The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1908-05-08
"Hellity damn! l live at tho Thre,

"Hellity damn! l live at the Three
Bars ranch
In Kemah county?"
1T sure is"
What is your business. Mr.. Nun
SON."
Jim shorter, Dick. Well, l work
for the boss, Mr.. Paul Langford."
! In what capacity"
IF you mean what do l do, why,
ride the range, punch cows, l always
go on the roundup, I'm a fair bronco
breaker and l make up hunks and
clean lamp chimblies between times, "
he recited, glibly. bound to be terse yet
explicit. by advice of the boss.
There was gale Of laughter in the
bar. Even the court smiled.
"Oh, Jim! Jim! You have perjured
yourself already" murmured the boss
Clean lamp chimneys-ye gods!
We'll. grin away" exploded Jim
his quick ire rising. He had forgotten
that Judge Dale's court was not like
Justice McAllister's. His fingers fair,
ly itched 10 draw pistol and make
the scoffers laugh and dance to little
music Of his own. But something in
Gordon's steady though seemingly
| careless gaze brought him back to the
seriousness Of the scene they were
I playing g-without guns.
The examination proceeded. The
air was getting sitting. Windows
were thrown open. Damp-looking
clouds had arisen from nowhere seem
ingly and spread over the little prairie
town, over the river and the hills. 1t
was very warm. Weather-seasoned
inhabitants would have predicted
storm had they not been otherwise en-
gagged. There was no breath of air
stirring. Mrs. Higgins had said it
was sorry day for the cattle when
the river was running in December
Others had said SO and SO believed,
but people were not thinking Of the
cattle now. One big-boned. long.horned
steer held the stage alone.
The state proceeded to Munson s
identification of the steer in question.
After many and searching questions,
Gordon asked the witness:
Jim, would you be willing to swear
that the steer you had held over at
the stock yards was the very same
steer that was the mascot of the
Three Bars ranch?"
This was Jim's big opportunity.
Know Mag? Swear to Mag? Dick.
l would know Mag eff met him on the
golden streets Of the eternal city or
ef my eyes was full O. soundin' cat.
aracts! Yep"
Il am not asking such an impossible
feat. Mr.. Munson," cut in Gordon, net.
tied by the digressions of one of his
most important witness. Answer
briefly, please. Would you be willing
to swear?"
Jim was jerked back to the beaten
track by the sharp incision of Cor
don's rebuke. No, this was indeed not
Jimmie Macs court.
Yep" he answered, shortly
Billy Brown was "~"-,. AFTER tne
| pienminary questions, Gordon said to
him:
A>o", AAL. olOWu, pltdSe tell 10e
jury how you came into possession of
the steer''
We'll. l was shippin' a couple O. car
loads to Sioux City, and l was drivin'
the bunch myself with couple O.
hands when l meets up with Jesse
Black here. He was herdn' a likely
little bunch O. half dozen or So
among EN- this spotted feler. He said
he wasn't shippin' any this fall, but
these were for sale-part of lot he
had bought from Yellow Wolf So the
upshot of the matter was | took 'em
off his hands. l was just lackin' bout
that many to make good, clean, two
cars full"
You took bill-of-sale for them. of
course, Mr.. Brown"
Il sure did. I'm too old hand to
buy without bill-o sale"
The document was produced, mark.
ed as an exhibit, and offered in ey;.
dence.