was
intensely hot,--far hotter than I ever recollected it. The crops had
come up early, but the locusts appeared and destroyed every growing
thing which had risen above the surface. This greatly disappointed
those who had looked forward to an early harvest.

About this time a stranger arrived at the settlement. He quickly made
himself known as Mr Simon Sparks; and said, moreover, that he was the
chief land agent of a new territory far to the west, which wonderfully
surpassed our settlement in richness of soil, and fertility, and
abundance of game. His accounts were eagerly listened to, and my uncles
were completely carried away, as were a large portion of the community.
Still, some of the older people were of the opinion that well should be
let alone; and that if we took as much pains in cultivating the ground
as we should have to do were we to make a long journey, we should prove,
notwithstanding the difficulties which might beset us, as successful in
the end.

Mr Sparks, however, was not a man to be defeated in his object; he
continued arguing the point till he had won over a good many adherents.
Still, he had not gained a sufficient number to suit his purpose.

"Well, friends," he said, mounting his horse one evening, as a large
number of the inhabitants were assembled in the chief open place in the
village, which was designated the Square, "do I look like a man who
would mislead you, or fail to carry out my promises? I have slain many
a bear, hunted the buffalo across the prairies, and, single-handed,
fought and defeated scores of Redskins. With such fellows as you at my
back, even if ten thousand were to attempt to stop us we would force our
way onward, and send them to the right-about. What are you afraid of?
If rivers are to be crossed, we can form rafts and swim our cattle over.
There is grass on the plains, and game in the forests to supply all our
wants; and a glorious country at the end of the journey, where happy
homes can be established, and wealth obtained for ourselves and our
children. I ask you again--Do you take me for a man who would bamboozle
you; or do I look like one who will prove true as steel, and fulfil all
his engagements, as an honest man should do? Those who believe that I
speak the truth, hold up their hands; and those who don't, keep them
down, and we part friends notwithstanding."

Few of us could help confessing that, as Mr Simon Sparks, with his tall
sinewy figure, firm-set