The Ely miner., 1913-08-29
HE way l gets into this
story is a shame an dis
grace, an is incompetent, ir-
relevent, an immaterial, an
r. ~
lsg2


But mentionin' color, the thought Of
that little affair do make my face as
red as a cow-town on payday. When
l turn that tale loose We'll make q
one-night stand Of 1t by the grub
wagon. It comprises a shippers pass
to Sioux City, sure-thing game In
that moral town, which l win out by
backin' my judgment with my Colt
an a police court wherein the bank
roll and my pile was rake-off for the
court. Charge, gamblin'. All hands
plead guilty. All correct says you, an
quite accordin' to the statutes made
an pervided; an so says I, ontil
casually picks up a paper in Belle
Fourche, an sees that 1t was phoney
police court, not only owned and con
trolled by the shell men, which
wouldn't be surprisin', but privately
installed as a sort of accident insur
ance on their other game.
Hell hath no fury like a woman
scorned," Mr.. Elkins remarks to me
one day, but all that is goin' to be
changed when l ketch up with thai
police judge.
Ridin' the range makes man talka
tive with the scenery, an when l sees
that Sioux City paper, turns loose
some remarks in the presence Of q
gentleman who subsequently turns out
to be Mr.. Elkins. .....
Thanks" says he.
when did you acquire any chips n
this little solitaire blasphemy gAme?'
says l, mad. as a man allus is if he's
ketched solloloquisin' to himself.
"A man." says he, with all the side
tracks filled with cars O. cattle an
more comm, an no gang, is in, e1
proprio vigore," says he, whatever
that means, anywhere where cuss
words is trumps." .....
He never smiled except back in his
eyes, an I, likin' his style, hires ou
to him, an was third man on the
Up-And-Down Ranch from the day the
dogies begun to be unloaded, til
James r. Elkins went to New York
with a roll that would choke blood
sweatin' hippopotamus.
Third man, says I, an if you think
the first was the Old Man, ]. r. E.
you know, you've got another conjec
ture comm. Number One was Mrs
Elkins, an reckon some of her New
York :riends'll enter into conniptions
to know that, in lessn' year, half the
boys called her Josie-in their dreams
at least-an' some on 'em to her face; {;
but none to her back, by a damsite!
The Old Mana lot of us called him
Jim habitual-was a one-lunger wher
this dogy enterprise started, all
mashed in body in the collapse Of the
boom at baltimore; an them as
thinks / refer to any loggin' accident
is Informed that I mean the town-lot
boom in the city of baltimore, as Is
more fully set forth elsewhere, the
hereof, marked Exhibit A" which ex
plains the broken bones aforesaid.
Financially, he was millions worse
than nothing, if you can understand
that. Personally, l can't. Zero is the
bottom of the spondulix scale fer me
although the thummometer seems tc
prove it amt necessarily thus. Any
how, the Old Man had Josie, an any
man from Sturgis to Dog Den Buttes
would have shouldered all Mr.. Elkins
shrinkages, especially the below-zerc
part, to've had her jest once smooth
the hair off his beaded brow, let alone
take charge of him like a Her-fort
heifer does her fust calf. Which Is
sure the manner Josie took a-holt ant
managed the Old Man. But this
hain't no love story. Quite the re
verse. It's the tale of Ten Thousand
Dogies."
| found out that when Mr.. E. wen
into the bulb in business way, thi:
Wolf Nose Crick Ranch went around
bankruptcy, instid of through it, be
cuz, mostly, nobody thought 1t wutf
"a thought. An to them as thinl
strange of ten thousand sters, ever
dogies, bein' bought by busted
boomer, I'll state that any man will
the same range, an not absolutely {
convicted hoss-thief, could've got 'en
by givin' the same cutthroat chatte
mawgitch. Old Aleck Macdonald die
sure sell 'em to Mr.. Elkins reason
able, though, because James R. hat
made him a good deal of money II
this boom, an they was only dogies
anyhow.
Now, this bein' my evenin' fer tellin
the truth, I'll state that ten thousand
te n fnI 1Ay,
on the range. The distinction be
tween them an reg'lar native range
cows lays in the lap O. luxury in which
the dogies is dangled in the farmin
regions where they originate. The
first little blizzard, they'll hump III
an blat fer home an mother. They'll
gaze fondly at butte ten mile off
eXpectin' doors in it to slide open
an racks full of clover an timothy tt
pull out an be forked out to 'em
They look grieved an wiring their jaws
becuz water with the chill took of
amt piped to their stalls, an they
moan cause they amt no stalls. Ia
as soon run a Womens an Babies
Home. You CANT get it into theil
heads where the water-holes is, ar
lts allus an even break whuthel
they'll stan an freeze in their tracks
or chase after some bunch Of 2:10 ma
uves ontil their hooves drop off
That's why Macdonald talked as he
did about 'em, as I'm informed.
Take EN-" says he, IAN don't fiat
ter yourself I'm donatin' anything
They's no feed fer 'em in their native
Iowa at any livin' price, an on the
other hand, fifty per cent of 'emM die
gettin' over their homesickness on the