The Virginian
- ISBN-10
- 1090165714
- ISBN-13
- 9781090165718
- Series
- THE VIRGINIAN
- Category
- Fiction
- Pages
- 378
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2019-03-11
- Publisher
- Independently Published
- Author
- Owen Wister
Description
Some notable sight was drawing the passengers, both men and women, to the window; and therefore I rose and crossed the car to see what it was. I saw near the track an enclosure, and round it some laughing men, and inside it some whirling dust, and amid the dust some horses, plunging, huddling, and dodging. They were cow ponies in a corral, and one of them would not be caught, no matter who threw the rope. We had plenty of time to watch this sport, for our train had stopped that the engine might take water at the tank before it pulled us up beside the station platform of Medicine Bow. We were also six hours late, and starving for entertainment. The pony in the corral was wise, and rapid of limb. Have you seen a skilful boxer watch his antagonist with a quiet, incessant eye? Such an eye as this did the pony keep upon whatever man took the rope. The man might pretend to look at the weather, which was ne; or he might aect earnest conversation with a bystander: it was bootless. The pony saw through it. No feint hoodwinked him. This animal was thoroughly a man of the world. His undistracted eye stayed fixed upon the dissembling foe, and the gravity of his horse-expression made the matter one of high comedy. Then the rope would sail out at him, but he was already elsewhere; and if horses laugh, gayety must have abounded in that corral. Sometimes the pony took a turn alone; next he had slid in a ash among his brothers, and the whole of them like a school of playful sh whipped round the corral, kicking up the ne dust, and (I take it) roaring with laughter. Through the window-glass of our Pullman the thud of their mischievous hoofs reached us, and the strong, humorous curses of the cow-boys. Then for the first time I noticed a man who sat on the high gate of the corral, looking on. For he now climbed down with the undulations of a tiger, smooth and easy, as if his muscles owed beneath his skin. The others had all visibly whirled the rope, some of them even shoulder high. I did not see his arm lift or move. He appeared to hold the rope down low, by his leg. But like a sudden snake I saw the noose go out its length and fall true; and the thing was done. As the captured pony walked in with a sweet, church-door expression, our train moved slowly on to the station, and a passenger remarked, "That man knows his business." - Taken from "The Virginian" written by Owen Wister
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
By Owen WisterThis groundbreaking novel is considered by many to be one of the most important early entries in the western genre.
-
The Virginian
By Owen WisterPocket Books' Enriched Classics present the world's greatest literature enhanced for the contemporary reader. This edition of The Virginian has been prepared by Gary Scharnhorst, professor of English at the University of New Mexico.
-
The Virginian
By Owen WisterThe Virginian
-
Study Guide to The Virginian by Owen Wister
By Intelligent EducationEach Bright Notes Study Guide contains: - Introductions to the Author and the Work - Character Summaries - Plot Guides - Section and Chapter Overviews - Test Essay and Study Q&As The Bright Notes Study Guide series offers an in-depth tour ...
-
Ireland in the Virginian Sea: Colonialism in the British Atlantic
By Audrey J. Horningallegations against Russell, accusing him of having “built a great and very large and unnecessary brewhouse both to the ... to individuals like Sir Thomas Phillips, who recommended in 1623 that no alehouses be allowed “in remote places.
-
The Return of the Virginian
By David Robbins“ The hell yu'say , yu'yack ! ” he snapped , his dark , beady eyes critically raking me from head to toe . “ I should've knowed you'd be a tenderfoot . ' " I'm truly sorry , ” I stressed , controlling my temper at being branded a rank ...
-
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
By Owen WisterFrontier justice - Virginian style. Until he meets a woman. A woman who things she can tame his wild heart and teach him the ways of peace. But can the Virginian bring peace to Medicine Bow?
-
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
By Owen WisterCertain of the newspapers, when this book was first announced, made a mistake most natural upon seeing the sub-title as it then stood, A TALE OF SUNDRY ADVENTURES.
-
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains
By Owen WisterFrontier justice - Virginian style. Until he meets a woman. A woman who things she can tame his wild heart and teach him the ways of peace. But can the Virginian bring peace to Medicine Bow?
-
The Virginian: in large print
By Owen WisterReproduction of the original.