Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1901-08-08
HE COWED THE LION.
THE DARBY BELTED ALL THE FIGHT
OUT OF MONARCH.

turned to the Snowman After n
| Railroad Smash Up.
"It's queer how animals will act in a
railroad wreck" said the boss canvas
man. Nov there WIS tn Saberlee
wreck. Six cars wus in tn ditch an
half O. TIL shows dens wrs under 'em.
| There wus one cage O. monkeys mash
| ed fiat that we knowed of, an a lot O.
tn other animals had took t. tn woods,
little animals zebras an wolves an deer
an such like. Nothin t. do any harm
eNceptin tn big lion, Monarch. His
den WIS bottom up in a little puddle O.
ditch water, With hole stove in it big
enough t let out a COW, an Monarch
himself wus gone with the little ami
| mails.
well, it wus all off with maxim tn
| stand that day, SO we put up tn runs,
| got TIL cookhouse outfit down on TIL
ground, had breakfast an started in t.
dig tn stuff out O. tn ditch. Th' rail
road company's wreckin crew come
along t. help us, an we'd got purity we'll
under way when tall, black buck
darby come out O. tn woods an stood
round rubberin.
Nobody paid any attention t. him fer
awhile, but by'n'by Mack, tn chande-
| lier man, spoke t. him, kind O. kidded
him about bein handsome, err some such
CUFF. 1t wus Missouri. an he wus a real
black buck. Didn't have anything t.
hoc Il I,,'f Ill
| fact fer awhile. Jes' shuffied round in
his cowhide boots from one foot t. tn
other an grinned bashfullike. By'n'by
when he saw we didn't roast him hard
he kind O. took courage.
Did any O. you gemmen losed a gil
raffe?' he says.
'Giraffe?' Mack says. No; we new
err owned no such thing with this trick
Why?
"'Well. boss, All done foun' some
thin up in nah 'tato patch this mawn-
in, an All lowed as maybe hit 'longed
t. you ALL
Mack got interested. 'Wot does it
look like?'
'Lawdy, boss. hits mos monstrous
Nevah did see no sech ole thing befoh,
sab. Big cat vahmint with yaller eyes,
an hit done come a-snahlin an a-spittin
at me soon as All got out O. bald
"'Where is it?' says Mack.
"'Oh. All cawt hit all rightly. Done
| put q rope roun' hits neck an tied hit
t nah cabin
Go an git it an fetch it down here
says Mack. Then tn wreckin crew got
a tackle roun' another den, an we for
got all about TIL darby
Maybe it wus 20 minutes. an maybe
it wus half an hour when we heard a
| noise over on tn road amongst TIL trees
"a noise kinder like niger drivin q
mule or like somethin bein driven. 1t
come nearer an louder an louder an
nearer. Everybody stopped work an
| listened. an tn ole man himself come
out O. his car with his napkin hangin
roun' his neck.
"'What is that% he pipes up in his
snappy way. Who is that out there :?
Go an see what that racket is. some O.
you boys. Hurry up. now
Nobody paid any attention t. him,
| an tn noise got nearer an nearer. In
a couple O. minutes cloud O. dust
sailed out from behind tn trees When
it got within hundred yards O. TIL
track, 1t cleared up bit. an there wus
that big. black niger with a rope in
one NIT an piece O fence rail in tn
other. On tn other end O. tn rope wus
Monarch.
"Of all tn mean. sneakin. under
handed cat animals that ever Travelled
with circus Monarch wus TIL worst
an a powerful fighter when he had any
sort O show. Sometimes we'd put our
hands on tn canvas cover O. his cage
when he had t run over tn train. an
there never wus time. day or night,
that he hadn't slap ready fer you
well. that darby wus a-ammin
him with his chunk O. fence an talkin
mule talk t him wuss than anything
you ever saw in tn south.
"'C'm on long heah. you yaller
eyed devil he wus sayin. 'Ah don
know what you is. but you ain goin
snahl ner spit at me. nohow. Cm on
long theh. you big sassy vahmint.' an
with that he'd lam him with his piece
ieuSe al iel uflNe WIN us CONVINCE
boots.
An you kin bet your life Monarch
wus a-comin. |. never saw critter SO
cowed as he wus. Why, when that mig
ger brought him right in amongst us
there wus nobody that took tn trouble
t open up gangway. an reckon any
young one could "a took him by tn
scruff O. tn neck an turned him over
on his back. He wus jest great. over
grown pet tomcat, with all tn fight an
meanness walloped out O. him.
Wed yanked his den up on to tn
road bed with tn hole in TIL end
butted against wagon. TIL door wus
open. an when Monarch saw his happy
little home waitin there fer him he
Jerked tn rope out O. tn darky's hand