246 BUFFALO LAND. 



the briglitest spot upon earth. He would have beeu 

 content there to court and cook, I think, during the 

 remainder of his natural life. ]\Iary was shy, and 

 Shamus was bold, but it was quite apparent that 

 both enjo3''ed the situation immensely. 



Although the little party stayed but a day, their 

 departure seemed to leave quite a void in the valley. 

 The most noticeable results to us were some errors in 

 cooking and a slackness in the prosecution of scien- 

 tific investigations. 



Mr. S^^lney gave us a hearty invitation to visit 

 him upon the Solomon, if our wanderings took us that 

 way, and our prophetic souls, with a common instinct, 

 told all of us that the Professor would recofrnize a 

 call of science in that direction. By a look and a 

 smile from a maiden, the Philosopher, deeply sunken 

 in'the primary formation, had been drawn to the sur- 

 face of the modern, a result which fashionable society 

 had more than once striven in vain to bring about. 

 Miss Flora certainly bid fair to become a favorite 

 pupil of his, were the opportunity only offered. 



This maiden of the plains was a new character. 

 Tlie beautiful heroine mentioned in most Western 

 novels as having penetrated the Indian country', is 

 either the daughter of "once wealthy parents," or 

 the heiress of a noble family and stolen b}^ gypsies 

 for reward or revenge. It was the first appearance 

 that I could recall of a farmer's girl in a position 

 where kidnapping Indians and a frantic lover could 

 so easily appear, and by opportune conjunction weave 

 the plot of a soul-harrowing romance. 



Another evening in camp was spent in writing and 



