Redskin and Cow-Boy

at air you going to do next?" Bill Royce said, after the

; "I thought of going teaming, but I am

o I shou

Sante Fé, and then take anything that turns up. I have got three hundred dollars in cash; that will last me for a long time.

n again to anything, and you would be wanting some one with you as could put you up to the ropes. I have got pretty sick of working here, but I have spent my money as fast as I have got it, and cannot afford to get an outfit; so I said to myself, if Hugh likes to

t I wanted. I don't suppose I should ever have gone by myself, but wi

large stock of ammunition was laid in; fifty pounds of flour, a few pounds of tea and sugar, four blankets, and a few odds and ends, completed the outfit. Royce had already a revolver, and on the morning of th

t for game," Royce said. "Yo

r with the rifle, but I am a pr

; "anyone who can shoot as you do with a Colt,

have shot any number of deer, but they were useless to them, except for food. Herds of wild horses were sometimes seen, and occasionally, in quiet valleys, they came across half-wild cattle, which had strayed away from far-distant ranches. It was strange to Hugh to travel thus at will, to wander freely in whichever direction fancy led them; sometimes passing a week or two without seeing

e given him a very heavy fall, had not Bill reined in his horse on to its haunches as soon as the rope fell over his shoulders; for Prince, as Hugh called his horse, was thoroughly up in his work. The in

xclaimed. "Do you want

ent me over his head. I had not the least idea of pulling him i

cky it was so. Well, you will find plenty of other things to practise on as we go along. There are cattle enough running about here without owners, and if yo

e himself could do, but as yet he was unable to throw the rope round their legs with any certainty. As the spring approached

ughly up to all the work. At present I am what you call a tender-foot

is just about the hardest life there is. However, it won't be as hard for you as it is for most fellows. You can ride, though there ain't much merit in sitting on that horse of yours. Still I see you know your way among horses, and you have taught him to come to you when you whistle, and to do pretty nigh every

orse? I should not li

ny as a dozen-and he just ropes one out of the crowd and rides him as he has a fancy; so you could let

such a lot of horse

day to rest before they are fit for work again. Well, they will be starting on their round-up soon, so we may as well head in their direction so as to get taken on before they are full. I w

ean by the O t

em. There is the O triangle, and the double A, and the cross T's, and the diamond square, and the half-circles, and a dozen others. Well, we will head that

long been exhausted, and after the events of the day's hunting had been d

ance away was a fence which inclosed fifty or sixty acres of ground. Here were some of the more valuable of the animals: some handsome bulls and a couple of dozen good horses. Three or four waggons stood near the huts, and a number of horses were grazing

again! I thought you had got rubbed o

and here I am. Been hunting last. This is my mate, gentlemen. He is a good

id, holding out his hand to H

o work, if I can g

ow-boys, for they gathered round and made remarks on Prince's points. "He is too good for this sort of work altogether, leastways f

Two fellows came along with him and want

s the chap he was stolen from. If you do, there will be a good many questions asked, I can tell you. I gu

speak to him at once;" and they walked together to

s here a couple of years back; my mate is new at thi

; I am not quite full yet. Forty dollars a month for y

d. "He won't be long befor

t," the manager said; "but he does

h in the majority of cases was of silk-round their throats. Round the waist they wore a Mexican sash of bright colour. Their trousers were either of thick material, or of very soft tanned leather, and over these were chaperajos or Mexican overalls, with a coloured fringe down the outside seam. A few had jackets on, and these had also tufts of coloured fringe on the seams of the arms. They were most of them spare, active men, without an ounce of superfluous flesh. They were

boy!" he said, giving him a pat; and Prince walked leisurely aw

id to Hugh. "No liquor is allowed on the ranche. It c

t four months but tea," Hugh said,

ut one must do something when one goes down to a town." Just at

rs of potatoes, were ranged along at short intervals. Hugh was gifted with an excellent appetite, but he was astonished at the w

in answer to his remark about his not having seen milk for t

wart?" Hu

have been driving in the horses from the ranche for the last three days, and to-morrow we are going to begin breaking them. Of cou

that had never been ridden. "How

ther. You see some men ride better than others. Some men like quiet mounts; others don't mind what they sit on; and you see the best horses are very often the most full of tricks. You ride you

een ridden one season they a

just as soon take my chance with a fresh broken broncho as with one that has been ridden before. They are wilder, you know, but not so cunning. An old horse seems to spend most of his time in thinki

others in New Mexico, where they had been either loitering away their time in the towns or working on Mexican ranches. Hugh was struck with the quiet way in which they talked, the absence of argument, and the ai

ing that they were occupied. Choosing two empty ones, they placed the blankets and other articles they had taken from their saddles in them, put their belongings under their heads, rolled themselves in their blankets, and were soon sound asleep. The first thing next morning they handed over to the storekeeper the remainder of th

