FOftEST AND STREAM 
[ Aug. 2, 1902. 
Thfottgh the Parsonage Window. 
IV.— Holding Down i Claitoi 
The wiiitel- oti the Wtfailo rahge hdd beeh oile of the 
pleasantest in my experience, just enough of exercise and 
adventure to keep one thoroughly alive. And, oh! the 
glorious rest and sleep. It was a brief glimpse of what 
might have been, but for the backslidings of Adam the 
First. 
I expected life on a claim was to be much the same, for 
a time at least, but I was sadly mistaken. After a short 
time it grew to be the most hateful thing ever endured by 
man. I did most of my farming by proxy, which left me 
with much leisure on my hands. In summer when there 
was no outlet in the way of hunting- this burden of leisure 
became greater than I could bear, and I took on side lines 
in the way of herding Texas cattle on the range and mak- 
ing long drives to other parts of the country. In this I 
found relief, but in peace times even this became fear- 
fully monotonous. In times of storm and flood, how- 
ever, it was lively enough. 
One of the bright spots of my herding experience was 
my association with a cowboy. Among the settlers and 
cattlemen, a person who knew^ anything of books was a 
rarity. There were plenty of well-educated men, but 
seldom one who knew anything of books and authors. 
A few quotations from Shakespeare, or rather from the 
almanac; and a brief rigmarole about the Bible being, after 
all, the greatest literary work, was the stock in trade of 
the educated who pretended to litei-ary knowledge. I was 
always looking for people who could talk of literature in 
a common-sense way, and who took real interest in it. 
Through this yearning for companionship in books, I 
asked many leading questions, but whenever I saw any 
one getting out those musty old chestnuts about Shakes- 
peare and the Bible, and brushing the dust off them, I. fled 
to the hills. 
There are several books that became enshrined m my 
memory in ineffacable tracery by coming unexpectedly 
upon me during this literary dearth. I used to make 
long journeys on horseback between my homestead and 
the ranches where I found employment. On one of tlaese 
trips I stopped at a deserted sod shanty to try and get 
a drink of water. There was a well, tightly boarded up 
to keep out vermin, but no way to draw the water. In 
rumaging about for an empty tin can that I might attach 
to my lariat, I found an old book on the top of the sod 
wall under the eaves. The cover and some of the front 
part of the book were gone, but the body was intact, 
though nibbled at the edges by mice. I glanced at the 
first lines, became interested, and sat down in the shade 
of the wall to read more. It was high noon when I sat 
down, and when I got up frorh the feast the^ sun was 
just dipping behind the western hills. It was "Tempest 
and Sunshine," by Mary J, Holmes. To-day the same 
story has too much of sugar and melancholy in it, and I 
grow impatient. i ^ 
Another was '"Opening a Chestnut Burr," by E .P. Roe. 
That book transformed the vexing winds of the pra:nes 
into thrilling rhythms of song and story for several days. 
Later came "The Lady of the Aristook," the first I read 
of that author's works. Like the Kansas prairies, it was 
grand at first sight, hut, unmixed with stirring events, it 
soon became a monotonous dead level of excellence. 
Another book that came like a ray of light through 
inky blackness, was "Tow Sawyer." It was a copy of a 
pirated edition printed in Canada and smuggled into the 
United States, where it was sold cheap. A cowboy bought 
it on account of the cheapness, and brought it into camp 
at a time when I was convalescing from the effect of 
three broken ribs, and I verily believe it saved me from 
limacy. 
I want to apologize to the author for reading that 
pirated copy, but under the same circumstances would not 
you have done just as I did? 
Among the cowboys was a literary crank like myself. 
Not that his knowledge of literature was extensive, any 
more than my own, but what he did know was never 
covered with the dust of conventionalism, and lying on the 
prairie beneath the stars and talking with him was a 
great treat. Sometimes the crimson dawn caught us still 
talking. We had grand times nearly all one summer, and 
then fate decided that we were getting too much enjoy- 
ment out of the situation and changed the deal. In 
my collection of gems, Cale Hodson is still in the same 
pigeon hole as Tom Sawyer, Burns, Milton, Walter 
Scott, Longfellow, Jim Bludso and the man he made 
famous, Artemus Ward, and many others. 
Adventures, humorous and otherwise and more or less 
dangerous, were of almost daily occurrence. One that 
stands prominently among the many took place during a 
stormy period in May. Floods of rain had fallen and 
were falling at intervals of a few hours apart at most. 
Small ravines were turned into mighty rivers, and the 
levels into seas. Two of us were handling a bunch of 
400 Texans, I taking the day and my partner the night 
shift. We had no camp, but rode back and forth from the 
main ranch. . 
