The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-11-08
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, NOVEMBER 8, 1901
Selett Storp.
THE PRIDE OF A PRAIRIE GIRL.
BY MARY X. MAULE.

The sun beat down fierce and hot upon
the Dakota prairies, and impaired the
temperature of a bakeoven to the endless
red road, where the shuffiing hoofs Of the
cattle raised smothering cloud of dust
Riding beside the ''bunch, on a wiry
little buckskin cow pony, galloped girl
of fifteen, in a short cloth skirt, high
leather shoes, and a loose flannel blouse.
Her short, wavy brown hair blew loose
and free beneath the shadow of broad
brimmed felt hat
She sang as she rode in and out along
the wavering, snorting line, cracking her
long whip and shouting, eli Hoy
Whoop-la r as she drove straying steer
or a wandering calf back into the ranks
Before the cattle, and upon the other
side, rode cowboy in his wide sombrero
and leather ''chaps,'' and behind the
bunch a woman rode slowly, her tall,
straight figure severely outlined by a black
dress, and her face shaded by broad
leafed Mexican straw hat.
1t was past noon, sultry and still, and
the cattle plodded quietly along the road
with dropping heads.
"Ride up little, Billy, called the
girl, in hi Oh, clear voice, "and let get
out of this dust! They'll 90 quietly
enough now, and mother is behind to
drive"
Touching her pony with the quirt, she
galloped on to the head of the column, and
fell in beside the cowboy, who, with one
leg over the horn of his saddle and his hat
on his knee, was pacing along before the
herd, singing Justify.
"Hot, ism it, Billy
"You bet it is! I'll be glad when We
cit to some shade; and, looking back at
the animals that plodded YEARLY behind
him, "them pore critters will, too, They
ain had no water sence yist day, and /
reckon them steers is plumb dry.
"I reckon they are, poor things. 1t
seems kind O cruel to drive EN- on day
like this, but this bunch had to be got
back to the ranch. 1t won't be long now
before we get to the river There 5 the
bluffs over yonder.
They both gazed ahead to where high
bluff doomed up before them, its red sides
broken with outcropping rocks, and varle
gated with green patches Of weeds and
clumps of stunted timber.
As they approached it, the level prairie
road wound close in along the edge OF the
bluff, while the land at the other side Of
the road gradually dwindled away until
there was only the width Of a narrow wa9-
on road between the high walls that rose
up above their heads and the steep bank
that fell sharply away into the river TWEEN
ty feet below.
The shade thrown by the high bank
was grateful after the ride along the bro'l-
ing road, and the cattle threw up their
heads and shifted noisiiy. while the COW
ponies fell in side by side, and the girl
lifted her hat from her damp hair with
blissful sigh
'sIsn' it cool and lovely here?' she
mummured, gazing up at the steep bluff
and out over the shining river. 81 wish
this trail went all the way home.
The cowboy, who had been looking
back over his shoulder uneasily, turned in
his saddle, and said, bluntly:
"Well, I don't. Not by jugful.
"Why not? Don't you think this is
pretty road p
Him, wal, it's pretty enough, | guess,
but it amt any good to drive bunch of
thirsty cattle over, I'll tell you that.
Both riders turned in their saddles and
looked back.
"Oh, they're all right, Billy said the
girl, easily. "See, they're coming along
as peaceably as can be-
Behind them the cattle ambled along
quietly, and through the still, sultry air
the voice of the woman came to them in
the soothing, grooming, long drawn "Yo-
hee, yo-hee, yo-o-ho-hee y which the
cattle love.
Billy jerked his thumb over his shout
der
eyer mother knows what the danger
is" he said, quietly. "Harken at her?
She's a-singing to em back there for to
keep EN- quiet an steady
The girl turned her head, and soft
brightness shone in her wide, frank gray
eyes, eyes, she knows mother does,
she said, softly. ''She knows most every
thing. Poor mother !
The cowboy glanced at the sun Drowned
face and wistful eyes, and hastily changed
the subject.
''You shore can ride some, Miss Jesse,
he said, irrelevantly. II seen you yist day
over to the roundup. How come leetle
gal like you to know so much about ridin'
an cattle an SIGH like p
i'Mother taught me- answered the
girl, simply. Observation-Disclosures died
there wasn't any man or boy about the
ranch to do things for us, and so mother
and I had to do all the work ourselves.
/ learned to ride then, so s to be mother s
boy
The cowboy looked at her dumbly, while
a gentle light dawned in his hard, keen
eyes, and slight flush crept up through
the brown of his lean cheeks.
"Well, mothers got frst-rate kind
of boy, all right he said, presently;
and then, as if fearing that he had already
said too much on tender subject, he burst
into loud roar of song, and caroled and
yodeled as if trying to turn the girl s
thoughts into more cheerful mood
Suddenly, in the midst of rollicking
cowboy ditty, the girl gave startled cry
and looked back. "Billy p she screamed.
"Billy Hushl Look Look! The cat
tle-the cattle are comingP'
With the song frozen on his lips, the
cowboy gave one swift backward glance,
lsapsd square in his saddle, and wheeled
his pony into the road beside the girl.
ssThey' We stampeded, by thunderl'' he
muttered between set teeth. 81 was
feared it might happenl The riyer-the