rscore long and laborious years, for his own secret ends. That
I am the man I say, you need not doubt; for why should I go to my grave
with so cheap a lie in my mouth?"

"I do not hesitate to believe; I only marvel that it should be so! But
why do I find you, venerable and excellent friend of my parents, in
these wastes, so far from the comforts and safety of the lower country?"

"I have come into these plains to escape the sound of the axe; for here
surely the chopper can never follow! But I may put the like question to
yourself. Are you of the party which the States have sent into their new
purchase, to look after the natur' of the bargain they have made?"

"I am not. Lewis is making his way up the river, some hundreds of miles
from this. I come on a private adventure."

"Though it is no cause of wonder, that a man whose strength and eyes
have failed him as a hunter, should be seen nigh the haunts of the
beaver, using a trap instead of a rifle, it is strange that one so young
and prosperous, and bearing the commission of the Great Father, should
be moving among the prairies, without even a camp-colourman to do his
biddings!"

"You would think my reasons sufficient did you know them, as know them
you shall if you are disposed to listen to my story. I think you all
honest, and men who would rather aid than betray one bent on a worthy
object."

"Come, then, and tell us at your leisure," said the trapper, seating
himself, and beckoning to the youth to follow his example. The latter
willingly complied; and after Paul and the Doctor had disposed of
themselves to their several likings, the new comer entered into a
narrative of the singular reasons which had led him so far into the
deserts.

CHAPTER XI

So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
--King John.

In the mean time the industrious and irreclaimable hours continued
their labours. The sun, which had been struggling through such masses
of vapour throughout the day, fell slowly in a streak of clear sky, and
thence sunk gloriously into the gloomy wastes, as he is wont to settle
into the waters of the ocean. The vast herds which had been grazing
among the wild pastures of the prairies, gradually disappeared, and
the endless flocks of aquatic birds, that were pursuing their customary
annual journey from the virgin lakes of the north towards the gulf of
Mexico, ceased to fan that air, which h