They were for the most part the wives or sisters or sweethearts of those who were to contest for prizes, but as Mose rode around the course he passed "the princess" sitting in her shining barouche and waving a handkerchief.

He pretended not to see her, though it gave him pleasure to think that the most brilliantly-dressed woman on the grounds took such interest in him.
Another man would have ridden up to her carriage, but Mose kept on steadily to the judge's stand, where he found a group of cowboys discussing the programme with Haney, the marshal of the day.
Mose already knew his dangerous rival--a powerful and handsome fellow called Denver Dan, whose face was not unlike his own.

His nose was straight and strong, his chin finely modeled, and his head graceful, but he was heavier, and a persistent flush on his nose and in his eyelids betrayed the effects of liquor.

His hands were small and graceful and he wore his hat with a certain attractive insolence, but his mouth was cruel and his eyes menacing.

When in liquor he was known to be ferocious.