that we should kill a few for meat, I joined 
 the party that went in pursuit. 
 
 The ordinary method of killing this unwieldly 
 animal, is to ride into the very centre of a drove, 
 single out the fattest, and begin the work of slaughter 
 by discharging holster pistols into his side, near the 
 brisket, till he falls. Sometimes the buffalo, especi 
 ally if a bull, will run a long distance, and require an 
 
224 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 immense deal of shooting, before he will succumb to 
 his fate ; and so, when mounted, the worrying down 
 of the unfortunate animal is by some considered very 
 excellent sport. I did not find it so for I sympa 
 thized too much with the poor brute to take any 
 pleasure in the exciting chase ; and so, after killing 
 one, by way of experiment, I returned to the train, 
 resolved to shoot no more, unless the flesh were actu 
 ally required for food. 
 
 On our journey to-day, we passed through a large 
 village of prairie-dogs, in which both Varney and 
 myself became exceedingly interested. This is a small, 
 brown animal, with a head not unlike a terrier pup, 
 and a short, stumpy tail, which, when excited, he 
 keeps in constant motion. They select for the site of 
 their village, or town, a large level of sandy soil ; and 
 their dwellings are made by throwing up the earth, 
 in a conical shape, to a height of two or three feet, 
 and having a hole in the apex, or summit, which 
 descends vertically to the base, and thence obliquely, 
 for a considerable distance, into the earth. These 
 earthen houses are constructed with so much order 
 and regularity as to give the spaces between them 
 the appearance of streets, and not unfrequently they 
 cover an area of several miles in extent. Owls and 
 rattlesnakes are their companions the former hop 
 ping about at twilight, and feeding upon camelions 
 and lizards, and the latter not scrupling to fill their 
 maws with the young, fat pups of their hospitable 
 entertainers. On the approach of danger, the dogs 
 
A NIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED. 225 
 
 run into their holes, and then thrust forth their heads, 
 and set up a series of sharp, squeaking barks. 
 "When the danger becomes imminent, they retire 
 from sight altogether ; but after waiting awhile in 
 silence, they peep forth very cautiously ; and as soon 
 as they discover the coast to be clear, they come out 
 chattering, and have a merry time of it. They have 
 laws and regulations, which they strictly enforce; 
 and a big dog, in the centre of the village, appears 
 to be chief magistrate. Altogether, they are a very 
 interesting, democratic community of animals; and 
 it might not be amiss for here and there some 
 pompous, over-fed city functionary to take a few 
 lessons of true republican simplicity even from them. 
 Having now fairly entered upon the buffalo range, 
 we found these animals increasing in numbers as we 
 progressed; and I was glad to hear our humane 
 commander, after the first half-a-day s sport, issue 
 peremptory orders against their wanton destruction. 
 Our next camp was upon the bank of the Arkansas ; 
 and, the night following, upon the grand prairie, 
 within a mile of the river, whither we led our 
 animals to water, and from which we brought what 
 was needed for our own use. Here, as not a splinter 
 of wood could be found, our fires were made of " lois 
 de vaclie"* which, when dry, proves a very good 
 substitute, and is always used by hunters and others 
 on the open plains. As this was known to be a 
 
 * Literally, " wood of cow" but, appropriately, " buffalo 
 manure." 
 13 
 
226 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 dangerous part of the country, our wagons were 
 made to form a hollow square inside of which, soon 
 after dark, many of the animals were driven while 
 the others were picketed close around outside, and a 
 strong guard set. 
 
 What happened the reader shall see. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 
 
 THE uight set in cloudy, and the clouds gradually 
 became more dense, while the air grew cool and damp, 
 an almost certain precursor of rain. I crept into the 
 wagon with Varney; but most of the men rolled 
 themselves in their blankets, and laid down on the 
 earth, outside of the hollow square. For a long time 
 I laid awake, listening to the dismal bowlings of the 
 prairie wolves, which are always to be found in great 
 numbers on the buffalo range, lying in wait to kill 
 and devour the wounded and defenceless cows and 
 calves. The expected rain had begun to fall, and its 
 gentle patter on the canvas covering of the wagon had 
 just lulled me into a doze, when I was startled by the 
 sharp, successive reports of three or four rifles, mingled 
 with the cries of " Indians ! Indians !" and the fierce, 
 unearthly yells of a large body of savages. 
 
 " Heavens ! we are attacked !" cried Varney. 
 
ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 227 
 
 " Kemain where you are !" said I, hurriedly ; " you 
 are safer here than elsewhere ;" and, having laid down 
 with my clothes on, with my knife and pistols in my 
 belt, I instantly grasped my rifle, powder-horn and 
 bullet-pouch, and leaped to the ground outside. 
 
 I was now in the midst of a scene of the wildest 
 confusion ; yells, shouts, and the reports of lire-arms 
 filled my ears ; men were running to and fro ; horses 
 were neighing, stamping, kicking, and cattle bellow 
 ing ; but it was so dark that I could not distinguish 
 friend from foe, and therefore I stood undetermined 
 and bewildered. Suddenly I felt something encircle 
 my neck with a snap the fire flew from my eyes 
 and at the same moment I was jerked to the earth, and 
 felt myself being dragged over the ground with great 
 rapidity. Not being deprived of consciousness, I knew 
 at once what had occurred. I had been perceived and 
 lassoed* by a mounted Indian, who was now dragging 
 me by the neck to a safe distance, for the purpose of 
 killing and scalping me. Fortunately for me, the 
 noose had passed over the barrel of my rifle, in front 
 of my chin, so that the rope drew upon the back of 
 my neck ; while the tension of the lasso, as the horse 
 dashed away at great speed, kept my head elevated 
 above the earth ; and retaining in that awful moment 
 my presence of mind, I caught the rope with one hand, 
 
 * The lasso is a long rope, generally made of hide or hair, with 
 a noose at one end, arid is thrown with great precision, by Mexi 
 cans and Indians, over the head of the object they wish to secure. 
 
228 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 and held to it, while with the other I drew my knife 
 and cut it near the loop. 
 
 I was now released from the most imminent peril, 
 but lay half dead upon the ground, listening to the 
 clamor behind me, and thanking God for my almost 
 miraculous escape from sudden death. I knew I was 
 much hurt, but I hoped not mortally. My neck was 
 already swelled, and began to grow stiff, and felt as if 
 it had been twisted once round ; my body was much 
 bruised, and my legs felt as if the skin were scraped 
 off in spots all the way down to my feet ; but I was 
 satisfied there were no bones broken ; and if not in 
 jured internally, I had every reason to let my heart 
 swell with gratitude to God for his wonderful Provi 
 dence. 
 
 But setting aside all my injuries, whether trifling 
 or important, my position was still one of great peril. 
 I was lying on the open prairie, some little distance 
 from camp, and literally surrounded by Indians for 
 I could hear their horses darting hither and thither on. 
 all sides, probably chasing and securing some of our 
 animals, which they had put to flight this, of course, 
 being their principal object in attacking us and 
 every moment I was fearful some beast would tread 
 upon me. I gathered myself upon my hands and 
 knees, ready to spring aside should I discover a horse 
 advancing directly upon me ; but I made no effort to 
 return to camp ; for, aside from considering myself as 
 safe where I was, I did not feel capable of any great 
 
ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 229 
 
 exertion, and had no desire to have my neck again 
 stretched with another lasso. 
 
 In this position, some two or three minutes passed ; 
 and I was listening to the infernal yells of the savages 
 mingled with the shouts of my companions, the 
 reports of fire-arms, and other sounds of conflict 
 when I was startled by hearing the loud snort of a 
 horse close behind me. I turned my eyes in that di 
 rection, and, after a sharp, steady look into the dark 
 ness, I fancied I could perceive a still darker shadow 
 moving toward me. One of my pistols had been torn 
 from my belt, but the other remained ; and grasping 
 this and my knife, I dropped down flat upon the earth, 
 with my eyes steadily fixed upon the shadow, which, 
 as it drew close to me, I could perceive assume the 
 figure of an Indian. 
 
 At first I was surprised that an Indian should be 
 on foot, approaching me at that slow, stealthy pace 
 for I felt almost certain that no human eye could see 
 me where I lay but I soon comprehended all. The 
 savage who had captured me, on finding I had 
 escaped from the lasso, and doubtless thinking me 
 dead or badly wounded, had cautiously returned on 
 his trail, for the purpose of getting my scalp. He 
 had dismounted from his beast, and led him forward, 
 till the snort of the animal for the true Indian horse 
 never approaches the white man without signs of fear 
 had warned him of my proximity ; when, leaving 
 his horse behind him, he had stealthily advanced 
 
230 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 alone, till my eye had been able to restore his seem 
 ing shadow to a substantial human figure. 
 
 " Well, my worthy friend," thought I, " you have 
 come back on a fool s errand ; and if my weapons do 
 not fail me, there will probably be some howling in 
 your lodge, when your infernal, thieving, murdering 
 companions return to their village." 
 
 I knew he did not see me for his head was bent 
 forward, and he was feeling his way, as it were, at a 
 very slow, stealthy pace. At last he stopped within 
 a foot of me, and was just in the act of dropping down, 
 probably with the design of crawling up to me, sup 
 posing me still several feet distant, when, thrusting 
 out my arm suddenly, I pressed the muzzle of the 
 pistol against his breast, and pulled the trigger. With 
 a yell of surprise, disappointment, rage and pain, he 
 bounded back, and fell, and rolled over and over 
 upon the moist earth; and then, uttering a long, gurg 
 ling groan, he lay perfectly still. 
 
 " There, my fine fellow !" muttered I, grinding my 
 teeth with a kind of bitter satisfaction ; " how do you 
 like that ? Perhaps you would prefer dragging some 
 body else by the neck over the prairie ; but it is the 
 private opinion of a certain white gentleman from 
 the States that you never will." 
 
 It may seem a little strange to the reader, that one 
 who had so recently felt compunctions of conscience at 
 shooting a villain who had assailed his life, should 
 now glory, as it were, in killing another of a different 
 race ; but so it was ; and it only shows how much 
 
ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 231 
 
 custom, public opinion, and education have to do 
 with conscience after all. Strictly and morally, it was 
 just as wrong for me to kill the Indian, as it would 
 have been, under the circumstances, to have killed 
 Loyola ; but one appeared perfectly justifiable in my 
 eyes, and the other only a shade removed from 
 murder. 
 
 Scarcely had I shot the Indian, when the fight ter 
 minated at the camp ; and with fierce signal yells, the 
 savages seemed to collect in a body and dash away 
 the hoofs of their horses thundering over the earth 
 together, and gradually dying out in the distance. 
 
 I now ventured to get upon my feet, for the pur 
 pose of returning to the camp ; but I was so bruised 
 and lame, that it was with difficulty I could walk ; 
 while my neck was so swollen and stiff, that I could 
 only turn my head by turning my body. I had only 
 taken two or three steps, when I heard the horse of 
 the Indian snort and whinny ; and it at once occurred 
 to me to make a capture of the beast perhaps to 
 replace my own for it was not improbable my own 
 had been stolen during the melee. So I turned back 
 and groped my way up to the animal, which I found 
 near his dead master, snuffing, snorting, whinnying, 
 and trembling, evidently uncertain whether to remain 
 or fly. He permitted me to approach him, though 
 not without signs of fear, and a half disposition to 
 spring away ; but probably the fact of his master (for 
 whom he seemed to have an affection) remaining so 
 
232 THE BOEDER HOVER. 
 
 quietly on the ground, so near, gave him confidence in 
 a white stranger. 
 
 At all events, he suffered me to take hold of him, 
 and pat him on the neck ; but when I attempted to 
 mount him, he began to shy and snort. I coaxed 
 and fondled him, till he became quite docile ; but then 
 I discovered it would be no easy matter to mount, 
 even should he remain perfectly still for in place of 
 a regular saddle with stirrups, he had only a part of 
 a buffalo-hide strapped to his back ; and his bridle 
 was little else than a halter, without bit his rider 
 having been able to govern him in a way peculiar to 
 the native of the wilderness. Taking the whole matter 
 into consideration, I began to be doubtful about the 
 propriety of mounting him at all ; but it was unpleasant 
 to me to walk ; and besides, I felt some pride in my 
 exploit, and thought it would look well to ride into 
 camp on a steed I had captured. 
 
 But mounting where I was, was out of the question 
 for I was too stiff and lame to make the requisite 
 spring ; and so I set off on a walk, leading him by 
 the halter. Had I continued on to camp in this man 
 ner, it would have saved me no little trouble ; but 
 happening to stumble against a small bank of earth, 
 I led him round to the lower side, and, after some 
 difficulty, succeeded in getting upon his back. He 
 now appeared very docile, and quiet, and I started 
 him forward at a gentle pace, in the direction of the 
 camp, being guided only by the voices of my com 
 panions, for there was not a light to be seen. 
 
ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 233 
 
 All went very well till I was nearly up to the 
 wagons ; when some one, mistaking me for one of the 
 savages, fired without challenging. Whether the horse 
 was hit or not, I never knew ; but he wheeled sud 
 denly to the right, and bounded away like a comet 
 my friends giving me a parting volley the balls 
 whizzing over and under me, and increasing the ter 
 ror of my frightened beast. 
 
 It was now a John Gilpin race, sure enough ; for I 
 found, after repeated trials, that I could neither con 
 trol nor guide the fiery animal, and so was compelled 
 to let him have his own way. It was easy riding 
 enough, but whither was he bearing me ? Was ho 
 following the trail of his companions ? and would he 
 carry his captor into captivity, and thus take his re 
 venge upon me for the death of his master ? It was 
 not a pleasant speculation, and I would have given 
 half my fortune to have been safely on the ground ; 
 but getting to the ground, while under such speed, 
 was not to be thought of, unless I could make up my 
 mind for sudden death or broken bones ; and until I 
 could see as imminent danger ahead, I did not feel like 
 taking the risk. Should I come within sight or hear 
 ing of the Indians, I would leap from his back, be the 
 consequences what they might ; but, till then, I 
 thought it best to take my chances where I was. 
 
 It was a wild, fearful ride ; and yet to me it had 
 something of a sublime fascination. On, on we sped, 
 over the level prairie, my flying steed scarce seeming 
 to touch the earth, as he darted through the thick 
 
234 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 darkness. In broad day -light, and under other circum 
 stances, the ride would have delighted me ; for it had 
 the sense of flying, rather than running, and I would 
 have risked my neck for the peculiar sensation of such 
 wild freedom ; but bounding through darkness, leav 
 ing my friends behind me, and rushing perhaps into 
 the very jaws of death, or worse, was a different mat 
 ter ; and yet, as I have said, it had a sort of sublime 
 fascination, and threw over the spirit and influence not 
 unlike that which urges an adventurer to some bold 
 and perilous exploit without rational motive. On, on, 
 we sped, in inky darkness, the rain pouring steadily 
 down, and not a thing to be seen, above, below, or 
 around. On ! on ! Now splashing through a stream 
 or pool now flying through a startled herd of buffa 
 loes sometimes brushing their shaggy manes, as they 
 strove to clear the way with wolves howling on the 
 right and left on ! on ! Mazeppa-like though not 
 like him to be borne to a throne, but rather to sudden 
 death, or the torture-fires of a merciless foe. 
 
 Miles now lay between me and the camp of my 
 friends; and yet my "wild prairie steed" had not 
 slackened his railroad pace ; and when he would, and 
 where, and what would be the end, the Lord only 
 knew ! Again I tried to check, him, but in vain ; and 
 again I yielded to my fate, with what resignation I 
 could command, commending my soul to Him who 
 reigns and rules in time and eternity. 
 
 At last I heard the hollow, gurgling sound of an 
 angry flood ; but ere I could fairly comprehend what 
 
ATTACKED BY INDIANS. 235 
 
 was before me, my maddened steeed had plunged 
 into the furious torrent, completely burying me under 
 water. So sudden was the immersion, that I nearly 
 lost my seat ; but I had a tight grasp on his halter 
 and mane, and with him I came to the surface. His 
 speed was now checked, and I thanked God for it 
 for I knew he must be swimming a river and I 
 resolved to leap from his back when he should gain 
 the opposite shore, toward which he was struggling 
 with energy unrelaxed. Fierce was his contest with 
 the swollen stream which sent its waters past us with 
 a hoarse murmur, gurgle and roar as if, resolved not 
 to give us up to life and liberty, it were already 
 chanting our funeral dirge. 
 
 At length, after a long, violent struggle with the 
 watery element which, on my part, was attended 
 with an intense, painful anxiety I felt the feet of 
 the gallant beast touch the ground ; and the next 
 moment, with a strong leap, he rose clear of the 
 stream. Now was my time ; and instantly springing 
 from his back, I alighted among some bushes ; while, 
 with a quick bound and a snort, he disappeared, 
 rushing away like the wind. 
 
 I was now safe on terra firma; but on what precise 
 point of the great globe, I could not tell. Judging 
 from the speed at which I had been borne from my 
 friends, and the time which had elapsed since leaving 
 the camp, some twenty miles now lay between us ; 
 and if my course had been westward, it was 
 reasonable to suppose I was now on the western, or 
 
236 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 rather southern, bank of the far-famed Pawnee Eork 
 for I had heard this stream described as broad, deep, 
 and rapid after heavy rains, and just such a stream I 
 had crossed. 
 
 But what was to be done now ? I got upon my 
 feet, with my water-soaked garments clinging to me, 
 like a second skin, and felt for my weapons but not 
 one was to be found. Eifle, pistols, knife, all had been 
 left upon the prairie, and I had nothing with which to 
 defend myself against an enemy or, what would pro 
 bably be of more importance, to kill game for food, 
 till I could find some human being of my race. This 
 was not a very agreeable discovery ; but I had made 
 so many remarkable escapes, since leaving the States, 
 that I felt rather like trusting to my good fortune 
 than giving away to despair. Why borrow trouble 
 that might never come in any other shape ? 
 
 I pushed through the bushes, ran against the trunks 
 of two or three trees, and then found myself once more 
 on the open prairie the rushing river hoarsely mur 
 muring behind me. There was no change overhead ; 
 the clouds were as low and black as ever, the night as 
 dark as the fabled realms of Pluto, and the rain still 
 falling. "Which way to go I did not know ; but any 
 way seemed better than sitting down or standing still 
 although every step I took caused me to remember 
 the rough journey I had made at the heels of the horse 
 which had since borne me hither ; and so, after some 
 debate with myself, I turned to the left, which led 
 down the stream, and continued to walk very slowly 
 
AN OLD COMPANION. 237 
 
 for something like an hour, keeping the roaring river 
 within hearing; 
 
 I was thus proceeding carefully, and thinking of 
 poor Varney, and what a state of excitement would 
 follow his discovery of my loss, when my foot struck 
 against some object, which seemed to spring away 
 from it. Surprised and alarmed, I made a quick 
 backward step; but at the same moment my legs 
 were seized, and jerked from under me ; and as I came 
 heavily to the earth, a hoarse voice said : 
 
 " White or red ? yelp her out ! afore I let daylight 
 clean, through ye 1" 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 AN OLD COMPANION. 
 
 " WHITE, Sam Botter !" exclaimed I ; for there was 
 no mistaking- that voice, by one who had heard it as 
 often as I had. 
 
 "Why, chaw me up fur a liar, ef it isn t Freshwater, 
 kim down in the storm !" exclaimed Sam, in a tone 
 
 of surprise. " Ef I didn t take you fur a sneaking 
 
 Injin, why was the devil painted black? Augh! 
 Why, boy, I m glad to see you or feel ye, rayther 
 for what s the use of talking bout eyes on sich a night 
 as this hyer ? Whar d ye kim from, anyhow ?" 
 
238 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "I have been riding a John Gilpin race, Sam," 
 said I. 
 
 " What s that ?" 
 
 " Let me explain. About twenty miles from here, 
 as near as I can judge, providing this is Pawnee 
 Fork" 
 
 " Wall, hoss, it ain t nothing else," interrupted 
 Sam. 
 
 " Well, then, about twenty miles from here, on the 
 other side of this stream, is a military camp, where 
 your friend and fellow-traveller, in the shape of the 
 present narrator, undertook to go to sleep ; but being 
 attacked by Indians, he got up, got his head into an 
 Indian lasso, was dragged by the neck too far to be 
 agreeable, cut the lasso, killed the savage, mounted 
 his horse, was run away with, and here he is. Now 
 what do you think of that for an adventure, eh ?" 
 
 Sam ripped out an oath, and exclaimed : 
 
 "Freshwater, this hyer old one-eyed nigger hain t 
 got the sense some people has, and I ll jest trouble 
 you to go over that thar agin. 
 
 " Certainly, Sam, and I will be more explicit ;" and 
 I mentioned the prominent events which had occurred 
 since we parted at Council Grove. 
 
 "Wall," said Botter, interjecting an oath, "you re 
 one on em, Freshwater chaw me ! Why, ef this 
 hyer last fun of yourn don t beat the d 1, why was 
 wolves growed ? Augh !" 
 
 "But now," continued I, "pray tell me how I find 
 
AN OLD COMPANION". 239 
 
 you here, whom I thought many a league away? and 
 where is your partner?" 
 
 " Wolfy s gone under !" returned Botter, with a 
 long, deep sigh. 
 
 " Dead ?" exclaimed I, with a start. 
 
 Yes he war rubbed out by the Pawnees, the in- 
 farnal devils !" 
 
 " Explain !" 
 
 " It s wall you didn t kim with us," continued Sam, 
 in a doleful tone; "fur Shadbones would hev been 
 made meat on, sure, and it s like you wouldn t hev 
 kim out no better though you seem to hev the 
 nine lives to the cat. I ll jest tell you how it war, 
 Freshwater; but you kin gamble on to it, that it ll 
 make this hyer old nigger feel as watery as ef he war 
 peeling inyuns. Augh !" 
 
 After a pause, the old trapper proceeded with his 
 story, which I shall take the liberty to abridge and 
 give in my own language. He and Stericks had met 
 with no misfortune, till after passing Cow Creek; 
 when, one night, as they were encamped upon the 
 bank of a small stream, they were set upon by a large 
 party of Pawnees, who killed and scalped Stericks, 
 and made a clean sweep of all their animals, traps, 
 " possibles," etc. Botter himself barely escaping in 
 the darkness, after shooting two of the savages, by 
 secreting himself under the muddy bank of the creek. 
 Since then, he had travelled on foot and alone, 
 and was so far on his way to Bent s Fort, where 
 he hoped to meet with some friends who would help 
 
240 THE BORDEK ROVER. 
 
 him to another outfit. All he had been able to save 
 of his property, were his weapons, and the garments 
 he had on even the money I gave him at Council 
 Grove, being in the possession of Stericks, had fallen 
 into the hands of the plunderers when they stripped 
 the body. He had met a small hunting party, how 
 ever, and traded a clasp-knife for a blanket, in which 
 he invariably rolled himself at night, heads, hands, 
 and all, in order to protect himself against rattlesnakes, 
 which, as I have shown, sometimes intrude upon the 
 sleeper in a very unceremonious manner. He was 
 thus deposited on the wet earth, soaking in the rain, 
 when I stumbled upon him. But I did not " catch 
 him napping," as the phrase is for your true moun 
 taineer seldom sleeps sounder than a cat, and Botter 
 had had good cause to keep his one eye on the watch. 
 He had heard my approaching footsteps ; but knowing, 
 by the sound, I had no companion, he had resolved, 
 if I crossed his camp, to capture me ; and, should I 
 prove to be an Indian, to take my scalp, in revenge 
 for what he had already suffered from the hated race. 
 The result the reader has seen. 
 
 " Well," said, I when he had concluded, " I am 
 sorry for your loss, and will cheerfully do something 
 toward giving you another outfit." 
 
 "Thank e !" returned Botter; " and it s like I kin 
 do you and Shadbones a good turn, ef you go to the 
 mountains." 
 
 " Why, yes," said I, "the very thing ! he will re- 
 
AN OLD COMPANION. 24:1 
 
 quire a guide and companion, after reaching Bent s, 
 and why not take him with you ?" 
 
 "I reckon we kin fix it," replied the trapper. 
 " Poor old Wolfy s under, and I hain t got nary human 
 now to hurry me along, and so I m jest agwine to 
 take my time chaw me I I never knowed nothing 
 kim of hurrying ; and so I used to tell Wolfy ; but he 
 knowed better, he said, and now he don t know 
 nothing. So we go one arter to ther gits rubbed 
 out, and thar s the end on t. Augh !" 
 
 " I think myself," said I, " as events have turned 
 out, you gained nothing in parting from us. If we 
 had continued in your company, you would have 
 traveled slower perhaps ; yet who knows but by that 
 very means you would have avoided the COD sequences 
 you now lament ?" 
 
 " Wall, wall," returned Sam, philosophically, "thar 
 ain t no use in talking about what mought hev been 
 bekase we humans can t see into the futur , any 
 more nor ef it was a sand-bank ; all we kin do is, to 
 do what we think s best, take what kirns, and let the 
 rest go. We can t al ays float we s all got to gin in 
 and go under some time and so what s the use kick 
 ing agin it. Thar ain t none chaw me ! Freshwater, 
 of all the boys I knowed, twenty year ago, up to the 
 mountains, thar ain t three living cept me, and I 
 spect my time ain t fur off. Wall, when it kirns, 
 this hyer old beaver ll see the end of a heap of hard 
 tramps, you kin gamble on to that. Augh !" 
 
 " There is a Power above us, Sam, that has guided 
 14 
 
242 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 our steps when we have walked in dangerous paths, 
 else should we never have seen the present I" said I, 
 solemnly. 
 
 " Expect," rejoined Sam, musingly ; " leastways, 
 this hyer old nigger once heerd a preacher say some at 
 to that ; and ef he didn t know, why was gospeling 
 diskivered ? Augh 1" 
 
 " Then, considering that our steps are guarded and 
 guided," pursued I, " why should we ever shrink from 
 what our conscience tells us is right ?" 
 
 11 We shouldn t, Freshwater nary once chaw 
 me!" 
 
 " Then, if you think so, why may I not count on 
 you to meet danger in a good cause ?" 
 
 "What s the sign, Freshwater?" 
 
 a lam thinking of the girl that was captured by 
 the Indians," said I ; " and that she ought to be rescued ; 
 and though I know the attempt would be one of peril, 
 yet I am far from feeling satisfied it should be avoided 
 on that account." 
 
 " That thar would be jumping into the fire, and 
 expecting to git out without being burnt," said Sam. 
 
 "To continue your simile," returned I, " we might 
 get out alive, even if scorched." 
 
 "You still hev the notion of taking a tramp arter 
 that thar gal, hey?" rejoined the old trapper. 
 
 " I have resolved never to return to the States until 
 her liberty is regained, or I have made at least one 
 attempt to rescue her." 
 
 " That s said like a lad of speret," pursued Botter ; 
 
AN OLD COMPANION. 243 
 
 " but you ll find it one of the wost jobs ever you tried 
 ef you don t, jest chaw old One-Eyed Sam up fur a 
 liar 1 Augh !" 
 
 11 But can I not persuade you to accompany me, 
 Sam, if I pay you well for your time ? You can but 
 die once, you know ; and your life is continually in 
 peril, go where you will, do what you may." 
 
 " Thar s some at in to that," said Botter, reflectively ; 
 " but we ain t so sartin of losing our ha r out hyer, as 
 we would be to the Injun s own stamping-ground 
 no sir-ee." 
 
 " With one of your experience, in Indian ways, I 
 think we might succeed," said I, hopefully. " Ke- 
 member, the lives of those females are as valuable as 
 our own." 
 
 " To them !" returned Sam, emphatically ; " spect 
 they is to them I but not to us chaw me !" 
 
 "The life of one," I returned, "I at least consider 
 of as much value as my own ; and I would willingly 
 peril mine to save hers, if certain it could be saved in 
 no other way." 
 
 " She s some at to you, I reckon ?" said Sam. 
 
 "You can judge from what I have said. But to the 
 question. Will money, or any other consideration, 
 or all combined, induce you to make the venture with 
 me for her release ?" 
 
 "Jest us two, Freshwater?" 
 
 "If I can engage no more ; but I will do what I can 
 to get others to accompany us." 
 
 "I ll think about it," replied Botter; "I ll think 
 
244: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 about it, Freshwater ; old One-Eyed Sam 11 think about 
 it, boy ; I will, chaw me ! Augh !" 
 
 " "Well, take your time, and think over the matter 
 seriously. I will not urge you to a hasty decision 
 but I will give you something to consider besides the 
 danger. If you go with me, I will, before starting, 
 deposit, with any person you may name, an amount of 
 money sufficient to purchase you a complete outfit for 
 your business ; and the moment these female prisoners 
 are safely lodged in any fort, this money shall be 
 yours." 
 
 " You take away the chances, most powerful, when 
 you say two on J em," said Sam. 
 
 "Well, say one then the girl. I should like to 
 rescue both but the younger shall be my first care. 
 Let me add, however, that there may be no misunder 
 standing, that I have already spoken to a military 
 officer concerning their rescue, and he has promised to 
 report to his superior ; and should a military force be 
 sent against the Indians, I may not need your services. 
 Of that, however, we will speak hereafter." 
 
 I squatted down on the wet earth, and spent the re 
 mainder of the night in conversation with the old 
 trapper. The rain continued to fall gently, so that it 
 would have been difficult to kindle a fire, had we not 
 even been in a part of the country where it would 
 have been dangerous to expose ourselves to its light 
 so we sat in mud and darkness, and talked till day 
 light. I suffered some from my bruises and swollen 
 neck, and my wet garments made me chilly; but 
 
AN OLD COMPANION. 245 
 
 after my wonderful escapes, I felt I had no reason to 
 complain of trifles though I hailed the break of morn 
 with a sensation of gladness I had never before expe 
 rienced from the same cause. 
 
 As soon as we could fairly see, Sam set to work, as 
 only an old woodsman knows how, to start a fire of wet 
 materials ; and after laboring for half an hour, he suc 
 ceeded in getting up a cheerful blaze, which filled me 
 with delight. He now approached a tree on the 
 river s bank, and cut down a large piece of buffalo 
 meat, which he had suspended there the night before ; 
 and this we sliced, and toasted, and devoured, without 
 bread or salt ; and I do not know that I ever ate a 
 heartier meal, or one that I relished more. 
 
 By the time we had finished our breakfast, the sun 
 was fairly above the horizon, though not visible to 
 us for low, dark, humid clouds shut in the upward 
 view, and the rain continued to fall steadily. 
 
 " Thar, now, Freshwater," said Sam, wiping his 
 mouth with^his hand, and smacking his lips, " don t 
 you spect we d best begin to tramp a bit ?" 
 
 "Why," said I, alluding to a previous conversation, 
 "I thought you had decided to remain here, and 
 wait for our friends !" 
 
 "Not right plum on this spot, did I?" 
 
 " No, but in this vicinity." 
 
 " Wall, we kin tramp a heap, and not go fur ; and 
 it s the opine of this hyer old beaver, that you d best 
 stretch your legs a little, fur fear they ll spyle, all 
 doubled up, arter the infarnal scraping they has had." 
 
246 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " There may be something in that," replied I ; "but 
 where shall we go ?" 
 
 " Why, we ll put out and fetch a buffler, or deer 
 you is jam up, plum center to deers, you know 
 waghl hagh! waghl and then we ll kim back to 
 fish." 
 
 " Better set me to fishing at once, if you have hook 
 and line," said I " for you see I have no weapons for 
 the hunt." 
 
 " That s a fact," rejoined Sam, " I d forgot you is 
 woss off nor me chaw me ! But s pose we take a 
 short tramp fust 1 I ll kill so thing, you kin bet high ; 
 and then we ll kim back, fix up my old blanket on 
 sticks, fur kivering from the rain, start a fire, cook 
 our meat, and hev one of the times to loafing. 
 Augh!" 
 
 " Very well lead the way." 
 
 Better had managed to keep his rifle pretty dry ; 
 but to have it in good order, he now discharged and 
 reloaded it ; and then we set off northward I being 
 compelled to walk rather slow though I did not 
 find my limbs so stiff and sore as the night previous. 
 We had not gone far, when the old trapper suddenly 
 stopped, and pointing with his finger to some objects 
 in the distance, inquired : 
 
 "What s them, Freshwater? My one eye ain t 
 what it used to was on to a long sight." 
 
 " I think they may be deer ; " I replied " or per 
 haps young buffaloes ; but I cannot see very distinctly, 
 for a steam-like vapor rises from the wet earth." 
 
AN OLD COMPANION. 247 
 
 "Wall, boy," returned Sam, after a long, steady 
 look, with something like exultation, "bad as this 
 hyer old nigger s peeper is, it kin jest beat any two 
 
 you ve got, or else I m a old sinner. Them is 
 
 mules, Freshwater, and thar s more humans about, 
 you kin gamble on to that." 
 
 " I hope they are not Indians." 
 
 " Nary once." 
 
 " How do you know ?" 
 
 " Seed em, younker." 
 
 " Where ?" 
 
 " Kim along, and I ll show you." 
 
 " Are you sure ?" 
 
 " Expect." 
 
 " Do not make any mistake I can see no one." 
 
 " Sam, you old one-eyed hoss," said Better, apos 
 trophising himself, " you is good yit, bad as you think 
 you is you kin jest take down these hyer settlement 
 chaps a heap ef you can t, why was bacca growed ?" 
 and the old trapper ended with a hearty laugh. 
 
 As we approached the animals, I not only dis 
 covered they were mules, but that Sam was right in 
 all his observations ; for at a little distance to the left, 
 were two persons, seated, a la Turque, upon a large 
 water-proof cloth, larger than a blanket, which, being 
 drawn up around them, kept their feet and legs 
 perfectly dry; while their heads and bodies were 
 protected from the falling rain by black, glazed, 
 conical-shaped, broad-brimmed sombreros, and sarapes 
 impervious to the liquid element. They were both 
 
248 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 quietly smoking pipes, and showed no fear at our 
 approach, though they did not fail to eye us sharply. 
 As I drew near them, I was not a little surprised 
 to perceive that one was a white man and the other a 
 negro though the face of the white man was dark 
 and bronzed, and both had long, black beards, which, 
 at a distance, gave them much the same appearance. 
 Little did I think, however, as I eyed them with 
 curiosity and speculation, how closely the destiny of 
 one would be linked with mine in the yet unexplored 
 future which lay before us. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 " I GIVE you good morning, gentlemen 1" said the 
 white man, making a slight inclination of his head, 
 and speaking with a foreign accent. " You see my 
 boy* and myself are making ourselves as comfortable 
 as we can in the rain." 
 
 " You ve got the nigger to a tighter fit nor I d like 
 on a juicy day like this hyer," returned Sam, bluntly. 
 " Howsomever, every body to his likes, and this hyer 
 old one-eyed hoss has his notions. Augh !" 
 
 As Botter spoke, the negro darted upon him a sharp, 
 
 * It is customary with Southerners to speak of their black 
 male servants as " boys," without regard to their age. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 249 
 
 angry glance, and then turned his head away ; and 
 the countenance of the white man slightly changed, 
 as if he considered the remark injudicious and ill- 
 timed. Perceiving all this, I hastened to say : 
 
 " You are certainly comfortably fixed ; and let my 
 plain-spoken friend here say what he may, I for one 
 should feel myself the gainer by an exchange of situ 
 ations. If I had had forethought enough to have 
 provided myself with such water-proof garments as 
 yours, I should not at this moment be such a miser 
 able victim of Dame Nature s hydropathic treatment ; 
 but I am young my friend Sam, here, thinks me 
 green and so, doubtless, with age and seasoning, I 
 shall get wisdom." 
 
 The stranger smiled, and rejoined, with pleasant 
 irony : 
 
 " But your friend here, with all his experience 
 and it is quite evident, from his damaged figure-head, 
 he has been over rough places with all his expe 
 rience, I say, it seems he has not learned the mode of 
 keeping a dry skin any more than yourself." 
 
 "Aughl" grunted Sam, contemptuously "what s 
 a little water to a old beaver as has seed snakes in his 
 time ?" 
 
 " "Why, water is everything to a beaver," pursued 
 the stranger, good-humoredly ; " and if you are a 
 beaver, it is quite reasonable you should like to soak 
 in your favorite element." 
 
 " What s the sign ?" said Sam, a little testily. 
 
250 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " One sign of the beaver is a dam," replied the 
 other, quietly, his dark eye twinkling with humor. 
 
 " Wall, then, d n beavers, and you too, ef yon 
 can t answer a civil question !" rejoined the old trap 
 per. 
 
 "I suppose/ pursued the other, taking a strong 
 pull at his nearly extinguished meerschaum, and puff 
 ing out quite a volume of smoke " I suppose I ought 
 not to take any offence at your coupling beavers and 
 myself in your malediction because, by your own 
 showing, you are one of the broad-tailed quadrupeds 
 and I do not think any one can curse himself and 
 seriously mean what he says." 
 
 " "Wall, as I m a living nigger " resumed Hotter; 
 when the other interrupted him with a loud laugh, 
 and the exclamation : 
 
 "A nigger? Why what, in the name of all the 
 saints, will you be next ? First a horse, then a beaver, 
 and now a nigger! Good sooth ! you will turn out 
 to be a whole menagerie if you keep on! Cato, 
 (turning to the black,) he claims to be of your race 
 now!" 
 
 " Well, I s doesn t own him," replied Cato, with a 
 malicious chuckle. 
 
 Sam looked puzzled, and was evidently at a stand 
 whether to get up a fight, or laugh the whole matter 
 off as a joke. I was determined there should be no 
 quarrel, if I could prevent it ; and I hastened to turn 
 the conversation into another channel. 
 
 li Badinage aside," said I, addressing the stranger, 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 251 
 
 " have you any news of our mutual enemies, the In 
 dians?" 
 
 " Nothing personal to relate, sir; but on my way 
 np here from the South, I met a company of Santa Fe 
 traders, who said they had been attacked, and had 
 lost five men killed, and two females taken prison 
 ers." 
 
 " Alas ! I know that tragical story too well !" said 
 I ; " the- news reached me at Council Grove the day 
 following the sad event, and was brought by four 
 young men who were in the fight. But did you hear 
 any mention of the names of those who were cap 
 tured and killed ?" 
 
 " I did not or if I did, I have forgotten them. 
 Being all strangers, I felt no interest in names." 
 
 " And was there no talk of trying to rescue the 
 prisoners ?" 
 
 " No mention was made to me of such a design." 
 
 " Would to Heaven," returned I, "that I could col 
 lect together a dozen, or even half that number, of 
 brave, determined, experienced men I /would make 
 the venture." 
 
 " Are the female prisoners related to you ?" inquired 
 the stranger. 
 
 " No ! but one of them is a beautiful girl, of seven 
 teen, in whom I am deeply interested." 
 
 " Seventeen !" repeated the stranger ; " young and 
 beautiful ! what a horrible fate is hers !" 
 
 "And of your country, too, if I mistake not!" 
 said I. 
 
252 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 How, sir?" 
 
 " Pardon me ! are you not a Spaniard ?" 
 
 "I am, sir! And is this girl, you speak of, Spa 
 nish?" 
 
 " I cannot say positively for she herself knows not 
 what country gave her birth ; but, from her earliest 
 recollection, she spoke the Spanish language." 
 
 " Indeed ! you interest me !" returned the stranger, 
 earnestly. " Pray tell me all you know of her ? But, 
 I beg your pardon ! I have kept you standing in the 
 rain, when I might have had the courtesy to provide 
 you with a dry covering, to say the least. Cato, get 
 my other sombrero and sarape from the mule-pack, 
 and let the gentleman take your place I I have just 
 let my morning fire go out ; but you seem to be chilly, 
 and I will have another kindled. Here step in 
 here !" he continued, throwing back the oil-cloth cover 
 ing around his feet, as the negro hastened to obey his 
 orders. 
 
 I did as directed, and squatted down by his side, 
 when he continued : 
 
 " Doubtless you are surprised to find me provided 
 with an extra sombrero ; but the truth is, on one of 
 my jaunts through Mexico, I lost the one I had on, 
 in a river ; and was obliged to go a long distance, 
 through a heavy rain, before I could get another ; 
 and since then I have always taken care to be pre 
 pared against accidents. But how shall I provide 
 for your friend here ? although he says he does not 
 mind water. I have an extra oil-cloth baggage cover, 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 253 
 
 stranger," he continued, addressing Better, " and sup 
 pose you wrap yourself in that, and smoke a pipe 
 with me !" 
 
 "You git this hyer old one-eyed" Sam stopped, 
 with a look of some perplexity, and then added 
 11 white gintleman, a heap, when you talk about bacca 
 for I haint had a smell for two days but cuss the 
 kivering ! for my old hide is as tough as bufflers is, 
 and water won t spile it, you kin gamble on to that. 
 ]STo ! jest you gin me some bacca, I ve got a pipe, and 
 you and Freshwater kin spread yourselves fur a big 
 talk, while I go to make burner kim. Augh !" 
 
 " You shall have a pound, my worthy friend, and 
 no hard thoughts between us !" rejoined the Spaniard, 
 with a laugh. " Cato, give the white gentleman for 
 he is no longer a horse, beaver, or nigger a pound 
 of the best tobacco ; and then (he added this in 
 an under-tone) the menagerie will depart on a buffalo 
 hunt." 
 
 In a few minutes I found myself very comfortably 
 situated indeed that is to say, comparatively speak 
 ing. Although with wet garments next to my 
 skin, I was now protected against the falling rain, 
 and my outside coverings brought warmth to my 
 body, which for many long hours had been shivering 
 with cold. 
 
 "You will, of course, join me in a smoke?" said 
 my new acquaintance, producing another meerschaum, 
 as he prepared to refill the one in his mouth. 
 
254 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Thank you ! I never use tobacco in any shape," 
 I replied. 
 
 u Ah ! sir, you know not how much pleasure you 
 lose !" he rejoined. " It may seem incredible to you 
 but, sir, I have actually found more real enjoyment 
 in a pipe of tobacco, smoked in the wilderness, alone 
 with my thoughts, than I have, at other times, sur 
 rounded by a circle of friends. It calms the nerves 
 it soothes the mind it gives the imagination a 
 dreamy play ; and you live over the past, or go into 
 the future, and pictures of happiness, with well known 
 forms and faces, float around you in the gently curling 
 vapor." 
 
 " But all end in smoke," said I, laughing. 
 
 " As what does not, sir!" he quickly rejoined. " It 
 is happiness for the time ; and I have lived long 
 enough to be satisfied there is no earthly happiness 
 more durable than the smoke which floats above my 
 meerschaum." 
 
 "You may be right," said I; "but I should be 
 miserable to believe you." 
 
 " Better for you to believe me now, than to sud 
 denly awake from your youthful dream of future 
 delight, to the bitter, heart-blighting reality ! You are 
 young, healthy, sanguine all before you seems 
 bright and beautiful but you only see the glaciers 
 of far-off mountains sparkling in the sun, which a 
 near inspection will prove to be crags of ice cold, 
 dreary, and unattainable or valueless when attained. 
 I saw with your eyes once ; but alas ! I have lived to 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGE E. 255 
 
 stand upon the Alpine peaks, and shiver in my deso 
 lation." 
 
 As my new acquaintance said this, he drew a long, 
 deep sigh, and, casting down his eyes, appeared to 
 become absorbed in a painful reverie. While he thus 
 sat silent, I eyed him closely, and with that feeling 
 of romantic curiosity which we involuntarily attach 
 to a high-bred, intellectual stranger, whose history is 
 to us unknown, and whose air is one from which our 
 fancy weaves a mystery. He seemed to be about 
 forty years of age, and his dark, Castilian features 
 were handsome, expressive, and intellectual. His 
 hair was long, black, and of a wavy curl ; and a thick, 
 black beard, neatly trimmed, covered the lower part 
 of his face. His profile was straight, with a slightly 
 acquiline nose ; and when his thin lips parted with a 
 cheerful laugh, he displayed two rows of white, even 
 teeth. His eyes were rather hazel than black, and 
 their general expression was soft and winning ; but 
 varying with every mood of their owner from the 
 twinkle of humor, the gentleness of affection, to the 
 fiery fierceness of passion. His height, as I afterward 
 ascertained, was a trifle under six feet, and his form 
 athletic, flexible, and graceful. Of his character, 
 temperament, and intellect, I need not speak, as the 
 reader can form his own idea of the inner man and 
 his abilities from what will follow in the course of my 
 narrative. 
 
 " I crave your pardon !" said the stranger, suddenly 
 looking up : "I have been letting my memory recall 
 
256 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 a painful scene. Sometimes, sir, I wish, my memory 
 were blotted out with my hopes ; and then again, it 
 gives me a kind of twilight pleasure bringing back, as 
 it were, the evening of a glorious day, without the 
 day itself. You will not understand all my similes, 
 and metaphorical expressions, and allusions, perhaps 
 but it does not follow that you will thereby be the 
 loser. "Well, well, what a world this is ! and what a 
 curious life we live in it I Here now are two persons, 
 of different countries, different races, and born thous 
 ands of miles apart, sitting quietly down in a savage 
 wilderness, to enjoy a tete-d-tete, and without even so 
 much as knowing each other s names. I am called 
 Juan El Doliente."* 
 
 " My name, sir, is Koland Eivers," I replied. 
 
 " By-the-by, how is it I find you without weapons? 
 it did not strike me before." 
 
 I gave him a brief account of what had occurred 
 the night previous. 
 
 " A very remarkable escape," he rejoined, as I con 
 cluded ; "but you spoke of this old woodsman as an 
 acquaintance had you met before ? You see I am 
 curious to know all I can of you 1" 
 
 "Then I had better begin at the beginning," re 
 turned I ; and I briefly informed him where I was 
 from, why I came to leave home, and narrated the 
 prominent incidents of my journey, with the excep 
 tion of my adventure with Loyola and Adele. 
 
 " You are anxious to rejoin your friend, I suppose," 
 * Anglice The Sufferer. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 257 
 
 he pursued, " and I can appreciate his feelings at your 
 loss. He will look upon you as one risen from the 
 dead. If agreeable to you, we will remain together 
 in this vicinity, and wait for this military party to 
 come up." 
 
 " You could not propose anything to please me 
 better," I replied. 
 
 " And as I have no particular locality in view, sup 
 pose I keep you company for a few days ?" 
 
 " Better still, sir," said I. 
 
 " Confess, now, you are curious to know something 
 of my history ?" 
 
 "I certainly am." 
 
 " You wonder why I am here, with no companion 
 but my servant, and with no particular destination in 
 view?" 
 
 "I cannot deny I am curious on that point too," 
 said I. 
 
 " Suppose I tell you I am traveling merely to kill 
 time ?" 
 
 "Then I think you have chosen a locality where 
 you are most likely to be killed yourself," returned I. 
 
 " Well, what of that ? Man dies but once, and life 
 has but little pleasure to me now. It was not always 
 so, my young friend. There was a time when I should 
 nave shrunk from the King of Terrors, as Death is 
 called not because of personal fear but because I 
 was surrounded by those I loved, and was happy.. 
 They are all gone now," he added, in a tremulous 
 voiee, brushing a tear from his eye ; " and I stand 
 15 
 
258 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 alone, a blasted oak. By and by, perhaps, I will give 
 you a sketch, of my history ; but not now I am not 
 in the mood now." 
 
 "If you are traveling to find relief to an aching 
 heart," said I, "I am surprised that you seek it here 
 in the wilderness." 
 
 "Where then?" 
 
 " Among the haunts of men." 
 
 " You left the haunts of men and came hither for 
 pleasure, did you not ?" 
 
 " But I had met with no misfortune." 
 
 "And therefore had never tried human sympathy 
 for consolation," he replied. " There are sorrows 
 which human sympathy can assuage; but, sir, the 
 heart may hold a grief so terrible, so crushing, that it 
 can only find relief in undisturbed communion with the 
 God who made it ; and Heal ways seems to me to be 
 nearest in the solemn solitude of the pathless wilder 
 ness. But aside from this, the man who has a natural 
 desire for travel, likes variety; and having seen all 
 that the genius and art and skill and learning of man 
 can produce, he turns to the wilderness for novelty, 
 and studies the almost infinite beauties of nature with 
 fresh delight. How forcibly your great English poet 
 expresses this sentiment ! 
 
 " There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
 There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
 There is society, where none intrudes, 
 By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
 I love not man the less, but Nature more, 
 
THE MYSTEKIOUS STRANGER. 259 
 
 From these our interviews, in which I steal 
 
 From all I may be, or have been before, 
 
 To mingle with the Universe, and feel 
 
 What I can ne er express, yet cannot all conceal. 
 
 " All ! Byron ! Byron !" he added, after repeating 
 the foregoing stanza with great effect " what genius 
 and misery united in him ! I can appreciate him, foi 
 my own heart has experienced some of his desolation. 
 But come ! we must not forget the subject which drew 
 us together. You were about to tell me something of 
 the history of one whom you now suppose to be a 
 prisoner among the Indians! I have all the time 
 been eager to hear your story, and yet have purposely 
 delayed the narrative can you understand this con 
 tradiction ?" 
 
 " I cannot, sir." 
 
 " Well, no matter, the human heart is full of con 
 tradictions. Go on I am ready now I tell me all you 
 know of this girl s history. Stop ! a question first I 
 Where did you make her acquaintance ? since you 
 say you are recently from Philadelphia." 
 
 " The first night after leaving the last western set 
 tlement, I chanced to get lost," I replied, "and found 
 my way into the camp of the Santa Fe traders. She 
 was the first person I spoke to ; and her sweet, sad 
 face made such an impression upon my sympathetic 
 heart, that, after some preliminary conversation, I put 
 such questions as drew from her the statement which 
 I will now repeat." 
 
 The reader will perceive that I thus avoided speak- 
 
260 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 ing of my encounter with Loyola ; but I described the 
 man as a villain, and gave my reasons for supposing 
 him not the father of Adele. I told the story of the 
 girl, as she had told it to me ; and the Spaniard sat and 
 listened, as one paralyzed his dark, expressive eyes, 
 which he fastened upon me, and kept there riveted ; 
 seeming to pierce my very soul. His countenance, 
 too, during the narration, assumed such a wild, sin 
 gular expression, that I felt almost terrified, and 
 began to wonder if he were subject to fits of insanity. 
 I cannot better convey an idea of his look and appear 
 ance, than to let the reader imagine a person, suddenly 
 surprised and startled, and in the act of gasping for 
 breath, being transformed into a figure of wax. Ex 
 cept some slight twitchings of the muscles around the 
 mouth, a quivering of the lips, and short, gasping 
 respirations, he did not move ; but occasionally as I 
 paused in alarm, thinking he must be ill dry, husky 
 articulations, seeming to issue from his throat or 
 chest, bade me go on. 
 
 For some time after I had finished my story, he 
 kept his eyes fixed upon me, with the same wild ex 
 pression ; and then he sprung up, dashed down his 
 meerschaum, and set off on a run. Cato was near, in 
 the act of kindling a fire ; and calling to him, I ex 
 claimed : 
 
 " Quick ! quick ! follow your master I he has lost his 
 senses, and may do himself an injury 1" 
 
 Cato looked up in surprise ; and then turning to me, 
 with a leer, said : 
 
THE MYSTEKIOUS STRANGE B. 261 
 
 " I guess, mas er, you is trying to fool dis chile eh I 
 mas er?" 
 
 " No ! no ! don t you see he is mad? look how he 
 runs ! after him, in Heaven s name 1" 
 
 The tone of my voice, and the anxious expression 
 of my features, convinced the negro more than my 
 words; and starting to his feet, with, "Golly! dat s 
 queer !" he darted after the Spaniard, with the speed 
 of an Indian runner. 
 
 I watched the chase with intense anxiety. But it 
 lasted not long ; for after running some two or three 
 hundred yards, El Doliente, as he styled himself, 
 suddenly came to a halt, and, facing about, began to 
 retrace his steps at an ordinary walk. He was met 
 by the negro, who of course had to explain why he 
 had followed him, and the two came back together. 
 As they drew near, I was pleased to observe that the 
 features of the Spaniard had resumed their natural 
 expression, though somewhat paler than usual. 
 
 41 So you thought me mad, my friend ?" he said, 
 with a grave smile, as he came up to me. 
 
 " I certainly did, sir." 
 
 <l Well, I was a good deal excited, I must admit ; 
 and T felt very strangely as if I must run to get my 
 breath a singular way of doing it, doubtless you 
 think." 
 
 " But what excited you so, if I may ask ? You 
 had a very strange, wild look while I was speaking, 
 which somewhat alarmed me ; and I should have 
 stopped, only you insisted upon my going on." 
 
262 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 " As to what excited me, perhaps I should say, my 
 own fancy, acted upon by your story ; and I bade you 
 go on, because I wished to hear the whole, without 
 interruption. Now tell me what kind of a looking 
 man was this Loyola ?" 
 
 " Tall, sinewy, forbidding, and villanous with very 
 dark skin, a low forehead, large, bushy eye-brows, and 
 black hair and eyes." 
 
 "His age?" 
 
 "From thirty-five to forty, I should judge." 
 
 "He is dead, you say?" 
 
 "He was killed by the Indians, at the same time 
 Adele w^-s taken prisoner." 
 
 He stood a short time, with his eyes cast down, as 
 if reflecting upon what he had heard, and then 
 abruptly inquired : 
 
 "Are you sure the girl s name was Adele?" 
 
 " She said she had no remembrance of being called 
 by any other." 
 
 "And she was educated at the Convent of Santa 
 Maria, in the interior of Mexico ?" 
 
 " That was her statement, sir." 
 
 He drew a long deep sigh, and mused again. 
 
 "Are you certain of the tribe that captured her?" 
 lie at length inquired. 
 
 "My informant, who was present at the attack, 
 said they were Arrapahoes." 
 
 " Had he any particular knowledge of the different 
 tribes?" 
 
 "I think not," I answered. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGE B. 263 
 
 " Then lie might easily have been mistaken." 
 
 " Good heavens !" exclaimed I " so he might ; and 
 if so, then is the poor girl lost indeed! Strange, I 
 have never thought of this ! and now it weakens my 
 hope. Did you not hear the party you met say what 
 tribe attacked them ?" 
 
 " They thought they were Arrapahoes," he replied, 
 " but were not certain ; for it is almost impossible to 
 distinguish one tribe from another in the night, even 
 by those who would recognize their distinctive traits 
 and dress by daylight at least I have been, told so." 
 
 "Alas! then, what hope is there for the poor 
 girl ?" I sighed. " With any doubt as to her present 
 locality, if living, I could not ask, with any show of 
 reason, for Government troops to be sent to her 
 rescue; and if I did, I should expect my application 
 to be refused." 
 
 " Then we must act on our own account," he 
 replied. 
 
 " We ?" said I, inquiringly. 
 
 " Yes ! you have awakened my interest in the girl 
 and, if living, I am determined she shall be found 
 and rescued. If money can procure sufficient aid to 
 render an expedition in quest of her comparatively 
 safe, I have enough of that, and will use it for that 
 purpose." 
 
 " Say you so ?" cried I, springing up and grasping 
 his hand. " God bless you for the noble resolve !" 
 
264 THE BORDER ROVEB. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 REJOIN MY FRIEND. 
 
 THE more I saw of my new acquaintance, the bet 
 ter I liked him ; and, all things being taken into con 
 sideration, I looked upon the event as fortunate which 
 had brought us together. If my gallant steed had 
 not borne me to a throne, as did the steed of Mazeppa, 
 he had at least assisted me in the accomplishment of 
 one great object I had in view, by placing me in a po 
 sition to come in contact with one who could and 
 would materially aid me, and for this I humbly and 
 sincerely thanked Providence. 
 
