od; but, knowing that I needed refreshment even more
than I did rest, he was compelled to insist upon my proceeding.

My poor husband! He must have had a trying time with me, for I sobbed
and cried like the veriest child, and repeatedly declared that I should
never live to get to the rancho. F. said afterwards that he began to
think I intended to keep my word, for I certainly _looked_ like a
dying person.

O Mary! it makes me _shudder_ when I think of the mad joy with which I
saw that rancho! Remember that, with the exception of three or four
hours me night before, we had been in the saddle for nearly twenty-four
hours without refreshment. When we stopped, F. carried me into the
house and laid me onto a bunk, though I have no remembrance of it, and
he said that when he offered me some food, I turned from it with
disgust, exclaiming, "Oh, take it away! give me some cold water and let
me _sleep_, and be sure you don't wake me for the next three weeks."
And I _did_ sleep, with a forty slumber-power; and when F. came to me
late in the evening with some tea and toast, I awoke, oh! _so_
refreshed, and perfectly well, for, after all the great fuss which I
had made, there was nothing the matter with me but a little fatigue.

Every one that we met congratulated us upon not having encountered any
Indians, for the paths which we followed were Indian trails, and it is
said they would have killed us for our mules and clothes. A few weeks
ago a Frenchman and his wife were murdered by them. I had thought of
the circumstances when we camped, but was too sick to care what
happened. They generally take women captive, however; and who knows how
narrowly I escaped becoming an Indian chieftainess, and feeding for the
rest of my life upon roasted grasshoppers, acorns, and flower-seeds? By
the way, the last-mentioned article of food strikes me as rather
poetical than otherwise.

After a good night's rest we are perfectly well, and as happy as the
day itself,--which was one of Heaven's own choosing,--and rode to the
"Wild Yankee's," where we breakfasted, and had, among other dainties,
fresh butter and cream.

Soon after we alighted, a _herd_ of Indians, consisting of about a
dozen men and squaws, with an unknown quantity of papooses,--the last
naked as the day they were born,--crowded into the room to stare at us.
It was the most amusing thing in the world to see them finger my
gloves, whip, and hat, in their intense curiosity. One of the