hree years afterward."

"But why not tell me?" said the young man.

"Oh," said Stubb, as he knelt down to put a hobble on his horse, "it
would injure my reputation as a peaceable citizen, and I don't mind
telling you that I expect to marry soon."

Having worked up the proper interest in his listener, besides exacting
a promise that he would not repeat the story where it might do
injury to him, he dragged his saddle up to the camp-fire. Making a
comfortable seat with it, he riveted his gaze on the fire, and with a
splendid sang-froid reluctantly told the history of the double trail.

"You see," began Stubb, "the Chisholm route had been used more or less
for ten years. This right-hand trail was made in '73. I bossed that
year from Van Zandt County, for old Andy Erath, who, by the way, was a
dead square cowman with not a hide-bound idea in his make-up. Son, it
was a pleasure to know old Andy. You can tell he was a good man, for
if he ever got a drink too much, though he would never mention her
otherwise, he always praised his wife. I've been with him up beyond
the Yellowstone, two thousand miles from home, and you always knew
when the old man was primed. He would praise his wife, and would call
on us boys to confirm the fact that Mary, his wife, was a good woman.

"That year we had the better of twenty-nine hundred head, all steer
cattle, threes and up, a likely bunch, better than these we are
shadowing now. You see, my people are not driving this year, which is
the reason that I am making a common hand with Inks. If I was to lay
off a season, or go to the seacoast, I might forget the way. In those
days I always hired my own men. The year that this right-hand trail
was made, I had an outfit of men who would rather fight than eat; in
fact, I selected them on account of their special fitness in the use
of firearms. Why, Inks here couldn't have cooked for my outfit
that season, let alone rode. There was no particular incident worth
mentioning till we struck Red River, where we overtook five or six
herds that were laying over on account of a freshet in the river. I
wouldn't have a man those days who was not as good in the water as
out. When I rode up to the river, one or two of my men were with me.
It looked red and muddy and rolled just a trifle, but I ordered one
of the boys to hit it on his horse, to see what it was like. Well, he
never wet the seat of his saddle going or coming, though his horse was
in swimming water