attracted all the attention. Many a half-dusky heart was
smitten of their white skin, which he would compare in
colour to the pure snow that covers the plains. Now had
the faces of the Red River beauties been Parian white,
instead of dusky olive, the young _beaux_ of the settlement
would not have found their hearts beating half so wildly
about the two pale daughters of the Hudson Bay Company's
officer. They would indeed have languished for chestnut
eyes, and complexions of Spain and the southern vineyards
of France. But here amongst their sturdy "tiger blossoms,"
and passionate prairie roses blew two fair cold lilies;
and their hearts bounded beyond measure at the thought
of winning a look or a kindly smile. But the guardian
watched the two pale girls closely, and permitted them
to do little beyond his _surveillance_. There were not
many whites in the circle of their acquaintance, but of
this few, nearly every one was a suitor for one or other
of the girls, yet for all the advances their hearts were
still whole and they moved,

"In maiden meditation fancy free."

Now in Red River was a young half-breed, almost effeminate
in manners, handsome in face and form, and agreeable and
gentle in his address. He was indeed a sort of Bunthorne
of the plains, just such a person as a romantic, shallow
girl is most apt for a rose's period to sigh out her soul
about. You find his type in fashionable civilised circles,
in the languid dude who displays his dreams in his eyes
to captivate the hearts of the silly girls, and--discreetly