BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 LIVE BOYS IN THE BLACK HILLS ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE YOUNG TEXAS GOLD-HUNTERS. 
 
 BY ALBION MORECAMP. 
 l6mo. Cloth. Illustrated $1.00 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON.
 
 OVER tVE WENT. Page 92.
 
 LIVE BOYS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS, 
 & Rfarratt&e 
 
 RELATING TO TWO BOYS OF FOURTEEN, ONE A TEXAN, 
 
 THE OTHER A MEXICAN: SHOWING THEIR LIFE ON 
 
 THE GREAT TEXAS CATTLE TRAIL, AND THEIR 
 
 ADVENTURES IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY, 
 
 KANSAS, AND NORTHERN TEXAS; 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 MANY THRILLING ADVENTURES. 
 
 TAKEN DOWN FROM CHARLEY'S NARRATIVE 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR MORECAMP. 
 
 Illustrate. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 
 
 1878, 
 
 gy LEE & SHEPARD. 
 {/iU Rights Reserved^
 
 rz 
 
 C. J. PILGRIM, 
 
 IN APPRECIATION OF A FRIENDSHIP IN NEED THAT HAS 
 BEEN A FRIENDSHIP INDEED 
 
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME 
 Is AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, 
 ARTHUR MORECAMP.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I FIRST met Charley and Nasho at the Centen- 
 nial, and often took a much deeper interest in 
 listening to Charley's narrations of their adventures 
 than in any thing to be seen on the grounds. Being 
 a good short-hand reporter, I took down most of 
 these narrations just as they came from Charley's 
 lips, though I had then no expectation of presenting 
 them to my young readers. 
 
 As autumn drew on, my physician ordered me 
 South for my health, and I bade good-by to my little 
 friends with no little regret, thinking it most likely 
 we should meet no more. Fortune, however, turned 
 my steps to the mountains of Texas, where I again 
 met Charley and Nasho, just returned from their 
 daring trip across Kansas and the ' Northern Texas 
 frontier in mid-winter. 
 
 A broken leg, caught in a fall from my horse while 
 bear-hunting, laid me' up a prisoner at good Mi
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 Zanco's house for six weeks weeks that were enli- 
 vened by Charley's animated descriptions of their 
 adventures after leaving the Centennial. As before, 
 I took down full notes, and believing from the 
 interest they had aroused in me that they would be 
 acceptable to thousands of American boys, I have 
 hastily thrown them into shape for the press, and 
 here they are. 
 
 ARTHUR MORECAMP. 
 
 KERRVILLE, Kerr Co., Texas, ) 
 January 31, 1877. )
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGB 
 
 Charley Zanco and Nasho. Nasho's capture by Indians 
 and recapture by Charley's Uncle and a Neighbor. 
 
 A Queer Gallows II 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Charley and Nasho find a Nest of Indian Weapons. A 
 Deer-hunt. Something about Wild Animals and In- 
 dian Hunters 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Going to School. Work on the Farm, A Coon-hunt in 
 which Charley and Nasho tree Big Game. Killing a 
 
 Panther 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Talk about the Centennial. " Let's go, Nasho." Parson 
 
 Theglin sets Charley to thinking ... -43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Parson Theglin leads Charley to see how he can go to the 
 
 Centennial 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 A good Friend to Charley. Making Wild-Turkey Traps. 
 
 Turkeys, Bees, and Partridges . . . .64 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Gathering Pecans. A Bear and two Deer killed. Wolf- 
 shooting by Moonlight 72
 
 Vlll CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. PAGB 
 
 Wild Bill, the Mustang. A Fight between two Stallions. 
 
 Charley ropes Wild Bill from a Tree .... 79 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Charley mounts Wild Bill. A Long Ride, a Leap into the 
 Colorado River, and a Tight Place. Camping out 
 
 Alone . :' 88 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Trip to San Antonio. A new Friend .... 101 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Charley and Nasho get their Names in the Paper . . no 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Selling out their Load. Sharp Practice. The old Alamo 
 
 and the Great Battle there 118 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Auctioning the Wax Figures. Trouble about Counterfeit 
 
 Money. Home again 124 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Roping the Big Bear. New way of Catching a Horse- 
 thief. Charley and Nasho engaged for the Cattle- 
 drive 132 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Another Trip to San Antonio. Buying Horses on Credit. 
 
 Charley learns something about Business . .146 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Trip to Cara de Bueyes. Scenes at the Ranch. Capt 
 
 Dick 156 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Road-branding Cattle. The Chute. Something about the 
 
 Cattle Business 166 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A Trip to the Gulf Shore. Charley kills two Swans, and 
 is left Naked on the Prairie. Turning Tailor. Found 
 by Capt. Dick and Nasho 173
 
 CONTENTS. ix 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. PAGB 
 
 Cattle Driving. Rounding-up and Herding. Capt. Dick 
 in a Tight Place. Back to the Ranch . . .186 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Start. The Life of the Drover. Whistling Bill names 
 the Hands 195 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Crossing the Gaudalupe River. Drive to Austin. A Look 
 at the State House 205 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Life on the Trail. In the Nation. A Stormy Night and 
 a Big Stampede 210 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Rainy Weather. Twenty-four Hours without Food or 
 Sleep. A Trading Post. A Prairie-Dog Town. 
 Eating Dog. Alone in the Prairie .... 223 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Highover and Black Jack try to Steal the Herd. A Night 
 Stampede. Whistling Bill's Shot. Charley starts on 
 
 a Long Ride 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 One Hundred Miles on a Stretch. A Long Sleep and 
 
 back to Camp 246 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Whistling Bill's Story. Capt. Dick tells about the Hang- 
 ing. Burying in the Prairie. In sight of Ellis . . 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Charley Catches some Pets. Lassoing a Buffalo Bull. 
 Off for the Centennial 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 At the Centennial. How they make Money. Charley's 
 
 Little Friend, and how he found Her .... 269
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. PAG , 
 
 Starting for Texas. Charley finds a Stranger in Need and 
 
 Helps Him. A Lonely Burial. On the Trail Again . 277 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Travelling and Camping. Captured by Indians. Nasho 
 finds an Old Friend, who Releases them. Charley 
 Picks Up a Dog 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Over the Snow. Charley is almost Frozen. Indian Doc- 
 toring. Nasho Kills an Indian with an Arrow. Rapid 
 Travelling. Home Again . . . . 297
 
 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHARLEY ZANCO AND NASHO, NASHO's CAPTURE 
 
 BY THE INDIANS, AND SUBSEQUENT RECAPTURE 
 BY CHARLEY'S UNCLE AND A NEIGHBOR. A QUEER 
 GALLOWS. 
 
 I LIVE away over in Texas, in Kerr Co., on a little 
 creek called Turtle, up in the mountain. The 
 country is nearly all mountains up there, and the 
 Guadaloupe river runs through them. I live with 
 Uncle. His name is Adolphus Zanco, and mine is 
 Charles Zanco. I am fourteen years old and so is 
 Nasho. Nasho ain't his right name. He is a Mexican, 
 and his name is Ygnacio de Garapitas, but we always 
 call him Nasho because it is shorter. Nasho was born 
 way out on the Rio Grande river, 'most to Mexico ; but 
 one day the Kickapoo Indians came along and killed 
 his father and mother, and took his poor little baby 
 sister by the heels and knocked her brains out against 
 the tree that stood in front of their Jacal. Then 
 they set fire to the house and rode off, and they took
 
 12 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 all the horses on the place. They put Nasho on his 
 pony and took him too; and shot their arrows into the 
 cows and oxen as they rode away. Nasho was only 
 six years old then. I forgot to say that Jacal is 
 Mexican for house. Most of their Jacals are made 
 of mud worked up into rough bricks that are dried in 
 the sun. They call them adobe, but we say 'dobe for 
 short. 
 
 The day the Indians took Nasho off they rode sixty 
 miles. They were in a hurry, because they had been 
 down on the river stealing horses, and were afraid the 
 soldiers and ranch-men would be after them. Nasho 
 said he was 'most tired to death, and so sleepy he could 
 hardly sit on his pony, but they wouldn't let him stop. 
 And whenever he would think about his poor pa and 
 ma all full of arrows and bloody, and his little sister 
 with her head all broke to pieces, he would cry, and that 
 would make them mad, and sometimes one of the 
 meanest and worst looking ones in the crowd would 
 dash at him, and make out like he was going to 
 stick his lance in him; but there was one of them that 
 was finer dressed than the others that was good to 
 him, and carried him in his arms part of the way so he 
 could rest and sleep some, and wouldn't let the mean 
 one hurt him. At night they went into a deep 
 thicket at the head of a little creek, and made a little 
 fire out of dry sticks that wouldn't make much blaze, 
 and cooked some half-dried meat, and staid there all 
 night. They gave Nasho some of the meat. The 
 good one gave him a blanket to sleep on that they
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 1 3 
 
 had taken from his pa's house. Next morning they 
 were up before daylight, cooked some more meat and 
 were off again. They were a week reaching their camp 
 way high up on the Rio Grande river in the moun- 
 tains. Nasho said he was nearly dead, he was so 
 tired, when they got there. He lived with them seven 
 years. He didn't have much to do, only to herd the 
 ponies, and keep them from straying away. He 
 learned to shoot with a bow and arrows, and used to 
 kill birds and rabbits and squirrels, and sometimes he 
 would kill a deer. He said the weather was so 
 cold in winter that he and the other Indian children 
 used to suffer a great deal from it. They didn't have 
 any clothing but buckskins and blankets, and some of 
 their blankets were old and full of holes and let the 
 wind in. And sometimes, too, they had very little to 
 eat, and would pick the bones of the deer and buffaloes 
 that had been killed. Sometimes Nasho would go 
 out with a little Indian boy that he liked most of any 
 of the Indian children, and kill a bird or two, or may 
 be catch a rabit in their snares, or run him into a 
 hollow tree with their dogs, and twist him out, and 
 then they would eat up their game by themselves. 
 They would carry fire with them in a hollow reed 
 that would keep it a long time, and cook their game 
 out in the woods. They knew if they took it back 
 to the village they would have to divide with the 
 other children, and they wouldn't get enough to do 
 them any good. I think they were right ; for the 
 Indians had no business to carry Nasho away with
 
 14 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 them. Nasho got so he could shoot with a bow and 
 arrow about as well as a white man with a gun, and 
 killed a great many deer and two elk, and sometimes 
 a buffalo. Once when he was out with one of their 
 hunting parties a long way from their winter camp 
 they didn't stay in one place, but travelled about a great 
 deal, camping wherever they found grass, water and 
 game he was hunting by himself, and saw an Indian 
 from another tribe riding along on his pony. The 
 Indian had not seen him, so he dodged down into a 
 little hollow, jumped off his pony, crawled through the 
 long grass so as to get right close in the way the 
 Indian was coming, and as he rode by shot him off 
 his horse with an arrow and killed him. Then he ran 
 up and scalped him, put the scalp in his belt, caught 
 the Indian's pony and led him back to their camp. 
 The Indian that had been so kind to him, and taken 
 him into his tent, was very proud and happy to see 
 him come back with a scalp in his belt, and told him 
 some day he would be a big chief. That evening 
 when the other Indians had all come back from hunt- 
 ing they made a great feast, and took the scalp Nasho 
 had brought back, and put it on a pole in the centre 
 of the village, and they all danced around it for an 
 hour. They called Nasho ' the-boy-who-had-killed-a- 
 man.' After that he always went out with their war- 
 riors both to hunt and when they went on the war- 
 path. 
 
 When Nasho was about thirteen years old he came 
 down with a party of warriors to Texas to steal
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 15 
 
 horses. When they got down close to the settle- 
 ments they separated, and Nasho and two others were 
 to strike in near the head of the Guadaloupe river, 
 and slip down through the country in the night, find- 
 ing out where the horses were, and then on their way 
 back drive off all they could get. They had no guns, 
 and even left their bows and arrows and lances hid in 
 a thicket where they could get them on their way 
 back. They had only butcher-knives, and several 
 lariats apiece with which to catch the horses they 
 wanted to steal. They had killed a cow and cut her 
 meat into long, thin strips, and hung it over their 
 horses so that it would dry in the sun as they rode 
 along. That was all they had to eat. I reckon they 
 didn't know how close they were to the settlements, or 
 else thought they would keep a sharp watch, but they 
 wasn't sharp enough. Uncle and Mr. Braston was out 
 hunting deer, and saw the three coming half a mile off, 
 just as they got to the head of a ravine. They hid their 
 horses in some thick bushes, and slipped down into- 
 the ravine the way the Indians was coming. Nasho 
 was in front, and the other two behind him, one right 
 after the other in Indian file. When they saw Nasho 
 was only a boy they agreed not to shoot him, but 
 Uncle was to take the second one, and Mr. Braston 
 the one behind him on the pack horse, and when 
 Uncle gave a low whistle both were to shoot. Then 
 they were to set Bose and Trailer Uncle's big dogs 
 on Nasho's horse, and Uncle was to follow them on 
 foot while Mr. Braston ran to his horse and followed
 
 1 6 LIVE BO VS. 
 
 them on horseback. They all came riding along 
 as quiet as cats but watching round on every side. 
 Uncle waited till the two Indians were right opposite 
 them, and then whistled crack ! went the guns so 
 close together you could not hear but one sound off 
 came both Indians, and out jumped Uncle sicking on 
 Bose and Trailer, while Mr. Braston ran for old 
 George. At the crack of the gun Nasho looked back 
 to see what it was, but when the Indians fell he com- 
 menced kicking his pony, and putting his quirt to 
 him, but before he could get fairly started Bose and 
 Trailer had caught up with him, and Bose nabbed the 
 the pony by his long mane on one side, and Trailer on 
 the other, and pulled down on him so heavy he couldn't 
 run. Quick as a flash Nasho pulled out his butcher- 
 knife and stabbed poor Bose in the neck, and he hol- 
 lered and let loose, but before he could stab Trailer 
 Uncle was there and grabbed him around the waist, 
 and jerked him off the pony, and took the knife away 
 from him. Mr. Braston came up full jump and 
 caught the pony by his long trailing bridle-rope, and 
 tied him to a tree, and tied Nasho's hands behind 
 his back with the end of it. Then they went back 
 and caught the horses of the Indians which had only 
 run a little ways and then stopped to feed, and came 
 back with them to the Indians. They were both 
 dead. Uncle had shot his through the heart with a 
 rifle-ball, and Mr. Braston had filled his with buck- 
 shot. 
 
 They didn't have any clothes but an old blanket
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I/ 
 
 and pair of buckskin leggins apiece, and one of them 
 had his leggins sewed on him so tight that they 
 couldn't have been got off without cutting them off. 
 They looked like they had been put on wet, and 
 sewed, and had dried tight on him like saddlers put 
 on the rawhide coverings of their saddles. Each of 
 them had a butcher-knife in his belt, and a flint and 
 steel and some punk in a little buckskin bag at his 
 side. They had three lariats apiece coiled round 
 their waists. Uncle said he almost hated to shoot 
 his'n, he was so unsuspectin'-like, but he knew if he 
 didn't he would get away and steal horses, and may- 
 be so kill somebody, so he thought he had better stop 
 him while he could, and to keep from putting him in 
 any misery he just give him a dead shot. 
 
 After looking at the Indians a little bit they took 
 their horses and went to the place where they had 
 left Nasho tied, but when they got there he and the 
 pony was gone. They put Bose and Trailer on the 
 track and away they went as fast as they could run. 
 Pretty soon they got out of the bushes and saw 
 Nasho just a flying across a little prairie to a thicket 
 on the other side. Mr. Braston throwed up his gun 
 to shoot, but Uncle wouldn't let him, and they ran 
 him into the thicket, one of them starting around on 
 each side to keep him from coming out. The dogs 
 followed him on and presently Uncle saw him coming 
 towards him to make a break out. He slid off his 
 horse, and as^ Nasho came stealing out he took a 
 quick aim and shot his pony right through the top of 
 2
 
 I 8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 the neck, and he fell like he was dead. Uncle ran up 
 as quick as he could and found the pony had fell on 
 Nasho, and lay across his leg so he couldn't get up. 
 Directly the pony got up, for he wasn't hurt much, 
 but only stunned, and Nasho tried to raise up but fell 
 back again. Uncle stooped down over him and found 
 the pony had fell across a rock which had broke 
 Nasho's leg. Mr. Braston came up and they cut 
 some smooth, straight sticks and tied his leg up the 
 best they could. Then they got two poles about 
 twelve feet long, and fastened one on each side of 
 their horses, putting one in front of the other, and 
 fastening the poles to the girts with strong strings. 
 Then they stretched a blanket over the poles with 
 long thorns, and put Nasho in the blanket. It sagged 
 down in the middle so he couldn't fall off. Then 
 they got on the Indians' horses, and Uncle went 
 ahead leading the two horses that was carrying 
 Nasho's litter, and Mr. Braston came behind with 
 Nasho's pony, and in this way they went to Uncle's 
 house. The Indians' saddles were mighty poor ones j 
 and didn't have any stirrups, and Uncle said it was 
 as hard riding as he had ever done. 
 
 When they got there Mr. Braston helped Uncle in 
 the house with Nasho, and put him on a pallet on 
 the floor, and then went on home, and said he would 
 send the doctor up as soon as he could. The doctor 
 came up that evening and set his leg, and bandaged 
 it up close and tight, and said it would be a month 
 before he could get out of bed. He said he didn't
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 1 9 
 
 believe he was any Indian, but a Mexican that had 
 been with the Indians a long time until he had come 
 to look like an Indian. 
 
 Poor little Nasho looked strange and wild, but he 
 had never cried a bit, nor made any noise, but only 
 asked for water by pointing to the water-bucket, and 
 then to his mouth. 
 
 The next morning some of the neighbors came up 
 to look at Nasho, and to go out to the dead Indians. 
 
 Dr. Coleman said it would be a good idea to take 
 the dead Indians to the Comanche Trail, where it 
 curves into the Big Gulch, and hang them up so the 
 other Indians could see them when they came down 
 stealing, and maybe they would be afraid and go 
 back. Uncle didn't like it. He said it was bad 
 enough to have to kill men, but the dead ought to be 
 sacred, and be let alone ; but all the rest said it was a 
 good idea and they would do it. They wasn't men 
 like other people, but only Injins, and just the things 
 to make a thieves' gallows of. 
 
 Right at the head of Big Gulch, where the Injin 
 Trail comes into it, are two big trees on top of the 
 hill, one on each side of the Trail. They cut a long 
 pole and put it across, one end in a fork of each tree. 
 Then they took the Indians and platted rawhide 
 strings all around them from their feet to their heads 
 so they couldn't fall out when the flesh came off of 
 them, and hung them up to the pole right over the 
 middle of the Trail and left them there. They was 
 there still the last time I was up there, for the flesh
 
 2O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 hadn't dropped off of them, but they had dried up like 
 dead cattle I have seen on the prairies, where the 
 skin had drawn in to the bones and kept them to- 
 gether. It wasn't a pleasant sight to see them of 
 a windy day swinging backwards and forwards in the 
 wind. I knew they were dead, but I couldn't help but 
 feel like they must get tired standing up all the time, 
 day and night. If they had just staid at home and 
 let us alone they wouldn't have been killed.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO FIND A NEST OF INDIAN WEA- 
 PONS. A DEER-HUNT. SOMETHING ABOUT WILD 
 
 ANIMALS AND INDIAN HUNTERS. 
 
 AS soon as Nasho got over his fever he began 
 to talk a little in a curious sort of lingo, that 
 Uncle could hardly understand. He could talk Mexi- 
 can very well, and by a little at a time Nasho quit 
 talking Indian and talked almost altogether in Mexi- 
 can. Uncle found out that he was a little Mexican 
 boy that had been caught by the Indians, as I told 
 you at first. He said he didn't like the Indians and 
 was glad to get away from them, and if Uncle would let 
 him, he would live with him, and help herd sheep and 
 hunt up the cattle. So Uncle told him he might live 
 with him, and if he was a good boy he would send 
 him to school in the winter with me, when there 
 wasn't much to do. 
 
 Nasho was a good boy and tried to do just as he 
 was told, and took good care of the sheep when he was 
 sent out to herd them. At first Uncle wouldn't let 
 me go with him, but when he saw Nasho didn't try 
 to run away, or do any thing bad, he would send me
 
 22 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 with him sometimes, and sometimes we would go out 
 after cattle together. He used to tell me a good deal 
 about how he lived when he was among the Indians. If 
 he would only wr;te down what he has seen away out 
 on the prairies, and all he knows about how the In- 
 dians live, it would be a great deal more interesting 
 than what I am telling you. 
 
 There was one place we used to stop at often when 
 we were hunting cattle, where there was soft clay, and 
 while our ponies were grazing at dinner Nasho would 
 get the clay, and soften it with water from the little 
 branch, and make it into all sorts of things ; rabbits and 
 bears, and deer, and horses, and Indians bringing in 
 deer, and little prairie dogs, and they would look al- 
 most like they were really 'live, sure-enough animals, 
 only they were all the color of the clay. One day he 
 made a buffalo, and took some black wool he had 
 brought with him from the old black sheep, and stuck 
 it over the buffalo, and pulled some out into threads 
 and made him a little tail, and cut little horns out 
 of pieces of burnt wood, and stuck beads in his head 
 for eyes, and he looked just as much like a little buf- 
 falo as could be. 
 
 The young lady who was teaching school saw it at 
 our house one day, and when she found Nasho had 
 made it she said, he must come down to her boarding- 
 house on Saturdays and she would show him how to 
 make such things in wax, which was better to keep 
 than the clay, and she would teach him to color them 
 too. Uncle said he might go, and Nasho was so proud
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 23 
 
 he used to work hard at nights and spare times, mak- 
 ing quirts out of rawhide, and bridle-reins out of black 
 and white horse-hair twisted up together so that they 
 looked real pretty, that he might make some money 
 to give his teacher to buy wax and paints for him. 
 He learned so fast that she was very proud of him, 
 and loved to teach him. One day not long after he 
 had got well so that he could go about as well as any- 
 body, Nasho asked Uncle to let him and me go to 
 the place where the Indians had left their bows and 
 arrows, and get them. Uncle wouldn't let us go then, 
 but about a month afterward he said we might. 
 The place where they were was about thirty-five miles 
 from Uncle's, so that it would take us all day to get 
 there, and we would have to camp out one night, but 
 Nasho said he knew the way perfectly well, and it 
 was in the dark of the moon when the Indians don't 
 come down into the settlements, and besides there 
 was a party of Rangers scouting in the country above 
 us, so Uncle didn't think we would be in any danger. 
 He believes in boys learning to do for themselves. 
 I thought when we started it would be a very easy 
 matter to go to the thicket where they had been left 
 and pick them up ; but after riding all day over so 
 many hills and through so many thickets and hol- 
 lows that were so much alike, I began to wonder how 
 Nasho would be able to find his way without any 
 trail to go by, and even if he went right and got with- 
 in a mile of it, how he could tell the exact bush in 
 which they were hidden.
 
 24 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 I remember once when I was cow-hunting I found 
 a little fawn in a bush where its mother had hidden it. 
 I didn't have time then to stop and get it, but I thought 
 I would as I went back home, so I marked the place 
 so closely by the trees and bushes and rocks around 
 it that I thought I could come right back to it without 
 any trouble. About half an hour afterward I met the 
 rest of the boys, and they sent me back to the pen to 
 take a horse they had found and caught. I was glad 
 to go, because I could get my fawn and take him home ; 
 but when I got to the place I looked everywhere but 
 I never could find the bush where I had left it. So I 
 thought after so long a time, and when he had never 
 been there but once, the chance for Nasho's finding 
 the bush was not a very good one. 
 
 But he did. We came to a little open space with 
 thick bushes all round it, and pointing to one that 
 looked to me just like all the rest, he said the bows 
 and arrows were in there, and sure enough they were. 
 I asked him how he knew that was the place. He 
 showed me three young trees taller than the bushes 
 around them, and about the same distance one on 
 each side and the other on the farthest side ahead of 
 us. In the middle of the open space was a large 
 rock and an old log that had been burned almost to 
 charcoal by the prairie fires. He said he could have 
 found the bush in a dark night, because it was in a 
 line with the black log and the north star, and all he 
 would have to do was to go straight forward. I 
 asked him how he would find the black log in the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2$ 
 
 night. He said it would show better than one that 
 wasn't burnt, and besides the white rock would show, 
 and he could find it from that. He said that the In- 
 dians understood such things so well that when the 
 one who was ahead stopped there and put his bow 
 and arrows in the bush, they did so too without ask- 
 ing him any questions. They just looked round and 
 .">aw the rock and log and the trees, and knew that 
 '/vas the reason he had picked that place because it 
 ' 'ould be easy to find again. 
 
 I asked him how he could travel so straight. He 
 said he could tell by the way the sun fell on his shoul- 
 der. If he went to far too the right it would fall over 
 his right shoulder on his breast, and if he went too 
 far to the left it would fall over his left shoulder, but 
 he would know the way anyhow if the sun wasn't 
 shining. It is strange how animals can travel so 
 straight ; I know once Uncle sold an old steer to a 
 drover and he drove him off, and about six months 
 afterward he came back. The next spring the drover 
 came back to buy more cattle and knew the steer 
 when he saw him, and said he got away from them 
 in Indian Territory, more than three hundred miles 
 above there. I know if you take a horse away from 
 where he was raised he will often get away and go 
 right back to his old home as straight as a bee. 
 
 Well, the bows and arrows and shields were all 
 there. The bows were made of bois d'arc wood, and 
 the strings of silk. Nasho said the Indians used to 
 use the sinews of deer, but they were not good in wet
 
 26 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 weather, because they would get soft and stretch. 
 Now they buy their strings from the Mexicans. The 
 bows were about four feet and half long, with a notch 
 at each end to fasten the string to. One of them 
 was wrapped from the middle half way to each end 
 with sinews. Nasho' said that made it a great deal 
 stronger and stiffer, and it would shoot farther and 
 harder. 
 
 The arrows were made of young dog-wood shoots 
 scraped smooth and even, and feathered near the 
 notch with three feathers so they would go straight. 
 Most of the feathers were buzzards'. Nasho said 
 without the feathers they wouldn't shoot straight or 
 far at all. They had flat, sharp spikes stuck in the end 
 and wrapped with small sinews so they wouldn't come 
 out when they were shot into any thing. There were 
 about forty arrows to each bow, in a long case made 
 of raw-hide, with the hair on, and with straps to go 
 over the shoulder and carry them by. Nasho's bow 
 wasn't as long or as hard to bend as the others, be- 
 cause he was only a boy. We couldn't either of us 
 bend the bow with the sinews wrapped round it. He 
 seemed very glad to get his bow and arrows again, 
 and said he would make me one like it. 
 
 The lances were straight little poles about three 
 quarters of an inch through and eight feet long, with 
 long sharp spikes in the end a foot long, and half an 
 inch wide and tapering to a point. Just below the 
 spikes they had feathers and leather fringes fastened 
 to them.
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IX TEXAS. 2/ 
 
 The shields were made of two hickory sticks about 
 half an inch through, crossing each other in the mid- 
 dle, about a foot and half long and covered tight with 
 two thicknesses of bull hide stretched over the sticks 
 and fastened by strings. On the inside they had t\vo 
 loops to "run the arm through to hold them by. All 
 round the edges they had leather fringes and feathers 
 and twisted strings of hair. Then there were little 
 bags of buckskin with paints, and tobacco, and pipes, 
 and other little things. They had strings to go round 
 the waist. Nasho said they were medicine bags. 
 
 It was nearly night, so we went back to a little 
 branch where there was some wood and good grass 
 for our horses and made our camp. Nasho told me 
 to make a fire and he would see if he couldn't shoot 
 something for our supper. I got dry leaves and broke 
 some little sticks over them and then some larger 
 ones, and touched a match to it, and we soon had a 
 bright little fire, and pretty soon Nasho came back 
 with two partridges and a rabbit. He said one good 
 thing about the bow and arrow was that they didn't 
 make any noise. We were down in a little open hol- 
 low all surrounded with bushes, so that no one would 
 be likely to find us ; but if he had shot a gun anyone 
 within a mile of us would have heard it, and known 
 somebody was there, and the sound would have told 
 them where to look for us. 
 
 Nasho said he had known an Indian to kill a buffalo 
 with a single arrow. 
 
 We cooked the birds and part of the rabbit, and
 
 28 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 some bacon, and with Auntie's nice bread made a fine 
 supper. I asked Nasho if we had not better put up 
 our horses before we went to sleep, but he said no, 
 he would wake up after awhile and bring them in, 
 and we spread down our blankets and went to sleep. 
 I didn't wake up till morning, but when he called me 
 I found our horses hobbled close to the camp. He had 
 woke up at the right time and brought them in as 
 he said he would. It is strange to me how he could 
 wake up just when he wanted to, but he said the In- 
 dians always could. 
 
 Nasho said if I would cook breakfast he would see 
 if he could kill something with his bow and arrow. 
 There was nothing to do but cook the rest of the rab- 
 bit, broil some bacon on a forked stick and make a 
 pot of coffee, and I had done that and was wishing 
 Nasho would comeback when I saw him coming with a 
 load of meat on his back which I knew by the hair was 
 venison. When he threw his load down by the camp 
 fire I found he had two venison hams and the saddle. 
 He said he walked quietly down the hollow keeping a 
 good look-out, as he knew deer would be moving 
 towards higher ground and the open prairie, and pretty 
 soon he saw a buck's horns through the bushes. 
 There wasn't any wind blowing, so he looked to see 
 where the bushes were thickest, and getting on that 
 side got down on his hands and knees and crept up 
 carefully so as not to make any noise. When the 
 deer would put down his head to feed he would crawl 
 along as fast as he could, and whenever he would
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2<) 
 
 raise it he would keep just as still as a stick until he 
 began to feed again. Sometimes the deer would walk 
 several steps before he would take another bite, and 
 sometimes he would bite the leaves of the bushes, and 
 he would be afraid to move because the deer could 
 hear or see him so much more easily when his head 
 was raised this way. He began to think he would 
 never get near enough for a shot, for the deer trav- 
 elled away from him nearly as fast as he could crawl 
 towards him ; but while the deer was feeding longer 
 than usual he got up in about twenty yards and raised 
 up on his knees, and when the deer raised his head 
 he sent an arrow into him just behind the shoulder. 
 The deer gave one high jump, and fell, and when he 
 ran up he found him lying perfectly still. He cut his 
 throat and then looked to see where he was shot, and 
 found the arrow had gone right through his heart. 
 As he could not carry all of the deer, he cut off the 
 hind quarters, skin and all, and then cut out the raddle, 
 which is the backbone with the ribs on both sides, 
 and then after getting his arrow out, threw his meat 
 on his back and came to camp. The hind quarters 
 of a deer, which are called the hams, are the best part 
 to make venison steaks of, and the back or ribs are 
 the best to stew or roast. 
 
 We put some of the ribs on a forked stick to cook for 
 breakfast. While they were cooking and we were eat- 
 ing the bread and bacon and drinking our black coffee, 
 Nasho told me that an Indian hardly ever failed to get 
 a deer when he saw him before the deer had caught
 
 30 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 sight of him. He said the reason was because he 
 was never in a hurry. When he started out to hunt 
 he noticed what kind of weather it was. If it was a 
 bright clear day and not hot, the deer were more apt 
 to be in the open prairies or on the edge of the woods. 
 If it was warm and in the spring of the year they 
 were very apt to be in low, marshy places to keep the 
 heel flies off of them. In summer they liked thick 
 shady woods where they could lie down in the sand, 
 and in winter they went to the hollows and ravines 
 where the bushes would keep the wind off of them. 
 If the wind was blowing ever so little, the Indian 
 hunter always kept on the lee side of where he ex- 
 pected to find his game.* When he found game he 
 was never in a hurry, but taking care to keep on the 
 right side he watched his chance and crept up when- 
 ever he could until he got close enough for a shot 
 If the deer lay down in a place where he could not 
 creep up to him, the hunter would lie down until he 
 got up again. If the deer saw him and ran off, he 
 would not follow directly behind him, but would make 
 a long circuit, keeping on the lee side of the course he 
 thought the deer would take and come upon it from 
 a different direction. He said he had known an In- 
 dian, when game was very scarce, to follow the track 
 of a bear or an elk two days before coming up with it. 
 
 * The lee side is the side to which the wind blows. If the 
 wind blows from the north, the hunter must keep on the south 
 side of his game ; if from the south, he must keep on the north
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 3! 
 
 He said white men were in too much of a hurry, es- 
 pecially in the settlements where they didn't have 
 much time to hunt, and if they didn't kill any thing 
 there would be plenty to eat at home when they 
 got back ; but the Indian knew if he didn't kill his 
 game neither he nor his squaw or pappooses would 
 have any thing to eat, so when he found garie or the 
 track of game, he had nothing else to think about but 
 how to kill it, whether it took him an hour or two 
 days, and in the end he hardly ever failed to kill it. I 
 believe Nasho is right about that. When a man 
 hasn't got but one thing to do, he is pretty sure to 
 think all the time about that, and he learns how to do 
 it better than 'most anybody else ; but if he tries to do 
 half a dozen things he is most apt not to do any of 
 them well. 
 
 I asked Nasho how the Indians took care of their 
 meat after they killed it, and he said sometimes they 
 cut it into long, thin strips and hung it on strings of 
 hide or lariats to dry in the sun. This took about 
 three days. Then they laid the strips close together 
 and tied hide strings around them so as to make just 
 as tight a bundle as they could, and these bundles 
 they could easily carry on their horses when they 
 moved. In the fall or early in the winter, when they 
 killed buffalo for their winter's meat, the squaws cut 
 up the meat and hung it up around the fires and in 
 the sun until it got perfectly hard and dry. The fat 
 they cut off and melted down in their kettles. Then 
 they took the hard, dry meat, and pounded it between
 
 32 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 rocks until it was in a kind of powder. They made 
 rawhide bags, turning the flesh side of the hide in, 
 and put in a lot of the pounded meat, packing it just 
 as tight as they could. Then they poured in some 
 melted fat, then more pounded meat and more fat, 
 until it was full. Sometimes, when they could get 
 berries, they would pick a great many and mix them 
 with the meat and fat to make it taste better. When 
 these bags were full they were sewed up with sinews 
 or tanned buckskin, and were heavy and solid, and 
 could be handled just like bags of corn or cotton. I 
 asked him if they did not put any salt in their meat, 
 ;md he said no. Indians do not like salt. 
 
 He said, too, nearly all the work of putting up their 
 meat was done by the squaws, and they had to dress 
 the hides to make clothing and robes to sleep on, and 
 for tents. He said it would take two weeks and 
 sometimes a month to dress a large buffalo hide very 
 soft and smooth, keeping the fur on. The best hides 
 to dress were those killed in November and Decem- 
 ber. The buffalo were generally fat then and their 
 hair was thick and fine ; but in the winter, when they 
 got poor, it was course and rough, and in spring, 
 after they shed off, it was thin and rough and not fit 
 for fine robes. The Indians once used skins entirely 
 for their clothing and to sleep on, but now they sell 
 their robes and buy clothing and blankets, and some- 
 times tent-cloth, though most of them would rather 
 have buffalo skins for tents. The Indians that live in 
 the woods make their wigwams of bark and brush, or
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS 33 
 
 they buy axes and hatchets from the whites and make 
 log house like the whites, but the Indians that live on 
 the prairies live in tents. They cut eight or ten small 
 poles about ten feet long and place them in a circle 
 with their tops coming together. Then they take 
 the tent covering, in which there are several skins 
 carefully sewed together, and which have been put 
 together so as to just cover the tent poles, and wrap 
 it around the poles, leaving a small open space at the 
 top for the smoke to get out, and at the bottom a flap 
 which can be thrown to one side to make a door, or 
 pulled over the hole to keep out the wind entirely. 
 The covering is fastened by wrapping a rawhide strap 
 carefully around it and the poles, and fastening its 
 end to a stick driven into the ground, or a tree or 
 bush. It seems like a very light house, but it keeps 
 out the cold and rain, and the wind cannot blow it 
 down. When they move, the covering is taken off, 
 the small ends of the poles are fastened on each side 
 of a pony, and the large ends left to drag on the 
 ground, and on them the squaws put their tent cover- 
 ing, their few dishes and pots, their clothing, blankets, 
 provisions, little Indians, puppies, and any thing else 
 they may have, and either ride the pony or walk and 
 lead him, while the Indian hunter rides ahead without 
 troubling himself about moving. These poles, weighed 
 down by the loads on them, drag heavily on the 
 ground and make a broad and plain trail, and when- 
 ever this is seen it is known at once that they are 
 not on the warpath, for the warriors never take their 
 3
 
 34 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 squaws and lodges with them on a war expedition. 
 Nasho used to tell me a great many things about the 
 Indians when we were off that way by ourselves, that 
 were very interesting to me, more so than any book 
 I have ever read about them. 
 
 When we had finished our breakfast, we packed the 
 hams and the saddle of venison carefully on our 
 horses, and the skin, and started for home. Uncle 
 was glad to see us back again, and Auntie gave us 
 some real nice venison steaks next morning for break- 
 fast.
 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GOING TO SCHOOL. WORK ON THE FARM. CLEARING 
 
 UP. A COON HUNT IN WHICH CHARLEY AND NASHO 
 
 TREE BIG GAME. KILLING A PANTHER. 
 
 K^HE first of November me and Nasho was going 
 to school. We didn't like to go to school much, 
 auso wo had rather be out of doors on horseback 
 iting cattle, or helping clear the field, piling the 
 cornstalks into long piles and setting fire to them and 
 watching the rats run out when it got too hot for 
 them, and eating the nubbins of corn that had been 
 left and were roasted by the fire. Sometimes a rab- 
 bit would dart out and the dogs would have a chase. 
 They nearly always ran it into a hollow stump or tree 
 where we could twist it out, and Auntie was very willing 
 to have a Molly Cottontail for dinner. Auntie cooks 
 them very nice, but I had rather broil one on the coals, 
 or on a forked stick in the woods than have it any 
 other way. 
 
 We used to go coon and possum hunting too at 
 nights. Nobody in the settlement had as good coon 
 dogs as Bose and Trailer. If ever Trailer got his black 
 nose down where a coon had been along that night, he
 
 36 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 was sure to find the tree where he went up, and when 
 Bose and Trailer treed we were pretty sure to catch 
 the varmint. Nasho and me were both good climbers, 
 though he could beat me a little. Sometimes when 
 they would tree up a tall slim tree that didn't have 
 any branches for a long way up, Nasho would take a 
 strong rawhide strap and fasten around his waist and 
 the tree, but so as to give him plenty of room to move, 
 and then leaning back and throwing his weight against 
 the strap he would work his way up by jerks until he 
 reached the limbs. Then he would take off his strap 
 and climb by the limbs. I could not climb by the 
 strap, but when there were limbs I could go anywhere 
 Nasho could. Sometimes a coon would run up a great 
 big tree and we would have to let him go. Possums 
 are the hardest to get down. They get way out on a 
 little limb that won't bear your weight and twist their 
 tails around it, and you have to shake until you are out 
 of breath before you can shake him loose. We used to 
 carry a small, sharp hatchet with us, and when a possum 
 tried that dodge the one that went up the tree would 
 take the hatchet with him and cut the limb off, but 
 even then sometimes the possum would catch another 
 limb as he was coming down, and there would be more 
 cutting to do. Possums can't fight, but coons can. 
 One night a great big coon fell into the water and he 
 whipped all the other dogs off, but old Bose swum up 
 and jumping at him right quick, caught him by the 
 throat, and brought him out. Trailer is the best trail 
 dog, but Bose is the best fighter.
 
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 
 
 One night Nasho and me were lying on a pile of dry 
 leaves waiting for the dogs to find something, and 
 Nasho was telling me about digging out prairie dogs, 
 when all of a sudden we heard Trailer and Bose both 
 sing out loud and fast, and we knew something was 
 up. We jumped up and ran as hard as we could go 
 toward the sound. It was coming right toward us, and 
 directly Nasho jumped behind a big tree and called to 
 me low to come to. him. He said we would wait till 
 the dogs came up, that that wasn't any coon, for the 
 dogs never barked that way on a coon trail, and 
 Bose never barked at all, and now he was yelping 
 like he wanted to split his throat. We listened to 
 hear if any thing was coming, but there was no noise 
 though the weather was dry, and the dry leaves crackled 
 every time any thing stepped on them. Presently 
 we heard something jump on the other side of the very 
 tree we were standing against and scatch, scratch, 
 scratch, it went up the tree as fast as a squirrel. The 
 dogs came up in full cry, and stopping at the foot of 
 the tree began barking like they were crazy. Nasho 
 ran out from under the tree and I followed him, not 
 knowing what was the matter, but when we were out 
 of reach he said. " Panther : look out, he jump 
 heap." 
 
 We began walking around trying to catch sight of 
 the panther against the moonlight, and directly Nasho 
 pointed up to something dark lying close along a 
 limb. It looked more like a bunch of moss than any 
 thing else, but Nasho said :
 
 38 LIVE COYS. 
 
 " See him eyes shine," and getting round a little 
 farther I saw his eyes shining like green glass. I 
 asked Nasho what we must do, and he said " Me 
 stay here and watch him ; you go and get Mr. Zanco 
 with gun. Make haste, so he no jump out." 
 
 I asked him if he wasn't afraid to stay there by 
 himself, but he said, " No, hurry back heap quick." 
 
 It was a mile to the house and I didn't much like to 
 go by myself through the woods, without even a dog ; 
 but I thought if he could stay there and watch the 
 panther I could go to the house, and I started on a 
 run. I was used to being in the wood a great deal by 
 myself, but not at night, and I got scared a heap of 
 times before I got there. Once I ran almost on to a 
 cow before I saw her, and how I jumped and hollered 
 when she sprang up right before me. Another time 
 a horse jumped out of some bushes right close to me, 
 and I thought sure it was a panther. I saw a black, 
 thick, low something right ahead me and as I thought 
 in the path, and I felt sure it was a bear and that he 
 would be sure to catch me. My heart was in my 
 throat as I came closer to it, but it didn't move, and 
 when I found it was only a black stump, wasn't I 
 glad, I felt as light as a feather and wanted to sing, 
 but I didn't have breath enough, and I was afraid if 
 I made a noise some varmint would hear it and come 
 after me. I think 'most any boy would have been 
 scared. 
 
 I ran into Auntie's room so out of breath I could 
 hardly speak. " Oh, Uncle ! the dogs have treed a
 
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 39 
 
 great big panther, and Nasho is watching him : wont 
 you take the gun and come and shoot him quick 
 Uncle, please, before he gets away. He run up the 
 tree we was standing against and is way out on a top 
 limb. Make haste Uncle, please." 
 
 Uncle put up his book and took down his rifle, and 
 went into the kitchen and got his big butcher-knife 
 and we started. I thought he was very slow and 
 wanted to run, but he said we had just as well save 
 our breath, that the panther wasn't apt to jump 
 out with the dogs under the tree, and if he did they 
 would soon run him up another. 
 
 " But Uncle, he may jump out and catch Nasho, 
 before the dogs can get to him." 
 
 I wasn't really much afraid of his hurting Nasho, 
 but I wanted to hurry Uncle up. 
 
 " Never you fear about Nasho, Charley. He knows 
 how to take care of himself and besides, the panther 
 don't want to catch him. He is a great deal more 
 likely to run from him. Save your breath, my boy, 
 you may need it after we get there. Never hurry 
 when there is no need for it. You will have use for 
 all your breath before you get through the world. Be 
 quick when quickness is needed, but better be steady 
 than fast." 
 
 Uncle pretended to be very easy about it, but I 
 noticed he stepped up quicker than usual and we 
 wasn't long in getting there. Nasho was sitting 
 quietly on the end of a log watching up the tree, and 
 as I ran up ho put up his finger, as he always did
 
 4O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 when he wanted me to be still, and said in a low voice. 
 " No scare him, he there yet," I looked and sure 
 enough he hadn't moved, but lay there like a bunch 
 of moss. I pointed him out to Uncle as he came up 
 to us, but he seemed to think it wasn't a panther but 
 only a limb of the tree that had crossed over another 
 one. After looking carefully he said : 
 
 " I believe you boys have been fooled. I don't see 
 any thing but a limb of a tree." 
 
 Nasho moved a little to one side and pointing up 
 said : 
 
 " Tree no got eyes." 
 
 The moon shone bright through a hole among the 
 leaves and moss, and his eyes glistened almost like 
 fire. 
 
 "You are right, Nasho, my boy! trees don't have 
 eyes, and there are a pair up there that belong to a 
 cat, if ever a cat has green eyes." 
 
 He bent his head and raised his gun to look at the 
 lock, when Nasho jerked him by the coat and hol- 
 lered: 
 
 " Him coming, Mr. Zanco run." 
 
 The way we all got out from under that tree ! The 
 panther came down right where Uncle had been 
 standing, and catching his claw in his coat before he 
 could get out of the way, jerked him to the ground 
 lighting 'most on top of him. Bose and Trailer was 
 on the panther in a second, and all of them seemed to 
 be on top of Uncle. The panther jerked h.rnself loose 
 from the dogs, hit Trailer a slap with one oi his paws
 
 CHARLEV AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 4! 
 
 that cut a gash in his head as clean as if done with 
 a knife, and was off full jump through the wood. 
 Uncle scrambled up fast I tell you. Bose was right 
 after the panther and Trailer picked himself up and 
 away he went after Bose. We followed as fast as we 
 could go. I reckon Uncle forgot about not being in a 
 hurry, for me and Nasho could hardly keep up with 
 him. They didn't go more than a quarter of a mile 
 before the dogs treed again, and in two minutes we 
 were all at the tree. It was a good while before we 
 could find him, for he had gone up a big burr oak, 
 that hadn't shed all its leaves, and was full of moss, 
 but pretty soon Nasho, who was walking round quietly, 
 said : " See him eyes." 
 
 " Where ? " said Uncle. Nasho pointed to the 
 spot, and in a minute I saw Uncle raise his gun, 
 crack ! went the rifle, and down came the panther, the 
 dogs were on him in a second, but he made no motion, 
 and Uncle ran up and drove them off. He was stone 
 dead, shot right through both eyes. We dragged him 
 out into a clear place in the moonlight and went to 
 work skinning him, uncle with the butcher-knife, and 
 me and Nasho with our pocket-knives. It didn't take us 
 all long to strip him. I asked Uncle to let me and Nasho 
 carry the skin. He said we might till we got tired, 
 and cut a little pole, and fastened the skin on it so it 
 wouldn't come off, and we started home, me and Nasho 
 with the pole on our shoulders. It was a long time 
 before I could go to sleep that night, thinking about 
 my run through the woods, and how near the panther
 
 42 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 came to jumping on Uncle. Auntie has that panther 
 skin now for a foot-rug, and it makes a pretty one too. 
 Uncle rubbed Trailer's head with some grease, and in 
 two or three days he was well, and ready as ever for 
 another panther hunt. I don't believe any of us will 
 ever forget that one.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TALK ABOUT THE CENTENNIAL. " LET'S GO, NASHO." 
 
 PARSON THEGLIN SETS CHARLEY TO THINKING. 
 
 I INTENDED to tell last time about how we came 
 to go, but got to talking about hunting and ran off 
 on that panther hunt. That's always the way with 
 me. At school, when I sit down to study, my mind 
 runs off first on one thing and then anothe-, and I 
 forget all about my lesson. It's like when a lot of 
 dogs are on a hunt, the young ones dodge helter- 
 skelter everywhere, and run over the trail if there is 
 one, while the old ones come along quietly and pick it 
 up and stick to it till they tree. But I am going to 
 tell you what set me to thinking about going this time. 
 We was going to school, me and Nasho, and of 
 course was at school all day, for we took our dinners, 
 but at night there wasn't much to do, and I used to 
 like to hear Uncle talk, especially if any visitor or 
 neighbor came in. One night Parson Theglin staid 
 with Uncle he always did whenever he preached in 
 the settlement, and slept in me and Nasho's room, 
 and we had to make a pallet in the shed ; but we 
 didn't care for that, because Auntie always gave us
 
 44 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 plenty of bedclothes. That night he got to talking 
 to Uncle about the Centennial. I believe I can tell 
 now pretty near the very words they used, for I used to 
 listen to them very close, and I believe boys that don't 
 read a great deal recollect things of that kind better 
 than those that do. Right after supper they took 
 their seats close to the fire with their pipes, for Uncle 
 liked to smoke as well as the preacher. Auntie was 
 busy clearing up the table, but they left a place for 
 her in one corner near the little table that held her 
 work basket "nd sewing, ana Nasho and me was in 
 the other corner. Parson Theglin began : 
 
 " Well, brother Zanco, I see by my last Presbyterian 
 the Centennial seems to be getting along right 
 sharply. Some of the buildings are nearly done, and 
 they have had so many applications for room that they 
 will have to put up more buildings, annexes they call 
 them sort of wings, I reckon, to the main houses. 
 And it seems people are coming from the four quar- 
 ters of the globe to show what they make and sell 
 in their countries. Russia at last has got over her 
 aristocracy and is going to send, and the Chinese, and 
 Turks, and Arabs, and Japanese, and people from 
 Australia indeed you can hardly name a nation that 
 is even half civilized but what is going be represented 
 there." 
 
 " Yes, brother Theglin, there will indeed be a great 
 gathering as you say from all quarters of the world, 
 and a big show of this world's goods they will make 
 when they get together. I suppose if a man had the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 45 
 
 money he could buy a pretty fair little assortment of 
 what's made best in every country ; for I reckon every 
 one will send what they make best. I was at the Fair 
 in Saint Antone last year, and there was some fine 
 things there and a pretty lot of garden truck as I ever 
 saw for the fall of the year you know by their irriga- 
 ting down there they can raise things any time but I 
 never saw one single farmer that had an average show. 
 One had some corn that it wouldn't have taken more 
 than sixty ears to make a bushel, but I make no doubt 
 his crib was full of corn that would take a hundred 
 to the bushel. It didn't seem quite fair to me. What 
 do you think of it ? " 
 
 " It seems to me to be fair enough because each 
 man comes there to show his best. He says, here is 
 what I have done, and I can do it again. It won't pay 
 me to take all this trouble every time, because most 
 people don't want such fine work, or rather they don't 
 want to pay for it ; .but if any of you that see this 
 want such work, you see that I can do it, and I am 
 ready to make just as much as you want. And it 
 stirs people up so to see what other people have done. 
 You sec, brother Zanco, most people have got just 
 conceit enough to think that they can do 'most any 
 thing anybody else has done. The wiser ones know 
 they can't anymore than a haw-tree can grow to be as 
 big as a pecan ; but they see that they can do better 
 than they have done, and they try and keep trying 
 and keep improving until they do better than they 
 first thought they could. I never go to Pay nod that
 
 46 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 hearing our best preachers, men that have got more 
 brains than I have, and more of other men's brains in 
 the way of books to put with theirs, and don't have to 
 spend three fourths of the time in the saddle riding 
 over the country, and then when they get home, have 
 the cattle, and the oxen, and the pigs to look after, and 
 help put up the winter's bacon and maybe take a turn 
 at clearing up the field, and mending the fence, taking 
 up all the time in the day and getting so tired that they 
 ain't fit to study at night I never hear those men that 
 don't have these things to take their thoughts and 
 minds off of the glorious word, without seeing how much 
 better preaching can be made. Putting a new idea 
 into a man's head is like putting yeast into dough ; 
 it stirs up every thing in reach of it, and don't wait for 
 things to come in reach either ; it goes to them. Now 
 it seems to me if I could go there and see all the fine 
 things that every nation has, I should get my head 
 full of ideas that would last me a long time, and stir 
 up and turn around my old musty, fusty ones until 
 they would be nearly as good as new, like an axe with 
 a fresh edge put on it. Of course a man hears a great 
 deal that don'l do him any good ; but he can throw that 
 away and take only what does, and as I believe that 
 religion has to do with every thing in the world, and 
 every man, woman and child in it, I hold that I would 
 be a very poor observer if I didn't find a great many 
 things that would help to make my sermons better. 
 In the first place, the fact that all these different peo- 
 ple of different nations come here with their property,
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 47 
 
 shows that the religion of Christ, which teaches peace 
 on earth and good will to all, is gaining ground ; for 
 it hasn't been many hundred years since, if the Chinese 
 had lauded on the coast of California with their fine 
 silks and their curious works of every kind, they would 
 have been seized, and every thing they had taken 
 away from them, and they lucky not to be made slaves 
 of. Of course nothing of this kind has been done in 
 the United States since the Puritans came over ; but 
 it was done by the Indians, and worse than that, it 
 was done by Frenchmen and Spaniards in Florida, 
 and Louisiana and Texas, and Canada and wherever 
 one happened to get the better of the other." 
 
