play of his
features, that he apprehended and appreciated the reason for their
retirement. He lifted a plate from the table, inspected it closely,
turned it over, gazed contemplatively at its reversed side, and,
poising it deftly upon the point of three fingers, quietly remarked:--

"The gentlemen, I judge, have been in Texas?"

"They have," I replied: "we three were there together."

"Ah!"

It was all he said. I might add, it was all that could be said.

At this point, Dick and the major rejoined us. Their eyes showed traces
of recent tears. They were still wiping their faces with their
handkerchiefs. With that refinement which is characteristic of true
gentlemen, and which seeks concealment of any extraordinary emotion,
they had considerately retired to indulge their laughter.

"I am delighted," continued our guest, after Dick and the major had
resumed their seats, "I am delighted to find myself in company with men
of experience. I feel that you will not question the veracity of my
story, or fail to appreciate the outcome of my enterprises. At the end
of two years, my property was distributed promiscuously throughout the
State, and I was reduced to the necessity of making one final venture to
recoup myself for the losses which, to the astonishment of the entire
Texan community, I assured them I had met. I was the only man, as they
asserted, 'that had ever failed to make a magnificent success in Texas.'

"You can readily conceive, gentlemen, that I was determined to make no
mistake in my final venture. There were other reasons, beside the one of
caution, which persuaded me to begin with a moderate investment; so I
bought one cow. It was impossible for me to make a mistake from such a
beginning. Every person in Texas that had rapidly risen to financial
eminence had started with one cow. Many a time had a Texan ranchman
swept his hand with a royal gesture over a landscape of flowers and
Mesquite brush, dotted with thousands of cattle, and exclaimed,
'Stranger, I started this yer ranch with one cow.' And then he would
take out a piece of chalk and figure out to me on his saddle how that
one cow had multiplied herself into seven thousand five hundred and
twenty-three other cows, which had proceeded to promptly multiply
themselves, 'regular as the seasons come round, sir,' in the same
reckless manner, until it was evident that the number of her progeny was
actually curtailed by the size of the saddle and the lack of