158 Recreations of a Sportsman 



" Some of the cows ain't much on the dive," 

 continued the historian, " as they can't hold 

 their breath, jest like some men, but they all go 

 in and make a bluff at it. The short breathers 

 take the shallow water, and the long breathers 

 take to the middle of the stream, and what we 

 call a first-class diver will keep her head down 

 eatin' grass in four feet of water until you think 

 she 'd bust. But they jest get fat on it, and it 

 makes the finest, thickest cream you ever saw. 



" That theory chap, he certainly did get his 

 fill. He could n't understand why some cows 

 jest went in and stood in ice-water, and I told 

 him we trained them to do it to keep the milk 

 cool. Most folks, I said, have regular houses 

 for coolin' milk, and go to big expense, but we 

 jest train our cows to stand in the ice-cold water 

 of Plumas River, temperature thirty-six degrees, 

 and when we milk it comes as cold as ice. I 

 said all we have to do to make ice-cream is to 

 put in the ingredients and give her a whirl. 



"Well, that chap he was that scientific he 

 looked to me that he was starvin' to death. He 

 would n't drink milk until he had taken the 

 cow's temperature to see if she was a tubercolic, 

 and the notes he took, and the reports he was 

 goin' to make, was a caution. But the divin's 

 on the square," concluded the farmer ; " you can 

 see that." 



There was no question about that, as the cows 



