Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1892-03-11

w for Waning OF life that s soon done
" for his Kit regretted by none:
v outh of the ns ton. such weakness is crime;
n ealousy turn from the tempter in time
! THE MAN WHO DRAGGED.
His name was Phineas Ellsworth,
but we boys at the M Ranch called
him BILLY Brag," for reasons which
ten minutes conversation with him
would make obvious, even to total
stranger. To say that he was opin-
donated, is drawing it very mild, and
to state that the chiefest OF his opln-
| ions was the particularly excellent one
he held of himself, is superfuous.
Those were hnmdrum, 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 relllafKaOle ueRree.
Once in Il while something would
| happen TO relieve the monotony but
! Billy, somehow or other, was never on
| deck to show what he was worth. He
ALWAYS turned up afterwards with :;
Huh you galoots jes make ne ache
all over Wy, any bloomin' tender
foot ed tol' ye bettern that :. or,
That wuz fool trick. Now, ef Id
/ BEN thar. Id a did so an So or,
Huh dye call that anythin' ter
menshun? Wy, back thar, on tn
keya Paha, we used { let tn kids an
wmmen do that kin 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 strays, fell in with
Maverick steer feeding in n coulee,
! and, thinking at first that ii was an
"HXn "critter, rode toward 1t. But
! the beast was what Is known as
bad uu, and. horns down and bel
! lowing 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 place herding clouds;
| but he yanked his gun and let go,
catching 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 expe-
! rience. but there was triumphant
tone in his voice as he told OF his sue
| cessful shot from the back Of buck
ing pony.
Billy listened with superior air.
Huh he remarked, disdalnfully,
"whadje wanter kill i'm fer? le cd
| les z well creased an roped i'm.
| Some folks never hev no rgard fer
propty. Waste not, want nothin'.'
We all groaned and proceeded to
congratulate Gale on his luck, but
! Billy did not seem to care. He was
getting used to our irreverence. 1t
may be noted, however, that when we
tried, next morning, TO get Billy TO
take a galloping shot at the stripes In
a blanket nailed on a shed door 10
/ see how near he could have come to
"creasing'' mad steer from the back
of fool pony, our proposition NET
/ with scorn. There ye go agin, said
/ Billy. What's tn blame use o vast
ing er whole lot O cartridges jes t con
vince er mess o gabblin' egiots that
er thing kin be did Aw, go Off an
trv poundn' san in er rat hole fer yer
/ wits. Bet ye carn't even do that.
And he rode of, much offended.
When Joe Fleming, brother Of the
boss, and Hank Barr had a brush
/ with half dozen Indians, and just es-
caped with their lives, leaving bunch
of fat cattle 10 be run of by Uncle
/ Sam's dear, sweet proteges, Billys
/ opinion was at once Forthcoming.
Huh Yemout jes z well saved mos
O. th' critters an got them thieNin
red cusses, too. Wv didn't ye. wen
We seed 'em ridin' down on We, jes'
kill three or four critters, pile EN- up
fer a barricade, an give tn red devils
reg'lar HI? That'd ben bettern
losin' tn hull bunch"
: When Bob Hall, cowboy from the
"3 Bar the next ranch-one OF the
meanest. ugliest, most quarrelsome
bullies who ever flourished gun
got killed at the hotel in town by an
unofending tenderfoot, whom he had
tried TO compel TO take drink, Billy
as usual, had something 10 say.
Huh, That's them tenderfoot all
over. They think ef er man tries I
hey fun with 'em hyar thet they've
got t shoot, an shoot quick. Tn ga
! n l.