his eye to make sure that I was in 

 earnest. " 'Tain't safe," he said. 



"Then you mean to say that every 

 cowboy risks his Hfe in a round-up?" 



"Oh, well, they're men and take 

 their chances. Besides, it's their busi- 

 ness." 



I never yet have been able to have 

 a direct question answered by a true 

 mountaineer or plainsman by a simple 

 yes or no. Is there something in the 

 bigness of their surroundings that 

 causes the mind to spread over an idea 

 and lose directness like a meadow 

 brook *? 



However, by various wiles known to 

 my kind, the next morning at daybreak 

 I was mounted upon the surest-footed 

 animal in the ' bunch.' 



" She's a trained cow pony and 

 won't lose her head," the boss re- 

 marked. 



