The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1902-04-12

oh. no; none at all. Only / was
ateared you might have a collision with
your ear" calmly responded the ire
pressible Jarvis This sally created a roar
none too popular ."~.." ,,t.t ~
Early the next omrning all hands were
called out to- the corral to catch their
mounts for the day. and Ike was the most
active, If not the most successful, one in
the gang. @~ ..,-.-. T. ,1." e., 80. e.. .
Catch that faced sorrel there;
he's your mount for to-day" was the
foreman's instruction. as he winked at the
boys who knew what was coming. and
prepared to enjoy the fun of watching
Ike ride old "Satah,"> the worst-spoiled
broncho in Utah. This horse was known
as the broncho- buster buster and had
never been conquered. He had thrown
every rider who had ever got on his back
and was kept for the purpose of initiating
greenhorns and testing the sticking
qualities of the protested horse breakers
VINO Travelled over the country breaking
horses at so much per head He was a
powerful, rangy horse, Weighing about
1,4Ho., was eight years old, and $50
poison you could scrape strychnine off his
neck as one fellow put it. He could
rag a little livelier and hump his back A
little keener and faster than any horse on
the range. He knew every trick and
crook or the business and was past mas
ter In the art of giving aspiring broncho
riders a lift in the world.
Ike put in about an hour Of good, solid
work in an endeavor to catch Old Satan
he was an energetic, persistent 'cuss''
and so was old Satan, who could dodge
the rope with marvellous cunning Jarvis
trled nara and had the horses about crazv
with excitement before the boys came to
his aid, but somehow. his rope never
seemed to fly straight, or it would get
tangled around his legs and trip him.
Several times he caught the wrong horse
; whatever he might be as rider, he GER
ta1nly was not an expert with a rope. and
MS antics afforded much amusement for
the boys who had caught their "String''
and were standing around watching him,
d; 10 a friendly offer by one Of the boys to
catch his horse for him, Ike replied:
:: Na"' I'm going to try just one more
throw. I think I'll get him next time
. BY some back-handed fling he did actu,
ally catch his horse the next throw and
Strengthened up as proud as a peacock.
:. After breakfast, when Ike brought out
his gunny sack containing the saddle and
prepared to saddle old Satan every galoot
around camp, even to the cook had busi-
ness IN that immediate vicinity. When
ne dumped out the saddle and they saw
what kind of rig he had, some Of the
ikind-hearted ones took pity on him and
attempted to dissuade him from using It.
.offering him good saddle.
why, that 'henskin' of yourn amt fit
to ride mess wagon, let alone bronx"
said one. =. 49,
Nope" he replied to their kind offers.
iTVe rid this yere old postage stamp a
:good many years, an it still sticks. I'd
feel kinder lost in one of them big sad
!dles."
By dint of much coaxing and exertior
he got old Satan saddled and prepared to
mount. Diving into his sack he produced
"a wicked-looking pair Of Mexocan spurs,
with murderous roWels an inch in diam
j eter. .--~.-.=. -s.~ -
!: His good nature and innocent mien had
by this time gained for him the good will
{of the camp, and some of the boys feI.
really sorry for him and thought that it
was little short OF manslaughter to allow
this poor country jake to continue further
with the joke Big Bill Williams, the
! biggest-hearted fellow in the crew, tried
to tell him what kind of proposition
he was up against and to keep him from,
crawling the man-eater:' But Ike would
pay no heed and insisted that he was not
gong to give up a $50 month job with
out having a try.
When he tried to mount old Satan
backed off and circled around, allowing
Ike to get no closer than near enough
to catch the stirrup in his hand. Oc-
caslcnally he got one foot I'D to the stir
r1p and hoped around like a crow after
the sorse. who backed away with his
ears laid back and a nasty look in his
rollng eyes Several times the horse gave
a plunge and tried to break away. but
the. lanky Missourian managed to hang
on, though Outlines he was near losing
his feet. The entire crew was now gath
cred around III undisguised endowment
watching the circus.
rope you are all right" was a jeering re-
mark that brought a steely CLINT to likes
eyes and caused a Tightening of the lines
about his mouth that bespoke a determI-
nation to do or die
= why cont you walk up straddie of
him and sit DOWN.
Try the other side: mebbe he's a left
handed horse
did your Missouri horses act like
that?"
Don't you wish you were back in Mis-
souri, blowing corn7' And kindred re.
marks were showered upon the poor fell
lows head, as he followed the vicious
animal around. sometimes hopping with
one foot IN the stfrrup or being dragged
by the bride reins- That this man was
no fool and knew how to avoid getting
hurt. despite his seeming awkwardness
was evident and that he had grit was
also plainly to be seen. Paying no at
tention to the 1eers of his comrades. who
were getting impatient waiting. as they
could find no further excuse for tarry-
ing Ike seemed suddenly to conclude that
he had fooled around long enough. He
caught the st1rrup with one hand and
MADE flying leap for the plungfng ami
mai s back. There he clung holding the
horse,s head up with a tight rein, so It
could not get free action to buck, fop-
ping hrst to one, side and then to the
1YV1n hen 49, -. ~,
sometimes before it. At ca ch i,Innp II an
peared thta he would go off, but by dfnt
of mere strength and apparently aeea use
ne was so long, the horse could not iurnp
out from under him In one leap. and he
managed each time to avoid going Quite
on: ga satan was doing some pretty
stiff buck-and-wing work, but he could
not get the rean for me- action. He
could not quite make out about that long
timber thing that topped aro,,nd 50 awk-
Wsrdly ana yet was so hard to shake Off.
crowd 80 3.E-ITs7 . - -
I Wrap your legs around him ard stick
your ieet IN your coat pockets sug-
Lengthy. your times growing short.
cried another 42.-y.a. ! p Es3s 800 r
:: Ehe birds will build nest in his ear
before he lights, If old Satan ever gets
MIN shook loose" remarked another.
-, anat .i $ not the way we ride horses out
mere Yelled the foreman. -.Sit up ana
give him his head or else get of. { E
ss Hell get off fast enough laughed one
i i'i who knew the route, having been
introduced to old Satan himself. @~s
0 Ike glanced around and a quiet grin.
came over his face. He concluded he had
carried his little joke as far as he could.
Straighte ning up in the saddle, he threw
the reins across the pommel and raked
old Satan from neck to a flank with =
sweep Of his long, spur-clad leg. Thor
Ioughly madd ened by this tine Snii .ssnte,,,