 But I won't tell any more they said. Auntie came 
 in and they got to talking about what would be there 
 to see, and the strange people, with their curious 
 clothes, and the little taverns where they cooked just 
 as they did at home, until I was nearly crazy to go 
 and see, and forgetting all about where I was, I said 
 right out loud " Let's go, Nasho." 
 
 They all looked around at me so straight that I was 
 ashamed, and was going to creep out of the room, but 
 Parson Theglin stopped me. 
 
 " And you would really like to go to the Centennial, 
 Charley?" 
 
 Yes, indeed sir, that I would ; for it seems to me I 
 could see more in a month than I shall in all the rest 
 of my life. And this won't be but once ; and if I 
 don't see it now I never will get to see all these 
 things. I would be willing to work for anybody three
 
 48 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 years after I came back, if they would take me 
 there ? " 
 
 " Are you not big enough to go by yourself ? " 
 
 "Ail by myself !" My hair 'most stood up just 
 thinking of it. 
 
 " Yes, by yourself. Smaller boys than you are have 
 travelled farther, and girls too, as to that matter. Don't 
 you know there are angels whose special business it 
 is to look after little boys and girls, especially those 
 that do right. I'll warrant you if you had the money 
 you could make your way there easily enough, and 
 take care of yourself after you got there, and see all 
 there was to be seen too. Do you think anybody 
 will give you the money to go on ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I believe Uncle or Auntie either would 
 if they had it to spare ; but Uncle has a heap to do to 
 take care of me here at home, and send me to school, 
 me and Nasho. And I ain't got any other kinf oiks or 
 friends." 
 
 " But you really want to go ! " 
 
 "That I do, sir. If Uncle and Auntie was willing 
 and anybody would show me how to go, wouldn't I 
 begin about it quick ! " 
 
 " Did you ever hear about where there is a will, 
 there is a way ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir. I had that once for my copy at 
 school. But that means for men and common things, 
 and not boys and big things like this ! " 
 
 " Don't you expect to be a man some day ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir."
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 49 
 
 " But how are you going to, unless you begin. A 
 man is nothing but an older, grown up boy. Sup- 
 pose you were to sit in the house all day every day, 
 do you think you would grow much ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " And don't you think you \vould be weak and 
 feeble, not strong enough to work, and not know how 
 to ride and drive cattle, or climb trees, or plant corn, 
 or feed the hogs and cattle, or do any thing ? Do you 
 remember how you learned to ride ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, well enough. Uncle put me on old Ball, 
 and I was so afraid I cried at first. It didn't seem 
 to me like I could sit still, and I thought if he moved 
 I would fall off, and he would step on me or kick me, 
 and Uncle ought not to have put me on him. But 
 when Uncle led him around I held tight to the horn 
 of the saddle and found I could stick on, and felt very 
 proud, though I was scared all that ride. After one 
 or two times Uncle made him trot, and I was worse 
 scared than before, at his bouncing up and down, but 
 I only held the tighter to the saddle and I found I 
 could stick to him. And when I learned to stick to 
 him when he trotted hard and fast, Uncle put me on 
 by myself and gave me the reins and showed me how 
 to guide him, and it wasn't long before I could gallop 
 him without being afraid of falling. And I was glad 
 then that Uncle didn't take me off the first time when 
 I was so scared, but kept me on until I learned to 
 ride, for I like to ride better than any thing else." 
 
 " Well, you learned to ride by using the muscles of 
 4
 
 5O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 your arms and legs, and you never could have learned 
 without it. Do you think anybody else could have 
 learned for you ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I know they couldn't any more than any- 
 body could learn my lessons for me." 
 
 " Well, you learned to walk and ride by using your 
 muscles. Now you have to learn your lessons, and 
 you will have to learn to take care of yourself, and get 
 along in the world by using your brains. Do you 
 think you would be able to riJe as well as you do 
 now, if you had not began early ? " 
 
 "No, sir, I know I wouldn't." 
 
 " Neither will you be able to use your brains well 
 when you are a man unless you begin early. And 
 the quicker you begin, and the more you use them, 
 the stronger they will grow, and the smarter you will 
 be when you are a man. Just remember every man 
 was a boy once, and had every thing to learn for him- 
 self. A man's having ten thousand dollars does not 
 make it any easier for his son to learn to walk, and 
 he cannot walk without learning, and it does not 
 make it any easier for him to learn his A. B. C.'s, or 
 the multiplication table, or how to write, and he will 
 never know these things without learning. Now I 
 believe it would be a good thing for you to go to the 
 Centennial. I think you would learn more there in a 
 month than you would here in years, and you can 
 learn here besides, after you come back. I think it 
 would start your brain to growing and you would begin 
 to use it more than you have ever done, and would learn
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 51 
 
 to use it to some purpose. In short, I think it would 
 go a long \vay towards making a man of you, a true 
 man I mean, who is honest, and true, and good, and 
 not merely a finely-dressed, cane-carrying, cigar-smok- 
 ing dandy. I don't believe you will want to do the 
 foolish things you will see boys doing because they 
 think they make men of them. I think you will come 
 back a boy, but a wiser and better boy, just as ready 
 to mind your Uncle and Aunt, and help them as you 
 are now, and knowing a great deal better how to do 
 it. If I did not think so I should not want to see 
 you go one step. 
 
 " I do not sec myself how you are to go, but just 
 remember ' Where ;here is a will, there is a way,' 
 and we will both study about it, and when I come 
 back next month, you will tell me of the way you have 
 thought out, and if I have any better one I will tell 
 you. Now do not go around asking people to tell 
 you how you can get to the Centennial. Do not tell 
 anybody you want to go, but keep thinking about it 
 and study out for yourself, some way to get there, and 
 my word for it you will go." 
 
 We had prayers then, and Parson Theglin prayed 
 that I might be guided aright and shown the way in 
 which I should go. He didn't just say so, but I knew 
 he meant me, and I felt as if there was something real 
 solemn about it. I think the Israelites must have 
 felt something that way when they got to Jordan and 
 knew they had to cross it and didn't know how. 
 
 Nasho had been asleep all the time and I didn't say
 
 52 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 any thing to him about it, but I thought about it a 
 good deal after we went to bed in the bed-room, and 
 the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to 
 me there was a way for me to go. And I went to 
 sleep thinking about it and dreamed that a fine gen- 
 tleman came along and gave me and Nasho money 
 enough to take us there and back.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PARSON THEGLIN MAKES CHARLEY SEE HOW HE CAN 
 GO TO THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 NEXT morning when I got up the first thing that 
 came into my mind before I had time to think, 
 was how I was going to the Centennial. I did not 
 say any thing to any one about it, but there was never 
 a day that I did not think of it a great deal, though I 
 didn't seem to be getting any nearer to finding it. 
 
 The next time Parson Theglin came was Saturday 
 evening. I had just come home from school, and saw 
 him taking his horse to the crib, and I ran to him 
 and told him I would take him and put him up. 
 
 He thanked me, and said he would go in the house 
 as he was very tired. I have been studying every 
 way, sir, since you was here, and I don't see any way 
 for me to get to the Centennial, and yet I must go, sir, 
 I will never have another chance. 
 
 My head was so full of it that I had to say that 
 much. 
 
 " Well, Charley, wait until after supper, and I get 
 rested a bit, and we will have a talk about it." 
 
 Yes, sir ; but Uncle will want to talk to you then, 
 and to-morrow is Sunday, and I am afraid we won't
 
 54 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 have a chance again. You don't know how bad I 
 want to go, sir. Please tell me if you know any way. 
 I can wait then as long as you wish. 
 
 " No, Charley, I am sorry to say, I do not. There 
 is a way, though neither of us have been able to find 
 it, and I am sure it will be found yet. But we won't 
 talk of it just now. Trust me to find another oppor- 
 tunity before I go. I will not go until we do talk it 
 over. Give my horse plenty of corn and fodder 
 he has had a long ride to-day." 
 
 After supper he and Uncle had a long talk, mostly 
 about Church and religious matters. They did not 
 say a word about the Centennia 1 , and I was afraid 
 Parson Theglin didn't care much about it, though I 
 felt sure he wouldn't try to deceive me and pretend 
 he did when he did not. 
 
 About eight o'clock he got up, filled his pipe again, 
 and said he would go out to the stable and see about 
 his horse. " I know Charley has fed him well, but I 
 like to see him myself before lying down. I can 
 sleep the better for knowing that he is all right. 
 Will you go with me, Charley ? " 
 
 Yes, sir ; I am sure though you will find Blaze hasn't 
 eat up all I gave him. I put twenty good ears in his 
 trough, and plenty of surghum fodder. 
 
 When we reached the lot, instead of going to the 
 stable, Parson Theglin climbed up and fixed himself 
 on the fence, and I sat on a stump in front of him. 
 He had broken a splinter off the fence and was whit- 
 tling it slowly as he spoke.
 
 CHARLLY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 55 
 
 "Well, Charley, have you found out how you are" 
 going to the Centennial yet ? " 
 
 I felt certain from the way he spoke that he had 
 not thought of any way for me to go, but I was glad 
 to hear him speak as he did, as if it was certain that I 
 was going. 
 
 No, sir, I haven't. I have thought and thought and 
 studied over it, but I can't see any way how I can get 
 there. It will take so much more money than there 
 is any way for me to get. You know I can't earn but 
 little at a time. 
 
 " How did you go about thinking up a plan ? " 
 
 I just tried to study up some way, sir I didn't 
 know any other way to do. 
 
 " Suppose your Uncle were to send you out to hunt 
 the oxen when they do not come up, would you go 
 riding around through the woods anywhere your 
 horse cared to go ? " 
 
 No, sir. If it was a cold wet clay like last Tuesday, 
 I would know they had gone down into the bottom, or 
 else up into the gulch out of the wind. If it was a 
 bright, clear day, I would think they had gone out to 
 the prairie, and would go there to look for them. 
 And if a norther was blowing, but it wasn't raining, I 
 would go to some of the hollows where they go to 
 keep out of the wind and pick the grass and the bushes. 
 
 " Exactly, you would first consider the weather, de- 
 cide where they would most likely be, and then go 
 there to look for them." 
 
 Yes, sir ; but it don't seem to me this case is like
 
 56 LIVE LOVS. 
 
 that one. I know where the Centennial is and the 
 road to find it, but I have not got the money to go on, 
 and I don't know how to get it. 
 
 " The two cases are more alike than you think for. 
 Think carefully a moment before speaking and then 
 tell me what the weather is in going to the Centen- 
 nial." 
 
 I studied and studied. The weather told me in 
 which one of several places the oxen would most likely 
 be, but the weather don't have any thing to do with 
 getting to the Centennial. I will go in the cars of 
 course, and it don't make any difference what it is. 
 The weather, the weather; oh, yes, now I see ; the 
 weather is the money ain't it, sir ? 
 
 "Is what?" 
 
 I thought I was thinking out loud. Ain't the 
 weather the money I must have to go there ? 
 
 " That is it. Now what next ? " 
 
 It's how much I must have. 
 
 " Right again. Do you know how much a ticket 
 costs ? " 
 
 No, sir. 
 
 "You can buy a ticket from Austin for forty dollars 
 and you will need about five dollars to pay for your 
 meals on the road. A boy who has camped as much 
 as you have won't need a sleeping-car. You can sleep 
 on the seat. Of course it will cost you as much to 
 come back, and you can live there for less than a dol- 
 lar a day. You will want to stay a month at least, and 
 it would be a good thing if you could stay there three.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 57 
 
 It would not be time lost or wasted. Now can you 
 tell me how much these three sums come to ? " 
 
 Yes, sir I figured it out in my head 1 50 dollars, 
 sir. 
 
 " Well, now add fifty dollars more." 
 
 What is that for ? 
 
 " For what travellers call incidental expenses ; for 
 apples and candy, and papers and toys, and nice things 
 to eat, and car rides, and shows, and every thing of that 
 kind." 
 
 But I can get along without these, sir. 
 
 "You won't though, and must have more money 
 than just enough to pay your expenses there and back. 
 You may get sick, or have your leg broken, and then 
 you will need money to pay a doctor or surgeon. A 
 prudent traveller always allows pretty liberally for the 
 incidentals. You will need then 200 dollars. Now 
 what's the next thing ? " 
 
 The same old trouble, sir ; how to get it. 
 
 " Do you expect anyone to give you this amount ? " 
 
 No, sir. 
 
 " Could you borrow it ? " 
 
 Oh, no, sir ; I would be afraid to if I could. 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 Because, sir, it's more money than I ever could pay 
 back again. I couldn't borrow money if I didn't see 
 how I was to get it to pay back. 
 
 "Right, Charley. Stick to that through life. 
 Never borrow money at all if you can help it, but 
 never unless you know just how and just when you
 
 58 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 can repay it. Better do without what you want your- 
 self than force some one else to do without oa your 
 account. 
 
 " Then as you do not expect some one to give it to 
 you, and cannot borrow it because you do not know 
 how you could pay it back, how are you to get it ? " 
 
 I must make it. 
 
 " When you start after the oxen, why don't you go 
 on foot ? " 
 
 Because, sir, I would get tired directly, and I can- 
 not travel as fast as a horse, and the oxen would out- 
 run me if I found them on foot old Coley can run 
 nearly as fast as a horse, and I can't see through the 
 brush afoot like I can on horseback. 
 
 " Then you take a horse because you and the horse 
 can do more than you can by yourself." 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 I was thinking how foolish I would be to start after 
 the oxen a foot when I had a pony in the pasture 
 or lot, and how the oxen would laugh at me when 
 they saw me coming afoot and run away from me just 
 as easy as could be, and going over the whole thing 
 in my mind, when I wondered why Parson Theglin 
 didn't keep on, and looked up, but he was whittling 
 away as quiet as could be, and didn't seem to have 
 any notion of saying any thing else. So I said 
 
 Well, sir, now what ? 
 
 " That s your question, my boy, not mine. I am 
 not going to the Centennial."
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 59 
 
 But you said, sir, you would help me if I couldn't 
 find any way to go. And I can't, sir. 
 
 " Have you tried ? " 
 
 Yes, sir ; all the time. 
 
 "How riding around through the woods any- 
 where your horse wanted to go ? " 
 
 I saw what he meant and fell to studying again. I 
 took my pony to go after the oxen because I could 
 travel faster, see farther, and run faster than afoot. 
 But I can't go there on Bullet. 
 
 " Can't go where ? " 
 
 Oh, sir, I didn't know I was talking out loud. I 
 was just thinking why I took Bullet to hunt the oxen ; 
 but I can't ride him to the Centennial. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 Because, sir, it would take me so long. 
 
 " Men have walked from New York to San Fran- 
 cisco, and that is a thousand miles further than your 
 trip." 
 
 But th?n, sir, I must have something to eat on the 
 road, and a heap of times there wouldn't be grass for 
 Bullet, and I would have to buy corn and fodder for 
 him. 
 
 " Make him pay for his own corn and fodder, and 
 carry you too." 
 
 Ifo\v, sir ? 
 
 " That is your lookout, not mine. If I was going I 
 would find a how." 
 
 But you said, sir, you would help me to find a way. 
 
 " Exactly. I said I would help you, not find it for
 
 6O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 you. I suppose you will want me to go with you next 
 thing." 
 
 Oh no, sir, I don't expect that; but if you would 
 only tell me how to go. 
 
 " If you cannot find out how to go, you will not be 
 able to go by yourself, or take care of yourself after 
 you get there." 
 
 Yes, sir ; but I am only a boy. 
 
 " And you will never be any thing but a boy if you 
 do not begin some time, and now is the time unless 
 you intend to throw away the best opportunity for 
 educating yourself you ever will have, and be only a 
 cow-boy and clod hopper all your life. What is your 
 head good for if you cannot put it to some use ? Why, 
 you might almost as well have fried brains as lively, 
 active ones like such a boy as you ought to have. 
 Cannot ride to the Centennial, hey ? What's the long- 
 est trip you ever took? " 
 
 Last summer the time I went up to Brown and 
 Coleman counties with Mr. Negus. He wanted help 
 and told Uncle he would give him two dollars a day 
 if he would let me go and take two horses with me. 
 And Uncle said I might go and take Bullet and Aunt's 
 mare that she rides, but I must be very careful of her 
 and not run her much. We was gone three weeks, 
 camping out all the time, and Mr. Negus said I made 
 just as good a hand as any of them. I roped a big 
 steer and tangled him up in the rope and threw him 
 down and held him down all by myself, while Jim 
 Langdon got down and tied him ; on Bullet I mean.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 6l 
 
 And two or three nights when we had poor pens and 
 had to stand guard over them, I stood guard with rest. 
 
 " Then you know all about driving cattle ? " 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " And when you were in Brown county you were 
 gone three weeks ? " 
 
 Yes, sir ; I wished it had been longer, though I got 
 tired sometimes and wished I was back to one of 
 Auntie's good suppers, and nice soft beds. But I 
 would a great deal rather have staid longer than come 
 back sooner. 
 
 " And you were nearer the Centennial then than you 
 are now. 
 
 Ye s s ir. 
 
 " And suppose you had kept on three months with- 
 out turning back." 
 
 But Mr. Negus's cattle don't range that far off, and 
 nobody wouldn't go where their cattle didn't run. 
 
 " What are the boy's brains good for. He found 
 somebody that gave him two dollars a day and fed 
 him, and he didn't have to feed his horse, and was gone 
 three weeks and liked it, and now talks about not 
 going where cattle don't run. Did you ever hear of 
 cattle going where they did not want to go ?" 
 
 Yes, sir, many a time. 
 
 " How did they go ? " 
 
 Somebody drove them. 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 Because they wanted to bring them home or drive 
 them to market.
 
 62 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 " What market ? " 
 
 Kansas, sir, mostly, though sometimes they drive 
 them to San Antonio or maybe Rockport. 
 
 " And going to Kansas is going away from the Cen- 
 tennial, isn't it ? " 
 
 Oh ! yes, sir now I see, now I see. I must hire 
 to somebody to drive beeves to Kansas, and then go 
 on from there to the Centennial. I will be making 
 money all the way to Kansas, and I can leave my horse 
 there and get him when I come back and ride him 
 back to Texas, and it won't cost me much. Ain't 
 that the way, sir ? How strange I didn't think of that 
 at first ! You are very kind to me, sir, to take so much 
 trouble to make me think for myself when it would 
 have been so easy just to have told me I must drive 
 beeves to Kansas. If I had been any account I would 
 have thought of that at first. I am afraid I never 
 will learn to think. 
 
 " Yes, you will. You have not tried much yet. I 
 mean tried steadily and persistently, taking the weather 
 into consideration and not riding around wherever 
 your horse wants to go. For what we call the mind 
 is very much like the horse we ride. If we train it to 
 work steadily it will soon learn to go just where we 
 tell it ; but if we let it alone it will be turning around 
 and leaving the path we started it in, and going first 
 here and then there and never getting where we 
 started to go. It is steady persistence that wins, my 
 boy. Try, try again, and keep trying, and after awhile 
 you will win. It takes some men thirty years. And
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 63 
 
 the reason that most men do not win and never 
 amount to any thing in the world is because they have 
 nothing they are determined to do and just wind 
 about here and there, or they get tired and quit, and 
 try something else, and get tired of that and try some- 
 thing else again and thus waste their own lives. Be 
 sure that what you want to do is the right thing for 
 you to do, and worth doing, and then never give up ; and 
 sooner or later you will win. We'll go in now, Charley, 
 it is getting late. I will trust you for having taken 
 good care of Blaze." 
 
 That night at prayers I couldn't help but think that 
 God was a little like Parson Theglin, only ever so 
 much larger and better, and he would have time to 
 think about me a little, and take care that I didn't get 
 hurt or go wrong, only I must help myself too ; and 
 before I laid down I asked him to help me go to the 
 Centennial, and to learn to think, and to keep trying 
 when I wanted to do any thing. 
 
 I wanted so bad to ask Uncle that night if I might 
 hire out to go to Kansas, but I did not get a chance. 
 I was certain though he would let me go, for Parson 
 Theglin wouldn't have made me think of that way if 
 it had been one Uncle wouldn't have liked, and there 
 wasn't any other way for me to go, and I was just "as 
 certain I was going as that I was lying in bed think- 
 ing of it. And there wasn't a happier boy in Kerr 
 County that night.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A GOOD FRIEND TO CHARLEY. MAKING WILD-TURKEY 
 
 TRAPS. TURKEYS, BEES, AND PARTRIDGES. 
 
 I FELT sure all the time I was going to the Centen- 
 nial, but I knew now how I was going and I was a 
 heap surer than before. The greatest thing in the way 
 now was horses. If we had three horses apiece we would 
 get $75 apiece a month, and we could make enough 
 at that to take us from Kansas there and back to 
 Kansas again. But we had only one horse apiece, me 
 and Nasho, and how to get the others was the trouble. 
 We could only get $25 or $30 apiece a month if we 
 only had one horse. There must be some way now 
 to get the other four horses we needed, though I 
 couldn't see how it could be. We didn't have any 
 time but Saturday to do any thing in, and then Uncle 
 almost always had something for us to do. 
 
 Well, I went to Uncle and said to him Uncle, we 
 want to go to the Centennial very bad, me and Nasho. 
 We have been wanting to go ever since that night you 
 and Parson Theglin talked about it, but I haven't said 
 any thing about it because we didn't know how we could 
 manage to go, but we can do it now this way. We
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 65 
 
 can hire to somebody that is driving cattle to Kansas 
 and leave our horses in a pasture there and go on to 
 the Centennial with the money we make, and stay 
 there a month, and come back to Kansas, and ride 
 our horses home again. We can learn so much 
 Uncle, there will be so much to see, I do hope you 
 are willing for us to go. 
 
 " Yes, Charley, I am willing for you to go. When 
 you first spoke of it that night I thought it was only 
 a boyish whim that you would soon get over ; but if 
 you are in earnest about it, as I believe you are, why 
 you can go. You are very young, you and Nasho, to 
 take a trip like that alone, but I am satisfied if you 
 will behave yourselves and do what is right you will 
 get along. I will do any thing I can to help you 
 along. You wont need much money, because on the 
 drive you will be fed. You have a horse and saddle 
 apiece and some clothes, and Auntie must try and 
 make each of you another good suit before you go. 
 Your clothes and blankets will be all you will want." 
 
 Oh, Uncle, I just now thought of it ; we can kill 
 deer and dress the skins ; you know what a good hand 
 Nasho is, and Auntie can make us a nice suit out of 
 buckskin and we will wear it to the Centennial to 
 show the people what Texas people used to have to 
 dress with and what two Texas boys can do now. 
 
 " A right good idea, Charley, my boy/' said Uncle 
 slowly with his eye set to one side a little as if think- 
 ing about it, "a right good idea. I believe this is set- 
 ting you to thinking. I despise any thing like rowdy- 
 S
 
 66 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 ism even in dress, but well-tanned buckskin makes a 
 neat suit. I have seen the President of the Republic 
 of Texas dressed in it and he looked just as well as 
 the fancy French minister with his fine rig just as if 
 he had gotten out of a bandbox. You and Nasho 
 kill the deer and dress the hides, and I'll insure that 
 Auntie will do her best in cutting them out and put- 
 ting her best stitching in them. I will give you all 
 the Saturdays I can." 
 
 Maybe we can make some money driving cattle or 
 getting up stray horses. We want two more horses 
 apiece, and they will cost us at least thirty dollars 
 apiece, and I don't see how we are going to get that 
 much money ; but we are going to try. 
 
 " All right, my boy. I'll help you all I can, and 
 where there is a genuine working will, there is nearly 
 always a way. Remember that and keep your wits 
 about you, and I'm sure the way will be found." 
 
 I hadn't said any thing to Nasho about it, but Mon- 
 day morning as we were going to school I told him 
 about it and asked him if he didn't want to go. He 
 said yes, if I went, but he didn't seem to think any 
 thing more about it than he would going on a cow- 
 hunt. He's a curious fellow, Nasho is. He don't 
 ever get excited like most boys. 
 
 If the house was to catch fire over his head I 
 don't believe he would get excited a bit, but he'd be 
 sure to get out. One night when we was on a cow- 
 hunt and stopping at Mr. Hansom's, the stable caught 
 fire where somebody had been smoking. There was
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 6/ 
 
 a very fine horse in it and two men ran in to get him 
 out. They jerked and pulled and tried to drive him 
 out, but he was scared and wouldn't budge a step. 
 Nasho ran in quietly and said " You no right, me get 
 him out," and wrapped his big handkerchief, which 
 he wore round his neck when he was coon-hunting, 
 round the horse's head so as to blindfold him, and 
 then patted him on the head a minute or two, and led 
 him out without any trouble. 
 
 Mr. Hansom was so glad to save his fine horse 
 that he gave Nasho ten dollars, and all of them said 
 that Nasho had more sense than any of them. I have 
 always heard that the Indians don't say much, espe- 
 cially the young ones, and they must think a heap be- 
 fore they speak, and I think Nasho must have learned 
 a good deal from them. 
 
 I told him we would want two horses apiece and I 
 didn't know where we would get the money to buy 
 them. 
 
 " We make the money. We kill more deer and we 
 dress their hides nice, and we catch heap wild turkeys 
 and take Uncle's wagon and go to San Antonio and 
 sell 'em, and we drive cows for somebody. We find 
 way to make the money." We talked about it all the 
 way to school, and my head was so full of it and of 
 some way to get the money that it was hard to 
 keep my mind fixed on my lessons. It would keep 
 running off on other things. Yet I never did want to 
 learn more. I studied my geography more than ever, 
 for I wanted to learn something about the countries
 
 68 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 and the people that would have something to show at 
 the Centennial. I thought maybe Miss Masover, our 
 teacher, would be able to help me learn what I wanted 
 to know most, so I told her what we were going to do, 
 and asked her if she would tell me what I needed to 
 know most, and to learn it fastest. I asked her, too, 
 not to say any thing about it, and she said she wouldn't. 
 I knew she wouldn't. 
 
 She said she had two or three books that would tell 
 me a great deal about the different countries and the 
 people, and she would lend them to me and I must 
 read them. And then she made me tell her all about 
 our trip, and how we were going, and how we expected 
 to get the money, and seemed to feel just as much 
 interested as ff she was going herself. Seems to me 
 women care a heap more about people they like than 
 men do. Uncle is just as kind to me and Nasho as 
 he can be, but he don't think about a heap of little 
 things about us like Auntie does. 
 
 When I got through she said "Well, Charley, there 
 is another way in which I think you can make some 
 money. I will help Nasho make the very prettiest things 
 he can, and when you go to San Antonia you can take 
 them and sell them and get more money that way." 
 
 I thanked her for her kindness, and then it was 
 time for school to take up and we couldn't talk any 
 more. It seemed to me as if everybody was trying to 
 help us when they saw that we was in earnest, and 
 trying to do all we could ourselves. 
 
 That evening we hurried home from school, and
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 69 
 
 telling Auntie we was going down in the bottom and 
 wouldn't be home till late, we took the little axe Uncle 
 had bought for us, and the hatchet, and went down in 
 the bottom. We hunted about until we found a good 
 place in an open thicket where there wasn't any trees 
 where the hogs would be likely to come, and cut down 
 some poles and out of them and dry logs and branches 
 we cut off of other trees, we made a pen about six feet 
 square and four feet high which we covered with 
 logs and brush. Before we covered it up we dug a 
 trench on the south side about a foot deep and four 
 feet long running into the pen with each end about 
 the same distance apart outside of and in the pen. 
 This trench we covered with small sticks and two or 
 three boards we found that had been washed up in a 
 rise of the creek, and put heavy chunks over them so 
 that the turkeys couldn't raise them up. Then we 
 covered the top and baited it with corn, and strewed 
 corn around in front of it, so they would find it if they 
 came near it, and then smoothed the ground off a lit- 
 tle with a brush-top and left it. It was in the night 
 before we got through, but the moon was shining 
 bright so we could see well enough to work, and we 
 never thought of being afraid. 
 
 " Well, but Charley, I don't understand what that 
 trench is for in your turkey pen. If I understand 
 you, you began your trench about two feet from the 
 pen, ran it under the bottom log, and let it come out 
 about two feet on the inside. What is that for ? " 
 
 We made it begin about three feet from the log
 
 70 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 on the outside. Why you see, Mr. Morecamp, the 
 turkeys' find the corn leading to the trench, and 
 they run along picking it up and when they come 
 to it and see the corn in it, and we put it pretty thick, 
 they just draw themselves up like a hog getting 
 through a hole under a fence, and go in. They come 
 out on the inside of the pen, and when they raise 
 their heads and find they are in a pen they begin to 
 run round and round and are caught. 
 
 " Why, Charley, haven't they sense enough to go 
 out the way they went in ? " 
 
 No, sir. You see they keep their heads up all the 
 time and never think of looking down for a way to 
 get out. Sometimes a whole gang will go into a trap 
 this way. You can catch partridges the same way, 
 though they are more likely to get out than turkeys. 
 
 " Well ! I would have supposed any thing would 
 have sense enough to get out the way it got in." 
 
 I reckon it's being in a trap that makes them for- 
 get and turn foolish. They never do get out. 
 
 On our way home, the dogs treed a possum up a little 
 haw-tree and Nasho ran up and shook him out, and 
 I kept the dogs off so they wouldn't bite him all up, 
 and we took him home. Auntie was glad to get him, 
 but he^ wasn't very fat, and we put him in a pen to 
 feed for Christmas week. We fed him on bread scraps 
 from the table and corn, and he got as fat as a pig. 
 I have never eaten any thing here at the Centennial 
 better than baked possum and sweet potatoes. 
 
 After that we made two more turkey traps, ar.d
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. J\ 
 
 every other night we would go down to see if we had 
 caught any. It was two weeks before we did, and 
 we began to think we wasn't going to catch any, 
 though Nasho said in his dry way " Plenty turkey 
 nere, see him tracks we catch him by and by." 
 
 On Friday evening we went down and there was 
 twenty turkeys in the pens. We stopped up the holes 
 so they couldn't get out, and next morning Uncle went 
 down with us with the wagon, and we made a hole in 
 the top of the pen so me and Nasho could get in. We 
 caught them one by one and tied their legs together 
 with strings we had brought with us, and when we 
 had them all fast we handed up to Uncle who put 
 them in the wagon. Me and Nasho made a pen to 
 keep them in, and fed them on corn and millet heads 
 and sugar millet seed till they got right fat. 
 
 Afterward we caught thirty-five more, so that we 
 had fifty-five. We gave Auntie five. When we went 
 down for the last ones we found a bee-tree, and when 
 we had put the turkeys in the pen at home we came 
 back with axes and cut down the tree and smoked the 
 bees out, and got thirty pounds of honey. The bees 
 nearly all lit on the branch of a low tree near by, one on 
 top of the other until they made a great big brown lump 
 like a knot on a tree, and Uncle put a blanket under 
 them and cut off the limb easy so it wouldn't disturb 
 them and let it fall into the blanket and hived the whole 
 swarm. He took it home and put it in one of his hives, 
 and that made twenty hives he had. We caught one 
 hundred partridges, which we put up in a big trap like 
 a chicken coop to fatten and keep.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GATHERING PECANS. A BEAR AND TWO DEER KILLED. 
 
 WOLF-SHOOTING BY MOONLIGHT. 
 
 /~\N Wednesday night soon after we had gone to 
 ^^ bed there came up a hard norther. I was thinking 
 how cold it would be for us to do any thing the next 
 Saturday, when all of a sudden I happened to think 
 we could make something out of the norther. All 
 the pecans near us had been gathered, but when me 
 and Nasho had gone after the bows and arrows the 
 Indians had left, we found a little bottom of pecan 
 trees in a ravine where I was certain we could gather 
 ten or fifteen bushels. So the next morning by day- 
 light I was up and asked Uncle if me and Nasho could 
 not take the wagon and go up there and gather the pe- 
 cans. He said we might, so we ran out and got up the 
 horses, and fed them and put the harness on while 
 they were eating and Auntie was getting breakfast 
 ready. We were to be gone until Saturday night, so 
 Auntie cooked us some bread to take with us and 
 ground us some coffee, while we were eating our 
 breakfast. It was twelve miles to the place, and we
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 73 
 
 were in a hurry to get off, so we would have more 
 time to pick in ; as soon as we were done eat- 
 ing we hitched up the horses, put in our provisions, a 
 frying-pan and the little ccffee-pot, we took cow-hunt- 
 ing ropes and hobbles for the horses and were ready 
 to be off. I told Nasho to get in and let's go. 
 
 " We no got gun ; maybe see deer." 
 
 I was too busy thinking of the pecans and had forgot- 
 ten the gun. 
 
 We got it and the powder-horn and shot-bag and 
 put it in the wagon. 
 
 " Charley," said Uncle, " if you will be right careful 
 of it you may take my rifle. I wouldn't let any other 
 boy have it ; but I know you will take care of it." 
 
 Yes, indeed, Uncle, that I will, and I think I'll get a 
 deer too, with Carry True, that was what Uncle called 
 his rifle. Uncle handed me the rifle, powder-horn and 
 bullet-pouch, and telling us to take care of ourselves 
 we started off. I hollered back. Don't be uneasy 
 Uncle if we don't get back until late Saturday night. 
 We want to have all the time for picking pecans we 
 can. The dogs both followed us. 
 
 We reached the grove about eleven o'clock, and 
 picking our camp, unharnessed the horses, hobbled 
 them and set to work. Nobody had been there to 
 gather, and the hogs hadn't found it, and the ground 
 was strewed with pecans. They were nearly all large 
 fine ones with tLin hulls. We worked until dark and 
 thought we had about five bushels. We had brought 
 wheat sacks to put them in, and small bags that
 
 74 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 would hold about a peck, with strings to fasten them 
 around our necks, to pick in. 
 
 We kept the sacks in the wagon because they were 
 too heavy to move when full, and as fast as we filled 
 our bags we emptied them in the sacks and tied them 
 up. 
 
 A little before dark Nasho said we would quit and 
 he would make a fire and get supper while I tied up 
 the horses and fed them. Close to where I found 
 the horses I saw a big covey of partridges, and told 
 Nasho I would go back and shoot some with the shot 
 gun. 
 
 " No, no maybe so deer close by, and when he 
 hear gun he run off no must shoot." 
 
 I saw he was right, so I went back with a short, 
 stout stick and throwing into the bunch killed three, 
 which we had for supper. Then I tied up the horses 
 and fed them. While supper was cooking Nasho took 
 the water gourd to the hole to get some water, and I 
 saw him stop and look close at the bark of a tree on 
 the way. He beckoned me to come to him, and show- 
 ed me scratches where the bark had been rubbed off. 
 " Bear do that," said he, " last week ; maybe so he 
 come again. He heap fond of pecans." 
 
 We were up next morning by daylight, and Nasho 
 said he would take the gun and go look for a deer, 
 while I got breakfast. I thought he ought to have let 
 me gone, but I didn't say any thing and began stirring 
 up the fire to cook with. I had cooked the meat and 
 had the coffee on, and was busy feeding the horses
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 75 
 
 when I heard old Bose growl low like Le does when 
 something is wrong. I looked the way his head was 
 pointing, and saw a bear coming slowly and steadily 
 up the hollow in which the grove was. He had seen 
 the wagon and horses but didn't seem to care any 
 thing for them. I went round the wagon so he 
 couldn't see me, made Bose be still, got the rifle, 
 and took a stand by a tree where I could get a good 
 rest on a windfall. He came along as straight as if 
 he thought it was his own property and nobody had a 
 right to trouble him. I tried to be as cool as I could, 
 but my heart thumped hard, and my hand shook so I 
 couldn't hold the gun steady. When he got in about 
 fifteen yards he stopped and looked as if he didn't 
 "like the look of things at his camp. As he half 
 way turned to go off, I took the best aim I could and 
 fired. I saw him fail, but he got up again and started 
 off. Bose was after him in a second. I remembered 
 Uncle had told me never to go up to game that had 
 been shot until my gun was reloaded, so I began to 
 load as fast as I could. When I got the bullet well 
 home, and the cap on, I ran after them as fast as I 
 could. The bear was trying to get av/ay, but wher- 
 ever he would turn Bose would run up and nip his 
 hind quarters, and he would whirl around and try and 
 catch him. I ran up in a few feet of him, and as he turn- 
 ed to try and catch Bose I took good aim and shot him 
 through the head. He fell, and I knew I had got him 
 that time. I was mighty glad, for it was my first bear. 
 Just then I heard two guns almost at the same time,
 
 76 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 and I knew that must be Nasho. After looking at 
 the bear awhile I went back to camp, and just then 
 Nasho came up with a hind quarter and ribs of a deer. 
 He said he had found five deer, and had crept close 
 to them and shot and killed one, and without wait- 
 ing to see about that shot he fired the other barrel at 
 another, and going up found he had killed two ; both 
 big bucks 
 
 " Me hear gun too ; what you kill." 
 
 Come and see, I said, and took him to the bear. 
 When he saw him he shook my hand and said " Me 
 call you Strong-heart now, you kill bear." 
 
 We cut some ribs out of the bear and fixed them 
 over the fire to cook while we finished skinning him. 
 Then we went to our fire and got breakfast, for we were 
 both as hungry as wolves. We cut the bear into 
 quarters so we could handle it easier, and cut some 
 poles and made a scaffold over the fire and put the 
 meat on it so it would be in the smoke. Then we 
 hitched up the horses and drove up to where Nasho 
 had killed the deer. We hung them up in a tree so 
 they would be in the smoke too, and then set to work 
 picking up pecans. It was nearly dinner then, and 
 we were a little tired too, and we didn't get any more 
 pecans picked up than the day before. We feasted 
 that day on deer ribs and bear meat. 
 
 That evening when we stopped for supper Nasho 
 said "Wolves smell meat to-night, and come we hide 
 and kill maybe so two, three." He tied his rope to 
 some of the entrails of the bear and getting on his
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. // 
 
 horse and tieing the other end of the rope to the 
 horse's neck rode off, about a quarter of a mile from 
 camp, and then rode in a circle clear round the camp, 
 and came to the place where the bear was killed. 
 Then he came to camp. There was a low sunken 
 place, about twenty yards from the place between 
 that and our camp ; we took our blankets and made 
 our bed there, leaving the dogs to take care of camp, 
 though it was so close we could easily see any thing 
 that happened there. Besides, we knew if the wolves 
 came there or any thing happened the dogs would 
 make such a noise we would be sure to wake up. 
 We intended to lay awake until about twelve o'clock, 
 but we had worked so hard we was tired and went to 
 sleep. I woke up all of a sudden and found a pack of 
 wolves snarling and fighting over the entrails. Nasho 
 had waked up too. We both took good aim at the 
 crowd, for they was all mixed up so you couldn't see 
 any particular wolf to aim at, and fired together. 
 Then Nasho fired his other barrel. The wolves all 
 ran off, though some of them stopped a few hundred 
 yards off and set up a howl. We found three dead 
 and another got up and staggered off. Nasho ran up 
 and picking up a rock knocked him in the head. They 
 were all large, full-grown gray mountain wolves. We 
 went back to bed and slept till morning. The first 
 thing we fed the horses and got breakfast, and then 
 set to work to skin the wolves. This didn't take us 
 but a little time, and then we went to work picking 
 pecans again.
 
 78 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 By dinner time we had picked up all there were, 
 and thought we had about thirteen bushels. After 
 dinner we took down our meat, packed it in the wagon, 
 with the hides of the deer, the bear and the wolves, 
 and started home. It was sun-down by the time we 
 got there ; Uncle was glad to get the meat and very 
 proud that I had killed the bear, and we had done so 
 well. It took two hours to put away the meat in salt 
 so it wouldn't spoil, and the hides packed up right, 
 and then we went to bed tired out but well satisfied 
 with our pecan hun;
 
 j CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WILD BILL THE MUSTANG. A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO 
 
 STALLIONS. CHARLEY ROPES WILD BILL FROM A 
 
 TREE. 
 
 THERE was a wild horse that sometimes came 
 down into Kerr County that nobody could catch. 
 He was a beautiful blue roan about fourteen and a 
 half hands high, with head and legs of a deep mouse 
 color, and long hanging tail and mane almost black. 
 Some of the best riders in the country had tried to rope 
 him, but they never could get near enough. He ran 
 away from their fastest horses as easily as from a cow, 
 and he was always watching so they couldn't surprise 
 him. They tried to run him down, first one running 
 him and then another on a fresh horse, but he didn't 
 seem to get tired, and everybody had at last given up 
 trying to catch him. Nobody knew where he came 
 from. He wasn't a regular mustang, for the mustangs 
 had all left the country long before ; yet no one who 
 had ever seen him would think for a minute that he 
 had ever been in a pen. He must have run wild 
 when a colt. One Saturday when we was on a cow-
 
 8O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 hunt, me and Nasho, one of the boys that I met told 
 me that Wild Bill, as everybody called him, had come 
 into the country again. I had never seen him, but 
 had often wished I could, and as we rode along I got 
 to studying if there wasn't some way we could catch 
 him. He was a very uncertain horse about his range. 
 He had been seen way over on the other side of the 
 Brazos, and as far west as the Nueces, and he came 
 and went just as if the country belonged to him. 
 Sometimes he would stay in our range a month, and 
 then again he would just pass through and be gone 
 again. There wasn't any use in us trying to run him 
 down, that was certain. We had just as well try to 
 catch an antelope. I thought maybe we could watch 
 him a day or two and when he was quiet drive some 
 gentle horses up as close as we could without scaring 
 him, and if he went to them as he was most sure to 
 do, we could, maybe, by being very careful, manage to 
 work the bunch into the big beef pen at Seiders'. I 
 asked Nasho what he thought about it. 
 
 " No good ; he got too much sense to go in pen." 
 But we could go there and cut brush and build 
 long wings on each side of the pen, and he won't see 
 them until he gets inside of them and then he can't 
 turn back, for we'll be behind him. 
 
 " No can do it. He too sharp for that. Me know 
 better way dan dat." And he told me howhe thought 
 we could catch him. I thought so too ; so when we 
 came back that night I told Uncle Wild Bill had been 
 seen up near Seiders', and me and Nasho thought we
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 8 1 
 
 could catch him if he would let us go Monday and 
 try. 
 
 " You would run down every horse on the place and 
 then hardly get in sight of him." 
 
 No, Uncle, we are not going to run him. We know 
 we never could catch him that way. I'll promise you 
 that. Please don't ask us how, but just let us go 
 Monday and stay until Wednesday night." 
 
 Uncle thought about it a minute or two and then 
 said : 
 
 " I don't like you boys leaving school to go horse- 
 hunting ; I am afraid you will get so you won't care 
 any thing about your books, but I'll let you go this time. 
 Remember, you musn't run your horses. It wouldn't do 
 a bit of good, but only break them down for nothing. 
 I have no idea you can pen him, and if you had him 
 roped I don't believe you could do any thing with him. 
 But you may go and try." 
 
 And may we take Auntie's mare for Nasho to 
 ride ? his pony is lame. 
 
 " Yes ; if your Auntie is willing."' 
 
 Auntie was willing, so Monday morning we started 
 early with our blankets and provision enough to do 
 us until Wednesday night. We took good strong 
 ropes about thirty feet long, and a stout halter to put 
 on him if we did catch him. We met Mr. Seiders 
 near his place driving up some horses, and he told us 
 he had seen Wild Bill that morning with some horses 
 only a few miles off. We was glad to hear that, for 
 
 we were afraid we might have to hunt for him all the 
 6
 
 82 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 days we had to stay, and then maybe not find him. 
 Finding him wasn't catching him by a heap, but it 
 was the first thing toward it. 
 
 It wasn't long before we came in sight of the bunch 
 Mr. Seiders had told us about, and we stopped at 
 once so as not to scare Wild Bill if he was with them. 
 Sometimes he would run off at once if he saw any- 
 body, and again he would let you ride pretty close to 
 him, but if there was three or four together and they 
 began to separate, he always ran off. He knew he 
 could run away from any one man, but I reckon he 
 thought if three or four got around him they might 
 get close enough for one of them to catch him. 
 
 The horses were out in the level open, but from 
 the time of day it was nearly dinner time and the 
 direction in which they were feeding, we 'most knew 
 they were going to El Hoyos Diablo * to water. This 
 was a water hole about a mile off that everybody knew. 
 It was on the level, but only a few yards from a deep 
 hollow with high bluff banks. It was nearly round, 
 about thirty feet across, with rocky banks> but smooth 
 as if it had been cut out of solid rock, and didn't seem 
 to have any bottom. One day when we camped there 
 three of us tied our stake ropes together, and a rock 
 to the end, and let them down into it, but we never 
 found bottom, and they were nearly a hundred feet 
 long. It never got any fuller, for it couldn't without 
 
 * Charley has mixed his Spanish. The right name is El 
 Hoyo Insondable, or, The Bottomless Hole.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 83 
 
 running over, and there wasn't any branch that run 
 into it, and it was never any lower. Close to it, and 
 between it and the steep bluff, was a big spreading 
 tree with th'.ck branches. A little below that the 
 bluff wasn't steep, and there was a path where cattle 
 and cow-hunters went up and down from the gulch to 
 the prairie. 
 
 We took a circle round so the horses wouldn't see 
 us, and got into a little hollow that ran into the Big 
 Gulch below the water hole. Then we rode up to the 
 path, and nearly to the top of the Gulch, and hitched 
 our horses. Nasho went to a place where he could be 
 hid and watch the water hole, and I took my stake 
 rope and went to the tree, climbed it, and fixed myself 
 among the branches, where I couldn't be seen easy but 
 had room to use my arms and a clear space below me. 
 I tied my rope fast to the tree so as to give me about 
 twenty feet to use, and fixed a noose in the other end 
 that would stand open well if I dropped it. It wasn't 
 long 'till I heard Nasho say in a low voice : " They 
 comin'. " 
 
 I coiled my rope up so it would run out free, caught 
 it up in my left hand, fixed my noose in my right 
 hand, settled myself well in the branches and waited. 
 Directly they came up along the path that led to the 
 water hole. There were two or three six months 1 old 
 colts in the bunch and they were running and frisk- 
 ing around, but the others came straight to the water 
 and drank. Then they scattered about a little and 
 stood around as horses often do after drinking. Wild
 
 84 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Bill didn't seem to be much thirsty, and didn't drink 
 much. Two or three of the horses came up to the 
 tree where I was and rubbed and scratched themselves 
 against it. I kept hoping Wild Bill would come up 
 too, but he didn't. You see our first plan was to find 
 Wild Bill by himself, or try and work him off by him- 
 self, and get in the way he was going without letting 
 him see us, and tying the mare to the tree where he 
 would see her and come to her, but when we Lund 
 the horses near the water-hole we thought maybe he 
 would come to the big tree to scratch himself and 
 give me a chance to catch him. 
 
 The horses began to feed off, and I was so disap- 
 pointed ; for I knew when they left that chance would 
 be gone, when I saw Bill raise his head and look up 
 in a way that made me know something was up. I 
 was afraid at first somebody was coming, and would 
 scare him, but I saw in a second it wasn't that, for he 
 wasn't scared. In three or four minutes I saw an- 
 other bunch of horses coming from another direction, 
 with Mr. Seiders' gray stallion in the lead. As soon 
 as he saw Wild Bill he neighed and ran up to him, 
 and tried to catch him by the neck. Wild Bill was 
 ready for him, and the fight began. They reared up 
 and struck at each other with their fore feet and tried 
 to whirl and kick each other, but they were both too 
 sharp for that, and always managed to out of the way. 
 Once or twice Wild Bill caught the gray by the neck 
 and shook him like a dog does a rat, but he \vould 
 break loose again. I could see their big eyes flash,
 
 S~ TEXAS. 85 
 
 and they neighed and screamed all the time, or. 
 rather gray did, for Bill didn't make much noise. He 
 had such a thick mane that the gray couldn't get a hold 
 on his neck. As they kept fighting, rearing up and 
 whirling round to dodge each other they kept getting 
 nearer and nearer the bluff until they was in ten feet 
 of it, but neither of them seemed to notice it. I came 
 very near shouting loud to scare them away, but 
 thought I would wait until the very last. Just then 
 the gray made a quick jump and caught Bill by the 
 neck close down to the withers and give him an awful 
 bite. I heard his teeth pop when they came together. 
 Bill jerked himself loose and ran against the gray so 
 hard he almost knocked him down, right on the edge 
 of the bluff. The gray nearly got on his feet again 
 and in throwing his head round, saw where he was. 
 He made a terrible effort to save himself, but just then 
 Wild Bill struck him again and over he went head 
 over heels. As he fell he gave the most horrible 
 scream I ever heard. It seemed to go right through 
 me and 'most freeze me up, and even now when I 
 think about it I shut my eyes and stop my ears and 
 try to keep it out. 
 
 Wild Bill turned around and gave a little low 
 neigh as much as to say he was satisfied. Then he 
 started straight for the tree to scratch his neck where 
 the gray bit him. My heart nearly jumped into my 
 throat when I saw him coming, but I fixed myself for 
 him. I was never as much excited in my life, not 
 even when I killed the bear. I knew I wasn't in any
 
 86 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 danger, but I was so afraid he wouldn't come close 
 enough, or I would miss him, or something would 
 happen that I wouldn't catch him. Just as he got 
 under me I dropped the noose squarely over his head. 
 He made a big jump and started to run, but the rope 
 brought him up. I was so glad I wanted to holler as 
 loud as a dozen boys, but I was afraid it might scare 
 him and he might try harder to get away and break 
 the rope. He set himself back and pulled until the 
 root of his tail nearly touched the ground but he was 
 fast. Then he jumped forward and ran as fast as he 
 could, but the rope jerked him back so hard it nearly 
 turned him a summerset. I was glad and scared 
 all the time for fear he would break the rope. Di- 
 rectly Nasho came up at a gallop on Bullet. Wild 
 Bill was pulling back as hard as he could. Nasho" 
 rode up behind him, touched him with his foot and 
 as he jumped forward threw his rope and caught both 
 fore feet. Then he tightened up his rope, whirled 
 Bullet, put spurs to him, and as Bill raised his feet 
 for another jump, he jerked them from under him and 
 down he came on his head. He surged and jerked 
 and tried to get up, but it wasn't any use. Bullet 
 had him stretched out so he couldn't get his feet un- 
 der him. I slid down the tree, got the halter and 
 rope from Nashq's saddle and ran up and caught Bill 
 by the nose with one hand and the ear with the other, 
 and turned his head straight up. He tried harder 
 than ever to get up, but it was no use we had him. 
 Then I put the halter over his head and fastened the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 8/ 
 
 rope to the tree. I was sure of him now, and I was 
 so glad I hardly knew what to do. 
 
 Wild Bild was mine. 
 
 There were twenty men that would have given two 
 hundred dollars for him, and one man in San Antonio 
 had offered five hundred for him, but they couldn't 
 get him now. Me and Nasho had done what a heap 
 of the best cow-hunters had tried to do and couldn't. 
 It was Nasho's plan, but he had agreed I was to catch 
 him and have him if we caught him. How to get 
 him home was the next thing.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CHARLEY RIDES WILD BILL. A LONG RIDE. A JUMP 
 
 INTO THE RIVER AND A TIGHT PLACE. CAMPING 
 
 OUT ALONE. 
 
