Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1931-05-28

UdU ftiailHfu u try anu Eel IL
place on the Santa Fee train that MIS-
standing. sleam up. ready 10 run into
the Nation. l9ut tan couldn't gef OH
There wasn't room for flea. They
were hanging IN the cow-eatcher and
swarmng AL over The engine and sit
ting on TOP If The cars II WAS keyed
down To make No more speed thru II
horse II turned out they di,ln'f even
do that. They Went twenty miles IN
ninety minutes decided I'd use my
Indian pony. | knew I'd ret endnr.
ance, anyway. II not speed And that's
what counted In the end
"There We stood. by the thousands.
nil night. Morning. and we began to
line up at the border as near as
they'd let us go. Militia all along to
keep us back. They had burned the
prairie ahead for miles into the Ma
tlon, SO as to keep the grass down and
make the way clearer. To smoke out
the sooners. too, who had sneaked In
and were hiding in the scrub oaks, In
AHE uIuANs NItttNcI lUty GOuiu. NlQ6L
OF the Killing was due to them. They
had crawled In and staked the land
and stood ready to shoot those OF us
who came in fair and square, In the
Run knew the piece wanted. 4
little creek ran through the land. and
the prairie rolled little there. too.
Nothing but backjacks for miles
around II. but on that section. because
OF the water. suppose, there were
elms and pprsimmnns and cotton
woods and even a grove Of pecans.
had noticed 1t many time. riding the
range"
tH'm Riding the rangel All the
Venables made quick mental note OF
that. II was thus, by stray bits and
snatches, that they managed to piece
together something Of yancey Crayat's
past)
Ten o'clock. and the crowd was
nervous and restless. Thousands from
NIL parts Of the country had waited
ten years for this dav when the land
hungry would he fed They were like
people starving I've seen The same
look eNnellv an me faees If men who
were rapenans for food
Well. eleven O'Clock md thav were
croWdin. and cnrsing aud fighting for
places near the line They shouted
and sang and yelled and argued. and
the sound they made wasn't human at
penned up. The sun hazed down. 1t
was cruel. The dust hung over every
thing in thick cloud. binding you
and choking you. The black dust Of
the burned prairie was over every
thing. We were like a horde Of fiends
with our red eyes and our cracked lips
and our hlackened faces Eleven
thirty. 1t was a picture straight out
OF hell. The roar grew louder. Peo-
pie fought for an inch Of gain on the
border. just next to me was a girl
who looked ahont eighteen--she
turned out to be fwenty-fve-and a
beauty she was. too--on a coal-black
thoroughbred"
Aha" said Cousin Jonett Goforth.
He was the kind OF man who says,
Aha
ION the other side was an old fell
low with long gray beard--a plains
man, he was-a six-shoOter in his belt,
one wooden leg. and flask OF whisky.
He took pull ont Of that every min
ute or two He was mounted on an
Indian pony like mine. As we waited
we fell to talking, the three of us,
though ron couldn't hear much In that
nproar. The girl said she had trained
her thoroughbred for the race. He
was from Kentucky. and so was She
She was bound to get her hundred and
sixty acres. she said She had to have
It. She didn't say why, and ! didn't
ask her We were all too keyed up,
anyway. to make sense. Oh. forgot
She had on a get-up that took the at
tention OF anyone that saw her, even
In that crazy mob. The better to cut |
the wind, she had shortened saiI and
wore short skirt, black tights, and 4
skullcap."
Here there was quite a lombard
ment Of sound as silver spoons and
knives and forks were dropped from
shocked and nerveless feminine Ven
able fingers.
1T turned out that the three OF us,
there In the front line, were headed
down the old freghters' trail towards
the creek land I said, I'll be the
first In the Run to reach Little Bear
That was the name OF the creek on
the section The girl pulled her cap
down tight over her ears. Follow me-
she laughed I'll show you the way
Then the old fellow with the wooden |
leg and the whiskdrs yelled out, |
'Whoop-eel I'll tell EN- along the
Little Bear you're both a-comin.'
There we were, the girl on my left, !
the old plainsman on my right Eleven
forty-1se- Along the border were the
soidiers, their guns IN one hand, their |
watches in the other. Those last I'VE |
minutes seemed years long; and funny,
they'd quieted till there wasn't a
sound. Listening. The last minute
was an eternity. Twelve o'clock. /