There were some forty or fifty of them, and of these about two-thirds were branded. In the first place the others were speedily roped both by the head and hind legs. Four cow-boys hung on to the ropes while another approached with a heated brand and applied it to t

No. 2 outfit take one of t

d brought their saddles inside the inclosure. Hugh picked out a horse that struck him as being a good one, and threw his lasso round its neck. One of

Hugh replied; "so I may as well b

esisted violently, but the pressure of the rope half-choked him, and he was forced to leave the g

up the reins Hugh sprang into the saddle, and the two men, as soon as they saw him seated, slipped off the ropes. For a moment the horse stood perfectly still. "Keep his head up," one of the men shouted; but before Hugh could draw in the reins the horse dropped its head to its knees. Then it s

pose," he said as soon

enough," one of those

y again in a min

eavy, and you are shaken up a bit. You'd better hitch him on to th

us brutes at home, and had thought that he knew something of horses, but this was a new experience for him. In the rearing, kicking, and plunging there was nothing novel, and as the horses were much smaller than the English hunters to which he had been accustomed he felt that if this had been all he should have no diffi

as they were generally called the broncho-buster, kept his figure perfectly upright, with a tremendous grip upon the saddle with his thighs, but depending, as Hugh could see, rather upon balance than upon his hold. The exertion was evidently great. The man's hat had been jerked off, the perspiration stood

! He is a brute, tha

," Jake said. "He is worth taking trouble wi

re galloping?" Hugh asked

going at hand-gallop they will do it. They wait until you are off your guard, and then up they go in the air and co

h I don't see how I can do it,"

EW HIM FAIRLY OVER

. It seemed to him that the next buck came before he had fairly descended, for it struck him with the force and suddenness of an electric shock. Again and again he was thrown

e to his feet. "You will do, you will, and make a good rider b

," Hugh said. "I have got to do it, and I

after waiting a minute or two to get

ucker. Sit easy and lissom. Keep your head, that is the principal thing. It ain't easy when you are being pitched up and down like a ball, but it all

its tremendous exertions. "Now, you brute," he muttered, "it is my turn;" and he dug his spurs into the horse. A spring more violent than any he had yet felt followed the application, and for a minute or two he was almost bewildered by the force and rapidity of the animal's springs; but he was now confiden

d, shaking him by the hand. "I don't believe there are ten men in the camp who would have sat

must help me off my saddle, for I feel as if my back was broken, and

g you can do is to walk about for the next hour; just keep yourself moving, then go and wrap yourself up in two or three blankets and lie down in your bunk for a bit, have a thorough good

sharp pain shot through the loins, and he felt as if his spine had been dislocated. Still, for an hour he walked about, and at the end of that time felt that his movements were mo

me give you a rub. Just take off that shir

ook off his shirt. "Now, you lean your hands on tha

knuckles down both sides of the spine and across the loins. "Now,

scene, for the spills were numerous, and the shouting and laughter incessant. The next day the work of breaking in the bronchos commenced. One after another they were roped and dragged out of the drove. The bridle was slipped on, and they were then blindfolded while the saddle was put on and fastened. Then Jake mounted. The cloth was drawn off the animal's head, and the st

ke to break them?" H

em four or five times, but three is generally en

ld be better to do it more gradually. You see they a

e for breaking them. He will be here for a fortnight, and in that time

endous work for

asts above two years. They get shaken all to pi

bring himself to use such violent measures as those which he saw adopted by his companions. The first lesson they taught them was to stand still the moment a rope fell over their necks. The animal was led up to the stump of a tree and then loosed

the reins in his hand, even if he was absent a considerable time. As the teams were to start in a few days on the round-up, Hugh felt that it would be useless for him to attempt to break the horses in by English methods, and he was therefore obliged to adopt those in use by his compani

y day. He had had several severe battles with the animal he had first mounted, which was by far the most vicious of them; but the struggle each day had become less severe,

a fall far more violent and heavy than that which came from being pitched from the saddle in the ordinary way. Another method was to fasten a strap passed under the horse's belly tightly below each knee; but this, although it held the riders in their saddles, had the serious disadvantage, that in the event of the horse rearing and falling back, or of its falling headlong from putting i

least timidity or nervousness; but if, on the other hand, he shows that he has pluck, determination to succeed, and good temper, he is treated with kindness and cordiality. Hugh's exhibition, therefore, of courage and horsemanship on the occasion of his first attempt at once won their liking and admiration, and all were ready to lend him a hand when necessary, and to giv