Arizona republican., 1919-04-17
The Last Word

"Whoa,' we admonished the oil mare and pulled up alongside of a lone female traveller. Her generous ground floor plan was surmounted with a tat tered and battered straw roof through which the ambitious rays of the morn ing sun filtered on to the clinging white hangings below.
 i. Do you want to ride to town?" ,ve asked.
 There followed a noticeable pause. during which she seemed to measure the distance down the road to the out skirts of the village and then to take stock of our outfit" Casually, and with the deliberation of an old hand at the game. she turned and let fly mouthful of tobacco juice at q mes quite some distance away.
 'Biieve I will" she piped, and am bled to the leeward side of the rig
 The mare impatient by this time to be on her way. had become restless, and just as our gentle guest started to climb into the rig. the animal lurched forward and precipitated the wayfarer on all fours into the road. Mortified by this unhospitable conduct on the part of our otherwise faithful beast. we laid a violent hand on the rein and uttered bloodcurdling threats
  unless there was change of demeanor, and then turned to the woman with appropriate apologies and urged her to try again.
 She shook the dust from her gar ments, and shuffling the straw onto her head after fashion. she made ;t dive at the rig, and with surprising agility managed to negotiate the dis tance from the ground. But before she could seat herself with becomins boise and dignity, the restless marc freed herself from the tight rein and leaped forward again with such vigor as to bring the already outraged woman against the back of the seat with a thud that jolted the wind oct of her and slid the straw hat on to the bridge | of her nose.
 1 More apologies would have served. perhaps. only to make matters worse, 1 and so we decided to let this last faux | pas on the part of the mare go un- | noticed For the nounce we and our guest rattled our way over the road without q word spoken. Before long, 1 however, we managed to remark that the mare was somewhat playful this morning.
 Over the larboard of the rig went a tobacco -colored stream, and alter executing the nOulu-tO-SAllt IioFe uent with the back of her hand, our guest said, "Playful-huh. What tha old critter needs is good tanning low I'd fix her for what's ailin' her ii I had hold O them lines.'
 Somewhat apprehensiye of what might follow unless matters were i'm
 mediately taken in hand, we tacluuiiF
 guided the conversation to crops and
 the coming hot weather.
 "Wal," she said, eve got a good lit
 tie place. Lots O willers and cctron
 woods-lots O shade. And nice ii'l
 patch O watermelons. Jist give US
 plenty O shade and enough water
 melons and we'll put up with any heat
 this valley ever seen. Yes. sip-ee; w
 list couldn't git along wi'out wSer I
 melons nohowi"
 You're from the south?" we sus
 gested.
 TShore 'nuff-from Texasl" and
 probably by way of impressing 1t upor , me, she punctured the atmosphere witt | another shot over the larboard side
 And we spent the rest of the trip tt , town worrying for fear that the re nowned southern hospitality woul' } prompt her to pass the plug to us. Bu she didn't.
 At that, if the proposal goes througl
 to have men in the army tried by ]urle l of enlisted men, we are safe in assun ing that the verdicts will be only
 matter of private" opinion.