whetted appetite. Yes, I am
a regular cowboy, dress and all--" and his garb went far to
prove his assertion, woolen shirt, big neck handkerchief
tied loosely around his neck, etc. "I am as much of a cowboy
as any of them and can hold my own with the best of them. I
can shoot, ride, and drive in the round-up with the best of
them. Oh, they are a jolly set of fellows, those cowboys;
tiptop good fellows, too, when you know them, but they don't
want any plug hat or pointed shoes foolishness around them.
I get along the best way with them.

"We have just finished the spring round-up. You know what
that means. The round-up covered about two hundred miles of
grass territory along the river, and thousands of cattle
were brought in. It is rare sport, but hard work after all.
Do I like ranch life? Honestly I would not go back to New
York if I had no interests there. Yes, I enjoy ranch life
far more than city life. I like the hunt, the drive of
cattle, and everything that is comprehended in frontier
life. Make no mistake; on the frontier you find the noblest
of fellows. How many cattle have I? Let's see, well, not
less than 3500 at present. I will have more another year."

The man from the _Dispatch_ wanted to talk politics, but beyond a few
general remarks Roosevelt refused to satisfy him.

"Don't ask me to talk politics," he said. "I am out of politics. I
know that this is often said by men in public life, but in this case
it is true. I really am. There is more excitement in the round-up than
in politics. And," he remarked with zest, "it is far more respectable.
I prefer my ranch and the excitement it brings, to New York life," he
repeated; then, lest he should seem to suggest the faintest hint of
discontent, he hastened to add, "though I always make it a point to
enjoy myself wherever I am."

Roosevelt spent two months in the East. On August 23d he was again in
St. Paul on his way, as he told a reporter of the _Dispatch_, to
Helena, Montana, and thence back to Medora. Once more the interviewer
sought his views on political questions. Roosevelt made a few
non-committal statements, refusing to prophesy. "My political life,"
he remarked, "has not altogether killed my desire to tell the truth."
And with that happily flippant declaration he was off into the
wilderness again.

The "womenfolks" from Maine were at Elkhorn when Roo