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Show as Ui i the ki'ditn door ucloie 1 remembered re-membered that as all out doors was his bed room, he had intended it for a joke. In lighting the fue, earlier in the morning, 1 had torn an advertising page from tbt back of an old dog eared magazine; maga-zine; and saw iii a minute that my hostess regretted it, andrwgan to apolo gire. "Never mind," she said, "but I am so hungry for something to read. I borrowed the book hve miles down the valley yesterday and have not yet read : it." That gave me an idea. I went into the wagon and by a great deal ol pull-hauling pull-hauling managed to get at a trunk that contained a miscellaneous assortment of novels, illustrated papeis and magazines. maga-zines. I took out an armful, and put them where 1 couid get them handily. Alter breakfast, when we were alt ready for a start, I put the lot into her arms. Her eves dialated and her cheeks flvshed; and turning to her husband she said, as delighted as a child: "See Bill what she has given me;" and then to me, "1 would rather have these than a twenty dollar gold piece," And there were tears in her eyes. In response to very delicate inquiries about pay, our host said he "hadn't lost any bill, and if you ever come within a mile of my house again, c ini; out if you think it's healthy." We hud driven offalinost out of speaking distance, w hen our host came out into the yard, and waved his arms frantically for us to stop. He came down the road a little way and bawled out, "If you see anybody and they enquire for me give them halt a dollar." and without waiting for a j reply, stalked back. At noon we stopped for dinner at a place where several toads met, and the people were prepared to accomodate travelers, with fresh cooked bread, milk, butter, eggs, and an empty house to camp in, grain and a pasture for horses. The house was already occupied when we arrived. A Mr. leusen. who "Before the Advent of Railroads. BY MRS. ELLEN JAKEMAN. Written for the R.r.isnm. (CONTINUED,) "The meanchurlish wretch,"! thought, asl surveyed the smoking puddle where our fire hud been, supposing that we had unwittingly stopped on his quarter section of laud and that it did not suit him to have us there. We all seemed suddenly struck dumb by the strangeness of his conduct; and I looked a little anxiously, anx-iously, I must confess, for the meeting between this gigantic Dutchman and my husband; for the latter, who had witnessed witness-ed the act at a distance, was now hurrying hurry-ing toward us, thunder on his brow, and lightning in his eye. But before he got within striking distance the Dutchman lifted one long arm to the level and pointing to the cabin said: "Stranger, do you see that house up there? Well a white man lives up there, and he dont 'low no women folks to camp out within three quarteis of a mile of his house no such weather as this; so just hitch up your team and git." Suiting the action to the word, he began hitching hitch-ing up the team, telling the children to get into the wagon. Then it began to dawn upon us that this was his way of inviting us up to his house to camp We were glad enough of a shelter, but first impressions are so strong that I don't think I ever 'id quite like the Dutchman, although he was all one could ask for in a frontier host. That first feeling of impotent anger, followed by a knowledge that we liaJ been le-gulatly le-gulatly made fools of (or his amusement, was moie than my philanthropy could reason away; and 1 never think of him, but back again comes the flood of feel- was traveling in the same direction as ourselves, and two Englishmen, whose names we did not learn, were busy cooking dinner in a fireplace that looked like it alone had been the original architecluat desigu, and the house itself an after thought. They were baking bread In frying pans; that kind of water cakes known as "llap jacks;" and while we silently proceeded to set out a cold lunch for ouiselves, I could not help hearing what they said. Evidently the two Englishmen had been joking the other man till he was a little cross; and as he turned his flap-jack carefully with a knife, the others sneered: "That's the way an old squaw would turn them; why don't you come the "49er" on it." Aud Hie speaker lightly tossed the half-cooked cake into the air with a jerk that made it turn over, and deftly caught it as it descended." "That's all right," said Mr. Jensen, Don't brag so much about your accomplishments, I could toss my llap-jack up the chimney and go outside and catch, it before it fell, if I wished." Without waiting fur any reply, he threw it with all his might up the wide mouth ol the chimney and dashed madly oiit doors, frying pan in hand, which he held sky-ward with great expectancy as though he believed the Hap jack had gone up a quarter of a mile or so, and that he must be on the alert to catch it when it came down. The other fellows were laughing themselves nearly to death over the flap-jack that come down the chimney in a big smutty roll. "You'll do" they said in a bieath, "come out to the wagon and take a drink;" but he declined, and during the rest of the dinner hour the utmost