Like
Corporal Trim in his campaigns, he had "satisfied the sentiment,"
and that was all. In fact, he was too much of the frank, freehearted
soldier, and had inherited too much of his father's temperament, to make
a scheming trapper, or a thrifty bargainer.
There was something in the whole appearance of the captain that
prepossessed me in his favor. He was of the middle size, well made and
well set; and a military frock of foreign cut, that had seen service,
gave him a look of compactness. His countenance was frank, open,
and engaging; well browned by the sun, and had something of a French
expression. He had a pleasant black eye, a high forehead, and, while he
kept his hat on, the look of a man in the jocund prime of his days; but
the moment his head was uncovered, a bald crown gained him credit for a
few more years than he was really entitled to.
Being extremely curious, at the time, about every thing connected with
the Far West, I addressed numerous questions to him. They drew from him
a number of extremely striking details, which were given with mingled
modesty and frankness; and in a gentleness of manner, and a soft tone of
voice, contrasting singularly with the wild and often startling nature
of his themes. It was difficult to conceive the mild, quiet-looking
personage before you, the actual hero of the stirring scenes related.
In the course of three or four months, happening to be at the city of
Washington, I again came upon the captain, who was attending the slow
adjustment of his affairs with the War Department.
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