AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 318 



other varieties of amusement that young men in the 

 States usually indulge in; of the refining and restrain- 

 ing influences of the female sex, it is but natural that 

 his exuberance of spirit should find sport of other 

 kinds. His only sources of amusement on the ranch 

 are bis rifle, revolver, bronco, lariat, and cards, and 

 in course of time he tires of these and seeks a change. 

 He goes to town and meets there some of his com- 

 rades or acquaintances, and they indulge in some 

 wild pranks, which to Eastern people, and especially 

 those who happen to fall victims to their practical 

 jokes, appear ruffianly. Their love of excitement 

 and adventure sometimes gets the better of their 

 judgment, and they carry their fun to excess. They 

 corral the crew of a train which has stopped at the 

 station, ;nd amuse themselves and the passengers by 

 making the conductor, brakeman, baggageman, 

 engineer, and fireman dance a jig to the music of six- 

 shooters. In one instance they boarded the train 

 and made the Theo. Thomas orchestra (which hap- 

 pened to be aboard) give them an extemporaneous 

 concert. They have even been known to carry their 

 revels to a still worse stage than this, and to resort 

 to acts of real abuse and injury against defenseless 

 people. But such acts on the part of genuine cow- 

 boys are rare. They are usually perpetrated by the 

 class, already mentioned, of " fresh" young chaps 

 or objectional characters who drift into the business 

 from other than pure motives, and frequently by 

 pretended cowboys who are not such in any sense of 

 the term. But by whomsoever perpetrated, such acts 

 are highly offensive to and vigorously condemned 

 by the respectable element in the business, both 



