preservation. Their fun was boisterous, but they paid for all the
damage they inflicted; their work was one continual hardship, and the
reaction of one extreme swings far toward the limit of its antithesis.
Go back to the Apple if you would trace the beginning of self-
preservation and the need.

Buck Peters was a man of mild appearance, somewhat slow of speech
and correspondingly quick of action, who never became flurried. His
was the master hand that controlled, and his Colts enjoyed the
reputation of never missing when a hit could have been expected with
reason. Many floods, stampedes and blizzards had assailed his nerves,
but he yet could pour a glass of liquor, held at arm's length, through
a knothole in the floor without wetting the wood.

Next in age came Lanky Smith, a small, undersized man of retiring
disposition. Then came Skinny Thompson, six feet four on his bared
soles, and true to his name; Hopalong described him as "th' shadow of
a chalk mark." Pete Wilson, the slow-witted and very taciturn, and
Billy Williams, the wavering pessimist, were of ordinary height and
appearance. Red Connors, with hair that shamed the name, was the
possessor of a temper which was as dry as tinder; his greatest
weakness was his regard for the rifle as a means of preserving peace.
Johnny Nelson was the protege, and he could do no wrong.

The last, Hopalong Cassidy, was a combination of irresponsibility, humor, good
nature, love of fighting, and nonchalance when face to face with
danger. His most prominent attribute was that of always getting into
trouble without any intention of so doing; in fact, he was much
aggrieved and surprised when it came. It seemed as though when any
"bad man" desired to add to his reputation he invariably selected