Page:A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879).djvu/69

LETTER V.

 

A Dateless Day—"Those hands of yours"—A Puritan—Persevering Shiftlessness—The House-Mother—Family Worship—A Grim Sunday—A "Thick-skulled Englishman"—A Morning Call—Another Atmosphere—The Great Lone Land—"Ill Found"—A Log Camp—Bad Footing for Horses—Accidents—Disappointment.

 

Canyon, September.

The absence of a date shows my predicament. They have no newspaper; I have no almanack; the father is away for the day, and none of the others can help me, and they look contemptuously upon my desire for information on the subject. The monotony will come to an end to-morrow, for Chalmers offers to be my guide over the mountains to Estes Park, and has persuaded his wife "for once to go for a frolic;" and with much reluctance, many growls at the waste of time, and many apprehensions of danger and loss, she has consented to accompany him. My life has grown less dull from theirs having become more interesting to me, and as I have "made myself agreeable," we are on fairly friendly terms. My first move in the direction of fraternising was, however, snubbed. A few days ago, having finished