Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 1092 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

6 . Old Cross-Eye, the Maverick-Hunter. a a near a post or agency, and a Texan would have told you that they were lazy vagabonds, who would do nothing bat drink and gable, when they were not thieving and robbing. ~ Old Cross-Eye was of the Texan opinion, and hated them for coming; but the young man was still of the impression that Indians were men’ the same as the rest of us, and had resolved to treat them well till they gave bim reason to alter his opinion. He followed them to the end of the motte and saw there a whole party of mounted Indians, from the territory, waiting for their friends, When Wild Cat-saw them, he turned to Tom, saying: ‘*My brother sees, It is well that be was kind. Wecould have taken what we wanted.” CHAPTER VI. THE CATTLE COMPANY. * COLONEL ” CALLAHAN, in return for his ser- vices at the Collingsworth Ranch, had asked the judge to come to his own round-up, at the Lame og Ranch, the time for which was set three days after tbe first branding of the season. Lame Hog Ranch had received its name from the ownership by Callahan when be first came to Texas, of a very large pig, which had been lamed by an accident. The pig had been con- verted into pork long before, but the name had stuck to the ranch, and the colonel let it take its course. Colonel Callahan bad made a great many in- vitations, and had determined “to do the thing up properly,” as he said; for be wasa man who bad, what some of the neighbors had not—a farm of about thirty acres, on which he reised wheat and vegetables enough for the house, and did not depend, as many of the rancbers did, on **hog and hominy,” all the year round. The colonel’s friends bad gathered at the front of his log-house—for everybody in Texas lives in log houses on the ranches when they bave nothing better, and there are not man who have, in the newer parts of the State suc as Satanta county. The Lame Hog Ranch was one of the finest properties in the county, and the colonel was not above saying at all times and places, that *“‘the only thing the Lame Hog wanted was a lady to drive him,” by which hi meant to inti- mate ina delicate way that the owner of the ranch was in the matrimonial market. He bad not vet mustered the courage to say the decisive words to either of the judge’s daughters, though the judge was apt to give broad hints that ‘‘daugbters were hard to get rid of, nowadays, and any man was the better for a wife, if he was a rancher or a farmer, But the judge did not bring bis daughters ‘ with him, when he went to a neigbbor’s round- up, though he allowed them to attend his own. The party at the Lame Hog was exclusively for bachelors, and the whisky circuiated freely, while the profanity was the more unadulterated, for that very cause. The colonel had a fair-sized herd, as herds go in Texas, some ten thousand head, worth, as beef, about a hundred thousand dollars, at any time, had he wanted to realize the cash there- or. Like most of the ranchers of that county, he had a range, nominally of a square league, but his cattle roamed over the wide prairie, that stretched, for many miles, round the claims of himself and bis fellow ranchers. The drive had p:oceeded some time, when the appearance of ‘strangers in the neighborhood caused a stampede, and the animals ran wildly througb a break in the lines, which caused a at deal of profanity before they could be got ck in order. The strangers turned out to be a party of sur- veyors, with their instruments, the glittering tubes of which had caused the fright, and they were accompanied by a number of men ‘on horseback, who flaunted flags, and acted as if they did not care what they did, fn the way of damage. They staid on the ground asif they belonged there, and wben the ‘‘ colonel” requested them to take their flags away, till the round-up was over, the leader of the party, who was recog- nized as a well-known desperado, called Jac Tomlinson, replied in a sweggering way: ‘*See bere, Callahan, we belong here, and you don’t. That’s about the size of it. If you want to get your old round-up finished, go ahead. We come from the Glasgow Cattle Com- pany, and this land you're on isourn not yourn atall. We'’rea-settin’ up the boundaries, and don’t you furgit it,” The cowboys of the rancheros bad gathered together at the sight of the strangers, and had begun to look to their pistols, with the readiness of their class, under all circumstances of diffi- culty, to shoot, as the easiest solution of the trouble; but they saw that Tomlinson’s party was as strong as their own, if not stronger, and that it contained several men known as ‘*-des- peradoes ”—that is to say, men who shoot quick, and seldom give any one the chance to get the drop on them, hen they noticed that these men kept their hands on tbeir pistols, at the first