Robert Rice Reynolds

“ These places proved of as much interest to us as did Madrid.
In Madrid the main thoroughfares are kept surprisingly clean, while the back streets are filthy. Several nights we spent theatre-going and saw some of Spain's celebrities.
In the day time, between the hours of eleven and four, the streets are practically deserted, for the sun is so hot that work is impossible. Later in the afternoons the boulevards and squares are crowded.
The Spaniard, the most courteous of all men, is insanely fond of bull fights, cigarettes, coffee, wine and women. ”

“ Emerging from the tall tropical bushes which were on either side of the railroad track, I saw a man standing there, and I was not long in learning that he was the owner of the grounds on which I had been intruding, and when I told him of my adventure with the alligator in the pond, he laughed heartily. ”

“ Two days we spent on a visit to the town of Bremen, which is but a short distance from Lisbon. There is constructed one of the finest of the world's cathedrals, in which rests the remains of Vasco Da Gama. We saw also the point from which he set out upon his voyage to discover a shorter route to India.
In Portugal one feels the spirit of the South. The men are exceedingly small in stature, their hair black and their eyes quick in movement. ”

“ As I fell I heard the wild, hideous shouts of the sailors above who were leaning over the deck rail.
It is a well known fact that one can be drawn under a ship by the suction and cut to pieces by the propeller. Naturally, this thought flashed into my mind as I sank into the water. It seemed to me that my time had come, but I was not one to give up all hope. When I came up again to the water's surface I beat desperately and frantically to keep from going under the second time. Fighting for safety, I began swimming toward the bank, some hundred yards away. ”

“ I ran, caught the rod on the side of the mail coach, and swung myself into a seat on the platform, right behind the coal car.
It was one hundred miles to Sanford, so the mile posts read, and I was determined to stay aboard. I unbuckled the sweater from my shoulder and threw it up on the coal. Around my neck I wore a big blue kerchief and on approaching a station, I would turn my black felt hat up in the front, perch myself on the coal car in full view, there escaping the observation of any one, for officers at every station would pass me by believing me to be one of the train crew. ”

“ As we traveled onward we could see the land more plainly until at last we were able to sight distinctly three mountains, in bold outline against the sky, the Calf, the Cow, and the Bull.
We steamed along the Irish coast for several hundred miles and old castles dotted along the hilltops and sides overlooking the sea were refreshing sights. In the afternoon, about five o'clock, we unloaded our cattle three miles from Liverpool and by eleven we were docked.
In Europe! Goodness, it seemed like a dream to think that what we had always longed for had become a reality. ”

“ The population of Lisbon is some forty thousand inhabitants. The streets are well kept, and the street car system is surprisingly good. While there, we saw many things of interest, among them being the King's palace and beautifully kept parks, city waterworks, said to be among the finest in the world; Black Horse Square, the Cave of the Dead, magnificent churches, and massively handsome government buildings.
There we witnessed our first bull fight, on a Sunday, and never shall I forget how scorchingly hot I became while occupying my one peseta (15 cents) seat. ”

“ During clear weather, on afternoons when work was finished we used to go up on deck, strip, and then turn the hose on one another. It was a trifle cold but after we had given ourselves a friction bath with a rough towel, we felt like new beings and were ready for our beds of hay and a good night's rest, to be followed by another day's labor.
Often we would amuse ourselves on deck by a wrestle or a round or two with some of the sailors, who thought themselves the best men on the ship. Three rounds in the ring with a husky sailor is positively guaranteed to remedy any case of indigestion. ”

“ The train had hardly arrived when a young fellow and his girl came walking along and on seeing me he remarked, "Oh, look at the tramp." I could have pounded him, but under the circumstances I thought it best for me to keep quiet and say nothing. This I did, but before I knew what had happened a policeman came up by the side of the train and made an attempt to nab me. I was too fast for the old boy; just as he was aiming to lay hands on me, I scrambled for the other side and jumped from the platform. I made a bee line down the dark track and plunged off into the bushes. ”

“ At stations I helped the train crew to load and unload the freight.
About five o'clock that afternoon we reached Orlando, where I spent the night in an empty box-car. Kissimmee, a distance of thirty miles, was the next town of any size on the line to Tampa, so I decided to walk the entire distance.
Thirty miles when accurately measured is no short walk, and especially so when over cross-ties and cinders. Well, it was a long, long walk, and before I reached Kissimmee that evening I was both hungry and tired. Thirty miles! ”

“ After covering about twenty-five miles of the journey my [Pg 15] shoes began to hurt and blister my feet so badly I had to take them off and finish the journey in bare feet. Here another trouble arose, for the sharp cinders cut me. This was slow walking, but it was a great deal better than walking in new shoes.
At dusk I limped slowly into Kissimmee with the new tans swinging idly on my arm. I truly felt tired and footsore. I was so hungry I could scarcely pull my weary limbs along the highway. Arriving at the station, I left the track and made my way to the main street. ”

“ No one proved a good Samaritan, so I had to content myself with an empty box-car, but this was not as bad as one might imagine, for it was strewn with bits of hay, which I gathered up in a pile and made for myself a fairly comfortable bed.
The next morning while walking down the main street of Jacksonville, wondering where my next meal was coming from, a gentleman stepped up to me and remarked, "Well, you look as though you might have slept in a hay barn, young man." ”

