The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1904-01-28
THE RIGHT OF WAY


Stfea IN from the mountains ran
the orchard in the rear, its
course marked by line of cotton
woods and willows. that broke the
of the otherwise treeless
and At some distance from the house.
were the corrals and stables OF the
ranch.
The young lady stepped lightly TO
the ground. Il will call papa" she
said
A few minutes later q tall man.
heavy set. with a face like fool moon
in harvest time, his scanty locks some
what grizzled with the first snowfall
of the winter of life, came swinging
down the walk with great strides.
How air ye,'' he shouted before,
reaching the gate. GLORY tells me We
ketched that son of Satan thar jest in
time. I'm glad to meet ye.' He
siezed Theophilus' hand and Theophi-
lus tried to look pleased.
Jack" shouted Colonel Snortally.
A dusty cowboy with sombrero on
the back of his head sauntered around
the corner OF the house. Take that
boss out beyond thar n shoot hin.
Come in Mister-er-"
Smith"
"Dinner'l be ready by'n by. Wizard
that beast come FROM he added,
pointing at Bucyrus.
Hes my mule" answered Theophi-
lus.
You don't say so. S'posed you
know'd better'n that. Mules hain't 10
place on this ranch. Can't you find
IL greaser to give him to.'
"Bucyrus is no common mule said
his owner, calmly: he knows more
than any horse you ever saw. And he
can run. too"
This last remark amused the colonel
so nightly that he sat down OIL the
porch and laughed heartily. A mule
that could run. II never yet clapped
eyes on a mule that could ketch a
yearlin' calf in fair race. Must be
slow kentry you crowd up in, young
man." The colonel wiped his eyes and
chuckled.
We'll, If l stay" said the defender
of mules, determinedly. "I'll show you
one mule that can run"
stay! OF course yell stay If We
wanter," said Colonel Snortally, cor
daily Eye kin hev your pick of jobs,
an eff you must make holy show of
that mule, we'll pervide the necessary
accessories"
Theophilus stayed. He was handy
with the lariat, rode horse like
native and mule great deal bet
ter He evidently understood all the
marks and deeps of the bovine charac-
ter and very shortly oAthat for HIM
self which he could not@for his mule
the colonels respect. When Buoy
rus would head off skillful STAN
peder, Colonel Snortally would grum-
BILE something about fools rushin' in,"
and when he would dodge belligerent
steer he would growl something about
a fool for luck" On the subject of
mules the colonel and Theophilus con-
tinued to disagree. They argued the
question morning, noon and night. The
colonel pointed out the bad qualities
of the mule; Theophilus grew eloquent
over the animals virtues. Glory smil-
ed. but took no part in the discussion
which resulted in the famous race at
Crag's Corner-a race that is still MEM
orable throughout all of the Poncho
Basin country.
The colonel. brought .out long
legged mustang that hdshad purcha sed
across the border the year before. This
mustang was n sad deceiver, and had
lightened the pocket of many a cow
boy who had backed a home animal
against the imported Stock. A light
weight Mexican rode him. A few
minutes later Bucyrus ambled forth
wearing that surprised look of a mule
when he is but half awakened from
Il sweet dream of peace with plenty
of barley hay In it. Judge Arkansaw
West officiated as starter and Judge
on hand to see the race, and even old
man Johnson stopped his sheep-shcar
ing and came from over the range with
all hands to enjoy the holiday.
At the start the mustang ran away
from Bucyrus, and at the quarter there
was room enough for n threshing ma
chine between them. The crowd
laughed and cheered. For some reason
Glory did not smile. But when the
animals reached the half, there was a
change. Bucyrus seemed to remember
that he was neither asleep nor work
ing for the government. He began to
run. At the last quarter there was
silence, for the crowd was holding its
breath. While the mustang and Buoy
rus were coming down the home
stretch the colonel's countenance was
interesting, and when Bucyrus passed
under the wire something more than
an ear ahead the colonel collapsed ut
terly.
That night Theophiius showed a
woeful lack of good taste. He osten-
tatiously reviewed the merits of the
mule family, and Bucyrus in partic-
ular. The colonel sat in fiery silence
and chewed his cud of bitter reflection,
but finally, when Theophilus wound up
by declaring that Bucyrus could out
run the Oveland Limited from Crag's
Corner to the mountain road crossing,
distance Of little over a mile, Col
onel Snortally arose in his wrath and
swore.