nce. Such was in point of fact the case with the
youth whom we have been describing. He had hunted much, though not as a
professional hunter. With him the chase had been followed merely as a
pastime; but its pursuit had brought him into situations of peril, and
in contact with Nature in her wild solitudes. Young as he was, he had
journeyed over the grand prairies, and through the pathless forests of
the West. He had slain the bear and the buffalo, the wild-cat and the
cougar. These experiences had made their impression upon his mind, and
stamped his countenance with that air of gravity we have noticed.

The second of the youths whom we shall describe is very different in
appearance. He is of blonde complexion, rather pale, with fair silken
hair that waves gently down his cheeks, and falls upon his shoulders.
He is far from robust. On the contrary, his form is thin and delicate.
It is not the delicacy of feebleness or ill-health, but only a body of
slighter build. The manner in which he handles his oar shows that he
possesses both health and strength, though neither in such a high degree
as the dark youth. His face expresses, perhaps, a larger amount of
intellect, and it is a countenance that would strike you as more open
and communicative. The eye is blue and mild, and the brow is marked by
the paleness of study and habits of continued thought. These
indications are no more than just, for the fair-haired youth _is_ a
student, and one of no ordinary attainments. Although only seventeen
years of age, he is already well versed in the natural sciences; and
many a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge would but ill compare with him.
The former might excel in the knowledge--if we can dignify it by that
name--of the laws of scansion, or in the composition of Greek idyls; but
in all that constitutes _real_ knowledge he would prove but an idle
theorist, a dreamy imbecile, alongside our practical young scholar of
the West.

The third and youngest of the party--taking them as they sit from stem
to bow--differs in many respects from both those described. He has
neither the gravity of the first, nor yet the intellectuality of the
second. His face is round, and full, and ruddy. It is bright and
smiling in its expression. His eye dances merrily in his head, and its
glance falls upon everything. His lips are hardly ever at rest. They
are either engaged in making words--for he talks almost incessantly--or
else contracting