The greatest enthusiasm was manifested by the Romans in the
performance, and it was clear to me that most of them looked eagerly
forward to the mortal injury of some of the members of my company. The
Latin delight in sports like those of the old Roman arena had by no
means died out.
When the horses were loosed in the ring they sprang into the air,
snorted, kicked up their heels, and plainly defied any of the cowboys
to do so much as to lay a hand on them. But in less time than I can
tell it the plainsmen had sent their lassos hurtling through the air,
and the horses discovered that they had met their masters. The
audience, always strong for the winners, forgot their disappointment in
the absence of fatalities, and howled with delight as the cowboys, one
after another, mounted the fractious horses and trotted them
submissively about the arena. We closed this tour of Europe, which was
successful to the end, with a second visit to England.
I have now come to the end of my story. It is a story of "The Great
West that Was," a West that is gone forever.
All my interests are still with the West--the modern West. I have a
number of homes there, the one I love best being in the wonderful Big
Horn Valley, which I hope one day to see one of the garden spots of the
world.
In concluding, I want to express the hope that the dealings of this
Government of ours with the Indians will always be just and fair.
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