Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-12-26

8AA tit COWS YOU AGAAOWn AAANGs you 0Ou =
corral them, aud have fresh milk and
cream for your coffee.
ssTo0 much trouble. Coffee straight's
good enough for me. But you fellows are
welcome to It If you want it. Milk the
hull vacada IL you wanter; don't keer. =
| At camp that night mentioned the
matter to the boys. and it struck them
favorabIy. The judges mouth had been
watering for cream In his coffee ever
since he joined US; and he hailed the
proposition with delight. So the next
morning we built corral, or pen, of
cottonwood logs, and In the after
noon started out to catch some calves;
| for we surmised that If we had the young
sters penned. the mothers would be sure
to stay around, and we could milk them
at our leisure. We soon had half-a-
dozen little fellows cut out from the
drove, and started to drive them up the
valley; butt hope that may be pardoned
| for the strength of my smile in saying
that it was like trying TO drive so many
streaks of lightningl never saw such
active, mcrcurial, elusive little beggers
as those calves-some of them not yet a
| month Old They were as sprv as squir-
rels, as light legged as deer, and as slip
| perry as cells.
They would gallop awlxwardly on ahead
| of US for few yards, till one would get
the idea into his little pate that he was
| too far from his beloved mamma when
he would wheel as ii on pivot, and with
a plaintive ''ya-a-a-a-pp' scud back like
a rabbit. Then away the rest would go,
| zigzagging and twisting here and there,
4 ~. l. 4
If you were ahead of them. and tried to
cut them off, they would'bolt and dodge
like hare before the hounds. But if
! you were behind, or at the side, and rode
at them to turn them, they wouldn't turn
a bit, but keep straight on. A steer will
sheer off if you come laundering down
on his flank and he sees that there is dan
ger of collision; but these little racers
would send right along, head and tail up,
and if you didn't hold up, you'd catch a
somersault over them.
The judge, not suspecting the exist
ence of such idiotic perversity, fairly
rode down the first one he attempted to
overhaul, and calf, horse and
rider tumbled together in the
dirt. The calf was up and hundred
yards away before the judge regained
his seat and it COST him a scamper of
mile before he could turn it.
| At last. however, after infinite trouble,
we succeed in penning three of the
calves, and left them to be hunted up by
their mothers. These latter we found
when we got up the next morning, vain
ly trying to reach their imprisoned Off
! spring through the corral fence.
The next thing was to catch and milk
the anxious cows. The trees in the To-
cality were SO close together that we
could not use lasso, and the cows as
if suspecting trap, would not be driven
into that part of the corral which we had
left open for them. Finally, my brother
John took lariat, and climbing tree,
lay out on q limb about twenty feet from
the ground. The rest of US, on horse
back. then tried to drive the cows under
the limb. Two soon took fright and
broke away through the woods, but
third, a beautiful black heifer, would not
leave her calf.
She was very handsome animal, as
slender as deer, and her horns, yard
from tip to tip, curved up and out from
her forehead like Turkish scimitars.
tapering to points as fine as bayonet's
She lodged us here and there like
will-o' -wisp, now and then making
quick dash at one of us, and necessitat-
ing some abrupt movements on our part.
till, in one of her rushes, she passed un-
der the limb where John lay, and the
lasso, dropped deity from above,
brought her up, plunging and wild eyed.
''Soh, boss, sohi'' he remarked to her.
soothingly But boss Wouldn't s.soh:,
q mighty plunge, writhe of the BODY.
a dexterous fore handed kick from the
free hind leg, and down she came with
Il thump upon her side; while the camp
kettle few from Johns hands and he
danced wildly around on one leg, nursing
TIE barked ankle of the other. But in
minute she was on her feet, and the
same performance. minus the barked
ankle, was gone through with again.
Finally, both legs of the cow were tied
fast. It was found, however, that even
then she possessed the power to ''hold
up" her milk. We could get very little
from her. About pint was at last pro-
cured.
Then another lariat was passed around
her horns, and with John at one lariat.
myself at the other, and the Judge acting
as a drag behind, we started to take her
to the corral. that the calf might have its
breakfast. We intended to imprson her
there for another trial.
For about ten. yards all went well.
then there came . sudden, violent bolt:
the judge was '.jerkedD from his feet
and landed aeQ.6ovnmord a,n<,,.. -.