April 13, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
463 
Across the Plains in Early Days 
By SAMUEL MANSFIELD STONE 
{Continued from last week.) 
O NE night I came to a house wliich for that 
region was palatial. It was a two-story 
frame structure with a verandah, a well- 
kept lawn, inclosed by a picket fence, the house 
ornamented with green Venetian blinds, and both 
the house and fence neatly painted. All the, sur¬ 
roundings gave evidence of thrift and good taste. 
I flattered myself that for one night at least I 
should have congenial company, for I argued that 
with such indices as these, the occupants of the 
premises must be refined, educated and good 
company. 
Soon afterward I realized that one cannot 
safely judge from appearances. The occupant 
of the house was all that I had pictured as re¬ 
gards education and culture. He was a former 
college professor from Boston. He was, as near 
as I could judge, about forty-five years of age, 
well dressed, well groomed and good looking. 
His daughter, a beautiful girl of eighteen, man¬ 
aged his house and the three servants, while an 
overseer managed the large stock farm. But 
I never spent a more miserable night in my 
life. The man was gloomy, sour, morose. His 
sense of hospitality alone enabled him to observe 
the common decencies of life. 
Next day, shortly before noon, I reached the 
line of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Gulf 
railway, alongside which the trail ran for miles. 
Skeezik was loping along with head down and 
a reminiscent look in the eye, which he occas¬ 
ionally cocked around at me, when of a sudden 
an express train stole up behind us, and when 
almost opposite, the engine committed one of 
those hissing indiscretions peculiar to locomo¬ 
tives with overcharged steam-chests. It was 
Skeezik’s first experience with -a railway train, 
and hearing that blood-curdling racket and catch¬ 
ing a glimpse of the flying monster at the same 
time, it proved more than his sensitive nerves 
could stand. Luckily my feet were securely in¬ 
trenched in the stirrups of the stout jMexican 
saddle, or Skeezik and I would have been sepa¬ 
rated. His first jump was but a sample of a 
long succession of leaps, jumps and bounds. It 
seemed as though the animal was in the air all 
of the time, while he covered an immense 
stretch of trail. Meantime the train had come 
alongside, but Skeezik seemed determined that 
it should not distance us. A head protruded 
from every window, while shouts, yells and 
cheers added not a little to Skeezik’s terror. I 
never rode like that before. I have never ridden 
like that since. I never expect to ride like that 
again. How long Skeezik’s endurance would 
have lasted I can form no conjecture, but my 
hat flew off, and turning him finally, I rode back 
and got my hat, after which we headed for the 
Neosha Valley once more. Toward evening of 
the next day I reached Emporia and found my 
equipments at the express office. Finding that 
Neosha abounded in fish, I determined to spend 
a few days there. It may not be uninteresting 
to give at least a partial inventory of the articles 
that comprised my now completed outfit. First 
and foremost was the saddle, a new Mexican with 
pockets, gun straps, holsters, blanket grips, lock 
stirrups and mud guards. The whole foot could 
rest in the stirrup, thus avoiding tiring the soles 
after the fashion of the single-bar stirrup. At¬ 
tached to the stirrup straps were broad flaps 
made to buckle around the leg to the knee, as 
a protection against cactus thorns, rattlesnakes 
and mud. The cantle of the saddle came up to the 
middle of my back and was comfortably padded, 
while the pommel rose to- the middle button of 
my w'aistcoat, surmounted by a broad, padded 
DR. moody’s old water BOTTLE. 
rest, high enough to rest my chin upon by stoop¬ 
ing slightl}^ a very appreciable convenience as 
I subsequently found when wearied by long 
stretches of travel. 
