Everything preliminary was arranged in the most approved style. When all was complete, Kit Carson, mounted on his magnificent charger Apache, riding to the head of the line, gave the order to march. Kit had put it to vote and the result was unanimous, that the expedition should be no boy's play. On the contrary, the boldest and one of the longest of the routes, known to their experienced footsteps, was selected. It comprised many of the mighty rivers of the Rocky Mountains, every one of which was almost a hunting ground by itself. Onward, over the wild and broad plains, this band of stalwart men, brave and kindred spirits, dashed. They soon put many a mile between them and the comfortable firesides at Rayado. But these miles, Kit Carson has often said, were the shortest he ever traveled. The way was beguiled by many a recollection in which every man present could participate with a relish, keen as disuse alone can render the palate of enjoyment. In a short time the well-remembered waters of the South Fork of the River Platte were descried. Their practised eyes soon discovered the oft-noted "signs of the beaver." The camp was formed and the traps set. The beaver, so long left to mind their own business, had increased in great numbers. The hunt proved correspondingly successful. The party continued working down this stream through the plains of Laramie to the New Park; and from thence, on to the Old Park. We cannot follow them through this long and enlivening hunt. They trapped a large number of their old streams until, finally, the expedition was terminated on the Arkansas River. Throughout the whole course the hunt proved to be very successful. With a large stock of furs they returned in safety to Rayado, via the Raton Mountains, which are spurs of the great Rocky chain. The fact that most of the old trappers had given up their vocation furnishes the reason why the beaver were found, along the entire route, to be so plentiful. We desire that the reader shall paint for himself the enjoyment which these men gathered in this renewal of a pursuit rendered congenial by the experience of long years of activity in following it. It has been our purpose to enable the reader to gather a spark of this same enjoyment by the endeavor to make of him an amateur trapper. He has followed Kit Carson throughout the trapping expeditions of his earlier life. It is to be supposed that with Kit he has acquired some experience. With Kit therefore he shall now receive his final polishing, and if he does not in the end catch a beaver, he shall at least learn how they are caught, and all the necessary minutiae of toil which he must expect to encounter and undergo.