LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 215 



observe, that the maiden accompanied the moun- 

 taineer to his distant home, and at the present moment 

 is sharing his lodge on Hard-scrabble creek of the 

 upper Arkansa, having been duly and legally married 

 by Fray Augustin before their departure. 



But now the snow on the ridge of the Sierra Madre, 

 and the nightly frosts ; the angular nights of geese and 

 ducks constantly passing overhead ; the sober tints of 

 the foliage, and the dead leaves that strew the ground ; 

 ;he withering grass on the plain, and the cold gusts, 

 sometimes laden with snow and sleet, that sweep from 

 the distant snow-clad mountain ; all these signs warn 

 us to linger no longer in the tempting valley of San 

 lernando, but at once to pack our mules to cross the 

 dreary and desert plains and inhospitable sierras ; and 

 tc seek with our booty one of the sheltered bayous of 

 the Rocky Mountains. 



On the third day after their arrival, behold our 

 mountaineers again upon the march, driving before 

 them with the assistance of half-a-dozen Indians 

 impressed for the first few days of the journey until 

 the cavallada get accustomed to travel without confusion 

 a band of four hundred head of mules and horses, 

 themselves mounted on the strongest and fleetest they 

 could select from at least a thousand. 



Fray Augustin and the hidalgo, from the house-top, 

 watched them depart : the former glad to get rid of 

 such unscrupulous guests at any cost, the latter rather 

 loath to part with his boon companions, with whom 

 he had quaffed many a quartillo of Californian wine. 



