The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1906-01-12
Broncho
Pete'S Blue
Envelope"
ny FRANCIS LYNDE
copyrIghi. lsoa, BY Francis Iynae

IAtI extension ~ BronchO Pete wnS
plain. whore the extension Is but ten
miles. there is n dag station called
Wood Lake. so named. the section boss
will tell you, because there Is neither
Il tree nor Il duck pond within loo
miles II may be that Broncho Pcte
ROT his SobrQuet on the same principle
pf negatonS, since il Is II natlcr Of
record that he did moi know horse
from mule, and his payroll name was
Iohn-.John simmons
| happened 70 be an involuntary
witness ia the matter Of The mule. AS
route agent for rue express company
doing business over the {. and & Il.
had frequent occasion TO 60 back
and forth over The extension. and GA
iiie morning IN question | had begged
Il seat iii the engine cab Coming down
Whisky mountain grade 4 bunch of
horses grazing on the slope above the
righl Of way took fright and after rae
ing rs for 100 yards Numbered down
upon tIIe track ahead
Pete Ninked solennly nj me. did
what he could 10 CHECK the down grade
flight of the train aud shouted across
Ike cab.
Bet Kill one of en- And 50 he
remnrkably fine specimen Of Il
thoroughbred Standardization draft
horse.
But not SO TO Pete. When we stopped
10 take account of the damages be
climbed down aud looked the Quiyerln@
carcass Of The giant thoroughbred over
with lacklusier eyes.
There amt nothing on top o Gods
green earth 50 oluery as derned
mule" he observed AND ~ mule he
reported it,
II Was "A mere chance that | hap
lcned to be on the engine 1T the time
OF the accident, but il was not alto
gether by chance that Broncho Pctc
and met IN the division supcrintend
cntS office when the engineer was
called in 10 explain The mule" Su
pcrintendcnt Savage had found out
that | was witness e. the killing.
There was the sharpeSt possible con
irast between The two as they stood
facing each other across the office rail
ing The superintendent was big and
square shonldcrcd. born driver of
other men, with hushy iron gray
beard and eyes that shot cold fire at Il
delinquent Broneho Pee was galnt
aud thin and salow. with a st0op in
his shoulders aud shuttle ia his walk,
ss,id eyes that -i,f,,de sou think of n
sledge dog logged TO heel OF Of the rs
klmos desert cousin. the coyote,
How about thai Fercheron of By
rams that yon killed last week-lhe one
you reported rs Il mule raspcd the |
master.
Pete boxed up with a smile that !
would have softcncd any heart save |
that OF division superintendent
Nov, who's been a-lyin 10 you all !
about llat ornery old mule. cap'n |
Savage; Er have they got out 4 new |
breed o mules that they're cailln' Per
ch'ons;'
The superintendent tried to with /,
stand the smile aud the honryed ap- /
peal. ANA put The Offender in the sweat /
box.
III won't do simmons. ne said /
gruniy. Il can't have YOU killing stock /
every Time you take "A train over the .
road. This time you've stuck thc cont 1
pany for more money than yDu'll earn /
in year. That mule of yours WAS .
IN imported Norman stallion. MIR. /
Graves here says You did what you /
could TO keep from hitting il after the /
horses were un The track. aud III take .
his word for ID and let you OF once
more But If you don't quit killing
stock you'n quit running an engine ON
the C. and q, r.; that's all"
when PETE waS gone | vcntured to
PIT in a WORT for him.
"Oh. understand all that" said the
superintendent You can't tell me
anything about Pete He is a good
runner, but he has TWO pretty bad fail
ings- he viii Kill stock. and be will lie
about it afterward. n he doesn't re
form. shall have to make an exam
pie Of him.
What is his history. Mr. Savage"
! asked. finding the time propiious for
ihe digging of long neglected mine
uf inquiry.
The superintendent laughed
You tell. II yOu can. Inherited him
from the construction force Benton.
the chief engineer. had him running a
steel train. The men say lie is Zen
nessee mounlanecr. aud further thcy
don't say: can't, imag CINE For all his
easy going ways he j. as reticcnl
about himself as he is about the mules
he is forever killing
He is a puzzle to me" said be-
tween puifs OF my cigar
ION which side;'
"An around. but chiefly on the mon
ey side DO You happen 10 know what
hr does with his wages
The superintendent shook his head
Blows it at the Gold lIill faro Ia
blsS. ike the inost 81 them, / suppose"
Not at all Every pay day hc brings |
me what ! fancy must boz She major
part ~ his earnings and has me Eek