The Yale expositor., 1896-06-19
/ dived into it. ATS cowboy and sheep

an seen my own coat hangln' on the
wall! / wuz that dazed an tarnal fool
! ish at I'd been stealin' my own beans.
AT let me out. l shook my job when
the packer cam round an made a bee
line fob Texas.
Il wuz ridin' four year fob Colonel
Benson. He ulster rent range from old
Chief Bushyhead and drive the cattle
of In the dry mesquite UP to the nation
an got 'em rolin' fat. We alters stayed
over regular at Antelope Wells, jest af-
ter We passed the divide. They wuz the
blamdest lot ov springs 20 ever seen,
squirtin' up all round an maxim the
rankest kind NV green feed One time
at Wa wuz thar, two Injum fambly3
campcd bout a mile past us az the Need
les, three sharp rocks settin' on little
mound at bumped up all Nv sudden
on tie prarah, and doggoned If they
didn't look like they wuz needles pint
in VI, outen a green pincushin.
Thar wuz mighty peart little
squaV in the bunch, pickin' dewber-
ries alongside her grandmam an pap.
She Wuz pritty as specified pup an /
took a notion to go over thar evenin's
after roundup, and set round drinkin'
connahany an joshin' the little matus-
ka. She'd be a beadin' moccasins an
'ud lsff heap at me talllin' Cherokee.
l never meant mite Nv harm; reckon
l done it more to devil young buck
at 'ud be hanging round an scowlin'
very ferocious.
well, it wuz lowerin' an sultry the
night afore we wuZ to pull stakes, an
the cattle 'uz contrary as mules. 1t wuz
plumb dusk fore we got 'em punched.
They KEEP on movin' conztant and he'll
lowin'. 1t was quare sight TO see them
| thousands NV horns tossin' an wavin'.
l WI. clean tuckered out, an some
skeery-lookin' clouds wuz comm up in
the west, but lowed to say adios to
the natuska, an throwed my saddle
on a fresh boss an lit out.
| Bout half way hear q rustlln in q
little thicket NV pawpaws, an some
| thin jumped out sudden. maxim Dandy
jump an squat. Twas the squaw.
Go back says she a pantin' like a
lizard, go back, Heron Feather heap
mad, kill you
Thar come a streak wv chain light
min, rippin' down the Sky, an big
| drops NV rain spattered on her
skeered face. She WIZ in a turrible
way. My dander flew right up. 4 reck-
on not says |. 4 lows TO come in an
call the red gentleman's hand
But she grabbed holt nv Dandy's bri
die an swung to it, Begin and cryin'
It wuz thunderin' and lightnin', strom-
in lickety split, an thar We stood pala-
verin' till all at once / hearn a TURF ole
roarin'-a beatin' an poundin', at
wuzn't thunder an rain. My horse rar-
ed an snorted an bust loose from tho
girl an stood tremblin.
my God! holowered, the cattle's
stampededv l give one lock back. Fob
minute it wuz light as day, an seen
the whole herd comm like whirlwind
an shakin' the earth. We couldn't git
out'n their way, they WIZ too clost.
| We'd got ter lead the stampede!
II reached down an swung the squaw
up benin me.
1.-The Needless says she, very low
and calm, as she caught ME roun the
middle. They wuz nigh half a mile off,
| but thar wuz a chance fun us if Dandy
KEEP the lead. l never throwed my reg
| over q gamer boss. He tore over the
groun' like a racer.
at wuz thunderin' and lightnin' like
the judgment day, an hailstones as big
| as hens eggs wuz peltin' our heads an
shoulders, an drove them wild steers
| so plumb crazy at they WIZ tromplin'
down the thickets like grass. Last the
| double load wuz too much for the pony
an he begin to slack up. His sides
wuz heavin' an he wuz lungin' along in
| heavy, uncertain gait He wuz play
ed out. They kept gainin'; peared like
we could feel their hot breath BLOWN
| on us. We give up to die under them
| hoofs. The little squaw was game clar
| through an never made whimper, but
big lump come in nv throat when |
thought Nv my poor old man in Mis-
sourah.
Jest then the lghtnin' glared agin;
we wuz right in the Injun camp, an the
Needles wuz loomin' up before us. I
give one rousin' yell, an bearin' my
weight on his neck, damned my spurs
clean through my pony's hide. He give
two or three long jumps an staggered
an fell as he got to the rocks. | grab
bed the girl an showed her clar up onto
the hill, then l wuz knocked over an
didn't know nothin' more.
when ] come to. the stars WIZ
shinin' an she was bathin' cash in
my head with water from the spring.
Old Dandy lay thar dead, on it I'D been
a close call fun me. My ribs wuz stove
in an my right arm broken. If it had
MT been fun them strilxin' the boss fust
and then the hill splittin' 'em into two
bands I'd shorely passed in my checks.
"'At settled it. Them rampagin'
steers trompled the life out'n the old
folks fore they knowed what wuz COM
in, an the poor little thing didn't have
no one to swing to but me.
II fenced up all the range at my wife
wuz lowed "a whole lot In them days.,
op, In, tuyo Y Irsx ~ "