El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-07

of rich grazing ahead. But Big Cow
creek is quite pretty stream, with
good many trees along it's banks, which
one appreciates in land where, for the
most part, there are hardly trees enough
to hang the horse thieves ON. The coun-
try is more hi1ly and broken, more pic
turesque, than this. -
They had passed over the line of low
hills, zigzagging down sandy draw on
the other side, and now the road, mere
parallel lines of wheel marks almost
overgrown with grass and flowers, lay
before them until vaguely lost in the
distance Almost at the horizon a wind
mill stretched its long arms idly against
the sky, and beyond a dotted line ran
up and down across the rolling land,
the posts of 5arbed wire fence. Moth
ing else broke the surface of the meas
ureless, gray green expanse, somber as
an ocean in eternal calm, but for the
flowers which were everywhere-blue
lupines and the pink and white of as
tragali, the silken petals of Mexican
peoples just bursting into bloom, the
pink and white and yellow of primroses
and the red fire of mallows.
1.-The boundary of Cameron's land"
Brown observed, pointing out the line
of fence. He has 80, 900 acres here.
Outside you will be quite beyond the
limits of good society-in other words,
upon the public domain, which is wholly
unsettled, Of course. -
1.-The land belongs to nobody"
"Only to a paternal government,
whose hold upon it is so light that any
body may have it for the asking. If you
would like some Wyoming land, Miss
Ellery, you will presently be face to
face with a glorious opportunity.
Il had fancied that I might take up
some land when 1 came vest she
smilingly confessed. my brother has
taken up a good deal. -
II suppose so,'' he answered rather
dryly, yet smiling amuseGly. 'tAnd
will you take up homestead or des-
ert claim?"
''Oh, the latter, 1 think! That gives
one the most acres, does it not? But 1
think the government must offer me
something rather more inviting than
this. do not want quite such a desert -
..And what do you propose to do with
your land when you have discovered a
location sufficiently picturesque?"
''Ah, who knows?'' she returned,
smiling automatically. Il think l shall
simply keep it to enjoy the sensation of
richness.
Il suppose it has not entered into your
calculations that the possession might
involve anything like l'embarras de
richesses?''
mo; had hardly thought of that ="
she absently admitted, adding after a
moment, "You have not lived in Wy
oming all your life, 1 SUPPOSE
II am not quite one of the aborig
ines" he replied after a perceptible
instant Of hesitation. Have you no.
ticed that little birdf" he irrelevantly
added, as though with no particular
thought of changing the subject, indi-
eating a tiny creature that was circling
round and round the team as they Went,
keeping ever with them. They are curl
Gus little fellows, those buffalo birds, as
they are called. They have habit Of
following the stock about the range,
seeming to form attachments for partic- |
ular horses and cattle, becoming regular |!
satellites. 1t is amusing to watch their i
queer little ways. When a couple of !
them happen to alight near each other, |
they will bob their heads back and forth |
like "a mockery of little old men saying, |
How de do?' Then of a sudden, per- |
haps, they will seem to trump up some !
imaginary offense, humping up their |
shoulders and wriggling their tails, |
swearing at one another i'll pantomime, |
as it were, sharpening their bills on the |
ground, as though preparing for most |
battle. But it is all bluff,
for after trying to stare one another out
of countenance for moment or two it
always appears that one is afraid and
the other dares not, and the affair
ends by both flying away in a sort of
shamefaced furry, never looking back. "
You have been very observing, - she
almost with irritation. Why
was this man, i'll whom nature and ed
ucation appeared to have worked to-
gether in the making of gentleman,
cut off from the world to which it
seemed he might legitimately belong,
merely a breaker of horses OH these Wy
oming plains? Why, when she had so
pointedly given him an opportunity,
would he not explain himself?
'.Some things have been rather forced
upon my observation, - he said simply.
81 was line rider once for awhile. Then
the stock, the coyotes and prairie dogs,
and birds were about all
the society 1 had. Naturally came to
KNOW tneIn pretty We'll
Line rider?''
You don't understand smiling at
her puzzled air as he spoke. But you
must know that the Wyoming Stock
Growers association has had fence
built along the eastern line of the state
to keep the cattle from drifting over in
TO Nebraska in the heavy storms, which
used to involve SO much trouble and ex-
oense in getting them back, to say moth
ing of inevitable losses. And they en-