Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-06-25

line ron Texas.
II wuz rldin' four year foh Colonel
Benson He ulster rent range from oil l
Chief Bushyhead and drive the cattle
off in the dry mesquite up to the nation
an get EN- roin' 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 we wuz thar, two Injum famblys
camped 'boGt mile past us at the Need
les, three sharp rocks settin' on little
mound at bumped up all Nv a sudden
on the prarah, and doggoped If they
didn't look like they wuz needles pint
in up outen a green pincushin.
Thar wuz a mighty pcart little
squaw in the bunch, pickin dewber-
rIes alongside her grandmam an pap
She wuz prItty as specliled pup an |
took a notion to so over thar eyenin's
after roundup, and set round drinkin'
connahany an joshin' the little matus-
ka. She'd be a beadin moccasns an
I'D laff heap at me talkin' Cherokee.
never meant a mite NV harm; reckon
| done 1t more to devil a young buck
at 'ud be hanging round an scowlin'
very ferociOus.
well, 1t wu2 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 'cm punched.
They KEEP on movin' conztant and he'll
lowtn', 1t was a quare sight to see them
thousands Nv horns tossin' an wavin'.
l wuz clean tuckered out, an some
skeery-lookin' clouds wuz comm up in
the west, but lowed to say adios to
the matuska, an throwed my saddle
on a fresh boss an lit out.
Bout half way hear q rustlin' in a
little thicket NV pawpaws, an some
thin jumped out sudden, maxim Dandy
jump an squat. Twas the squaw.
Go back says she a pantn' like
lizard, go back, Heron Feather heap
mad, kill YOU
Thar come a streak NV chain light
min, rippin' down the sky, an big
drops nv rain spattered on her
skeered face, She wuz in a turrible
way. My dander flew right up. I reck-
on not, says /, i lows TO come in an
call the red gentleman's hand
Put she grabbed holt NV Dandy's Lri-
die an swung to it, Begin and cryin'.
1t wuz thunderin' and lightnin', strom-
In lickety split, an thar we stood pala-
yerin' till all at once | hearn turriole
roarin'-a beatin' an poundiE', at
wuzn't thunder an rain. My horse rar-
ed an snorted an bust loose from the
girl an stood tremblin'.
my GodH | holowered, the cattle's
stampeded" ! give one look back. Fob
n 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 wuz too clost.
We'd got ter lead the stampede!
81 reached down an swung the squaw
up benin me.
"'The Needles says she, very low
and calm, as she caught me roun' the
middle, They wuz nigh half mile off,
but thar wuz a chance fun us if Dandy
KEEP the lead. never thrOwed my leg
over a gamer boss. He tore over the
grou.. like racer.
ut wuz thunderin' and lightnin' like
the judgment day, an hailstones as big
as hens eggs wu2 peltin' our heads an
shoulders, an drove them wild steers
go 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 IN. His sides
wuz heavin' an he WIZ lungin' along in
a 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 my throat when
thought NV my poor old man in Mis-.
sOurah.
"Jest then the lightnin' glared agin;
we wuz right in the Injuh camp, an the
Needles wu2 loomin up before us. l
give one rousin' yell, an bearin' my
weight on his neck, jammed 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 I wuz knocked over an
didn't know nothin' more.
when | come to, the stars wuz
shinin' an she was bathin' a 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. II it had
MT been fun them strikin' the boss fust
and then the hill splittin' em into two
bands I'd shorely passed in my checks.
cat 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.
Il fenced up all the range at my wife
wuz lowed ia whole lot in them days.,
an in a year or two l wuz drivin' my
own steers up from the Brazos.
'Tm 46 my next birthday, but feel