But it was an exciting life, and the days sped rapidly by; in six weeks we found ourselves at our own ranch on Dismal river, the round-up having proved a great success, as we had found all our cattle and driven them home.
This work being over, I proposed to spend a few weeks with my family at North Platte, for the purpose of making their better acquaintance, for my long and continued absence from home made me a comparative stranger under my own roof-tree.

One great source of pleasure to me was that my wife was delighted with the home I had given her amid the prairies of the far west.

Soon after my arrival, my sisters Nellie and May, came to make us a visit, and a delightful time we all had during their stay.

When they left us, I accompanied them to their home in Denver, Colorado, where I passed several days visiting old friends and scenes.
Returning to Ogallala I purchased from Bill Phant, an extensive cattle drover from Texas, a herd of cattle, which I drove to my ranch on the Dismal river, after which I bade my partner and the boys good-bye, and started for the Indian Territory to procure Indians for my Dramatic Combination for the season of 1878-79.
_En route_ to the Territory, I paid a long promised visit to my sisters, Julia--Mrs.J.A.

Goodman--and Eliza--Mrs.George M.Myers--who reside in Kansas, the state which the reader will remember was my boyhood home.
Having secured my Indian actors, and along with them Mr.O.A.Burgess, a government interpreter, and Ed.