"All right, Hugh! it is your horse, and I will do as you want; but I should like to take that fellow down a bit. He is one of those fellows as is always blowing. He rather likes to be thought a bad man, and is said to be very handy with his six-shooter."
On Sunday morning after breakfast was over the cow-boy in question, with two or three men of the same ranche, came across from their waggon5 to that of the men. [173]
"Have you got anything else that can go in this crowd?" he said, addressing Broncho Harry6. "There don't seem any horses worth talking about in the whole round-up. Some of our boys say as how they have seen one of your lot on a likely-looking bay."
"Well, I don't deny he is a good-looking horse," Broncho Harry said, "and can go a bit, but he is slow at starting, and that critter of yours is too speedy for the bay to have a chance of catching7 him up in a quarter of a mile. Make it a bit over, and I will ride him myself against you if you like."
"I don't care about a half-mile," the man said, "but I will split the difference, if you like; or if you fancy your critter for a long journey, I am open to make a match ten miles out and back, each side to put down two hundred dollars."
"What do you say to that, mate?" Broncho Harry said, turning to Hugh.
Hugh shook his head decidedly. "I wouldn't have him ridden at racing8 speed twenty miles if there were a thousand dollars at stake," he said; "but if you like to take up the other offer you can ride him."
"Oh! it is your horse, is it?" the cow-boy said; "why don't you ride him yourself?"
"Because I ride something like two stone heavier than you do," Hugh said; "and if the horse is going to race he may as well have a fair chance."
"Well, how much shall it be for?" the cow-boy said, turning again to Broncho Harry. "I suppose we may as well say the same stake. A hundred dollars a side, I suppose. That won't hurt you if you fancy the horse."
Two or three of the men broke in together, "Take him up, Broncho, we will all chip in."
"Very well, then, that is settled," Broncho Harry said. "Shall we say five o'clock? I suppose we shall ride the same course as last time. I will go out now and step the distance if you will go on with me."
"All right!" the man said; and they at once proceeded to [174] mark out a distance of seven hundred paces, which they both agreed was somewhere about half-way between a quarter and half a mile. A wand, to which Broncho attached his neckerchief, was stuck up as the winning-post, while a low bush marked the point from which they had started to measure. The news soon spread through the camp, and many of the cow-boys of the other ranches10 strolled in to find out what the men thought of their chances, and to see whether they were disposed to back their horse. Hugh, however, persuaded them not to risk their money.
"You see," he said, "my horse didn't beat Broncho's by much."
"No more did the other chap, Hugh; he just jumped two lengths ahead, and after that Broncho held him."
"Yes, I know that," Hugh replied, "but we don't know that he was doing his best."
"That is so," Broncho agreed. "He knew he had got me, and there was no use in giving his horse away. I expect he had got a bit in hand. I don't think it is good enough to bet on. Now let us get this money together."
Twenty of the men put down their five dollars at once; and as the others wished also to have a share, Broncho Harry said, "Well, you three put in your five dollars each, and Hugh and I will make it up to fifty. Like enough they will be laying odds11 on their horse, especially when they find we won't bet, so that at the last moment I will take them up for this fifty, and if we win we will put it to the stakes and divide up all round."
The proposal was at once agreed to.
Towards the afternoon they found that the men were offering three and four to one upon their horse, for the odds had run up rapidly, as none of the other cow-boys were disposed to back the , seeing that the men of that ranche would not bet on their horse. At the appointed hour the two competitors went to the post. There had been several minor12 races, but these had attracted comparatively little interest; every man in camp, however, had assembled for the purpose of seeing this [175] contest, and they were now gathered near the winning-post. A cow-boy belonging to a neutral ranche was to act as starter. The two riders had divested13 themselves of their heavy boots.
"You must shake him up to begin with, Broncho," Hugh had said to him before he mounted. "He will do his best afterwards. He hates being passed, and when he sees the other ahead of him he will go all he knows."
"Now," the starter said, when the two horses stood side by side in a line with him, "I shall walk on twenty or thirty yards ahead so that you can both see me, then I shall hold up my six-shooter and fire. Don't either of you start till I do. I may fire straight off. I may wait a minute after I have got my hand up. You have got to keep your eyes on me, and when you see the flash then you let them go."
Both men fastened their spurs on to their stockinged feet, and as the pistol went off struck their heels into their mounts, while, at the same moment, Broncho Harry brought down his whip smartly on Prince's quarter. Astonished at this treatment, the animal gave a bound forward and started at full gallop.
