and a thousand certificates of questionable land
scrip. When the men dashed up, my wife was sitting on the tin trunk,
surrounded by the children, all crying piteously, fully unconscious
of the fact that she had saved the foundation of my present landed
holdings. The cabin had cost two weeks' labor to build, its
contents were worthless, but I had no record of the numbers of the
certificates, and to my wife's presence of mind or intuition in
an emergency all credit is given for saving the land scrip. Many
daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. The
compiling of these memoirs has been a pleasant task. In this
summing-up of my active life, much has been omitted; and then again,
there seems to have been a hopeless repetition with the recurring
years, for seedtime and harvest come to us all as the seasons roll
round. Four of my boys have wandered far afield, forging out for
themselves, not content to remain under the restraint of older
brothers who have assumed the active management of my ranches. One bad
general is still better than two good ones, and there must be a head
to a ranch if it is to be made a success. I still keep an eye over
things, but the rough, hard work now falls on younger shoulders, and I
find myself delegated to amuse and be amused by the third generation
of the Anthonys. In spite of my years, I still enjoy a good saddle
horse, scarcely a day passing but I ride from ten to twenty miles.
There is a range maxim that "the eyes of the boss make a fat horse,"
and at deliveries of cattle, rounds-ups, and branding, my mere
presence makes things move with alacrity. I can still give the boys
pointers in handling large bodies of cattle, and the ranch outfits
seem to know that we old-time cowmen have little use for the modern
picturesque cowboy, unless he is an all-round man and can deliver the
goods in any emergency.

With but a few years of my allotted span yet to run, I find myself
in the full enjoyment of all my faculties, ready for a romp with my
grandchildren or to crack a joke with a friend. My younger girls are
proving splendid comrades, always ready for a horseback ride or a trip
to the city. It has always been a characteristic of the Anthony family
that they could ride a horse before they could walk, and I find the
third generation following in the footsteps of their elders. My
grandsons were all expert with a rope before they could read, and it
is one of the evidences of a merciful p