discovered. Never wait until the time comes to use the thing again.
The boy who gets into that habit is disqualifying himself for the
battle of life, in which promptness, accuracy and energy are the prime
requisites to success.

If you cannot take care of your things, or prefer to resign that duty
to others, then resign your ownership too, and let some more deserving
comrades own them.

I have often wondered why "the rope"--as our western cowboys call the
lariat, and the Mexican lariata--has not become a national sport, for
its proper use requires great skill, and it is distinctly an American
institution.

Children of the Mexican herders begin practicing with the lariat as
soon as they can coil a rope. I have seen them catching cats and
chickens with their little lariats, and their dexterity surprised me.

The lariat may be of any length from twenty to eighty feet. It
consists of a long, strong, flexible rope, with a running noose at the
end thrown. I have seen them made of hemp, horse hair and raw hide--
the latter are by far the best, provided they are flexible and soft
enough. The raw hide is cut and specially tanned, but for practice an
ordinary thin rope will do.

The noose is made by fastening a small iron eyelet to an end of the
rope, and through this the other end is drawn.

The greater part of the rope is held coiled in the left hand, while
the noose is circled above the head with the right, and thrown when