There was no occasion for the other man to use his whip; his horse knew what was expected of it, and with its hind3 legs gathered under it, had been expecting the signal, and was even more quickly away than Prince. It did not, however, gain more than a length. For the first three hundred yards the horses maintained their relative position, but Prince was tugging14 at his bridle15; and his rider, though shouting and yelling as if to urge him to his fullest speed, was yet holding him in. Then the leading horseman, thinking that Prince was doing his best, and feeling certain that he had the race in hand, dug his spurs into his horse, and the animal in a few bounds had added another length to his lead; but Broncho Harry loosened his pull at the reins16 and let Prince go, and before another hundred yards had been passed his head was level with the other's stirrup.
The man whipped and spurred, while Broncho Harry sat quiet on his horse, and contented17 himself by maintaining [176] his present position. When a hundred yards from home he shook his horse up, and slightly touched him with his spur. Almost instantaneously Prince was level with his opponent, and then dashing on ahead passed the flag-post three lengths in advance amidst a loud cheer from the men, and from most of the other cow-boys; for although few had ventured to back the horse, there was a general feeling of satisfaction at seeing the man beaten. The latter without a word circled round and rode straight back to his waggon, and the stakeholder handed over the stake and bets, which had both been deposited with him, to Broncho Harry.
"Two hundred and fifty dollars," he said, as he put the roll of notes in his pocket, for the bets had been made at three to one. "I call that an easier way of making money than cow-punching. I can't stand treat, boys, because there is no liquor in camp, but remember I owe you one all round the first time we meet in a saloon."
Returning to camp the division was made, and each of the twenty-five men received his share of ten dollars, together with the money he had staked.
"I shouldn't be surprised, Hugh," Broncho Harry said as they sat round the fire, "if we have trouble with that skunk18. He is a bad-tempered19 lot at best, and he dropped his money heavy, for I hear he put in all the stake himself, and he bet some besides. He took twenty off me last week, but he has dropped pretty well half his season's money. You see if he don't try and get up trouble."
"If he does, leave him to me, Harry."
"I don't want to leave him to you, Hugh. I rode the race, and if he wants fighting, he will get it here; but I am afraid it is likely enough he will try and make trouble with you. He knows that I am a pretty tough hand, but he thinks you nothing but a tender-foot, and that sort of fellow always fixes a quarrel on a soft if he gets the chance."
"Well, as you know, Harry, I can take care of myself, and I would much rather it was me than you. I know that you [177] are a good deal better shot than I am, but you know you are not nearly so quick with your weapon. There would be no occasion to shoot, I fancy."
"You are right there, lad; if you get the drop on him, you will see he will weaken directly."
The evening, however, passed off without the defeated cow-boy making his appearance.
"He reckons it wouldn't do," Long Tom said. "You see the hull20 crowd would be agin him if he were to come and get up a muss because he has been beat in a race. A fellow who runs his horse is bound to look pleasant whether he wins or whether he loses, and a good many of the boys was saying as they never see a worse thing than the way he galloped21 off after Broncho came in ahead of him. If he was to come down here and make a muss, he knows that for sure the crowd wouldn't stand it, and that if everything wasn't perfectly22 square, they would come Judge Lynch on him in no time. Now a man may take the chance of being shot in a quarrel; but when, if he ain't shot by one man he is likely to get hung by a crowd, it takes a pretty hard man to run the chances; only, look out for him, Broncho. I believe he has got a touch of Mexican blood in him, although, I dare say, he would shoot the man who ventured to say so, only it is there for all that, and you know a Mexican don't mind waiting months so that he gets even at last."
"That's so," Broncho Harry agreed; "a greaser is about the worst sort of white; that is, if you can call them white. I don't know but I hate them more than Injuns."
On the following morning half No. 1 outfit started north, with a herd23 of 5000 cattle that had been picked out from those driven in and branded; and Hugh, with his four mates, now took their turn at driving in the herds24 to the yard. This was much more to Hugh's taste than the previous work had been. He did not mind the work of hauling out and throwing the calves25, nor of keeping back the cows, but he hated seeing the calves branded, and still more, the operation of [178] cutting their ears. It was, of course, necessary work, but it was painful to him to share in, and indeed he had generally managed to get Bill Royce to exchange work with him when he was told off to perform these operations.
