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23 - Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up by Clarence Edward Mulford · Hopalong Cassidy's Rustler Round-Up

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  Speaker 1: Please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Steve Peterson. Hop
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  Speaker 1: Along Cassidyes Round Up by Clarence Edward Mulford, Chapter twenty three.
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  Speaker 1: The work of separating the cattle into herds of different
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  Speaker 1: brands was not a big contract, and with so many men,
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  Speaker 1: it took but a comparatively short time, and in two
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  Speaker 1: days all signs of the rustlers had faded. It was
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  Speaker 1: then that good news went the rounds, and the men
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  Speaker 1: looked forward to a week of pleasure, which was all
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  Speaker 1: the sharper accentuated by the grim mercilessness of the expedition
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  Speaker 1: into the Panhandle. Here was the chance for unlimited hilarity
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  Speaker 1: and a whole week in which to give strict attention
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  Speaker 1: to celebrating the recent victory. So one day mister Hopolong
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  Speaker 1: Cassidy rode rapidly over the plain, thinking about the joys
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  Speaker 1: and excitement promised by the carnival to be held at
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  Speaker 1: Muddy Wells. With that rivalry so common to western towns,
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants maintained that the carnival was to break all records.
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  Speaker 1: This because it was to be held in their town.
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  Speaker 1: Perry's Bend and Buckskin had each promoted a similar affair,
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  Speaker 1: and if this year's festivities were to be an improvement
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  Speaker 1: on those which had gone before, they would most certainly
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  Speaker 1: be worth riding miles to see. Perry's Bend had been
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  Speaker 1: unfortunate in being the first to hold a carnival inasmuch
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  Speaker 1: as it only set a mark to be improved upon,
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  Speaker 1: and Buckskin had taken advantage of this and had added
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  Speaker 1: a brass Bend, and now in turn was to be eclipsed.
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  Speaker 1: The events slated were numerous and varied, and most important
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  Speaker 1: being those which dealt directly with the everyday occupations of
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  Speaker 1: the inhabitants of that section of the country. Bronco busting,
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  Speaker 1: steer roping and tying, rifle and revolver shooting, trick riding
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  Speaker 1: and fancy roping made up the main features of the program,
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  Speaker 1: and were to be set off by horse and foot
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  Speaker 1: racing and other accounting fair necessities. Altogether. The proud citizens
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  Speaker 1: of the town looked forward with keen anticipation to the
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  Speaker 1: coming excit and were prone to swagger a bit and
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  Speaker 1: rub their hands in condescending egoism, While the crowded gambling
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  Speaker 1: hauls and saloons and the three card maddy men on
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  Speaker 1: the street corners enriched themselves at the cost of venturesome noadolls.
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  Speaker 1: Hop Along was firmly convinced that his day of hard
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  Speaker 1: riding was well worthwhile, for the bar twenty was to
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  Speaker 1: be represented in strength. Probably a clearer insight into the
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  Speaker 1: idea of a carnival can be gained by his definition,
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  Speaker 1: grouchially expressed to Red Conners. In the day following the
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  Speaker 1: last affair, Bray's kane go broke, wake up and begin
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  Speaker 1: punching cows all over again. But that was the day after,
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  Speaker 1: and the day after is always filled with remorse. Hop
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  Speaker 1: Along in Red, having twice in succession won the revolver
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  Speaker 1: and rifle competitions respectively, hoped to make it three straight.
