Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-03

of office.
These trains covered IS to 80 miles
a day, Provender in the shape of oats
or corn was carried and this was sup
plemented by grazing at night. Such
freight trains worked all the year
round.
In addition to these, a sight Of the
old trail In retrospect reveals horSemen
returning from cattle drives, singly and
in groups; rowing bands Of Indians,
scouts, United States Cavalrymen, lone
travellers on honest business. horse
thieves rushing to cover, and pursuing
officers.
EARLY one morning I stood in the
doorway looking on to the trail
when a very sheepish-looking cowboy
drove up and came to stop. He was
in charge of a two-seated farm wagon.
others occupied the second seat placed
midway of the length of the wagon
bed. The rest of the wagon was filled
with bedding and hunting gear
The three strangers were ruddy-
checked, clean-looking young English
men. Strange to say they spoke the
language without an II say" "Fawncy."
Bah jove!" or well. rawther," as we
had understood they did. t
The one sitting with the. driver
seemed spokesman, and asked If they
and to watch the operations of a
cattle ranch. Ralph replied that they
were welcome to stay II they could stand
everyday fare. On the assurance that
they would be glad to live as the
natives did, the word was given and
the three men alighted Then it could
be seen why the cowboy driver was
looking so apologize.
Each man was dressed very much as
the golfer OF todAy-knicke golf
stockings low boots, wool shirts and
caps. The like Of this had never been
seen in the cattle country before, and
we were as astonished as the cowboy
said he had been. The latter did not
have clear conscience until he had
taken Ralph aside and excused himself
for being seen in such company He
ended by saying diSgustedly, "They
wears pants, won't ride a hoSs and
talks langwidge." With this indictment
he strobe back to his wagon and, a.
fusing all invitations to stay over mig .
drove away. He would have driven al
night or camped out rather than re-
main in such scandalous company.
Some of the boys might "ketch" him
there.
Ralph returned to his guests and as
sisted them to settle in the upper room
OF the larger cabin. During this process,
the leader of the three introduced him
self as an Englishl11an named Wilson
and the Others as friends of his. Later
the Others told Ralph that this man
was Lord Wilson Of the English peerage.
The two others were not titled, but had
been his classmates at Cambridge. After
graduation the three had set out on q
tour of the world at the expense OF the
peer. They had visited india, Malaysia,
Australia and Japan. Then they had
spent some time on our Pacific Coast
Now they wanted to see the cattle
country at the heart Of 1t.
We had only read of men of this
type. That our reading had led to err
roneous ideas of the English was soon
proved. Ralph was afraid they would
not like his fare of sow-belly, hot bis
cult and coffee served straight. For the
first meal, he stewed some dried apples
to give sauce to good digestion" They
ignored the sauce and centered all their
attention on the amount OF pork Ralph
could fry. They kept him at 1t until he
saw they could equal him in their ca
pacity. He never had to worry after
that except as to quantity.
X X X
THE four young men were soon on
terms of mutual regard and the
companionship was enlightening to both
sides. But the average cowboy could
not change his preconceptions.
In country where everybody rode,
even II he had only a tenth Of a mile
to go, these men insisted upon walking
They often walked and 10 miles be-
fore breakfast. then put in the re-
mainder of the day walking unheard-of
distances. The cowboys attributed their
refusal to ride to no other reason than
CoWardice.
When among strangers they were as
sparing of speech as the cowboys them
selves. Strangely enough, this reticence
was misunderstood. If they were not
sisSies. reasoned the cowmen, why didn't
they talk United States, not "langwtdge"
that couldn't be half understood
Then they had habits that were sim
ply scandalous. We were surprised one
morning to find our guests lined up in
front Of the pump, soaping themselves
all over and taking turns at being rinsed
off by buckets of water welded by the
others. Ralph later joined this water
line and the adoption of the English
mems daily tub" Whoever took a
bath except when the river was handy?
Silly.
In cowboy land one was thought to be
a fool to be taken in by any cock-an
bull story one might tell you. These
were often tried on newcomers. They
were tried on the Englishmen, who ac-
cepted any man as telling the truth For
this the cowboys set them down as plain
fools. Ralph frequently Strengthened