LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 41 



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

 cf 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 figuratively-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 surpass the same 

 class in England, or elsewhere, where the features, although 

 far prettier, are more vulgar and commonplace. Mary 

 Brand had the bright blue ej T e, 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 contrasting 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 housewife, it must be allowed that she fully justi- 

 fied 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 despe- 

 rately in love with the pretty Mary, and she with him ; and 

 small blame to her, for he was a proper lad of twenty 

 six feet in his mocassins the best hunter and rifle-shot in 

 the country, with many other advantages too numerous to 

 mention. But when did the course, &c. e'er run smooth ? 

 When the affair had become a recognised " courting " (and 

 Americans alone know the horrors of such prolonged pur- 

 gatory), they became, to use La Bonte's words, " awful 

 fond," and consequently about once a-week had their tiffs 

 and makes-up. 



However, on one occasion, at a " husking," and during 

 one of these tiffs, Mary, every inch a woman, to gratify 

 some indescribable feeling, brought to her aid jealousy 

 that old serpent who has caused such mischief in this 



