Sammy continued, as she finished her preparations for retiring; "This here house is plenty big enough for me, least wise it would be if it had one more room like the cabin in Mutton Hollow; carpets would be mighty dirty and unhandy to clean when the men folks come trampin' in with their muddy boots; I wouldn't want to wear no dresses so fine I couldn't knock 'round in the brush with them; and it would be awful to have nothin' to do; as for a carriage, I wouldn't swap Brownie for a whole city full of carriages." She slipped into bed and stretched out luxuriously.

"Do you reckon I could be a fine lady, and be as I am now, a livin' here in the hills ?" The next day Mandy went back to her home on Jake Creek.

And in the evening Sammy's father, with Wash Gibbs, returned, both men and horses showing the effects of a long, hard ride..