152 BUFFALO LAND. 



these, perhaps amid sterile mountains, are the pre- 

 cious diamonds he seeks. 



" It is wise that, where these roads branch off — some 

 to castles of indolence, others to comfortable homes 

 and moderate exertion — the man should be left alone 

 for a time and allowed to survey the rough path be- 

 fore him, with all the blinding glamour of enthusiasm 

 subdued by the light of truth, and with a full knowl- 

 edge of all the stumbling blocks which lie before 

 him. If he then thumbs the edge of his hunting- 

 knife, examines his Henry rifle, and presses forward, 

 the metal is there, and from that time onward you 

 may at any time learn of his whereabouts by inquir- 

 ing at the temple of fame." 



Sachem interrupted the Professor to remonstrate 

 at the girding of loins being left out. He had always 

 been used to the girding in similar discourses, and 

 considered that loins were in much more general use 

 than Henry rifles. 



And now Shamus, from his perch on the pans, sud- 

 denly broke in : " Faith, Professor, your enthusiasm 

 once brought me sore trouble. It got me into a 

 haunted house, when the clock was strikin' midnight, 

 and my legs were sore put to it to get me out fast 

 enough. Ye see, I bet a pig with my next cousin 

 that I would stay all nio-ht in an old house full of 

 spirits. The master and his house-keeper had been 

 murdered in the tenantry riots, and the boys that did 

 the business, they swung for it soon afterward. And 

 now, there was a regular barricadin' and attackin' 

 going on those nights ever since. While I was 

 lookin' at the old clock, and thinkin' of the pig I 'd 