The herding26, on the other hand, was good fun. The animals seemed to have an instinctive27 repulsion for the stock-yard; many of them had been branded there the previous year, and probably recognized the spot. At any rate, there were constant attempts to break away, and it needed all the energy and vigilance of their guard to drive them down to the yard, and still more to keep them there while awaiting their turn to enter it. But more exciting still, and much more dangerous, was the work of those who kept guard at the lower end of the yard. As the animals came out, the calves were half mad with terror and pain, and the cows furious at the defeat of their efforts to succour their offspring, so that it was dangerous work for the men of the various ranches to pick out the animals bearing their brand and to drive them off to the knot of animals gathered at some little distance away under the guard of two of their comrades.
Sometimes the cows made furious charges, which it needed all the agility28 of horse and rider to avoid; then, as the animal rushed past, a rope would be thrown over its head or under its leg, and an instant later it would come to the ground with a crash. This generally proved sufficient. The cow, when the rope was slackened, rose to its feet in a half dazed way and walked heavily off, with the evident impression upon its mind that an earthquake had taken place. Hugh was glad when he heard in the middle of the day that the rest of the outfit had arrived with the waggon and all the horses—for he felt that Prince had had enough of it—and he at once galloped off, roped one of his own horses, shifted the saddle on to him, and went back to work.
One or two of the bulls gave a great deal of trouble, charging hither and thither29 furiously as they came out from the yard. In these cases three or four of the cow-boys united, and while [179] one attracted his attention, the others threw their ropes. Some of the bulls had to be thrown half a dozen times before they were subdued30.
A few days later the man, who went by the name of Flash Bill, walked up to the fire round which the cow-boys of No. 2 outfit were sitting.
"I have just come across to say I am sorry I rode off that day you beat me, Broncho. I allow it was a mean trick of me, but I was riled pretty considerable; still I oughtn't ter have done it; it wurn't the right thing."
"It wurn't," Harry said; "but now you own up there is an end of it. Sit right down and have a smoke."
For some time the conversation turned upon horses. Two or three other men of the ranche sauntered up and joined in. Presently Flash Bill turned to Hugh, who had taken no part in the conversation, and said, "Have you a mind to trade that horse?"
"No, I wouldn't sell it at any price," Hugh said. "It exactly suits me, and I should find difficulty in getting another as good."
"Seems to me as I have seen that horse before," the man said. "Had him long?"
"I have had him about eight months," Hugh replied.
"Curious; I seem to know him. Can't think where I have seen him; somewhere out West."
"I bought him at M'Kinney," Hugh said.
"Oh! You bought him, did you?"
"How do you suppose I got him?" Hugh asked shortly.
"Oh! there are plenty of horses out on these plains as never was paid for," Flash Bill said.
"I don't say there are not," Hugh replied. "At any rate, I expect you are a better authority about that than I am."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean exactly what I say," Hugh said quietly.
"Do you mean to say as I have been a horse-thief!" the man exclaimed furiously. [180]
"I mean to say exactly what I did say," Hugh replied.
"Then you are a liar31!" and the man's hand went to his hip9. To his astonishment32, before his finger had closed on the butt33 of his pistol, he was looking down the barrel of Hugh's revolver.
"drop that," Hugh exclaimed, "or I fire!" Flash Bill threw up his hand.
"Now you will take that back," Hugh said.
"I take it back," Flash Bill said sullenly34. "You've got the drop on me, though how you did it I don't know. There ain't nothing more to be said. I take it back."
"There is an end of it, then," Hugh said, replacing his pistol in his belt. "You thought you had got a soft thing. You see you've made a mistake."
"You had better git, Flash Bill," Broncho Harry said. "You ain't wanted here. You came over to make a muss, and only I knowed as Hugh could hold his own with you I would have put a bullet into you myself when I saw your hand go to your pistol. You git, and if you will take my advice, you will git altogether. You can't play the bad man in this camp any longer, after weakening before a young chap as is little more than a tender-foot."
With a muttered execration35 Flash Bill got up, and, followed by the men of his own ranche, walked off.
"You did mighty36 well, considering that it is the first trouble you've been in, Hugh; but you did wrong in not shooting. The rule on the plains is, if one man calls another either a liar or a coward, that fellow has a right to shoot him down if he can get his gun out first. That's the rule, ain't it, boys?"
"You may call a man pretty nigh everything else, and it don't go for much. We ain't chice as to our words here; but them two words, liar and coward, is death, and you would have done well to have shot him. You bet, you'll have trouble with that fellow some day. You'll see he will go now, but you'll hear of him again." [181]
"I could no more have shot him than I could have flown," Hugh said, "for he was really unarmed."
