The sun., 1896-10-11
A PLAINSMAN,s DINNER.
Eeoaomy In Eirewood Made n Fine Art by
FreiGhter.

Ecoaomy In Eirewood Made n Fine Art by
FreIGhter.
When we FIRST made him out. about the middle
OF the morning. he was far ahead on the old
trail and Graham who was driving. thought he
was game.
whoa" no raid. pulling up so sharply that
he almost set the horses back on their launches.
"Gimme my gun. There's a buffalo"
The tall guide stood up in the wagon and
shaded his eyes.
Mary buffalo," he said after momeut's
silence. during which the rest OF US waited ~ith
breathless Interest: Its a freighter"
It was in tho days before the rallroaIs had
been pushed out through northwest Nebraska.
and supplies were freighted into the forts and
trading posts in big wagons. pulled sometimes
by eight or ten yoke of oxen and sometimes by
one span of great mules.
It WAS even ing when we overlook this freighter.
whom Graham had mistaken for q buffalo. We
went into camp within hundred yards of
where he stopped. 1t was almost at the head of
the Elkhorn River. and the stream. where it
flowed few rods from our camp. was hardly
more than yard wide. The guide had told US
at the start that we should strike country whore
could find no wood. and we had brought
along q small oil stove. with a tin oven. and
big can OF kerosene. When had watered our
horses and staked them out for the night wan
dered over to see the freighter. He had an
enormous wagon, pulled by two giant mules. He
had staked them out and was getting supper.
1t WAS the nrst time had ever seen It done by
plninsman. and stayed to watch him.
He was an old hand at freighting. and he
knew just how many stops he would haveto
make where he could get no firewood. For each
one he carried In his wagon, when he started
out of Norfolk. q piece Of 6x6 pine timber about
Gig ht inches long. Each piece represented the
FIRE for one meal. He was splitting up one OF
them when ! struck his camp.
I'D evenin'," he said. without look ing up from
his work. "prospectin' fer land?'
mo. bunting" replied.
oh" he said with an information that seemed
TO convey his feeling that he knew all about US.
He went on with his work, and presently ejacu-
lated by way Of keeping up the conversation:
Hot"
1t had been blistering August day. The sun
had sailed through a cloudless sky that cleaned
like an inverted silver bowl. 1t beat down on
the level prairies with q force that sent the heat
devils dancing mad. swift, tortuous figure in
shimmering millions above the dull brown tops
mp in the breathless air. 1t was as II the sun
had striven with desperate energy to dry up the
psroh.a snd am bad in s onS
had skunk behind the low-lyinE range OF hills
that far away marked the I'VE western s sorzon' red,
would be poured out on the defenceless prairie
day after day until the land and the water water
of binding. sitting alkali dust.
"Slow travellin' such weather" continued
He had split the pieee OF pine into little sticks,
He gathered n hRndfu of dry grass and wadded
II NY into ball: Then he beat down the s,i talI
make his fire. In tho middle of II he put the
ball Of gras.. and over 1t he piled eight or ten Of
match. From q box at the end of his wagon he
brought out a long handled steel frying pan,
once held two pounds OF tomatoes or pie apples.
Then he brought out wooden box and set IT on
sy.S ss held os Of se hs isnDn' ss onr enG
and bacon and little tin can Of coffee He got
amill out Of ths box and ground his coffee. He
%s FasaS HA arca1s :.of whsp h. had go. shs!
tin S out Of tho wagon and stood it up behind tho
little pile OF sticks. Ithelped to concentrate the
1isns e.. Go.s n sHs pot in
water from the buckettul no had brought from
The river and set it down beside The pile Of Of
OF sticks Then he lit his nre. In a minute it
sizzling in the pan. He, poured some flour into
the tomato can, dumped in pinch Of salt an, and
orously with . spoon. OCCASIONALLY he, stopped
stirring TO turn she bacon: Presently in me S bacon
s na n.S the hot s @ PS
the mixture OF -four and other things from tho
tomato can: That was going to be "bullwhack-
er's bread" or scrupene."
As soon as he took the frying pan on the fro
he put the coffee pot on, and when tho thick,
stiff dough WAS nicely Bmoothed out In the fry
ing pan no proppsd IL up in front OF the hre.
where the reflector would do Its best work.
Then out of the wagon lie hauled jug OF
sorghum. Three or four more little sticks OF
pine were DEITY arranged under the coffee pot,
and BY that time the bread had begun TO brown
in the pan. lie took the pan by tho end Of the
long handle and gave II aqulck sidewise twist
and little forward jerk. Tho mass OF half
baked dough slid out OF the pan and flew UP
In to the air. II turned bottom side up, and he
caught II us deftly any French cook catching
pancakes. and propped the unbAked side up
against the fire BY the time It had bake the
coffee was boiling and the meal was ready. lie
drank the coffee, strong aud black, out OF tin
cup and used sorghum for swssteninR. Butter
end lard he despsed, His sorghum took tho
place OF tho one and the bacon q ease served as
substitute for the other.
When ho took the coffee pot of the fire he
put on n little can of water that stswed and
simmered and presently boiled over tho embeTs
Thai was his diSnwRter. He had To have it hot
to take the bRcn" grease out of his pans. And
when II WAS all done there were three or four OF
the little pine sticks still LETT.
asked HIM II he did not want potatoes Yes
he Thid. and he had them, but only when fire j.
wood was plenty. IL took too long and TOO
much wood 10 cook potatoes, and he conldn't do
II when he had TO depend on one pine stick To
In the morning. before we had watered the
horses, no had cooked mis- breakfast and WAS of