Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-06


appearance, Perry set this stranger down
as one of the Englishmen residing at the
ranch. 1t was not fear of arrest and
capture that sent him scowling awaJ
across the prairie; it was deliberate in
tent to avoid, and this was, to Perry's
thinking, tantamount to insult. One
moment he gazed after the retreating
form OF the horseman, then clapped his
forage cap firmly down upon his head,
shook free the rein and gave Nolan the
longed for word. Another instant, and
with set teeth and blazing, angry eyes
he was laundering at headlong speed,
Bwooping down upon the unconscious
stranger in pursuit. Before that sun
burned, curly haired, bulkily framed
young man had the faintest idea Of what
was impending, Mr.. Perry was refining
in his snorting steed alongside and cut
tingly accosting him:
Il beg your pardon, my good sir, but
may ask what you mean by trotting
away when it must have been evident
that [ wanted to speak with your
The stranger turned slightly and coolly
eyed the flushed and indignant cavalry
man. They We're trotting side by side
now, Nolan plunging eXcitedly, but the
English horse maintaining his even
stride; and stronger contrast of type and
style one could scarcely hope to find. In
rough tweed shooting jacket and cap,
brown Bedford cords fitting snugly at
the knee but tapping like shapeless bags
from there aloft to the waist, in heavy
leather CATERS and equally heavy leather
gloves, the stocky figure of the English
man had nothing of grace or elegance,
but was sturdy, strong, and full of that
burlv self reliance which is SO charac-
terestic of the race. Above his broad,
STOPPING shoulders were bull neck, red
deneQ by the sun, a crop Of close curl
ing, light brown hair, tanned and
honest face lighted up by fearless gray
eyes and shaded by a thick and curling
beard Of lighter hue than the hair of his
massive head.
He rode with the careless ease and su-
preme confidence OF the skilled horse
man, bat with that angularitv of foot
and elbow, that roundness Of back and
punching of shoulders, that incessant
rise and fell with every beat of his
horses powerful haunch, that the effect
was that of neither security nor repose.
His saddle, too, was the long, fat seated,
Australian model, pig skin, with huge
rounded leaJhern cushions circling in
front and over the knees. adding to the
cumbrousness of his equipment and in
no wise to the comfort; bat his bit and
curb chain were of FURNISHED steel,
cleaning as though fresh from the'hands
of some incomparable English groom,
and the russell reins were soft and plia-
bic, telling OF excellent stable manage
ment and discipline. Perry couldn't
help admiriug that bride, even in his
temporary fit of indignation.
As for him-tal, slender, elegantly
made, clothed in the accurately fitting
undress blouse of the army and in rid
ing breeches that displayed to best ad-
vantage the superb molding of his pow
erful thighs, sitting like centaur well
down in the saddle, his feet and lower
legs, cased in natty riding boots. swing
ing close in behind the cleaning shout
ders of his steed. erect as on parade. vet
swaying with every motion Of his horse,
graceful, gallant. and TO the full as pow
ertul as his bury companion. the advan-
tage in appearance was all on Perry's
side. and was heightened by Nolan's
spirited action and martial trappings.
Perry was an exquisite in his soldier
taste, and never. except on actual cam
paign. rode his troop horse without his
hroidered saddle cloth and cleaning
bosses. All this, and more. the English
man seemed quietly noting as. finally,
without the faintest trace of irritabilitv.
with even a suspicion of humor twink
ling about the corners of his mouth. he
replied:
"A fellow may do rs he likes when
he's on his own bailiwick, suppose"
''All the same. wherever I've been.
from here TO Assiniboia, rlen meet like
Christians, unless they happen to be road
agents or cattle thieves. What's more, I
am an officer of regiment Just arrived
here, and, from the Missouri down. there
isn't a ranch along our trail where we
were not welcome ana whose occupants
were not hail fellow we'll met il our
camps You are the FIRST people TO shun
US; and. as that fort Wonder was built for
your protection in DAYS when If was bad
IL needed | want To know what thare Is |