Frances Fuller Barritt

“ I tell you what, Alicia Newcome, if that French trader comes around here any more, asking for me, and stopping to talk with you, I'll make you sorry for encouraging such acquaintances."
"But, how can I keep him from coming, or from talking to me if he should come?" asked Alicia, between grief and resentment at her father's harshness.
"There's ways enough. Every woman knows, or ought to know, how to rid herself of the society of disreputable men." ”

“ The act of desertion had not only alienated her friends and family, but her fortune—the prize which Newcome had most coveted—was disposed of to others, and the beautiful woman only lived long enough to teach her daughter the grace and culture of a cultivated circle-to impart to her a mother's beauty, and, alas, all her sorrows. ”

“ The Englishman found the stakes driven on what he conceived to be his soil; whereupon his unruly spirit became aroused to its fullest extent, and he proceeded to pull up the offending landmarks. The stakes, however, were replaced by his bachelor neighbors, and the intimation given that they should insist upon their line-an intimation which stirred Newcome's heart to the point of resorting to powder and ball to defend his claim. Against this spirit of her father, Alicia, his daughter, was powerless. ”

“ As for doing Ed's work, I am not going to do it an hour longer. Three days is the rule; and Ed has shirked a whole day of his time as usual; "saying which Doc stretched himself on the bed which Flag had considerately given up because the cook complained of an ache in his back.
"Yes, Ed is a shirk, that's a fact," Squire remarked, as the Doctor became silent.
"He is real mean, I think," added Flag. "He always takes the best of everything that the rest of us have troubled ourselves to get; and he never gets any thing." ”

“ Pray, let me carry your basket, for I perceive you are still trembling."
"Oh, no, sir, I thank you. It is not large enough to be heavy; and not half full either," she added, smiling. "I don't think I shall fill it to-day."
"For fear of more frights? Let us see if you have enough for dinner," said Allen, smilingly taking the basket from her hands. "Why, no; here is not half a basketful, sure enough. There are plenty of them over on my claim, close by. ”

“ With a courteous salute, the young men walked past, each wishing in his heart he had some good excuse for speaking to the lovely child-woman—for so she looked—yet not venturing to abash the gentle modesty that breathed from her very figure ”

“ The grand old river, coming from the unexplored and mythic regions of the Rocky Mountains, poured its flood through plain and forest, through bluff and bottom, to bear on its bosom the new civilization which it was to serve with the best elements of health, wealth and peace. ”

“ This alteration prevented their prairie and timber land from joining, as it did before, and spoiled the shapeliness of the claim. The first impulse of either was a disposition to fight it out by force, if necessary-for they had the claim-laws on their side-but, upon remembering their promise to the timid child they had just parted from, a better resolution replaced the promptings of passion.
"All we can do in the premises," said Allen, "is to pull up these stakes, as Newcome has done, and put them back in their former places." ”

“ Sufficient refinement appeared in their looks and manners to show that they had "seen better days," while enough of the ruddy hue of active exercise glowed on their careless faces to demonstrate the power of air and motion to beautify manhood. ”

“ Allen now saw that this war of words was likely to continue to an unprofitable length, and desiring to cover the Doctor's irritation, he hastened to put in a reply before his friend could do so.
"We don't think, Mr. Newcome, that you will do any thing violent or unlawful. If we can not settle this difficulty between ourselves, we can take it before the claim-club, or into a court, if you choose." ”

“ The quartette was made up of four distinct professions—a physician who had never practiced, a lawyer ditto, a surveyor, and an editor—the latter two having had some experience in what they pretended to practice. Very harmoniously lived these four togetler, in a shanty of rough boards, furnished with two rude bedsteads, as many plank benches, a cooking stove, pine table, and a few tin dishes. ”

“ Now, a man may keep house very comfortably without a dog or a cat, a horse or a cow; but without a woman, something is pretty apt to go wrong. I shouldn't wonder, if we had a woman in the house, if she could put to flight these pilfering mice that are destroying every thing. ”

“ You all look as if you had the palsy."
"You're a dead man!" exclaimed Doc, sinking upon one of the benches.
"The wolf-bait! strychnine! "cried Squire and Flag, in tones of horror.
"What do you say? Was the meat poisoned?" asked Ed, piteously, his face and limbs fairly rigid with terror.
"What do you give for strychnine poison, Doc?" inquired Squire, with a sudden appearance of hopefulness. "It may not be too late to save him yet."
"But strychnine acts almost immediately," groaned Flag, despairingly.
"Oil! fat! lard! grease!" ejaculated Doc, rapidly. "We've got some lard and some oil ”

“ He ought to be pretty well posted in Indian customs. What else did he say?"
"He asked me whether I had any brothers and sisters; and thought I must be very lonely on this wild claim with no one but you; and you gone much of the time."
"He thinks you need company, does he? Well, I don't agree with him. ”