Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-10-09
anything but a cow?n Here was his

mo, no." grunted he, seeing that
the American was saddling up. "We
will have pony-running; Apache
pony, your horse. You not want
ing? Yes, yes! Apache horse no
sabe run fast, your pony good u
ner. Say, we have drink; you give
Apache chief frewater. We talk"
The American protested. "No, no.
My pony can't run, and your Apache
pony is a good 'un."
Wet Dog piled more whisky. and
nor gutteral eloquence.
"Well," the American said, you're
a real sporty sort, and it is a blanked
shame for you to do all the losin'.
Say, believe (hic) we will run just
one little race. But theh must be
some bettin', just to show theh amt
any frost, see? What (hic) will
Apache put up?"
In his glee at having gotten the
white man drunk, and in his Ger.
tainty of a dead easy thing, Wet Dog
boosted that he would bet every
thing he had-his racer, Blue-Jay,
the bag of silver and turquoises,
everything, in fact, against the Amer
leans three horses and the belong.
ings he had just won from him at
poker.
The American agreed, and all pre-.
liminaries were quickly arranged;
the race to be ridden by the two
men on their own ponies; distance,
n mile, to a clump of cottonwoods
on the plain ahead: the start to be
given by Lily-maid. who was shown
how to fire a revolver, which the
American himself loaded for her.
With the white woman obligingly
holding the stakes-in which Wet
Dog saw n 70 risks, inasmuch as Lily.
maid held both revolver and rifle
the two men got their ponies into
line, the lesser squaws, dogs and po-
MES looking on stolidly from the
background. Then all was still;
meanwhile Lily-maid %nervously ex.
tended the heavy Colt, pulled back
the hammer, and gave a trembling
jerk to the trigger.
Click, bang! and three horses
leaped forward in a binding cloud
of dust. Tense silence reigned for a
moment, then there uprose loud walls
from the squaws, and a second pis-
tol report, which disconnected Wet
Dog as, crouching low on Blue-Jay's
back, he tore along for dear life.
Until the pony was well settled, he
dared not look. When he did so,
however, judge of the vision that
met his dumbfounded eyes.
Disappearing in dust, nearly hall
a mile ahead, was the ewe-necked
pinto pony, going like a streak Of
lightning, while the woman on his
back, her s%unSbonnet vanished, and
wig of long yellow curls dangling
from a closely-cropped masculine
Uranium, made wild and derisive mo.
tions. Steadying the pinto with one
hand, with the other she waved the
Apache's precious bag of dollars and
%turquoises, meanwhile giving voice
to the most startling and blood
curdling cowboy yells.
Never had Wet Dog seer or heard
anything like it; he stared aghast
his knees trembling, and eyes pop
ping out of his head. Of a truth
must he be crazy, or bewitchedl
But, as he stared, the yellow wig
slipped from it's last hair-pin, ant
scared rejoicingly through the air
The vanishing red head of Shorty
Smith was therefore barred to the
public, and Wet Dog swore again
and yet again, as he realized how he
had been duped by his cowboy enc,
mics. The other of them, he coult
see, was riding close behind, and
oh, horrors!-held a 3S Colt pointed
straight at him! But the chief, who
had not even a knife on his body
gave forth one warning shout tt
Lily-maid. The squaws, however
having with horror viewed the vel
low scalp-locks of the fleeing white
woman, and the lack of effect of Lily
maids bullets (all blank, of course)
in turn made a wild stampede for the
ella banks, emitting wild yells of ter
ror at every jump. Wet Dog fairly
groaned aloud as he caught a glimpse
Of their fleeing backs.
Of course, he could only throw W
his hands. What else can one de
when confronting a leveled, cooked
pistol? And very soon Wet Dog found
himself dismounted, dispossessed o,
his beloved pony, handcuffed ant
tied stoutly to a cottonwood tree
Thence he could only glare impo
tently at the actions of Limping jim
my, who leisurely placed his sad
die on the pony Blue-Jay, and ar
ranged leading ropes on the Other
horses, meanwhile keeping up a run
ming %monologue on the doping o.
ponies, with many pointed allusion,
to Apache habits in general, tn.
characters of Apache chiefs and theil
female relatives, and many othel
things too numerous and profane fol
me to even hint at. Then, with {
p~atronizing wave of the hand, of
loped Jimmy. .,'
"Injun must excuse my hurried de
parture," he stated, sweetly, "for my
partner, ahead there, Mr.. Shorty
Smith, amt no hand at countin', ant
he might slip up on them there tur
quoises. Besides, Mr.. Smith has beer
ridin' side-saddle fashion for some
days, and is probably some played
out. So, adios, chief! Coin dowr
to Gold Gulch any time soon? SET
you there later, them"
In this manner did Limping Jimmy
square himself with Chief Wet Dog
And late that same night, unpur
sued, and safe over the Arizona Dor
der, two hysterical cowboys undis
guised themselves, and a very nerv
ous gray horse with n white leg