 Juan El Doliente was a man of somewhat remark 
 able parts. Learned in books, in the study of natur 
 and art, and the ways of mankind a gentleman, a 
 scholar, and a traveler who had visited almost every 
 portion of the habitable globe he could converse on 
 every subject with an ease and freedom that was truly 
 fascinating; while his reflective, philosophical, satiri 
 cal, and humorous modes of expression sometimes 
 all commingling, as it were, in a single sentence 
 gave continual zest to everything that passed his lips, 
 and rendered him, without exception, the most de 
 lightful and brilliant conversationalist I have ever 
 seen. 
 
REJOIN MY FRIEND. 265 
 
 We spent the day in company, removing our camp 
 to the point where the Santa Fe Trail crossed the 
 Pawnee Fork, so as to intercept the military train, 
 which we expected would make its appearance before 
 night. Hotter came in about noon, bringing the most 
 delicious portions of an antelope which he had shot ; 
 and on this we had a regular feast El Doliente fur 
 nishing salt, and Cato making us a cake of corn meal, 
 which had been brought from below to be used on 
 special occasions. The Spaniard had six mules two 
 for himself and servant to ride, and the others to 
 carry his baggage, camp utensils, and whatever else 
 he might find necessary or convenient on his journey 
 and therefore he had taken a certain amount of pro 
 visions, to serve him during a scarcity of game, or to 
 vary the regular hunters fare of meat alone. 
 
 I was in hopes El Doliente would feel in the mood 
 to give me a sketch of his life during the day for I 
 was quite curious to learn something of his history 
 but he made no farther allusion to the subject ; and I, 
 not wishing to be thought inquisitive, made no in 
 quiry. He talked much of Adele, and asked a 
 hundred questions concerning her, many of which I 
 could not answer, and seemed much distressed at her 
 hard fortune more so, I thought, than could naturally 
 result from mere sympathy for the sufferings of one 
 never seen, and supposed to be an unknown, or un 
 heard of stranger. He inquired about her height, her 
 size, her tout ensemble, the color of her hair and eyes, 
 the peculiarity of her features, and even the expres- 
 
266 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 sion of her countenance, when in repose and when 
 animated. At last, recurring to his excited manner, 
 while telling him the history of the girl, and taking 
 all his questions into consideration, I inquired : 
 
 " Have you fallen in love with this Adele, from 
 my description of her ? or do you fancy you really 
 know who she is ?" 
 
 " Perhaps neither," he replied, evasively ; " at least 
 I shall not be your rival for her hand." 
 
 "Why, you must not suppose me her suitor," I 
 replied, with a laugh. 
 
 " Do you not love her ?" he asked, quickly. 
 
 " Eeally, I have had so little experience in matters 
 of the heart, that I cannot decide in my own mind 
 whether I do or not. But grant I do love her, it does 
 not follow I shall wish to marry her, even if I succeed 
 in restoring her to life and liberty." 
 
 " You would attempt nothing dishonorable ?" he 
 quickly demanded, a dark shade of suspicion, or dis 
 trust, passing quickly, over his features. 
 
 " Being a stranger," returned I, rather coolly, " I 
 shall permit you to ask that question, without taking 
 mortal offence thereat ; but had you known me for 
 years, instead of hours, doubtless you would have 
 thought twice before putting it in such a serious 
 mood." 
 
 " Forgive me !" he rejoined, grasping my hand ; 
 " I do know you. I have already penetrated into 
 your very soul ; and I am chagrined that I allowed 
 
REJOIN MY FRIEND. 267 
 
 my lips to speak without proper reflection! Pray 
 forget the hasty words I" 
 
 " They are forgotten," said I, cordially returning 
 the pressure of his hand. 
 
 It continued to rain till toward night, and then 
 cleared up, with a chilling breeze from the west a 
 breeze that seemed to have passed over icy mountains 
 on its journey. The extremes of heat and cold, in 
 midsummer, are not among the least remarkable 
 features of the Grand Prairies. You may retire at 
 night, almost panting, as you inhale and exhale the 
 close, sultry air, and, in less than six hours, require 
 thick blankets and a fire to render you comfortable. 
 The cause of these changes is easily explained. The 
 high mountain peaks to the westward are perpetually 
 covered with snow and ice ; and when the current of 
 air sets in from this direction, it takes a wintry cold 
 ness to the plains below ; while a breeze from the 
 south brings the breath of the tropics ; and without 
 either of these currents, a summer sun, pouring down 
 upon a flat, sandy surface, generates a heat that is 
 almost unbearable, and which only a mountain wind 
 can dissipate. 
 
 Before night, I was delighted to perceive the com 
 mand of Lieutenant Parker arrive on the opposite 
 bank of the stream ; but the creek was too high and 
 turbulent to admit of any one crossing; though so 
 anxious was I to see Yarney, and assure him of my 
 safety, that I think I should have attempted to swim 
 
268 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 it, had not El Doliente and Better interfered to pre 
 vent me. 
 
 "I insist you do not make the trial I" said the 
 Spaniard, in a positive tone ; "for I will not stand idly 
 by and see you throw your life away." 
 
 u But I am a good swimmer," I replied, "and I 
 think I could reach the opposite shore without much 
 difficulty." 
 
 " You ve got the nine lives to the cat," said Sam ; 
 "and hyer s what s said it afore ; but ef you d got 
 fifty more, you d want em all into that thar drink, or 
 else I m a old woodchuck chaw me ! Augh !" 
 
 I did not make the attempt nor did any one else 
 that night and so Yarney and I still remained apart, 
 though not more than three hundred yards divided 
 us. On the following morning, the stream not having 
 subsided any during the night, Lieutenant Parker 
 ordered a raft to be constructed ; but it was not till 
 late in the afternoon that it was considered launched 
 and ready for a cargo ; and as there was now only 
 sufficient daylight for one passage back and forth, it 
 was resolved to defer the transportation to another 
 day. As a matter of course, my friend and I re 
 mained another night apart, and I keenly felt the dis 
 appointment of not seeing one who was all this time 
 mourning me as dead. 
 
 On the second morning, the transportation began 
 about sunrise; and when the raft returned, after 
 taking over the first freight, I returned with it, to the 
 astonishment of all who saw me. Before I reached 
 
REJOIN MY FRIEND. 269 
 
 Yarney, some one informed him that I was alive, and 
 well, and had returned ; and he came running forward 
 to meet me, almost doubting his senses. The next 
 minute, with the exclamation, "Great God! it is 
 true I" he threw himself upon my neck, and fainted 
 in my arms. 
 
 I pass over the congratulations which I received 
 from all parties, who looked upon me as one from the 
 dead nor did their astonishment cease when they 
 heard the story of my thrilling adventures. From 
 that moment I became a sort of lion among men who 
 might, in one sense, be said to have hair-breadth 
 escapes for a pastime ; but besides the startling facts 
 in my case, there was a wild, romantic interest attached 
 
 to them, which bore off the palm. 
 
 Two men had been killed in the fight, and one or 
 
 two others slightly wounded ; but it was supposed the 
 Indians had lost some fifteen or twenty of their party 
 though the number could not be accurately ascej> 
 tained, as they took care to bear off their dead and 
 wounded, with only a few exceptions. Our party had 
 also lost several horses but Yarney s and mine were 
 safe. 
 
 Considering the stormy weather, and his grief at 
 my supposed death, Yarney had suffered less in 
 health, during my absence, than might have been 
 expected ; and my return so raised his spirits, that for 
 several days he seemed to forget his physical ailments 
 altogether ; but after that his system, took a sudden 
 reaction, and he began to decline so rapidly that I 
 
270 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 feared he would not reach Bent s Fort alive. From 
 being able to ride his horse for six or eight hours at 
 a time, he soon became so weak and prostrated that 
 he could not sit up without support, and was obliged 
 to keep to his rude bed in the jolting wagon. His 
 cough grew more and more troublesome, keeping him 
 awake the greater part of the night, exhausting all 
 his vital forces, and leaving him too weak to speak 
 aloud till after sleep. I did all I could to render his 
 situation, not comfortable, but bearable ; and looking 
 to death as his only relief, I almost wished for the 
 hour when he would be at rest. 
 
 After passing Pawnee Fork, our route lay along the 
 valley of the Arkansas. Millions of buffaloes now 
 surrounded us; and often, as far as the eye could 
 reach, we saw nothing else. Occasionally we espied 
 small bands of wild horses but they never suffered 
 us to approach very near them. The deer, the elk, 
 and the antelope, sometimes diversified the scene ; 
 but the buffalo seemed lord of the domain attended 
 by his enemy, the wolf which, though apparently 
 on friendly terms, never failed to take advantage of 
 the misfortunes of his good-natured, indulgent neigh 
 bor. There is a species of wolf that always accompa 
 nies the buffalo, to prey upon the disabled and young ; 
 but the nobler animal, so far as I could discover, has 
 no fear of his sneaking, insiduous, blood-thirsty foe, 
 and no suspicion of his design, till too late to save 
 himself from his cruel fangs. 
 
 The remainder of our journey was not without inci- 
 
271 
 
 dents, but none of sufficient interest to deserve special 
 notice. Several of the men fell sick on the route 
 two died, and were buried on the way and I at one 
 time suffered severely from an attack of bilious colic ; 
 but my disease yielded to medical treatment, and I 
 was confined only one day to the wagon, which bore 
 along the wasted form of my suffering friend. El 
 Doliente, his servant, and Botter accompanied the 
 military train ; and on the last day of June, 18 , our 
 eyes were greeted with the waving of the stars and 
 stripes above the walls of that wilderness stronghold 
 known as Bent s Fort. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PARTING AT BENT S. 
 
 BENT S FORT stands on the left bank of the Arkansas, 
 near the stream, which here flows over a pebbly bot 
 tom, and is easily forded, the water seldom being 
 over two feet in depth. The fort itself, is a large, 
 square building, constructed of the Mexican adobes, 
 or sun-dried bricks. It is flanked by circular bastions, 
 loop-holed for musketry, and is entered through a 
 large gate, which opens upon a corral or yard. 
 Fronting upon this inner court, are the dwellings, 
 rooms, shops, offices, stables, etc., of the different 
 occupants of the station. 
 
272 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 Great is the variety of character to be found in one 
 of these western fortresses ; for in this respect they 
 are much alike from the Yellow Stone to the Gila 
 from the Missouri to the Columbia. Being the trading 
 posts of whites and Indians, they often present a curious 
 mixture of races. Here, in a group of twenty, you 
 will not unfrequently find an American, an English 
 man, a German, a Spaniard, a Frenchman, a Mexican, 
 an African, and Indians from different tribes ; and of 
 these whites unless Government troops, with perhaps 
 an occasional traveler nine-tenths will be traders, 
 trappers, hunters, teamsters and guides always ex 
 cepting, of course, the parties of emigrants halting on 
 their way to and from more distant regions. 
 
 Many of these whites, too, these mountaineers, are 
 but little removed from savages having been all 
 their lives in the wilderness, away from the refine 
 ments of civilized society and, as a natural conse 
 quence, if they marry at all, they generally find them 
 Indian wives; and if they settle, select some well 
 known trading post, and pass the remainder of their 
 days afar from their native soil and beyond the reach 
 of law. I saw numbers here who had Indian wives, 
 and appeared to be contented and happy many of 
 their children being bright, active, and beautiful in 
 form and feature. 
 
 On arriving at this station, I immediately made the 
 best provision I could for poor Yarney. During the 
 last few days of our journey, he had regained a little 
 strength, so that he could walk a short distance; and 
 
THE PARTING AT BENT S. 273 
 
 sit up for an hour or two at a time ; but no one who 
 saw him, believed he would live to reach the moun 
 tains, which were still many leagues distant. He met 
 kindness and sympathy from every quarter, and I had 
 no difficulty in procuring him the best accommoda 
 tions which the station afforded ; and I also secured 
 him a faithful attendant, in the person of a half-breed, 
 who promised not to leave him till his health should 
 be restored or death should end the scene. My 
 reasons for this course of proceeding, together with 
 some matters of interest to the reader, and the dispo 
 sition I was about to make of myself, will be gathered 
 from the following conversation, which took place 
 between Yarney and myself about a week after our 
 arrival at the fort. 
 
 The room assigned to Yarney was small, but 
 comfortable. It contained a good bed, a deal table, 
 a couple of chairs, arid had chintz curtains to its 
 single window, which, together with the door, looked 
 out upon the corral. These little things, trifling in 
 themselves, gave the apartment a cheerful appearance ; 
 and this, I think, is seldom without its effect upon 
 the occupant, especially if he is suffering from a 
 disease which at times causes him great depression of 
 spirits. It was not without its effect, I am certain, 
 upon my friend, who seemed to brighten a little 
 every day, and gradually regain the hope he had re 
 cently lost. It was to this room I repaired one night, 
 about nine o clock. I found Yarney in bed, expecting 
 me, with a lamp burning upon the table. I drew up 
 16 
 
274 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 a chair to his side ; sat down, and took his thin hand 
 in mine ; but it was perhaps a minute ere either of us 
 broke the solemn silence. 
 
 " So," he said at length, with a deep sigh, and in 
 a tremulous tone " the hour I have so long dreaded 
 has come at last the hour in which we must part, 
 perhaps to meet no more on earth !" 
 
 "Let us hope otherwise, my dear friend let us 
 hope otherwise !" said I ; "we should never despair 
 of the possible !" 
 
 " No, Eoland, I will not wholly despair ; and 
 though this separation is painful to me, I will try 
 and bear it like a man trusting in God for I think 
 it is for the best." 
 
 " Ah ! my dear friend, it gives me joy to hear you 
 speak thus," said I; "for I have all along been 
 afraid you would not be able to take leave of me with 
 anything like composure." 
 
 " Nor should I now, Eoland, had I not in a great 
 measure prepared myself for the trial ; and did not 
 my comparatively comfortable situation here even 
 here, in the wilderness render me better able to 
 bear the parting than at any time since our rst 
 meeting." 
 
 " And I can the better leave you," said I, " that I 
 feel assured you will be well cared for, and receivo 
 every attention and kindness which your situation de 
 mands. All I have spoken with here, deeply sympa 
 thize with you, and there seems to be one universal 
 wish for your recovery. Besides, your attendant, 
 
THE PARTING AT B E N T S. 275 
 
 Panto, the half-breed recommended to me by Bent 
 himself, as kind and faithful has already formed a 
 strong attachment to you and, if you go to the 
 mountains, will go with you. As a hunter and guide 
 he has few superiors. He knows the ground is 
 well acquainted with Indian wiles and stratagems is 
 companionable and prudent and can serve you bet 
 ter than I could." 
 
 "But can never take your place in my heart, for 
 all that," sighed Varney. " However, it is well ; and 
 with the exception of losing you, I know not that it 
 could be better arranged. Two weeks ago I had no 
 hope of reaching the mountains ; I was looking for 
 death ; but now I am so much improved, that I trust 
 a couple of weeks more will again see me on my way ; 
 so let me thank God for the blessings I have, and look on 
 the bright, rather than on the dark, side of the picture." 
 
 " And it is possible, ere two weeks expire, I may 
 rejoin you," I replied. 
 
 " If I could only be assured of that, I should be 
 happy; but you will not return in two weeks, Koland ; 
 though I pray God you may some time return, and 
 find your journey has not been made in vain ! All is 
 arranged, I suppose, for your departure ?" 
 
 "Yes we leave to-morrow at the break of day; 
 and, thanks to the noble Spaniard, we have a strong 
 party of experienced men, all well armed and well 
 mounted." 
 
 " How many do you number ? 
 
276 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "Fourteen in all, including the negro, and two 
 Indians who will act as guides and interpreters." 
 
 " And where do you expect to find this Arrapahoe 
 village?" 
 
 "That we cannot say, as this is the season when 
 they are continually on the move. Two weeks ago, 
 I understand, the grand village was within fifty miles 
 of here now it may be two hundred distant we 
 must search for it." 
 
 " And you are not sure the girl is their prisoner 
 after all?" 
 
 " Alas ! no would I knew even that !" 
 
 " You are still resolved, I suppose, to try mild mea 
 sures first?" 
 
 " Yes, we shall take three mules, loaded with such 
 articles as Indians prize ; and if we find the girl and 
 her companion, we shall endeavour to purchase them ; 
 but if we fail to get possession of them peaceably, let 
 their captors beware of blows !" 
 
 "But fourteen is a small number to attack a strong, 
 warlike tribe !" 
 
 "What we lack in numbers we must make up in 
 valor. But I do not apprehend we shall come to 
 strife; for Indians, everywhere, hold their female 
 prisoners at some price, and we are prepared to pay 
 even a high ransom." 
 
 " And does this noble Spaniard bear all the expense 
 of the expedition ?" 
 
 "Nearly so. He would have taken the whole ex 
 pense upon himself; but I insisted on fitting out Bot- 
 
THE PARTING AT BENT S. 277 
 
 ter, and paying him ; and nothing but want of means 
 prevented my claiming the right to pay at least half 
 of all the rest. As it is, I am forced to content my 
 self with the intention of reimbursing him after my 
 return to the States though he has positively de 
 clared he will never accept a single coin from me for 
 such a purpose. We shall see." 
 
 " What a noble, generous soul 1" 
 
 " He is indeed, Alfred a man among a million." 
 
 " And you are well mated, Eoland." 
 
 " Thank you for the compliment." 
 
 " Bather thank God for the fact, my friend," said 
 Varney, earnestly. " How soldom it is," he continued, 
 reflectively, "that we find a human being who acts 
 for the good of others, without some motive of self 
 being at the bottom." 
 
 "There may be none entirely devoid of self," I 
 rejoined ; "but there are a few who, when compared 
 with the many, appear so the distinction between 
 them and the generality of mankind is so marked 
 the difference so great. But a word of yourself. You 
 have improved so much during the last few days, that 
 I trust, as you say, a couple of weeks will see you 
 able to resume your journey ; but I would advise you 
 not to set out till you feel strong enough to ride at 
 least twenty miles a day ; and at that rate you will 
 soon reach La !*uebla de San Carlos, whence you can 
 gain the mountain heights, in the vicinity of Pike s 
 Peak, with very little difficulty. I suppose, if you 
 
278 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 live, it is your design to spend the winter in this 
 quarter ?" 
 
 " Yes, my friend, such is my hope." 
 
 " "Well, if I come back from this expedition, it 
 shall be my care to visit you ere I return to the 
 States." 
 
 " Say you so !" cried Yarney, eagerly. " Oh I the 
 very idea gives me joy 1 Oh ! Eolancl, if I could have 
 you with me, and regain my health, I should be the 
 happiest mortal living ! What a delightful time we 
 could have in hunting along the valleys of the moun 
 tain streams where, I am told, game of all kinds can 
 be found in abundance, from the buffalo to the coyote 
 including deer, elk, antelope, bears, wolves, and 
 mountain goats. But the dream and it. is a dream 
 is too bright for a reality. It is your intention to 
 return in the fall, and I would not persuade you to 
 remain longer away from those who love you, and 
 have the first claim upon you. But you will see me 
 again promise me that !" 
 
 "Providence permitting, I certainly will, Alfred; 
 and though I will make no promise of remaining with 
 you for any length of time, yet we will talk over the 
 past, and speculate on the future ; and perhaps your 
 bright dream, as you term it, may not prove all a 
 dream. Take care of yourself, my dear friend be 
 ever cautious and never rash and always remember 
 your life is valuable to more than yourself." 
 
 " It is sweet to think so!" said Yarney, grasping 
 
THE PAKTING AT BENT S. 279 
 
 my hand, while tears filled his eyes ; " it is sweet to 
 think that when we die we shall be mourned !" 
 
 " And you would be sadly mourned, by two at least, 
 Alfred by him who now stands beside you, and by 
 her who is far away." 
 
 "I believe it, Koland God bless you both I 
 believe it !" returned Yarney, so stirred with emotion 
 that he could scarcely articulate the words "And 
 pray take the advice you have given me, to yourself, 
 my dear friend ! for you will not perish unwept ; and 
 you pardon me, Roland ! you are more rash than I 
 and you are about to start on a perilous expedition. 
 I sincerely pray you may be successful; for aside 
 from an earnest desire that these poor prisoners may 
 be reclaimed, I know success would render you happy, 
 and your happiness lies at my heart." 
 
 We conversed a few minutes longer; and then, 
 with a melancholy depression of spirits for it was 
 very uncertain if we should ever meet again I said, 
 in an unsteady tone : 
 
 " And now, Alfred, it only remains for me to bid 
 you farewell." 
 
 " Must we then part ?" cried Variiey, with a flood 
 of tears. 
 
 " It is even so," said I, with dim eyes and quiver 
 ing lips. " It is getting late I have some matters to 
 arrange before I sleep and I shall leave too early to 
 see you in the morning. Let us hope all may turn 
 out as we could wish ; and we must remember, that 
 the same Power which has preserved us during our 
 
280 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 perils, is around us still ; and that we cannot perish, 
 except it be by the will of Him who gave us life. 
 Trust in God, my dear Alfred, and hope 1 Farewell ! " 
 
 " God bless and preserve you !" he rather gasped 
 than said. "Farewell, my friend farewell 1" 
 
 In an instant we were locked in each others arms ; 
 and for perhaps a minute we stood sobbing, but 
 without speaking another word. Then gently dis 
 engaging his arms, I laid Yarney carefully on the 
 bed, and rushed from the apartment, feeling as if 
 stifled for the want of air. So we parted. 
 wl 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 IT wanted more than an hour of day, when I 
 arose, from an unrefreshing sleep, and found my way 
 into the corral. All was quiet no one was yet 
 stirring. The night was clear and serene, and the 
 moon, now near its full, and far toward the west, threw 
 its silvery light against the walls of the fortress, and a 
 portion of its rays just kissed the ground on the 
 eastern side of the court. In the blue concave above, 
 a few bright stars were visible ; and fixing my eyes 
 upon these, I stood and wondered if either would be 
 my home, when my spirit should part from its mortal 
 
THE EXPEDITION. 281 
 
 tenement and wing its flight into the realms of 
 
 eternity. 
 
 And when would that event occur ? "Would it be 
 
 soon? or had I many years of earthly pilgrimage, 
 earthly joys and sorrows, before me? "Who should 
 say? What of that mysterious future, which now 
 lay before me as a wall of darkness, into which no 
 human sight might penetrate? I was about to set 
 out on an expedition of peril, to rescue one sweet 
 being who occupied my thoughts by night and by 
 day. Yes disguise the matter as I might, even 
 almost to the deceiving of myself my mind con 
 tinually evoked the image of the sweet, lovely Adele 
 as I had seen her ; and her voice of silvery sweetness 
 was ever ringing in my soul in sad and plaintive 
 tones. She seemed to conjure me, by all that is 
 sacred and holy in human sympathy, to come to her 
 aid. And I was going was even now on the point 
 of departure. I had already bidden my bosom friend 
 farewell, and experienced a painful separation, that I 
 might fly to her rescue. Yes, I was going. But 
 whither? and to what end? I was going but 
 should I ever return? Should I find and save her, 
 and return happy in the knowledge that to me she 
 owed her deliverance ? Or should painful disappoint 
 ments greet me, and perils end in death, and my 
 body lie lonely in an unknown grave, afar from my 
 native land, my kindred, and my friends ? The 
 future held all; the result was in the future; but 
 who, save Him who is past, present, and to come, 
 
282 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 could look beyond the veil, and say what destiny was 
 there marked out for Eoland Rivers ? 
 
 While I stood lost in thought, a hand lightly 
 touched my shoulder. I turned, and encountered 
 Juan El Doliente. 
 
 " You are up betimes, my friend," he said. 
 
 "I could not sleep," I replied. " I last night took a 
 solemn leave of Alfred Yarney, and the parting was 
 not without its effect upon my nervous system. And 
 add to this, my fancy would perforce run before me 
 into the future, and endeavor to reveal the result of 
 this expedition." 
 
 "And with what success?" 
 
 "None to rely on. Hope says we may succeed 
 Fear says we may fail." 
 
 "I have had a singular dream on this very subject," 
 said El Doliente, thoughtfully ; "a dream, bright, 
 beautiful, ecstatic, glorious! I am not a credulous 
 believer in dreams as omens; but there was some 
 thing about this resembling rather a prophet s vision 
 than a wandering fancy, and it made me so very, 
 very happy. It is possible for it to be fulfilled, 
 exactly as I beheld it ; and God grant it may be ful 
 filled, even though it now seems as if its realization 
 would drive me mad with joy." 
 
 "May I know the dream ?" 
 
 " If it be fulfilled, yes but not now." 
 
 " Hello, boys !" exclaimed the voice of Sam at this 
 moment. "I thought as how old One-Eyed war the 
 fust nigger up ; but I sees I aint chaw me ! Wall, 
 
THE EXPEDITION. 283 
 
 Cap en, (a title bestowed upon the Spaniard, as the 
 leader of the expedition,) Ispose we re off in a jiffy, 
 hey ? 
 
 "It is my wish to be on the way by daylight," re 
 plied El Doliente. 
 
 " Them s em !" said Botter, taking his way to the 
 stables, whither we followed, to see that our animals 
 were properly cared for. 
 
 In a few minutes, one after another of our party 
 assembled in the corral, and then we all became busy 
 with our preparations for an early start. The mules 
 were brought out and packed by a Mexican who was 
 to have charge of them during the expedition ; and as 
 the process of mule packing may be interesting to the 
 uninitiated, I will give a brief description of it in this 
 place. 
 
 It is well known that the mule is the most stubborn 
 of all animals ; and to manage him well, requires no 
 little art and experience, to say nothing of a vast 
 amount of patience. True, Yarney and I had had no 
 difficulty with ours ; but this was rather the exception 
 than the rule, and those of the trappers were excep 
 tions also ; but we had witnessed some rather trying 
 and ludicrous scenes, and, in western parlance, had 
 heard some "pretty tall swearing," occasioned by the 
 freaks of this intractable quadruped. But wilful, 
 wayward, and stubborn as this animal is, it can be 
 mastered and brought under due subjection; the 
 means, however, become almost a science, which none 
 better understand than your true Mexican muleteer 
 
 
284 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 who, in catching, packing, driving, and unpacking, 
 flourishes in the full glory of his ambition. If the 
 mule, from high feed and idleness, takes it into his 
 head to become refractory, on being required to re 
 sume his labors, as was the case with one of El Doli- 
 ente s, the lasso of the muleteer immediately tightens 
 around his neck, and he is instantly brought to the 
 ground, and choked into the belief that he is no longer 
 his own master. The moment he is subdued, he is 
 permitted to rise; and if about to be packed, a blind 
 is thrown over his eyes ; and then the saddle-cloth, 
 with a thick pad of stuffed leather, in shape like an 
 open book, is placed upon his back, and strapped 
 down by a broad belt, which is drawn so tight, with 
 the strength of two men, one on either side of the 
 animal, as to cause the latter to bellow with pain ; 
 and to one who sees it done for the first time, it appears 
 as if the beast were about to be cut in two. This, 
 however, is a necessary proceeding for it prevents 
 chafing, and causes the mule to travel with more ease. 
 On this saddle is placed the pack, containing the 
 articles to be transported, weighing anywhere between 
 fifty and four hundred pounds; and this is lashed on 
 by a rope, passing tightly around the beast, and is 
 covered by a square oil-cloth, or matting, to protect 
 the whole from the rain. 
 
 Our mulada consisted of three of these animals 
 one packed with provisions, camp utensils, and sun 
 dries, and the two others with blankets, knives, am 
 munition, and trinkets for Indian trade. Neither of 
 
THE EXPEDITION. 285 
 
 the three were heavily laden for it was our design to 
 travel with some speed and each man, well armed 
 and equipped, was mounted on a strong, fleet horse. 
 
 As daylight fairly absorbed the silvery rays of the 
 declining moon, we rode through the gate at Bent s 
 Fort, a picturesque looking party of fourteen, with a 
 crowd of spectators, among whom was Lieutenant 
 Parker, wishing us God speed and a happy termina 
 tion to our hazardous undertaking. Our party con 
 sisted of El Doliente and his servant Cato, two Mexi 
 cans, two Indians, three American mountaineers, three 
 French voyageurs, Better, and myself; and though we 
 were of mixed races, care had been taken to get men 
 of experience and undoubted courage. 
 
 We shaped our course to the northward, and by 
 noon we had, to the best of our judgment, put some 
 fifteen or twenty miles between us and Bent s, not 
 withstanding the mules had several times proved re 
 fractory, one of them kicking and plunging till he 
 relieved himself of his pack, which had to be again 
 put on, the whole causing at least an hour s delay. 
 
 "We were now once more on the broad prairie, but 
 not on the buffalo range of the present season, for not 
 one of these animals was in sight. We saw a few 
 antelopes; but they were too wild to come within 
 rifle range; and so we made our noonday meal of 
 dried meat, and a small allowance of dry corn-bread, 
 which we had brought with us, washing the whole 
 down with some brackish water, which we procured 
 from a slimy poolthe first water, in fact, we had seen 
 
286 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 since within five miles of the station. "We liad no 
 shade, for there was not a tree in sight, and the bright 
 sun poured down upon us its piercing rays of heat, with 
 scarcely a ruffle of the air to relieve us. Our animals 
 appeared to suffer as much as ourselves ; and having 
 drank in turn, and drained the pool of its unwhole 
 some contents, without their thirst being quenched, 
 and some of them showing little disposition to feed, 
 we thought it best to remount and push on till we 
 could find a suitable place for our night s encamp 
 ment. 
 
 The view before us was now monotonous in the ex 
 treme. A flat, sandy, arid plain stretched away to the 
 horizon, in almost every direction, bearing only a few 
 sage bushes, and the short, brown, crisped-looking 
 buffalo grass, so sparsely planted as to give nothing 
 of an ordinary turf-like appearance to the soil. Not 
 a tree, not a bush, not a stream was in sight the 
 earth seemed parched and the hot rays of the sun, 
 descending and reflecting, almost scorched and stifled 
 us. 
 
 We advanced about ten miles further, shaping our 
 course more to the eastward, when we came upon 
 several holes containing water , and fearing we might 
 fare worse, if we sought anything better, we encamped 
 here for the night. Soon after turning our animals 
 loose, Botter espied some three or four antelopes, far 
 in the distance ; and being the first to discover them, 
 he said he should claim them as his meat ; by which 
 he meant, that no other hunter of the party which 
 
THE EXPEDITION. 287 
 
 was already divided into three or four messes should 
 go in quest of them ; but if they wanted game for 
 their supper, they must seek it elsewhere for them 
 selves. 
 
 "Freshwater," he said to me, "you re some to deer, 
 you is, and this hyer old coon got a good wet on t to 
 Bent s ; but what d ye think of them thar skeery 
 critters yonder, hey? D ye think you could fotch 
 one, boy hey?" 
 
 "If I could get near enough, perhaps I might." 
 
 " If they d only stand till you got up to ? em, 
 hey?" 
 
 * A hundred yards might do, Sam, bad shot as you 
 think me." 
 
 " Wall, I d like to knock over two ; and so spose 
 you kim along, and twig old one-eyed coax em up to 
 shooting distance." 
 
 I assented, and we set off at once though I did not 
 understand what he meant by coaxing so wild and 
 timid an animal as the antelope. "We made a circuit, 
 so as to get to the leeward of them, that the slight 
 breeze now stirring might not betray us by our scent; 
 for so acute is the sense of smell in nearly all wild 
 animals, that it is almost impossible to approach the 
 more timid to the windward within rifle range. Having 
 got the breeze in our faces, we advanced slowly and 
 cautiously, till we reached a thick cluster of sage 
 bushes, distant from where the animals were feeding 
 some three hundred yards. 
 
 "Now," said Sam, "ef everything goes right, we ll 
 
288 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 hev decent meat inside of us to sleep on, ooy you 
 kin gamble on to that ! Lay down, and keep yourself 
 quiet as a nigger stealing corn." 
 
 " But we cannot shoot them from here ?" 
 
 " Yes, we kin, hoss 1" 
 
 " Well, if you can, blaze away ; but as for myself, I 
 fancy I have too much good sense to waste my powder 
 upon an antelope at three hundred yards." 
 
 "I ll tell you what, Freshwater," pursued Botter, 
 " old One-Eyed Sam 11 gamble on to it chaw me ! 
 This hyer nigger 11 jest bet you a pound of bacca that 
 he ll throw one of them critters from this hyer cache 
 afore sundown." 
 
 "Done P said I" fire away !" 
 
 "Not yet nary once not so green. I ll hev to 
 fotch em up nigher. But a bet s a bet, you know 
 else what makes parsimmons pucker ? Augh P 
 
 " Certainly, a bet is a bet ; and you must shoot one 
 of those antelopes from here, or lose." 
 
 "Expect." 
 
 " I shall be happy to see you do it." 
 
 " Lay low then, and twig this hyer old beaver." 
 
 As he spoke, Sam produced a strip of a red blanket, 
 which he proceeded to fasten to the end of his wiping- 
 stick, and then elevate above his head and wave to 
 and fro. It was almost instantly perceived by the 
 antelopes which, to my surprise, instead of running 
 away, took a long, steady look at it, and then began 
 to approach us, slowly and cautiously. 
 
 "Them thar antes," said Botter, as he lay on his 
 
THE EXPEDITION. 289 
 
 back, chuckling at the success of his stratagem and 
 my surprise, " has got more curiosity nor any other 
 critter I knows on, cept tis a woman ; and she beats 
 the hind sights off o the d 1 ; ef she don t, why does 
 dogs bark ? Augh ! Lay low thar ; they musn t see 
 you, or they ll quit to once ; for no matter how nice 
 you look to your gal, you re no beauty to them chaw 
 me ! Yes ! ye see, they twig this hyer old rag, and 
 they don t know what to make on t, and so they re a 
 kimming to see ; and when they has seed, I spect one 
 on em to stay to meat ; and ef you kin shoot to sixty 
 yard, plum center, may be two on em won t travel 
 no furder. Augh 1" 
 
 " And they are really approaching us from curio 
 sity?" said I. 
 
 " They aint doing nothing else, Freshwater." 
 
 The whole proceeding was full of novelty to me, for 
 it was my first acquaintance with the hunter s strata 
 gem for luring the timid antelope to his destruction. 
 Slowly the animals approached us, stopping occasion 
 ally to consider the danger of advancing toward an 
 object which had so strong a hold upon their curiosity, 
 but always ending their cogitations with a fresh resolve 
 to make a closer inspection. Meantime Botter had 
 stuck one end of the wiping-stick into the ground, 
 and brought his rifle into range, so that he could sight 
 and fire at a moment s notice. 
 
 "Fix your shooting iron, Freshwater," he said, 
 "and see what you kin do fur your living. You is 
 good to a hundred yard, you say, and they aint much 
 
 n 
 
290 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 furder off nor that; but as long as they don t gib 
 skeered, we ll let em kim up powerful nigh. D ye 
 see that chap with a white spot over his nose ?" 
 
 "I think I do." 
 
 "Wall, he s the fattest, and he s my meat, you kin 
 gamble on to that." 
 
 "I have, you know do not forget the pound of 
 tobacco." 
 
 u Me forgit? nary once chaw me. Spect you ll 
 be more likely to do that nor this hyer coon ; but ef 
 you does, I ll ax you for t don t be afeard." 
 
 " You talk as if you had already won." 
 
 " Thar hush now keep quiet ; pick out your 
 critter, but don t take mine. They ain t more n 
 seventy-five yard, and this hyer old beaver is gitting 
 a desperate hanker for some of thar meat. Grot your 
 sight plum center ?" 
 
 " One moment ! There I am ready." 
 
 " Let her rip, hoss." 
 
 We fired together, and had the pleasure of seeing 
 two of the animals fall. I was for springing up and 
 rushing forward, to make assurance doubly sure but 
 Sam restrained me. 
 
 " Hold on a bit, and lay low, Freshwater the fun 
 aint over yit. You done well for a greenhorn chaw 
 me; but thar s a smart chance left don t you see? 
 Them fellers as fell can t run away, and you see the 
 others is looking on and wondering what it s all about. 
 Load up, boy load up and we ll throw a couple 
 more, and that ll gin the whole camp some at to chaw." 
 
TAKEN PRISONER. 291 
 
 What Sam said, to my surprise, I saw was true. 
 We had killed, or mortally wounded, two of the 
 animals ; and the others, some five or six in number, 
 instead of running away, as I had supposed they 
 instantly would, had gathered around their fallen 
 companions, and were evidently wondering at the 
 cause of their prostration. We reloaded our rifles, 
 keeping our horizontal position on the ground, and, 
 at a given signal, fired together again, and killed two 
 more. The others now took fright, and disappeared 
 with the fleetness of the grey -hound. 
 
 "This hyer one-eyed old nigger ain t a-gwine to 
 forgit the bacca, Freshwater!" said Sam, as we re 
 turned to camp. "No, I ain t chaw me wagh ! 
 hagh I wagh [" 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TAKEN PRISONER. 
 
 FOR three days we continued our journey without 
 any incidents worthy of note ; but on the fourth day 
 we met a small party of Pawnees ; from whom we 
 learned, through our Indian interpreters, that the big 
 village of the Arrapahoes was supposed to be some 
 where in the vicinity of Platte River at least a 
 hundred, perhaps a hundred and fifty, miles from 
 where we now were. This was not the most agreeable 
 news, as we had hoped to find them somewhere about 
 
292 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 the Smoky Hill Fork ; but there was only one thing 
 to be done under the circumstances, and that was to 
 push on, as rapidly as possible, till we should discover 
 them. 
 
 On the sixth night from leaving Bent s Fort, we 
 encamped in a beautiful grove of ash, maple and 
 cottonwood, which shaded the banks of a tributary 
 of the Kepublican Fork. We had passed over flat, 
 sandy, almost barren prairies, scarcely seeing a tree 
 or a stream on our route ; and therefore the sight of 
 this beautiful grove was refreshing indeed more 
 especially, as it was filled with birds, whose sweet 
 songs enlivened the scene. Near us was a shallow 
 stream, flowing over a sandy bed ; and on either side, 
 the grand solemn prairies stretched away as far as the 
 eye could reach. In the valley here was excellent 
 grazing for our weary animals ; and as we had suc 
 ceeded in killing a buffalo, whose nutritious flesh was 
 now before us, we were in good spirits ; and around 
 our fires that night, as we toasted and ate our meat, 
 washing it down with pure water, or coffee, we voted 
 to name the place Camp Delightful. 
 
 " It s a purty name enough," said Better, in his char 
 acteristic way as, having filled himself, he lighted 
 his pipe at the fire, and threw out smoke like a minia 
 ture volcano ; " yes, it s a purty name enough, is 
 Camp Delightful ; but when this hyer old beaver seed 
 this spot afore, he had some at to make him remember 
 it without putting sich a fixing to it ef he hadn t, 
 why does fishes swim. Augh !" 
 
TAKEN PRISONER. 293 
 
 "So, my friend, you have been here before?" said 
 El Doliente, inquiringly. 
 
 " Wall I has, hoss ; and ef I didn t see some red 
 niggers that thar night, then chaw me up fur a liar ! 
 Augh 1" 
 
 As he said this emphatically, he drew the attention 
 of the whole party, and El Doliente rejoined. 
 
 " Suppose you tell us the story; it will serve to 
 while away the time till our pipes are all smoked out." 
 
 " What does you say to that thar, Ebony ?" inquired 
 Sam, turning to the negro, who had edged his way 
 up as near the old trapper as he considered prudent. 
 
 "Me, mas er?" returned Cato, in surprise, at being 
 thus appealed to. 
 
 "Yes, you ve got a tongue into your head as red as 
 a biled lobster ; and what s the use on t ef you don t 
 say nothing? Your pealed-inyun eyes shows you re 
 in fur the gist on t else why was niggers made ? So 
 what d ye say now ? blurt her out and don t chaw ! 
 Augh!" 
 
 Cato looked inquiringly at his master, who said, 
 with a laugh : 
 
 "The white gentleman (nodding to Sam) would 
 like to know if you wish to hear his story ?" 
 
 " Golly I if dat s it, den dis chile say yes, sah 1" 
 replied Cato, with a grin. 
 
 " In course that s it," pursued Sam ; " and the man s 
 a fool as thinks it aint." 
 
 " We all verree mushe like you tell him to hear," 
 said one of the French voyageurs. 
 
THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " "Wall, squat around, boys, and hyer goes, plum 
 center," said Sam. 
 
 We all formed a half circle around the old trapper, 
 who proceeded to tell us the following thrilling story. 
 
 "Me and a chap called Stag-Horn," began Sam, 
 " kim over here one winter, bout ten year ago, on our 
 way to the mountains. We started with three 
 muleys; but thar kim along one of the infarnallest 
 snow storms as ever froze ha r, and every bone on em 
 went under, leaving us afoot and clean froze. We 
 had our shooting irons, and we tumbled through the 
 snow, without seeing nary splinter fur a fire, nary 
 once. For two days we tramped without sleeping, 
 with our ha r froze stiff, and our skins feeling like 
 fishes scales, which means they didn t feel at all. 
 Augh ! Wall, the third day, jest as we was gwine 
 to gin in to freezing, and gin the wolves a taste, we 
 kim to a dog town, whar the wind had blowed the 
 snow off, and we burnt powder and got half-a-dozen. 
 We hadn t had nary chaw sence the night afore, and 
 the first two went in without cooking, for we knowed 
 death war about, and felt cantankerous. Arter that, 
 we pulled forward, and got to this spot, jest as the sun 
 war squatting over the icykels of the Rocky. 
 
 " Hyer s wood, says I to Stag-Horn for the 
 snow d drifted and left a bare spot and we ll make a 
 fire kim, and feast on dog to-night. Hooray ! 
 
 " Ef we wont, tell me I m han some/ says Stag- 
 Horn ; and that ud been one of the lies, fur he warn t 
 nary beauty, no how. 
 
TAKEN PEISONEE. 
 
 295 
 
 "Wall, you kin gamble on to it, we fetched a fire, 
 and tuk a thaw; and then the way them thar dog 
 went in, every thing cept skin and ha r, war a caution 
 to old sinners! Hello, nigger! (to Cato) don t grin 
 that thar way, or you ll cut off the top of your head 
 chaw me !" 
 
 "You you ll scuse me but but you is so berry 
 funny !" roared Cato. 
 
 "Wall, jest open your meat-trap then; but ef you 
 lose your wool, don t say old One-Eyed Sam didn t 
 tell ye better." 
 
 Botter now took a long and strong pull at his pipe, 
 and, rolling out a heavy volume of smoke, proceeded : 
 
 " Boys, the way me and Stag-Horn sot up to that 
 thar fire, was like to courting a sugar-planter s 
 darter ; we fairly hugged it ; yes, chaw me up fur a 
 liar ef we did nt! Augh! Arter we d got thawed 
 out, so as we felt human, we piled on more wood, and 
 lay down to it, not specting ary skunk of a Injun 
 would be so froze fur ha r as to be out on sich a night 
 nary one; but we didn t do the infarnal thieves 
 justice ; for jest as we d got asleep whiz, whiz 
 bang, bang kim arrers and bullets right among us, 
 with the tallest screeching and yelling ever a white 
 nigger heerd. Me and Stag-Horn jumped up like 
 mad me with a ball plum through my left arm, and 
 him with two arrers sticking into his fodder pan; and 
 we went in and throwed two on em cold powerful 
 sudden. The rest on em kim down on us, with 
 Satan s yells, and this hyer old beaver broke fur 
 
296 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 darkness and a snow-bank. I tumbled into a hole, 
 and lay thar, and the devils passed right over me, 
 hunting my ha r which they didn t git no-sir-ee ! 
 
 " You kin gamble on to it, boys, old One-Eyed Sam 
 had a cool time on t that thar night ; but I didn t dar 
 to stir a peg. Afore daylight, I heerd the wolves 
 growling and fighting right nigh, and I knowed 
 some at was up. Arter it got to be day, I peeped out 
 of my hole, and not seeing nary red nigger no whar, 
 I ventur d out. Augh! the first sight I seed froze 
 my blood wosser nor the cold ; fur thar, right down 
 whar the camp was, lay the bones of Stag-Horn, white 
 and shining, picked clean by the wolves. Says I, 
 * Sam, you old fool, what s the use of your gwine to 
 the mountains this hyer way, afoot and alone ? Ef 
 you ve got ary sense, put back ; and you kin gamble 
 on to it, that this hyer nigger made some back ard 
 tracks, and fotched his skin and bones to Indepen 
 dence, to take a fresh start. That s all. Augh !" 
 
 "You certainly have had cause to remember the 
 place," said I. 
 
 " Kinder chaw me!" grunted Sam. 
 
 Better s story was not without its effect upon all 
 who heard it ; and the result was, that we picketed 
 our animals close around the camp, and set a double 
 guard. The night, however, passed off without any 
 disturbance ; and by daylight we were again in our 
 saddles, laying our course due north. At noon we 
 halted under some trees, on the bank of a wide, shal 
 low stream, which we conjectured to be the Eepublican 
 
TAKEN PRISONER. 297 
 
 Fork of the Kansas. Here we were overtaken by one 
 of the most terrible thunder-storms it has ever been 
 my fortune to witness. The wind blew a perfect hur 
 ricane ; the rain fell in torrents ; the lightning seemed 
 to set the earth ablaze ; and the thunder crashed and 
 roared around us, with a sound that might be likened 
 to the falling of an Alpine avalanche. We considered 
 it too dangerous to remain under the trees ; and so we 
 withdrew from the little protection they might have 
 given us, and faced the storm, in all its fury, on the 
 open plain. We had no reason to regret our precau 
 tion ; for two of the trees, under which we had been 
 sitting, were shivered with lightning before our very 
 eyes, and the horse of Botter was prostrated with the 
 concussion, and lay as if dead. 
 
 " Afoot agin, or I m a wood chuck !" cried Sam, 
 with an oath. "But hyer s a nigger as aint alone I" 
 he added, in the next breath, as, at the moment, all 
 the rest of the animals broke away in a regular stam 
 pede. 
 
 " You is verree moshe better off as nobody," said 
 one of the French voyageurs, pointing to the old trap 
 per s animal ; which not only showed signs of life, but, 
 getting upon its feet, and giving itself a shake, looked 
 around with an air of surprise. " Oui, Monsieur by 
 gar 1 ze lightzing sav you hos, and trive ze tarn rest 
 to ze whole universe sacre !" 
 
 "You re right, old frog-eater!" laughed Sam. 
 "That thar hoss is one on em ef he aint, chaw me I 
 He stands lightning like a nigger does hot weather." 
 
298 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " It s a critter I d like to own jest now, being as 
 mine is scattered," said a tall Missourian. 
 
 " But you haint got tin enough to buy him," re 
 joined Botter "case nobody has. A hoss as stands 
 lightning like him, suits old One-Eyed; and he aint 
 agwine to gin him up to any nigger cept death. 
 Augh!" 
 
 The storm lasted for two hours ; and until its fury 
 was spent, we made no attempt to regain our animals, 
 which were now scattered far and wide over the broad 
 prairie, scarcely any two of them remaining together. 
 This caused a similar division of our party each 
 man seeking his own but we agreed to make the 
 spot whence we started the general rendezvous. 
 
 Thus it was I gradually became separated from 
 each one of my companions ; and at length I found 
 myself about two miles from the starting point, upon 
 a gentle swell of the prairie, where I could overlook 
 a wide stretch of country in every direction. I could 
 occasionally perceive, here and there, one of the com 
 pany, quite distant and occasionally, also, one of the 
 strayed animals. To the north, near a small cluster 
 of willows, I fancied I espied my own horse, quietly 
 feeding, and I set off on a run to catch him. As I 
 drew near, I saw, with delight, I had made no mis 
 take that it was indeed my gallant steed and for 
 fear of alarming him, I slackened my pace, and ap 
 proached him slowly. 
 
 Suddenly, from a thick grove, on the bank of a 
 creek, some quarter of a mile distant, there burst forth 
 
TAKEN PRISONER 299 
 
 a small band of mounted Indians, and bore straight 
 down for me with lightning speed. The moment I 
 perceived them, I made a desperate effort to get to 
 my horse before them; and I might, perhaps, have 
 succeeded, had he not taken fright and sprung away 
 from me. The next minute I was surrounded by some 
 fifteen or twenty almost naked, howling Indians, who 
 pranced around me with fiendish delight, seemingly 
 anxious to take me alive. I had my loaded rifle in 
 my hand, and a brace of loaded pistols in my belt, and 
 my first resolve was to sell my life dearly but a 
 moment s reflection caused me to abandon so despe 
 rate a design. I might kill one of the savages per 
 haps three but I knew I should be killed or captured 
 in return; and why exasperate my foes, when, by a 
 different course, I might save my life? Although 
 armed with bows and arrows, they had not as yet 
 made a single shot at me and this led me to hope 
 their intentions toward me were friendly. 
 
 Acting on the impulse of the moment, I dropped 
 the breech of my rifle, and held up an open palm. 
 Instantly each one extended an open palm ; and one 
 fine, athletic warrior, riding up to me, struck his breast 
 with dignity, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Arrapaho I" 
 
 " So," thought I, " I have stumbled upon a portion 
 of the very tribe I was seeking ; but I meet them 
 under circumstances which I would were otherwise." 
 The next thought was "Is Adele their prisoner ? and 
 shall I soon behold her sweet, sad face again ?" 
 
300 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 " Where from?" demanded the warrior, who had 
 just proclaimed himself Arrapaho, and who was in 
 truth a chief of the nation. 
 
 His enunciation of the words was guttural ; but I 
 was surprised and delighted that he could understand 
 English at all, and I quickly replied : 
 
 "I and my companions, who are not far distant, are 
 from Bent s Fort, and we are on our way to seek your 
 nation, to make them some presents." 
 
 " Ugh !" grunted the savage. Present much good. 
 Injun like present Where present ?" 
 
 " With my friends," I answered. 
 
 " Where friends ?" 
 
 " We encamped away yonder ; but my horse having 
 run away, I followed him here alone." 
 
 This was the truth, but not the whole truth for 
 I did not wish the Indians to know the company was 
 scattered, lest they might capture the whole in detail, 
 and get possession of our goods. 
 
 A consultation now took place among my captors ; 
 and as soon as it ended, two of the party dismounted, 
 deprived me of my weapons, and bound my hands 
 behind my back. They then placed me on a fine 
 horse, in front of a grim savage, who threw an arm 
 around my waist, and dashed away over the plain, 
 accompanied by only one other of the band. The 
 direction taken by those having charge of me, was 
 directly opposite to that which led to Camp Kendez- 
 vous; and I conjectured I was being conveyed to the 
 Grand Village, perhaps to undergo a trial and be put 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 301 
 
 to the tortures. The possibility of such a termination 
 to all my fondest hopes, made me wretched; and I 
 almost regretted that I had not kept to my first resolve 
 of defence, and taken the chances of liberty or death. 
 I asked my guard whither he was bearing me but 
 he returned no answer. I looked back, and saw the 
 party left behind darting away in a body over the 
 prairie, in the direction of my scattered friends, and 
 doubted not that some of them, perhaps all, would 
 meet with death or captivity. I would have given 
 half of my remaining days, to have had them in a 
 mounted body and been at their head; but fate had 
 made me a helpless prisoner, and it was vain to wish 
 for other fortune. 
 
 On, on we dashed for hours, not a word being 
 spoken. Many a long league was passed over, night 
 gradually closed around us, and yet no sign of a halt. 
 
 At last we gained the bank of a stream having 
 some high bluffs, and, turning short around these, 
 came upon a pleasant valley, over which was scattered 
 a large Indian, village, the different fires flashing their 
 ruddy lights upon the neighboring huts, and upon the 
 grim, dusky, half-naked forms of their owners, who, 
 to my excited senses, appeared rather like spectres 
 from the infernal regions, than human beings of flesh 
 and blood. With loud, triumphant whoops and yells, 
 my guard bore me into the very center of the village, 
 and deposited me on the ground, at the door of a 
 large lodge, which I afterward ascertained belonged 
 to one of the principal chiefs of the nation. Here the 
 
802 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 whole village speedily collected around me men, 
 women, children, dogs and all and such screeching, 
 yelling, and barking, as then and there greeted me, I 
 pray God it may never be my fortune to hear again. 
 Hundreds crowded around me, each anxious to have 
 a near inspection of my person ; but no one offered 
 me violence, and in a few minutes the tumult subsided. 
 A consultation among the principal chiefs and war 
 riors now took place at the end of which I was 
 conducted into a lodge near by, thrown upon the 
 ground, and my legs tightly bound. This done, my 
 captors withdrew, and I was left alone to my own 
 unpleasant ruminations and conjectures. What of 
 the future? 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE LOST FOUND. 
 
 I SHALL make no attempt to describe my feelings, as 
 I lay upon the ground, bound hand and foot, beneath 
 an Indian lodge, the captive of a savage foe. A few 
 hours since, and I was free, and full of hopes and 
 bright anticipations a few hours hence, and what 
 would be my fate ? 
 
 While I thus lay pondering, in a painful position, 
 hungry, and almost choking with thirst, a small, 
 slender figure glided into the lodge, and a sweet, 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 303 
 
 silvery voice, that made my blood leap with a wild 
 tlirill ; said, in a tone of holy sympathy: 
 
 "I pity you, sir, whoever you are! and though a 
 prisoner myself, I have obtained permission to visit 
 you. I cannot release you ; but if jou are thirsty, I 
 think I may be allowed to bring you a cup of water 
 and food, perhaps, if you are hungry." 
 
 There were firelights outside the lodge ; and from 
 one came a ruddy gleam through the open door, and, 
 falling upon the fair visitant, revealed the outlines of 
 form and feature. I could not be mistaken; the 
 senses of hearing and seeing could not both deceive 
 me; to say nothing of that sympathetic, magnetic 
 thrill, which seemed to pass the grosser material of 
 body, to bury itself, as it were, in my very soul ! 
 No ! I could not be mistaken ! It was the being I 
 had seen once to remember ever ; it was the being I 
 had mourned as lost; it was the being for whose 
 safety and happiness I had often prayed ; it was the 
 being I had sought through difficulty and danger ; it 
 was the being whom my wildly beating heart now 
 assured me I loved with a love that would no longer 
 be disguised under the colder term of friendship : in 
 a word, she who now stood before me, in the form of 
 a ministering spirit, speaking her sympathy in the 
 voice of an angel, was Adele Loyola. 
 
 My first impulse was to call her by name, and 
 reveal my own ; but ere I spoke, the whim seized me 
 to try her first ; and disguising my voice, I replied : 
 
 " I am very thirsty." 
 
304 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "You shall have water, sir," she said, and dis 
 appeared. 
 
 In a short time she reappeared, bringing a gourd 
 full of the pure element, which she held to my parched 
 and feverish lips. I drank eagerly, and never in my 
 Kfe had I tasted a draught so refreshing. Had my 
 cup-bearer been old and ugly, I could have loved her 
 for her kindness ; could I do less than love the fair, 
 sweet, beautiful being before me ? 
 
 11 1 thank you from my heart!" I said; and my 
 voice, made tremulous by emotion, must have con 
 vinced her of my sincerity. 
 
 "I would I could give you more cause to be thankful, 
 by releasing and setting you free ! but this I cannot 
 do," she rejoined. a But here is some food, if you are 
 hungry," she added, producing a kind of wooden 
 platter, containing boiled maize and a piece of cooked 
 meat. " The chiefs have permitted me to bring you 
 this sustenance. Will you eat ?" 
 