“ First we rolled the bales of hay down the alleyway from one hatchway to another; then, after having cut the wires on the bales, we would shake it apart and scatter the hay along the edges of the stalls in the alley way. When the cattle had eaten about half of the hay we then began to "fork in," that is, to fork the hay out of the alley way into the troughs, and after this was properly done we swept clean the alleys. It was fearfully hot and stifling down there with the cattle; even with nothing on our bodies except armless gymnasium jackets, it was beastly warm. ”

“ When I left the Academy, and left Reordan behind, I thought that I could never again find a friend who understood me so well, or who was understood so well by me, but a few weeks later I was pleasantly surprised, and I know up to last January you possessed a kindred feeling and had faith in me. Probably you may have some idea of the way I feel at having deadened the feeling of one whom I considered my warmest friend, yourself, when you recollect that the chief thing I have done or tried to do thus far in life is making friends, and keeping their good regards. ”

“ Each and every one of us realized that we were booked for a "rough and ready, lookout for number one" trip. We gathered up suit cases and made our way rapidly to the dock where the ship was lying in readiness. Seven o'clock found us safely aboard. After walking around the deck several times in search of an officer, we found the second mate, who, for the asking, readily permitted us to store our suit cases in his cabin. Three hours later we were gliding along the Virginia coast bound due northward, and by twelve o'clock land could no longer be sighted. ”

“ The sun was sinking behind the pine fields and dusk was slowly clothing the earth in its folds as [Pg 19] we rode into Palatka. The train pulled in, and as fate would have it, the engine drew up only a few yards beyond the depot. As we passed slowly by, I saw a policeman on the platform of the station and, quick as a flash, I jumped from where I was standing on the rear of the coal car to the platform of the baggage coach, and crouched, to prevent his seeing me as the train passed. ”

“ At three o'clock we began salting the cattle, and oh! how I used to hate that, for I knew the salt would make the cattle drink more water the morning following. After salting, we fed hay, forked in, and then swept out the alleyways. By the time we had this finished it was nearing the supper hour, and this meal was just as bad as the rest, everlasting bread and coffee.
More hay was forked in after supper, and we usually completed our day's work about seven o'clock, making in all about ten hours slavish work. ”

“ Generally Dug and I stood below and lifted the hay up to the cattle deck, while the other fellows rolled the bales along the alley to the hatchways, where they were to be used. We had about the hardest job of all, for lifting two hundred and twenty-five pound bales of hay is not an easy job by any means.
At eight o'clock breakfast was issued, which always consisted of a stale loaf of bread for each man, a piece of salted horse meat, and a bitter drink substituting tea or coffee. ”

“ Whenever one purchases any thing and tenders a coin in payment, the shopkeeper invariably tests the purity of the coin on a sounding slate.
From Madrid we journeyed to San Sebastian, where we visited the King's summer palace, and saw his Majesty. We happened here on a Sunday, and we did not miss the opportunity of seeing another bull fight.
San Sebastian is the most fashionable watering-place [Pg 54] in Spain and there all the nobles and wealthy people of Portugal and Spain spend the hot season. Here we spent several days in preparing for our journey on foot across the Pyrenees Mountains. ”

“ In the stores along the main thoroughfares milch cows are stalled, and when a customer arrives the proprietor simply milks the amount called for fresh from the cow. By this means the buyer is sure of the purity of the milk.
Soon tiring of Portugal and its oddities, we secured tickets for Madrid, but before reaching there we had a rare experience.
Leaving Lisbon about 9:30 we arrived at a station,—Baylo,—where we should have changed cars. There the train remained some minutes and during the wait we purchased two bottles of wine and four loaves of bread. ”

“ There are collected the masterpieces of the world's greatest artists, not only of Spain, but of other countries.
The arena for the bull fights is most handsomely constructed, and there we had the pleasure of witnessing our second bull fight. These fights are held [Pg 53] every Sunday, and quite often on Wednesdays. At this particular fight there were killed three horses and several bulls. It was far more cruel than the fight we had witnessed at Lisbon.
We made Madrid our headquarters while in Spain and took excursions out to Toledo, the Escurial, Bungos and Granada. ”

“ Straddling the bare back of an 'outlaw' with a mean disposition is a darn tough proposition, especially as you have nothing to hold on to except the mane. I'll never forget the day Baker told the Bunch that after he had finished dinner he was going to show that 'college kid' a few things about the manly art, and when you came to, you would probably know something. ”

“ On examining the contents of my purse, I found that I was the possessor of exactly forty cents. Nearby was a small country store, and there I purchased breakfast, which consisted of apples and sweet cakes. This left me with the fabulous sum of thirty cents, so I began to figure out how I could manage to get home on that. I walked into the station and purchased a ticket to the next stop, a distance of seven miles. The express was due at ten forty so I had only a few moments to wait. When the train came to a standstill I entered the coach, took my seat, and sat there awaiting the conductor. ”

“ We usually finished watering the cattle about seven o'clock. The job of watering is the hardest and most tedious of all. Every head of stock has to be watered from a bucket, placed in the trough.
Each bullock will drink on an average three or four buckets of water every morning, so carrying from one hundred to two hundred buckets of water from a spot some thirty or forty feet away is no snap. Brownie always fed the hay while Dug and [Pg 30] I did the watering. In watering one often loses one's temper, for the cattle will sometimes upset the water and, in consequence, drench the tender ”