symptoms of _ disturbance, the rancher cowboys concluded - that it might be as well to let the chiefs do the talking before they opened hostilities. Judge Collingsworth was the first to speak to / the strange leader in a tone of expostulation: ‘‘Look bere, Mr. Tomlinson, | don’t under- stand what you mean. This land is the prop- erty of the Stafe, and has been used as the com- mon property of its citizens, ever since I bave been in the country.” Tomlinson sented in the politely exasperating way that he affected, when he particularly de- | sired to put the onus of the quarrel on the other man, “Tam very glad to bear you admit it to be the property of the State, judge, for the State has sold itto the company, and the compuny are to take possession at once. I merely wish to remark that it is no use to try aud intimidate me, in the discharge of my Guty. We are here with the authority, in due form, to go ahead and survey and fence in our lands, and we are | going todoit, If your men attempt to inter- | fere with us, the blame will lie on you, and not | onus. We have the law with us.” And the air with which the man spoke con- vinced the judge that he meant what he said; for Jack Tomlinson, with all his faults, had the reputation of being a man of his Word, and it was so seldom that he had the law on bis side, that, when he did, it was a feather in his cap, | of which he would make use, if necessary, asthe | justification for unlimited homicides, under the plea of self. defense, The ranchers were puzzled what to say or do. The party opposed to them was ‘armed to the teeth, and evidently bad come there, as Tom- linson had said, to do as they pleased. To create a fight at that time was to destroy the round-up and have a good deal of trouble, to say nothing of the bloodshed that was sure to ensue. ‘*Panch” Burleson, usually the most irasci- ble of the party, but always sensitive if a friend was in any danger of Joss, put in his efforts to conciliate the reckless desperado, who ‘was car- rying matters with such a high hand. ‘*See here, Tomlinson,” he said, pléadingly, “T allers thought you was too much of a gen- tleman to come and spoil a man’s round-up, like this. If you’ve got any surveyin’ to do, why can’t you keep it till arter the round-up time’s over. Wedon’t want to go ag’in’ the law, but here’s a lot of cattle all ready to brand, and this muss will scatter them all over the county. Can’t ye let the thing go foraday ortwo? | s’pose the claim ain’t so large that it’ll take yea hull year to fence it in.” Tomlinson turned to the other with bis wick- edest smile, as he retorted: ‘‘Mr. Burleson, when I was in trouble, the last time the grand jury sat at Satanstown, J’m told you said that the county would be well off if a dozen like me were shot or hung. Very well, sir; I have never taken any notice of that remark because the proper time kad not come, Now, I’m on my own stamping-ground, and : propose to do it, if you git too obstropo- ous. oper y was BB Bats had bad we edu- cation, and gener used pretty good langt.age; but the long babit of associating with raflans had got him in a way of dropping grammar and everything else when he got excited and dan- erous, and now he looked as if he was spoiling or a fight. 4 * Patch ” eolored deeply, for his own temper was high, but he contained himself so far as to say: ‘“T ain’t the man to go back on what I’ve said; and no ono knows that better than you, Jack Tomlinson. If you want a muss, you kin have it, as quick as you please, But that ain’t what you come here fur; is it?” “No, sir, Lcame for no such thing,” replied the other, with his hand still at his bip. “I came, as I said, to protect this surveying party, and I have the warrant as constable, in my pocket. Before you men get into trouble, be sure you have the right to fight. Lookat that.” As he spoke, he showed, with one hand, the parchment that they all recognized as the State property, and thé sight produced an instant revulsion on the minds of the ranchers, Like all Texans, since the war, they had a great deal of pride in the law-obeying spirit of the men who, were its citizens, and were ner- vously sensitive to the reproach of being called ** lawless.” . Callahan himself, as soon as he saw the ap- peiotment, drew back, with the remark: ‘‘That settles it, gentlemen, Mr. Tomlinson has a right to go ahead, and weshall bave to go to Austin, to ses about this. In tie mean time, Tomlinson, what am I going to do about this round-up?” The moment the desperado had the assurance, from the words of the rancher, that the idea of armed resistance was over, his politeness re- turned, and he said, with more kindly feeling than he bad yet shown: ** As long as you don’t dispute our right to be here, colonel, we don’t want to be hogs. Til see the men don’t git in your way more than we kin belp, and you kin go on with your round-up. Come, boys, git together, and