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  Speaker 1: Lankie Smith, the Bar twenty rope expert, had taken the
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  Speaker 1: first prize and the only contest he had entered. Skinny
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  Speaker 1: Thompson had lost in drawn with Lefty Allen of the
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  Speaker 1: O bar O in the Bronco busting event, but as
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  Speaker 1: Skinny had improved greatly in the interval, his friends confidently
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  Speaker 1: expected him to yank first place for the honor of
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  Speaker 1: his ranch. These expectations were backed on all the available
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  Speaker 1: bar twenty money, and if they were not realized, something
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  Speaker 1: of a nature of a calamity would swoop down upon
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  Speaker 1: and wrap that ranch in gloom. Since the o bar
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  Speaker 1: O was aggressively optimistic, the betting was at even money,
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  Speaker 1: hats and guns, and the losers would begin life anew
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  Speaker 1: So far as earthly possessions were concerned. No other competitors
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  Speaker 1: were considered in this event, as Skinny and Lefty had
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  Speaker 1: so far outclassed all others that the honor was believed
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  Speaker 1: to lie between these two. How Along, blissfully figuring out
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  Speaker 1: the chances of the different contestants, galloped around a clump
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  Speaker 1: of mesquite only fifteen miles from Muddy Wells, and stiffened
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  Speaker 1: in his saddle for twenty rounds. Ahead of him on
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  Speaker 1: the trail was a woman. As she heard him approach,
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  Speaker 1: she turned and waited for him to overtake her, and
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  Speaker 1: when she smiled, he raised his sombrero and bowed. Will
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  Speaker 1: you please tell me where I am? She asked. You
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  Speaker 1: are fifteen miles southeast of Muddy Wells, he replied, But
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  Speaker 1: which is southeast? Right behind you? He answered, The town
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  Speaker 1: lies right ahead. Are you going there? She asked, yes, ma'am,
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  Speaker 1: then you will not care if I ride with you,
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  Speaker 1: she asked. I'm a trifle frightened. Why I'd be pleased
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  Speaker 1: if you do, though there ain't nothing out here to
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  Speaker 1: be afraid of. Now, I had no intention of getting lost,
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  Speaker 1: she assured him. But I dismounted to pick flowers and
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  Speaker 1: cactus leaves, and after a while I had no conception
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  Speaker 1: of where I was. How is it you are out here,
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  Speaker 1: he asked. You shouldn't get so far from town. Why
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  Speaker 1: Papa is an invalid and doesn't like to leave his room,
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  Speaker 1: and the town is so dull, although the carnival is
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  Speaker 1: waking it up somewhat. Having nothing to do, I procured
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  Speaker 1: a horse and determined to explore the country. Why this
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  Speaker 1: is like Stanley and Livingstone, isn't it you rest the explorer?
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  Speaker 1: And she laughed heartily. He wondered who in thunder Stanley
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  Speaker 1: and Livingstone were, but said nothing. I like the West.
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  Speaker 1: It's so big and free, she continued, but it is
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  Speaker 1: very monotonous at times, especially when compared with New York.
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  Speaker 1: Papa swears dreadfully at the hotel and declares the food
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  Speaker 1: will drive him insane. But I notice that he eats
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  Speaker 1: much more heartily than he did when he was in
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  Speaker 1: the city. And the service it is awful, but when
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  Speaker 1: one leaves the town behind, it is splendid. And I
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  Speaker 1: can appreciate it because I had such a hard season
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  Speaker 1: in the city last winter, so many balls, parties and
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  Speaker 1: theaters that I simply warm myself out. I never hankered
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  Speaker 1: much for them things, Apolong replied, And I don't like
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  Speaker 1: the towns much either. Once or twice a year I
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  Speaker 1: gets as far as Kasas city, but I soon tires
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  Speaker 1: of it and hits the back trail. You see. I
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  Speaker 1: don't like fence country. I want lots of room and air.
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  Speaker 1: She regarded him intently. I know that you will think
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  Speaker 1: me very forward. He smiled and slowly replied, I think
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  Speaker 1: you are all okay. There do not appear to be
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  Speaker 1: many women in this country, she suggested. No, there ain't many,
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  Speaker 1: he replied, thinking of the kind to be found in
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  Speaker 1: all the Kyletans. They don't seem to hanker for this
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  Speaker 1: kind of life. They wants parties and lots of dancing
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  Speaker 1: and them kind of things. I reckon there ain't a
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  Speaker 1: whole lot to tempt them to come. You evidently regard
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  Speaker 1: women as being very frivolous. She replied, well, I'm speaking
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  Speaker 1: from there, not being any out here, he responded, although
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  Speaker 1: I don't know much about him. To tell you the truth,
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  Speaker 1: them what are out here can't be counted. Then he
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  Speaker 1: flushed and looked away. She ignored the remark and placed
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  Speaker 1: her hand to her hair. Goodness, my hair must look terrible.
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  Speaker 1: He turned and looked. Your hair is pretty. I hous
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  Speaker 1: did like brown hair. She laughed and put back the
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  Speaker 1: straggling locks. It is terrible. Just look at it, isn't
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  Speaker 1: it awful? Why no? I reckons not? He replied critically,
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  Speaker 1: it looks sort of free and easy that way. Well,
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  Speaker 1: it's no matter. It can't be helped, she laughed. Let's race,
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  Speaker 1: she cried, and was off like a shot. He humored
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  Speaker 1: her until he saw that her mount was getting unmanageable,
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  Speaker 1: when he quietly overtook her and closed her pony's nostrils
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  Speaker 1: with his hands, the operation having a most gratifying effect.
