LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 27 



under her, and her back arched to throw off the rain, tottering from 

 side to side as she rested and slept. 



"Yep, old gall" cried Killbuck to the animal, at the same time 

 picking a piece of burnt wood from the fire and throwing it at her, 

 at which the mule gathered itself up and cocked her ears as she 

 recognized her master's voice. "Yep, old gal I and keep your nose 

 open ; thar's brown skin about, I'm thinkin,' and maybe you'll get 

 ' roped' (lasso'd) by a Rapaho, afore mornin'." Again the old trap- 

 per settled himself before the fire ; and soon his head began to nod. 

 as drowsiness stole over him. Already he was in the land of 

 dreams ; reveling among bands of " fat cow," or hunting along a 

 stream well peopled with beaver ; with no Indian " sign" to dis- 

 turb him, and the merry rendezvous in close perspective, and his 

 peltry selling briskly at six dollars the plew, and galore of alcohol 

 to ratify the trade. Or, perhaps, threading the back trail of his 

 memory, he passed rapidly through the perilous vicissitudes of his 

 hard, hard life — starving one day, reveling in abundance the next ; 

 now beset by whooping savages thirsting for his blood, baying his 

 enemies like the hunted deer, but with the unfl.inching courage of 

 a man ; now, all care thrown aside, secure and forgetful of the past, 

 a welcome guest in the hospitable trading fort ; or back, as the trail 

 gets fainter, to his childhood's home in the brown forests of old 

 Kentuck, tended and cared for — his only thought to enjoy the 

 homminy and johnny cakes of his thrifty mother. Once more, in 

 warm and well remembered homespun, he sits on the snake fence 

 round the old clearing, and munching his hoe-cake at set of sun, 

 listens to the mournful note of the whip-poor-will, or the harsh cry 

 of the noisy cat-bird, or watches the agile gambols of the squirrels 

 as they chase each other, chattering the while, from branch to 

 branch of the lofty tamarisks, wondering how long it will be before 

 he will be able to lift his father's heavy rifle, and use it against 

 the tempting game. Sleep, however, sat lightly on the eyes of the 

 wary mountaineer, and a snort from the old mule in an instant 



