Connecticut western news., 1892-02-04
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 it very mild, and 10 state that the chief est of his opiniont' was the particularly excellent one he hs Id of himself is super huous.
 Those were hu mdrum, 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 remarka 'le q egree.
 Once in awhile something would hap pen to relieve the monotony, but Billy, somehow or other, was never on deck to show what he WIS worth. He always turned up after ward with: Huh! you galoots jes make ne ache all over! Wy any bloomin tenderfoot cd a tor ye bet tern thatr' or, "That wuz fool trick. Now, ef I'd been thar I'd did so an so;' or, Huh! dye call that anythin ter menshun? Wy, back thar, on tn Keya Paha, We used t bet tn kids an wimmen do that kind O work"
 And so 1t went for nearly year. and though we invented many plan to give Lilly an opportunity to show his worth, he managed, on cue 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 feeling in a coulee, and thinking at first that it was an "HX" critter rode toward 1t. 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 a 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 a bucking pony.
 Billy listened with superior air. "Huhl' he remarked disdainfully, "whad 'je wanter kill i'm fer? Ye cd jes 2 we'll 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 was getting used to our irreverence. It may 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 a fool pony, our propo- sition met with scorn. :'There ye go ag1n," said Billy. Whats tn blame use O waStin CT whole lot O cartridges jes' t convince CT mess O gabblin egiots that CT 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 be rode off, much offended.
 When Joe Fleming, brother of the boss, and Hank Barr had brush with half q dozen Indians, and just escaped with their lives, leaving bunch of fat cattle to be run off by Uncle Sam's dear, sweet proteges, Billy's opinion was at once forthcoming. Huh! Ye mout jes' 2 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 h-l? That'd ben bet tern losin tn hull bunch"
 When Bob Hall, a cowboy from the "3 Bar," the next ranch-one of the meanest, ugliest, most quarrelsome bull lies who ever hourished gun-got killed at the hotel in town by an unof
 lending tenderfoot, whom he had tried to compel to take drink, Billy. as
 usual, had something to say. Huh!
 That's them tenderfeet all over. They
 think ef CT man tries t hev fun with
 'em hyar thet they've got t shoot, an
 shoot quick. Tn galoot oughter've jes'
 took Bob Hall b tn scruff O tn pants
 an kicked T throwed i'm out, an Bob
 id've poilygized 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 unaccountabiy absent from the
 ranch for three or four days, he had been
 in town, devoting considerable attention
 to keeping out of the belligerent Mir.
 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 80 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. AS we crowded to the door we saw something was up' for Dyer, the driver, looked excited. "Mornin, gentlemen" he said. And then to Boss Fleming: "Fleming, ex. pect t be held up over b Five Mile creek. Kin one O tn boys go with me? I'll get mother man at Parker's, an l reckon three'll be 'nough."
 "Why, yes, of course," was the reply you can have more if you want 'em III go myself. But why didn't you
 bring guards if you're carrying any val | uables?'
 Dyer explained. The night before h. ! hsd neticed three snsnicious looking | characters in town. and observed tha | they eyed him considerably. This morn
 ing he had started early, hoping to pas | all the places favorable to mold mp
 before the three tough looking gentle
 men bad time to get located. He hat felt bit backward about bringint