Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-04-11
PettibOne as a Horse Traltr.


PettibOne as a lIOl Sc Trailer,
Ma Pettibone was n great admirer
OF the horse. He would 90 into rapt-
ures over splendid animal, and equal
ly so over no-account nag. The fact
OF the case is, PETIT bone is no Judge at
all OF ''hOSs ilesh;" and the one weak
ness of the genial Old chap is that he
won't acknowledge his failure He is
the owner of "A horse; and such horse!
IhIs particular animal has been handed
down from generation 10 generation un-
I'll his age has been entirely lost among
the decades. He is jumper: this NAV
seem strange to the average reader
Surely the horse has arrived at the ma
turity of the mellowy golden, and ought
To know better than to practice the
freshness Of Il bonhomie dude col; with
sorrel name and burdock tail. After
the MAJOR had stool it as long as he
could, he curricd down the ancient
nag coat with the wire barn broom.
hitched him before the Jumper and sal
lied forth upon the war pike with blood
in his eye.
lie i looking for a trade. The man
who looks for a dicker i'm '.hoss flesh"
don't have To search far before he finds
party who is bent upon Just such an
other mission. The professional horse
trader Is q strange freak of nature. As
"a iabricator he can give the veteran cir
Gus clown big odds, and come home un-
der the wire with dozen lengths to
spare.
No; don't know as he cares to trade.
Satisfied with the animal he's got.
Don't understand much bout HOSES
anyhow-stili. BiJh talk the thing ever.
and Well, it was just such n fellow as
the foregone whom Major Pcttibone
met. The strangers horse seemed to
be likely animal and If he (Ma'or)
wanted To give twenty dollars boot why
he M qh Swop. The MAJOR laughed
slyly behind the others back rs Inc I'M
bucNled the traces and made the trade.
His old nag wasn't worth twenty dol
lars; he's very sure he has made good
bar gain. Treat the old 'hoSs' good.
stranger; he's been in the family a long
i mean the family will long TO know
thai he's in good hands," cried the Ma
Jor. a the stranger drove off.
The MAJOR ii :kled his new horse with
the whip. and h thought cyclone had
struck him when he felt the pieces of
dashboard rafting about his head. "A
kicker. by th-imbles! I've gone and
traded off an innocent jumper for
pesky, dangerous kicker and paid
twenty dollars to learn it, Must get
rid of tbs ugly beast. G'lonr there:
so-easy. Whoai now steady.G Thus
the Mn or cogitated as h urged the new
horse along. Ere he had gone a mile
be met another man who--''Didn't care
to trade. Satisfied with his animal;
and-didn' know much bout a 'hoss.'"
et,. The strangers beast looked
good piece of horse flesh. The Major
traded. His new horse started off well
enough and--then he stopped. First
the Ma or touched him with the whip.
The horse scratched his off ear w. tn his
off hind hoof and-ddn't budye an
inch. Then the Major CLICKED, and
slapped the reins upon the animals
back. No good. The beast wouldn't
step of in the least. The Ma or got
out and took the horse by the bit and
after considerable urging got the horse
to lead. The horse made a spring. and
rs the jumper Jew by the Major also
made spring and succeeded in capt.
uring the seat wher. he sat holding
the rains, very red of face. Then-the
nag stopped again. The Major tried all
the tricks he had heard of, which were
used to make balky horse go. The
horse grew fast; he took root; he
wouldn't stir peg. The MAJOR was
now mad. First, twenty dollars to boot
for n kicker; nova balky horse. He
was ready To hug himself with disgust.
He would give the world ust to have
the old jumping nag back. A man
can get around = jumper: but a wick
cd, balky animal is only good for soap
grease.
While the Major was standing there
sweating and muttering imprecations,
n gentlemanly foot passenger came
along. He was soon made acquainted
with the Majors dilemma. He offered
the Ma or one hundred and fifty dollars
for no. So, harness. jumper and all. His
offer was snapped at. He presented
check upon a well-known bank for two
hundred dollars. The Ma or handed
over the fifty dollars pocketed the
check and stepped back to see the gen.
erous stranger get the balky horse to
go. That was an easy matter. The
stranger tied n small stone to n string.
fastened the string To the tip of the
eAN AhC DtstSI
sped like the wind. BacSs through the
dust the weary Major trudged. He
would have just time to get the chez
cashed at the village hank. He went
the cashier and presented the check.
The cashier smiled. showed it back and
said: NO good; not worth the paper
It is written upon" A sore-hearted
man, Disguised man, a man ready to
sell himself for n cent. went home. The
Major Is ready 10 fight at the drop of
the hat with any man who dares to
mention ''hoss trader. even to this day.
II. s. Keller, ia me Jpdge.
William ii. Field shot his brother
at Greenwich. Conn, recently. under
the insane belief that when he was
fourteen years old his brother stole
his spirit. and it could only be restored
by his brothers death.
-
"A Chinaman WAS fined 500 and
sentenced In imnrfsonuant for a;w