 " I am somewhat hungry," I answered ; " but at 
 present my curiosity gets the better of my appetite. 
 Will you permit me to ask you a few questions ?" 
 . "I will, sir; but I may soon be called away; so I 
 pray you speak at once, and briefly, that I may have 
 time to place this food to your lips, since you cannot 
 feed yourself." 
 
 " You say you are a prisoner here as well as my 
 self?" 
 
 "I am, sir!" 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 305 
 
 " Where were you captured ? and how long 
 since ?" 
 
 " I was captured a few weeks ago, at a place called 
 Turkey Creek. My father and myself belonged to a 
 company trading between Missouri and Santa Fe ; 
 and while encamped one night at the place mentioned, 
 the Indians attacked us, and killed my father and 
 several others; and myself, and the wife of an emi 
 grant who was traveling with us, were taken priso 
 ners." 
 
 " And is this other lady you speak of still a prisoner 
 with you ?" 
 
 "No, sir she was killed the same night." 
 
 " Accidentally, or intentionally?" 
 
 " She had the misfortune to offend a chief, who 
 buried his tomahawk in her brain." 
 
 " Did you witness her death ?" 
 
 " I knew when it took place ; but it was dark, and 
 I did not see the awful deed done." 
 
 "How did it affect you?" 
 
 " I almost wished it had been myself." 
 
 "But how is it that you have so much liberty 
 among such a savage people ?" 
 
 " It is, perhaps, because a powerful chief has signi 
 fied his intention of making me his wife ; and by 
 treating me with marked favor, even above others of 
 my sex, he hopes to win my regard so at least he 
 tells me in broken English." 
 
 "Indeed!" exclaimed I; and my changed voice 
 nearly betrayed me. " And is it possible you can 
 18 
 
306 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 consent to become the wife of one of the murderers of 
 your father and friends ?" 
 
 " Alas ! sir, what can I do ? I am a poor, helpless 
 girl 1" and she burst into tears. 
 
 " But you certainly have a choice between the mon 
 ster and death?" 
 
 "Would you have me die by my own hand?" 
 
 " No ! no ! for that, we are told, would entail eternal 
 misery hereafter. I see ! unless the savages put you 
 to death, or you escape, you have no choice." 
 
 " Oh ! would to God I could escape 1" she said. 
 
 " Do not despair ! your friends may even now be 
 seeking you." 
 
 " Alas ! sir, I have no friends." 
 
 " No friends? are you sure? It is hardly possible 
 that one like you can be without friends." 
 
 " But I have none, sir, that would seek me here," 
 she replied, in a tone of sadness. "I never knew any 
 relation but my father, and he is dead." 
 
 a But surely there must be some one who will not 
 be indifferent to your fate I 
 
 " It is possible I may be pitied by some who knew 
 me but I have no hope that any will seek me here ; 
 and even should any venture here, for the purpose of 
 releasing me, you see how vain would be the attempt, 
 while I am surrounded by so many warriors who are 
 enemies of my race !" 
 
 " But could not your freedom be purchased ?" 
 
 " And who will offer to purchase the freedom of a 
 poor, friendless girl ?" 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 307 
 
 Did you never see any one that would take 
 interest enough in you to do so, if your misfortunes 
 were known to him ?" 
 
 She hesitated, and at length replied : 
 
 " There was one, sir, whom I met under painful 
 circumstances, who did profess warm friendship; but 
 he was a stranger, seen only for a brief hour, and has 
 doubtless forgotten me. I have sometimes hoped he 
 would hear of my fate; though I know not why I 
 should wish him to learn of my misery, since it could 
 not benefit me and might give him pain." 
 
 "Permit me to inquire the name of this stranger?" 
 
 " It was Eoland Kivers, sir." 
 
 " Indeed !" said I ; " I know him." 
 
 " Do you, sir? do you?" she cried, eagerly. 
 
 " I do ; and it is not a week since I saw him." 
 
 "Was he well, sir?" 
 
 "At that time he was." 
 
 " And where do you think he is now ?" 
 
 " Somewhere among the Indians, I have reason to 
 believe." 
 
 " Oh! sir, not a prisoner, I hope !" 
 
 U I cannot say he is not. When I saw him a few 
 days ago, he was on his way, with a small party of 
 armed men, to seek a large and powerful tribe, for 
 the purpose of procuring the release of a female 
 captive, a young and beautiful girl. Ah! good sooth! 
 now I think perhaps it was you of whom he was in 
 search." 
 
 For a short time Adele made no reply, during 
 
308 THB BORDER ROVER. 
 
 which she seemed much agitated. At length she 
 murmured, in a low tone, evidently not intended for 
 my ear : 
 
 u God and all holy saints bless and preserve him, 
 wherever he is!" And then she said tome: "Will 
 you let me give you this food now ?" 
 
 I could maintain my assumed character no longer ; 
 but allowing my voice to take its natural tone, I said : 
 
 " Adele do you not know me?" 
 
 Instantly she sprung aside, so as to admit the light, 
 and, bending down, peered eagerly into my face. 
 
 "Holy Virgin!" she exclaimed; "it is Eoland 
 Bivers himself!" 
 
 "It is no other, Adele," I replied. "I was on my 
 way, with several others, to effect your release, when, 
 having become separated from my companions, I was 
 surrounded and taken prisoner." 
 
 "Oh, Heaven! this is terrible! and I have been the 
 unlucky cause of your misfortune !" 
 
 " Let that give you no pain, my dear Adele for I 
 feel it a kind of pleasure to suffer in your behalf. 
 You must forgive me for not making myself known 
 the moment I recognized you ; but I could not resist 
 the desire to know if I still lived in your memory." 
 
 " Oh ! sir, how could I forget you, if I would !" she 
 rejoined, with perfect naivete ; "you who spoke such 
 words of kindness to one who has had but little kind 
 ness to remember ! And now to see you here, bound, 
 a prisoner, in the hands of a savage foe, makes me 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 309 
 
 sick at heart indeed ! I was miserable before I am 
 more miserable now." 
 
 "But perhaps I shall soon be free." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Kivers, do you think so?" 
 
 " I hope so, Adele for I have done nothing to 
 excite the animosity of the Indians." 
 
 " Why then are you bound and placed here ?" 
 
 " I cannot say do you not know ?" 
 
 "I do not." 
 
 " Have you no idea what they intend to do with me? 
 
 " I have not." 
 
 " But if they had any design against my life, would 
 they have permitted you to visit me ?" 
 
 " Indeed, sir, I cannot say for you are the first 
 prisoner I have seen in their hands since they killed 
 my companion, Mrs. Mason." 
 
 "But what do they say of me among themselves ? 
 we may judge by that." 
 
 " You forget, Mr. Kivers, I do not understand their 
 language." 
 
 "Pray call me Eoland, Adele any other name 
 from you sounds too cold and formal. You say you 
 do not understand their language pray how do you 
 converse with them ?" 
 
 "Partly by signs ; but there are three or four in the 
 village who understand a little English, and can 
 speak a few words. Waralongha, the chief I have 
 mentioned, speaks the English tongue rather plainly 
 but he is now away." 
 
310 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Ha !" said I ; " the chief of the party that captured 
 me could converse in my native tongue." 
 
 "Then you were taken by Waralongha himself," 
 said Adele. " How is it that he sent you here before 
 him ? for he has not yet returned." 
 
 "I think he and his party went in pursuit of my 
 companions/ I replied ; and I proceeded to give her a 
 brief account of the whole affair. 
 
 " Oh, Roland, I hope your companions will not be 
 made prisoners also I" cried Adele. 
 
 " I fear some of them will," said I. 
 
 " I think you will be kept here till Waralongha 
 returns," she rejoined. 
 
 "And what then?" 
 
 "Alas! I do not know. Should your companions 
 resist, and he lose any of his men, I fear your life may 
 be taken in revenge ; and should he be unsuccessful 
 in getting your goods into his possession, he may vent 
 his rage on you for that." 
 
 " In any event, then, my life is in danger !" 
 
 "Alas II fear so." 
 
 " But can I not escape ?" I said, in a low whisper ; 
 for if there were any who could understand our con 
 versation, I thought it possible they might be within 
 hearing, perhaps listening. 
 
 "How, Roland?" 
 
 "With your assistance, Adele. But tell me first 
 how you obtained permission to visit me ? and why 
 I am left unguarded ?" 
 
 "You are not unguarded, Roland would to Heaven 
 
THE LOST FOUND. 311 
 
 you were! for then I might assist you," she replied. 
 " There are no less than four warriors watching this 
 lodge." 
 
 "Indeed! where are they?" 
 
 "They are lounging on the earth outside, at no 
 great distance ; but are so disposed, that, by the lights 
 of the different fires, they can see completely round 
 your prison." 
 
 " But why are you permitted to visit me, and bring 
 me food and drink, since they have seen proper to 
 treat me so roughly, and offer me none ?" 
 
 U I do not know, unless because you are a prisoner 
 of Waralongha, and they think it might offend 
 him to refuse my request." 
 
 "You requested to see me then?" 
 
 " Yes ! I was one of the crowd that surrounded you, 
 after you were brought in ; but I only got near 
 enough to see you were a white man ; and I spoke to 
 one who can understand the most simple English 
 words, and requested him to ask leave of the chiefs 
 for me to visit you. He did so, and I came to you as 
 soon as my request was granted. Arguing from this 
 permission, that I should be allowed to bring you 
 food and water, I took the liberty to do so, and so far 
 I have been unmolested and unrestrained ; but how 
 much longer this may continue I cannot say; and 
 this reminds me you have not yet eaten : pray let me 
 give you some of this food now, before I am called 
 away." 
 
312 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "I would rather talk than eat, Adele, for the time 
 is precious." 
 
 "You can do both," she said, putting some of the 
 frugal fare to my lips. "Eat, Koland, I pray you! I 
 shall feel better to know you have taken sustenance." 
 
 I hastily ate a few mouthfuls, took another drink 
 from the gourd, and continued : 
 
 " You have been treated well by the Indians ?" 
 
 " Better, at least, than others of my sex." 
 
 "But you are suffering mental torture?" 
 
 "Oh ! yes, Eoland I would rather die than remain 
 here, the wife of a savage. Great God I what a fate !" 
 
 "What a fate indeed!" said I. "I heard of your 
 capture while at Council Grove; and I afterward 
 resolved to set you free, or die in the attempt ; and I 
 now fear the attempt will cost me my life. What is 
 to be done ? I am here, a more helpless prisoner than 
 yourself even ; and I fear my companions are, or will 
 be, overpowered in which case we shall all be at the 
 mercy of the savages." 
 
 "Alas! what is to be done indeed?" cried Adele, 
 wringing her hands. 
 
 At this moment a grim-looking savage appeared at 
 the door of the lodge, and made signs to Adele that 
 she must follow him. 
 
 "There," she said ; "it is as I feared ; we must part 
 now, perhaps never to meet again." 
 
 "Farewell, and God bless you!" said I. "Keep up 
 your spirits, and hope! all may not be so bad as it 
 
FLIGHT AND PUKSUIT. 313 
 
 She put her hands to her eyes, as if to restrain her 
 tears, and in a choked and trembling voice mur 
 mured : 
 
 "Adieu! I will come to you whenever I can. God 
 bless you ! God bless you ! If it had not been for 
 me, you would not now be here. The heart of the 
 friendless orphan shall ever pray for your deliverance, 
 prosperity, and happiness !" 
 
 With this she hurried out, the savage glided away, 
 and I was again alone. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 
 
 SOON after Adele left me, two Indians came and sat 
 down in the door of the lodge, and for an hour kept 
 up a low, but to me unintelligible, conversation. Then 
 one of them went away ; and the other, whistling a 
 large dog to him, stretched himself out, as if to sleep, 
 leaving his canine companion on the watch. Finding 
 my position extremely painful, I now ventured to ad 
 dress the savage, to inquire if a stronger guard could 
 not be put over me, and my aching limbs be freed 
 from their bonds. 
 
 He raised his head, looked at me, and saying, " Me 
 no Engles," laid down again. 
 
 He added something to the dog, which immediately 
 
314 THE BOEDER ROVEE. 
 
 took up a position where his eyes could rest upon 
 mine ; and there he remained through that long night, 
 growling every time I moved. Well may I call it a 
 long night for to me it seemed an age and all the 
 good and evil of my life appeared to come up before 
 the mind for review. 
 
 Morning came at last ; and with the rising of the 
 sun my guard left me, calling off his dog. Soon after 
 this my angel, for she looked to me like an angel, re 
 appeared. 
 
 " Oh ! what tortures you must have suffered through 
 the night !" she said, compassionately, her soft eyes 
 filling with -tears, as she gazed upon my haggard fea 
 tures and corded limbs. 
 
 "Oh! Adele," I replied, "it is Heaven to look 
 upon your sweet face once more ! But pray tell me 
 what you have learned concerning me? for this awful 
 suspense is one of the greatest tortures I have to 
 bear." 
 
 " Ah ! sir, I have learned nothing, except that your 
 fate will be decided when "YVaralongha returns. Ha ! 
 he has come now, I think !" she added, as at the mo 
 ment a series of loud whoops, from a distance, broke 
 upon the ear. " I will go and see, and return and tell 
 you ;" and she hurried out and disappeared. 
 
 I lay there for some minutes, listening to the un 
 pleasant noises without, which announced the arrival 
 of a party of warriors, and felt much as I suppose a 
 prisoner must feel awaiting a decision which will set 
 him free or consign him to death. At length Adele 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 315 
 
 suddenly burst into the lodge, pale and breathless, 
 and exclaimed : 
 
 " I fear it is all over with you, my dear friend ! 
 Hark I do you not hear those wild cries of Indian 
 women lamenting the loss of some of their friends ? I 
 have only seen enough to know that Waralongha has 
 returned with two white prisoners, and three Indian 
 corpses, and the rage of the nation will demand you 
 for a victim. Oh! my God! that I could die for 
 you I" 
 
 " You can do better I" cried I, from that strong im 
 pulse of the mind which often acts with the force and 
 certainty of instinct. " Quick! cut my cords, and let 
 me take my chance !" 
 
 " But surely you cannot escape !" 
 
 " I may escape torture, if not death. Oh ! Adele, 
 by the love of Heaven, I conjure you to cut these 
 bonds, ere my enemies come upon me 1" 
 
 " I will," she cried, " if I die for it ! One moment ! 
 I have no knife but I just now saw one at the door 
 of an adjoining lodge ;" and she darted out. 
 
 She was gone but a moment indeed ; and as she 
 hurried back to me, and severed the cords that bound 
 my limbs, she fairly gasped out, under the wildest 
 excitement : 
 
 "Oh! Eoland, perhaps you may escape! Oh, my 
 God ! give me strength to speak ! The whole village 
 has gone out to meet "Waralongha. Only a few old 
 men and women are near you. Some chief or warrior 
 has left his horse, with a Mexican bridle and saddle 
 
316 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 upon him, standing only a few rods off. Great God! 
 if you could reach him and escape ! Oh I I faint to 
 think! There! there! you are free. Up! quick, 
 and away ! and Holy Mary and all the saints protect 
 you!" 
 
 " And you, Adele ?" returned I, as I hurriedly 
 chafed my limbs, which fortunately were not so be 
 numbed as to be useless. 
 
 " Think not of me ; but fly I fly I and save yourself, 
 if in God s holy Providence you may be so per 
 mitted !" 
 
 "But come you with me! you must not, shall not, 
 remain behind!" 
 
 "No! no! no! Eoland fly and leave me! for the 
 love of holy angels, fly ! I should only be a burden 
 to you ; I should only retard your flight ; and you 
 would be retaken ; and then death by tortures would 
 be your fate. It is your only chance; the whole 
 Tillage of chiefs and warriors will soon be here ; do 
 you not hear them coming ? And yet you stand ! 
 "Oh, God! Koland, if you would not see me sink 
 dead at your very feet, fly, and save your precious 
 life!" 
 
 I looked at the slight, slender, beautiful girl before 
 me dressed much as she was when I first presented 
 her to the reader her dark hair, now somewhat dis 
 arranged, floating around her neck and shoulders 
 her black eyes, wild and sparkling, fixed beseechingly 
 upon mine her upturned features picturing forth the 
 full agony of a soul upon the rack of desperate fear 
 
FLIGHT AND PUKSUIT. 317 
 
 and desperate hope the contending emotions almost 
 tearing her spirit asunder : I looked at her, I say, as 
 she thus stood before me, and my resolution was in 
 stantly taken. We would live or die together or at 
 least I would not escape alone. The chances were all 
 against us but Heaven might be on our side. She 
 was small, slight, and light I was large and strong 
 and suddenly throwing an arm around her slender 
 waist, I lifted her from the ground, and darted out 
 into the open air. 
 
 " This is my answer, dear Adele," I said ; " you 
 must go with me ; I will not leave you ; and if you 
 resist, I shall remain a prisoner. Quick I where is the 
 horse ?" 
 
 She pointed to where he stood, too much excited to 
 speak ; and I darted to his side, bearing my lovely 
 burden with the same ease that I would have borne 
 an infant. I looked around and saw the whole village, 
 with only a few exceptions men, women, and children 
 collected in a body, some four or five hundred 
 yards distant, and surrounding the returned warriors, 
 who were marching into the village in Indian state, 
 whooping and howling alternately this for a loss 
 that for a triumph. Most of the lodges were between 
 us and them, which concealed our movements and 
 favored our design ; while fortunately, their attention 
 was occupied with matters in their immediate vicinity. 
 A decrepit old Indian, in a lodge near, perceived us, 
 and uttered a peculiar yell, intended to alarm his 
 distant friends, and bring them down upon us ; but 
 
318 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 luckily his lungs were weak, and his voice did not 
 reach far ; and ere he had thrice repeated his cry, I 
 was upon the back of as fleet and noble a steed as 
 ever bore man from captivity, with the lovely and half 
 fainting Adele clasped in rriy arms. 
 
 I could scarcely restrain a shout of exultation, as I 
 jerked the reins, and struck the beast upon the flank 
 with the flat of my hand. Unused to such treatment, 
 he reared and plunged, and the next moment was 
 bounding away with a velocity that made my heart 
 leap with hope and joy. But we had scarcely gone 
 twenty yards, when, from several parts of the village, 
 arose those peculiar yells, which told us we were dis 
 covered by the aged and infirm who had not gone out 
 to meet the returned warriors; and ere we had 
 advanced a hundred rods, the same fearful cry of 
 discovery came borne to our ears from the more 
 distant crowd of warriors. 
 
 " God help us 1" I murmured ; " it is life or death 
 now!" 
 
 As we cleared the last hut, and dashed away toward 
 the west, over the seemingly boundless prairie, I 
 looked back, and saw a great commotion among the 
 excited crowd ; and the next moment some five or six 
 mounted warriors burst through the throng, and bore 
 down for us with all speed. 
 
 " There, the fiends are after us !" cried I, giving my 
 high spirited steed another blow with my hand, which 
 caused him to bound away with the speed of the 
 rushing wind. 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 319 
 
 " Holy Virgin, help us ! holy saints, help us ! Great 
 God, help us !" cried Adele, clinging shudderingly to 
 me. " Oh ! Eoland can we can we escape them ?" 
 
 " God only knows!" said I, tightening my arm 
 around her waist. "This gallant beast seems fresh, 
 and their animals may be more or less fatigued. They 
 have not gained on us yet," continued I, glancing 
 back, after a few minutes of breathless silence " nor 
 can I perceive we have gained on them. God help 
 us!" 
 
 "He will, Roland I feel He will!" replied Adele, 
 suddenly turning her sweet, sad face, and soft, dark, 
 speaking eyes up to mine. " Heaven certainly favors 
 us, or we should not be here now. Was not this 
 horse a Providence, my dear friend ?" 
 
 " It seems so indeed," I answered. " Who could 
 have dreamed, a short half hour since, while I lay a 
 bound prisoner, in the hands of a tribe numbering 
 several hundred warriors, that I should now be 
 mounted and flying from them, and bearing away the 
 captive I came to seek? Who knows, dear Adele, 
 but my very misfortune, as I supposed it to be, 
 was one of the mysterious ways of Providence for 
 your deliverence ?" 
 
 " Oh, I am unworthy !" she replied" I will pray." 
 
 It was a fearful race and seems now, as I recall it, 
 rather like a wild, terrible dream, than a reality. On, 
 on, we sped, over the seemingly boundless prairie, 
 with not a hill or tree to obstruct the view, and with 
 our enemies, yelling like fiends, in hot pursuit. For 
 
320 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 two long hours we maintained the distance which 
 divided us on setting out, and many a long league 
 now lay between us and the Arrapahoe village. The 
 day was bright the sun shone clear and earth and 
 sky would have looked beautiful to our eyes, could 
 we have viewed them in peaceful freedom ; and even 
 as it was, with the soft breeze from the west we drank 
 in hope, and felt our hearts beat with returning joy. 
 Oh ! how I loved the noble animal beneath us ! which 
 neither nagged nor faltered but strained every nerve 
 to save us and still sped onward with lightning 
 speed. 
 
 The sun was perhaps two hours and a half above 
 the horizon, when, glancing back, for the hundredth 
 time, I fairly shouted : 
 
 "Joy! joy I we shall escape! we shall be saved, 
 dear Adele ! your prayers are heard !" 
 
 " Saved I" she murmured, clasping her hands 
 " saved 1" 
 
 "Yes, we are gaining on our pursuers; already 
 their animals begin to falter; while ours seems no 
 more fatigued than if his muscles were of iron." 
 
 "And shall we be saved, dear Eoland? Oh! what 
 joy ! my heart is too full to speak ! Oh, God ! let the 
 gratitude which fills my soul be my offering to Thee 
 for this unexpected deliverance !" 
 
 During the next quarter of an hour, we gained 
 perceptibly on our foes ; and at the end of that time, a 
 distance of more than half a mile divided us ; and as 
 
FLIGHT AXD PURSUIT. 321 
 
 every moment increased it, they at length came to a 
 sudden halt and gave up the chase. 
 
 " There ! see 1" cried I and my heart leaped to my 
 throat for joy ; "our boldness and daring, under God, 
 have given us life and liberty ! our foes are turning 
 back." 
 
 Adele clasped her hands, and burst into tears, 
 being too deeply affected to utter a single syllable. I 
 now gradually checked the speed of our foaming 
 steed ; and, a few miles further on, curbed him down 
 to a quiet walk. 
 
 We were still upon the broad, almost barren 
 prairie, with a clear, blue sky overhead, and the 
 bright, warm sun rolling up the heavens in glory. 
 Save a small herd of buffaloes away to our right, our 
 retreating foes already dim in the distance, and a few 
 birds sailing high overhead, apparently bound on a 
 long flight, not a single living object met our view. 
 The prairie, covered with the short, brown, buffalo 
 grass, was almost as level as a floor ; and away to the 
 north, away to the south, away to the east, away to 
 the west, as far as the straining eye could reach, it 
 drew its even line against the horizon. The scene 
 was grand, impressive, solemn ; and as the first ex 
 citement of rejoicing at our escape from captivity and 
 death began to die away, and the mind began to stretch 
 from the present into the future, I shuddered to think 
 what an awful fate might yet be ours. We were alone 
 upon this great desert, afar from the settlement of a 
 white man, in the territory of our enemies, surrounded 
 19 
 
322 THE BOEDER ROVEK. 
 
 by foes, both animal and human, almost helpless as 
 infants, with nothing for defence and protection but 
 our fleet and gallant steed. I had not a single weapon 
 of any kind, and knew not which way to steer to reach 
 the nearest station ; and any deviation from the right 
 course, might carry us far beyond, entangle us in new 
 difficulties, and prove fatal at last. 
 
 Adele observed the change in my features, as these 
 startling facts and fearful uncertainties pressed upon 
 my mind ; and she said, with anxiety : 
 
 " You seem troubled, Eoland?" 
 
 " I am, dear Adele I am." 
 
 "Oh, speak! what is it?" 
 
 " "We have just made a narrow escape from our 
 foes behind but what is before us ?" 
 
 " What do you fear, Eoland ?" 
 
 " Everything. Where are we now ? whither shall 
 we go? and how support life?" 
 
 "Ah ! what do you mean ?" 
 
 " I do not wish to startle or alarm you, Adele ; but 
 I must tell you the painful fact, that I have not a 
 single weapon; even the knife with which you cut 
 my cords, was forgotten in my haste." 
 
 "Well, we may not henceforth be menaced by man 
 or beast." 
 
 " There is a danger greater still, dear Adele." 
 
 " Indeed, Roland what is it ?" 
 
 " Starvation !" 
 
 " Ah ! I did not think of that." 
 
 "How are we to live?" I cried, despondingly, 
 
FLIGHT AND PUKSUIT. 323 
 
 "we may starve in sight of game; and even were 
 it killed, we have nothing with which to cut the flesh 
 asunder, and therefore could not use it." 
 
 " It is dreadful !" returned Adele, with a shudder. 
 But the next moment she added, with a kind of 
 cheerful vivacity : " Let us not despair, Roland ! but 
 trust something to that Providence which has so 
 signally delivered us from a fate worse than death. 
 We are, in one sense, dependent, helpless creatures, 
 be we where we may ; and after what has just taken 
 place, surely we ought to leave the future to God, and 
 not despond till we have certain cause." 
 
 "You are right," said I, struck with admiration at 
 such noble sentiments of consoling reliance on Divine 
 Power and which, as the stronger sex, and under 
 the circumstances, should rather have come from me 
 than her. " You are right, dear Adele ; and I thank 
 you for teaching me better than to give way to sad 
 forebodings, at a moment when my heart should be 
 filled with rejoicing at our wonderful escape. And 
 wonderful nay, almost miraculous it seems, all 
 things being taken into consideration. How indeed 
 came this noble horse, saddled and bridled, to be 
 standing there, at the only moment of all others when 
 he could have saved us ?" 
 
 "I do not know," replied Adele; "but I think he 
 had been harnessed for some scouting expedition, 
 which his master temporarily deferred on hearing the 
 signal shouts of the returning warriors." 
 
324 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 "But is it not strango he did not ride out to meet 
 them?" 
 
 " It seems so to me ; and I am almost superstitious 
 enough to regard it as the design of a superior intelli 
 gence. Perhaps I should have no lingering doubts of 
 such being the case, did I not know myself unworthy 
 of superhuman aid." 
 
 " And if you are unworthy, dear Adele, what can 
 be said of me? But this saddle and bridle where 
 could the savages have procured these ?" 
 
 " Doubtless taken from some victim, in one of their 
 marauding expeditions to the south ; for these Arra- 
 pahoes sometimes join the Camanches in their descent 
 upon caravans and the frontier towns of Mexico, and 
 sometimes the two tribes war against each other." 
 
 " I would I knew the fate of my brave companions 1" 
 I pursued ; " if any, and how many, escaped and 
 who were those you saw brought in prisoners. Poor 
 fellows! their s, at least, I think, will be a horrible 
 doom. And doubtless I should have suffered with 
 them, had it not been for you, my dear Adele. 
 Trust me, I shall not soon forget your devoted hero 
 ism." 
 
 " The heroism is yours, Eoland, not mine," returned 
 Adele, quickly. "I only saved my noble deliverer 
 by a timely word, and can lay claim to no merit. 
 All the devoted heroism of the whole affair belongs 
 to him who ventured hundreds of miles, through 
 perils, into the country of the white man s foe, to set 
 the friendless captive free risking fortune and life 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 325 
 
 for one who can never repay him. May God ever 
 bless my noble preserver, Roland Elvers ! And surely* 
 sir, if you do not meet your reward in this world, you 
 will in the next." 
 
 " I have it already," I replied, in a low, tender tone; 
 "in clasping here, in freedom, the form of a being 
 which my heart tells me I love. Ah ! my dear Adele, 
 I must confess it all that I have done for you has 
 been more selfish than you seem inclined to suppose. 
 The impression which our first interview made upon 
 my heart, was too deep to be erased ; and time and 
 circumstances have only increased it, 
 
 As streams their channels deeper wear. 
 
 I did not then think I loved you for I scarcely knew 
 what love was ; but now I feel as if we were born for 
 each other ; and I know that in your absence I could 
 not be happy. I then felt I could be a brother to 
 you I now feel that I must be more. How is it with 
 you, Adele ? You are now alone in the world with 
 out home, without relations, without friends will 
 you look upon me as a protector ? as something more 
 than a brother? In a word, are you willing to share 
 my fortune, be it good or ill?" 
 
 " Oh, Eoland I" sobbed Adele ; " I only know your 
 words make me happy, and I was never happy be 
 fore." 
 
 " God bless you !" cried I, impulsively straining her 
 to my heart, and venturing to press my lips to her s 
 for the first time. "You shall be mine! and my life 
 
326 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 shall be devoted to making your happiness com 
 plete." 
 
 It was a strange place, and time, and occasion 
 there, on that wide prairie, just escaped from our foes 
 behind, and looking forward to new dangers to 
 make such an avowal of my love ; but the very scene, 
 and time, and circumstances, called it forth ; and I 
 allowed my feelings to have full sway, and have not 
 lived to regret that my words then made happy the 
 heart of the being I truly loved. And what time and 
 place could have been more appropriate ? Love some 
 times springs up in a moment ; peculiar circumstances 
 may develope a passion stronger than mortal life; 
 affection, once seated in the heart, may never leave 
 it ; and when such is felt to be the case, the sooner 
 there is a mutual understanding between two beings 
 who seem born for each other, the sooner will each 
 heart feel the influx of a holy joy which we trust will 
 be endless. Adele was alone with me weak, friend 
 less and dependent and was it not a virtue to let her 
 know it would make me happy to be allowed to 
 devote my time to her happiness? 
 
 After a pause of a few minutes, during which we 
 continued to ride slowly along, I resumed : 
 
 "But, my dear Adele, let me not in this happy 
 moment forget the noble generosity of one, a stranger 
 to you, without whose assistance I might not have 
 been in a condition to render you a service. I am 
 not the only one who has periled life, and used the 
 means in his power, to free you from a terrible capti- 
 
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT. 327 
 
 vity. The name of the noble Juan El Doliente must 
 be remembered in your prayers ; and if in this world 
 now, I fear, alas I he needs the interposition of Heaven 
 to save him from an awful death." 
 
 "What do you mean, Koland?" inquired Adele, 
 looking up in surprise. 
 
 Hitherto I had only mentioned my companions in 
 general terms ; but now I proceeded to speak of the 
 Spaniard in particular. I gave her an account of our 
 meeting, and the conversations I had at different 
 times held with him concerning her; told her of the 
 deep and apparently unaccountable interest he had 
 taken in her welfare; and clearly stated how much 
 we were both indebted to his noble generosity for the 
 events which had placed us in our present positions. 
 
 " Were he indeed your father, brother, or long-tried 
 friend, Adele," I continued, "he could not have 
 shown more sympathy for your misfortunes, or have 
 done more for your rescue ; and now I have reason to 
 fear that he has either been killed or made a hopeless 
 prisoner himself. As I before informed you, I left 
 the party separated, each going in pursuit of his 
 horse ; and you yourself have seen enough to know 
 that there was subsequently a fight between them and 
 the Indians, under Waralongha, and that two at least 
 were made prisoners : it may be our noble friend was 
 one of these." 
 
 "The saints forbid!" cried Adele. "Oh, Eoland! 
 what can be done ?" 
 
 "Nothing by us, dear Adele. We can, alas! do 
 
328 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 nothing for him, or the rest of my brave companions ; 
 if we can save ourselves, it is all we can hope for. I 
 only felt that justice required you should know that 
 not to me alone do you owe your deliverance." 
 
 "You call him Juan El Doliente Juan The Suff 
 erer it is a singular name, and I will remember it in 
 my prayers. It is strange he should take such an 
 interest in me. Do you think he fancies he knows 
 anything of my early history ?" 
 
 "I do not know what to think; he only said what 
 I have repeated." 
 
 "Oh! I would that I could see him perhaps he 
 does know something and I am so eager to learn 
 anything. Was I ever blessed with the affection of a 
 mother? and where is that sweet being now? on 
 earth or in Heaven ? For years, Koland, during my 
 lonely life, I have pondered this mystery by day, and 
 dreamed of it by night; and yet all is dark and 
 mysterious. Oh! if I could but see this stranger, 
 perhaps he could throw some light upon the subject I" 
 
 "I had hoped to see you meet, but I fear now you 
 never will at least on. earth." 
 
 "Ah ! it would be something if I could only have 
 one moment s interview, to offer him my poor thanks, 
 and tell him how grateful I feel !" she rejoined, with 
 a deep sigh. "But in this, as in all else that befalls 
 poor human nature, we must say, with resignation, 
 ( God s will be done! " 
 
 "Even so," said I solemnly; "and blessed are they 
 whose hearts can add, Amen ! " 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 329 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE PARCHED DESERT. 
 
 FOR some two or three hours we now rode forward 
 at an easy pace, keeping due west. By this time 
 the sun had well advanced toward meridian, and the 
 heat began to be oppressive, both to ourselves and our 
 noble steed ; yet nowhere could we perceive any signs 
 of shade; but everywhere the same level, dreary, 
 monotonous aspect; while the heated atmosphere, 
 stretching over this arid waste, seemed to tremble 
 arid quiver in the bright light. Our gallant animal 
 now began to show symptoms of thirst, and our own 
 tongues and throats began to grow dry and parched. 
 
 "Oh! for a good draught of cold water!" at length 
 exclaimed Adele. 
 
 "Are you hungry also?" I inquired, with consider 
 able uneasiness. 
 
 "Not so hungry as I am thirsty," she replied. 
 "But you, dear Roland," she pursued, with anxiety 
 "you are both; you feel faint. I see it do not deny 
 it. You have not tasted food to-day, and you ate but 
 little last night." 
 
 "If we could only find water," said I, "I could get 
 through the day very well ; but you are not so strong 
 as I, and I tremble lest you may be overcome by heat, 
 excitement, fatigue, and the want of sustenance." 
 
330 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 "I am not physically strong," she replied; "but I 
 can bear more fatigue than you suppose. Oh ! if we 
 could but find water ! and yet I can discover no signs 
 of it in all this vast region." 
 
 " Merciful Heaven !" cried I, shuddering at the 
 thought; "it is possible we are on one of those 
 great prairie deserts, of which I have read, and not a 
 spring or stream may be within fifty miles of us. I 
 now recollect that, save a small run, near the Arra- 
 paho village, we have not seen water since we set out 
 this morning on our fearful race ; and from our speed 
 for the first two or three hours, it is reasonable to 
 conclude we have passed over some forty or fifty 
 miles of arid territory." 
 
 "Alas! what will become of us, Eoland?" 
 
 " God only knows ; but let us not despond." 
 
 We rode on for half an hour longer, and drew near 
 a small herd of buffaloes, which, on perceiving us, 
 bounded away to the north. Oh I what would I not 
 have given for a rifle, or a holster pistol even, with 
 plenty of amunition, that I might have followed and 
 slain one for food ! As it was, even, I felt tempted to 
 follow them, in the hope that their course would lead 
 to some spring or stream ; but as I hesitated about 
 turning from the point I had fixed in my mind, Adele 
 suddenly exclaimed, with great animation, pointing 
 directly westward : 
 
 " Look yonder, Koland ! look yonder 1" 
 
 "What is it, Adele?" 
 
 "Far away yonder, as far as I can see, a dark 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 331 
 
 object rises against the clear back-ground* of the blue 
 sky." 
 
 " I see something ; but what is it ? 
 
 "I think it is a small grove, Koland; and if so, the 
 trees grow upon the bank of a stream, and we shall 
 soon find water." 
 
 " God forbid that we should be disappointed in the 
 hope !" cried I, not a little excited ; and forthwith I 
 began to urge our gallant beast forward at as fast a 
 pace as I thought prudent. 
 
 Fixing our eyes on the distant dark object, and 
 keeping them there riveted, as if fearful it would 
 disappear, we pushed on for another hour, under a 
 burning meridian sun, scarcely exchanging a syllable, 
 and at times almost suspending our breath with an 
 intense excitement, which continually alternated be 
 tween hope and fear. As we gradually neared the 
 dark object, it rose more and more distinctly against 
 the horizon, till, with feelings of joy I cannot describe, 
 we beheld the outline of a cluster of trees. Our noble 
 horse now seemed to share our feelings of exultation, 
 and bounded forward with increased speed ; and in a 
 short time I reined him in to a halt, panting and 
 trembling, under the shade of a small cluster of cot- 
 tonwoods. 
 
 Great Heaven ! what language can do justice to the 
 awful, prostrating sense of disappointment and despair 
 we now experienced, on looking around and discov 
 ering that we stood on the bank of a water-course 
 whose bed of mingled sand and clay was hard, ^ M , 
 
332 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and cracked ! For some time neither could speak ; 
 but after one quick, hurried, painful glance around 
 us, we turned our feverish eyes upon each other, with 
 a wild, startled expression an expression which con 
 veyed from soul to soul the terrible consciousness of 
 our appalling situation. 
 
 "Oh, God!" murmured Adele, covering her eyes 
 with her hands, as if to shut out the agonizing reality. 
 
 " Let us dismount," said I, in as calm and quiet a 
 tone as the trembling state of my nerves would 
 permit. " Our poor beast is weary; we must let him 
 rest." 
 
 As I spoke, I slid from his back, received Adele in 
 my arms, and gently deposited her upon the earth. 
 The noble animal, covered with perspiration, was now 
 trembling and panting; but, turning his head to me, 
 as I stood despairingly by his side, he uttered a 
 mournful whinny ; and by a look, which haunted me 
 for days, seemed to appeal to me to relieve him of 
 his sufferings. Never had I beheld, on the face of a 
 brute, such a mournful look of helpless dependence ; 
 and I could not but fancy he comprehended his 
 situation, with something akin to human intelligence. 
 I remembered how nobly he had saved us, by bearing 
 us so swiftly from those who were friends to him, if 
 foes to us ; and the reflection that it was now beyond 
 my power to show my gratitude, by relieving him in 
 the slightest degree of his sufferings, caused the hot 
 tears to fill my aching eyes. Under the half-parched 
 cotton-woods, that stood scattered along the banks of 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 333 
 
 the arid water-course, the short grass, if not greener, 
 seemed less burnt and withered than on the open 
 plain ; and in the hope that our poor beast might be 
 induced to feed, and thus in some measure recruit his 
 wasted strength, so as to be able to bear us on another 
 journey, I removed the bridle from his head and 
 turned him loose. He looked wistfully around, and, 
 hurrying down to the bed of the water-course, put his 
 nose to the hard-baked earth, and snuffed, and whin 
 nied ; and then, finding that he could get nothing to 
 slake his thirst, he came back, and seemed to appeal 
 to me in the same mournful manner as before. I was 
 so deeply affected, as for the time to think more of 
 his sufferings than my own; and had I at that 
 moment been the fortunate possessor of a few gallons 
 of the liquid element, I should have divided it be 
 tween him and Adele, with perhaps nothing more 
 than barely moistening my own parched lips. 
 
 Our situation was now in a high degree alarming, 
 and was every moment becoming more appalling. 
 Cast adrift, so to speak, upon an ocean-like desert 
 parched and fevered by a burning sun without water 
 without food with no cheering prospect of either 
 before us surrounded by enemies a hundred miles, 
 perhaps, from the nearest habitation of any one of our 
 race, even were we certain where to seek it what 
 could we look forward to but death in one of its most 
 terrible forms ? perhaps a lingering death of starva 
 tion, preceded by insanity ! As I cast my eyes upon 
 poor Adele who now stood before me, with clasped 
 
33-i THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 hands, leaning against the trunk of a tree for support, 
 her sweet face the very picture of hopeless despair, it 
 seemed as if my very blood was curdling in my veins 
 a faint, sickening feeling came over me and, with 
 a groan of mental anguish and physical suffering, I 
 sunk down upon the earth. 
 
 " Oh, Eoland, you are ill !" cried the poor girl, in 
 a frightened tone, as she sprung to my side, bent down, 
 and seized both of my hands. " Oh, Roland deai 
 Eoland you are ill !" 
 
 "I feel faint, dear Adele," I replied, in a feeble 
 voice ; " but do not be alarmed ; I trust I shall soon 
 be better." 
 
 " Holy Virgin ! you are dying of thirst !" 
 
 " No, my dear Adele, it is not that. I am thirsty, 
 it is true, and perhaps a little faint for the want of 
 food ; but neither s of these causes could produce so 
 great a prostration in so short a time. It may be that 
 riding in the hot sun has affected me." 
 
 "Ah! yes! yes! I did not think of that! Then 
 your case is so much the more alarming. Oh, holy 
 saints ! what is to be done ?" 
 
 " Try and be calm. I think I shall soon be better. 7 
 
 "And I have nothing to offer you not even a drop 
 of water, to allay the fever of a burning thirst. Come," 
 she continued, " for my sake, dear Roland, make an 
 effort to ride a little further for you will certainly 
 die here ! Perhaps if we follow this dry bed, it will 
 conduct us to a running stream." 
 
 " Your advice is good, dear Adele," I feebly replied, 
 
THE PAECHED DESEKT. 335 
 
 making an effort to get upon my feet, which, with her 
 assistance, I succeeded in doing; but the next instant 
 all seemed to grow dark around me; and merely 
 adding, "I think I am dying," I again sunk down 
 upon the earth, and my senses deserted me. 
 
 "When I returned to consciousness, after the lapse 
 of perhaps a couple of hours, I found Adele sitting 
 by my side, weeping and wringing her hands, the em 
 bodiment of despair. I spoke to her, and the sound 
 of my voice seemed to infuse new life into her fevered 
 veins. 
 
 "Oh! Koland," she cried, "you still live! I was 
 afraid you would never speak to me again I" 
 
 " God bless you, poor girl!" I murmured. 
 
 "How do you feel now?" she inquired, with tremb 
 ling eagerness. 
 
 " A little better, thank Heaven I" 
 
 "The saints be praised! Are you able to resume 
 your journey ?" 
 
 " I soon shall be, I think." 
 
 I still felt weak and sick ; but my involuntary sleep 
 had slightly refreshed me, and in a few minutes I was 
 able to stand alone. Our poor beast was still with us ; 
 and catching and bridling him, Adele led him to my 
 side. I managed, with some assistance from the poor 
 girl, to crawl upon his back; and Adele getting up in 
 front of me, we turned his head down the water-course, 
 and started him forward in search of water. 
 
 For two or three hours we rode slowly along, under 
 a hot, summer sun, which by this time had far de- 
 
336 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 scended toward the western horizon. Suddenly now 
 our noble animal pricked up his ears, snuffed the hot 
 air, and set forward at an easy gallop. 
 
 " God be praised 1" cried Adele, joyfully "the beast 
 scents water !" 
 
 " Do you think so?" 
 
 " Yes, I am almost certain of it, Roland. The senses 
 of these animals of instinct, which live upon the 
 prairies, are far more acute and unerring than those 
 which belong to reasoning man. They will, when 
 famishing, scent food and water at an incredible 
 distance ; and they are often the first, likewise, to warn 
 their more intellectual companions of approaching 
 danger." 
 
 To our unspeakable delight, the result proved that 
 this time Adele was not wrong in her conjecture con 
 cerning the proximity of water. Our noble animal 
 gradually quickened his pace as he went on, till at 
 last I was compelled, for our own safety, to check his 
 furious speed. Still keeping down the dry bed of the 
 water-course we found its junction with a similar 
 water-course, about a mile from where our horse first 
 snuffed the air ; and in the bed of this latter we beheld, 
 with emotions that language has no power to describe, 
 a tiny stream a mere silvery thread, of not more 
 than two hands breadth, which ran gurgling over 
 white sand and bright pebbles its sweet music 
 bringing to the soul a beatific rapture, which in effect 
 might be likened to the heavenly strain which greets 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 337 
 
 the weary spirit, long sunk in despair, as it floats to 
 the shore of life in eternity. 
 
 Once in sight of the liquid element, it was no longer 
 possible for me, in my weak state, to hold in check 
 our almost maddened beast ; and therefore I gave him 
 the rein ; while we both clung to the saddle, till he 
 leaped into the run, and began to slake his thirst; 
 when we slid from his back, and were soon following 
 his example. Oh ! that first draught of something far 
 beyond the ambrosial nectar of the gods! What lan 
 guage can describe the sensations of rapture we 
 experienced as it passed our parched and swollen lips, 
 and spread its seemingly life-giving power through 
 all our veins I Never before had I the faintest con 
 ception of the ecstactic thrill which might reach the 
 spirit through the single sense of taste ; and were it 
 possible for all our senses to receive each its highest 
 pleasure, in the same degree and at the same moment, 
 I do not think it possible for the mortal portion of man 
 to survive the event. 
 
 Having with a few draughts found immediate relief 
 from our intense sufferings, we fortunately had suf- 
 ficent self-command to avoid drinking our fill too 
 suddenly ; and we sat "by the purling rivulet, looking 
 at each other, expressing our joy and gratitude in 
 fervent words, and ever and anon bathing our hands 
 and faces, and taking another and another delicious 
 draught, till nature became satisfied, and we found our 
 selves, as if by magic, with renewed life, and strength, 
 and hope. 
 20 
 
338 THE BOEDER EOVEK. 
 
 " You are better, dear Koland !" exclaimed Adele, 
 joyfully. "I see it in your sparkling eye and anima 
 ted features." 
 
 " We are both better, thank God I" I replied ; "for 
 I can see the same happy change in you which you 
 perceive in me." 
 
 " Oh ! we cannot be too grateful to an over-ruling 
 Providence for our second happy deliverance!" re 
 joined Adele; and as she spoke, she lifted her eyes in 
 silent prayer to the great Unseen a prayer of thanks 
 giving in which my own heart joined. 
 
 But our perils were by no means past; our 
 difficulties were not yet all surmounted ; and all too 
 soon this painful conviction forced itself upon us com 
 ing like the black storm-cloud in the serene heavens, 
 to shut out the sun of hope or like the dark pall of 
 death, to cover the body of our joy. We were still 
 in the great wilderness, surrounded by dangers ; and 
 grim starvation still stared us in the face. Our burn 
 ing thirst quenched our weary bodies filled with 
 new life and strength we now, alas ! began to ex 
 perience the sensations of hunger in a marked degree ; 
 and the fact that we could not look forward with 
 certainty, scarcely with hope, to timely relief, was the 
 cause of sad, painful and prostrating forebodings- 
 forebodings, indeed, which sharpened our desires, and 
 rendered the cravings of nature more keen. We were 
 not at this moment actually suffering for the want of 
 food ; but we knew we could not long exist without 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 339 
 
 it ; and this fearful knowledge caused us mental, at 
 least, if not physical pain. 
 
 "What was to be done ? and how and where should 
 we pass the night ? The sun was far on the decline, 
 and darkness would soon overtake us; and yet the 
 place where we were, devoid of trees as it was, did not 
 seem suitable for an encampment. Away in the dis 
 tance, toward the west, we perceived a small cluster 
 of cotton- woods; and after a brief consultation we 
 decided to ride thither, and trust the rest to that 
 Providence which had so kindly watched over us. 
 Our weary beast, which was now eagerly cropping 
 the nutritious grass, having drank his fill of pure 
 water, was readily caught ; and again mounting him, 
 we were soon pursuing our unknown course along the 
 banks of the tiny stream, which we had resolved to 
 keep in view until we should reach its head waters or 
 find it necessary to alter our course. 
 
 Just as the sun, in a blaze of glory, was sinking 
 below the western horizon, we reached the cotton- 
 wood grove ; and somewhat to our delight for their 
 very presence seemed to cheer us we found a few 
 gay birds fluttering among the tremulous leaves, and 
 twittering away as gaily as if there were no such 
 thing as human misery on the great earth, above 
 which they daily winged their flight and sung their 
 songs. My first care was to unsaddle our gallant 
 beast and hopple him which latter I did by means 
 of straps taken from the bridle and saddle, which I 
 buckled and joined together as best I could. One 
 
340 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 buckle, with a sharp-pointed tongue, I made use of, 
 in lieu of a knife, to sever some strips from the sad 
 dle-cloth, which I tied together, to serve as a tether ; 
 and driving a short, dry stick into the ground, I felt 
 quite relieved to know I could picket the animal near 
 me, after allowing him a reasonable time to feed, 
 while the remainder of the saddle-cloth would serve 
 in some measure as a blanket for Adele. 
 
 Having thus, as well as my straitened circum 
 stances would permit, made my preparations for 
 passing the night, which had already begun to spread 
 its dark mantle over the earth, gradually shutting in 
 the monotonous view of the mighty desert around us, 
 I threw myself down on the ground by the side of my 
 gentle companion, and, encircling her with my arms, 
 drew her fondly to my heart. For some minutes we 
 satin gloomy silence, each busy with painful thoughts, 
 which neither felt disposed to make known to the 
 other. "We were both much fatigued with our long 
 ride, and both somewhat faint for the want of food, 
 while the prospect before us was far from cheering. 
 With plenty of game, and means for lighting a fire 
 and cooking it, we should have been comparatively 
 happy in the present, and could have looked forward 
 to the future with hope and joy ; but as it was, the 
 thought of the morrow increased our gloom. 
 
 " We are fortunate in one thing, dear Adele," said 
 I, at length, speaking abruptly from my train of 
 thought; "we shall not suffer from the cold, even 
 though we have no fire." 
 
THE PARCHED DESERT. 341 
 
 " We are fortunate in many things, dear Koland," 
 she replied, in a low, tremulous voice, which she 
 evidently sought to render calm, so as not to betray 
 her secret emotions. " We are fortunate in many 
 things. We have escaped from our enemies ; we have 
 been permitted to quench our burning, feverish thirst ; 
 we are here in peace and comparative health ; and 
 though wanting food, we are not yet positively suffer 
 ing ; and who knows but the morrow may bring us 
 all we desire?" 
 
 " Who knows ?" said I. After another long silence, 
 I resumed: "If we pass the night in safety, our 
 gallant steed will be refreshed, and be able to bear us 
 on with ease and speed toward the mountains ; and 
 if we can only reach them before we are completely 
 exhausted, it is possible we may subsist on roots and 
 berries till we can find some one of the several stations 
 which here and there dot the great wilderness. To 
 the best of my judgment, we must now be within one 
 or two days journey of St. Train s Fort; but not 
 knowing the proper course to pursue, we may never 
 find it. However, my dear Adele, let us not despair, 
 but trust the future to God. You are fatigued ; pray 
 lie down here, and get what rest you can ; the ground, 
 fortunately, is dry, and this saddle will serve you for 
 a pillow, and this cloth will keep you from the dew, 
 should any fall." 
 
 " And you, dear Koland ?" 
 
 " I will sit by your side and watch." 
 
 " But you will be worn out!" 
 
342 THE BORDER ROVER, 
 
 " No, I feel quite strong now." 
 
 " But you must sleep too ! You must let me watch 
 a part of the night at least !" 
 
 " Very well ; if you will sleep now, I will consent 
 to let you watch toward morning." 
 
 With this understanding, Adele laid her head upon 
 the saddle, and I covered her with the saddle-cloth ; 
 and in a few minutes nature asserted its mastery, and 
 her wandering thoughts became involved in peaceful 
 dreams. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 
 
 THERE was a kind of subdued, melancholy pleasure, 
 in sitting there, by the side of one I loved ; and listen 
 ing to her gentle breathings, while "nature s sweet 
 restorer" set a quiet, peaceful seal upon her external 
 senses. Minute succeeded minute, hour followed 
 hour, and yet she continued to sleep as tranquilly as 
 if upon a bed of down, her gentle respirations being 
 barely audible to her lonely listener. Had the future 
 opened serenely to the mind, without the dark shadows 
 which fancy now placed in the vista through which it 
 looked forward to a distant point of time, those hours 
 of lonely, solemn watching would have been among 
 the happiest of my life ; but it was impossible to 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 343 
 
 divest myself of a fear of approaching danger in some 
 form, or think of coming hours without an undefinablo 
 dread. Happy sleeper happy now, at least, in her 
 unconsciousness to what scenes of peril, trial, and 
 suffering might she not awake 1 It was pleasure to 
 see her sleep ; it would be happiness to guard, protect, 
 and provide for her necessities ; but it would be more 
 than death to see her snatched suddenly from me, by 
 man or beast, without the means of striking a single 
 blow in her defence; or see her wither and waste 
 away, like a blasted flower, without the power of sup 
 plying the common demands of nature. It was this 
 reflection that made me sad, gloomy, and wretched, 
 even while my heart felt something like joy that she 
 was still safe and sleeping sweetly under my vigilant 
 eye. 
 
 For hours, I say, I sat by the side of her I loved 
 my back braced against the trunk of a large cotton - 
 wood my eyes wandering over the dark plain, in 
 search of danger and my ears listening to catch the 
 slightest sound. "We were in a lonely region of 
 country, where wild and savage beasts, and wild and 
 savage men, were lords and masters of the soil ; and 
 there was no telling what moment we might be 
 surprised by a foe, against whose fell design, weak 
 and defenceless as I was, I could bring no opposing 
 force. The fact that I had no weapons of defence, and 
 for this reason knew myself almost as helpless as 
 an infant, rendered me in a great degree a very 
 coward ; and therefore I watched with timid uneasiness, 
 
344 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 often starting at the objects of my fancy, and fairly 
 trembling at any unusual sound. 
 
 "While I watched, I gradually fell into that comatose 
 state, in which the mind acts in the double capacity 
 of sleeping and waking when we dream ; and know 
 we dream, and yet are conscious of external surround 
 ings, but without the power of distinct comprehension. 
 At length I began to experience a sensation of fear 
 and dread, as if some dark object were creeping softly 
 to my side; and arousing myself suddenly, I beheld, 
 by the light of the moon, which had now risen and 
 was pouring its silvery beams upon the broad plain, 
 a large prairie wolf within ten feet of me. I started 
 to my feet, with a cry of alarm; and taking fright, 
 he bounded away, with a fierce howl, and soon dis 
 appeared in the uncertain light. 
 
 The noise awoke Adele, who also started up in 
 alarm, exclaiming : 
 
 " Where am I ? what is it ?" 
 
 I hastened to explain, and endeavored to persuade 
 her to lie down again and sleep on ; but she declared 
 she felt quite refreshed, and insisted that I should take 
 her place, and allow her to watch, according to our 
 agreement. I was loth to do so ; but she held me to 
 my promise ; and feeling the need of rest, to enable 
 me to make a long journey on the morrow, I finally 
 yielded assent. 
 
 But my first care now was to picket our horse, 
 which was still feeding at no great distance ; and 
 having accomplished this, I took a general survey ot 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 345 
 
 the mighty scene, by the pale light of the waning 
 moon, which shone through a cloudless sky, its silvery 
 rays falling upon the great desert with a subdued and 
 solemn effect ; and finding all still and quiet, as if 
 nature herself had sunk to repose, I placed my head 
 upon the saddle, intending merely to rest my weary 
 body and limbs, and keep watch with Adele at the 
 same time. But scarcely had my head touched my 
 pillow, when my eyes closed, my senses grew confused 
 and wandering, and in less than five minutes I was 
 sound asleep. 
 
