r a cheery "Howdy do" and a hand shake, he exclaimed,

"I heard at Napa that you lived here, and my pony has made a hard run
to give me this sight of you."

We were surprised and delighted, for the speaker was John Baptiste who
had wintered with us in the Sierras. We asked him to dismount, take a
seat under the tree, and let us bring him a glass of milk. He declined
graciously, then with a pleased expression, drew a small brown-paper
parcel from his trousers pocket and handed it to us, leaned forward,
clasped his arms about his pony, rested his head on its neck, and
smilingly watched Georgia unwrap it, and two beautiful bunches of
raisins come to view,--one for each. He would not touch a single berry,
nor let us save any. He asked us to eat them then and there so that he
could witness our enjoyment of the luxury he had provided for this, our
first meeting in the settlement.

Never had we seen raisins so large, translucent, and delicious. They
seemed far too choice for us to have, and John was so poorly dressed
and pinched in features that we hesitated about eating them. But he
would have his way, and in simple language told us that he wanted them
to soften the recollection of the hungry time when he came into camp
empty-handed and discouraged. Also to fulfil his assurance to our
mother that he would try to keep us in sight, and give us of the best
that he could procure. His last injunctions were, "Be good little
girls; always remember your mother and father; and don't forget John
Baptiste."

He was gone when grandma got back; and she was very serious when told
what had occurred in her absence. She rarely spoke to us of our mother,
and feared it might lessen our affection for herself, if others kept
the memory of the dead fresh in our minds.

There were many other happenings before the year closed, that caused me
to think a great deal. Grandpa spent less time at the shop; he bought
himself a fleet-footed horse which he named Antelope, and came home
oftener to talk to grandma about money they had loaned Major Prudon to
send to China for merchandise, also about a bar-room which he was
fitting up near the butcher-shop, for a partner. Next, he bought
faithful Charlie, a large bay horse, with friendly eyes, and long black
mane and tail; also a small blue farm wagon in which Georgia and I were
to drive about the fields, when sent to gather loose bark and dry
branches for baking fires.

We were out for that purpose the d