ed; but at the conclusion Miss Musgrave had an
application for instruction in music from every man in the camp, with
one exception. This one defaulter was Euchre Buck. He owned to having
no ear for music--thereby exhibiting more honesty than many of the
others--and confessed to knowing only two tunes, one of which was
"Hail Columbia," and the other--wasn't; and so he said he wanted some
"literary work done." He proposed to Miss Musgrave that she should write
a history of his life at half a guinea a page, thereby--cute Yankee that
he was--thinking to appropriate the whole of her time.

But embarrassed by all these calls upon her, and obviously unable to
satisfy each of them, Miss Musgrave turned for help to the Scholar,
whom she appeared to regard as her special adviser; and he, promising a
solution of the difficulty in half an hour, drew off the whole crowd to
the American Bar, where the question was thrashed out in all its points.

It was clearly evident that Miss Musgrave could not surrender to each
individual the whole of her evening, even if any one had been willing to
let his neighbor monopolise it, which no one was; and therefore it
was necessary to formulate some scheme by which her talents might be
distributed over a larger area. But what the scheme should be was not
settled all in a minute. One man wanted to hear her sing, another to
hear her talk, another was willing to give five pounds an hour for the
privilege of talking to her. After a lengthened discussion, which was
excited throughout, and at times verged on the warlike, it was
decided to effect a compromise--subject, of course, to Miss Musgrave's
inclinations; and a deputation was sent to learn her views on the
subject.

There was no assembly-room in the place, excepting Werstein's
saloon,--which, of course, was not available for such a purpose,--and so
it was proposed to her, with much humility, that she should take up her
position in the evenings on a chair outside her hut, and there discourse
such vocal and instrumental music as she saw fit, interlarding the
same with friendly conversation. What was she to talk about?
Anything--absolutely anything. They didn't mind what it was, so long as
they heard her voice. Five shillings, the committee had decided, was to
be paid by every man who came within earshot. And any one who wanted a
free list was requested to argue the matter out with Euchre Buck.

This call upon her powers seemed to take Miss Musgrave