"He would have shot you if he had been heeled first," Long Tom said, "and there ain't a man in the camp but would have said that you had been perfectly right if you had shot him, for it is sartin he came over here bound to kill you. I agree with Broncho. You have done a mighty soft thing, and maybe you will be sorry for it some day. I have heard say that Flash Bill has been a mighty hard man in his time, and I guess as stealing horses ain't been the worse thing he has done, and I reckon he has come back here to work for a bit, because he has made it too hot for himself in the settlements. Well, it's a pity you didn't shoot."
The next morning, as they were saddling their horses, Flash Bill rode past. He had his blankets and kit38 strapped39 behind his saddle. He checked his horse as he came up to them. "I give you warning," he said to Hugh, "that I'll shoot at sight when we meet again! You too, Broncho Harry."
"All right!" Broncho Harry replied. "We shall both be ready for you." Without another word Flash Bill put spurs to his horse and galloped away.
This was the regular form of challenge among the cow-boys. Sometimes after a quarrel, in which one had got the drop of the other, and the latter had been obliged to "take back" what he had said, mutual40 friends would interfere41; and if the row had taken place when one or other of the men had been drinking, or when there was no previous malice42 or dislike between the men, the matter would be made up and things go on as before. If, however, the quarrel had been a deliberate one, and one or other considered himself still aggrieved43, he would take his discharge and leave the camp on the following morning, giving his antagonist44 notice that he should shoot at sight when they next met, and whether the meeting was alone on the plains, in a drinking saloon, or in a street, both parties would draw and fire the moment their eyes fell on each other.
That Flash Bill should have been forced to take back his [182] words by this young hand of the ranch was a matter of the deepest astonishment to the camp, and Hugh found himself quite a popular character, for Flash Bill had made himself very obnoxious45; and with the exception of two or three men of his own stamp in the outfit, the men of that body were more pleased than anyone else that the bully46 had had to leave. None were more astonished than the men of the other outfits47 of the ranche. They had heard Hugh addressed as Lightning; but curiosity is not a cow-boy failing, and few had given a thought as to how he had come by the appellation48. One or two had asked the question, but Broncho Harry had, the night before his party started to the round-up, said to the others, "Look here, boys. If anyone asks how Lightning Hugh came by his name, don't you give him away. They will larn one of these days, and it will be as good as a theyater when he does that gun trick of his. So keep it dark from the other boys."
The few questions asked, therefore, had been met with a laugh.
"It is a sort of joke of ours," Broncho Harry had said to one of the questioners. "You will see one of these days why it fits him."
Hugh was not sorry when the time came for his outfit to start. They had charge of a herd of eight or nine thousand animals all belonging to the . It was customary for most of the ranches to drive their own cattle, after a round-up, towards the neighbourhood of their station for the convenience of cutting out the steers49 that were to be sent down to market, or herds, principally of cows and calves, for purchasers who intended to establish ranches in the still unoccupied territory in New Mexico, Colorado, Dakota, and Montana. Some of these herds would have thousands of miles to travel, and be many months upon the journey. Many of the cow-boys looked forward to taking service with these herds, and trying life under new conditions in the northern territories.
When the beef herds, and such cow herds as the manager of the ranche wished to sell, had been picked out and sent off, the [183] rest of the cattle would be free to wander anywhere they liked over the whole country until they were again swept together for the round-up, unless other sales were effected in the meantime, in which case parties of cow-boys would go out to cut out and drive in the number required. The number of cattle collected at the rounds-up was enormous, many of the ranches owning from forty to eighty thousand cattle. A considerable number were not driven in at the round-up, as the greater portion of the beef-cattle, which had already been branded, were cut out and left behind by the various outfits, and only the cows and calves, with a few bulls to serve as leaders, were driven in. Nevertheless, at these great rounds-up in Texas, the number of the animals collected mounted up to between two and three hundred thousand.
Two-thirds of the work was over when No. 2 outfit of the ranche started.
"Well, I am glad that is over, Bill," Hugh said, as they halted at the end of the first day's march.
"I am not sorry," Bill Royce replied; "it is desperate hard work. All day at the stock-yard, and half one's time at night on guard with the herds, is a little too much for anyone."
"Yes, it has been hard work," Hugh said; "but I don't think I meant that so much as that it was not so pleasant in other ways as usual. The men are too tired to talk or sing of an evening. One breakfasted, or rather swallowed one's food half asleep before daylight, took one's dinner standing50 while at work, and was too tired to enjoy one's supper."