 NASHO left Bullet and went down and got the 
 mare, and I held Bill until he got back. Then 
 he took the rope again, and I took the rope I had 
 caught him with off from the tree and his neck, and 
 fastened one end to the halter and gave the other 
 end to Nasho. Then I let the halter rope already 
 on him loose from the tree and got on Bullet as quick 
 as I could. Our plan was to ride on each side of him 
 so he couldn't run hard against either rope before the 
 other would stop him. If he ran toward me, Nasho 
 would check him ; and if toward Nasho, I would, and 
 in this way we thought we could, partly by leading, 
 and partly by driving, get him home. Nasho loosened 
 the rope round his feet so that when the horse got up 
 it would come off, and then rode about fifteen feet on 
 the other side from me and whistled to him to get up. 
 He didn't move. He hollered to him, and rode up 
 closer and clapped his hands, and jerked the rope so 
 it would hit him, but he wouldn't budge.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 8Q 
 
 ' He sulk now make much trouble." 
 
 He tried again, but the horse wouldn't move. 
 
 All in a minute I thought I would ride him, and 
 said 
 
 " Nasho, let's saddle him while he is down and I'll 
 ride him." 
 
 " No, no ! no good ! he quiet now, but he pitch like 
 mule when he get up." 
 
 I was afraid he would, but I had been the first one to 
 catch him and I was determined to be the first to ride 
 him, and now was as good a time as any. How proud 
 I would be to ride up to the house on him ! He 
 couldn't do any thing but throw me, and it wouldn't be 
 the first time I had been pitched, and I would fix him 
 so he couldn't get away if he did throw me. 
 
 I got down and unsaddled Bullet and took the bri- 
 dle off. I tied my rope to the tree so if he jumped 
 up he couldn't get away. Then I walked up and 
 dropped the blanket on him. He winced a little, but 
 didn't try to get up. Then I let the stirrups fall over 
 his sides, but he wouldn't move. We had a good deal 
 of trouble to get the girth under his belly, but at last 
 we did and I girted the saddle as tight as I could. 
 Then I took my bridle reins off my bridle and fast- 
 ened them to the halter, for it wasn't any use to put 
 the bridle on him. It's always the best way to ride a 
 wild horse with a halter. Then I cut a stout stick 
 nearly as big as my arm and about two feet long, and 
 fastened the end of my rope about the middle of it, so 
 that if he threw me and ran off the stick would catch
 
 QO LIVE BOYS. 
 
 in the bushes and hold him. I cut another one about 
 fifteen inches long and wrapped it in a piece of sad- 
 dle-blanket and fastened it tight to the horn of my 
 saddle in front of it, so he couldn't throw me out of 
 the saddle so easy if he pitched. I coiled up my 
 rope and laid it over the horn of the saddle so I could 
 throw it loose if I wanted to, and was ready to get on 
 him. I tell you I was scared. I was 'most certain he 
 would throw me, but I was going to try him anyhow. 
 I almost wished I hadn't said I would ride him. 
 Nasho fastened his rope to the tree and then un- 
 s: ddled the mare and saddled Bullet. I let his rope 
 loose from the halter, gathered up my reins, put my 
 foot in the stirrup and swung myself in the saddle as 
 well as I could with him lying down. He jumped up 
 quicker than any thing I ever saw except a buffalo, and 
 started off in a run. I was glad of it, for I had a heap 
 rather he would run than pitch, and I got my feet in 
 the stirrups and settled myself well in the saddle. 
 
 When he had run about a mile I looked back and 
 saw Nasho coming, but he was a good way back. 
 Wild Bill was too fast for Bullet. He kept straight on 
 in a long swinging gallop that got over a heap of 
 ground in a hurry. Up hill and down, jumping hol- 
 lows, through the brush, he never stopping for any 
 thing. I looked ahead and saw a creek and was 
 afraid it had steep banks. As we got nearer I saw a 
 little to the right a path that I knew went to the 
 creek, where there was a crossing, and tried my best 
 to pull his head around so ha would get in it, but it
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 9 1 
 
 was no use. I might as well have pulled against an 
 elephant. We kept getting closer to the creek. The 
 bank was a bluff, but I couldn't stop or turn Bill. I 
 caught my reins up tight, clinched to my saddle, shut 
 my eyes, and over we went The bottom was deep 
 mud, so it didn't hurt us. Bill gathered himself up, 
 turned down to the crossing, galloped through the 
 water up the bank and into the bottom. By good 
 luck he took the path, and by dodging down to his 
 neck to miss low branches, and twisting around every 
 way to keep others from dragging me out of the sad- 
 dle, I managed to stick to him till he got out on to the 
 prairie again. I got some hard licks from swinging 
 branches and bushes by the path, but I was very glad 
 to get off with that. Running through the bottom had 
 checked him up a little, but as soon as he got out he 
 struck out in his long gallop again. I knew by the 
 sun and the way he was going we must have come 
 ten miles, but he didn't seem the least bit tired. 
 
 All right, old fellow, I thought. This is better 
 tha'i pitching. I can stand it as long as you can. 
 
 It was glorious riding, I tell you. A broad, open 
 prairie, not level and flat, but running in long, easy 
 swells, the ground was smooth and hard and no holes, 
 and the grass not high enough to be in the way, and 
 not many gullies. I felt like I coulcl ride that way 
 all day. He didn't shake me much more than if 
 I had been sitting in a chair. I would have liked it 
 a heap better if I could have done any thing with 
 him, but I could neither stop or guide him. He
 
 92 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 didn't have any idea of any thing but going straight 
 ahead. 
 
 I had just looked at the sun and thought we must 
 have come nearly ten miles more, when I saw timber 
 ahead and I knew it was on some stream, a good big 
 one by the looks of it. It must be the Colorado. I be- 
 gan to get scared, for we might strike it at a bluff, and 
 where it was swimming, and I knew I couldn't stop 
 my horse. I was a good swimmer, but I didn't like 
 the idea of jumping into swimming water on a horse 
 I couldn't manage. I thought about throwing my 
 rope down and jumping out of the saddle, but I knew 
 I was most sure to get hurt that way, and there wasn't 
 any bushes to catch the stick, and I had ridden him 
 so far I didn't like to give up now. We kept going 
 like a flash, it seemed to me, and my heart was beat- 
 ing faster and faster I believe it would have come 
 out of my mouth if it could have got through my 
 throat, but it stuck there and nearly choked me. I 
 had a heap rather he had commenced pitching, bi.t he 
 just kept straight on. I couldn't see the water; the 
 bank must be bluff closer and closer; oh ! how my 
 heart beat when I saw a steep bluff forty feet high, 
 and blue, still water at the bottom. I would have 
 jumped out of the saddle if I could, but it was too 
 late. I caught my reins tight, clinched to my saddle, 
 jammed my hat on my head, shut my eyes, and over 
 we went. It seemed to me an hour before we struck 
 the water. We must have turned a complete summer- 
 set but we hit the water feet foremost and under we
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 93 
 
 went. Ugh ! how the cold water made me shiver. 
 I thought we never would come up again, but we did. 
 I was 'most stifled and strangled, but I held 0:1 to my 
 reins and clinched to the saddle. My horse just 
 stopped a second to blow the water out of his nose 
 and struck out for the other bank as if nothing had 
 happened. He swum high out of the water and 
 straight as a boat could pull. If there hadn't been 
 any thing in the way he would have made the other 
 bank without any trouble, and I reckon would have 
 run twenty miles further. But we wasn't to get out 
 so easy. 
 
 Out in the middle of the river where the current 
 was strongest a young cottonwood tree had drifted 
 and lodged. The butt end and roots had caught on a 
 bank that came up to the top of the water, and the 
 branches had lodged against an old snag sticking out 
 of the water that held them. The current was carry- 
 ing us right down against the branches. I had taken 
 my feet out of the stirrups and got my knife as quick 
 as I could and cut the strings that fastened the stick 
 in front of my saddle so I could get out easier. The 
 horse did his best to swim up stream enough to clear 
 the tree-top, but it was no use. \\'e kept getting 
 nearer and nearer until we struck it and lodged. My 
 horse reared and pawed with his fore feet, and tried 
 to turn round so he could swim away, but he couldn't. 
 The current kept pushing him against the branches, 
 and he had to keep working to keep from being suck- 
 ed under and drowned. I had stuck to him till now,
 
 94 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 but I couldn't do any good there so I slid out of the 
 saddle and swum to the branches and caught hold of 
 one and drew myself out of the water. Poor fellow ! 
 he was scared now sure enough, and whimpered to 
 me and looked at me as much as to ask me not to leave 
 him. I was so sorry for him I just determined I 
 wouldn't leave him as long as he could keep his head 
 above water or I could swim a lick. I crawled along 
 the branches to him and patted his head and spoke 
 kindly to him, and he kept up a low whinnying as if 
 thanking me. He wasn't a bit afraid of me now. I 
 felt so sorry I believe I cried. But being sorry 
 didn't do any good, and if I couldn't get him out of 
 there pretty soon he would give way and be sucked 
 under and drowned. 
 
 I couldn't see any way to get him loose. I couldn't 
 swim out into the river and pull him away from the 
 tree for he was stronger than I was, and he couldn't 
 swim away himself. He had tried it two or three 
 times. I couldn't pull him up along the tree because 
 he was tangled in the branches and couldn't get out. 
 I was just about to give it up and it seemed as if my 
 heart would most break to sit there and see him 
 drown right before my eyes asking me to help 
 him, when I happened to think of what Parson Theg- 
 lin had said to me about steady thinking. I couldn't 
 get him loose, that was certain, but may be I could 
 get the tree loose. I crawled to him again, patted 
 and rubbed his head and told him I was going to get 
 him loose, and then began to work my way along the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 95 
 
 tree toward the butt end. As I got away from him 
 he whinnied to me so pitiful I could hardly help but 
 turn back to him, but I looked round at him, stopped 
 a moment and hollered to him 
 
 "All right, old fellow, I'll come back directly and 
 help you out." 
 
 He seemed to know I was trying to help him, and 
 hushed. I got down to the end of the tree and found 
 it had caught by some roots against a big rock around 
 which the sand had washed so as to make it look like 
 a sand-bar. The roots wasn't big ones, and wouldn't 
 have held it if some grape-vines that were wrapped 
 round the trunk hadn't caught too, and help hold it. 
 
 I had my camp knife in my belt, and got it out. 
 It wasn't very long, but it was heavy and sharp, and I 
 cut the grape-vines, and then commenced on the roots. 
 It didn't take me long to hack two of them in two, 
 and the rest broke, and the butt end began to float 
 down stream, I crawled back as fast as I could to the 
 other end, and cut the branch that was holding my 
 horse. Then I got the rope from the horn of my sad- 
 dle, and swum to the snag that was holding the tree, 
 for I couldn't crawl any further on the branches, and 
 wrapped my rope around it. The tree began to move 
 down stream slow, and as the branches gave way from 
 the snag, they raked and scraped me terribly ; but I 
 hung on to the snag and my rope. It was taking the 
 horse with it ; but when he got to the end of the rope, 
 it stopped him. The branches jerked him under once, 
 and then swept round him and left him free. I call-
 
 96 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 ed him, and he whinnied and turned and swam to me. 
 I coiled my rope up as he came, and when he got to 
 me, patted and rubbed his head a second or two, 
 and got into the saddle and turned his head across 
 stream again. He could make it now without any 
 trouble, and the bank was low so we could get out. 
 
 Just as I was thinking our trouble was over I looked 
 again at what I first thought was a lump of clay, and 
 saw it was a calf's head. It had bogged. It wouldn't 
 do to land there. So I turned his head down stream 
 again. He looked round as if to ask me what that 
 was for, but didn't pull a bit. I could manage him 
 without any trouble. A few steps below the low 
 place there was a big bluff, and we had to swim down 
 the river a quarter of a mile. I would have turned 
 him across stream again where the bank was low, but 
 it looked like it might be boggy, and I knew he was 
 tired, and it was aheap easier swimming down stream. 
 I got out of the saddle and held to his mane with one 
 hand, and the reins with the other, and tried to help 
 as much as I could by kicking for myself. It seemed 
 to me a long time, though I know from the distance it 
 couldn't have been but a few minutes before we came 
 to a little flat place running out into the water, and a 
 path from it going up the hill. I knew it was a stock 
 watering place, and turned his head to it. In a minute 
 we were out on dry land again, and glad to get thertf 
 too I tell you. 
 
 I rode up the hill and found we had come out in a 
 l.'ttle valley where the grass was good. I turned him
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 97 
 
 down to an old dead tree and got off of him. He 
 rubbed his nose against my face, whinnying as if he 
 was trying to thank me forgetting him loose. I patted 
 his head and neck and talked to him as if he had been 
 a boy, and knew what I was saying. Then I unsad- 
 dled him and staked him out to get some grass. He 
 was hungry, and went to eating, though every little 
 while he would come up for me to pat him, and rub 
 his nose against my face. 
 
 I got my matches out of my pocket, and made a 
 a fire to dry my clothes and saddle-blanket. They 
 were in a bottle corked up tight, and hadn't got wet. 
 It's the best way to carry matches I ever saw. Uncle 
 told me about it, and told me too, always to carry them 
 in my pocket, and not in my saddle-pockets, for if my 
 horse got away I would have them with me. 
 
 I was hungry, for I hadn't eat any dinner; but Nasho 
 had our provisions, and there wasn't any house near. 
 I looked around to see if I could see any birds, and in 
 moving about a rabbit jumped up almost from under 
 my feet and ran off. I followed him, and saw him go 
 into a hollow in a tree close to the ground. I cut a 
 little green stick with a fork at the end, and twisted 
 him out directly. It didn't take me long to skin and 
 wash him at the river, nor to c:ok him either. I found 
 some salt in my saddle-pockets in a bottle, and there 
 was plenty of red pepper growing along the river bank, 
 and I made a good meal off of him. 
 
 By the time I had finished my dinner my clothes 
 and saddle-blanket was dry, and I put them o i. The 
 7
 
 98 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 sun wasn't more than half an hour high, but I wanted 
 to get across the river before night, and find a house 
 where I could stay all night, for I didn't have any 
 provisions or blankets, and it's lonesome camping out 
 by yourself. I rode down the river a mile and found 
 a ford and crossed, but didn't see any house. Then 
 I rode up the river two miles above where I had swam 
 it, but still didn't find any house, so I thought I had 
 as well camp. I stopped at the first open place where 
 there was grass and wood, unsaddled my horse, staked 
 him out and gathered up wood enough to keep up fire 
 all night. In getting up wood I started another rab- 
 bit, and caught him like the other one. I didn't want 
 any supper, so I just cleaned him and hung him up in 
 a young tree where nothing could get to him. Then 
 I saw some old, black moss, and got a lot and made 
 me a bed of it. By this time it was dark ; so I tied 
 my horse up close so he couldn't hurt himself with 
 the rope, but leaving him room to lie down if he want- 
 ed to, and after petting him a little went to bed. I 
 wasn't any more afraid of him than I am now, and he 
 wasn't afraid of me, or the saddle, or the rope, or any 
 thing about me. I waked up cold once or twice in 
 the night, and put on more wood, and went out and 
 petted my horse a little and then lay down and went 
 to sleep again. The moss made a soft bed, and the 
 saddle-blanket was plenty of covering with the fire. 
 I was a little bit afraid of panthers, but I was too tired 
 to keep awake. 
 
 I woke up early next morning, staked my horse so
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 99 
 
 he could eat grass, and began cooking my rabbit. It 
 was cold, and I put on a good deal of wood and it 
 made a blazing fire. Directly I happened to look up 
 and saw my horse watching something. It was Nasho. 
 Wasn't I glad to see him ! He had followed my trail 
 all the way but was stopped by the darkness only half 
 a mile from the river, and had camped as I did, though 
 he had provisions and coffee, and our blankets. It 
 wasn't many minutes before we had a pot of coffee on, 
 and some bacon cooking, and while we ate breakfast 
 he told me how he followed the trail after he lost sight 
 of me. 
 
 Once a bunch of horses had got in the path and he 
 couldn't see my horse's prints at all, but he kept on 
 the way I had been going and pretty soon he struck 
 them again. He said sometimes on the prairie he 
 could scarcely see the tracks, but generally he kept on 
 as fast as his horse could travel. When he got 
 to the bluff where we had jumped off he didn't know 
 what to do, but turned down the river to see if he 
 could see anywhere I could get out, intending to go 
 down and look for the tracks, when he happened to 
 see my fire and came to me. 
 
 " Me mighty glad to see you ; for me tought you 
 was gone up when me see tracks go over bluff." 
 
 I told him I was mighty glad to see him too. There 
 ain't many American boys that would have followed 
 me up as he did. Nasho '11 do to trust every time if 
 he likes anybody. 
 
 After breakfast we started back, and that night we
 
 100 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 reached home. Uncle was very much surprised to 
 see me come riding up on a strange horse, and a heap 
 more so when I told him how we had caught him 
 and what a ride I had had. He said I ought not to 
 have got on him, and it was a wonder I hadn't been 
 killed ; but I heard him tell Auntie that those boys 
 would do to go to the Centennial no fear about their 
 not being able to take care of themselves. From that 
 day to this I have never had the least bit of trouble 
 with my horse, and I wouldn't take ten thousand dol- 
 lars for him. I don't want to take any more such 
 rides, but I wouldn't have missed that one for a heap.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO. A NEW FRIEND. 
 
 THE week before Christmas we asked Uncle if we 
 might go to San Antonio and sell our pecans and 
 turkeys. He said yes. We took the wagon bed and 
 put long slats to it for side boards and over it so as to 
 make it a big coop. We had one already made for 
 the partridges. One wagon would near hold all our 
 stuff, so we borrowed Mr. Lowry's and brought it to 
 Uncle's so as to get an early start next morning. 
 Auntie cooked bread enough to last us there and 
 back, and ground coffee, and we took some dried beef 
 too. 
 
 Next morning we hitched up the horses to the 
 wagons, one span to each, and started. One wagon 
 had fifty turkeys and twelve dozen partridges, and the 
 other fifteen bushels of pecans. We took old Bose 
 with us to keep the hogs and cattle away from our 
 horses while they were eating. We had to take corn 
 and fodder for them, for there ain't much grass on the 
 road in winter. Neither of us had ever been there, 
 but Uncle told us the road and we knew we could 
 find it It was the main big road all the way.
 
 IO2 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 I 'most forgot Nasho's wax figures. He had some 
 of the best and prettiest he had ever made, for Miss 
 Masover had helped him a great deal and he had 
 taken a heap of pains with them. One of them was 
 a Mexican on a black horse roping a white bull. The 
 Mexican had on a red jacket, and yellow pants with 
 buttons down the sides and open from the top of "his 
 shiny black boots, and a red sash around his waist, 
 and a broad brimmed hat, and every thing was just as 
 natural as could be. He was whirling the rope 
 around his head, and his horse was wheeling on his 
 hind legs to get out of the way of the bull that was 
 running at him with his head down to hook him. 
 They were both fast to a little stand that could be set 
 on the mantle or a table. 
 
 Another one was an Indian woman sitting over a 
 little fire cooking a lizard stuck on a stick. Wrapped 
 up in her blanket was a little Indian baby. Off to 
 one side was an Indian coming to camp with a deer 
 en his back. They were all as poor and scrauny as 
 could be, and looked 'most starved, as they must have 
 been to eat lizards, but they were going to have 
 plenty to eat now that the hunter had come back with 
 game. There were some trees back of the camp and 
 big rocks with moss growing over them and all just 
 as natural as if they had been actual little people, and 
 trees and rocks. Then he had men and women 
 dressed in Mexican fashion carrying baskets of all 
 kinds of vegetables and fruits, and chickens, and 
 turkeys, and parrots, and cages of birds, and every
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. IO3 
 
 thing was just like life and colored just like what it 
 was made to represent. Miss Masover gave us a letter 
 to one of her friends in the city, that she said would 
 help us sell the wax figures so as to get more for 
 them than we would by ourselves. We started early 
 Tuesday morning, and Thursday, about ten o'clock, at 
 the eight-mile hill, we came in sight of San Antonio. 
 It made me think of what I had read of oasis in the 
 desert. We were travelling over a rough country with a 
 good many rocks and not much timber, and scrubby 
 too, and only now and then a house, and all of a sud- 
 den on getting to the top of a long hill there was a 
 city almost under one's feet, it looked so close. It 
 was a pretty sight, the big white houses thick together, 
 and the church steeples looking like arrows pointing 
 to heaven, and the pretty little houses shining among 
 the trees around them. In the spring, when the trees 
 are all in full leaf, it must be a great deal prettier. 
 
 We drove right into the city to the main Plaza. The 
 last mile there were houses all the way, and the road 
 was through a lane. Alongside of it, part of the way, 
 was a ditch full to the brim of clear running water. 
 Some of the houses on the road were the finest I had 
 ever seen. They had large yards in front of them, 
 laid off with trees, and evergreen shrubs, and flower- 
 beds in all shapes and forms. Some of them were of 
 brick, but most of them were frame, painted white, 
 with green shutters, and nearly all had fences in front 
 of them of palings with fancy cut tops. One had a 
 w.re fence, but it wasn't pretty. It looked like no fence
 
 104 ' LIVE BOYS. 
 
 at all, and like any one could go into the house that 
 wanted to. Sometimes right next to the yard of a 
 fine, large house with a beautiful yard would be sever- 
 al little huts, just one room and a dirt floor, and noth- 
 ing in the little pen of a yard but two or three poor 
 dogs without any hair on them. They were mostly 
 Mexican Jacals, where the poor Mexicans, called peons, 
 or greasers, lived, and the dogs were Mexican dogs 
 called pelones. A peon is really a Mexican who owes 
 another man and has to work for him till he pays him, 
 and that is not allowed in Texas, but all poor Mexicans 
 are called peons or greasers. Sometimes we would see 
 Mexican women washing at the ditches, or maybe 
 cooking something over a little fire out of doors. 
 
 When we got into the city, we found a great many 
 people coming ard going in wagons and carriages and 
 on horseback, and we had to keep a good look-out to 
 prevent getting run into, or running into somebody. 
 Bose got under my wagon. Everybody seemed to be 
 in a hurry. Most of the wagons that was going in 
 had corn, or fodder, or wood, or chickens and turkeys, 
 or something else to eat that was raised in the coun- 
 try, while those that were coming out had all sorts of 
 packages out of stores. Once in a while one would 
 have a new plow, or harrow, or cultivator. A good 
 many of the farmer's had their wives or daughters 
 with them, and one or two looked like the whole 
 family had come in for Christmas. 
 
 I'ne Plaza was full of wagons coming and going, 
 and a good many standing still waiting for somebody
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. JO5 
 
 to come and buy. When I saw so many wagons with 
 turkeys and chickens, I was afraid there wasn't much 
 chance for us to sell ours ;,but when I saw so many 
 people I knew it would take a great many to do them 
 all, and ours was prime fat. 
 
 Pretty soon a man came along with a pencil behind 
 his ear, and seeing our loads stopped and asked us 
 where we was from. 
 
 From Kerrville, sir. 
 
 " Did you come by yourselves ? " 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Where did you get so many wild turkeys ? " 
 
 We caught them in pens, and the partridges in 
 traps. 
 
 " Why you are lucky little fellows. You will be 
 rich when you sell them." 
 
 Oh no, sir, we want more money than that ! 
 
 He seemed so kind, and to feel so much interest in 
 us, that I just thought I would tell him all about it, so 
 I told him we was going to the Centennial, and had 
 been working to get money to buy horses to dnve 
 cattle with, and how we caught the turkeys, and about 
 killing the deer, and bear, and catching Wild Bill. 
 He listened with a great deal of interest, and asked 
 us a great many questions, and wanted to see the wax 
 figures, but they was packed up so close and carefully 
 we couldn't get at them there. I told him we had a 
 letter to Mr. Gamble about them. 
 
 "Well," said he, " Charley, you go with me to Mr. 
 Gamble's store, and we will sec what caa be done in
 
 IC>6 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 the way of helping you to sell them. We must make 
 them bring a good price. Your little friend here, 
 what's his name ? " 
 
 I told him Ygnacio, but we called him Nasho for 
 short. 
 
 " Well, Nasho will stay with the wagons until you 
 come. I carried the box, for it wasn't very heavy, and 
 we went to the store. It was full of books and pic- 
 tures, and piles of paper and toys, and pretty things. 
 
 When the box was opened they all said it was fine 
 work, and as pretty figures as the)' had ever seen, 
 though they have a great deal of that kind of work in 
 San Antonio. A lady who came up, asked who made 
 them. I told her Nasho. 
 
 The man who had come with me then told them 
 something about us, and that we wanted to sell our 
 things so we could go to the Centennial. While they 
 were talking, I gave Mr. Gamble the letter from Miss 
 Masover. He read it and then shook hands with me, 
 and asked me a good many questions about her, and 
 then invited me to come to his house and bring Nasho 
 with me and stay all night. I thanked him, but told 
 him we would have to stay with our wagons. Then 
 the gentleman who came with us said : 
 
 " I tell you what, Gamble, we must have a raffle, or 
 an auction, and sell these things for these little fellows, 
 and make them bring a good price." 
 
 " But, Mr. Penseler, I have got just such things on 
 hand now, and they don't seem to sell much." 
 
 " Will you auction them off if I send the people 
 here?"
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. IO/ 
 
 " Yes, with pleasure." 
 
 " At what hour." 
 
 " Eleven o'clock will be as good a time as any." 
 
 " All right ; you be ready and I'll engage to have 
 the people here. And be sure you make them bring 
 the last cent." 
 
 Then he stepped into a store with bolts of goods 
 piled up on boxes in front of it, and clothes and boots 
 and shoes stuck and hung wherever there was any 
 place for them, and come out in a minute with a square 
 piece of red flannel with a broad yellow stripe pinned 
 across both sides. 
 
 " Now Charley," said he, you fasten this to a stick 
 and put it in front of your wagon where it can be seen 
 all round, and you and Nasho drive your wagons right 
 where I found you this evening to-morrow morning, 
 as soon as you get your breakfast, and you won't have 
 any trouble in selling what you have. What do you 
 ask for your turkeys ? " 
 
 Fifty cents for the hens, and six bits for the gob- 
 blers. 
 
 " You ask six bits for the hens and a dollar for the 
 gobblers " 
 
 But that is more than they are worth, sir. 
 
 " Not a cent. They are fat on corn and stuff, and 
 besides turkeys don't get caught that way every day." 
 
 I don't like not to do as you say, sir, but everybody 
 sells them that way, and it don't seem to me to be 
 right to ask more." 
 
 " I am glad to see you are honest, though I
 
 1O8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 would have sworn to that anyhow. Everybody asks 
 all they can get, and you must do the same. It is 
 not everybody wants to go to the Centennial 
 bad enough to work as you little fellows have done 
 for it, and you must have all you can get you will 
 want it when you get there. I wouldn't tell you to 
 do any thing that was wrong, Charley. There ain't 
 so many honest men in the world that we can afford 
 to spoil any that are coming on and make rogues of 
 them. Will you do as I say ? " 
 
 I wish I could, sir, but indeed I can't. It don't 
 seem to me it would be right. Please don't think I 
 am setting myself up against you, sir ; indeed I am 
 not, but you know every one must do what seems 
 right to them, and it don't seem right to me to ask 
 more than other people. It would seem like we 
 wanted to swindle people. 
 
 " You look like swindling people, don't you, bless 
 your green little heart'! all right, Charley ; I don't 
 want you to do what you don't think is right ; but 
 think about it to-night and see if I am not right. 
 Remember, people don't have to buy of you. You 
 ask your price, and if they are not willing to give it, 
 they can go somewhere else. When you come to 
 buy your horses whoever sells to you will ask all he 
 thinks he can get. At what wagon yard do you 
 stop ? " 
 
 I told him. 
 
 " That's a good one. Watch your wagons to-night, 
 ah ! I see you have got Bose along. I'll warrant no-
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. lOQ 
 
 body will steal any thing without his knowing it. Put 
 up your flag when you get up in the morning and 
 after breakfast drive where I told you, and my word 
 for it by ten o'clock you won't have a turkey or par- 
 tridge left. Then drive back to the yard and leave 
 your wagons and look about tovi, and at eleven come 
 to Gamble's and watch your figures sold."
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO GET THEIR NAMES IN THE 
 PAPER. 
 
 AS it was nearly dark we went to the wagon yard 
 and put up. There were a great many others 
 in the yard, but we did not believe they would try to 
 steal from us, and if they should we knew Bose would 
 wake us up. 
 
 Next morning we were up by the first peep of day, 
 fed our horses and got breakfast. I put up our flag 
 the first thing on getting up. While we were eating 
 a little fellow came along with a bundle of papers 
 under one arm, and a single one in his other hand, 
 and seeing our place came up and handed me a paper ! 
 
 " Got your name in the paper country-kin. Look 
 for the blue mark and read, turkey-stock '11 be active 
 this morning. The early-bird catches the worm the 
 sooner you git your gobblers to the .plaza the better. 
 Good luck to you, and when you get to the centennial 
 just tell General Hawley to save his private box for 
 me and have the military ready July 4th. Give you a 
 letter to the General if I wasn't in a hurry. Good-bye." 
 
 I hardly knew what to make of him, he was so free
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. Ill 
 
 and easy, but I asked him if he wouldn't have a cup 
 of coffee and some breakfast. 
 
 " Thank you, I will try your coffee. Don't upset 
 your coffee pot. I don't hold a quart." He drank 
 half a cup of coffee and put down the cup with a 
 smack of his lips. " Better set up a coffee stall when, 
 you get there, young one. There's no defalcation 
 about that coffee, for I know coffee, I do none of your 
 boarding house stuff that. If the little greaser don't 
 know how to make good bread just let me have him 
 a month before you start and I'll put him to school 
 in that line where his education won't be neglected. 
 It runs in the breed to mix flcur stuffs and get its 
 best out of an oven. But my customers arc suffering 
 for their morning's ration of intelligence. It's all 
 they'll get during the day, most of them, and they'd 
 be in bankruptcy before dinner without it. They sus- 
 pends regularly every Monday morning, but come out 
 again shining at breakfast Tuesday. Adios, Senores," 
 and with a low bow and a wide sweep of his cap he 
 was off on a trot, screeching like a cat fighting : 
 
 " Ere'syer morning paper! All the latest news ! Two 
 genuine Texas Lions in town ! Turkeys active this 
 morning. Tell's you where to see the show, the Her- 
 ald does, only ten cents." 
 
 I didn't understand more than half he said then, 
 though I did afterward, but I didn't forget a word of 
 it. It's curious how people can remember and keep 
 thinking about what they can't understand. 
 
 When he was out of sight, I could hear him long
 
 112 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 afterwards. I picked up the paper and looked for the 
 blue mark. I found it on the inside page, what they 
 call the local page, Mr. Penseler told me afterward, 
 and there a big blue mark right over an article that 
 had in big type this heading. 
 
 TWO REGULAR TEXAS LIONS 
 
 IN THE CITY 
 
 L'AST NIGHT. 
 
 THEY ARE EXPECTED ON THE MAIN PLAZA 
 THIS MORNING. 
 
 GET YOUR AMMUNITION READY 
 
 AND BE ON HAND WHEN YOU SEE THE 
 
 RED FLAG. 
 
 " Yesterday evening while on his rounds for news 
 for the many thousand readers of the Herald, one of 
 its reporters was attracted by the sight of a wagon 
 full of wild turkeys whose youthful driver, of fourteen 
 or thereabouts, was evidently in the city for the first 
 time. Near him was a second wagon full of pecans, 
 engineered by a little Mexican of about the same age 
 as his Saxon comrade, but who, though evidently not 
 city raised, seemed as indifferent as a savage or a man 
 who had just bought out our good town and was re- 
 solving which one of his wife's relations to give it to.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I 13 
 
 Drawing near and entering into conversation, he found 
 the little fellows had fifty wild turkeys which they 
 had caught in pens, twelve dozen partridges fairly 
 trapped, nanets, gentlemen sportsmen fifteen bushels 
 of pecans, half a dozen deer and one bear-ski , and a 
 lot of wax figures which the little Mexican had made. 
 All of the above were the result of their own labors. 
 
 " Questioning them as to their object he soon found 
 that they intended going to the Centennial, and were 
 trying to raise money to buy horses so that they could 
 hire to drive cattle to Kansas. From there they 
 would go on to the great Fair, come back to Kansas 
 and ride their horses home again. The reporter felt 
 so much interest in the little fellows, so frank, honest, 
 shrinking and yet straightforward and manly were 
 they, that he interested himself in assisting them to 
 dispose of their hard-won booty, for the bear had been 
 killed by Charlie only after a severe fight. Taking 
 him over to Gamble's the box of wax figures was 
 opened and found to contain some of the finest stat- 
 uettes ever exhibited in San Antonio. The writer 
 claims to know something of this work, for he has 
 seen hundreds of exhibitions of it in its home in the 
 Mexican Capital, but more thoroughly correct imita- 
 tions of the objects represented both as to form, color 
 and every thing that goes to the making of tableau 
 vivants, he has never seen. A gayly-dressed cavalier 
 lassoing a bull, an Indian hunter returning with the 
 spoils of the chase to his famished camp just in time 
 to forestall the meal upon disgusting reptiles, market-
 
 114 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 men and women, birds and flowers are among the sub- 
 jects so accurately represented. He was astonished 
 to find such delicacy of design and skilful execution 
 in one so young, and whose life one would rather 
 suppose from his appearance to have been passed 
 among the Kickapoos, though he was neatly attired 
 and not without much latent intelligence, than amid 
 work like this, that might well have come from pupils 
 who had spent years in Mexico's superb art-school ,- 
 but on further inquiry he ascertained that the young 
 artist had had the inestimable advantage of the teach- 
 ing and skilful assistance of one who was last season 
 one of the most admired belles of our gay city, but 
 who is now teaching the young idea, to shoot among 
 the mountains of our northern frontier. To her other 
 favors she had added that of a letter introductory to 
 Mr. Gamble, our enterprising and public-spirited sta- 
 tioner. He at once became interested in the little 
 fellows, and promptly acceded to the suggestion of 
 our reporter, to have an auction for the sale of the 
 statuettes. It will come off this morning at eleven 
 o'clock sharp, the popular J. Mangum Rolemoff having 
 volunteered his valuable services to assist in offering 
 them to the public. Aside from their artistic merit, 
 for which we vouch our critical reputation, the occa- 
 sion is certainly one which appeals most strongly to 
 those of our free-spirited fellow-citizens, and they are 
 legion, who take pleasure in assisting honest indus- 
 try, all the more when it presents itself in the shape 
 of two orphan boys, for they are such, who, at an age
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IX TEXAS. 11$ 
 
 when most boys would care for little else than marble 
 and top, or gun and horse, are doing men's work to 
 gain the means to take them to the World's Fair next 
 year. They are not going out of idle curiosity, but 
 with a desire more to be expected in mature men 
 than such striplings, to reap the advantages of such 
 an education in the practical exhibition of the world's 
 deeds as no books can give, and as is not likely to be 
 again offered to any American boy now conning his 
 worritsome lessons. We sincerely trust every article 
 will be made to bring its true price, many times en- 
 chanced by the nature of the boy's ambition and the 
 beautiful and lovely woman's generous heart, that 
 have so lavishly been expended on these treasures. 
 Aside from the pleasure of their possession as articles 
 of beauty, they can never fail to remind their fortu- 
 nate owners of the power of determined will, however 
 immature and undisciplined, and they can and will 
 be made such an ever-present and stimulating encour- 
 agement to other boys more favorably situated as can 
 be drawn from no books with their tales of the heroic 
 past. These little fellows are only working for a 
 commencement. When they start on their cattle drive 
 to which all this work thus far has only been prelim- 
 inary, their labor will only have begun. Many a 
 weary mile must be passed over, many a long day of 
 broiling sun and stifling dust, many a painful night 
 when weariness has become torture to exhausted 
 frames, many a pitiless storm during which frightened 
 cattle will be rushing round them in wild confusion,
 
 Il6 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 like the bison herds of the prairie, must be endured 
 ere they reach their distant goal. And into all this 
 they venture alone, animated only by that sublime 
 thirst for knowledge which has written the names of 
 many of its possessors high in the temple of fame, 
 and handed them down to the ages as worthy of all 
 honor because they sought that wisdom which Israel's 
 sage King deemed more to be desired than all of 
 earth's treasures. 
 
 "These beautiful statuettes will be on exhibition at 
 Gamble's from 9 a.m. until the hour of sale. Don't 
 miss your only chance, for the sake of your own fu- 
 ture gratification, and the honor of the Lone Star. 
 
 " We are about to forget to call the attention of our 
 readers, many of whom, as is so often the case in art 
 centres, are as ready for a feast gastronomical as intel- 
 lectual, preparing for the last by the first, that they 
 will find the choicest turkeys of the season, their wild 
 gamy flavor added to and improved by careful feeding, 
 on the south side of the main Plaza, at a wagon flying 
 a red flag with a bar of yellow. Don't offer these 
 noble little fellows less than a dollar each for their 
 superb wild fowls or your dinner's will be sauced with 
 the Paschal Lamb salad of bitter remorse. But it's 
 no use suggesting this. Parsimoniousness is not a 
 feature of our game city. And if you want the finest 
 nuts of the season, nuts that gathered sweetness and 
 richness from sun and air until their stems would no 
 longer hold them nuts that will never call into requi- 
 sition the iron-hearted nut-crackers, or break the lit-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 1 1/ 
 
 tie folks' teeth by their obduracy, just call on Senor 
 Don Mexicain El Pequefio, and he will furnish you 
 with a dessert the gods might envy. Three dollars a 
 bushel, remember ; no one can afford to offer less.* 
 
 * I have copied this exactly from the paper which Charlie 
 had preserved, and which he showed me on his return. A. M.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SELLING OUT THEIR LOAD. SHARP PRACTICE. THE 
 
 OLD ALAMO, AND THE GREAT BATTLE THERE. 
 
 BY the time I had finished reading the paper break- 
 fast was over, and we hitched up and drove to 
 the main Plaza. We saw people in every direction, 
 coming and going to market with baskets on their 
 arms. Directly a man came along with some greens 
 sticking out of his basket, and hollered to us in a 
 pleasant voice: " Hand us out a gobbler Charley; 
 one of your best, and here's your dollar." 
 
 I told him I didn't ask but six bits, but he said : 
 
 " All right, my boy the other quarter will buy you 
 a lunch some day at the Centennial." 
 
 He took his gobbler and left, but it wasn't but a few 
 minutes till another one came, and then another, and 
 then they kept coming in a regular string, and in an 
 hour we had sold all but one, which I kept, and all 
 the partridges but one dozen, which I wouldn't sell, 
 though several persons wanted them. Almost every- 
 body wanted gobblers, but most of them gave us a 
 dollar apiece for the hens as well, though two didn't 
 give but four bits, which I told them was all we asked. 
 
 My wagon was now empty, all but the deer and bear
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN* TEXAS. I !<, 
 
 skins, but Nasho hadn't sold but one bushel of pecans. 
 We were talking whether we hadn't better go to some 
 of the merchants and sell them all together, or go 
 round among the houses with them, when we saw two 
 men coming from different directions, and both in a 
 hurry. They wasn't Americans, nor Mexicans, nor 
 Dutch, and they didn't speak very plain English. 
 The first one that got to us said, 'most out of breath, 
 he had walked so fast : 
 
 " Mine goot boy, I takes all your pecans at dwc 
 dollars a bushel. De down ish full of pecans you 
 can't git so much from anybody else." 
 
 Just then the other one came up and said : 
 
 " I gifs you dwo dollars and a quarter a bushel, 
 Charley." 
 
 " Dwo and a half." 
 
 " Dwo and six bits." 
 
 " Three dollars I gifs. Stay, my friend," and he 
 called the other one to him, and they talked a minute 
 and shook their heads and came back to together, and 
 the last one said : 
 
 " Dis man agree for me to take all your pecans at 
 dwo dollars and a half a bushel." 
 
 Now I had heard from some men at the wagon yard 
 that common pecans were bringing two dollars and a 
 half a bushel, and ours were uncommonly fine ones, 
 and I thought they were worth three dollars, and I 
 was 'most certain too that the two men had agreed to 
 buy them together, so as not to give so much for 
 them by bidding against each other ; so I said :
 
 120 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 The other man offered me three dollars. 
 
 " No ; I don't gif no such brice. Dey is worth no 
 more clan dwo dollars and a half." 
 
 Very well, sir, I said, they are worth three dollars 
 a bushel. 
 
 " Nobody ish fool enough to give you no such price," 
 said the second man. 
 
 Then nobody needn't buy them. 
 
 " Come, Charley, I'll do petter by you ash nobody 
 else. I gifs you dwo dollars and sixty cents, and 
 dakes dem all. You mosh stay here all day before 
 you can beddle dem by the bushel, and den you don't 
 git no more ash I offer you." 
 
 Three dollars a bushel. 
 
 They went off together again and talked a few 
 minutes and came back, and the one who had offered 
 two dollars and sixty cents said : 
 
 " I gifs you dwo dollars and six bits, my goot boy ; 
 dat is awful big brice." 
 
 I didn't like his trying to beat me down, and just 
 turned to Nasho and asked him to watch my team 
 while I went across the square. I hadn't more than 
 started before he came to me and said : 
 
 " You makes one goot merchant, mine sharp poy. 
 I gifs you dree dollars. How many has you got." 
 
 Fourteen bushels ; but I'll keep one bushel. 
 
 " Dat ish too many. I don't want no more ash den 
 bushels." 
 
 Well, I will sell you ten bushels. 
 
 " Come on den."
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 121 
 
 I took Nasho's wagon and drove to his stand at one 
 of the street corners, and measured him out ten bush- 
 els. He gave me three ten dollar bills, and tried hard 
 to get me to buy some fruit and candy from him, but 
 I wouldn't. I wanted some, but I intended to bay 
 from an honest man. In driving along down the street 
 another fruit man at the other corner stopped me and 
 asked what I had to sell. He thought my price was too 
 high, but when I showed him what fine ones they were 
 he took the other four bushels, and gave me two five- 
 dollar bills, a two-dollar one and two fifty-cent pieces 
 in silver. Just then I saw Mr. Penseler going along 
 and called him. When he came up I told him I had 
 a turkey and a half bushel of pecans for him, and 
 wanted to know where he lived, so I could take them 
 to his house. He didn't want to take them, but I 
 told him he must, and he got on the wagon and we 
 drove to his house and left them. Then I went back 
 to where I had left Nasho, and stopped on the way at 
 Mr. Gamble's store and left a dozen partridges and a 
 half bushel of pecans for him, and then me and Nasho 
 drove to the wagon yard and put up our teams. 
 
 Just as we got through, Mr. Penseler came to the 
 yard and asked me if I wouldn't like to go to the 
 Alamo. I told him yes, because I had often heard Uncle 
 tell about it. He had a brother killed there. When 
 we got there and while we were walking about 
 in the old fort, I tried to think how every thing 
 must have looked nearly forty years ago, when 
 there were one hundred and eighty-two dead Texas
 
 122 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 soldiers, and sixteen hundred Mexicans lying in 
 and about the old walls, and what a terrible sight 
 it must have been when Santa Anna, the Mexican 
 General, had all the dead Texans burned. They went 
 out and brought in great loads of dry wood, and spread 
 a lot on the ground, and put a row of bodies on it, 
 and then another big lot of wood and then more 
 bodies, until they had made several big piles. Then 
 they set fire to them, and put on more wood as it 
 burnt out until nothing was left of the bodies but 
 ashes. Old Santa Anna was mad because they had 
 fought him so long and killed so many of his men. 
 He had four thousand, and they fought him eleven 
 days, and killed nearly ten Mexicans apiece, but not 
 a single one of them got away. They even killed 
 Col. Bowie in his bed, but he fought them to the last. 
 Mr. Penseler showed me where it was. There was 
 one woman and her child in the fort, and the Mexicans 
 did 't kill them. She lives in Austin now, but her 
 child is dead. Uncle always says if it had not been 
 for the fight at the Alamo, all the Americans in 
 Texas would have been driven out of the country. 
 Old Santa Anna himself was afterward caught at 
 San Jacinto with his whole army all that wasn't 
 killed, but Gen. Houston, instead of burning him or 
 hanging him, sent him out of the country. I tell you, 
 Mr. Morecamp, reading about things is not like seeing 
 them, or the places where they happened. I had often 
 heard Uncle tell about the massacre of the Alamo, 
 and didn't think a great deal about it, but when I was
 
 CHARLEY AND XASIIO IX TEXAS. 123 
 
 there inside the walls where the firing never stopped 
 for eleven days, and where that morning before day- 
 light one hundred and eighty-two men that had been 
 well and strong an hour before, were left on the 
 ground all dead, besides the hundreds and hundreds 
 of Mexicans, it did seem like a terrible thing to me. 
 A man can't do any more than give up his life for any- 
 body, and they gave up theirs for their friends and 
 country. I don't think we ought ever to forget them, 
 or that they died for us. I have heard some people 
 say many of them were bad men who had to leave 
 their own States because of things they had done 
 there, or to keep from paying their debts. I don't 
 know any thing about that, but they was sent there to 
 keep the Mexicans back, and they done it till they died. 
 Gen. Lee couldn't have done any more. Mr. Penseler 
 told us there was some talk of the old Fort being sold 
 to some men for a livery stable. It seems to me it 
 would be like selling a graveyard. It is all the grave 
 they had.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AUCTIONING THE WAX FIGURES. TROUBLE ABOUT 
 
 COUNTERFEIT MONEY. HOME AGAIN. 
 
 WHEN we left the Alamo we went to the book- 
 store and watched Mr. Rolemoff sell the wax- 
 figures. There were a great many people there ; some 
 of them ladies. When the clock struck eleven he got 
 upon the counter, and making a very polite bow, sai ' 
 I won't pretend to give the very words he used, but it 
 was pretty near like this, for it was the first auction I 
 had ever been at and I listened close : 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, you are aware of the very 
 unusual circumstances that bring me before you this 
 morning. The beautiful works of art which I have the 
 honor to offer you, aside from the origin which so 
 greatly enhances their value, speak for themselves so 
 much more eloquently than I could do that I will not 
 enter into particulars, and with such an audience as I 
 have the hono- of addressing, it will be unnecessary 
 for me to dwell on their merits, or use the ordinary 
 tricks of the trade, to draw out the full value of the 
 goods presented. I here offer you and he held up an
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IX TEXAS. 125 
 
 old market man with a basket full of vegetables and 
 fruit on his back, so that they could all see it a figure 
 which is somewhat familiar to the most of you, not 
 only in reality, but in imaged resemblance. Whether 
 you have seen any better work of this description you 
 will be the fitting judges. For myself, I have only to 
 say that I entirely coincide with the views expressed 
 by the Herald of this morning in its local upon this 
 subject. What have you to say about this charming 
 little statuette ? " 
 
 " Two dollars and a half." 
 
 I looked to see who it was that bid, but before I 
 could find him in the crowd, somebody else said : 
 
 " Three dollars.*' 
 
 "And a half" "Four" "and a quarter " 
 " Half " " Six bits." 
 
 They bid so fast I couldn't keep up with them, but 
 the auctioneer seemed to see everyone. 
 
 " Four dollars and six bits have been offered, some 
 gentleman I am sure will make it five. Oh ! thank 
 you, sir. Five dollars, five dollars, five dollars, fi-v-e 
 dollar-s if you are through we will not dwell once 
 more Five dollars, going, going, gone. Mr. Herkimer 
 takes it. I will here say, ladies and gentleman, that 
 the sale will not occupy more than half an hour, at the 
 expiration of which time you can obtain your pur- 
 chases at the counter. Our gallant little frontiersmen 
 wish to leave the city immediately after noon, and we 
 request that the goods will be settled for at once on 
 that account.
 
 126 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Then he put up the man roping the bull, and it 
 brought twelve dollars and a half. Altogether they 
 brought fifty-five dollars. In a few minutes after the 
 sale was over, Mr. Gamble handed me the money, and 
 I thanked him for his kindness in helping us so much. 
 I ivas going to give the money to Nasho, but he told 
 me to give him five dollars and keep the rest. Mr. 
 Penseler told us to come back there at half past twelve 
 and we could take dinner together. Then we sepa- 
 rated. 
 
 I wanted to buy a nice shawl for Auntie, and went 
 to a store where I saw such things hanging out and 
 asked to see some shawls for ladies. I told him I 
 didn't wan't a very fine one, but a good, warm, pretty 
 one. He showed me some, and I picked out one and 
 asked him what it was worth. He said six dollars, 
 and I told him I would take it, and got out my money 
 and handed him a ten-dollar bill. He looked at it, 
 and turned it over, and looked at it again close, and 
 then told me to wait a minute, and went back to the 
 other end of the store. Directly he came back again 
 with a gentleman who I felt sure owned the store. 
 He came up to me and said : " My little man, where 
 did you get this money ? " 
 
 I sold pecans for it, sir. 
 
 " Who bought them ? " 
 
 I told him I didn't know his name, but I knew where 
 he kept. He asked me how I knew he gave me that 
 particular bill, and I told him, because I sold him ten 
 bushels at three dollars a bushel, and he gave me
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I2/ 
 
 three ten-dollar bills, which I put away in one pocket. 
 He asked me then if I had any more pecans, and I 
 told him I had had four more bushels but had sold 
 them to another man. He asked me if I knew what 
 kind of money he had paid me in, and I told him he 
 gave me two five-dollar bills, and a two-dollar one and 
 two fifty cents, and I had put it with the rest of the 
 pecan money. He asked me if I had got any money 
 since, and I told him we had just sold some wax fig- 
 ures and got the money for them, but that I had put it 
 in another pocket by itself. 
 
 " Where did you sell the wax figures ? " he asked 
 me. 
 
 At Mr. Gamble's. Mr. Rolemoff auctioned them 
 off. 
 
 " Ah ! you are the little boys who came in from the 
 mountains with pecans and turkeys and wax works ?" 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Are you sure you haven't mixed your money? " 
 
 Yes, sir ; when Mr. Gamble gave me the money it 
 was in a roll, and I didn't unroll it, and when Nasho 
 said he only wanted five dollars I didn't take it out 
 of that money, but out of the pecan money, and put 
 the other by itself. 
 
 "Let us go up to Gamble's and see about this. 
 This is a counterfeit bill. Do you know a man who 
 tries to pass a counterfeit bill can be put in the pen- 
 itentiary ? " 
 
 No, sir ; but I didn't know it was bad money. It 
 wasn't my fault ; I didn't make- it, and didn't know 
 it wasn't good.
 
 128 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 " I am satisfied you are not to I'ane, but I want to 
 find out who is. It is somebody who knew what he 
 was doing, and was willing to get you into trouble." 
 
 We went to Mr. Gamble's, and the gentleman with 
 me walked up to the counter and said : 
 
 " Gamble, how much money did you pay this little 
 fellow this morning ? " 
 
 Fifty-five dollars. 
 
 " Was it put up together any way ? " 
 
 " Yes ; in a roll." 
 
 " Would you know the roll again if you were to see 
 it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; there were two twenty's, a ten and a five, 
 the last on the outside, and it had been pasted in a 
 torn place. I happened to notice it in putting it up." 
 
 " You could swear to the package if you saw it ? " 
 
 "Yes ; if it has not been disturbed. Furthermore, I 
 recollect distinctly that the two twenty's were National 
 Bank Notes of the First National Bank of Springfield, 
 Mass. In looking over the money in the drawer last 
 night I happened to notice them, and wondered through 
 how many hands they had passed, in getting here, and 
 what each man got for them in turn, and I forgot to 
 take the cash out of the drawer last night, so they were 
 there this morning, The ten I don't know anything 
 about, but I could swear to ti^e way they were rolled 
 up and the patched five-dollar bill." 
 
 "Excuse me, Mr. Gamble, you know I do not doubt 
 you for an instant, but there are a good many patched 
 five-dollar bills."
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I2Q 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but they are not patched with buckskin." 
 
 " No o. At least I never saw one that was. Let's 
 see your roll, Charley ? " 
 
 I pulled it out of my pocket. I had wrapped a 
 string so it wouldn't come loose and maybe so get 
 torn. 
 