 I slept for hours, unconscious of everything ; and 
 when I at last awoke, I saw, to my surprise, that the 
 moon was high in the heavens, and that her pale light 
 was feebly struggling with the first gray of morning. 
 I started up, and looked around me for Adele ; but, 
 to my dismay and alarm, she was not to be seen. I 
 called her by name but received no answer. I 
 looked for my horse ; but he was quietly lying on 
 his side by the picket, where I had left him before 
 lying down myself. What could have happened ? 
 Apprehensive of something terrible, though I knew 
 not what, and with a cold sweat starting from every 
 pore, I hurried about in search of her, continually 
 calling her by name. It was not long ere I espied 
 her fragile form, lying upon the bank of the little 
 stream, a few rods below the camp. I ran to her side, 
 bent over her, and seized her small, white hand, 
 fearful of finding it cold in death. But no to my 
 
346 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 unutterable joy it was warm her pulse beat regularly, 
 and her respiration was gentle as one in sleep. 
 
 " Adele !" I cried, still frightened and apprehensive. 
 " Adele ! dear Adele! for God s sake, awake!" 
 
 " Oh, Koland, what is it ? " she exclaimed, starting 
 up in terror. " Quick ! Tell me what has happened ?" 
 
 "Nothing, dear Adele, if you are well. I was 
 alarmed for you. Why are you here ? are you ill ? " 
 
 " Forgive me !" she said, looking hurriedly around ; 
 " forgive me, dear Koland! I am but a poor sentinel, 
 I see. Ah me ! to fall asleep on my post 1" 
 
 " God be praised if it be nothing worse !" said I, 
 with a feeling of relief which can better be imagined 
 than expressed. " I was fearful something terrible 
 had happened to you. To fall asleep was natural, for 
 one who had undergone so much fatigue as you, dear 
 Adele ; but pray tell me how it is I find you here ?" 
 
 " I will, dear Eoland, and you must forgive me it 
 shall not happen again. After you fell asleep, I began 
 to grow drowsy myself; and fearing I should give 
 way to my feelings and lose myself, I got up and 
 commenced walking to and fro in front of you. Then 
 feeling thirsty, I came down here to take a drink ; 
 and having drank, I sat down on the bank, and that 
 is the last I remember." 
 
 " Poor girl !" cried I, clasping her to my heart : 
 "I am glad you slept, for you were wearied out; but 
 you should have left me on the watch, for we might 
 have been surprised and killed. But all is well God 
 in his mercy has guarded us !" 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FKIENDS. 347 
 
 "Ob, dear Roland, I am so grieved and troubled 
 at this 1" she continued. " You will not dare to trust 
 me again ; and you will wear yourself out in keeping 
 guard, because of my present neglect." 
 
 " Say no more about it, dear girl ; perhaps we shall 
 have no more need of nocturnal vigilance. It was all 
 for the best, I think; and if you feel refreshed, I am 
 glad it happened." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I am greatly refreshed, and feel quite 
 well." 
 
 "But you must be faint, nevertheless !" said I, 
 despondingly ; " for it has now been twenty -four hours 
 since you have tasted food." 
 
 " And longer^ since any passed your lips, dear 
 Roland," she replied, in a tone of deep feeling. " You 
 do not seem to think of yourself." 
 
 " God grant we may find some means to allay the 
 cravings of hunger ere we sleep again !" I rejoined ; 
 " though I confess I have but little hope. But come 1 
 day is dawning ; and if you feel able to ride, we will 
 set off at once ; for it is useless to remain longer here, 
 since our gallant steed has received his proper food 
 and rest." 
 
 " I am ready, dear Roland ; and oh ! believe me, I 
 feel quite strong." 
 
 I hastened to prepare our horse for our second day s 
 journey ; and having watered him at the brook, and 
 drank as much as we could ourselves, we mounted 
 him once more, and were soon galloping easily and 
 swiftly over the plain, still keeping as near as possible 
 
348 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 due west. This course, much to our regret, in a very 
 short time led us across the little stream which, on 
 account of its channel running almost north and south, 
 we were compelled to leave behind us ; but I thought 
 it more expedient to incur the risk of finding water on 
 our route westward, than to delay reaching the 
 mountains by taking another course. 
 
 Never did I behold a more grand and glorious 
 sunrise than on that morning. The atmosphere was 
 clear and still not a single cloud dotted the heavens 
 and the even line of the eastern horizon, stretching 
 away north and south, as far as the eye could reach, 
 allowed every tint and shade to be perceived in its 
 dimmest and brightest hue, and in its deepest and 
 broadest extent. First a pale, golden streak shot up 
 toward the zenith, and gradually spread abroad to the 
 north and south, till it so perfectly blended with the 
 serene blue sky that the eye could not mark where it 
 began or ended. Then came another streak of brigh 
 ter gold, and floated away like a thin, transparent 
 vapor, or tissue-tint, deepening the hue and heighten 
 ing the beauty of the first. Then another and another 
 followed in rapid succession, till the whole east was a 
 deep golden glow. Then shot up a streak of pale 
 crimson; and as it floated over the golden back 
 ground, the effect was beautiful beyond description. 
 A few more shades rapidly succeeded each other, each 
 deeper and brighter than the last ; and then the eye 
 was enchanted with a golden vermillion, which grew 
 brighter and more bright, with the increasing light, 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 349 
 
 till the golden vermillion seemed blended with a flood 
 of liquid silver; and then the sun burst upon the 
 scene with a glory beyond the power of language to 
 portray. 
 
 Notwithstanding our trying, painful, and perilous 
 situation a condition calculated to withdraw our 
 thoughts from all things foreign to self-preservation 
 we could not forego the pleasure of turning to view 
 so glorious a manifestation of God s limning on the 
 canvas of heaven, nor look upon it unmoved by a 
 thrill of delight that penetrated to the very soul. 
 
 U 0hl how gorgeously, gloriously beautiful!" ex 
 claimed Adele; "and with such a beginning of the 
 day, can we augur a night of gloom, and despair to 
 follow?" 
 
 "We will hope otherwise, dear Adele," I replied, 
 with what cheerfulness I could assume. 
 
 We rode on, at an easy gallop, for some two or 
 three hours, when we came to another little run, or 
 water-course, which was almost dry. Here we stop 
 ped and watered our horse, and drank what we could 
 ourselves. On casually examining the ground here, 
 I noticed, with uneasiness and some alarm, the hoof- 
 prints of other horses, in the yielding sand or clay 
 and that they led off in a southerly direction but 
 whether they were wild, or carried Indians on their 
 backs, I could not determine. There were buffalo 
 tracks here, also, in great numbers ; and I thought it 
 not improbable that a party of Indians had recently 
 passed here in pursuit of them. The ground here, 
 
350 THE BORDER ROVER 
 
 too, I observed, began in a slight degree to change 
 its character ; and looking carefully westward, I per 
 ceived, with feelings of delight, that the surface grew 
 gradually rougher, more broken, and rolling. I 
 pointed out the change to Adele, with the observation : 
 
 " I think we must be nearing the base of the lower 
 range of mountains." 
 
 " We are we are!" she cried, joyfully, clapping 
 her hands, and her sweet features beaming with ani 
 mation. " Look yonder, Koland I have just made 
 one discovery more do you see it ?" 
 
 " I do not what is it ?" I replied, after a quick 5 
 eager look westward. 
 
 " Do you not see yonder mountain peak ?" 
 
 " No ! no ! where ? where ?" 
 
 " There yonder in the direction I am pointing 
 do you not see it now ?" 
 
 "No, I do not, I am sorry to say." 
 
 " Do you see anything?" 
 
 " Ah 1 now I see some dark objects in the distance, 
 which appear to be moving but it is more reasonable 
 to suppose them buffaloes than mountains." 
 
 " No, no, Koland higher farther." 
 
 "I see a white, fleecy cloud, near the horizon." 
 
 " That is it that is it : it is no cloud : it is the 
 snowy peak of one of the Kocky Mountains." 
 
 " Are you sure, Adele ? Oh, do not let us deceive 
 ourselves I" 
 
 "I am sure, dear Koland for I always used to 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 351 
 
 see similar peaks after crossing the prairies toward 
 Santa Fe!" 
 
 " Heaven be praised ! then we may reach the lower 
 hills before night-fall. Come I come ! I am impatient 
 now : let us remount and press forward 1" 
 
 " And what shall we do when we reach the hills ?" 
 inquired Adele, despondingly, as I lifted her upon 
 the saddle, and sprung up after her. 
 
 " We may be able to subsist on roots and berries, 
 till we find some station," was my reply, as I started 
 our gallant beast forward at a quicker pace than 
 usual. 
 
 The sun by this time had begun to heat the dry 
 atmosphere, and our long fast began to cause us 
 unpleasant sensations. We now began to experience 
 the keen gna wings of hunger, accompanied with a 
 feeling of faintness and lassitude, which greatly 
 depressed our spirits, and created serious apprehen 
 sions that we should not be able to even ride through 
 the heat of the day, and might consequently be 
 compelled to pass another night on the open plain. 
 But we strove to cheer ourselves with hope, and nerve 
 ourselves with will ; and on we dashed, with all the 
 speed which our poor beast could sustain. 
 
 Presently we perceived, by unmistakable signs, that 
 we were approaching the borders of a buffalo range ; 
 and had I been in possession of any of my weapons, 
 my weakened and wearied frame would have been 
 strengthened by the certainty that we should soon be 
 in possession of life-sustaining food ; and even as it 
 
352 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 was, it afforded me some consolation to hope that 
 some accident among the herd might put a portion 
 of a carcass at my command. I knew that wolves 
 followed the buffaloes, and killed the disabled, and 
 sometimes the calves ; and I thought it barely possible 
 we might come upon the slaughtered game, in time 
 to frighten away the voracious destroyers, and get 
 enough for a single meal. The animals I had seen 
 in the distance, proved indeed to be buffaloes the 
 straggling members of a large herd and the first we 
 had seen since the few which had fled from us the 
 morning previous. As we neared them, they took 
 fright, and ran westward ; and we pressed on after 
 them keeping them in sight, till we had the satisfac 
 tion of seeing them join the main body, which grad 
 ually came into view, stretching away, north and 
 south, in a long, unbroken line, and numbering thou 
 sands, and hundreds of thousands, and perhaps 
 millions. 
 
 Cheered by the sight, and the hope of soon getting 
 possession of food, I still urged on our gallant beast, 
 almost forgetful of our present sufferings in the anti 
 cipation of soon finding relief by some Providential 
 acquisition. As we neared the body of the herd , which 
 was slowly moving southward, I eagerly ran my eye 
 up and down the long line ; and with a thrill of joy, 
 of which no language can convey an adequate idea, I 
 soon perceived, away to the north, a small band of 
 wolves, harassing a cow and her calf, which they had 
 managed to separate from the herd, and were now 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 853 
 
 trying to separate from each other ; while she, turned 
 at bay, was eagerly striving to protect her young 
 and get back to where she would be protected by 
 numbers. Instantly I turned my horse in that direc 
 tion, but checked his speed, that I might not advance 
 upon them prematurely, and thus destroy what might 
 possibly prove our salvation. Gradually drawing as 
 near to the hungry wolves as I thought prudent, I 
 made a halt, and watched the operations of the car 
 nivorous beasts, and their distressed victims, with 
 such contending emotions of hope and fear as kept 
 my poor brain in a whirl of painful excitement. Some 
 idea of our feelings may be formed, when I state 
 that our minds became gradually wrought up to such 
 a pitch, as to mentally stake our own lives upon the 
 success of the canine beasts ; and although we could 
 not but pity the poor mother, striving to protect her 
 helpless young, yet every advantage obtained by her 
 foes which, under the circumstances, we regarded as 
 friends to us sent the quickened blood, heated with 
 joy, to our very hearts. 
 
 " Oh, holy saints," prayed Adele, "assist us in this 
 our last extremity 1" 
 
 " Amen !" said I "if the saints have power." 
 
 11 Iff 11 exclaimed Adele, crossing herself, and turn 
 ing upon me a startled, reproachful look: "do you 
 then doubt, Eoland, that the saints have power ?" 
 
 " I believe God has the power," I replied ; "but I 
 was not, like you, educated in the belief that the 
 saints have any control over things terrestrial." 
 21 
 
354 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Oh, Roland I thought, till now, your belief and 
 mine was the same." 
 
 " Will it lessen your estimation of me to know the 
 contrary ?" 
 
 tl I cannot say now I must think the matter over 
 in a calmer moment." 
 
 " That is best, Adele," I replied ; " and it is hardly 
 proper to enter into a theological discussion while on 
 the point of starvation. You believe in God so do 
 I ; and we can in this meet on equal grounds, and 
 both appeal to the Divine Creator and Ruler of the 
 Universe, without either doing violence to the educa 
 tional doctrines of the other." 
 
 The subject, which was not appropriate to the 
 occasion, dropped here, and we both directed our 
 attention to the contest, in which we felt as if our 
 lives were at stake. Never did moments pass in 
 which I experienced more intense excitement, than 
 in watching the issue between the poor buffalo-mother 
 and her blood-thirsty foes. The former was standing 
 at bay, bellowing in her anger, fright, and despair, 
 and making desperate efforts to break through the 
 line of her snarling, growling persecutors ; while her 
 frightened calf cowered tremblingly behind and under 
 her, and continually gave voice to its terror, in tones 
 to excite human, if not brute, commiseration. It was 
 clearly the design of the wolves to separate the calf 
 from the cow; and to accomplish this, they would 
 completely surround both ; and while those in front 
 would arrest the attention of the mother and draw an 
 
THE WOLVES OUR FRIENDS. 855 
 
 attack upon themselves, the rest would fly at her 
 offspring, and bite it, and bewilder it with their 
 savage barks and growls ; and would just be on the 
 point of succeeding in their fell purpose, when the 
 devoted mother would suddenly wheel upon them, 
 drive them back, and afford the horrified victim a 
 temporary relief. 
 
 "It is like a war of mankind the many against 
 the few the stronger against the weaker !" said I to 
 Adele; "but with this difference that though the 
 stronger in both cases may conquer, and oppression 
 be triumphant, man may appeal to the higher tri 
 bunal of eternity, and find justice meted out to him 
 and his persecutors; while the poor brute suffers 
 without hope, or after life, or future restoration. It 
 is my belief if I may be permitted to mention the 
 matter in this connection, dear Adele that each and 
 every individual will receive equity in the after life, 
 whatever may be his profession or faith in this; and 
 so he sin not against the light he has, and the monitor 
 within, all will be well with him." 
 
 "I know not that we differ in this respect," she 
 replied. " But see 1 is not the contest yonder about 
 to terminate in favor of the wolves ?" 
 
 "It is in truth!" said I, joyfully, starting our horse 
 slowly forward, to be ready for the eventful moment 
 of victory to them and us. "The poor mother grows 
 weary she must soon succumb." 
 
 Scarcely had I uttered the words, when I saw 
 three or four of the fiercest of the wolves spring 
 
856 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 between the poor cow and her calf and the next 
 moment the helpless victim was throttled, and borne 
 to the earth. 
 
 " Now is our only chance," I shouted ; and in less 
 time than it takes me to record the fact, my fiery 
 steed was bearing down upon them with all his speed. 
 
 The distance was scarcely more than a good rifle 
 shot, and we fairly flew over the ground; but so 
 fierce and ravenous were these hungry beasts of prey, 
 that when we reached the slaughtered calf, and liter 
 ally rode amongst its slayers, causing them to scatter 
 with fear, the body was already torn open to the 
 entrails, and at least one half devoured. One minute 
 later and there would have been nothing left. 
 
 With a wild cry of ecstacy, I sprung from my 
 horse, seized the bleeding remains, and threw them 
 across the saddle ; and then, as the joyful truth thril 
 led us, that food was once more within our reach 
 and that, for the present at least, we were saved from 
 the horrors of starvation our very souls poured forth 
 a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the Great Unseen, 
 and tears of gratitude dimmed our eyes. 
 
THE FAITH OP MY COMPANION. 857 
 
 CHAPTER XX V.; 
 
 THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 
 
 BEING now in the possession of food, our next 
 immediate want was a fire by which to cook it ; for 
 to devour it raw, with anything like relish, would 
 require a still longer fast ; and besides, it now sud 
 denly occurred to me, that by means of a flinty stone, 
 and a buckle, and some dry, tinder-like grass, a fire 
 could be kindled without much difficulty. But the 
 place where we were was not the proper one for try 
 ing the experiment; and so remounting my horse, 
 and disposing of the mutilated and bloody carcass in 
 such a manner that it could be carried in safety, 
 without allowing any portion to hang down in tempt 
 ing proximity to the hungry wolves* which were 
 loping around us, licking their chops, and growling 
 their displeasure at being so summarily robbed of 
 their hardly won treasure I urged the noble animal 
 
 * The wolf here spoken of, is not of that large, ferocious, and 
 dangerous species, which prowls about mostly in the night, and 
 attacks other than non-resistant animals ; but, on the contrary, 
 is small, crafty, and cowardly ; and gains its living by following a 
 large herd of buffaloes, and preying upon the young, sick and dis 
 abled. These wolves will follow the hunter, like so many dogs, 
 living on wha^ he leaves ; and will frequently enter the camp at 
 night, and steal what they find edible, without disturbing the 
 sleepers. They are, in fact, more annoying than dangerous. 
 
358 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 in among the vast herd of buffaloes, determined to 
 ride through them rather than go back. 
 
 It was an exciting passage that passage through 
 an almost numberless throng a mighty stream of 
 huge, living animals which shrunk back from us in 
 terror, smelling the blood of their kind, and plunged 
 and bellowed around us and at times, from their 
 movements, exciting serious apprehensions that we 
 should be overthrown, trampled upon, and crushed. 
 In the middle of this living stream, we looked for a 
 glimpse of the distant prairie ; but as far as the eye 
 could reach, we saw nothing but a compact and 
 moving body of animal life a sight that was grand, 
 sublime, and, in our situation, awful ; for should there 
 chance to be a stampede, we knew our lives hung 
 upon a brittle thread, that might snap at any moment. 
 For nearly two hours we struggled through this tre 
 mendous herd, almost suffocated with dust and heat ; 
 and when we finally rode clear of them, on the western 
 side, we felt we had new cause to be grateful for 
 another wonderful preservation of our lives. 
 
 Fatigued and half famished, faint and thirsty, we 
 now looked eagerly around for a suitable place to 
 carnp ; and it was with feelings of delight we beheld a 
 charming little grove covering a knoll, or swell of 
 ground, about half a mile) distant, with a clear, tiny 
 stream of water flowing along at its base. We were 
 not long in reaching this delightful spot ; and remov 
 ing saddle and bridle from our noble brute, I hoppled 
 and turned him loose, that he might rest and regale 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 359 
 
 himself on the sweet, nutritious grass that grew beneath 
 the shadow of the trees. In the bed of the brook, I 
 found a pebble to answer my purpose ; and collecting 
 some tinder-like grass, I was soon trying an important 
 experiment with a large buckle. For five minutes I 
 labored in vain, in my attempt to kindle the dry 
 grass ; but at last a spark caught, which I hurriedly 
 blew to a flame ; and while Adele applied some dry 
 twigs and sticks, I jumped up and fairly danced with 
 rapture. 
 
 " At last, dear Koland," cried Adele, clapping her 
 hands for joy, " we have all that we have prayed 
 for." 
 
 "Thank God, I feel that we shall be saved!" re 
 turned I, as I plunged my fingers into the tender part 
 of the mutilated calf, and tore out a portion of the 
 tempting flesh. " Here, Adele," I continued, " spit 
 this with a stick, and broil and eat before you faint 1" 
 
 I tore out another piece for myself; and the next 
 moment the two ungainly lumps were hissing and 
 sissling in the crackling flame. The instant the 
 savory smell touched our olfactory nerves, our appe 
 tites grew so keen, that it seemed impossible to longer 
 resist the demands of nature ; and yielding to our 
 desires, we eagerly began to devour the half broiled 
 flesh. Never before had I tasted food to compare 
 with that ; never before had I known the real enjoy 
 ment of eating ; and we ate and broiled, and broiled 
 and ate, till pound after pound had disappeared, and 
 an hour had been consumed in supplying the cravings 
 
860 THE BORDER ROVER, 
 
 of nature. At last we drew back, satisfied, and felt 
 that we had taken a new lease of life. 
 
 So intently had we been engaged with our plain, 
 but wholesome repast, that, up to the moment of our 
 hunger being appeased, our minds had been occupied 
 with nothing more intellectual than a consideration 
 of the adaptedness of fresh meat to fill the vacuum 
 caused by fasting, and the conviction that man is at 
 least half animal, and that a famishing human being 
 may sink down to only one remove from the brute be 
 low him ; but having ate our fill, we proceeded to take 
 a survey of the scene around us, and turn our 
 thoughts once more upon the future. 
 
 The little knoll on which we were now located, was 
 one proof, out of many, that we were entering upon 
 a tract of country materially differing from the great 
 arid desert over which we had passed ; and looking 
 toward the west, we saw, with delight, that though 
 the general aspect of the ground was level for a 
 great distance, the surface had begun to exhibit a 
 wave-like roll, indicating our approach to a still more 
 uneven and hilly country; while here and there 
 could be seen bushy and timbered hillocks, and the 
 grass had a broader and taller spire, and, if not a 
 greener, at least a less parched and withered hue. 
 There was also animal life upon the scene; for 
 besides the immense herd of buffaloes, through which 
 we had forced our way to the peril of our lives, 
 several straggling members of the great body could be 
 seen in all directions, with here and there the light- 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 361 
 
 footed deer, and timid antelope, and bands of ravenous 
 wolves, prowling around with watchful eyes and 
 cowardly hearts, ready to attack where they might 
 hope of success without fear of perilous defeat. The 
 day, too, as well as the country, was growing more in 
 our favor ; for the atmosphere had begun to thicken, 
 and fleecy clouds were floating up from the west with 
 a cooling breeze, and were ever and anon drawing a 
 temporary veil between the earth and the scorching 
 rays of a mid-day summer sun. 
 
 " Well, my dear Adele," said I, " what chance have 
 we now, do you think, of reaching the mountains in 
 safety?" 
 
 "The best, my dear friend," she replied, with ani 
 mation ; " and if I could feel assured that reaching 
 the mountains would put us beyond danger, I should 
 rejoice in the thought that our troubles are drawing 
 to a close." 
 
 " We cannot know what is before us, it is true," 
 I said ; " but if we may augur from the past what the 
 future will be, we can go on our way rejoicing." 
 
 " We have been wonderfully favored and pre 
 served, all things being considered," she solemnly 
 rejoined ; " and God, who sees the heart, knows that 
 mine is overflowing with gratitude. Oh, Koland," 
 she continued, earnestly, " I would that you believed 
 as I do ; for it is such a consolation in times of peril, 
 to know that we are surrounded by sympathizing, 
 though invisible, friends, who have already passed 
 the narrow bounds which separate time from eternity ; 
 
362 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and who are not only sympathizing with us, but 
 endeavoring to impress upon our minds such hope to 
 cheer, and such knowledge to relieve, as they, looking 
 beyond mortal view, may discover; and who not 
 only sorrow with us in our sorrow, but also rejoice 
 with us in our joy, as I feel they do now ! With all 
 due reverence for the Great Supreme who is Lord 
 and Euler of all on earth, and beyond earth, in the 
 material and spiritual world, in time and eternity I 
 still feel that I am as much justified in praying to 
 his ministering spirits for temporal aid, and returning 
 thanks to them for the aid thus rendered, as I would 
 be in calling upon you, or any other mortal, and 
 returning thanks for your assistance." 
 
 " And you really believe that the spirits of the 
 departed hover about you, and hear your prayers, 
 and render you assistance ?" said I. 
 
 " I do solemnly believe," she earnestly replied, 
 " that the spirits of our departed friends are at times 
 hovering around us ; that at such times they know 
 our wants and hear our prayers; that they do then 
 render us all the aid in their power, by impressing us 
 to do what will prove most advantageous to ourselves 
 under the existing circumstances. Have you never 
 felt, in moments of despondency, almost despair, as 
 if you knew all would be well ?" 
 
 " I have, I can truly say." 
 
 " Have you never, in moments of difficulty, had a 
 sudden thought flash upon you, that came not 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 363 
 
 through any known train of reasoning, of a means 
 by which the difficulty could be removed ?" 
 
 "I have but I think that was instinct." 
 
 "And pray what is instinct?" she quickly de 
 manded, her beautiful features lighting up with an 
 intellectual flash that I had never seen displayed 
 there before. " What is instinct, pray tell me ?" 
 
 " That intuitive faculty by which the lower ani 
 mals, and sometimes man, arrive at a truth of the 
 greatest importance to the occasion, without any 
 previous thought." 
 
 " And whence comes that intuition of truth, if not 
 from a superior intelligence ?" 
 
 "God is a superior intelligence, it is true." 
 
 " All life and truth comes from God, I grant ; but 
 there must be a channel, or intermediate means, 
 through which He acts upon a creature ; and why 
 may not this channel, or means, be an intelligence 
 inferior to Him, but superior to us?" 
 
 " That it may be so, I do not deny, dear Adele; 
 but it does not follow I should believe it is so, simply 
 because I cannot prove the contrary." 
 
 " I would you did believe so, dear Roland ; but 
 belief itself, is, in one sense, this instinct, or intuitive 
 knowledge, and cannot be commanded by either 
 reason, will, or desire. Yet, if we earnestly pray for 
 the truth, we put ourselves in a condition to receive 
 it. Pray for an inflow of truth, Roland !" 
 
 "I always have done so, dear Adele; but my 
 prayers have always been directed to the Fountain 
 
364 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 of Truth ; and in that I feel I have not erred ; for if 
 I am reached by any means, those means are under 
 Almighty control." 
 
 " You do not err in this, dear Eoland ; nor do I 
 think I err in appealing both to Him and His minis 
 tering spirits ; but I think I receive a consolation in 
 my faith which you do not." 
 
 " In what respect ?" 
 
 " Because we cannot conceive of God, and there 
 fore cannot realize His presence in a human form, 
 with human sympathy, as we can conceive and real 
 ize the presence of departed spirits, who were once 
 human, with all the human frailties which we pos 
 sess. Those nearest like us, must, in the nature of 
 things, be in most direct affinity or sympathy with us." 
 
 " Your belief, I doubt not, is, in some respects, a 
 happy one, whatever else may be said of it." 
 
 " You say in some respects, dear Koland is it not 
 in all?" 
 
 " Why, to my mind, there is this drawback. If 
 you believe in the return of departed spirits, you 
 must believe in the return of both good and evil 1" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " Well, admitting that, you must also admit, that 
 while the good would strive to do you good, the evil 
 would strive to do you evil !" 
 
 " So much the more need of keeping the heart 
 pure, and striving, through good, to overcome evil 
 for evil cannot mingle with good, any more than oil 
 with water. This is our necessity to strive against 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 365 
 
 evil influence or temptation ; and you know, from 
 your own experience, that there are moments when 
 we are thrilled with a holy influence, and moments 
 when we are thrilled with an influence that is not 
 holy the one filling our souls with joy, the other 
 with gloom." 
 
 "Yes, I have experienced both sensations." 
 " Then we only differ as to the cause." 
 " You think both proceed from surrounding spirits ?" 
 " I do, to a great extent. And what cause do you 
 assign for these different impressions, dear Eoland ?" 
 " I have never assigned any, because I never 
 thought on the subject before," I replied, giving way 
 to reflection. 
 
 The whole idea was new to me, and deeply interest 
 ing; and I was surprised to discover so much intel 
 lectual strength in one, whom, notwithstanding my 
 attachment, I had supposed to possess a mind not supe 
 rior to girls in general of her own age. Yet on every 
 ground taken by her, there was logic and philosophy 
 for me to combat; and I secretly acknowledged, 
 that in metaphysics, so far at least as her own faith 
 was concerned, she was my equal, if not superior ; and 
 it may reasonably be inferred I did not love her the 
 less on this account. It was like discovering a mine 
 of gold where one had been looking only for silver. 
 After a pause, of perhaps a minute, I resumed : 
 
 " If we are surrounded by spirits of departed friends, 
 and others who once lived in the flesh, it is fair to 
 presume that all mankind are ; and yet for every one 
 
THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 impressed with an advantageous truth, or idea, in a caso 
 of emergency, I think I can find twenty, at least, who 
 are not extricated from difficulty by any cause but 
 self-possession, and deliberate calculation, drawn from 
 a natural course of reasoning or perhaps simply 
 through an experiment suggested at the moment by 
 the circumstances in which they are placed ; while, on 
 the other hand, the failures are innumerable even, 
 when they try an experiment that they thought right 
 at the time, but afterward know to have been de 
 cidedly wrong thus giving evidence, that the idea, 
 thought, or suggestion, or whatever you may call it, 
 originated with, and was confined to, themselves 
 coming from no superior intelligence, that would have 
 known the right. Suppose, for illustration, that a 
 vessel spring a leak in a dark night, near a strand of 
 which the commander has no knowledge; there are a 
 hundred chances to one, that he will not take the right 
 course to reach the particular point where his life 
 might be saved ; or even if he do reach it accidentally, 
 that some of the passengers will have jumped over 
 board in fright ; and this I contend would not happen, 
 if these good, though invisible, intelligences were 
 around, and had the power to impress the terrified 
 mortals with a fact, which, under the circumstances, 
 would, by your showing, be known to them." 
 
 " You seem determined to annihilate the spirits," 
 laughed Adele. 
 
 "Say, rather, I am determined to maintain the 
 ground that there are none present, who have the will 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 367 
 
 and the power to influence mortals. Come do you 
 thus relinquish your position ?" 
 
 "By no means, sir! and I will now attempt to 
 answer you; but if I fail to do so, satisfactorily, 
 attribute it to my own mental dificiency, rather than 
 assume that my position cannot be sustained or that 
 spirits are not present or if present, that they have 
 not the will or power to impress those who are in a 
 receptive condition." 
 
 " Taking you on your own ground," returned I, 
 laughing, " if I vanquish you, I shall consider I have 
 vanquished both you and the spirits, or spiritual 
 philosophy since, if spirits are present, and can 
 impress receptive individuals of which I hold you 
 to be one they are bound to prove their presence by 
 convincing argument through you." 
 
 "The power of convincing belongs neither to 
 spirit nor mortal, but depends on the condition of the 
 hearer to perceive the truth when uttered," said 
 Adele. 
 
 Let the spirits then impress both," laughed I; 
 "you to utter the truth, and me to receive it as such." 
 
 "Very well, sir. To begin then, I might first 
 inquire what is the cause of that self-possession, which 
 you have brought forward as the cause of other 
 effects?" 
 
 "And I might reply, a strong nerve, and a cool 
 brain or a general organization that cannot be 
 daunted by clanger and which allows the possessor 
 
368 THE BOEDEE EOVEE. 
 
 to reason and act as he would direct others to reason 
 and act if an unconcerned spectator himself." 
 
 " Well, you spoke of an experiment being suggested 
 at the moment by what, pray ?" 
 
 " By his own brain, most assuredly influenced, as 
 it would naturally be, by the circumstances in which 
 he was placed at the time." 
 
 " But might not the suggestion of that experiment 
 be the work of spirits?" 
 
 "But I showed that the experiment often failed 
 which would prove that the spirits are often false 
 directors, and not to be relied on." 
 
 Adele colored, and grew confused. 
 
 " I do not know as I shall be able to convince you 
 of what I believe to be a truth," she said, reluctantly. 
 
 " You believe it, because it is a part of your educa 
 tion," I rejoined. " Had I been educated like you, 
 and you like me, we might now be arguing upon the 
 same subject but inversely I maintaining, and you 
 denying, the spiritual hypothesis." 
 
 " True, that might be and yet the facts would not 
 be altered !" she said, reflectively. " Education has 
 much to do with our belief, I know ; and therefore, in 
 matters of this nature, it is important that the child 
 receive instruction in the true faith." 
 
 "Granted but which is the true faith? Take a 
 dozen creeds, and each will have zealous supporters, 
 and each will be set up by its believers as the true, 
 and all others will be declared false or erroneous." 
 
 " But I have not yet done with our spiritual discus- 
 
THE FAITH OF MY COMPANION. 369 
 
 sion," she pursued. " Grant that my spiritual belief 
 be true and if I cannot prove, you certainly cannot 
 disprove it, grant it be true, I say, it naturally fol 
 lows that the pure and good would attract pure and 
 good spirits; that those who believe in, and desire, 
 spiritual communion, would be most likely to draw 
 around them their spiritual friends, and be in a condi 
 tion to receive spiritual impressions ; so that, in order 
 to hold the ground taken by you in your illustrative 
 argument of the vessel, you must prove that those on 
 board were in a proper state of mind to attract good 
 spirits, and be influenced by them ; for if you admit 
 that they might attract the evil disposed, it naturally 
 follows that, if impressed at all, it would be to their 
 injury." 
 
 " You maintain your position very well," said I, 
 ( and I give you credit for it, even though I may not 
 be convinced of its truth. But how are we poor mor 
 tals to keep good spirits in attendance, since both good 
 and bad have access to us ?" 
 
 " By living uprightly, with pure motives and a 
 clear conscience, and -calling on them to assist us in 
 our need, and sustain us in our faith and trust." 
 
 " But why do you pray to the saints, and not to 
 particular friends you have known on earth ?" 
 
 " Because the saints have been justified and made 
 perfect, and we would call around us the good and 
 pure." 
 
 "Well," said I, "yours is a happy belief at all 
 events, and I would not have you change it for one 
 22 
 
370 THE BOEDER KOVEE. 
 
 more gross and material. You cannot be far from 
 right, whether you err in the special fact or not; 
 for whatever teaches us to live uprightly, with pure 
 and holy aspirations, is of heavenly origin. But 
 who taught you to support your belief, or religion, 
 by argument ? since I have always understood, that 
 Eoman Catholics were bound to receive their faith, 
 through faith, without any attempt to justify it by 
 reason." 
 
 "The communion of saints, and a belief in the 
 presence of departed spirits, is one of the cardinal 
 doctrines of our church, which I was taught in the 
 convent of Santa Maria; and for the rest, if you 
 think I have sustained my position with more than 
 my natural abilities, which are not many, then re 
 ceive it as a proof that I have been assisted by my 
 spiritual friends, who are now hovering about us !" 
 she replied, with a smile. 
 
 " You have led a lonely life, my dear Adele, and 
 have been much alone with your thoughts ; and you 
 have thus thought deeply, meditatively, reflectively; 
 even beyond your years," I rejoined: "I shall there 
 fore give you, not the spirits, credit for all you have 
 said, which I frankly admit is above the mental capa 
 city at which I had rated you." 
 
 Adele was about to make a rejoinder, when she 
 suddenly started, turned pale, and pointing to the 
 north, exclaimed: 
 
 " Look yonder, Eoland ! look yonder 1" 
 
 I turned quickly, and beheld, in the distance, a 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 371 
 
 great commotion among the buffaloes, which seemed 
 to be pressing forward toward the south those 
 behind communicating alarm to those in front, which 
 in turn communicated alarm to those before them the 
 panic rapidly extending down the long line in our 
 direction. 
 
 "It is the beginning of a terrible stampede!" cried 
 I: " doubtless there are Indians behind! "We must 
 mount, and fly for our lives I" 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVI. 
 
 SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 
 
 I RAN to my horse, which I caught without diffi 
 culty, and scarcely a minute elapsed before I had him 
 bridled and saddled. I then hurried him to the water ; 
 and while he drank, we drank also, that we might not 
 suffer from thirst, as on the day previous. Then lift 
 ing Adele upon the saddle, and securing the remains 
 of our game, I sprung upon his back, and dashed away 
 toward the west, bidding Adele keep an eye on the 
 point whence we had reason to apprehend the appear 
 ance of an enemy, while I watched the ground before 
 me and guided the swift-footed beast over the now 
 uneven surface. Occasionally I glanced back, to 
 observe the progress of the panic among the immense 
 herd; which, as it came sweeping down the long line 
 the cause in one sense being invisible reminded 
 
372 THE BORDEK ROVER. 
 
 me of a fierce storm, as it begins to roll over a mighty 
 field of standing grain, its velocity being marked by 
 its rapidly communicating commotion. As we sped 
 on, the deer and antelope took flight, the wolves fled 
 away howling, and the huge, straggling buffaloes 
 snuffed the tainted air, threw up their tails, and bel 
 lowed, and began to plunge in toward the main body, 
 to join in the terrific race. 
 
 "Had this happened a couple of hours sooner, we 
 should have been lost/ said I to Adele, as I tightened 
 my arm around her slender waist, and drew her closer 
 to my heart. 
 
 " Oh ! I shudder to think of it 1" she replied, with 
 nervous trembling. "But we are by no means safe 
 even now/ she continued. " See ! yonder they come 
 a band of horrible savages. Oh ! pray Heaven they 
 do not see us !" 
 
 I looked to the north, and, far away in the dim dis 
 tance, beheld one horseman after another come into 
 view, each plunging furiously forward in the exciting 
 chase, and all evidently hard at work in the slaughter 
 of the unfortunate buffaloes in their immediate 
 vicinity. How many savages there were, I had no 
 means of knowing ; but my eyes rested upon more 
 than a hundred, ere I dashed through a cluster of 
 trees and undergrowth, upon a swell of the prairie, 
 and descended into a long, low swale, or scoup of 
 ground, which completely shut them from my view. 
 By this time the great herd was in motion, far below 
 the point where we had passed through it ; and as I 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 373 
 
 now somewhat slackened the speed of our horse, we 
 caught at intervals the sound of the rushing body, 
 like distant thunder, or the solemn, monotonous roar 
 of a mighty cataract. 
 
 " Do you think the savages have seen us ?" inquired 
 Adele, in a tone of anxiety. 
 
 " It is possible they may have done so," I replied ; 
 "for very little within the range of their vision 
 escapes their observation ; but I do not think we have 
 reason to be alarmed ; for they are too eagerly en 
 gaged in their present pursuit to give chase to a 
 mounted party, whom they could not reasonably 
 expect to overtake." 
 
 " Still I hope they did not see us," she said, unea 
 sily; "for there might be some who would follow on 
 our trail for the mere love of adventure, or for the 
 purpose of ultimately returning in triumph with the 
 scalp of a foe as a proof of prowess." 
 
 " But at that distance they might not be able to 
 distinguish us from their own race." 
 
 " Even that might make no difference, as most of 
 the tribes are at war with each other, and they would 
 know with certainty that we do not belong to their 
 particular nation." 
 
 " Have you an impression, dear Adele," I inquired, 
 "that renders you so apprehensive of danger?" 
 
 "I at least have sad misgivings, dear Eoland, that 
 our troubles are not over." 
 
 We now rode in silence for some minutes, when we 
 again rose upon a higher swell of the prairie, which 
 
374 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 afforded us a distant view of our natural enemies, who 
 were apparently all busy among the fright-maddened 
 buffaloes though the chase had now led them from 
 the point at the north, where we first discovered them, 
 nearly to the line of our trail. 
 
 " They have not seen us," said I, with a feeling of 
 relief ; " or, if so, they have evidently no intention of 
 pursuing us." 
 
 " Ha I look again I" cried Adele, the next moment. 
 
 I did so, and thought I could preceive a small party 
 riding out from the rest, and darting away toward us, 
 though an intervening rise of ground soon hid them 
 from our sight. Whether their object was to pursue 
 us or not, I could not tell, and did not think it prudent 
 to wait to ascertain. The distance between us, to the 
 best of my judgment, could not be less than four or 
 five miles a start that would save us in a dead race, 
 provided our horse could hold out and we meet with 
 no accident. 
 
 " Come, noble brute," said I, tightening the bridle 
 rein, " you saved us once in a fearful race, and you 
 must do it again." 
 
 As I spoke, I struck him on the flank, he bounded 
 forward, and the next moment we were descending 
 the slope, and rushing through the swale with light 
 ning speed. On, on we sped, rising on the waves of 
 the prairie, and sinking in the hollows, like a vessel 
 steering across the billows of the mighty deep. On, 
 on we sped, startling the game, which fled from us in 
 all directions, and scaring the feathered tribe, which 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 375 
 
 flew upward, and sometimes circled round us, uttering 
 their discordant cries of anger and fear. On, on we 
 sped, looking fearfully back when opportunity pre 
 sented, but gladly looking in vain for a glimpse of 
 those we fancied might be our pursuers. On, on we 
 sped, till our gallant steed, already covered with foam, 
 began to pant, and slacken his pace, and tread unstea 
 dily ; when, warned by these unmistakable signs, that, 
 without rest, he would soon be a victim in our cause, 
 I checked his speed, and finally brought him to a halt 
 on the summit of a rocky, bush-covered ridge ; which, 
 being still higher than any one of the swells we had 
 passed, commanded a view of the country to the east 
 ward for ten or fifteen, and perhaps even twenty, 
 miles. 
 
 We now dismounted, to relieve the noble animal of 
 his heavy burden ; and while Adele clambered up a 
 high, steep rock, to keep a sharp look-out for our 
 foes, I led the panting, drooping, and trembling beast 
 about by the bridle, that his overheated blood might 
 not cool too suddenly. The character of the country 
 had changed materially during our last ride, and 
 even within the last hour. The wave-like swells 
 rolled off to the eastward, in a succession of gentle 
 imdulations ; but from our present elevation, we 
 could look far enough away to perceive that we had 
 gradually been rising, and that we now stood at least 
 a thousand feet above the point where we had broken 
 our fast; while, to the westward, the eye rested upon 
 a still more undulating and even hilly country, with 
 
376 THE BOEDER EOVER. 
 
 several white peaks in the distant view, and a dim, 
 long, narrow, rugged line at their base, which we 
 hailed with delight, as the summit of one of the lower 
 ranges of the Kocky Mountains. The breeze, which 
 still blew from the west, had a cool, invigorating 
 effect ; and we knew it had passed the region of eter 
 nal ice and snow, and been tempered with the freez 
 ing airs of those lofty and desolate heights. 
 
 " We are nearing the mountains rapidly," said I ; 
 "but the sun is far on the decline, and we shall hardly 
 reach them to-day." 
 
 " Will our poor beast be able to take us any 
 further to-day ?" inquired Adele, anxiously. 
 
 " Yes, I think we may soon resume our journey 
 but we shall be compelled to ride slowly for our 
 horse has been taxed beyond his strength." 
 
 We rested here for an hour, keeping a sharp look 
 out for any sign indicating danger; but not seeing 
 anything during that time to create fresh alarm, we 
 resumed our journey at a moderate pace. Some five 
 miles further on, we came to a suitable place for a 
 night s encampment; and as the sun was by this time 
 within an hour of the horizon, and our horse much 
 fatigued, we resolved to remain here till another day. 
 Moreover, the spot we had pitched upon had some 
 advantages, both in the way of convenience and 
 security, which we might be unable to find further 
 on. A small stream of clear water flowed through a 
 fertile valley; and not far distant was a steep, conical 
 hill, surmounted by trees, among whose tangled 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 377 
 
 branches it struck me we could, by a little contri 
 vance, pass the night in safety. To effect this, I 
 immediately set to work; and by means of the sad 
 dle and bridle, including all the straps not required 
 to hopple and tether our beast, I had by sunset 
 constructed a comfortable sitting and even sleeping 
 place, among the interlocking branches of the trees, 
 where we should at least be safe from the attack of 
 wild beasts, and run less risk, we fancied, of being 
 discovered by any chance prowlers of the human 
 species. As we had eaten so heartily in the middle 
 of the day, we decided not to cook our meat before 
 morning ; and then to broil or roast the remainder of 
 it, in order to preserve it without taint, till our appe 
 tites should demand the whole, which would proba 
 bly occur before another sunset. 
 
 As the sun went down, even though shaded by 
 clouds, it threw the mountains into bold relief; and 
 we could distinctly trace the uneven edges of the 
 snowy peaks against the darker background, show 
 ing we had reached such a proximity that every 
 mile would bring us nearer in perception as well as 
 reality. I assisted Adele to mount to what I face 
 tiously termed her hammock ; and having sprung up 
 after her, we sat and conversed in low tones, and 
 listened to the plaintive notes of a neighbouring 
 whippoorwill, the booming of the nighthawk, the 
 shrill screeches of the owl, and the various chirp 
 ings of different insects, while we watched the gra 
 dual blending of the day with night, till the deepest 
 
378 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 shadow had beep, drawn over the face of the sur 
 rounding scene. We now thought it safer to remain 
 perfectly quiet and silent or, if we spoke at all, to 
 converse in low whispers. One cannot long remain 
 silent and inactive, under cover of night, after a day 
 of unusual fatigue, without experiencing feelings of 
 somnolency; and notwithstanding the night-breeze 
 felt quite chilly, as it pressed through the openings 
 of the trees, it rustled the leaves to a drowsy tune; 
 and before either of us was aware that sleep was 
 fairly stealing upon us, we were lost to a conscious 
 ness of external things. 
 
 We were both suddenly awakened by fierce growls 
 and howls, sounding so near as to cause the greatest 
 alarm; and had I not at the instant put forth my 
 hand and caught hold of Adele, who was trembling 
 like an aspen, I think she would have fallen to the 
 ground. The night was now intensely dark the 
 floating clouds having joined, so as to spread a thick 
 veil between us and the heavens and, from our leafy 
 covering, we could literally see nothing. 
 
 " God and the holy saints preserve us!" cried Adele, 
 grasping my hand nervously. "Oh! dear Eoland, 
 what is it? what has happened? what new and ter 
 rible danger threatens us ?" 
 
 Her voice was almost drowned by a furious snarl 
 ing, growling, and howling, immediately below us. 
 Fortunately, I retained my presence of mind; and 
 though at first a little confused and bewildered, by 
 being so suddenly awakened from a calm and peaceful 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 379 
 
 sleep, I was soon able to comprehend our true situa 
 tion, and the cause of the unwonted disturbance. 
 
 "There is a flock of ravenous wolves below us," 
 said I, " which have been attracted hither by the scent 
 of our game." 
 
 "And cannot we scare them away?" she eagerly 
 demanded. 
 
 " I will try," I replied ; and instantly I shook the 
 branches of the trees, and shouted, and imitated the 
 yells of the savages ; but though we could tell, from 
 the rustling sounds below, that they drew back in 
 fear, yet I soon became satisfied, from seeing their 
 shining eye-balls formed around us in a broad circle, 
 and hearing their fierce and angry responses, that we 
 had not to do with any of the small, cowardly crews 
 that roamed the prairies in daylight and followed the 
 peacefully disposed buffaloes, but with a larger, fiercer, 
 more courageous and dangerous species. 
 
 " These are mountain wolves," said I, uneasily, 
 " and cannot be frightened away." 
 
 " Oh ! Eoland, what shall we do ? we have no wea 
 pons." 
 
 * We must either permit them to remain till dawn ; 
 when they will peacefully depart to their lairs, or take 
 the sad alternative of throwing down the remains of 
 our game, whose bloody scent has attracted them here, 
 and renders them bold and furious." 
 
 "If you think that will appease them, let us throw 
 it down to them at once," she replied, in a tremulous 
 voice. 
 
380 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " And starve ourselves," I rejoined. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; we must trust the rest to Provi 
 dence ; but oh! let us get clear of them, if possible 
 for they make me faint with terror. Oh ! Eoland, do 
 you hear them ? I fear they will attack us 1" 
 
 " Undoubtedly they would, if within their reach," 
 said I ; " but I think we are safe here." 
 
 "I do not know oh! I do not know I do not feel 
 safe even here, with such a band of horrible monsters 
 immediately under us, almost within our reach." 
 
 " And yet the alternative seems like purchasing a 
 short reprieve." 
 
 "But that reprieve may be our salvation," said 
 Adele. "Oh ! Eoland, let us give them the meat !" 
 
 " It will be only a mouthful apiece," returned I ; 
 " and I fear the taste of blood will render them more 
 furious." 
 
 " Let them have it let them have it !" she pleaded ; 
 " perhaps they will then leave us and I am so terri 
 fied." 
 
 u Ha! our poor horse 1" cried I. 
 
 " What of him, Eoland?" 
 
 " Do you not hear him snorting in terror, and evi 
 dently struggling with his bonds? Oh, that I had left 
 him free! perhaps some of them are about to attack 
 him !" 
 
 "Quick! quick! Eoland throw down the game!" 
 cried Adele. 
 
 Impulsively I seized upon the remains of the poor 
 calf, our only food, and hurled it through the branches. 
 
SURROUNDED BY PERILS. 381 
 
 It scarcely reached the ground, ere it was pounced 
 upon by the fierce, carnivorous beasts, which savagely 
 fought among .themselves for a bare morsel, tearing it 
 in pieces, and devouring it, in less time than it takes 
 me to record the fact. The effect of whetting their 
 appetites by a mere taste, seemed to render the half 
 famished beasts more ferocious, just as I had feared ; 
 and looking down through the leaves and branches, 
 we encountered a dozen or twenty glaring eyes, all 
 fixed upon us ; while our ears were saluted with such 
 outbursts of hungry rage and desire as sent the blood 
 with a fearful rush to our very hearts. 
 
 " Oh 1 dear Eoland, they will attack us even here !" 
 cried Adele. "Heaven preserve us! we had better 
 climb higher." 
 
 " It may be best," said I, much alarmed, though I 
 strove to appear calm. "I do not think they can reach 
 us here, dear Adele ; but perhaps, by removing to a 
 greater distance, they will be less liable to make the 
 attempt. Yet we must do so with great caution, 
 dearest for one misstep might be fatal. Remain 
 quiet, Adele, till I can ascertain if our design be 
 practicable." 
 
 As I spoke, I fixed my feet firmly upon a strong 
 limb, and, with my arms and hands grasping the 
 trunk of the tree, I was already in the act of stretching 
 my body upward, when my progress was arrested by 
 a most strange, and at the time unaccountable, occur- 
 ence. 
 
 The hungry and maddened wolves which, up to 
 
THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 the moment in question, were snarling, growling, 
 fighting, howling, and dancing around below us 
 stretching up their heads, and glaring at us with their 
 fiery eyes, and every now and then making short 
 springs from the earth, as if preparing for a bolder 
 attempt these ferocious beasts of prey, I say, sudden 
 ly stopped their hideous noises, and for a moment 
 remained perfectly quiet. It was but for a moment, 
 however; and -then a wild, unearthly, half-shriek, 
 half-yell, seemed to burst from every throat ; and ere 
 the breeze had borne this cry of terror a hundred 
 yards, they were rushing away in a body, as if flying 
 from some known and terrible foe, leaving us in 
 trembling apprehension of a more fearful danger than 
 any we had escaped. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 NIGHT OF HORROR. 
 
 FOR perhaps a minute we remained in breathless 
 silence, as if paralyzed, striving to catch the slightest 
 sound, and moving not a muscle ; but the dull, dreary 
 rustling of the leaves, with an occasional sigh and 
 moan of the breeze, as it swept with a varying current 
 through the little grove, was all that we could now 
 distinguish with the sense of hearing. My first 
 movement was to quietly return to the side of Adele, 
 
A NIGHT OF HORROR. 383 
 
 and steal an arm around her. As she felt ray touch, 
 she began to tremble, and the next moment said, in a 
 whisper : 
 
 " Oh ! dear Koland, what is it?" 
 
 "I do not know," I replied, with the same caution. 
 " I trust it is nothing to occasion further alarm. Our 
 noisy enemies may have scented other game, and fled 
 in pursuit." 
 
 "But their s was a cry of terror," she rejoined. "I 
 never heard any thing like it before. Perhaps the 
 savages are stealing upon us I" 
 
 I involuntarily shuddered for I knew myself in a 
 condition to offer no resistance but I combated her 
 fears as well as I could. 
 
 " They would hardly have fled so suddenly from 
 anything human, since they did not seem to fear us. 
 It is possible that, as has sometimes occurred to us, 
 they may have fancied danger when there was none 
 in reality." 
 
 " I cannot think so, dear Eoland ; I feel strongly 
 impressed that there is a terrible foe near us : let us 
 remain quiet and listen." 
 
 We did so for a while but heard only the breeze, 
 with its sighing, moaning, rustling accompaniments. 
 
 " It is nothing, thank God 1" said I at length, with 
 a feeling of relief. 
 
 " Hark ! what is that ?" inquired Adele, as at the 
 moment a distant howl of the hungry wolves came 
 iloating on the breeze. 
 
 "It is an assurance that our fierce enemies are far 
 
384 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 away," I replied. " Depend upon it, they are seek 
 ing other game, and we have reason to rejoice at the 
 cause which drew them from us so unexpectedly. 
 I wonder if they attacked our noble beast. I think 
 not, or we should certainly have heard his cries of 
 terror and pain. Perhaps he has broken his bonds 
 and fled ! I will steal down and see ; and if still 
 hampered, I will release him, that in case of an 
 attack, he may save himself by flight." 
 
 " Oh ! no, Roland do not stir from my side ! I am 
 so terrified !" returned Adele, grasping me nervously. 
 
 "But I will only be a moment, dearest; and we 
 certainly owe this much to the noble animal, which 
 has more than once saved our lives." 
 
 "I know it, dear Roland I feel he ought to be 
 released but I fear to let you go." 
 
 " Do not fear I will only be a moment and it 
 now occurs to me, that should Indians be prowling 
 around, and chance to find him hampered, they will 
 know his riders are near, and that very fact may lead 
 to our discovery." 
 
 u Be quick then and oh! Roland, be very, very 
 cautious 1" 
 
 " Trust me, dearest Adele, I will be very cautious, 
 if only for your sweet sake." 
 
 As I spoke, I gently disengaged myself from her 
 trembling grasp, and quickly and quietly slid down 
 the trunk of the tree. I stood for a moment, peering 
 about me in the darkness ; and then gently parting 
 the underbrush, I stole out from under the deep 
 
A NIGHT OF HO HE OR. 385 
 
 shadows of the trees, to a point whence I could over 
 look the valley where the animal had been feeding. 
 The night being cloudy, and the moon not being yet 
 risen,.! could not distinguish an object six feet from 
 my eyes ; but feeling my way carefully, I was in the 
 very act of descending to the hollow, when I suddenly 
 heard a rushing sound, accompanied by a shriek or 
 scream, so wild and terrible that I felt my blood 
 curdle and my hair stand on end. The next moment 
 there came another sound, entirely different from the 
 preceding but so frightful, and unearthly, that I 
 fairly sunk down, paralyzed with fear. Then imme 
 diately arose a succession of the most horrible noises 
 I ever heard sounds of a deadly struggle just below 
 me with snarlings, growlings, and gnashings of teeth, 
 commingled with yells, and groans, and bellowings of 
 pain, terror and despair. Hardly conscious of what I 
 was doing, I staggered to my feet, when the shrieks of 
 Adele reached my ear and recalled me to myself. As 
 quick as my trembling limbs could bear me, I ran. 
 back to our retreat, and clambered up to her side. 
 
 "Oh, Eolandl" she cried "are you really here? 
 are you safe ?" 
 
 "I am here, dearest, safe and unhurt," I rather 
 gasped than said. 
 
 "And what are those terrible noises? Oh, God 
 help us! I am so frightened I can scarcely speak." 
 
 "I hardly know myself," said I, "for I could dis 
 tinguish nothing in the darkness; but I fear some 
 wild beast has sprung upon our poor horse." 
 23 
 
386 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "Oh, yes I have it now!" she cried; "it is a 
 panther. Yes, I have heard them scream before ; but 
 I was so terrified I did not recognize the sound. Holy 
 saints preserve us 1 what a narrow escape you made ! 
 Give me your hands: I must grasp them, to realize 
 you are still with me. Yes, it is a panther, Koland; 
 and the keen -scented wolves knew of his approach, 
 and fled. Thank Heaven it is no worse ! for had you 
 been killed, dear Koland, what would have become of 
 me." 
 
