Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1945-02-09

| u sACA AAAOuIllS. A SteeT WOulQ tOSS
his head to get fly off, or stomp
a foot. Suddenly one of the steers
would make dash and bump up
against another, the way penned cat
tie do. Then he'd stand still again,
the saliva running a little faster.
what do you say, Newt?" Pa
would ask. "You saw their pasture,
you ought to come pretty close"
That was sly dig, because Newt
was not much of a steer guesser.
But he was a natural-born mule
man. No one could beat him when
it came to mules.
Even If he couldn't guess good,
Newt always made a ceremony of
1t. He would turn his head from side
to side and pull his chin and squirt;
sometimes he'd get over the fence
and try to run his fingers along the
backbone to see how firm the fat
was.
write that whiteface down for
ESQ.,"
Ma would put it down.
One by one the men would guess,
Pa last. There'd be little silence,
because he was the best guesser and
knew the cattle. II can see 720
pounds"
Then the women would guess. Lots
OF laughing, because nobody expect
ed much from them.
One of the men would open the
scale gate and the steer would make
a dash, thinking he was getting
away, then see the other gate and
have to pull up short. More white
clover drippings.
| Pa would run the marker up and
down till the beam was steady, then
put on his glasses and announce
the weight. What shout would 60
up! More codding than ever. What a
disgrace to be low man. He'd have
to make all sorts of excuses like he
could of guessed closer, only he
wanted to give somebody else a
chance.
Then they'd read the women's
guesses. More laughing now.
Guesses would be placed on an
other steer and he'd make a dash,
thinking too, that he was free.
| Finally all the steers would be
through and Ma would announce
who was winner. Usually it was Pa.
He had to appear modest, so he'd
say, II got them up and weighed
them yesterday" Then moment Of
seriousness.
They've got some blackleg in
Hughes Township" one of the men
would say. A silence.
When everybody was feeling it,
Pa would say, at just the right mo-
ment, "I'll 60 out to the patch and
see if I can't locate a melon" This
would make them laugh and the
silence that had vibrated for mo-
ment would be gone.
| They'd all walk to the house, the
men in one bunch and the women
in another, and Pa and would 60 to
the cave and bring up the melons.
Ma would put on her apron and
pass around plates and knives, and
forks and saltcellars. Pa would take
the butcher knife and stand its point
on melon, with everybody watch
ing and knowing big moment had
come. Down would go the knife;
crack!
"Why, it's full of seeds!" Pa
would say with pretended disgust.
1t wouldn't be long till everybody'd
be eating, the women sitting on
chairs and the men planted along
the porch edge. I'd have to collect
the rinds and carry them to the
chicken yard and put them down,
good side up. Then I would skip
back, so as not to miss any of the
talk. The porch and yard became
sort of Grange, as we exchanged
ideas and caught up on the news.
Mr.. Trullinger was going to have a
public sale the fourteenth, Lawson
Scott was going to witch for a stock
well, and So-and-So had applied for
job as Knabb teacher.
About choring time, they'd leave
and, as they drove away, lonesome
ness hung in the air. Then we
would change our clothes, feed the
stock, get the milk buckets and start
down across the corncobs.
After the chores were finished,
Ma would get supper and we'd draw
up our chairs to the kitchen table.
But no blessing, because it was only
cold mush and milk and oilcloth.
We would 60 into the sitting room
and Ma would take the paper bag
off the chimney and light the lamp,
and we would talk over everything
that had happened, and exchange
news, because Ma had got some
from the women and Pa some from
the men and Phebe, who lived with
us, had got some. Pa would get
out Wallaces' Farmer and take off
his shoes with the brass eyelets and
set them neatly beside his chair so
no one would break their neck. Ma
would look through the church pa
pers we'd brought home, then get
out the Bible and begin to read.
Now and then she would stop and
ask Pa something, and he would
put down the Farmer and say he'd