The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-10-08
IIUNIILIATED COWBOYS.
Tho Lesson That Was Taught Thorn hy an
Unobtrusive TondcrGoot

Hho hcssoh ihat was Taught Thorn hy an
unobtr"sive TondcrGoot.
There havo bccn great many sto.
| ries told OF tho reckless daring and
abandon Of tho cowboy. Ho is an
| American production, and at the sound
OF tho word cowboy tho mind revcrts
to somo western locality whore law
and order arc unknown, and arc sup
! pliod by rudo sct of convcntionalities.
tho non observance of which means
violence without process of trial. Tho
typical cowboy must be fearless, ready
| to shoot at q moments warning, wild
in his makeup and language, and
ready to porpctrato n joke on a "ten-
| dorfoot" at any time.
But there is often considerable brao-
| gadocia in the cowboy, and good illus
tration of this fact was told Sentinel
| reporter by station agent, who had
, lived in tho west for many years and
had boon in tho employ of various rail-
roads in localities where COWBOYS were
numerous.
| II have seen good many daring
deeds performed and coarse jokes per-
| petrated by cowboys" said tho agent,
"but 1 will tell you of little incident
whore tho wind was taken out of thrce
cowboys s.oSGoytty BY q 2 determined, fearless
tonocFioot' IL happened only last
| spring. was then station agont and
| telegraph operator for tho Northern
Paciiic Railroad company at a place
near tho Montana line. 1t was not
much OF place, as it consisted only
OF depot, II house or two, and sa-
| loon.
'One morning n travelling man ar
rived ut tho depot by stage from up
north somewhere. He had small
sample-caso and sachel. Ho was be-
low medium height and rather slight,
but was very neatly dressed and wore
silk hat. Ho was travelling for
New York jewclry house. He was
about All hour early for the train cast,
and he opened his grip on the plat
form, took out brush, and busted his
clothing and shoes. Hc then drew out
an old newspaper. leaned up against
the side of the depot with one foot pro-
jectcd in front of tho other, and began
reading.
meanwhile, however, throo cow
boys had sauntored up to tho depot.
They all eyed him closely and watched
his operations. When ho began road
ing they huddlod together and talked
awhile in an undcrtone. Presently ono
OF thcm-a big siX-footcr-left tho
group and began 10 saunter carelessly
about the platform with his head in
tho air inspecting the posters on tho
building and the cornice. When he
got around whore tho travelling man
stood, he lifted his big brogan and
planted it firmly on the iewolry mans
foot. No apology was made. Tho
travelling man merely looked up, drew
his foot back q moment, then placed it
back where it was. Tho cowboy pass
cd back to the other two. They all
chucklcd and joined in the low-toned
conversation.
Soon tho cowboy started out again
on similar round, gaping at the roof.
When he reached tho travelling man hc
tried to bring down his coarse boot on
tho extended foot. The travelling man
ierkcd his foot back suddenly, and tho
brogan came down with thump on
the platform. Another conference and
chuckling followed. Finally the cow
boy set out on the third round. just
as he was about to raise his foot to
plant it on that of tho travelling man,
the latter looked up quickly and said:
- 'aco here, there is my foot, and it's
going to stay there. You step on it,
you want to, but want to tell you
that before you can get off Of it | will
kill YOU
Such volley staggered the cow
boy. He looked at ,h0 foot, and then
at tho small posscssor, and finally
moved OIL without stepping on it. An
other consultation followed.
'Thc travelling man calmly read his
paper few minutes, and then took
from his sachel three apples. He look
sd at them moment, and suddenly
threw them few feet into the air and
then quickly drew revolver, fired
threo shots. splitting each apple into q
dozen pieces before they reached tho
ground. Ho replaced tho cartridges
IN tho empty chambers Of the revolver,
and returned it to his pocket.
"The cowboys witnessed the act
without saying n word. and soon. COM
pletoly cowed, turned and loft the de-
pot. The travelling man told mo after
thoy left that he would havo killed tho
three of them had tho fellow stepped
on his foot again, and think he would,
as ho was quick as lightning. Ho
thon showed me medal he carried
which ho won rs being the most rapid
and one Of the best shots in New York
The story simply illustrates that there
is sometimes great deal of fictitious
yalor and daring about tho cowboy. -
GttUdUkee Sentinel