JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS, at 
calls out, ‘‘The heavens declare the glory of God and the firma- 
ment showeth his handiwork,” while the other murmurs : 
‘ And when I am stretched beneath the pines, 
Where the evening star so holy shines, 
I laugh at the love and pride of man, 
At the sophist schools and the learned clan ; 
For what are they all in their high conceit, 
When man in the bush with God may meet !” 
(Of course you understand him to mean “plain,” though he 
says “ bush.”) 
On one particular night last autumn I was impressed with the 
practical value of the Milky Way, for it enabled me to keep in my 
eye a beautiful star in the south, and my journey was successfully 
made by the aid of that celestial guide. Henry Kirke White sang 
the praises of the Star of Bethlehem—that was his light, his guide, 
his all ; and I shall always hail first in night’s diadem that beauteous, 
though nameless, orb to me, which held its glittering finger over 
the nocturnal trail. 
If one thing more than another is calculated on such a night to 
fix one’s mind on strictly terrestrial concerns, it is the short, sharp, 
shrill yelp of the coyote. These rather undersized wolves are a 
combination of ferocity, cunning and cowardice. And though it is 
a far cry from stars to coyotes, yet the ranchman of the plains sees 
an intimate connection between the two, and keeps a sharp watch 
on his poultry yard and calf lot. 
More than once have I been cautioned not to be overtaken by 
night on the plains unless I could count on a clear sky. Last win- 
ter a horizontally driven storm overtook me just before nightfall. 
Pushing on I reached an old:sod cabin, and thought it wise to wait 
and see what the storm would do. In half an hour there were signs 
of improvement, and I concluded to strike out again for my object- 
ive point, four or five miles further on. I had not made more than 
a mile when the storm transformed itself into a regular blizzard. 
Now if you want to feel that business has accumulated on your 
hands, just make your way in such a storm, sitting first on one side 
of your buggy and then on the other, to keep the craft from capsiz- 
ing, and aiding a horse whose percentage of blindness would be 
expressed by 75 per cent. for one eye and 1oo per cent. for the 
