Cruise on a Cayuse [pp. 12-17]

12 A Cruise on a Cayzise. [Jul
A CRUISE ON A CAYUSE.
IF the camel is the "ship of the desert;" "Does he buck?"
the cayuse is the yacht of the prairies. He "Every cayuse bucks!"
is not for a pack, but a passenger. He is at "Does he bite?"
the door, and I am ready for the ride. "Of course he bites!"
It is a May morning. The air is crystal. "Kick?"
The forests are fresh. The birds are mirth- "Kicks!"
ful. The journey is inviting. It is to be a I have learned enough to start on-a
gallop through Eastern Washington-the though J found my Strongbow (for so
newest Northwest. named the cayuse after the first mile) w
I make my mount at the door of a friend, somewhat better than his reputation.
a dozen miles south of Spokane Falls. I " Equo ne credite Teucri "-I remember
vault upon the back of a saddled something. the advice of La6coon as I lifted the ridin
What is it? A cayuse. What is a cayuse? switch and said "Go."
An angel if humored-a devil if resisted-a Strongbow moved not a muscle.
blockhead-a Machiavelli. "Git! "-I punctuated it with a cut of t
I saw hundreds of him. I talked with whip.
many men about him. I fed him, and rode Nothing moved but the ears of the bea
him, and studied him, but never could I find " G'lang!" I meant it. With a lunge
him out. His origin is lost in antiquity- am off-not on the ground as I had fear
his reputation in the same. His name is not -but on my cruise.
in our largest dictionary, nor his pedigree in We whiz along through a handsome fort
any standard work I have seen. In descent of pine, and past the cabins of settlers, wh
he may be a degenerate of the English horse, have a year or two before begun their horn
as the mustang is of the Spanish. on "Gov'ment land." At the end of thr
He is the Indian among horses. Every miles we strike the Hangman Creek, and f
Indian on the Spokane plateau has his cay- low its current by a winding road.
use, as every Bedouin in the Orient has his With all these forest settlers the proble
Arab. They are personal friends, and equals is to get rid of the timber. Here is a gre
in all things. They have a common bed and pile of logs drawn together by oxen. "Wha
board, and common aims in life. To eat, to will you do with it?" I ask the woodman.
drink, and to have their own way-these are "Burn it."