That
I am the man I say, you need not doubt; for why should I go to my
grave with so cheap a lie in my mouth?"
"I do not hesitate to believe; I only marvel that it should be so! But
why do I find you, venerable and excellent friend of my parents, in
these wastes, so far from the comforts and safety of the lower
country?"
"I have come into these plains to escape the sound of the axe; for
here surely the chopper can never follow! But I may put the like
question to yourself. Are you of the party which the States have sent
into their new purchase, to look after the natur' of the bargain they
have made?"
"I am not. Lewis is making his way up the river, some hundreds of
miles from this. I come on a private adventure."
"Though it is no cause of wonder, that a man whose strength and eyes
have failed him as a hunter, should be seen nigh the haunts of the
beaver, using a trap instead of a rifle, it is strange that one so
young and prosperous, and bearing the commission of the Great Father,
should be moving among the prairies, without even a camp-colourman to
do his biddings!"
"You would think my reasons sufficient did you know them, as know them
you shall if you are disposed to listen to my story.
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