"I reckon it has been a good round-up," Broncho Harry said. "There have been only four men killed by the cattle, and there haven't been more than five or six shooting scrapes. Let me think! yes, only five men have been shot."
"That is five too many, Broncho," Hugh said.
"Well, that is so in one way, Hugh; but you see we should never get on out here without shooting."
"Why shouldn't we?"
"Because we are an all-fired rough lot out here. There ain't [184] no law, and no sheriffs, and no police, and no troops. How in thunder would you keep order if it weren't for the six-shooter? Thar would be no peace, and the men would be always quarrelling and wrangling51. How would you work it anyhow? It is just because a quarrel means a shooting scrape that men don't quarrel, and that every one keeps a civil tongue in his head. There ain't nowhere in the world where there is so little quarrelling as out here on the plains. You see, if we didn't all carry six-shooters, and were ready to use them, the bad-tempered men, and the hard men, would have it their own way. Big fellows like you would be able to bully little fellows like me. We should get all the bad men from the towns whenever they found the settlements too hot for them. We should have murderers, and gamblers, and horse-thieves coming and mixing themselves up with us. I tell you, Hugh, that without the revolver there would be no living out here. No, sirree, the six-shooter puts us all on a level, and each man has got to respect another. I don't say as there ain't a lot wiped out every year, because there is; but I say that it is better so than it would be without it. When these plains get settled up, and the grangers have their farms on them, and the great cattle ranches go, and you get sheriffs, and judges, and all that, the six-shooter will go too, but you can't do without it till then. The revolver is our sheriff, and judge, and executioner all rolled in one. No one who is quiet and peaceable has got much occasion to use it."
"I nearly had to use it the other day, Broncho, and I reckon I am quiet and peaceable."
"Waal, I don't altogether know about that, Hugh. I don't say as you want to quarrel, quite the contrary, but you made up your mind before you came here that if you got into trouble you were going to fight, and you practised and practised until you got so quick that you are sure you can get the drop on anyone you get into a muss with. So though you don't want to get in a quarrel, if anyone wants to quarrel with you you are ready to take him up. Now if it hadn't been so there [185] wouldn't have been any shooting-irons out the other night. Flash Bill came over to get up a quarrel. He was pretty well bound to get up a quarrel with some one, but if you had been a downright peaceable chap he could not have got up a quarrel with you. If you had said quietly, when he kinder said as how you hadn't come by that horse honest, that Bill here had been with you when you bought him, and that you got a document in your pocket, signed by a sheriff and a judge, to prove that you had paid for it, there would have been no words with you. I don't say as Flash Bill, who was just spoiling for a fight, wouldn't have gone at somebody else. Likely enough he would have gone at me. Waal, if I had been a quiet and peaceable chap I should have weakened too, and so it would have gone on until he got hold of somebody as wasn't going to weaken to no one, and then the trouble would have begun. I don't say as this is the place for your downright peaceable man, but I say if such a one comes here he can manage to go through without mixing himself up in shooting scrapes."
"But in that way a man like Flash Bill, let us say, who is known to be ready to use his pistol, might bully a whole camp."
"Yas, if they wur all peaceable people; but then, you see, they ain't. This sort of life ain't good for peaceable people. We take our chances pretty well every day of getting our necks broke one way or another, and when that is so one don't think much more of the chance of being shot than of other chances. Besides, a man ain't allowed to carry on too bad. If he forces a fight on another and shoots him, shoots him fair, mind you, the boys get together and say this can't go on; and that man is told to git, and when he is told that he has got to, if he don't he knows what he has got to expect. No, sirree, I don't say as everything out in the plains is just arranged as it might be in New York; but I say that, take the life as it is, I don't see as it could be arranged better. There was a chap out here for a bit as had read up no end of books, and he said it was just the same sort of thing way back in Europe, when every man carried his sword by his side and was always fighting [186] duels52, till at last the kings got strong enough to make laws to put it down and managed things without it; and that's the way it will be in this country. Once the law is strong enough to punish bad men, and make it so that there ain't no occasion for a fellow to carry about a six-shooter to protect his life, then the six-shooter will go. But that won't be for a long time yet. Why, if it wasn't for us cow-boys, there wouldn't be no living in the border settlements. The horse-thieves and the outlaws53 would just rampage about as they pleased, and who would follow them out on the plains and into the mountains? But they know we won't have them out here, and that there would be no more marcy shown to them if they fell into our hands than there would be to a rattler. Then, again, who is it keeps the Injuns in order? Do you think it is Uncle Sam's troops? Why, the Red-skins just laugh at them. It's the cow-boys."
