CHAPTER I .
The Coming of a Native Son The Happy Family , waiting for the Sunday supper call , were grouped around the open door of the bunk-house , gossiping idly of things purely local , when the Old Man returned from the Stock Association at Helena ; beside him on the buggy seat sat a stranger .
The Old Man pulled up at the bunk-house , the stranger sprang out over the wheel with the agility which bespoke youthful muscles , and the Old Man introduced him with a quirk of the lips : “ This is Mr. Mig-u-ell Rapponi , boys -- a peeler straight from the Golden Gate .
Throw out your war-bag and make yourself to home , Mig-u-ell ; some of the boys 'll show you where to bed down . ”
The Old Man drove on to the house with his own luggage , and Happy Jack followed to take charge of the team ; but the remainder of the Happy Family unobtrusively took the measure of the foreign element .
From his black-and-white horsehair hatband , with tassels that swept to the very edge of his gray hatbrim , to the crimson silk neckerchief draped over the pale blue bosom of his shirt ; from the beautifully stamped leather cuffs , down to the exaggerated height of his tan boot-heels , their critical eyes swept in swift , appraising glances ; and unanimous disapproval was the result .
The Happy Family had themselves an eye to picturesque garb upon occasion , but this passed even Pink 's love of display .
“ He 's some gaudy to look at , ” Irish murmured under his breath to Cal Emmett .
“ All he lacks is a spot-light and a brass band , ” Cal returned , in much the same tone with which a woman remarks upon a last season 's hat on the head of a rival .
Miguel was not embarrassed by the inspection .
He was tall , straight , and swarthily handsome , and he stood with the complacence of a stage favorite waiting for the applause to cease so that he might speak his first lines ; and , while he waited , he sifted tobacco into a cigarette paper daintily , with his little finger extended .
There was a ring upon that finger ; a ring with a moonstone setting as large and round as the eye of a startled cat , and the Happy Family caught the pale gleam of it and drew a long breath .
He lighted a match nonchalantly , by the artfully simple method of pinching the head of it with his fingernails , leaned negligently against the wall of the bunk-house , and regarded the group incuriously while he smoked .
“ Any pretty girls up this way ? ” he inquired languidly , after a moment , fanning a thin smoke-cloud from before his face while he spoke .
The Happy Family went prickly hot .
The girls in that neighborhood were held in esteem , and there was that in his tone which gave offense .
“ Sure , there 's pretty girls here ! ”
Big Medicine bellowed unexpectedly , close beside him .
“ We 're all of us engaged to ` em , by cripes ! ”
Miguel shot an oblique glance at Big Medicine , examined the end of his cigarette , and gave a lift of shoulder , which might mean anything or nothing , and so was irritating to a degree .
He did not pursue the subject further , and so several belated retorts were left tickling futilely the tongues of the Happy Family -- which does not make for amiability .
To a man they liked him little , in spite of their easy friendliness with mankind in general .
At supper they talked with him perfunctorily , and covertly sneered because he sprinkled his food liberally with cayenne and his speech with Spanish words pronounced with soft , slurred vowels that made them sound unfamiliar , and against which his English contrasted sharply with its crisp , American enunciation .
He met their infrequent glances with the cool stare of absolute indifference to their opinion of him , and their perfunctory civility with introspective calm .
The next morning , when there was riding to be done , and Miguel appeared at the last moment in his working clothes , even Weary , the sunny-hearted , had an unmistakable curl of his lip after the first glance .
Miguel wore the hatband , the crimson kerchief tied loosely with the point draped over his chest , the stamped leather cuffs and the tan boots with the highest heels ever built by the cobbler craft .
Also , the lower half of him was incased in chaps the like of which had never before been brought into Flying U coulee .
Black Angora chaps they were ; long-haired , crinkly to the very hide , with three white , diamond-shaped patches running down each leg of them , and with the leather waistband stamped elaborately to match the cuffs .
The bands of his spurs were two inches wide and inlaid to the edge with beaten silver , and each concho was engraved to represent a large , wild rose , with a golden center .
A dollar laid upon the rowels would have left a fringe of prongs all around .
He bent over his sacked riding outfit , and undid it , revealing a wonderful saddle of stamped leather inlaid on skirt and cantle with more beaten silver .
He straightened the skirts , carefully ignoring the glances thrown in his direction , and swore softly to himself when he discovered where the leather had been scratched through the canvas wrappings and the end of the silver scroll ripped up .
