The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-11-04
A TEXAS LOCHINVAR.

The eastern idea of Texas horse is a
eve necked, low headed, narrow chest
ed, cat manned little beggar, with
blood In his eye and as many devils in
his disposition as there are cookie burrs
in his tail.
/ wish some of the people who imagine
that droves of such little beasts are the
horses generally raised on Texas ranches
could see Jim McQueen's Cinco. His
sire was four mile horse whose ances-
try ran vaguely back toward Kentucky,
and he unites with the beauty, speed,
smooth coat, good temper and larger
size of this stock the indomitable pluck
and hardihood and the inexhaustible
bottom of his native Texas blood.
Jim traded five ponies for him when
he was raw, slim legged yearling, and
called him Cinco in commemoration.
He is years old now and has never
known the feeling of collar. 1t is true
that if some uninstructed outsider should
insist on putting him into harness Cinco
would probably end by kicking the We
hicle into kindling wood and himself
clean of every scrap Of harness, but
this would be simply q contemptuous
protest. forcible explanation of the
fact that he wasn't built to haul loads.
Cinco is the best horse in this, a coun-
try of good horses, His qualifications
and accomplishments are varied. He is
an inapproachable COW horse; a finished
expert in all the horse maneuvers Incl
dent to rounding up, roping and cutting
out; perfect mine Of endurance and
good spirits on the trail, and always
wins all the long distance and handicap
races at the county fair. He won his
last handicap about month ago under
circumstances Of thrilling interest to
romance loving frontier society.
Jim is the junior partner at the
bachelor Gillespie & Mcqueen sheep
and cattle ranch on Doggy run. Their
nearest neighbor, five miles above, is
the Austell ranch, at Crockett's we'll.
Miss Chummie Austell, when she came
out to the ranch year ago from some
east Texas school, had as easy walk
over of the undisputed belleship of the
whole county as Cinco would have had
in an open race against a field of COW
ponies and without an ounce of handi-
cap. It was Jim, with his good looks,
boyish spirits, and what Wade Keener
bitterly styled chs blame winnin ways"
who first gained her maiden preference
and held it SO long in the face of SO
much and such spirited, not to say des-
perate, rivalry that it looked as though
the course of true love might be going
to run smooth once, just to show its
west Texas originality.
But now came upon the scene the
cause of discord, misunderstanding,
jealousy and reproaches, spirited retorts
and secret tears and finally angry sepa-
ration in the person of sheepman's
ssdrifter," from somewhere up in the
Panhandle. Spur was most unro-
mantle figure, about five or six feet in
height and three across, with a sort Of
air of good fellowship about him, and
giving vague impression somehow OF
great and Astounding wealth.
Now drifting" sheepman is, gen.
orally speaking, not very kindly taken
to by cattlemen or even by sheep ranch
ers. He is a man who may have 10000,
$1,000 or 30, 900 sheep, and grow rich off
the wool and mutton without eyer own
ing a foot of land. But old mali Austell
and Mrs. Austell were unden.ably i'm
pressed by the atmosphere Of wealth
that went about with Spur, aad when
he laid violent siege to Chummi as affec-
tions he got more or less support from
the family-even the boys, who were
Jim's special friends, standing off neu-
tral. Jim, hurt and angry, rode over
to see Chummie and demanded that
she give that chump his van,os right
straight.
It's hard for pretty girl who knows
her power to accede gracefully and
promptly to an order like that, even
from the man she loves, and the result
was an angry rupture.
For some weeks they never laet, and
all this time Spur was staying at the
Austell ranch or camping close to it,
pushing his suit with ChumAlie, and
Chummie, with the indiscretioa of the
weaker sex, thinking to scare Jim into
repentance, allowed herself to bs drawn
into a sort of promise, which s'narr inn
mediately fastened upon, se1lt to San
Antonio for an immense diamond soil
taire, and with the support Of the old
people hurried on the marriage, SO that
before she realized where she stood the
frightened and unhappy girl WAS actu.
ally putting On her wedding dress.
And Jim?
The season was bad, there had been
no rain for long, Doggy run was run
out, the grass was dry as finder and tho
stock was beginning to suffer. The
sheep could do where they were--a we'll
regulated Texas sheep can come as near
with drinking water as
Kentucky colonel-but the cattle were
rounded up and started out on The trail
for "the territory" Jim, who usually
c+oid with tho chnnn took chare,a Of thu