As we drew near the Missouri line we came upon a comfortable farm-house,
at which father made inquiry concerning a lodging for the night. A widow
lived there, and the information that father was brother to Elijah Cody,
of Platte County, Missouri, won us a cordial welcome and the hospitality
of her home.

We were yet in the road, waiting father's report, when our startled
vision and childish imagination took in a seeming apparition, which
glided from the bushes by the wayside.

It proved a full-blooded African, with thick lips, woolly hair, enormous
feet, and scant attire. To all except mother this was a new revelation
of humanity, and we stared in wild-eyed wonder; even Turk was surprised
into silence. At this point father rejoined us, to share in mother's
amusement, and to break the spell for us by pleasantly addressing the
negro, who returned a respectful answer, accompanied by an ample grin.
He was a slave on the widow's plantation.

Reassured by the grin, Will offered his hand, and tasted the joy of
being addressed as "Massa" in the talk that followed. It was with
difficulty that we prevailed upon "Masse" to come to supper.

After a refreshing night's sleep we went on our way, and in a few days
reached my uncle's home. A rest was welcome, as the journey had been
long and toilsome, despite the fact that it had been enlivened by many
interesting incidents, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the family.

CHAPTER II. -- WILL'S FIRST INDIAN.

MY uncle's home was in Weston, Platte County, Missouri, at that time the
large city of the West. As father desired to get settled again as soon
as possible, he left us at Weston, and crossed the Missouri River on
a prospecting tour, accompanied by Will and a guide. More than one day
went by in the quest for a desirable location, and one morning
Will, wearied in the reconnoissance, was left asleep at the night's
camping-place, while father and the guide rode away for the day's
exploring.

When Will opened his eyes they fell upon the most interesting object
that the world just then could offer him--an Indian!

The "noble red man," as he has been poetically termed by people who have
but known him from afar, was in the act of mounting Will's horse, while
near by stood his own, a miserable, scrawny beast.

Will's boyish dreams were now a reality; he looked upon his first
Indian. Here, too, was a "buck"--not a graceful, vanishing deer, but
a dirty redskin, who seemingly w