He drew out his bridle and shook it into shape , and the silver mountings and the reins of braided leather with horsehair tassels made Happy Jack 's eyes greedy with desire .
His blanket was a scarlet Navajo , and his rope a rawhide lariat .
Altogether , his splendor when he was mounted so disturbed the fine mental poise of the Happy Family that they left him jingling richly off by himself , while they rode closely grouped and discussed him acrimoniously .
“ By gosh , a man might do worse than locate that Native Son for a silver mine , ” Cal began , eyeing the interloper scornfully .
“ It 's plumb wicked to ride around with all that wealth and fussy stuff .
He must ' a ' robbed a bank and put the money all into a riding outfit . ”
“ By golly , he looks to me like a pair uh trays when he comes bow-leggin ' along with them white diamonds on his legs , ” Slim stated solemnly .
“ And I 'll gamble that 's a spot higher than he stacks up in the cow game , ” Pink observed with the pessimism which matrimony had given him .
“ You mind him asking about bad horses , last night ?
That Lizzie-boy never saw a bad horse ; they do n't grow 'em where he come from .
What they do n't know about riding they make up for with a swell rig -- ” “ And , oh , mamma !
It sure is a swell rig ! ”
Weary paid generous tribute .
“ Only I will say old Banjo reminds me of an Irish cook rigged out in silk and diamonds .
That outfit on Glory , now -- ” He sighed enviously .
“ Well , I 've gone up against a few real ones in my long and varied career , ” Irish remarked reminiscently , “ and I 've noticed that a hoss never has any respect or admiration for a swell rig .
When he gets real busy it ai n't the silver filigree stuff that 's going to help you hold connections with your saddle , and a silver-mounted bridle-bit ai n't a darned bit better than a plain one . ”
“ Just take a look at him ! ” cried Pink , with intense disgust .
“ Ambling off there , so the sun can strike all that silver and bounce back in our eyes .
And that braided lariat -- I 'd sure love to see the pieces if he ever tries to anchor anything bigger than a yearling ! ”
“ Why , you do n't think for a minute he could ever get out and rope anything , do yuh ? ”
Irish laughed .
“ That there Native Son throws on a-w-l-together too much dog to really get out and do anything . ”
“ Aw , ” fleered Happy Jack , “ he ai n't any Natiff Son .
He 's a dago ! ”
“ He 's got the earmarks uh both , ” Big Medicine stated authoritatively .
“ I know 'em , by cripes , and I know their ways . ”
He jerked his thumb toward the dazzling Miguel .
“ I can tell yuh the kinda cow-puncher he is ; I 've saw 'em workin ' at it .
Haw-haw-haw !
They 'll start out to move ten or a dozen head uh tame old cows from one field to another , and there 'll be six or eight fellers , rigged up like this here tray-spot , ridin ' along , important as hell , drivin ' them few cows down a lane , with peach trees on both sides , by cripes , jingling their big , silver spurs , all wearin ' fancy chaps to ride four or five miles down the road .
Honest to grandma , they call that punchin ' cows !
Oh , he 's a Native Son , all right .
I 've saw lots of 'em , only I never saw one so far away from the Promised Land before .
That there looks queer to me .
Natiff Sons -- the real ones , like him -- are as scarce outside Calyforny as buffalo are right here in this coulee . ”
“ That 's the way they do it , all right , ” Irish agreed .
“ And then they 'll have a ' rodeo ' -- ” “ Haw-haw-haw ! ”
Big Medicine interrupted , and took up the tale , which might have been entitled “ Some Cowpunching I Have Seen . ”
“ They have them rodeos on a Sunday , mostly , and they invite everybody to it , like it was a picnic .
And there 'll be two or three fellers to every calf , all lit up , like Mig-u-ell , over there , in chaps and silver fixin 's , fussin ' around on horseback in a corral , and every feller trying to pile his rope on the same calf , by cripes !
They stretch 'em out with two ropes -- calves , remember !
Little , weenty fellers you could pack under one arm !
Yuh ca n't blame 'em much .
They never have more 'n thirty or forty head to brand at a time , and they never git more 'n a taste uh real work .
So they make the most uh what they git , and go in heavy on fancy outfits .
And this here silver-mounted fellow thinks he 's a real cowpuncher , by cripes ! ”
The Happy Family laughed at the idea ; laughed so loud that Miguel left his lonely splendor and swung over to them , ostensibly to borrow a match .
“ What 's the joke ? ” he inquired languidly , his chin thrust out and his eyes upon the match blazing at the end of his cigarette .