had been running a blaze on him! I don't know as I blame him much, for
that ten-mile run of his to Separ in his sock feet over cactus and
stones was n't much of a joke, a-tall. But he was an all-fireder fool
tenderfoot than we s'posed, or we would n't have done it."




HOW COLONEL KATE WON HER SPURS

Mrs. Harrison Winthrop Coolidge had long been the recognized leader of
Santa Fé society. Her husband, who had twice been Governor of New
Mexico (this was long before the Territory had put on the garment of
Statehood), was the best known and most esteemed man in the Southwest.
He was rich, energetic, capable, and popular, and he came of the family
of the Massachusetts Coolidges; while his wife, who was just as capable
and as popular as he, sprang from the Adams family of the same State.
But, notwithstanding all this, to the Unassorted of Santa Fé society
she was always "Colonel Kate"; and the Select themselves, in moments of
sprightly intimacy, would sometimes refer to her or even address her by
that sobriquet.

The occasional new resident and the frequent health-seeker were sure to
hear of Colonel Kate before they had spent more than a day or two in
the ancient city; and if they had come from the strait-laced East they
were likely to be much scandalized when they learned the identity of
the lady spoken of thus disrespectfully, and would at once want to know
how and why such things could be. Then they would be told that the
shocking appellation was only a good-natured and admiring recognition
of Mrs. Coolidge's general efficiency. For it was the universal