rest and recuperate from our terrible
experience of the night before.

It was now the first of July. By keeping close to the base of the hills
we found good travelling and an abundance of clear spring-water. At
nights we camped high up in the hills, where the mosquito was not.

CHAPTER VIII.

WE HAD NO FLAG TO UNFURL, BUT ITS SENTIMENT WAS WITHIN US.

"It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of
devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and
parade, with shows, games, sports, bells, bonfires and illuminations,
from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for
evermore."

These words, written by John Adams to his wife the day following the
Declaration of Independence, and regarding that act and day, were
evidently the sounding of the key-note of American patriotism.

It has long been one of Uncle Sam's legends that "he who starts across
the continent is most sure to leave his religion on the east side of the
Missouri river." Conditions in Nebraska to-day refute the truth of this
statement, however. Whatever may be the rule or exception concerning an
American traveller's religion, the genuineness of his patriotism and his
fidelity to it are rarely questioned. Hence it was that during the
early July days the varied events of the past few months betook
themselves to the recesses of our natures, and patriotism asserted its
right of pre-emption.

The day of July 3d was somewhat eventful and perhaps somewhat
preparatory to the 4th, in that I did a bit of horse-trading, as my
riding-horse, through a hole in his shoe, had got a gravel into his
foot, which made him so lame that I had been walking and leading him for
the last ten days. We had just come to Soda Springs, where there was a
village of Shoshone Indians, numbering about one thousand, among whom
was an Indian trader named McClelland, who was buying or trading for
broken-down stock. I soon struck him for a trade. He finally offered me,
even up, a small native mule for my lame horse, and we soon traded. I
then bought an Indian saddle for two dollars, and, mounting, rode back
to camp with great joy to myself and amusement of the balance of the
company. I had walked for the last two hundred miles, keeping up with
the rest of them, and consequently was nearly broken down; and now that
I had what proved to be the toughest and easiest riding animal in the
bunch, I was to be congratulated. I aft