mind for some means of livelihood and had decided to become a goatskin-bu

er of many hoofs on the hard clay trail. A pack-train was coming toward him. At its head rode a

, friend!" he drawled. "Whence d

answered Lewis. "I come fro

e thence. It is a

ill start me as a goat-skin-bu

. My brother is one, my father-in-law another. I myself shall become one a

. He was gazing open-mouthed at a horseman who was forcing his way pa

ow? Ye gods and little fishes!

d his shoulders a

diot. Imagine! He thi

up beside them,

de stopped to greet me. It i

had never heard the argot of American childhood, but from mammy and from the tongue of their adopte

deerskin jumper and deerskin breeches that fitted tightly to the leg and ended in a long flap over the instep. On his feet were sandals and grotesque, handwrought spurs. His red bun

helmet, Norfolk jacket, moleskin riding-breeches, leather put

y-five. As a matter of fact, he was only forty. He was the

ask you

ewis Leighton

waved his han

are you

Oeiras to seek empl

ell this misbegotten guide that I wish to return to the water we passe

nslated t

he guide. He shook his head from side

d back on the road it had com

our master bou

or another. It is his life, the madman, to bore a hole through this world of Christ. Just now we were headed for t

his baggage he took two wonderful folding-chairs and a folding-table, o

ground. Lewis pulled off his hat hurriedly and laid it

you h

ugged his

lways eat,

to off-load the mules and set camp. And call that on

e man with the chickens stood

raised his

iled again unless it's his live carcass boiling in oil. Tell him that I hate the smell, the sight, and the sound of garlic. Tell him that jerked beef is a fitting sustenance for maggots, but not for hungering man. Tell

Lewis smiled. His smile was rare and, as is often t

"let me cook a

basted with the sovereign gravy of the South; thick, but beaten smooth, dusted with pepper and salt, breathing an essence of pork. Beside the laden platter was a plate of crisp bread-bread that had been soaked into

ded approval as

nd," he said to Lewis, "but I know t

stranger, through Lewis, ordered the ta

I propose that you seek employment no further. Join me not as cook, but as inter

is strange man, who drew him as Lewis himself drew shy, wild creatures

stranger. "Now-wh

go?" repeated

ere shal

say," said Lewis, gr

on the face of the earth, this is the last; no game, no water, no scenery, no women, no food. And

lf inside a book

shyly. "I should like

e stranger. "Tell the gu