The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-08-29
Looked Innocent But
Was Not.
HORSEBACK SHOOTING
Had no Attractions for Man
Who Once Tried tt. So me-
thing Happened When
Gun Was Fired.


lister to huge lithograph that fiared
out in hot, palpitating, colors In the
peace Of suburban pasture. The
lithograph represented a very AMI
mated purple cowboy, mounted on. a
galloping chrome bronco and shoot
ing from its back with "A repeating
rife. ss st53 ~ .i1 agp ..'l ,J'.-
Makes q nice, spirited picture"
said the man, plenty Of dash and ac-
tion. Did you ever try lit"
Try what?"
shooting from one Of those yellow
four-legged things"
Never did" said the friend
IL did" the man said, and after a
silence, II did once"
"It does not look so difficult" sug-
gested the friend. y
"It isn't" the man agreed. Its as
easy as pulling a trigger. The diff
cult part comes afterward when you
trying to disabuse your mind Of tho
foolish idea that you've finally landed
on the place you had always cherished
a sneaking hope you could dodge at
the last minute.
II was forty-eight hours before the
doctors could convince me that l was
not there as a permanent asbestos fix
ture. And the unkind part Of 1t was
the fact that I had tried 1t from the
back of a pony that had not been un-
der the influence of an all-wool west
ern environment for at least five
years. E ilss, Sc.
"He was cast-off poly pony when
picked him up, so subdlied and chas-
tened the dealer assured me that any
child could drive him or any idiot
tide. him, Although childless myself
he seemed In other ways to answer my
requirements, and when went south
for the winter few days later toox
him along and named him Gibbs.
''All the planters down there hunted
birds on horses, often shooting from
their saddles when the quail did not
lie we'll and that's what I made up my
mind to do with Gibbs, only, decid-
ed, would school hiyn first. It wac
barely possible, thought, that after
hisolong residence in the effete east
he might have become little gun shy
''Ons night after he had been there
o couple of days he received his first
lesson. led h.n out in front Of the
barn and darby, stationed fifteen or
twenty yards away, let 60 both barrels
of a shot gun. Gibbs was startled,
but not in the way expected; 1t SEEM
ed more of a mental than a nervous
shock, as though the concussion had
recalled with a crash some far-off and
long-forgotten incident In his career
HE snorted long signing snort,
and simultaneously with 1t there came
into his bland eyes little devilish red
flicker that was susceptible OF only ono
Interpretation. In q moment it was
gone and the old expression Of peace
and piety had returned, but could not
forget it,,
,"I tried TO abandon the idea OF
shooting from him and the more +
tried the more overwhelming became
how violent the climax to that little
devilish red flicker would be. I sup
. pose 1t was a species Of mania that
compels people to jump from high
places or babies to put beans in their
noses.
Il couldn't sleep % nights thinking
about 1t and l lost my appetite and
began to get thin and morbid. In my
innermost conscience knew that some
day wonld yield, that the monster l
had created would become too big for
me to Withstand.
II used to 60 down into Gibbs stall
and stand and look at him in a sort of
hypnotized fashion and wonder when
1t would happen, and where and
whether 1t would be single bird or
or a covey or a rabbit that would pre-
cipitate it. Each morning I rodd
Gibbs out into the field behind the
dogs; each morning / resolved that the
thing should be done and over with
that day, and each evening / returned
home with Giggs mocking my coward
ice." [
The man paused and looked at his
friends,
1T happened at DUSK" he continued,
ION day that the world had been fair
and tranquil: to me II. had been full OF
torment and unrest. l had not slept
well the night before. Gibbs had sat
at my pillow making faces at me and
beckoning me with grotesQue bob
tailed shot guns.
II do not know how many coveys
the dogs found or how many single
birds they stood. never shot at
them, never got of Gibbs back. All
day I struggled, my fingers tingling
with eagerness and my body damp
with perspiration. Once l pulled the
right trigger, but 1t was locked.
knew 1t.
"Just at dusk my white pointer
found covy on the edge of some
thick scrub pines. 1t was my last
chance.
II pulled both feet from the STIR
rIrs, dropped the bride rein and sud
denly remembered that both barrels
were loaded. l pulled both triggers
At once.
II shall never know again." the man
sighed. 'the ecstacy OF that moment
tho thrill that went through me as
felt myself being hurled backward
through space. Gibbs landed a second
later somewhere ON my stomach. ]
never knew or cared exactly where.
-, A. A. h~.l n -