FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 23, 1908. 
8lO 
the preparation of a platter of fried frog legs, 
the owners of which Quinn had yanked with a 
landing net from a neighboring swamp. 
A pond filled with trout was reputed to exist 
somewhere in the woods, and a searching party 
of anglers finally discovered it. Sure enough, 
the trout were rising all over the surface, dart¬ 
ing from their lurking places in the mosses and 
water lilies that seemed almost to cover the bot¬ 
tom or fleck the surface. The shore was shallow 
and marshy, and how to reach the coveted 
speckled beauties was the problem. Finally, 
some small trees were cut down, and a raft im¬ 
provised. Poling out on this, the artificial flies, 
the angle worm and the green grasshopper were 
successively tossed on the surface, but the trout 
were elusive and sly. The ungainly rolling of 
the heavy raft, with the unexpected apparition 
of Illinois and Kentucky bait slingers was too 
great a shock to their tender nerves, and they 
refused to rise with facility to the varied lures. 
Now and then one would leave its mossy den 
and be impaled on the hook, flashing its crimson 
and gold sides in the sunlight or tossing the 
I N 1875 I lived on Rita Azul—Little Blue Creek 
—thirty miles east of Trinidad, Col. I had 
a ranch full of Mexicans and their families 
that I used for farmers and cowboys and was 
monarch of all I surveyed. It was eighteen miles 
to the nearest American cattle ranch. The facili¬ 
ties for a rapid increase of my cattle were ex¬ 
ceptionally good in many respects, and if I had not 
had a habit of spending money as fast or faster 
than I made it I might have been very well off 
in a few years. When a man has a lot of poor 
people around him he has to feed and clothe 
them, and that made a hole in the profits. It 
was rather lonesome, too, for one could not be 
familiar with his Mexicans, even if he wanted 
to, and preserve their respect, and besides they 
were not very interesting, so when the cattle 
were all branded up and the crops in I used to 
spend a good deal of the time in Trinidad, 
Pueblo and Denver. 
One spring the work was in good shape, and 
I decided to stock up on grub and horse feed, 
and at the same time take a vacation. So I sent 
two heavy wagons, each drawn by eight oxen, 
to Trinidad a clay in advance, for they cannot 
make more than twenty miles a day, and started 
the next day on horseback for town. I did not 
take a rifle, but had a .45 Colt pistol and about 
$400 in money. 
All went well for a few miles, and then I 
saw two horsemen following me. I was a mile 
ahead of them and quickened my gait, as they 
somehow did not look right. When I got on 
the next ridge and looked back I had not gained 
any, and as soon as I got out of sight I sent 
my horse for the next two miles. The next 
time I saw them I had gained a little and kept 
gaining. Of course, I nursed my horse so as 
not to run him down, and soon saw a wagon 
camped near the road with two men. I rode 
glittering spray in crystal dew drops with every 
convulsive leap. Probably a score were cap¬ 
tured in all, none large, and yet the lake or pond 
seemed alive with them. 
The days sped only too rapidly in such angling 
trips as we have described, and the nights in 
the festive humors of the camp-fire, until three 
weeks had rounded the allotted limit of outdoor 
life, and camp was broken for the return to 
Manistique. We had a half day in this lumber 
metropolis, and after dinner strolled down town 
to see the sights. I was a little late in follow¬ 
ing, and hearing a call looked around and saw 
the ebony cook coming after, decked in all the 
glory of town togs. His high stove-pipe hat, 
glossy as a coal, was in contrast with his flam¬ 
ing red necktie and white shirt front, both set 
off by a dark check suit and highly polished 
boots. Manistique was unused to the sight of a 
negro, and as the women and children came to 
the yard fences to gaze at the dark apparition, 
White tossed his head and took a prouder 
stride, with the conscious self-knowledge that 
he was “all the show.” 
out to them and asked if they had a rifle. One 
said, “Yes,” and I told them that I thought I 
was being followed, and that if they were will¬ 
ing I would stay with them and see what the 
men wanted that were following me. They 
seemed afraid of me, and I rode on, and as soon 
as I got to some timber turned south and went 
into the mountains and lost my followers. I 
never saw them again and landed in Trinidad 
by a roundabout way late that evening. I found 
my men all right and gave them some money, 
and they proceeded to play monte and tank up 
on various compounds. 
