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

up in BIT Of old canvas. It contained
q rawhide lariat. Returning Spider
deftly coilel it in his hand and opened
the loop. Then he cast it and secured
my Water can in a manner that would
have been highly satisfactory if the wa
ter can had been a steer or even if it
mad not upset and spilled the water
over me-
didn' think erbont the can comm
over on yer that way" said Spider
contritely, as with the hollow of his
hand he tried to scoop the water out of
my canvas cot eyer see ther WASH
nothin else stickin up that could rope,
only yer game foot, an thought maybe
You wouldn' t like that. tn pull away
this yer fly an let the sun in, Then
twon be no time fore ALPS dry"
After pulling aside the canvas that
shaded me Spider sat down once more
to his sewing, while steamed in the
scorching sun.
"Well, 1 en- throw er rope all right. >
he went on, looking at me from time
to time with professional eye appar-
emily, to see how was cooking. II en-
ride anything that goes on four legs. an
en- pack er mule as we'll as any man
er my weight in this yer ter tory. But
l got ter get an outfit lain ben savin
long, an my wages ain none too big,
SO ain got much put by, an there's
lot er things ter git. Saddle an bride
an gun an spurs an holster an belt an
horse. l got the rope, like yer saw. an
LIN maxim these yer chaps. en- make
er holster an belt that'd do fer awhile.
an the bride all but the bit The gun
an spurs 1 can't make, ner the horse. -
For awhile Spider stitched on in 81
lence; then he looked up and said
''Meybe it's like yer say, an nobody
wouldn' take on a kid like me, outfit
or no. But if I ain got the tools l
sure won get the job. So there ain
no way outer gettin the outfit that en-
see: He paused for reply, but his
logic was 80 unanswerable that I had
none to make, and Spider went on.
''Cappy Lee, he give me these here
o. chaps what I'm cuttin down. He
give ME my rope too. Him an Pug
Hollis was scrappin ter see which be-
longed to it, an Cappy. he settled it like
that. Pug was dead sore, but it didn'
do him no good, so now he tries ter take
it outer my hide every show he gets.
Las night he says how I cut the lacin
er his stirrup feathers, an when say
dldn' he says I lie an he ticks me-
ain got no use fer Pug Hollis.
To tell the truth, I didn't have mo
use for Pug Hollis either He was
sullen, unpleasant sort Of person, and he
abused his horses would have dis
charged him long before but for the
fact that we were short handed Help
was scarce and getting scarcer; so,
though disliked this man. I had to let
him stay.
When Spiders chaps were nearly fin
ished, he devoted every moment of his
leisure time to them. The whole camp
was made aware of this fact by the un-
wonted quiet of the evenings
Ordinarily, as soon as supper was
over and Spider had finished tie dishes,
one might hear the rush of galloping
horse, then shouts and oaths coming
from the owner of that horse, followed
by what was known as ''language''-
that is, very bad language indeed
from all hands, especially the cook
This language would always take the
form Of threats and of comment on
Spiders manners, morals on personal
appearance, and would always be of a
most uncomplimentary nature By these
signs I would know that Spider was
practicing
Il got ter keep my ridin up. Spider
exclaimed when l demonstrated with
him. Il wouldn' stan no sort er show
fer job-a kid like me-if I couldn
ride. Then I ain got no horses er my
own
Still, as l said, for two or three even
ings there was quiet, and then the
chaps were finished. Spider wore them
continually, to climber 'em up some, )"
he said. Truly they needed limbering,
for the leather, when made into tubes
OF so small diameter. was so stiff that
Spiders knees could not bend it in the
smallest degree, and he was obliged to
walk in much the same manner that
one steps off distances on map with
a pair Of compasses The report circu-
lated through the camp to the effect
that Spider slept in those chaps of his
was without foundation, but it is GER
tain that they We're never far from
him.
The Ballet c. With a grin. confided
to me that VIII. ,,ider rolled himself
up in his blanket for the night he
stood the chaps up against a post at his
feet, so that he could see them as he
first opened his eyes. OF course the
men chaffed him about them continu-
ally. They compared the chaps to a
couple of small stovepipes, but said that
of the two the stovepipes were the
more flexible. Spider stood their chaff-
ing good naturally enough in the main,
but at first he resented this allusion to
the stiffness Of his chaps, so for long
time the men called him Stovepipes in
stead of Spider.