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  Speaker 1: Joe had an ugh. Or look, you had this, ki use,
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  Speaker 1: he said, Why how do you know of whom I
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  Speaker 1: procured it? She asked, by the brand? It's the oh
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  Speaker 1: barrow canceled with jh over it. He buys all of
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  Speaker 1: his cai uses from the oh barrow. She found out
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  Speaker 1: his name, and after an interval of silence, she turned
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  Speaker 1: to him with eyes full of inquiry. What is that
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  Speaker 1: thorny shrub just ahead, she asked? That's mesquite, he replied, eagerly.
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  Speaker 1: Tell me all about it, she commanded. There ain't much
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  Speaker 1: to tell, he replied, Only it's a valuable tree out here.
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  Speaker 1: The apaches use it a whole lot of ways. They
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  Speaker 1: get honey from the blossoms, and glue and gum, and
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  Speaker 1: they use the bark for tannin hide. The dried pods
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  Speaker 1: and leaves are used to feed their cattle, and the
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  Speaker 1: wood makes corrals to keep them in. They use the
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  Speaker 1: wood for making other things too, And it is of
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  Speaker 1: two colors. A sap makes a dye that won't wash out,
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  Speaker 1: and the beans make a bread that won't get sour
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  Speaker 1: but get hard. Then it makes a barrier that sure
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  Speaker 1: is a dandy. Coyotes and men can't get through it,
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  Speaker 1: and it protects a whole lot of birds and things.
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  Speaker 1: The snakes hate it like poison, for the thorns get
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  Speaker 1: under their scales and whoops things up for him. It
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  Speaker 1: keeps the sand from shifting too. Down south, where there's
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  Speaker 1: plenty of water, it often grows forty feet high, But
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  Speaker 1: up here it squats close to the grounds, so it
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  Speaker 1: can save the moisture. In the night. The temperature sometimes
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  Speaker 1: falls thirty degrees and that helps it too. How can
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  Speaker 1: it live without water, she asked. It gets all the
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  Speaker 1: water at once, he replied, smiling. The tap roots go
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  Speaker 1: straight down till he find it, sometimes fifty feet That's
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  Speaker 1: why it don't shrivel up in the sun. Then there
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  Speaker 1: are a lot of little roots right under it, and
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  Speaker 1: they protect the tap roots. The shade it gives is
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  Speaker 1: the coolest out here, for the leaves turn with the
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  Speaker 1: wind and lets the breeze through. They're hung on little stems.
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  Speaker 1: How splendid, she exclaimed. Oh look there, she cried, pointing
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  Speaker 1: ahead of them. A chaparral cock strutted from its decapitated enemy,
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  Speaker 1: a rattlesnake, and disappeared in the chaparral hop along, laughed
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  Speaker 1: mister scissors Bill roadrunner has great fun with snakes. He
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  Speaker 1: runs along the sand, and he can run too. He
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  Speaker 1: sees a snake taking a siesta, snip goes his bill
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  Speaker 1: and the snake slides over the divide. Our fighting friend
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  Speaker 1: may stop some coyotes' appetite before morning, though, unless he
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  Speaker 1: stays where he is. Just then, the gray wolf blundered
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  Speaker 1: in sight a few rods ahead of them, and hop
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  Speaker 1: along fired instantly. His companion shrunk from him and looked
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  Speaker 1: at him reproachfully. Why did you do that, she demanded,
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  Speaker 1: Why because they cost us big money every year, he replied.
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  Speaker 1: There's a body on him because they pulled down calves
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  Speaker 1: and sometimes full grown cows. I'm sure, wondering why he
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  Speaker 1: got so close. They're usually just out of range where
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  Speaker 1: they stays. Promise me that you will shoot no more
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  Speaker 1: while I'm with you. Why sure didn't think you'd care,
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  Speaker 1: he replied, You are like that sky pilot. Over to Lacrucius,
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  Speaker 1: he preached again killing things, which is all right for him.
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  Speaker 1: We didn't have no cows. Do you go to the missions,
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  Speaker 1: she asked. He replied that he did sometimes, but forgot
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  Speaker 1: to add that it was usually for the purpose of hilarity,
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  Speaker 1: for he regarded sky pilots with humorous toleration. Tell me
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  Speaker 1: about yourself, what do you do for enjoyment? In all
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  Speaker 1: about your work? She requested. He explained in minute detail
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  Speaker 1: the art of punching cows, and told her more of
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  Speaker 1: the West half an hour than she could have learned
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  Speaker 1: from a year's experience. She showed such a keen interest
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  Speaker 1: in his words that it was a pleasure to talk
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  Speaker 1: to her, and he monopolized the conversation until the town
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  Speaker 1: intruded its sprawling collection of unpainted shacks and adobe huts
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  Speaker 1: in their field of vision. End of chapter twenty three