Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-06-07

scrambles up, only to raise himsolfright
into the arms of o,a Houlahan.
'Ye thought We wor off an away, me
lad says the Sergeant, and with that he
braces himself up for to get the irons
out his breeches pockets, when
mister laddie stoops down quite
suddenly, catches the old boy round
his legs and gives him as fair a toss as
ever you see over his left shoulder, and
off he starts like hare over the moon.
"Houlahan was good plucked one.
I'll give the devil his due even if I
didn't like him, and he was up and away
after the escaped one afore we chaps
just had gathered our wits together.
"What happened him? [ didn't see
all, but learned OF it, and twas this:
Neither of the two as were running for
dear life had noticed the roar of Della
ney's old red bull coming from the di-
rection in which they were travelling.
Old Tarshus was terror to the whole
district, and being walked up with this
ruction, didn't suit his lordship in the
least, so he formed square to resist cav
airy or anything else.
"There was two men came driving
right for him. The first one knew the
ley of the land, spied Mr.. Bully and
gave him wide clearance, but tother
one came straight head on, and never
noticed old Tarshus until he heard a
new fresh roar out of him.
"Houlahan never scrupled to own
that he were skeered then. He thought
sure it were Old Nick himself standing
in the path forninst him. He didn't
stop to think or argue; he just turned
tail and bolted, and after him, lichty-
split, came the old bull, letting off
every now and then such a blast Of o
below as nigh blew the hair Off the
head of the Sergeant. Quarter-race
pace, they kept at it, Houlahan just
trif1e ahead of the bull for about half a
mile, when the man was fetched to, all
standing by the big fence that had, like
all mountain fences in the old country, a
wide slough or ditch on each side Of it.
He stopped, just the wink of sec
ond, to consider would he try to jump
over the slough, OF jump right i'll. Old
Tarshus saved him the trouble of de-
Gliding. His horns took the rear Of
Houlahan's breeches, and up went the
Sergeant, fzz like rocket, and down
he came, splash! into the bottom Of the
muddy, Shiny ditch, all the pluck out
of him, not much hurted, but too
frightened almost to breathe for fear
the bull, that romped round and
mood" at him for nigh an hour,
would charge in and give him still an
other toss t'wards the moon.
eve had gathered ourselves together,
me and Flynn and Donovan, and had
started off to run after the prisoner, and
then to hunt up the Sergeant, and
faith! before any of them, we found the
old bull, and it's hard work we had
with our bay'nets, the three of us,
to drive him away from his guard over
old stuck-in-t he-mud Houlahan.
1--WE went back and destroyed the
still and fired the still-house, but the
conceit was taken out Of the Sergeant
entirely, and the boys used to moo"
like bull at him. and if he had no
bones smashed by Delaney's Old Tar.
shus, its his heart was nigh broken by
that'same tossin of an Irish bull.
"And," added the Corporal, falling
into rich brough; "the devil mend
him anyway, sure! bud't sarved him
right!'