harmony prevailed pre-vailed among them. Mr. Jeuson traveled travel-ed with us the rest of the day, and at night we made a halt at a stage station, and ordered a warm supper and made ourselves at home. There we met, among a crowd of other travelers by team, an old acquaintance, named Simp- ing he provoked. As a mere experience I am glad to have it in my collection, but the man was repugnant to me. His wife was a a nice little English woman, and they were childless. Their house consisted of but one room, built of hewn logs, and a lean-to that held the stove aud sundry cooking utensils. It seemed like a veritable palace to us, and everything every-thing waf spotlessly clean, A curious old gentleman was sitting in the corner, and from the liberties he took, I thought he was no less a personage person-age than the father of our host or hostess host-ess whose names were Nighswanger. As we filed in and our shoes left muddy tracks on the well scoured floor, he looked intensly disgusted; and as one after another kept coining in; he arose to his feel and deliberately counted us: kins who had been employed by a scion of English nobility to drive team for him. If I ever knew his name I have forgotten it, tor he was by common consent called the "English Lord." He was traveling overland to California, and roughing it.Simpkins told us of some of "My void's" eccentricities that were truly amusing, and promised to arrange matters so that we should breakfast at the same table, and see and hear as much of him as possile. In the beginning begin-ning of their jouiney, Simpkins told us with a snort of scorn, his Lordship had required many menial services of him, and that he was a regular fool. There was not room lor us all 10 sleep in the house that night, so I and my husband slept in our wagon; our passengers passeng-ers taking uo their Quarters in the rude stage station. It was comparatively warm wnen we went to bed, but towards morning the cold became so intense that we found it necssary to add several pairs of blankets to our coverings, While this was being arranged we distinctly heard, the English Lord say: "Simpkins! Simpkins!! Get up and cover me." Convulsed with laughter, we waited to hear what our intensely Democratic Demo-cratic friend, who was sleeping under My Lord's wagon, would say or do. To be continued. "one, two, three, four, hve, six, seven," and then said in a tone of deep concern, ' Is that all?" Our hostess, who was putting a fire in the stove and did not hear him, now bustled in and gave us a hearty welcome, and made us as comfortable com-fortable as she possibly could. I insisted that she should not prepare supper for us as we were well supplied with edibles already conked, and there were so many of us that I feared we would be a tax on her hospitality. She laughed good naturedly, and leplied that it was just a treat to get to cook a meal for company. I went into the kitchen to help her, and she accepted the proffered assistance with an easy frankness that made me perfectly at home. We chatted freely, free-ly, and it did not take me long to discover dis-cover that the little refined v. oman was deeply in love with her big rough husband. hus-band. "I told him" she said with a little twitter of delight and admiration, "that he should not do it," referring to the fire" but he did; and I witnessed your dismay dis-may from the window. Some time Bill will get an awful big head put on him for some of his monkey-shines;" she added cheerfully. She set out a long table, spread it with a snowy cloth, and placed thereon our supper. Let me tell you what we had: Cream biscuits, butter, ham and eggs, salmon trout, watercress, coffee aud cream. Our host made his appearance, and took his place at the head ol his table and offered the most unique prayer I ever heard, which I may be pardoned for transcribing; "Oh Lord, I blessed the seed grain, and so did You; I blessed the ground, and so did You; I blessed the harvest, and so did You; My wife blessed the flour and dough and cooking of this bread and so of each and every article on this table according to its nature, and so did You; I now bless the stomachs that shall receive it, and pray that so, also, will You. Amen." Everything the man said, was ponderous ponder-ous and original, and the gravity of his heavy featured face remained ever the same. During the evening I found out that the impertinant old gentleman who had counted us, was like ourselves, a transient tran-sient guest; and then his ridiculous sarcasm ceased to annoy us. When bed time came, in spite of our earnest protests, Mr. Nighswanger repaired re-paired to the woodpile to sleep, insisting that he was neither sugar nor salt, and that a little lain was always refreshing to him, when he slept. I arose early the next morning to assist as-sist my hostess iu preparing breakfast; and finding the wood box empty, went in search of something to replenish the fire out. I had picked up half a dozen pieces of split wood, when our host, whose bed was perhaps a rod away, raised slowly up on his elbows; and glaring at me growled out; "I'll tell your man on you coming into my bed room before I'm up in the morning;" and 1 got |