 " There was no string on it when I handed it to 
 Charley, but that is the exact way in which it was 
 done up. Begin at the end Colonel, and in the first 
 turn you will find the buckskin patch." 
 
 The Colonel, as Mr. Gamble called the gentleman 
 who was with me, asked one of the clerks to take the 
 roll from me and undo it, and tell him what were the 
 kinds and denominations of bills in it. He unrolled 
 it and showed the buckskin patch. Then he spread 
 the money out, took up one bill at a time and said : 
 
 One five-dollar greenback, one ten-dollar Indian- 
 apolis First National Bank note, one twenty-dollar 
 Springfield First Nat. Bank note, another twenty- 
 dollar Springfield First Nat. Bank note. 
 
 " All right," said the Colonel nodding his head. 
 " Now we'll go to the man you got the money from." 
 As we started out Mr. Gamble handed me a nice 
 pocket-book, and said : 
 
 " Here, Charley, is something to keep your money 
 in." 
 
 I thanked him and put it in my pocket. When we 
 got there the Colonel asked me which was the man, 
 and I pointed him out. He commenced cursing him 
 for tiying to cheat me, and told him he had a great
 
 I3O LIVE BOYS 
 
 mind to put him in the penitentiary, and would if he 
 didn't give me a good bill in place of the counterfeit. 
 The fellow was scared and took the bad money back 
 and gave me another bill which the Colonel looked at 
 and said was good. He gave the man the bad one 
 and told him the best thing he could do was to burr. 
 it up, for if it was ever traced to him again he woul I 
 go up for the penitentiary sure. 
 
 I than.':cd th : ,1. j^onel very much for his trouble in 
 helping me, :/:'. 7r\r:.t back to the store and paid for 
 the shawl, and the clerk gave me a hood which he 
 said the Colonel had bought as a present to go with 
 the shawl. I asked him if the Colonel didn't own the 
 store, and he said no. he was a lawyer. 
 
 Then I went to another store and bought a nice pipe 
 for Uncle, and one for Parson Theglin, for both of thiers 
 was old and broken, and some tobacco to go with the 
 pipes. Then I bought a good, strong pocket knife 
 with three blades for Nasho. When I got back to the 
 store I found Nasho and Mr. Penseler there. Air. 
 Penseler took us to a restaurant and we had a good 
 dinner. He wanted us to stay and see more of the 
 city, but we told him we wanted to get home. I 
 thanked him again for being so kind to us, and as we 
 were leaving he asked : 
 
 " Have you sold your skins, Charley ? " 
 
 No, sir. 
 
 " They have the heads and feet on, haven't they?" 
 
 The bear has ; we skinned the head and left the 
 claws on the skin of the feet
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 13! 
 
 " Well, don't sell that, but get the skins of every 
 kind of animal you can, taking care to skin them as 
 nicely as you can, and dress them well and take them 
 to the Centennial with you. You can put therji in 
 the wagon, and you will get a great deal more for 
 them there than you can here." 
 
 He told us where to leave our deer skins to be sold 
 by the time somebody from Kerrville should come 
 down, and then we left him. 
 
 We got our wagons, gave Bose some dinner and 
 started home. Uncle was very much pleased when I 
 told him all about our trip, and was very proud of his 
 pipe, and so was Auntie of her shawl and hood. 
 Nasho had bought a fine knife for me, and some pen- 
 cils and paints and a pretty box for Miss Masover. 
 It made me feel very much ashamed to think I had 
 forgotten her when she had been so kind to me, and 
 the first time Parson Theglin went to San Antonio 
 I got him to buy a real pretty book I had heard her 
 say she would like to have. Nasho brought Auntie a 
 pair of fine chickens, and Uncle a pair of Berkshire 
 pigs.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ROPING THE BIG BEAR. NEW WAY OF CATCHING A 
 
 HORSE-THIEF. CHARLEY AND NASHO ENGAGE FOR 
 
 THE CATTLE DRIVE. 
 
 NEW YEAR'S day of 1876, me and Nashowent out 
 to hunt up a yoke of oxen for Uncle. I was rid- 
 ing Bullet, and he his pony. We were going up Big 
 Gulch, and on turning one of its elbows we saw a big 
 black bear in front of us. We knew it was the big 
 bear that had been seen several times, but nobody 
 could kill. He always whipped off the dogs and got 
 away before the men could come up. Oh, Nasho ! 
 I said, let's go home and get the guns and come back 
 and kill him. 
 
 " No, no good ; when we come back he gone and 
 no can find him. Maybe so he get in hole in rock ; 
 no can get him out." 
 
 He was walking about quietly turning over big rocks 
 to get the worms and frogs and things of that kind 
 that live under them, and did not see us. We drew 
 back around the elbow again so he wouldn't see us, 
 and I asked Nasho what we must do. He didn't say 
 any thing but seemed to be thinking about it.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 133 
 
 I'll stay here and watch him, and you go home and 
 get the guns and dogs and come back and we'll kill 
 him. 
 
 " No ; no good. Sun gettin' hot ; he go in hole 
 pretty soon and no can get him out. Tink we rope 
 him." 
 
 Our horses can't IK Id him, and he'll catch us. 
 
 " One horse no can hold him ; bofe can. Tree yon- 
 der; get him dere and tie him fast and he choke he- 
 self." 
 
 I didn't like the job. I was afraid he was too 
 strong for our horses, and would jerk them down 
 and hurt them, and maybe so catch us. It was a bad 
 place to rope in too, for the Gulch wasn't more than 
 fifty yards wide there, and there were a good many 
 big rocks in it, and the sides were steep and rocky. 
 But I was willing to try. We girted our saddles 
 tight, and fixed our ropes. 
 
 " Carley, we bofe run at him togedder, you on one 
 side, me on oder, an bofe rope him same time. Keep 
 you rein tight and look he no catch you." 
 
 He didn't see us until we got in fifty yards, and then 
 only raised his head and looked at us. We kept rid- 
 ing on, but instead of running, he started towards us. 
 Nasho stopped. I thought he was afraid. I was too, 
 but I wouldn't stop. I spurred my horse into a quick 
 gallop, and as I turned to pass by him threw my rope, 
 but my horse was afraid of him and shied so I missed 
 him. The bear whirled and ran after me. Nasho 
 wasn't afraid, but had been waiting for this and
 
 134 LIVE 1:0 vs. 
 
 ran up behind and threw his rope over the bear's 
 head. He checked his rein and his horse set himself 
 to meet it. The bear was so heavy he jerked him to 
 his knees, but the check pulled the bear over head 
 over heels. He got up and ran for Xasho. Xasho 
 whirled his horse and ran. I came up behind and 
 roped him and jerked him back, but he was going so 
 fast he pulled Bullet down on his nose. He was scared 
 though, and was up in a second. Just as the bear got 
 up and started to me, Nasho had whirled and pulled 
 him back. We had him now between us. He pulled 
 and reared on his hind legs and caught the ropes be- 
 tween his paws and bit at them and growled terribly. 
 We kept pulling apart, and now and then as either of 
 us got a chance jerking down. This would make him 
 terribly ma;l. Directly he stood on his hind feet, and 
 catching my rope in both his paws commenced walk- 
 ing towards me. Nasho made his horse pull as hard as 
 he could, but he couldn't hold him back. I spurred 
 my horse to make him jerk loose, but the bear held 
 too tight. He came along the rope like a man pulling 
 overhand. 
 
 " Carley, Carley, ride little closer, me jerk him 
 down." 
 
 I saw Nasho riding towards him, so as to get a start, 
 and then he turned and ran his horse against the rope. 
 I spurred my horse up a little so as to slack my rope, 
 and he jerked the bear down, but he didn't turn loose 
 and was up again in a second and coming to me the 
 same way. Nasho jumped off his horse, picked up as
 
 CHARLEY AXD XASHO IX TEXAS. 135 
 
 big a rock as he could manage, got on him again, and 
 running up to the bear threw it on his head. He just 
 shook it a little but didn't stop. He was getting 
 pretty close to me, and my horse was terribly afraid. 
 He pulled back till he set down on his haunches and 
 snorted, but he couldn't budge the bear. Nasho ran 
 his horse almost at full speed by the bear and past 
 me, and jerked the bear a summerset. He tumbled 
 almost under my horse's nose. I whirled Bullet, and 
 ran and jerked the rope out of his paws, but he was up 
 again in a second and coming after me. We ran 
 towards the tree, but he was so close to us we couldn't 
 ride around it and get a hitch as we wanted to. Nasho 
 turned his horse to one side and with a quick jerk 
 pulled the bear clown. By the time he was up I had 
 my rope tight on the other side. He grabbed Nasho's 
 rope and began pulling up to him as he had to me. 
 There was a big rock between me and the bear. I 
 rode up to it, jumped down and wrapped my rope 
 around it so it would hold. He didn't go but two or three 
 steps before it stopped him. He pulled his best and 
 snarled and bit at the rope, but he couldn't pull the 
 rock. Then he whirled and ran towards me. I got out 
 of the way. I expected he would break the rope, but 
 it held and jerked him over. He ran back to the rock, 
 and catching it with his paws turned it over tearing it 
 out of the ground, but the rope didn't come loose. 
 We both turned towards the tree and he followed us, 
 foaming and panting like a dog, for it was all he could 
 do to drag the rock. When we trot to the tree Nasho
 
 136 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 rode around it quick and then kept on, and when the 
 bear got to it, stopped his horse and made him pull 
 hard. This caught the bear close up to the tree. 
 He pulled his best, but the turn round the tree made 
 it a heap easier for the horse to hold, and he held him. 
 This made the bear furious, and he jerked and reared 
 on his hind feet and bit at the rope and snarled more 
 than ever, but Nasho watched his chance, and when 
 ever he coulJ, tightened his rope a little more, until 
 he got the bear's head close up against the tree. 
 
 " Carley, hold my rope tight ; no let him loose 
 any." 
 
 I rode up and caught his rope, wrapped it quick 
 around the horn of my saddle, and pulled my horse 
 back. The bear got his head away from the tree a 
 little, but I watched my chance and jerked him back 
 again. Nasho jumped off his horse and ran to the 
 bear, keeping behind him so as to keep out of his sigi t. 
 He pulled out his butcher-knife, and when he got close 
 enough grabbed the bear by the hair with his left 
 hand and with the right stabbed him as hard as he 
 could. The bear could only get his head and shoul- 
 ders round, but Nasho had to jump back to keep him 
 from catching him with his paws. He pulled terribly, 
 but Bullet held him. I began to ride around the tree, 
 keeping my rope tight and in this way wrapped his 
 body close to the tree, so he couldn't turn. Nasho 
 ran up on the other side, and reaching round the tree 
 sawed away on him until he cut his throat. The 
 bloocl spurted out in a stream. I kept him tight
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 137 
 
 against the tree until his head fell and his paws drop- 
 ped, and I knew then he was safe, and unwrapped my 
 rope and threw it down, and the bear slowly sunk to the 
 ground. We set to work and skinned him, being very 
 careful to skin his paws so as to leave the claws on, 
 and not cutting the head off at all. While we were 
 skinning him the oxen came in sight. As soon as we 
 were done, Nasho drove the oxen home, and I staid 
 to watch the meat until he and Uncle came back with 
 the wagon to take it home. Everybody said Nasho 
 was a very brave boy, to run up and stab the bear as 
 he did ; for if had got loose it would have caught him, 
 and it would have been all up with him then. 
 
 We were very careful in dressing the bear skin be- 
 cause it was a very large one, and had fine black fur, 
 and the hide wasn't full of holes or cuts. 
 " How do you dress skins, Charley ? " 
 First stretch the skin tight on the ground by run- 
 ning a rail or pole under the middle, and cutting little 
 slits in the edges and putting pegs through them 
 which you drive tight into the ground, pulling them 
 outward so as to stretch the skin as tight as you can, 
 or you can hang it over the fence and fasten a rail or 
 heavy stick to each side, though this don't stretch it 
 even, or nail it against a door ; but the first way is the 
 best. You leave the flesh side up, and scrape, and 
 rub, and pick at it until you get all the flesh and fat 
 off. Then you take the brains and spread over it 
 and rub them into it. This makes it soft. You keep 
 it in a shady place where it won't harden, and every
 
 138 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 day rub and work it with a sharp bone edge, or an 
 old dull drawing-knife, until you have worked nearly 
 half of the thickness off. It will help a great deal to 
 put some of the brains in water and let them steep, 
 and every day take the hide up and moisten it in 
 brain water, and then rub and work it dry. Tae best 
 way to rub it is to put it over a smooth cottonwood 
 log with two legs in one end, so as to raise it about a 
 foot and a half from the ground. This keeps it smooth 
 and makes it easier to work, and you ain't so apt to 
 cut it. You can put a little alum and saltpetre on it 
 and work it in to keep the bugs off. If you don't 
 mind it being yellow after you have got it perfectly 
 soft and pliant, you can smoke it over a very slow fire. 
 This makes it more water-proof and keeps it from 
 getting hard if it should get wet. It is a heap easier 
 to dress skins without the hair, because you can work 
 from both sides. Little skins, like coon, and squirrel, 
 and pole-cat, don't need near so much work. A bear- 
 skin is one of the hardest of all, because it is so thick 
 and heavy, and you have to be careful not to hurt the 
 fur. We left the head on that one, but took out the 
 tongue and all the meat to keep it from spoiling. We 
 dressed some very nice skins of coons, and squirrels, 
 and pole-cats, and one more deer-skin which I killed 
 one night in the bottom when we were coon-hunting. 
 We had money enough now to buy the horses we want- 
 ed, and Auntie had our clothes made. She made 
 each of us a nice suit of buckskin, with fringe down 
 the legs, and the jackets embroidered. Nasho's pants
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 139 
 
 had big buttons all down the legs, and was open at 
 the bottom, and he had a red silk sash he had 
 bought at San Antonio to go round his waist. Ec.ch 
 of us had a coon-skin cap, with the tail on to hang 
 down behind. 
 
 One night when we came home from school we 
 found Col. Hunt was at Uncle's and going to stay all 
 night. He was driving a span of fine gray horses. He 
 is one of the biggest stock-owner's in Texas. We took 
 the horses out and watered and fed them. After supper 
 Uncle introduced us to Col. Hunt, and said he was 
 buying cattle to drive to Kansas. I asked Col. Hunt 
 if he wouldn't hire us ; both of us wanted to go to 
 Kansas. He said we was too young ; it was too hard 
 a trip, and he never liked to see boys go there. They 
 always saw so much that was bad, and wanted to act 
 like men, and spent all they made and came back 
 worse than they went. We told him then what we 
 wanted to go for. He said that was a different case, 
 and that he would like to help us, and he would see 
 about it. He asked if we knew how to drive cattle, 
 and I told him we had driven a good deal for boys. 
 
 " Tell the Col. about catching your horse, Charley," 
 Uncle said, and I told him all about it. He said he 
 thought boys that could do that would do to drive 
 cattle. He asked me if we had horses, and I told 
 him we had one apiece and money to buy two more 
 apiece. He said that would be enough. Then he 
 told us it would be a long, hard trip, that it would take 
 two months to go through, and he was going to start
 
 I4O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 by the tenth of February, and the nights would be 
 cold, and we might look for a good deal of wet 
 weather, and asked as if we thought we could stand 
 being on guard two or three hours every night, and 
 maybe all night when it rained and stormed. I told him 
 I knew it would be very hard, but I thought we could 
 stand it, and would do our best to make good hands. 
 
 Next morning when we went to the lot to feed we 
 found the old muley steer had jumped over the fence 
 at a low ^lace and broken it down, and Col. Hunt's 
 horses were gone. We told Uncle and asked him to 
 1st us go after them. He said we might, and Auntie 
 hurried up and gave us some breakfast while our 
 horses were eating. Col. Hunt said his horses were 
 raised on the Nueces, and would be most likely to go 
 that way. He would have gone wich us, but there 
 wasn't any horse up but ours, and Uncle told him we 
 would be pretty sure to find them. By good luck one 
 of them had a short rope about fifteen feet long on, 
 with a hard knot in the end. They were both shod 
 all round and their tracks were the same size. They 
 had started off right down the road, but after a while 
 had stopped to feed a little as they went. We knew 
 that they would be apt to travel pretty steady because 
 they were going home, and followed the trail as fast 
 as we could. It was no trouble in the road, because 
 where it was too hard for their feet to show much, the 
 rope end made a plain trail. When we had gone 
 about ten miles they left the road, and the trail was 
 hard to follow. Sometimes we would lose it altogether,
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 14! 
 
 but we would ride on in the direction it was going 
 and strike it again where there wasn't so much grass 
 and the ground was softer. We found there was 
 another track on top of theirs, and we knew from its 
 looks it was made by a horse with a man on him. We 
 was afraid then that somebody was trying to steal the 
 horses and hurried on. About twelve o'clock we 
 found the tracks went into a pen. When they came 
 out again we knew from their looks that the man had 
 caught them and was leading them. The track led 
 through the woods a while and then it took an old dim 
 road and kept straight ahead. It was about two 
 o'clock before we came in sight of them. It was a 
 negro was leading them. I told Nasho if he wouldn't 
 give them up when we told him we were after them 
 and wanted them, and started to run, he must rope him 
 and jerk him off his horse, and I would catch the 
 horses and run with them. The negro was riding a 
 pretty good horse, but I knew he couldn't catch me on 
 Milco ; there wasn't a horse in Kerr County could do 
 that. Nasho said all right, he would rope him, and 
 fixed his rope, but let it hang by the saddle so it 
 wouldn't be noticed. We rode up to him and asked 
 him what he was going to do with those horses. He 
 said it was none of our business. I told him the 
 horses belonged to Col. Hunt, and had got out of the 
 pen last night and we were after them. He said Col. 
 Hunt never had seen them horses, that he had bought 
 them in Northern Texas and was taking them to his 
 home on Old Caney. I told him I knew the horses,
 
 142 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 and that they were Col. Hunt's, and I wanted them. 
 He said with an oath he would like to see me get 
 them. I rode up and reached cut my hand as if I 
 was going to take the rope he was leading them by, 
 when he pulled out a pistol and said : 
 
 " Look here, white-boy, you get killed fust thing you 
 know, where nobody'll ever find you. If you know 
 what's good for you, you leave here mighty quick." He 
 began to cock his pistol, but just then Nasho's rope 
 fell over him, and before he could do any thing he was 
 jerked out of his saddle. His pistol went off and the 
 fall made him drop it. I hollered to Nasho not to let 
 him get up, and he kept pulling him along on the 
 ground, and I jumped down and grabbed his pistol. 
 Then I took after the horses which had been scared by 
 the noise of the pistol, and ran ahead. I caught up 
 with them directly, and reaching over from my saddle 
 got hold of the rope they were tied with. They were 
 tied together so I could manage them easily. I turned 
 back and rode up to Nasho. He still had the negro 
 down, and wouldn't let him get him up, for every time 
 he tried he would jerk him down again. He got a 
 terrible hard fall -when Nasho jerked him out of the 
 saddle, and it seemed to have stunned him a good 
 deal. I told Nasho to let him get up, and handed him 
 the pistol, as I had my hands full with the horses, 
 but not to shoot him. Then I told the negro to take 
 the rope off, and he did it. We started off and left 
 him sitting in the road. His horse had run way 
 ahead and was still going nearly out of sight. We
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 143 
 
 hadn't got fifty yards before we heard a pistoi go off, 
 and the bullet come whizzing by our heads. We 
 both ran. He fired five times more, but we were out 
 of reach directly, and no:e of the bullets hit us. 
 After the fifth shot we both reined up, and Nasho 
 said : 
 
 " Me go back and kill him now, he no got any more 
 shoot." 
 
 I told him he mustn't, we had the horses and that 
 was all we wanted. 
 
 " He try kill us : it right now for we to kill him." 
 
 I told him he musn't ; if he did Uncle wouldn't let 
 him stay with him any more, and he would be hung 
 for it too. He said ; " Injin no do dat way : man try 
 to kill Injin, Injin kill him when he get chance." I 
 told Nasho to keep on, and rode back and told the 
 negro I would leave his pistol at Mr. Ochse's store at 
 Kerrville, and he could get it by going there. He 
 only cursed me, and I rode back to Nasho. It was in 
 the night before we got back to Uncle's. Col. Hunt 
 was very glad to get his horses again. He had been 
 uneasy about them all day for fear somebody had 
 stolen them and we wouldn't be able to get them. He 
 wanted to give us fifty dollars for catching them, but we 
 wouldn't take it, because he was staying with Uncle 
 and the horses had got out of his pen. He said we were 
 the bravest boys he had ever seen, that very few men 
 would have tried to take them away from an armed 
 negro if they had no arms, and it was a very fortunate 
 thing that one of us didn't get shot. He said if he
 
 144 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 had been along without any pistol he would have just 
 followed the negro until he met somebody, or came to 
 a house where he could get a gun, and then taken 
 them away. 
 
 But Mr. Hunt, when he saw you was following him 
 he could have left the road and not gone by any house 
 or settlement. 
 
 " Well then, I would have left the trail and gone 
 for a weapon or assistance and come back and fol- 
 lowed him up." 
 
 Yes, sir ; but he might have suspected what you had 
 gone for, and left his horse and saddled one of yours 
 and led the other, and by going into the mountains on 
 a rocky ridge it would have been very hard to have 
 followed the trail, and he might have gotten away 
 altogether. 
 
 " There is a good deal in that, Charley. If it was 
 to do over again and I knew the risk I would not let 
 you go ; but as it is I am thankful to you and your 
 brave comrade for getting my horses back. They are 
 great pets of mine, and never tried to leave me before, 
 the rascals. You ought to let me pay you for your 
 trouble and labor. 
 
 Oh, no sir, we don't want any thing, we are glad to 
 have gotten them for you. 
 
 " Well, my boys, you may count on driving to Kan- 
 sas for me if you want to. I don't want you to go 
 now because it is too early and cold, and the trip will 
 be a great deal harder for you. I will have other 
 herds going later when the weather will be more pleas-
 
 HARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 145 
 
 ant, the grass will have come out, and the country 
 you travel over will be much prettier. You come 
 down to my Casa de Bueyes ranch by the middle of 
 March at the farthest. I will pay you full men's wages 
 from the time you leave home until you leave me in 
 Kansas, and the regular half-rate wages to come back 
 on, and send you with one oi my best bosses, who 
 will treat you well. If you can buy horses cheap 
 here, buy them, and if you can't I will sell you good 
 ponies at a reasonable price. If you buy your own 
 horses get them in good fix before you start, for its 
 hard work on them. And you must remember you 
 will have a hard trip. We never take any extra 
 hands, and every man has to do a full hand's work." 
 
 I told him we were very much obliged to him, and 
 felt sure the boss couldn't have any reason to com- 
 plain of us. 
 
 The next morning early Col. Hunt left, but before 
 going he told us if we were at Casa de Bucyes* by the 
 fifteenth of March we would see him there, and if we 
 got there later he would leave instructions with his 
 manager about us. He thanked us again for getting 
 his horses back for him and then drove off. 
 
 * Home of the Beeves. 
 10
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ANOTHER TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO. BUYING HORSES ON 
 
 CREDIT. CHARLEY LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT 
 
 BUSINESS. 
 
 I RECKON you think, Mr. Morecamp, we are never 
 going to get off, but we are most ready to start 
 now. It seems to me it very often takes longer to 
 get ready to do any thing than to do it. When Mr. 
 Braston was going to build his gin and press, he was 
 in the bottom every day for weeks walking all through 
 it backward and forward picking out the best trees for 
 his timbers. Then it took a long time to cut them 
 down, haul them up with the big log wagon, and hew 
 them down right. But when he had got his timbers 
 and boards and irons all on the ground, and the holes 
 dug, it didn't take but a few days to put them up. 
 You see it took us a long time to get ready, because 
 we had to make all the money to buy our horses. 
 And you told me to tell you every thing that had been 
 interesting to me, and some of the things I have told 
 you about, gathering the pecans, and Uncle's killing 
 the panther, and catching Wild Bill, and getting back
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEX A3. 1 4/ 
 
 Col. Hunt's horses were as interesting to me as many 
 things that happened on our trip. 
 
 After Col. Hunt left, Uncle wanted us to keep on 
 going to school until we were ready to start ; but we 
 told him as we were going away to be gone so long, 
 he ought to let us help him all we could in getting in 
 the crop before we went, and at last he said we might. 
 When we took our books to carry home, Miss Masover 
 told me I must read at night, and rainy days and odd 
 times when I could, and learn as much as I could be- 
 fore going, and said she would keep me in books. I 
 toid her I would. I do like to read books that tell me 
 things I want to know. Before I thought about going 
 to the Centennial I didn't care so much, because it 
 seemed to me a long time before I would be a man 
 and have to use what I was learning ; but that talk 
 with Parson Theglin showed me that I was getting to 
 be a man all the time, and I saw that the more I 
 learned before going the better I would understand 
 what I saw, and the more I could learn there. I 
 wanted to know as much as I could about the coun- 
 tries and the people that would have something to 
 show there, and I had to study geography and history 
 to learn those things. I wanted to write letters to 
 Uncle and Auntie while I was gone, and I tried to do 
 my best to write plain so they could read them with- 
 out any trouble, and I wanted to spell my words right, 
 and had to study spelling a great deal to learn them. 
 I know people used arithmetic in almost every kind 
 of business, and though I didn't expect to ever be a
 
 148 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 merchant, I wanted to be a good business man as far 
 as any business of mine might go, so I studied arith- 
 metic a great deal. If Uncle wanted to lay off so 
 many acres, or a half or quarter acre, I could do it for 
 him. I could tell how much corn or wheat the wagon 
 bed or the crib would hold, how big round and deep 
 he must dig the new cistern to hold a hundred barrels 
 of water, how much seed it would take to sow three 
 acres in wheat, how much his corn and cotton seed 
 ought to bring him, and how much he would need to 
 buy his groceries, and cloth and other things. I found 
 by reading at nights and when the weather was too 
 wet to work, and sometimes when we would come up 
 too early for dinner, though it wasn't but a little bit at 
 a time, I could learn a great deal in time, and I knew 
 I wouldn't have any chance after we started. 
 
 There was a good deal to do about the place. The 
 fence needed a little mending, and the field had to be 
 cleared of corn and cotton stalks, and there was three 
 acres that had been belted, and the logs had to be 
 rolled together and burnt. Me and Nasho did a heap 
 of that work. We couldn't lift much, but a book that 
 Miss Masover had given me showed me how to rig 
 pulleys and levers of all sorts so that we could make 
 the oxen do the lifting and pulling. Uncle said we 
 could do as much work as 'most any two men. Then 
 the ground had to be plowed, and harrowed. And all 
 the time the cattle had to be looked after more or 
 less, and the hogs killed and the meat salted clown. 
 
 Soon after Col. Hunt left, we went down to San
 
 7 
 
 CHARLEV AND NASIIO IN TEXAS. 149 
 
 Antonio again with Uncle to get some things he 
 wanted, and we found a drove of ponies there for sale. 
 Bullet was a work horse, and I didn't want to take him 
 away, because I knew Uncle would need him, so I 
 bought two, a brown and a bay. Nasho bought a gray 
 and a sorrel. They were all good, stout, chunky 
 ponies, and in pretty good fix. Mr. Morecamp, when- 
 ever you see a horse so short between his last rib and 
 his hip joint that you can't more than lay your hand 
 broadways in the hollow there, you may know he can 
 stand a heap of hard work. He is not apt to be a 
 good riding horse, or to run very fast, but he'll have 
 bottom sure. I called my brown horse Bob and my 
 bay Monkey, because he was such a queer looking 
 little fellow, and so fond of playing with the other 
 horses. Nasho don't name any of his horses. 
 
 We didn't have money to pay for our stock, because 
 we wasn't expecting to buy when we left home, and 
 hadn't brought it with us. Uncle said he would try 
 and arrange to get it for us, and went off to see about 
 it. While he was gone the gentleman who had helped 
 me about the counterfeit money came to the pen. I 
 went up and spoke to him and he seemed glad to see 
 me. He said he had come down to buy a pony for 
 his little boy, and asked me to pick him out one that 
 I thought was gentle and a good riding pony. I 
 looked among the horses very carefully, for I wanted 
 one that would suit him when we was gone, and at 
 last I found a very pretty little chestnut sorrel that I 
 was certain from the looks of his head and eyes was
 
 150 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 gentle, and T knew from his make ought to be a good 
 riding pony. His mouth and head showed he was 
 young too, so I told the man who had the horses I 
 wanted to ride him to try him. I got him in a corner 
 and caught him without roping, and got on him bare- 
 back and rode him up to the gentleman. I wanted 
 him to see that I was so sure he was gentle I was 
 willing to risk him myself. He turned to Nasho and 
 asked him what he thought of the pony. 
 
 " He good one. Carley pick right. Must give him 
 plenty eat." 
 
 I rode him about and found he had a good sobre paso 
 walk, and a quick, easy gallop. When I came back 
 with him I told the gentleman he was gentle and a 
 good riding horse, and I thought he would suit him. 
 He couldn't stand as much as some of the others, but 
 he would have plenty to eat and not much to do, and 
 would keep fat. He thanked me for picking him out, 
 and I showed him the horses me and Nasho had 
 bought. He asked me why I didn't take them out of 
 the herd, and I told him Uncle had gone to try and get 
 the money to pay for them ; that we had the money 
 at home, but hadn't brought it with us. He asked me 
 when I would be in San Antonio again and I told him 
 early in March. 
 
 " Well," he said, " Charley, I'll loan you the money to 
 pay for them if you will give me your note for it to be 
 paid by the fifteenth day of March." 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you, sir, indeed, and 
 I'll be sure to pay you by that time, because I have
 
 CIIARLEV AND XASIIO IN TEXAS. 151 
 
 got the money at home. But I don't want but two of 
 the horses ; Nasho wants the other two." 
 
 " Yes ; but I don't know any thing about Nasho, and 
 can't lend him the money." 
 
 But he has as much money as I have. 
 
 " Yes, but maybe he will not want to pay me ! " 
 
 Oh, yes, sir, he will. I'm sure of that. 
 
 " Will you go his security ? " 
 
 You mean, sir, that I will agree to pay it if he 
 don't ? 
 
 " Yes ; that is it exactly." 
 
 Yes, sir, I'll do that ; for I know he has the money 
 and I'm sure he'll pay it. 
 
 " Very well, I will pay for the horses." 
 
 He paid the man for them. 
 
 " Now come up to my office and we will fix the 
 note." 
 
 We left the horses tied, and went with him. He 
 sat down and wrote two notes. I remember them 
 perfectly well because it was the first time I had ever 
 promised to pay money that way, and I couldn't help 
 but be a little afraid I might lose my money and not 
 be able to pay him when it was due. They were in 
 these words. 
 
 $65 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, Feby. 8th, 1876. 
 
 I promise to pay to C. H.Vandervere or order sixty- 
 five ($65) dollars on the fifteenth day of March, 1876, 
 money borrowed. 
 
 CHARLES ZANCO.
 
 152 LIVE BO VS. 
 
 $55 SAX ANTONIO, TEXAS, Feby. 8th, 1876. 
 
 I promise to pay to C. H. Vandervere or order fifty- 
 five ($55) dollars on the fifteenth day of March, 1876, 
 money borrowed. 
 
 YGNACIO DE GARAPITAS. 
 
 My horses were the best and cost the most. 
 
 Then Col. Vandervere, I kne\v that was his name 
 from the note, said : 
 
 " Now Charley, how are you going to make yourself 
 security for your friend. You know I am trusting 
 you and not him. I couldn't collect the money from 
 either of you because you are only boys, and boys 
 can't give notes that can be collected by law if they 
 won't pay them ? " 
 
 I thought a moment, and then took the pen and 
 wrote under Nasho's note : 
 
 If Nasho don't pay the money, I will. 
 
 CHARLEY ZANCO. 
 
 " But, Charley, this note is signed Ygnacio de Gara- 
 pitas, and you say if Nasho don't, etc. Nobody knows 
 who Nasho is." 
 
 Oh yes, sir, I see. I ought to have written his full 
 name. 
 
 " Is there any thing else wanting ? " 
 
 I don't see any thing else, sir. 
 
 " Ygnacio de Garapitas says he will pay this money 
 on the fifteenth day of March, 1876, but you do not 
 say when you will pay it if he fails."
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 153 
 
 Yes, sir, I see now. I ought to have said on the 
 fifteenth day of March, 1876. 
 
 " Yes, that is right. But we call the day a note is 
 due its maturity, and instead of saying the fifteenth 
 day of March again, we say at maturity. Do you un 
 derstand ? " 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Well, we have spoiled this note ; what must we 
 do about it." 
 
 Tear it up, sir, and make another. 
 
 " Why tear it up ? " 
 
 Because, sir, if we didn't I would be promising to 
 pay you one hundred and thirty dollars instead of 
 sixty-five. 
 
 " Exactly. Learn to do things right, Charley. If 
 people would always be careful and know first exactly 
 what they meant in dealing with each other, and 
 second, put every thing down on paper exactly as 
 they meant, there would not be much work for the 
 lawyers. My word for it, Charley, the way to win law- 
 suits is never to have one." 
 
 I don't see how I could win a lawsuit if I never had 
 one. 
 
 " What is it you win by a lawsuit ? " 
 
 The money or other thing we go to law about. 
 
 " Well, now if you make your agreement in the 
 beginning so plain that there can be no misunder- 
 standing it, don't you see that the other party will not 
 be likely to go to law about it ? " 
 
 Yes, sir, because he would be sure to lose.
 
 154 ~iVE BOYS. 
 
 " Yes ; and not only have to pay you, but the costs 
 of going to law, and probably his lawyer. Now if 
 you prevent a lawsuit by making every thing too plain 
 to go to law about, you get your money or property, 
 and that is all you could do by a suit." 
 
 Yes, sir, I see now. I don't win the suit because 
 there won't be any, but I get all that I could get by 
 a suit, without it. 
 
 " And save much time, trouble and expense. Now 
 sit here, Charley, and write another note and make 
 yourself security." 
 
 I sat down and wrote : 
 
 $65 SAN ANTONIO, Feby. 8th, 1876. 
 
 I promise to pay C. H. Vandervere or order sixty- 
 five dollars on the fifteenth day of March, 1876. 
 
 (Nasho signed it.) YGNACIO DE GARAPITAS. 
 
 If Ygnacio de Garapitas don't pay this note at ma- 
 turity, I will. 
 
 CHARLES ZANCO. 
 
 " That's right, Charley. I must get to work now. 
 Remember what I have told you, and whenever you 
 come to San Antonio come and see me." 
 
 He handed me the first note and I put it in the 
 stove where there was a little fire, and burnt it up. 
 Then we told Col. Vandervere good-bye and went 
 back to the horse pen. Uncle was there. He said he 
 had not got the money but he would go to his mer-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 155 
 
 chant and get it from him. I told him about the 
 note. He said I ought to have asked him about it 
 first, for I might have got cheated. I told him I 
 would not have given the note if I had not known 
 Col. Vandervere, but I was certain he was honest 
 and would not cheat me. 
 
 That evening we started home and got back all 
 right with our horses.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TRIP TO CASA DE BUEYES. SCENES AT THE RANCH. 
 
 CAPT. DICK. 
 
 /^\N the first day of March we were ready to start 
 ^-^ The field was all cleared and planted, and the corn 
 had been hoed out the first time. Our horses were 
 in good fix, for we had fed them a good deal of corn 
 and they had had very little to do. We had put new 
 rigging on our saddles wherever it was needed, made 
 hobbles for our horses, and had two good stake-ropes, 
 thirty-five feet long, and a good picket-pin, a piece of 
 iron about eighteen inches long, sharp at one end so 
 it could easily be driven into the ground, and a head 
 at the other with a ring and swivel. 
 
 Picket-pins are a great help on the prairie, because 
 often you can't find a bush to tie to, and then you can 
 pick a clear place, if there are bushes, so that your 
 horse won't tangle up. We had two short ropes to 
 neck our loose horses with, so that it would be easier 
 to lead or drive them. Our saddle-blankets were 
 made of moss. It is the best thing I have ever seen 
 for a saddle-blanket because it is soft, and thick, and
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. 157 
 
 cool, and don't scald a horse's back. Sometimes 
 a wool blanket in very hot weather will scald a horse's 
 back so that it gets sore, and it is very hard to cure 
 it, if you have to ride him. A saddle-blanket ought to 
 be washed every month in summer to get the sweat 
 and dirt out, because they make it hard and stiff and 
 it rubs the horse's back. If a man has a good saddle 
 that fits his horse well, and don't pinch or rub him, 
 and keeps a good, clean, thick blanket, and when he 
 gets off his horse to stop, if it is very hot, will after 
 unsaddlin him rub his back dry with his blanket, his 
 horse will not get a sore back. If it gets rubbed a little 
 and he will keep it well greased, it will get well in a 
 very few days. Axle grease is a good thing to put on 
 a sore back. If his back gets rubbed badly he must 
 cut a hole in his blanket so that neither it or the 
 saddle can touch the sore place, and then by keeping 
 it well greased it will soon get well. He must never 
 let his horse lie down in the sand, or gravel, when he 
 is hot, and wet with sweat, as it is almost certain to 
 make his back sore. It is a great deal easier to keep 
 a horse from getting a sore back than to cure it after 
 it comes. 
 
 We had wallets to put our clothes in, but we didn't 
 take many with us. One change of under-clothes, 
 two extra pair of socks, and an extra shirt apiece, 
 were all we wanted. We wore flannel over-shirts. 
 They are warm early in the morning when it is cool 
 and damp, and in the middle of the day they keep the 
 hot sun off better than cotton, and the sleeves are not
 
 158 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 in the way like coat sleeves. We had leggins made 
 of duck doubled and boiled in oil, with a leather belt 
 at the top to fasten round the waist, and bound with 
 leather at the bottom to keep from wearing out against 
 the stirrups. Boiling in oil makes the duck water- 
 proof. We had blue soldier overcoats to put on herd- 
 ing at night if it was cold, or when it rained. Then 
 we had apiece of oil cloth about six feet long and 
 five wide to spread down on the ground at night to 
 keep the damp out, and a rubber-blanket to put over 
 us to keep the rain over head off. We never needed 
 the last much going, because whenever it rained we 
 had to be up with the cattle. Then we had two other 
 blankets a-piece, so we were well off for bed-clothes. 
 In cow-hunting we hardly ever took but one blanket 
 apiece, because we didn't want to load our horses so 
 heavily, and we could sleep on our saddle-blankets, 
 but on the drive you have to keep a horse saddled all 
 the time, so you can jump on him in a minute if the 
 cattle run. Then we had a little bag apiece made of 
 water-proof stuff to carry provisions in, and a little 
 coffee-pot, and a cup apiece. 
 
 The night before we were ready to start Uncle 
 talked to me about our trip. He told me it was a 
 long trip for a boy of my age, to be left to myself 
 with no one to go to ask what he should do in many 
 cases, such as he had never been placed in before. 
 " Auntie and I," he said, " Charley, have tried to 
 teach you what was right, and what is right here will 
 be right in St. Louis or in Philadelphia. If you will fol-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 159 
 
 low that I have no fear but that you will find friends to 
 help you wherever you may go. Here is one rule I 
 want you to particularly remember, my dear boy : ' Do 
 unto others as you would have others do unto you.' 
 Follow that, and it will not only tell you what to do 
 but will make you friends in doing so. Never allow 
 yourself to do any thing that you think may be ever 
 so little wrong you know how soon a wide gap is 
 made in a fence when the first rail is thrown down. 
 
 You must write to us, Charley, when you get through 
 .with the cattle, and after you get to Philadelphia. I 
 have done very little in the way of letter-writing, but 
 I will let you know how things are going on at the old 
 place, and if you get sick or any thing happens to 
 you, be sure and let me know, and Auntie and I will 
 find some way to help you." 
 
 Early the next morning we saddled our horses, 
 packed our blankets, wallets and camp tricks on one 
 of our led horses, and tied the other two together. 
 When Auntie came to tell me good-bye I couldn't 
 help but cry a little, because I felt so sorry for her ; 
 she seemed to feel so badly at my going away. I 
 didn't seem to mind it much on my account : it was 
 for her I felt so bad. She has been just the best 
 Auntie in the world to me, Mr. Morecamp. After I 
 got in the saddle Uncle shook hands with me and 
 whispered : 
 
 " Remember Uncle's last advice. ' Do unto others 
 as you would have others do unto you.' Nasho went 
 first, leading the pack-horse, then came the two necked
 
 ICO LIVE BOYS. 
 
 horses and monkey by himself, for though he was so 
 playful and full of tricks, he never tried to run away, 
 and I came behind on Comanche to drive the loose 
 horses. We had tied up the dogs to keep them from 
 following us. When we got to the bend of the road I 
 turned for one more look at the old place, and saw 
 Auntie still standing where I had left her, wiping 
 her eyes with her apron. I couldn't help it. I just 
 galloped back, and jumped down and kissed her until 
 she stopped crying and then I & oc on Comanche in a 
 hurry and just gave him the reins until I caught up 
 with Nasho. 
 
 That evening., about sundown we stopped at a house 
 and bought some fodder for our horses, for there was 
 hardly any grass, and then found a good place and 
 camped. We had brought corn enough with us for 
 two feeds. The next morning we were off by sun up 
 and got to San Antonio by dinner time, but we didn't 
 stop there long. I went to Col. Vandervere's office 
 and paid him the money me and Nasho owed him and 
 got our notes. He said the horse I had picked suited 
 his little boy exactly ; that he was as gentle as a dog 
 and rode easy. 
 
 After we left San Antonio the country was a]) 
 prairie, and the nearer to the coast we got the 
 smoother and flatter it was. Some of the grass was 
 coarse and rough, and not much account, but a good 
 deal of it was green and short, and fine, called the 
 mesquite grass. This is the best grass in Texas for 
 horses, and very good for cattle too. You see cat-
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. l6l 
 
 tie haven't got any upper teeth, and can't bite short 
 grass like horses. Horses will get fat on mesquite 
 grass in winter because it comes up fresh and green 
 when all the other grass is dry and dead. 
 
 It took as five days to get to Casa de Bueyes. We 
 camped out every night. We had bought a six- 
 shooter between us at San Antonio, but we didn't see 
 any game on the way to shoot except mule-eared 
 rabbits, and we didn't care any thing about them. We 
 got to the ranch late one evening just as the hands 
 were coming in from the day's work. They had been 
 road -bran cling a herd tha: was making up to start to 
 Kansas. There were a good many Mexicans with 
 baggy leather breeches and great broad brimmed hats, 
 and red -sashes round their waists. Nearly all the 
 men wore leather leggins and broad hats to keep the 
 sun out of their faces, and flannel over-shirts and big 
 handkerchiefs tied loose round their necks. Some- 
 times we would have a pair of leggins, calzoncros, 
 they call them, of leopard skin, open at the bottom to 
 show his big red or yellow boot tops turned down, and 
 rows of buttons down the outside seam, and silver 
 plates a good deal bigger than a dollar over the out- 
 side buttons of his spurs. Some came up a foot 
 carrying their saddles on their backs with the girths 
 and straps dragging, and others would ride up and un- 
 saddle and throw their saddles down on the gallery 
 around the hous.. 
 
 Col. Hunt was then on his horse, and rode up and 
 shook hands with us and asked us about Uncle and 
 ii
 
 l62 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Auntie. Then he called one of his bosses and told 
 who we were and to take care of us. He said he 
 would see us again to-morrow, and then he rode off 
 on a gallop. He was riding a fine black horse as fat 
 and sleek as a racer. Several of the men had come 
 up round us and was talking about Comanche. They 
 said he was one of the finest horses they had ever 
 seen. One of them asked me where I got him, and I 
 told him me and Nasho had roped him. 
 
 " Where, little one?" asked another one that had on 
 calzoneros. I was going to tell him, but Mr. Kennedy 
 said " wait till supper boys, I expect these young 
 ones are tired. They have come from Kerrville, 
 seventy-five miles above San Antonio, and are going 
 to drive for the Col. Let them put up and get supper 
 and then gas them as much as you like, only be 
 easy with them. Capt. Dick, will you show them the 
 ropes ? " 
 
 "All right, Capt., I'll see to 'em.'' 
 
 Capt. Dick was the one with the 'leopard skin' 
 calzoneros. He was pretty tall and slender, with blue 
 eyes and light hair and beard. He had a fancy worked 
 over-shirt and a buckskin jacket with flowers embroi- 
 dered on the back. He told us to unsaddle and turn 
 our horses loose with the rest, and one of the boys 
 would drive them to the pasture. We was in a big 
 pasture then, but there were smaller pastures kept 
 for the horses that were used every clay. I asked 
 him if I couldn't get some corn for Gomanche, and 
 told him I was willing to pay for it. He showed me
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 163 
 
 where to feed him, I took him to the stable and fed 
 him, and then curried and brushed him, I always do 
 this every night unless it is raining, and it does him 
 nearly as much good as feeding him, and helps to 
 keep him fat and sleek and supple. Then we went to 
 the house and had supper. 
 
 After supper most of them lit their pipes or made 
 cigarrettes. Some strolled out in the yard and some 
 of them cleared off one end of the table and began 
 playing cards. Capt. Dick got a buffalo robe and 
 spreading it on the floor of the gallery threw himself 
 down on it and called me to come and tell him how 
 I caught my horse. When I was telling him about 
 his jumping into the Colorado with me he asked me 
 how I felt when I was going over. I told him I was 
 too busy thinking how I was going to feel when we 
 went under and whether we would come "up again or 
 not. 
 
 " I reckon you felt all over in spots," one of them 
 said. Several had come up to us to hear my story. 
 
 " And the spots were as big as saddle-blankets." 
 
 " Buffalo's you'd better say, with the hair in, and 
 every hair sticking like a porcupine's feathers." 
 
 When I got through one of them said, " And the 
 little greaser stuck to you and hunted you up ? " 
 
 I told them then something about Nasho, and 
 asked them not to call him a greaser, for he didn't 
 have any father or mother, or home of his own but 
 Uncle's, and he was a real good boy, and would make 
 a good hand.
 
 164 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 " No boys," Capt. Dick said, " these boys ain't fail 
 game. You all know I am as ready to take a joke 
 as any of you, and I ain't going to ask for any thing 
 special for the little ones, but no imposition, remem- 
 ber. If anybody has any thing against either of 'em 
 let him come to me and I'll make it good or give him 
 satisfaction. Put that in your pipes and maybe it 
 will save trouble. He asked me then to take a walk 
 with him to the stable, and on the way he told me 
 that there were several bad hands that were always 
 playing some trick on new-comers or anybody they 
 could bully. They would slip a corncob, or cuckle 
 burs under a saddle blanket to make a horse pitch, or 
 unfasten the girth and then ride up and strike the 
 horse so he would lurch quick and jump from under 
 the rider, or put powder in his pipe, and they had 
 stampeded one man's horse. He told me he was 
 going as boss with a herd of beeves for Col. Hunt, 
 and would start about the twentieth of April, and if 
 I wanted to go with him he would get Col. Hunt to 
 let him take us both. He said the beeves would need 
 more watching at night, and would be apt to give 
 more trouble about stampeding, but they wasn't really 
 as hard to drive as mixed cattle. 
 
 I told him I would be glad to go with him, and I 
 thought he might count on me and Nasho making 
 him good hands, for we had both driven cattle a good 
 deal. When we went back to the house Capt. Dick 
 gave us a bed in his room, and told us to keep our 
 things in there while we staved at the ranch. 1 was
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. 165 
 
 glad we were to have a room with him because I 
 liked him better than any of the others I saw. Cow- 
 boys are about the roughest people I have ever seen. 
 They swear and use more dirty words, and they play 
 so many mean tricks on each other. Because a man 
 wears rough clothes and leads a rough life, don't seem 
 to me to be any reason why he should curse and 
 be dirty and mean. All cowboys ain't that way. 
 Some of them are as quiet as anybody and as kind 
 as they can be, always ready to lend a horse, or hunt 
 for a lost horse, or to help another one about any 
 work, and I have noticed that some of the quietest 
 ones make the best hands. They don't say much 
 about what they can do, or how many beeves they can 
 rope or tie, but they are always ready to do any thing 
 that comes to hand
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ROAD-BRANDING CATTLE. THE CHUTE. SOMETHING 
 
 ABOUT THE CATTLE BUSINESS. 
 
 THE next day me and Nasho helped them finish 
 road-brand. You see when a man is going to 
 drive cattle out of the county he has to put a road- 
 brand on them, and have a bill of sale of every one he 
 has, or he may be taken up for stealing them. Some- 
 times the road-brand is made of the initials of his name 
 like R. S. ; sometimes two letters will be put together 
 like AL : sometimes it will be a figure like 6 or 70, 
 or a churn-dasher, or a circle with a cross in it, or a 
 hatchet. It is generally made of letters or figures, or 
 something that won't cross lines, because where they 
 cross they are apt to blotch and then it's hard to tell 
 what the brand is and who the animal belongs to. They 
 are not near as apt to blotch on grown cattle or horses 
 or young calves, because the brand grows with their 
 hides and spreads, and if there is any blotch it spreads 
 too. A brand for horses is nearly always smaller than 
 for cattle, because a big brand looks ugly on a horse. 
 His hair is shorter and it shows a heap plainer than 
 on cattle. Horses are 'most always branded on the
 
 CHASLZV A:;U XAS.'IO IX TEXAS. \6j 
 
 left shoulder, and cattle on the left hip, but road- 
 brands are put on the back above the ribs, or on the 
 ribs. 
 
 " I should think it would be a big job, Charley, to 
 rope and throw down and brand a thousand beeves ; it 
 must take a long time." 
 
 They don't do it that way, Mr. Morecamp. They 
 have a big pen that will hold five hundred or a thou- 
 sand head, made high and strong so they can't jump 
 over it or break it down, and in one corner they have 
 a little narrow pen about twenty-five feet long and not 
 more than five or six feet broad. This is made with 
 posts and rails so that there won't be any corners, and 
 is very high and strong. It is called a chute (shoot]. 
 It is fixed so where it opens into the big pen that it 
 can be shut off from it by bars which are pulled out 
 to one side when it is open. Several hands go into 
 the pen and cut off ten or fifteen head and run them 
 into the corner and then in the chute, and a man 
 who stands outside ready, runs in the bars right quick 
 and shuts it up. Other hands have the branding 
 iron hot in little fires that they keep burning outside 
 the pen and close to the chute, and the hands who 
 are going to brand, climb up on the sides of the chute 
 and stick them to the cattle while they are hot. You 
 see the cattle crowd up so close together, and the 
 chute is so narrow, that they can't get away, and just 
 have to stand and take it. They can brand ten or 
 fifteen head in this way in less than ten minutes, and 
 if they have irons enough and keep them hot and
 
 1 68 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 ready they don't lose much time. As soon as all in 
 the chute are branded they draw the bars out and 
 make them go back into the big pen the way they came 
 in. This takes nearly as much time as branding them, 
 because the pen is so narrow and they are so crowded 
 they can hardly turn round, but as soon as one gets 
 out the rest all try to follow him. If the cattle wasn't 
 raised by the man who is going to brand them, but he 
 has bought them, he and the man he buys from have 
 somebody to take down the brands and marks while 
 they are in the chute, and say what kind of cattle they 
 are, beeves, cows, four, three or two year olds. If a 
 brand ain't plain so they can see it well, they wet it, 
 and that makes the hair lie down flat, and it is easier 
 to make it out. In winter if an animal is poor and its 
 hair is long sometimes, it looks so furry you can hardly 
 see the brand. When they brand calves in the spring, 
 if the iron is very hot and burns them, they often rub 
 the place well with grease so it will cure up quick. 
 
 " Charley, suppose Mr. A. sells Mr. B. ten head of 
 cattle, and Mr. B. don't want to drive them away, but 
 just lets them stay in the range. Mr. B. puts his 
 brand on them, don't he ? " 
 
 Yes, sir. 
 
