CHAPTER I.

Early Life of Meek--He leaves Home--Enlists in a Fur Company--On the March--A Warning Voice--Frontier Sports--Last Vestige of Civilization--On the Plains--A first Adventure--A firm Front--A Parley--The Summer Rendezvous--An enchanting Picture--The Free Trapper's Indian Wife--Wild Carousals--Routine of Camp Life--Smoked Moccasins versus Green Ones--A "Trifling Fellow," 41