Telegrams of the Soul

At Buffalo Bill’s

When she turned 18, she was once asked why she remained so cool and distant to all her charming gentleman callers?

Whereupon the ravishing beauty replied: “I was ten years old. And I went with my beloved Papa and the poet one evening to see Buffalo Bill.* Papa and the poet were very kind to me, and I found myself in an extraordinary state of mind. The whole place was drowned in the shimmer of spotlights and a cloud of pistol smoke, and the American buglers blared through the speedy charges. Everything was out of this world. It lasted for almost three hours, and Papa wanted to take me home with him already before the final number. Then the poet said: ‘Elizabeth must not miss the three Circassian riders—.’ And so we stayed. Like a storm wind they came sweeping in, astride in their shortened stirrups, their arms spread wide, no reins in sight, unbelievably free and proud, as if hovering on flying horses. I leapt up from my seat, and shivering, grasped Papa’s hand. Since then, no one really appeals to me—.”

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*In 1890, Buffalo Bill (Colonel William Cody) brought his Wild West Show to Vienna