Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-01-28

oeibhpoiuoou uAQ MS DermfsafOn IN
move on. to other free grass Perbans thew
looked him over a bit more carefulIv the, .nd
noticed the peculiarly of his nose and nj.
eyes and the handy and casual yay he had oe
picking on the heads Of rattlesnakes and such
tninss with six-shooter while he talked. In
a ne,snoornood where cattle thieves were be-
ginning to be troublesome a man like that
would DO handy to have around They were
10 nave an example presently of his willing
ness and ability to defend the rights of owner
ship-a small example. but convincing.
was no easy matter to keep a herd intact
IN tnose days. The outlaw pure and simple
was bad enough but to the newcomer with a
small bunch OF COWS" (cattle, regardless of
gender) the vast. roaming herd guarded by a
Veritable army OF punchers, whose respect for
a law was small enough. was an even
greater menace. Mcdonald knew of these
conditions and when. soon after his arrival
some OF his cattle strayed away he set out to
inspect She surrounding herds. After riding
some distance he came upon a large drove.
evidently on its way to market It was about
noon and the men were "rounding.in" for din.
ner. Mcdonald started to address a herder
when the man turned abruptly and started OF.
Mcdonald Immediately began looking through
the cattle. when the herder wheeled and
roughly asked him what he wanted.
Il was looking for hobbled horses" was the
easy reBy. whereupon the puncher made some
surly comment and rode away.
Mcdonald. presently satisfied that his stray
cattle were not with that portion of the drove,
continued his search further along and came
up with the chuck wagon" where dinner was
being prepared. Cow.men are hospitable and
the foreman invited him to dismount and Join
them. He did and a little later the surly
puncher came in. giving the camp guest any
thing but n friendly look. In the course of
the meal the visitor was asked where he was
from.
"Mineola," he said. Wood county"
The surly herder spoke up.
These id sand iappers (east Texans)
are getting too thick out here"
Mcdonald set down his coffee.
THE id skunks and prairie dogs are al.
ready too thick" he said.
An instant later the puncher had out his
pistol. but the sand.lapper was still quicker.
The puncher was covered before he could
bring his weapon to bear. Mcdonald said:
O"Turn It loose! Drop IT,"
Ghe herder still clutched the weapon which
he was afraid to raise.
The sand lapper stepped nearer to him and
with a sudden movement raped him smartly
on the head with the heavy barrel of his six.
shooter. 1t was a thing that q deputy he
had done often and It was always effective.
The puncher dropped his gun. One Of his
comrades sprang to his assistance. but was
covered and disarmed with amazing sudden
ness The foreman interfered now. and the
beginner of the disturbance was led away to
a brook to have his head bathed and ban
daged. whereupon the sand lapper quietly fin
tshed his dinner. thanked his host continued
the search for his missing stock and when he
found them set out for home. Meeting a
xroup of punchers among which was his surly
friend with a now bandaged head. he expect
ed further trouble. Nothing happened. The
sand iapper and his missing cows had the
right Of way.
Commercial Venture and Adventure.
The inclination to commercial enterprise
IT'LL survived. At the end Of year Mcdonald
sold his cattle and invested In the lumber
busipess at Wichita Falls.
There was a merchant in Baylor county.
Texas. to whom Lumberman Mcdonald sold
a GOOD BILL on time. The account ran along
until one day the county Judge OF Baylor. one
Melvin dropped in and stated that he had
called to settle the amount for his neighbor.
He gave his own check for It and Mcdonald
supposed the matter had ended. few days
later the bank returned Melvin's check as
worthless. Evidently the quiet. unobtrusive
life which Bill Jess had been living as a lum.
ber merchant had given the impression that
he was an inoffensive person. who would
pocket q loss rather than make trouble, espe-
ci0 0y with a county Judge. who added to his
oniciai prestige the reputation Of being bad