Frank smiled.
“Not at all, my boy. Those boots cost from eighteen to forty dollars a pair, and are made to order. The heels are long and sloping toward the sole of the foot not to make the foot look small, but to keep it from slipping out of the stirrup in a time of danger, when the cowboy’s horse may be tearing along at breakneck speed. Those boots are made to ride in, not to walk in.”
“But the spurs—the spurs!” cried Diamond, triumphantly. “They are outrageous and cruel. Surely those huge implements of torture are made thus to look savage and attract attention.”
“Not a bit of it. Singular as it may seem, the smaller spurs used in the East are much more cruel. They cut the horse; these big spurs do not. They are made big and strong that they may not wear out. Sometimes the only way a cowboy can save his horse from being run down by a mad steer is by using the spur sharply. At such a time it is far better for a horse to be prodded with a steel spur than to have a foot or more of horns run into him, which might result in the throwing of the rider to be trampled to death, and the loss of several hundred cattle. See?”
Diamond looked discomfited.
“At least, on one point I have you,” he cried. “You can’t get around it.”
“Name the point.”
“The fringe—the fringe on their suits. There is pure vanity, you will admit.”
“Quite the contrary. The fringe comes along the outside seam of their trousers and sleeves. There is no sewing there, but the buckskin is slashed in narrow strip and knotted together. That is the purpose the fringe plays. The ends are left to hide the knots and any holes that might be seen gaping between them.”
“Begobs!” cried Barney, in admiration, “it’s yersilf, Frankie, thot knows all about it, but pwhere yez got yer infermation is pwhat Oi dunno.”