The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-07-25

Iss
heIu =: 97,,orrel. independent OF clrcum-
luz rat shv and sensitive OF OPINION,
ahstom;ons by education and genera
,'aI>;+ vet incorporate in relaXatlon'
-o1e.contered-yet possessed OF chllo-
ssb vanitv-he was characteristic pro
1,,o+ of the western plains, Whlch
shonld have never left. But reckless
adventure after adventure had Drought
him into difficulties, from when thele
was only one equally adventurous es-
cape-he joined company Oh lnui9n'
engaged by Buffalo Bill to simulate pc
fore civilized communities the Sports
and customs of the unclylllzed III VI
yers Christian arenas of the lJth cen
turv he rode as northern parpalian
of an earlier date might have dlsporteu
before the Roman populace, pul h'i III
lessly. of his own free will, ana Oh some
I;ttaa nrotit TO himself He threw ms
lasso under the curious eyes OF lanSuld
mon and women of the world. eager Tor
some new sensation, with aulillrllls
nIaudits from them and half con-
femntuous egotism of his own. But out
side of the arena he was lonely, lost
aid impatient for excitement. An IN
genious attempt to paint the town
rely did not commend itself as spec
+acle TO the householders who lived IN
fine vicinity of Earfs court. London,
and All1ali Dick was hauled before a re-
snectable magistrate by a serious po-
Iiceman. and fined as if he had been
only Il drunken coster. A later attempt
at Paris to ''incardine' the neighborhood
of the Champ de Mars, and round up
a number of boulevardiers, met with
more disastrous result, the gleam OF
steel from mounted gendarmes and a
mandate to his employers. So 1t came
that one night, after the conclusion OF
the performance, Alkali Dick rode out
of the corral gate OF the hlppodrome
with his last weeks salary in his pocket
and an imprecation on his lips. lie had
shaken the sawdust of the sham arena
from his high. tight-ftting boots; he would
shake off the white dust of France, and
the effeminate soil of all Europe also, and
embark at once for his own country and
the far west. A more practical and ex-
perienced man would have sold his
horse at the nearest market and taken
train to Havre, but Alkall Dick felt HIM
self incomplete ON terra frma without
his mustang-it would be hard enough to
part from it on embarking he had
determined TO ride to the seaport. He
was ignorant of the language. but with
"Hayre" upon his lips and western
faculty of finding roads, he would sue
coed. Besides, he would be less likely
to be troubled with foreign company on
the road than in train.
The spectacle of a 1.-THE horseman, clad
in Il Rembrandt sombrero. velvet jacket,
turnover collar, almost Van Dyke III
its proportions, white trousers and high
boots. with long curling hair and falling
over his shoulders and a pointed beard
and moustache was a picturesque one,
but still not novelty to the late-supping
Parisians, who looked up under the mid
niZed gas as he passed, and only recog-
nized one of those men whom Paris
had agreed to designate as "Borfio Bills
going home. A few gendarms looked
suspiciously after him. But Alkali
Dicks vanity was already surfeited
with the impressionable admiration dis
played by male and female Paris for
him and his companions, and he was
too eager"now to get away to wish even
a hilarious conflict with the police. he
kept his tongue and his temper until he
had passed the barriers" and fortified
tons. sand it was only when he was
fairly on the road to st. German that he
gave vent to characteristic yell and
loosened the reins of his mustang. At
O'Clock he pulled up at wayside caba-
ret or inn. preferring it to the publicity
of larger hotel, and lay till morning
The slight CONSERVATION of the cabaret
keeper and his wife over this long-haired
phantom, with gilttering, deep-set eyes
was soothed by royalty flung gold coin
and few words of French slang picked
up in arena, which-with the name OF
Cd al- 'y l. WI nIt "a
the language. But he was touched with
their ready and intelligent comprehen
sion of his needs, and their genlaI If not
so comprehensive loquacity. Luckily for
his quick temper, he did not know that
they had taken him for a travelling
quack doctor going to the fair of Yvetoi
and that madame had been on the point
of asking him for a magic balsam to
prevent migraine. He was up betimes
and away. giving wide berth to the
larger towns, taking byways and cut
offs, yet always with the western path
finders instinct, even lnong these alien
poplar-haunted plains, low-banked, will
low -fringed rivers and cloverless mead
ows. The white sun shining everywhere
on dazzling arbors, summer houses
and trellises, on light green vines and
delicate pea rows; on the white trousers,
Jackets and shoes OF smart shOpkeepers
or holiday makers; on the white head
dresses Of nurses and the white-winged
caps of the sisters of st. Vincent-al
this grew monotonous to this native OF
still more monotonous wastes. The long
black shadows of short, blue-skIrted
sabotted women and short, bue-bloused
sabotted men slowly working III the
fields with slow oxen, or still slower
heavy Norman horses, the same horses
gayIy bedecked, dragging, slowly, MOI
only heavy wagons, but their own ap
parently most monstrous weight, Over
the white road, fretted his nervous west
ern energy and made him impatient u
get on At the close of the second da!
he found some relief on entering &
trackless wood-not the usual forma
avenue Of equi-distant trees, leading II
nowhere, and storing upon the opeI
field-but apparently II genuine fores
as wild as one of his own "Oak Bot
TOMS Gnarled roots and twisted
branches flung themselves across hi
path, his mustangs hoofs sunk in deel
pits of moss and last years witheret
leaves, trailing vines caught ais heav!
stirruped foot, or brushed his broad
sombrero, the vista before him seemed
only to endlessly repeat the same sylvan
glade, he was in fancy once more in tn,
primeval western forest, and encompass
ed by its vast dim siences. He did no