CHAPTER V. 



Sekking Romantic Advknturi^s — Roose:vki.t Buys a Ranch — 

 Advantages of Life on the Pi^ains — First Appear- 

 ance AT Medora — The Ranch BuiIvDing — Pursuit of Big 

 Game — Thrieling Adventure With a Grizzey Bear — 

 Chimney Butte Ranch — Guns and Tents in Africa — 

 How THE Traveeeers' Caravan is Made to Order — A 

 Graphic Description by the Rev. W. S. Rainsford, D.D. 



IF Theodore Roosevelt, the boy, ever read a dime novel or a story 

 of wild western life, no mention has ever been made of it. He 

 did not get his love of frontier life from the cheap literature that 

 kills bears and Indians on every page. The average boy vv^ho reads 

 of the burly bandit and desperate outlaw holding up stage- coaches 

 and railway trains, is apt to admire such bold deeds and imagine 

 himself the hero of similar achievements. He is eager to outdo 

 the ruffians whose exploits are all duly chronicled. 



Suddenly the band of desparadoes appears, halts the coach in 

 an unfrequented spot, flourishes rifles and revolvers, terrorizes the 

 helpless passengers, strips them of their valuables, paralyzes by 

 threats all attempts at resistance, and having secured the plunder, 

 purses, watches and jewelry, vanishes from sight, leaving the out- 

 raged victims to express their thankfulness at having escaped with 

 their lives. Stories of this description, dressed up in hysterical 

 phrases, form the staple of that vast mass of pernicious dime 

 literature which fascinates the youthful reader and in man> 

 instances turns him into an adventurer and an outlaw. 



He is thrilled by the strange, wierd, sanguinary tales of pioneer 

 life. He craves a career of romantic adventure. He would shoot 

 a bear or an Indian ; he would ride a bucking horse on a hunting 

 excursion ; perhaps he would become an armed ruffian and make his 

 name a terror by robbery and deeds of violence. His ambition i*, 

 to roam the plains, lead the life of a marauder and become a free- 



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