A Christmas on the Arkansas [pp. 26-40]

A4 Christmas on the A rkansaw.
cent chapparejos, and a hat whose brim
reached far out into the landscape.
Unfortunately young James did not stay
long enough in Denver to notice that
the true cowboy does not mingle the
garb of the plains with the attire furnished by a city tailor of high renown;
so, when leaving his brother at a hotel,
he went down towards the Arkansas
River as far as possible by rail, and then
mounting his much-branded charger,
rode blithely into a cattleman's camp,
he presented a unique appearance. The
fringed leggings did not conceal pantaloons of finest broadcloth and fashionable make, the loose jacket of the cowboy
fell back to reveal shirt and collar of
dazzling whiteness, with silken tie and
diamond studs, and when on alighting
he took off his gloves, flicked the dust
from his boots with an embroidered
handkerchief, called for a glass of lemonade and asked somebody to take his
horse to the stable, the assembled crowd
knew not what to think of the apparition. They studied it for a few minutes
in awed silence, which the boy broke by
calmly announcing that he had run away
from school, and wanted to learn how to
be a stockman with fifteen or twenty
thousand head of cattle. Horace Greeley lay down on the ground, and hoped
to die if it was n't a cheeky galoot, Jack
from Montana said the kid had gall,
Long Rupe declared he would speak to
the firm, and have him made a member
of the cattle-growers' association at once,
even Juan Gomez relaxed his usual
saturnine expression, and grinned. It
ended in the boy's being put to work
under the name of Dandy Jim; he was
soon joined by his brother, who came in
a more modest guise. Edward had been
a scholarly youth before the Western
fever attacked him, and in the first few
months of his life as a cowboy might
often have been seen poring by the light
of a camp-fire over his Latin books.
"Read us some of those yer yarns you
take such a shine to," Long Rupe would
say, and the boy would translate in his
best Latin School manner choice passages from the Mantuan bard.
The story of the siege of Troy pleased
them mightily, the device of the wooden
horse was declared to be a shrewd
scheme, although the lying Sinon's life
would not have been worth a nickel if
they had met him anywhere on the plains
the next day. Pyrrhus slaying Priam's
son before the father's eyes and then
killing the old king at the altar was characterized as a low down onery cur, even
before he carried off the hapless Andromache as his slave, -when that act was
made known Dave Milton arose and solemnly cursed the degenerate son of
Achilles with a breadth of anathema
that included him and his, horn and hide,
hoof and tallow, to remote generations.
AiEneas's rescue of his tender child and
aged sire from the blazing city was made
more real and lifelike by Long Rupe's
tossing Horace Greeley on his shoulders
and taking Dandy Jim by the hand,
while Montana Jack with a foolish simper on his face and a buffalo robe impeding his manly limbs followed as Creusa.
The old stories gave the camp much
pleasure, and the boy, who lay flat on his
stomach before the fire waving his heels
in the air as he doled out the tales, they
named with one accord Pius AEneas.
For weeks after their arrival the two
boys were the butt of the camp; it
seemed as though the men would never
tire of laughing at their elegant peculiarities in regard to food and cleanliness,
or of playing rude jokes upon them, but
Milton and Long Rupe had been bulwarks of defense, and in time the sturdy
good nature of the boys won the respect
or toleration of all.
One by one that night the loungers
around the fire withdrew to their watches
among the cattle or to their rude beds in
shanty and wagon, until Rupe and Milton were left alone.
"Dave," said Rupe, suddenly addressing his companion, but turning his face
27
1889.]