out of the way of the cattle.” So saying, he led his party off, out of the way of the line of cowboys, and the round-up pro ceeded in the usual style. Some of the stran- gers even helped, at a word from Tomlinson, and the driving of the cattle into the branding corral was executed, with a speed that was very satisfactory. The cowboys of the ranchers were so intent on their own work, that they forgot to look at what the strangers were doing, till they had the cattle safe in the corral. When the work was over, they went back toward the log house to get dinner, and found, on the way there, a number of posts, set as if to mark the line of a fence. At present they were only set up at long in- tervals, and the line stretched across the water front of the Lame Hog Ranch, where it abutted on the banks of the Blue Fork river, which sup- plied the cattle of all the county with water. Even this caused them no uneasiness at first, for the posts were not set up firmly, as if they were not intended for the erection of a strong fence, and they were at such long distances apart, that the rancher most immediately inter- ested in the matter thought he would have time to go to Austin and try to get the grant modified in some way, before the harm done should be serious, The dinner over, the ranchers returned to the branding corral, and set to work at their task, letting the cattle escape, as fast as branded, to. the open prairie, where they had been accus- tomed to roam. The task was over at sunset, and then the whole assembly broke up, with the promise to meet, in three days more, at ‘‘ Punch” Burle- son’s ranch, to help bim in bis annual branding. The party of strangers bad vanished some- where; the way was unobstructed, and Punch Burleson, with his men, rode rapidly home to the Screw-worm Ranch, with the intention of getting there in time for supper, which would be ready when they arrived. It was a ten-mile ride, and they executed it at a canter, for horses are cheap in Texas, and no one thinks of saving them, any more than an Indian would, The sun had set when they started, but they were not waiting for the moon, which would not rise till ten o’clock, that night. The way wasa familiar one, and they were talking and Jaugh- as they rode, till they arrived at the edge of the grant on which the Screw-Worm Ranch was situated. Then, all of a sudden, without any warning: ‘*Punch” went over his horse’s head, follow by the whole party of cowboys as fast as the came to a line on the ground, which they all did, in the space of about three seconds, riding rapidly as they were, A loud explosion of oaths and cries of pain was the immediate effect of this sudden tumble and all the men got up, to investigate what bad happened. | unch had sprained his wrist; ene of the cow- boys was stunned by falling on his bead, and the whole party was the worse for the accident. But what bad caused it? A tremendous oath from one of the cowboys told the story at once, as he examined the place where they ad fallen. ‘* Boys,” be shouted, ‘it’s a barb wire fence by the Hokey! The hosses is all cut to thunder !” His words produced an immediate rush to the place, when they found he had told the truth. A strong fence of posts, and the sharp, barbed wire that will stop anything, had been stretched across the path. It was invisible in the dark, = er horses were cut badly, as the cowboy CHAPTER VIL. ' THE BARBED WIRE, To picture the exasperation of the men who bad thus been injured and had their animals lamed and gashed by the cruel barbs of the wire-fence, is needless, Their ponies were hurt so seriously that one of them could not stand uponits feet, and the others had great, gaping wounds in their chests and flanks, while they were all frightened at the sudden stoppage and the smart of the | gashes. There were five men in the party, including Punch, and the first thing that they thought of was to destroy the fence that had caused the mischief, “The darned skunks!” said Punch, savagely; “Tl teach ’em to come to Texas with their darned wires, a-trippin’ up honest men goin’ home of nights. Rip the darned fence to pieces, boys, and make a fire of the posts. I'll be even with the company, some way.” But it was easier to say “rip the fence to pieces” than to doit, They had nothing with them to cut the wires, and when they started to break the thing in the dark, the ugly barbs stuck into their fingers; the strength of the wires defied them, except at great sacrifice of flesh, and the best they could do was to open a way for themselves into their own ranch, from which they were barred out, Bowie-knives were useless on the wire, and the only way they succeeded in breaking any portion of the tough fence was by pulling upa | comicbooks.c wok he 4 : ; | i ee ee ee OS ee ee Ss —— - a A A IT i PO A. Ol ile eng Mote eee eee lh Pantene ong pemans ap sony ales > a De ee Oe Eee Tw Oe Be eS ee See ~~