MIKi: FINK, THi: KEEL-BOATMAN. I ()? 



" What's the use of improvements ? 



" When did cutting down trees make doer more 

 plenty ? 



'• Who ever found wild buft'iUo, or a brave Indian, 

 in a city ? Where's the fun, the frolicking, the fight- 

 ing ? Gone ! Gone ! 



" The rifle won't make a man a living now — he 

 must turn mule and work. If forests continue this way 

 to be used up, I may yet be smothered in a settlement. 

 Boys, this 'ere life won't do. I'll stick to tlie broad- 

 horn 'cordin' to contract ; but once done with it, I'm off 

 for a frolic. If the Choctas or Cherokees on the Mas- 

 sissip don't give us a brush as we pass along, I shall 

 grow as poor as a starved wolf in a pitfall. 



" I must, to live peaceably, point my rifle at some- 

 thing more dangerous than varmint. Six months and 

 no fight, would spile me worse than a 'tack of rheuma- 

 tism." 



Mike ceased speaking. The then beautiful village 

 of Louisville appeared in sight ; the labor of landing the 

 boat occupied his attention — the bustle and confusion 

 that followed such an incident ensued ; and Mike was his 

 own master by law, until his employers ceased trafficking, 

 and again required his services.^ 



At the time we write of, a great many renegade In- 

 dians lived about the settlements, which is still the case 

 in the extreme southwest. These Indians are generally 

 the most degraded of their tribe — outcasts, who, f«>r 



