Our Kentuckian was costumed just as he would have been upon a cool
morning riding about the "woodland" of his own plantation, for a
"planter" he was. He wore a "Jeans" frock, and over that a long-tailed
overcoat of the best green blanket, with side pockets and flaps. His
jeans pantaloons were stuck into a pair of heavy horse-leather pegged
boots, sometimes known as "nigger" boots; but over these were "wrappers"
of green baize, fastened with a string above the knees. His hat was a
"broad-brimmed felt," costly enough, but somewhat crushed by being sat
upon and slept in. He bestrode a tall raw-boned stood that possessed
many of the characteristics of the rider; and in the same proportion
that the latter overtopped his companions, so did the steed out-size all
the other horses of the cavalcade. Over the shoulders of the Kentuckian
were suspended, by several straps, pouch, horn, and haversack, and
resting upon his toe was the butt of a heavy rifle, the muzzle of which
reached to a level with his shoulder.
He was a rich Kentucky planter, and known in his native state as a great
deer-hunter. Some business or pleasure had brought him to Saint Louis.
It was hinted that Kentucky was becoming too thickly settled for him--
deer becoming scarce, and bear hardly to be found--and that his visit to
Saint Louis had something to do with seeking a new "location" where
these animals were still to be met with in greater plenty. The idea of
buffalo-hunting was just to his liking. The expedition would carry him
through the frontier country, where he might afterwards choose his
"location"--at all events the sport would repay him, and he was one of
the most enthusiastic in regard to it.
He that looms up on the retrospect of my memory as Number 3 was as
unlike the Kentuckian, as the latter was to Thompson. He was a disciple
of Esculapius--not thin and pale, as these usually are, but fat, red,
and jolly. I think he was originally a "Yankee," though his long
residence in the Western States had rubbed the Yankee out of him to a
great extent. At all events he had few of their characteristics about
him. He was neither staid, sober, nor, what is usually alleged as a
trait of the true bred Yankee, "stingy." On the contrary, our doctor
was full of talk and joviality--generous to a fault. A fault, indeed;
for, although many years in practice in various parts of the United
States, and having earned large sums of money, at the date of our
expedition we found him in Saint Louis almost without a dollar, and with
no great stock of patients. The truth must be told; the doctor was of a
restless disposition, and liked his glass too well. He was a singer
too, a fine amateur singer, with a voice equal to Mario's. That may
partly account for his failure in securing a fortune. He was a
favourite with all--ladies included--and so fond of good company, that
he preferred the edge of the jovial board to the bed-side of a patient.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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