 "It is bad enough as it is," said I, gloomily ; "for 
 now we are without food, without weapons, without 
 any means of protection, and must make our journey 
 on foot through a dreary wilderness." 
 
 " God help us!" exclaimed Adele, bursting into tears. 
 
 Instantly I regretted what I had said though I 
 believed it to be a painful truth, and that she must re 
 alize it sooner or later. I made some effort to console 
 and cheer her but I felt too sad and dispirited myself 
 to render my words effective. For some ten or 
 fifteen minutes we heard the fierce beast snarling and 
 growling, as he tore the flesh from his prey ; and as 
 I remembered how gallantly our noble steed had 
 saved us from more than one fearful peril, and thought 
 upon his present condition an awful return for his 
 noble deeds it seemed as if a human, rather than 
 brute, friend had been snatched from us, and so 
 deeply affected me that I wept like a child. 
 
 Oh! that long, dismal, eventful night would that I 
 could forget it ! for even now I can only recall it 
 
A NIGHT OF HORKOB. 387 
 
 with feelings of horror. At length the glutted pan 
 ther left his bloody work, and all became quiet but 
 there was no sleep for us. Side-by-side among the 
 branches we sat, and listened to the sighing and 
 moaning breeze which, to our excited senses, seemed 
 the solemn requiem of our hopes. The moon rose at 
 length, and shed a dim light upon the gloomy scene ; 
 and soon after it began to lighten in the west ; and 
 the heavy booming thunder came rolling along at 
 intervals, like peals of distant ordnance, gradually 
 increasing in volume, as the shower approached, till 
 at length the lightning flashed vividly, and the roar 
 or crash followed quickly, and the rain poured down 
 in large streams, drenching us completely, and chill 
 ing us to our very bones. 
 
 I will not longer dwell upon that night of horror 
 and misery. Suffice it to say, that when the morning 
 dawned, dreary and rainy, we descended to the 
 ground, weak, benumbed, and absolutely wretched. 
 Though the shower had long since passed on, yet 
 the wind had changed, and was now blowing steadily 
 from the northeast, accompanied by a cold, drizzling 
 rain, that we knew from the signs would continue 
 through the day, and perhaps for many days together, 
 and this was anything but cheering. Our first pro 
 ceeding was to ascertain if our worst fears were real 
 ized; for though we scarcely doubted, yet we had 
 tried to hope, even from the depths of our despair ; 
 and accordingly, with a kind of timid haste, we ap- 
 
388 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 preached the spot whence we could look down into 
 the valley below. One glance was enough to reveal 
 the worst in its most heart-sickening aspect ; for there 
 indeed lay the mutilated remains of a large animal 
 his fell destroyer having torn out his entrails and 
 eaten to satiety. 
 
 "Oh, my God!" exclaimed Adele, bursting into 
 tears, and turning her head away. 
 
 I tried to keep from weeping, but tried in vain. I 
 could not look upon that poor brute, and remember 
 what he had done for us, without feeling that we had 
 lost the only friend we had had near us in all that 
 great wilderness ; and giving way to my emotions, I 
 sat down on a stone, and paid a second and as sincere 
 a tribute to his memory as if he had borne the human 
 form. 
 
 lt It is right to weep over him, dear Boland," said 
 Adele, drawing close to my side, and throwing her 
 arms around my neck ; " for in life he saved our lives, 
 and again in his death." 
 
 "How in his death, dearest?" 
 
 " God works mysteriously," she solemnly replied, 
 "and this noble animal was but an instrument in His 
 hands to turn the ferocious destroyer from human 
 prey. The panther drove off the wolves but we 
 should have been his victims, perhaps, had he not 
 found one here which satisfied his ravenous desires." 
 
 "You may be right," said I, shuddering. "But 
 come we must do something besides weep now. We 
 have a long journey, to be performed on foot, before 
 
A NIGHT OF II ORB OK. 389 
 
 we can reach the mountains; and though I know you 
 must be weak, faint, and perhaps sick, yet necessity 
 compels me, much against my will, dear Adele, to urge 
 you to set out now." 
 
 "I am ready," she rejoined ; " and so let us hasten our 
 departure from this horrid place." 
 
 "Ere we go," pursued I, U I think stern necessity 
 demands of me one act, which, under any other cir 
 cumstances, would be revolting in the extreme; and 
 even as it is, I contemplate it with repugnance." 
 
 " What is that, dear Eoland ?" 
 
 U I must tear off some of the flesh from yonder 
 carcass, and take it with us, to guard against starva 
 tion." 
 
 "What! eat the flesh of our noble friend?" ex 
 claimed Adele, shuddering: "it seems like turning 
 cannibal. But it is not human," she immediately 
 added, "and we are not in a condition to reject any 
 food which can satisfy the cravings of hunger. I 
 could not touch it now, it is true but the time may 
 soon come when we both shall be glad to eat it." 
 
 " Well, do you remain here, while I go down and 
 perform this unpleasant duty." 
 
 Saying this, I hastened down the hill, to where the 
 carcass was lying but I approached it with a sense 
 of loathing for my appetite was not keen enough, at 
 this time, to render the flesh of our horse desirable 
 food. The morning, as I have mentioned, was dark 
 and rainy and there was, besides, a kind of cloud- 
 like mist pervading the whole range of vision, which 
 
390 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 rendered it impossible to see any object with distinct 
 ness at more than fifty or a hundred feet from the 
 eye. As I drew near the carcass, I naturally turned 
 my sight from what, under the peculiar circumstances, 
 I considered a revolting spectacle nor did I again 
 look at it, till it became absolutely necessary for me 
 to do so, in order to perform my disagreeable task. 
 It was thus I reached the body without inspecting it ; 
 and, in fact, I was in the very act of bending over it, 
 when, with a kind of nervous desperation, I suddenly 
 turned my gaze full upon it. At the first glance I 
 started, and the next moment I was jumping up and 
 down, clapping my hands, and shouting like a mad 
 man. 
 
 Adele, who had been watching me, on perceiving 
 my singular and unaccountable manoeuvers, came 
 bounding down the hill, in the utmost alarm, fearing 
 I had indeed lost my senses. 
 
 U 0h! Eoland," she cried, "what has happened? 
 Have you been bitten by a rattle-snake ? or are you 
 mad ? For the love of Heaven, if you know me, 
 speak ! and tell me the worst !" 
 
 " There! there!" cried I; "look there!" and I 
 pointed to the mangled carcass, and fairly laughed 
 aloud. 
 
 " Merciful Heaven ! what is this ?" cried she, looking 
 down, as directed, for the cause of my supposed mad 
 ness. " As I live, this is not the body of our horse, 
 but of abufialo!" 
 
 "You have the secret," I fairly shouted almost 
 
A NIGHT OF HORROR. 391 
 
 delirious with a sudden transition of powerful emo 
 tions the sudden transition from despair to joy. " Our 
 noble friend has escaped ! Do you hear, dear Adele ? 
 he is not dead but has escaped Heaven be praised !" 
 
 Perhaps the reader may think I had small cause 
 for such powerful demonstrations of delight ; and to 
 fully appreciate my feelings, it might be necessary 
 for him to pass through similar scenes of peril, trial 
 and suffering; and then to realize that the living 
 thing which had saved him, and one more dear to 
 him than his own life, had groaned out his death- 
 agonies in his very ears seeming to call on him, in 
 turn, for that aid in distress which he was powerless 
 to render ; and then, withal, to believe that, with the 
 noble brute, had perished his main hope of escaping 
 with life from a dreary wilderness. Place him in my 
 situation, let him experience the horrors of one such 
 eventful night, and I think the veriest stoic would 
 show the common feelings of humanity, and mourn 
 the loss, and rejoice at the escape, of his brute friend, 
 with outward demonstrations not unlike those of 
 mine. 
 
 " How has this happened, dear Eoland ?" at length 
 inquired Adele, when the first powerful excitement of 
 both had begun to subside. 
 
 "God only knows!" said I; "but I feel that His 
 goodness and mercy have been manifested here." 
 
 "They have, indeed!" rejoined Adele, solemnly; 
 " and it becomes us, as intelligent beings, to show our 
 gratitude in proper devotion." 
 
392 THE BORDER HOVER. 
 
 As she spoke, she kneeled down upon the wet 
 earth I impulsively followed her example and 
 then and there, alone in the great wilderness, feeling 
 ourselves directly in the presence of the Great 
 Unseen, we poured out our souls in fervent thanks 
 giving for our wonderful preservation, and the recent 
 joy which had come as sunlight through clouds of 
 gloom to our desolate hearts. 
 
 But though our horse had escaped, and we rejoiced 
 in the fact, yet there was no certainty that we should 
 ever find him again; and so, after ascending the hill, 
 and looking in vain for him over the extent of country 
 within the range of our vision, we resolved to set 
 forward on foot, with no further delay than would 
 be required to complete our simple preparations. 
 Collecting the remains of the bridle, the saddle-cloth, 
 and some straps and buckles, that we might be able 
 to make use of the beast should we be so fortunate as 
 to find him, I proceeded to disengage a large piece 
 of meat from the hump of the young buffalo, and 
 then announced to Adele that we were ready to bid an 
 eternal adieu to a spot where we had passed through 
 so much physical and mental suffering. 
 
 Still laying our course, to the best of our judg 
 ment, due west, we set off at a fast walk through the 
 wet grass and misty rain; and for the first hour we 
 found a rather pleasurable sensation in the exertions 
 which caused our chilled and sluggish blood to again 
 circulate freely and warmly through our veins. But 
 after two or three hours of this severe exercise, we 
 
A. NIGHT OF HORROR. 393 
 
 began to sensibly realize the great loss we had met 
 with, aside from both speed and safety for our feet, 
 which were only covered with moccasins, now gave 
 us warning that we could not perform a long journey 
 without much physical suffering. The ground was 
 rough and uneven; and, being softened with the rain, 
 our feet slipped at almost every step ; and often sink 
 ing below the surface, were bruised and cut with the 
 small, sharp gravel-stones which lay immediately 
 beneath. 
 
 Our appearance at this time was not such as to 
 adorn a fashionable drawing-room. I was not only 
 habited in the plain, rough costume of the moun 
 taineer, but looked like one who had seen hard ser 
 vice for my beard was long, my skin bronzed, my 
 hair matted; while my garments, covered with mud 
 and soaked with rain, were wrinkled, shrunken, and 
 clung to me like a second skin. Nor had Adele any 
 thing to boast of. Dressed much as she was when 
 I first described her with the addition of moccasins, 
 leggings, and a kind of wampum- worked waistcoat, 
 which she had herself constructed from materials 
 furnished her by Waralongha while a prisoner she 
 looked all the worse for her long journey, and expo 
 sure to heat, dust, rain and mud ; and with her black 
 hair streaming down in tangled masses, and her face 
 and hands tanned and soiled, she presented an exte 
 rior little calculated to excite the envy of a fashion 
 able city belle. However, I may say, so far as 
 externals were concerned, we looked well to each 
 
 . 
 
394: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 other, and gave little heed to matters more trifling 
 than life, liberty, health and safety. 
 
 "We toiled on till the mid-day hour, and found to 
 our dismay that we had made but little progress. 
 From an elevation, we could look back to the point 
 we had left in the morning; while the clouds, with 
 their appendages of vapor, floated too low to give us 
 a glimpse of the still distant mountains. 
 
 "This seems labor without reward," said Adele, 
 despondingly. " We shall have to spend another 
 night, at least, on this rolling prairie." 
 
 " But we may be as safe here as among the moun 
 tains," I rejoined. " One great object I had in reach 
 ing the hills, was the fear that we should get no food 
 save roots and berries; but we fortunately have meat 
 enough with us to last us twenty-four hours ; and 
 when this is gone, the same Providence that provided 
 it may furnish us another supply." 
 
 " Forgive me, dear Eoland and ye holy beings 
 who watch over us for having dared to murmur, 
 when I have so much cause for being thankful !" con 
 tritely exclaimed Adele. 
 
 "You are , fatigued, foot-sore, and faint, poor girl! 17 
 said I, tenderly ; " we will seek a suitable place, and 
 stop and rest. If we could only start a fire, and cook 
 our game, we should be in a better condition to re 
 sume our journey ; but as it is, I fear we shall be 
 compelled to devour some of it in its raw state." 
 
 "I cannot taste it at present," replied Adele, turning 
 away her head " but perhaps I may before night." 
 
A NIGHT OF HORROR. 395 
 
 She looked hurriedly around, and pointing to a neigh 
 boring hill, added : "Yonder appears to be a shelving 
 rock perhaps we can crawl under it, and rest in a 
 dry place." 
 
 "A happy discovery!" said I and we immedi 
 ately set off toward it. 
 
 On arriving at the rock, we found, to our great de 
 light, that it was only one of several, which lay piled 
 together in such a manner as to form a little cave, of 
 some ten feet in extent, with just sufficient depth and 
 breadth to permit us to sit erect, side by side ; and 
 what was of equal importance to its shelter, and in 
 creased our first delight to rapture, its floor was 
 strewn with dead leaves, those farthest from the en 
 trance being dry as tinder. 
 
 " Thank Heaven 1 we shall soon have a fire !" cried 
 I, as I looked out, after having crawled cautiously in 
 to explore it ; " a few sticks are all that is wanting ; 
 and then we shall have a meal that, taken in connec 
 tion with our appetites, an epicure might envy. Go 
 in, dear Adele, while I collect some sticks in the little 
 hollow below. 
 
 Within, half an hour from discovering this charming 
 retreat, we were broiling, toasting and devouring our 
 meat, and drying our garments at a bright, cheerful 
 fire, kindled just at the entrance ; and never was meal 
 ate with better relish or more thankful hearts. 
 
 " Is it not wonderful," said Adele, " that just at the 
 moment of greatest necessity oar wants are unexpec 
 tedly supplied?" 
 
396 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " "We are wonderfully favored indeed," returned I; 
 " and when I cease to be grateful to Him Avho feeds 
 the raven, may I cease to have a being." 
 
 Having finished our meal, and cooked the remain 
 der of our meat, to serve us on the morrow, we sat 
 by the blazing fire, feeding it with fresh fuel, and 
 conversing on congenial subjects, till our garments 
 became dry, and we felt that we could resume our 
 journey with buoyant spirits. 
 
 " But what do you say, Aclele ?" pursued I, as we 
 looked out upon the driving storm, and began to 
 think of quitting our comfortable quarters ; " had we 
 not better remain where we are till another day ?" 
 
 "It is certainly not pleasant to think of passing 
 the night in the rain, to say nothing of such horrors 
 as deprived us of sleep at our last encampment," she 
 replied. 
 
 " Enough, dearest God willing, we will pass the 
 night here in safety for we certainly need rest." 
 
 Having thoroughly dried our garments, we let the 
 fire die out for, under cover, the weather was too 
 warm to require it for comfort. I then proceeded 
 to close up the mouth of our little cave with sticks, 
 brush and stones, which kept me occupied for an hour. 
 This done, and being fairly shut in, so that we had no 
 occasion to feel apprehensive of an attack from wild 
 beasts, we gave ourselves up to the enjoyment of the 
 time, and never did hours fly more swiftly and hap 
 pily. The past, since our first meeting, had been 
 full of perils, privations and sufferings the future 
 
ON THE MOUNTAINS. 397 
 
 might come teeming with new woes but the present 
 we felt was ours, to mingle soul with soul through 
 that connecting link of love which we believed could 
 never be broken. I told my history to Adele, and, 
 from her lips, gathered all that she knew of her own ; 
 and then, with the romance of youth, we built airy 
 castles in the future, peopled them with airy forms, 
 and seemed to live ourselves, as ethereal sensations, 
 above and beyond the jars, discords, troubles and 
 perplexities of a material world. It was a waking 
 dream, it is true but one of the most happy of my 
 life and when night drew around us her sable cur 
 tains, we fell asleep, to rest in happy unconsciousness 
 till the dawn of another day. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 LOOKING out from our little cave on the following 
 morning, I was delighted to perceive that the wind 
 had again changed, and that the clouds, less humid, 
 were broken, and drifting back toward the east, show 
 ing streaks of a soft, blue sky between their pictur 
 esque fragments. 
 
 "How often hope comes with the dawn!" said I, 
 reflectively. 
 
398 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "It lias been a night of peace, thank God! and I 
 feel well and strong," replied Adele, cheerfully. 
 
 We now thought it best to resume our journey at 
 once; and throwing down the barrier at the entrance 
 of our temporary but happy little home we issued 
 forth, determined to make the most of our strength 
 and time. We ascended the hill, and, standing on its 
 highest point, took a survey of the surrounding scene. 
 All was quiet, save a few birds, of bright plumage, 
 which were fluttering among the green leaves, or 
 flying from one wooded point to another, and singing 
 their happy songs. As we were about to descend 
 this elevation, I stopped, with my eyes fixed upon an 
 object in the hollow ; and pointing toward it, I ex 
 claimed : 
 
 "Can I credit my senses! Look yonder, dear 
 Adele, and tell me what you see ?" 
 
 "Most wonderful!" she replied, clasping her hands. 
 "Heaven is merciful beyond our deserts! It is our 
 gallant beast." 
 
 "It is our lost friend indeed!" rejoined I, with a 
 thrill of delight that words cannot express. 
 
 I hastened down the hill; and then, for fear ho 
 would run away, approached him cautiously. He 
 looked up, and, seeing me, gave a familiar whinny, 
 and even advanced two or three steps to meet me. 
 On reaching him, I threw my arms around his neck, 
 and fairly hugged him with delight. He had broken 
 the straps with which I had hampered him on the 
 night of his escape, and some of the pieces were still 
 
ON THE MOUNTAINS. 399 
 
 attached to his legs and neck. These I removed ; and 
 joining them to some others which we had brought 
 with us, I was thus enabled to so far restore the miss 
 ing portions of the bridle as to put it in a condition 
 for use; and fastening this upon his head, I led him 
 to a rock, and we mounted his bare back. As I 
 seated Adele before me once more, and clasped her 
 around the waist, I said : 
 
 "It now seems as if our dangers were past." 
 
 "It is not so, dear Koland," she replied; "but our 
 situation, compared with what it was on that awful 
 night, is such that I must even weep for joy." 
 
 " Well, dearest, shall we push on ? or ride back for 
 the saddle, which we left upon the tree ?" 
 
 " Oh ! ride on ride on toward the mountains, dear 
 Eoland !" she replied, eagerly. " I would not go back 
 to that awful place for any consideration." 
 
 " Be it so, then," rejoined I ; and turning our horse s 
 head westward, I touched him lightly on the flank, 
 and we set off at an easy gallop. 
 
 The day wore away without any incidents of special 
 importance. Before noon the sun shone out bright 
 and clear ; but its heat was tempered with the cool 
 breeze from the mountains, which we now beheld 
 looming up before us, and which we hailed with as 
 much delight as the shipwrecked and drifting mari 
 ner might experience on approaching an unknown 
 coast. It was not necessarily a haven of security, or 
 a spot free from peril but it was a destination we 
 
400 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 liad long struggled to reach- and it strengthened our 
 hope with a substantial reality. 
 
 We stopped at noon, and devoured the remainder 
 of our little stock, and then pushed on again, with 
 comparatively buoyant spirits, over the now rugged 
 and hilly country, till at last, just as the declining sun 
 was passing from our view, we came to a halt at the 
 foot of a steep and lofty ridge. 
 
 Satisfied with our day s ride, we dismounted ; and 
 like Columbus, on discovering a new continent, wo 
 embraced the earth for joy. I now took the bridle 
 from our noble beast, and turned him loose, to feed 
 upon the rich, nutritious grass, which spread, carpet- 
 like, over a fertile valley, that was watered by a 
 mountain stream ; and this done, we made an effort to 
 ascend the hill which towered above us, in order to 
 find a safe place for our night s encampment. 
 
 "We had toiled up about half-way to the summit, 
 when the deepening shadows, settling upon the 
 mighty plain which stretched away eastward for 
 hundreds of miles beyond the reach of sight, warned 
 us that we had no time to lose, if we would place 
 ourselves in security before darkness should fairly 
 close around us. "We accordingly scrutinized every 
 object which we fancied might be made available to 
 our purpose ; and at length we discovered a large, 
 gnarled oak growing up beside a high, projecting 
 rock in whose twisted and matted branches we 
 thought we could make ourselves secure. Ascending 
 the mountain to the level of the rock, we easily got 
 
ON THE MOUNTAINS. 401 
 
 upon it, and thence clambered up into the top of the 
 tree ; where, by means of the straps of the bridle, I 
 soon managed to bind together some of the limbs in 
 such a manner as not only to secure us against falling, 
 but also give us a comfortable place to rest and even 
 sleep. 
 
 "We spent two or three hours in exchanging 
 thoughts in whispers ; and then, lulled by the gently 
 rustling leaves, and the sweet notes of a neighboring 
 night-singer, and being undisturbed by any discor 
 dant sounds calculated to create alarm, we gradually 
 fell asleep, and heard no more till the morning min 
 strels aroused us with their songs to see a new day 
 dawning with a golden glow. 
 
 Our elevation was now such that we could over 
 look the rough, hilly landscape immediately below, 
 and let our eyes rest upon the level plain beyond; 
 and never did I gaze upon a more grand and beauti 
 ful scene. In the distance we beheld, here and there, 
 some tiny streams like threads of silver, with occa 
 sionally moving specks upon the banks, which we 
 believed to be small bands of the harmless deer, or 
 antelope, quietly seeking their morning fill; while 
 nearer we once or twice caught a view of the larger 
 elk, keeping a wary look-out for danger; and trot 
 ting or loping off in different directions, to seek 
 what they might devour, were visible the craven- 
 hearted coyotes, or small prairie wolves. As the 
 sun rose in splendor upon the scene, Adele gave 
 voice to her emotions: 
 24 
 
402 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 " Oh ! how grand and beautiful are the works of 
 God!" she exclaimed; "and when, as now, I view 
 them from a point which permits the vision to take 
 in more than I usually perceive, my soul expands 
 with an admiration that is akin to rapture. Oh! if 
 the view were always like this, and it were perfectly 
 safe, and we had the necessaries of life around us, dear 
 Roland, would not this seclusion be enchanting?" 
 
 " For a time, perhaps," I replied; "but I think you 
 would eventually tire of only one such companion as 
 myself." 
 
 "Never!" said Adele, emphatically; and then, be 
 thinking how much that one word expressed of the 
 true state of her heart, the warm blood mounted to 
 her temples, and her sweet face became one radiant 
 glow. 
 
 " I thank you for the assurance that my companion 
 ship is so dear to you," I tenderly rejoined; "and it 
 shall be my aim, through the life before us, be it long 
 or short, to be worthy of the love and esteem of one 
 I so dearly prize; but your conditional observation 
 reminds me of the one great want to be supplied, ere 
 this place, or any other, can long be endurable, much 
 less become a Paradise. If we had plenty of food, 
 with weapons for defence, I think, for the rest, we 
 could pass many days here in contentment and 
 happiness; but it is not pleasant to remember that 
 our last morsel was eaten yesterday ; or to ponder the 
 possibility, if not probability, of a long and painful 
 fast before we get any more." 
 
ON THE MOUNTAINS. 403 
 
 "Ah! God save us!" ejaculated Adele. "Alas! 
 what will become of us! We looked forward to 
 reaching these mountains as oar salvation but being 
 here, we seem to have gained nothing save the inter 
 vening hours of reprieve from actual starvation." 
 
 " We must still hope on, and struggle on, as best we 
 may, till we reach some wilderness fort, or fall in with 
 some of the emigrant trains on their way to or from 
 the still Far West," said I, despondingly. " It is not 
 wise to let our thoughts dwell too much on the future 
 to speculate on that of which we have not, never 
 have had, nor can have any knowledge, till it becomes 
 the present. We must console ourselves with the idea, 
 that we are, even here, as directly under the protection 
 of the Great Guardian, as if surrounded by all the com 
 forts of civilization ; that if it be His will that we perish, 
 either here or elsewhere, the limit of His design cannot 
 be passed ; and that if it be not His will to take us from 
 earthly scenes, we shall remain, and be provided for, 
 even as we have been. Therefore, my dear Adele, 
 let us for the present think only of the present ; and 
 say for the future, * sufficient unto the day is the evil 
 thereof. " 
 
 "You say well, dear friend," replied Adele, " that 
 we may fulfil, but not change, the design of our 
 Creator and Guardian ; and as that design is known 
 only to Him, it becomes us to put our trust in His 
 Providence, and make use of the present to the best 
 of our judgment and abilities. And now, dear Eoland, 
 as the day has fairly begun, what do you propose ?" 
 
404 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " I scarcely know what to propose," replied I, in 
 great perplexity. " Our first immediate want is food; 
 but unless we watch the birds, and eat of such berries 
 as we may see them pluck, I know of no means of 
 procuring any sustenance whatever and even this 
 course will be rather calculated to prolong than sus 
 tain life; and for fear of the derangement of our 
 systems, I think it best not to resort to it till com 
 pelled by hunger. If I only knew our exact locality, 
 I could soon decide which course to take to reach 
 either St. Train s or Fort Laramie. St. Train s Fort, 
 I remember, is marked on the map near the great 
 bend of the South Fork of the Platte, and directly 
 east of Long s Peak ; while Fort Laramie is nealy due 
 north from the former, on the North Fork of the Platte, 
 at a distance of more than a hundred miles. Now 
 whether we are north or south of St. Train s, I cannot 
 say, and therefore know not which course to take." 
 
 " Nor do I know what to advise," returned Adele. 
 
 "I have sometimes fancied that the first snowy peak 
 we saw from the prairies might be Long s," pursued 
 I ; "and that was further south than we are now." 
 
 "Yes," she returned, quickly; "and now I feel a 
 strong impression that we ought to go south." 
 
 "Then, right or wrong, we will set off in that direc 
 tion," I rejoined. " Yes, my plan is settled," I con 
 tinued, after a momentary consideration. "If we can 
 once more find our horse and I think he has not 
 wandered far from the little valley in which we left 
 
ON THE MOUNTAINS. 405 
 
 him we will mount him and ride southward, keeping 
 along the base of this range of mountains, till " 
 
 The sentence was here cut short by Adele, who 
 clutched me nervously, and pointed downward through 
 the leaves and branches, saying, in a startled whisper: 
 
 "Hist, dear Eoland, for the love of Heaven, or we 
 are lost ! See ! see ! yonder goes a mounted band of 
 savages." 
 
 I looked in the direction indicated, and, to my great 
 alarm and dismay, beheld a mounted body of Indi 
 ans, some fifteen or twenty in number, slowly filing 
 over a small elevation in a southerly direction ; and 
 the last one was leading a horse, which, even though 
 the distance was considerable, I instantly recognized 
 as the beast which had borne us hither. They did 
 not look toward us nor seem to be in search of any 
 one but rode quietly onward, and soon passed be 
 hind an intervening hill, which shut them from our 
 view. 
 
 " God help us !" ejaculated I. " There goes our 
 horse ; and we have looked our last upon him this 
 time, unless we meet him under the painful circum 
 stances of being captives to those who have captured 
 him." 
 
 " Which God forefend!" returned Adele, with a 
 shudder, " Oh ! Eoland, I would prefer death to cap 
 tivity. And yet, had we gone a half hour since to 
 search for our noble beast, we might have been seen 
 and taken prisoners by this very party." 
 
 " And what is to be done now ?" pursued I, with a 
 
406 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 feeling of despair which I strove to conceal. " The 
 plan which I had just mentally matured, is already 
 frustrated ; we no longer have a horse to ride ; and 
 even if we had, it would be as much as our freedom 
 is worth to take the course pursued by these savages." 
 
 "We must set oft on foot," replied Adele; "and 
 far from being discouraged, I look upon the capture 
 of our horse as a Providential event ; for had we re 
 sumed our journey in the manner you intended, 
 doubtless we should have met with some serious dis 
 aster." 
 
 " We will, at all events, endeavor to console our 
 selves with the reflection, that what has happened has 
 happened for the best," said I. " Come, dear Adele, 
 if you are ready, we will resume our labors for I can 
 perceive no advantage we shall gain by delay." 
 
 Adele bowed her head, as if in prayer was silent 
 for a minute and then lifting her soft, dark eyes to 
 mine, and extending her hand, which I eagerly seized, 
 she said, with calm resignation : 
 
 "Whenever you think it safe to quit our conceal 
 ment, dear Koland, I am ready to share with you the 
 toils, privations, and perils which it may still be our 
 lot to encounter." 
 
 "Heaven grant, for your sweet sake, they be not 
 many, nor long continued !" I rejoined, as I drew her 
 delicate form to me in a fond embrace. 
 
SICKNESS AND DESPAIR. 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 SICKNESS AND DESPAIR. 
 
 INSTEAD of descending to the base of the mountain, 
 as had been our first intention, we ascended to its 
 summit whence we had the same grand, beautiful 
 view to the eastward while below us, to the west 
 ward, we beheld a delightful valley, with a clear 
 stream of water flowing through green, shady banks, 
 and a still higher range of hills rising just beyond. 
 Keeping along the ridge we had ascended, in a 
 southerly direction, we hastened forward for several 
 hours the scenery constantly changing, and pre 
 senting scenes and objects pleasant to look upon. 
 Occasionally we roused the heavy-footed elk, or 
 startled the mountain deer, which went bounding 
 away to a denser and more distant cover; while 
 from the rocky front of a neighboring hill we espied 
 the mountain goat, springing up the dizzy heights 
 where foot of human being might not follow. 
 Smaller game darted away from us at almost every 
 step, and gay birds fluttered and sung around us; 
 and yet, in the midst of plenty, we had no means 
 to procure the food which nature demanded. 
 
 At last, wearied with our exertions, we seated 
 ourselves upon a rock; but had scarcely composed 
 our limbs to rest, when we were startled at the rust- 
 
408 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 ling of some bushes behind us ; and looking around, 
 we perceived a large, black bear deliberately making 
 his way toward us. Adele uttered a scream of ter 
 ror, and clutched me convulsively; and knowing 
 there was no time to lose, I started up, threw an 
 arm around her, and, half lifting and supporting her, 
 hurried her forward to a ledge of rocks, which for 
 tunately was not far distant, up which we clam 
 bered about twenty feet to a flat projection, where 
 we took our stand and turned to take another look 
 at our enemy. The bear had leisurely followed us 
 about half the distance, and was now sitting on his 
 haunches, lazily swaying from side to side, and lol 
 ling, and looking up at us with indolent composure. 
 
 " Thank God," said I, " he is not maddened with 
 hunger, and will soon leave us in peace !" 
 
 " Oh ! dear Koland," cried Adele, sinking down 
 upon the rock, "I am getting disheartened we are 
 continually in peril." 
 
 " But so far," returned I, " we have been wonder 
 fully favored in making our escape." 
 
 " But what do we gain, dear Koland ?" 
 
 " Life and time, dearest." 
 
 " Life that is beginning to feel the pangs of hunger, 
 and is every moment growing weaker and time that 
 perhaps brings us no nearer a point of safety !" she 
 rejoined, with a look of despair. 
 
 "Nay, dear Adele," I pursued, "give not way to 
 this complaining mood ! You have often cheered me 
 
SICKNESS AND DESPAIR. 409 
 
 in my despondency ; and I pray you let the thought, 
 that God watches over us, restore your hope now !" 
 
 " His will be done !" she murmured, burying her 
 face in her hands. 
 
 "We remained where we were for more than an hour; 
 and then, the bear having long since disappeared, we 
 descended the rocks, and pushed forward, till the 
 declining sun warned us to seek a safe asylum for the 
 night. We found a wide fissure between some rocks, 
 which we thought would answer our purpose; and 
 there, without having tasted food since noon of the 
 preceding day, we made our camp and passed a night 
 of wretchedness. 
 
 The next day, weak and faint, we resumed our toil 
 some, perilous journey; but we met with nothing to 
 encourage us till toward night, when we found a paw 
 paw tree, the fruit of which we eagerly devoured. 
 Soon after eating, I began to feel strangely; and dis 
 covering a small cave, we crept into it, before sunset, 
 determined to go no further. 
 
 That night I was attacked with terrible pains, and 
 before morning grew delirious; but my reason re 
 turned with the dawn though I was too weak and 
 sick to pursue my journey. What I suffered in mind 
 and body, I shall not attempt to say ; but the reader 
 may form some idea of my desperate condition, when 
 I state, that my constant prayer was for death to release 
 me from the pangs and miseries of mortality. Adele 
 was, fortunately, spared the physical pain I endured ; 
 but her mental sufferings were as great as mine ; and 
 
410 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 she too prayed that we might be removed to the spirit 
 world. 
 
 " It is death at last, dear Roland," she said ; " and 
 though an awful death, it shall be welcome." 
 
 " Death for me, dearest, sooner or later," I replied ; 
 " but you have some strength remaining and I con 
 jure you, by all I love, to use it, and perhaps you may 
 be saved." 
 
 " What ! fly and leave you here, to perish alone ?" 
 she cried, throwing her arms around my neck, and 
 sobbing upon my breast. " Never ! never ! never !" 
 
 " But, dearest, listen a moment to reason I" 
 
 " There is no reason in such an idea I" she wildly 
 exclaimed. " Oh ! Roland, I did not dream that my 
 noble preserver would ever harbor the thought that 
 I could desert him in his distress ! Oh ! Roland, take 
 back your cruel request and say you did it to try 
 me that you do not really think me so base and 
 heartless as to leave you here to die alone !" 
 
 "For the love of God, Adele dear Adele calm 
 yourself and listen one moment to reason !" 
 
 "Reason!" she cried ; "call you such ingratitude 
 reason ? Oh ! Roland oh ! Roland that I should live 
 to hear such a proposition from your lips I" 
 
 " You will kill me, without allowing me a chance 
 for explanation, if you go on this way !" said I, re 
 proachfully. 
 
 " Well, speak, then speak ! but oh ! dear Roland " 
 
 "There, there," interrupted I " calm yourself and 
 
SICKNESS AND DESPAIR. 411 
 
 hear me for one moment and hear me out before 
 you reply." 
 
 " Speak, then !" 
 
 " But will you promise to hear me out before you 
 reply, dearest Adele?" 
 
 " I will hear anything but a proposition to leave 
 you, my benefactor and preserver !" she sobbed. 
 
 " But would you not save my life if you could ?" 
 
 " Oh! Eoland, can you ask me that?" 
 
 " Well, perhaps you can save my life." 
 
 "How? how?" 
 
 " Let me tell you : be calm now, and let me tell you 
 how." 
 
 " There, there, (hastily drying her feverish eyes) 
 you see I am calm, dear Eoland." 
 
 " Listen then, and do not interrupt me, dearest. 
 Situated as I am here, unless I receive succor soon, I 
 must certainly die. There, there, now hist ! you 
 are not to interrupt me, remember ! Now I am pros 
 trated, and can go no further, be the consequences 
 what they may ; and if you would serve me, there is 
 but one way in which you can. I am inclined to 
 think, that if you will only hurry forward in the 
 same direction we have been pursuing for the last 
 two days, you will get sight of St. Train s before 
 your strength gives out and once there, you can 
 send me assistance." 
 
 "But you might die in my absence?" 
 
 " Perhaps not; but if my minutes are numbered, 
 your remaining cannot save me. You have some 
 
412 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 fearful risks to run, in going, I know; but I see 
 nothing but death for both if you remain." 
 
 "I fear not for myself," hastily rejoined Adele; 
 "for death may as well come in the shape of a wild 
 beast as starvation ; my only fear is that you may 
 perish in my absence." 
 
 " Then go, dearest, at once ! and, under God s 
 Providence, we may both be saved !" 
 
 I had no hope of life when I said this for the 
 racking pains of body, and the terrible pressure 
 upon my brain, led me to expect delirium at any 
 moment, and a termination of my sufferings by con 
 gestion in a few hours, but, by holding out the 
 idea to Adele that she might find succor before 
 all should be over, I thought it barely possible she 
 might be saved herself through her exertions in 
 my behalf. It was no easy matter, however, to per 
 suade her to leave me; and it was not till I had 
 repeatedly assured her it was the only means of 
 saving my life, that she consented to the separation. 
 The parting was a trying and painful one for there 
 was great probability we should never meet again 
 in this world ; and though each strove to console 
 the other with a different idea, we both secretly 
 acknowledged there was a much better foundation 
 for our fears than our hopes. 
 
 " Adele," said I, as she stood sobbing by my side 
 and every word was spoken amid racking pains 
 that required a powerful and constant concentration 
 of my will to avoid betraying to my sympathizing 
 
SICKNESS AND DESPAIR. 413 
 
 companion " Adele, should it be God s pleasure 
 that I never behold you again in life and we can 
 not, of course, know what is His design I want 
 you, if you escape, to write to my parents, and tell 
 them how and where I came to my end ; and assure 
 them that I passed away, praying for their forgive 
 ness, and with the hope of meeting them in a happier 
 world." 
 
 "Oh! Roland," she burst forth "I cannot leave 
 you ! indeed I cannot !" 
 
 " Not even to save my life (" 
 
 11 Oh ! how you torture me 1" 
 
 " It is to save my life you go, dearest." 
 
 " But you do not yourself think you will live till 
 I return." 
 
 "I think, sweet angel, your going now, at once, is 
 the only chance I have of being alive a week from 
 this. Oh 1 if you love me, as I know and feel you 
 do, linger not here another moment I There adieu 
 and God protect you !" 
 
 She dropped down on her knees, threw her arms 
 around my neck, and pressed her lips to mine. For 
 some moments she neither moved nor spoke, and I 
 was beginning to fear her emotions had proved too 
 much for her physical system, when she suddenly 
 disengaged herself from the embrace and staggered 
 to her feet. One look one thrilling look a look of 
 love agonized and with the words, "God in Heaven 
 be merciful !" she turned and vanished. 
 
 For some minutes after her departure, I rolled to 
 
4:14 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and fro in the most violent agony of body and mind ; 
 but I suppressed my groans, lest they should reach 
 her ears and draw her back to perish with me. Sud 
 denly I found my sight growing dim, and felt as if 
 my senses were deserting me. 
 
 "It is death!"! murmured "it is death I but 
 Adele will be saved !" and as the last word passed 
 my lips, I became unconscious of sorrow and pain. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A LONG CAPTIVITY. 
 
 I HAVE now reached a point in my narrative, 
 where, for various reasons, I wish to pass over some 
 fifteen long, weary months, with as few words as will 
 serve to make the reader acquainted with what hap 
 pened to me during the interval, and connect the 
 preceding with what is to follow. How long a time 
 I remained unconscious, but delirious, I have never 
 been able to ascertain ; but my first dim recollection, 
 after the parting with her I loved, is of seeing, like a 
 moving shadow, the face of an Indian floating over 
 me ; and of wondering whether it belonged to an 
 inhabitant of this world or the other ; and whether I 
 myself was still a mortal or a spirit. Darkness inter 
 vened ; and my next remembrance is of another face, 
 with milder, and, though not beautiful, less hideous 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 415 
 
 features ; and connected with this face was the form 
 of a woman, half nude, and half clad in skins. Another 
 interval of darkness, and I awoke, to find myself 
 lying upon a bed of sweet-scented herbs, under a tent 
 of skins ; and seated on one side of me, a savage in his 
 war-paint; and on the other, a squaw, past the middle 
 age, with long, gray hair, and whose person was pro 
 fusely decorated with gew-gaws and wampum. 
 
 " Where am I ?" was my first natural exclamation ; 
 to which the only responses were, a grunt from the 
 warrior and a shake of the head from the squaw. 
 
 The chief for such I afterward found him to be 
 now arose, and stalked out of the lodge ; and the 
 woman began a low, but not unmusical, chant, 
 which she continued for more than an hour or, in 
 fact, until I fell asleep which I did, even while 
 trying to keep awake and unravel the mystery. 
 
 What I learned by degrees, and after a compara 
 tively long lapse of time, it suits my purpose to give 
 the reader in a few words. I had been found by a 
 party of Indian hunters, who were bitter enemies of 
 the whites ; but who, instead of killing and scalping 
 me, had, from some motive, which I think will be 
 apparent in the sequel, undertaken to restore me to 
 health. Their efforts, it is needless to say, were 
 crowned with success ; and I slowly regained my health 
 in an Indian village, to which I had been removed in 
 a delirious state. 
 
 The party in question was a branch of the Crow 
 nation, who had ventured far south in search of game ; 
 
416 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 and having secured a supply, they slowly returned to 
 the main body, taking me with them, much against 
 my inclination. At first we could only converse by 
 signs ; and by signs I endeavored to ascertain if they 
 knew anything of my fair companion but could gain 
 no information to relieve my doubts and fears. I 
 could in no manner determine whether Adele was 
 living or dead; and the anxiety I suffered on her 
 account, was more terrible even than my captivity j 
 while the two united made me wretched indeed. 
 
 As soon as we had joined the main body, a council 
 was held to determine my fate ; and the final decision 
 was, that I should be regularly adopted into the tribe. 
 This occurred about three months after my capture ; 
 and being by this time able to make use of a few 
 words of the Crow language, I protested against the 
 barbarous proceeding, and endeavored to convince my 
 captors, that, by restoring me to my friends, the whites, 
 they would receive ample compensation. Whether 
 they fully comprehended me or not, I do not know ; 
 but all my efforts proved unavailing ; and I was forth 
 with subjected to the process of having my face and 
 head shaved leaving only a scalp-lock and of being 
 painted, dressed, and decorated after the fashion of 
 the tribe. 
 
 I was now, in external appearance, an Indian, while 
 at heart I loathed the very sight of them. I was 
 allowed the liberty of the village, and even permitted 
 to go on short hunting excursions with the warriors 
 but was never to leave the sight of certain parties, 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 417 
 
 whose duty and pleasure it was to have charge of me. 
 They even gave me a lodge, and offered me a wife ; 
 but the former I was obliged to share with my Indian 
 brothers, and the latter I positively declined. They 
 evidently sought to make me contented with my new 
 home; but my heart was far away, and I determined 
 to effect my escape at the first opportunity. No 
 chance offered till the deep snows of winter blocked 
 up the passage over the mountains, which lay between 
 me and the point I wished to reach ; and then, be 
 lieving my escape would result in certain death, I 
 gave up all thoughts of making the attempt before 
 the return of the warm season. 
 
 Our winter camp was pitched in a pleasant valley, 
 but too far to the north to be clear of heavy storms 
 of sleet and snow. We had plenty of wood, skins, 
 and provisions, however so that we did not suffer 
 from cold or hunger but unfortunately the small 
 pox broke out with great violence, and committed 
 terrible ravages, fairly decimating the tribe, and 
 taking off many of the best and bravest warriors, with 
 no less than four distinguished chiefs and one Great 
 Medicine. Until the last event occurred, the tribe 
 bore up against the awful visitation with a bravery 
 and resignation worthy of more enlightened beings ; 
 but no sooner passed the direful news, from lodge to 
 lodge, that a Great Master of Incantations had fallen 
 a victim to the fell disease, than a fearful panic seized 
 upon the superstitious savages, who rent the air with 
 shrieks, howls, and lamentations ; and many even fled 
 25 
 
418 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 from the infected village, to perish in the frozen wil 
 derness. 
 
 I had, from the commencement of the disease, up 
 to this period, spent my time in attending upon the 
 sick, and providentially had escaped an attack my 
 self; but this immunity from the disorder came nigh 
 proving fatal to me in another manner; for it now 
 began to be rumored, that I, being leagued with the 
 Evil Spirit, had brought it upon them, in revenge for 
 my captivity; and from the moment the suspicion 
 found utterance, it rapidly grew into an almost gene 
 ral belief. Unknown to me at the time, a secret 
 council was convened, to decide upon the manner of 
 my death ; and but for the opposing voice of an aged 
 chief, of superior intelligence and commanding in 
 fluence, I should speedily have been immolated on 
 the altar of barbarous superstition. This chief had 
 always been friendly to me ; and he now, with a 
 shrewdness which I have placed to his credit, took 
 the only course which could have rescued me from 
 the designs of his inferior and credulous associates. 
 He cunningly met superstition with superstition. He 
 rationally argued, that if their present affliction was 
 the work of the Evil Spirit, acting at my instigation, 
 the Evil Spirit must certainly be my friend; and, 
 being my friend, if they put me to death, he would 
 get angry and, instead of sweeping off a certain 
 portion, he would annihilate the whole tribe. In 
 lieu, therefore, of putting me to death, he contended 
 they should each and all treat me with still greater 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 419 
 
 respect and deference; which perceiving, the anger 
 of the Evil Spirit would gradually become appeased, 
 and the progress of the terrible scourge would be 
 checked. 
 
 The result was, that the council adopted and acted 
 upon this suggestion; and I suddenly received so 
 many marks of favor, as to lead me to wonder con 
 cerning the cause, which the old chief subsequently 
 explained to me by words and signs. Fortunately 
 for the reputation of the latter, and my own safety, 
 the pestilence about this period began to abate; and 
 while he got great credit for his wisdom, I came to 
 be regarded as a something a little more than human; 
 
 It was in the early part of winter the pestilence 
 began its ravages ; and about two months from that 
 time it gradually disappeared. Some few who were 
 attacked, recovered ; but the majority died, and were 
 buried in the deep snow, about half a mile from the 
 village; which was soon after removed to an adjacent 
 valley, on the opposite side of an intervening hill. 
 Here, the tribe being blessed with general health, the 
 winter amusements began in earnest. Feasting, danc 
 ing, and different kinds of athletic sports, followed 
 each other in rapid succession in all of which I gen 
 erally took a prominent part though, it must be con 
 fessed, with no great liking for some of the barbarous 
 exercises. Wrestling, leaping, running, jumping, 
 throwing the spear and tomahawk, and shooting with 
 the bow at a target, were healthy, exciting, and not 
 unpleasant sports, in which I freely indulged, and 
 
420 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 occasionally bore off the palm ; but the hunting, war, 
 scalp, and other dances, were to me horrible mum 
 meries, arousing no emotions save loathing and dis 
 gust. I was too politic, however, to let this appear ; 
 for I contemplated making my escape the following 
 summer ; and to effect this, I knew it was essential to 
 induce a general belief that I had become attached to 
 my new home, and no longer had any desire to return 
 to my friends and civilization. 
 
 The snow remained upon the ground till late in the 
 spring, and then the general hunt for game began in 
 earnest. Select parties went out in different direc 
 tions; and, after an absence of a few days, all re 
 turned, bringing in a supply of flesh, of the bear, 
 deer, antelope, elk, and mountain -goat. I accom 
 panied one of these parties, in the hope of finding an 
 opportunity to escape ; but was forced to return, dis 
 appointed and disheartened though I took care to 
 conceal my real feelings, and to appear cheerful and 
 contented. A month later, just as the Indians were 
 about to pull up the stakes of their movable lodges, 
 and migrate to the south, I found a chance to get into 
 the great forest alone, armed with a knife, tomahawk, 
 bow, and quiver of arrows. It was the first time, 
 since my capture, that I had been able to look around 
 me, and not, at some point, either near or far, encoun 
 ter the lynx eyes of a savage and it may readily be 
 believed I made the most of my good fortune. But it 
 was not yet my good fortune to get clear of my bar- 
 barious friends, with all my endeavors ; for after run- 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 421 
 
 ning for hours, till overcome with fatigue, I stopped 
 to rest ; and was then and there overtaken, and again 
 made prisoner by a party that had followed on my 
 trail. 
 
 Although my mind was not in an enviable state 
 when I saw them approaching me, I suppressed all 
 show of surprise, and gave them to understand that 
 I had merely been hunting on my own account. 
 They affected to believe me, but took good care not 
 to let me try the same experiment again, at least for 
 a long time. 
 
 During the summer, the whole tribe men, women 
 and children, with their tents and movables, dogs, 
 horses, and cattle went as far south as the Black 
 Hills; and the most expert hunters scoured the 
 forests, and occasionally ventured out upon the 
 prairies; and the skins and furs they brought in, 
 were dressed and prepared for a civilized market by 
 the women, and the meat dried and packed for win 
 ter use. I had doubtless lost their confidence by my 
 first attempt at freedom for they no longer per 
 mitted me to go abroad with the warriors but con 
 fined me to the main village, and compelled me to 
 assist the squaws in their drudgery though, in every 
 other respect, I was still treated as an equal, and 
 allowed to retain my weapons. 
 
 The mental torture I now continually suffered, I 
 would not, if I could, inflict upon an implacable 
 enemy; and yet, withal, I strove to appear cheerful 
 and contented. By night and by day, awake or 
 
422 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 asleep,, the images of my friends were ever present 
 to my mental vision; but I looked upon them as 
 beings I might never behold with the material eye. 
 My dear parents were they living or dead? If 
 living, what sufferings must be theirs, caused by my 
 boyish rashnesss and folly! and was not my own 
 wretched condition a judgment upon me for an act 
 akin to filial disobedience? And Varney noble 
 Varney was he still upon the earth? or had he 
 breathed his last in lonely solitude, thinking that I, 
 who loved him as a brother, had forgot my solemn 
 promise, and returned to civilization without bidding 
 him another farewell ? And last, though not least in 
 my affections, sweet, beautiful Adele what of her? 
 Where now was her light and springing form, her 
 soft, dark eyes, and her musical voice? We had 
 together seen sorrow, mingled with happiness and 
 our souls had seemed as one soul, cemented by un 
 dying love but should we ever meet again in this 
 world of change ? Had she escaped the dangers of 
 the mountains, to pass the remainder of her days 
 among the people of her race? was she a lonely, 
 hopeless prisoner of some savage tribe? or had death 
 given to her pure spirit the freedom of the holy in 
 telligences to whom she had so often and earnestly 
 appealed through a sincere and happy faith? 
 
 I will not dwell upon my captivity, nor the tortures 
 I endured. I have labored in vain to give the reader 
 an idea of myself, if he has now to be assured, that, 
 torn away from civilization, deprived of my freedom 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 423 
 
 and of all I loved on earth, I could see one nappy 
 moment; and to inflict upon him a tithe of my 
 misery, would, to say the least, be an uncharitable 
 act, and could serve no good purpose. That my 
 health gradually failed, through secret grief and 
 mental excitement, it may be proper to state ; and 
 when, at the close of summer, I again accompanied 
 the tribe to their home at the north, it was with the 
 conviction, that, unless I soon secured the liberty I 
 pined for, my body would ere long take its last rest, 
 
 " Unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown," 
 
 many thousand miles from the land of my nativity. 
 
 The Indians had once more reached their winter 
 quarters, and I was standing one fine, autumnal 
 night, outside of my lodge, pondering on my misery, 
 when suddenly the conviction flashed upon me, that 
 if I were to attempt my escape then I should be 
 successful. I had been shooting at a target that day, 
 and still had my bow in my hand, and my quiver 
 contained a dozen arrows and feeling at my wam 
 pum girdle, I found my knife in its sheath. Without 
 waiting to consider the chances, as I had always done 
 before, I immediately set off; and walking leisurely 
 through the village, and passing several warriors, I 
 quietly descended to a clear, mountain stream, as if 
 with the intention of filling my gourd. The moment 
 I reached the stream, I entered the water, and hurried 
 away to the north, impelled by an impulse for which 
 
424 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 I could not account, and scarcely able to realize 
 myself that I was actually trying to effect my escape. 
 
 I continued in the bed of the stream for a couple of 
 hours ; and hearing no sound of pursuit, I began to 
 tremble with hope and fear ; and to such a degree, 
 that I was obliged to sit down and rest my quivering 
 nerves. What could it mean ? Was I really des 
 tined to escape, after all ? The bare hope seemed to 
 open to my mental view the joys and beauties of 
 Elysium ; while the fear of failure the next moment 
 sent the blood curdling to my heart. 
 
 In the boldness of my attempt, I think, lay its suc 
 cess. The Indians, who saw me going quietly to the 
 stream as was my wont, could have had no suspicion 
 of my design ; and in this way I gained a start, under 
 cover of darkness, which I could have done in no 
 other manner. By keeping in the stream, too, I left 
 no trail for them to follow; and by going north in 
 stead of south, I added to my chances of escape as 
 they would naturally suppose I had taken the most 
 direct route toward civilization. 
 
 How much time elapsed after my departure, before 
 they began to search for me, I do not know but I 
 heard nothing from them during the night. After 
 gaining, in some degree, my natural composure, I 
 again set forward, keeping along the bed of the 
 stream, the water of which seldom rose above my 
 knees. In this manner I struggled onward till the 
 gray of morn when, to my great delight, I discovered 
 a hollow tree, with a limb projecting over the babbling 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 425 
 
 stream, within my reach. I seized hold of it, drew 
 myself up, and found the hollow large enough to 
 secrete me, but without giving me space to turn or 
 change my position. 
 
 In this narrow aperture, and painful attitude, I 
 remained through the day; but before night I was 
 much alarmed by hearing a small party pass in 
 search of me. I heard and understood enough of 
 their conversation, to learn that they already began 
 to suspect I had been spirited away by the Great 
 Power of Darkness and that if the party who had 
 gone in an opposite direction did not bring me back, 
 they would consider further search useless. This 
 gave me courage and hope ; but I trembled like an 
 aspen, lest some keen eye should fasten upon my 
 retreat and discover me at the last moment. Provi 
 dence favored me, however ; and just as the sun was 
 setting, I heard them pass on their return, muttering 
 their superstitious belief and disappointment. 
 
 As soon as darkness had settled over the earth, I 
 crept out from my concealment, like a wild beast from 
 his lair, and, lowering myself into the water, con 
 tinued my journey toward the north, leaving no trail 
 behind. I had now been twenty-four hours without 
 food ; but a bright hope animated me, and I struggled 
 forward through another night ; and at daylight I 
 climbed a tree and rested in its thick branches. 
 Hungry, weary and faint, I fell asleep, and gained a 
 few hours of peaceful rest which in some degree 
 renewed my strength. When I awoke, I found the 
 
426 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 sun had passed meridian ; and resolving to change 
 my course, press forward, and, if possible, procure 
 food, I descended to the ground, turned away from 
 the stream, and struck off through a deep forest, in 
 an easterly direction. 
 
 Though in the autumn of the year, the days and 
 nights had been unusually mild for the last week, 
 and continued so for a week longer which was very 
 fortunate for me as, otherwise, I must have suffered 
 from cold, especially during the two nights I spent in 
 going down the bed of the stream. Keeping on an 
 easterly course till near sunset, without meeting with 
 any incident to give me fresh cheer, I was beginning 
 to despair at the gloomy prospect of passing another 
 night without food, when, ascending a covered hill, I 
 was delighted, even to agitation, at perceiving three 
 or four deer just below me, quietly licking the white 
 crust of a saline spring. I had during my captivity 
 become so expert with the bow, that ordinarily I 
 should have thought nothing of sending an arrow, at 
 the distance these animals were from me, into a target 
 the size of my hand ; but now I trembled so much, 
 with hope and fear, as to doubt if I could hit a larger 
 body than my own. 
 
 However, I kept as quiet as I could, and summoned 
 all my will to steady my nerves ; and fixing an arrow 
 to my bow, I suddenly drew it to its head, and let it 
 fly with a loud twang. To my unspeakable joy, I 
 saw it pass, true to my aim, and bury itself in the 
 body of one of the harmless animals, which gave a 
 
A LONG CAPTIVITY. 427 
 
 sudden bound forward, and fell quivering upon the 
 earth. I instantly darted forward, with a velocity 
 scarcely excelled by its flying companions, and the 
 next moment my knife was at its throat, and the beau 
 tiful deer was my prize. Overpowered with joyful 
 emotions, and a sudden relaxation of my physical sys 
 tem, I sunk down by its side gazed upon it as the 
 Peri looked through the gates of Paradise when she 
 brought the accepted tear of repentance and humbly 
 and devoutly thanked God for all his mercies and 
 blessings. Need I add that I feasted that night? 
 though I cut the flesh from the deer ere it was cold 
 and devoured it in its raw state. 
 
