Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-01-25

o her for a breathing spell, and We Ina | a
good look at the maverick.
lie certainly was an odd looking crea-
ture. In color he was curious notified
roam, with large spots Of yellowish white.
His back curved upward at point back Of
the shoulders, for severa. inches. and he
had long, sinewy legs and great hoofs.
And such a nose, It was something like
that Of a veteran moose, only more eXag-
gerated in it's curve, and less acceutuatrd
by the lower lip, which was not so promi-
nent As the same feature in the moose. He
was sufficiently homcly, however, To fright
en- almost any animal but the redoubtable
Jerry.
Presently the two gladiators began to
walk in a circle which gradually diminish
ed as they walked. Both were bleeding
freely from their wounds, but both looked
ready to continue. In our excitement we
forgot all about Jerry's value as the head
of herd, and Fleming, thinking only of
the animals fighting qualities, calculated:
"Scribc, TN bet ten that Jerry wins !'
] took the bet. The stranger was not so
heavy nor so formidable looking as Jerry,
but he seemed to have plenty of "sand'
and agility, and vas certainly tactcan of
/ high merit
/ had hardly accepted the bet when the
/ fighters, in response TO a mighty roar of
/ defiance from Jerry, came together What
a crash. There was not much to be seen
/ but cloud of dust and a couple of great,
shadowy forms struggling, butting, and
! thrusting for several minutes. Then, sud
denly, they emerged. The maverick had
evidently found Jerry's weak spot, for the
/ titled foreigner was retreatng, tail TO the
foe with much more haste than dignity
. tpbiln tho ppuunnrpr almost pVbangfpl
stood on the field he had won and gave a
roar Of satisfaction.
"By Jovc!' said Fleming "cts rope
that chap. What fighter he isl"
This was not much trouble, for the NAV
erick was almost ready to drop, and, after
our horses had been induced to behave
themselves Fleming and | surrounded
him and led him triumphant,y home, send
ing couple of boys after Jerry, who was
sadly in need of repairs.
Strange to relate, Julius, as he was
christened, was an entirely different crea-
ture in captivity from the savage he had
shown himself to be when roaming around
according to his own cratic notions. In
the little pasture where he was kept no
hard working OK could have been mider.
Given his frcedom-or, rather, taking it
once in a whilc-he was the same fcrocious,
]
how to account for this. Nobody tried to,
but il was an accepted fact that, when
Julius made his escape, there were lively
times getting him back again, although he
seldom went far from home.
But Julius chiefly distinguished himself
the summer after his capture. The stock
men in our vicinity had been missing an
animal or two quite often, and it was re-
marked that there were always a number
of losses Of this kind at or about the same
time. There was no doubt that there were
"rustlersn about, and doing excellent
work too, with considerable profit to them
selves. There were no Notwithstanding
strangers in the neghbOrhood who seemed
to need watching, and, as time passed, it
became apparent that somebody near home
was in league with the thieves. The
thefts became more frequent and larger,
and this continued until every stockman in
that section was wrought up to the pitch
of desperaton hut yet no thief, and no
clew to him or them. A couple of them
were sighted near Harden's one night, and
his men took several shots at them, but
the "rustlers," being splenddly mounted
got away.
Down the Five Mile, several miles from
the stage crossing lived two men, Bryan
and Morse by name. They had small
ranch and a few hundred head of cattle
and seemed to exist very comfortably
This latter fact was hard to explain for
some time.
One night, late in the summer, Shorty
Fleming, riding seeply round small
bunch of cattle which had become sepa-
rated from the main herd, and were far TOO
distant from the latter to be rounded up
that night, was suddenly reused by having
his horse shot under him, and finding him
self pinned to the ground by the animals
body. Shorty was full of pluck, and en-
deavored to the best of his ability, to make
the shots in his revolver count; but the
rustlers-there were two of them-suc-
ccPded IN driving off the cattle, leaving the
unfortunate yOungster to eXtricate himself
and walk home, "A matter of seven or eight
miles
Near Bryan and Morse's crossing, few
hours later, two men lay beside a campfire.
| One of them seemed to be i'm pain. II is
not one of the most pleasant things i'm the
world to have a 44-bullet in ones shoulder
A short distance away a Mexican boy of
about sixteen stood guard over a bunch of
cattle.
3 Presently he glanced toward the east,
) and, seeing that daylight was very near,
rode over to the fire and spoke TO the men.
lhey grunted, ana the one VINO had been
) asleep sat up and rubbed hi, eyes There
was a sudden cOmmotion Something huge
! and terrible, with flaming red eyes, crashed
through the underbrush directly toward
them. The Mexican, terrified, gave a
shrek, turned his pony, and fled. He may
. be running yet, for he was never seen in
, those parts afterward. There were plenty
/ of trees at hand, and the two men lost no
time in getting into the branches of the
nearest one. 1t was really astonishing
how the wounded chap could climb.
p They were none too soon, for they were
hardly out of reach when Julius, for ne
a it was, was snortng and paving at the foot
e of their perch. The wounded man was
1 partly undressed, and had left his arms by
D the fire. The other had his revolver, but
, had left his belt behind in the hurry
, Custom had made him careless He must
e have been nervous, or else it was the dark
4 ness that spoiled his aim, for out of theSiN
b shots only one touched Julius, and thai
y was mere scratch on the flank. For sew.
eral long hours the two men remained in
y that tree, Julius standing guard very near
4 Then, about 8 o'clock, a party of a dozen
n or fifteen men happened that way, intent
N on business. They saw the bunch OF
III, "HX" cattle, and heard Julius mutterinl
D. sl the timber They followed the sound
a aaw Iulius and the besieped BryaI