Cowmen and Rustlers: A Story of the Wyoming Cattle Ranges

ine, was filled with sunshine, merriment and del

le of the little country town until Hugh Whitney, the strong-bearded soldier, who had entered the war as private and emerged theref

age in the cattle business. He had received some tuition as a cowboy on the Llano Estacada, and the taste there acquired of the

e of the happiest in that section of Maine; but the letter just received from h

ing-parties and social gatherings, where the beauty of the budding Jennie attracted as much admiration as did that of her mother a score of years before, but the girl was too young to care for any of the ardent swains who were ready to wrangle for the privilege of

lived in Boston, where he and Fred Whitney were classmates and warm friends. Young Whitney had spent several

ng spirits, though now and then the mother ventured on a mild protest, but the smile which always accompanied the gentle repro

the little river at the rear of the house was as smooth as a polished window-pane. For nearly two score miles this current, which eventually found i

ow of spirits on that evening was due to the agreement

aid Fred at the supper table, "and skate

at?" inquired

ten m

ce took on a conte

l be only fairly started

do you want t

of stopping until

distance to that spot

beyond Wild Man's

. It will be admitted that thirty miles is a pretty good spurt for

Sterry, "that we will go to

demanded Jennie,

to Boston and c

urnish the ice

we can travel by other means between the po

h of the north pole-have a combination skate and b

dition," interposed the mother, so seriously t

is t

turn before

e grave, and turning t

ked, in a

fe to pro

cheme until we have time in

in earnest. "You can readily reach Wolf Glen within a couple of hours. There yo

thing happen

red jestingly, but they caused a pang

d happen,

pon himself to

ing a

ce firm a

en so severe as some we have known, but it has got there all the same;

ay be ai

e; they are few and do

spoke with m

Wolf Glen,

in this part of the State, but not nearly as

w bears or wolves," said J

manded the sh

ace with them; wo

ry, "provided we co

that wild an

uppose many of the bears are hibernating, but the wolves-if there are any wa

their Boston visitor that the cloud quickly vanished and Monteith felt a trifle humiliated at his exhibition of what might be considered timidity

r keen-edged skates securely fastened, glided gracefully up-stream, the mother standi

s enjoyment. The minute they were beyond sight she sighed, and, turning about, resumed her seat by the table in the centre of the sitt

er a thought of danger, moved out to the middle of the river and then sped toward its source, with the easy, beautiful movement which in the acc

but the decrease was so gradual that at Wolf Glen, fifteen miles away, the breadth was fully three-fourths of the width opposite the Whitney home. Occasionally, too, the channel wid

ld show on the right, and further on another on the left indicated where a creek debouched into

nlit sky beyond. The moon itself was nearly in the zenith, and the reflected gleam from the glassy surface made the light almost like that of day. Along the shore, however, the s

stream must have been double that of the straight line extending over the same course. Some of these

one of these, when Sterr

isappo

red Jennie,

t we were pioneers, the first people of our ra

where a star-like twinkle showed that a dwelling

lives, there," explained Fred, "as I

o make a call on

t better than to sit by the fire and listen t

ngle door and window in front, and the stone chimney from which the smoke was ascending. Half-way between the cabin and the stream, and in the path connecting

, slightly slackening his spee

ut on the frosty air, but still the hunter gave no sign that

arked Sterry. "He may have been caught in the first snap severa

ey saw him at first. They even fancied he had not so much as turned his head while they were passing, but was still

r, was too slight to c

Sometimes they were nigh enough to touch each other's hands, and again they separated, one going far to the right, the other to the left, while the third kept near the middle of the stream. Then two woul

d the brother, at the moment the three

ad of shooting to the right or left, sh

tioned Sterry, suspecting h

t it is

ird across the space of clear water. She came down seemingly without jar, with the bright blades of s

, reprovingly; "suppose the ice had

supposing what co

t have been wider

wider, why I would have jumped further, or turned aside like m

Sterry broke into laughter, wondering how it wou

eful curves. The three were experts, as are nearly all people in that section of the Union. Any one watching their exhibition

hunger, they would attack persons if opportunity presented; but could the fleetest outspeed an

oo

ing another of the turns of the stream, when she caught sight of a huge black bear, who, instead of staying in some ho

was proceeding at an easy pace, as if he was out for a midnight stroll, while he thought over matters. Though on