lt the full
force of the Texan's statement, save that, the more I multiplied, the
more I felt that seven thousand five hundred and twenty-three did not
fairly represent the certainties of the speculation. That cow would
surely make a millionnaire of me yet--if nothing happened.

"But, gentleman, something did happen, and it happened in this wise: You
have doubtless, by this, concluded that the cow was a wild cow. The man
who sold her to me had not put it precisely that way. He had represented
her to me as a cow of mild manners, thoroughly domesticated, of the
sweetest possible temper, used to the women folks, playful with
children,--in short, a creature of such amiability that she actually
longed to be petted. But I had already discovered that her manners were
somewhat abrupt, and that either the man did not understand the nature
of the cow or I did not understand the man. I was convinced that, if she
had ever been domesticated, it had been done by some family every member
of which had died in the process, or had suddenly moved out of the
country only a short distance ahead of her, and that she had utterly
forgotten her early training. Still, I had no doubt but that her
amiability was there, although temporarily somewhat latent, and that the
influences of a gentle spirit would revive the dormant sensibilities of
her nature. 'The sight of a milk-pail,' I said to myself, 'will surely
awaken the reminiscences of her early days, and of that sweet home-life
which was hers when she yielded at morn and at night her glad
contribution to the nourishment of a Christian family.'

"There was on my ranch a servitor of foreign extraction who did my
cooking for what he could eat,--Chin Foo by name,--and to him I called
to bring me the large tin pail, which served the household--which, like
most Texan households in the Tertiary period, so to speak, of their
fortunes, was conducted on economic principles--as a washtub, a
chip-basket, a water-bucket, and a dinner-gong. It also occurred to me,
as I stood looking at the cow and caught the spirit of her expression,
so to speak, that, as she had come to stay, was a permanent fixture of
the establishment, as it were, Chin Foo might as well do the milking
first as last. Moreover, as the Texan from whom I purchased her had
assured me that she was a kind of household pet, the children's friend,
and took to women folks naturally, the case was a very clear one. For,
as Chin Foo had long hair, wor