had been
set for the fifth of June, and of all the home news which the outfit
brought down to the Rio Grande, none was as welcome as this. According
to the programme, the contests were to include riding, roping, relay
races, and handling the lance. Several of us had never witnessed a
tournament; but as far as roping and riding were concerned, we all
considered ourselves past masters of the arts. The relay races were
simple enough, and Dan Happersett volunteered this explanation of a
lance contest to those of us who were uninitiated:--

"Well," said Dan, while we were riding home from the Ganso, "a straight
track is laid off about two hundred yards long. About every forty yards
there is a post set up along the line with an arm reaching out over the
track. From this there is suspended an iron ring about two inches in
diameter. The contestant is armed with a wooden lance of regulation
length, and as he rides down this track at full speed and within a
time limit, he is to impale as many of these rings as possible. Each
contestant is entitled to three trials and the one impaling the most
rings is declared the victor. That's about all there is to it, except
the award. The festivities, of course, close with a dance, in which the
winner crowns the Queen of the ball. That's the reason the girls always
take such an interest in the lancing, because the winner has the
choosing of his Queen. I won it once, over on the Trinity, and chose
a little cripple girl. Had to do it or leave the country, for it was
looked upon as an engagement to marry. Oh, I tell you, if a girl is
sweet on a fellow, it's a mighty strong card to play."

Before starting for the Rio Grande, the old ranchero had worked our
horse stock, forming fourteen new _manadas_, so that on our return about
the only work which could command our attention was the breaking of
more saddle horses. We had gentled two hundred the spring before, and
breaking a hundred and fifty now, together with the old _remudas_, would
give Las Palomas fully five hundred saddle horses. The ranch had the
geldings, the men had time, and there was no good excuse for not
gentling more horses. So after a few days' rest the oldest and heaviest
geldings were gathered and we then settled down to routine horse work.
But not even this exciting employment could keep the coming tournament
from our minds. Within a week after returning to the ranch, we laid off
a lancing course, and during every spare hour the