I70 HARDSHIP INSIGNIFICANT. 
devotion to a pursuit, than did Mrs. Maxwell to 
the execution of her favorite project, yet so 
quietly and unostentatiously did she work, that 
until the opening of her museum, many of her 
friends and neighbors hardly knew she cherished 
plans that differed from their own. So shy was 
she of any display of skill unusual to feminine 
fingers, that few people ever saw her fire a gun, 
and many, who thought they knew her well, 
would hardly credit their ears when, in answer 
to the inquiry where she procured certain speci- 
mens, they were informed she shot them her- 
self. 
“ What ! can you shoot ? ” would be their 
astonished exclamation. 
Her quiet “ Sometimes, when necessary,” ac- 
companied by some remark tending to lead the 
attention to other subjects, was never questioned ; 
nor, after further conversation with her on her 
favorite topic, did it seem a matter of great im- 
portance ; only a step in securing an end, which, 
in the light of her enthusiasm, seemed so great 
that any act, adventure, or hardship necessary to 
its advancement, was a matter of comparative 
insignificance. 
We cannot give in detail the many annoyances, 
pleasures and adventures through which she 
passed during the six months of her stay in the 
Golden State ; neither make grateful mention of 
