ross
the continent. It is all a matter of greater or less distance. I read
this morning that a Chinese fleet was sunk, but I did n't think half
so much about it as I did about losing my sleeve button, confound
it! People have accused me of want of feeling; they misunderstand the
artist-nature,--that is all. I obey that implicitly; I am sorry if
people don't like my descriptions, but I have done my best. I have
pulled to pieces all the persons I am acquainted with, and put them
together again in my characters. The quills I write with come from live
geese, I would have you know. I expect to get some first-rate pluckings
from those people I was speaking of, and I mean to begin my thirty-ninth
novel as soon as I have got through my visit."

IX. THE SOCIETY AND ITS NEW SECRETARY.

There is no use in trying to hurry the natural course of events, in a
narrative like this. June passed away, and July, and August had come,
and as yet the enigma which had completely puzzled Arrowhead Village and
its visitors remained unsolved. The white canoe still wandered over the
lake, alone, ghostly, always avoiding the near approach of the boats
which seemed to be coming in its direction. Now and then a circumstance
would happen which helped to keep inquiry alive. Good horsemanship was
not so common among the young men of the place and its neighborhood that
Maurice's accomplishment in that way could be overlooked. If there was
a wicked horse or a wild colt whose owner was afraid of him, he would
be commended to Maurice's attention. Paolo would lead him to his master
with all due precaution,--for he had no idea of risking his neck on the
back of any ill-conditioned beast,--and Maurice would fasten on his long
spurs, spring into the saddle, and very speedily teach the creature good
behavior. There soon got about a story that he was what the fresh-water
fisherman called "one o' them whisperers." It is a common legend enough,
coming from the Old World, but known in American horse-talking circles,
that some persons will whisper certain words in a horse's ear which
will tame him if he is as wild and furious as ever Cruiser was. All this
added to the mystery which surrounded the young man. A single improbable
or absurd story amounts to very little, but when half a dozen such
stories are told about the same individual or the same event, they begin
to produce the effect of credible evidence. If the year had been 1692
and the place had been Sale