I was surprised at the beauty of the female, whose raven shining hair formed an admirable contrast with the deep carmine of her cheeks and lips, and the transparent alabaster of her delicate skin. She also rose and looked at me with her large blue eyes, from under her long lashes. A loose, light dress was fastened round her waist by a red silk handkerchief, and advantageously displayed her tall graceful figure, and little feet thrust into light shoes of deer-hide. I asked whither they were going, and if they were acquainted with the country? The stranger said that he intended to settle in the neighbourhood: he had followed the wagon trail of the planter who had settled on the Mustang, and was told by him that no more land was to be had here; hence he resolved to go farther north and look for a farm. The restless, shy look of the man displeased me, and hence I did not invite him to rest with me and lay in fresh provisions, but wished him luck in his undertaking and continued my journey. I heard afterwards that he was living twenty miles to the north of me; that the woman he had with him was the wife of a prosperous planter in Kentucky, whom he had murdered: they fled together and reached the desert, where human justice could not follow them. Some years later I saw him again near his small log hut, wretched and wasted, and shortly after he died of an arrow wound in the chest, which an Indian dealt him. Such persons unfortunately are always among the first pioneers of civilization, and disturb the social relations of the borderers. Although our changed mode of life offered many pleasant and interesting hours, still I was unable to drive from my heart the yearning for the old utter independence, which had almost grown a second nature. Frequently, when I rode at an early hour through the dark woods, the sounds of my neighbour's axe aroused me from my dreams; or, when I rode over the wide prairies, where I was accustomed to see the endless expanse covered with grazing herds of buffalo, I now only noticed here and there small bands of these animals passing hurriedly and timidly as if frightened at having strayed among the settlements. The antelope, that ornament of the prairies, could only be seen on the most remote heights; the deer had remained more constant to their grazing-grounds, but they too had grown more restless and attentive to the heightened danger.