 It is not rny intention to give a detailed account of 
 my lonely wanderings, over mountains, through for 
 ests, and across streams, and all in the unpeopled soli 
 tudes of nature, till I once more beheld the face of a 
 white man. Let fancy picture me, in the costume of 
 a savage, encountering, for a month, all the vicissi 
 tudes and perils of a lonely journey, through a rough, 
 howling wilderness, seeking food where I could find 
 it, continually on the alert for danger, and sleeping in 
 tree-tops, and in caves, and often suffering from cold, 
 hunger, and fatigue let fancy, I say, keep me before 
 the mental vision for a long, weary month and then, 
 if it can, let fancy portray my feelings, when I met 
 with the adventure I am now going to narrate. 
 
428 THE BORDER ROVEB. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 
 
 I HAD reached, in a tolerably good bodily condition, 
 a certain portion of that range of mountains known as 
 the Three Parks when, about noon one day, having 
 ascended a high, steep hill, I looked down into one 
 of the most beautiful valleys I had ever seen. This 
 valley, some two or three miles in length, by some 
 half a mile in breadth, was completely walled in 
 by mountains, save a narrow aperture at either 
 end, where a clear stream of water, flowing quietly 
 through its centre, found its inlet and outlet. Over 
 this smooth, level surface, were scattered various 
 kinds of trees, which seemed to have been planted 
 at measured distances from each other ; and though 
 the frosts of the season had crisped and killed the 
 leaves on the highest elevations, and the winds had 
 scattered them over the earth leaving giant trunks 
 and bare branches to stretch gloomily upward, as it 
 were, to the very heavens yet here no rude finger 
 of autumn had been laid, and the enchanting valley 
 appeared like a brilliant emerald in a brown setting. 
 I could scarcely credit my senses. Green leaf, green 
 blade, gay flowers, with a stream of silvery sheen, 
 were quietly reposing in the bright light of a noon 
 day sun ; while birds of many hues, which belonged 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 429 
 
 to a more southern clime, were fluttering, and flying, 
 and trilling the songs of spring throughout the un 
 rivalled scene. 
 
 "This should have been the Garden of Eden," 
 mused I, as I picked my way down the steep moun 
 tain side, resolved to spend one night, at least, in a 
 spot over which, as it seemed, the Spirit of Nature 
 had passed the wand of enchantment. 
 
 I reached the valley at the point where the stream 
 took its leave between high, precipitous rocks, and 
 went foaming downward around a sharp angle, but 
 where from my position I could no longer follow it 
 with my eye. Here I stopped to gaze, to wonder, 
 and to admire ; and folding my arms upon my breast, I 
 was just beginning to lose myself in a pleasing reve 
 rie with my eyes delightedly fixed upon the green 
 leaves, and grass, and bright flowers, while my ears 
 drank in the music of birds and rushing waters when 
 I was suddenly startled by a rough voice exclaiming : 
 
 " I say, old scalp-lock, hyer s a beaver as ginerally 
 
 gins every peaceable looking red nigger fu r 
 
 warning but arter that, he s jest got to take car of 
 his ha r hisself chaw me !" 
 
 I looked up, and no language can describe my 
 feelings, as my eyes rested upon the never-to-be-for 
 gotten features of One-Eyed Sam. He was standing 
 on the hill-side, some twenty yards distant, his body 
 covered by a tree, his neck stretched out so as to give 
 a full view of his face, and with his long, unerring 
 rifle to his shoulder and its muzzle toward my breast. 
 
480 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 I was so excited, that for a few moments I could not 
 speak while my lips quivered, and every limb 
 trembled with emotion. 
 
 "You re a orful skeered nigger, anyhow !" he mut 
 tered ; " and this hyer old coon don t know whether 
 to let you slide, or put lead into your meat-trap." 
 
 " Sam !" I yelled at length : " Sam ! God bless you, 
 old fellow ! would you shoot a friend ?" 
 
 Sam dropped his rifle with an oath, and never before 
 nor since did I witness such an expression of surprise 
 and amazement as gathered upon his deeply seamed 
 countenance. It appeared as if he could not credit 
 his senses ; and without changing his position, he re 
 mained staring at me, with his one eye dilated to its 
 greatest dimensions, and his mouth dropped ajar, as 
 if struck dumb in the very act of speaking. What 
 with my long captivity, my long journey through an 
 unknown wilderness, constant peril, anxiety, and 
 fatigue, it may readily be believed I was in no very 
 jocund condition ; but the man who could have looked 
 upon the serio-comical face of Sam Botter without 
 laughing, might with propriety be hired out as a 
 mourner, or be apprenticed to an undertaker. As for 
 myself, I was obliged to take a seat and hold my 
 sides for at least two minutes ; at the end of which 
 time I found Sam standing by my side, looking almost 
 as much puzzled as ever. At length, uttering a sound, 
 something between the yell of an Indian and the 
 screech of a steam-whistle, he exclaimed: 
 
 " Ef it ain t Freshwater, transmogrified to a pig- tail 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 431 
 
 lujin, may I be chawed up to allergators ! wagh I 
 liagh! wagh!" 
 
 " It is me, sure enough, Sam, my old fellow!" cried 
 I, jumping up and grasping his hard hand, which I 
 shook with a vigor. 
 
 "And a purty looking beast you is, too 
 
 wagh 1 hagh ! wagh 1" roared the old trapper, now 
 taking his turn at my expense. " Why, your own 
 mother wouldn t know ye from a painted babboon 
 wagh! hagh! wagh! Ef she would now, ohaw this 
 hyer old One-Eyed up for a liar wagh! hagh! 
 wagh !" and Sam laid down and rolled. 
 
 I waited as patiently as I could, till his merriment 
 had subsided; and then inquired, with tremulous 
 anxiety : 
 
 " Sam, what of my friends ? speak ! are they living 
 or dead?" 
 
 " Let me git my breath, Freshwater let this hyer 
 old nigger git his breath ; and while I m gitting it, 
 jest tell me whar you come from, anyhow, with them 
 thar skins, paint and pig-tail! wagh! hagh! wagh!" 
 
 " I have been, for more than a year, a prisoner 
 among the Crows; and a month ago, almost miracu 
 lously, I effected my escape." 
 
 " You look like you d been a scare-crow to crows 
 wagh ! hagh ! wagh !" roared Sam. 
 
 "Come, come," said I, seriously; " reserve your 
 merriment for some more fitting occasion, and an 
 swer me truly: Do you know any thing of my 
 friends?" 
 
432 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Wall, who d ye mean?" 
 
 " First, do you know anything of the girl whom 
 we went to rescue ?" 
 
 " I knowed some at to her a year ago." 
 
 " Speak ! for the love of Heaven ! did she escape ? 
 is she alive ?" 
 
 " She got to St. Train s alive." 
 
 " She did ?" cried I : "say that again !" 
 
 " She did, Freshwater chaw me !" 
 
 " Thank God ! thank God !" cried I, with wild ex 
 citement. " And now ? speak of her now ! is she 
 living ?" 
 
 " Don t know nothing agin it," said Sam. 
 
 u She was saved, then! she was saved, poor girl!" 
 I rejoined, almost overpowered with emotion. 
 
 " Wall, yes rayther expect she war," rejoined 
 Better, with a peculiar look, which seemed to imply 
 that he had left something untold. 
 
 "Speak, Sam!" cried I, earnestly " has anything 
 gone wrong with her of late ?" 
 
 " I goes under thar, Freshwater case this hyer old 
 beaver don t know everything." 
 
 "Is she at St. Train s now ?" 
 
 " Nary once." 
 
 "How long did she remain there? where did she 
 goon leaving? where is she now? Come, quick 
 that is a good fellow answer me ! tell me all you 
 know !" 
 
 "Freshwater," returned Botter, with emphatic 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 433 
 
 deliberation, " old One-Eyed sees how it ar ; you jest 
 love that thar gal a heap !" 
 
 " Well, suppose I do ?" 
 
 " Can t blame you much, expect fur ef she warn t 
 a screamer, then I m a liar I Augh !" 
 
 " Well, go on ! go on !" 
 
 Sam appeared to be very minutely inspecting the 
 lock of his rifle, as he continued : 
 
 " Freshwater, you knows this hyer old coon tuk to 
 you from the word go you knows that thar is truth, 
 plum center hey, boy ?" 
 
 " Yes, you said so, and I have had no reason to 
 think otherwise since. But what has all this to do 
 with my questions ?" 
 
 " Why, you see, (hesitating and squinting along 
 the barrel of his rifle,) I hate to hurt your feelings 
 ef I don t, just chaw me up fur a liar !" 
 
 " For Heaven s sake, speak ! and let me have the 
 worst !" cried I, becoming greatly excited. 
 
 "Wall, the wost it is, I jest does believe; fur 
 this hyer old nigger has heerd tell, that when a 
 feller s plum in up to his eyes in love, ef his gal 
 plays tricky, it al ays fotches him all of a heap 
 leastways that s what them says as knows more n 
 old One-Eyed bout sich things. Augh !" 
 
 " Sam," cried I, " you will get me half crazy before 
 I learn your serious news." 
 
 " Kim down then, Freshwater, and take a wet that s 
 the thing to make a feller spunky and hyer s one 
 what speaks from experience. I ve got a shanty 
 26 
 
434 THE BOKDEK KOVEK. 
 
 down the stream a bit, and thar s more n a quart of 
 the ginewine left chaw me !" 
 
 " For Heaven s sake, speak at once, and relieve me 
 of this suspense! What has happened to Adele?" 
 
 " Best take a wet fust." 
 
 " I never drink spirits." 
 
 " Oh, yes I d forgot. Wall, ef you thinks as how 
 you kin hear it, and not spile, hyer s in." 
 
 "Yes, yes proceed I" 
 
 "You remember the Greaser Cap in?"* 
 
 " El Doliente? yes ! Did he escape ?" 
 
 " Spose I begin back to whar you stepped out, and 
 fotch up squar ?" 
 
 " Be brief then." 
 
 " Yoa remember the old hoss kim up, right side up, 
 beautiful, arter he d been knocked flat to lightning?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Wall, arter all the rest of you fellers had put out 
 afoot, to hunt up the critters, I jest got on to old Zig 
 zag s back, and rid around proud ef I didn t, why is 
 burners skinned ? I soon diskivered the Cap in, and 
 his big, black, woolly nigger, puffing and blowing 
 arter a hoss ; and I says, * Git up hyer, Cap in fur 
 hyer s a critter as stands chain lightning beautiful 
 and so in course us two can t faze him nary once 
 chaw me ! Wall, to hurry on fur I sees you is 
 anxious the Cap in got on, and me and him rid till 
 
 * Mexicans and Spaniards, are, in contempt, termed Greasers 
 by the border men. 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 435 
 
 we cotched his hoss ; and then we tuk a divide, and 
 made a tall break for the nigger s hoss. We d jest 
 got his n, and war going it powerful fur t others, when 
 we seed the Injins coming like mad, and we held up 
 to do the ginteel. Our fellers was scattered, you 
 know and the Injins scattered to take em and we 
 went in arter the red niggers ; and it war jest the cu- 
 
 riousest mixed up mess you ever seed, else you 
 
 kin chaw me up fur a liar. Augh ! 
 
 "Wall, to cut the facts plum down, the gist on t s 
 thishyer: We throwed two Injins, and seed three 
 whites lose thar ha r ; and arter this, all the rest being 
 nowhars, we put out fur tall timber. The next night 
 the infarnal imps stole our hosses and we had to 
 
 take it afoot to the hills and a long, nice, purty 
 
 tramp we had on t. Somehow we missed St. Train s, 
 and struck the Black Hills above; and while we was 
 hunting our way down, we run agin a white gal, 
 who d jest sot down to make a die on t. Now when 
 this hyer gal told us who she war how she and you 
 had got away from the red niggers and how she d 
 left you dying, the day afore, up to some cave, or so - 
 thing you kin gamble high on to it, Freshwater, that 
 our eyes kim rolling out like peeled inyuns." 
 
 " Then you found Adele in the forest ?" 
 
 " We didn t do nothing shorter." 
 
 " And in a dying state?" 
 
 "Reckon she d hev gone under that night, ef we 
 hadn t put deer meat into her." 
 
436 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "Poor Adele ! how she must have suffered!" ex 
 claimed I. " But go on with your story." 
 
 " Wall, in course we went in fur finding you, dead 
 or alive ; and the next day we done some tall walking, 
 taking the gal s back ard trail. We didn t find the 
 place that day, though and I reckoned the little 
 critter d cry her eyes clean out afore morning she 
 tuk it so bad. Next day arter that, we did find the 
 hole in the rocks; and the gal rushed in like mad ; 
 and howled powerful, when she found you warn t 
 thar ; though you kin gamble on to it, that she s got 
 over all that thar afore this, or else this hyer old 
 nigger is one of the liars. Augh !" 
 
 " Sam !" cried I, somewhat angrily " what do you 
 mean by these insinuations ? Speak out, like a man, 
 and let me hear the worst !" 
 
 " Wall, to fotch it plum down to a pint, then, Fresh 
 water, that thar gal tuk on powerful about you fur 
 weeks; and then she got right thick with the Cap in; 
 and ef thar war a chance fur you arter that, as big as 
 a gooseberry, old One-Eyed couldn t diskiver it 
 chaw me !" 
 
 " She became interested in El Doliente, did she ?" 
 
 "You kin gamble on to it, Freshwater. He jest 
 tuk to her from the word go, like a hawk does to a 
 chicken ; and arter a while she gin in, and they went 
 off together." 
 
 " The villain !" I ejaculated. " Now I can under 
 stand why he was so anxious to rescue her from the 
 Indians and why he spent his money so generously 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 437 
 
 in fitting out the expedition. The black-hearted 
 villain 1 would to Heaven I had him within reach 
 of this arm I" 
 
 " Says I," pursued Botter, " when I seed him talk 
 ing private to her, and sneaking about wharsomever 
 she put her purty foot says I, Sam, you old one- 
 eyed gentleman, don t you wish Freshwater war hyer 
 
 to spile this fun? hey, boy? and gin that 
 
 Greaser h 1? hey, boy? and Sam said, yes, he 
 did ! and we d agreed together me and Sam had 
 that ef you kim to life, afore it war too late, we d 
 pitch old Greaser into the drink." 
 
 " And Adele went off with him?" 
 
 " She did, hoss." 
 
 "Willingly?" 
 
 " Looked that thar way." 
 
 " It cannot be she has proved false to me !" said I, 
 rapidly recalling one scene after another of the past. 
 
 " No, I don t think as how the gal meant to hurt 
 your feelings nary once I" pursued Sam, consolingly; 
 " but, you see, Freshwater, she thought you war dead, 
 like all the rest on us did: yes chaw me!" 
 
 " Poor, friendless, alone in the world, perhaps she 
 was not so much to blame !" sighed I. 
 
 " She war nothing partickelar oncommon to me," 
 said Sam, with a grave shake of the head ; " that is, I 
 mean, she warn t no relation, nor nothing and it 
 wouldn t hev done fur old One-Eyed to interfere jest 
 fur a dead friend, you see fur we d all gin in as how 
 you was rubbed out to painters, or some at to that 
 
438 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 sort: else, chaw me up fur a liar, and bile me turkey- 
 buzzards fur high feeding, ef I wouldn t hev wiped 
 him out, afore he d hev tuk her a mile without mar 
 rying ! and a marrying preacher into the fort to that 1 
 Augh! augh!" 
 
 " Gracious Heaven, Sam !" cried I, grasping his arm ; 
 "you do not surely mean 
 
 " Wall, thar, boy thar now never mind this hyer 
 time, Freshwater !" returned Better, soothingly, as I 
 paused, unable to finish the sentence. "I told you 
 you d best tuk a wet fust case you is weak and 
 thin and haint eat nothing to-day, I ll gamble my 
 rifle gin a pint; and when a feller s hungry, and 
 weak like, he haint got a good stomach to bad news 
 nary once chaw me! Augh! Kim, let s go down 
 to my shanty and hev a feed ; and arter that we P 
 talk agin, sensible." 
 
 The terrible suspicions which Botter s words excited 
 together with my weak condition, and the differ 
 ent emotions I had experienced within the hour 
 completely overpowered me ; and I sunk down upon 
 the earth, feeling more miserable and wretched than 
 I had ever felt before, and sincerely regretting I had 
 lived to find my faith in humanity destroyed. I then 
 believed I could have heard of Adele s death, and 
 borne the blow, as a dispensation of Heaven, with 
 something like Christian fortitude and resignation ; 
 but to think that the being I loved had fallen that 
 an angel of purity had surrounded herself with a dark 
 cloud of sin, which would shut her for ever from the 
 
A WONDEEFUL SUEPRISE. 439 
 
 holy light of Paradise was a something too horrible 
 to cross my brain, in my weak state, and permit me 
 to conduct myself as a rational being should. I was 
 not completely insane at least I had a consciousness 
 of my misery, and the evil at work within me but 
 my brain felt as if it were on fire ; and I jumped up, 
 and beat my head with my fists, and might have torn 
 my hair, had I found any within my grasp. Sam was 
 evidently much alarmed, and tried to calm and soothe 
 me but all in vain, till he struck a chord whose 
 vibrations were felt in my inmost soul, and which had 
 the effect to instantly change the whole current of my 
 thoughts, and seemingly my very nature. 
 
 " This is foolish, boy downright goosey, as I m a 
 gintleman !" he said, among other things ; " and ef I 
 was you, I d keep my strength, and my temper, till I d 
 got the villain hisself to pummel, instead of my own 
 noddle I would chaw me !" 
 
 " Ha ! revenge 1" shouted I " revenge ! I thank 
 you for the suggestion, Sam !" 
 
 "Yes, revenge, ef you like it, Freshwater!" he 
 
 cried " revenge on the villain as has done you 
 
 mischief! anything, by ! cept butting your own 
 
 brains out fur him to laugh at. Augh 1" 
 
 " Yes," continued I, " I will live for revenge ! I 
 will pursue this villain to the end of the earth, or 
 until I find him; and when found, though kneeling 
 before the sacred altar, I will drag him from it, and 
 the fearful account between us shall be settled with 
 blood !" 
 
440 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 "Now you talk sensible, boy; them s my senti 
 ments that thar s the way this hyer old nigger d 
 do chaw me I" 
 
 " But can I follow him ? can I ascertain whither he 
 has gone with his victim ? for Adele is his victim, I 
 feel assured." 
 
 " You kin try to St. Train s, Freshwater." 
 
 "And try I will!" said I, setting my teeth hard 
 with my murderous resolve. "Enough, Sam 
 enough for the present say not another word you 
 see I am a man again 1" 
 
 " Or will be," muttered Botter, turning aside his 
 head and smothering a laugh, " when you git that 
 
 greasy paint rubbed off, and human fixings on 
 
 to your back agin. But kim along let s travel: 
 you ll live to see sights yit, you will. Augh !" 
 
 As he spoke, Botter turned down the gorge of the 
 mountain, and picked his way over rocks, alongside 
 of the here rushing, roaring stream ; and I followed 
 mechanically, thinking only of Adele, her seducer, 
 and revenge. About a hundred yards from where 
 the stream entered this gorge, it turned a sharp angle 
 to the right ; and, about the same distance again, it 
 took a similar turn to the left ; and so, in a zigzag 
 course, it went foaming and roaring onward, for per 
 haps half a mile from the green valley above, when 
 it struck a long, thickly wooded level, where its 
 waters spread out to five times its ordinary width 
 and became almost as still as a lake. We quitted the 
 gorge, and turned up the hill to the left ; but the 
 
A WONDERFUL SURPRISE. 441 
 
 moment we reached a point which commanded a view 
 of the whole scene, Botter stopped, and said : 
 
 "Hyer s a spot as has been a purty sight to One- 
 Eyed Sam fur many a week." 
 
 " Have you been living here for weeks ?" I inquired, 
 in some surprise. 
 
 "Expect." 
 
 " Ah ! yes I understand trapping beaver ? T 
 
 " Them s em, Freshwater and a desperate nice 
 thing I ve made on t. You see, arter I d got back 
 from hunting the gal which we found so curious 
 the Cap in being purty much tickled all round, he 
 gin me a nice fit-out of traps and fixings, and I did 
 some at to beaver that year, afore all froze, and then 
 kim down to St. Train s to winter. Last spring I 
 started arly but found poor picking, till I diskivered 
 this hyer run. Sign war about han some in these 
 diggins ; and so putting my mules to feed in a valley 
 below, I fotched my traps up hyer, knocked up a 
 shanty, and went in. D ye see them thar beaver 
 lodges over t other side ?" 
 
 " I do," I answered, mechanically for I was not in 
 a mood to be interested in what he was saying 
 though I thought it best to humor him. 
 
 " And d ye see these hyer stumps, cut off like they 
 was sawed ?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " And d ye mind how still the water is ?" 
 
 " I do." 
 
 "Wall, ye see, the beavers cut down these liyer 
 
442 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 trees with their teeth knocked up a dam down 
 yonder raised their shanties over the way and had 
 
 a nice time on t ginerally, till One-Eyed got his 
 
 old blinker on to em, and made thar meat kim to 
 traps. Augh ! Kim along, Freshwater, and I ll 
 show you a slight sprinkling to fur I will chaw 
 me!" 
 
 Saying this, Better set forward again, and I followed 
 in silence. Proceeding some two hundred yards fur 
 ther, obliquely across the hill, he halted before a thick 
 cluster of bushes, took a sweeping survey of the whole 
 scene, and then, carefully parting the interlocking 
 twigs, pushed in toward the centre, bidding me follow, 
 and be particular to leave the external appearance as 
 we had found it. Penetrating these bushes, which 
 were higher than our heads, we soon came to a hut, 
 constructed of poles, sticks, bark, and skins, and 
 having a door which we could only enter in a stooping 
 posture. Sam looked in, and remarking that all was 
 right, he invited me to follow him, and disappeared. 
 As I crossed the threshhold of his forest domicile, I 
 heard him mutter to himself, as if addressing another : 
 
 "Sam, you old sinner, lay low, and keep shady, 
 and you ll see fun, you will. Augh !" 
 
 I heard the words, but paid little heed to them. I 
 had no idea then to what he alluded but the reader 
 will find sufficient explanation in the following chapter 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 443 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXn. 
 THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 
 
 THE hut, cottage, shanty, or lodge call it by what 
 name you will of Sam Botter, was not remarkable 
 for either size, beauty, or cleanliness ; and occupying 
 the central point of a large cluster of dwarfed trees, 
 brambles, and bushes, the view immediately around 
 it was hardly such as a poetical florist would have 
 desired. Still it suited the old trapper, and answered 
 the design for which it was erected ; and in that, to 
 say the least, it had the advantage of many an edifice 
 of more cost and pretension. The old mountaineer 
 wanted concealment for himself, traps, furs, packs, 
 etc., and shelter from the mountain storms which 
 are not unfrequently cold and severe, even in mid 
 summer and his shanty, as he was wont to term it, 
 served him in every particular. Nothing short of 
 Indian cunning and sagacity could have found it ; 
 and no one, without a special motive, would have 
 penetrated ten feet into such a tangled mass of brush 
 and briers. 
 
 It was quite primitive in its construction, and had 
 cost but little labor, and less brains. A number of 
 poles, set in a circle of ten feet in diameter, were 
 brought together at the top, fastened with stout 
 thongs, and the interstices filled with brush, sticks, 
 
444 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 bark, and stones, and the whole nicely covered with 
 skins of bear, deer, and other animals. It was water 
 proof overhead, and the door served the triple pur 
 pose of admitting the tenant, light, and air. The 
 earth was the floor, covered with dried grass, sweet- 
 scented herbs, skins, and the ordinary utensils of a 
 trapper. The cooking was done in the open air; and 
 the beaver skins, first stretched on a hoop, were dried 
 in the sun; but the shanty was the general store 
 house of everything ; and Sam, more than once, 
 showed me packs of furs ready for the market ; and, 
 with a feeling of exultation , he several times declared, 
 that "old One-Eyed war a rich nigger agin, and all 
 on his own hook." 
 
 Having, in a measure, forced me to inspect his 
 forest home and property, he at length said : 
 
 " Now, Freshwater, I knows you is tired and hungry ; 
 and so you jest plant yourself down hyer, and I ll 
 desperate soon fotch you in some at to tickle your 
 meat-trap with." 
 
 Saying this, the old trapper went out ; and, care 
 fully picking his way through the surrounding bushes, 
 disappeared leaving me alone to my gloomy thoughts 
 and miserable reflections. I threw myself down upon 
 the litter, and was soon lost in , a painful reverie. 
 From this abstracted state of mind I was presently 
 aroused, by hearing some one carefully part the bushes 
 and cautiously approach ; but supposing it to be Sam, 
 I only thought that now I was about to get food to 
 strengthen my body, and turn my thoughts, for a 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 445 
 
 short time at least, into a more healthy channel, and 
 perhaps raise in some degree my prostrated nature 
 from the dark gulf of misanthropy and revengeful 
 desire into which it had been so suddenly plunged. 
 Imagine my surprise and astonishment, therefore, on 
 seeing a strange face presented at the door the face 
 of a white man accompanied with a body of small 
 stature, dressed in the mountain costume. The face, 
 however, was that of a young man, full of health and 
 energy ; and in the dim light, I could discover nothing 
 savage or diabolical in its expression though the 
 owner carried a rifle in his hand, and a brace of pistols 
 and a hunting knife in his girdle. My first impres 
 sion was, that he was the associate or partner of Bot- 
 ter; but instantly I remembered having heard the 
 latter assert that he was " trapping on his own hook;" 
 and my next reasonable conjecture was, that he was a 
 mountain neighbor, who had come on a friendly visit 
 to the camp of Sam. From my position inside being, 
 too, by this time, accustomed to the dim light, I could 
 Bee him much better than he could me ; but he evi 
 dently knew I was here ; for he stopped at the door, 
 shaded his eyes with his hand, peered into the darker 
 part of the lodge, and said : 
 
 " Though armed, I am disposed to be friendly." 
 " Well, sir, if disposed to be friendly, as you say, 
 pray enter, without fear," I replied. " In the absence 
 of the host, Sam Botter, I take it upon me to say you 
 are welcome." 
 
 " Why, how is this ?" cried the stranger, springing 
 
446 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 into the hut, and endeavoring to get a better view of 
 my face and person. 
 
 " Well, sir, is there anything wrong ?" said I, get 
 ting up and confronting him with an air of dignity, 
 composure, and self-assurance. 
 
 "Surely, you are not an Indian?" he exclaimed, in 
 some confusion. 
 
 " Who said I was, sir ?" 
 
 " Why, no other than Sam Better himself." 
 
 " You have seen him, then ?" 
 
 " Yes, not five minutes since and he told me he 
 had just met an old Indian acquaintance, who had 
 done him a service in times past, and that he was now 
 his guest. He requested me to come up here, and 
 speak kindly to you but said that, though you could 
 understand me, you spoke English so brokenly, that 
 I must be satisfied to comprehend one word in three." 
 
 " Be assured, sir, it is one of Sam s jokes," I re 
 joined "of which he is rather fond as you doubt 
 less know, if as well acquainted with him as myself. 
 No, sir ! I am no Indian ; though I look like one, in 
 this costume and paint, and with this shaved head. I 
 am a white man from the States, who was captured, 
 more than a year ago, by the Crows; and I have been 
 their prisoner till recently, when I fortunately effected 
 my escape." 
 
 "Ah! Sam, you rogue, you shall answer for this 
 trick !" apostrophized the stranger, good humoredly. 
 
 "Wagh! hagh! wagh! wagh! hagh ! wagh !" 
 roared Better, who had drawn near enough to over- 
 
THE OLD TKAPPER S JOKE. 447 
 
 hear our conversation; and "wagh! hagh I wagh!" 
 resounded for several minutes till, in spite of our 
 selves, we were forced to join in his uproarious mer 
 riment. 
 
 "There is no great depth in the joke, after all, 
 Sam," sung out the stranger at length, biting his lips, 
 and evidently feeling chagrined. " Any body who is 
 disposed to make a false statement, can play off a 
 similar trick on his fellows at almost any moment." 
 
 " Sold !" roared Sam : "I knowed it this hyer old 
 nigger d hev gambled high on to it sold, you is, 
 boys, or I m a woodchuck wagh ! hagh ! wagh !" 
 
 " Let him enjoy his laugh," said I ; "it seems to do 
 him good ; and I am only sorry that circumstances 
 deprive me of the pleasure of a similar flow of joyous 
 spirits." 
 
 As I said this, we heard the crackling of the 
 bushes ; and the next moment the old trapper him 
 self appeared upon the scene. 
 
 "It s fun, ain t it?" he roared. 
 
 "Not so very remarkably funny either," replied 
 the stranger. 
 
 "Ef it don t kill me, I ll live ten year longer fur 
 it chaw me !" said Sam. 
 
 " If it will prolong your life, you are welcome to 
 my part in the performance," said I. 
 
 "But the best of the joke you don t see wagh! 
 hagh ! wagh 1" roared Sam again. 
 
 "It is very likely we do not," returned the stranger, 
 a little testily ; " since what we do see, appears too 
 
448 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 stupid for a man of sense to laugh at." Then turning 
 to me, he continued : " So you have just escaped from 
 a painful captivity ?" 
 
 " I have, God be thanked !" I replied. 
 
 " You must have suffered a great deal ?" 
 
 " No one knows how much !" 
 
 "Were you badly treated?" 
 
 " It was not so much the treatment I received, as 
 the fact of being a prisoner among a people between 
 whom and myself there was not a single link of sym 
 pathy, and the thought that I might be doomed to 
 spend my days there, without ever again beholding 
 my friends, which caused my suffering and misery. 
 The torture of the body, sir, is as nothing compared 
 with the torture of the mind." 
 
 "That is true," sighed the other. "I have felt 
 both, and know your observation to be true." 
 
 " Were you ever a captive ?" 
 
 " Never ; but I have known what it was to feel the 
 pangs and attendant miseries of a bodily disease, 
 supposed to be incurable; and at the very moment 
 when certain recovery had made my spirit buoyant 
 with bright and glorious anticipations, I have known 
 what it was to lose, by worse than ordinary death, 
 the only friend I truly loved save one on earth ; and 
 the mental anguish caused by this, I do assure you, 
 threw far into the shade all I had before experienced 
 of wretchedness." 
 
 " Yet better, far better, your friend should die, than 
 live to be lost to you for ever through sin and crime 1" 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 449 
 
 said I, somewhat irrelevantly and abstractedly, as the 
 image of Adele floated up through my recollection, 
 like a beautiful picture covered with a black vail. 
 
 " I do not understand you," said my new acquaint 
 ance. 
 
 " No ! how should you ? since it has probably never 
 been your misfortune to know the baseness and 
 wickedness of the human heart ; but believe me, sir, 
 there can come no heavier blow no keener pang 
 to the upright, trusting, confiding, loving heart, than 
 to suddenly learn that the being he most trusted, 
 most confided in, most loved, has proved unworthy 
 of his regard ; and that where he built his hopes of 
 happiness, in the expectation of finding the holy light 
 and virtue of an angel, he now stops to mourn above 
 a dismal wreck of sin and crime ; and is led to doubt 
 if any can be true, since such an one has fallen. But 
 speaking of friends," continued I, with a sudden start, 
 as, for the first time since meeting the old trapper, the 
 thought of poor Varney flashed upon my recollection 
 " I too have, or had, a friend and Heaven pardon 
 me for having, during the excitement of crushing 
 news, forgotten to inquire his fate. Better " 
 
 " Hush !" said Sam, who, his mirth having subsided, 
 was now standing by my side, and listening to our 
 conversation : " Hush !" and he put his finger to his 
 lips mysteriously, and drew me aside. "I knows who 
 you mean, Freshwater," he whispered in my ear ; " you 
 mean Shadbones ; but hush ! don t mention him ! and 
 I ll tell you why afore long I will chaw me I" 
 2T 
 
450 THE BORDER ROVEK. 
 
 " Sam," returned I, nervously clutching his am., 
 and addressing him in a whisper also, " is he a villain 
 too ?" 
 
 " Nary once." 
 
 tl What then ?" 
 
 " Gone under !" was the doleful rejoinder. 
 
 u Ah ! poor fellow! poor fellow! it is then as I 
 feared ;" and the tears rushed to my eyes. "But why 
 do you not wish me to speak of him, Sam?" 
 
 "Hush, now do I ll tell you afore long ef I 
 don t, you kin chaw me up fur a liar. Augh!" 
 
 " Yery well, I will wait," said I, giving vent to my 
 grief in tears that I could not repress. 
 
 For some time the conversation dropped on all 
 sides; but evidently finding the silence somewhat 
 embarrassing, and perhaps with the view also of with 
 drawing my thoughts from a painful subject, the 
 young stranger resumed, in a tone that showed his 
 heart was alive to sympathy, although he might not 
 intrude it upon my private grief. 
 
 " You say you are from the States do you think 
 of returning soon ?" 
 
 " Such was my intention, sir, till I heard, from my 
 friend Botter here of the villainy of one I had sup 
 posed my friend ; but since then I have hardly been 
 myself, and really do not know what I shall decide 
 upon when I reach a point where I can learn more of 
 the real facts of the case. I am not naturally of a 
 revengeful disposition and would, as a general thing, 
 much rather leave the guilty to the punishment which 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 451 
 
 is sure to follow, either soon or late, the transgression 
 of God s moral law; but, in the present instance, I 
 have not only been wronged irreparably but a being, 
 whom I loved more than life, has been ruined, body 
 and soul; and I feel it would only be justice to rid 
 the earth of a demon incarnate, and send him to his 
 eternal reckoning." 
 
 " Them s my sentiments," rejoined Botter, with an 
 oath. 
 
 "And yet," said the other, " it is a fearful thing to 
 take human life, except in self-defence. Have you 
 duly considered that, by such an act, your own peace 
 of mind would be for ever destroyed ? to say nothing 
 of the penalties attached to the transgression of 
 human laws?" 
 
 "I have hardly considered anything," I replied; 
 " but as to my peace of mind, I feel it is destroyed 
 already." 
 
 "You think so now but time will bring a change. 
 Grief may be assuaged; but remorse has a barbed 
 point, which once buried in the soul may rankle for 
 ever." 
 
 "I shall doubtless be guided by circumstances; and 
 at present I am not in a condition to say, positively, 
 what I shall, or shall not, do." 
 
 Are you certain of all the treachery and deceit to 
 which you allude ?" 
 
 "All I know, I have gathered from Botter here 
 let him answer." 
 
 " All I ve told him, I ve powerful good reason fur 
 
452 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 believing ar true as that this hyer old boss is a 
 
 bad sinner hisself," replied Sam, emphatically. 
 
 "In such a case, one should not only believe, but 
 know!" rejoined the other. 
 
 " It is my intention to visit St. Train s Fort," said 
 I, "and act upon the evidence which I may there re 
 ceive; though, after all, it may be necessary for me 
 to first return to the States, in order to procure the 
 means to carry out my half-formed design. It is true, 
 I left some money in the hands of Bent, when I 
 stopped at his fort, on the Arkansas, something more 
 than a year ago ; but if that was not safely trusted, I 
 have nothing in this part of the world I can claim, 
 except what you see upon me the Indians have de 
 spoiled me of all the rest." 
 
 " You will find William Bent a-n honorable man, 
 and kind-hearted," replied my new acquaintance, with 
 something like enthusiasm. "If you left money in 
 his possession, my life on it, it will be returned the 
 moment you call for it. I was there, a year ago last 
 summer, in very bad health, on my way to the moun 
 tains; and being compelled by sickness to remain 
 there for two or three weeks, I can testify to the good 
 ness of his heart, from the kind, almost fatherly, 
 treatment which I received at his hands, and those of 
 his immediate household." 
 
 " It is something of a curious coincidence," I re 
 joined, " that I was there, a year ago last summer, 
 and left a sick friend under his charge, who was also 
 on his way to the mountains for the recovery of his 
 
THE OLD TRAPPER S JOKE. 453 
 
 health ; and of whom your voice, and manner, and 
 style of conversation, forcibly remind me. But my 
 friend, I have just learned from Botter, is dead ; and 
 as you are living, and apparently in good health, the 
 coincidence ends with what I have stated. Sam ; " con 
 tinued I, turning to Botter, who now had his back 
 toward me, and was looking out through the door, 
 " you may as well speak now, and tell me how and 
 where my dear friend met his end ! Did he reach the 
 mountains? or did he die at the fort ?" 
 
 " He got to the mountains alive, and lived to see 
 sights, I reckon," answered the trapper. 
 
 11 Did the half breed go with him ?" 
 
 "Expect." 
 
 " Was he with him when he died !" 
 
 For some reason, which will soon be apparent, 
 Botter did not reply to this question ; but the muscles 
 of his face seemed to work convulsively and more 
 than once, I noticed, he covered his mouth with his 
 hand, in a manner somewhat mysterious. 
 
 "He has a kind heart," I thought, "and is really 
 affected at the loss of poor Varney ;" and with a feel 
 ing of gloom and grief, I was about to throw myself 
 down upon the litter, resolved to break off the con 
 versation and commune only with my own sad 
 thoughts for the present, when my attention was 
 arrested by the singular conduct of the stranger. 
 
 Springing suddenly to Botter, he seized and turned 
 him round ; and for a moment, looked eagerly, almost 
 wildly, into his face ; and then, bounding to me, he 
 
454 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 caught me by the arm, and fairly dragged me to the 
 door ; where, in the stronger light, I underwent the 
 same rapid and eager scrutiny. Wondering what all 
 this portended, and half inclined to think the stranger 
 demented, I looked full into his bronzed face and 
 dark eyes. It was the first time I had done so in a 
 light sufficient to distinctly reveal every lineament ; 
 and I started to perceive an expression there peculiar 
 to one I was mourning as dead. 
 
 " Your name ?" he gasped. 
 
 "Roland Rivers." 
 
 " Great God I is it possible ? and I am Alfred Yar- 
 ney !" 
 
 The next moment we were locked in each other s 
 embrace, and stood trembling, and almost over 
 powered, with emotions which no language might 
 express. 
 
 i - " Wagh I hagh! wagh !" roared Sam ; " d ye see the 
 joke now, boys ? d ye see it now, like old One-Eyed 
 does ? wagh ! hagh ! wagh 1" 
 
SERIOUS SPECULATIONS. 455 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 SERIOUS SPECULATIONS. 
 
 WILD, thrilling and rapturous were the sensations 
 which Varney and I experienced, as each so suddenly 
 and unexpectedly discovered and clasped to his heart 
 a friend supposed to be no more. To attempt to 
 describe our emotions, and impart to the reader a 
 tithe of what we felt, would be worse than vain ; and 
 so I will only request him to take into consideration 
 our peculiar temperaments, the strength of our attach 
 ments, the length of time since our parting, the perils 
 and hardships we had encountered, the belief of each 
 that the other was dead, together with our strange 
 meeting in a lonely wilderness and with all these 
 facts duly considered, he may form some faint idea of 
 the feelings which stirred the inmost depths of our 
 souls as we stood clasped in each other s embrace. 
 
 "Is it possible this can be my dear friend, Eoland 
 Hirers!" exclaimed Yarney at length, starting back 
 and looking eagerly into my face. 
 
 " Rather let me say, is it possible this can be Alfred 
 Yarney! the pale, emaciated, consumptive friend, 
 whom I left at Bent s, lying upon what I feared would 
 be his bed of death! No wonder, with your full, 
 bronzed face, and robust frame seen unexpectedly 
 in this dim light that I did not recognize you, even 
 
456 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 though your voice had a familiar sound ; and then Sam 
 took care to destroy my faintest suspicion, by telling 
 me you were dead." 
 
 "Fun, ain t it?" roared Sam. "I knowed thar d be 
 fun, when I diskivered Freshwater up to t other val 
 ley. Yes, ye see, boys, I says to myself, says I, Sam, 
 you old beaver, you kin fotch Freshwater and Shad- 
 bones together mysterious and you kin git fun out 
 on em and ef you don t do it, Sam, you old one- 
 eyed nigger, then you ought to jest let em chaw you 
 up fur a liar wagh! haghl wagh! Wall, when I 
 got to my shanty hyer, I left you, Freshwater, to 
 hunt Shad bones fur I knowed he war n t fur off, case 
 it war nigh feeding time and he s powerful to eat 
 now, is that same Shadbones and so when I seed 
 him, I sent him up hyer to do the ginteel to my 
 Injun friend wagh! hagh! wagh!" 
 
 "But how is it I find you here with Sam?" inquired 
 I of Yarney. "Come, sit down, and tell me your 
 story." 
 
 " Yes, go in, Shadbones, and I ll fix you up some 
 beaver tails, and call it squar I will chaw me!" 
 said Botter, who immediately started out, leaving us 
 to ourselves. 
 
 The story of Varney, which occupied a couple of 
 hours in narration, I shall abridge. After our parting 
 at Bent s Fort, he remained there a couple of weeks, 
 and then resumed his journey, accompanied by the 
 half-breed, in the double capacity of guide and ser 
 vant. He reached Pueblo without accident, and spent 
 
SERIOUS SPECULATIONS. 457 
 
 a month at the fort, hoping I would join him; and 
 then, his health having in some measure improved, he 
 joined a party of hunters, and ascended the range of 
 mountains known as the Three Parks, and of which 
 his present locality formed a part. Once upon the 
 mountains, he began to experience a remarkable 
 change in his system ; and soon discovered, by unmis 
 takable signs, that his lungs were healing,* and his 
 joy at this discovery may readily be imagined. He 
 spent the fall, and a portion of the winter, in riding, 
 hunting, and fishing sometimes in company with a 
 strong party, and sometimes with only his guide for 
 his companion and toward spring made his way to 
 St. Yrain s Fort, where he encountered Botter, and 
 from his lips gathered all that was known of my his 
 tory. He here learned that El Doliente and Adele 
 had gone together toward the south ; but no one knew, 
 or appeared the least interested in knowing, their des 
 tination, though the tongue of scandal was not idle 
 concerning their moral characters. As to myself, it 
 was believed that I was dead. The girl stated that I 
 had been delirious ; and it was supposed that, after she 
 
 * " It is an extraordinary fact, that the air of the mountains has 
 a wonderful restorative effect upon constitutions enfeebled by 
 pulmonary diseases ; and of my own knowledge, I could mention 
 a hundred instances where persons, whose cases have been pro 
 nounced, by eminent practitioners, perfectly hopeless, have been 
 restored to comparatively sound health, by a sojourn in the pure 
 and bracing air of the Rocky Mountains ; and are now alive, to 
 testify to the effects of the reinvigorating climate." EUXTON S 
 ADVENTURES IN MEXICO AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 
 
458 THE BOBBER ROVER. 
 
 left me, I had wandered away, in a state of delirium, 
 and perished, and been devoured by wild beasts the 
 effect of which news on my friend was for a time very . 
 severe. 
 
 On arriving at St. Train s, it had been Yarney s 
 intention to return to the States during the ensuing 
 summer; but fearing a relapse, and believing one 
 more season on the mountains would effect a perma 
 nent cure, he had easily been prevailed on by Botter 
 to accompany him on a trapping expedition, which 
 was to end at the commencement of cold weather. 
 Botter had been successful beyond his expectations. 
 The valley where they were now located, had been dis 
 covered early in the summer ; and here the old trapper 
 had built his hut, and fixed his head quarters; though 
 he had since trapped on all the streams within fifty 
 miles, and had sometimes been absent for days at 
 a time. Yarney had sometimes accompanied him, 
 and had sometimes remained alone while he was 
 away; and had passed his time pleasantly, in hunt 
 ing and fishing, while Sam was busy looking 
 after his traps. The time for 1 setting out on their 
 return to some one of the wilderness forts, was now 
 near at hand; and only the day previous to my arri 
 val, the old mountaineer had announced his intention 
 of gathering up his traps and furs, pulling up stakes, 
 and making a bee line for Pueblo within a week. 
 
 Such was the substance of what I gathered from 
 Yarney his story being interrupted more than once 
 by Botter who, during the narration, brought us in a 
 
SERIOUS SPECULATION S. 459 
 
 well cooked dish of beaver-tails, which proved a most 
 delicious repast, and to which I .-certainly did ample 
 justice. Having heard Yarney s story, I proceeded 
 to relate my own and both he and Botter sat and 
 listened to me with manifest interest. When I had 
 brought my narrative to the point where I had so 
 unexpectedly met Botter, the old trapper characteris 
 tically observed: 
 
 "Freshwater, thar s no use in saying you hain t 
 been in some desperate tight places ; but ef you was 
 ever nigher being rubbed out, than when old One- 
 Eyed Sam had his squint along the barrel of this 
 hyer rifle, all I ve got to say is, you ve went through 
 a tighter squeeze than ary nigger this hyer old coon 
 ever heerd tell on. Yes sir-ee a heap chaw me! 
 Augh!" 
 
 "You did really intend to shoot me then?" said I. 
 
 "I kim so nigh to it, that I don t know why I 
 didn t fur it s a settled pint with me, to raise red- 
 nigger s ha r wharsomever I find it ; and ef you wasn t 
 a red-nigger to old Sam jest about then, then hyer s 
 what never seed snakes." 
 
 " The same good Providence which has ever watched 
 over me, saved me from your murderous design," I 
 rejoined. 
 
 "Don t know bout that thar but I reckon it war 
 the skeer in you as made me hold up," said Sam, 
 dryly. 
 
 " I was not so scared as excited," I replied. 
 
 " Wall, it had a powerful look to skeer, to this old 
 
460 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 possum," rejoined Botter, with a laugh. " The fact is, 
 I thought you d die to skeer, and save powder ef I 
 didn t, may I never tell the truth agin ! Augh 1" 
 
 " Well, I was saved, and am here, and I thank Gou 
 for it!" I rejoined. "And now, to change the subject, 
 pray tell me, Alfred, what you think of the conduct 
 of El Doliente and Adele?" 
 
 " I hardly know what to think, Eoland. I have 
 never seen the girl, you know ; but from all you have 
 told me of her, I have good reason to suppose her 
 innocent of the sin laid to her charge." 
 
 "But why did she set off alone with the Spaniard?" 
 
 " What was she to do? Without home, without 
 friends, believing you to be dead, what object could 
 she have in remaining in a wilderness fortress, sur 
 rounded by rough, vulgar, uncouth beings, who could 
 have little or no sympathy with one so pure, refined, 
 and intelligent ? It would naturally be her desire to 
 get among the people of her race and religion ; and 
 El Doliente may have generously afforded her the 
 opportunity, and taken her for the time under his pro 
 tection. We should never condemn our friends, and 
 especially those we love, without positive proof of 
 guilt!" 
 
 " You give me hope !" cried I, grasping his hand ; 
 " and I thank God there is one to speak in her defence ! 
 Poor Adele ! it is wrong to censure her without proof 
 positive of wrong and if ever being loved, I know 
 her heart was mine." 
 
 " And that love has sustained and saved her, rest 
 
SERIOUS SPECULATIONS. 461 
 
 assured, my dear Roland even supposing the snares 
 of temptation to have been thrown around her." 
 
 " Oh ! do you think so, Alfred ?" 
 
 " Sincerely and truly." 
 
 "But she believes me dead." 
 
 "Then, with her belief, she may fancy you present 
 with her in spirit and true love dies not." 
 
 "Oh! Great God! let not these bright hopes be 
 raised, to be suddenly destroyed!" I prayed. "But I 
 must find her, Alfred I must find her ; I must know 
 the truth; and till then I shall never rest in peace. 
 How can this be done? what shall I do ? She may 
 have gone to Mexico; but how shall I ascertain 
 whither she has gone ? and how follow her ? since, if 
 I recover the money I left at Bent s, my means will 
 still be very limited." 
 
 "I have some which is at your service." 
 
 "But you must go with me." 
 
 " There may be enough for both, if we use prudence 
 and economy." 
 
 "Tell you what tis, Freshwater," put in Sam 
 " you re a trump and trumps war al ays skeerce when 
 this hyer old nigger gambled high ; and so whensom- 
 ever I got a trump, d ye see, I al ays held tight on to 
 it, and val ed it powerful ; and being s I val e you 
 some at and you ve did me a good turn by-gone 
 why, I ll jest turn these hyer beaver skins into tin, 
 and you kin take the pile and slide. Augh I" 
 
 "Sam," cried I, seizing his horny hand, " you have 
 a soul I" 
 
462 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Hev I?" said Sam, simply; "wall, that s what a 
 
 Gospel preacher tell d me once ; but my old 
 
 weather-beaten carcass, ef ever I seed it, or knows 
 whar it ar ! Ko sir-ee chaw me !" 
 
 " But should I borrow your money, what would 
 you do through the winter ?" 
 
 " Make Injun fixings, and sell em to the traders 
 and next spring thar s more beaver." 
 
 li I thank you for the offer, and may accept of it ; 
 but depend upon it, if I do take your money, and 
 live to return to the States, you. shall never have 
 reason to complain of a bad investment." 
 
 "Don t know what that thar is," pursued Sam; 
 " but if it s ary thing to kivering, you needn t mind 
 gitting it fur this hyer old One-Eyed never war 
 much to flummery, gew-gaws, and gim-cracks nary 
 once. Augh !" 
 
 " What course had I better pursue first ?" I in 
 quired of Varney. 
 
 " I think we had better go to Pueblo first, and 
 there make inquiries as it is very likely, if the par 
 ties went to Mexico, that they stopped there on their 
 way." 
 
 " You think, then, I should gain nothing by going 
 first to St. Train s ?" 
 
 " It would certainly cause much delay, and I think 
 would be without any corresponding advantage." 
 
 " Well, I will be guided by you, my friend ; and 
 for Pueblo we will set out, as soon as Sam shall say 
 ready." 
 
SEEIOUS SPECULATIONS. 463 
 
 " Two days more, Freshwater jest gin this hyer old 
 woodchuck two days to git ready in and then we ll 
 all tramp han some we will. But mought I gin you 
 a bit of advice ?" 
 
 " Certainly, Sam." 
 
 " Then jest you go in, and rub off that thar Injun 
 
 grease chop off that thar old pigtail put a 
 
 skin kivering over your noddle, and git your body 
 inside to human fixings ; fur if you don t look like the 
 devil now, you do like one of his imps ; and the next 
 white gintleman as fotches his piece to b ar on you, 
 mought spile your meat-trap. Augh! Thar s the 
 stuff fur you ! (pointing to a heap of miscellaneous 
 articles) thar s a cougar skin to make a cap on ; 
 thar s a blanket you can toggle into a- hunting frock ; 
 thar s dressed deer-skin fur your breeches ; and you 
 kin gamble high on to it, that you won t look no 
 worser fur transmogrifying yourself from a red-nigger 
 into a white gintleman. Hey ! Shadbones ?" 
 
 " I think the change would improve his appear 
 ance," laughed Yarney, " and I will assist him to 
 make it. No wonder I did not sooner recognize 
 him." 
 
 " And I ll jest take a tramp, to look arter my 
 muleys," said Sam, catching up his rifle and setting 
 off forthwith. 
 
 The moment we were again left to ourselves, I has 
 tened to inquire of Yarney concerning one whom a 
 feeling of delicacy had prevented my mentioning in 
 the presence of a third party. 
 
464: THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 " What of her you love, my friend ? what of Mary 
 Edwards ?" I said. 
 
 " I have heard nothing of her since we parted," was 
 his reply; "but if she is living, and God spares my 
 life, I hope to see her again ere long." 
 
 " Are you still as much attached to her as when we 
 first met ?" 
 
 " Yes my heart has undergone no change since. 
 How could it, Eoland ? I loved her then, and true love 
 changes not by absence. It was for her I sought to 
 prolong my life; and without her, I fear that life 
 would now be valueless." 
 
 " But if she has heard nothing from you, what more 
 reasonable than for her to suppose you dead ?" 
 
 " I have often fancied that she is mourning me as 
 one no longer among the living," replied Varney, 
 somewhat dejectedly. "Sweet Mary! with what 
 trembling hope have I looked forward to our meeting 1" 
 
 " Are you sure of her heart, Alfred ?" 
 
 " What do you mean ?" he quickly demanded. 
 
 " Are you sure of her love ? Bear in mind, that 
 nothing passed between you on this subject ! and she 
 may be ignorant of the affection she inspired and, 
 because of this, may have turned her thoughts to 
 another for love, to be lasting, must be conscious of 
 reciprocity." 
 
 " You startle me, Eoland ! Surely, she must have 
 known I loved her ! for she could not but have seen 
 it in my every action." 
 
 " Yet love is exacting, and requires more assurance 
 
SERIOUS SPECULATIONS. 465 
 
 than friendship ; and moreover, she may think you no 
 longer among the living. Pardon me, if I say any 
 thing to give pain, or even uneasiness ! but should 
 any thing have happened, I think you would bear it 
 better if in a measure prepared for the blow." 
 
 " Speak out, Koland !" cried Yarney, nervously 
 grasping my arm, and looking eagerly and anxiously 
 into my face. 
 
 " Suppose you find Mary Edwards the wife of 
 another?" 
 
 He released my arm staggered back and, sitting 
 down ; remained silent for some minutes. 
 
 " God forbid !" he exclaimed at length ; " God for 
 bid ! for then indeed might I wish for that death I 
 have so long, and anxiously, and even painfully, 
 labored to shun ! Enough! my dear friend enough! 
 You mean me well, I know ; but let us speculate no 
 more on a matter that is life or death to me !" 
 
 The subject dropped then, nor was it resumed for a 
 long time after. "What I had said, had the effect to 
 dampen the spirits of Varney, so that at times he was 
 very sad and gloomy ; and I should have regretted 
 giving him the least pain, only for the reasons stated 
 to him, that I feared he might possibly find a change, 
 which, coming upon him suddenly, and without pre 
 vious preparation, might be productive of more serious 
 consequences. 
 
 We spent the two succeeding days in getting ready 
 for our departure. I employed most of the time in 
 effecting a much desired change in my personal ap- 
 
466 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 pearance, and Varney assisted me ; while Better kept 
 himself busy, in scraping and drying some newly 
 taken beaver skins, and in repairing his mule saddles, 
 sacks and straps, collecting his traps and camp uten 
 sils, and packing all snugly for safe transportation. 
 
 It may not be amiss, in this connection, to mention 
 the mode of catching the beaver, which confers the 
 name of trapper upon such as make a living by this 
 occupation. Large steel traps are baited with an oily 
 substance, taken from the scrotum of the beaver itself, 
 and placed in the "run" of the animal, under -water. 
 A chain, attached to the trap, is then made fast to a 
 picket, or sapling, on the bank; while a cord con 
 nects with a stick, which floats on the water so that, 
 in case the beaver gets away with the trap, its locality 
 maybe readily discovered. The bait, called "medi 
 cine," the beaver scents while under water ; and being 
 curious to know what it is, and why it is there, he 
 hovers about the trap, till accidentally he springs it 
 with his foot and is caught. He is thence taken out 
 by the trapper and skinned; and his skin, scraped 
 and stretched on a hoop, is dried in the sun, and thus 
 prepared for the market while his tail is carefully 
 put aside as a bonne bouche. 
 
