art, flowed freely from his lips, but little else
of his past history or present prospects. And even his narratives of
adventure were more or less fragmentary and imperfect in detail.

"You woz saying," said the farmer, with slow, matter of fact, New
England deliberation, "ez how you guessed you woz beguiled amongst the
Injins by your Mexican partner, a pow'ful influential man, and yet you
woz the only one escaped the gen'ral slarterin'. How came the Injins to
kill HIM,--their friend?"

"They didn't," returned Jim, with ominously averted eyes.

"What became of him?" continued the farmer.

Red Jim shadowed his eyes with his hand, and cast a dark glance of
scrutiny out of the doors and windows. The young girl perceived it with
timid, fascinated concern, and said hurriedly:--

"Don't ask him, father! Don't you see he mustn't tell?"

"Not when spies may be hangin' round, and doggin' me at every step,"
said Red Jim, as if reflecting, with another furtive glance towards
the already fading prospect without. "They've sworn to revenge him," he
added moodily.

A momentary silence followed. The farmer coughed slightly, and looked
dubiously at his wife. But the two women had already exchanged feminine
glances of sympathy for this evident slayer of traitors, and were
apparently inclined to stop any adverse criticism.

In the midst of which a shout was heard from the road. The farmer and
his family instinctively started. Red Jim alone remained unmoved,--a
fact which did not lessen the admiration of his feminine audience. The
host rose quickly, and went out. The figure of a horseman had halted
in the road, but after a few moments' conversation with the farmer they
both moved towards the house and disappeared. When the farmer returned,
it was to say that "one of them 'Frisco dandies, who didn't keer
about stoppin' at the hotel in the settlement," had halted to give his
"critter" a feed and drink that he might continue his journey. He had
asked him to come in while the horse was feeding, but the stranger had
"guessed he'd stretch his legs outside and smoke his cigar;" he might
have thought the company "not fine enough for him," but he was "civil
spoken enough, and had an all-fired smart hoss, and seemed to know how
to run him." To the anxious inquiries of his wife and daughter he added
that the stranger didn't seem like a spy or a Mexican; was "as young
as HIM," pointing to the moody Red Jim, "and a darned sight more
peaceful-l