exhibited to us a lump of apparently pure gold, which I should judge weighed at least six or seven ounces. We all examined it closely and with open admiration. Whether it was a craving of avarice that seized my heart, or because I admired the specimen as one of the finest I had seen, I will not pretend to determine; but, as it was, I felt a strong desire to possess the piece. I suppose my feelings were legible in my countenance, for the old Indian looked knowingly into my eyes, and then, after a few words in his own language with his squaw, he took the gold in his hand and proffered it to me, taking hold, at the same time, of a bright scarlet sash which I wore around my waist, thus evidently offering a trade. ]\Iy sash was a fine one, and though worth by no means the intrinsic value of the gold, would perhaps have sold for much more in that region, for the Indians had been known to gratify their fancies at much more exorbitant prices: it was not this, however, that made me hesitate, but rather that it seemed like speculating upon the ignorance of the savage. ' Take it, Harry,' said Charley to me, 'I do not like to impose on the old fellow, Charley,' said I. 'Pooh, some less scrupulous person will sell him a few yards of printed calico for it; so it amounts to the same thing in the end.' Doubtless the Indian thought that our hesitation arose from a desire to enhance my demand for the sash, for he held a few minutes longer consultation with his squaw, and then commenced undoing his pouch, as if he intended to offer an additional price. I shook my head, however, to indicate that he should stop, and undoing the sash I gave it in exchange for the gold. Certainly vanity is a sweet morsel to the human heart; even the habitual stoicism of the savage yields to its magic influence. No sooner had the old man obtained possession of the coveted treasure, than both his wife and son gathered around him, forgetting entirely their work in extravagant admiration of the gaudy plaything they had purchased