One evening when the west was black and sullen, witn 
occasional rumblings of discontent, the night man came 
out early, bringing a roll of blankets, a frying pan, some 
bacon, coffee and other provisions, and requested that I 
help drive the herd to a corral further back in the hills 
and stay the night with him. There was a sod shanty at 
the corral where we could stay during the night, and also 
prepare our meals. The weather was so threatening that 
he was afraid to risk the cattle on an open bed ground. 
The shanty consisted of a sod wall, with pole, hay and 
dirt roof. . • . u 4. 
With the cattle safely corralled, we went into the shanty 
to prepare our evening meal. To boil coffee and fry a 
little bacon was all the preparation we had to make, the 
bread being ready baked and well dried. As the bacon 
sat sizzling before the fireplace on a few coals raked out 
to give a steady heat without burning, we were surprised 
by a couple of snakes falling into it. The snakes were 
twisted together in a knot and fell squarely into the 
frying pan, and the way the hot grease flew when they 
began to thrash about sent us flying out of the shanty 
When we ventured back a few mmutes later we had 
"a pretty kettle of fish," and well cooked, too. 
An examination of the roof showed it to be a literal den 
of snakes, The mice had eome first to nest in the dry 
bay, which kept the dirt from falling thtoligh, Then 
the shakes had Come to prey upon the mice. Snakes in 
dirt roofs of the sod shanties were a common thing in 
those days. We concluded that dry bread and coffee 
were all we needed for supper, and ate that in the open 
air. We also made up our' minds without dissension to 
sleep outside, but alas for our hopes! We had no more 
than got snugly rolled up than the storm sprang upon 
us with demoniac howl and the rain came down in sheets, 
blankets and coverlids, and drove us inside again. I called 
a meeting and resolved that as the night man had been 
sleeping all day and was relieved from duty by reason 
of the corral, he should put in the night by herding the 
snakes off me .while I slept. Rolling in a blanket on 
the pole bunk, I lay for an hour or so. in restless wake- 
fulness and finally dropped to sleep, there to be imprisoned 
in a den of snakes. Everything I grasped was snakes, 
everything I stepped on was snakes. At last the struggle 
became so fierce that I awoke. The night man had curled 
up at the foot of the bunk and was snoring lustily. The 
oil had all burned out of the lantern, which was left burn- 
ing, and not the faintest trace of light sliowed anywhere. 
Softly I stepped out of the bunk and thrust my foot 
into six inches of water which covered the floor. Gingerly 
I sat on the edge of the bunk and felt round till I got 
hold of my boots, and draAving them on, waded outside. 
The storm had broken and the moon was just beginning 
to top the black mass of clouds that was retreating to the 
eastward. Saddling my pony I mounted and rode down to 
the stream I must cross to reach the main ranch. The 
creek, which ordinarily was a mere thread, was a boil- 
ing race of mud and water. Plunging in, my pony swam 
■for the opposite shore, but fell below the landing and 
came out against a perpendicular bank some six feet 
high. The water was nearlj' level with the top of it, but as 
the pony had no footing below, it was impossible . for 
him to climb out, and we were carried down the stream. 
As we were swept along I grasped an overhanging bush 
and pulled myself out on the bank, then walking close 
along the bank, I pulled the pony up against the current 
to the landing Ijy the bridle rein. Just below was a tliick 
tangle of willows, where he must surely have been 
drowned. Riding hard, I reached the main ranch just in 
time to begin the duties of a new day. 
Such is a brief chapter of life on a cattle ranch in 
early days. I have slept out under the stars for months 
without being bothered with a drop of rain, and I have 
seen more rain fall in a month in Kansas than in any 
other country. In the wilder country where the range 
was wide, I have known a cowboy to follow a herd for 
weeks at a time, and take care of it day and night alone. 
This of course was considered the work of two men, but 
under stress of circumstances, I have often known one to 
do it alone. 
A Summer Evening* 
RUTPIERFORD, Cal., July^iS. — I have just come in from 
watching one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen since 
I have been here — one that I never tire of. 
C. and I sat on the steps of the porch reading, and look- 
ing up I happened to see a flock of quail standing out on 
the gravel path, looking at us. There were the father and 
mother and thirteen little ones. They trotted a few steps 
at a time and then, when they were near enough, all flew 
into the big live oak on the right hand side of the lawn. 
In a little whfle the lawn was covered with families of 
them, as well as a number of unfortunate pairs that did 
not seem to possess an}' offspring. 
I noticed an occasional forlorn bachelor, and one of these 
clucked too sweetly to a demure hen near the fountain. I 
don't know whether he had received any encouragement 
from the lady or not, but her spouse pounced on him 
and soon chased him off. We counted seven flocks of 
young ones, and there must have been fully fifty pairs of 
grown ones. 
They roosted in the palms in front of the house, and in 
the old madrona tree on the left. Before they flew into 
the trees they ate the mulberries lying under those trees, 
and a few took dust baths in the road just as a hen would 
do. They also drank the water that dribbled from the 
faucet, and picked around the lawn in the most fearless 
manner. I sat and watched them until it was time for C. 
to go to bed. 
