A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



"doghouse." He had a habit, too, of repeating some 

 inoffensive phrases which, falling in the wrong place, 

 were sometimes disastrous. I recall an incident 

 which was only saved by the common-sense, the in- 

 finite good nature and sense of humor of the victim. 

 When Curley was allowed to help himself at the 

 ranch mess table one of the boys would say, "Don't 

 take it all" — a comment which Curley soon learned 

 to make when cowboys took a helping. It was 

 sometimes a wise admonition, as any one who has 

 lived around a cowcamp knows. 



I took a buyer of goodly quantities and his wife 

 to the Tongue River Ranch. Both were charming. 

 They had brought their outdoor appetites with them. 

 Mrs. McNutt is one of the best cooks I have ever 

 known, on or off the ranch, and the supper that 

 night was one of her best triumphs. We had ridden 

 lOO miles that day over rough country with Mr. 

 Ford, and were ready. The lady had "thrown in" 

 with Curley before supper, and he had to sit by her. 

 The first helping "got by," but when the lady came 

 up for a second one Curley was primed, and out of 

 the stillness which prevails generally at an indoor 

 cowboy mess table came his high, clear voice with 

 "Don't take it all." For a second the spoon poised 

 in mid-air; the cowboys, appalled by their tutor- 

 ship, were tense; then followed the merry, ringing 

 laugh of a splendid woman, as the spoon descended 

 to its mission and she said, "All right, Curley; but 



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