The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-10-03
THE LIE JOE TOLD.

NSNtANJp NN<A'3 JON AAAttJ AHNN@ @ANeeN SANA
settlers make occasional references to
the Savages, or the Savage brothers, as
they sometimes call them. This does
not refer to the time when the Indians
were in the country, although that time
is by no means so far distant as to be
beyond the memory of living man, nor
does it imply anything especially wild
and ferocious about the character Of the
men in question. 1t merely goes back
to the first half Of the eighties, when
two brothers of that name were among
the prominent inhabitants of that
sparsely settled district. In some coun-
tries events Of that period would be
considered comparatively modern, but
in western Texas they are ranked as
strictly ancient history.
1t seems, from a careful survey of the
facts in the case, that neither Of the
brothers was really a bad man at heart,
Notwithstanding the fact that great
many people who ought to know are
strongly inclined to think otherwise. 1t
is certain that one of them was as true
man as ever trod the soil of Texas, or
any other state, for that matter. All
who knew him agree that the final year
of his life, at any rate, was a year Of
such courage and self sacrificing hero
ism as one reads Of i'll books, but seldom
looks for in real life. The people Of
west Texas are not much prone to hero
worship, and whenever they agree that
man of their acquaintance is above
the average of humanity there is very
likely to be some basis for the belief.
Judging merely from physical appear
ances, one would have had little trouble
in deciding which of the twomen would
have been more likely TO prove OF heroic
mold. Bill, the younger, was man Of
magnificent physique, not unduly large,
but with muscles of such herculean
strength as perfect health and the free
life of western cowboy are apt to inn
part He was light compleXioned and is
said to have possessed q vigorous, manly
countenance, such as ought to have
made him more successful i'll his love
affairs than he really was. Joe, on the
other hand, was as much a picture of
weakness and deformity as his brother
was Of health and strength. He was not
only q Qealled faced, slender slip of a
man, but he was cripple as we'll
When he was years old and Bill only
s, a cyclone had struck the log house i'll
which the boys and their parents were
living
The mother and father were killed,
but when the neighbors came to look
through the ruins of the cabin they
found Joe crouched on the bed with his
limbs spread out in such a manner as to
protect his baby brother. A heavy log
had fallen across his right foot and
right wrist, crushing them both very
badly, but Bill was still sleeping in alb
solute Inconsistencies of the existence
of any such disturbing affairs as cy-
clones. AS q result of his injuries at
the time Joe was clubfOoted through
the whole of his life, and his right fore
arm had big knot on it and crook
that made his right hand turn out when
it should have turned in. 1t is said that
Joe was proud of his deformities rather
than otherwise, presumably because
they had been incurred in the defense of
his baby brother, and that Bill was, for
the most part, tenderly rcgardful of the
brother who had sacrificed health and
almost life for him.
Naturally enough, Bill was the more
prosperous of the two. Before he was
80 he owned a considerable bunch" of
cattle and leased quite body of land
i'll the eastern part of Baylor county as
a ranch Joe was his line rider, and in
that capacity was enabled to do great
deal of such work as did not require
any great amount of mere muscular
strength Everything worked smoothly
with them until May Conley came to
live with a married brother Of hers who
lived only few miles from the Savage
ranch. She was not a highly edu-
Gated girl by any means, and it is
doubtful if she was more than fairly in
telligent, but she was pretty, and she
was fickle--and that tells the whole
story. In this case Joe was the first
victim He met May at one Of the big
camp meetings that are common in that
country in the fall of the year, and aft
er that he was very pronounced in his
attentions to her for several months.
Then his attentions ceased as suddenly
and abruptly as they had begun. Peo-
pie noticed this and they also noticed
that just about that time Bill began go
ing to see her.
bill took it up just where Joe laid
it down" remarked one cowboy to an
other during one of the intervals i'll a
dance on one occasion.
NAV, that ain t it,, responded his
friend. Il think Joe laid it down just
where Bill took it up
One day, as the two brothers and one
or two others were engaged i'll branding
some Of Bills yearlings, the subject
was brought up