08 ON THE FRONTIER 



" Indian difficulty," so had no doubt we should find it a safe 

 place to camp at, and that grass, wood, and water were there 

 in plenty. 



Such a camp ground was all that could be desired, and 

 as we much preferred it to being close to the wretched little 

 settlement farther down, we established ourselves there 

 without loss of time. 



Though we did not trouble the "city" with our pre- 

 sence, some of the citizens seemed to consider themselves 

 quite free of our camp. They were there all day; they 

 were there nearly all night. They seemed to think we 

 existed only for their special benefit, that our raison 

 fletre was to be listeners to their interminable yarns, to 

 believe their outrageous braggadocios, to shoot against 

 them for whisky, and to keep a roaring camp-fire burn- 

 ing all night for them to drone and doze over. They 

 wanted to trade with us for every thing we had. But 

 for the novelty of the thing, the certainty of its being 

 soon brought to a close, and that after all they were 

 entertaining rascals, for a time, we should soon have 

 brought things to a crisis, and "discommoded" some of 

 them. 



Our visitors belonged to that class border ruffians and 

 loafers who have made the name of frontiersman obnoxious 

 to the ordinary run of English sportsmen who have made 

 hunting excursions in the Far West ; because from such as 

 they, and the very worst of them too, have been almost 

 invariably procured their camp-followers, their guides, their 

 " professional hunters." Save and defend us ! These 

 are they of whom we hear stories of low profanities, 



