Mr. Middleton Turns Trader

After he had explained all this in such simple language that I came somewhere near understanding it, Mr. Middleton broached the thoughts which must have been in his mind for some time, by declaring his purpose of giving up farming. He proposed to leave his claim in Fountain City, and to set himself up as a merchant in one or the other of the Cherry Creek towns, leaning, however, to Auraria.

It seemed to him, as it did to me, that those who had settled in Auraria came nearer to owning the land than did those in Denver, and that it was not unlikely serious trouble might arise when those men who had staked out the town of St. Charles, returned to take possession of it once more.

At first I supposed it was Mr. Middleton's purpose to leave me behind and I was half glad that such should be the case, for I said to myself that I would hold his land and house, and thus become in truth a farmer, with sufficient backing to enable me to hire laborers and to put all the acres within the limits of the claim under cultivation.

Mr. Middleton may have guessed the thought in my mind, for he went on gravely, before giving his wife time to express her opinion of his new scheme:—