282 HOESE POKTBAITUEE. 



him, and on one of the pleasantest Sunday evenings I ever 

 saw, the trotters were hitched to the wagon, and we took 

 our -places in it. The whole turn-out was in good taste, 

 and when I add that Charlie was the handsomest man in 

 the City of Mounds, it is evident we would be very likely 

 to attract our share of attention. 



I am not going to trouble you with a description of the 

 beautiful country that environs St. Louis, further than to 

 state that I know of no city that is its superior in beauty 

 of surroundings, especially in the golden harvest time. 

 We were jogging along the Gravois road, when I espied 

 two females a short distance in advance, and as we over- 

 took them I could not refrain from peering under their 

 bonnets. One of them was transcendently beautiful. I 

 nudged Charlie, whose attention was taken up driving the 

 horses, whispering "Look, what a beautiful girl!" He 

 turned his head, and on the first glimpse, he, with a 

 powerful effort, almost set the horses on their haunches, 



and broke out with the exclamation, " Til be blessed if 



she isn't handsome! " There was a transient suffusion of 

 the girl's clear cheek, and something of a toss of the pretty 

 head, yet the sparkling eye and half smile on the lip, 

 showed that she overlooked the impertinence of the very 

 handsome man, that had been betrayed into this enthusi- 

 astic acknowledgment of her beauty. When we returned 

 to the Abbey, I was still 'full of the adventure, and of 

 course must recount it to the rest of the brothers of the 

 spur and snaffle that were assembled in the bar-room. An 

 old gentleman was one of the listeners, who, after patiently 

 hearing all my encomiums on the fair unknown, said, 

 "Pshaw! I'll bet she isn't half so good looking as my 

 daughter Fanny." A wager of a dozen of wine was ac- 

 cordingly booked, and then the puzzling question arose, 

 how it was to be decided. The old man proposed sending 

 to the stable of Captain M., who had named a favorite 



