he advises that mission and agency houses should be established in their midst, when supplies should be furnished to them in a time of need.  As matters stand now, the Indians, during a severe winter, or from some unforeseen accident, are liable to become suddenly destitute.  They are then compelled either to starve or to make inroads upon the property of the settlers on the frontiers.  Besides his Indian friends, Kit Carson is surrounded by a host of Mexicans and Americans, to whom he has greatly endeared himself.  To his children Kit Carson is a kind and indulgent father, and to best illustrate his self-sacrificing attachment for them, it is only necessary to relate one striking incident of its proof.  A few years since, he was returning to Taos from Rayado, whither he had been on a visit in company with his wife, two children, and two servants (a Mexican man and woman).  The party had completed the first half of their journey, and were jogging along over a tract of prairie land that was of considerable extent, when suddenly, Kit Carson discovered, far off, a band of about forty Indians.  Being so exposed, he at once concluded that he also had been seen, for while he was looking, he thought he could see the speed of their riding animals increase.  The glaring rays of the sun impeded his view, so that he could not discern at such a distance, either from their dress or appearance, to what tribe they belonged.  He was in a section of country that was frequently visited by the marauding Camanches, and, as their signs had been recently seen in the neighborhood, he made up his mind that it was a band of this tribe that he now saw.  No time was to be lost; so, dismounting from the very fleet horse he was riding, he placed in his saddle his wife and eldest child.  To the first named he gave directions “to follow on the trail that led to Taos, and let the bridle reins be a little slack, so that the horse would know what was expected of him, when he would travel at the top of his speed.  He said that he intended to ride towards the Indians and engage them at first in a parley, and then if necessary offer them a single-handed combat.  At any rate, before they could manage to kill him, she would have sufficient time to lessen her danger.  As to the remainder of the party he added, there was no alternative but for them to take their chances for life or death.”  Bidding his wife and boy good bye, with one heart-rending look, he turned to face his apparent doom.  As Kit approached the Indians, they began to call out his name.  As soon as he heard this, he aroused himself from the agonizing frame of mind he had been laboring under after parting with all that was so dear to him, and as he had thought, for the last time.  To his joy, Kit quickly recognized before him, the familiar faces of some of his Indian friends.  They had come, as they afterwards informed him, to see him and his helpless charge safely lodged in their home, for they had become aware that he was exposed to great danger.