Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-10-16
ROMANCE OF RATA.
How . BOSTON Sophomore Became Cav
boy and Won : Bride.

lks e Il - a
I Howa BOSTON soph omore Became Caw-
S#3 boy and Won ! Bride. a s%
From the San Francisco Alta. I. II
The movements of q real cowboy on
kearney street attracted attention,
He stood nearly six feet in his boots,
and his regular features and dropping
blond mustache gave his face an aspect
Of beauty fully, in keeping with his
handsome proportions His attire
was that OF the vaquero, consisting 81
buckskin' trousers, a. wollen shirt
fastened at the throat with carelessly
knotted silk handkerchief, g. coarse
chinchilla sack coat and broad -brim-
med felt hat of the sombrero pattern.
An Alta reporter learned his name and
his history. His name was Edward
n. Willets and six years ago he was at
college, when he received peremptory
orders from his father, wealthy Bos-
ton merchant, to enter. the. theo.
logical class and fit himself
for the ministry. The command came
like thunderbolt to the happy-go-
lucky young fellow, who had always
believed himself destined to follow his
father in business when the latter
should be ready to retire. A quarrel
with his pere was the result and the
young fellow suddenly left for the west.
At Cheyenne he laid over for ashort
hunt on the plains. The wild life of
the cowboys caught his fancy. Sal
airy proved little object, and he had
little difficulty in attaching himself to
a big ranch until he had mastered his
new vocation. Finally he driftetl
! through portions ofMontana, Nebras-
ka, Dakota, Idaho, Nevada, and final
" into Oregon and California. The
opening OF the Summer found him en-
gagged with three or four comrades in
driving q small band Of steers over the
Santa Cruz Mountains: Cattle in the
mountains are not pleasant objects to
deal with. Every unruly steer that
broke from the band required an
hours chasing up and down steep
slopes, over rocks and fallen trees, and
Through the spiteful brush.
Toward the end OF the drive the
steep bluffs that line the road on
either hand kept the steers in fairly
good order, and only occasionally did
all unusually juicy bunch of grass
tempt some hungry one to bolt up the
slope Or into the canyon below. 1t
was an occasion of this sort that sent
Nllletts careering among the brakes
and ferns on theslope above. A chase
OF half a mile had seen the truant re-
turn to the road, and Willetts was
sklrting the edge Of the bank some dis
lance i'll advance Of the drove in
search of q safe place to descend,
when in the middle OF the marrow road
he saw a lovely girl. The drove was
laundering down on her, and promising
to soon crush her young life beneath
their ponderous weight. Escape for
the girl seemed impossible. From the
road to where Willetts' horse stood
was wall ofrock fully twenty feet in
height, and below to the bed of the
stream was a sheer descent of double
that distance For only asecond was
the horseman inactive. Then with a
speed born OF long practice he lifted
his trusty rawhide RATA from the horn
OF his saddle and threw it. "Put that
under your arms, MISS" Was Wi]letts'
hasty injunction. It was obeyed, and
not q moment too soon the gill was
lifted above the heads and horns OF
the oncoming cattle.
When they were we'll by. Willetts
slowly Stacked down until his "catch''
dropped safely to the earth. Five
minutes later, when he managed to
find pathway down andreached the
subject OF his daring bit Of horsen1a1l-
ship, she was lying in the dust in a
faint. When she recovered he learned
that she, too, was from Boston, and
with her father and mother Was spend
ing the summer amid CALIFORNIA;
most favored spots. The old gentle
man, her father, was highly delighted
when he learned of Willetts' identity,
as he soon did. Ellis daughter fool
ishly placed 81 high value on my little
service" explained Willetts, blushing,
"and when saw how she had over
estimated it, meanly demanded the
largest reward I could think of. The
details were settled and [ came on by
the evening train to fit myself for her
society. She swears that l look like
an angel in my wooden shirt and buck
skin trousers, but will try and get
her used to me in civilized garb, for a
vaquero's dress is hardly the thing
for aesthetic Boston,
care you going back"
Eyes, in September. We shall tour
Yosemite as man and wife and then
60 back home. My father-in-law says
that my father has long been anxious
to have me come home, and that he will
set meup if the old gentleman doesn't,
so I think had better CO."