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Show 6o THE MORMON LION " Indeed, no, if what she has said would cause her the least trouble." " It would- much trouble. I will explain another time. She is returning." Mrs. Sen by came in through the kitchen, her light slippers softly gritting the sand on the bare floor, Quietly as she entered, we heard no sound to indicate i:hat she was not alone, until a hideous dark-faced boy of eighteen or nineteen glided into the sitting-room two or three steps behind her. The fellow was dressed in ordinary clothes, and his face was so Jlat and swarthy that I mistook him for a negro slave with a cross of Mexican blood. He stood in an attitude of stupid indifference. But I observed that his little bead-like eyes furtively watched us from under their lowered lids. "Ankotash," said Mrs. Sen by, "this is Brother David Ford. I-Ie is a ~ood Mormon, not a Mericat. His cousin is the first wlfe of Bishop Chilcott." "Huh! Bill- big chief!" grunted the boy. " Yes. And this lady is my sister's child. She is the same as my own daughter. Y au will call her Miss Neville. Now go and tell Mr. Senby that she has come to us with the last party of immigrants." Without replying, Ankotash stepped about and glided out through the kitchen as softly as he had entered. " So you have negroes herein Deseret," I remarked. "Negroes? Yes, a few. But you cannot mean Ankotash," replied Mrs. Senby. " He is a pureblooded Indian from one of the bands of the Piedes, near the Southern Settlements. He was taken captive by another band during a fight in the Mountam Meadows, and was sold as a slave to Brother John D. Lee. My husband bought him at the October conference and gave him his freedom. But he is not ha)?PY here. I fear he is homesick for the desert." ' Can a leopard change his spots ? " I asked. " Change ? " echoed Lucy, and she smiled ruefully THE MORMON LION 6r at the soiled calico gown that one of the rescuers had given her to cover her tattered rags. For the first time I became conscious of my own appearance. Some of us had found opportunity to bathe ourselves and wash our clothing at Fort Bridger. But the blanket overcoat that Waller had forced upon me failed to cover my multitude of rents and patches as effectively as could be w1shed, and my face was shaggy with a three months' growth of bristly black beard. "You must excuse me, Mrs. Sen by," I apologized. "We have been on the trail so long and have gone through so much that I failed to realize the roughness of my appearance. I will call again as soon as I have provided mY.self with presentable clothes." "You w1ll not leave without first meeting Mr. Sen by and breaking bread with us," she protested. "It will be best for Lucy to rest and visit with you alone," I replied. " Besides, my cousin must be waiting for me." "That is true, Brother David," agreed Lucy. " But you will come to see us soon." " Soon," I promised. " God keep you! " |