"It ain't so long ago," Long Tom put in, "as a boss commissioner54 came out to talk with the natives, and make them presents, and get them to live peaceful. People out in the east, who don't know nothing about Injuns, are always doing some foolish thing like that. The big chief he listens to the commissioner, and when he has done talking to him, and asks what presents he should like, the chief said as the thing that would most tickle55 him would be half a dozen cannons56 with plenty of ammunition58."
"'Troops!' says the chief; 'who cares about the troops? We can just drive them whenever we like. We want the cannon to fight the cow-boys.'
"That chief knew what was what. It is the cow-boys as keep back the Red-skins, it's the cow-boys as prevent these plains getting filled up with outlaws and horse-thieves, and the cow-boys can do it 'cause each man has got six lives pretty sartin at his belt, and as many more as he has time to slip in fresh cartridges59 for; and because we don't place much valley on our lives, [187] seeing as we risk them every day. We know they ain't likely to be long anyhow. What with death among the herds, shooting scrapes, broken limbs, and one thing and another, and the work which wears out the strongest in a few years, a cow-boy's life is bound to be a short one. You won't meet one in ten who is over thirty. It ain't like other jobs. We don't go away and take up with another trade. What should we be fit for? A man that has lived on horseback, and spent his life galloping60 over the plains, what is he going to do when he ain't no longer fit for this work? He ain't going to hoe a corn-patch or wear a biled shirt and work in a store. He ain't going to turn lawyer, or set up to make boots or breeches. No, sirree. He knows as ten years is about as much as he can reckon on if his chances are good, and that being so, he don't hold nothing particular to his life. We ain't got no wives and no children. We works hard for our money, and when we gets it we spend it mostly in a spree. We are ready to share it with any mate as comes along hard up. It might be better, and it might be worse. Anyway, I don't see no chance of changing it as long as there is room out west for cattle ranches. Another hundred years and the grangers will have got the land and the cow-boys will be gone, but it will last our time anyhow."
Hugh was much struck with this estimate of a cow-boy's life by one of themselves, but on thinking it over he saw that it was a true one. These men were the adventurous61 spirits of the United States. Had they been born in England they would have probably either enlisted62 or run away as boys and gone to sea. They were men to whom a life of action was a necessity. Their life resembled rather that of the Arab or the Red Indian than that of civilized63 men. Their senses had become preternaturally acute; their eyesight was wonderful. They could hear the slightest sound, and pronounce unhesitatingly how it was caused. There was not an ounce of unnecessary flesh upon them. Their muscles seemed to have hardened into whip-cord.
They were capable of standing the most prolonged fatigue64 [188] and hardship, and just as a wild stag will run for a considerable distance after receiving a wound that would be instantly fatal to a domestic animal, these men could, as he had seen for himself, and still more, as he had heard many anecdotes65 to prove, sustain wounds and injuries of the most terrible kind and yet survive, seeming, in many cases, almost insensible to pain. They were, in fact, a race apart, and had very many good qualities and comparatively few bad ones. They were, indeed, as Long Tom had said, reckless of their lives, and they spent their earnings66 in foolish dissipation. But they knew of no better way. The little border-towns or Mexican villages they frequented offered no other amusements, and except for clothes and ammunition for their pistols they had literally67 no other need for their money.
Nothing could exceed the kindness with which they nursed each other in illness or their generosity68 to men in distress69. They were devoted70 to the interests of their employers, undergoing, as a matter of course, the most prolonged and most prodigious71 exertions72. They were frank, good-tempered, and kindly73 in their intercourse74 with each other, as addicted75 to practical jokes as so many school-boys, and joining as heartily76 in the laugh when they happened to be the victims as when they were the perpetrators of the joke. Their code of honour was perhaps a primitive77 one, but they lived up to it strictly78, and in spite of its hardships and its dangers there was an irresistible79 fascination80 in the wild life that they led.
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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6
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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ranches
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| 大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 ) | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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14
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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18
skunk
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| n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥 | |
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bad-tempered
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| adj.脾气坏的 | |
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20
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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23
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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26
herding
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| 中畜群 | |
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27
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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33
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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47
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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steers
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| n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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52
duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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54
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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55
tickle
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| v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒 | |
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56
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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57
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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58
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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59
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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60
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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61
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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62
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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63
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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64
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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65
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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66
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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67
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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68
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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69
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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72
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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73
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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74
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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75
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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76
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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77
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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78
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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79
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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