I had one change of underclothing which I 
stowed away in one of the pockets. My camp¬ 
ing outfit consisted of two heavy woolen blankets 
and a large rubber blanket. To this I subse¬ 
quently added a goodly bundle of mountain ash 
boughs as a rattlesnake safeguard, something I 
learned from prairie campers. One of the saddle 
pockets I filled with jerked beef, Westphalia 
bologna, and pilot biscuit. To this I added a 
triangle of very old home made cheese and pem- 
mican. I congratulated myself on my perspi¬ 
cacity in adding a little medicine case, but when 
afterward I learned that the only drug I really 
needed, sulphate of quinine, had been omitted, 
my foresight was by no means flattering. I also 
rolled a quart bottle of whiskey up in my 
blankets for possible emergency. 
I supplemented my armament by a powder and 
ball revolver and felt practically invulnerable 
when I had slung the outfit upon my hip. With 
its long, rifled barrel, the weapon would shoot, 
but what I had set my heart upon was a rifle 
with which to slaughter Indians and buffalo. I 
had little faith in the breech-loading affair I 
bought to shoot geese with. To my notion it 
carried too big a ball to be effective at long 
range. I ransacked the one gun store that Em¬ 
poria boasted, but found nothing to my mind. 
I met several people willing to part with a rifle 
for the price of two better ones in St. Louis, 
but I ignored their kindness. At last there came 
a young fellow to the hotel one day with a rifle 
that excited my curiosit}^ though I had no 
thought of buying such a one at that time. This 
gun bore evidence of long and hard service. 
'I'he appearance of its stock was that of an 
emergency job with a hatchet and jack-knife. 
Long and arduous service had failed to obliter¬ 
ate the tool marks. It was not artistic to look 
upon, but there was no question as to its utility. 
Several rows of tally notches on one side sug¬ 
gested the result of the weapon’s use, but 
whether these recorded the result of sanguinary 
or other service was only conjecturable. The 
barrel was a bar of steel, forged in octagonal 
form, evidently hand work which had never 
known a lathe. There was fully a five-eighth- 
inch thickness of steel around the thirty-two 
bore. The rifle was equipped with a bridle lock 
of the finest and most accurate mechanism I ever 
saw. By a set-lock attachment but a feather’s 
weight was necessary to release the hair trigger, 
yet the adjustment was so perfect- that the gun 
fnight be carelessly tossed about, though cocked 
and set, with impunity. There was no doubt an 
interesting history connected with that old rifle, 
but all its owner knew of it was that it was 
found in the shack of an old Colorado hunter 
who was found dead in his bunk. 
I was inclined to ridicule this ancient gun until 
I saw it shot. The veriest pinch of powder 
sufficed for a charge and an oiled patch was 
laid over the muzzle before pushing the ball down. 
The young fellow placed a square of paper on a 
post, in the center of which he blackened a bulls- 
eye. Counting off a hundred paces, he kneeled, rest¬ 
ing on one knee, the barrel being too heavy for 
him to manage off-hand, and fired. The black 
spot was perforated in the center. Then I tried 
my hand. It took me a little time to get the 
hang of the sights, but afterward I made some 
good shots. The arrangement of sights was dif¬ 
ferent from anything I had ever seen. At the 
muzzle was soldered a four-inch steel tube the 
size of an ordinary lead pencil. Half an inch 
from the further end of this tube was fixed, 
exactly in the middle, a bead of the size of a 
bird shot, suspended by a hair-like shank from 
the top. A flat strip of steel was raised from 
the breech, in the middle of which was a per¬ 
foration the size of a pin-head. To aim, one 
had but to peep through the rear sight until he 
brought the muzzle bead in range of fhe obj ect; 
this done, it was impossible to miss the mark. 
I determined to own that rifle if money would 
cause its owner to part with it. I would not 
have hesitated at almost any sum he might have 
named, so long as it came within the scope of 
my roll. Meantime he had been looking my 
breechloading rifle over, the graceful model and 
nickel trimmings of which seemed to delight his 
fancy. Great was my astonishment when after 
he had made a respectable bullseye with the 
weapon he asked what “boot” I would want be- 
