CHAPTER I .
The Coming of
a Native Son 0
The Happy Family 1
, waiting for the Sunday supper call , were grouped around the open door of
the bunk-house 2
, gossiping idly of things purely local , when
the Old Man 3
returned from
the Stock Association 4
at
Helena 5
; beside
him 3
on the
buggy 6
seat sat
a stranger 7
.
The Old Man 3
pulled up at
the bunk-house 2
,
the stranger 7
sprang out over the wheel with the agility which bespoke youthful muscles , and
the Old Man 3
introduced
him 7
with a quirk of the lips : “ This is
Mr. Mig-u-ell Rapponi 7
,
boys 8
--
a peeler straight from
the Golden Gate 9
7
.
Throw out
your 7
war-bag and make
yourself 7
to
home 2
,
Mig-u-ell 7
;
some of
the boys 8
10
'll show
you 7
where to bed down . ”
The Old Man 3
drove on to
the house 2
with
his 3
own luggage , and
Happy Jack 11
followed to take charge of the team ; but the remainder of
the Happy Family 1
unobtrusively took the measure of
the foreign element 7
.
From
his 7
black-and-white horsehair hatband , with tassels that swept to the very edge of
his 7
gray hatbrim , to the crimson silk neckerchief draped over the pale blue bosom of
his 7
shirt ; from the beautifully stamped leather cuffs , down to the exaggerated height of
his 7
tan boot-heels ,
their 1
critical eyes swept in swift , appraising glances ; and unanimous disapproval was the result .
The Happy Family 1
had
themselves 1
an eye to picturesque garb upon occasion , but this passed even
Pink 12
's love of display .
He 7
's some gaudy to look at , ”
Irish 13
murmured under
his 13
breath to
Cal Emmett 14
.
“ All
he 7
lacks is a spot-light and a brass band , ”
Cal 14
returned , in much the same tone with which
a woman 15
remarks upon a last season 's hat on the head of
a rival 16
.
Miguel 7
was not embarrassed by the inspection .
He 7
was tall , straight , and swarthily handsome , and
he 7
stood with the complacence of
a stage favorite waiting for the applause to cease so that
he 17
might speak
his 17
first lines 17
; and , while
he 7
waited ,
he 7
sifted tobacco into a cigarette paper daintily , with
his 7
little finger extended .
There was a ring upon that finger ; a ring with a moonstone setting as large and round as the eye of a startled cat , and
the Happy Family 1
caught the pale gleam of it and drew a long breath .
He 7
lighted a match nonchalantly , by the artfully simple method of pinching the head of it with
his 7
fingernails , leaned negligently against the wall of
the bunk-house 2
, and regarded
the group 1
incuriously while
he 7
smoked .
Any pretty girls 18
up this way ? ”
he 7
inquired languidly , after a moment , fanning a thin smoke-cloud from before
his 7
face while
he 7
spoke .
The Happy Family 1
went prickly hot .
The girls in
that neighborhood 20
19
were held in esteem , and there was that in
his 7
tone which gave offense .
“ Sure , there 's
pretty girls 21
here ! ”
Big Medicine 22
bellowed unexpectedly , close beside
him 7
.
We 23
're all of
us 23
engaged to
` em 21
, by cripes ! ”
Miguel 7
shot an oblique glance at
Big Medicine 22
, examined the end of
his 7
cigarette , and gave a lift of shoulder , which might mean anything or nothing , and so was irritating to a degree .
He 7
did not pursue the subject further , and so several belated retorts were left tickling futilely the tongues of
the Happy Family 1
-- which does not make for amiability .
To a man
they 1
liked
him 7
little , in spite of
their 1
easy friendliness with mankind in general .
At supper
they 1
talked with
him 7
perfunctorily , and covertly sneered because
he 7
sprinkled
his 7
food liberally with cayenne and
his 7
speech with Spanish words pronounced with soft , slurred vowels that made them sound unfamiliar , and against which
his 7
English contrasted sharply with its crisp , American enunciation .
He 7
met
their 1
infrequent glances with the cool stare of absolute indifference to
their 1
opinion of
him 7
, and
their 1
perfunctory civility with introspective calm .
The next morning , when there was riding to be done , and
Miguel 7
appeared at the last moment in
his 7
working clothes , even
Weary 24
, the sunny-hearted , had an unmistakable curl of
his 24
lip after the first glance .
Miguel 7
wore the hatband , the crimson kerchief tied loosely with the point draped over
his 7
chest , the stamped leather cuffs and the tan boots with the highest heels ever built by the cobbler craft .
Also , the lower half of
him 7
was incased in chaps the like of which had never before been brought into
Flying U coulee 25
.
Black Angora chaps they were ; long-haired , crinkly to the very hide , with three white , diamond-shaped patches running down each leg of them , and with the leather waistband stamped elaborately to match the cuffs .
The bands of
his 7
spurs were two inches wide and inlaid to the edge with beaten silver , and each concho was engraved to represent a large , wild rose , with a golden center .
A dollar laid upon the rowels would have left a fringe of prongs all around .
He 7
bent over
his 7
sacked riding outfit , and undid it , revealing a wonderful saddle of stamped leather inlaid on skirt and cantle with more beaten silver .
He 7
straightened the skirts , carefully ignoring the glances thrown in
his 7
direction , and swore softly to
himself 7
when
he 7
discovered where the leather had been scratched through the canvas wrappings and the end of the silver scroll ripped up .
He 7
drew out
his 7
bridle and shook it into shape , and the silver mountings and the reins of braided leather with horsehair tassels made
Happy Jack 11
's eyes greedy with desire .
