The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1899-04-22

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had first sat On horse WI hen four years
old, and for years had scarcely been
out of the saddle, except to sleep
not always for that. Talk about rid
ing horseback, boys-why, Pablo lived
on horseback!
Now, you can guess that beside such
a fellow ! wasn't of much account, com
ing from New England town, where
if we take a ride now and then on some
old carriage horse, it's as much as we
do. OF course, ! began riding as soon
as | got TO Los Pueblos, because if
didn't there was little else to do; but
| could no more sit in saddle all day
and keep up with Pablo and his vague
ros than | could fly. Besides, | was n
sigh, To laugh at even when | was do
ing my best--bouncing up and down
like a churn-handle, swaying from one
side to the other, and quite often GO
ing heatl-first over my horses ears to
the ground. The yaqucros used to laugh
at and make fun of me behind my
back, from morning till night. and,
although Pablo's ideas of n Spanish
gentleman's conduct made him act as
| if he never noticed my awkward
ness, yet | could see that he despised
me for not being able to do what every
child ought, as he looked at it. All
| this used to grind me terribly, boys,
I can tell you.
"On my side. didn't think well of
Pablo. ] was greatly surprised when
| [ found that he could scarcely read
a word of his own language-not so
much as | could after having studied
| Spanish single mGntb-and that he
actually didn't know the meaning of
the Latin prayers he repeated every day;
and, what was worse, didn't care to.
He was more ignorant of arithmetic
than the youngest boy in the grammar
school, and couldn't add up four or
five numbers without using counters,
TO save his life. But what took me
| aback most was that he didn't seem
to know that he knew nothing, or to
want to be anything different from
what he was then--had no ambition,
in short
Here we boys are, each with his
| plans for the future-Fred wants to be
a lawyer, Charley business man, and
! | an engineer; but such ideas never
entered pablo's head. | don't believe
| he ever once thought even whether he
would continue herding cattle all his
life, but just went on doing it without
thinking anything at all.
80, you see, Pablo and | had con-
tempt for each other, and after awhile
we kept apart as entirely as we could.
lie was very kind and hospitable,
| though. and always took care that l
got the best of everything, and didn't
run into danger. which | was very like
| " to do because of by habit of taking
long walks about the country alone.
This was another thing Pablo
couldn't UNDERSTANDABLE any sensible
person should ever walk Il step when
he could just as we'll ride, and especial
| " why he should enjoy doing it. be-
Iieve he used to think me little out
| of mind when he saw me starting out
| for a ten or fiftecn-mile tramp; and,
indeed, il wasn't exactly n wise thing
on my part, for | ran more or less risk
every time | went, on account OF the
cattle, and particularly one old bull,
called 'El Sacudidor' (the 'thrower' or
'tosser).
This bull had killed several horses,
and severely injured two or three
vaQueros. but Don Moreno wouldn't
| hear of his being killed and even re-
! fused to let them saw off his horns.
| This was because the bull was pure
| Spanish, like the don, who seemed to
| think that miserable, half-breed MeNi-
cans ought to feel highly honored II
II real old Spanish bull found any pleas
ure in goring them.
"The animal generally pasturcd in
certain place at some distance from the
house; yet you never could tell when
he might take fancy to go charging
| all over the ranch, attacking everything
that came in his way; for, though bulls
are not always savage, they have crazy
spells, during which they seem to en-
| ioy doing mischief, and wonld)r rather
| kill man than not.
"One morning | was going through
a long. deep rayine--a fayorite walk OF
mine-when | heard "A sort of putting
noise, and a great rafting of gravel
Looking up, what should see but FL
Sacudidor coming around bend about
30 yards in front of me, head down,
tail up. and evidently just as full of
ugliness as he could hold. Good gra-
cious. what a savage brute he looked!
And what place that was TO meet him
in. The walls of the ravine went up
almost perpendicularly and, being OF
conglomerate--earth and gravel mixed
together--a monkey couldn't have
climbed them. while the path wasn't
more than six feet wide, If as much.
and right in the middle of it the bull
was coming down upon me at quick
tTot.
Boys. to say that was frightened
is nothing. If anybody's hair ever
actually stands on end. mine did Them
and every drop of blood in me seemed
turned into pins and needles, | was so
terrified. hadn't weapon of any
sort. not even knife--though that
didn't matter, for nothing short OF a