Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-12-03
THE MAN WHO DRAGGED.

His name was Phineas Ellsworth, but
we boys at the "HX" ranch called him
Billy Brag, for reasons which ten min
utes' conversation with him would make
obvious, even to total stranger. To
say that he was opinionated is drawing
it very mild, and to state that the chief
est of his opinions was the particularly
excellent one he held of himself is super
fluous.
Those were humdrum, monotonous
days at the "HX," and there was scant
opportunity for Billy to exhibit the
courage, prowess, skill, ability, and so
forth, which--we had his own oft re-
peated statements for it-he possessed
to remarkable degree.
Once i'll awhile something would hap
pen to relieve the monotony, but Billy,
somehow or other, was never on deck to
show what he was worth. He always
turned up afterward with: "Huhl you
galoots jes make me ache all over Wy
any bloomin tenderfoot cd toP ye bet
tern that" or, THAT wuz fool trick.
Now, eff I'd been thar I'd did so an
so;' or, "Huh! dye call that anythin ter
menshunr Wy, back thar, on tn Keya
Paha, we used t let th' kids an wimmen
do that kind o work"
And so it went for nearly year, and
though we invented many plan to give
Billy an opportunity to show his worth,
he managed, on one pretext or another,
to keep out of our snares.
One day Gale Smelling. who was out
looking up some stays, fell in with a
Maverick steer feeding in q coulee, and
thinking at first that it was an ELK"
critter rode toward it. But the beast
was what is known as ''bad un, and
horns down and believing with rage he
turned and charged on the startled
cowboy. Gale tried to turn his pony and
run, but the animal was green and only
reared and snorted. Gale thought he
was about TO take u place herding clouds,
but he yanked his gun and let go, catch
ing the steer right between the eyes,
and dropping it not more than ten feet
away.
Gale was bit new in the business, and
he was rather pale when he rode up to
the ranch and related his experience, but
there was a triumphant tone in his voice
as he told of his successful shot from the
back of bucking pony.
Billy listened with a superior air.
"Huhl" he remarked disdainfully,
s'whad'je wanter kill i'm fer2 Ye cd jes
z well creased an roped i'm. Some folks
never hev no r'gard fer prop'ty. Waste
not, want nothin."
We all groaned and proceeded to con-
gratulate Gale ON his luck, but Bill did
not seem to care. He WIS getting used
to our irreverence, 1t lay be noted,
however, that when we tried next morn
ing to get Billy to take a galloping shot
at the stripe in a blanket nailed onto a
shed door, to see how near he could
have come to 'creasing" mad steer
from the back of fool pony, our propo-
sition met with scorn. "There ye go
agln," said Billy. whats tn blame
use O. wastin er whole lot o cartridges
jes' t. convince er mess O gabblin egiots
that er thing kin be did? Aw, go off an
try poundin san in her rat hole fer yer
wits. Bet ye carn't even do that" And
he rode off, much offended.
When Joe Fleming, brother of the
boss, and Hank Barr had a brush with
half dozen Indians, and just escaped
with their lives, leaving bunch of fat
cattle to be run off by Uncle Sans dear,
sweet proteges, Billy's opinion was at
once forthcoming. "Huh! Ie mout
les y we'll saved mos o tn critters an
got them thievin red cusses too. Wy
didn't ye, wen ye seed 'em ridin down
on ye, jes' kill three or four critters,
pile em up fer barricade, an give tn
red devils reg'lar hi? That'd ben bet
tern losin tn hull bunch"
When Bob Hall, cowboy from the
$50 Bar" the next ranch-one Of the
meanest, uglest, most quarrelsome bull
lies who ever fourished a gun-got
killed at the hotel in town by an unof-
Tending tenderfoot, whom he had tried
to compel to take drink, Billy, as
usual, had something to say. "Huhl
That's them tenderfeet all over. They
think eff er man tries t hev fun with
'em hyar thet they've got t. shoot, an
shoot quick. TIL galoot oughter've jes'
took Bob Hall b. tn scruff o. tn pants
an kicked r throwed i'm out, an Bob
'id've pollygized too quick. Bob Hall
never had no sand"
All the same, there was an old story
to the effect that once, when Billy had
been unaccountably absent from the
ranch for three or four days, he had been
In town, devoting considerable attention
TO keeping out Of the belligerent Mr..
Halls way.
But Billy's opportunity came one day.
He had been laid up a week and was
still lame as the result of being on the
side next the ground when his pony
stumbled and fell one day, and was sit
ting at the door one morning about 11;3O
when the stage came along. Several Of
us were in the ranch house and were
somewhat surprised to hear the wheels
outside, for the stage road was two
miles from the ranch. A Wa crowded
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