56 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 



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 chiseled ; and in this, it may be remarked, 

 the lower orders of the American women differ from, and far sur- 

 pass the same class in England, or elsewhere, where the features, 

 although far prettier, are more vulgar and common-place. Mary 

 Brand had the bright blue eye, thin nose, and small but sweetly- 

 formed mouth, the too fair complexion, and dark brown hair, 

 which characterize the beauty of the Anglo-American, the heavy 

 masses (hardly curls), that fell over her face and neck, contrasting 

 with their pohshed 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 justified 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 desperately in love 

 with the pretty Mary, arid she with him ; and small blame to 

 her, for he was a proper lad of twenty — six feet in his moccasins — 

 the best hunter and rifle-shot in the country, with many other ad- 

 vantages too numerous to mention. But when did the course, 

 &c. e'er run smoooth ? When the affair had become a recognized 

 *' courting" (and Americans alone know the horrors of such pro- 

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

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

 raakes-up. 



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

 these tiffs, Mary, every inch a woman, to gratify some indescrib- 

 able feeling, brought to her aid jealousy — that old serpent who 

 has caused such mischief in this world ; and by a flirtation over 

 the corn-cobs with Big Pete, La JBonte's former and only rival, 

 struck so hard a blow at the latter's heart, that on the moment 

 his brain caught fire, blood danced before his eyes, and he became 



