. What is it?"

"The cholera has broken out at Rock Island, and they are dying by five
hundred a day. Dr. Finley has just arrived with the news." So saying, he
vanished, without stopping to answer a question.

The cholera at Rock Island, and my husband there! I flew to the other
door of the hall, which looked out upon the parade-ground. A sentinel
was walking near. "Soldier," cried I, "will you run to the young
officers' quarters and ask Dr. Finley to come here for a moment?"

The man shook his head--he was not allowed to leave his post.

Presently Mrs. Lacy's servant-girl appeared from a door under the steps.
She was a worthless creature, but where _help_ was so scarce ladies
could not afford to keep a scrupulous tariff of moral qualification.

"Oh! Catharine," said I, "will you run over and ask Dr. Finley to come
here a moment? I must hear what news he has brought from Rock Island."
She put on a modest look, and said,--

"I do not like to go to the young officers' quarters."

I was indignant at her hypocrisy, but I was also wild with impatience,
when to my great joy Dr. Finley made his appearance.

"Where is my husband?" cried I.

"On his way home, madam, safe and sound. He will probably be here
to-morrow." He then gave me an account of the ravages the cholera was
making among the troops, which were indeed severe, although less so than
rumor had at first proclaimed.

Notwithstanding the doctor's assurance of his safety, my husband was
seized with cholera on his journey. By the kind care of Paquette and the
plentiful use of chicken-broth which the poor woman at whose cabin he
stopped administered to him, he soon recovered, and reached his home in
safety, having taken Prairie du Chien in his route and brought his
mother with him again to her home.

The Indians had consented to the sale of their beautiful domain. Indeed,
there is no alternative in such cases. If they persist in retaining
them, and become surrounded and hemmed in by the white settlers, their
situation is more deplorable than if they surrendered their homes
altogether. This they are aware of, and therefore, as a general thing,
they give up their lands at the proposal of Government, and only take
care to make the best bargain they can for themselves. In this instance
they were to receive as an equivalent a tract of land[57] extending to
the interior of Iowa, and an additional sum of ten thousand dollars
annually.

One of the stipulations of th