The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-10-09

mellow notes; all nature, putting OIL heL
rough mood, submits to the mild Western
| spring.
/ Il guess a couple of hands had better
ride forward" shouts Wash, as the leaders
of the bunch break into a smart trot.
''Dog-g gone their ornary souls, I'll be dog
goned if they amt already got wind OF the
| home-ranch! ' and, although we still had
good seven miles before us, it became
necessary, for the first time, to restrain
their eagerness Every one brightens up
at the prospect of reaching headquarters,
| of sleeping for few nights with a roof
over our heads, and of being relieved Of
our uncongenial task.
A long, irregular, narrow strip of timber
marks the course of the creek, in bend of
which the ranch-buildings are situated.
| The boys come out to greet us, and pull
| long faces at the sight of our attenuated
little bunch. They are glad to see us. The
return of the boss means the return of
| active life. They have been having dull
| time of it during the long winter months
building and repairing corrals, fencing
| in pastures, and quartered alone or in
couples, for months at time, in cherries
| dug-outs on the confines of the range, the
monotony of their lives broken only by
daily line-riding, q process which consists
| in riding a certain distance along the
boundaries of the range in order to head
| back as much as possible any large drift
| of cattle The ranch itself is built of
''adobe, " after the manner of the Mexicans,
the 'adobe" consisting of layers of prairie
sod, which packs very tightly and forms
solid weather-tight wall, excluding both
! heat and cold much more effectuallY than
| the wooden frame houses so common in
most American settlements; small store
| house containing three months provisions
| stands apart, and double corral, roughly
constructed of cottonwood logs, servesaS
| branding-pen.
When the time comes to turn in, we all
unroll our bedding and ''whack doWln' on
the bare floor, packed as closely as sardines.
| Small comfort here; and, had it not been
for the shelter afforded from wind and rain,
| | should have preferred sleepDg in the
open.
However, my companions, rough and I'M
| couth in manner and speech, were good
| fellows all. A cowboys life, with its hard
ships, isolation, and dangers, pvelops all
| the sterner manly qualities in Q. high de-
| gree. To a 1.-the and sinewy figure he joins
| courage, stole Indifference T. suffering,
and logged industry when wG'k has to be
done. For these qualities it gould be diff
| ficult to find his equal In my nountaineer-
| ing experiences of former years., | have
passed many days with the best of
the Swiss guides,-have bivouacked
with them, have humid chamois
| with them, and have seen their mettle
tried to the uttermost. Thoigh but igno-
rant, coarsely-clad peasants, they are
brave, loyal, splendid fellows Our sailors
| too, as we all know, are kind-hearted,
reckless of danger, geneDus and long
suffering to degree Blu the cowboy,
whilst possessing to greet extent many
| of tho characteristics of 18th sailor and
| guide, is even beyond themconspicious for
his sensitive pride, his almost aggressive
spirit of independence. his bright intelli-
| gence, and his sportSma1lke instincts.
| Such at least are the best Of them. The
cringing servility born o centuries of
| strongly-marked dissatisfaction, the low
| cunning of the gutter bred sum of cities,
the heavy, boorish stupidity of the
| peasantry of our older civilizations. are
| unknown among the freedom citizens Of
, the Western States of America. On the
other hand, our cowboy is shockingly
cruel, hasty in temper, and unbridled in
tongue. In the branding-pei, and with q
| half-broken, tired, or unwilling horse, he
| is a perfect fieud; his contempt for life too
often leads to needless bloodshed; and he
is untiring as an Indian in pursuit of
| revenge.
! With him it is frequently not a word
and a blow, but word and bullet
| This somewhat primitive code of honor is
not, however without its good effects, and
| am bound to say that, rough as the boys
are. their voluble flow of bad language is
| limited to their animals, but rarely ad
| dressed to their follows; and for myself l
| may add that passed through my whole
time without a shadow or a semblance of a
| quarrel. OF their stole Indifference to pain
l could relate many instances, but two will
suffice.
l had provided myself with self-cocl1-
| ing six-shooter, similar to our own army
| revolver. This is a most dangerous weapon
and is rarely used by Western men, whose
| experience in the use of the revolver is I'M
| equaled. The double action throws the
| weapon off its mark and during moments
| of excitement one is apt to let it off I'M
| Willingly. This actually occurred to me
| more than once, and resolved to get rid
Of the ''pesky thing" TRADED" it with
one of the boys for very old single-actiou
| Colt-pattern weapon, and threw a couple
| of hundred cartridges into tho bargain.
| One morning we heard a pistol re-
| port close to the wagon, and, know
ing that the boys were hunting
| turkey, we already looked forward to
good breakfast. Presently my friend
with the self-cocksr rode up turkeylesS
After quietly unsaddling his pony, he pro-
ceeded to white a twig. This done, he
barred his leg and we then, for the first
time, became aware that he was badly
wounded in the thigh. A bullet had gone
clean through the feshy part, and had
| made wound at least four inches in depth,
the upper part of which was very much
powder-burnt. He now produced his twg
and, having wrapped piece of rag round
it, coolly ran it to aud fro to clean out the
powder. He must have endured tortures,
for his face paed, and beads of pcrspira-
ton stood on his forehead, but the brave
boy never WINGED, and we gathered from a
long string of oaths directed at the pistol
and at his pony that he was following q
turkey, self-cocker in hand and finger on
trigger, when his horse stumbled; he in
stinctively (as the rider does on such oc-
casions) threw himself back and frightened
his hands with the above result. That day
he rode thirty miles to the nearest military
station for a surgeon, with the wounded
leg thrown across the horn of the saddle
On another occasion we were Willing
away the time hunting squirrels, for which
purpose one of the boys had taken his
boots off and climbed tree The rest of
us remained below, and were taking pot
shots at the squirrel as it leaped from
bough to bough. The climber chased the
little creature to the end of a
thick bough, himself crawling along
it, when, by some misadventure, he was
struck in the big toe by q bullet: but we
none of us knew this until, after coming
down, he quietly mentioned that he ''reck-
oned he'd left bit of his toe up that ar
tree" 1t was only a small bit off the end
it is true; but thought that if the same
accident had happened to myself should
have given tongue pretty freely. But these
fellows are Injured to hardship and suffer
ing, and take it as it comes without word
of complaint.
Once more we have been on the trail,
and are now another hundred miles or so
farther south. Our camp is pitched on a
well timbered creek running into the north