Sunset Ranch: A Story of a Boy's Adventures in the West — page 48: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A2 Wild Life on the Ranch. pitted against wily human beings, those red men of whom he had heard so much and seen so little. still, some of the enthusiasm that marked the cow- boy band had taken possession of him, and he was quite as ready to plunge into the affair as the most dare-devil among the lot. So they galloped on in the early morning. Cuthbert tried to remember all Karl had told him about the Sioux. Few could give more points than the young range rider—he had spent many moons among the tepees of the Sioux, had wrestled with the Indian lads, beaten them at rifle practice, won races on horse- back and lost them, too, and had even gone on their annual hunt in search of meat to be dried into pem- mican for winter use. Old Sile had said the band originally numbered some sixty young bucks, though, no doubt, it had been ere now broken into many fractions, the better to drive off cattle and confuse the herders. Hence they might expect to encounter only one of these smaller bands, but even then the probability was the marauders would outnumber them three to one. Cuthbert watched the old ranger almost con- stantly—every move of the veteran had a deep sig- nificance to his wondering eyes. And yet it might be set down as assured that what Sile did not know about prairie lore was hardly worth acquiring. He was the leather stocking of the cattle range, and it would, in truth, require the skill and pen of a Fennimore Cooper to do his quaint character full justice. Cuthbert was only an amateur at reading human nature, but even he could readily see the strength there was back of those piercing eyes, so like the un- flinching orbs of the eagle, that dare look even into conniclooOokks.€©