this humble but honorable calling, Kit's heart was
constantly alive with ambition to become a hunter and trapper. He knew
that he was expert with the rifle, which had been his boyish toy, and
felt confident that he could rely upon it as an assistant to gain an
honest living. His constant thought at this time was, let him now be
engaged in whatever calling chance offered and necessity caused him
to accept, the final pursuit of his life would be as a hunter and
trapper. Here, then, is presented a fair example of the strife, both
inward and outward, through which a young man of courage and ambition
must expect to pass before he can win position, influence, and the
comforts of life, whatever the scene of his action, or whatever the
choice of employment suitable to his talent and genius. Kit Carson
was determined, no matter what might be the obstacles which presented
themselves, to be a hunter and trapper.

The reader will have made a sad mistake if he has concluded, that
during the time which has intervened since Kit started from Missouri,
he has been roaming in a country where there was less danger than when
he was in the picketed fort with his father. Such a supposition would
be greatly at fault. The towns in New Mexico, at this early period,
were almost entirely at the mercy of the Indians. The Mexicans were
nearly destitute of means to defend themselves. Very few of the
Anglo-Saxon race had entered this territory, and those who had
were, in turn, exposed to the vacillating wills of the proverbially
treacherous Mexicans. A man like Kit Carson, however, born and bred in
danger, cared but little about this state of affairs. The dangers did
not enter into his calculations of chance to overcome the difficulties
which beset the pathway which the alluring hopes of his ambition had
marked out. Not long afterward, he left the copper mines, and once
more bent his steps to Taos, in company with a small party. At Taos,
he found a band of trappers which had been sent out by Mr. Ewing
Young. While _en route_ for the river Colorado of the _west_, in
pursuit of game, they had been attacked by a band of Indians. After
fighting an entire day, they had been compelled to retreat, and
returned to New Mexico.

CHAPTER II.

The news of the Defeat of Mr. Young's Trapping Party by the
Indians reaches Taos--Young raises a Party to chastise the
Indians--Kit Carson becomes a Conspicuous Member of the
Expedition--The India