n here six weeks then, and was a stranger. That is why I
had no one to help me and was so confused and hurried. As soon as the
newcomers were warm, Mr. Stewart told me I had better come over by him
and stand up. It was a large room I had to cross, and how I did it
before all those strange eyes I never knew. All I can remember very
distinctly is hearing Mr. Stewart saying, "I will," and myself chiming
in that I would, too. Happening to glance down, I saw that I had
forgotten to take off my apron or my old shoes, but just then Mr.
Pearson pronounced us man and wife, and as I had dinner to serve right
away I had no time to worry over my odd toilet. Anyway the shoes were
comfortable and the apron white, so I suppose it could have been
worse; and I don't think it has ever made any difference with the
Pearsons, for I number them all among my most esteemed friends.

It is customary here for newlyweds to give a dance and supper at the
hall, but as I was a stranger I preferred not to, and so it was a long
time before I became acquainted with all my neighbors. I had not
thought I should ever marry again. Jerrine was always such a dear
little pal, and I wanted to just knock about foot-loose and free to see
life as a gypsy sees it. I had planned to see the Cliff-Dwellers' home;
to live right there until I caught the spirit of the surroundings
enough to live over their lives in imagination anyway. I had planned to
see the old missions and to go to Alaska; to hunt in Canada. I even
dreamed of Honolulu. Life stretched out before me one long, happy
jaunt. I aimed to see all the world I could, but to travel unknown
bypaths to do it. But first I wanted to try homesteading.

But for my having the grippe, I should never have come to Wyoming. Mrs.
Seroise, who was a nurse at the institution for nurses in Denver while
I was housekeeper there, had worked one summer at Saratoga, Wyoming. It
was she who told me of the pine forests. I had never seen a pine until
I came to Colorado; so the idea of a home among the pines fascinated
me. At that time I was hoping to pass the Civil-Service examination,
with no very definite idea as to what I would do, but just to be
improving my time and opportunity. I never went to a public school a
day in my life. In my childhood days there was no such thing in the
Indian Territory part of Oklahoma where we lived, so I have had to try
hard to keep learning. Before the time came for the examination I was
so discour