X 
THE BEAR 
397 
arrival. Upon my inquiring respecting the fatal 
quarrel across the table, he informed me that he 
had held an inquest, and buried the man that 
morning. 
The deceased was a notorious character, and he 
would assuredly have shot his younger antagonist, 
had he not been the quicker of the two in drawing 
his pistol. 
This was a satisfactory termination to a dispute 
concerning cards, and there was a total absence of 
any false sentiment upon the part of the common- 
sense authority. 
We were most hospitably entertained by Major 
and Mrs. Powell, to whose kind care we were com¬ 
mitted by Colonel Gentry, who, being a bachelor, 
had no accommodation for ladies. It was very 
delightful, in the centre of a prairie wilderness, to 
meet with ladies, and to hear the rich contralto 
voice of Miss Powell, their daughter of eighteen, 
who promised to be a singer much above the 
average. 
On the following morning we started for Powder 
River, 92 miles from Fort Fetterman; there was 
no public conveyance, as Powder River station had 
been abandoned since the Indians had been driven 
back, and confined to their reservation lands. We 
were bound by invitation to the cattle ranche of 
Mr. R. Frewen and his brother Mr. Moreton 
Frewen ; these gentlemen had an establishment at 
Powder River, although their house was 22 miles 
distant upon the other side, in the centre of their 
