mode of supporting life, and, consequently, it not unfrequently
happened, that the party were out of food and went fasting; yet, not
a murmur was heard. On they sped, in the hopes of reaching their homes
and firesides, where kind friends were awaiting them, and where
their cares and troubles would be buried in the past, and appear like
dreams. In the breast of the leader of this expedition, there was
throbbing a heart that was anxious to do its duty well, for he was
approaching, not his family circle, but instead, the fireside of
strangers to whom he was only known by name. Yet, in the common cause
of his country's honor, he recognized in every American with whom
he came in contact his true friend, and therefore he, also, was very
happy as he neared Washington. There he looked confidently forward
to hear the words: "Well done thou good and faithful servant." At St.
Louis, Kit Carson had the honor of an introduction to the Hon. Thomas
H. Benton, who was greatly interested in him, and who kindly invited
him to make his house in Washington his home during his stay there. Of
this invitation Kit Carson availed himself, and since considers that
he was very fortunate in doing so, for the best of everything was
heaped upon him, while he enjoyed the satisfaction of meeting and
conversing with the great men of his country.

Mrs. John C. Fremont, daughter of Colonel Benton, and wife of the
distinguished explorer, was in attendance at the railroad dépôt,
when the train of cars in which Kit Carson was traveling arrived
in Washington. It was quite late in the evening when he reached the
terminus of his journey; yet, notwithstanding this, Kit had hardly
landed on the platform of the dépôt, before he was addressed by a lady
who said that she knew him from her husband's descriptions of him, and
that he must accept the hospitalities of her father's house.