In the morning I rounded them up and loaded 
the wagons with flour, bacon, coffee, sugar, corn 
and the other simple things that are used on 
an outside ranch, and started them for home 
with a headache and rather penitent. I had given 
them ten dollars each and they had not bought 
a thing but monte and whiskey, so I got them 
some clothes and some calico and things for 
their wives, and they went off reasonably happy. 
An oM man on the ranch had given me a 
letter for his daughter, who was visiting in 
Trinidad, and asked me to find her and tell her 
to come home. So I set out to look for her. 
I went to her brother-in-law’s home, and knocked. 
No one answered and I went in. It was de¬ 
serted. When I came out here came the brother- 
in-law with two big rocks. I thought here we 
go, and unlimbered my artillery and made him 
drop the rocks and explain himself. He and his 
wife had been quarreling and she had quit him, 
and he thought I was after her, so I told him 
who I was and showed him the letter. He was 
satisfied and tofd me that he thought his sister- 
in-law was at a neighbor’s. He left and I went 
to the other house. The door was open and I 
spoke to the people inside, three men and a 
woman. Just as I got through talking one of 
the men jumped up and drew his knife, walked 
across the room, took a plug of tobacco, and 
whittled off the makings for a cigarette. I must 
have looked a little queer, for the woman burst 
out laughing, and then I braced up and told 
exactly what I came for, and she promised to 1 
deliver the letter. 
I went down town, thinking that things were 
coming rather fast, and went to the stable to 
see how my horse looked after his hard ride. 
Just as I got to the stable here was a long cow¬ 
boy—a stranger to me—saddling up my horse. 
“What are you going to do with that -horse?” 
I asked. 
“I am going to ride him,” he replied. 
“No you are not; he is my horse,” I said. 
“He is not. He belongs to Brown, the stable 
man,” was his answer, and he started to mount 
him. 
The horse jumped and I grabbed at the bridle, 
the long cowboy hit me and we quit the horse, 
and at it we went with our hands. 
In about ten minutes Brown, the stable man, 
and the marshal arrived, pulled us apart, and 
got our guns. Neither of us had thought of 
them, as the pace was too fast, I guess. 
Brown had forgotten my horse and told the 
cowboy to take the gray horse. He had naturally 
chosen the best one. We both looked as if we 
had been in a cyclone. So we washed up, 
agreed it was a nice fight, and parted good 
friends. I had a black eye and felt sore all over, 
and he was mussed up some. I think I could 
have licked him if they had let us alone. 
That afternoon I met the cowboy again and 
hired him to work for the summer. We went 
and got his horses and he went home with me. 
He staid at the ranch, either working or visit¬ 
ing, for three years and then went in with a 
sheep man, married his sister, and the last I 
heard of him had a big family and was well to 
do. Since then I have had some disagreements 
with people, but never a continuous round of 
pleasure for two continuous days like that one. 
It does not sound as queer as it was, and I 
do not know if it is worth reading. 
The Hunting Leopard. 
The letter about hunting antelope with the j 
cheetah, or hunting leopard, which was printed 
in a recent number of Forest and Stream, lends 1 
an especial interest to the reproduction of an 
ancient picture of the fifteenth century in which 1 
three of these animals are shown. This picture 1 
by the artist Benozzo Gozzoli represents a hunt¬ 
ing party of his time starting out for sport. The 
baggage animals have gone forward and are 
pushing up the hill, and soon the hunters and 
their friends, with hawks and dogs and leopards, 
will follow them. 
In the Riccardi Palace are many hunting pic- \ 
tures, crowded with figures of men and horses 
and dogs and deer and birds. These pictures, 
which are of the time of Lorenzo de Medici, ■ 
are of interest in showing that in those days 
these leopards were used for hunting in Europe, 
no doubt having been imported from distant 
lands by the magnificent ruler. It is to be seen 
that these animals were apparently carried to 
the hunting field sitting on a horse behind the 
rider; the horse’s hips being protected from the 
animal’s claws by a cloth pad. 
Two Active Days in Trinidad 
By W. J. D. 