Last night after supper he took his gun and we went 
down the avenue on a hunt. Pretty soon we saw a jack- 
rabbit sitting in the hay field. Of course, C. flew to- 
v/ard the rabbit, and the rabbit departed. It did not 
lake long to get out of sight, and then right in front and 
near us we saw' another. C. aimed carefully — or at least 
he says he did — and he took three and I one shot at that 
animal, and it just sat there and only raised its long ears 
when we fired. Then we crawled up closer, and all at 
once it too departed .and we saw it no more. 
Thus do I spend my evenings. 
The magnolia trees are covered with their huge white 
flowers, and the cape jassamine on the porch smells nearly 
as strongly. The peaches, apricots, figs and mulberries 
are ripe, also blackberries, raspberries and melons. 
How He Stated It. 
When Representative Tompkins, of Ohio, was a young 
lawyer in the State, and was winning his spurs, he occa- 
sionally found it profitable to accept a case in a justice's 
court in the country. He tells the following story of the 
argument made by a rural barrister beiore such a magis- 
trate. The case was one in which the plaintiff sought 
to recover damages from a railroad company for the 
killing of a cow. During the course of his argument the 
country lawyer used this expressivesfsentence: "If the 
train had been run as it should have%een ran, or if the 
bell had been rung as it should havcbeen rang, or if the 
whistle had been blown as it should have been blew, both 
of which they did neither, the cow would not have been 
injured when she was killed."— Richmond Dispatch. 
— ^ — 
I Mr* Lenander's Buffalo* 
Bancroft, la., July 15.— Editor Forest and Stream: I 
was interested in tlie articles on the Pablo-Allard herd 
of buffalo by Mr. Monroe, in your issues of the 5th 
and I2tb. Mr. C. J. Lenahder, banker and land agent of 
this' place, has a herd of eleven buffalo, eight of them 
l.)eing the sale of January last by Jos. Allard, listed in the 
article of Mr. Monroe's, but the buyer and sex not being 
given. Mr. Lenander is a lover of animal'/ generally, and 
first took a liking for the buffaloes at Lincoln Park, 
Chicago, while visiting with Mr. DeVry, the head keeper 
of the zoo there. At that time he bargained for a pair of 
the bulls (they would not sell a cow), one and two years 
old, and though the park board nearly doubled the figures 
for which he had bargained with the keeper, he ordered 
them shipped, and they came by express, crated, early last 
THE LENANDER HERD. 
fall, arriving with bruised and skinned rumps, but other- 
wise all right. Under his generous care they have grown 
rapid!}', and are a handsome pair. Getting into communi- 
cation with the Allard boys through a mutual friend, Mr. 
Lenander went out to the reservation last January and 
brought~back eight head; he had bargained for cows, but 
so much of the herd they had started with broke away 
from the drivers before they got to Sellish, where they 
were loaded, he was unable to secure that number, and so 
took a steer (that he expects to transform into buffalo 
steak and robe next winter) and a four-year-old bull to 
fill out the car. Until last month he kept them in his 
barn lot, but last month turned them into 3 thirty-acre 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always tie addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., New 
York, and not to any individual connected with the paper. 
BUFFI N IS AMIABLE. 
pasture on the edge of town, which he had bought and 
fenced for that purpose. One of the cows dropped a bull 
calf while they were in the small yard, but it was dead 
\vhen found the next morning, doubtless resulting from 
an injury a short time previous when the mother got 
tangled up in a hay rick in the lot. Last Sunday a heifer 
calf was born, and the little one appears strong and 
hearty as can be. The animals do not appear to be very 
shy; the bulls and one of the cows have frequently eaten 
from our hands— in fact, the two bulls he got from Lin- 
coln Park are almost rude in the manner they crowd about 
v/hen there is corn in sight. I have sent you under sepa- 
rate cover three snap shots of the animals, the light- 
finished one being Mr. Lenander in the act of handing 
Buffin an ear of corn. Mr. Lenander and myself were 
cut in the pasture this morning getting some snap shots 
at the new addition to the herd, and as soon as finisher! 
will send you one, as well as a snap taken by C. J. while 
I was handing an ear of corn to the bull brought from the 
Allard herd, just as an evidence that the wild buffalo is 
fairly domestic when treated right. 
Mr. Lenander is negotiating with a party in this State 
for a pair of cows, now on exhibition at "Arnold's Park, 
and will doubtless swell the number of his herd to thir- 
teen soon. Beside the buffaloes, he has, at present, twenty 
wild geese and brant, a pair of sandhill cranes, twenty-five 
wild ducks— mallard, canvasback, widgeon and pintails — ■ 
and a pair of Chinese pheasants, but as soon as he gets a 
place fixed for them he will get in three more pa'rs of 
the latter. An antelope will be added to his collection in 
