THE MULE DEER. 147 



that life in these hills and in that dry, matchless climate 

 gives to the men who live there. 



Meanwhile, I had not been idle. We had brought the 

 livers of the Deer; and by the time the horses were unloaded 

 and at their pickets again, the coffee, potatoes, bread, onions, 

 liver with bacon, were set, all. smoking-hot, before him. 



The dark eyes glistened, the great, brown face flushed, as 

 she sight struck one sense and the odor another, and all, 

 the stomach. He sat down, removed his hat, bent his head 

 in reverence to the higher Father, and said: 



"The word of thanks, father, and I am ready! " 



It was body and soul working together, and every inch a 

 man! A fellow-ranchman came to his cabin one day, and said: 



' ' Mr. C— ! — , my old mother is dead. She was a Christian 

 woman, and I don't want to put her in the ground like the 

 cattle we buryr There isn't a minister within thirty miles. 

 Your father was a minister; you have taught our Sabbath- 

 school. Would you come and say a word over my 

 mother?" 



It was a new experience, and the big boy thought a 

 moment. 



" Whitehead, I never did anything of the kind; but if 

 it was my mother — and I have got one whom I worship — I 

 should feel as you do. Your mother shan't be buried like 

 a dog. I'll come." And he went. As he wrote me after- 

 ward, " I recalled the words I had so often heard you pro- 

 nounce over the dead. All alone, I read a passage of Script- 

 ure, sang a verse of a hymn, said a short prayer, said the 

 'dust to dust,' and all was over. It was a tight place, 

 father; all the men and women of the valley were there; but 

 I thought of mother, and it carried me through. ' ' 



A rough young ranchman said to him, one day: 



" Bates, we notice that you will take part with us in our 

 sports up to a certain point, and then you stop. We won- 

 der why." 



' ' Jerry, when I left my home, I made up my mind to go 

 nowhere and take part in nothing that would displease my 

 mother." 



