The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-16

to how much it cost for two people to live in New York;"
 The COW puncher showed every symp- tom of being excited, but he disap- pointed the poet. The poet rarely has great emotions himself, but he makes a good deal of copy 0Nt of the emotions into which other people are betrayed in his presence. The COW puncher sud denly cooled off, however, after a fash ion of his own.
 Texas Is a great state," he remark ed, and lighted a cigarette.
 How about that scar?" said the Boys Own.
 "Well. I was going to tell you. As said, I was sitting there writing @ let ter-a love letter-when I felt some thing sort of tickle my left hand, which was resting on the table. l kind of moved it a little, involuntarily. l did not think anything about it. Supposed it was fly. But in a few minutes my finger began to pain me, and when l looked in that direction, there, if you please, was 8 vinigaroon sitting there and fattening on my blood. Whats vinigaroon? We'll the Mexicans call 'em sure death,' and in about five min utes l was ready to believe they deserv ed the name. My hand sWelled and turned black. In few hours my whole ann was swollen and as black as my coat-or my prospects.
 T didn't know what to do for the blamed thing, and I was miles from everywhere and everything, except the vinigaroon, which had promptly kill | ed on principle. l smoked and walked l the floor and tried to think of things | I had read about what to do in emer- | gencies, but the only course of treat ment I could remember was to roll the patient on a barrel. That didn't seem to fit my case, and, besides, who would l do the rolling, anyway. The fellows | had all gone off to the ranch, where we l occasionally put In our Sundays, and | my only hope was that some of them would come home during the day in- stead of waiting until night.
 About the middle of the afternoon ar | old plainsman came loping along, and | didn't waste time or words in telling him about my difficulty Those old fellows never took any course in first aid to the injured but they could give | whole lot of lectures on What to Dc ! When You've Got Any Old Thing the Matter with You He looked at my hand, and then he said:
 "'Oh, yes! we'll fix that all right.
 "He whipped out his knife and whist. led happily to himself the while. First he made a lengthwise cut where the bite was and then he made crosswise cut In the same spot Then he pull ed the skin well back so as to leave 6 good opening. and, taking his powder horn, he poured a good charge of gun powder into the cut. He kept right or whistlng, too, as he scratched matcf and waited for it to get into a gooC blaze. Then he made me hold my hant out at good distance, touched off tht gunpowder. and there I was. He clean ed it out and dressed 1t, and although I had to hold my hand up in sling above my head for several days, Tn none the worse for the experience, ex cpt for the scar"
 The Boys Own coughed with som embarrassment as the COW puncher fin ished
 That's very interesting" he said.
 Couldn't you do better than that, growled the poet, after a weeks prep aration?"
 NO, nor after whole years eitheri' said the cowpuncher. Tt is over a yea since it happened.
 Well observed the poet, "as ou
 guileless friend here remarked, it i very interesting. Though I think yol might have done better" The COW puncher seemed about t
 get excited, but suddenly shrugged hi
 shoulders.
 Texas is g, great state,' was all tha , he said--New York Sun.