Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-11-13
KILLED ny 4 MUSTANG.
a Tale Told in a Fcxas Cow boys,
Camp.

brides, and staked them out
Craze on the thick mesquit gra
which fringed the bank of the S
Bernardo.
After this duty had been attende
to, thecooking utensils were brougt
! forth, and soon the eoffee-pot Ws
singing musical little song, and
lot of fresh calf ribs splutteriflg b.
fore the fire. The repast, thOug
rough, was made enjoyable by a
appetite which only violent exel
else and pure air can give, and afte
the boys had eaten until it becam
necessary to unbuckle their six
! shooter belts, blankets were sprea
under the branches ofa gigantic liv
oak, which seemed to stand guart
over the broad expanse of paririe
and they settled down for a quie
smoke.
81 tell you what, boys,o said Me-
Curtis, who was one of the hardes
riders and best poker players ives
of the Brazos, as he lit a cigarette
tive are going TO handlesome pretty
rough mustangs tomorrow, and j
any of you fellows want to show
your fancy riding you had better
be fixing your flank girts and rolls
because there are some unbranded
four-year-olds in that bunch who
are going to make you hum like q
churn-dasher, and you'll have tc
fork 'em deep to stay in the saddle,
There is one in the pen that is a per-
feet picture of the mustang mare
that sent Bill Hall to the angels"
"Wasn't he some galoot from the
old states ?" inquired one of the
boys, turning over on his blanket.
"Yes," replied Ned, she was a
long tow-headed chap, greener than
an August persimmon, with legs
shaped like pair of hames."
"HoW did he happen to get kill
ed, Ned {? Did the mare fiirt him a
little too strOng?"
eyes, that was the way of it. You
see, he had just come from Georgy,
and had never been on the back of a
wild horse before in his life, but he
was spunky with all of that, and
wasn't scared ofanything. One day,
while driving out in Nueces coun-
ty, we made round up of all the
horses in the range, and after 'cut-
ting out all that were in the
diamond l. brand, the boys began
throwing some down and riding
'em, just to see the wild devils
buck
"Well, Bill Hall took a darn fool
notion to ride one himself, and he
picked out a little Roman-nosed
mare, pure Spanish, and
wilder than a cayOte, and got some
Of the boys to help him throw her
down, because he didn't know any
more about handling lariet than
ne did about running prayer
"When the saddle had been strap
ped ON her and Bill had forked it,
she was turned aloose, and the crowd
stood back to see the fun. Well, sir,
hat plug raised her head, looked
back, beloved a couple of times,
md then she lit into the prettiest
)ucking I ever looked at. stick to
her, Bill / yelled, but the only
hing he could say was whoa!
stop her boys, darn her old hide
"While he had his knees gripped
20 her sides like a wise, and his hair
like a brush-heap, the mus
ang stretched herself out like astep-
adder, put her head between her
ront legs, and then, bringing her
elf together like a rat-trap, she
damned Bill Hall against the
ground harder than ever heard a
elbow hit before. When we picked !
lim up one ear was jammed around |
o the back OF his neck, and, from |
h e look, on his face, we knew that |
ne wasn't long for this world.
"He fingered for day or two, and |
We did all we couldto ease his pain;
)ut one morning he motioned for us
o come to him, and as / knelt be- |
ide his couch and took his hand in |
nine he said: Boys, am going |
o pass in my checks, but amt GO
ng to snivel about it, even if [ do |
lie away out on a prairie, with no
me but a few friends around me. |
I'll have a big, broad bed to rest in,
md if some day you ride by my
rave won't you get down and think
# me awhile?'
"Well, sir, the boys-the ornary
usses-Were crying like women,
nd | felt terribly shaken myself;
,ut we all promised that we would,
nd then he raised himself little, /
nd in a faint voice said: Ned, /
want you to write to my mother
nd tell her that / wasn't a very
Iutiful son, but | loved her just the
ame.'
"Ned," he muttered, so faint 1
ould hardly hear him, don't tell
ny folks when you write that / was
lid into heaven by a d. mustang;'
nd with that his head fell back, his
.rasp on my hand relaxed, and Bill
Hall was on this earth no more; and
When | thought how his mother
would grieve, it made me feel weak
n the knees.
"We buried him, and Jack Jones,
Who is something of a scholar, be-
ause he had a chance to go to
chOol down in Bay Prairie, wrote
m the head-board of the grave:
WILLIAM HALL
GOT A FALL.
Killed Dead as Slug
By Texas Plug.
Born in Gregory.
"It always makes me feel bad
vhen / think of that poor fellow,
nd how to-day he sleeps on the
,anks of the Santa Gertrudes with
othing but a big live oak to mark
lis last resting place in the bosom
f the prairie. Do any of you fel-
Ows want a little draw-poker, to-