They were suspected of trying to rob the stage when it was driven by the
poor wretch who had died of the cholera two summers before. That driver
was noted for his courage, his ready use of the rifle; and he had
frightened the marauders off, and had wounded one of them, who limped
away until the trail of his blood was obscured.

Every time I came into town I was subjected to wolfish leers from some
member of this gang. Evidently they had taken up Lamborn's cause.
Something was preying upon him. He was drinking more heavily. Perhaps he
was tormented with the thought that I knew his secret and abided some
vengeance upon him. Perhaps his conscience tortured him. At any rate he
had become a skulking figure of hatred, showing his teeth and snarling
when he saw me and sidling away like a wolf. He had muttered curses as
he hurried to one side. "Bloody Englishman" and the like were his
remarks. Something told me to watch him, to watch the McCall boys. I
began to take pains to guard my house in the country, sleeping always
with my rifle by my side; and I had provided my men with rifles,
instructing them to shoot if trespassers approached during suspicious
hours or when warned away.

The autumn was the most delicious weather I had experienced since coming
to America. Enough of the summer was carried over into October, and even
November, to keep the days warm and full of sunlight, while the nights
were clear and frosty, and always over this boundless prairie the far
scattered stars. I had bought an astronomical chart and located the
constellations, in which Zoe had joined me in increasing wonder. Then I
had a taste of real hunting. Reverdy and I had gone to marshes a few
miles away for wild geese and ducks; and we had come back loaded with
game for ourselves and friends. There were many parties and what were
called "shucking bees," where the company set to to assist the host in