His 7
blanket was a scarlet Navajo , and
his 7
rope a rawhide lariat .
Altogether ,
his 7
splendor when
he 7
was mounted so disturbed the fine mental poise of
the Happy Family 1
that
they 1
left
him 7
jingling richly off by
himself 7
, while
they 1
rode closely grouped and discussed
him 7
acrimoniously .
“ By gosh ,
a man 26
might do worse than locate
that Native Son 7
for a silver mine , ”
Cal 14
began , eyeing
the interloper 7
scornfully .
“ It 's plumb wicked to ride around with all that wealth and fussy stuff .
He 7
must ' a ' robbed
a bank 27
and put the money all into a riding outfit . ”
“ By golly ,
he 7
looks to
me 28
like a pair uh trays when
he 7
comes bow-leggin ' along with them white diamonds on
his 7
legs , ”
Slim 28
stated solemnly .
“ And
I 12
'll gamble that 's a spot higher than
he 7
stacks up in the cow game , ”
Pink 12
observed with the pessimism which matrimony had given
him 12
.
You 12
mind
him 7
asking about bad horses , last night ?
That Lizzie-boy 7
never saw a bad horse ;
they 29
do n't grow 'em where
he 7
come from .
What
they 29
do n't know about riding
they 29
make up for with a swell rig -- ” “ And , oh ,
mamma 30
!
It sure is a swell rig ! ”
Weary 24
paid generous tribute .
“ Only
I 24
will say old Banjo reminds
me 24
of
an Irish cook rigged out in silk and diamonds 31
.
That outfit on Glory , now -- ”
He 24
sighed enviously .
“ Well ,
I 13
've gone up against a few real ones in
my 13
long and varied career , ”
Irish 13
remarked reminiscently , “ and
I 13
've noticed that
a hoss 32
never has any respect or admiration for a swell rig .
When
he 32
gets real busy it ai n't the silver filigree stuff that 's going to help
you 33
hold connections with
your 34
saddle , and a silver-mounted bridle-bit ai n't a darned bit better than a plain one . ”
“ Just take a look at
him 7
! ” cried
Pink 12
, with intense disgust .
“ Ambling off there , so the sun can strike all that silver and bounce back in
our 35
eyes .
And that braided lariat --
I 12
'd sure love to see the pieces if
he 7
ever tries to anchor anything bigger than a yearling ! ”
“ Why ,
you 12
do n't think for a minute
he 7
could ever get out and rope anything , do yuh ? ”
Irish 13
laughed .
That there Native Son 7
throws on a-w-l-together too much dog to really get out and do anything . ”
“ Aw , ” fleered
Happy Jack 11
, “
he 7
ai n't
any Natiff Son 36
.
He 7
's
a dago 37
! ”
He 7
's got the earmarks uh both , ”
Big Medicine 22
stated authoritatively .
I 22
know 'em , by cripes , and
I 22
know
their 37
ways . ”
He 22
jerked
his 22
thumb toward
the dazzling Miguel 7
.
I 22
can tell yuh
the kinda cow-puncher 52
he 7
is ;
I 22
've saw
'em 37
workin ' at it .
Haw-haw-haw !
They 37
'll start out to move ten or a dozen head uh tame old cows from one field to another , and there 'll be
six or eight fellers 38
, rigged up like this here tray-spot , ridin ' along , important as hell , drivin ' them few cows down
a lane 39
, with peach trees on both sides , by cripes , jingling
their 38
big , silver spurs , all wearin ' fancy chaps to ride four or five miles down
the road 40
.
Honest to
grandma 41
,
they 38
call that punchin ' cows !
Oh ,
he 7
's
a Native Son 53
, all right .
I 22
've saw lots of 'em , only
I 22
never saw one so far away from
the Promised Land 42
before .
That there looks queer to
me 22
.
Natiff Sons 43
--
the real ones 54
, like
him 7
-- are as scarce outside
Calyforny 44
as buffalo are right
here 25
in
this coulee 25
. ”
“ That 's the way
they 43
do it , all right , ”
Irish 13
agreed .
“ And then
they 43
'll have a ' rodeo ' -- ” “ Haw-haw-haw ! ”
Big Medicine 22
interrupted , and took up the tale , which might have been entitled “ Some Cowpunching
I 22
Have Seen . ”
They 43
have
them 43
rodeos on a Sunday , mostly , and
they 43
invite
everybody 45
to it , like it was a picnic .
And there 'll be
two or three fellers 46
to every calf , all lit up , like
Mig-u-ell 7
, over there , in chaps and silver fixin 's , fussin ' around on horseback in a corral , and
every feller 47
trying to pile
his 47
rope on the same calf , by cripes !
They 48
stretch 'em out with two ropes -- calves , remember !
Little , weenty fellers 49
you 50
could pack under one arm !
Yuh ca n't blame
'em 43
much .
They 43
never have more 'n thirty or forty head to brand at a time , and
they 43
never git more 'n a taste uh real work .
So
they 43
make the most uh what
they 43
git , and go in heavy on fancy outfits .
And
this here silver-mounted fellow 7
thinks
he 7
's
a real cowpuncher 51
, by cripes ! ”
The Happy Family 1
laughed at the idea ; laughed so loud that
Miguel 7
left
his 7
lonely splendor and swung over to
them 1
, ostensibly to borrow a match .
“ What 's the joke ? ”
he 7
inquired languidly ,
his 7
chin thrust out and
his 7
eyes upon the match blazing at the end of
his 7
cigarette .