Indian reservation, where Pa was to engage some cowboys for the
show. As we left the headquarters on the reservation the next
morning all the Indians went with us for a few miles, cheering us,
and Pa waved his hands to them, and said, "bless you, me
children," and looked so wise, and so good, and great that I was
proud of him. The squaws threw kisses at pa, and when we had left
them, and had got out of sight, Pa said, "Those Indians will give
the squaws a walloping when they get back to camp, but who can
blame them for falling in love with the great father?" and then pa
winked, and put spurs to his pony and we rode across the mesa,
looking for other worlds to conquer.

[Illustration: "The Chief's Knees Knocked Together."]

On the way to the ranch where we were to meet the cowboys and
engage enough to make the show a success, the cowboy Pa had along
told Pa that it might be easy enough to fool Indians with the
great father dodge, and the electric battery, and all that, but
when he struck a mess of cowboys he would find a different
proposition, 'cause he couldn't fool cowboys a little bit. He said
if Pa was going to hire cowboys, he had got to be a cowboy
himself, and if he couldn't rope steers he would have to learn,
'cause cowboys, if they were to be led in the show by pa, would
want him to be prepared to rope anything that had four feet. Pa
said while he didn't claim to be an expert, he had done some
roping, and could throw a lasso, and while he didn't always catch
them by the feet, when he tried to, he got the rope over them
somewhere, and if the horse he rode knew its business he
ultimately got his steer, and he would be willing to show the boys
what he could do.