 " Now suppose each of them has a thousand head 
 of cattle, they can't recollect the particular looks of 
 each one, and when they come to gather they .find ten 
 heads with the brands of both on them, how can their 
 hands, who don't know any thing about the trade, tel] 
 who they belong to ? "
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 169 
 
 Why you see, sir, the brands of Mr. B. would be 
 the smallest and freshest, and would show it was put 
 on last, and they were his cattle. But the right way 
 is for Mr. A. to counterbrand the cattle when he sells 
 them ; that is, to put his brand on again. That shows 
 they don't belong to him any longer. Then when 
 Mr. B. puts his brand on it shows they belong to him. 
 
 " Then if Mr. A.'s brand is A. and Mr. B.'s brand is 
 B., and Mr. A. sells a beef to Mr. B., he would be 
 branded this way : A. A. B." 
 
 Yes, sir, only all the brands may not be close to- 
 gether. The counterbrand ought to be close to the 
 old brand, because that tells anybody that looks at the 
 animal that he don't belong to the man who owns the 
 first brand, and he will look then to see what other 
 brand he has. 
 
 " But suppose two men have the same brand ? " 
 
 That ain't allowed, sir. A man when he takes a 
 brand and mark has to have it put down in a book of 
 marks and brands at the court-house, and that tells 
 everybody that he has taken that brand for his cattle. 
 If anybody else comes and takes the same brand the 
 man who took it first has a right to take all the cattle. 
 These men have so many cattle they can't remember 
 the flesh-marks, and it is very easy to cut the ear and 
 change the mark, so the brand is the thing to go by. 
 
 " What do you mean by flesh-marks, Charley ? " 
 
 The color and spots. 
 
 " All right, Charley, go ahead. I understand about 
 the brands now."
 
 I/O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 We got through branding that day, and we was glad 
 of- it, for it was mean work. Running round the pen 
 so much keeps the fine dust stirred up and it gets all 
 over you and in your ncse and eyes. Me and Nasho 
 helped cut out and run into the chute some of the 
 time, and the rest we heated irons and handed them 
 to the men who staid on the chute to brand. Capt 
 Dick was busy on the chute all day taking down the 
 marks and brands, for these were cattle Col. Hunt 
 had bought. Col. Hunt was there too. Late in the 
 evening when we got through he came to me and told 
 me he was going to leave in a day or two and wouldn't 
 see me any more until I got to Kansas. He asked 
 me what kind of cattle I would rather drive, and I 
 told him " beeves." Then he said, " Suppose I send 
 you with Capt. Dick next month ? I told him I would 
 like very much to go with him. He said I might 
 then, and he wanted me to remember I was as much 
 a hand as anybody else and not under anybody's 
 orders but Capt. Dick's. When we were driving or 
 herding or working with the cattle it would always be 
 right for me to do as the older hands said, because 
 they knew best, and there must be somebody to take 
 charge, but no one had a right to order me or Nasho 
 to do any thing for them that wasn't any part of my 
 duty as a hand. He said he had some rough, wild 
 hands ; that he couldn't be with them himself, and 
 couldn't stop to ask questions about men when they 
 wanted to hire, but that if any one troubled me to let 
 Capt. Dick know and he would see I was not imposed
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I /I 
 
 on. He said me and Nasho must be good boys and 
 not get into trouble or learn what was bad from the 
 bad men we might be with, and he would see us 
 again when we got through to Kansas. I thanked 
 him for his kindness, and he got on his horse and 
 rode away on a gallop, for he didn't stay at the house 
 where we did. He had just had a long talk with 
 Capt. Dick before he came to me. All the men seem 
 to like the Col, as they call him, when talking about 
 him. 
 
 Capt. Dick told me that night that there wouldn't 
 be any thing for me and Nasho to do the next day, as 
 he was going out west after cattle on the day after, 
 and he had some chores to do about the ranch before 
 he started. He said we had better take a rest day as 
 we might have a hard trip gathering the cattle and 
 would be gone three weeks at least, and as soon as we 
 got back we would start to Kansas. I asked him if 
 we mightn't go to the coast and take a look at the 
 gulf, for I never had seen it and I would like to now 
 I was close to it. He said yes, that it was only about 
 eight miles, and we could take the shot-gun and may- 
 be we might kill a goose or some ducks. He said 
 there were plenty of deer, and panther, and turkeys, 
 and cows, and wild hogs, and cattle, and some bear 
 in the Busada, but we had better not go there to- 
 morrow. If we got time when we came back we 
 would take a hunt before we started to Kansas. 
 What is the Busada, Charley ? " 
 
 A big thicket' miles long and wide so grown up
 
 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 with mesquite and chapparal and all kinds of thorny 
 bushes that you can hardly get through it. Caftle 
 and hogs get in it, and nobody can get to them, and 
 they go wild and stay there and raise in it. There is 
 plenty of grass and young bushes and moss for them 
 to live on, and water to drink, and in winter it's one 
 of the best shelters in the country.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A TRIP TO THE GULF SHORE. CHARLEY KILLS TWO 
 
 SWANS AND IS LEFT NAKED ON THE PRAIRIE. 
 
 TURNING TAILOR. FOUND BY CAPT. DICK AND 
 NASHO. 
 
 THE next morning me and Nasho started early 
 taking with us a double-barrel shot-gun, leaded 
 with buck-shot, and plenty of buck-shot and geese- 
 shot. Capt. Dick shouted to me as we rode off : 
 
 " Bring me avension ham, Charley." 
 
 All right, Capt., I'll try. 
 
 I was riding Monkey, and the little rascal wouldn't 
 keep still, but kept fretting and prancing about all the 
 time. A cool norther was blowing, but as we had 
 our backs to it, we didn't mind the cold. 
 
 We saw lots of geese and ducks, the geese flying 
 about, or standing in bunches over the prairies where 
 the grass was short, and in some places the prairie 
 seemed almost spotted with the sand-hill cranes, 
 whose long necks stuck up through the weeds and 
 tall grass where they were hunting their dinners. But 
 neither the geese or the cranes would let us get 
 close enough for a shot, and we didn't try very hard, 
 because we thought we would have plenty of chances
 
 1/4 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 on our way back, and if we killed any thing going we 
 would have to carry it so much further. Wherever 
 there was a pool of water, there was sure to be plenty 
 of ducks, but ducks are as hard to creep upon as 
 deer, and we didn't try much. We had several 
 sloughs to cross, and one or two of them were boggy, 
 but our horses were too smart to go in anywhere 
 they couldn't get out. S imetimes we would have to 
 go a good way round to fi.id a place where we could 
 cross. 
 
 About eleven o'clock we got to the sea. The first 
 thing I thought was how strange it was that so much 
 water with no bank to hold it in, didn't run over. 
 Nasho got off his horse and knelt down and took a 
 big mouthful, but he spit it out pretty quick and 
 sputtered, and wiped his mouth and said : May mala ! 
 muy mala ! * Carley, what for you no tell me water 
 no good ? " 
 
 I told him I wasn't thinking about his drinking it : 
 I thought he knew it was salt. Seems to me if I had 
 never read any thing about the ocean I woufd, have 
 known when I saw it that it wasn't fit to drink. I 
 sat on my horse a long time watching the water come 
 tumbling in, in long rolls, that would be smooth and 
 even until they got near the shore, and then rear up in 
 a long line with a white foamy top and fall all to 
 pieces. I think I found out what makes it do that 
 way. It's because tho water at the bottom strikes 
 against the ground and can't go on as fast as that on 
 
 * Very bad.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. IJ\ 
 
 top, and so the top falls over the bottom and breaks all 
 to pieces. 
 
 Then I got down and walked along the shore look- 
 ing for shells, and found some pretty ones, though 
 most of them was large and white. It's curious that 
 the star-shaped ones should all be so near alike, and 
 I'd like to know where the fish stays I couldn't see 
 any place big enough to hold him. The sea nettles 
 look like lumps of jelly or gristle floating in the 
 water. I thought they were some sort of vegetable 
 that grew in the sea, but Capt. Dick says they are 
 live fish like sponges, though more like vegetables 
 than fish, and that if anybody gets against them in the 
 water they can sting. We picked up shells a while 
 and then we stopped and ate our dinner. We made 
 a fire out of some sticks that had been thrown up by 
 the ocean sometime when the water must have come 
 up a great deal higher than it did while we were there, 
 and broiled our bacon. We hadn't brought any coffee. 
 After dinner .1 walked up and down along the water's 
 edge for"ct while and picked up a pocket full of the 
 prettiest shells I could find. Nasho didn't care any 
 thing about them, and staid with the horses. Some- 
 times there would be long heaps of sand as high as a 
 man's head back apiece from the water that seemed 
 to have been piled up by it when it was high, and 
 then the grass would come down almost to the water s 
 edge. Where there were level places that got cov- 
 ered by the water nothing grew it was just bare 
 sand Wherever there were any trees they all had
 
 1/6 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 their branches turned to the north. Capt. Dick told 
 me afterward it was because the south wind blew so 
 much and strong that they got turned that way while 
 they were young and tender. 
 
 I reckon it was nearly two o'clock when we started 
 back, going up a long narrow strip of water that seem- 
 ed to run from the sea back into the country. We 
 didn't go but a mile or so when we saw a bunch of 
 deer on the other side of a little hollow, and Nasho 
 asked me to let him take the gun and get a shot. I 
 wanted to shoot myself, but I told him he might. He 
 got off his horse and bent down until he got into the 
 hollow and I didn't see any more of him until I saw 
 the smoke, and heard the gun fire, both barrels, and 
 saw two deer fall, one right after the other. I hurried 
 up as fast as I could with the horses and found he 
 had killed two. He had crawled up in about fifteen 
 steps of the bunch and made sure of each shot. We 
 just cut them open and washed them out, and wiped 
 them with grass, and put one on each of our horses, 
 and rode on up the bayou again. It was getting cold 
 with-the wind in our faces all the time. We went 
 about a mile further and I saw two big white birds 
 a great deal bigger than geese swimming about in a 
 wide place in the bayou. We rode up as close as we 
 could and not scare them, and I got down and crept 
 up in a few feet of the bank. They didn't see me, 
 for I was behind some tall grass that grew along the 
 edge, and kept swimming about just because it was 
 so easy for them to swim I reckon. One lick with
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I// 
 
 their big red feet would carry them a good way, and 
 the least little turn of their feet would turn them 
 round. Directly they came together and put their 
 heads down right close together to something that 
 was on the water, and I took good aim and fired. I 
 was watching ready to fire the other barrel if either 
 go. up, but they didn't, and I saw I had killed bo:h. 
 Nasho came up with the horses, and we took the 
 deer off and laid them on the ground. I loaded the 
 barrel I had fired, and took out my knife to get the 
 old cap off of the tube ; it had got mashed down so 
 tight I couldn't pull it off with my thumb nail. I laid 
 my knife down on one of the deer, and then began to 
 think about how I was going to get my swans. They 
 was out in the middle of the bayou perfectly still, for 
 there didn't seem to be any current. There wasn't 
 but one way, because I was afraid to ride in for fear 
 it might be boggy. I would have to swim in and get 
 them. So I took off my clothes and laid them across 
 the saddle to keep them off the wet ground, all but 
 my hat, which I threw down on the deer by the gun. 
 Then I jumped in and swam out to them and got 
 them by the necks and brought them to shore. The 
 water was right cold, but I didn't mind that much. 
 But when I got back and climbed up the bank again, 
 Nasho and the horses was gone. I knew in a minute 
 how it was. Thit rascally little Monkey had run off 
 and Xasho was after him. Directly I saw them come 
 out of a hollow going towards the ranch. They were 
 half a mile off, but I could see my clothes were still 
 
 12
 
 1/8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 sticking to the saddle. Monkey was ahead and 
 Nasho didn't seem to be gaining on him much. I 
 watched them till they got out of sight, and then 
 began to think what I must do, for it was getting 
 colder and I was shivering already. I didn't stop 
 to i.Iiink long, because there didn't seem but one thing 
 to do. I put on my boots which I had thrown down 
 on the ground, and then took my knife and skinned 
 the deer as fast as I could. I cut the skin off round 
 the neck, and legs, and just skinned the bodies, and 
 it didn't take me very long because my knife was 
 sharp and I worked fast, for I was cold and it was 
 getting later all the time. Then I put one skin 
 round each leg and fastened them with strings I cut 
 off of the edges so as to make a pair of leggins, and 
 run a string through holes along the top so I could 
 fasten it round my waist and keep them up. Now I 
 wanted a coat. I pitched into the swans, and cut 
 the skin round their necks, and then split them down 
 the bellies, and found I could peel their skins, feathers, 
 and all off just like the deer hides, only a heap easier. 
 When I come to the wings I just cut them off. Then 
 I took a narrow strip of the deer skin and fastened 
 the bottom of one swan-skin to the bottom of the 
 other, and found it made me a pretty good cloak, 
 plenty big enough to go round me and cover me from 
 the neck down below my waist. The swan-skins 
 were nearly as tough as cloth, which was good luck 
 for me. I cut some more strings off the deer legs, 
 and fastened my feather cloak round me as close as I
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 1 79 
 
 could so as to keep the wind off, and was ready to 
 move, for I had no notion of staying there waiting for 
 Nasho, for I didn't believe he was going to catch 
 Monkey until lie got to the ranch, and then he wouldn't 
 have any time to get back before night, and he 
 couldn't see to travel after night, for it was cloudy 
 and no moon, and he might get into a boggy slough. 
 I picked up the gun, and stuck my knife in my waist- 
 belt so it would stay, and was going to start, when I 
 remembered what Capt. Dick had said about bringing 
 him a venison ham. 
 
 In about a minute I had a ham off, and with that 
 in one hand and the gun on my shoulder, I struck out 
 pretty lively. I didn't go more than two miles before 
 it began to get dark, and rain a little drizzle, and I 
 knew I wouldn't be able to make the ranch that night 
 because I couldn't see which way to travel after dark, 
 If the stars would have come out it would have been 
 easy enough. I think I could have managed it any- 
 how by the wind, taking care to keep it in the same 
 place on my face all the time, but I was afraid I 
 would strike some boggy slough that I couldn't get 
 over, and have to lay out all night without fire. So 
 I thought I would look for a camp while it was light. 
 My cloak did first-rate, but my leggins was rough and 
 rubbed my legs and made it hard for me to travel. 
 
 By good luck I soon saw a thicket of young live- 
 oaks and going to it found a big live-oak tree that had 
 been blown down by the wind. I commenced hunting 
 for the finest, softest, dryest grass I could find. I
 
 l8O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 happened to think of the roots, and looking amongst 
 them found an old nest of a rat or a rabbit, just the 
 .thing I wanted, dry as a powder house, and fine and 
 soft as cotton. I drew the shot out of one barrel of 
 my gun, and put the nest against some little branches 
 and fired into it. It caught fire and I had some dry 
 grass and little twigs ready and in a few minutes I 
 had a good fire started. 
 
 When I got some of the straightest limbs I could 
 find and laid from the top of the tree trunk to the 
 ground, and covered them over with long grass like they 
 do in thatching, and made me a snug place to lie 
 down in, I got some more grass for my bed. It 
 wasn't easy to get much, because it was nearly all wet. 
 Then I got a big lot of branches and laid them so I 
 could get them easy in the night, and was ready to 
 go to bed, for it was dark. It was still raining a little, 
 but not much. 
 
 I was hungry, and could have cooked some of the 
 deer meet, but I didn't have any salt to eat it with, 
 and I don't like meat without salt unless it is dried, 
 and even then it ain't good. I pulled off my leggins 
 because I knew they would get hard and stiff, and 
 sat under my shelter a while thinking about Uncle 
 and Auntie, and wondering if Comanche had had 
 his supper, and if Nasho caught Monkey, and wishing 
 I was at the ranch. I was certain Monkey would 
 go back to the ranch, so I wasn't uneasy about losing 
 him. Then I put on some more wood, and laid down 
 to sleep covering myself the best I could with the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. I Si 
 
 feather cloak and the dry grass I had got together. I 
 put the gun close to me so I could lay my hand on it 
 in a minute if I wanted to, but I wasn't afraid of 
 any thing, because I knew nothing would be out on 
 the prairie such a n'ght except the wolves, and they 
 wouldn't trouble me. 
 
 I was fast asleep when I heard somebody shouting, 
 and jumped up and looked out. You know I couldn't 
 stand up in my shanty, and there was two somebody's 
 on horseback. 
 
 Who's there ? I said. 
 
 " Well, little one, you'll do ! " and Capt. Dick got 
 off his horse and came to the fr leading his horse 
 by the bridle. I crawled out and ran to him and shook 
 hands with him, and Nasho came up and I just hug- 
 ged him. I was mighty glad to see them. 
 
 They warmed a minute or two and then unsaddled 
 their horses and fastened them to the tree. Then 
 they came back to the fire with their saddle-blankets, 
 and saddles and things. Capt. Dick said: 
 
 " Hello, Charley, what's this you've got on ? " and 
 I told him how I had made me a suit, and pulled off 
 my leggins when I laid down, and about finding the 
 rat's nest and making fire, and building me a bush 
 arbor, and showed him I was fixed pretty well for the 
 night. 
 
 " Well ! little one, you will do. You'll do to go to 
 the Centennial, or the Rocky Mountains, or any other 
 seaport. If I had known you was fixed so well I 
 don't believe I would have come after you to-night ;
 
 1 82 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 but when I saw Nasho coming after your rascally 
 little pony, and he told me he had left you stark naked 
 six miles off, with no clothes or any way to make fire, 
 I just crawled back into the saddle, and as soon as 
 Nasho could run in and get some coffee and grub, 
 and a couple of oil-cloths and blankets, we struck out 
 lively, for it was getting dark fast. I brought my 
 whiskey-flask, thinking if we had the good luck to 
 find you at all most likely you would be stiff and 
 nearly froze ; but I ain't going to waste Robertson 
 County on as lively a looking chap as you are I am 
 keeping that for stampedes and snake-bites. I tell you, 
 Charley, my little fellow," we was all sitting down 
 by the fire, and he put his arm around me so I 'most 
 felt like crying, for he seemed like an older brother, 
 and you know I never had a brother, " I doubted 
 mightily ever laying eyes on you again with life in 
 you, and it hurt me terrible to think of coming upon 
 your poor little body somewhere to-morrow stark 
 and stiff, ii" the wolves hadn't happened to have lit on 
 you and made a supper of you, and I would have 
 started if I had ridden four hundred miles instead of 
 forty, and it had been ten times as cold as it was, and 
 ten times as little chance of finding you." And he 
 drew me up in his arms on his breast, and I believe 
 I cried a little. I do love Capt. Dick. 
 
 " Nasho said he was sure you would start for the 
 ranch, and he knew he could go back to the place 
 where he left you, so there was nothing to do but 
 strike out in that direction and keep hollering, hoping
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. 183 
 
 you might hear us. I am as hoarse as a bull-frog, 
 little one, yelling for you. 
 
 " We rode lively while we could see, and then we 
 had to take it more coolly, and it was cool too, I needn't 
 tell you. Thinking of you out alone in the prairie 
 with that cold-hearted wind cutting around you, and 
 going into your very blood, made mine run cold until 
 the cold shivers run up and down my back like little 
 water streaks from a house roof. 
 
 " Every few minutes we would stop, and I would 
 holler my loudest, and you know I can raise the 
 woods when I try ; but never a note came back to us, 
 and my heart kept getting weaker and weaker. 
 Nasho kept saying : 
 
 " ' We no far enough, Capt. Dick,' and we would 
 ride on again, but I was so afraid of passing or missing 
 you that I would pull up again directly and yell out 
 like a wild-cat on the trail. I was beginning to think 
 that it was all up, for it had been dark an hour, and 
 the chances of missing you seemed about nine hundred 
 and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninty-nine 
 out of a million, when the sharp eyes of your little 
 friend here caught the glint of fire way ahead, and to 
 the left of the course we was going a long way, and 
 we pushed for it and here we are, and damned glad to 
 see you all right again, Charley my 'boy." 
 
 I think Capt. Dick was 'most crying too, for he 
 pushed me away and said. 
 
 " Get your duds on, little one, and we'll have some 
 supper. I reckon you are hungry, ain't you?"
 
 i4 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 I told him I felt like I could eat a whole ham, and 
 as soon as I could get my clothes on, I got the venison 
 ham out. 
 
 " What was you carrying this for, Charley ? " said 
 he as he began to cut some slices off it to broil 
 'fraid you would starve ?" 
 
 No, sir ; you asked me to bring you a venison ham, 
 and when I started after making my suit I thought 
 about it and thought I'd try, and I got it this far. 
 
 " And you thought about me even then. Well, 
 Charley, if ever I forget you or ain't ready to do a 
 brother's part by you may I be everlastingly blowed 
 into the middle of blue blazes. Excuse my swearing, 
 little one, and don't take to it yourself, but I'm full 
 to-night, and bound to let off somehow." 
 
 We didn't talk much while we was eating, and then 
 we stretched one of the rubber blankets they had 
 brought, for a tent, and put down the other one and 
 the dry grass I had and made a good bed with the sad- 
 dle-blankets, leaving the other ones to cover with. 
 We tied the horses close around the fire where it 
 could help to keep them warm. W 7 hile we were 
 standing around the fire just before lying down, 
 Nasho said : 
 
 " Me mighty glad we find Carley." 
 
 I just think Nasho is one of the best boys that ever 
 lived. 
 
 We had to mend up the fire once or twice in the 
 night, but got a good night's sleep, and was up early 
 in the morning and rode to the ranch to breakfast.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 185 
 
 I was going to leave my leggins and cloak, but Capt. 
 Dick made me take them along, and said he would 
 put them away in a safe place at the ranch, and maybe 
 some day I would want them.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CATTLE-DRIVING. ROUNDING-UP AND HERDING. 
 
 CAPT. DICK IN A TIGHT PLACE. BACK TO THE 
 RANCH. 
 
 IT was a bright, clear day that day, but so cold 
 that some of the hands wanted to put off starting 
 until the next day ; but Capt. Dick wouldn't listen 
 to it. So we got ready and started. We took a light 
 two-horse wagon to carry the provisions and bedding, 
 and cooking things. There were seven white men 
 and five Mexicans, and nearly all had three horses 
 apiece. Capt. Dick told me and Nasho we might 
 leave one of our horses apiece at the ranch in the 
 pasture, and take one of Col. Hunt's, because we were 
 going on the drive, and ought to have one fresh horse 
 apiece to start with. I left Monkey because I intend- 
 ed to make him pay for the trick he served me in run- 
 ning away from me. Capt. Dick and me took two 
 sacks of oats apiece to feed Milco and Beelzebub on, 
 when we had harder work than common for them. 
 Beelzebub is his pet horse. He is as black as a black 
 cat, with the prettiest curly mane and tail, and carries 
 himself just as proud as can be, and can run like a
 
 r
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 1 87 
 
 streak. Capt. Dick never will let anybody ride him, 
 and Beelzebub knows him as well as a dog does his 
 master. I wouldn't give Comanche for him though. 
 
 We went about one hundred and fifty miles, nearly 
 straight west, before we began gathering at all. Capt. 
 Dick and me rode together most of the time, but 
 sometimes he would call Nasho, who was 'most always 
 behind, to ride up by us, and ask him questions about 
 the Indians, and how he lived among them. Nasho 
 don't like to talk to people much, but he was very 
 willing to talk to Capt. Dick, and told him some things 
 he had never told me. 
 
 At last we got into the range of the cattle we were 
 going to gather, and Capt. Dick said we would begin 
 next day. The country was all prairie, but with a 
 good deal of mesquite in it, and some chapparal. 
 Chapparal is a thick thorny bush that grows over a 
 good deal of the western country. On the Rio Grande 
 it is so thick you can't get through it, but have to take 
 the paths that have been made by cattle and horses, 
 and when you get into a path it is often so narrow 
 that you can't turn around, but have to just go ahead. 
 Nasho told me this, for I never was there. 
 
 Next morning we began to gather. The cattle we 
 wanted was all branded O M, and N U, and marked 
 a square crop off of each ear, so it was easy to tell one 
 when we saw it. We wasn't going to gather any thing 
 but beeves. Capt. Dick told the wagon-driver where 
 to meet him at dinner time, and all the rest of the 
 hands left camp together. When we found a bunch
 
 1 88 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 of cattle we would ride round them easy so as not to 
 scare them, and drive them all up close together. 
 This is called " rounding up." Then we would pick 
 out all the beeves in the brands we wanted, and keep 
 them together, and let as many of the other cattle 
 slip out as we could. Then seven men would be 
 left with that bunch to drive them along slow the di- 
 rection we were going, and the other five would ride 
 on and make another " round," and drive the beeves 
 we got, back to the first herd. 
 
 Capt. Dick always led the drivers and let me go 
 with him, but left Nasho with the herd. Rounding 
 up is harder work than herding, and a great deal 
 harder on horses ; often we would have to run a great 
 deal to get the cattle together when they were much 
 scattered ; but I had a heap rather do it than herd. 
 The herd is always hard to hold at first, until they get 
 used to it, because they see the other cattle running 
 away and they want to go too, and they keep dodging 
 about trying to slip by the herders, or outrun them. 
 Sometimes when any particular beef was very trouble- 
 some, and kept running out, and would make a 
 break, one of the herders would start after him. 
 Some of the others would holler " go to him ! " 
 " go to him ! " and he would run by him, catch his 
 tail and wrap it round the horn of his saddle, and 
 with a quick jump of his horse past the beef turn him 
 a summerset. One or two of these falls nearly always 
 made a beef willing to go back to the herd and stay 
 there.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. K) 
 
 Cattle wasn't very plenty, because so many have 
 been driven out of the country ; but we gathered two 
 hundred and fifty that day. That night we were 
 lucky enough to have a pen to pen them in. Nobody 
 lived there ; it was just a pen that had been built to 
 put cattle in when hunters were gathering to brand, 
 or drive. We all slept round the pen with a horse 
 apiece saddled and bridled, where we could jump on 
 them in a minute if they tried to break the pen, and 
 kept one man on guard all the time to watch them, 
 but they were still enough all night. 
 
 The next night we had to stand guard round the 
 cattle because there wasn't any pen. About sundown 
 we rounded them up pretty close together, and put 
 four men round them. Capt. Dick told the guards 
 not to take stands, but to ride round the herd all the 
 time, one behind the other, at equal distances apart, 
 and in this way a beef could not slip out without 
 some one seeing it, and the cattle would soon get 
 used to them and would be easier to manage. Each 
 relief stood three hours. I was on the second, with 
 Nasho and Nueces Joe and three Mexicans. Next 
 morning about sunup the cattle were let out to graze, 
 the herders keeping round them so they couldn't 
 scatter too much, or any of them run off, and the 
 drivers started off to gather. Capt. Dick took Nasho 
 with him that day. 
 
 That evening at camp Nasho went out a little way 
 to see about one of his horses, and came back with an 
 armadillo. It was a little animal not quite as big as a
 
 I9O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 possum, but covered with a thick shell divided into 
 squares. His head didn't have any, but his tail did on 
 the upper side. Under his belly his shell was most like 
 a turtle, only harder, and he could draw his head in his 
 shell like a turtle, and bring the shell over his back and 
 the one under his belly together, and he looked like 
 a curious ball, and you could kick him round without 
 hurting him. One of the boys asked Nasho what he 
 was going to do with him, and he said. 
 
 " Me eat him he heap good." 
 
 He let him be right quiet awhile until he put his 
 head out, and then hit him a quick lick on the nose 
 and killed him in a second. Then he cut him open 
 and cleaned him and put him in the fire covered up 
 in his own shell, and let him stay about an hour and 
 a half. Nearly all of us tasted a little of it, and it was 
 real good, very much like possum, but tenderer and 
 sweeter. Capt. Dick always carried a six-shooter, but 
 there was no time for hunting, or even shooting deer 
 when we saw them. 
 
 The fourth day after we began gathering Capt. 
 Dick and myself had ridden off to a little bunch of 
 cattle by themselves. There wasn't but one hoad in 
 it that we wanted, but that was a large, fine one, and 
 we started to drive him toward another bunch some 
 of the other hands were going to round. He wouldn't 
 drive a bit, but would dodge and turn and almost run 
 against our horses when we tried to turn him. 
 
 " Well, old fellow, if you won't stop, there is a way 
 to make you," Capt. Dick said, and threw his rope on
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. IQI 
 
 him. Then he got mad and began to fight. Capt. 
 Dick was riding a pony that wasn't very strong and 
 didn't understand roping well, and directly he got 
 tangled in the rope and when the beef made a run, he 
 jerked him down, and he fell on Capt. Dick's leg, so 
 he couldn't get up. The beef whirled roand and, with 
 his head down, started at the horse as hard as he 
 could go. I trembled all over, because I was too far 
 off to get to him in time to stop him, and I expected 
 in a minute to see him run his horns into Capt Dick. 
 I hollered and ran towards them as fast as I could go, 
 but Capt. Dick just reached round, drew his six- 
 shooter, and shot him through the head. He turned 
 a summerset and fell so close to them that his heels 
 were almost against the pony's nose. I helped Capt. 
 Dick up by pulling the pony off of him, and he fixed 
 his saddle straight again and we rode on to the crowd. 
 His leg was a little stiff that evening, but he rubbed 
 it well with suet that night, and was ready for work 
 again next day. 
 
 Gathering cattle is the hardest work the cow-boy 
 has to do, except branding ; but it is a great deal hard- 
 er in the mountains than on the prairie, because the 
 ground is so rough and rocky, and there are so many 
 rough trees and bushes that brush and scratch one so 
 in getting through them. A cow-boy has to go wher- 
 ever the cattle do. Sometimes when they get into a 
 thicket one or two have to get down and leave their 
 horses, and go in a-foot and run them out, and then 
 go back, catch their horses and run as hard as they
 
 IQ2 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 can go to catch up again. A pony ought to be trained 
 so you can get down and leave him anywhere and he 
 won't run off ; but most of them are tricky, and will 
 leave you sometimes. A good cow-pony will follow 
 cattle wherever they go, twisting and turning to keep 
 up with their dodges without being guided at all. 
 
 Up in the mountains the cow-hunters have to look 
 out for Indians too. One night in Llano County 
 some Indians slipped up and stole all the horses of 
 some cow-hunters, and they had to walk to the near- 
 est settlement and carry their saddles. Mr. Hanscom 
 was out cow-hunting one day by himself and saw 
 several men in blue Yankee overcoats riding about. 
 He thought they were soldiers, but directly they got 
 around him and he saw they were Indians ; but his 
 horse outran them and he got away. 
 
 In a week we had gathered about fifteen hundred 
 head, which was as many as Capt. Dick wanted, so we 
 was ready to start back. First, though, we had to 
 cut out the cattle we didn't want, beeves in other 
 brands, and cows and young cattle. 
 
 " I thought you said, Charley, that you let them get 
 away in first rounding up." 
 
 " So we did, whenever we could, but sometimes 
 some of them wouldn't try to get out, and we wouldn't 
 ride into the bunch to get them out, because that 
 makes the cattle wild and hard to hold." 
 
 "What do you mean by holding cattle ? " 
 
 Keeping them close together, and not letting any 
 get away. I tell you it's hard to do sometimes, be-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 193 
 
 cause a half a dozen will be trying to get away at the 
 same time, and all going different ways, and you have 
 to keep running your horse as hard as he can go first 
 after one and then another to keep them in. It ain't 
 half as hard in the prairie as it is in the brush. 
 
 There are two ways to cut cattle out of a herd. One 
 is to round the herd up and let several good hands go 
 in and pick out the cattle they don't want, and work 
 them out one at a time, or two or three if they can 
 get them together. By being easy they can generally 
 work one out close to the edge of the herd, and then 
 by dashing at him right quick run him out and away 
 before he knows what they are after. The easier 
 they can do it the better, because if they run in the 
 herd much it makes the cattle wild and hard to man- 
 age. 
 
 The other way, and the best one, is when the cattle 
 are grazing for several good hands to go in and work 
 out what they don't want. The cattle are scattered 
 then and busy feeding, and don't notice the riders 
 much, and you don't have to run your horse much to 
 get them out. 
 
 The day that we started back to the ranch at dinner, 
 Capt. Dick, and me and Nasho and one other hand, 
 went into the herd while they were feeding, and cut 
 out about a hundred head. There was one big fellow 
 we had to rope and lead out, and tie down to get the 
 ropes off. When he got up he took after Nasho and 
 ran him about three hundred yards, but Nasho's horse 
 was fast enough to keep out of the way.
 
 194 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 That night we killed a maverick for fresh meat. 
 
 " What is a maverick, Charlie ? " 
 
 A yearling or big calf that ain't either marked 01 
 branded. They have 'most always quit following their 
 mothers, and nobody can tell who they belong to, so 
 whenever cow-hunters want fresh meat they kill a 
 maverick. 
 
 We got back to the ranch in ten days and had splen- 
 did luck. The weather was good and we didn't have 
 a stampede, or lose a single head. We put the cat- 
 tle in the big pasture, with about five hundred more 
 that Capt. Dick was going to drive, and kept four 
 hands with them to keep them together and get them 
 used to being under herd before starting. Then we 
 had a week's hard work road-branding. Col. Hunt's 
 road brand was S. We got through Saturday night, 
 and Monday morning we were to start.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE START. THE LIFE OF THE DROVER. WHIST- 
 LING BILL NAMES THE HANDS. 
 
 OUNDAY was a general getting-ready day. Some 
 **-s had washing to be done, and orhers saddle-rig- 
 ging to be fixed and bridles to be mended, and there 
 were horses to be got up out of the big pasture, and 
 the wagon to be loaded with the provisions, and two 
 of the hands that lived a few miles off went home 
 to spend the day. 
 
 Monday morning early the gate of the big pasture 
 was opened and some of the ranch hands turned the 
 herd out. It wasn't opened wide just so that only 
 two or three could come out at once, and Capt. Dick 
 and Col. Hunt's head boss sat on their horses on each 
 side of the gate and counted the cattle as they came 
 through. They kept one hand inside to hold them 
 up a little when they crowded too much. They both 
 made two thousand and eleven head. As the beeves 
 came through they would trot off pretty lively, but the 
 hands kept about them and didn't let them go ahead 
 until they was all out. They kept hollering and 
 singing to them to keep them quiet, for they were
 
 196 LIVE BOY?. 
 
 restless and wanted to keep moving, as cattle 'most 
 always are when they are turned out of a pen. When 
 they was all out we let them string out and take the 
 direction of the Trail. They were a good deal of 
 trouble, because some of them wanted to stop all the 
 time and feed, and some wanted to go ahead too fast, 
 and some was lazy and had to be pushed up all the 
 time to make them keep up with the rest of the herd. 
 
 About twelve o'clock we stopped to let them feed, 
 but we didn't get to rest much, because they wasn't 
 used to being herded and wanted to scatter too much, 
 and we had to keep riding all the time to keep them 
 together. When cattle first start they don't like to 
 feed so close to each other, but they get over that 
 pretty soon. The wagon had kept up with us, and 
 by two at a time we went to it to get dinner. Capt. 
 Dick and Highover and whistling Bill didn't stop to 
 get dinner, but just drank a cup of coffee and took 
 some meat and bread in their hands and rode off 
 again. Me and Nasho did that way too. 
 
 About half-past one we started again. They didn't 
 know which way to go, and it took some time to get 
 them strung out the right way, but when a few moved 
 off right the rest soon followed. Some bosses always 
 have one man to go ahead as a leader, and the cattle 
 soon learn to follow him, but Capt. Dick said that was 
 just throwing one hand away, for they would learn 
 themselves which way to go in two or three days. 
 
 When the sun was about an hour high we stopped 
 again and let the cattle feed until sundown. Capt.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. \<tf 
 
 Dick showed the wagon where to stop, and sent me 
 and Nasho to drive the loose horses to it. They had 
 been in the herd all day, 'most always back at the tail 
 end of it, for they kept stopping to pick grass. They 
 all kept together very well, and hadn't made us any 
 trouble about driving. When we brought them up to 
 the wagon Capt. Dick and Mose Baker had tied long 
 ropes to the hind wheels and each of them went out 
 as far as the ropes would go, and stretched them out 
 straight about as high as a man's waist, making a sort 
 of pen with them and the wagon. We drove them 
 into it, and I jumped down and went in to catch them 
 while Nasho minded the open end to keep them from 
 getting out. Capt. Dick and Mose Baker came closer 
 together and held their ropes tight, and the horses 
 didn't try much to get away. I took ropes in with 
 me, and as fast as I caught two I took them out and 
 tied them to the wagon wheels. When I had enough 
 for every man to have a change I took neck ropes and 
 necked some of them together two and two, and hob- 
 bled those that had hobbles on their necks. There 
 were two mean ones that didn't have any hobbles, and 
 Capt. Dick made the cook get him a piece of new 
 rope out of the wagon and cut off about three feet of 
 it and untwisted it and made a hobble for them. We 
 necked them together and hobbled one besides. I 
 necked mine and Nasho's together two and two and 
 let them loose, for they were used to camp and we 
 wasn't afraid of their running away. 
 
 As soon as I had got through with the others all of
 
 1 98 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 us that was at the wagon unsaddled the horses we had 
 been riding and turned them loose or hobbled them, 
 and saddled fresh ones. Capt. Dick took Beelzebub 
 and I saddled Comanche, for I intended to ride him at 
 night, because he was the fastest horse I had and 
 everybody wants his best if there is a stampede. 
 Then we rode out to the herd and Capt. Dick sent 
 the other hands in three at a time to change their 
 horses and get supper. 
 
 " What did you do with the loose horses at night, 
 Charley ? " 
 
 We let them feed. That is the best time for them 
 to graze, for the horses that are ridden during the day 
 don't get much chance to eat, and would get poor if 
 they couldn't feed at night. 
 
 " But won't they run off ? " 
 
 No, sir ; they ain't apt to. Whistling Bill had an 
 old gotch-eared, flea-bitten gray horse that was a good 
 camp horse, and we put a bell on him at night, and 
 the rest soon learned to stay with him. We could al- 
 ways tell by the bell where they were, and if they was 
 getting off too far a hand would be sent to drive them 
 back closer. It is always the business of the guard 
 that is on herd at night to keep a look out for the 
 horses too, and not let them stray off. They ain't apt 
 to try unless the grass is very poor, or they are 
 thirsty. Old Gray was one of the best camp horses 
 we had. Whistling Bill said he was the " Old Gray 
 Horse that came a tearing out of the wilderness, and 
 he was so glad to get into a prairie again, that there
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 199 
 
 wasn't any danger of his taking to the woods any 
 more." 
 
 About sundown we began rounding up the herd for 
 the night. As soon as we got them close together 
 and they were still, Capt. Dick sent High over and 
 Whistling Bill and one of the negroes to the wagon 
 to get their supper. There was three hands already 
 thsre. As soon as they got through they came back, 
 and we who had been herding went to get ours. As 
 it was the first night, Capt. Dick said he would have 
 to keep half of the hands on guard at a time, until 
 the cattle got more used to being kept so close to- 
 gether. As we were going to have the first waich we 
 didn't make down our pallets, but just got out our 
 blankets and put them where we could get at them 
 easy when we came off watch. Then we went back 
 to the herd and let those that was herding go to the 
 wagon to sleep until half-past twelve. 
 
 It was moonlight and no trouble to see the cattle, 
 and no trees or bushes in the way, and we just kept 
 riding around them, and driving back any that tried 
 to stray out. They flurried once or twice while we 
 were on guard, but didn't try to run, and at half-past 
 twelve Capt. Dick rode to the wagon and waked up 
 the second relief, and when they came out we went 
 to the wagon and laid down. We didn't undress at 
 all, but just lay down on our blankets, and tied our 
 horses to the wagon wheels so we could jump on them 
 in a minute if the beeves ran. 
 
 At the first peep of day, Capt. Dick sent me and
 
 20O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Nasho out again to drive up the loose horses. We 
 caught them just like the night before, and tied up 
 those that would be wanted and turned the ones we 
 had rode at night loose to feed. By the time we got 
 through this the cook had breakfast ready, and we ate 
 and went out to the herd, and let the other watch 
 come to breakfast and change their horses. The cat- 
 tle had already been turned loose to feed, and we had to 
 keep riding pretty steady to keep them from scatter- 
 ing too much. About nine o'clock we started again, 
 and about twelve came to a creek where we stopped 
 to water and let them feed, and get our dinners. That 
 evening we got to the road and camped on it that 
 night. We made about twelve miles that day. 
 " How many hands did you have, Charley ? " 
 There were twelve besides the cook. Drovers gen- 
 erally allow about six hands to the thousand head. 
 The cook don't herd or have any thing to do with the 
 cattle, but drives the wagon and does the cooking. 
 As quick as the herd stops at night, the boss shows 
 him where to camp, and he unharnesses the mules 
 and begins to get supper. When that is over and 
 his dishes are washed up, he can lie down and sleep, 
 and don't have to get up in the night, but at the first 
 crack of day he has to get up and make his fire and 
 get breakfast. The mules are driven up with the 
 loose horses and tied for him, and as soon as the last 
 hands have eaten breakfast, he harnesses up and 
 starts behind the herd. If the country is prairie and 
 there is very little wood, he haj to stop wuenever he
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2OI 
 
 comes to wood and put enough into the wagon to last 
 to the next wood, and hs has a ten-gallon keg that he 
 keeps water in for the hands to drink, and to cook with. 
 Very often we made dry camps ; that is, we camped 
 where there was no water. If the cattle and horses 
 were watered along in the evening they didn't need 
 any more, and the grass was often better away from 
 the creeks 'and branches. The cook don't have such 
 an easy time if he don't have to stand guard at night, 
 because he has to be up very early in the morning, 
 and it keeps him busy to get enough cooked for the 
 hungry hands. 
 
 " What provisions did you have ? " 
 
 We had corn meal and flour, and bacon and coffee, 
 and sugar, and rice, and molasses and dried fruit, and, 
 when we could get them, Irish potatoes and onions. 
 There are stores all along the Trail that keep just 
 what drovers want, and Capt. Dick bought what he 
 needed at the towns we went by so as not to have so 
 much to haul at once. We had fresh beef most of 
 the time. There were herds ahead of us of mixed 
 cattle, and every two or three days a stray yearling 
 from some other herd would get into ours, and when 
 we wanted fresh meat we would kill one. All the 
 herds do this. Sometimes we would pick up a bunch 
 of five or ten at a time that had strayed out in the 
 night, or got away in a stampede. We would always 
 put them in the herd and drive them on, and then 
 when we got to Kansas the owner could come and get
 
 202 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Capt. Dick was our boss, and a good one too. It 
 is the business of the boss to take charge of the herds, 
 and divide out the watches, and pick the camps, and 
 have control of every thing just like the owner would 
 if he was along. He ought to know all about ho\v to 
 manage cattle, and the best way to drive them. 
 Some bosses start the herd on the Trail the first thing 
 in the morning, and then stop about nine o'clock and 
 let them feed until about two, and some start about 
 nine o'clock and don't make but one drive a clay. 
 Most of them though make two. Fifteen miles a day 
 is a pretty fair drive, because it won't do to hurry 
 cattle ; they would get poor on the road. lUrvp.s 
 can travel faster than mixed cattle. 
 
 " Well, there were Capt. Dick and you and Nasho; 
 what other hands did your herd have, Charley ? " 
 
 There was Mose Baker 'most every body wnen 
 they wanted to speak to him would begin Mr. B-a- 
 ba-kr, Bakery ? " and Black Jack, he was the one that 
 always looked so rough and dirty. Whistling Bill 
 said he hadn't washed his face since the time he got 
 caught in the night by a rise in the creek, and lost 
 his saddle and blankets, and had to swim out. No- 
 body liked Black Jack much because he was so crusty, 
 and never seemed to feel pleasant toward anybody. 
 I don't know what Highover's name was. They called 
 him Highover because two men found him on the 
 prairie once stretched out where his horse had fallen 
 down with him, and asked him if he was much hurt, 
 and he said " No, but he had got the avvfulcst high-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 203 
 
 overest fall ever they saw.'' He was hurt so bad they 
 had to carry him home, and it was a month before he 
 could get on a horse again. He was a first-rate hand, 
 but nobody liked him. Capt. Dick used to leave him in 
 charge of the herd nearly always if he had to go ahead 
 for any thing.or to some place to buy provisions, but no- 
 body seemed like talking much when he was in camp. 
 There were twr negro men named Scip and Hanni- 
 bal, but the second night out Whistling Bill said he 
 was going tr do like Adam in the garden he was 
 going to call up the two-legged live stock of that herd 
 and name them. He said them darkey's names had 
 to be changed, for he wasn't going to have any fight- 
 ing on the road except what he did himself, and they'd 
 be sure to fight if they kept their names, so he called 
 Hannibal Gen. Foot, because he had such a long foot. 
 He said his arithmetic said three feet made a yard, 
 but three of that nigger's feet would come nearer 
 making a mile and two or three barrels of beef thrown 
 in. One of the Mexicans was named Manuel, and he 
 called him Wellman, and Antoino he nicknamed Aunt 
 Tony. Another was named Jesus. He was in camp 
 at the time, and Whistling Bill made Nasho tell him 
 in Mexican that among the Americans it was a sin to 
 call anybody Jesus, and they would have to give him 
 another name, that they would call him Senor Schez- 
 eredicks. He said that was a big name among the 
 Americans. The Mexican laughed when he heard his 
 new name, but didn't say any thing. Whistling Bill 
 called me Carley, like Nasho does, but he said he
 
 204 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 couldn't make Nasho's name any better if he tried, so 
 he would let him go. They all called each other by 
 their nicknames so much that anybody might have 
 been in camp a month without knowing what a man's 
 real name was.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CROSSING THE GUADALUPE RIVER. DRIVE TO AUS- 
 TIN. A LOOK AT THE STATE HOUSE. 
 
 THE second night we had to stand guard again 
 half the night, but the third one we had three 
 watches with four men in each, and got to sleep more. 
 I was glad of that, for the second day, before we 
 stopped for dinner, I was so tired and sleepy I could 
 scarcely sit on my horse or keep my eyes open. I 
 went to sleep a dozen times riding along, and could 
 hardly see the cattle right under my eyes. 
 
 Capt. Dick put Highover, and Mose Baker, and 
 Scip and Wellman on the first watch, and Whistling 
 Bill, and Black Jack, and Aunt Tony and Gen. Foot 
 on the second, and took the third with me and 
 Nasho and Sefior Schezeredick. 
 
 We didn't have any trouble till we got to the Gua- 
 dalupe river. We had to drive through the river bot- 
 tom apiece, and had to watch the cattle close to keep 
 from leaving any of them in the bushes. At the 
 crossing place the bank had been beat down by so 
 manv cattle crossing before that they could get down 
 to the water easy, but they wouldn't go in. Some of
 
 206 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 them would stand in water half way up to their sides, 
 and now and then when they would get to turning 
 around some of them would get into swimming water, 
 but they wouldn't strike out for the other bank. We 
 would crowd them as close as we could, and holler at 
 them and throw sticks, but we couldn't crowd them 
 in. We worked at them two hours. Some got down 
 and tried it afoot. Every now and then some of them 
 would break out and run off through the bottom, but 
 somebody would be after them in a minute and bring 
 them back. At last we got them as close together as 
 they could be and kept pressing in on them, and 
 crowding them closer until some of the front ones got 
 pushed off into swimming water, and in a minute 
 there, were two hundred of them heading for the other 
 bank. As soon as they were fairly started, Nasho 
 and Senor Schezeredicks started in a little above 
 them and swum their horses across, so as to gather 
 them up on the other side, and keep them from stray- 
 ing off. There were some boys on the other side 
 with a little boat, and they came over and Capt. Dick 
 and WhistlinglBill and one of the Mexicans got in and 
 pulled over, holding their horses by the bridle reins. 
 The other hands crossed the same way. The wagon 
 went round to a bridge about a mile and a half below. 
 As soon as all the hands were over we drove the herd 
 round the town on to the prairie, about two miles the 
 other side, and stopped for dinner. Capt. Dick told 
 Nasho and Senor Schezeredicks to make a fire and 
 dry themselves. He went to town to buy some things
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2O/ 
 
 we wanted, and when he came back he gave them a 
 dram of whiskey to keep them from catching cold. 
 
 We didn't go but three or four miles further that 
 day, because there was a belt of timber ahead of us 
 about fifteen miles through, and it would take all day 
 to drive through it. 
 
 " Why couldn't you camp in the timber, Charley ? " 
 
 Because it is so much harder to h~rd cattle in 
 woods. You can't see them like you can on the prai- 
 rie, and some of them will slip off and get away. 
 They are more apt to stampede in the timber. If an 
 old dead limb were to fall it might start them to run- 
 ning, and it's a heap more dangerous running them in 
 the woods at night, because you cannot see the limbs 
 and bushes, and dead trees, and a horse is more cer- 
 tain to fall down or run against a tree. 
 
 We started early the next morning and by driving 
 hard all day, except about an hour at dinner, we got 
 through to the prairie again. But I tell you it was 
 hard work. In some places the young postoaks and 
 hickories were so close you could hardly, get through, 
 and they rubbed and scratched our necks and arms 
 and legs, in crowding by them. And the cattle would 
 keep stopping to pick the young buds and leaves 
 that were coming out, and straying out to one side, 
 and kept us dodging backward and forward and run- 
 ning and hollering all day. I was so hoarse that 
 night I could hardly speak, and my arm was -so tired 
 swinging my rope to drive them along with I could 
 scarcely raise it. I was glad I wasn't on first watch.
 
 2O8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 " Why don't you use whips to drive with ? " 
 
 Because the noise they make cracking might stam- 
 pede the herd. Some of the hands got long sticks, 
 and some took their quirts or ropes. I let about ten 
 feet of my rope hang with a hard knot in the end, 
 and when I wanted to make one move I would give 
 the rope a jerk so the knot would hit him, and he 
 would move quick. It hurts them worse than a lick 
 with a stick, and you can ride up behind one easy and 
 jerk him a hard rap before he knows it is coming. 
 
 One day's work like that is harder than three day's 
 driving on the prairie. 
 
 About sixty miles from the Guadalupe we came to 
 the Colorado River, but we didn't have much trouble 
 crossing that because the river was shallow a good way 
 out, and the cattle got into swimming water before they 
 knew it. There was a ferry-boat close by, and the 
 hands crossed on that. Two of them had gone over 
 on it before the cattle was put in the river. When we 
 got most to the railroad track a train come along, and 
 the cattle got scared and whirled back, and milled for 
 half an hour before we could get them started again. 
 
 " What is milling, Charley ? " 
 
 It's turning round and round. They crowd as close 
 together as they can and hold their heads up, and 
 just keep going round and round. They are so close 
 together you could walk on their backs easy, and 
 their horns look like a piece of brushwood. It's the 
 hardest kind of work sometimes to get them started 
 when they get to milling. You can ride in among them
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2CQ 
 
 and holler as much as you please, but they just keep 
 turning round, each one following the one in front of 
 him. Sometimes if they are just let alone they will 
 get quiet themselves and then some of them will start 
 off, and the rest will follow. The horses generally 
 all get close togetner and stand perfectly still. They 
 look like a little island, with the cattle moving round 
 them all the time, but the cattle neyer hurt them. 
 
 We crossed the river right at the City of Austin. 
 Austin is the capital of Texas. Capt. Dick took me 
 to town with him, and I went up to the Capitol. It's 
 the biggest house I ever saw. You go up twenty 
 or thirty long stone steps, and right in front before 
 the doors is a little monument to the men that fell at 
 the Alamo. It is made of rock taken from the old 
 Alamo fort, and has the names of all the men that 
 were killed there on its sides. Uncle Charley's name 
 is there too, though two or three of the letters have 
 got broken so you can hardly read it. It is painted a 
 sort of dark green, and don't look much like rock, 
 and it has a little iron picket fence around it to keep 
 it from getting rubbed and the edges broken by peo- 
 ple passing. In the Capitol there were some pictures, 
 one of them was Genl. Sam. Houston. I had seen 
 pictures of him before, and knew him as I saw it. 
 He was the first President of Texas when she was a 
 Republic. Uncle used know him well. He hasn't 
 been dead many years. I didn't have time to stay at 
 the Capitol long. Some day I want to go there again 
 and take a good look at the rooms and pictures.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LIFE ON THE TRAIL. INTO INDIAN TERRITORY. A 
 
 BIG STAMPEDE. 
 
