The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-03

,to:y, but 1t was more. Itwaa fraught
with that primitive ruggedness one
arts an Impression Of along with cut
',ng prairie winds. buckinE broncos.
tbe crack Of a revolver, the whiz Of a
bullat.
The fellows name was Thompson.
and he co1ld handle a bunch OF steers
with The best Of them. but there was an
air OF metropolitaniam about him that
assorted III with his surroundings. And
although he drank harder, awore better
and went rougher than any man Of
,bem. he had never been able to live
down his nickname Of East Side"
thompson. Under the influence Of roll
ing praIrles, the boundles5 sweep Of
cloud and sky. an intimacy With the el-
ements and reliance upon nothing but
his own Wilt ana courage . man grows
to be a strong, sagacIOusi vital crea-
turp. 50 different from our circum-
scribed ideas Of man that for want Of
better term We call him a Cow
puncher."
The Three-X OUTFIT OF COW punchers
had been on the trail more than a
month, and according to all precedent
and reason the rains should have set In
weeks before, but they had not. The
{rass that had sprtnG mp with the first
early showers had scared and died be-
fore the next rain came to keep 1t alive.
The shallow, sIugglsh little streams Of
bracElsh water that crawlee along the
bottom of their beds which the year
before had been swollen beyond their
banks, finally gave out utterly. In ev-
cry direction the white Alkali plains
clistened away to the meeting line of
the Sky In an infpitude Of isolation.
The eldest inhabitant in all that coun-
try round could not recall a winter
that equaIIed this in dryness.
Howbeit, Nevada was then a new
state, and the population migratory.
Wilson. ths boss Of the outat, had
hoped 10 get out Of the sagebrush COIN
try and strike the California lire
somewhere above Bodle by the end Of
the first month out, but there was no
rain, 10 water, and the plains lay In
omen cracks. Day after day the sun
arose, smiled down upon the parched
little bunch Of men and cattle fourteen
long hours as he sailed acroR the
cloudlsss sky, serenely unconscious Of
the U,aiedictiors hurled against him.
while the bare. burning prairie stared
back in unbtinking defiance. There
were gorgeous sunsets every evening
moments when the great fiery bali
seemed almost to stand stiil, to give
long backward glance before dropping
out OF sIght, and with q Midas touch
turn all the world to molten gold. But
to the played out cow punche- sunset
means nothing but bed.time-bedtime
after hard, parched, hopeless day.
There were clear. chastS moonlight
nights OF wondrous radiance, too. but
the moon was. seel only in the early
morning. whsn they rose to another
day. more hars, more parched, more
hopeless Tho cattle-msre anatomical
charts By this ttns-wens staggering
about in crazy circles. TOO weak to
need watching, the three KS on their
TANKS reduced to half the original size
hy the sf1riveilng OF the hide, or fell
heavily to the earth, to rise again, after
many seasons OF sun and shower. as
pral.ie flowers and salt, grass. Their
believing was reduced toaa moan al
most human in It's misery, for the one
voice common to all created things. an
.mul or human. Is the voice Of suffer-
Ing, 5tat
The Nissourian, a great. hulking
young fellow, was first Of the men to
show signs OF weakening. That is the
most terrible moment IN al like ex-
perienees, when the mer who have
held on grimly and endured together
zee one Of their number losing his grip.
This had been nm ill-assorted outfit
when they started out with the cattle
across the plains, but standing togeth-
er, shoulder to shoulder, defying death
against fearful odds. knits q man deep
Iy into the life Of his fellow. Among
these men there was no spoken sym
pathy, no overt act of kindness, but in
their Very sHllcnness was that GRIM
NEST OF all sacrifices, each man endur.
ing in stole silence in order that he
might not lntruds his own sutferlngS
upon bis already oyercrowdeL neigh
Dor. The cllnchinG OF the lips to sup
press groan when one is thlrst-mad-
dencd may require more herolsm than
facing a cannot with flags flying and
drums beating, inasmuch as ''he that
ruleth his own spirit is greater than he
that taketh city"
At last one day the MiEsourlan gave
out entirely. He was not Of the cowboy
build in the first place. but his splendid
horssmanShip and enthusiasm had In
duced Wilson, the boss, or Yankee
Bill" as he was called. TO take him on.
In his delirium he lay and cried for
water. day and night. He bhbbered
and begged for water, and called upon
the rnmes OF those ne had known in
his childhood. Every man went about
his own business, which was largely
the formulating OF ferVent and eloquent
oaths nnent the heat, the drouth and
the delay: and apparently no one heard
his cries. water was the one thing he
wanted. and the one thing they could
not get, 70, after they had put his
boots under his head to make him COM
Portable. they lot him alone Under or
binary circumstances u MissSourian
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