Having passed Bent's Fort--of wide celebrity in trapper lore--whilom the
scene of many a wild revel of the "mountain-men," but now abandoned and
in ruins--we arrived at the confluence of the Huerfano. As we expected,
the trace turned up the valley of this latter stream--thus deciding the
route taken by the caravan.
We rode on through a forest of grand cotton-woods and willows; and at
about seven miles distant from the mouth of the Huerfano river, reached
a point, where the caravan had crossed over to its left bank. On the
other side, we could see the ground of their encampment of the night
before. We could tell it by the fresh traces of animals and waggons--
debris of the morning's repast--and half-burnt faggots of the tires that
had cooked it, still sending up their clouds of oozing smoke.
The stream at this point was fordable; and crossing over, we stood upon
the deserted camp-ground. With singular emotions, I walked amid the
smouldering fires--forming conjectures as to which of them might have
been graced by that fair presence. Where had she passed the night, and
what had occupied her thoughts? Were those gentle words still lingering
in her memory? Were they upon her lips? It was pleasant for me to
repeat them. I did not need to draw the writing forth. Long since were
the lines fixed in my remembrance--oft through my heart had vibrated the
burden of that sweet song:
"I think of thee--I think of thee!"
My reflections were not altogether unmingled with pain. Love cannot
live without doubts and fears. Jealousy is its infallible concomitant--
ever present as the thorn with the rose. How could I hope that one hour
of my presence had been sufficient to inspire in that young bosom the
passion of a life? It could scarcely be other than a slight
impression--a passing admiration of some speech, word, or gesture--too
transient to be true? Perhaps I was already forgotten? Perhaps only
remembered with a smile, instead of a sigh? Though still but a short
time since our parting, many scenes had since transpired--many events
had occurred in the life of that young creature to give it experience.
Forms of equal--perhaps superior elegance--had come before her eye.
Might not one of these have made its image upon her heart?
The caravan was not a mere conglomeration of coarse rude adventurers.
There were men of all classes composing it--not a few of accomplished
education--not a few who, using a hackneyed phrase, were "men of the
world,"--familiar with its ways and its wiles--and who perfectly
understood all those intricate attentions and delicate lures, by which
the virgin heart is approached and captured. There were military men
too--those ever to be dreaded rivals in love--young officers of the
escort, laced, booted, and spurred--bedecked, moreover, with that
mysterious influence which authority ever imparts to its possessor.
Could these be blind to the charms of such a travelling companion?
Impossible. Or could she--her young bosom just expanding to receive the
god of love--fail to acknowledge the nearest form as his image?
Painfully improbable!
It was therefore with feelings of no very pleasant kind that I sought
around for some souvenir. The remains of a fire, a little apart from
the rest, near the edge of a piece of copsewood, drew my attention. It
looked as if it had been a spot on which some family group had encamped.
I was led to this conjecture, by observing some flowers scattered
near--for the grassy sward showed no other sign. The flowers betokened
the presence of womankind. Fair faces--or one at least--had beamed in
the light of that fire. I felt morally certain of it. I approached the
spot. The shrubbery around was interlaced with wild roses; while blue
lupins and scarlet pelargoniums sparkled over the glade, under the
sheltering protection of the trees. By the edge of the shrubbery lay a
bouquet, that had evidently been put together with some care!
Dismounting, I took it up. My fingers trembled as I examined it: for
even in this slight object I read indications of design. The flowers
were of the rarest and prettiest--of many kinds that grew not near.
They had been plucked elsewhere. Some one had given both time and
attention to their collection and arrangement. Who? It would have been
idle to shape even a conjecture, but for a circumstance, that appeared
to offer a certain clue; and, not without bitter thoughts, did I try to
unwind it. The thread which was warped around the flower-stalks was of
yellow silk. The strands were finely twisted; and I easily recognised
the bullion from the tassel of a sash. That thread must have been taken
from the sash of a dragoon officer!
Had the bouquet been a gift? To whom? and by whom? Here all conjecture
should have ended; but not without a feeling of painful suspicion did I
examine those trivial signs; and the feeling continued to annoy me, long
after I had flung the flowers at my feet.
A reflection came to my relief, which went far towards restoring my
spirits' equanimity. If a gift, and to Lilian Holt, she had scarcely
honoured it--else how could the flowers have been there? Had they been
forgotten, or left unregarded? There was consolation in either
hypothesis; and, in the trust that one or the other was true, I sprang
back into my saddle, and with a more cheerful heart, rode away from the
spot.