 TWO or three trails come together at Austin and 
 make a big one. From there on we had prairie 
 almost all the way. There wasn't any thhv; particular 
 happened to us going through Texas. We had some 
 bad weather, and several times the cattle flurried a 
 little, but we had first-rate luck and not much trouble. 
 There was a big red steer that always took the lead 
 and kept it, and the others learned to follow him. As 
 soon as the head was started he would strike out 
 north, for he was always near the head of the herd, 
 and if he didn't happen to be first he would soon get 
 there, for he was the fastest walker in the herd. 
 
 After we left Gonzales the country was nearly all 
 rolling, and we always rounded up at night on top of a 
 rise. It's more level, and drier, and the cattle will lie 
 more quietly, and it is easier to see them. If they 
 was on the side of a hill, a horse would be more apt 
 to stumble down hill, and that might scare the cattle. 
 They are as easily frightened as mice. I believe some- 
 times one of them dreams and jumps in his dream and 
 scares the others. I was watching them one morning,
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 211 
 
 just as day was beginning to break. I could just see 
 them, and all of a sudden every one that was down 
 was up and ready to run, but I couldn't see any thing 
 to frighten them. It's curious how what frightens one 
 way over on one side of the herd will run clear through 
 it and scare all, though the rest haven't seen it, and 
 don't know what they are scared at. They don't scare 
 that way in the daytime. 
 
 I liked the trip first-rate. Sometimes when I would 
 be waked up to go on guard, I would be so sleepy I 
 could hardly see, but it wouldn't last long, and I would 
 get to sleep a little at dinner and catch up. It was 
 right hot a heap of times, and all day in the sun with- 
 out any shade except the shadow of the wagon at 
 dinner, or maybe when the cattle were lying down at 
 dinner, and you could sit down in the shadow of your 
 horse and watch them. The country was a good deal 
 alike, and the Trail kept out of the settlements so as 
 not to be bothered by the cattle breaking into any 
 fields. One day was just about like another. Get up 
 in the morning, catch the loose horses, get breakfast, 
 drive and herd all day, except an hour and a half at 
 dinner, change your horse again at night, and sleep 
 and stand guard of nights. We didn't get to see much 
 of each other, because in the daytime we were scat- 
 tered about the cattle, and at dinner, when half of us 
 were together, some would nearly always be asleep 
 when they wasn't eating, and at night it was the same 
 way. I tell you driving cattle don't give a man much 
 time for any thing else if he sticks to them. We trav-
 
 212 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 elled Sunday just the same as any other day, because 
 it was just about as much work to herd as to drive. 
 Sometimes a beef would get stuck in the mud and two 
 or three would have to put their ropes on him and 
 drag him out by wrapping the ropes round the horns 
 of their saddles, and making their horses pull. A 
 horse can pull a great deal that way. 
 
 We crossed the Brazos river at Fort Graham, but it 
 was fordable. We lost one beef there. He got down 
 too low into swimming water, and washed against a 
 log and turned over in the water and strangled, I 
 reckon, for he didn't try to swim afterwards. 
 
 The grass was better and better as we went farther, 
 and the cattle fattened all the time. Our horses held 
 up well too. Comanche and Monkey got fatter, 
 though I rode Monkey every other day, and Milco 
 every night. 
 
 Red River was the last stream in Texas. The water 
 of Red River is a deep, thick red. It gets colored by 
 the kind of clay it flows through in Indian Nation. It 
 is a little brackish, and not good to drink, but there 
 was a good spring close by where we got plenty of 
 drinking water. The cattle seemed like they couldn't 
 get enough of it. There was a high bank on this side 
 without any timber, but on the other it was low and 
 sandy, and there were a few cottonwoods and chick- 
 asaw plums just like what we had at Uncle's. It 
 looked curious at first to see them growing out 
 here wild. As it was after dinner when we crossed 
 Red River, we made a dry camp that night. I forgot
 
 CilARLLV AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 213 
 
 to tell you that Red River is the boundary between 
 Texas and Indian Territory, and when we got over we 
 were in the Nation. The country was all prairie, in 
 great long swells. It would be from two to three 
 miles from the top of one swell to the top of the next. 
 There was a creek about a mile and a half to the right, 
 and we drove the horses there and watered them. 
 The cattle didn't need any water. 
 
 Indian Territory looked a good deal like one of the 
 pictures of it in my geography. The grass was high 
 and thick and coarse, and there was hardly any tim- 
 ber. There is plenty though in the eastern part of 
 the Nation, where the Choctaws and Creeks and other 
 tame Indians live. You know Indian Territory was 
 given to the Indians for home, and a great many of 
 them live in it. The part where we were going 
 through was where the Comanches, and Keorias, and 
 Kickapoos lived, but we didn't see any of them. They 
 were all west of us. They don't have any regular 
 houses, but live in tents, wandering round where they 
 can find game, and going to the reservation to get 
 their rations every month. Fort Sell was the place 
 where they got their rations. I would like to have 
 gone there to have seen some of the Indians, but it 
 would have taken two days to go and come, and I 
 couldn't leave the herd that long. If one man goes 
 off the rest have to do his work, and every one has 
 enough of his own without taking part of somebody 
 else's. 
 
 We didn't see any roads except the Trail. That is
 
 214 LIVE DOVS. 
 
 nearly a hundred yards wide, a great big plain road 
 with little paths on each side winding in and out and 
 twisting into each other, and little lanes of grass be- 
 tween. The grass grows fresh and high right up to 
 the edge of the Trail, so that in ten steps of it there 
 was good grazing. 
 
 There was a heavy thunder-storm came up that eve- 
 ning about sundown, but we were just in the edge of 
 it and didn't get wet. About a mile ahead of us there 
 was a herd camped, and another behind us. The 
 herds don't come close together for fear the cattle will 
 get mixed. 
 
 When we got up next morning it was showering a 
 little, and kept it up all day. Sometimes it would rain 
 right hard for a little while. The third night in the 
 Nation we camped close to some rocky hills with piles 
 of rocks on top here and there, but I don't know who 
 piled them up, or what for. The Indians, I reckon, for 
 drovers wouldn't stop for that. 
 
 It had been showering nearly all the time since we 
 crossed Red River, and the ground was pretty wet. 
 It wasn't raining when we lay down, but looked like it 
 would, and we didn't take off any of our clothes, but 
 just threw down a blanket and lay down. Capt. Dick 
 held his horse by the bridle reins. I thought we 
 would have time if we was called, and tied mine to the 
 wagon wheel. 
 
 We hadn't been asleep but two or three hours when 
 Whistling Bill waked us up and said he thought it was 
 going to storm, and we had better come out to the
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 215 
 
 herd. We jumped up and got our horses and started. 
 Capt. Dick told the cook to be sure to keep the lan- 
 tern burning, and to keep the fire covered up with the 
 skillet lids so the boys could have some hot coffee 
 whenever they come to the fire. 
 
 " What was the lantern for, Charley ? " 
 So we could tell where the wagon was. Whenever 
 it was at all dark a lantern was always kept swinging 
 from the front bow of the wagon, so we could tell how 
 to find the way to it, and then if the cattle ran we 
 would know which way to turn them back. 
 
 It was so dark we could scarcely see, and raining a 
 little and thundering. The cattle looked like a big 
 dark spot. You could hardly tell the white ones, it 
 was so dark. Directly after we got to the herd it com- 
 menced raining hard, and thundering and lightning 
 terribly. It was so black I couldn't see my hand be- 
 fore me, or my horse. I tried it lots of times. We 
 had to be very careful in riding about the cattle not 
 to ride so close as to make any of them move. It was 
 raining hard, and the big peals of thunder would seem 
 like they shook the very ground. It was almost like 
 somebody had hit you. You would dodge and crush 
 down 'a the saddle, and in a minute, there would 
 come another one, and the lightning flashed so it almost 
 blinded us. One second you could see the herd, and 
 the men scattered about it, some riding, but most of 
 them sitting drawn in their saddle with their backs 
 to the rain the best they could, and the wagon, and 
 the hills, and the creek, and the next second when
 
 2l6 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 you opened your eyes after the flash it would be as 
 black as pitch, an 1 by the time you could begin to make 
 out the herd a little there would come another. The 
 wind was from the south, and I was on the south side 
 of the herd. The cattle all had their heads turned 
 north. All of a sudden it whipped round and blew 
 harder than ever from the north, and the cattle all 
 turned round with their heads to the south. Whist- 
 ling Bill was on one side of me, and one of the Mexi- 
 cans on the other. Capt. Dick came round and told 
 us to keep moving in front of the cattle and singing 
 and hollering, that they were frightened and would 
 run unless we kept up a noise. Everybody was 
 singing or hollering, but you couldn't understand what 
 anybody said. The cattle all had their heads down 
 close to the ground, and their eyes looked wild and 
 frightened. When a flash would come the foremost 
 ones that I could see would shut their eyes and turn 
 their heads, as if it hurt them. 
 
 It kept on storming for about three hours, and 
 then commenced slacking up. It wasn't raining 
 much, and the lightning didn't come so fast, or the 
 thunder, and it wasn't as loud either as before. I 
 was tired, but I hadn't got wet, only my feet a little. 
 I had my soldier coat on, and that kept my body dry, 
 and myleggins kept my legs from getting wet. When 
 it was blowing so hard the rain-drops stung our hands 
 and faces, almost like we had been hit with pebbles. 
 
 But the wind had slacked up now and every thing 
 was stiller. The hands were all tired and had quit
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2I/ 
 
 singing and hollering, and were gathered about the 
 herd two or three together for company. I could see 
 that by the lightning, for it was too dark to see any 
 other way. Whistling Bill rode up to me and said 
 he thought the storm was about over now, and we 
 wouldn't have any more trouble with the cattle, but 
 just then there came a flash that blinded us and a 
 terrible thunder-clap, and here they came. It sound- 
 ed like the whole herd had started at once. They 
 were so quick that they were almost around us before 
 our horses jumped off. We were separated in a min- 
 ute, running to keep in front of the cattle, and hollering 
 and yelling at them to try and keep them back. They 
 wouldn't stop though, and I kept riding in front of 
 them until by a turn I got out of sight of the lantern. 
 I couldn't see the ground, but I knew by the feeling 
 of my horse that we were going up hill. The ground 
 was so wet that my horse would sink 'most to his 
 knees sometimes. By the time the foremost got on 
 top of the hill they were tired enough to stop, and 
 they had got scattered a good deal too, and they never 
 run as bad when they get scattered. Each one 
 seems to keep the others scared when they are to- 
 gether. 
 
 I got the foremost stopped, and began riding round 
 in the dark rounding up all I could find, and driving 
 them together. When I would find a bunch moving, 
 I would ride the way they were going until I couldn't 
 see or hear any more, and then stop and turn them 
 back, and drive them to the others. In this way I
 
 2l8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 got together a pretty good bunch, and it wasn't 
 any use to ride off far because I couldn't see which 
 way to go, or where the cattle were unless I got right 
 close to them, and I might lose what I already had, 
 so I just staid with them until they began to lie down. 
 I knew then there wasn't any danger of their moving 
 away until daylight, and I was cold and thought I 
 would try and find my way to the wagon and get a 
 blanket, and come back. They were right on top of 
 a hill, and the wind was strong enough to be real 
 chilly. In riding about I came to the Trail, and fol- 
 lowed that south until I caught sight of the lantern, 
 and then went to the wagon. I found two other hands 
 there that had come in to get coffee and blankets. I 
 just took a cup and my blanket and hurried back, and 
 as it was getting lighter found my bunch, and lay down 
 close to them holding Comanche by the bridle reins. 
 The ground was soaking wet, and I didn't have any 
 pillow but my arm, so you may know I didn't have a 
 very good bed. I don't think I slept an hour when 
 something waked me up, and I found day was just 
 breaking. I got on my horse, and about a quarter of 
 a mile off saw another bunch of cattle, and two sad- 
 dled horses, and when I got to them I found it was 
 Whistling Bill and Aunt Tony. They were lying 
 down asleep, holding their bridle reins. I woke them 
 up and we drove their bunch to mine, and then took 
 them all to the bed-ground. We had together about 
 five hundred head. We found two of the hands at 
 the wagon that had followed a bunch until they stop-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2IQ 
 
 ped, and then left them and come to the wagon, and 
 hadn't gone back. Whistling Bill started right away 
 with them to find their bunch, and left me and Aunt 
 Tony to herd what we had. There were a few strag- 
 gling lots in sight, about a hundred in all, and we got 
 them together, and drove the horses up near the 
 wagon. One would herd while the other ran out and 
 drove up. The bed-ground looked like a mortar bed, 
 it was all trod up so. 
 
 In about half an hour Nasho and Senor Schezere- 
 dicks came up with about two hundred, and directly 
 after Highover and Gen. Foote brought in about a 
 hundred and fifty, and Black Jack and Mose Baker 
 and Whistling Bill came back with three hundred, 
 and Scip came in by himself with a hundred, so that 
 everybody was in but Capt. Dick, and we had about 
 thirteen hundred head, and were out about seven hun- 
 dred. Scip said Capt. Dick had been with him, but 
 had sent him into camp and told him to tell Highover 
 to take charge of the herd. He had gone to two other 
 herds to see if any of our cattle had got into theirs. 
 
 We caught the horses, changed, tied up one for 
 Capt. Dick, and then let the herd leave the bed- 
 ground. Every thing was wet, and we knew it would 
 take the cook a good while to get breakfast, so High- 
 over put half the hands on herd, and sent the others 
 out to follow up tracks and try and find more cattle. 
 They came back in an hour with a hundred and fifty, 
 and got breakfast and came out to herd while we ate. 
 Highover took Wellman with him and started off
 
 220 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 again to hunt up cattle. While we were eating Capt. 
 Dick came up with about fifty head. That made fif- 
 teen hundred, and we were still out five hundred. 
 Capt. Dick said he had been to three herds near us 
 and they had all had stampedes. One herd of three 
 thousand didn't have but five hundred left, and an- 
 other herd of a thousand had next morning about 
 twenty-five hundred. They had kept their own cattle 
 together, and part of the big herd had run into theirs. 
 They had all agreed to stay there that day and hunt, 
 and take up any cattle of each other's they could find, 
 the next day they would cut out. Capt. Dick said he 
 had found about a hundred of ours in another herd, 
 but he would let them stay there until to-morrow. 
 
 As quick as we got through eating Capt. Dick sent 
 the other hands to the herd and told them to tell Black 
 Jack, and Mose Baker, and Senor Schezeredicks, and 
 Gen. Foote, to stay with the herd, and for Whistling 
 Bill and two hands to hunt, and Highover and Well- 
 man to keep on hunting. He said he knew it would 
 be hard work for four hands to herd, but he wanted to 
 find all the cattle to-day, and get away from there for 
 fear we should have another storm and stampede, for 
 the weather wasn't clearing up much. 
 
 He took me and Nasho and started off hunting. 
 There were cattle tracks going 'most every way, but 
 directly we struck the trail of a good big bunch and 
 followed it. They had kept it right straight on with- 
 out stopping, and I reckon we followed them six miles 
 before we came up with them. There were about
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 221 
 
 three hundred head scattered about feeding. They 
 were ours. I tell you we were glad to see them. The 
 country we had ridden over was very rough and 
 broken, full of great, deep gullies in the red clay where 
 you could have hidden a house. We saw a good 
 many turkeys and deer, and one bear track. It must 
 be a good game country to hunt in. Riding was 
 hard work on our horses, and us too. The ground 
 was slippery, and the gully banks hard to climb, and 
 every little branch full, and sometimes boggy. Capt. 
 Dick said, as we were following the track out, that at 
 one of the herds some of the hands thought the In- 
 dians had stampeded the cattle, for we were in the 
 Comanche reservation. One poor fellow got separated 
 from the rest and so badly scared that when his horse 
 got bogged in a little branch he just left him and 
 kept on afoot. He thought the Indians had shot his 
 horse with an arrow, and were after him. He carried 
 his six-shooter in his hand all the time. In crossing 
 a branch he lost it, but stopped and fished it out again 
 with his feet, taking his shoes off so he could feel bet- 
 ter for it. He didn't wait to put them on again but 
 started running, and thought all the time he could 
 hear the Indians following close to him. At last he 
 broke plum down and lay down, and next morning 
 when one of the hands found him in sight of the 
 wagon, he was nearly crazy from fright. He said he 
 had seen the lantern at the wagon, but thought it was 
 the Indians' fire, and he could hardly pursuade the 
 poor fellow to go with him to the wagon. Capt.
 
 222 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Dick said he knew the Indians didn't have any thing 
 to do with it, that they could sweep the whole Trail 
 any time if they wanted to, for there wasn't enough 
 drovers to whip them off and watch their cattle too, 
 but they were afraid to lest the United States gov- 
 ernment should get after them about it. 
 
 I thought about the Indians when I was lying 
 down with my bunch of cattle, but I didn't believe 
 they were about, and I knew if they wanted to they 
 could kill us all any time, and I intended to stick to 
 the cattle till I saw them anyhow. 
 
 We got back with our bunch about two o'clock, and 
 found all the other hands there. One bunch of about 
 fifty had come back themselves. Highover said he 
 had counted them as close as he could, and he didn't 
 think we were out more than a hundred. As quick 
 as we got some dinner we went to the herd, and 
 strung them out so we could count them, and Capt. 
 Dick and Highover counted. They made nineteen 
 hundred and ten head. 
 
 Capt. Dick sent the wagon on about two miles to a 
 better camping place, out of the low grounds, and that 
 evening we drove the herd there. The moon came 
 out pretty that evening, and we was glad to see it, for 
 we was all tired, and wanted to sleep some to make up 
 for what we had lost. After the herd was rounded up 
 Capt. Dick rode over to the herd where our missing 
 cattle were, and they agreed if he would come back 
 next morning before they let the herd off the bed- 
 ground, they would hold them up and let him cut out.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 RAINY WEATHER. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS WITHOUT 
 
 FOOD OR SLEEP. A TRADING-POST. A PRAIRIE- 
 DOG TOWN. EATING DOG. ALONE IN THE PRA- 
 IRIE. 
 
 THE next morning we were up by the first peep 
 of day, and before sunup drove the herd over in 
 about a quarter of a mile of the herd that had our cattle. 
 Capt. Dick took me and Whistling Bill with him to 
 cut out. It was hard work, because the ground was 
 so wet our horses kept slipping, and we were afraid 
 they would fall down with us. It took us nearly two 
 hours to cut out all our cattle, because they were scat- 
 tered all through the herd. While we were cutting 
 out, two hands from that herd rode all through ours 
 to see if they could find any of their cattle in ours, 
 but they didn't. When we finished cutting out we 
 drove back near the wagon, and half the hands herded 
 while the other half ate breakfast, and when all had 
 eaten we took the Trail again, glad to get away from 
 a place where we had had so much trouble. We was 
 real lucky, though, not to lose any cattle in such a
 
 224 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 stampede. The herd we had cut out from had two 
 hundred and fifty head gone when we left them. 
 
 That night was drizzly again, and the wind blew 
 chilly. I was in front of the cattle with my back to 
 the wind listening, for it was dark, and I couldn't see, 
 and they had walked off from the bed-ground when it 
 began to drizzle. I thought the wind was going to 
 change, and sure enough in 'most a second it turned 
 right round and began blowing the other way. The 
 cattle all turned their heads and started off. I was 
 afraid to start behind them for fear I might ride into 
 them without knowing it, for it was so dark I couldn't 
 see any thing, and waited a few minutes for them to 
 get on a little and then started to ride clear round and 
 get ahead of them again. Cattle are apt to get scared 
 if you come riding up behind them in the dark when 
 they can't see. But somehow I got turned round and 
 couldn't find the herd at all, and didn't know which 
 way to go. I felt pretty sheepish to think I had to 
 let a whole herd walk right off under my nose and 
 lose them. I hollered several times but didn't hear 
 any answer, and then started to find the wagon, think- 
 ing maybe I would find somebody there that could 
 tell me where they was. As I got up on top of the 
 hill I saw the lantern, and hadn't been at the wagon 
 but a few minutes when Mose Baker come up and 
 said he had lost the herd too. He said maybe the 
 herd had gone back to the bed-ground, and we rode 
 out there and sure enough there they were. The, 
 hands said they had come back of their own accord.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS 225 
 
 We didn't have any more trouble with them that 
 night. 
 
 Some of the boys laughed at me a good deal for 
 losing a whole herd, and said I must have been asleep, 
 but Capt. Dick said I would coma out all right yet ; 
 that he lost a herd himself once the same way. The 
 next night was rainy again, and the herd kept running 
 and moving all night. They didn't make a big stam- 
 pede, but they would all start and run a few hundred 
 yards and then stop, but wouldn't be still. It was 
 pitch dark, and we lost the wagon directly, and didn't 
 know where we were. All hands were up and in the 
 saddle. Sometimes they would keep still for half 
 an hour, and Capt. Dick would ride round and tell 
 every other man to lie down close enough to the herd 
 so that he wouldn't lose them if they ran, but we 
 could hardly get to sleep before they would be off 
 again, and we would jump into our saddles and be 
 after them. We laid down in our overcoats, hats, 
 boots, and spurs. Next morning we were clear out 
 of sight of the wagon. It was raining so hard that we 
 knew the cook couldn't cook any thing, so Capt. Dick 
 sent Highover and three other hands back to find the 
 wagon, get up the loose horses, catch the ones we 
 wanted, and tell the cook to drive on. Then he 
 started off to find the Trail. 
 
 When he found it we drove to it and let the cattle feed 
 along it until the wagon came up. Then we changed 
 horses and started again. There was a little cold bread 
 and meat at the wagon, but hardly a mouthful apiece.
 
 226 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 We didn't get any thing to eat that day, for it kept 
 raining, and the cook had let his wood get wet and 
 couldn't get a fire started, and there was only one 
 green tree in sight, and no dry wood. That night we 
 had to be up until about three o'clock again, and then 
 when the cattle did get still, it was our turn to go on 
 guard, and we didn't get to sleep any only little cat- 
 naps we caught in the saddle. But it cleared off 
 pretty, and the sun come out bright and warm, and 
 when we were relieved and went to the wagon, old 
 Jose had a good breakfast and plenty of strong, hot 
 coffee for us, and we felt a heap better. Herding is 
 hard work when you have to be up nearly all night 
 two or three nights at a time, and don't get any thing 
 to eat for twenty-four hours besides. I went to sleep 
 riding along beside the herd a dozen times that day, 
 I just couldn't keep awake. When I would be 
 trying my hardest I would go to sleep before I 
 knew it. Several of the men went to sleep on guard 
 that night. Some horses will keep right on around 
 the herd all the same, but some of them just as 
 soon as they find their riders is asleep will come to 
 the wagon, or go feeding about. It's the funniest 
 thing to watch a man on horseback asleep and see 
 him riding zigzag anywhere his horse wants to go, 
 and he bobbing about first one side and then the 
 other like he was going to fall off all the time. 
 And if his horse goes to the wagon and stops and he 
 wakes up and finds himself there, he looks so foolish. 
 One night when I was riding Monkey on herd I went
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 22/ 
 
 to sleep, and the little rascal went to the wagon with 
 me, and when he stopped I woke up and saw where 
 I was ; but I just got down and went to the water 
 bucket and got a drink as if I had come there for 
 that, and I don't believe any of them knew I had been 
 asleep. I think cow-boys are very faithful to stick to 
 their cattle as they do, when it would be so easy to 
 ride off a piece and lie down and go to sleep, and say 
 next day they had lost the herd and couldn't find it. 
 They don't get much pay and have to work real hard. 
 We had good weather again now and get rested up 
 some. The country was all rolling prairie, with 
 hardly any timber at all except on the rivers and 
 creeks, and not much there. There was water every 
 ten or fifteen miles, so the cattle did not suffer any, 
 though it was right mean for drinking sometimes. 
 The day we crossed the Washita the wind blew hard 
 from the north all day, and kept up such a cloud we 
 could hardly see, and sometimes it would get into our 
 mouths and almost strangle us. At dinner time the 
 cook piled up every thing he could get on the north 
 side of his fire, but every thing was full of dirt. There 
 was a little old bark shanty near the Trail at the 
 Washita, where the Indians used to keep a man to 
 take toll from every herd that passed. They made the 
 boss give them a beef for every thousand head. They 
 said it was their grass and their water, and ought to 
 be their beef too. But they haven't done it for 
 several years now. I believe the United States made 
 them quit it.
 
 228 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 We made a dry camp that night, and next day we 
 didn't get water until about three o'clock, and the 
 cattle and horses were very thirsty. The front ones 
 kept travelling fast to get to water, until the herd was 
 strung out about two miles. Some of them kept up a 
 lowing all the time. When they got to water it was 
 a little narrow creek, where only a few could get in 
 at a time and when the hindmost got to it it was so 
 muddy they could hardly drink it. Capt. Dick said 
 once when he was driving out to the Pecos there 
 wasn't any water for thirty miles. They let the cat- 
 tle feed and water until near sundown, and then drive 
 all night, and it was late in the evening the next day 
 before they got to the water. He said some of the 
 cattle got so thirsty that they seemed to be 'most 
 crazy, and a few of them fought them for five miles 
 before they got there. The men too were nearly 
 choked for water. They chewed bullets, and pieces 
 of raw hide, and two of them got so hot and mad and 
 thirsty that one of them shot one beef that kept fight- 
 ing them, and cut his throat, and they pulled off their 
 boots and caught the blood in them and drank it. 
 They were 'most ready to fight each other for it. He 
 said there were some pools of alkali water not far from 
 the road, and they had the hardest kind of work to 
 keep the cattle out of them, but they knew that every 
 one that got a big drink of alkali water would die. 
 When they got within a mile of the river the cattle 
 smelt the water, and, tired as they was, they started for 
 it in a trot. Two or three killed themselves drinking,
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 229 
 
 and several more got washed away by the river, crowd- 
 ing each other in so. He said it was the most mourn- 
 ful thing he had ever heard the way the poor things 
 kept up lowing before they got to the river. 
 
 All along the Trail we would see ashes where other 
 herds had camped. A burnt place shows a long time. 
 Some of them were two or three years old, but they 
 still showed plain. The ashes was all washed away, 
 but the bare place is there. Wood is so scarce that 
 the cook don't use any more than he can help, and 
 you could nearly always cover it with a broad-brimmed 
 Mexican hat. It looked curious to me that such a 
 little thing should be all there was to tell where so 
 many cattle, and the horses and men and wagon, had 
 staid all night, and we knew just as well that a herd 
 had been as if we had seen them. 
 
 " But, Charley, might not some of the fires have been 
 made by men who were not travelling with cattle ?" 
 
 Yes, sir ; but they nearly always went farther from 
 the Trail so as not to be in the way of any cattle that 
 might pass. If you wanted to know for certain, you 
 could tell by finding the bed-ground. You couldn't 
 see it from the Trail maybe, but if you rode out and 
 hunted for it you could always find it, and if there 
 wasn't any, you could know it hadn't been a herd. A 
 bed-ground won't show more than two or three years, 
 and sometimes you can hardly find it the next year. 
 
 At the Canadian river there was a little supply 
 store where a man kept goods to sell drovers, and 
 trade with the Indians for buffalo robes and other
 
 23O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 skins. His house had a dirt floor, and the roof was 
 made of poles covered with dirt or clay, and he had 
 a big chain with a heavy lock to stretch across the 
 door at night to keep anybody from getting in and 
 stealing his horses. He had two, and the stable was 
 next to his room, just a little partition between. He 
 had some fine robes hanging up in his store. Some 
 of the men bought some tobacco there. I wouldn't 
 like to live in such a place, because the Indians might 
 come any time and kill him and take all he had. He 
 had a few cattle that he had got from drovers for sup- 
 plies. Sometimes a beef gets foot sore so he can't keep 
 up with the herd, and then they trade him off the first 
 store they get to. I used to feel real sorry for the 
 poor things limping along behind the herd, and getting 
 poorer all the time. Most of them get well though. 
 
 We crossed the Canadian without any trouble, for 
 it wasn't very deep. I remembered that was the river 
 where Washington Irving had the buffalo chase, and 
 the young Swiss Count got lost, though I don't reck- 
 on it was at the place where we crossed it. I read 
 about in a book called Crayon Miscellany, that Miss 
 Masover lent me. But there wasn't game like when 
 he and the Rangers was there. I expect there is 
 game away from the Trail, but we never saw a single 
 deer or turkey. Sometimes in herding we would 
 scare up a prairie chicken, and once I found a nest 
 with ten good eggs in it. 
 
 It was at Turkey Creek we saw the first prairie 
 dogs. These don't look like dogs at all, but like sqir-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 23! 
 
 rels. They stand up on their hind feet and hold the 
 grass roots between their forepaws just like squirrels, 
 and they are 'most the color of a fox squirrel, but a 
 little bigger, and chunkier, and they only have a little 
 squatty tail about four inches long. They live on the 
 roots of the buffalo grass. We never saw any only 
 where there was buffalo grass. They have holes in 
 the ground with the dirt thrown up around them like 
 an ant heap. We would see them sitting on top of 
 the little mounds barking at us like squirrels when 
 they think they are safe in a big tree, but just start 
 towards one and he would give a little yelp, his heels 
 would fly up, and down he would get into his hole. 
 We travelled through a dog-town five miles that day, 
 and the boys shot at them a heap but nobody killed 
 one, or if he did he got into his hole and he didn't get 
 him. There are little screech-owls that seem to stay 
 in the same holes with the prairie dogs, though may- 
 be they only take holes the dogs have left. You 
 nearly always find rattlesnakes in their towns too, and 
 if you get after one he will always run into one of the 
 holes. But I should think they would eat up the 
 little prairie dogs if they lived in the same holes. 
 Capt. Dick said he thought the prairie dogs could 
 keep the rattlesnakes out of their holes by bitting 
 them, but he expected sometimes they slipped in 
 when the old ones were out and made a meal off of 
 the little ones. One night when we had camped in a 
 dog-town two of the boys took the bucket and filled a 
 hole with water and made the prairie dog come out.
 
 232 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 and caught him. It took nearly three buckets of 
 water. There wasn't but one dog in that hole. They 
 tied him to a stake, but next morning he was gone. 
 He had cut the string with his teeth. Sometimes 
 you catch one by a slip noose in the wagon whip, and 
 putting it over the hole, and lying down right quiet. 
 When the prairie dog puts his head up through the 
 noose you must jerk it tight right quick, and you can 
 snatch him away from his hole. They can't run very 
 fast, but there are so many holes and so close together 
 that they can always get into one before you can 
 catch them. They are good to eat, though nobody 
 likes much to eat them because they are called dogs. 
 Capt. Dick killed two one day with his pistol, and I 
 ate some and thought it was real good. They are too 
 tough to fry, unless you boil them first. Capt. Dick 
 said he asked an Indian once if they ate them, and he 
 said " No, no good ; there come a time when there 
 come the hair all off." Nasho said the Indians he 
 was with used to eat them if they couldn't get any 
 thing else. Several of the boys tried them, but all 
 gave it up except Capt. Dick and me. They laughed 
 at us a good deal about eating dog. 
 
 That evening we saw the first bunch of antelope 
 we had seen, and away off two or three miles were 
 some tents. They were a party of surveyors or Indi- 
 ans, we couldn't tell which. I thought it looked like 
 Indian country, for there wasn't a house or tree in 
 sight, and no tame animals except ours, and no herd 
 in sight, just us out in the big prairie.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HIGHOVER AND BLACK JACK TRY TO STEAL THE HERD. 
 
 A NIGHT-STAMPEDE. WHISTLING BILL SHOT. 
 
 CHARLEY STARTS ON A LONG RIDE. 
 
 WE were camped on Nine Mile Creek about a 
 short drive from Salt Fork. Something had 
 waked me up very early in the night and I thought I 
 would go out and stake Comanche in a fresh place. 
 There was a little hollow close to the wagon, big 
 enough to hide a horse in, and I staked him down in 
 that. When I started back I heard a fuss at the wagon 
 like two men fighting, and cursing, so I crawled up the 
 hill to see what was the matter. I thought first it 
 was Indians, because the Indian Reservation for the 
 Osages was on the sight of the Trail, and the Chey- 
 ennes and Rapahoes on the left, but the noise I heard 
 wasn't made by Indians. It was American. When 
 I got where I could see, the moon was shining bright. 
 Highover and Black Jack and the three Mexicans 
 were at the wagon. They had Capt. Dick and Whist- 
 ling Bill tied, and was talking to Mose Baker. He 
 was begging them not to hurt him. Black Jack 
 wanted to tie him too, but at last Highover said if he
 
 234 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 would get on his knees and swear not to leave them, 
 and to help drive the cattle, they would let him loose, 
 and he done it. Highover said Col. Hunt owed him 
 and Black Jack a good deal of money, and wouldn't 
 pay them, and they were just going to take the cattle 
 to Wichita and sell them, and pay themselves, and 
 leave the rest of the money there for Col. Hunt, and 
 that they wouldn't hurt Capt. Dick and Whistling Bill, 
 but they would have to keep them tied and out of the 
 way until they had sold the cattle, and then they 
 would let them loose. Highover asked whereabout 
 that little Charley was, but nobody knew, for nobody 
 was awake when I had left the wagon. He waked up 
 the cook and asked him, but he didn't know either, 
 Highover said if they didn't get hold of him he would 
 come back and let Dick and Bill loose, but Black Jack 
 said they would fix that by leaving Well man on guard 
 at the wagon with a pistol, and when the smart little 
 rascal came up he would make him lay down and keep 
 still until they came off herd. Highover said that 
 would do, and told Wellman to stay at the wagon and 
 keep a good watch, and if Dick or Bill tried to get 
 loose to shoot them, and when they sold their cattle 
 they would give him two hundred dollars besides his 
 wages, and to be sure and not go to sleep. Then he 
 said they would go and see about their herd ; may be 
 the blamed Africans had let them get away. They 
 rode off, but directly Highover came back and staked 
 out his horse, and got on Beelzebub and rode away to 
 the herd.
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IN TEXAS. 235 
 
 I didn't know what to do. I was sure Highover and 
 Black Jack intended to steal the herd, and the Mexi- 
 cans was going to help them drive it, and they would 
 make Mose Baker and the negroes help too. I was 
 afraid they would get tired of keeping Capt. Dick and 
 Whistling Bill tied and watching them, and kill them 
 to keep them from ever telling on them. I thought 
 first I would go to some other herd and tell them and 
 get the hands to come and let Capt. Dick and Whist- 
 ling Bill loose, and then I thought if Highover found 
 I didn't come back he would think I had gotten away, 
 and would leave the Trail and may be get away with 
 the cattle before we could find them, and kill Capt. 
 Dick and Whistling Bill. 
 
 While I was studying what to do and afraid all the 
 time they would come back and I would have to run 
 off without doing any thing, Nasho got up, and walked 
 out in a few steps of me. Wellman looked up, but 
 when he saw it was Nasho, he didn't say any thing or 
 watch him. I called to Nasho right low, and he look- 
 ed up quick and then went on like he hadn't heard 
 any thing. But he kept moving about and stretching 
 like he was sleepy, and getting closer to me, and then 
 dropped down in the grass and crawled up to me. I 
 told him quick what had happened, and he said : 
 
 " Yes, me hear all ; that what for me come out 
 here ; me tout you was here somewhere." 
 
 I told him I wanted to get Capt. Dick and Whist- 
 ling Bill loose and I didn't know how to do it before 
 Highover and Black Jack come back.
 
 236 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 "Give me pistol, Carley, me crawl up and shoot 
 Well man. 
 
 I told him no, because Highover and Black Jack 
 and the other Mexicans would be back when they 
 heard the shooting, and Capt. Dick or Whistling Bill 
 or may be both of them would be sure to be killed. 
 
 " Well, Carley," he said, " me get horse and slip up 
 hollow and stampede herd, and while dey run v Well- 
 man jump up to see what matter, den you cut Capt. 
 Dick an oder fellow loose. If Wellman come, you 
 shoot him. It light, cattle no run far, me go wid 'ern 
 and we get 'em again." 
 
 I told him that was a good way to do, but be sure 
 and keep out of the way of Highover and Black Jack, 
 or they would shoot him. 
 
 " Dey not catch Nasho, you no be 'fraid." 
 
 He went back to the wagon like he had come, and 
 put on his blanket. Then I saw him go to the fire 
 and light a cigarette, and slip the bread pan under his 
 blanket. Then he got up and started to his horse. 
 Wellman raised up and asked him where he was go- 
 ing. He said it was 'most time for him to go on 
 guard, and he would go and see about the horses, that 
 he hadn't heard the bell since he waked up. 
 
 He got on his horse and rode off in siich a way as 
 to get into the hollow where he wouldn't be seen. I 
 couldn't watch him any further and just lay still and 
 listened. I took out my knife and kept it in my right 
 hand, and had mine and Nasho' s pistol in my other 
 one. I tell you my heart beat fast.
 
 CHARLEY AND N>SHO IN TEXAS. 237 
 
 It seemed to me a half hour before I heard a horse's 
 feet running, and somebody yelling like an Indian. I 
 was so excited I jumped up and saw Nasho running 
 toward the herd as hard as he could go, beating the 
 tin pan with one hand, and swinging his blanket with 
 the other. The hands were all in a bunch on the 
 other side of the herd. The cattle all broke, but 
 I didn't wait for any thing. I just ran to Capt. Dick 
 and cut him loose, and handed him my pistol, and told 
 him there was a horse in the hollow that Highover 
 had his horse. I heard him muttering " Curse their 
 thieving souls ! " and he was gone. It didn't take a 
 second hardly, and in another second I had cut Whist- 
 ling Bill loose. We started for the horses, but the 
 whole herd was coming toward us like a streak, and 
 Whistling Bill broke back again for the wagon. I 
 thought I could get to a horse before they would 
 catch me and kept on. I had just got to a pony 
 that was saddled and put my foot in the stirrup when 
 a steer hit him and knocked him down and sent me 
 heels over head in the air. I crawled back to the 
 pony and laid down just as close to his back as I could 
 get. A beef stumbled and fell over us and broke his 
 neck. He lay dead almost against me. As the first 
 cattle came to us they had to jump, for they were so 
 thick they couldn't go round, but directly they began 
 to thin out and then they dodged to the right and left. 
 I reckon though at least twenty jumped right over me 
 and the pony. I tell you it was a scary place. They 
 so much noise you couldn't have heard thunder.
 
 238 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 As they began to get pretty thin I heard pistol 
 shots at the wagon. I knew something was wrong, 
 and jumped up. A bullet whistled close to my head. 
 I saw Whistling Bill fire and a man on horseback 
 fall. His horse ran back. In a second Highover and 
 Aunt Tony came up horseback and began shooting, 
 and Whistling Bill fell. They rode on then after the 
 herd, as hard as they could go. I ran up to Whist- 
 ling Bill and asked him if he was hurt much. He 
 said no, not very much, and told me to watch Wellman 
 under the wagon ; but I saw he was lying still and 
 didn't go to him. 
 
 Whistling Bill didn't say any thing else, and when I 
 asked him any thing he didn't answer me. I was 
 afraid he was dying, and there was nobody in sight, 
 and I had to watch Wellman too ; I picked up the 
 pistol Whistling Bill had dropped. It was Wellman's. 
 I knew he must have snatched it away from Wellman, 
 and either shot him or knocked him down, he lay so 
 still. There wasn't but one load in it. Every min- 
 ute seemed like an hour. I didn't know what to do. 
 I couldn't go off for help, and I didn't know what to 
 do for poor Whistling Bill. He was shot in the side, 
 and was bleeding a little, but not much. Now and 
 then he would moan as if in pain, but he never an- 
 swered any thing I asked him. 
 
 I could tell from the sound that the herd had stop- 
 ped running, and knew the hands had got round them 
 and had them in hand again. I was listening for 
 them to come back when I heard two pistol shots so
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 239 
 
 close together they seemed almost like one. That 
 made me more anxious then ever, for I knew those 
 shots meant fighting, and I was afraid Capt. Dick 
 might be killed. I wanted to jump on a horse and 
 run over there, but I couldn't leave Whistling Bill. I 
 got a blanket and spread over him to keep the dew off 
 him. I thought I heard him say " water," and ran and 
 got him a drink out of the bucket, and raised up his 
 head so he could drink. He drank the whole cupful, 
 and looked at me and said : " Carley, is that you ? 
 The herd's stampeded go for 'em. Blast that High- 
 over ! the " and then he fell back again and didn't 
 know any thing. I would have given every thing in 
 the world I had, and promised to turn back home for 
 a doctor, or somebody that could do something for him. 
 I thought every minute he would die, and I couldn't 
 do any thing for him. I didn't know what to do. 
 
 I know it wasn't long, though it seemed like a 
 month, before I saw the herd coming back. When 
 they got closer I could see Capt. Dick riding round 
 and stopping a minute with each hand. Then he left 
 the herd and came galloping up to the wagon. How 
 my heart thumped, I was so glad to see him ! I ran out 
 to meet him and told him Whistling Bill was shot, and 
 didn't know nothing, and I thought was dying. He 
 only muttered " Serve him right ! " as he jumped off 
 his horse, caught me in his arms a second and hugged 
 me so I almost hollered, and kept on to Whistling Bill. 
 He knelt down by him and felt of his arm. Then he 
 saw where the blood came from and loosened his
 
 24O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 clothes so he could get to the place. I stood by him. 
 He raised him up a little so he could pull his shirt up 
 from his back, and I saw another bloody hole in his 
 side behind. Capt. Dick's face lightened up a little, 
 and he said to me low : - 
 
 " He's pretty badly hurt, Charley ; but I don't think 
 he'll die. The ball's come out again. Get on my 
 horse and go to the herd, and tell Gen. Foote to come 
 here, and the other boys to watch the cattle close, and 
 for none of them to leave the herd." 
 
 Wellman's lying there under the wagon, Capt. 
 Dick ; watch him. 
 
 I sent Gen. Foote in and told the boys Capt. Dick 
 said they must watch the cattle close and none of 
 them leave the herd. I didn't have time to tell them 
 any thing except that Whistling Bill was badly shot, 
 but Capt. Dick didn't think he would die, or to ask 
 them any questions, because some of the cattle was 
 restless and scary and we had to keep riding round 
 and talking to them to keep them still. It wasn't but 
 a little while till Gen. Foote came back and said Capt. 
 Dick wanted me. I rode to the wagon and got down 
 and went to him. Whistling Bill was lying on a nice 
 pallet under the wagon, but his eyes was shut and I 
 could tell he didn't know nothing. Capt. Dick was 
 sitting by him, Wellman was lying near the wagon 
 wheel with his head all bloody. Capt. Dick got up 
 and came to me and said low : 
 
 " Charley, I want you to go to Ellis and get a doc- 
 tor. It's a long ride, and you must go day and night
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 24! 
 
 till you get there. If you get too tired you can lie 
 down on the road and sleep an hour, and then go on 
 again. Whistling Bill's going to be very sick, and I 
 am afraid he'll die if we don't get a doctor pretty 
 quick, I'll"- 
 
 Ain't there a doctor at Caldwell, Capt. Dick ? 
 
 " Yes ; but I am afraid to trust the old pill-peciler. 
 You must go to Ellis. There's a good one there. I 
 will write you a couple of notes, and you get a cup of 
 coffee and some bread before you start, put some 
 bread and meat in your saddle-pockets too, and take 
 your rubber blanket and overcoat. It may rain be 
 fore you get back." 
 
 I ain't a bit hungry, Capt. Dick. 
 
 " But you will be before you are gone an hour. 
 Try and eat something, Charley, before you go." 
 
 I started up the fire and put on the coffee pot and 
 got out some cold bread and meat and ate a snack. I 
 wasn't hungry and didn't eat much When I got 
 through Capt. Dick had his notes ready. 
 
 " Stop at the first herd ahead of you, Charley, and 
 ask for the boss. It's one of Capt. Littlefield's, and the 
 boss knows me. Tell him what a fix we are in and 
 ask him if he can't spare me a hand for a few days. 
 He'll send him, I know. Then go on to the next one, 
 that's one of Major Mabry's, and ask the boss if he 
 can't spare me a hand. Tell them both I'll get hands 
 just as soon as you can get to Ellis and they come 
 from there. If they don't send them stop at every 
 herd you come to until you do get them. Tell them, 
 16
 
 242 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 too, if they have got any wine or any thing nice to eat 
 in camp to send it for poor Bill. Then you hurry on 
 to Ellis, go to the Railroad House, and ask for Capt. 
 Millet or Major Mabry, or Capt. Littlefield, or Col. 
 King or any Texas cattle man. Some of 'em's sure 
 to be there, and give whoever you find this note. He 
 will send the doctor and two or three hands. You stay 
 at the hotel and get something to eat and take a good 
 rest. Rest as long as you want to, and you needn't 
 be in such a hurry about coming back, though I know 
 you won't waste any time on the road." 
 
 That I won't, Capt. Dick. 
 
 " Stop at dinner time and at night with herds on 
 the road, and get something to .eat and a blanket to 
 sleep on. If your horse gets tired going, stop at some 
 herd and give the boss this note, and he will let you 
 have a fresh horse. Leave your horse until you come 
 back. If you can't get a horse from one, try another. 
 'Most all of them know me, and I know some of them 
 will let you have a horse to save a man's life. It's a 
 long, hard ride, Charley, and I hate to send you, but 
 I would rather have you go than anybody else. I 
 know I can depend on you." 
 
 I girted my saddle tighter, and Capt. Dick helped 
 me to tie on my overcoat and rubber. Then I got 
 into the saddle and reached out my hand to bid Capt. 
 Dick good-by. 
 
 "Tell whoever you find at Ellis to send some good 
 wine and nice things for a sick man with the doctor. 
 I know you won't let grass grow under your feet
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 245 
 
 Good-by and God bless you ! Charley." I couldn't sa\ 
 a word. I was 'most crying, so I just popped the spurs, 
 to Comanche and was off in a long gallop. Com 
 manche wanted to go too fast, but I knew he would 
 need all his bottom before he got there, and pulled 
 him up until he settled down steadily to his work. 
 
 Day was just breaking as I rode up to the first 
 herd. The boss was on herd, and I rode out there 
 and found him and told him my errand. 
 
 He broke out with a prolonged whistle when I got 
 through. " I've been on the Trail five years, and 
 never heard the like before. All right. Tell Capt. 
 Dick I'll send him a hand right off. He can go back 
 with you now." 
 
 He started to the wagon with me, but I told him I 
 was going on to Ellis. 
 
 " Then a hard long ride you've got, little one. 
 Reckon you'll give out on the road. All right, I'll 
 send the hand right off. Good-by, keep up your 
 pluck, and good luck to you." 
 
 When I told my story at the next herd I thought 
 the boss wasn't going to send any help. 
 
 " Mighty short-handed we are. Don't know how 
 we would manage if there should come a storm. Whose 
 herd is it anyhow ? " 
 
 " Col. Hunt's." 
 
 Who's your boss ? " 
 
 " Capt. Dick." 
 
 " All right. Capt. Dick can get any thing I've got. 
 Helped me out of a quicksand in the Platte river, he
 
 244 L1VE BOYS. 
 
 did wonst, and lent me three hands to help gather the 
 bulls in Idaho arter the wust run ever I seed, and 
 that ain't been a few I tell you." 
 
 He called one of the hands, but I told him I was 
 going on to Ellis. 
 
 "All right. I'll send him in less'n no time. Capt. 
 Dick can get any thing I've got, he kin. Get down, 
 young one, and have some breakfast. It ain't no 
 pleasure trip you're going on." 
 
 I thanked him but told him I had had breakfast, and 
 struck out for the Trail again. 
 
 " Just be easy about that hand," I heard him holler 
 after me ; " Capt Dick can get any thing I've got, he 
 kin, you bet." 
 
 Every few miles I would come to a herd and have to 
 turn out and go round, and two or three times I had 
 to stop a minute or two with a drover to tell my errand. 
 Comanche couldn't travel as fast over the grass when 
 we had to turn out as he could on the beaten Trail, 
 but he never slacked his gait, and I felt pretty sure we 
 were making eight miles an hour, and I thought more. 
 
 It wasn't much if any after ten o'clock when I got 
 to Bluff Creek. That was the line between The Na- 
 tion and Kansas. About twelve by the sun I stopped 
 on a little branch the other side of the Shawocaspah 
 River to let Comanche rest and pick a little, and get 
 a little rest myself, for I was getting tired. A mile 
 or two gallop is mighty pleasant riding, but just try 
 fifty of 'em on a stretch, and see if you don't get more 
 riding than you bargained for.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 245 
 
 I ate a cold snack and went to sleep before I knew 
 it, but I didn't sleep more than half an hour, and when 
 I woke up all of a sudden, I was so scared to think 
 I had gone to sleep when maybe Whistling Bill was 
 dying for want of a doctor, that I jumped up, tighten- 
 ed Comanche's girth, climbed into the saddle and 
 struck out again. I would like to have had some 
 coffee, but the next herd I came to was ten miles 
 ahead and had had dinner and was moving on. 
 
 Comanche kept up his long smooth lope just as 
 steady as when he began in the morning, but I began 
 to get mighty tired, and the sun seemed to me to go 
 down mighty slow. I shifted about in the saddle but 
 that didn't do any good, and I began to be afraid I 
 would never get through, and I felt like I would al- 
 most rather die than not get through. I didn't pay 
 any attention to the country I was going over, only I 
 remember I had left the tall grass behind and most 
 of it now was sedge and short buffalo grass. I re- 
 member, too, going through a dog-town, but I was too 
 tired to watch the little barkers. As the sun got low, 
 every minute was like an hour. It seemed like I just 
 must fall off my horse and go to sleep, but I managed 
 somehow to keep on and at dark I galloped up to a 
 herd camped on Rattlesnake Creek, a hundred miles 
 from our camp on Nine-Mile Creek. I was just able 
 to tell the men where I was going and what for, and 
 ask the boss if he wouldn't be sure and have me 
 waked up in an hour, and then dropped down and went 
 to sleep.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED MILES ON A STRETCH. A LONG SLEFP 
 AND START BACK TO CAMP. 
 
 I KNEW by the shining of the moon that it was 
 past twelve o'clock when I was waked up, but the 
 man who had called me said it wasn't no use to wake 
 me up any sooner as I was 'most dead for sleep, and 
 if I got to Ellis in the night I would have been too 
 tired to have gone round and hunted up anybody I 
 wanted to see. Everybody would be in bed of course. 
 He had some supper ready for me and some good hot 
 coffee, and while I was eating he brought Comanche 
 up and saddled him. He had been grazing and 
 seemed almost as fresh as when I started. " One of 
 us would have went on for you, youngster, but you 
 didn't tell us who you wanted and seemed so dead for 
 sleep we thought we had better let you alone. I'll go 
 now if you'll stay and drive for me till I come back." 
 I thanked him, but told him I was ready to go on 
 now for I was rested, and climbed into the saddle 
 again, shook good-bye with him and struck out again. 
 The sleep and the coffee had done me so much good 
 that I felt nearly as fresh as when I started, only a
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 247 
 
 little stiff and sore. The Arkansas was down so I 
 crossed it without any trouble. There were no herds 
 on the Trail and nothing to bother me, and Comanche 
 kept on as steady as a clock. It was just sun up as I 
 rode into Ellis. I went to the hotel, hitched Coman- 
 che, walked in and asked the man behind the counter 
 if Capt. Millet was at the hotel. 
 
 " Yes, he's in, but he ain't up yet." 
 
 I told him I wanted to see him quick, that I wanted 
 a doctor for a man who was shot, and he sent a boy 
 with me to show me his room. Capt. Millet was in 
 bed, but I gave him Capt. Dick's note and told him 
 what I had come for. As soon as he read it he 
 jumped up and began dressing, talking to me all the 
 time, asking me when I left camp, what had been the 
 trouble, how many hands Capt. Dick had and where 
 he was camped. As soon as he was dressed he told 
 me to stay at his room until he came back, and he 
 would go out and send the doctor off. I got tired of 
 staying in the room, and went down stairs. It wasn't 
 long until he came back, and said the doctor would 
 start in a few minutes. 
 
