Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02

L
buckskin pony remained in his down.
cast posture and allowed the New Mexican
| to saddle him INTERESTINGLY, merely cock
other back-and watching behind through
the tail of his slitted eye. 1 was standing
alongside old Joe during this peaceful over
| grim and ominous.
Charley led his mount out from the cor
raj to the fiat, andjamming his finely work.
ca Mexican hat Own ger his eyes, vaulted
walked up immediatel& and took the buck.
not wildly and ferocfdksly, as tina bay had
done, but In a calm. matter-of-fact sort Of
gait. just as assthss horse was might a HAi have
galloped or trotted. sUdfd this beast buck,
| and for two blessed ih1urs maintained the
pace without fAlteE Nor in all that
| heart-breaking period sdid his linsal prog
ress exceed 100 yardsf It was most aston
tshing. not one superfHous movement was
made. he simply leptse6 and on. each jump
with his head where his tail had started
from. and vice versa
This is what the cowpunchers call chang
Ing ends. and 1t is not difficult to imagine
round sensation on the rider. The buck
Ing was neithsr high nor fierce, but the
strain Of that continuous swirl must have
been racking. There was one slight varia-
ton which the scrubby bucksktn allowed
himself in his system. though this was of
such nature as to be rather discOncerting
to rider with head already far from
steady. It vas to turn in the air after the
| usual fashion. but instead Of alighting on
stiffened legs, to fall clumsily on one side,
the pony saving himself by bending fore
leg back under him. 1t WAS an ugly trick
to evade, and the black New Mexican must
have been clear grit to hold hts own so
long. His face grew pallid and drawn, and
after while his stomach revolted.
At the close OF the second hour he was
helpless; his Will was still in the thing, but
his body was limp and ineffective, and the
blood trickled from his noss and ears. The
pony still worked with the monotonous
regularity of a steam exhaust, and the end
was unquestionably rear.
When it came, the man was sprawled to
one SIDE and the horse Immediately lapssd
into his usual dropping attitude of watch
Rawlins, who lay Just as he had fallen, too
weak to rise. But he waved us back; his
face was malignant with shame and anger,
and distorted by pain; altogether. with the
pallor and the blood-streaked beard, he was
not an exhilarattng sight Rolling over to
his side, he raised himself partially on an
elbow, and before we could close in on him.
had drawn his Colts and fired. The big
gun spoke sharply. and with a moan that
was almost human the bucksktn pony
lurched heavily to the ground.
We reached Rawlins in time to take the
smoking revolver FROM ibis nerveless grasp;
but as he fell back again, heard him NUT
ter thickly: There. curse We. y mud-skin-
ned hell-hound! Yell wear no more men
outv'
The PROSTATE bronco busters friends had
taken him up, and Dillon was in the midst
of a brilliant address, awarding with much
ornate language the purse to Curlew, when
an Incident in form of anticlmax took the
floor from the speaker, and wound up the
sport with a hearty burst of good-natured
exclamation.
1 had the history of this incident after
ward. 1t seems that the boys of the town
the Juveniles, I mean-had organized and
schemed to place an unregistered and un-
expected entry In the contest; and their
scheme was eminently successful.and
amusing The camp supported little
ha]f-breed rat of about twelve years, q
marvel in his love for, and command over,
horses; he must have been born and rear
ed upon their backs, SO easily did he be-
come them. 1t was this urchin, Pedro by
name. who was elected to represent the
younger faction in the riding. There was
one difficulty that would have baffied most
boys; no bad horse was forthcoming, but
Pedro was so extremely Indifferent as to
the nature or build of his mount that even
this was an easy adjustment. At the ex-
IRENE upper end of the town was BUTCH
ers cow corral. and in 1t confined bunch
of cattle new from the range; one Of these,
great red and white four-year-old steer,
was selected. and Pedro eagerly started on
his ride to fame. 50,
Dillon was getting we'll warmed to his
much prepared and patriotic grafton, when
Pedro and the frantic steer appeared, rush.
Ing down the pitch from the town above.
There was an unrestrained howl from the
assemblage. in which even Dillon joined,
and the dirty, daredevil brat shot out an
answering grin from the careening ba TX
of his astonshed steer 1t was thing to
make that old gulch culver with laughter.
Some one had dressed the boy especially
for the game: he had on a pair of heavy
fringed, full-sized snaps, at least eight
inches too long for him, and only kept
from entirely covering his feet by the
shanks of a pair of huge Mexican spurs,
all bells and bangles. His impish face was
surmounted by a five-inch sombrero, q
heavy quirt in one hand and in the other
coil of rawhide lariat, which was looped
only over the steers horns. And how that
animal was twisting himself, head down
barnacle, by what means 1 have no con-
lecture. 1t is well known that steer has
no wfthers, that he cen buck through the
cinches of any saddle. and cowboy with
out his saddle Is not formidable. Yet there
was that lean young heather. hampered
by the awkward trappings they had put
on him. perched on his arching, ungirdled
steed. with all the pert composure Of a
tomtit on a pump handle. which is old
Joes simile.
Cum AFT av that We young limb" shout
ed Dillon. as the steer rushed madly by
US; the boy waited, however, till the crowd
was passed, and then. skillfully twitching
his rope from the steers horns, slid HARM
lessly to the ground. He could scarce walk
for the grotesQue accouterments. but when
he did reach US, the boys greeted him riot
ously.
Give the money to the kid" said Cur
lew, laconically. That's trick I can't
do and, midst clamors of commendation
and assent the breed urchin was given the
purse. CARLOS PILGRIM.
ID