The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-11-13

BY CLARENCE f. MULF0RD

had performed clearly showed that hs
was possessed Of great yalor, brilliant
forethonght and marvellous ingenuity
These stories had at first amused his
gcquantances an the peW range, but
I, was not long before they began to
grow tiresome The minute any of
| The old habitues OF Cowans attempted
o tell a story or crack q joke. he
eould coolly cut in and tell one Of his
! iwn; ii a discussion was begun, he
nok II promptly in hand and usually
'nded it to suit himself, for the very
good reason that there was no ons
eft in the room by that lime to lis
en-. This emptying Of he saloon seri-
usly burt Cowans trade, and he also
,oticed that bis patrons did not ride
in IS frequently as they once did
Cowan enjoyed an easy temper, and
It took a great deal to arouse him to
action, bur of late his eyes more and
more rested on The Sharps rife lying
across Two pegs in the wall behind The
bar The egotst always had the last
word and regarded his decisions as
final in all disputes. He was Won
derfu poker player, bat never played;
marvellous shot he saved his ammu-
milton: he could break broncos better
than any man living, but was unable
to give any exhibitions because he
suffered from a lame back, the result
of a terrible hand-tohand struggle
with huge cinnamon bear whose
hide he had Immediately sold for five
hundred dollars. AT swimming, Cap
tain Webb OF English Channel fame
Was a mere child when compared to
him. and he was. in fact, e. paragon
and a doer OF miracles
When Bartlett hired him to punch
cows for the Double Arrow it was not
then known That the greatest Of all
great men eXtant was living in the
Double Arrow bunkhouse and rubbing
elbows at work with Double Arrow
punchers; but the fact was proclaimed
by the great man himself, before the
week was out-not in SO crude a man
uer as a direct statement Of fact. but
ia the more modest and long drawn
out method Of detailed anecdotes Of
his prowess The name he gave was
George Murray before a fortnight he
was known far aud near as Windy
Of th Dou'de Arrow, and. If ever a
name was earned by hard, persistent
effort. that was the one. His suffering
acquaintances marveled that he still
liyed--ft was remarkable 20 them that
some testy and short-tempered gun
man had not cut off his career in the
bud But with it all he really could
punch cows, and If he could not it
would not have taken his foreman
long to tell him so In plain, unmis-
taxable English SO far no one had
been able to pick a quarrel with him,
although one or two had tried it when
and disgusted, for his tact
vas above par; no one could work
himself up to the cold-blooded stage
before they could shoot
Hopalong. Red, Johnny and two more
If the outfit were riding towards
3uckskin early one night in the au-
umn to while away the evening in
1owans this being their night off.
rhey did not have to run back in their
memories very far TO remember the
ime when they one and all had
ooked forward to such an evening
With keen anticipation; but that time
lad gone The same thought lay
leaYy on the minds of the five, and
IS they reached the river trail, half
gay TO their destination, Hopalong
ossed away his cigarette and freed
lis mind.
"Well, ! reckon Windyll be hang
ng out in Cowan's with all his war
.aint on" he growled "It's iunny
ow that felier can get away with it
II like lie does" He paused for a
loment musing: But he's harm
ass sort of liar, after all; he don't
o nobody any harm-bu he's shore
h. biggest / ever heard tell Of"
That's so; he Just lies to listen to
IN. an he sort Of believes 'em his
Elf after they're cold" remarked
ohnny
well that may ba as it is; I don't
are why he lies, or cuts in when
m talking. or knows it all" snorted
ed. i've been carrying healthy
oung licking tucked up in my two
rms for him, an it's getting purity
ieh old enough 10 cut loose for it.
,lf. If ne can lick a cinnamon bear
ith his bare hands, why, then, | can
ok about SIX Of en- all to once, an
m going to show him so one of these
ays."
Hopalong laughed ooh, there
init no use getting all riled up about
Red He shoots blank cartridges
d don't hurt nobody"
When they reached Cowan's, half
,zen OF their friends were amusing
len1sp Ives in a dilatory way ana try
r bard not 70 listen 10 Windy's =
armed lecture on the Civil War as
raht in Arkansas and Missouri by
m and General Price The five new
,mers were made welcome. and
indy and his Grafton were forgot
n for the moment When his words
trnded again they we're descriptive
a hunting trip after prairie chick
IS up i'm The Dakotas. The conTersa-
on easilv followed his lead. and final
Tex Ewalt now punching cows for
-aas of NE CSC under his real name,
l-aee II sas one had seen any jack
Tod