 He came up directly, a tall man with black eyes 
 and hair, riding a fine bay horse, and little saddle- 
 bags on his saddle, asked me a few questions about 
 where Whistling Bill was shot, and where the camp 
 was, and then rode off on a gallop. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, Capt. Millet said : 
 
 " Well, little one, I reckon you are about tired out. 
 I will send an ambulance with a good bed in it and
 
 248 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 every thing he needs for your sick man, and three 
 hands to drive. I'll have your horse put up, and you 
 get some breakfast, it'll be ready directly, and then go 
 to bed. You've had a hard ride and must be tired out." 
 
 I told him I wasn't tired and wanted to start back, 
 but he said that wouldn't do, that if I wasn't tired now 
 I would be, that I couldn't do any thing if I went back, 
 and that Capt. Dick had written him not to let me 
 start back under twenty-four hours anyhow. He said 
 he should be surprised if my ride didn't lay me up 
 for a week. I wanted to go back mighty bad, but Capt. 
 Millet had been so kind in sending every thing off, 
 that I thought I ought to do as he said, and when I 
 began to feel stupid after breakfast I went up to his 
 room and laid down. When I woke up a gong was 
 beating and Capt. Millet was just starting to leave 
 the room, but seeing me awake, he stopped. 
 
 " Well, little one, you've had a good sleep. Feel like 
 breakfast don't you ? Sort of stiff and sore ain't you ? " 
 
 I told him I wasn't sore at all, but as rested and 
 fresh as I had ever been. 
 
 " WelJ^ dress and come down stairs and we'll have 
 some breakfast. I'll wait for you in the bar-room." 
 
 After breakfast I told Capt. Millet I wanted to 
 start back to camp, but he said he had telegraphed 
 to Col. Hunt and he would be here on the ten o'clock 
 train, and I had better stop and see him. He might 
 want to go to camp himself. 
 
 I went to the stable to look after Comanche, but 
 the old fellow was looking better than when I started.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 249 
 
 He had been rubbed off clean and nice, and was pick- 
 ing at some hay as if he didn't know what else to do 
 with himself. 
 
 " That ar hoss yours ? " a man asked me who came 
 up with a curry-comb in one hand and a brush in the 
 other, and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 
 
 Yes. 
 
 " Had a powerful long ride, didn't you ?" 
 
 Yes. I have come nearly a hundred and fifty 
 miles. 
 
 " Whew ! wonder it didn't kill you. You're a little 
 one for that sort of work. But I tell you that hoss of 
 yourn is clear grit and no mistake. He's ready for 
 another hundred mile gallop." 
 
 I started away, but he came up and said : 
 
 " I say, boss, you oughter give me a dollar for tend- 
 ing to your hoss. I worked mighty hard rubbin' him 
 down, for I seed he bed hed a powerful long gallop, 
 and would be stiff if I didn't." 
 
 I happened to have a little money in my pocket, 
 and gave him a dollar and went back to the hotel. 
 There wasn't any thing to do but wait for the train. 
 There were some well dressed nice looking men 
 lounging round the hotel, reading papers, smoking, 
 and talking, or walking up and down the gallery. 
 Now and then a rough looking fellow would come 
 along with his pants in his boots, a slouch hat on his 
 head, big spurs, and pistol in his belt and if he had 
 "bull whacker" written on him you couldn't have 
 read it any plainer.
 
 25O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 We went down to the depot when we heard the 
 train coming and met Col. Hunt. He asked me a 
 good many questions about what had happened at 
 camp, and then left us to look for some hands he 
 wanted to send back with me to take the place of 
 those Capt. Dick had borrowed and the others. He 
 came to the hotel about noon and said, 
 
 " Charley, if I understand you, you are short six 
 hands." 
 
 Yes, sir. Wellman, and the other two Mexicans, 
 and Highover, and Black Jack, and Whistling Bill. 
 
 " Well, I have got six hands with eight horses. 
 You don't know whether any of the horses were run 
 off or not ? " 
 
 No, sir ; though I don't think they were, because 
 I heard the bell north of the herd, and the stampede 
 went to the south. 
 
 " Then they'll have horses enough. You had bet- 
 ter start back this evening with these hands and get 
 there as soon as you can, though you needn't hurry 
 particularly. I have no instructions to send, Capt. Dick 
 knows just as well what to do as I would if I were 
 there. I'll settle your bill here and remember you 
 when you get through. Do you want any thing now ? " 
 
 No, sir. 
 
 " You had better take this anyhow. You may want 
 something before you go out," and he handed me five 
 dollars. I didn't spend it though, because I wanted 
 to save all my money to go to the Centennial on. 
 The gong beat just then and we all went in to dinner.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WHISTLING BILL'S STORY. CAPT. DICK TELLS ABOUT 
 
 THE HANGING. BURYIiNG IN THE PRAIRIE. 1\ 
 
 SIGHT OF ELLIS. 
 
 WHEN we got to camp we found the herd right 
 where I had left it. Whistling Bill had been 
 too sick to move, but was over his fever now and the 
 doctor was going to start to Ellis with him the next 
 morning in the ambulance. He said he would be 
 well in a couple of weeks, but would have to be quiet 
 so as to keep fever from setting in. He was lying 
 under the wagon, and the sheet had been stretched 
 round it so as to keep the sun off of him. I went to 
 see him, and he was right glad to see me. We got 
 to talking about the night of the stampede, and I 
 asked him how he came to be at the wagon. 
 
 " Why you, Carley, I saw I couldn't make it to a 
 horse before they would be on me, and I just cutback 
 to the wagon to get out of their way. First time I 
 ever was afraid of cattle in my life, but Nasho had 
 give 'em the devil of a scare, and the mad bulls 
 was comin' like an avalanche They would have 
 run square over the wagon if I hadn't got in front 
 of it with a blanket and hollered and cavorted about 
 worse'n half a dozen Injins. Between Nasho and
 
 252 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 his thundering old tin ration-bag, and me and the 
 blanket, I don't think the whole herd of bulls had 
 sense enough left to have stocked a skunk for break 
 fast. By George ! if it had been at Austin we would have 
 corraled the whole lot of 'em in the crazy-folks hotel 
 there. They was greater looneys than any of the two- 
 legged naturals. 
 
 " You bet, Carley, when I thought about you I didn't 
 feel like I was at a weddin'. I thought they had 
 made hash of you sure. There was one good thing ; 
 their eyes was so big they would think you was ten 
 feet high, an' I thought they might dodge you. As 
 the tail end of the bulls began to pass, I remember 
 seeing Old Coly and Lame Spot never a bit lame 
 was he then with his tail up going like a scared wolf. 
 I'll salt his hide for him the next time I catch him 
 behind. Senor Schezeredicks came upon horseback 
 and shot at me. I shot back, an' he went over back- 
 wards like a bullfrog when a chunk of mud takes 
 him in the belly. Then Highover and Aunt Tony 
 came up an' took a hand, and Highover throw'd the ace 
 an' I flung up my hand an that's the last I remember 
 about it. I tell you, Carley, if it hadn't been for you, 
 me an' Capt. Dick would a went up I reckon ; for I 
 believe them ar' scoundrels would have cut cur 
 throats, or else took us off in some hollow and left us 
 to starve to death an' be eat up by the coyotes. You 
 bet, my boy, I ain't goin' to forget you." 
 
 I told him I hoped he would get well soon so he 
 could come back to us, for we would all miss him a heap.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 253 
 
 " You bet I'll come back as soon as I can. I'm 
 like an' old black sheep in a flock I herded when I 
 was a boy. He was more trouble than all the rest. 
 Many a mile I've run after the blamed old rascal, but 
 when the wolves had chops for supper one night off 
 him, I missed him more'n any sheep of the lot. I 
 reckon you won't have much devilment goin' on till 
 I get back ; but I'll wake you up then, for I'll be good 
 rested an" like a stabled colt. Better laugh than cry, 
 Carley, any time. It's fattenin'. Come back when 
 you can. It's sorter lonesome here. I'd a heap rather 
 be after the bulls, you bet." 
 
 I didn't get to see Capt. Dick to talk to him until 
 night, he was so busy, but we were on guard together 
 then, and while the cattle were still we got on a little 
 knoll where we could watch them, and he told me 
 what had happened while I was gone. 
 
 " I had got to the herd after leaving you and stopped 
 them and was rounding them up when I saw Highover 
 coming with his pistol in his hand. I felt for mine, 
 but it was gone. The mean villains had taken it when 
 they tied me. I had to run and leave the herd and all 
 of you, or take the chance of dashing at Highover and 
 jerking him off his horse before he could hit me. I 
 tell you, Carley, I felt rather ticklish, for I thought my 
 time had about come. Just then I saw Nasho coming 
 up behind him full tilt swinging his rope. You bet, 
 he was in good time, for Highover would have got me 
 the next shot ; but before he could cock his pistol 
 again Nasho's rope fell over his head and he was
 
 254 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 jerked a higher summerset than when he got 
 
 his name. Carley, my boy," and he put his 
 
 arm around me, " I have tried to stop this 
 
 swearing on your account, but I can't think about that 
 night without feeling like I could stand on my head 
 and swear my boots off. Don't get into the way of it, 
 Carley. It's a bad practice, and sticks to you worse 
 than mesquite gum, once you get into it." 
 
 " I jumped off my horse, snatched the hobbles from 
 his neck, tied Highover's hands behind his back, got 
 Nasho's hobbles and tied his feet, so I knew he'd 
 stay there till judgment day, if somebody didn't cut 
 him loose, and away me and Nasho went after the 
 herd which had broke and run again when Highover 
 shot at me. The moon had gone down by that time 
 and we had only starlight to go by, but we caught up 
 with them directly and was rounding them in and get 
 ting them quiet when " 
 
 I just wish you could have seen, Mr. Morecamp, 
 how quick that herd was gone. More'n half of them 
 was lying down, but they bounced up and was off in a 
 second, and nothing in the world to get scared at, 
 unless it was a sneeze Beelzebub give just then. \Ve 
 was after 'em in a second, and with the other hands 
 who was in front and had kept 'em well checked up, 
 we brought 'em all back to the bed-ground again in a 
 few minutes. We rode around them until they got 
 quiet again, and then Capt. Dick and me went back 
 to our old place. 
 
 " That's just the way the cattle have been
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2$ 5 
 
 doing ever since that night. We won't get no more 
 rest till we get through, and I'll be glad when they're 
 sold and off our hands. I hope to the Lord we won't 
 have a bad storm before we are done with them, for 
 they'll scatter so bad if we do the devil himself couldn't 
 hold them. Col. Hunt ain't a-going to sell these bulls 
 to be delivered in Wyoming or Dakota, not if I know 
 any thing about it." 
 
 " Well, as I was saying, we had started them back 
 again when we heard galloping feet and two more 
 pistol shots, and off went the mad bulls again right 
 over the ground we had just come. I had forgot 
 about Highover till I heard two awful screams o-o-gh, 
 I hear them now, and my hair 'most stands on end, 
 and I knew in a second it was all up with him. We 
 gathered them up again and got them back to the bed- 
 ground this time, and the boys managed to keep them 
 there the rest of the night ; you know it was nearly 
 day then. The next day, or that morning rather, while 
 the bulls were feeding, I found that the last shots me 
 and Nasho had heard was between Black Jack and 
 Gen. Foote. Mose Baker and the Gen. was rounding 
 up some cattle when Black Jack rode up and shot at 
 Mose. Gen. Foot out with his old horse-pistol and 
 shot at him but missed, but before he could fire again 
 he ran up to him and brought him a lick over the 
 head with the barrel that stretched him out ; the 
 pluckiest thing I ever knew a darkey to do. Mose 
 had the good sense to get down and take his pistol 
 away, and then they struck out after the herd again."
 
 256 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 ' The next morning when the cattle were grazing 
 and every thing was quieted down a little, I rode to 
 the nearest herds and asked the bosses to come over 
 to our herd with me. When they got there I told 
 them what had happened, and that I had one of the 
 Mexicans tied, that I was satisfied Highover was dead 
 and I reckoned Black Jack had got away. They said 
 we must find out, and we started to look for them. 
 We found Highover first, what was left of him. The 
 cattle had just trod him into a jelly, and one had evi- 
 dently caught its foot in the rope that tied his feet 
 and dragged him apiece. There was hardly enough 
 left of him to bury. I've seen men pretty badly torn 
 up by cannon balls and shells, Charley, but I never saw 
 any thing to equal that corpse that had been run over 
 by a stampeded herd. It was just horrible. That 
 evening they sent me some hands, and we wrapped 
 what was left of him in his blankets and laid him 
 under a little bank where a wolf had had a den, and 
 caved the earth in on him, for we didn't have any 
 thing to dig with, and just left the grave so without 
 any thing to show what it was. We didn't have any 
 thing to make a head-board of, and if we had, when 
 you can't say any thing more for a man than we could 
 a' said for him, I think the least said the better, and 
 none at all best. 
 
 " Then we went to the place where Gen. Foote said 
 he had knocked Black Jack off his horse. He wasn't 
 there, but his trail showed he had crawled off, and 
 we didn't go far till we found him sitting under a lit-
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 25 / 
 
 tie bank by a little hole of water, washing his bloody 
 head. He started to draw his pistol when he saw us 
 coming, but he saw in a second that wasn't no use, 
 and just sat still. We put him on a horse and took 
 him to camp, the man whose horse he was riding 
 walking by him to keep him from falling off. He 
 didn't have any thing to say, but after he got to camp 
 and had some breakfast and hot coffee he was ready 
 enough to talk. He denied most positively shooting 
 at Mose Baker, said he was just trying to round up 
 the cattle when he felt a tremendous lick on his head 
 and fell off his horse, and didn't know any thing more 
 until he felt the sun shining in his face. We asked 
 him why he didn't start towards camp, and he said he 
 didn't know which way camp was, but knew from the 
 lay of the land that the way he went was the nearest 
 to water, and that was what he wanted worst." 
 
 I asked the men what ought to be done with 'em, 
 and they said there wasn't but one thing to be done, 
 and that was to swing 'em to the first tree. I told 
 'em I didn't like that way of doing, and at least the 
 fellows was entitled to a fair trial, and the jury oughtn't 
 all to be bosses either. There was another herd come 
 up about that time, and they said- there was another 
 one about a mile and a half behind them, so we went 
 back and got that boss to come up. After talking the 
 matter over, we agreed to get twelve hands and give 
 the fellows a regular trial, and whatever the jury said 
 we would do. They all come in about two o'clock 
 that evening, and we got to work, for there wasn't
 
 258 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 no time to lose. One of the bosses was made Judge, 
 and Nasho and me and Gen. Foot was the witnesses, 
 for you was gone and poor Bill couldn't speak for him- 
 self. We brought up the prisoners, but Wellman 
 wouldn't say nothing, and Black Jack only swore he 
 didn't know any thing about any plan to steal the 
 herd. The jury wan't many minutes in concluding 
 that there wasn't but one thing to do, and that was to 
 swing 'em. The had tried to kill me and Mose Baker, 
 and maybe had killed poor Bill, and they ought to have 
 what they was trying to bring on honest men. We 
 took 'em down to the branch where you see that dead 
 cottonwood, put 'em on horses, tied ropes round their 
 necks, one of the boys clumb the tree and fastened 
 'em to a limb, and at the word, two quick cuts made 
 the horses jump from under 'em and left 'em swing- 
 ing. Black Jack begged like a dog to the last, but 
 Wellman never said a word. We just waited long 
 enough to be sure that the life was clean gone out of 
 'em, and then took 'em down, laid 'em under the bank, 
 throwed some old brush over them and shoved the 
 bank down on 'em and left 'em, an' I reckon they'll 
 stay there till Gabriel blows his horn. When we got 
 back to camp dinner was ready, and after that I treated 
 'em all to some whiskey I had brought for chills or 
 snake-bites, and the crowd broke up. 
 
 " What became of Aunt Tony and Schezeredicks ? " 
 
 The last one is lying out there in the prairie, what 
 
 the wolves have left of him. Whistling Bill had laid 
 
 him out cold enough. That other yeller rascal must
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 259 
 
 have scooted when he seen how things was going, for 
 nobody has ever seen any thing of him since. 
 
 " And the horses ? " 
 
 " Saved 'em all. When Nasho snatched Highover 
 
 off Beelzebub, the scoundrel it's a shame to 
 
 cuss a dead man, but I can't help it when I think 
 about him a ridin' old Beelzebub he just cut out from 
 there and went to camp a-flying, and next mornin' we 
 found Black Jack's horse saddled with the rest of 'em. 
 We ain't lost no cattle 'cept one that broke his neck 
 out there close to the wagon, though we've got several 
 lame ones that it'll be a tight shave for to get through, 
 and one lame horse that won't be fit to back for a 
 month, but we are just a goin' to catch fits with these 
 bulls the rest of the way. They'll stampede from here 
 to Ellis. Did Col. Hunt say any thing about when 
 he would be back to Ellis ? " 
 
 Yes ; he said he would be there when you got in, 
 and before if he could get through with his business 
 in Kansas City. 
 
 " You bet I'm glad to hear that, for I'm powerful 
 hot to get rid of this herd, and if the Col. don't sell 
 the first chance, he'll have to get another boss for this 
 outfit, that's all." 
 
 The cattle began to get restless and we had to quit 
 talking and ride around them to keep them quiet. 
 
 The next morning early the doctor started for Ellis 
 with Whistling Bill in the ambulance, and by nine 
 o'clock we were on the Trail again. 
 
 When we got to the Arkansas it was up some, and we
 
 260 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 had to ferry the wagon over on a little scow there was 
 there. We put two ropes to it, for there wasn't any fer- 
 ry rope, and two of the boys hitched them to the horns 
 of their saddles and started across with it. About two 
 thirds of the way over it stuck on a sand bar and they 
 couldn't drag it off. A few feet the other side the 
 water was swimming, and the horses couldn't get a 
 foothold to pull. The river was rising and it was 
 nearly sundown, and things looked pretty squally for 
 the wagon. I galloped up to the herd, got a couple 
 of hands and come back, and we stripped and went in 
 and fairly lifted the heavy old scow out of her bed in 
 the sand. That night we had a thunder-storm, and 
 the cattle kept us busy all night. A herd near by ran 
 into ours, and we were kept in the hills nearly all next 
 day to give them a chance to cut out. Five more 
 days brought us in sight of Ellis.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CHARLEY CATCHES SOME PETS. LASSOING A BUFFALO 
 
 BULL. OFF FOR THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 WE didn't stay there more than a month before 
 Col. Hunt sold the herd. Herding was a heap 
 easier than driving. I caught two prairie dogs and 
 made a cage for them out of a box, but I had to get tin 
 to line it with, for their teeth are so sharp and strong 
 they would cut through the wood. I bought a book that 
 told me all about trapping animals and skinning them, 
 and dressing their skins and stuffing them. I caught 
 three prairie chickens in snares, and trapped two bad- 
 gers. They are just like coons, only they are a little 
 heavier and have longer claws, and live in holes in 
 the ground. I reckon if coons were brought here they 
 would have to learn to live in holes, for there ain't any 
 trees. It's the worst country to get lost in I ever saw. 
 It's all exactly alike, covered with, thick, short buffalo 
 grass about four inches high, and often not a tree or 
 bush for twenty miles. One time we had to use buf- 
 falo manure to cook with for several days, because 
 there wasn't a stick of timber on the Trail. They call 
 the manure "chips," and sometimes when you ask a
 
 262 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 man " how's wood ahead ? " he will say " plenty of 
 buffalo chips." When you get a mile away from 
 camp there ain't a thing to tell you where it is. The 
 prairie is all alike, and the wagon being down near the 
 creek you can't see that, and it's pretty much guess, 
 work whether you hit camp or not. There were 
 plenty of antelope around and sometimes they would 
 get into the herd. Nearly everybody said they were 
 the fastest animals in the world, and a horse couldn't 
 catch them ; but one day when I wasn't on herd I saw 
 a little bunch out on a level part of the prairie, and 
 saddled Comanche and started towards them. Before 
 they began to notice me I got off my horse and get- 
 ting behind him drove him along letting him stop 
 every two or three steps as if he was only feeding. I 
 got up in about two hundred yards and then, as they 
 began to be scary, I got into the saddle and started for 
 them. They didn't run fast at first, and I let Coman- 
 che out and was within a hundred yards of them before 
 they knew it. How they did clip it then ! You could 
 have most covered the bunch with a blanket. They 
 seemed to be almost flying, but the ground was good 
 and Comanche kept crawling on to them. When we 
 got within fifty yards the bunch broke. I picked out 
 the biggest buck, touched Comanche with my heels, 
 clucked to him, and I tell you he just let himself out. 
 In less'n half a mile I was close enough to swing my 
 rope, and the first throw dropped squarely over his 
 head. When I checked up the antelope turned a dou- 
 ble summerset and never got up again. His neck
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 263 
 
 was broken. I petted Comanche a little and then 
 took the bridle off so he could graze. I knew then he 
 was fast, for there ain't many horses can catch an an- 
 telope. The boys call them " goats " sometimes, be- 
 cause they are chunky like goats and have little short, 
 two-pronged horns, but they don't run like goats. Me 
 and Comanche could swear to that. Then I began to 
 skin my buck, and was as careful as I could be. I left 
 the feet and head on. It took me three hours, for his 
 feet and head were a heap of trouble. 
 
 When I got to camp I washed the skin out clean 
 inside, cleaned the head out, took the eyes out, sewed 
 it up again and stuffed it. I filled the legs and neck 
 with oats I had bought for Comanche, and made a 
 frame to keep the body tight, and filled the frame with 
 dry grass. Then I propped it up and put a blanket 
 over it to keep off the dew and sun. It cured first 
 rate and looked very natural only it didn't have any 
 eyes. The first time the wagon went to town I sent 
 it in, and the merchant where Capt. Dick bought our 
 supplies put it away for me. 
 
 I caught two big rattlesnakes and shut them up in 
 a box. I didn't have much trouble catching them, be- 
 cause I chloroformed them ; but they were a heap of 
 trouble until I could get a box for them. I tied them 
 together head and tail until my box came, because if 
 I had staked them out separately they would have 
 choked themselves to death or bitten themselves. I 
 found out where their poison is. It is in a little bag 
 at the root of their fangs. Their fangs are curved,
 
 264 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 and each one has a little groove on the under side 
 from the root to the point, and if you pry one's mouth 
 open wide you can see the poison come out of the bag 
 and run down the groove in the fang. For fear my 
 snakes might bite somebody sometime I gave them 
 chloroform and pulled their fangs out with a pair of 
 bullet moulds. I fed them on bugs, and frogs and 
 meat. 
 
 One night two Englishmen staid at our camp that 
 were fitting out for a hunt on the plains. They had 
 splendid horses and the finest kind of rifles and pis- 
 tols, and two men to take care of their horses and 
 dogs and another one to cook. 
 
 Next morning I was out early looking after the 
 horses and saw a buffalo bull not a half mile from 
 camp. When I told it in camp the Englishmen 
 wanted to go and kill him right off, but I told them 
 he was my meat, and I had a great mind to rope him. 
 One of the Englishmen said I couldn't do it. Capt 
 Dick offered to bet him fifty, dollars that me and 
 Nasho could rope and tie him. The Englishman 
 took him up. 
 
 After breakfast we started and found him directly 
 feeding along down a dry hollow. We got into an- 
 other hollow that the one he was feeding in ran into, 
 and waited for him. He didn't see us until he was 
 in about a hundred and fifty yards of us, when we 
 went for him. I was to rope his head and Nasho his 
 feet, and the rest of the party promised to stay behind 
 and not get in the way.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 26$ 
 
 We caught him before he had run more than half f 
 mile, but I missed the first throw because his horns 
 were so short, and his hair so long and thick that the 
 noose fell off. I made my noose smaller next time 
 and caught him round the throat and one horn. He 
 was so big and heavy I most dreaded to check up and 
 stop him, but when I drew my reins Comanche drop- 
 ped back on his haunches, set himself hard, and turned 
 him a summerset. He was up like a flash and after 
 me before Nasho could get a chance, and I had to get 
 from there lively. I reckon he ran me half a mile. I 
 kept thinking I would have to turn my rope loose, but 
 I didn't want to do that with those Englishmen watch- 
 ing us, and managed to stick to it, though the old bull 
 come in an ace of catching me two or three times. I 
 reckon if Comanche had put his foot in a hole it would 
 have been all up with us. I began to think he wasn't 
 going to stop running me, and I would have to throw 
 down my rope and get away from him anyhow, when 
 Nasho came up behind, wrapped his tail round the 
 horn of his saddle and gave him a terrible fall. Up 
 he came in a second and went for Nasho this time, but 
 Comanche was ready and made him change ends again, 
 and this time Nasho had his rope round his hind legs 
 before he could get fairly on his feet, and we stretched 
 him. He was so strong and quick that we had hard 
 work to keep him down, but our horses set to him 
 faithfully. When he got pretty well chokea and wor- 
 ried, down Nasho slipped off his horse, ran up to him 
 easy, drew his tail between his hind legs and set to
 
 266 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 him. He surged once or twice but couldn't get up. 
 Then Nasho managed to get the rope round his hind 
 feet round his fore ones too, and drew them close to- 
 gether and tied them hard and fast. The rest of the 
 party had come up and were watching us. Nasho let 
 go the tail and got on his horse, and I threw down my 
 rope and told Capt. Dick there was his bull. He 
 asked the Englishman what he wanted to do with him. 
 He said he didn't know that he couldn't kill him now 
 that he was tied, and he couldn't do any thing with 
 him if we let him up : he guessed we would have to 
 turn him loose. Capt. Dick said he would mark him 
 anyhow, and cut a slit out of each ear, and bobbed his 
 tail. Nasho untied his fore feet and then ran to his 
 horse and stretched his hind ones out again. I rode 
 up to his head and reached down and took the rope 
 off, and drew off out of the way a little. Nasho un- 
 fastened his rope from the saddle and gave it a twirl 
 that made it rap the bull on the side. He bounced 
 up and took after the Englishman, but he had a good 
 horse and soon left him. The rope dropped off his 
 feet and Nasho watched where it fell and picked it 
 up. 
 
 The Englishman paid his bet, and then gave me 
 and Nasho ten dollars apiece. We didn't want to 
 take it, but he said we must, for he wouldn't have 
 missed seeing it for five hundred dollars. 
 
 When Col. Hunt sold out we all went in to Ellis to 
 settle and he paid off. Whistling Bill was getting 
 well fast, and was staying at a house where he was
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 26/ 
 
 taken good care of. Capt. Dick said he wouldn't 
 have left him if he hadn't been sure he would be taken 
 care of. Col. Hunt paid all his expenses and his 
 wages just the same as if he had been on herd all the 
 time. 
 
 Col. Hunt took mine and Nasho's horses, all except 
 Comanche and Nasho's pack pony he had traded from 
 some Indians that came to camp while I was gone to 
 Ellis, at the same price we paid for them. Then he 
 gave us each a fine Mexican saddle with all the iron- 
 work about it, the rings and buckles, heavy silver plate, 
 and housings of the finest leopard skin, and a fine 
 saddle-blanket and bridle apiece to go with them. He 
 also gave us a fine suit of embroidered buckskin 
 apiece, worked with silk thread. He told us he knew 
 most of the railroad agents clear on to New York, and 
 he had procured tickets for us to Chicago, and would 
 give us a letter to the agent there, and he thought he 
 would take us on to Philadelphia without charging us 
 any thing. He said for us to leave our horses and 
 saddles with him and he would take care of them for 
 us until we wanted them. He said if I would take 
 my stuffed antelope and my pets to the Centennial he 
 had no doubt I could sell them for a good price. He 
 went with us to the depot and introduced us to the 
 agent, and told us to write to him at Ellis if we 
 wanted any thing any time, and then bade us good-by, 
 because he was going to Denver. We thanked him 
 for his presents and being so good to us, but he said we 
 had saved him a great deal more than he had given us.
 
 268 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 That evening we went with Capt. Dick and staid 
 with Whistling Bill. We hated to leave him, but 
 knew he was in good hands, and that it wouldn't be 
 long before he could go home himself. Next morning 
 Capt. Dick started back for Texas in a wagon. Mose 
 Baker and the negroes went with him and drove the 
 loose horses. The cook went too. When we came 
 to tell them all good-bye we felt like we would like to 
 start home with them too ; and yet we was glad we 
 wasn't going. Capt. Dick told us we must be sure 
 and come and see him when we came back to Texas, 
 and he hoped we would go over the Trail with him 
 next year. We all shook good-by, they rolled out 
 for Texas, and in an hour me and Nasho was whirling 
 along toward St. Louis. 
 
 Everybody was good to us on the road. The con- 
 ductors passed us free on Col. Hunt's letter, and at 
 the hotel where we stopped at Chicago they didn't 
 charge us any board. We got through to Philadelphia 
 without any trouble, and my pets was all right
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 AT THE CENTENNIAL. HOW THEY MAKE MONEY. 
 
 CHARLEY'S LITTLE FRIEND AND HOW HE FOUND 
 HER. 
 
 I THINK I must take Charley's story out of his 
 hands here. My readers will remember that I 
 met him at the Centennial, and, though I have not 
 told them so, knew what he was doing there up to the 
 time I left. There was scarcely a day that I did not 
 meet him, and sometimes have long talks with him 
 and without his knowing it I think I helped him some 
 by writing to the papers about the two Young Texas 
 Rancheros and their exhibition. For Charley was 
 not there ten days before he thought he might make 
 some money as well as pay his way and see all the 
 exhibition too. Somebody who met and took an in- 
 terest in him and somebody was doing that every 
 day, for he was so manly and straightforward and in- 
 dependent and yet a genuine boy without a particle 
 of that impertinent fastness which marks and makes 
 so unpleasant so many boys who are brought forward 
 earlier than boys usually are took him to Gen. 
 Hawley to find a place for him. Gen. Hawley most
 
 2/O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 kindly for he had a dozen men's work to do gave 
 him a note to the superintendent of the stock depart- 
 ment, and he at once gave Charley and Nasho employ- 
 ment in the stock-yard. Their work was not heavy, to 
 help feed, water and look after the stock on ex- 
 hibition, and being mostly to be done early and late 
 left them plenty of time for sight-seeing. One day 
 while looking at some of the rough whips and quirts 
 and saddles and other things made by the natives of 
 South Africa, it occurred to him that he and Nasho 
 might make some money by making pretty bridle 
 reins out of white and black horse-hair, and quirts 
 plaided from different colored leathers, and lassoes of 
 rawhide, and cabrasses of horse-hair. I think Charley 
 would rather have spent all his time looking at the 
 million things on exhibition, and reading papers and 
 books about them, but he was anxious to have some 
 money to buy some things for his Uncle and Aunt 
 when he went back to them. So he and Nasho set 
 to work when he had spare time, for he made it a 
 point to spend several hours every day, except during 
 the time the cattle were on exhibition in the ring when 
 they had to be with them all the time, in the exhibi- 
 tion, and they had very good success selling what they 
 made. Then Nasho suggested that he could do bet- 
 ter making wax figures, and Charley bought wax and 
 the little tools he wanted, and secured a corner in one 
 of the stalls of the Main Building where he could put 
 their products on exhibition. He also fitted up a table 
 for his pets in the stall, and put his stuffed antelope
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2? I 
 
 in one corner, and in a day or two they had more 
 orders than they could fill at good prices. Not un- 
 frequently a gentleman would come to them and get 
 Nasho to make for him in wax an exact copy of some 
 article on exhibition on the grounds, and would always 
 pay well for it. Although they were so successful 
 with their work and had more orders than they could 
 fill, they did not give up their places in the stock-yard, 
 because the work was not hard and was a change from 
 their other work of which they often grew very tired. 
 One day a gentleman who had bought some things from 
 them became interested in Charley's narrative of their 
 life on the Trail, and said he would give ten dollars 
 to see them ride and rope something on horseback- 
 Charley told him they would be glad to show him how 
 it was done if they had their horses there, and a place 
 to rope in. That led to telling about Comanche, 
 and the gentleman became so much interested that he 
 told them if one of them would go to Ellis and bring 
 their horses to Philadelphia, he would arrange for a 
 place where they could ride, and guarantee them 
 enough money to pay for their expenses in bringing 
 and keeping them there. So Charley started to Ellis 
 leaving Nasho to look after their corner stall and his 
 pets. 
 
 The gentleman succeeded in obtaining permission 
 for them to exhibit in one of the lots of the stock-yard, 
 and let it be known that an exhibition of skill in 
 riding would be given by two young boys from Texas 
 on such a day and hour. Quite a crowd gathered at
 
 2/2 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 the time appointed, and when Charley and Nasho 
 rode into the ring in their buckskin suits, their beau- 
 tiful horses well set off by the fine saddles and the 
 picturesque riding-suits of their young masters, the 
 interest of the onlookers, became very great. Their 
 style of riding, so much more easy, natural and grace- 
 ful than that which is taught at riding-schools, and is 
 so general among people who have not learned to ride 
 by constant practice, gave great satisfaction, and when 
 Charley swept by at full speed and bending low in 
 his saddle picked from the ground a silver dollar 
 which some one had thrown there as a test, the ap- 
 plause was loud and hearty. It was arranged then 
 that they should give such an exhibition once a week, 
 and they always had a crowd and, better still, the hat 
 which was passed around for them always came back 
 with a good many dollars, and halves, and quarters 
 and dimes in it. 
 
 They had only given four or five of these exhibitions 
 when they were offered one hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars a week to go to New York and Boston and 
 Long Branch and other places, and give their exhibi- 
 tions there. All their expenses were to be paid, and 
 all the arrangements made for them, so they would 
 have nothing to do but ride. Charley did not like to 
 leave the exhibition, but that was more money than 
 they were making there, and as they did not intend 
 being away more than a month, he consented. They 
 were well received everywhere and cleared over five 
 hundred dollars on the trip.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2/3 
 
 Charley and I used often to visit different portions 
 of the grounds together and talk about what we saw. 
 I noticed he was very much interested in the people 
 of different countries, the style of houses of other 
 nations, of which there were a number, and every 
 thing belonging to them, and particularly in the 
 weapons and other things used by uncivilized people. 
 Collections of the cured heads and skins of the wild 
 animals of different countries were made to be photo- 
 graphed, and he took a great deal of interest in them, 
 particularly those from Africa. He used often to say 
 to me how much he would like to make a hunting 
 trip through South Africa, and kill some of the many 
 kinds of Antelope that are found there, and the hyenas, 
 and lions, and giraffes, and hippopotami, and elephants, 
 and ostriches. I have very little doubt that he will 
 go there some day. If he does, I hope he will write a 
 book and tell us about his adventures, for I am certain 
 it would be very interesting, for there are more wild 
 animals, and of more different kinds, in South Africa 
 than in any other part of the world, and I believe all 
 boys like to read about hunting adventures. I did 
 when I was a boy, and do yet as much as ever. 
 
 Two or three of the photographers at the exhibition 
 were very anxious to get pictures of Charley and 
 Nasho in their riding-suits on their horses, but 
 Charley would never consent, for he knew they 
 wanted to sell them, and he did not want to be up 
 everywhere for sale. I wanted a picture of them my- 
 self, and having found a photographer I knew I could 
 18
 
 2/4 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 depend upon, Charley agreed to be taken. The ar- 
 tist succeeded in getting a very good picture, and 
 then took one of each of them separately without his 
 horse. Charley sent one of each home to his Uncle 
 and Aunt, and one to Capt. Dick. I kept one of each, 
 and the rest were given to Charley except one which 
 he allowed the artist to keep. Then the negative 
 was destroyed so that it might not get into any other 
 hands, and other pictures be taken from it. 
 
 There is one other thing that I do not like to speak 
 of, and yet it ought to be told, because it may have 
 a good deal to do with Charley's life. Although his 
 life has been rather a rough one, his grammar not as 
 correct as it should and will be, and although he gave 
 exhibitions of his skill in riding for money, there is 
 nothing of the rough about him in appearance or 
 manners. Naturally polite and full of good feeling, 
 he has learned rapidly from those about him, and 
 though there is a certain wildness of manner and 
 freedom of action about him that tells at once he was 
 not reared in a city, his courtesy is so genuine that 
 almost every one that meets him likes him. 
 
 One day a gentleman and his wife were strolling 
 along one side of the stock-yard stopping frequently 
 to look at some of the fine animals on exhibition 
 therein. A little girl about eight years old was with 
 them, but she had become so much interested in a 
 cute, shaggy little Shetland pony from the rough, ice- 
 clad hills of Ireland, that she had fallen far behind 
 her companions. Through carelessness on the part
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2/5 
 
 of some attendant a gate had been left open, and a 
 huge, white, shaggy yak, a Tartar ox, which had been 
 put into the yard for a day or two until he could be 
 transferred to the Zoological grounds, came out, and 
 catching sight of the child's red cloak dashed at her. 
 She was too much alarmed to run, but began to scream. 
 The gentleman was too far ahead to have been able 
 to reach her, but by good fortune Charley was sitting 
 on the fence near by, and attracted by her cries. 
 Springing from the fence he snatched up a blanket 
 which was lying near, and interposing in front of the 
 charging animal, threw it over his head in such a way 
 as to blind him. In his furious efforts to rid himself 
 of it the yak thrust his horns through it, but instead 
 of relieving him that only fastened it the more firmly 
 over his eyes and kept him blinded. Seeing there 
 was little danger from that source, he ran to the little 
 girl, and picking her up carried her to the gentleman, 
 who was coming towards him as rapidly as possible, 
 and showed them to a gate inside of which they 
 would be safe. Then he ran back to the struggling 
 and furious animal whose hoarse roars of rage were 
 attracting a crowd, though none dared approach very 
 nearly. A policeman who came up was on the point 
 of shooting the bewildered animal which was whirling 
 wildly about and tangling its feet in the folds of 
 the blanket, falling and rolling on the ground, but 
 Charley succeeded in checking him, and getting a 
 rope from an attendant he soon had the animal safely 
 fastened to a stout post. Another rope was thrown
 
 2/6 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 over his horns, and several stout men holding firmly 
 the ends, the yak was soon reconducted to the small 
 pen out of which he had escaped. 
 
 The next day the gentleman called at Charley's 
 stall to thank him for his prompt exposure of himself 
 to danger, and became so much interested in him 
 that he insisted upon his visiting them at their hotel 
 and making the acquaintance of the lady and her little 
 niece whom he had rescued. When he came Mrs. 
 Lenton was no less interested than her husband had 
 been, and little Marion was soon as glad to welcome 
 him as the older members of the party when he made 
 his weekly visit during their stay. He gave her some 
 of the finest figures that Nasho's cunning fingers 
 could fashion, encased in handsome glass stands, and 
 when at his parting visit previous to their departure 
 the gentleman asked what little token of friendship 
 he could leave him, I think Charley astonished him- 
 self not less than the others by asking for her picture. 
 It was promptly given by the fair hands of little Miss 
 Marion herself, and with a cordial invitation to visit 
 them at their beautiful country home in distant Min- 
 nesota. Are you ready to ask what has all this to do 
 with Charley's future life ? Wait and see. Time 
 solves many a mystery. 
 
 Soon after that event, about the middle of September, 
 I left the exhibition and started to Texas, and I leave 
 Charley to tell how he got back to Texas across the 
 plains in winter.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 STARTING FOR TEXAS. CHARLEY FINDS A STRANGER 
 
 IN NEED AND HELPS HIM. A LONELY BURIAL. 
 
 ON TRAIL AGAIN. 
 
 I ALWAYS like to see the last of any thing, Mr. 
 Morecamp, that I have enough to do with to get 
 interested in. I have often when cow hunting been the 
 last one to leave camp, because I felt like I wanted 
 the last look. And I was real glad to have a chance 
 to see the last of the Centennial. I won't try to tell 
 you any thing about it. You know there was a crowd, 
 and it rained, and the umbrellas made the crowd look 
 like a lake full of turtles, and then it seemed a race for 
 who could get away soonest. 
 
 I was all ready to go when it closed, for we had been 
 getting ready for a week or two beforehand. I had 
 sold my pets before I started on that trip to New York, 
 and we had boxed up and sent to Kansas City some 
 things we wanted to take home, for fear at the end 
 there would be such a jam of freight that we wouldn't 
 be able to get them there in time, so we sent them 
 ahead. Nasho had gone there a week before with the 
 horses, and was to wait for me. I stayed one day
 
 2/8 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 after it closed to see what the grounds looked like 
 without the people, and then started. I wouldn't 
 have missed being at the Centennial and seeing the 
 wind up for any thing in the world. 
 
 At Kansas City I found Nasho with the horses and 
 our things, and we began to get ready for the trip 
 home. We were going to Fort Dodge on the Atchi- 
 son, Topeka and Sante Fe Railroad, and there start 
 home in a wagon over the Trail. For fear something 
 might happen to us on the way we had sent Uncle a 
 draft on San Antonio for six hundred dollars, and 
 took six hundred with us to buy our outfit and to 
 have money with us on the road. I have found out 
 already that with money a traveller can go anywhere 
 and get well taken care of when without it he would 
 be like a bogged wagon. 
 
 We bought a span of young, stout, well-matched 
 mules ; these short, chunky fellows, that look like half- 
 breeds, can live on grass and stand any thing. They 
 cost us three hundred dollars, but they were well 
 worth the money and in good order for the road. 
 Then we bought a two-horse wagon with a stout duck 
 cover, a small tent, blankets, some cooking utensils, 
 and coffee, flour, sugar, bacon, rice, dried fruit, peas, 
 potatoes, onions, molasses and tea and chocolate, for 
 Nasho and me both like chocolate, and he can make it 
 real good. We had some condensed milk too, and some 
 vegetables all ready dried to make soup of. We had 
 a real nice oil stove that I was taking to Auntie to 
 use when she only wanted to make some coffee or tea
 
 CHARLEY AND XASHO IX TEXAS. 2/9 
 
 or cook an egg ; it is so much easier than to go to the 
 trouble of making a fire in the wood stove, that was 
 boxed up ; but I bought also a small one just to make 
 tea or coffee on or cook some soup when we were in 
 a hurry; on the prairie, when the wind blows, it blows 
 away the heat of your fire so much that it takes a long 
 time to cook any thing, and then sometimes it ain't 
 half done. We could cook two things at once on our 
 oil stove, and had a can of oil to heat it with. I tell 
 you we were fixed up nice for cow-boys or any 
 other sort of boys. I know the boys here would say 
 we was citified, but we had worked and earned every 
 thing we had, and I don't know what money is good 
 for if it ain't to buy what you want. The reason why 
 the horses and cattle and hogs up North look so much 
 better, and get so much larger than ours, is because 
 they are taken so much better care of, have more and 
 better food, and stables to keep them out of the wea- 
 ther. I believe the better people take care of them- 
 selves the longer they will last, and the better able to 
 work they will be. I believe I am as ready as any 
 body to work hard, and stand guard all night if it 
 rains, but when it is over I do like to have a warm 
 tent to come to, and a dry bed and something good 
 to eat that makes you feel ready to go out again 
 if you have to. We couldn't have such things on 
 the Trail, but I was going to have them on the trip 
 back. 
 
 We got blankets for the mules and horses to put 
 on them at night, and ropes and halters, and a feed
 
 28O LIVE BOYS. 
 
 trough for Comanche and Spot, as Nasho called his 
 Indian pony. I bought an Evans repeating rifle that 
 carried twenty five cartridges, and can be fired as fast 
 as a six-shooter, and Nasho got a breech-loading shot- 
 gun and we both had our belt revolvers. I had a little 
 five-shooting, breech-loading revolver that I could 
 carry in my pocket. I never carry it except when I 
 am on the prairie or in the woods, but I like to have 
 it then because it is so handy, and shoots nearly as 
 far and hard as a big pistol. I had bought at the 
 Centennial a fine field-glass that I could make out 
 cattle or horses with three miles off. 
 
 We got to Fort Dodge too late in the evening to 
 make a start, and I wasn't much sorry, for it was 
 snowing. We left our things at the depot, put our 
 stock in the livery stable, and went to the hotel. 
 Then I went out to buy some oats and corn to take 
 with us for the horses and mules, for we couldn't get 
 any on the road until we got into Texas, and I didn't 
 want to depend on the grass in winter. I wanted 
 to travel, and to do that our stock would need feeding. 
 I had bought the feed and a couple of good buffalo 
 robes for bedding, and was on my way back to the 
 hotel when under a little bunch of thin bushes I came 
 across a man lying down in the snow. His clothing 
 was all ragged and dirty, his boots full of holes, and 
 his hat was in pieces. I thought first he was drunk, 
 but when I stooped down over him there was no 
 smell of whiskey about him, and I knew from his face 
 he was sick. He was getting old, for his hair and
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 28 1 
 
 beard were grizzled, and his face was full of wrinkles 
 and pinched up like when one has been sick a long 
 time. He didn't answer when I spoke to him, and I 
 couldn't rouse him up by shaking him. I hurried off 
 to a wagon standing before a store and got the driver 
 to come with another man and put him in and take him 
 to the hotel. There was a doctor boarding there who 
 came up to the room and examined him. He gave 
 him a big dose of hot brandy, and we undressed him 
 and began to rub his arms and legs and feet. After 
 a little he began to come too, and in a couple of hours 
 he was strong enough talk to a little. He said he had 
 been mining out west and was trying to make his 
 way to Illinois, where he had a brother living, but had 
 no money, and lying out and the hard weather had 
 made him sick. As soon as he was able the doctor 
 gave him a warm sponge bath in bed, and I brought 
 him some flannel under-clothes. Then the doctor 
 ordered some hot soup for him, and left me to sit 
 with him. The poor man seemed to feel a great deal 
 better, but he was so thin, and pale, and weak that I 
 didn't believe he would ever get up again. He slept 
 tolerably well that night, seemed better next morning, 
 but he soon began to get worse. The doctor told me 
 he was too far gone ever to get up again. I asked 
 him if he would like to send a message anywhere, and 
 he gave me one to send to Wm. J. Lenton, Bloom- 
 ington, Illinois. That was the name of the gentle- 
 man I had met in Philadelphia, but I thought there 
 might be two of the same name and didn't say any
 
 282 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 thing. It was two hours before I got an answer, and 
 then the operator at Bloomington only said there was 
 no such man living there. I told the poor sick man 
 then, that I knew such a gentleman who lived at St. 
 Paul's, Minnesota. He asked me a few questions 
 about him and his wife and the little girl, who he said 
 was his niece, but he hadn't seen her for five years. I 
 was going out to telegraph to him, but he stopped me, 
 and said it was too late, he would be gone before his 
 brother-in-law could get there. He said he was worn 
 out and couldn't last long, and asked for a lawyer to 
 make his will. Then he motioned for all the others 
 to leave, and when they had gone told me that he 
 had left gold where he had been mining, and told me 
 to rip open his coat and I would find a paper that 
 would tell me just where it was, so that I could 
 find it. I got the paper and he told me then 
 that he was going to leave his gold to his niece and 
 me, and asked me to promise him on the Bible that I 
 would go and look for it, and if I found it would divide 
 with her fairly. I promised him, and he seemed a 
 great deal better satisfied. 
 
 The lawyer came in a few minutes, and drew up 
 his will as he told him, and the landlord and the min- 
 ister, who had heard of the sick man and had come in, 
 signed it as witnesses. I was to keep his will and do 
 what he wanted done after he was gone. I paid the 
 lawyer and he left. The minister talked to him a 
 while and went away. 
 
 I asked him if he would like to be buried at Bloom-
 
 CHARLEY AXI) XASHO IX TEXAS. 283 
 
 ington, but he said no, it didn't make any difference 
 with him where he was buried, that one place was as 
 near heaven as another. He began to grow weak so 
 fast that I went for the doctor, but he couldn't do any 
 thing to rouse him. We sat with him until nearly 
 twelve o'clock that night. Then he roused up a little 
 and beckoned me to come to him. I bent, down close 
 to his ear and he put his arm around my neck and 
 said brokenly " Char ley be sure divide fair 
 with little " 
 
 Then he dropped back again. The doctor came 
 up and put his hand on his arm and in a minute he 
 said 
 
 " Poor fellow, he's gone." 
 
 We laid him out and took turns sitting with the 
 corpse the rest of the night. The next evening we 
 buried him in the town graveyard. There were 
 scarcely enough there to lower the coffin into the grave 
 and fill it up. The ground was all covered with snow, 
 and the sky was cloudy and dark, and oh, it looked so 
 lonesome ! He was so far away from those that cared 
 any thing for him. Before the snow was gone he would 
 be forgotten here and nobody would ever come to put 
 flowers 0,1 his grave or plant a tree at its head. It 
 seemed so hard to leave him there all alone, but just 
 as we turned away the sun burst out bright and clear 
 and I thought of that passage in the Bible I had 
 heard Parson Theglin read at funerals at Kerrville : 
 
 " I am the resurrection and the life : he that be- 
 lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live :
 
 284 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 never die. Believest thou this ? " 
 
 And I believed it. 
 
 A headboard giving the name and day of leath was 
 put in the grave, and I got a carpenter to put up a 
 neat fence around it. I wrote a letter to Mr. Lenton 
 at St. Paul's, telling him that I had happened to 
 find his brother-in-law sick there and had staid with 
 him until he died and seen him buried. I did not tell 
 him how I had found him, nor say any thing about the 
 will, except that he had left no property. The lawyer 
 told me that was best. No one knew any thing about 
 his buried gold, for he had said nothing about it in his 
 will. The fence was finished that morning and every 
 thing settled up. 
 
 That evening we loaded up and started for Texa? 
 and home.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 TRAVELLING AND CAMPING. CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 
 
 NASHO FINDS AN OLD FRIEND WHO RELEASES THEM. 
 
 CHARLEY PICKS UP A DOG. 
 
 WE were almost due north of Kerrville and had 
 nothing to do but keep the Trail. Nasho drove 
 the wagon and I rode ahead leading Spot. The wea- 
 ther was cold, but we had warm clothing and didn't 
 mind it much. We would stop half an hour at dinner 
 to make some coffee and get a snack, and then 
 again at sundown for the night. Most of our cooking 
 was done at night so that we could get an early start 
 next morning. When we stopped we would unharness 
 the mules and turn them loose to graze. We staked 
 the horses out, putting our picket pins down close to 
 the wagon. We wasn't afraid of their running away, 
 but it is always a good plan to have at least one horse 
 tied, for then if a stampede should take place you 
 won't be left entirely afoot. Then we pitched our 
 tent and got supper. As soon as it began to get 
 pretty dark we brought in the mules and horses, fed 
 them with corn and oats, and rubbed them dowa 
 We always tied them to the wagon wheels, for that
 
 286 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 kept them so near us that it would be hard for any- 
 body to take them away without waking us up, and if 
 they should happen to get scared they couldn't get 
 loose, for the wagon would give a little when they 
 pulled back. I always enjoyed seeing the horses and 
 mules eat their supper, and they liked to have us 
 about feeding and rubbing them. Comanche knows 
 me as well as Nasho does. I believe if I was to slip 
 up in the night when he was asleep and touch him 
 he would know it was me. Sometimes at dinner 
 time he will stop grazing and come to me for a hand- 
 ful of oats, or a lump of sugar. He likes sugar as 
 much as I do, and I often give him a lump. I like to 
 treat him well because he is always ready to carry me, 
 and don't need whip or spurs ; just a word and he 
 will strike out as hard as he can go. 
 
 It was so pleasant the first three or four days that 
 we had a real nice time. I found Spot would follow 
 the wagon so that I didn't have to lead him, and could 
 ride off to either side hunting. I killed a deer, three 
 rabbits and several prairie chickens, so that we had 
 some fresh meat. We had a good lantern, and after 
 we were done feeding the horses and had made all 
 ready for the night, I used to read, for I had brought 
 some books with me. I had several books about 
 hunting on .the plains and in the Rocky Mountains, 
 and in Africa, and a Natural History, and books about 
 birds and fish, and two or three histories and some 
 others. The nights were so long that sometimes I 
 would read two or three hours before going to sleep,
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS 28/ 
 
 Nasho nearly always went to sleep right off. He 
 didn't care about reading, though sometimes he would 
 look over the pictures about the animals and birds, 
 and ask me questions about them. How I did like to 
 read about hunting ! I would rather go to Africa than 
 anywhere else, because there is so much more game 
 there, and so many different kinds. 
 
