178 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



made her quit. My buffler hos, and as good as four packs 

 of beaver, I gave for old Bull-tail's daughter. He was 

 head chief of the Ricaree, and * came ' nicely ' round ' me. 

 Thar wasn't enough scarlet cloth, nor beads, nor vermilion 

 in Sublette's packs for her. Traps wouldn't buy her all 

 the fofarraw she wanted ; and in two years I'd sold her to 

 Cross-Eagle for one of Jake Hawkin's guns this very 'one 

 I hold in my hands. Then I tried the Sioux, the Shian, 

 and a Digger from the other side, who made the best 

 mocassin as ever / wore. She was the best of all, and was 

 rubbed out by the Yutas in the Bayou Salade. Bad was 

 the best ; and after she was gone under I tried no more. 



" Afore I left the settlements I know'd a white gal, and 

 she was some punkins. I have never see'd nothing as 

 'ould beat her. Red blood won't ' shine ' any ways you fix 

 it ; and though I'm h for ' sign,' a woman's breast is the 

 hardest kind of rock to me, and leaves no trail that I can 

 see of. I've hearn you talk of a gal in Memphis County ; 

 Mary Brand you called her oncest. The gal I said / 

 know'd, her name I disremember, but she stands before me 

 as plain as Chimley Rock on Platte, and thirty year and 

 more harn't changed a feature in her face, to me. 



" If you ask this child, he'll tell you to leave the Span- 

 ish slut to her Greasers, and hold on till you take the trail 

 to old Missoura, whar white and Christian gals are to be 

 had for axing. Wagh ! " 



La Bonte rose to his feet. The mention of Mary 

 Brand's name decided him ; and he said 



" Darn the Spaniard ! she can't shine with me. Come, 

 old hos ! let's move." 



And shouldering their rifles, the two companeros re- 

 turned to the Ronch. More than one of the mountaineers 

 had fulfilled the object of their journey, and had taken to 

 themselves a partner from amongst the belles of Taos, and 

 now they were preparing for their return to the moun- 

 tains. Dick Wooton was the only unfortunate one. He 

 had wooed a damsel whose parents peremptorily forbade 

 their daughter to wed the hunter, and he therefore made 

 ready for his departure with considerable regret. 



