316 CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES 



and that this was a committee of one sent in to 

 order them to throw up their hands. They looked 

 anxiously and timidly from the windows for the rest 

 of the gang and listened for the popping of revolv- 

 ers, but when I conducted him to our section and 

 introduced him to my wife they began to feel easier. 

 He remarked casually that he was hungry. We 

 had a well-filled lunch-basket with us, and, ordering 

 a table placed in position, my wife hastily spread its 

 contents before him. He ate as only a cowboy can 

 eat, especially after having lately ridden thirty-five 

 miles in three hours. Our fellow passengers became 

 interested spectators, and after our friend had 

 finished his repast we introduced him to several of 

 them. They were agreeably surprised to discover in 

 conversation his polished manners, his fluent and 

 well-chosen language. His handsome though sun- 

 burned face, and his kind, genial nature revealed 

 the fact that his rough garb encased the form of an 

 educated and cultured gentleman; and before we 

 had been an hour together they had learned to 

 respect and admire the wild, picturesque character 

 whom at first they had feared. 



The skill which some of these men attain in their 

 profession challenges the admiration of everyone 

 who is permitted to witness exhibitions of it. As 

 riders they can not be excelled in the world, and I 

 have seen some of them perform feats of horseman- 

 ship that were simply marvelous. A cowboy is 

 required to ride anything that is given him and ask 

 no questions. A wild young bronco that has never 

 been touched by the hand of man is sometimes 

 roped out of a herd and handed over to one of the 



