Environment so colors things. In other words, "circumstances alter
cases."
The lady at once demanded a lock of my hair as compensation for
services rendered, and I removed the buckskin wrap and told her to
take a lock, but cautioned her not to take too large a bunch, for
fear there might not be enough to go around. The young lady,
seeing that I was very bashful, had considerable trouble in
finding a lock that suited her. A number of the young ladies sang
together, after which several of them took the scissors and cut a
lock of hair from the head of the young trapper.
I wondered at the time why it was that all the young ladies had a
pick at me, for there was Johnnie West, a fine looking young man,
who was continually trying to engage some of them in conversation,
but they did not want to talk to any one but me, and it amused
Uncle Kit not a little to see the sport the young ladies were
having at my expense.
Before leaving, I told the young lady who sang the first song that
I thought it was the prettiest song I had ever heard, and
requested her to sing it again. She replied that she would if I
wished, and she did.
The next day about ten o'clock as we rode along, feeling drowsy
from the warm sun, Jake Harrington turned around in his saddle,
yawned and said: "Well, Will, can't you sing the song for us that
you learned from those little Missouri gals last night?"
I told him I thought I could, and commenced clearing up my throat,
at which the entire crowd smiled above a whisper; but I surprised
the crowd by starting in and singing the song just as I heard the
young lady sing it the evening before.
Pages:
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123