The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1900-03-08


every time my horse suddenly changed
the direction in which he was going. I
had nearly given UP when Spider, bis
pony en- the keen jump, flashed by and
took up the pursuit He waved his
hand as he passed ME and tried TO
shout, but his throat was filled with
dust, and the nearest he could come to
his usual shrill cheer was, a sort of
spluttering gasp. -
In a very few minutes, the cattle
were safely reunited with the herd.
had never seen Spider work with cattle.
and his ready skill surprised me- Ger
tain]y he showed none of the awkward
ness of which the Ballet Girl had COM
planned. I was returning to the herd.
when Spider emerged from the cloud of
dust that surrounded it and cantered
forward to meet me:
@@Look a-yer!'' he cried in: a tone of
authority as soon as he was close
enough to be heard s'You ain got no
business here. You amt no good, no
how, in the shape like yo1, are, an
you'll only do yourself up worse Go
up on that there little rise, where you
can see everything an won't hurt yer
self. Men the boys. Well tend ter the
cattle all right.
Spiders command that should re-
tire was SO plainly prompted by solici-
tude for my welfare th"t l could not
have resented his tone ,.r III had it not
amused me as it did Besides, he was
perfectly right. was Of no use what
ever in the herding. Evidently intend
ing to see that his orders were fully car
ried out, Spider rode by my side as I
slowly cantered toward the rise that he
had pointed out to me. Though the stir
rup feathers of the borrowed saddle
were far too long for him, though they
were pulled up as far as they would go,
and though the saddle itself was so
large that it would have had room in it
for several boys Of Spiders size, still
Spider rode superbly. I saw that when
he was after those cattle The pony he
was riding on was one Of my own, and
though Spider had had the choice of
several he had chosen the most unman-
ageable animal of them all Cappy Lee
was the last man who had attempted to
ride the brute. He had been promptly
bucked off. He told me afterward that
he had turned somersault so quickly
that he had seen the canvas patch that
decorated the back of his trousers.
"How does the pony carry you,
Spider?' I asked as we rode along to-
gether.
Like a bird Concho an mes oil
frien's. He like some. He won try no
funny business when I'm ridin M re-
piled Spider, with d happy grin. as be
leaned forward and patted the pony's
neck. Concho generally carried his ears
pointing directly toward his tail He
rolled the whites of his eyes in ac-
acknowledgement of the caress and cooked
his ears for an instant: then he laid
them back again. To me his conduct
was not reassuring
IF | were in your place wouldn't
try any Of those tricks of yours, - said
l. l was speaking only of tricks Of
horsemanship, but Spider misunderstood
me.
"4Ou ain t seen HE doin no tricks
terday, reckon he said in a tone
that showed that he was rather hurt at
what I said. lyon amt a-goin ter see
none, neither. I'm hcrdin now. It's
business, an I III in it fer all I'm worth
You watch'n sect I amt. I mus go
back now Wheeling around on his
hind legs, Concho bucked himself to-
ward the herd as mounted the rise to
which l had been bound.
The lean, hungry looking cattle gath
cred on the plain We're blended into an
indistinguishable mass by the thin cloud
of dust that hung over them, thrown
up by their hoofs as they paved the
loose sand. Here and there flashed a
CLINT of dull light, where the sunlight
that filtered through the dust was re-
tiected from a tossing horn. With in
tervals between them, cowboys galloped
around the herd, half Of them going in
one direction, half in the other. They
passed in front of the herd and then
vanished around its back when they
could only be distinguished by the pillar
of dust, thicker than that overhanging
the herd, that followed each man as he
rode.
A little to one side the foreman sat
on his horse, with Spider close by him
Then, evidently directed by his chief,
Spider galloped over the plain and
passed into the gorge that made pas
sage between the cliff and the river fiat.
The foreman cantered up to me.
II reckon We better get this here job
done about as quick as we know if we're
goin ter do it, he said as he came
within speaking distance. well have
ter drive 'em all ter once too. The riv-
er's risin, an Their won be no time ter
split 'em up into lunches, an then get
'em over one bunch at time like we
oughter. Can't say how far the water'n
rise er how long it'll stay riz, now it's
started. I JUS sent the kid ter look at
a watermark set an hour ago. Here
he comes, now AS he spoke Spider
rode up.
*sHere's yer stake said he, holding
the notched stick up for inspection.
"Water was han an half over it
when I got there. Stake was clean outer
csr To \ 4o,.