l I hope is that the Reds will get up another
race and soak ye to the limit. Then maybe some o' ye will brace up and
be men; but I dunno."

"Guess they've soaked us to the limit now," was the general voice of
those assembled.

Poor Higginbotham had gone in rather strong for him, in spite of his
wife, and there was no blue sky in his world, or prospect of it.

Then they turned on Hartigan, who was going through the movements of
singlestick, on the open floor. "Was he white, or wasn't he? How could
he stand by and see the whole settlement skinned alive by Red Injins
when he had the game in his own hands? Why didn't he enter Blazing Star?
He didn't seem to take much interest in the affair, probably he wanted
the Red skins to win." The jibe stung Jim to the quick; he ceased his
exuberant exercise; the song died on his lips, and he strode away in
silence.

CHAPTER XXIX

The Riders

It is the continual boast of the cowboys that they are the best riders
on earth. It is the continual boast also of Cossack, Boer, Australian,
Gaucho, and all who live on and by the horse. And when we sift the claim
of each of those named we find that it is founded wholly on this, that
they can sit on the back of any steed, however wild, and defy all its
efforts to dislodge them. All their standards are designed to show the
power of the man to overpower the horse. But there is one very large
consideration that seems not to enter their consciousness at all, and
that is how to get the best out of the horse--to develop and utilize,
not crush its power. We undoubtedly find this idea best established in
the riding schools of Europe. In these grammar schools violence is
forbidden, almost unknown. For a man to fight with his horse would be a
disgrace; to abuse or over-ride him--a shame; to lade him with a
three-pound bit and a thirty-pound saddle--a confession of inability to
control or stay on. In every part of the world where the horse has been
developed, it has been in exact ratio with the creed of the riding
schools. No one that has seen both classes of riders can have a doubt
that the best horsemen in the world are those of Europe, who control the
horse with skill--not brute force. The cowboys are mere broncho-busters.

Hartigan had gathered not a little of true horse learning in his early
days, and he was disgusted now to see how lightly and cheaply the
westerner held his horse. "Break him down and get another" was the
method in vog