The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-03-25
THE REAL BUFFALO
BILI.-SHOWMAN.
1Continued from page ?, column p

quietly as cou1o.
"'K:nd Of thought it was. Kind OF
looked like it. Mind if We sort OF
dawdle around with her? BABIES
amt much of crop out here
And so they stayed and 'daWdled
great, powerful children in the
baby hands of the little child that lay
on the cot. Then, one by one, theS
turned and thanked me, the bartenc-
er again wiping his hands on that
greasy apron.
"'We're plumb sorry about making
her cry he apologized for the fourth
or fifth time; we thoughten you anu
Cody'd gone over to the fort. were
plumb sorry about it. But you and
and the young 'un trot on to bed now.
There amt no business tonight any
wav. and these fellows want to 60
back to the fort. I'll set up in the bar
room
You goin' to shet down. One OF
the group asked the question as
though it were a sacrilege. The bar
tender wiped his hands again.
Yep he answered with an air of
old fnality, I'm going to shet
down."
AS became frontiersman's wife, 1t
became necessary that Mrs. Cody
learn to shoot-shoot to kill. Bill
would return from sojourning in far
places, and, as we read:
ssThen would follow glorious, hap
py days in which he would put side
saddle on his favorite horse, Brigham,
and we would ride far out into the
prairie. Then Will would bring'forth
his heavy, cumbersome six-shooter
from it's holster, and hand it to me.
t.'The next time anything happens,
he said more than once, 1 want you
to shoot-and shoot to kill. Now, lets
see whether your aims improving.
Bang oway!'
"Whereupon he would select a tar
get, which to me seemed miles away,
and with the most bland, childlike
expression, tell me to hit it.
"'Hit that?' I would ask. Why,
Will, a person cou1dn't hit that with
a rife, let alone six-shooter.'
Wills eyes would open wide. and
halm-smile would come to his lips.
"'Give me that gun would be his
answer. A swing, a sudden steady
ing of the wrist, and burst of smoke.
Then Will would turn to me with a
courtly bow. Please go look at the
target he would ask. And invariably
there would be a bullet hole in its
center. ...., ,...... -.. ,
But the same thing did not hap
pen when shot. 1t was true that he
had taught me something of the art
in st. Louis and in LeavenWorth-
but did you ever try to swing heavy
IA caliber six-shooter through the
air, bring it down to level, get your
aim and pull the trigger in less than
a second? Will would not let me
shoot any other way.
Its quick work out here in the
west was his constant reminder
You don't shoot unless you have to
and then you shoot quick. Now
try it again
Gradually Mrs. Cody became ex-
pert at this sort of shooting, and then
one day her husband began more diff
cult lessons:
g Put Arta on your lap he order
ed. 'Now-that target over there is
an Injun. You've had to take a ride,
and just as you come home this old
Red Pepper bobs up on 'yc l want
you to spur Brigham into a gallop and
put a bullet through that old repro
bates head
"tAll at once?' I asked vaguely.
Why, of course my husband an
swered as though it were the most
natural thing in the world. You
know, if that Injun's out for business,
he amt going to wait for an invita-
tion before he starts shooting. Gad!'
he had caught the expression from
a college professor, and was using it
in almost every sentence bet a
buffalo hump you can do it the first
time
But Will was bad better, miss
ed the first time, the second, and con-
secutively up about the hundredth,
while Arta, laughing and clapping
her hands-yet shivering at every
blast of the old six-shooter- called
for more. Will looked at me rue
fully.
"I guess there's only one thing
for me to do That's to get rich. III
never pay for your cartridges any