COMMODORE WILKES-" OREGON LIES."



manding it, always accepting it. So constantly was he
the attendant of his lady cousins in public and in private,
riding and driving, or sauntering in the gardens of the
presidential mansion, that the less favored among their
acquaintances felt called upon to believe themselves ag-
grieved. Often, as the tall form of our hero was seen
with a lady on either arm promenading the gardens at
evening, the question would pass among the curious but
uninitiated-" Who is that?" And the reply of some
jealous grumbler would be-" It is that      Rocky
Mountain man," so loud sometimes as to be overheard by
the careless trio, who smothered a laugh behind a hat or
a fan.
  And so passed that brief summer of our hero's life. A
great deal of experience, of sight-seeing, and enjoyment
had been crowded into a short few months of time. He
had been introduced to and taken by the hand by the
most celebrated men of the day. Nor had he failed to
meet with men whom he had known in the mountains and
in Oregon. His old employer, Wilkes, who was ill in
Washington, sent for him to come and tell " some of those
Oregon lies" for his amusement, and Meek, to humor him,
stretched some of his good stories to the most wonderful
dimenslons.
  But from the very nature of the enjoyment it could not
last long; it was too vivid and sensational for constant
wear. Feeling this, he began to weary of Washington,
and more particularly since he had for the last few weeks
been stopping away from the White House. In one of his
restless moods he paid a visit to Polk, who detecting the,
state of his mind asked laughingly-
  "Well, Meek, what do you want now?"
  "I want to be franked."
  "How long will five hundred dollars last you ?"



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