The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1908-08-13


@I've rode night-herd," the fore
man of the Jack Hall outfit said, "un-
I'll slep astraddle of my horse; I've
rode night runs when I'd "a sold my
chance o. comm through for wore
out rope an throwed bride in; I've
rode the trail an seen the cattle piled
up dead at poison springs, which amt
no joyful vision by no means, but
when l think OF the time the Jack
Hall outfit night-herded Loco Jones
till he seen light. l pass; that sure
was terrible" He blew a ring of
fragrant smoke and peered out
through 1t as IL his eyes reached out
to his beloved mountains and their
canopy of turquoise sky. Jones'"
he said, "wuz poor devil that'd gone
loco tendin' sheep, which amt no
ways uncommonly the end o. sich
life. Bein' alone does 1t, under the
stars that wink an wink at you with
out no sound. An days an weeks
an months without no human face;
the rustic of the sheep when they
lays down an smell O. wool, by the
Tarnal, 1t must be awful to live that
away.
Zones must "a came from Arizona
or New Mexico becuz he sure kin spit
the Spanish like native-born, but
no one never heard him tell Just
where his trail had led. His brain
wuz kind O. like a crazy quilt. all
full O. patches. no two alike. I kind
o think sometimes, he'd made a mis-
cue back in the past an drifted off to
hide, but II he did we never knowed.
He stood plum six foot three. straight
IN his socks an must "a been a won
der Of man before the loco ct him
down to skin an bone. His face wuz
tan, but kind o. ashy underneath,
an crow feathers amt no blacker
than his hair, only his hair wuz dull
wuz dead. He first come to the Jack
Hall outfit when Cook wuz holdin'
fort alone, the boys bein' off roundin'
up Poncha pasture, an when | rode
In at night he'd settled down to bein'
plum at home.
BILL Cook says, introducin' of
MIN, / has new-found neighbor, an
] hopes friend, which lives some
place on Poncha, close to Cottonwood.
I'd wish to have you meet him, as
near as kin make it out his name Is
Jones'
My name.' the stranger says, is
RELY Norval, becuz I tends my ia
Tiers flocks, but Jonesll do. A rose
by any other named smell as sweet,
as Shakespeare says. so Jones'll do.
The world is runnin' over with the
namo of Smith, an so / takes the
name O. Jones to help the Joneses
out l looks at Cook, which points
mis- finger at his head an winks,
which sets me straight, an then old
Bull which'd been snoozin' some place
In the sun comes up. Odds boddi-
Kins,' says Jones, "a very devil OF a
uog. Here, knaye, come here, an
uern my pictures If Bull don't walk
straight up to him an lick his hand,
winch sure wuz plub unnatural, him
Dein backward dog by nature an
SLOW In hookin' up with strangers.
Plum locoed.' says Cook, speakin'
Alha O. absent-minded, but noways
misstatin' OF the truth.
that's right. says Jones. The
Ehole world locoed, all but me-
Ihat amt noways a lie,' says
Nook. to square the bread he'd made.
It's the eternal truth, says
zones, as this here doggie knows,
"nicn he tells me with his eyes. /
sees the real heart o. things, the good
an true an beautiful, only my head
s full o. prickly little aches that
never dies
seen his case wuz hopeless from
.ne start. sheep herdln' serves white
men that-a-way sometimes, but he
suIhea out to be a handy man to have
~iouhd an buckled up to Cook an
nuii IKE they wuz long-lost brothers
helped around the shack an did
ouu cnores an acted as II he wuz
a-uylh to show that he wuz white.
nsu a" Duilt hisself a shack. but mostly
uays ne hung around with Cook an
un' an no time amt passed till he
,haA pretty near as much fixture OF
.ne Jack Hall outfit as Bull hisself,
which sure is sayin' lots. Sometimes
nes middlin' sensible, which times is
MOSTLY when the weather's drv. but
"neh us muggy an the air is thick
M sn wet the pain gets awful +, rs
sSu ,"n, an his eyes has the sam
son you see locoed steer ha
e rays down to die. Them
sunes walks by hisself, an seems to
a, ,nu o lose his eyesight am steps
n'sn. for all the world like a locoed
~. ,rsr that jumps over pieces O straw
~ shies at things that amt noways
anusual' an he spouts out poetry am
n waves his arms an uses word, that
he,a, ns OF us kin get no sense from,
os os'n some foreign language, Greek
moa. m.,ench. Amt a-sayin' which. but
hoa hnOs1ly he's only harmless as Il His
his Sa, nad plain an simple outgrowed
t,e,s ' stormy weather, when the cat
ON, u set restless an the boys'd be
thsy.ss M yn.s,snt,ridin' them. once In a whiie
"a ', q get sight O. Jones, barehead-
an wet strinns hano;,,s a.o,.a