Smoke of the H-F Bar 



Wise, did I say? Solomon in all his 

 glory or the Lord Chief Justice him- 

 self in wig and gown, may be set down 

 as "pikers" in comparison with these 

 hundred ponies of the H-F Bar. What 

 they do not know about life on their 

 own stony hills and treacherous trails 

 would not be worth printing. And 

 they have come to know the "dude" 

 and his ways quite as well, and how 

 they do delight to "work" him! When 

 it comes to wrestling with the hard- 

 ships and the dangers of the wild, in 

 the hard school of which they were 

 born and bred, they act on instinct 

 infallible. There are certain things 

 they fear. Their ancestors before them 

 contended for their own in a land 

 where safety and comfort might often 

 be the reward of cunning, vigilance or 

 speed. And they are suspicious, or pre- 

 tend to be. The language and actions 

 of the "dude" they do not understand. 

 In fact, they "usually pride themselves 

 upon not comprehending his meaning. 



[79] 



