hort dress of blue silk was studded with
gold stars, and to each shoulder was fastened a long, pointed train of
yellow gauze sprinkled with diamond dust. An immense gold star with a
diamond sunburst in the center was above her forehead, and around her
neck was a diamond necklace. Mrs. Palmer, wife of Colonel Palmer, was
"King of Hearts," the foundation a handsome red silk. Mrs. Spencer
advertised the New York Herald; the whole dress, which was flounced
to the waist, was made of the headings of that paper. Major Blair was
recognized by no one as "An American citizen," in plain evening dress. I
could not find Faye at all, and he was in a simple red domino, too.

I cannot begin to tell you of the many lovely costumes that seemed most
wonderful to me, for you must remember that we were far up in the Rocky
Mountains, five hundred miles from a railroad! I will send you a copy
of the Helena paper that gives an account of the ball, in which you will
read that "Mrs. Rae was inimitable--the best sustained character in the
rooms." I have thought this over some, and I consider the compliment
doubtful.

We remained one day longer in Helena than we had expected for the
bal masque; consequently we were obliged to start back the very next
morning, directly after breakfast, and that was not pleasant, for we
were very tired. The weather had been bitter cold, but during the night
a chinook had blown up, and the air was warm and balmy as we came across
the valley. When we reached the mountains, however, it was freezing
again, and there was glassy ice every place, which made driving over the
grades more dangerous than usual. In many places the ambulance wheels
had to be "blocked," and the back and front wheels of one side chained
together so they could not turn, in addition to the heavy brake, and
then the driver would send the four sharp-shod mules down at a swinging
trot that kept the ambulance straight, and did not give it time to slip
around and roll us down to eternity.

There is one grade on this road that is notoriously dangerous, and
dreaded by every driver around here because of the many accidents that
have occurred there. It is cut in the side of a high mountain and has
three sharp turns back and forth, and the mountain is so steep, it is
impossible to see from the upper grade all of the lower that leads down
into the canon called White's Gulch. This one mountain grade is a mile
and a half long. But the really dangerous place is