rth of furs and `castoreum;' so that our old cabin now contains
4500 pounds of property, which we have taken care to keep in good
condition. Besides, we estimate our livestock in the dam, which we can
trap at any time, at 2500 pounds more; so that, you see, we are worth in
all 7000 pounds at this moment. Do you not think, my friends, that we
have realised the prediction of my wife, and _made a fortune in the
Desert_?

"As soon as we began to collect these valuable furs, a new train of
thought was suggested to us--when and how we should bring them to a
market.

"Here was a grand difficulty that stared us in the face. Without a
market in which to dispose of them, our furs would be of no more use to
us, than a bag of gold would be to a man dying with hunger in the middle
of a desert. Although surrounded with plenty for all our wants and
necessities, we were still, in a manner, imprisoned in our little valley
oasis. We could no more leave it, than the castaway sailor could leave
his desert island. With all the animals that were subject to us, none
of them were beasts of burden or draught--that is, except Pompo. He was
old at the time that these reflections first occurred to us; and when we
should be ready to leave our valley in a few years more, poor Pompo
would be still older; in fact, barely able to carry himself, let alone a
whole family of people, with several thousand beaver-skins to boot.

"Although quite happy where we were--for we were always too much
occupied to be otherwise--these thoughts would intrude upon us every now
and then, and they gave us a good deal of anxiety.

"As for Mary and myself, I believe we should have been contented to
remain where we were, and lay our bones in this lovely, but lonely spot.
But we had others to think of--our children. To them we had a duty to
perform--the duty of their education. We could not think of bringing
them up ignorant of the world; and leaving them to such a wild and
wayward fate as would be theirs. These reflections, I have said, at
times pressed heavily upon us.

"I proposed to my wife that I should take Pompo, and endeavour to
penetrate the settlements of New Mexico--where I could obtain either
mules, horses, or oxen. These I should bring back to our valley, and
keep them until we required them for carrying us out of the Desert.
Mary would not listen to this proposal. She would not consent that we
should be separated. `We might never,' said she, `s