Wanderings of French Ed

by J. Adelard René

Cowboys as a class are a queer lot of men. They are fearless and brave to excess, and being isolated from society so much, they are often eccentric; but their eccentricity has its charms.

The fraternal feeling which exists among these men is of the genuine kind, and they are exceedingly generous in helping each other in case of misfortune. They practice all sorts of manly sports, and the feats they can accomplish on horseback are wonderful. It is an easy matter for some of them to lean on one side of their saddle while going at a great rate of speed, and pick up a small object on the ground. They are skillful shots in many ways, and one way that never fails to impress the "tenderfoot," is the shooting of a clay pipe at a distance of twenty-five feet, while held in the mouth of one of them, who apparently does not see much excitement in the act. It is great fun for them to "break in" a "tenderfoot," by which name they call any aspirant to the vocation of cowboy.

The meanest bucking bronco is brought to him to ride and behold! if the poor candidate cannot hold on to the saddle while the kicking brute is playing circus, the cowboys add to the excitement by their yells, often throwing small stones at the bucking cayuse.

Edward went through all their initiatory proceedings, and came out with the respect of the lookers-on; his popularity counted from that time.

Since his departure from Chicago, Edward had received many letters from his Russian friend, but very little had been said about Nellie. He was now a different man, not only in his general appearance, which was much improved by the open air life, but also morally. He had sent two hundred dollars to Ben, who paid it over to Nellie, and while he still felt more than a kindly feeling toward her, it was nothing like the old passion. On their "day off" cowboys usually go to some saloon, where they drink and play cards, and generally have as exciting a time as they can to make up for the monotony of their life in the field; but Edward preferred spending these days at the home of his employer, whose daughter Grace showed much partiality for the French lad, or French Ed, as he was now called by every one on the ranch.

Mr. Goodnow's only daughter Grace was a splendid young lady of eighteen, and quite a musician. She was very small and her face was too baby-like to be called real pretty, but her large blue eyes were soft and full of melancholy. She was a very interesting talker, and her horsemanship could not be excelled. She never failed to cause a smile of satisfaction on her father's face whenever she mounted Topsy, her spirited little thoroughbred black mare.

Grace always looked ahead to the time when French Ed was to come into town, because she took much pleasure in his company. It was great fun for her to ride his mare Nell, while he rode Topsy. Together, they would take long rides, sometimes taking their lunch with them, and stopping by some little running brook, where in the shade of some tree they would eat and enjoy life.

Grace was very much interested in everything that pertained to Edward's life. She too questioned him about his past, his schooldays, his folks, and one day she gave him one of her pictures to send to his sister. She never seemed to tire of hearing him talk, and he always found much pleasure in talking to her.

She admired him with that admiration that often leads to love, while he liked her with that feeling that is more than friendship and still cannot be called love. At times, Edward thought that he would like to take her little baby face in his hands and kiss her on the lips; but he knew what the result would be, and he contented himself in imagining how good it would be. Once, while Edward was singing a new song with Grace at the piano, he bent to see the notes, until his face rubbed against hers, and then he felt a strange dizziness come to his brain, and was raising his arms to put them around her neck, when she suddenly stood up and looked him straight in the eyes, and said, "Ed—"

Had she slapped him with her little hand he would not have felt nearly so bad as he did facing those large blue eyes, so reproachful and sad.