The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-10-25
0 O y ~ n O o3 n q q . 90
: BILLY BRAG:


His name was Phlncas Ellsworth,
but we boys at the "IlN" ranch called
him Billy Brag for reasons which ten
minutes conversation with him would
make obvious even To n total stranger
10 say that hc was Opnionatcd Is
drawing IL very mild, and To state that
particularly excellent one he held Of
himself is supcrlluous.
Those were humdrum, monotonOus
days at the I'm" and there was scant
opportunity for Billy to exhibit the
courage, prowcss, Skill ability and so
forth which-we had his own oft re-
pcatcd statements for it-hc possessed
10 remarkable degree.
once I'm 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 aftcrward with:
! Huh! Yc galoots jcs' make me ache
all over! wy, any bloomln' tcndcrfoot
cd IA tor ye bettcr'n that" or, "That
wuz n fool trick. Now, cf I'd been
thar I'd "A did so an so;" or, "IIuh!
Dye call that anythln' ter menshun?
wy, back thar on tn Kcya paha we
used ter let tn kids an wimmcn do
that kind o work.
And so II went for ncaCly year,
and. though we invented many plan
to give Billy an opportunity to show
his worth, he managed on one preteXt
OF another to keep out of our snarcs.
one day Gale Smelling, who was out
| looking up some stays, fell I'm with n
maverick steer feeding in n coulee and.
| thinking at first that IL was an lin"
crittcr, rode toward It. But the beast
was what Is known rs 4 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 snortcd.
| Gale thought lac was about TO take
plTcc herdiug clouds, hut he yankcd
his gun and let 60 catching the steer
| right between the eyes and dropping
Il not more than ten feet away.
Gale was n bit new I'm the business,
and ne was rather pale when he rode
up TO the ranch aud related his expert.
cncc, but there was n triumphant tone
I'm his voice rs ne told of his successful
shot from the back of n buckiug pony.
Billy listened with a superior air.
"Huh" he remarked dsdaiufully.
"What yc wantcr kill i'm fer? Yc cd
jcS y well creased an ropcd i'm. Some
folks never hcv no r'gard fer prop'ty,
Waste not, want nothin,"
We all groarcd and proceeded to con
! gratulatc Gale on his luck, but Bill did
not seem 10 care. lie was getting used
10 our irrevercncc. II may be noted,
| however. that when we tried next
morning to get Billy TO take galloping
shot at the stripe in blanket nailed
on to a shed door. TO see how near he
could have come 20 "crcasing" n mad
steer from the back of n fool pony. our
| proposition met with scorn. There We
20 ag'in." said Billy. whats tn blame
use O. wastin' cr whole lot q cartridges
jes' ter convince er mess " gabblin'
cgiots that cr thing kin bc did? Aw, 20
Off an try poundm san I'm or rathole
fer yer wits. Bet yc carnt even do
that" And he rode of, much offended.
When Joe Fleming. brother OF the
boss, and Hank Barr had brush with
half dozen Indians and just escaped
with their lives, leaving bunch of fat
cattle TO be run of 10y Uncle Sans
dear. sweet protcgos, Billys opinion
was at once forthcoming. Huh! le
mout jes' y well saved mos o. tn crit
ters an got them thevln' red cusses
too. wy didn't ye. Wen ye seed 'em
ridin' down on ye. jes kill three or four
critters an pile 'em up fer er barricade.
Thatd ben better'n losln' tn hull
bunch"
When Bob Hall. cowboy from the
''3 Bar" the next ranch-one Of the
meanest, ugllest. most quarrelsome bul-
: lies who ever lourished a gun-got Kill.
/ ed at the hotel In town by an unoffend.
. ing tenderfoOt whom he had tried 10
compel TO take n drink. Billy. as usual.
had something 10 say. Huh! That's
them tenderfcet all over. They thnk
J ef er man tries ter hev fun with 'em
byar that they've got ter shoot, an