Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-08-30
Copyright by che Robbs.MerriIl Company


some stall: but that first winter was a
special providence if 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 'fnity 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
persi1age into the gang, an set up
an reach for things to beat fours AS
for the dogies, none of 'em had the
faintest show fer 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
there'd be no fear of low temperatures
If you could be induced to stay by the
cows, and blow off once in 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
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
well II was fer 'em, fer grass was
sca'ce. 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 FIR 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 a 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
hot Oh h.
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
enough cowman, president of the as
ISOLATION and the biggest man from
Spearfish to Jackson's Hole. He knew
some COMPOUNDED joke on every man
in the Govt 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 This doggy PROPOSE
ton was a sort Of straw that Jim
Elkins grabbed at as he went under,
an II done me an all the fellers good
to see the percentage of loss so small.
even II 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's
friend, though, an would sure extend
the note when 1t come of age; an
fur's we could see, these dry seasons
was only delayin' the cleanup.
So thought, an so thought the FL
kins family, as peaceful as a Injun
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 jackleg lawyer
with news Of Macdonald's death. and
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 mawgitch
on. I was app'inted as his chaperon
to show him the stock, an 1t bein'
hurryin' time o. year, l exhibited to
him ten r 'leven thousand head of
mixed pickles, and called 1t square.
He didn't know a cow-brand from one
plucked from the burnin', an credited
us with a township or two Of OZARK
cow stuff I run him into the first day
out l didn't feel that he was with
payin' much notice to, II he hadn't
had the say about the Old Mans nav
glitch.
/ gathered from him that he was
goin' to realize on the outfit in the
fall. l went so fur as to pint out
what a grave-robbin' scheme this was,
an how this doggy stuff had been KEEP
in the livir' SKELETON department f'r
two years by drouth an hell-slew Of
other troubles, an couldn't possibly do
more than pay OF the mawgitch. an
leave US holdin' the bag In the wust
country f'r' snipe outside Of the Mo-
jave desert.
They'll pay out" says he. IAN
that's all I'm required to look out fer"
swear, was prospectin' f'r
good hole to plant him in all the rest
o. the trip. goes right to the ranch
when we pulled In. The Old Man an
Josie was a-sittin' in the freight, an