New Experiences 



73 



else on earth but sit a horse. If Art suffered the protest of unac- 

 customed knee and thigh muscles to anything like the extent of 

 his fellow on the equitatory excursion, then the only conclusion 

 possible is that he is the champion bluffer of the world. 



On the road back, from an excursion over the old wagon road 

 that wound out of sight round the shoulder of the big hill north- 

 west of camp, a wagon drawn by a team was encountered. The 

 governing Jehu, in no wise driving like his scriptural prototype, 

 elderly and spare, with a sparse chin beard, and weather-shrewd 

 eyes that blinked within red rims through spectacles mended with 



.■/•'■ ..In'"".!! •M,,i.i>- 



'■'f'l" ■**••■' ' 



— .■■»"*k'if>".-'0.*i 



'My-'-y^-- i"' '-^ y^ 







"Round the shoulder of the big hill" 



pack thread, sitting askew upon a thin bridged nose, halted to pass 

 the time of day with the horsemen. In the course of a five-minute 

 talk to the accompaniment of thoughtful mastication of a liberal 

 mouthful of plug tobacco, it was learned that the gentleman 

 guiding the destinies of the team had been in the West some fifty 

 odd years, was seventy years old, and operated a hay ranch on a 

 quarter section some distance northwest of Grayling postoffice. 



