HE SCORES A POINT. 273 



could afford to buy himself another pony, on which he left me 

 in a rage. 



Finding that my horse had not come into the settlement, and 

 thinking that the Indians had probably got him, I determined 

 to wait for the mail, which was expected the next day, and 

 then go back to camp. When night came, Judge Johnson 

 told me that he had been obliged to put me with the parson 

 in a lean-to (which he, by the way, called a room) . This was 

 at the back of his cabin, and had apertures for doors and 

 windows ; the bed was made of four forked sticks, over which 

 were laid a number of small ones and some grass, and two single 

 blankets were spread on the top of this. I had inspected it, 

 and not being very favourably impressed with its comfort, I sat 

 talking to the Judge till long after his family had gone to bed ; 

 and when I did go to my quarters I found the preacher already 

 asleep and with about two thirds of both blankets round him, 

 leaving me so little that, though I lay as close to him as 

 I could, my back was all uncovered. Finding it very cold, I 

 asked him if he had not more than his share, on which he 

 replied that he had barely enough and wished me " good- 

 night," an impossibility under the circumstances. I managed 

 to get through it somehow by continually turning and warming 

 one side and then the other against him, and was thankful when 

 the morning came. 



The mail did not arrive the next day, so I passed my time in 

 going round among the cabins listening to the very curious 

 experiences of their owners. Some of the occupants had known 

 a great many ups and downs, the latter predominating. Most 

 of them, coming from the east, had had no experience of 

 Indians, and were thinking of moving back towards the 



