ch and a cultivated farm of
sixty acres, mostly all in vegetables. Within was a large store of
supplies. Well, we didn't stop long for compliments, for our mouths were
watering for some of those onions, lettuce, cabbage, new potatoes,
pickles, steak and bacon, etc. We laid in a generous supply of the whole
thing, including soft and hard bread and a bucket of milk. We also got a
new coffeepot, as our old one had neither spout nor handle.

After making our purchases we selected our camping-site and proceeded to
make ourselves comfortable, after disposing of the stock in grass up to
its eyes. We were going to have a supper fit for the gods, and everybody
became busy. The boss coffee-maker attended strictly to his business,
and some others cut and sliced an onion that was as large as a plate,
covering it with salt and pepper and vinegar, which we ate as a
"starter." We had an elegant supper and appetites to match. After supper
some of the men went back to the store and laid in a supply of fresh
bread and steak for breakfast. They brought back some pipes and tobacco,
and for a long time we sat around our campfire smoking and reciting many
experiences incident to our journey across the continent. With pangs of
hunger and thirst appeased, our pipes filled to the brim and the smoke
therefrom curling and twisting itself into cloud-banks, we were a
supremely happy lot, and with the poet was ready to sing:

"The road is rough and the day is cold,
And the landscape's sour and bare,
And the milestones, once such charming friends,
Half-hearted welcomes wear.
There's trouble before and trouble behind,
And a troublesome present to mend,
And the road goes up and the road goes down,
_But it all comes right in the end._"

We decided to remain in this place another day, thereby giving ourselves
and the stock time to secure the rest which we so greatly needed. It was
during our stay here that in loading my rifle for a duck the stock broke
in two. In making this little book, I cannot pass the incident by
without a few parting words in memory of my faithful old friend and
protector.

In make and style the gun was known as a Kentucky rifle, with curled
maple stock the entire length of the barrel, underneath which was a
"patch box," set lock, and a brass plate. Since we began to pack I had
carried it continually on my shoulders, exposed to weather and elements,
hot air and desert heat, u