Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-04-16
SHE RODE FOR FUN.
by WILLIAM D. CAMERON.

stood under the rnln-spout I'LL BOtWet
clean through
(Then Sal stuck her head out o. the win
der an says
Jim! Come In out o. the rain,D
Says My old girl. don't care II T."
"Jim," said l. breaking in upon his
dltty, what was the yarn you were
going to tell about the time you en-
gineered that English hunting-party
through the Bear Paw mountains"
We were riding along the trail, which
stretches It's serpentine length at the
feet Of the eternally grand old Rockies
between Forts Mcleod and Calgary, on
bright warm afternoon in January.
When they have Chinook" out there,
sporting in It's rude, toisterous, yet
withal genial fashion, through the deep
de6les OF the mountains from over the
Pacific, with u rumble like Niagara at
distance and force which makes
you button your coat up tightly to keep
it from blowing off, the snow soon van
ishes. even in midwinter; and the ther-
momcter jumps from $40 below" to
temperate" 50 suddenly that you won
der II the sun has not wheeled himself
several degrees out Of his normal course
at such q season, or the breath Of an
approaching prairie-fre is not tanning
your cheek.
The singer gave the wad OF tobacco
In his jaw u twist with his tongue and
aimed an amber jet at bulldog" on
his horses ear before turning upon me
pair Of gllstenng eyes, with black
points set In saucers Of milk, a short,
impudent nose and rather weak
mouth, round the corners Of which
lurked musing smile. Then, after a
pause, he said
"0h. yes. Well, Lttlefeld was the
chief Of the outfit, an he he'd his wife
along-dne, spankin' woman, good to
look at, There was another English
mana great shot-called Wells, an
a niger cook--a big, sIashin' buck, but
with no moe sand in him than o pusil-
luminous jack-rabbit. Lordl--how we
did scare that poor critterl Ills teeth
used to chltter like squirrels; it's q
wonder he didn't shake 'em out OF his
big woo|ly head. 'Fraid Of his own shad-
der after night, an he'd make one any
time. even II 1t was pitch dark, he was
10 infunal black. You might as soon
git this here buzzard-head I'm a-ridin'
to stand on one leg as coax that Niger
to mosey outside the flare O the camp
fire after shutdown fer a pail O. water,
or fer any other pu'pos', fer the mat
ter o that You sec, he was pilgrim
never been on layout O this sort
afore, an he was that blamed tender
v goat would nibble him.
But, | b'leeve, to talk Christian, I
was partly responsible fer his being so
extray-ordinary skittsh. lie stated,
oncet or twicet, fer water after night to
a crick quite handy, sho'tly after we
went into camp. jest stepped off IS
PAGES into the pines an let 'Yee-ow'
or two out o me, an Jumbo, he throwed
back his ears an yelled--tee-rifiic, tell
yeh--an' come prancin' up to the camp
fire-jest techin' high spots, you UNDER
stand-wlth his two sighters stickin'
out like the knobs ON the horns Of a
ornery freight-ox, shakin' like a sick
cow In north wind, an dern a pail in
sight,
After that Quaker meetin' ner a
cyclone wouldn't bulge him; an il you
asked him to puta tree between him an
the bazeafterdark he'd weep like u wolf.
An that womanl No-she
didn't laugh none--o-oh. no-o!" And
jim lay back in his saddle, and sent n
peal echoIng up among the foothills
which shook the few lingering traces
OF soft snow from the branches of the
spruces.
That Jim was "mule-skinner' does
not imply that he was expert at remoy-
ing hides-in toto. Simply that he
belonged to that select bunch Of
frontiersmen whose superlative boast
Is that they can drive or ride anything
that wears hair"-that he was past
master in the craft Of teamsterism.
He adjusted the pistols in his belt,
gave a forward tilt to his broad-rimmed
buckskin hat and hitch to his fringed
leather "chaps," and kicked his big 'jing-
ling Mexican spurs against his caynse's
TANKS before resuming;
But was a-goin to tell yeh bout
Mis- Ll''feld. She was a mighty fine
woman, as said before. an well put up
fond O out-o'-door sport, an Of ridin'
in particular. Well, one bright, warm
mornin' Li'l'ficld an Wells went OIL
huntin', an got orders Il was teamster
an guide to the outfit yeh know to
move camp across the 'Divide'--about
20 mile-in the meantime. So. after
breakfast an the dishes he'd been wiped,
we packed up the outfit an struck camp;
but It was well on in the day before we
pulled out
Nov. Mis- Li'l'fsld he'd spankin'
hay boss specially fer her own use. ]
hedn't no objections TO her ridin', Of
co'sc-not commonly. Butyeh knowit
amt lest nice to be rollin' down
blamed, co'kscrew mount'in trail after