Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-09-16

| judgment to spur him on the shout
dsrs and to whack him violently with
the quirt. The mule hurriedly betook
himself to the middle of the road,
and in his mute mule way cringingly
promised to do better.
l knew about how much Pancho's
promises amounted to when his girth
was loose, and the moment the rob-
Der stopped beating him and dismount-
ell 10 recinch / drew back into the
brush, resolved on retrieving my
reputation, my employers thousand
dollars and my good mule Pancho.
Fortunately for my plans, the road
which the stranger must travel formed
long, narrow loop just ahead. Also.
he must have had another fracas or
two with Pancno, for 1 crossed the
loop, and had plenty of time to twist
off an oak club and catch my breath
before | heard the thud of hoofs ap-
! preaching.
My plans for recapturing lost cash
and honors were not those of fool
nor yet those of hero.
To be sure, l had only a poorly
trimmed oak club, and the robber had
my revolver and at least one of his
own; but l was counting on the bal
ance being thrown my way by GER
tain complications which, when Pan
cho's cinch was loose, always rose
when he had been beaten for shying
and had promised faithfully to do, bet
ter.
1 rolled my coat into a tight ball,
reckoning that its sudden advent into
the road would percipitate these CON-
plications.
On came the dust-muffled patter
of Pancho's swift lope. He approach
ed the clump of brush that screened
my boulder. AS he came opposite /
shot the coat fairly under his heels.
With frightened grunt he darted
sidewise into the brush. AS though
himself part of the animal the
stranger sat him, keeping the bal
ance of himself and the saddle, and
finding time to draw a revolver and
f1atten a couple of bullets against my
boulder.
/ had thrown myself fiat behind my
stone bulwark as the robbers arm
dropped toward his holster, and 1 lay
there motionless, feeling rather scared
and chilly. Then heard the sharp
tunkl tunki of stiff-legged jumping,
and divining that the tall stranger
would be too busy for further shoot
ing, ventured to peer round the cor
ner of my boulder.
Pancho, his betasseled tail rotating
like a screw-propeller, his head be-
tween his forefeet, his neck stretched
so angularly groundward chat 1t APP
peared like an exaggerated fifth leg,
was doing some prodigious bucking.
His nerves seemed completely un-
strung, and knew it was on account
of the coat and the air-space between
the cinch and his belly.
The robber sat him with the fear
less aIertness of a professional rider,
and yet he appeared very insecure
for his saddle had slipped forward
and jutted several inches over the
precipitous front end of the contor-
zionist Pancho.
Up and down, back and forth, round
and round-it made me dizzy to view
them. 1t was wonderful bncking, off
set by wonderful riding; and yet there
could be but one termination,
The inevitable came when, with
lightning side jump, Pancho turned
the saddle and slammed the stranger
to the ground with terrific violence.
was watching for this Vancouver
and Ieaped at the robber the moment
I saw him falling. But he lay so
limp and pallid that I was shamed
by my appraised cudgel, and casting
it aside, disarmed him, tied his legs
and hands, and began work for his
termination.
While / loosened his shirt and bath
ed his temples from flask which l
found in his pocket Pancho, with the
saddle dangling beneath him, was re-
ducing a fifty-foot circle OF brush to
dust and splinters.
My mule and l must have finished
our respective tasks at about the
same moment, for just as the dazed
robber recovered sufficiently to be
raised to a sitting posture, Pancho,
bare-backed now and joyful, trotted
forward and mutely requested that
the corners Of his eyes should be
freed of dust and perspiration.
l carefully performed this service,
then proceeded to saddle him on the
lines pioneered by my small nephew.
First I drew the cinch as tightly as
the expansion of his ribs would per
NIT, then, mounting without fastening
the latigo, trotted him up the road.
! The obtuse rascal always considered
expansion while travelling unneces.
sary, and as his sides shrunk to
normal, l pulled up the slackened
girth, and Pancho's saddle was again
a fixture.
With the intention Of taking my