The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-09-30
NUNIILIAVi;D COWBOYS.
TIL" Lesson That Was Taught Them Ivy al
UnobtrnSire Trn,lerfoot

UnobtrnSive Trnd"rfoot.
There have been great many st0
rics told Of the reckless daring and
abandon OF tho cowboy. IIo is al
American production. and ut tho sound
OF tho word cowboy tho mind rcvcrts
TO somo western locality where law
and order AFRO unknown, and arc sup
Piled by rude set Of fconvcntionalities,
tho non-obscrvanco of which means
violonco without process of trial. The
typical cowboy must be fearless, ready
to shoot at moments warning, wild
in his makeup aud language, and
ready to pcrpolrato joke on tcn-
dorfoot" ut any time.
But there is often considerable brao-
gadocia in the cowboy, and good illus
tration of this fact was told Il Sentinel
reporter by station agcnt, who had
lived in tho west for many wears and
had boon III tho employ OF various rail
roads III Localities where cowboys wcro
humorous.
IL have seen good many daring
deeds performed aud coarse Jokes per,
petratod by cowboys" said tho agent,
"but will toll you of a little incident
whore tho wind WAS taken out OF three
fcndorfoot' 1t happened only last
spring. WAS thon station agent and
telegraph operator. for the Northern
racine Railroad company vt place
near tho Montana line. 1t was not
much OF place. rs it consisted only
OF depot, house or two. and 4 sa-
loon.
"Onc morning Il travelling man ar
rlVcu ut tho depot by stage from up
north somewhere. lIo had small
snlnplc-casc and sachcl. Ho was be-
low medium height md rather slight,
put was very noatly dressed and wore
II silk hat. llo WAS travelling for Il
New York jewolry house lie was
about an hour carly for the train east,
and ho opened his grip on tho plat
form. took out Il brush. and busted his
clothing and shoes. He then drew out
an old newspaper. leaned up against
tho sido Of tho depot with one foot pro-
jectod in front of tho other, and began
roading.
meanwhile. however, thrco cow
boys had snuntcrod up to tho depot.
lhoy all oyod him closely and watched
his operations. When he began read
ing thcy huddlcd together and talked
awhile i'll All undortono. Presently one
OF them-a big six-footor-lcft the
group and began TO saunter carclessly
about tho platform with bis head in
the air inspecting the posters on the
building and the cornice Whom he
got around whore tho travelling man
stood, he lifted his big brogan and
planted it firmly on the jcwelry mans
foot. No apology was made. Tho
travelling man merely looked up, drew
his foot back n moment, then placed it
back where it was. The cowboy pass
cd back to the other two. They all
chucklod and joined in tho low-toncd
conversation.
Soon tho cowboy started out again
on n similar round. gaping at the roof.
Whom he reached tho travelling man ho
tried to bring down his coarse boot on
the extended foot. Tho travelling man
lorked his foot back suddenly, and tho
brogan camo down with thump on
the platform. Another conference and
ehuckling followed. Finally tho cow
boy set out on the third round. Just
as ho was about to raise his foot to
plant it on that Of tho travelling man,
tho latter looked up quickly and said:
SEQ here, there is my foot, and it's
going to stay there. You step on it,
II you want to, but want to tell YOU
that before you can got off Of it | will
kill you
Such volley staggered tho cow
boy. Hc looked at tho foot, and then
at tho small possessor, and finally
moved OFF without stepping on it, An
othor consultation followed.
''Iho TRAVELLING man coI,,ly ro.I L.;
paper few piinutes, and then took
rom his sachc. three applos. He look
sd at thom moment, and suddenly
threw them fow feot into the mir and
then quickly drow revolver, fired
three shots, splitting each apple into
dozen pieces before they reached the
ground. Ho replaced tho cartridges
In the empty chambers of tho rovolvor.
and returned 1t to his pocket
Tho cowboys witnessed the act
without saying a word. and soon, COM
pletoly cowed. turned and loft the de-
pot. The travelling man told me after
they left that he would havo killed tho
threo Of thom had tho follow stepped
on his foot again. and think he would,
as no was quick rs lightning. He
then showed mo medal ho carried.
which he won as being tho most rapid
and ono OF the best shots in New York.
Tho story simply illustrates that thero
Is sometimes great deal of fictitious
valor and daring about tho cowboy. -
MilUaukec Sentinel.