[Illustration: Her appearance now was in the nature of a
transformation.]
She was arrayed in a riding habit of brown corduroy which consisted of
a divided skirt--a "doubled-barreled" one in the sarcastic phraseology
of the male cowpuncher, who affects to despise such an article of
feminine apparel--a brown woolen blouse with a low collar, above which
she had sensibly tied a neckerchief to keep the sun and sand from
blistering her neck; and a black felt hat with a wide brim. On her
hands were a pair of silver-spangled leather gauntlets; encasing her
feet were a pair of high-topped, high-heeled riding boots, ornamented
with a pair of long-roweled Mexican spurs, mounted with silver. She
was carrying a saddle which was also bedecked and bespangled with
silver.
Illumination came instantly to Calumet. These things--the saddle, the
riding habit, the spurs--were material possessions that connected her
with the past. They were her personal belongings, kept and treasured
from the more prosperous days of her earlier life.
At the first look he had felt a mean impulse to ridicule her because of
them, but this impulse was succeeded instantly by a queer feeling of
pity for her, and he kept silent.
But even had he ridiculed her, his ridicule would have been merely a
mask behind which he could have hidden his surprise and admiration, for
though her riding habit suggested things effete and eastern, which are
always to be condemned on general principles, it certainly did fit her
well, was becoming, neat, and in it she made a figure whose attractions
were not to be denied.
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