turning to the company apologetically, he said,--

"If there is anything on earth David _does_ understand, it is how to
make a mince pie, and here he has filled this with brandy, so we cannot
eat a morsel of it!"

"Please, sir," said David, modestly, "I did not make the pie--it is one
Mrs. Kinzie sent as a present."

The poor Captain was now in a predicament. He raved at himself, at the
same time conjuring my husband most earnestly not to tell me what a
mistake he had made--an injunction that was lost sight of as soon as the
latter returned to his home. As for the unlucky Captain, he did not
venture to call on me again until he felt sure I had forgotten the
circumstance.

CHAPTER XII.

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY.

Early in January the snow fell in great abundance. We had an unusual
quantity at the Portage, but in "the diggings," as the lead-mining
country was called, it was of an unheard-of depth--five or six feet upon
a level.

An express had been dispatched to Chicago by the officers to take our
letters, and bring back the mail from that place. A tough, hardy
soldier, named Sulky, acted as messenger, and he had hitherto made light
of his burden or the length of the way, notwithstanding that his task
was performed on foot with his pack upon his shoulders. But now Sulky
had been absent some weeks, and we had given him up entirely, persuaded
that he must have perished with cold and starvation.

At length he appeared, nearly blind from travelling in the snow. He had
lain by three weeks in an Indian lodge, the snow being too deep to
permit him to journey. The account he gave put an end to the hopes I had
begun to entertain of being able to visit our friends at Chicago in the
course of this winter.

We had, before the last heavy fall of snow, been forming plans to that
effect. Captain Harney had kindly commenced preparing some trains, or
boxes placed on sledges, which it was thought would, when lined with
buffalo-skins, furnish a very comfortable kind of vehicle for the
journey; and I was still inclined to think a good, deep bed of snow over
the whole country no great obstacle to a sleigh-ride. The whole matter
was, however, cut short by the commanding officer, who from the first
had violently opposed the scheme, declaring that he would order the
sentinels to fire on us if we attempted to leave the fort. So, finding
the majority against us, we were obliged to yield.

The arrival of sweet, lovely little