The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-08-30

special providence il they ever was |
one. So mild and barmy from Sep |
TENDER to March that the prairie-dogs |
forgot to hole up, an Mrs. Elkins /
served Thanksgivin' dinner in the !
open air on the pizziazzy at the |
Ranch. An she rode the range with
Jim consecutively, an said she'd found
her 'finity in this cattle biz. AS for
him, the main thing the matter was
that failure O. his a-millin' through his
mental facilities. But this was their
honeymoon we found, an that, an no
losses on the range. helped his case,
an by spring he begun to shoot the
persifiage into the gang, an set up
an reach for things to beat fours. AS
for the dogies. none of EN- had the
faintest show fer a heller. The grass
was like new-mown hay; every little
snow was follered by a chinook; the
water-holes was brimmin'; an all
went merry as a marriage bell.
The fact is, Aconite." says Mr.. FL
kins, addressin' me, 81 knew when
heard that burst Of phonetic lava
from your lips at Belle Fourche, that
thered be no fear of low temperatures
If you could be induced to stay by the
cows, and blow of once in a while"
He had the hot air under wonderful
control, hisself, an felt good at the
way the stock was comm on-March,
April, May. an fresh feed, ponds full
o. ducks, cute little young wolves
about the dens, an every one O. the
! ten thousand dogies stretchin' TO see
| hisself grow. But the fall-the fall
was sure a bad one fer both feed an
water. The dogies. however. couldn't
fairly be called such any longer. hav-
! in recovered from what Jim called
their acute nostalgia, an bein' pref
nears good rustlers as natives. An
we'll II was fer 'em. fer grass was
zee. an a son-of-a-gun OF a while
! between drinks. After you got away
from the crick-an' you jist had to git
away f'r grass-it was a good days
ride to water. east, west. north, south.
up'r down. On the hay-slews We had
to prime the rake with old hay fore
We could make windrow. Laff If you
want to, but they was whole outfits
with less hay than some folks has
government bonds. We had about
enough to wad a shotgun, an was
merchant princes in the fodder line
The steers, lookin like contaminated
hat-racks. as the CID Man said, come
through the cold weather in a shrink
in an sylph-like way, so thin that you
could throw a bull by the tail a dunn
sight furder'n I'd trust some folks. an
that's no dream!
BY this time Mr. Elkins was a sure
eno'gh cowman, president of the as
sociation and the biggest man from
Spearfish to Jackson's Hole. He knew
some COMPOUNDED joke on every man
in the COW country, an not only called
'em all by their fust name but had
one of his own FIR most of 'em. Mrs.
Elkins. havin' pulled him through his
own doggy stage, dropped out of the
COW business, an devoted herself to
kids. | knew that his doggy PROPOSE.
ton was a sort of a straw that Jim
, Elkins grabbed at as he went under
| an Il done me an all the fellers good
to see the percentage Of loss so small
even If the brutes wasn't putin on
weight as they orto, an the price was
away down. an We knew we shouldn't
be ready to sell when the mawgitch
got ripe. Old Macdonald was Jim'i
; friend. though, an would sure extend
, the note when II come Of age; an
| fur's we could see. these dry seasons
, was only delayin' the cleanup.
| So thought. an so thought the Ell
; kins family, as peaceful as a Injur
! summer morn, an as happy as skunks
J But along in June of the third year
Just in the last of the roundup, out
| comes what Elkins called our Nemmy
sis in the form Of a jackleg lawyer
[ with news of Macdonald's death. ant
5 papers to prove 1t, an him appointed
! executioner of the estate of A. Mac
: donald. diseased. He wanted to SEE
, the cattle the estate had a mawgitcf
( on. I was app'inted as his chaperor
, to show him the stock. an 1t bein' &
hurryin' time o. year, I exhibited t.
\ : him ten r 'leven thousand head o
a mixed pickles. and called it square
n He didn't know a cow-brand from ont
! plucked from the burnin'. an credited
I us with a township or two Of O-Bar->
l. cow stuff I run him into the first da!
4 out | didn't feel that he was wutl
n payin' much notice to. II he hadn'
, had the say about the Old Mans NAV
glitch.
! I gathered from him that he wa
4 goin' to realize on the outfit in tn
n fall. went so fur as to pint GU
, what a grave-robbin' scheme this was
@ an how this doggy stiff had been keI
h in the livir' SKELETON department T.
! two years by drouth an hell-slew O
e other troubles, an couldn't possibly d.
D more than pay off the mawgitch, ar
Il leave us holdin' the bag In the wus
|. country FIR snipe outside Of the Nc
/, jave desert.
o They'll pay out" says he. "ar
l. that's all I'm required to look out fer.
s swear, l was prospectin' FIR
n good hole to plant him in all the res
v o. the trip. | goes right to the ranc
d when We pulled in. The Old Man ar
s. Josie was a-sittin' in the freight, al
II she had the baby, a yearlin' on he
n lap, and the boy, long two-year-olt
n in the crib. Outside Of a nest {
8. young wild ducks, | never seen an,
a. thing softer and cutter: l reports al