 Everything being prepared for our journey, we set 
 out at daylight for Pueblo, on the third morning after 
 my arrival. Varney had one mule, and Botter two ; 
 but as the trapper s animals were both well laden, we 
 took turns in riding the beast of Varney. We had 
 pleasant weather all the way, though at times very 
 
NEWS FROM HOME. 467 
 
 cold ; and in five days we reached Pueblo, without 
 accident or incident worthy of note. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 NEWS FROM HOME. 
 
 PUEBLO de San Carlos, or Village of St. Charles, as 
 it is called, is a small, square fort, built of adobes, 
 with a wall about eight feet high, which stands on 
 the left bank of the Arkansas, at no great distance 
 from the base of the mountains. It is occupied by 
 Indian traders, coureurs des bois, and mountaineers, 
 with their Indian and Mexican wives and children ; 
 and at the time I visited it, I could not discover that 
 its tenants were remarkable for either beauty, clean 
 liness, intelligence or refinement. They were about 
 as civil, however, as tame bears and this was as 
 much, perhaps, as I had a right to expect. 
 
 On pushing my inquiries here, I finally learned, 
 from a respectable looking half-breed, that more than 
 a year ago, two persons, answering the description of 
 El Doliente and Adele, accompanied by a negro, had 
 made a short halt at the fort, and employed a guide 
 to conduct them to Santa Fe. This intelligence, 
 which to me was of great importance, was all I could 
 gather ; and as may readily be believed, I was more 
 
468 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 eager to extend my journey to a point where I might 
 possibly obtain more definite information. 
 
 " If I only had the means," said I to Varney, " to 
 morrow should see me en route to the capital of New 
 Mexico." 
 
 " Would to Heaven I had enough for both !" he 
 replied. 
 
 " We must go first to Bent s," I rejoined ; " and if I 
 can recover the money I left there, I think, with 
 what you have, and proper economy, we shall be able 
 to travel respectably among civilized people, at least 
 for a time." 
 
 " You knows what this hyer old hoss told ye up 
 to the mountains, I expect, Freshwater !" observed 
 Better, who chanced to overhear my remark. 
 
 "I do ; and I thank you, from my heart, for your 
 generous offer, Sam ; but if I can get along without 
 touching your hard earnings, I would rather do so." 
 
 " It ll be all the same to old One-Eyed Sam afore 
 spring you kin gamble on to that thar !" he rejoined, 
 good humoredly. " Every dollar this hyer nigger 
 gits, is greased beautiful ; and the way they slides 
 through these hyer old j ints, is a caution to old Kain- 
 tuck. Augh 1" 
 
 Yarney traded his mule for a horse, and purchased 
 another for me ; and the second morning after reach 
 ing the Pueblo, we set off for Bent s Fort, distant 
 about seventy miles. We camped out one night, and 
 reached our destination before dark of the second day, 
 in good bodily condition. Here I met with a sur- 
 
NEWS FROM HOME. 469 
 
 prise, which gave me both pleasure and pain being 
 no less than a letter from my father, accompanied 
 with a heavy purse of gold. 
 
 Having never written home since the letter dated 
 on board the steamer Missouri, which the reader 
 doubtless remembers and having mentioned in that, 
 that I contemplated going as far west as Bent s Fort 
 my father had become extremely anxious concerning 
 my long absence and silence, and had actually dis 
 patched a messenger to this point in quest of me. 
 The messenger had remained here a month and had 
 gone back with a belief that I was no longer among 
 the living but had left the purse of gold and letter 
 with Mr. Bent, to be put in my possession, in case I 
 should be heard of within a couple of years. The 
 epistle of my father, even before I broke the seal, ex 
 cited strange and powerful emotions; and with a 
 trembling hand, and something like a guilty con 
 science, I tore it open, and read as follows : 
 
 " My dear Son ! If ever you see these lines, you 
 will learn that your parents are almost broken-hearted, 
 on account of your long absence and silence. If liv 
 ing, may you never feel the keen pang of disappoint 
 ment we all felt but your mother and myself 
 especially on the receipt of your letter from Missouri, 
 which told us you were about to cross the plains to 
 Bent s Fort, and would not be with us on your birth 
 day. From that moment I have been growing old 
 and with that intelligence my fondest hope perished. 
 Why did you leave me at such a time ? You know 
 
470 THE BOEDER KOVEK. 
 
 how much I counted on retiring from business, and 
 seeing you duly installed my successor ! I could not 
 think of continuing the business any longer ; and so, 
 on your twenty-first anniversary you not being 
 present the establishment of your father, and which 
 might have been yours, passed into the hands of your 
 brothers-in-law who, for reasons that I will explain, 
 if ever I see you, have changed the firm of Rivers & 
 Co. to that of Golden and Sharp. If you want to 
 know more, Mr. Spencer, the agent I send out to find 
 you, will inform you. I also send you a thousand 
 dollars in gold, not knowing what your wants may 
 be. Oh ! my son, if among the living, do come home, 
 and all shall be forgiven. I found, from your letter, 
 that the life I had proposed for you was not to your 
 liking : you should have told me of this before you 
 left. It has been a great disappointment to me but 
 let that pass. If I ever get you with me again, I 
 think I shall be quite happy, comparatively speaking. 
 Golden and Sharp are worthy young men, and have 
 good judgment and business tact. Your friends are 
 all usually well, except your mother, who frets a good 
 deal about you, which wears upon her. All send love, 
 and so I need not specify. Will you not come home, 
 and make all our hearts glad? Your affectionate 
 father, &c." 
 
 To this epistle, which bore date the preceding 
 March, there was a postscript, which said a volume in 
 a few words. 
 
 "Roland, my son, God bless you! If you are 
 
NEWS FROM HOME. 471 
 
 alive, I know you will hasten home, and make happy 
 the heart of your now unhappy mother." 
 
 The hand that had penned these lines was my 
 mother s, and that hand had trembled so as to make 
 the writing nearly illegible, and there was the stain 
 of a tear upon the page. As I finished reading the 
 whole, I handed the letter in silence to Varney ; and 
 sinking down upon a seat, my overcharged heart 
 found some relief in a flood of tears. 
 
 " What do you now propose, my friend?" inquired 
 Yarney, when I had in a great degree regained my 
 usual composure. 
 
 " I must go home, Alfred. I must set out immedi 
 ately too. Mr. Spencer has returned and even now 
 my parents are mourning me as dead. Heaven help 
 me! Should my disobedience for I can call it by 
 no other term be the means of shortening the days 
 of my dear mother, I shall never forgive myself 
 shall never be happy again." 
 
 "I fear I am much to blame for all this," said 
 Yarney, sadly. 
 
 " You, my dear friend ? no !" cried I, grasping his 
 hand. " It is I, and I alone, that am to blame." 
 
 " But you know I was anxious to have you go with 
 me, Koland !" 
 
 " But, at the same time, I remember you urged me 
 to do only what I thought best, and I thought best to 
 go. No, Yarney, do not accuse yourself of leading 
 me astray, or I shall have more to regret than now." 
 
472 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " But had it not been for me, you might not have 
 come hither 1" 
 
 " Say rather, had it not been for my own desire. 
 Did I not contemplate making such a journey before 
 I left home ? long ere I saw you, or knew you had an 
 existence ? "What folly, Alfred, to reflect upon your 
 self, in a case in which, to say the most, you have only 
 been an accessory after the fact." 
 
 " But even that is criminal in law." 
 
 " Only when the original deed is criminal, remem 
 ber, and amenable to the law ! But enough of this, 
 my friend ! There is no analogy between the fact, as 
 it stands, and the figure by which we have chosen to 
 represent it and so let the subject drop. We are all 
 creatures of circumstance; and a train of circum 
 stances, which nothing human could foresee, have 
 placed me here at a period remote from my intentions. 
 If I have erred and God, who knows all things, only 
 knows whether I have done wrong to myself and 
 those who gave me being, if I have erred, I say, I 
 must now endeavor to retrieve the error, as much as 
 possible, by setting forth immediately upon my return 
 to those who are mourning me as dead." 
 
 " Then you will not endeavor to find Adele ?" 
 
 " Ah ! Adele sweet Adele ! how that name thrills 
 through my soul ! Alfred, you love you know what 
 love is advise me what shall I do? Shall I at 
 tempt to find her ? and if so, for what purpose ? to 
 what end ? To know her the wife of another that 
 would be terrible. To know her the victim of a vil- 
 
NEWS FKOM HOME. 473 
 
 lain that would be worse. In either case, I should 
 be more miserable, perhaps, than I am now and 
 Heaven knows I am very far from being happy at 
 this moment." 
 
 "Then, as soon as you like, we will set off across 
 the plains for Independence." 
 
 " You think such a course best, Alfred, all things 
 considered ?" 
 
 " All things considered, I do. You might not find 
 Adele, should you seek her; and if found, the hap 
 piness you seek might not be found with her." 
 
 " It is settled then let us inquire when the next 
 train goes eastward !" said I. 
 
 But it was not settled at least not settled as I had 
 supposed. I believe, to some extent, in destiny ; and 
 it was my destiny, ere long, to gather such intelli 
 gence as, in one sense, almost compelled me, in my 
 vacillating state of mind swayed as it was by every 
 strong emotion to change my design. On making 
 inquiries, I learned among other matters of interest 
 to me, that El Doliente had been here with Adele ; 
 that he had left full pay for such of the party as had 
 gone with him in quest of the girl, and had not re 
 turned, and were not known to have been killed by 
 the Indians ; that the conduct of both had been such 
 as to win the esteem and love of the high-minded; 
 that Adele had more than once mentioned my name, 
 but always with tears ; and that both had set out for 
 Santa Fe, by way of Pueblo, and expected to spend a 
 few days with the Governor of New Mexico. Add to 
 
474 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 this, that I found here the very person a Mexican 
 who had been hired at Pueblo to guide them to Santa 
 Fe ; that he stated he had seen them cordially received 
 by Governor Armijo and his family ; and that he spoke 
 of El Doliente as a gentleman, and of Adele as one 
 of the kindest and most beautiful ladies he had ever 
 met: add these facts to the foregoing, I say, and take 
 every thing into consideration, and I think the reader 
 will not be surprised at my putting off my journey 
 homeward, till I had made another in a contrary 
 direction, and gathered further tidings of one who 
 still held the first place in my affection. 
 
 " Alfred," said I, " you must by this time be aware 
 that your companion is a man of whims, without 
 stability of purpose. Already have I again changed 
 my plan. I am now resolved upon a journey to Santa 
 Fe ; but I will not be so selfish as to ask you to 
 accompany me ; for now that you have been led to 
 look upon a speedy return to the States as a matter 
 of certainty, it would be cruel to drag you away upon 
 a long journey of hardship and peril a journey " 
 
 " Stop I" cried Varney, interrupting me : "you have 
 said enough, unless your object be to give offence. 
 I trust, whatever may be my imperfections, ingrati 
 tude is not one of them. I have not forgotten how 
 you stood by me in my distress, when I had not 
 another friend to call upon ; and if I desert you now, 
 may my limbs wither, and my heart turn to stone !" 
 
 It being now finally settled that we should depart 
 for Santa Fe, I lost no time in making further im- 
 
NEWS FROM HOME. 475 
 
 provements in my personal appearance, by purchasing 
 and donning a still more civilized costume than I had 
 been able to manufacture from the materials furnished 
 by the old trapper. I did not succeed in getting what 
 might be termed a citizen s dress but only a slight 
 improvement on the mountaineer s yet it was so 
 much superior to the patched articles I laid aside, that 
 I looked into a hand mirror with pride, and really felt 
 quite fashionable. My hair or rather the want of 
 it was a source of considerable annoyance for a time ; 
 but I finally succeeded in purchasing, of a Canadian 
 Frenchman, a respectable looking wig, which put my 
 mind at ease on that point. Thus renewed, in the 
 outer man at least and having recovered my money, 
 hired the guide of El Doliente, and settled everything 
 to my satisfaction we bade adieu to Bent s Fort, and 
 hastened back to Pueblo, where we stopped to lay in 
 some provisions, that we might not be hindered by 
 being compelled to hunt game for food. Here I saw 
 Botter for the last time; and after informing him of 
 all that had occurred, he replied, in his characteristic 
 manner : 
 
 " Chaw me up fur a liar, Freshwater, but your old 
 dad s some punks! A thousand shiners, hey? Why, 
 riddle my old carcass with ramrods, ef it wouldn t 
 take this hyer old one-eyed nigger a desperate spell 
 to fotch in enough beaver to them thar ! yes-sir-ee ! 
 And all fur nothing! He s a trump you kin gamble 
 high on to him, boy; and I m glad on t; fur you is 
 some at to a younker, and not nigh so green as you 
 
476 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 was nary once. Augh ! And so the Cap in left the 
 tin fur the boys, hey ? fur them as didn t git rubbed 
 out ? Wall, that thar war decent, Freshwater hey ! 
 Shadbones? yes-sir-ee chaw me! Wall, may be 
 he wasn t sich a rascal arter all hope he wasn t." 
 
 " They gave him an excellent character at Bent s," 
 I rejoined. 
 
 " Wall, I spect he s got white blood into him, and 
 knows what decency is ; but ef he didn t love that 
 thar gal, Freshwater, harder nor nary mule kin kick, 
 then chaw me up fur a liar ! and call this hyer old 
 
 beaver a one-eyed old woodchuck! Augh! 
 
 wagh ! shagh !" 
 
 " Are you certain, Sam ?" 
 
 "I seed it, Freshwater old One-Eyed seed it yes- 
 sir-ee ! And he knowed she war your meat, too ef 
 he didn t, why was eyes made ? But he mought hev 
 thought you war rubbed out, d ye see ? which all on 
 us did, you know." 
 
 "And Adele?" inquired I, nervously: "did she 
 seem to return his passion ?" 
 
 " Not to fust nary once; but I reckon she gin in 
 afore she left." 
 
 " I hardly know whether to think him a villain or 
 not!" said I, greatly troubled and perplexed. " There 
 has been mystery about the whole affair, from begin 
 ning to end. When I first mentioned her, he got 
 excited; in listening to her history, he acted like a 
 madman ; and ever after, even in fitting out the expe 
 dition and going in quest of her, he displayed an 
 
NEWS FROM HOME. 477 
 
 interest in her fate and fortune which is unaccount 
 able." 
 
 " You jest ought to heerd him go on, when 
 he found the Injins had got the best of us, and 
 knowed thar wasn t nary chance to gitting the gal 
 away!" said Better u fur, in course, he didn t know 
 as she d put out with you. Chaw me, Freshwater 
 but, fur a leetle while, he made all howl beautiful. 
 Augh!" 
 
 " Well, it is all very strange, and I know not what 
 to think," said I. " If I can ascertain that he really 
 loves the girl, and has made her his wife, I shall 
 retire, without disturbing their happiness, and return 
 home a sadder, and perhaps a wiser, man ; but if I 
 find he has wronged Adele Loyola, then will I pray 
 to be set face to face with him, and let God judge 
 between us I" 
 
 " Them s em I" returned Sam. " Go in, Freshwa 
 ter I I ll gamble on to you." 
 
 At the filial parting, Better shook hands with both 
 Varney and myself; and, for an old mountaineer, 
 used to all kinds of changes and vicissitudes, he 
 seemed not a little affected. 
 
 " Good-by, boys !" he said, in a rather unsteady 
 voice ; " and as this hyer old nigger s Kaintuck dad 
 used to say may your meat never run out, nor your 
 corn-crib git low ! Expect it aint like you ll ever see 
 this hyer old One-Eyed agin nary once chaw me ! 
 Augh ! But ef we don t never meet agin, I hope you 
 won t forgit as how we ve all been in whar blood was 
 
478 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 drawed, and hev seed snakes afore now ; and ef you ve 
 got a stray thought to spar , you ll let her slide to the 
 mountains, whar she ll find old Sam cotching beavers 
 and raising ha r till he goes under." 
 
 " God bless you, Sam !" said I, shaking his honest 
 hand heartily : " while memory lasts, you will not be 
 forgotten by me !" 
 
 " Let me echo the words of my friend !" said Var- 
 ney, with feeling. 
 
 " Chaw me I" rejoined the old trapper, turning away, 
 and bringing his hand quickly across his eye. lt I 
 
 haint felt so womanish sence Wolfy quit to the 
 
 Pawnees nary once. Augh ! Wall, good -by, boys ! 
 and hyer s a old one-eyed beaver as will travel fur a 
 wet. Augh ! augh !" 
 
 With this Sam turned abruptly away, and disap 
 peared within the fort. We never saw him again. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXY. 
 
 A LONG JOURNEY. 
 
 WELL mounted and armed, with our Mexican guide 
 and a pack-mule, we left Pueblo de San Carlos, one 
 cold, raw day, and soon struck into a mountainous 
 region, in one of whose valleys we made our first 
 camp, the cold being very intense. But as it is not 
 my purpose to give a detailed account of our journey 
 to Santa Fe, I will merely remark, that we arrived 
 
A LONG JOURNEY. 479 
 
 safely at the then dirty capital of New-Mexico, in 
 something less than two weeks from crossing the Ar 
 kansas having passed more than one night in a snow 
 storm, and suffered severely from the cold. To say 
 I was disappointed and disgusted with the appearance 
 of the town, will only be to tell about half of the 
 truth, and add my testimony to that of every foreigner 
 visiting it for the first time. It contained, at this 
 period, a miserable population of some two or three 
 thousand a mongrel collection of Mexicans, Indians, 
 and negroes, with a few foreigners, mostly traders 
 none of whom could boast of anything better than a 
 mud dwelling, and a large portion of whom lived in 
 huts hardly fit to be classed with respectable dog-ken 
 nels. There was one exception- the palacio, or palace, 
 of the Governor a long, low building, with adobe 
 walls, which occupied nearly one side of the Grande 
 Plaza, or principal square, and which displayed a 
 colonnade of rough pine pillars. I have since seen 
 the town compared to a dilapidated brick-kiln, or 
 prairie dog-town, and I think the comparison does it 
 ample justice. Having passed, on our way hither, 
 through the comparatively neat and flourishing valley 
 of Taos and having, moreover, heard much of Santa 
 Fe as a great trading mart we had drawn freely upon 
 our imaginations, and pictured forth the place as one 
 of neatness and beauty; but, unfortunately for our 
 fanciful creations, we found it what I have described it. 
 " Well, Alfred," said I, as we plodded our way 
 
480 THE BOEDER KOVEK. 
 
 through the dirty streets, toward the residence of Gov 
 ernor Armijo " what do you think of this ?" 
 
 " That the sooner we leave it the better," was his 
 reply. " If El Doliente has any taste, you will not 
 find him here nor, for that matter, Adele either." 
 
 "I think you are right," I rejoined, i( but we must 
 make inquiry in the right quarter." 
 
 On reaching the Governor s Palace as it was 
 termed by way of distinction we learned, much to 
 our regret, that he and his family had gone to a dis 
 tant part of the province, and were not expected here 
 for a couple of months at least his principal resi 
 dence being at Albuquerque, several leagues further 
 south. 
 
 " Then we have had our journey for nothing I" said 
 I, bitterly; "for after what I have seen of these dirty, 
 cut-throat-looking Mexicans, nothing shall tempt me 
 to penetrate further into their miserable country !" 
 
 Through our guide who had, as I have stated, con 
 ducted El Doliente hither we learned that he had 
 remained but a few days with the Governor, and had 
 set off south, with another guide, taking Adele and 
 Cato with him ; but what destination he then had in 
 view, no one knew and I think I venture nothing 
 in adding, no one cared to know. One of the Gover 
 nor s servants stated to our guide, that he had heard 
 the Spaniard, in conversation with his master, mention 
 New Orleans quite frequently and inferred that he 
 intended to visit that city but whether for the pur 
 pose of taking up his residence there, or not, he could 
 
A LONG JOURNEY. 481 
 
 not say. This was all the news we could gather of 
 any importance and this really amounted to nothing. 
 
 "Well, Eoland, what now ?" inquired Yarney, in a 
 tone that showed he felt for my disappointment. 
 
 "We will start for Independence with the first 
 train that goes out," said I. 
 
 Fortunately there was one, of some twenty teams, 
 going to set out on the following day ; and having 
 made all our arrangements to accompany it, we had 
 only one night of misery to pass in the loathsome 
 place a place which, I can truly say, I entered with 
 disgust and left with delight. 
 
 I need not dwell upon our long, wearisome journey 
 back to Independence, in the State of Missouri. Suf 
 fice, that we passed in safety, though surrounded by 
 perils, over the then cold, bleak, desolate plains ; and 
 arrived at our destination, with the snow a foot 
 deep and falling, in the month of January, 18 . Had 
 we been a week later in setting out, we should pro 
 bably have perished on the prairies as the snow fell 
 to a great depth, and drifted to a height of twenty 
 feet. 
 
 On reaching Independence, though more than two 
 thousand miles distant from my native city, I felt as 
 if I had got within a few steps of home ; and had my 
 heart been as free as when I beheld the place for the 
 first time, my delight would have been excessive. As 
 it was, I was glad to get here, and feel that I was once 
 more safe from the perils of the wilderness ; my de 
 sire to rove beyond the borders had been gratified ; 
 29 
 
482 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 I had seen enough, of the Far West and its wild life 
 of adventure; but the thought that Adele sweet, 
 beautiful Adele was lost to me for ever, rendered me 
 sad and gloomy, even with the prospect before me of 
 a speedy return to those I had loved with a filial love 
 before loving her. 
 
 At the inn where we had stopped on our way out, 
 we found our baggage, all safe, and our clothes in 
 good condition ; and we now made as much haste to 
 don civilized attire, as we had then to put on the cos 
 tume of the mountaineer. But though we were free 
 to acknowledge that our more fashionable apparel 
 improved us externally in a wonderful degree, yet 
 we found it anything but agreeable to get into tight 
 boots, and close-fitting coats, and have stiff, heavy 
 hats pressing upon our foreheads, to say nothing of 
 bungling cravats and starched shirt collars. But 
 knowing as we did that we were about to appear once 
 more among civilized and enlightened people where 
 fashion rules, and requires all, who would be thought 
 respectable, to sacrifice comfort to external show we 
 bore our afflictions meekly, and with the resignation 
 of martyrs. 
 
 As good luck would have it, the winter, so far, had 
 been mild and open ; and on the second day after 
 reaching Independence, we were enabled to get on 
 board of a steamer, bound down the Missouri to St. 
 Louis. It was indeed a most fortunate occurrence for 
 us, and a narrow escape, for the river froze a few days 
 subsequently, and navigation continued closed for two 
 
A LONG JOURNEY. 483 
 
 or three months which would have compelled us to 
 remain in a not very agreeable frontier settlement, or 
 make a cold, tedious, overland journey of nearly four 
 hundred miles. 
 
 "Human life," observed Varney, reflectively, as 
 arm-in-arm we walked up and down the saloon, "is 
 to each individual a world; and what important 
 changes in that world may a few days, or weeks, or 
 months effect? Here now are you and I, Roland, 
 almost at the very point where first we met nearly 
 two years ago but how changed is the world of each 
 since then! or rather, how changed is mine!" 
 
 "Say -how changed to both!" I replied; "for I 
 sadly feel I am not the same man I was then, and 
 therefore see not the world I saw." 
 
 "Then," pursued Yarney, "I was almost a helpless 
 invalid, struggling for that life, that world, which I 
 have since attained." 
 
 "Then," rejoined I, "I had a world of happiness 
 before me, which is now obscured by clouds of gloom. 
 I was almost happy then I am very far from being 
 happy now." 
 
 " In so much do we change places," continued Var 
 ney, " that I was unhappy then, but might be happy 
 now, if I could feel assured that one bright, lovely 
 being longs for my return." 
 
 "In so much do we change places," I repeated, 
 " that then I had hope, but now feel despondency 
 you then were despondent, but now have hope." 
 
 "But if my hope should fail me, Eoland ?" 
 
484: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 11 Then would the changes of our worlds cause us to 
 meet in sympathy on equal ground," said I. 
 
 " Oh ! if, after all, sweet Mary can never be mine, I 
 shall ever regret that I did not permit my spirit to 
 take its flight in her sweet presence!" almost groaned 
 Yarney. 
 
 " Adele pure, confiding Adele is lost to me for 
 ever!" I rejoined, in a tremulous voice. 
 
 " Koland," cried Yarney, anxiously, " you must go 
 South with me, and be witness of my happiness or 
 misery." 
 
 11 To witness your happiness would make me 
 miserable, Alfred to witness your misery would 
 make me wretched!" I replied. "No, my friend, 
 under the circumstances I would not go with you." 
 
 " But I am too selfish to part with you at this try 
 ing moment," pursued Yarney, earnestly. "I must 
 have one friend by me, Roland ; and what friend have 
 I, save you, if not her I love ? I have worldly friends, 
 Koland bat none of the heart none to whom I 
 could unbosom my soul, and confide the one great 
 secret of life or death. I have no father, no mother, 
 no sister, no brother but you you and Mary are my 
 world my all : I cannot lose you both at once !" and 
 his eyes filled with tears. " You have been with me 
 long, Roland ; you know all my weak points my 
 failings " 
 
 "Say rather I know your virtues, Alfred," I in 
 terposed. 
 
 " You have stood nobly by me in times of peril, 
 
A LONG JOURNEY. 485 
 
 trial and distress, and you must not part from me now 
 I cannot have it so. I know I am selfish. I know I 
 am asking a great boon, to take you away from your 
 anxious friends, for even a few days; but happiness 
 is what we all, poor mortals, seek ; and it would make 
 me so happy to have you with me !" 
 
 "Ask anything else in my power to grant, Alfred, 
 even to the dividing of my fortune, and you shall not 
 ask in vain. And yet," I added, after a moment s 
 reflection, perceiving Yarney s disappointed and 
 dejected look, " I hardly know why I would refuse 
 you this simple request ! perhaps because I have so 
 intently fixed my mind upon reaching home in the 
 shortest possible time, and dread to turn aside to look 
 upon new scenes, of which I have seen more than 
 enough perhaps because my heart is sad and lonely, 
 and I long to get among my friends and look no more 
 upon strange faces for a time. But you turned aside 
 for me, Alfred, and I ought to do this much for you. 
 I could write home, it is true, and assure my parents 
 of my safety." 
 
 " Yes !" cried Yarney, eagerly, his features brighten 
 ing with hope ; " and oh ! I will do everything I can 
 to make the journey pleasant and cheerful !" 
 
 " To seek to win my thoughts from Adele, Alfred, 
 would be to labor in vain. Her image is enshrined 
 in my heart, and every beat of that heart brings her 
 before my mental vision. Time may wear off the 
 impression but I fear there will ever be a void there, 
 which she alone might fill. You know her not, Alfred 
 
486 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 and coTild never know her as I do : for in our long 
 flight from captivity, surrounded by perils the hap 
 piest days of my existence I had an opportunity to 
 look down, as it were, into her very soul ; and I saw 
 it was pure as an angel s unstained by even a sinful 
 thought. And now where is she ? and what is her 
 fate? Oh! I grow sick at the thought! and become 
 very, very miserable when I think. There is no 
 balm for me but time, Alfred and time may fail to 
 heal the grief I feel at her loss : I know I can never 
 displace her memory. But enough of this ! Where 
 would you have me go, Alfred?" 
 
 " First to New Orleans : there I may possibly learn 
 if Mary still lives, and lives for me." 
 
 " And what then ?" 
 
 "If so, we will set off at once for Ingledale the 
 plantation seat of General Edwards about fifty miles 
 distant." 
 
 " And if not so, Alfred?" 
 
 "Then," he said, smothering his emotion, "I know 
 not what." 
 
 " You will go home with me ?" 
 
 "If you desire it." 
 
 " Enough, Alfred I will go I" 
 
 He grasped my hand. 
 
 " But one proviso," I added. 
 
 "Name it." 
 
 " If you go to seek your Mary, I return alone." 
 
 " Would you not accompany me to Ingledale ?" 
 
 " I would rather not." 
 
A LONG JOURNEY. 487 
 
 " Be it so then." 
 
 " New Orleans !" continued I, musingly. " It was 
 the city mentioned. Oh ! if I only dared to hope !" 
 
 " You are thinking of what you heard at Santa 
 Fe?" said Varney, inquiringly. 
 
 "lam." 
 
 " I dare not excite your hope," he replied ; " but it 
 may not be impossible." 
 
 " Enough ! Alfred enough ! not another word on 
 the subject ! I will go with you." 
 
 On reaching St. Louis, I immediately addressed a 
 long letter to my father, giving a brief account of my 
 adventures, and stating why I had resolved upon a 
 journey to New Orleans, and about what time I 
 thought it likely I should be in Philadelphia. Then 
 making some purchases and, among the rest, a wig, 
 resembling as much as possible my natural hair, 
 which had not as yet grown to a proper length we 
 took the first steamer for New Orleans, where in due 
 time we arrived in safety. 
 
488 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 
 
 ON my way to the Crescent City, I had sometimes 
 almost ventured to hope that inquiries at all the 
 boarding establishments and hotels, with a glance in 
 the directory, would give me the name of El Doli- 
 ente though I had no more reason for supposing 
 him there, save the inference drawn by the servant 
 of Governor Armijo, than for supposing him in Mexi 
 co, Havana, or Madrid. But grant I should find 
 him what then ? Why, then, perhaps, I should 
 discover Adele to be his wife or him to be a vil 
 lain and how much would either add to my happi 
 ness ? But it would be something to have certainty 
 in place of conjecture ; and if I found him to be a vil 
 lain, it might prove some satisfaction to inflict a 
 merited punishment. 
 
 On the morning following our arrival, Varney, who 
 had risen and gone out very early alone, suddenly 
 burst into my room at the hotel, under great excite 
 ment, and immediately sunk down upon a seat with 
 out uttering a word. 
 
 "Good heavens!" cried I "what is the matter, 
 Alfred? are you ill?" 
 
 "In a moment!" he said; "in a moment, Eoland! 
 
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 489 
 
 I am much excited. Mary is here, in the city, with 
 her father." 
 
 * c Have you seen her ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Have you seen her father?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 " How do you know they are here ?" 
 
 "I knew he owned a mansion here at which he 
 sometimes spent the winter, or a portion of it and I 
 have just been to see it. I found it occupied, and a 
 servant at work on the pavement. I inquired who 
 lived there, and was answered General Edwards. I 
 trembled and grew faint. The most important ques 
 tion was now to come, and the answer would be life 
 or death. 
 
 " * Is his daughter Mary with him ? 
 
 "The answer was in the affirmative. I breathed 
 again but almost gaspingly. 
 
 " c Is she married or single ? 
 
 " The negro stared at me, and hesitated evidently 
 wondering what could be the meaning of such a 
 question from a stranger, who looked more mad than 
 sane. 
 
 " I am an old friend, and have been a long time 
 away, I hastened to add, at the same time slipping a 
 dollar into his hand. * Quick ! boy speak ! is she 
 married or single ? 
 
 " Single, mas er t ank you, sah ! smiled the negro, 
 putting the coin into his pocket. 
 
 "I turned short about, Eoland, without another 
 
490 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 word, and I believe I ran down the street, but T am 
 not sure. At all events, I am here now, and hardly 
 know whether to believe my senses or not. I have 
 not been dreaming, have I, Koland ?" 
 
 "You appear to be very wide awake now, at all 
 events," I answered, grasping his hand; "and I will 
 venture to congratulate you on your future happiness. 
 Would to Heaven I were as sure of Adele as you are 
 of Mary I" 
 
 " But I am not sure, Eoland I have not seen her 
 and I fairly tremble at the thought of meeting her, 
 and learning my fate." 
 
 " If she is alive, and unwedded, you have nothing 
 to fear, Alfred." 
 
 Do you think so ?" cried Varney, starting up like 
 a wild man and grasping my hand again. "Do you 
 really think I have nothing to fear ?" 
 
 " I certainly do. But pray calm yourself 1 you are 
 more excited than I ever saw you before." 
 
 "Because I am nearer joy or despair than I have 
 ever been since you have known me. Believe me, 
 Koland, it were easier for me to bear the pangs of 
 death than disappointment in this." 
 
 " But why have you any doubts ?" 
 
 " Perhaps she does not reciprocate my love !" 
 
 " But you have always thought differently !" 
 
 " I was far away then, and saw hope dimly in the 
 distance; but now, as I draw near the shining light, I 
 see a thousand intervening obstacles." 
 
 " What are they?" 
 
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 491 
 
 " What I took for affection, may only have been 
 gratitude ; and then she is an heiress, while I am only 
 a poor adventurer." 
 
 "But love levels all distinctions, Alfred." 
 
 " Ay, love, without pride, between the immediate 
 parties, I grant you. But does she love? that is the 
 point. And then her father would he consent to let 
 her throw herself away upon one little better than a 
 beggar?" 
 
 " If he object to you, Alfred, though without a 
 dollar after the peculiar treatment you received while 
 under his roof his gratitude for saving her life was 
 false a base counterfeit !" said I, warmly. 
 
 " But though single, she may love another, Koland I 
 Heavens I what a thought I" 
 
 "Well, try and be calm; and go, like a man, and 
 learn your fate. Though rich as Croesus, beautiful as 
 Hebe, chaste as Diana, and pure as an angel, you are 
 worthy of her, Alfred." 
 
 " Ay, Eoland were you the arbiter of my fate, I 
 should fear nothing but, unfortunately, others do 
 not hold me in such high esteem. I thank you for 
 the compliment for I know it comes from your noble 
 heart." 
 
 " Well, go and see her your mind will be harassed 
 and tormented by doubts, fears, and hopes, till you 
 do." 
 
 "twill!" said Yarney, nervously; "I will go and 
 
 dress at once ; and then . But I must not think ! 
 
 Will you accompany me, Eoland ?" 
 
492 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 " No, you had better go alone ; and I will occupy 
 myself, meantime, in prosecuting my inquiries con 
 cerning El Doliente though I, at least, have no hope 
 of reward." 
 
 Soon after this conversation I went down, ate a 
 light breakfast, and sauntered out alone. The morn 
 ing was bright and clear the air soft and spring-like ; 
 and as I took my way through the busy streets, I 
 pondered the delights of a southern climate in winter, 
 after a quick journey from the ice-bound regions of 
 the north. I saw green leaves, and I scented flowers ; 
 and really felt, to use a poetical figure, as if I had 
 leaped from the rugged shoulders of hoary Winter, 
 into the soft lap of young, smiling, gentle Summer. 
 
 I had searched the directory in vain for the name 
 of him I sought ; and I now began to visit the dif 
 ferent hotels, where I thought it most likely El 
 Doliente might take up his abode while in the city. 
 I spent the day in eager inquiries ; and returned to 
 my own quarters at night, sad and dispirited, having 
 obtained no intelligence of him whatever. Yarney 
 had not yet returned ; and from this I argued he had 
 met with that success which would result in a life-long 
 happiness; and though I rejoiced, for his sake, in 
 his good fortune, I could not but envy him, and feel 
 bitterly wretched when I contrasted his bright fate 
 with mine. 
 
 After taking some refreshment, I went up to my 
 room, and threw myself upon the bed, to await his 
 return; but finding I was too miserable to remain 
 
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 493 
 
 alone, I jumped up, hurried down stairs, and rushed 
 out into the street, feeling as if I wanted air. Hasten 
 ing along different thoroughfares taking no heed of 
 my course, and without any definite object in view 
 unless it might be to escape from myself, or my brain- 
 racking thoughts I at length found myself one of a 
 fashionably dressed throng of ladies and gentlemen, 
 who were crowding into a* large, stately -looking edi 
 fice, to hear, as I learned from their conversation, 
 some musical celebrity. Excitement, amusement, 
 anything to drive away thought, was what I wanted ; 
 and so I entered with the rest, purchased a ticket, and 
 in due time found myself seated in a large, brilliant 
 hall, where strains of sweet music soon floated to my 
 spirit, and bore it away into an ideal realm of gor- 
 geousness and beauty. 
 
 During the whole entertainment, I seemed to be in 
 a kind of trance ; but as I felt comparatively happy 
 and at times absolutely so deceiving myself with 
 fanciful illusions I made no effort to arouse myself 
 and return to a cold, bitter reality. In recalling the 
 event at this time, I do not think I was wholly compos 
 mentis ; for after the grand overture by the orchestra, 
 I remember nothing but bright lights and unearthly 
 music, and airy, floating, fairy forms, and brilliant, 
 gorgeous, heavenly scenes which fancy brought be 
 fore the mental vision till I found myself wedged 
 among the press on my way to the street ; after which 
 event all is again distinct and clear. I remember, on 
 reaching the flags of the colonnade, of drawing aside 
 
494 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 from the living stream of human beings, and taking a 
 position where, without being too much jostled, I 
 could have a clear view of Creole beauty and fashion, 
 as the human tide poured downward and outward. I 
 was thus standing admiringly viewing the many 
 beautiful features and forms that floated down the 
 long flight of steps, in the bright light, to disappear 
 in the surrounding shade when suddenly my eyes 
 rested on a pale, sweet, lovely face; and for a few 
 moments every nerve seemed paralyzed, and my heart 
 rose to my throat. 
 
 Could it be ? could it be ? Great Heaven ! could 
 it be ? No ! it must be fancy another illusion ? I 
 closed my eyes for an instant only for an instant 
 for I feared to lose sight of that sweet face. I opened 
 them quickly, and again riveted them upon that 
 descending figure, and upon him who held her arm, 
 and supported her down the long flight, and fondly 
 guided her steps, and strove to keep back the press. 
 No ! it was no illusion it was no portrayal of fancy 
 it was reality ; and, Great God ! such a reality ! It 
 was my deeply-loved, long-lost Adele Loyola cling 
 ing to, and sustained by, the strong arm of Juan El 
 Doliente. 
 
 It was a terrible ordeal, to stand paralyzed, and see 
 them pass me, without even the power of speech and 
 my brain reeled, and my sight grew dim. At length, 
 with a convulsive gasp, I regained the power of mo 
 tion, and sprung after them, regardless of everything 
 and everybody around. Like a madman as perhaps 
 
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 495 
 
 for the time I was I plunged into the crowd, and 
 pushed forward to the street, with more than one ana 
 thema following me from those I jostled roughly or 
 put rudely aside. I was just in time to see the two I 
 sought enter a splendid carriage, which was decorated 
 with a coat of arms, and had a black driver and foot 
 man in rich livery. In my haste to reach the door 
 before it closed, I stumbled and fell ; and by the time 
 I had regained my feet, the footman was mounted, 
 and the carriage was in motion. Fearful of losing 
 sight of it, I ran into the street, and shouted for a 
 hack. 
 
 " Here, mas er, at you sarbis," cried a black, from 
 the opposite side of the way. 
 
 " Do you see that carriage yonder, with its footman 
 in livery, just turning the corner ?" said I, springing 
 to the negro, who was hastily opening the door of his 
 vehicle. 
 
 " Yes, sah see dat cl ar." 
 
 " Quick, then ! mount your box, and put me down 
 near where that stops, and it shall prove the best job 
 you have done for a month! Quick, now! or you 
 will lose sight of it !" 
 
 "ISTebber fear dis chile, mas er," rejoined the negro, 
 as he grasped the lines and cracked his whip. 
 
 So far I had been governed wholly by impulse, 
 and had considered nothing but the fact that I must 
 not lose sight of Adele and the Spaniard till I had 
 traced them to their present quarters ; but now I had 
 a few minutes for reflection, and reflection came in a 
 
496 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 way to cause me mental torture. I leaned back in the 
 carriage, and thought, till my brain ached, my vision 
 swam, and blue lights danced before my eyes. What 
 was I to do, on reaching El Doliente s residence? 
 what would be the proper course for me to pursue ? 
 Undoubtedly it would be best to first ascertain if 
 Adele were his wife; and if so, to retire and not 
 make myself known ; and return to my misery, and 
 leave them to their happiness, if happiness they could 
 find. But if she were not his wife ? If not ? Good 
 heavens ! how my blood boiled to think ! then must 
 she be the victim of a treacherous villain ; for only by 
 lying and treachery could he have turned so pure a 
 heart from the path of virtue. Ha! another idea. 
 Perhaps he knew her history? "Well, what then? 
 this could not sanction crime. But might he not be 
 a relative ? Improbable, in the extreme for had he 
 discovered any relationship, what more natural, or 
 likely, than that he would have proclaimed it at Bent s 
 Fort ? There was something very strange and mys 
 terious in his taking such an interest in the girl before 
 he saw her ; and I remembered asking him if he were 
 in love with her from my description, and his reply, 
 that he should never be my rival for her hand. What 
 could it all mean ? But I should soon know, perhaps; 
 and should I discover he had wronged and ruined 
 her, then, as the law could not reach him, I deter 
 mined I would be her avenger. It would be a fearful 
 thing to become judge and executioner, I knew; but 
 in the state of mind I then was, I felt it would be 
 
A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY. 497 
 
 necessary, if he were guilty, for one of us to quit the 
 human stage of life. Adele, in any event, I considered 
 lost to me for ever. 
 
 Such was a portion of the thoughts and reflections 
 that produced the effect I have described ; and my 
 mind was still in a wild whirl, when the carriage 
 suddenly stopped, and the driver hastily opened the 
 door. 
 
 " Dar, mas er," said the negro, "you can see de 
 carriage I s followed, right over dar." 
 
 I sprung out, and found myself standing in abroad, 
 clean, elegant street, with splendid private mansions 
 on either hand. About twenty rods distant, on the 
 opposite side of the way, was the carriage of El 
 Doliente ; and while I looked, I saw him and Adele 
 ascend the marble steps, and the vehicle drive away. 
 
 " You have done well," said I, handing the negro 
 a gold eagle ; " and this will prove to you that I made 
 no empty promise." 
 
 " De Lor bress you, mas er, for a true gent lem !" 
 cried the black, opening his eyes with delight. 
 
 " Mount, and drive straight on, as if nothing had 
 happened 1" I added. 
 
 And as the hack rolled away, I crossed the street 
 and walked leisurely along, till I came opposite the 
 residence which now contained the beings who had 
 already been so closely linked with my destiny, and 
 whose influence for good or evil it was my fate to 
 feel evermore. When I reached the steps, they had 
 disappeared within ; and I looked up at the stately 
 30 
 
498 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 edifice, with its marble colonnade and iron balconies, 
 and knew that its owner must be a man of wealth 
 perhaps of distinction, fashion, and power and I 
 reflected, that if I would meet him as an equal, man 
 to man, there might never be a more opportune time 
 than the present. I felt for my pistols which, from 
 my late habit of always going armed, I had not yet 
 laid aside and finding them in their proper places, 
 I ascended the steps determined, for the rest, to be 
 guided by such circumstances as fate might throw 
 around me. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYH. 
 
 THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 
 
 I LOOKED at the silver plate on the door, and, by 
 the light of the street lamp, read the single name of 
 " ALVAREZ." 
 
 I started, and trembled with excitement. What if, 
 after all, the negro had mistaken the carriage? I 
 hastily rung the bell. 
 
 " Does a gentleman reside here, named Juan El Do- 
 liente?" I inquired of the liveried servant who an 
 swered my summons. 
 
 "No, sah don t know no such gent lem!" was the 
 courteous, but somewhat consequential reply ; and the 
 sleek negro held the door in a way to denote he was 
 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 499 
 
 prepared to shut it the moment I might think proper 
 to retire. 
 
 It may be he has changed his name, or resumed his 
 right one, I mused, not a little perplexed and agitated. 
 
 " Will you be good enough to answer me a few 
 questions?" said I, slipping a silver coin into the 
 hand of the black. 
 
 " Sartin, sah wid pleasure," he quickly replied, in 
 a changed tone, letting the door swing back, and thus 
 disclosing to my view a long, high, lighted hall, 
 richly furnished. 
 
 " I am seeking a gentleman who once did me an 
 essential service," I resumed ; " but as he was rather 
 an eccentric personage, he may have changed his 
 name. It is possible your master may know some 
 thing of him if, as I infer from the name, he is a 
 Spanish gentleman, and countryman of this El Do- 
 lientel" 
 
 " Shall I quire ob mas er?" queried the black. 
 
 "A question or two first. How long have you 
 served your present master ?" 
 
 " Bout a year, I Aspect." 
 
 " Is he a married man ?" 
 
 "No, sah." 
 
 The answer produced in me a very singular sensa 
 tion a sensation I cannot define. I commanded my 
 feelings, as well as I could, and continued : 
 
 " How long has he resided in this city ?" 
 
 "He s been here seberal time, sah but he only 
 bought dis place jus afore I come to lib wid him." 
 
500 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Has be traveled much ?" 
 
 "Great deal, sah, I spect." 
 
 " Has he ever been in Mexico ?" 
 
 " Yes, sah he come from dat dar way last." 
 
 "Do you know whether he was ever out on the 
 prairies among the Indians ?" 
 
 " Yes, sah dat s whar he s been too, sah he s been 
 most ebery whar, sah I" 
 
 " Enough !" said I, finding that my feelings were 
 getting the mastery of my will. "Will you now be 
 so obliging as to inform him, that a gentleman desires 
 a few minutes conversation with him in private ?" 
 
 " Yes, sah I ll tell him. What name shall I s say, 
 sah?" 
 
 I hesitated a moment, and replied : 
 
 " No matter about the name ; but merely say a gen 
 tleman who once knew him in another part of the 
 world." 
 
 " Yes, sah please step into de drawing-room and 
 I ll tell him, sah I" 
 
 " Thank you ; but I would prefer to wait here till 
 you bring me an answer." 
 
 " Yes, sah jus as you please." 
 
 With strange feelings, and not a little external agi 
 tation, I now stepped into the mansion, and stood, as 
 I believed, under the same roof with Adele Loyola. 
 The negro closed the outer door, and hastened away; 
 and there were a few minutes of suspense, during 
 which I mentally suffered as I hope never to suffer 
 again. At length I saw him hastily descending a 
 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 501 
 
 long, spiral stairway, at the far end of the hall; and a 
 sudden weakness came over me, and I leaned against 
 the wall for support. 
 
 " Dis way, sah !" he said, apparently not perceiving 
 my agitation. 
 
 I summoned all my vital forces to my aid, and 
 quietly followed him. On reaching the second-story, 
 he threw open a door to the right, and ushered me 
 into a large, elegant library, with the single remark : 
 
 " Mas er will soon be wid you, sah 1" 
 
 I sent a quick, searching glance around, by a rather 
 dim light, which came from a large chandelier. Three 
 sides of the apartment were occupied with book-cases, 
 well filled; and the fourth was adorned by several 
 large, beautiful paintings. There was a writing desk, 
 open, with papers lying loose upon it ; and there were 
 three or four large, elegantly stuffed arm-chairs ; in 
 one of which I hastened to seat myself, as far from the 
 light as possible, and facing the door by which the 
 host must enter. 
 
 He came, even sooner than I wished ; and I saw, at 
 a glance, he was no other than Juan El Doliente. For 
 a moment I felt as if I should faint ; but I thought of 
 the wrongs of Adele, and instantly my nerves became 
 as iron. I was resolved, and felt sufficiently desperate 
 to make my resolution effective. 
 
 He approached me, with a look of curiosity, and I 
 arose to meet him. 
 
 " I have the honor, I believe, of addressing Juan 
 El Doliente ?" I said, in a cold, firm tone. 
 
502 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 He slightly started, and looked surprised. 
 
 " I have been so called," he answered. " May I, in 
 return, sir, have the honor of knowing the name of 
 him who addresses me ?" 
 
 "You do not know me then ?" 
 
 The light was not bright where I stood, and I pur 
 posely kept my features as much in the shade as pos 
 sible. 
 
 " Your face seems to have a familiar look," he 
 answered, eyeing me closely; "but I do not know 
 where to place you, or by what name to address you. 
 I am almost certain, however, we have met before." 
 
 "I am quite certain," I rejoined, "that you have 
 seen me in reality, and perhaps in your dreams." 
 
 " This is somewhat strange language," he observed, 
 a little haughtily. "If you do not choose to give me 
 your name, will you be kind enough to state your 
 business ?" 
 
 "I will do both, sir," returned I, with heat. "As 
 for my name, I am at present to be known as The 
 Avenger ; as to my business, I am here to make my 
 name good." 
 
 " You talk enigmatically," he rejoined, the blood 
 mounting to his temples. 
 
 "Then allow me to say you are a villian, sir!" I 
 cried. " Do you understand that ? or will you have 
 it in plainer English ?" 
 
 Instantly the blood retreated, his features turned 
 pale, his dark eyes flashed, and his thin lips quivered. 
 
 " I know not what object you may have in thus 
 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 503 
 
 insulting me in my own dwelling," he quickly replied ; 
 "but I warn you, young man, not to trust too much to 
 my forbearance for I am human, and not always 
 master of my passions ! I will bid you good evening, 
 and one of my servants will show you the way to the 
 street." 
 
 He turned, as if to leave the apartment; but I 
 sprung before him to the door ; and ere he divined 
 my purpose, I had closed and set my back against it. 
 
 " What do you want ? are you mad ?" he demanded, 
 looking perplexed and astonished, and evidently feel 
 ing some degree of alarm. 
 
 " Perhaps I am mad [" I rejoined ; " but what I 
 want is, a settlement with you for a most damnable 
 act ? You see I am a desperate man ! and am pre 
 pared for a desperate deed !" I continued, producing 
 my pistols. " Now mark me, Juan El Doliente ! we 
 are alone together, and must remain so till this affair 
 is settled. Attempt to ring a bell, or otherwise call 
 for help, and you are a dead man. What I want first 
 is, that you do answer me truly, as you hope for life, 
 or fear death, two questions." 
 
 " Speak !" he said, growing much excited. 
 
 " First, then are you a married man ?" 
 
 " I have been." 
 
 " But now ? I mean now ?" 
 
 " I am not my sweet wife is in Heaven !" and his 
 voice trembled. 
 
 "Now, then," continued I, "the most important 
 question of the two : Is Adele Loyola your victim ?" 
 
504 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Adele Loyola my victim?" he repeated, taking a 
 step or two backward, his features expressive of the 
 most unbounded amazement. " Good God 1 what do 
 you mean ? who are you ?" 
 
 "No stage attitudes and show tricks shall cover 
 your black-hearted villany!" cried I, desperately 
 grasping my weapons. "Answer me, as you will one 
 day answer your Maker I Is Adele Loyola your 
 victim ?" 
 
 " Tell me, then, what you mean ? and how I am to 
 answer ?" he rejoined, in much agitation. 
 
 " I mean, then, have you seduced her from the path 
 of virtue ? and ruined her like a villain ? and you are 
 to answer truly, as God is your judge !" 
 
 tl Seduced and ruined my own daughter ? Great God 
 forbid 1" he cried. 
 
 " How ? exclaimed I, hardly able to credit my 
 senses, and feeling my brain reel, as the truth, mighty 
 and overpowering, flashed upon me. " Your daughter, 
 say you ? Adele Loyola your daughter ?" 
 
 " I see how it is 1" he cried ; " you knew her when 
 she was a friendless wanderer and by a name that 
 was not her own and hence this mistake." 
 
 " But you are not deceiving me ?" 
 
 " As I hope for salvation, no ! Let me call her if 
 you doubt, and hear her confirm my words." 
 
 The pistols fell from my hands ; and reeling to a 
 seat, I sunk down upon it, faint, and half suffocated 
 with a whirl of contending emotions. 
 
 " I am a fool an idiot a madman !" I gasped, as 
 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 505 
 
 Alvarez hastened to my relief. "I have wronged 
 you, sir deeply, bitterly wronged you and I pray 
 your forgiveness for the almost fatal mistake." 
 
 " You have my forgiveness, with all my heart," he 
 said, in a kindly and sympathetic tone. 
 
 " I know much of her history, and something of 
 yours," I continued " enough of both to credit your 
 assertion." 
 
 "But, in Heaven s name, pray tell me who you 
 are ?" he cried, much excited, 
 
 " I am Eoland Eivers." 
 
 " Great God !" he ejaculated " is it possible ? Let 
 me look ! Here turn your face to the light I Yes 
 yes it is Eoland Eivers : I see your features now, as 
 I saw them on the prairie. But you are so changed, I 
 might not have known you, even had I known you to 
 be living. But we all thought you dead; and Marina 
 has done nothing but mourn your loss. How won 
 derful 1 how strange ! how wonderful I how strange !" 
 and repeating these words, he sunk upon a seat, and 
 stared at me as one stupefied with amazement. "Oh, 
 my dear friend !" he cried, suddenly springing up and 
 embracing me " this will be a night of joy to my 
 poor Marina I" 
 
 " To whom?" inquired I, not comprehending him. 
 
 " To my dear, long lost daughter Marina to her 
 you knew as Adele." 
 
 " Then Adele was not her name?" 
 
 "No more than that villain Loyola was her father. 
 
506 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 Henceforth, Roland, you must know her as Marina 
 Alexa Helena de Alvarez, Countess of Zamora." 
 
 " A Countess !" exclaimed I ; " poor Adele a Coun 
 tess ! I am all amazement !" 
 
 " As well you may be, my friend. God s Providence 
 has worked wonders in all our lives; and I know not 
 who is most amazed, you or I. Do you know, I am 
 almost afraid to leave the apartment, lest on my re 
 turn I shall find you vanished into thin air, and 
 myself the sport of a delusion." 
 
 "It gives me joy unspeakable to know I am so 
 esteemed by one whom but now I called a villain," 
 said I ; " but I assure you, you need not fear of find 
 ing me a substantial reality for the present though 
 perhaps not altogether a rational being." 
 
 For a few minutes we remained together, absorbed 
 in wonder neither saying much but that little, in 
 a very slight degree, expressive of our inexpressible 
 thoughts and emotions. 
 
 "I am eager to hear you relate your remarkable 
 adventures," at length said Alvarez, " and to learn 
 how you traced me hither !" 
 
 " And I to learn something of your remarkable 
 history," I rejoined ; " but first let me look upon the 
 sweet face of Adele ; and then we will exchange 
 stories; and acknowledge, with humble, soul-felt 
 thankfulness, there is a Power that guards and guides 
 which is incomprehensible to finite beings." 
 
 Alvarez crossed himself, bowed his head in silent 
 prayer, and rejoined: 
 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 507 
 
 " Call her not Adele, my friend for the name was 
 bestowed by a villain, and revives painful recollec 
 tions." 
 
 " But she will always be Adele to me ; " I said 
 " for by that name she won my heart. However, I 
 will compromise. I will think of her as Adele, and 
 call her Marina. But pray let me behold her once 
 more !" 
 
 " Stay you here, and I will go and prepare her to 
 receive you." 
 
 " Nay, do not that but introduce me as a traveller 
 a whilom companion of yours. I would test her 
 power of recognition : it may be no better than your 
 own." 
 
 " Trust love for that," he rejoined, with a smile. 
 "I only fear the shock of discovery may produce 
 unpleasant consequences." 
 
 " Have I then really such a hold upon her heart ?" 
 
 " Marina, like her sainted mother," he replied, in a 
 tremulous voice, " is a being to love but once, for love 
 is her life. How she loves you, Eoland Kivers, you 
 will soon ascertain. And my friend, (grasping my 
 hand,) you deserve her love you are worthy of 
 her and you are the only being on the face of this 
 earth to whom I would speak these words. Nay, no 
 self-disparagement ! I know with what self-sacrifice 
 with what nobility of soul you saved her; and how 
 you watched over her, with the care of a father, or 
 brother, in your long, perilous flight from captivity ; 
 I know all ; and now I am ready to shed tears of joy, 
 
608 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 that you are about to reap your reward ; and that the 
 two and only beings I truly love on earth, are about 
 to be made happy, I trust for ever. But I will bring 
 Marina hither, and let love take its course, if you will 
 promise to be guarded and prudent in making your 
 self known." 
 
