RANCH LIFE. 239 



a sight. His father, with his flowing beard and gray locks, 

 capped with a skull cap, his red sash streaming in the wind, 

 with his murderous bird-gun, acted as foot-soldier. Running 

 about, shouting and gesticulating, he made a good companion- 

 piece to his son, while the rest of us took the part of whippers- 

 in for the hunters. Our game was a Spanish cow, roving and 

 fierce in her disposition, so that Pedro had much the safest 

 position among the participants in the battue. We had a lively 

 time of it for a while; Pedro, in his toreador costume, cavorting 

 over the prairie trying to change the direction of the cow, 

 which, with tail like a banneret and "nostrils all wide," was 

 careering at full gallop; the Patron, gun in hand, running 

 uselessly about, flinging his arms and loudly swearing, 

 " Scottie " and myself pretending to help, but trying hard to 

 keep clear of the cow's horns. At last, more by good luck 

 than otherwise, we got the cow near the barn, when the Patron 

 slipped inside, and through a knot-hole let fly the death hid- 

 den in his gun. He then ran with a knife, stuck her and in 

 a tub caught the blood which he stirred as it ran. This was 

 designed for blood-pudding. To see the Patron at his pirati- 

 cal work gave me the shivers. " Scottie " and I " skun " the 

 animal and dressed her as she lay on the ground. For some 

 time after we lived on beef, tripe and blood-puddings. The 

 beef we carried to the house, where much of it was hung up 

 in the open air. In this pure climate it would keep thus for 

 days. 



Among the things we did towards the close of our time there 

 was to set out a lot of fruit trees in front of the house. This 

 work was done in those spring fever days, the saddest of the 

 year, and with many anxious glances at the slow moving sun. 

 November days are quoted for their superabundance of mel- 

 ancholia, but, as far as my experience goes, there are a few 

 days in the month which has All Fools' day for its Genesis 

 which lays them under. 



