lean an' nice the ground
is! Remember all them big, fine, friendly trees, millions an' millions uv
'em! Remember all them nice little springs uv clean, cold water, clear
enough to be lookin' glasses, one, an' sometimes more, every three or four
hundred yards! Remember all them nice smells uv the wild flowers, an' the
trees, an' the grass, an' me settin' at the foot uv the biggest tree uv
'em all, cookin' on a roarin' fire, fat, juicy buffaler an' deer steaks
fur you fellers!"

"I remember," replied Paul smiling. "I remember it all, and I do believe,
Jim, that you are homesick for the woods."

"Not homesick eggzackly, but I jest want to say that a big town like this
kin be mighty interestin', but after I've seed it, give me back our own
clean woods."

"I believe I agree with you, Jim," said Paul thoughtfully.

They strolled back into the Place d'Armes, where the review was still in
progress, and where more people were gathering. The women were
bare-headed, and generally wore a short round skirt, and long basque like
overgarments, the two invariably of different, but bright, colors. All of
them wore much ribbon and jewelry, but, as a rule, they were too dark of
countenance to suit the ideas of the five concerning feminine beauty. At
rare intervals, however, they saw a girl with light hair and light eyes
and light complexion, and all these were really handsome.

"Those, I imagine, are French," said Paul. "We've got into the habit of
thinking of the French as always dark, but many of them are fair. I've
heard our school teacher, Mr. Pennypacker, say so often, and he ought to
know. For the matter of that, some of the Spaniards are light, too."

"Yes, thar's Alvarez," said Shif'less Sol. "He's light, an' that's one
reason why I mistrusted him the first time I saw him. It looks more
nateral fur a Spaniard to be dark."

As they stood in the Place d'Armes looking at the sights, the five
themselves began to attract much attention. Their height and strength,
their long, sender barreled rifles, and their deerskin attire made them
highly picturesque figures. The motley population of New Orleans was used
to all kinds of people, armed or unarmed, but generally armed. These,
however, were different. They bore themselves with dignity, there was
about them an air of absolute simplicity and honesty, and they kept close
together in a manner that indicated a faithful brotherhood, closer even
than the brotherhood of blood. They seemed