She followed the
quivering thing with her eye, as it sped like a shaft of light to its
destined mark. To retrieve it she walked with the youth to where, fixed
in a bale of cotton, it trembled, some hundred yards away. Slowly she
returned by the youth's side, and drooped her head, listening to the
wild mountain adventures he was telling--the chase of the elk, the
antelope, and the wild buffalo; the hazardous ride through the wild
prairies, expanding away in the distance to kiss the horizon; the
stealthy wiles of the revengeful savage; the fierce fight of savage
men; the race for very life, when the foe followed; and the bivouac
upon the prairie's breast, with the weary horse sleeping and resting by
his side. Will he ever forget the speaking of the beaming features of
that beautiful creature, when she lifted her head and looked into his
face? A frown darkened the matron's features as her _eleve_ returned to
the curious group which was listening to the narrative of the older of
the two strangers. It said: "What did you leave me for? Why this
indiscretion?" Ah! how often old women forget they were once young!
The steamer is coming.
Pages:
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572