ags of dollars, young man, which my
husband heaped up, and they are of as much use to me as they are now
to him."

"I am glad that you are so rich, mistress, and more glad that your
money is so little cared for and so little wanted; but if you do not
want money, I do very much want to get back to my friends, who think I
am dead, and mourn for me."

"Well, if they have mourned, their sorrow is over by this time, and
therefore your staying here will not distress them more. I may as well
tell you at once that you shall not go; so make up your mind to be
contented, and you'll fare none the worse for it."

This was said in so decided a tone, that, bearing in mind what I had
heard from the convict servant, I thought it advisable to push the
question no further for the present, making up my mind that I would
wait a short time, and then make my escape, if she still persisted in
detaining me by force; but this I could not venture upon until I was
in possession of fire-arms, and I could not obtain them while she had
any suspicion. I therefore replied--

"Well, since you are determined I shall not go, I have nothing more to
say, except that I will wait your pleasure, and, in the mean time, let
me make myself as useful as I can, for I don't want to eat the bread
of idleness."

"You're a very sensible young man," replied she; "and now you shall
have a shirt to put on, which will improve your appearance a great
deal."

She then went into the inner room, which I presumed was her bed-room,
as there were but two rooms in the cabin. As she went out, I could not
help wondering at her. On examination, I felt assured that she was
more than six feet high, and her shoulders as broad and her arms as
nervous as a man's of that stature. Her chest was very expanded, but
bosom she had none. In fact, she was a man in woman's clothing, and I
began to doubt her sex. Her features were not bad, had they been of
smaller dimensions, but her nose was too large, although it was
straight; her eyes were grand, but they were surmounted with such
coarse eyebrows; her mouth was well shaped, and her teeth were good
and regular, but it was the mouth of an ogress; her walk was
commanding and firm; every action denoted energy and muscle; and
certainly, from the conversation I have already made known, her mind
was quite as masculine as her body--she was a splendid monster. In a
minute she returned, bringing me a good check shirt and a pair of
duck trowsers,