s of
the interior of a great and glorious empire to its possessors, and,
finally, to conquer with his good sword, preparing the way for its
annexation to his country, the richest soil and fairest land on earth,
thus adding one more glorious star to the original thirteen of 1776;
a star, too, of the very first magnitude, whose refulgent brightness
shines clear, sparkling and pure for the Truth of Sacred Writ and
American Liberty. On the deck of that little steamboat, the two men,
the one the master mind, the giant intellect, the man of research and
scholastic strength, the scientific engineer; the other, than whom
his superior as an American mountaineer was not living, stood,
uninterested spectators of each other; and, each, unconscious why they
had been permitted to enter the same cabin. The Christian student
of American history cannot pass by this simple circumstance without
seeing Heaven's wisdom in such a coincidence; namely, Kit Carson for
the first time in sixteen years bending his steps to his boyhood home
just as his sixteen years of mountaineer skill and experience were
required by one of the master workmen of American Engineering, about
to enter upon the exploration of inland North America.

Kit Carson wandered over the boat, studying its mechanism, admiring
the machinery, which, so like a thing of life, subserved the interests
of human life; watched with quiet reserve the faces and general
appearance of his fellow-passengers; occasionally, modestly addressed
an acquaintance, for some present were known to him; and, finally
singled out from among the strangers a man on whose face he thought
he discovered the marks of true courage, manhood and nobility of
character. The impression which Kit Carson had thus received,
was nothing fleeting. The eagle eye, the forehead, the form, the
movements, the general features, the smile, the quiet dignity of
the man, each and all of these attributes of his manhood had been
carefully noted by the wary and hardy mountaineer, and had not failed
to awaken in his breast a feeling of admiration and respect. While on
this boat Kit Carson learned the fact that the man, whom he had
thus studied, was Lieutenant John C. Fremont of the U.S. corps of
topographical engineers; also, that Lieutenant Fremont had been
earnestly seeking Captain Drips, an experienced mountaineer, but,
that he had been disappointed in finding him. Upon learning this, Kit
Carson fell into a deep reverie which last