50 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



Who but Mary Brand : and because the lovesick 

 booby carefully avoids her. 



" And Mary Brand herself what is she like 1 " 



" She's ' some ' now ; that is a fact, and the biggest 

 kind of punkin at that," would have been the answer 

 from any man, woman, or child in Memphis County, 

 and truly spoken too ; always understanding that the 

 pumpkin is the fruit by which the ne-plus-ultra of 

 female perfection is expressed amongst the figura- 

 tively-speaking westerns. 



Being an American woman, of course she was tall, 

 and straight and slim as a hickory sapling, well formed 

 withal, with rounded bust, and neck white and slender 

 as the swan's. Her features were small, but finely 

 chiselled : and in this, it may be remarked, the lower 

 orders of the American women differ from, and far sur- 

 pass the same class in England, or elsewhere, where the 

 features, although far prettier, are more vulgar and 

 commonplace. Mary Brand had the bright blue eye, 

 thin nose, and small but sweetly-formed mouth, the too 

 fair complexion and dark brown hair, which characterise 

 the beauty of the Anglo-American, the heavy masses 

 (hardly curls) that fell over her face and neck, contrast- 

 ing with her polished whiteness. Such was Mary 

 Brand ; and when to her good looks are added a sweet 

 disposition, and all the best qualities of a thrifty house- 

 wife, it must be allowed that she fully justified the 

 eulogiums of the good people of Memphis. 



Well, to cut a love-story short, in doing which not a 

 little moral courage is shown, young La Bonte fell 



t 



