As Rolfe promised, we had many hunting adventures; and among the rest, the _battue_ of beavers--nearly two thousand of which were trapped and taken.

As soon as spring arrived, we made ready to set forth. Three wagons were prepared--two of them loaded with furs and valuable castoreum. The third carried the females--while Rolfe and his sons rode upon horseback.

The walls of the deer-park were broken down, and the aviaries thrown open; and, after distributing plenty of food to the numerous pets, we left them to themselves, and took our departure from the valley. We struck northward for the old trail; and on reaching it, turned our faces for Saint Louis--where we arrived in the month of May; and where Rolfe soon after sold his furs for a large sum of money.

It is now several years since that time; and during the interval, I--the writer of this little book--living in a distant country, heard nothing more about Rolfe or his family. A few days ago, however, I received a letter from Rolfe himself, which gave me the gratifying intelligence that they were all well, and in excellent spirits. Frank and Harry had just finished their college studies, and had come out accomplished scholars and sterling men. Mary and Luisa--Luisa was still one of the family--had returned from school. Besides this, Rolfe"s letter contained some _very_ interesting intelligence. No less than _four_ marriages were in contemplation in his family. Harry was about to wed the little "dark sister," Luisa. Frank had come to an understanding with a fine young lady, the daughter of a Missouri planter; and the fair-haired, blue-eyed, rosy-lipped Mary had enslaved a young "prairie merchant," one of those who had spent the winter with us in the valley oasis, and who had been very gallant to Mary all along the journey homeward. But who were to be the fourth couple? Ah! that question we must leave for Cudjo and his "lubbly Lucy" to answer.

Rolfe"s letter farther informed me, that it was their intention--as soon as the marriage festivities were over--to return to the valley oasis.

All were going together--McKnight, new-married couples, and all. They were to take with them many wagons, with horses, and cattle, and implements of husbandry--with the intention of settling there for life, and forming a little patriarchal colony of themselves.

It was a pleasant letter to read: and as I perused it over and over, and reflected on the many happy hours I had pa.s.sed in the company of these good people, I could not help thanking the fate that first led me to the _Home in the Desert_.

THE END.