Kate and I had simply nothing to do except sit on our rugs and tell them what we wanted done . They would have cooked our supper for us if we had allowed it . But , tired as we were , we drew the line at that . Their hearts were pure gold , but their hands ! No , Kate and I dragged ourselves up and cooked our own suppers . And while we ate it , those Indians fell to and cleaned all the mud off our democrat for us . To crown all -- it is almost unbelievable but it is true , I solemnly avow -- they would n't take a cent of payment for it all , urge them as we might and did . `` Well , '' said Kate , as we curled up on our brush beds that night , `` there certainly is a special Providence for unprotected females . I 'd forgive Peter Crow for deserting us for the sake of those Indians , if he had n't stolen our lovely ham into the bargain . That was altogether unpardonable . '' In the morning the Indians broke camp for us and harnessed our shaganappies . We drove off , waving our hands to them , the delightful creatures . We never saw any of them again . I fear their kind is scarce , but as long as I live I shall remember those Stoneys with gratitude . We got on fairly well that third day , and made about fifteen miles before dinner time . We ate three of the sergeant 's prairie chickens for dinner , and enjoyed them . `` But only think how delicious the ham would have been , '' said Kate . Our real troubles began that afternoon . We had not been driving long when the trail swooped down suddenly into a broad depression -- a swamp , so full of mud-holes that there did n't seem to be anything but mud-holes . We pulled through six of them -- but in the seventh we stuck , hard and fast .
Pull XXXXX our ponies could and did , they could not pull us out .
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