Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1896-01-16
HOOPS AND WHEELS.
ny A. T. VANCE.

Two bicycles leaning together on IN
arid, treeless. rolling plain; few TUFTS
OF scattered cactl; no human beng,
beast or bird III sight; perfect stillncas
and early AFTERNOON under q sun tnat
Diazed where never cloud had flown
~. weeks. Even insects mud persisted
from drought IN lnat uesoiati0n- ~
any ole n.gnt nuve Imagined had any
Vue peen gazing aDoul VI tnat taiifor'
lila scene iiUiu d point wilnin Aunafeu
yards OF the apparently deserted
wheels.
HAD native stood there hc would not
have supposed the wheels deserted, but
guessed lllul the riders were c0nceaIeu
"A, some crack Vi the sun-Daked earth.
Indeed, del Hali aud were almost
within springlug distance oi our Dikss,
and lnucn ulslucliiied " relu0unt thcin.
We mud luncneu July Il not coInfort'
aDIy On the PROVISIONS 'und drink we
carried; the eartn-crack III when We
iay was deep and narrow enough w
tuude us from the siiyhtly westering
sun. and WI snrunk from more PEDAL.
my under It's giure.
Del aud |, college chums, aad undcr-
taken u wheel from San francisco 10
Los Angeles, nearly Avn miles US the
crow Ines. Our guides were a pocAet
compass and the "lay Of the land. Our
interpreters we're the natives anu our
seIyes-their much Mexican being
aDout as civur to US as our little Spanish
to them. but they were wonderfully
nuIck IN understanding all demands
made III the name Vi the white almighty
dollar OF Uncle Sam.
Without good letters Of introduction
10 various owners OF ranches, who
passed us ON with equally good letters
to others OF their hospitapie kind, we
could not have truyersed the country.
Much OF 1t lacks inns and stores, ard
even places Of public resort. But tor
hospitality we should have starved.
And Oh TINS blazing day we were max
lny for the liancho del Paso, an interest
iuv old mission ranch established long
before gold-seekers rushed to Cali.
fornia.
We had not met a soul for ten miles
before lunching.
Are you sure we're on the way" del
asked, ~ the time came near when we
must reniOunt.
Certainly; the trackisplainenough,'
| SAID, 1.-The last nun we met said We
couldn't MISS 1t liz long US we kept
about this fur from the foothills"
but he SAID something else. wish
we had stopped longer to make out
what he did mean. Ii was something
about Plaza dc loros. I've been think
ing he was warning us against cattle :
"poohl Are you afraid Of cows!
Come along; we must move. There's
rise about half mile ahead; perhaps
we shall see the rancho from there; 1t
can't be more than Is miles away; may
be not hall 30 far"
Again we sped over the vast plan,
cobwebbed with assures and cracks by
the long drought, which had made u
yerituble desert Of the tract within
sight,
Five miles nearer the coast the cou7-
try smiled with grass and grain, Vine
yards and olive groves, but here
we were raining through waste
drearicr than any we had trayersed.
Az the assures and cracks mostly ran
OIL southerly course, we seldom need
ed to dlsmount, though frequently
forced to short detours. So we soon
climbed the gradual rise, whose sum
mi extended on level broad enough
W aide the lower tract Immediately 0e.
yond. Yet the more distant ground was
IN view, and there, us II 1t had suddenly
sprung from the earth, we saw the IT.
regular, broken line OF the adobe walls
OF kaucho del Paso, our resting place.
"llurrahl 1t cant BIZ more than four
miles away, Dell" cried. Come along;
let us drop INTO this drled-up arroyo and
get It's shade TIL II runs out in the next
lowlunu, tor we knew that such an
arroyo, or water course, cuts somewhat
deeply through the SLOW rises and but
little INTO the nollows OF these plains.
While we dipped INTO the arroyo the
tufts OF cactl Oh the upland seemed
moving in the shlmmerlng sunlight,
No more OF the plum did we see until
we reached the lower level, when our
heads were higher than the frayed
sldes of the water course. Then Del and
cried out together in amazement, Tor
countless cattle were near US on tie
plain.
AS we run up out OF the water course
we saw groups scattered as far as the
eye could reach. They thanked us On
both sides; hundreds were behind us;
u compact array, almost numerous
enough to be called herd, stood on our
path to the ranch.
Toward this mass all the Others
seemed to be converging, us the slop.
ing sides Of funnel trend toward It's
hole, or rather as the horns Of q COW
often curve inward at the tips.
Our course to the rancho lay almost
evenly between the sides OF this living
funnel. But It's opening was blocked.
Still, we believed we could pass round
that small. nlassed herd.
1t was not ut all necessary for US 10
make the attempt, and we would not
have tried It had we imagined it to bt
dangerous. Nothing but little shade
and comfort could we gain by reach
ing the kancho del paso quickly. Time
was Of no account just then, for 0t
meant to stay ut the rancho until tho
next morning. And yet we went
"scorchlng" along with never thought
OF prudence or delay
None of the cattle that thanked US or
either side we're within 200 yards wher
we began the run, They were slowly
moving in groups, and those which
., .,,,,d ~, n ware tho tins of the hOrnl