The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1897-09-03

hrs. Drifter q
x Ba$ Fer Saw.
he Found Wild Bulls, Dry Rivers,
and ChigTes in Texas.
MDDIlAIlIRAANllADNANINv,yHI'Vlv.vI.

to ST course, it is all right" said Mrs.
therer, ''for Drifter to tell about the
way. he endured when he was the edi-
Buitata paper in Texas. never put in
TePor. time in my life. | expected that
kitfter would come home to me shot
thf of holes some night. When l was
won at his office reading the proofs of
be-. cunning little daily paper he got
ste it used to make my blood run cold
~ ,ear those men talk about gun PLAYS
t,and so had made up in somebody's
bloom.
l''Drifter treasured me by telling me
'at the crack of pistol did not al
avs mean that somebody had been hit,
ut you know what brave man Drifter
No, you don't either. You say you
do't know anything about the time he
sed our lives down in Texas? l don't
Tx l ever realized before Just how
rrageous Drifter is. You know had
seen a ranch nor herd of cattle
Sc arrived in Texas, and 1 begged
litter to take me where the real Pan
hdle cattle could be seen, so he took
n out to the stock yards beyond Fort
With.
Times were very, very hard down
tire, and the packing house was
lrl,sed, and there were no signs of life
lat the stock yards. We walked around
and around the huge Enclosure, and
Itried to imagine what it must be like
when the herds of Texas steers came in
= a4-o,,, tho Do n bon1Ia IVa bo5 croro o,,;+c
0 little distance from the high board
fence, and were admiring the scenery,
when some cows come strolling along.
We stood watching and admiring them
until about so or rs had passed us, when
all at once there doomed up before us
an immense Texas bull. His manner
was dignified and masterful. He looked
ct us, elevated his head, shifted, and my
heart gave jump.
THAT was when Drifter and his in
born bravery came to the front. 1t is
needless to say that was frightened.
i thought my last moment had come.
The fence of the stock yards must have
been so feet high; at least it looked so
TO me. Drifter afterward said that it
was not more than Is, but know that
the trees around it were not so high as
the fence. He grasped me by the hand
and said:
Little girl, run for the fence. Twill
stay here and protect you
Il was brought up in the country, and
know it is the height of foolishness to
run from a wild animal, so l fatty re-
fused. If we are going to die, we will
die together, Drifter,' said l, but the
best thing to do is to back slowly away
from that awful bull We backed
toward the fence, and the bull paced
toward us, never taking his eyes off us.
know could hear Drifter's heart beat,
but it must have been anxiety for me,
for he is not afraid of anything.
"'Get behind that tree he said, and
his voice sounded as if it was away off
somewhere, and felt as if we were. to
be separated forever. Reassuringly he
said:
81 will see that he does not touch
YOU With that he took out his little
pocket knife, opened the blade, which
was not over three inches long, and
said: Therel' with as much defiance
in his tone as if he had been behind
stone barricade and armed with a
Martini rifle. Somehow or other we
got to that fence at last. 1t was evil
dent that Drifter would not let me
take any chances alone, for he got
there as soon as | did, and if you ever
saw two people climb a high fence
in the quickest possible space of time,
It was Mr.. and Mrs. Drifter.
I'VE sat there on the top of the fence
until dusk, and Drifter never let go
of the knife. really believe that if the
bull had attacked me Drifter would
have stabbed him with that penknife.
In the evening, after | had mustered
up courage enough, we made our way.
keeping close by the fence, until we
reached little hotel connected with
the stock yards Drifter never said a
word about the adventure, and you
would not have thought he had done
anything at all remarkable, but know
that he saved my life from the wild
Texas bull
1t took Mrs. Drifter's friends some
time to rise to a proper appreciation
Of the courage displayed by her hus-
band in that time of danger, and after
she had famed herself vigorously, she
continued:
You ought to get Drifter to tell you
about the time we went out to the lake
near Fort Worth. | was just dying for
sight of body of water. 1t did seem
to me as if would dry up there in Tex
as unless l could get within sound Of
the oceans roar so Drifter did the best
be could. He took me out to pleas
ure resort about five miles from the
city, at a place called Arlington. The
trolley cars ran there, and the COM
pany made great fuss over the Airing
ton lake. | told Drifter would be sat
,isiied if | could spend few hours in
u sailboat out there. AT any rate,
would see body of water once again
In my life.
Well, we had our dinner at the hotel,
sand | said: Nov Drifter, let us get
fright out on that lake as quick as pos
lsIble.' The people in the hotel office
ltold Us in what direction TO walk to the
Flake, and we walked. We kept on walk
Ing, and not sign of lake was to
lhe seen. At last we found our way back
ito the trolley line. and asked one of
THE railroad men where the Arlington
lake was.
Oh, he said, l guess they have not
turned the water on yet. There isn't