The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-03-11
THE MAN WHO DRAGGED.

OBVIOUS, even W y WAL 1stAn8OEs ~
say that he was opinionated is drawing |
it very mild, and to state that the chief
est Of his opinions was tho particularly |
EXCELLENT one he held Of himself is super
duous.
Those were humdruni, monotcnous
days at tho ssHX," and there was scant
opportunity for Billy TO exhibit the
courage, prowess, skill, ability, and 80
forth, which--we had his own OFT re-
peated statements for it-he possessed
10 q remarkable degree.
Once in 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: HUH you
galoots jes make me ache all overl Wy
any bloomin tenderfoot cd q tot ye bet
tern that!' or, "That wuz fool trick.
Now, ef I'd been thar I'd did 90 an
SOL or, "Huhi d'ye call that anythin tor
menshun1 Wy, back thar. on tn Keya
Paha, we used t. lot tn Kids an wimmen
do that kind d work"
And 80 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 ont Of our snares.
One day Gale Smelling. who was out
looking mp some stays, fell in with .
Maverick steer feeding In . coulee, and
thinking at first that It was an "HXv
critter rode toward It. But the beast
was what is known as dad I'M" and
horns down and believing with rage he
turned and charged on tho 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 place herding clouds.
but he yanked his gun and let go, catch-
ing tho steer right between the eyes,
and dropping IL not more than ten feet
away.
Gale was q bit new in the business. and
he WAS ratherRale whom he rode up to
the ranch and related his experience. but
there was q triumphant tone in his voice
as he told of his successful shot from the
back Of bucking pony.
Billy listened with superior air.
ssHuhr' he remarked disdainfully,
..whad,j e wanter kill i'm ferl Ye cd jes
= well creased an roped i'm. Some folks
never hoy no r'gard fer prop'ty. Waste
not, want nothin.
We all groaned and proceeded to con
gratu1ate 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 galloping shot
Mt the stripe in blanket nailed onto a
shed door, to sec how near he could
have come to 'creasingr mad steer
from the back Of fool pony, our propo-
sition met with scorn. ''There ye 60
agin," said Billy. What's 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 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, Blly's opinion was at
once forthcoming. "Huhl Ye mont
jes' z well saved mos O. tn critters an
got them thievin red cusses too. wy
didn't ye, wen ye seed EN- ridin down
on We, 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
80 Bar" the next ranch--one of the
meanest, ugliest, most quarrelsome bull
lies who ever fourished a gdn-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. Huh!
That's them tenderfeet all over. They
think eff er man tries t. hev fun with
7em hyar tibet 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'ye pollygized too quick. Bob Hall
never had no sand.
All the same, there was an old story
70 the effect that once, when Billy had
been nnaccountably absent from the
ranch Tor three or four days, he had been
~ town, deyoting considerable attention
% keeping ont Of the belligerent Mr..
Halls way.
bnt Blllys opportunity came one day.
he mad been laid up week and was
stu lame As the result Of being ON the
. side next the ground when his pony
stumbled and fell one day, and was sit
ting ct the door one morning about II 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
10 the door we saw something was mn
for Dyer, the driver, looked excited.
.Mornin, gentlemen he said. And
then to Boss Fleming: Fleming, Tex
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 ! reckon
thre5ll be 'nough."
eeYU1s. 1.ao ~ s.0flrae " xyas ~. !.