m fright and mortification.
Soon after that the girth of the mule's saddle broke, and having no
crupper, saddle and addenda went over his head, and the flour was
dispersed. Next the girth of the woman's saddle broke, and she went
over her horse's head. Then he began to fumble helplessly at it,
railing against England the whole time, while I secured the saddle, and
guided the route back to an outlet of the park. There a fire was
built, and we had some bread and bacon; and then a search for water
occupied nearly two hours, and resulted in the finding of a mudhole,
trodden and defiled by hundreds of feet of elk, bears, cats, deer, and
other beasts, and containing only a few gallons of water as thick as
pea soup, with which we watered our animals and made some strong tea.

The sun was setting in glory as we started for the four hours' ride
home, and the frost was intense, and made our bruised, grazed limbs
ache painfully. I was sorry for Mrs. Chalmers, who had had several
falls, and bore her aches patiently, and had said several times to her
husband, with a kind meaning, "I am real sorry for this woman." I was
so tired with the perpetual stumbling of my horse, as well as stiffened
with the bitter cold, that I walked for the last hour or two; and
Chalmers, as if to cover his failure, indulged in loud, incessant talk,
abusing all other religionists, and railing against England in the
coarsest American fashion. Yet, after all, they were not bad souls;
and though he failed so grotesquely, he did his incompetent best. The
log fire in the ruinous cabin was cheery, and I kept it up all night,
and watched the stars through the holes in the roof, and thought of
Long's Peak in its glorious solitude, and resolved that, come what
might, I would reach Estes Park.

I. L. B.

Letter VI

A bronco mare--An accident--Wonderland--A sad story--The children of
the Territories--Hard greed--Halcyon hours--Smartness--Old-fashioned
prejudices--The Chicago colony--Good luck--Three notes of admiration--A
good horse--The St. Vrain--The Rocky Mountains at last--"Mountain
Jim"--A death hug--Estes Park.

LOWER CANYON, September 25.

This is another world. My entrance upon it was signalized in this
fashion. Chalmers offered me a bronco mare for a reasonable sum, and
though she was a shifty, half-broken young thing, I came over here on
her to try her, when, just as I was going away, she to