Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-04-30
SHE RODE FOR FUN.

u. b. bell In New orleans Times Democrat
SHE RODE FOR FUN.
Jim, said l, breaking III upon his
ditty, what was the yarn you We're GO
ing to tell about the time you engineer
ed that English hunting party through
the Bear Paw mountains?'
Wew riding along the trail which
stretches its serpentine length at the
feet Of the eternally grand old Rockies
between Forts Mcleod and Calgary on
a bright, warm afternoon in January
When they have ''chinook" out there,
sporting in its rude, boisterous, yet
withal genial fashion, through the deep
defiles of the mountains from over the
Pacific, with a rumble like Niagara at
a distance and force which makes You
button your coat up tightly TO keep it
from blowing off. the snow soon van
ishes even i'll midwinter, and the ther-
mometer jumps from 40 below" to
temperate" SO suddenly that you Won
der if the sun has not wheeled himself
several degrees out of his normal course
at such a season or the breath Of an ap-
preaching prairie fire is not tanning
your cheek.
The singer gave the wad Of tobacco
in his jaw twist with his tongue and
aimed an amber jet ut bulldog on
his horses ear before turning upon me
a pair Of glistening eyes, with black
H., g IL
impudent nose and rather weak
mouth, round the corners Of which
lurked musing smile. Then, after a
pause, he said
"Oh, yes Well, Littlefield was the
chief of the outfit, an he he'd his wife
along-flne, spankin woman, good TO
look at There was another Englishman
"A great shot-called Wells an a mig
ger cook, big, slashin buck, but with
no mo- sand In him than pusillani-
nous jack rabbit Lord, how we did
scare that poor critterl His teeth used to
chitter like a squirrels; it's a wonder
he didn't shake 'em out Of his big wool
" head" =" Fraid of his own shadder after
night an he'd make one any time, even
If 1t was pitch dark, he was so infunal
black You might as soon git this here
buzzard head I'm a-ridin 70 stand on
one leg as coax that niger TO mosy
outside the flare o. the campfire after
sundown fer pail O. water or fer any
other pu'pos', fer the matter o. that
You see. he as IA pilgrim never been
ON layout Of this sort afore, all he was
that blamed tender goat would nibble
him.
But, b'leeve, to talk Christian, l
was partly responsible fer his bein so
extray ordinary skittish. He 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 Of me, an Jumbo, he throw
ed back his ears an yeiled-tee-ritfic, |
tell you-an come prancin up to tho
campfre-jest techin high spots, you
understand-with his two sighters stick
in out like the knobs on the horns of a
orne1y freight OK, shallin like sick
cow in north wind, an dern pail in
sight.
After that Quaker meetin ner II
cyclone wouldn't bulge him, an if you
asked him TO put n tree between him
an the blaze after dark he'd weep like
a wolf An that womanl No-she
didn't laugh none-o-oh, no-oP 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 u mule skinner" does
not imply that he was expert ut remov-
ing hides-in toto Simply that he be-
longed to that select bunch Of frontiers
men whose superlative boast Is that
they can drive or ride anything that
wears hair''-thnt he was passed master
In the craft of teamsterism.
He adjusted tho pistols in his belt.
gave forward tilt TO his broad trimmed
buckskin hat and hitch to his fringed
leather "ch-ps,' and kicked his big,
jingling Mexican spurs against his cay
uses flanlls before resuming:
but was a-goin to tell you bout
Mis- Li'l'hell She was "a mighty fine
woman, as / said before, an well put mp
fond Of ont Of door sport an of ridin
In partic lar. Well, one bright, warm
mo1nin Li'i'feld an Wells went of
huntin, an got orders 1 was teamster
an guido to the outfit. you know to
move camp acrosst the 'divide'-about
20 mile-in the meantime So, after
breakfast an tho dishes he'd been wiped,
we packed up the outfit an struck camp,
but IL was well ON in the day before we
pulled out.
Now, Mis- Li'l'neld he'd a spanl1in
bay hoss specially fer her own use. |
hedn't no objections TO her ridin, OF
co'se, not commonly. But you know it
amt Jest nice to be rollin down q
blamed co 'kscrew mount'iD trail after
dark an gettin into camp late an hevin
to plant yer tents an square things out,
cut yer kindlin an git yer water by cat
light an wal: till 8 o'clock. mebbe, fer
yer supper. This was what he'd happen
cd different times through Mis- LII
field. She alters wanted to ride when
we shifted camp an follered the wagon
on her bay hoss II was unde'sto that
when was goin too fast or he'd got too
fur In the lead she would wave her
handkerchief, an / was to slack up or
stop till she ketchcd tho wagon So
Jest natterly lowed I'd give her song
an dance, hevin n pretty smart day
ahead o. me IN wantin to git into camp
early. Consistently I told the niger
who rode with me-nOt 20 look back.
when we stated, Of co'se the fust
ten mile or 80 was up hill mostly, an
couldn't tri.vel extra fast so IL was
bout when we hit the summit, an
everything he'd went lovely. Then we
he'd little hand out, an the descent
begun.
III didn't lose no time The mules
stepped out gay me a-poppin the buck
tlSin among 'em oncet an awhile jest to
keep 'em chee'ful an III good humor. nn
the hill-well, chain lightnin could go
down-with britohin. hedn't went IA
great ways when / heerd n fur off call
like coyote got astray. Jumbo shifted
kind Of uneasylike on the seat an
squinted sideways ut me. but ] was
a-whistlin The Gal With the Travail
Train, and didn't sec nor hear nothin.
Of co'se Pretty soon the nigger he
couldn't set peaceful an orconcerned no
longer an stealed look benin Then
ne leaned forrard, tn his hans tween
bis knees, an chuclded 10 hisself. paid
no nnnner Of notice. Now he screws