The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1901-11-15
!; BILLY BRAG:

1
His name was Phineas Ellsworth,
but we boys at the "HX" ranch called
minutes conversation with him would
| make obvious even to a total stranger.
To say that he was opiniOnated is
dra wing it very mild, and to state that
the chiefest of his opinions was the
particularly excellent one he held Of
himself is superfluous.
Those were humdrum, monotOnous
days at the I'M" and there was scant
opportunity for Billy to exhibit the
courage, prowess, skill. ability and so
forth which-we had his own oft re-
peated statements for it-he possessed
to a remarkable degree.
Once in awhile something would
happen to relieve the monotony, but
Billy somehow or other was never on
deck TO show what he was worth. He
always turned up afterward with:
Huh! Ye galoots jes' make me ache
all over! Wy. any bloomin' tenderfoot
cd "a tor We better'n thatv' or. '"That
/ uH iOOi tiNh. -NVNs CA OCSA
thar I'd "a did so an so:" or, Huh!
Dye call that anythin' ter menshun?
Wy. back thar on tn Keya Paha we
used ter let tn kids an wimmen do
that kind O. work.
And so it went for nearly q year,
and, though we invented many a plan
to give Billy an opportunity to show
his worth. he managed on one pretext
OF another to keep out of our snares.
One day Gale Smelling, who was out
looking up some stays, fell in with a
maverick steer feeding in a coulee and,
, thinking at first that it was an 'HX''
critter. rode toward it. But the beast
was what is known as a bad un."
and, horns down and believing with
rage. he turned and charged on the
startled cowboy. Gale tried to turn his
pony and run, but the animal was
green and only reared and snorted
! Gale thought he was about to take q
place herding clouds, but he yanked
his gun and let go. catching the steer
right between the eyes and dropping
it not more than ten feet away.
Gale was q bit new in the business
and he was rather pale when he rode
up to the ranch and related his expert
|, ] ence, but there was n triumphant tone
In his voice as he told of his successful
shot from the back Of bucking pony.
81 Billy listened with a superior air
"Huhr' lie remarked disdainfully
1 "what We wanter kill Tim fer? Ye cd
|, jes'z well creased an roped i'm. Some
folks never hev no r'gard fer prop'ty
Waste not, want nothin'."
We all groaned and proceeded to con
. gratulate Gale on his luck. but Bill die
not seem to care. He was getting useC
!. to our irreverence. 1t may be noted
9 however, that when We tried mex
morning to get Billy to take gallopint
7 shot at the stripe in blanket nailed
( on to shed door, to see how near ht
could have come to "creasing" a mac
steer from the back of a fool pony, oul
u proposition met with scorn. There "
o go ag'in." said Billy. whats tn blame
e use O. wastin' er whole lot o. cartridge!
jes' ter convince er mess O. gabblin
u egiots that er thing kin be did? Aw. g
p off an try poundin' SAN in er rathol'
O fer yer wits. Bet We carn't even d.
that" And he rode off. much offended.
When Joe. Fleming. brother of tn,
boss, and Hank Barr had brush will
half q dozen Indians and just escaped
s with their lives. leaving bunch Of ia
q cattle to be run off by Uncle SAM
dear, sweet proteges. Billys opinion
was at once Forthcoming. Huh! Y,
mout jes' z well saved mos O. tn crit
ters an got them thievin' red cusse
too. wy didn't We, wen ye seed ZEN
ridin' down on We, jes' kill three or fou
9, critters an pile 'em up fer er barricade
That'd ben better'n losin' tn hui
bunch"
When Bob Hall. cowboy from tn
81 IS Bar" the next ranch-one OF tn
of meanest, ugliest, most quarrelsome bul
n lies who ever fiourished a gun-got kill
a ed at the hotel in town by an unoffend
o. ing tenderfoot whom he had tried I
% compel to take drink, Billy, as usua
:. had something to say. Huh! That
them tenderfeet all over. They thin
D. eff er man tries ter hey fun with 'er
'r hyar that they've got ter shoot. ar
Of shoot quick. TIL galoot oughter've je:
q took Bob Hill by tn scruff O tn pant
d an kicked or throwed i'm out. an Bo
,r 'id've pollygiZed too quick. Bob Ha
q, never had no sand"
All the same. there was an old stor
to the effect that once when Billy ha
ID been unaccountably absent from th
p ranch for three or four days, he ha
le been in town. devoting considerable
s, tention to keeping out of tna belligerer
of Mr.. Falls way.
9. But Billy's opportunity came one da,
ds He had been laid up week and We
ut still lame as the result of being on I'll
ce side next tie ground when his pom
stumbled ami fell one day and was 81
III ting at the doCr one morning abol
a II so when the stage came along. Sc
~ eral Of us we're i'm the ranchhouse an
ns were some what surprised to hear I'll
wheels outside, for the stage road we
d. two miles from the ranch. As "
crowded to the door We saw '.som