Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/214

PRIZES FOR THE IN^DIANS. 201 chief has it announced that for the swiftest ruriTiofst, best bowmen and any feats of magic are to' be re- warded, btit the prizes most coveted are the ones which Coronado has announced he wiE present to the best all-round marksman with the bow aihd arrdw, also the fastest runner, as well as the beist canoeist. The bowman is to receive a hatchet and a chain of brass with a Spanish half dollar attached thereto, value $2.50; Or $3.00 to the fastest sprinter, p, sword with the scabbard and belt; and the expert boatman is to have a pocket knife and some unstrung beads of various colors. Let the natives take care of themselves and we will follow Alonso for a little and see what he is thinking about, and more important, doing. You hjive been told of the training of this man, how he has from boy- hood been trained in every trick of horsemanship known to the Spaniards; but more than that, from the fact of his girl acquaintance since boyhood, he has come in touch with some of the most renowned Moorish knights, who were Arabs and the acknowl- edged best riders in the world. And has not our hero been with them, ridden their spirited steeds, and learned all that the Moors could impart? For they liked the boy because of his respect for the fair Moorish damsel, whom we now understand he loves with the passion of a Spaniard, or a Frenchman, who are notoriously ardent and heroic lovers. So Alonso is on the alert, realizing this to be one of the ordeals of his career and he resolves to use every effort to bring credit upon himself, so that she may hear of it at home; and this grand thought is so indelibly im-