The state herald., 1901-06-28
fOURIHOfJuY RIDING AT GALENA

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INJURED at this. and Dillon routed 1t as
supplementary. So old Joe and the
South Valley man cast for choice, and
the throw was Joe's. He grufiiy chose
the horse that should be nearer the
corral gate. Then they shook out
again for precedence in order of rid
ing. and this time the South Valley
broncho buster won. electing to ride
second. There was one other contest
ant, who did not throw-but l am an
ticipating my story.
After these preliminaries all roads
pointed corralward, the exodus even
stripping Dillon's bar OF its deft at
tendants. The corral was situated at
the open extremity of the gulch, on
fiat OF much lower level than that Of
Dillon's and the other main division Of
the town.
When got down the nat was cleared
for action. and the man called Curlew
was preparing to ride.
He had barely time to draw his
sleeve across his perspiring face when
the half-choked and bewildered pony
had leaped. like a flash, to his feet;
at the same fractional part Of second,
Curlew was lightly ensconced in the
saddle. stirruped and pulling of the
pony's hood. Blinded by the sun, dazed
and frightened by the weight on his
back. the bay stood quivering for a
short space. But singing cut from
Curlew's quirt discovered his bond
age to him. Up he reared. straight
and unhesitatingly. till. losing his bal
ance, he dropped over backward with
an ugly thud. the broad horn OF the
COW saddle digging into the ground
Just where Curlew should have been.
But the red-haired rider was to one
side. waiting. He must have been
quick as light. for assure you the
play OF the pony was not slow. Again
and again the bay rose in the air
and repeated the backward fall, Curlew
each time eluding 1t and each time
swinging In the saddle as the playful
brute came to his feet. 1t was all
Incredibly rapid. and how the boy
handled his long. loose -jointed legs
is yet a mystery to me. There were
IL OF these backward half-somersaults
In that 90-foot corral. and then the
manoeuvre was over. forming merely
an unostentatious prelude to the real
tactics Of the fight.
With shrill whistle of rage that
brought my heart against my ribs the
bay made several sharp sidelong jumps
and then took to running. Through
the corral gate. across the fiat, up the
steep pitch. and into the town he went
the whole company OF interested spec
tators following at their variously best
PAGES. Curlew set him with swaying
ease. the hackamore rope hanging
loose in his hand; he made no attempt
to stop or to guide.
In the midst OF the town the run
ended in the inevitable buck. and
thenceforth the fun waxed fast and fu-
rious. We were not mistaken in our
horse; the brute was all his looks in
dicated-and more. The battle only
lasted some Is minutes. but in that
short space Of time he called into ac-
tive use every resource of equine trick
cry and threw himself into every start
ling contortion that horse anatomy
permits Of He bucked straight and
sideways. and turned and fell. and
reared and kicked, squeaiing again and
again In that fierce. unholy manner,
till It seemed impossible that the
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endure the awful back-wrenching
strain. A fall. too. meant death. for
the horse would have slashed him be-
fore he touched ground or struck with
front feet as he lay. During the first
IL or II minutes Of the nEht that
boys life was not worth the value Of
. cigarette. between rage and fear the
horse was stark mad. and bad there
been the sign OF an opening would
have leaped headlong into the reputei
Inferno q half = mile below.
A the moments wore on and his
whole repertoire Of strength and STRAIT
ergy was worked through. without In
the least unnxing his rider. the white
eyed pony began to lose heart: II was
the nrst time that any man had been
SO tenacious OF grip. and gradually his
leaps became weaker and less vicious.
Then Curlew's quirt and blood seeking
spurs urged him TO more vigorous ef-
forts. but even these could not much
longer sustain the engagement. Drip
ping with blood and sweat. nearly
dead with fatigue. no finally sue
cumbed. and permitted himself to be
guided by the rider at will. A hearty
cheer burst from the crowd. and Cur
lew. rather pale and weak. but ever
smiling. was rapturousiy dragged from
the saddle and carried into Dliion's.
an mort monument Of glory TO his
memory and-dcmonstrativc friends.
After tho hero. his worshippers. the
antagonistic party. and all outAidcrs
had been duly refreshed. which re.
Qulrcd some little time. we bent our
selves again TO the matter In hand.
and prepared to witness tho second
bout Of the man against horse battle.
There was almost as wide n differ
cncc Of the two riders as between tho
bay and the buckskin. Tho South
Valley champion was much shorter
than Curlew. and better knit. II I
had not seen the confusing dcxtcrity
of the lanky. rcc-hair-d boy. I should
have esteemed this tho likeiier man.
| uls movements were alert and he