as also one of those persons who, while everybody
around them is moving along quietly and soberly, are always getting into
scrapes, and coming out of each one bright, smiling, and ready for
another. Then, too, he was a stout, fearless fellow, with perfect
confidence in himself that led him into, and out of, situations from
which such boys as Binney Gibbs would steer clear.

An amusing feature of Glen's adventures was, that while his companions
were ready to sympathize with him on account of his sufferings and
hardships, it never seemed to occur to him that he had had anything but
a good time, and one to be remembered with pleasure. Thus, in the
present instance, according to his own account, his slide down the
mountain-side had been the jolliest coast he ever took. His swim in the
lake had been cold, but then it had not lasted long, and he had enjoyed
the fire and the warmth of the cave all the more for it. As for his
subsequent experiences, he related them in such a way that, before he
finished, his listeners began to regard him as one of the most fortunate
and to-be-envied fellows of their acquaintance. They seemed to be
crossing the Plains and mountains in the most prosaic manner, without
doing anything in particular except work, while, to this boy, the trip
was full of adventures and delightful experiences. Would these incidents
seem so pleasant to him if he were as old as they? Perhaps not.

They were all to enjoy one novel experience that very evening, though;
for Glen brought an invitation from Colonel Carson for them to attend
the wedding, and of course they promptly accepted it. As it was to be an
early affair, they hurried to the fort as soon as supper was over, and
found the guests already assembling in a large room, from which every
article of furniture had been removed. It was a motley gathering, in
which were seen the gay uniforms of soldiers, the buckskin of trappers,
the gaudy serapes of Mexican Cabelleros, the flannel shirts and big
boots of the engineers, and the blanketed forms of stolid-faced Ute
Indians, for whom Kit Carson was acting as agent at that time.

The company was ranged about three sides of the room, close against the
walls; and, when they were thus disposed, a door on the vacant side
opened, and a Mexican woman, bearing a large basket of candles, entered.
Giving a candle to each guest, and lighting it for him, she indicated by
signs that he was to hold it above his head. So the guests b