 " Trust me, I will." 
 
 " The light shall remain dim till you have tested 
 the eyes of love," he said, with a smile, and left the 
 apartment. 
 
 I leaned back, and fancied I could hear the beatings 
 of my heart till the door again opened, and then it 
 seemed as if every organ of my system had suddenly 
 ceased motion. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE FINALE. 
 
 DONA MARINA, Countess of Zamora, entered the 
 apartment with ease and grace, hanging lightly on the 
 arm of her noble father. I arose, as a stranger, to 
 salute her; but trembled so, that I dared not take a 
 single step forward; and really feared I should be 
 compelled to resume my seat in a manner which 
 would appear extremely awkward, if not rude. She 
 was richly, but plainly, attired in the prevailing 
 fashion; and her dark features naturally pale, and 
 
THE FINALE. 509 
 
 tinged with melancholy, but now slightly tinted with 
 a rosy hue -were so sweet, so lovely, that I was on 
 the point of forgetting myself, springing forward, and 
 disclosing all, by uttering the loved name of Adele. 
 The Count read my feelings, and, fearful of conse 
 quences, hastened forward and said : 
 
 "Senor Kios, allow me to present to you my 
 daughter Marina, of whom you have heard me 
 speak." 
 
 I bowed, without trusting my voice ; and Marina, 
 making a graceful salutation, took a seat near. The 
 Count quietly drew up another chair, and we both 
 sat down he, to relieve us of any embarrassment, 
 immediately observing : 
 
 " I have informed my daughter, Senor Eios, that 
 we once met, far away, and were fellow travellers for 
 several days." 
 
 " That meeting and that journey I shall never for 
 get," I replied, quietly. 
 
 At the first sound of my voice, Marina started all 
 color instantly forsook her face and she turned her 
 soft, dark eyes, now sparkling with a wild light, 
 searchingly upon me. 
 
 "I understand," I pursued, addressing her with as 
 much calmness as it was possible for me to command 
 on so exciting an occasion " I understand that your 
 ladyship has passed through some eventful scenes ?" 
 
 She looked wildly at me, and then at the Count, 
 and exclaimed : 
 
 " My dear father, who is it that speaks?" 
 
510 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 " Whom do you think, my child?" 
 
 " If the grave can give back the dead to the living, 
 it is Eoland Kivers." 
 
 "The grave cannot, sweet daughter," he replied, 
 anxiously ; " but the grave does not always hold the 
 lost." 
 
 "Great Heaven! it is then Eoland Kivers!" she 
 cried, springing to her feet, and looking still more 
 wildly at me. " Senor Bios ! Senor Eios ! Yes ! yes ! 
 it is !" 
 
 " It is, Adele," said I, using her former name, and 
 making an attempt to rise. 
 
 She uttered one wild shriek, fell upon my neck, and 
 fainted in my arms. 
 
 " I fear we have killed her !" cried her now half- 
 distracted father, hastening to ring for her attendants. 
 
 A scene of confusion ensued that I need not de 
 scribe. It was more than an hour before all again 
 became quiet; and then Marina was sitting by my 
 side, her hands clasped with joy, and her dark eyes, 
 beaming love, fixed fondly and intently upon mine, 
 as if she feared, as her father had before expressed, 
 that I might vanish into thin air. As for myself, I 
 have no language to portray the emotions which 
 stirred me to the very depths of my innermost soul. 
 I can only say, that I seemed to myself like a part 
 and portion of an enchantment that was painful with 
 rapture. 
 
 Oh ! the golden hours of that night of joy how 
 swiftly they flew ! I told the story of my captivity, 
 
THE FINALE. 511 
 
 my return, my suspicions, and my madness, even up 
 to the moment of my present happiness; and Marina 
 listened, and wept wept tears of such joy as comes 
 up from the inner soul but once in a human life. 
 
 " Dear Roland," she at last exclaimed, with tearful 
 eyes, "what guarded, guided, and brought us together 
 so mysteriously ? Will you say now you do not be 
 lieve in ministering spirits?" 
 
 11 With you by my side, dear Marina, I am ready 
 to believe in everything pure and holy," I replied. 
 
 Having ordered refreshments, my noble host now 
 began and told his tale which, though strange, thril 
 ling, and romantic, I shall take the liberty to abridge, 
 and give in the fewest words possible. He was a 
 nobleman by birth, a native of Spain, and his rightful 
 name was Don Juan Alvaro de Alvarez, Count of Za- 
 mora. He had a princely residence and retinue in his 
 native country, was in high favor at Court, and mar 
 ried the lady of his choice, by whom he had one child, 
 a daughter, the lovely being who has figured in my 
 narrative as Adele. All went on prosperously and 
 happily till the loss of his child, who was stolen at a 
 tender age by a villain named Komanez, and the same 
 who has slightly figured in my narrative as Graspard 
 Loyola. This Romanez was an officer in the house 
 hold of the Count, who was discharged for a flagrant 
 act, and took this mode of revenge. And a terrible 
 revenge it proved; for the wife of the Count died 
 subsequently, of a disease engendered by grief at the 
 loss of her daughter ; and the Count himself, half 
 
512 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 distracted at the loss of both, sold his effects and, to 
 find some relief to an aching heart, became a traveller- 
 and a wanderer, assuming the expressive title of Juan 
 El Doliente, or Juan The Sufferer. He had visited 
 this country more than once in his wandering life ; 
 and had, at different times, for a brief period, made 
 his home in New Orleans. But the canker at his 
 heart would never let him rest ; and so he had con 
 tinued to wander, wherever he thought he could meet 
 with excitement or novelty, till chance or Providence 
 threw him in my way, and he heard my story of 
 Adele, whom he was fain to think might possibly 
 prove to be his long lost daughter. This idea was the 
 cause of that intense excitement which he exhibited 
 on hearing my narrative, and which then proved so 
 incomprehensible to me, who of course knew nothing 
 of the real facts. My description of Loyola was a 
 correct description, he thought, of Eomanez; and 
 being eager to see the girl, and learn the truth, he 
 volunteered to fit out an expedition to go in quest of 
 her ; but fearing he might be disappointed, he hardly 
 trusted himself to hope, and kept his secret to himself. 
 Why Romanez, or Loyola, placed Marina in a 
 convent in Mexico, was still something of a mystery ; 
 but it was conjectured that, she being very young at 
 the time, and probably a burden to him, he had 
 thought this a feasible plan to have her taken care of 
 till she should arrive at an age to be of some assistance 
 to him. And it was further surmised, that it might 
 have been his intention, at a period subsequent to my 
 
THE FINALE. 513 
 
 meeting with her, to disclose all, and force her to 
 become his wife, with the idea of eventually turning 
 this to his account in a pecuniary point of view. Be 
 this as it may, it will readily be seen that he had a 
 motive in not destroying her life, and in allowing her 
 no opportunity to disclose what little she did know of 
 her history. On placing her in the convent, he had 
 given her the name of Adele, and changed his own, 
 asserting that he was her father, and that her own 
 mother was dead. After taking her away, he had 
 always kept her with him, and made her useful to him 
 in the business he had adopted, which was that of an 
 itinerant trader. Of his harsh, brutal treatment I 
 need not speak, as the reader himself had a specimen 
 on his first introduction, in propria persona, into my 
 story. 
 
 On meeting with his daughter on the mountains, as 
 mentioned by Botter, Alvarez saw at a glance a 
 strong resemblance to her beloved mother ; but still 
 fearing there might be some mistake, he smothered 
 his emotions, and kept his secret, till he found a proper 
 opportunity to reveal it to her at St. Train s Fort. 
 This revelation caused that marked change in her 
 demeanor toward him, which led the old mountaineer 
 to suspect a different cause for the intimacy, and the 
 scandal-mongers to start the villanous report which 
 reached me through him. As the Count and his 
 daughter both thought it proper to find the convent 
 where she had been educated, and get further facts 
 before proclaiming their relationship, they se.t qff 
 31 
 
514 THE BOEDER ROVER. 
 
 together in the manner stated, and made no mention 
 of it at Bent s Fort, or any other place through which 
 they passed, preferring to let the evil-minded think 
 and say what they pleased, and all parties draw their 
 own conclusions. 
 
 I will pass over the long, anxious journey into 
 Mexico, and merely state that the convent of Santa 
 Maria was at last found, and some new facts gathered ; 
 and these facts, taken in connection with some per 
 sonal marks of identity, and the strong resemblance 
 Adele bore to the deceased Countess, were sufficient 
 to induce the forlorn Count to claim, and proclaim, 
 her as his long lost daughter Marina. Hastening from 
 the convent of Santa Maria to Yera Cruz, they sailed 
 for New Orleans, where the Count immediately pur 
 chased his present dwelling, furniture, servants, etc., 
 and established his residence, resolved to make this 
 his future home but where, after all, as he himself 
 expressed it, in conclusion, the presence of myself was 
 needed to complete the happiness of his lovely daugh 
 ter. With this explanation, I trust the reader will 
 find I have closed up all points that in the course of 
 my story may have seemed mysterious, and which at 
 first view may have been regarded as having no direct 
 bearing upon the denouement. 
 
 It was already broad day-light when I left the man 
 sion of Don Alvaro and his lovely daughter to return 
 to my hotel. They pressed me to stay longer, and 
 were loth to part from me even for a moment ; but I 
 knew that Marina needed rest, after a sleepless night 
 
THE FINALE. 515 
 
 of such wild excitement; and I knew that Varney, if 
 he had returned, would be greatly troubled at my ab 
 sence ; so I tore myself away, promising to return to 
 dinner. IIow changed were my feelings, as I now 
 hurried through the streets, from those I had experi 
 enced but a few short hours before? Then I was 
 almost mad with gloom and despair now almost wild 
 with rapture ! Truly, the age of a human being 
 should be reckoned by events not years. 
 
 As I expected, I found Yarney laboring under great 
 excitement from several causes not the least import 
 ant of which was my own unaccountable absence. 
 
 " My dear Iloland," he cried, grasping my hand, 
 "where have you been? and what has happened? 
 You look weary and pale ! 1J 
 
 " It is well if I look no worse," I replied, with a 
 solemn air for I felt in the mood to mystify him a 
 little before making known to him my good fortune. 
 
 " In Heaven s name ! what has happened? You have 
 not been here during the whole night ; and I have 
 been tortured with a thousand wild surmises!" he 
 cried. 
 
 " And how much of the night have you been here?" 
 I asked in return. " I was here the first part, I know , 
 but I was too gloomy to remain alone ; so I rushed 
 out, and became the hero of one of the most remark 
 able adventures on record." 
 
 Explain, Roland !" 
 
 " Bather let me hear, your report first. Did you see 
 Mary Edwards ?" 
 
616 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 "I did, God bless her !" lie exclaimed, joyfully. 
 
 "Well, she is yours ?" 
 
 "She is, my dear friend! she is!" he cried, excit 
 edly, grasping my hand, and struggling to keep down 
 his emotions. " Oh ! my dear Roland, I am half mad 
 with joy and God knows how my heart swells with 
 gratitude for all His mercies and blessings ! Yes, I 
 found her more beautiful even than I remembered 
 her ; and, would you believe it, my more than brother, 
 she was actually mourning my absence. Her joy at 
 seeing me returned in health completely overcame 
 her ; and her father, as he grasped my hand, cried like 
 a child. I returned here at twelve, the most happy 
 being living ; and all the sorrow I have since felt was 
 on your account. Forgive me, my friend, for pouring 
 into your ear this joyful news in such a wild, heed 
 less manner ! and believe me, through it all I deeply 
 sympathize with you in your irreparable loss. Oh ! 
 if Heaven had only willed that you might be blessed 
 with Adele, as I am with Mary, what earthly happi 
 ness would then equal ours ?" 
 
 " I thank you for your sympathy, Alfred ; and 
 really congratulate you with all my heart !" I rejoined, 
 vigorously shaking his hand. 
 
 " And now tell me of yourself, Roland ! You say 
 you have had a remarkable adventure?" 
 
 ( I have indeed. Let us be seated I am fatigued. 
 "Well, you must know, that, after quitting you in the 
 morning, I began my search for El Doliente but 
 returned at night, as I had expected, without finding 
 
THE FINALE. 517 
 
 any trace of him whatever. After a slight repast, I 
 came up to my room here, to wait for you but found 
 myself so miserable as to be obliged to seek the open 
 air for relief. Not caring whither my steps might 
 lead me, I set off hurriedly through the streets ; and 
 at last, unexpectedly, got wedged among a throng of 
 people, who were going to listen to some musical 
 celebrity, whose name I do not even now know. I 
 entered the hall with the rest, and sat through the 
 entertainment in a sort of trance. On coming out, I 
 stationed myself where I could get a good view of 
 Creole fashion and beauty; and there remained till 
 my eye fell upon a face more lovely than all the rest 
 at least I thought so, you understand and which so 
 stirred me that I determined to follow her home. 
 Her companion was a gentleman who might be her 
 father, brother, husband, or lover, for anything that 
 I knew but this did not deter me from carrying out 
 my design. On reaching the street they took a car 
 riage my divinity and her companion, you perceive 
 and I took another, ordering the driver to put me 
 down wherever they might stop. Well, they halted 
 before an elegant mansion, and went in, and I followed 
 them." 
 
 " Not into the mansion, Roland?" cried Yarney, in 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Ay, but I did, though, even into the mansion, my 
 friend! Do not look so astonished, Alfred! I am 
 telling you the truth and am perfectly sane now 
 though whether I was at that precise time, is some- 
 
518 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 what doubtful ; but, at all events, I felt very des 
 perate, and gave little thought to appearances or 
 consequences." 
 
 "Mad as a loon!" exclaimed Varney ; "you must 
 have been ! or you would never have dared to carry 
 matters so far. I am astonished !" 
 . "I believe you, my friend, for you show it in your 
 looks but you will be more astonished yet, when 
 you hear the whole of my story." 
 
 "But how did you get into the dwelling?" 
 
 11 1 asked to see the master, and gave the servant 
 some money." 
 
 " Well, they turned you out ?" 
 
 "Not exactly, or I should have been here sooner. 
 But pray do not anticipate for you could not guess 
 the truth, if you were to occupy all. the time between 
 this and your coming nuptials." 
 
 "Koland," cried Varney, anxiously, looking at me 
 in an earnest, singular manner u are you really sure 
 you are sane now ?" 
 
 " Perfectly do you doubt it?" 
 
 " You certainly talk very strangely." 
 
 " Well, I have had cause ; but as you seem deter 
 mined not to let me finish my story, you may as well 
 guess the rest, while I lie down and rest myself;" and 
 as I spoke, I threw myself upon the bed. 
 
 "No, no, Koland forgive me! Go on, and tell 
 your singular story in your own way ! I will not in 
 terrupt you again." 
 
 "Ten dollars to one that you do ! But no matter 
 
THE FINALE. 519 
 
 you shall hear all. Well, I was shown into the 
 gentleman s library, where he shortly made his ap 
 pearance ; and after closing the door, and putting my 
 back against it, I drew my pistols, threatened his life, 
 and in an indirect way accused him of seducing the 
 young lady from the path of virtue." 
 
 " Koland," exclaimed Yarney, jumping up from his 
 chair, " if you are really telling me the truth now, I 
 only wonder you are here to tell it, instead of being 
 locked up in the calaboose." 
 
 " There, I knew I would win " said I: "you can 
 not possibly let me tell my story without interrup 
 tion." 
 
 "Any reasonable story I could!" cried Yarney; 
 "but this is outrageous. Follow a strange lady home 1 
 go into a strange gentleman s house! and actually 
 threaten his life, and accuse him of wrong and dis 
 honor I Heavens I what next ? But I suppose he took 
 you for a stray lunatic, and so let you go ?" 
 
 " He did better, if you will only listen. He was 
 horrified at my accusation ; and informed me that the 
 young lady was his daughter ; and, more than that, 
 an heiress, and a Spanish Countess ; and on my re 
 questing to see her, he brought her in, introduced her 
 to me, and we spent the night in very agreeable con 
 versation. And, what is still more to the purpose, I 
 am desperately in love with her ; and we are to be 
 married shortly, with the consent of her father, Don 
 Juan Alvaro de Alvarez, Count of Zamora." 
 
 I shall never forget the expression of Yarney s fea- 
 
520 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 tures as I came to the conclusion. It was not easy 
 to determine which predominated grief or horror 
 as he fixed his eyes upon me, and muttered : 
 
 lt Poor fellow ! poor fellow ! now I know he has lost 
 his senses. Despair has driven him mad. What a 
 terrible blow this will be to his parents I" 
 
 ** Come," pursued I, u where are your congratula 
 tions ? Why do you not grasp my hands and wish 
 me much joy, as I did you ? If it is such a happy 
 event for you to get married, why not also for me?" 
 
 " Lie down, Koland, my dear friend 1" he said, in a 
 kindly, sympathetic tone ; " lie down and rest your 
 self; you are greatly fatigued ; and I think rest will 
 do you good." 
 
 "And is this all you have to say to an old friend, 
 who has stood by you through many a peril and trial, 
 when he tells you he is about to marry Dona Marina 
 Alexa Helena de Alvarez, Countess of Zamora?" 
 cried I. " Fie ! Alfred I thought better of you." 
 
 " Oh ! merciful Heaven !" groaned poor Yarney, the 
 perspiration standing in beads on his pale face ; " this 
 is terrible ! this is terrible ! poor fellow ! poor fellow I" 
 and he sunk heavily upon his seat. 
 
 " Perhaps you are envious of my good fortune ?" 
 said I. 
 
 " No, God knows I am not, my dear fellow." 
 
 "Well, there is one thing," I continued, "I have 
 neglected to mention. Undoubtedly it will not cause 
 you to cease your astonishment but I think it will 
 clear me of being in your estimation non compos mentis. 
 
THE FINALE. 521 
 
 I have so far neglected to tell you, that Don Juan 
 Alvaro de Alvarez, Count of Zamora, and his lovely 
 daughter, Dona Marina Alexa Helena de Alvarez, 
 Countess of Zamora, are no other than Juan El 
 Doliente and Adele Loyola.!" 
 
 " What I" cried Varney, springing up so suddenly 
 as to upset his chair and a table on which his arm 
 was resting: "You do not mean to say Good Hea 
 vens ! Eoland you I am choking you are not 
 mad then ?" 
 
 " Not quite so mad as you are, poor fellow !" said I, 
 with a hearty burst of laughter. 
 
 " And and heavens ! you are in earnest ?" 
 
 " Assuredly I am : earnest in having told the truth 
 earnest in having had my joke." 
 
 " And you have really found Adele and El 
 Doliente?" 
 
 " Found them as father and daughter Count and 
 Countess that is, if you allow a daughter to be a 
 Countess while her father the Count is living." 
 
 Yarney bounded forward, grasped my hand, and 
 nearly wrung it off; and then sat down and cried for 
 
 There is little more to add, to complete the narrative 
 of my adventures for it was never my design, dear 
 reader, to take you through all the scenes of my life. 
 If you are pleased and satisfied with what you have 
 received, we shall part friends ; but whether you are 
 
522 THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 satisfied or not, we shall soon part, to meet no more 
 on the stage of life. 
 
 I remained two weeks in the Crescent City; and 
 every day, in the society of her I loved, my happi 
 ness seemed to increase, till I felt my soul filled with 
 a rapture that banished even the thought of sorrow 
 and gloom. At last, on a bright, glorious day 
 attended by Alfred Yarney and Mary Edwards, and 
 many of the elite of the capital of fashion, wealth and 
 beauty I led her to the sacred altar of her faith; and 
 there, in the presence of a large concourse of specta 
 tors, the holy rite was solemnized, which bound us 
 together, here and hereafter, in time and in eternity, 
 on earth and in the heavens ; and the great organ of 
 the vast cathedral pealed its joy ; and on its sweet, 
 solemn music our happy souls seemed to float upward 
 into the realms elysian. 
 
 " Roland ! Marina !" said the Count, on taking leave 
 of us, as he held a hand of each, while his eyes rained 
 tears, and his voice trembled with emotions of joy ; 
 "may the great and good God, and all his saints and 
 ministering spirits, ever watch over you, prosper you, 
 and bless you, even as I do now bless you with a 
 father s love. My dream is now fulfilled. You remem 
 ber, Roland, how I told you, in yon far wilderness, 
 that I had had a dream, that filled my soul with 
 ecstacy, and which might become a reality even as 
 my soul saw it. You have seen it, and been a part of 
 it and so has my sweet daughter Marina God bless 
 
THE FINALE. 523 
 
 you both! And now, hard as it is to part, I must for 
 a season, I trust a brief season, say farewell 1" 
 
 On the very day of my marriage, I left New Or 
 leans for my northern home ; where in due time I 
 arrived, and filled the hearts of my parents and friends 
 with joy. 
 
 Many years have passed since then , and I have more 
 than once crossed the great deep in company with my 
 still lovely wife and her noble father; and I have 
 even stood in the venerable halls where Marina passed 
 her infancy, and have seen that picture of a happy 
 home which she drew from memory at our first meet 
 ing in the wilderness. Surrounded now with a loving 
 wife, and blooming children, and pleasant friends, I 
 am still happy, whether my time be spent in my 
 northern or my southern home : and I need only add, 
 that Alfred Yarney finds a happiness which equals 
 mine it could no more. 
 
 And now, kind reader you who have been with 
 me out upon the great prairies, and among the great 
 mountains and have seen nature in her wildness, 
 freedom, beauty and grandeur where man, untamed 
 as the beast, roams at will, and rules physically rather 
 than intellectually ; you who have witnessed strange 
 scenes, and thrilling scenes, in which I have played an 
 humble part; and have returned with me to the 
 haunts of civilization, and have seen brighter scenes, 
 and happier scenes; and have ever lent me your 
 kindly sympathy sorrowing with me in my sorrow, 
 and rejoicing with me in my joy, to you I must now 
 
524: THE BORDER ROVER. 
 
 say farewell. That you may ever surmount all obsta 
 cles which lie in your pathway of life, arid reach the 
 loftiest summit of your hopes and aspirations, and 
 behold the sun of joy pouring upon you the light of 
 an eternal day, is the prayer of him who nrw bids 
 you a final adieu ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
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T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 3 
 CHARLES DICKENS WORKS. 
 
 The best and most popular in the world. Ten different editions. No 
 
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 DAVID COPPERFIELD, DICKENS NEW STORIES. Con- 
 
 NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, taining The Seven Poor Travellers. 
 
 PICKWICK PAPERS, Nine New Stories by the Christmas 
 
 DOMBEY AND SON, Fire. Hard Times. Lizzie Leigh. 
 
 MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, The Miner s Daughters, etc. 
 
 BARNABY RUDGE, CHRISTMAS STORIES. Contain- 
 
 OLD CURIOSITY SHOP, ing A Christmas Carol. The 
 
 SKETCHES BY "BOZ," Chimes. Cricket on the Hearth. 
 
 OLIVER TWIST Battle of Life. Haunted Man, and 
 
 BLEAK HOUSE, Pictures from Italy. 
 
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 COMPLETE LIBRARY EDITION. 
 
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 Volume 1 contains Pickwick Papers and Curiosity Shop. 
 
 " 2 do. Oliver Twist, Sketches by " Boz," and Barnaby Rudge. 
 
 " 3 do. Nicholas Nickleby and Martin Chuzzlewit. 
 
 " 4 do. David Copperfield, Dombey and Son, Christmas Stories, 
 and Pictures from Italy. 
 
 * 5 do. Bleak House, and Dickens New Stories. Containing 
 The Seven Poor Travellers. Nine New Stories 
 by the Christmas Fire. Hard Times. Lizzie 
 Leigh. The Miner s Daughters, and Fortune 
 Wildred, etc. 
 
 Price of a complete sett. Bound in Black cloth, full gilt back, $7 50 
 
 " " " scarlet cloth, extra, 8 50 
 
 " " " library sheep, 9 00 
 
 " " " " half turkey morocco, 11 00 
 
 * " " " half calf, antique, 15 00 
 liluttrated Edition it described on next page. 
 
4 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
 ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF DICKENS WORKS. 
 
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 PICKWICK PAPERS, 1 50 
 
 OLD CURIOSITY SHOP, 1 50 
 OLIVER TWIST, 1 50 
 
 SKETCHES BY "BOZ," 1 50 
 BARNABY RUDGE, 1 50 
 
 NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, $1 50 
 MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, 150 
 DAVID COPPERFIELD, 1 50 
 DOMBEY AND SON, 1 50 
 
 CHRISTMAS STORIES, 1 50 
 DICKENS NEW STORIES, 1 50 
 
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 CAPTAIN MARRYATT S WORKS. 
 
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T, B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
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T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 7 
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8 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
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T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 9 
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 THE IKON MASK, OR THE FEATS AND ADVENTURES OF 
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 COUNTESS DE CHARNY; OR THE FALL OF THE FRENCH 
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 clusion of the "Memoirs of a Physician," "The Queen s Necklace," 
 and " Six Years Later, or Taking of the Bastile." All persons who 
 have not read Dumas in this, his greatest and most instructive pro 
 duction, should begin at once, and no pleasure will be found so 
 agreeable, and nothing in novel form so useful and absorbing. Com 
 plete in two volumes, beautifully illustrated. Price One Dollar. 
 
 DIANA OF MERIDOR; THE LADY OF MONSOREAU ; or Franco in 
 the Sixteenth Century. By Alexandre Dumas. An Historical Ro 
 mance. Complete in two large octavo volumes of 538 pages, with 
 numerous illustrative engravings. Price One Dollar. 
 
 ISABEL OF BAVARIA; or the Chronicles of France for the reign of 
 Charles the Sixth. Complete in one fine octavo volume of 211 pages, 
 printed on the finest white paper. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 EDMOND DANTES. Being the sequel to Dumas celebrated novel of 
 the Count of Monte Cristo. With elegant illustrations. Complete in 
 one large octavo volume of over. 200 pages. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 THE CORSICAN BROTHERS. This work has already been dramatized, 
 and is now played in all the theatres of Europe and in this country, 
 and it is exciting an extraordinary interest. Price Twenty -five cents. 
 
10 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
 ALEXANDRE DUMAS WORKS, 
 
 SKETCHES IN FRANCE. By Alexandre Dumas. It is as good a 
 book as Thackeray s Sketches in Ireland. Dumas never wrote a 
 better book. It is the most delightful book of the season. Price 
 Fifty cents. 
 
 GENEVIEVE, OR THE CHEVALIER OF THE MAISON ROUQB. 
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 GEORGE LIPPARD S WORKS. 
 
 WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS; or, Legends of the American 
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 THE QUAKER CITY; or, the Monks of Monk Hall. A Romance of 
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 THE LADYE OF ALBARONE; or, the Poison Goblet. A Romance of 
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 BLANCHE OF BRANDYWINE; or, September the Eleventh, 1777. A 
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 LEGENDS OF MEXICO; or, Battles of General Zachary Taylor, late 
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 THE NAZARENE; or, the Last of the Washingtons. A Revelation of 
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 plete in one volume. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 B. DISRAELI S NOVELS. 
 
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 THE YOUNG DUKE ; or the younger days of George the Fourth. By 
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 MIRIAM ALROY. A Romance of the Twelfth Century. By B. D Israeli, 
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T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 11 
 EMERSON BENNETT S WORKS. 
 
 CLARA MORELAND. This is a powerfully written romance. The 
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 with thrilling interest, and the language and descriptions natural and 
 graphic, as are all of Mr. Bennett s Works. 336 pages. Price 50 
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 VIOLA; OR, ADVENTURES IN THE FAR SOUTH-WEST. Com- 
 
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 THE FORGED WILL. Complete in one large volume, of over 300 
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 KATE CLARENDON; OR, NECROMANCY IN THE WILDERNESS. 
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 BRIDE OF THE WILDERNESS. Complete in one large volume. 
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 THE PIONEER S DAUGHTER; and THE UNKNOWN COUNTESS. 
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 HEIRESS OF BELLEFONTE ; and WALDE-WARREN. A Tale of 
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 ELLEN NORBURY ; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF AN ORPHAN. 
 
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 MISS LESLIE S NEW COOK BOOK. 
 
 MISS LESLIE S NEW RECEIPTS FOR COOKING. Comprising new 
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 GEORGE SANDS WORKS. 
 
 FIRST AND TRUE LOVE. A True Love Story. By George Sand, 
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 INDIANA. By George Sand, author of " First and True Love/ etc. 
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12 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 
 
 HUMOROUS AMERICAN WORKS. 
 
 WITH ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY DARLEY AND OTHERS, 
 
 AND BEAUTIFULLY ILLUMINATED COVERS. 
 
 We have just published new and beautiful editions of the following 
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 There are no works to compare with them in point of wit and humor, in 
 the whole world. The price of each work is Fifty cents only. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING ARE THE NAMES OF THE WOEKS. 
 
 MAJOR JONES COURTSHIP : detailed, with other Scenes, Incidents, 
 and Adventures, in a Series of Letters, by himself. With Thirteen 
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 DRAMA IN POKERVILLE: the Bench and Bar of Jurytown, and 
 other Stories. By "Everpoint," (J. M. Field, of the St. Louis 
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 CHARCOAL SKETCHES ; or, Scenes in the Metropolis. By Joseph C. 
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 With Illustrations. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 YANKEE AMONGST THE MERMAIDS, and other Waggeries and 
 Vagaries. !6y W, E. Burton, Comedian. With Illustrations by 
 Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 MISFORTUNES OF PETER FABER, and other Sketches. By the 
 author of " Charcoal Sketches." With Illustrations by Darley and 
 others. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 MAJOR JONES SKETCHES OF TRAVEL, comprising the Scenes, 
 Incidents, and Adventures in his Tour from Georgia to Canada. 
 With Eight Illustrations from Designs by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 STREAKS OF SQUATTER LIFE, and Far West Scenes. A Series of 
 humorous Sketches, descriptive of Incidents and Character in the 
 Wild West. By the author of "Major Jones Courtship," " Swallow 
 ing Oysters Alive," etc. With Illustrations from designs by Darley, 
 Price Fifty cents. 
 
 QUARTER RACE IN KENTUCKY, AND OTHER STORIES. By 
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 Eight Illustrations and designs by Darley. Complete in one volume. 
 Price Fifty cents. 
 
 SIMON SUGGS. ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN SIMON SUGGS, lato 
 of the Tallapoosa Volunteers, together with "Taking the Census," 
 and other Alabama Sketches. By a Country Editor. With a Portrait 
 from Life, and Nine other Illustrations by Darley. Price Fifty cents 
 
 JUVAL BELLES. By J. B. Jones, author of "Wild Western Scenes/ 
 etc. This is a very humorous and entertaining work, and one th . 
 will bo recommended by all after reading it. Price Fifty cents. 
 
T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 13 
 HUMOROUS AMERICAN WORKS. 
 
 YANKEE YARNS AND YANKEE LETTERS. By Sam Slick, alias 
 Judge Haliburton. Full of the drollest humor that has ever emanated 
 from the pen of any author. Every page will sot you in a roar. 
 Price Fifty cents. 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF COL. VANDERBOMB, AND THE 
 EXPLOITS OF HIS PRIVATE SECRETARY. By J. B. Jones, 
 author of " The Rival Belles," " Wild Western Scenes," etc. Pric 
 Fifty cents. 
 
 BIG BEAR OF ARKANSAS, nml other Sketches, illustrative of Charac 
 ters and Incidents in the South and South-Wcst. Edited by Win. T. 
 Porter. With Illustrations by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 MAJOR JONES CHRONICLES OF PINEVILLE; embracing Sketches 
 of Georgia Scenes, Incidents, and Characters. By the author of 
 "Major Jones Courtship," etc. With Illustrations by Darley. Prico 
 Fifty cents. 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF PERCIVAL MABERRY. By J. H. 
 Ingraham. It will interest and please everybody. All who enjoy a 
 good laugh should get it at once. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 FRANK FORESTER S QUORNDON HOUNDS; or, A Virginian at 
 Melton Mowbray. By H. W. Herbert, Esq. With Illustrations. 
 Price Fifty cents. 
 
 PICKINGS FROM THE PORTFOLIO OF THE REPORTER OF THE 
 "NEW ORLEANS PICAYUNE." Comprising Sketches of the 
 Eastern Yankee, the Western Hoosier, and such others as make up 
 society in the great Metropolis of the South. With Illustrations by 
 Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 FRANK FORESTER S SHOOTING BOX. By the author of "The 
 Quorndon Hounds," " The Deer Stalkers," etc. With Illustrations by 
 Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 STRAY SUBJECTS ARRESTED AND BOUND OVER; being the 
 Fugitive Offspring of the "Old Un" and the "Young Un," that havo 
 been "Laying Around Loose," and are now "tied up" for fast keep 
 ing. With Illustrations by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 FRANK FORESTER S DEER STALKERS ; a Tale of Circumstantial 
 evidence. By the author of "My Shooting Box," "The Quorndon 
 Hounds," etc. With Illustrations. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FARRAGO. By Hon. II. II. Bracken- 
 ridge. For Sixteen years one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of 
 the State of Pennsylvania. With Illustrations from designs by Darley. 
 Price Fifty cents. 
 
 THE CHARMS OF PARIS; or, Sketches of Travel and Adventures by 
 Night and Day, of a Gentleman of Fortune and Leisure. From hia 
 private journal. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 PETER PLODDY, and other oddities. By the author of "Charcoal 
 Sketches," "Peter Faber," <fcc. With Illustrations from original 
 designs, by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 TtlDOW RUGBY S HUSBAND, a Night at the Ugly Man s, and other 
 Tales of Alabama. By author of " Simon Suggs." With original 
 Illustrations. Price Fifty cents. 
 
14 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
 HUMOROUS AMERICAN WORKS. 
 
 MAJOR O REGAN S ADVENTURES. By Hon. II. 11. Braekenridge. 
 With Illustrations by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 SOL. SMITH; THEATRICAL APPRENTICESHIP AND ANECDOTAL 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF SOL. SMITH, Esq., Comedian, Lawyer, 
 etc. Illustrated by Darley. Containing Early Scenes, Wanderings 
 in the West, Cincinnati in Early Life, etc. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 SOL. SMITH S NEW BOOK; THE THEATRICAL JOURNEY-WORK 
 AND ANECDOTAL RECOLLECTIONS OF SOL. SMITH, Esq., 
 with a portrait of Sol. Smith. It comprises a Sketch of the second 
 Seven years of his professional life, together with some Sketches of 
 Adventure in after years. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 POLLY PEABLOSSOM S WEDDING, and other Tales. By the author 
 of " Major Jones Courtship/ " Streaks of Squatter Life," etc. Price 
 Fifty cents. 
 
 FRANK FORESTER S WARWICK WOODLANDS; or, Things as 
 they were Twenty Years Ago. By the author of "The Quorndon 
 Hounds," "My Shooting Box," "The Deer Stalkers," etc. With 
 Illustrations, illuminated. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 LOUISIANA SWAMP DOCTOR. By Madison Tensas, M. D., Ex. V. P. 
 M. S. U. Ky. Author of " Cupping on the Sternum." With Illustra 
 tions by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 NEW ORLEANS SKETCH BOOK, by "Stahl," author of the " Port 
 folio of a Southern Medical Student." With Illustrations from 
 designs by Darley. Price Fifty cents. 
 
 FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH, LATIN, AND 
 ITALIAN LANGUAGES. 
 
 Any person unacquainted with either of the above languages, can, with 
 the aid of these works, be enabled to read, write and apeak the language of 
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 vided they pay strict attention to the instructions laid down in each book, 
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 or write either language, at their will and pleasure. Either of these works 
 is invaluable to any persons wishing to learn these languages, and are 
 worth to any one One Hundred times their cost. These works have 
 already run through several largo editions in this country, for no person 
 ever buys one without recommending it to his friends. 
 
 FRENCH WITHOUT A MASTER. In Six Easy Lessons. 
 GERMAN WITHOUT A MASTER. In Six Easy Lessons. 
 SPANISH WITHOUT A MASTER. In Four Easy Lessons. 
 ITALIAN WITHOUT A MASTER. In Five Easy Lessons. 
 LATIN WITHOUT A MASTER. In Six Easy Lessons. 
 
 Price of either of the above Works, separate, 25 cents each or the 
 whole five may be had for One Dollar, and will be sent free of pottage to 
 ny one on their remitting that amount to the publisher, in a letter. 
 
T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 15 
 WORKS BY THE BEST AUTHORS. 
 
 FLIRTATIONS IN AMERICA; OR HIGH LIFE IN NEW YORK. A 
 
 capital book. 285 pages. Price 50 cents. 
 
 DON QUIXOTTE. ILLUSTRATED LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF 
 DON QUIXOTTE DE LA MANCHA, and his Squire Sancho Panza, 
 with all the original notes. 300 pages. Price 75 cents. 
 
 WILD SPORTS IN THE WEST. By W. II. Maxwell, author of Pic 
 torial Life and Adventures of Grace O Malley." Price 50 cents. 
 
 THE ROMISH CONFESSIONAL j or, the Auricular Confession and Spi 
 ritual direction of the Roinish Church. Its History, Consequences, 
 and policy of the Jesuits. By M. Michclct. Price 50 cents. 
 
 GENEVRA ; or, the History of a Portrait. By Miss Fairfield, one of the 
 hcst writers in America. 200 pages. Price 50 cents. 
 
 WILD OATS SOWN ABROAD ; OR, ON AND OFF SOUNDINGS. It 
 is the Private Journal of a Gentleman of Leisure and Education, and 
 of a highly cultivated mind, in making the tour of Europe. It shows 
 up all the High and Low Life to bo found in all the fashionable re- 
 eorts in Paris. Price 50 cents in paper cover, or 75 cents in cloth, gilt. 
 
 6ALATHIEL; OR, THE WANDERING JEW. By Rev. George Croly. 
 One of the best and most world-wide celebrated books that has ever 
 been printed. Price 50 cents. 
 
 LLORENTE S HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION IN SPAIN. Only 
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 bound in muslin, gilt, price 75 cents. 
 
 DR. HOLLICK S NEW BOOK. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY, 
 with a large dissected plate of the Human Figure, colored to Life. 
 By the celebrated Dr. Hollick, author of " The Family Physician," 
 " Origin of Life," etc. Price One Dollar. 
 
 DR. HOLLICK S FAMILY PHYSICIAN; OR, THE TRUE ART OF 
 HEALING THE SICK. A book that should be in the house of 
 every family. It is a perfect treasure. Price 25 cents. 
 
 MYSTERIES OF THREE CITIES. Boston, New York, and Philadel 
 phia. Revealing the secrets of society in these various cities. All 
 should read it. By A. J. II. Duganne. 200 pages. Price 50 cents. 
 
 BED INDIANS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. A beautifully illustrated In 
 dian Story, by the author of the " Prairie Bird." Price 50 cents. 
 
 HARRIS S ADVENTURES IN AFRICA. This book is a rich treat. 
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 THE PETREL; OR, LOVE ON THE OCEAN. A sea novel equal to the 
 best. By Admiral Fisher. 200 pages. Price 50 cents. 
 
 ARISTOCRACY, OR LIFE AMONG THE "UPPER TEN." A true 
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 THE CABIN AND PARLOR. By J. Thornton Randolph. It in 
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 tion, printed on thicker and better paper, and handsomely bound in 
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 LIFE IN THE SOUTH. A companion to " Uncle Tom s Cabin." Bjr 
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 ley. Price 50 cents. 
 
16 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
 WORKS BY THE BEST AUTHORS. 
 
 SKETCHES IN IRELAND. By William M. Thackeray, author of 
 "Vanity Fair," "History of Pendennis," etc. Price 50 cents. 
 
 THE ROMAN TRAITOR; OR, THE DAYS OF CATALINE AND 
 CICERO. By Henry William Herbert. This is one of the mo?t 
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 bound in one volume, cloth, for $1 25. 
 
 THE LADY S WORK-TABLE BOOK. Full of plates, designs, diagram?, 
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 THE COQUETTE. One of the best books ever written. One volume, oc 
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 WHITEFRIARS ; OR, THE DAYS OF CHARLES THE SECOND. An 
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 WHITEHALL ; OR, THE TIMES OF OLIVER CROMWELL. By the 
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 THE SPITFIRE. A Nautical Romance. By Captain Chamier, author 
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 UNCLE TOM S CABIN AS IT IS. One large volume, illustrated, 
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 FATHER CLEMENT. By Grace Kennady, author of "Dunallen," 
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 THE ABBEY OF INNISMOYLE. By Grace Kennady, author of "Fa- 
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 POCKET LIBRARY OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. New and enlarged 
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 THE MISER S HEIR; OR, THE YOUNG MILLIONAIRE. A story 
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 in oloth, gilt. 
 
T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 17 
 WORKS BY THE BEST AUTHORS. 
 
 THE TWO LOVERS. A Domestic Story. It la a highly interesting nxd 
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 graphic and vigorous style its truthful delineations of character 
 and deep and powerful interest of its plot. Price 38 cents. 
 
 ARRAII NEIL. A novel by G. P. R. James. Price 50 cents. 
 
 BIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. A History of the Siege of Londonderry, 
 and Defence of Enniskillen, in 1688 wud 1689, by the Rev. John 
 Graham. Price 37 cents. 
 
 VICTIMS OF AMUSEMENTS. By Martha Clark, and dedicated by the 
 author to the Sabbath Schools of the land. One vol., cloth, 38 cents. 
 
 FREAKS OF FORTUNE; or, The Life and Adventures of Ned Lorn. 
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 GENTLEMAN S SCIENCE OF ETIQUETTE, AND GUIDE TO SO- 
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 LADIES SCIENCE OF ETIQUETTE. By Countess de Calabrella, with 
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 ELLA STRATFORD ; OR, THE ORPHAN CHILD. By the Countess 
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 GHOST STORIES. Full of illustrations. Being a Wonderful Book. 
 Price 25 cents. 
 
 ADMIRAL S DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Marsh, author of "Ravens- 
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 THE MONK. A Romance. By Matthew G. Lewis, Esq., M. P. All 
 should road it. Price 25 cents. 
 
 DIARY OF A PHYSICIAN. Second Series. By S. C. Warren, author 
 of " Ten Thousand a Year." Illustrated. Price 25 cents. 
 
 ABEDNEGO, THE MONEY LENDER. By Mrs. Gore. Price 25 cents. 
 
 MADISON S EXPOSITION OF THE AWFUL CEREMONIES OP 
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 GLIDDON S ANCIENT EGYPT, HER MONUMENTS, HIEROGLY 
 PHICS, HISTORY, ETC. Full of plates. Price 25 cents. 
 
 BEAUTIFUL FRENCH GIRL; or the Daughter of Monsieur Fon- 
 tanbleu. Price 25 cents. 
 
 MYSTERIES OF BEDLAM; OR, ANNALS OF THE LONDON MAD 
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 JOSEPHINE. A Story of the Heart. By Grace Aguilar, author of 
 " Home Influence," " Mother s Recompense," etc. Price 25 cents. 
 
 EVA ST. CLAIR ; AND OTHER TALES. By G. P. R. James, Eq., 
 author of " Richelieu." Price 25 cents. 
 
 AGNES GREY; AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. By the author of "Jane 
 Eyre," " Shirley," etc. Price 25 cets. 
 
 BELL BRANDON, AND THE WITHERED FIG TREE. By P. Hamil 
 ton Myers. A Three Hundred Dollar prize novel. Price 25 cocta. 
 
18 T. B. PETERSON S LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 
 WORKS AT TWENTY-FIVE CENTS EACH. 
 
 KNOWLSON S COMPLETE CATTLE, OR COW DOCTOR. WhoovT 
 owns a cow should have this book. Price 25 cents. 
 
 KNOWLSON S COMPLETE FARRIER, OR HORSE DOCTOR. All 
 that own a horse should possess this work. Price 25 cents. 
 
 Till! COMPLETE KITCHEN AND FRUIT GARDENER, FOR POPU 
 LAR AND GENERAL USE. Price 25 cents. 
 
 THE COMPLETE FLORIST ; OR FLOWER GARDENER. Tho bo* 
 in the world. Price 25 cents. 
 
 THE EMIGRANT SQUIRE. By author of "Bell Brandon." 25 cents. 
 
 PHILIP IN SEARCH OF A WIFE. By the author of " Kate in Search 
 of a Husband." Price 25 cents. 
 
 MYSTERIES OF A CONVENT. By a noted Methodist Preacher. Price 
 25 cents. 
 
 THE ORPHAN SISTERS. It is a tale such as Miss Austen might have 
 been proud of, and Goldsmith would not have disowned. It is well 
 told, aud excites a strong interest. Price 25 cents. 
 
 THE DEFORMED. One of the best novels ever written, and THE 
 CHARITY SISTER. By Hon. Mrs. Norton. Price 25 cents. 
 
 LIFE IN NEW YORK. IN DOORS AND OUT OF DOORS. By the 
 late William Burns. Illustrated by Forty Engravings. Price 25 cents. 
 
 JENNY AMBROSE ; OR, LIFE IN THE EASTERN STATES. An ex- 
 cellent book. Price 25 cents. 
 
 MORETON HALL; OR, THE SPIRITS OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE. 
 A Tale founded on Facts. Price 25 cents. 
 
 RODY THE ROVER; OR THE RIBBON MAN. An Irish Tale. By 
 William Carleton. One volume, octavo. Price 25 cents. 
 
 AMERICA S MISSION. By Rev. Charles Wadsworth. Price 25 cents. 
 POLITICS IN RELIGION. By Rev. Charles Wadsworth. Price 12* cts. 
 
 Professor LIEBIG S Works on Chemistry. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. Chemistry in its application to Agri 
 culture and Physiology. Price Twenty-five cents. 
 
 ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. Chemistry in its application to Physiology and 
 Pathology. Price Twenty-five cents. 
 
 FAMILL1R LETTERS ON CHEMISTRY, and its relations to Commerce, 
 Physiology and Agriculture. 
 
 TUB POTATO DISEASE. Researches into the motion of the Juices in 
 the animal body. 
 
 CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS IN RELATION TO PHYSIOLOGY 
 AND PATHOLOGY. 
 
 T. B. PETERSON also publishes a complete edition of Professor 
 Liebig s works on Chemistry, comprising the whole of the above. They 
 are bound in one large royal octavo volume, in Muslin gilt. Price for th 
 complete works bound in one volume, One Dollar and Fifty cents. Th 
 three last axe not published separately from the bound volume. 
 
GREATINDUCEMENTS FOR -857, 
 
 PETERSONS MAGAZINE 
 
 THE BEST AND CHEAPEST IN THE WOULD FOR LADIES. 
 
 Thi popular Magazine, already the cheapest and best Monthly of its kind in the World, 
 Vrill be greatly improved for 1857. It will contain 900 pages of double-column reading 
 matter; from twenty to thirty Steel Plates; and Five /Zwwdred Wood Engravings: which 
 i* proportionately more than any periodical, of any price, ever yet gave. 
 
 ITS THRILLING ORIGINAL STORIES 
 
 Are pronounced by the newspaper press, the best published anywhere. The editors are Mrs. 
 Ann S. Stephens, author of " The Old Homestead," "Fashion and Famine," and Charles 
 J. Peterson, author of "Mabel," "Kate Aylesford," "The Valley Farm," etc. They are 
 assisted by a corps of original contributors, such as no lady s Magazine ever had*. Mrs. 
 K. D. E. N. Southworth, author of "The Lost Heiress," " Ketribution," etc., etc., is en 
 gaged to write a nouvellette for 1857. Alice Cary, Virginia F. Townsend, Caroline E. 
 Fairfield, Hetty Ilolyoke, E. W. Dewees, Ella Rodman, Carry Stanley, Clara Moreton, 
 Ellen Ashton. etc., etc.. will also contribute regularly. New talent ia continually being 
 added, regardless of expense, so as to keep " Peterson s Magazine" unapproachable ia 
 merit. Morality and virtue are always inculcated. 
 
 Its Colored Fashion Plates in Advance. 
 
 Ij^T It is the only Magazine whose Fashion Plates can be relied on. j^| 
 
 Each number contains a Fashion Plate, engraved on Steel, colored d la mode, and of 
 unrivalled beauty. The Paris, London, Philadelphia, and New York Fashions are de- 
 cribed, at length, each month. Every number also contains a dozen or more New Styles, 
 engraved on Wood. Also, a Pattern, from which a Dress, Mantilla, or Child s Costume, 
 can be cut, without the aid of a mantuu-maker, so that each number, in this way, will 
 taw a year s subscription. 
 
 Its superb MEZZOTINTS, and other STEEL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Its Illustrations excel those of any other Magazine, each number containing a superb 
 Steel Engraving, either mezzotint or line, besides the Fashion Plate; and, in addition, nu 
 merous other Engravings. Wood Cuts, Patterns, etc., etc. The Engravings, at the end 
 of the year, alone are worth the subscription price. 
 
 PATTERNS FOR CROTCHET, NEEDLEWORK, ETC, 
 
 In th greatest profusion, are given in every number, with instructions how to work them 
 also, Patterns in Embroidery, Inserting, Broiderie Anglaise, N etting, Lace-making, etc., 
 etc. Also, Patterns ibr Sleeves, Collars, and Chemisettes ; Patterns in Head-work, Hair- 
 work, Shell-work ; Handkerchief Corners ; Names for Marking and Initials. A piece of 
 new and fashionable Music is also published every month. On the whole, it is the most 
 complete Ladies Magazine in the World. TRY IT FOE OJNB YEAR. 
 
 TERMS : ALWAYS IN ADVANCE. 
 
 One copy for One Year, $2 00 
 
 Three copies for One Year, . . 5 00 
 Five copies for One Year, ... 7 50 
 
 Eight copies for One Year, . .$10 00 
 Twelve copies for One year,. 15 00 
 Sixteen copies for One Year, 20 00 
 
 Three, Five, Eight, or more Copies, make a Club. Tfc^tjery person getting up a Club 
 at the above prices, and remitting the money, we will give , gratis, " The Garland of Art," 
 containing 50 Steel Plates; or "Mrs. Widdifield s Cook Book," the only real cook book ever 
 yet published ; or a volume of " Peterson" for 1856. For a Club of Twelve, an extra copy 
 of the Magazine for 1857 will be given, if preferred. For a Club of Sixteen, an extra copy 
 and "The Garland" in addition. 
 
 Address, post-paid, CHARLES J. PETERSON, 
 
 No. 109 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 J93T Specimens sent, gratuitously, if written for, post-paid. 
 
 &jr All Postmasters constituted Agents ; but any person is authorized to get up a Club. 
 46iT In remitting, when the sum ia large, a draft should be procured, tho cost of which 
 m*y be tiwlucusd from the autcou* 
 
T. B. PETERSON S 
 
 WHOLESALE AND KETAIL 
 Cheap Book, Magazine, Newspaper, Publishing 
 
 and Bookselling Establishment, is at 
 No. 1O2 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 
 T. B. PETERSON has the satisfaction to announce to the public, that he has removed 
 to the new and spacious BROWN STONE BUILDING, NO. 102 CHESTNUT STREET, 
 just completed by the city authorities on the Qirard Estate, known as the most centra} 
 and best situation in the city of Philadelphia. As it is the Model Book Store of tho 
 Country, we will describe it : It is the largest, most spacious, and best arranged Retail 
 and Wholesale Cheap Book and Publishing Establishment in the United States. It is 
 built, by the Qirard Estate, of Connecticut sand-stone, in a richly ornamental style. 
 The whole front of the lower story, except that taken up by the doorway, is occupied by 
 two large plate glass windows, a single plate to each window, costing together over threo 
 thousand dollars. On entering and looking up, you find above you a ceiling sixteen 
 teet high ; while, on gazing before, you perceive a vista of One Hundred and Fifty-Seven 
 feet The retail counters extend back for eighty feet, and, being double, afford counter- 
 room of One Hundred and Sixty feet in length. There is also over Three Thousand feet 
 of shelving in the retail part of the, store alone. This part is devoted to the retail busi 
 ness, and as it is the most spacious iu the country, furnishes also the best and largest 
 assortment of all kinds of books to be found in the country. It is fitted up in tho most 
 superb style ; the shelvings are all painted in Florence white, with gilded cornices for 
 the book shelves. 
 
 Behind the retail part of the store, at about ninety feet from the entrance, is th 
 counting-room, twenty feet square, railed neatly off, and surmounted by a most beauti 
 ful dome of stained glass. Jn the rear of this is the wholesale and packing department, 
 extending a further distance of about sixty feet, with desks and packing counters for the 
 establishment, etc., etc. All goods are received and shipped from the back of the store, 
 having a fine avenue on the side of Girard Bank for the purpose, leading out to Third 
 Street, so as not to interfere with and block up the front of the store on Chestnut Street. 
 The cellar, of the entire depth of the store, is filled with printed copies of Mr. Peterson s 
 own publications, printed from his own stereotype plates, of which he generally keeps 
 on hand an edition of a thousand each, making a stock, of his own publications alone, 
 of over three hundred thousand volumes, constantly on hand. 
 
 T. B. PETERSON is warranted in saying, that he is able to offer such inducement* 
 to the Trade, and all others, to favor him with their orders, as cannot be excelled by any 
 book establishment in the country. In proof of this, T. B. PETERSON begs leave to 
 refer to his great facilities of getting stock of all kinds, his dealing direct with all the 
 Publishing Houses in the country, and also to his own long list of Publications, consisting 
 of the best and most popular productions of the most talented authors of the United 
 States aud Great Britain, and to his very extensive stock, embracing every work, new or 
 old, published in the United States. 
 
 T. B. PETERSON will be most happy to supply all orders for any books at all, no 
 matter by whom published, in advance of all others, and at publishers lowest cash 
 prices. He respectfully invites Country Merchants, Booksellers, Pedlars, Canvassers, 
 Agents, the Trade, Strangers in the city, and the public generally, to call and examine 
 his extensive collection of cheap and standard publications of all kinds, comprising a 
 most magnificent collection of CHEAP BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NOVELS, STANDARD 
 and POPULAR WORKS of all kinds, BIBLES, PRAYER BOOKS, ANNUALS, GIFT 
 BOOKS, ILLUSTRATED WORKS, ALBUMS and JUVENILE WORKS of all kinds, 
 GAMES of all kinds, to suit all ages, tastes, etc., which he is selling to his customers 
 and the public at much lower prices than they can be purchased elsewhere. Being lo 
 cated at No. 102 CHESTNUT Street, the great thoroughfare of the city, and BUYING 
 his stock outright in large quantities, and not selling on commission, he can and will 
 sell them on such terms as will defy all competition. Call and examine our stock, you 
 will find it to be the best, largest and cheapest in the city ; and you will also be sure to 
 and all the best, latest, popular, and cheapest works published in this country or o!-**- 
 where, for sale at the lowest prices. 
 
 49" Call in person and examine our stock, or send your orders by mail direct, to (be 
 CHEAP BOOKSELLING and PUBLISHING ESTABLISHMENT of 
 
 T. B. PETERSON, 
 
 61 No. 103 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia 
 


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Rf 
 
 FE.B 2 1969 1 5 
 
 LOAN DL., , 
 
 Due end o< f 
 
 subject to recall 
 
 LD 21-100m-7, 52(A2528sl 
 
 Cl3 71 
 72 -2 PM 
 
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M145530 . 
 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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