 One night while I was reading I happened to look 
 out and saw a pair of eyes shining only a few yards 
 off. I lay down my book and got my rifle and tried 
 to shoot, but at first I couldn't see the sights. After 
 a little I held it so that the light would fall on the 
 front sight, and taking the best aim I could between 
 the eyes, fired. Nasho was up in a second :- 
 
 "What matter, Carley ?" 
 
 Only a wolf, I said, and ran out to see. Sure 
 enough it was a wolf. I had shot him square between 
 the eyes. The horses and mules jumped a little when 
 I shot, but didn't try to break loose. Almost, every 
 night we would hear a pack of wolves howling and 
 sometimes close to our camp, but we knew they 
 wouldn't trouble our horses and wasn't afraid of them. 
 I like to hear wolves howl at night. 
 
 That same night about half an hour afterwards 
 I thought I heard something snuffle, and looking up 
 saw a polecat's head poking under the tent. I was 
 afraid he would come in and scent every thing up. 
 You know how they smell ? so I got my little pistol 
 easy, and when he stuck it in again took good aim 
 and fired. Nasho popped up in a second I beliew
 
 288 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 he was a little scared, because I shot right over him, 
 and a pistol makes a loud noise in a house or tent, 
 but I told him what it was, and we went out and 
 looked at him. His head was all torn to pieces by 
 the ball. Polcats are dangerous little vermin. I 
 have heard of several men being bitten by them in 
 Texas and killed. They come into camp in the night 
 when everybody is asleep, and 'most always bite in 
 the nose. We didn't skin either the wolf or the pole- 
 cat because we had finer skins of both at home. 
 After that I wished we had a dog to let us know when 
 any thing came about. A dog may be sound asleep, 
 but if any animal or person comes about he is sure to 
 wake up. 
 
 Just six days after we left Fort Dodge we camped 
 on the South side of the Red Fork, in Indian Terri- 
 tory. The next morning when we woke up we al- 
 ways got up at the first crack of day every thing was 
 covered with snow, and it was snowing hard. I was 
 sorry for the horses and mules, because the nights 
 hadn't been very cold and we hadn't put their blankets 
 on them. We gave them a good feed and after break- 
 fast we started. The Trail was so covered with snow 
 that we couldn't tell where it was, but we thought we 
 could travel pretty well by compass. About eleven 
 o'clock I unsaddled Comanche and left him with Spot to 
 follow, and rode in the wagon with Nasho. That night 
 when we camped we couldn't tell whether we were near 
 the Trail or not. The next morning it was still snow- 
 ing, but not very hard. I was more than half a mind
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS 29 
 
 to lay up until the snow cleared away, because I was 
 afraid we would drive into some gully or hole and 
 break something ; but I wanted to get home, and we 
 started ; about eleven o'clock all of a sudden an Indian 
 rode in front of our mules and stopped them. We 
 looked out and there were half a dozen around the 
 wagon. The Indians were all supposed to be friendly, 
 but friendly or not we had to make out like we 
 thought they was, for they had slipped upon us too 
 well to give us any chance to fight if we had wanted 
 to. 
 
 One ugly looking rascal, with a dirty red blanket 
 around him and some feathers stuck in his long black 
 hair, came up to us and said : 
 
 " Injin's wagon, Injin's mules, Injin's horses, all 
 Injins. Ugh !" 
 
 No ! I said, our horses and wagon ; we buy 'em in 
 Kansas. 
 
 He motioned us to get out, and Nasho said : 
 
 "Day got us Carley must get out." We got out, 
 though I didn't like to, because if they intended to 
 kill us our guns were in the wagon and that was our 
 only chance for our lives. But I thought it wasn't 
 any use to show fight. Four of them had guns and 
 pistols, and the other two bows and arrows and lances. 
 We wouldn't have stood any show in a fight. 
 
 When we got out the dirty old rascal pointed to 
 Comanche and Spot, and said : 
 
 "Dem Injin horses, you steal dam heap." Now 
 Injin get back ; take mules, wagon too, you no like
 
 290 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 take scalp too," and the ugly villain made a motion 
 as if he was lifting a scalp, and his black eyes shone 
 like a snake's. The restall laughed. Nasho com- 
 menced talking to them in Indian. I couldn't tell 
 what they said, but I knew from their motions and 
 looks that they pretended not to believe what he told 
 them, and from the way the old rascal who acted as 
 leader tapped his gun, that they intended to take every- 
 thing we had. 
 
 Directly Nasho turned to me and said : 
 
 " It no use, Carley. Day got us. Day take mules, 
 wagon, horses, all ; we no can help ; no can fight 
 now." 
 
 One of them got off his horse, gave his bridle rein 
 to another, and got in the wagon and took the reins, 
 laughing like a baboon. It would have done me good 
 to have made a hole through his ugly head. They 
 started off laughing, and bowing to us, and too or 
 three of them hollered out as they rode off :- 
 
 " Good-by heap walk now." 
 
 I had my little revolver in my pocket, but it would 
 have been foolish to have thought of shooting. It was 
 enough to make anybody mad to have a good outfit 
 taken right from under them and be left in the middle 
 of a prairie in a snow-storm, with nothing to eat, and 
 no arms but a little revolver ; but it was better than 
 to have our scalps taken. I was looking after them and 
 feeling like crying about Comanche when I heard 
 Nasho say : 
 
 " Nodder rascal coming ! "
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 2QI 
 
 I looked up and saw another one coming on a lope. 
 He was riding a fine spotted horse, and as he got 
 closer I saw he was dressed in a good suit of fringed 
 buckskin and had a fine blanket lying across his 
 Mexican saddle. He had a lance in his hand and his 
 bow and arrows slung to his back. He came up as 
 if he was going to ride right over us, but we never 
 moved Nasho had told me that was the way they 
 always came and when he was in a jump of us he 
 pulled up so quick that it almost threw his horse on 
 his haunches. 
 
 He was a young fellow not much bigger than 
 Nasho, and cleaner and better looking every way than 
 the rest. He had a fine head rig of eagle feathers, 
 and bear claws round his neck, and silver buttons on 
 his buckskin shirt. As quick as he got a look at 
 Nasho's face he called out to him in Indian, and 
 jumped off his horse, and caught both his hands and 
 fairly hugged him. Nasho seemed as glad to see him 
 as he was to see Nasho, and for two or three minutes 
 they talked as fast as two school girls. Then I could 
 tell by Nasho's gestures that he was telling the In- 
 dian about our being robbed. The young Indian 
 scowled and looked on the ground a second, and then 
 said something to Nasho and jumped on his horse 
 and started after the others who had got out of sight 
 under a hill. 
 
 " Dat Co-shel-to," Nasho said; " he heap friend me 
 when me with Kickapoos. He try get wagon, horses, 
 all back again. He chief.''
 
 2Q2 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 I thought from his dress he must be a chiefs son. 
 How I did watch to see if they were coming back ! It 
 reminded me of the time I was in the tree watching 
 the horse when I caught Comanche. I didn't much 
 believe he could make them give us back our outfit 
 if he was a chief, because he was hardly any thing but 
 a boy, and they didn't have hardly any thing and 
 wouldn't like to let their prize go. Directly we saw 
 Co-shel-to coming back with the wagon and horses ; 
 the same Indian was driving and another one leading 
 his horse. When they came up the one in the wagon 
 got out, and Co-shel-to motioned to the wagon and 
 horses with a sweep of his hand, and said something 
 to Nasho. Nasho bowed and said something to him, 
 but I couldn't make out any thing about it, only I was 
 sure Co-shel-to intended for us to keep every thing. 
 Wasn't I glad to get Comanche back again ! I couldn't 
 help walking up to him and patting him. Co-shel-to 
 noticed me, and said in Spanish : 
 
 " Muy hermoso caballo, senor ! " * 
 
 "Muy hermoso caballo." 
 
 I answered. Then I went to the wagon, got my 
 best pistol with the belt and cartridges, and walking 
 up to him said : 
 
 " Haga me el favor sefior, acceptar este pistol." f 
 
 "Muchas gracias, senor." J 
 
 * A very fine horse, sir ! 
 
 f Do me the favor to accept this pistol. 
 
 J Many thanks, sir.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 293 
 
 He took it with a proud bow and buckled it around 
 his waist, and I could see he was glad to have it. 
 
 Nasho said something to him, and he turned and 
 spoke to one of the Indians, and he started off on a 
 gallop. 
 
 Nasho told me then he had asked the young chief 
 to send for the others to come back and drink coffee 
 with us. He told me not to seem to be afraid of them, 
 or act as if I did not like them, but to be friendly. 
 When we saw them coming back he said : 
 
 " You drive, Carley. We go to water." 
 
 I got in and drove and he walked along by the side 
 of Co-shel-to. It was only a little ways to a running 
 branch, where I stopped. I was sorry and almost 
 mad with Nasho for sending back for the thieving 
 rascals, for I was afraid they might rob us again and 
 for good this time, but there was nothing for it but 
 to put a good face on the matter, and I determined 
 none of 'em should see how I hated them. By good 
 good luck we had some deer meat and a ham. We 
 got that out and our meat-pot to make coffee in, and 
 started a fire. They didn't seem to care for the 
 bread, but they ate all the meat and drank the pot 
 twice full of coffee. We didn't have but two cups, 
 so they had to take it time about. As soon as the 
 last one had drank his coffee they got on their horses 
 to leave. I got out some tobacco I was taking to 
 Uncle and Parson Theglin and divided it among 
 them, and gave them some matches, and they rode off. 
 Wasn't I glad to see them go though : I could tell
 
 294 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 from their looks that they hated to leave without our 
 outfit, but they didn't want to take it as bad as I 
 wanted to keep it. 
 
 Then Nasho and Co-shel-to talked a little, and I 
 knew from their gestures that he was telling Nasho 
 which way to go. When they were through Nasho 
 went to the wagon and got his shot-gun and belt, and a 
 box of cartridges, and gave them to Co-shel-to. He put 
 the cartridges in a buckskin bag that hung at his side. 
 Then he took off his bow and arrow, and handed them 
 to Nasho with his lance. He shook hands with me, 
 said "Adios, Senor," shook hands with Nasho, saying 
 something to him in Indian, jumped on his horse and 
 rode off at a gallop in the direction the others had gone. 
 I saddled Comanche, took my rifle and mounted, and 
 Nasho got in the wagon and we started, bearing more 
 to the left than we had been travelling. 
 
 That evening I kept a sharp look out with my field- 
 glass, but didn't see any more Indians. I was riding 
 ahead nearly at sundown when I saw something like 
 a wolf lying down right ahead of us. I thought first 
 it was a wolf, but in a minute I saw it was a dog, and 
 riding up to it found it was a dog so poor and crippled 
 that it could not walk. It was a fine, large dog that 
 looked like a cross between a bull dog and a grey- 
 hound. It must have been stolen from some army 
 post by the Indians, got crippled by some animal, and 
 left by them when it couldn't keep up. I was sorry 
 for the poor dog, and when Nasho came up we put 
 him in the wagon and took him with us. When we
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 2Q5 
 
 camped I made him a pot of hot soup, and he ate as 
 if famished. Then I put some liniment on his sore 
 feet and tied them up, and on a place in his side 
 where a deer or a buffalo had hooked him. After 
 supper I covered him up well with a saddle-blanket. 
 
 Nasho told me that night that Co-shel-to was a 
 young black-foot Indian that had been captured by 
 the tribe of Kickapoos he lived with, and that he and 
 Co-shel-to had been great friends. They had each 
 cut a little vein on his arm and drank some of each 
 other's blood. That meant that they were to be as 
 dear to each other as brothers. Since he had left 
 them Co-shel-to had become chief, although he was 
 so young, old Kee-watch-ie, who was chief when he 
 left them, having been killed in a fight, and Co-shel-to 
 chosen in his place he came he was the bravest war- 
 rior in the tribe. Co-shel-to told him that the Trail 
 was miles away to our left. He said the Comanches 
 were going to their winter-quarters ahead of us, and 
 we must look out and not fall in their way or they 
 would be sure to rob and perhaps kill us. He said 
 we must hurry and cross the prairie as fast as we 
 could, and get into the red mountains, where we could 
 travel without being so apt to be seen, and that the 
 sooner we got through the Nation into Texas the 
 better for us. There was nobody travelling through 
 the Nation in winter, and nobody would know if we 
 were robbed and killed. He said it would take us 
 four days more to get through, and we would have 
 some rough roads in the mountains.
 
 296 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Nasho said we would sleep until twelve o'clock, 
 when the moon rose, and then get up and travel. 
 You may be sure I didn't read any that night. It 
 was a good thing for us that Co-shel-to came along. 
 We would have had a hard time if we had been left 
 in the prairie without any thing. I didn't feel as 
 easy and good that night as I had been doing, and I 
 believe if I had been back at Kansas City I would 
 have come home by rail. But we were in for it now 
 and had to go through. So I went to sleep.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 OVER THE SNOW. CHARLEY IS ALMOST FROZEN. 
 
 INDIAN DOCTORING. NASHO KILLS AN INDIAN WITH 
 
 AN ARROW. RAPID TRAVELLING. HOME AGAIN 
 
 IT seemed to me I had not been asleep an hour 
 when I heard somebody stirring, and raising up 
 found Nasho getting ready to start. The moon was 
 up, but it didn't shine very brightly. We hadn't 
 stretched the tent, so it didn't take us long to harness 
 up and start. We put the poor dog in the wagon. I 
 rode Comanche, and Spot was tied behind the wagon 
 already saddled, so that if the Indians should come 
 on us we could leave the wagon and get away on horse- 
 back. We had on our overcoats, and a good blanket 
 apiece strapped on to our saddles, and plenty of am- 
 munition, and some provision, mostly bacon and coffee, 
 and a coffee-pot and our cups. We didn't intend to 
 be set afoot again without any thing unless the Indians 
 outran us. 
 
 I rode ahead to pick the way and keep a good look- 
 out. It wasn't snowing, but the ground was covered 
 with snow, four inches deep, and it was very cold. It 
 It was scarcely light enough to see well, and I had to
 
 298 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 be very careful to keep out of gullies, and find places 
 where the wagon could cross. The prairie was pretty 
 smooth, and we kept ahead steadily, but about daylight 
 I got so sleepy I could hardly keep my eyes open. 
 
 At sunup we stopped, fed the mules and horses 
 without unharnessing or taking the saddles off, made 
 a fire, and had some breakfast. The hot coffee did us 
 a heap of good, for we were both real cold. I gave 
 the dog a good breakfast to, and was glad to see him 
 looking better already. 
 
 As quick as breakfast was over we hitched up and 
 started again. Was you ever on the prairie in winter, 
 Mr. Morecamp ? 
 
 " No, Charley, I never was on a large prairie until 
 this fall." 
 
 Then you don't know how much difference there is be- 
 tween it in spring and winter. Every thing looked so 
 barren and desolate. Just one great mass of white all 
 around as far as you could see, with hardly a tree, and 
 overhead the sky was cloudy. Now and then the sun 
 would break out for a minute and light up the snow 
 so it would almost dazzle us, and the few bushes would 
 sparkle and glisten, but it would only last a minute, 
 and every thing would turn a chill gray again. It 
 seemed like Nature was dead. Not a sound was to 
 be heard except the horses' feet and the crunching of 
 the wheels through the snow. And it seemed like we 
 would never get anywhere. It was just snow, snow, 
 snow ; and when we got to the top of a rise hoping to
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN* TEXAS. 2Q9 
 
 see timber ahead, it would only be snow again as far 
 as we could see. 
 
 About twelve o'clock we struck a gang of buffalo. 
 There must have been ten thousand of them. They 
 were not moving, but scattered about, feeding. They 
 didn't pay much attention to us, and we could have 
 killed lots of them if we had wanted, but I didn't feel 
 like shooting them and leaving the poor things to die 
 in the cold, and Nasho didn't want to stop either. I 
 killed one fat cow when we stopped for dinner, and 
 we took the hump, and some ribs, and the tongue, and 
 some steaks, for we were out of fresh meat. It 
 seemed like a pity to kilt as large an animal as that 
 for so little meat. There are hundreds of men that 
 make a regular business of killing them for their 
 hides. I was pretty nearly tired out when we stopped, 
 but a good buffalo steak, a slice of bacon and some 
 hot coffee freshened me up heap, and in less than an 
 hour we were moving again. 
 
 We were in sight of buffalo nearly all the evening, 
 and the snow was broken in thousands of places where 
 they had pawed it away to get at the grass. I didn't 
 like to see so many buffalo, for I was afraid the Indians 
 were about somewhere, but as long as they were there 
 I liked to watch them as I rode along. Very often I 
 would ride in thirty yards of them without scaring 
 them. 
 
 About the middle of the evening I began to get 
 ccVl and sleepy, oh, so sleepy. It seemed to me I 
 tf *'st get down and go to sleep on the snow. I
 
 3OO LIAE BOYS. 
 
 thought if I could only sleep ten minutes I would 
 feel a great deal better. I could hardly keep from 
 going to the wagon and getting in to take a nap, but 
 I thought Nasho must be as sleepy as I was, and one 
 of us ought to stay on horseback to keep up a watch 
 and pick out the road. I don't know how I managed 
 to keep at all straight that evening. I had the com- 
 pass, but don't remember looking at it. I know I 
 must have been half asleep most of the time. I have 
 a recollection of the snowy prairie, and now and then 
 gangs of buffalo, and turning round every little while 
 to see if the wagon was coming on, and if I was get- 
 ting too far ahead, and of its getting darker, and then 
 the next thing I remember is feeling something hot 
 about me. When I got fairly awake I looked around 
 and saw the wagon standing near by but the mules 
 wasn't unhitched, and there was a big fire burning. I 
 remember drinking something hot, and getting warm 
 and feeling good, oh, so good, and then I must have 
 dropped asleep again. 
 
 I didn't wake up until daylight, and then I jumped 
 up quick thinking I must help Nasho unharness and 
 get ready for night, but I found myself undressed and 
 in the tent. I dressed myself and stepped out. The 
 mules and horses were hitched to the wagon with 
 their blankets on, and the ashes showed there had 
 been a big fire. I hardly knew what to make of it, 
 but I looked to the east and saw it was day, and I 
 knew then I had been asleep all night. Nasho hadn't 
 waked up, and as he had done every thing the night
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 30 1 
 
 before, I knew he must be tired out, so I didn't wake 
 him, but fed the horses and mules and got breakfast. I 
 cooked some rice and made some strong tea, for Nasho 
 is very fond of tea, put some bacon and buffalo steak 
 on to broil, and then went and called him. He got up 
 and came out, but he seemed almost asleep, and hardly 
 to know what I said to him. He said he was cold, 
 and didn't eat much, but the tea stirred him up a little. 
 
 " You 'most froze when me drive up here last night, 
 Carley. You was lying on ground and me couldn't 
 wake you up. Me hurry and make fire and heat pot 
 water. Den me stretch tent and take off your clothes 
 and dip blanket in hot water, and wrap you up in him. 
 Me didn't know if you come too any more. Me pour 
 wisky and chile down you and you open you eyes and 
 look round little, but you no know notin. Me feel 
 you arms and me know you was coming too, and by 
 by me take off wet blanket and wrap you up good in 
 heap blanket. Me say Carley be all right in morn- 
 ing. Den me feed horses and mules and sit by fire 
 while dey eat. Me too tired and cold to eat. When 
 dey done me tie em up and go to bed. Me feed dog 
 first, and me feel you arm. Carley all right in morn- 
 in'. Den me go to sleep. Me ain't warm yet need 
 sweat heap, den me feel well." 
 
 He went and lay down again. I knew then that 
 I had fallen off my horse and didn't know any thing 
 when he came up, and he had taken care of me and 
 tended to every thing, and though he was half frozen 
 himself. It was my time now.
 
 302 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 Camp was in a good place in a hollow well shel- 
 tered from the north, and plenty of grass and water. 
 I made up a big fire, and put in a lot of big smooth 
 rocks that I found in the branch. Then I hobbled 
 the mules and staked out the horses. I cut some long, 
 slim poles, and sticking one end in the ground bent 
 them over and fastened the other end, making aframe- 
 work like a big beehive, or a large pot. I covered 
 this well with blankets and a buffalo robe. Then I 
 woke Nasho up and at last got him to understand 
 that he must undress and get in. I helped him, for 
 he was more than half asleep. I had put the hot 
 rocks, so hot I had to handle them with two sticks, 
 on each side of the shanty so he wouldn't get on them 
 and burn himself, and setting a bucket of water inside, 
 crunched down in the door, drew a blanket over me 
 to keep out the air, and began pouring the cold water 
 on the hot rocks. It make such a steam it almost 
 stifled me. In a couple of minutes Nasho roused up 
 and said 
 
 " Me all right now, Carley. Give me cup an you 
 git out, no good for you. Me all right now.'' 
 
 I saw he was waked up good and left him. In three 
 or four minutes he came out and ran into the tent. I 
 rubbed him dry, covered him up well with blankets, 
 gave him some hot tea, and left him. I went to him 
 two or three times during the morning, but he was 
 sleeping well and I didn't trouble him. About twelve 
 o'clock he waked up, dressed and came out, and said 
 he was all right. There wasn't any thing the matter
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 303 
 
 with either of us except getting chilled though riding 
 so l^ng in the cold ; but if I had been by myself I 
 don't know whether I could ever have waked up again 
 or not. It was a good thing for me that Nasho wasn't 
 as cold and tired as I was. 
 
 We had a good dinner that day, hot buffalo soup 
 with rice and peas in it, roasted Irish potatoes and 
 stewed peaches. Our stock was looking a little thin 
 from not having time enough on the road to graze, so 
 we stayed there that evening to let them feed. 
 
 The next morning we were off again early. The 
 country was hilly and rough and we couldn't travel as 
 fast as we had been doing. We had to zig zag about 
 a good deal to dodge steep hills, and find places where 
 we could cross the gullies. It was that way for two 
 days, and kept getting worse instead of better. More 
 than once we had to unhitch the mules and let the 
 wagon down a steep bank by a rope running round a 
 tree to keep it from slipping too fast. Then we 
 would hitch up, fasten a rope to the tongue and I 
 would wrap it around the horn of my saddle, and by 
 the hardest kind of work we would drag it up the 
 other bank. I told Nasho we had better turn off al- 
 most square to the left and find the Trail, for we 
 wouldn't be any more apt to be troubled by the Indians 
 there than wandering around through the woods where 
 we were likely to run into a camp at any time. 
 
 We saw plenty of game but didn't like to shoot for 
 fear of being heard by Indians. That evening directly 
 after we stopped a bear came close to camp and we
 
 304 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 killed him. Anybody can't be careful always, and a 
 chance to kill a bear don't come every day. Although 
 it was winter he was in pretty good order, and gave 
 us some good meat. 
 
 Rover, that was the name I gave the dog we 
 picked up on the prairie, had got so much better he 
 could keep up very well, though he was still a little lame. 
 I had rather trust him and Comanche to let me know 
 if any thing or anybody was coming than soldiers. 
 
 The next morning while Nasho was driving along 
 slowly, for the ground was rough, we came to a piece 
 of smooth prairie with a hill and woods on the other 
 side. I rode ahead, crossed a deep ravine and climb- 
 ed the hill, but I dodged back out of sight quick, for 
 there were a party of Indians riding through the 
 woods almost exactly in our direction. They were 
 nearly a mile off, and were not coming in Indian file 
 like they nearly always ride, but scattered along over 
 two hundred yards. There were about twenty. I ran 
 back to Nasho and told him what I had seen, and to 
 hurry up and get into the ravine and maybe they 
 wouldn't see us. He drove up quick. The ground 
 wasn't rocky and the wagon didn't make much noise, 
 and we stuck the ravine where the bank sloped so he 
 could get down into it. As soon as he stopped he 
 jumped out, locked the wheel, untied Spot, brought 
 him up in front of the mules and stood by his head 
 with his bow strung and an arrow ready. I didn't get 
 off my horse, but had my rifle so I could shoot in a 
 second.
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IN TEXAS. 305 
 
 " No shoot, Carley, if can help it : all hear gun. 
 Arrow make no noise." 
 
 I didn't need that to tell me that shooting was the 
 last thing to be done. The ravine we were in ran 
 nearly due north and south, but just below us turned 
 almost square east, ran a few yards that way and then 
 turned south again. We sat waiting almost breath- 
 less. Directly we heard a horse coming down the 
 bank below us ; Comanche pricked up his ears, but I 
 patted his neck and told him to keep still. Rover 
 raised his head but didn't growl, and I spoke to him 
 low. Nasho raised his bow. We could hear him com- 
 ing up the ravine. In a second he turned the bank, 
 saw us, and pulled up but before he could do any thing. 
 I saw him throw up his hands and fall. Nasho ran up 
 and caught his horse. I was worse scared than when 
 the Indians had us, for fear a horse or mule might 
 make a noise, or another Indian happen to stumble 
 on us, and I knew if they did there was nothing for it 
 but to cut and run. I could hear their horses' feet 
 through the woods, but they got fainter and fainter 
 until they died away. Nasho beckoned me to come 
 to him. We took the dead Indian and dragged him 
 out of the way so the wagon wouldn't roll over him. 
 He was shot right through the heart. The arrow was 
 in too deep to pull out. Nasho said he was a Coman- 
 che. \Ve waited nearly half an hour for them to get 
 clear out of reach of hearing. We wasn't afraid of 
 their coming back to hunt for the dead one, at least 
 until next morning, because one often leaves the 
 
 20
 
 306 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 party that way to scout or hunt, and they didn't know 
 what had happened to him. They were not going in 
 a direction that would be likely to bring them across 
 our trail, though we were very much afraid one 
 might straggle out to one side as this one had done, 
 and find it, and if he did they would be sure to follow 
 it up. 
 
 When we thought it was safe we drove on, and a 
 quarter of a mile down the ravine came to a place 
 where we could get out. I tied the Indian horse in 
 the ravine and helped pull the wagon out. Nasho 
 went back with his bow and arrows, unsaddled him, 
 and stepping off a few feet whizzed an arrow into 
 him. He reared up, fell back, kicked a little and was 
 dead. Then he took the halter off, he didn't have any 
 bridle, carried them away a few steps and threw them 
 into some bushes, I asked him why he didn't put 
 them in the wagon, but he said if any other Indians 
 got us, and found the saddle, they would think we had 
 killed an Indian and kill us. I knew why he had 
 killed the horse. He was afraid if he let him go he 
 might go on and overtake the party, or go back to 
 their village, and when they saw him they would know 
 something was wrong and go out to look for him. It 
 wouldn't do to tie him up to starve, so there was noth- 
 ing to do but kill him. 
 
 That night we camped by the Trail again and I 
 felt better satisfied, though I knew I would hardly 
 draw a safe breath until we were out of the Nation. 
 I wouldn't have been a bit uneasy in summer, but
 
 CHARLEY AND NASHO IX TEXAS. 3O/ 
 
 there is nobody travels there in winter, and we had 
 had trouble enough to make us scary. 
 
 " Charley, might not those have been friendly In- 
 dians ? It looks very cruel to shoot a man down with- 
 out a word, and without knowing whether he intends 
 hurting you or not." 
 
 I know it, Mr. Morecamp, but Nasho was right. 
 Indians are not like white men. They don't give you 
 any chance when they get the advantage of you ; as to 
 being friendly, none of the wild tribes will do to trust 
 if they have a chance to rob or kill without being 
 found. Nasho knew in a second from his dress he 
 was a Comanche, and they are one of the worst tribes 
 in the Nation. Some of them raid down into Texas 
 almost every moon, and steal and kill whenever they 
 get a chance. If we could have captured him I would 
 rather have it, but when I saw him pull up I knew it 
 was our lives or his whoever was the quickest. In 
 another second he would have whirled his horse be- 
 hind the bank, and they would all have been on us and 
 been almost certain to have caught us. We would never 
 have got out of that ravine unless they took us out to 
 torture us, or carried us away prisoners, and we were 
 too old for that. I was sorry for him, but I had a heap 
 rather that Indian was there than me and Nasho. 
 
 Next morning we were off by daylight, and it was 
 much travel and little sleep until we put Red River 
 between us and the Indian's country. I thought 
 when we started we would have a good time hunting 
 in the Nation, but you may be sure we didn't stop to
 
 308 LIVE BOYS. 
 
 hunt. We were only too glad to find the rivers all 
 fordable so that \ve could cross them. We kept the 
 Trail to Fort Griffin in Texas, and then took the 
 country roads and reached home, as you know-, just 
 in time for Christmas. Wasn't I glad to get back and 
 see Uncle and Auntie again ! As the Indians say, as 
 long as grass grows and water runs, I shall never for- 
 get how we went to the Centennial.
 
 NARRATIVES 
 
 OF NOTED- 
 
 TRAVELLERS 
 
 GERMANY SEEN WITHOUT SPECTACLES; or, Random 
 Sketches of Various Subjects, Penned from Different Stand- 
 points in the Empire 
 By HENRY RUGGLES, late United States Consul at the Island of Malta, and 
 
 at Barcelona, Spain. $1.50. 
 
 " Mr. Ruggles writes briskly: he chats and gossips, slashing right and left 
 with stout American prejudices, and has made withal a most entertaining 
 bock." New-York Tribune. 
 TRAVELS AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE ORIENT, with 
 
 Hasty Flight in the Countries of Europe 
 By WALTER HARRIMAN (ex-Governor of New Hampshire). $1.50. 
 
 ' Tue author, in his graphic description of these sacred localities, refers 
 with great aptness to scenes and personages which history has made famous 
 It is a chatty narrative of travel." Concord Monitor. 
 FORE AND AFT 
 A Story of Actual Sea-Life. By ROBERT B. DIXON, M.D. $1.25. 
 
 Travels In Mexico, with vivid descriptions of manners and customs, lonn a 
 large part of this striking narrative of a fourteen-months 1 voyage. 
 VOYAGE OF THE PAPER CANOE 
 A Geographical Journey of Twenty-five Hundred Miles from Quebec to th 
 
 Gulf of Mexico. By NATHANIEL H. B.SHOP. With numerous illustra- 
 
 tions and maps specially prepared for this work. Crown 8vo. $1.50 
 
 " Mr. Bishop did a very bold thing, and has described it with a happy 
 mixture of spirit, keen observation, and bonhomie." London Graphic. 
 FOUR MONTHS IN A SNEAK-BOX 
 * Boat Voyage of Twenty-six Hundred Miles down the Ohio and Mississippi 
 
 Rivers, and along the Gulf of Mexico. By NATHANIEL H. BISHOP. With 
 
 numerous maps and illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 "His glowing pen-pictures of ' shanty-boat" life on the great rivers are 
 true to life. His descriptions of persons and places are graphic." Zion'i 
 Herald. 
 A THOUSAND MILES' WALK ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA, 
 
 Over the Pampas and the Andes 
 By NATHANIEL H. BISHOP. Crown 8vo. New edition. Illustrated $1.50 
 
 " Mr. Bishop made this journey when a boy of sixteen, has never torgottea 
 it, and tells it in such a way that the reader will always remember it, and 
 wish there had been more." 
 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES 
 Being the Adventures of a Naturalist Bird-hunting in the West-India Islands. 
 
 By FRED A. OBER. New edition. With maps and illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 " During two years he visited mountains, forests, and people, that few, if 
 any, touri?ts had ever reached before. He carried his camen with him, and 
 photographed from nature the scenes by which the book is illustrated." 
 Lonis-<nlU Courier-Journal. 
 
 ENGLAND FROM A BACK WINDOW; With Views o 
 Scotland and Ireland 
 
 AILEY, the " ' Danbury News' Man." izmo. $t.oo. 
 peculiar humor of this writer : i well known. The Brirish Isles hava 
 never before been looked at in just the same way, at least, not by any on 
 who has notified us of the fac< Mr. Bailey's travels possess, accordingly, r 
 value of their own for the reader, no matter how many previous records o 
 journeys in the mother country he may have read." Rochester Express. 
 
 By J. M. 
 
 " The 
 
 Bold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of priot 
 
 LEE AND SHEPAKD Publishers Boston
 
 THE YOUNG FOLKS' SERIES 
 
 This series consists of good supplementary reading by well-known authors; 
 well printed on calendered paper and furnished at a low price. Additions will 
 be constantly made to the list. 
 
 PAPER, PRICE 15 CENTS NET, EACH NUMBER 
 
 No . By Thomas Wentworth Higginson 
 
 1. The Legends of the Northmen. 
 
 Columbus and his Companions. 
 3* Cabot and Verazzano. 
 
 Strange Voyage of Cabeza De Vaca. 
 3. French in Canada. 
 
 Adventures of De Soto. 
 4L. French in Florida. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 
 
 5. The Lost Colonies of Virginia. 
 Unsuccessful New England Settlements. 
 
 6. Captain John Smith. 
 Champlain on the War Path. 
 
 7". Henry Hudson and the New Netherlands. 
 
 8. The Pilgrims at Plymouth. 
 Massachusetts Bay Colony. 
 
 By Louisa Parsons Hopkins 
 
 9. Parables of Nature and Life ; or, Science applied to Character, 
 
 By Mrs. Perry 
 
 J.O. Bible Stories. Arranged for reading in all schools. 
 
 By Louisa Parsons Hopkins 
 
 11. Observation Lessons in Primary Schools. 
 13. Plant and Animal Life. 
 
 13. Physical Phenomena of Nature and the Human Body. 
 
 14. Physical Exercise and Manual Training. 
 
 Charles Dickens' Readings as Arranged 
 by Himself 
 
 15. A Christmas Carol. 
 1O. Bardell and Pickwick. 
 
 17. David Copperfield. 
 
 18. Mr. Bob Sawyer's Party. 
 11>. Little Dombey. 
 
 SO. Nicholas Nickleby. (Long reading.) 
 
 31. Nicholas Nickleby. (Short reading.) 
 33. Boots at the Holly Tree Inn. 
 
 33. Dr. Marigold. 
 .'.J-1 . Mrs. Gamp. 
 Sent by mail post paid on receipt of 18 cents each 
 
 LEE AND SHEPAED Publishers Boston
 
 OF. HISTORY 
 
 By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE. 
 
 Handsomely Illustrated. Price per vol., $1.25. Sets in neat boxei 
 VASCO DA GAMA: 
 
 HIS VOYAGES AND ADVENTURES. 
 
 " Da Gnma's history is full of striking adventures, thrilling incidents, and 
 
 perilous situations; and Mr. Towle, while not sacrificing historical accuracy, 
 
 has so nkilfully used his materials, that we have a charmingly romantic tale." 
 
 Rural New- Yorker. 
 
 PIZ ARRO: 
 
 HIS ADVENTURES AND CONQUESTS. 
 " No hero of romance possesses greater power to charm the youthful reader 
 than the conqueror of Peru. Not even King Arthur, or Thuddeus of War* 
 saw, has the power to captivate the imagination of the growing boy. Mr. 
 Towl has handled his subject *n a glowing but truthful manner; and we 
 venture the assertion, that, werj our children led to read such books a* this, 
 
 the taste for unwholesome, exciting, wrong-teaching boys' books dime 
 novels in books' clothing would be greatly diminished, to the great gain of 
 mental force and moral purpose in the rising generation." Chicayo AULince. 
 
 MAGELLAN; 
 
 OR, THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 "What more of romantic and spirited adventures any bright boy couid 
 want than is to be found in this series of historical biography, it is difficult 
 to imagine. This volume is written in a most sprightly manner; and th 
 life of its hero, Fernan Magellan, with its rapid stride from the softness of 
 a petted youth to the sturdy courage and persevering fortitude of manhood, 
 makes u tale of marvellous fascination." Christian Union. 
 
 MARCO POLO: 
 
 HIS TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES. 
 "The story of the adventurous Venetian, who six hundred years apo pen 
 trated into India and Cathay and Thibet and Abyssinia, is pleasantly and 
 clear'y told; and nothing better can be put into the hands of UK: school boy 
 or girl than this series of the records of noted travellers. The heroism clis- 
 phiyed by these men was certainly as great as that ever shown by conquering 
 warrior ; and it was exercised in a far nobler cause, the cause of knowledge 
 and discovery, which has made the nineteenth century what it is." - Urap/iic. 
 
 RALEGK: 
 
 HIS EXPLOITS AND VOYAGES. 
 
 " This belongs to the ' Young Folks' Heroes of History ' series, nnd deals 
 with a greater and more interesting man than any of its predecessors. With 
 all the black spots on his fame, there are few more brilliant and striking 
 figures in English history than the soldier, sailor, courtier, author, and ex. 
 plorer, Sir Walter Ralegh. Even at this distance of time, more than two 
 hundred and fifty years after his head fell on the scaffold, we cannot read his 
 etory without emotion. It is graphically written, and is pleasant reading, 
 not only for young folks, but, for old folka with youug hearts." Wornan'i 
 
 DRAKE: 
 
 THE SEA-LION OF DEVON. 
 
 Drake was the fo'-emost sea-captain of his age, the first English admiral 
 to send a ship completely round the world, the hero of the magnificent 
 victory which the English won over the Invincible Armada. His career waft 
 tirriiif bold, aud .uiventuroufi, from early youth to old age. 
 
 LEE AND SHEPAED, Publishers, Boston.
 
 OLIVER OPTICS BOOKS 
 
 ALL-OVER-THE-IORLD LIBRARY 
 
 Illustrated Per Volume $1 .25 
 
 FIRST SERIES 
 
 A MISSING MILLION or The Adventures of Louis BeJgrave 
 
 A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN or The Cruise of the Guardian ..:; , 
 A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT or Cruising in the West Indies 
 STRANGE SI8HTS ABROAD or A Voyage in European Waters 
 
 SECOND SERIES 
 
 THE AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT or Cruising in the Orient 
 THE YOUNG NAVIBATORS or The Fareign Cruise of the Maud 
 UP AND DOWN THE NILE or Young Adventurers in Africa 
 ASIATIC BREEZES or Students on the Ving (in press) 
 
 " The bare announcement of a new series of books byOliver Optic will 
 delight boys all over the country. When they farther learn that their 
 favorite author proposes to ' personally conduct' his army of readors on 
 a grand tour of the world, there will be a terrible scramble for excursion 
 tickets that is, the opening volume of the ' Globe Trotting Series.' Of, 
 one thing the boys may be dead sure, it will be no tame, humdrum Jour- 
 ney, for Oliver Optic does not believe that fun and excitement are 
 injurious to boys, but, on the contrary, if of the right kind he thinks it 
 does them good. Louis Belgrave is a fortunate lad, because, at the age 
 of sixteen, he was the possessor of a cool million of dollars. No one, not 
 even a young boy, can travel without money, as our author well knows, 
 therefore he at once provided a liberal supply Louis is a fine young 
 fellow with good principles and honor, so he can be trusted to spend his 
 million wisely. But he does not have entirely smooth sailing. In the 
 first place he has a rascally step-father whom he had to subjugate, a dear 
 mother to protect and care for, and the missing million to find before he 
 could commence his delightful travels. They are all accomplished at 
 last, and there was plenty of excitement and brave exploits in the. doing 
 of them, as the' boy readers will find. The cover design shows many 
 things a globe, the Eiffel tower, mountains, seas, rivers, casilas and 
 other things Louis will see on his travels. Current Review, 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston
 
 OLIVER OPTICS JSOOA'S. 
 
 THEBLUE AND THE GRAY 
 
 Illustrated. "With Emblematic Dies. Each volume bound in 
 Blue aud Gray. Per volume, 81.5O. 
 
 AFLOAT 
 
 TAKFN BY THE ENEMY ON THE BLOCKADE 
 
 WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES STAND BY THE UNION 
 A VICTORIOUS UNION FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT 
 
 ON LAND 
 
 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER 
 
 IN THE SADDLE 
 
 A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN 
 
 Other volumes in preparation 
 
 The opening of a new series of books from the pen of Oliver Optio 
 8 bound to arouse tli<- highest anticipation in the minds of boy and girl 
 rea.lers There never has l>een a more interesting writer in the field ol 
 juvenile literature than Mr. \V T Adams, who under his well-known 
 pseudonym, is known ami admired by every boy and girl in the c >untry t 
 and by thousands who have long since passed the boun'la.'ies of youth, 
 yet who remember with pleasure the genial, interesting pen that did so 
 much to interest, instruct and entertain their younger years. The pres- 
 ent volume opens " The Blue and the Gray Series." a title that is suffi- 
 cient Iv indicative of the nature and spirit of the series, of which the first 
 vol nine is now presented, while the name of Oliver Optic is sufficient 
 warrant of the absorbing style of narrative. "Taken by the Enemy," 
 the first book xt the series, is us bright and entertaining as any work that 
 Mi. Adams has yet put forth, and will be as eagerly perused as any that 
 has borne his 'mine It would not be fair to the prospective reader to 
 deprive him of the zest which comes from the unexpected, by entering 
 into a synopsis of the story. A word, however, should be said in regard 
 to the beauty and appropriateness of the binding, which makes it a most 
 attractive /olume. ISoston Bui/get 
 
 " Taken by the Enemy" has just come from the press, an announce- 
 ment that cannot but appeal to every healthy boy from ten to fifteen 
 years of age in the country. " No writer of the present day," says the 
 Boston Commonwealth, " whose aim has been to hit the boyish heart, has 
 been as successful as Oliver Optic. There is a period in the life of every 
 youth, just about the time that he is collecting postage-stamps, and 
 before his legs are long enough for a bicycle, when he has the Oliver 
 Optic fever. He catches it by reading a few stray pages comewhere, and 
 then there is nothing for it but to let the matter take its course. Relief 
 comes only when the iast page of the last b^ok is read; and then there 
 are relapses whenever a new book appears until one is safely on through 
 the teens." Literary News.
 
 AND OraTY-FlYE CENT 
 SHEPflRD'S U * * JUVENILES 
 
 Jomprising new editions of the following popular Juueniles Round in 
 best English cloth bright colors Any volume sold separately 
 
 CHARLEY AND EVA STORIES By Miss L. C. THURSTOM 
 How Charley Roberts became a Man 
 How Eva Roberts gained her Education 
 Home in the 'West 
 Children of Amity Court 
 
 Miss Thurston writes with a purpose. She is an admirer of manly boj, i 
 
 and womanly girls, and so carries her characters through scenes an 
 
 situations that elevate and purify. The books are by no means slotj, 
 
 being full of adventures. 
 
 GOLDEN PROVERB SERIES By Mrs. M. E. BRADLKV 
 
 and Miss KATE J. NEELV 
 Birds of a Feather 
 Fine Feathers do not make Fine Birds 
 
 A Wrong Confessed is Half Redressed 
 One Good Turn deserves Another 
 Actions Speak Louder than Words 
 
 Two capital story-tellers, "birds of a feather," have flocked togetN*,.-, 
 and produced from six old proverbs six as bright and taking story-rxx-cjs 
 as ever gladdened the hearts of Young America; showing, indeed, that 
 " handsome is that hai<i*ome dots." 
 
 GOLDEN RULE STOKIES By Mrs. S. C. B. SAMUELS 
 The Gojden Rule Nettie's Trial 
 
 The Shipwrecked Girl The Burning Prairie 
 
 Under the Sea The Smuggler's Cave 
 
 CELESTA'S LIBRARY for Boys and Girls 
 Celesta A Thousand a Year 
 
 Crooked and Straight Abel Grey 
 
 The Crook Straightened May Coverley 
 
 Mrs. Samuels has written Tianv attractive books. The scenes i-i# 
 incidents she portrays are K-J of life, acu'on, and interest, and deci-iedlj 
 wholesome aud instructive. 
 
 3ALT-WATER DICK. STORIES Ry MAY MANNERS 
 Climbing the Rope The Lut'.e Spaniard 
 
 Billy Grimes's Favorite Sa'.t- Water Dick 
 
 Cruise of the Dashaway Little Maid of Oxbow 
 
 Not all tales of the sea, .is he ;itle of the series would imply, but -tone* 
 of many lands by a lady wno h?s L-een a great traveller, and tells whatsht 
 has seen, in a captivating way. 
 
 UPSIDE-DOWN STORIFS By ROSA ABBOTT 
 Jack of all Trades Upside Down 
 
 Alexis the Runaway 1^>e ^oung Detective 
 
 Tommy Hickup The Pinks and Blues 
 
 VACATION STORIES for Beys and Girls 6 voh 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 Worth not Wealth Karl Ke^ltr or The Fortune 
 
 Country Life of a Foundling 
 
 The Charm 'Walter Seyton 
 
 Holidays at Chestnut Hill 
 GREAT ROSY DIAMOND STORIES for Girls 
 
 The Great Rosy Diamond Minnie or The Little Woman 
 
 Daisy or The Fairy Spectacles The Angel Children 
 Voilet a Fairy Story Little Blossom's Reward 
 
 Sold by all booksellers and sent by mail postpaid on receipt of price 
 
 LE3 AND SHEPARD Publishers Boston
 
 OLIVER OPTICS BOOKS. 
 
 TOUNG AMERICA ABROAD. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. 
 
 A. Lirry of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. IGmo. 
 
 Illustrated by Aast, Stevens. Perkins, and other*. 
 
 2>er volume, $1.5O. 
 
 1. OUTWARD BOUND; 
 
 Or, Young America Afloat. 
 
 2. SHAMROCK AND THISTLE; 
 
 Or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland. 
 
 3. RED CROSS; 
 
 Or. Young America in England and Wales 
 
 4. DIKES AND DITCHES; 
 
 Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium. 
 
 5. PALACE AND COTTAGE; 
 
 Or, Young America in France and Switzerland. 
 
 *. DOWN THE RHINE; 
 
 Or, Yonng America in Germany. 
 
 Th& stoY from its inception and through the twelve vol 
 ames ^ee Second Series), is a bewitching one, while the in- 
 formation imparted, concerning the countries of Europe and 
 the isles of the sea, is not only correct in every particular, but 
 zs told in a captivating style. " Oliver Optic" will continue 
 to be the boy's friend, and his pleasant books will continue to 
 f>e read by thousands of American boys. What a fine holiday 
 present either or both series of " Young America Abroad" 
 would be for a young friend ! It would make a little librar} 
 highly prized by the recipient, and would not be an expensive 
 one. Providence Press.
 
 OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS. 
 
 YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 A. library of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. IGmo. 
 
 Illustrated by IVast. Stevens, Perkins, and others. 
 
 Per volume, $1.5O. 
 
 1. UP THE BALTIC; 
 
 Or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and 
 Denmark. 
 
 2. NORTHERN LANDS; 
 
 Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia. 
 
 3. CROSS AND CRESCENT; 
 
 Or, Yonng America in Tnrkey and Greece. 
 
 4. SUNNY SHORES; 
 
 Or, Yonng America in Italy and Austria. 
 
 5. VINE AND OLIVE; 
 
 Or, Young America in Spain and Portugal. 
 
 6. ISLES OF THE SEA; 
 
 Or, Yoo-ag America Homeward Bound. 
 
 *' Oliver Optic " h a nom de plume that is known and loved 
 by olmost every boy of intelligence in the land. We have 
 seen a highly intellectual and world-weary man, a cynic whose 
 heart was somewhat imbittered by its large experience of 
 human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic's books and read 
 it at a sitting, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascina- 
 tion of tbe pages. When a mature and exceedingly well- 
 informed mind, long despoiled of all its freshness, can thus 
 ynd pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of rec- 
 ommendation are needed. Sunday Times.
 
 JEE AND SHEPARD'S 
 
 STAR JUVENILES 
 
 .MEJKS>. LEK AND SHEPARD announce the following new line of 12mo Juveniles, 
 consisting of books by KELLOGG, KINGSTON, BALLANTVNE, HEADLEV, 
 and others. Printed on a tine quality of paper, fully illustrated, and bound 
 iu the best English cloth, at $1.00 per volume. 
 
 By ELIJAH KELLOGG. 
 Lion Ben of Elm Island. 
 Charlie Bell ; The Waif of Elm Island. 
 The Ark of Elm Island. 
 The Buy Farmers of Elm Island. 
 The Young Shipbuilders of Elm Island. 
 The H^rdscrabble of Elm Island. 
 Sowed by the Wind ; or, The Poor Boy's Fortune. 
 Wolf Run ; or, The Boys of the Wilderness. 
 Brought to the Front ; or, The Young Defenders. 
 The Mission of Black Rifle ; or. On the Trail. 
 Forest Glen ; or, The Mohawk's Friendship. 
 Burying the Hatchet; or, The Young Brave of the Delawares. 
 A Strongr Arm and a Mother's Blessing. 
 
 The Unseen Hand; or, James Renfew and his Boy Helpers. 
 The Liv Oak Boys ; or, The Adventures of Richard Constable 
 
 Af oat and Ashore. 
 ArthvY Brown, the Young Captain. 
 The '.oung Deliverers of Pleasant Cove. 
 Tbc Cruise of the Casco. 
 Tlie Child of the Island Glen. 
 John Godsoe's Legacy. 
 The Fisher Boys of Pleasant Cove. 
 A Stout Heart ; or, The Student from Over the Sea. 
 A Spark of Genius ; or, The College Life of James Trafton. 
 The Sophomores of Radcliffe ; or, James Trafton and his Bos- 
 
 ton Friends. 
 
 The Whispering Pine ; or, The Graduates of Radcliffe. 
 The Turning of the Tide ; or, Radcliffe Rich and his Patients. 
 Winning his Spurs ; or, Henry Morton's First Trial. 
 
 "Qy P. C. HEADLEY. 
 
 iFi^ht it out on this Line ; The Life and Deeds of Gen. U. S. Grant. 
 Facing the Enemy ; The Life of Gen. William Tecumseh Sher 
 
 man, 
 
 Fighting Phil ; The Life cf Lieut. Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan, 
 Old Salamander ; The Life of Admiral David Glascoe'Farragut. 
 The Miner Boy and his Monitor ; The Career of John Ericsson, 
 
 Engineer. 
 Old Stars ; The Life of Major-Gen. Ormsby McKnight MitcheJ.
 
 By GEORGE MAKEPEACE TOWLE. 
 Ereroes and Martyrs of Invention. 
 Vasco da Gama ; His Voyages and Adventures. 
 Pinarro ; 3?is Adventures and Conquests. 
 Karelian; or, The First Voyage Round the World, 
 
 olo ; His Travels and Adventures. 
 
 ; Plis Voyages and Adventures. 
 i , The Sea King of Devon. 
 
 By CAPT. CHARLES W. HALL. 
 Adrift in the Ice Fields. 
 
 By DR. ISAAC I. HAYES. 
 
 Cast Away in the Cold; An Old Man's Story of a Yoanj 
 Adventures. 
 
 By W H. G. KINGSTON. 
 
 The Adventures of Dick Onslow among the Redskins. 
 r Brace jridge ; or. School Boy Days. 
 
 By JAMES D. McCABE JR. 
 Planting the Wilderness; or, The Pioneer Boys- 
 
 By DR. C. H. PEARSON. 
 The Cabin on the Prairie. 
 The Young Pioneers of the Northwest. 
 
 By JAMES DE MILLS. 
 The Lily and the Cross ; A Tale of Acadia. 
 
 By F. G. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 The Young Middy: or, The Perilous Avdenturea of a BoJ 
 Officer. 
 
 By R. M. BALLANTYNE. 
 The Life Boat; A Tale of Our Coast Heroes. 
 
 Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt (f price. 
 
 LEF RND SHEPflRD, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 IN-RERP 
 
 MAY 2 3 
 
 DUE 2 WKS Fhu.vi 
 
 ILL 
 
 JCLA ACCESS SE 
 
 iterlibrary LCJP 
 11630Unr/er3^vR<j 
 dox96157^ 
 
 2005 
 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
 PZ 
 
 7. P 64 3 II 
 
 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE 
 THIS BOOK CARDj 
 
 University Research Library