312 CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES 



tion to drink or smoke, or a pleasant reply of any 

 kind, would have let him out without any unpleas- 

 ant treatment; but he scorned them, and they con- 

 sidered it a duty to society to post him on how to act 

 when away from home. 



A friend relates having seen an eccentric individ- 

 ual, with a long plaid ulster, walking along the 

 principal street in Miles City, and as the sun came 

 out from behind a cloud and commenced to beam 

 down with a good deal of force, he raised a green 

 umbrella. A " cow puncher" rode up and, pointing 

 at the umbrella, asked: 



* ' What is she pard? Fetch her in and put a drink 

 in'er." 



The man was both scared and mad. He thought 

 he had been insulted by one of those "notorious, 

 ruffianly cowboys. ' ' He called ' ' police.' ' But the 

 police was not at hand, and in the disturbance that 

 followed his umbrella was spirited away, be knew 

 not whither or by whom, and his plaid ulster was 

 somewhat damaged by contact with mother earth. 

 All he would have had to do to preserve the peace 

 and his self-respect, would have been to answer the 

 fellow good-naturedly in the first place, either 

 declining or accepting his invitation, and he could 

 have gone on his way unmolested; but he brought 

 a small-sized riot on himself by assuming a dignity 

 that was out of place in that country and under such 

 circumstances. 



In common with all other human beings, the cow- 

 boy requires and must have amusement of some 

 kind, and his isolated condition, depriving him of 

 the privileges of theatres, parties, billiards, and 



