A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



it seemed to burn and hurt. Then, as though shot 

 from the mouth of a hidden cannon, the people rose 

 to him en masse, and cheered him to the echo. A 

 great, tall, grizzly-headed man, sitting in the front 

 row, walked up on the platform and took the Gov- 

 ernor by the hand, waving for silence with the other. 

 Like the shutting off of an electric current, it was 

 again still. The old man said : "By God, boys, we've 

 got a Governor. Let's stay with him." Bedlam 

 thereupon broke loose. 



Then followed the regular speech, but probably the 

 shortest the Governor ever made — the once-over on 

 national issues and an appeal to send a real Platte 

 county regiment to the rally. That first few min- 

 utes in its dramatic tenseness had made everyone 

 weak, and the good old applejack, for which Platte 

 county was (and perhaps still is) famous, seemed 

 a beautiful refuge. I know it was. 



[115] 



