There was to be a rodeo on the Del Garda ranch.  Out of the thousands of that moving herd could they single the mighty steer that bore their brand, or the wild-eyed cow whose yearling calf had not yet felt the searing-iron.  Into the very midst of the seething mass would a vaquero dart, single out his victim without a moment’s halt, drive the animal to the open space, and throw his lasso with unerring aim.  If a steer proved fractious two of the centaurs would divide the labor, and while one dexterously threw the rope around his horns, the other’s lasso had quickly caught the hind foot, and together they brought him to the earth.

JOSEPHINE CLIFFORD McCRACKIN,
in Overland Tales.

OCTOBER 29.

Near noon we came to a little cattle ranch situated in a flat surrounded by red dykes and buttes after the manner of Arizona.  Here we unpacked, early as it was, for through the dry countries one has to apportion his day’s journeys by the water to be had.  If we went farther today, then tomorrow night would find us in a dry camp.

The horses scampered down the flat to search out alfilaria.  We roosted under a slanting shed—­where were stock saddles, silver-mounted bits and spurs, rawhide riatas, branding-irons, and all the lumber of the cattle business. * * * Shortly the riders began to come in, jingling up to the shed, with a rattle of spurs and bit-chains. * * * The chief, a six-footer wearing beautifully decorated gauntlets and a pair of white buckskin chaps, went so far as to say it was a little warm for the time of year.

STEWART EDWARD WHITE,
in The Mountains.

OCTOBER 30.

HANDS UP!

This is a request that, in the wild and woolly West, “may not be denied”; and the braver the man is to whom it is addressed, the quicker does he hasten to comply.  Indeed, it would argue the height of folly if, after a glance into the barrels of a “sawed off,” and a look at the determined eyes behind them, covering your every move, you did not instantly elevate your hands, and do it with cheerful alacrity.  The plea, “He had the drop on me,” will clear you in any frontier Court of Honor.

A.E.  LYNCH,
in Self-Torture.

OCTOBER 31.

OUT WEST.

  When the world of waters was parted by the stroke of a mighty rod,
  Her eyes were first of the lands of earth to look on the face of God;
  The white mists robed and throned her, and the sun in his orbit wide
  Bent down from his ultimate pathway and claimed her his chosen bride;
  And He that had formed and dowered her with the dower of a royal
        queen,
  Decreed her the strength of mighty hills, the peace of the plains
        between;
  The silence of utmost desert, and canyons rifted and riven,
  And the music of wide-flung forests where strong winds shout to
        heaven.