Page:Short Grass (1926).pdf/47

 "I'd ruther eat than fight, any time," Bill said. "I always did hate a fuss."

Bill inquired about a likely ranch to get a job. MacKinnon named many cattlemen, but advised against striking out to ride into a job, as that might turn out a very wasteful adventure of time. The cowboy method, he said, was to hang around town and interview the cattlemen, range bosses and cowboys who came in on business or pleasure. A man could pick up a job that way almost any day.

MacKinnon had some further information to give about the requirements of horses and equipment, of which he found Bill almost entirely ignorant. They furnished a man nothing but his chuck on the range, Bill learned; every cowboy must supply his own horses, of which three was about the minimum with which a man could get along. But they were cheap. Good horses could be bought for thirty dollars. A cowboy frequently paid more for a pair of boots or a hat than he paid for a horse.

"But I'd advise railroadin'," MacKinnon said. "It's more a man's work, and it's here to stay. Range cattle will pass away in a few years, the cowboys will go with them, their occupation cut from under their feet like you cut the heels from under that lad in the saloon. There'll be nothing for them but railroadin' or farmin' then, and the old cow hands are good for neither—no, nor nothing else on earth but handlin' cattle on the range. It's a good thing to stay out of while you're young."