(Continued from the last week.)
Coming thiough' the West we now and then met man who had actual-y seen an English lord in th- flesh. Tt was a feather in his exp. 'Yes, sir, I've had the honour of meeting one of your nobility. A real nice chap. He wax out here shooting', Not a darned bit of side about hiv. And he came to my ranch—gue's I'll show you the chair by suf in if you come up—and he talked friendly.
Oh, there is a lot of human nature about the American. He will grow hot telling ypu he isa-darned sight: better than hrf lozeix Exiglish lords: " But let " lord shake him by the hand, and-for " month that hand won't, be washed.. His. wife will even put on airs.
Study the Incal news-sheets and you see a perfect flutter of anxiety for society distinction, Every little newspaper in every Tittle town has its column of society news. This is, something in the style of the "Society News"
Mr. Juke Williams has gone East to buy pigs. Hy is sceptical about the prices lowering.
Mrs. Green gave card party last night. She served a very good lunch in the par-o'clock, and everybody did justice to it.
Birdie Adams is in town, visiting her parents. She is going West next week to open a millinery store.
Bill Brown, who used to be freight clerk, is now night clerk at the Depdt Hotel.
Mrs. Porcine, wife of. our popular butcher, gave a' party last night. The supper was elegant.
jessy Booth will be married to. Jim Watts to-morrow. The young couple intend apr boot store.
Every day you get whole column of information like this under Society News."
From. Cheyenne we were to have the most niagnificent down-hill spin in-the world—a run of over five hundred miles. All desert ani sand, and sage-brush and alkali flats we had finished with. The soil was now rich black loam, a vast. prairie of pasture, and the waggon tracks were hard and solid.
At least, that, is what they should have been. But it rained. The very wells of heaven deluged Nebraska. For one week, two weeks, nearly three weeks, the skies were leaden and grey, and the whole. prairie became a swamp." Every few miles were lakes as big as the Serpentine. The tracks were masses of blacking-like mud. At times the torrent came down in sheets. One afternoon two inches of rain fell in wa hour, Nebraskans declared that neve, before in the history of that part,.of the world—twenty-five years—had there been such rain.
We were mad. Within a few. weeks of the end of our ride, with home, almost, sight it raised out wrath 10-have to be coped up.day after day in di-mi, inns, We lost patience. Tt was no good talking to us about Job. Job never attempted to cycle across Nebraska mud., We did. And we wade. progress." We. slithered and pushed our way thcough tao mire whenever there was an hour or two of. fine.weather. When we wers properly splashed with mud we became reckless. We would take acatretch.of the greasy, elegying,. buck earth at full charge. Sometimes we drove through; at other times..we " provided merriment for one another by spills. Pools we dotied.. Thouy's the water reached the ax'es, we just dashed ahead heedlessly. Ie was poor evening; it was even: poor fu, But it was the vest we could do.
Dilatory thrugh our progress, was, we always got be sume inn. by, night... found the people more -inclined.to frien lines thay some, we Wyoming sind Nevada. Lif was easygoing. Millions.of cattle were raised. The prairie was free.to everybody, and all's stock-breeder and his cowboys had to was to round-up th keep them in a bunch: Fine wheat-growing, Jand could be bought for six shillings an ayre. The wages of: a farm Inbourer ranged at anything from a sovereign to two pounds. a week, including board and A labourer who twelve or fifteen shillings a week, has to keep a wife and family, amd is in constant dread of hard times and the ultimate.workhouse, and who; touches his hat us ho passes you in the, Lune, becomes, after migrating to Nebraska, more. American than the born Americans. A few years' saving, and he starts ranch-keeping on: liis own account. One good crop, and the purchase-money of his land comes back to him. He has. meat at his meals three times a day. No more does he touch his hat. He has. no squire, no rector, no landed magnate whose desires he need think anything about..H" knows he is strong. and healthy and peosperous, and he doesn't care a toss of " farthing for any-cly. Optiminn and self-assertion are the dominant notes of hi character. He likes ority of elbow-room in his e'll build schools—there was ruse at most of the road crossings, though there might be only a couple of houses within eye-shot—he'll have the strictest of liquor Iiws,.so that you pass theeugh villages and towns for a hundred miles at "stretch without a single saloon 5 he'll haye'a bell rung at nine o'clock at night so that all children must erase playing in the streets; he'll make it a critae for a young man under twenty-one years. to play cards and billiards. But he won't build a church. He doesn't believe ins churches. In a shop you may see stuck up ® notice: God helps him who helps himself; and God help the man that I catch helping himself in this store." Thet's his religion.
Stopping two days at one town, three days in another, five days in a third,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.