The Somerset reporter., 1899-04-13

came the guns. an we all crowded
round Simpson to know who done it.
All we heard him say was Coyote. an
we made break for the door.
"Well we hunted thet town over
twixt thet an daylight all the low
Joints an Mexican dives, an finally
found out thet he'd taken his boss an
lit out north
"Then we supposed he wuz goin
after the old man, an there wuz the
durndest scramblin fur hosses you ever
see. an we rode hot an heavy fur the
ranch. Simpson said he'd send the body
right after us in a wagon.
1.-The boys from the Rancho Sabine
Joined us un made a party about 20
strong.
.As we turned the bend an came in
sight of the house Jim Barker sed,
Thank God. there the old man, an
we all felt easier When we refined in
around him, be sed. What you don
want more money, do your Then lookin
at our drippin bronchos No some poor
devil has stole boss an got to pay fur
it.
1--WE had swung down out of our
saddles, an the boys all looked at me,
an | knew I'd got to tell it, though / d
rather hev been drug by COW, but
there wuz no way out of 1t.
"He saw somethin wuZ up an knew
tibet Jack wuz gone. guessed thet II
concerned him, an be grabbed me by
the arm an sed: What's up. Amer
Out with it, Where is he? Is he hurtf
Well, it took the breath an all the wits
oct of me, an | blurted out: Yes.
Coyote killed him last night at the
Merino an then lit out north. We
thought he wuz after you. Simpsons
bringin Jack out now.
For a minute there wuz grip like
wise ON my arm, then his hand drop
ped, an half turnin away he commenced
talkin to himself.
"'Poor Jack lie always wuz moth
Ell s pet ao when he joined the army
how proud she wuzl He waz han some
in his uniform. Killed in a saloon
Thank God she's dead 7
lit seemed year to us as we shuffled
from foot to foot before he moved. Then
he gave a start like he wuz pullin him
self together an turned to us, the very
devil shinin out of his eyes. He looked
ten years older. but his hand went to
his hip an we knew he hedn't lost any
of the spunk he he'd when the Apaches
killed his pardner, Jim Ross.
"'Coyotel Why. he wuz here this
- hn
goin to work over east on the Santa
Ysabel. Boys Jack wuz NOR II life to
me- he wuz mothers pet an | must
kill thet snake. How many of you will
stand by me an help me hunt the cur
DOWN.
Every one of US swore we d not stop
till we strung him up.
"'Then get hosses out of the corral,
take plenty of fresh ones. Pack up your
grub. How soon will Simpson be here?
He ought to be here now. | an
swered.
I'm half an hour we rode out on
Coyote trail leavin the old man to fol
low. He wanted a last look at Jack. an
we didn't care to be around about thet
time, because we wuz anxious to have
a whirl at Coyote
1T wuz about two hours before he
caught up with us. He wuz sittin firm
in the saddle, his head up an his lips
pressed firm together. Barker pointed
to the trail. an he just nodded an put
spurs to his hoss.
Next mOrnin he had us up at 4, an
we struck out. We passed ranch where
Coyote he'd once killed cowboy. an
when we told about Jack the rancher
iAsisted on some of us whose hosses wuz
Winded takin some of his
Toward night we began to catch up
on our game an saw thet his boss must
be gettin tired We pounded away till
nigh 7 clock an then camped, cause
our ponies needed rest an we might
miss our man in the dark At daylight
we wuz in the saddle again. The old
man hadn't slept wink, but he kept
the lad
1T wuz 10 o. clock when we caught
sight of Coyote. He wuz ridin slow an
maxim for Humphreys peak. KNOWN
thet if he reached the mountains we
never could get him.
1--WE made a short cut fur the ford
thet lies az the base of thet bluff an
rode like the devil wuz after us, but
there wu2n't any of us could keep up
with the old man He wuz ridin big
black stallion thet he broke in the
spring-the fastest hoss in the country.
"Coyote saw us an realized it mean,
a race fur the ford. He he'd little the
best of us on distance, but he hedn t
calculated on the old mans black stall
lion when he turned around in the sad
die an waved his hand to us. There
wuz a cuss from every man as he set
tied deeper in the saddle an stuck spurs.
"How thet half breed devil could
ride! We were gainin slowly. but he
wuz much closer to the ford than we
wuz Still the old man WIZ 500 yards
ahead of us an his hoss goin full an
free. Pretty soon we saw puff Of
smoke heard a report, an the old man g
hat went off Fur minute he raised
his gun then lowered it, leaned for
ward an gave the black the spur.
Fur ten minutes we went on thet
way, hosses an men strainin every
nerve, when Barker's boss went down,
PLAYED out, an we left him swearin like
a pirate
within "A hundred wards of the ford