The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-25
PONY TRACKS.

Every lover of good horse, and that
, means every normal-minded American, will
find wherein to delight in this new volume
of Frederick Remington's. 1t is not alone
in India, even Kipling's India, that men
are. brave, true gentlemen, though their
sires be the toughest. Mr. Remington tells
i US that some day an American Kipling
will arise to exploit the deeds and tell the
tales of our army on the frontier stations
and that the tales will be equal to any that
.KIpling has told. We will await this COM
ing story-teller but meantime we have
Remington, and there is Joy in the pos
session. The sketches deal with scouting
parties, with Indian warfare, with rough
riding and deeds of derring do in the wild
West, Mr.. Remington's account of it all
has dash and go that warns the blood
and sets the nerves atingle in the reading.
The author owns to having a "fad" for
cowboys, as other enthusiasts have for
rare stamps and coins and magazine post
ers, and his appreciation of cowboy char
aeteristics is subtle. There is a world of
significance in some of his brief sentences,
auent this worthy, as, for instance, in this
paragraph:
Black figures of animals walking slowly
along were said (by Wolf Voice, an Indian
SCOUT to be starving broncos abandoned
by the hostiles.
% Cowboy he catch 'em," said Wolf Voice.
I explained that Colonel Off1ey had orders
not to allow any citizen to cross the Chey-
:enne River.
:. "Cowboy, he no give UNI dam; he come
= alice samee." And l thought Wolf Voice
: probably right.
=: but when a wagon party was attacked
by band of hostiles it was group of five
: cowboys who suddenly appeared and gave
:. battle for them against fearful odds.
;"Go backW yelled Thompson.
=" Bang bang bang and the bullets
: whistled and kick up the dust. Away
:. we go. The cowboys, being well
/: mounted, could easily have got away,
but they stuck like true blues.
Here is where the great beauty of Ameri-
can character comes out. Nothing can be
taken seriously by men used to danger
Above the pounding of the horses and the
rattle of the wagon and through the dust
came the cowboy song:
Roll your tan
And roll her high;
Wen all be angels
By and by.
Policing the Yellowstone is one of the
best sketches in the book. 1t was there
Mr.. Remington, riding with the United
States cavalry, got his first experience in
riding over fallen timber. He had "child-
ishIv imagined" he tells us, that "there
must De Trails wherever uS4 wanted 10
Cos" But the cavalry in the Yellowstone
do not stick to the trails. They are far
more apt to ride "cross lots" than to go
>. "round bv the road" And so they go
through sloughs, over fallen timber and
.r'along balloonlike heights, where mis-
step means the end of horse and rider.
- In one place, where the two steep
sides of the canyon dipped together, it
was cut by nasty seam some six feet deep,
which we had to bucket over and main
tain a footing on the other side, After
finding myself safely over l watched the
shower of pack-mules come sliding
down and take the jump. \ Horses
trained to this work do marvels, and old
Pat was topper at the business. gave
him his head and he justified my trust by
negotiating all the details without miss.
On a sandy siding he spread his feet and
slid with an avalanche of hillside. Old
Pats ears stuck out in front in an anxious
way as if to say, If we hit anything solid
I'll STOP while from behind came the
CHEEKY voice OF Captain. Scott. Here's
where we trot.'
There is an endless fascination in these
tales of adventure in the outposts of civili-
cation, and Mr.. Remington's lifelike and
spirited sketches play by no means minor
part in the charm which the book must
have for all readers with love for out-of-
door life and adventure. New York:
Harper q Bros. For sale by Payot, Upham
& Co., San Francisco.