MONDAY, JUNE u, 1908. THE MORNING A STOW AN, ASTORIA, OREGON. Billy the Buck By HENRY WALLACE FUlLLirS Vivrl(iHt hy 8. H. tcCur Co, "WW iy wnen I wno worklm VJ I 011 1 Dakota ranch the bona, n person by the name of Hteve, urged mo to take an ai, go forth and chop a little wood, which I did. The weather was I1fuln Dakota full; air vlfnl Willi the mingled pious nt touch of frost ami sun, like Ice err 11 111 In hot coffee, nml still si lence tf. I hnd t good breakfast; was in excellent health nutj spirits. The Imim could by no mean approach .within a ml in uiisrceved, ami every thing pointed to a pleasant day. Hut, alas, a the Copper Lined Klllcluhlrd of the ItocklCM slugs, "Man'a bnpoa rise witu the celerity and vigor of the hind leg of the iiiuIm only to descend with the velocity of a atom gentleman on Imimim jieel." (n renchlng the grove of cotton wood I aat down for a mnoke and spocu latlve view of tiling In general, having learned at my then early ago that jihllfMOphy la never of more valu tlmii .When otin ahoilld be dolnif NmtiPtlittiir else. I heard a noise behind me, a peculliir noUe, iM-tween a snort and n violent bleat. Turning, I saw a buck di-er and from the cord mid bell around LIn neck recognized him a one llllly, the property of Hteve'a eldeHt hoy. II.; wa Niokeu of a a pet. Till wn til" touch deeded to com plete tny Arcadia, the Injection of what at the time I considered to be poetry Into the excellent prone of open air life, Who could e that grace, fill, pretty creature and remain 11 it moved? Not I, at all event. 1 f. cled inyaelf a a knight of old In the royal forest, which gave n touch of the on hulc to my Kpeccli. "C'otiio here, thou aweet eyed forest child!" I cried. And here ho came. At an estlwiihi 1 hIiouIi! May that he waa four ax handle, or about twelve feet, high aa ho upended himself, bra ml Uhed hi autler and Juuii.ed me. My ax wu at a dlstnucu. 1 moved. I played kulght to klug'a bishop's eighth, 10 till cao represented by a fork of the nearest tree, a wl and subtle piece of strategy, ai It resulted in a clrawu game. My friend atood erect for awhile, making warlike pae with bla front feet, which, by the way, are aa for midable weapon a a man would care to have oppoaed to him; then, aeelng that there waa no aportlng blood lu me, lie devoured my luucb and went away, a course I promptly Imitated a far a I could. I departed. Hitherto I had loth liked and ad mired Hteve, 111 euormoua atrength. coupled with an uncxicctcd nglllty and an agreeable way ho hud of treating you aa If you were quite hla own age, endeared him to me. When I poured ont my troublea to blm, however, re buking him for allowing audi a savage benat to he at large, he caued my feel ing to undergo a change, for lnatead of sympathizing ho fell to uproarloua laughter, shipped hla leg and swore that It waa the best thing he'd ever heard of and winded he'd been there to nee It. There are probably uo worao teaae 011 earth than the big boys who dm ho the cow ou the western pralrlea. Tliey had "a borae on tlie kid," and the poor kid felt nightmare ridden Indeed. If I were out with them aomo one would aaatimo an auxloua look and carefully vcout around a bunch of graaa In the dlatance, explaining to the reet that s mere migni no a ueer concoaiea mere, and one could not be too careful when there were wild heaata like that around. Then the giggling rascals would paaa the suspected apot with In finite caution, perhapa breaklug Into a gallop, with frightened ahrleka of "The deer, the deer!" while I tried to look aa If I liked It and strove manfully to keep the brine of mortl (lea t Ion from rolling down my cheek. I didn't let my emotion take the form of wnrda, because I had wit enough to know that I could not put a better barrier between myself and a renl danger than those husky lads of the 1 leather breeches and white hats. For nil that I had a yearning to bco one of them encounter the deer at hla worst. I did not wish any 0110 hurt and wits so confident of their physical ability that I did not think any one would be, but I felt Hint audi an Inci dent would strengthen their under stand lug. This thing canto to pass, and, of all people, on my nrch enemy, Steve. If I had had the arrangement of details I could not have planuml It better. Because of my tender years the light chores of Iho ranch full to my share. One day every one was off, leaving me to chink up the "bull pen," or men's quarters, with mud against the cold o( approaching winter. Stove had tak en his eldest boy on a trip to pick out some good wood. Tresently arrived the boy, hatless, running as fast as he could tear, the breath whistling In his lungs. "Come quickl" was the message. It seeing the deer had followed the couple, and when the boy foolod with bis old playmate the deer knocked blm down and would have hurt blm badly huf thai- Mil ffiHiAr Instantlv lumned Into the fray and grabbed the animal bv the horns with the Intention of IwMIng hi liiad off. The head wa fattened ou more firmly than Hteve opposed. The powerful man thought It would bo an easy matter to throw bit antagonist. What be did not at ttl take Into account was that the buck wa both larger and stronger than be. Though raised ou n bottle, the deer bad grown Into a splendid specimen of Its kind. lie was by long odd the largest deer I ever saw, Well, Hteve got the surprise of hli life. It didn't take film long to see the battle was nil agalust him; that the bent he could hope to do was to bold bis own until help arrived; so be sent the boy off hotfoot. Although bis power for a abort exertion was great, Hteve was In no kind of train Ing, having allowed himself to fatten up and iH'Ing an inordinate user of to bacco. Per contra, the deer felt fresh ened and luvlgorated by exertion. That 1 the deuce of it In struggling with on anlmal-be doesn't tire. I knew that Hteve was In sore trou ble, or he never would have sent for belp. The boy's evident dlstre denied the Joke 1 might otherwise have sus pected, so 1 grabbed up a rope and made fur the grove, the boy trailing roe. I should have waited to get a gun, but I didn't think of It. Those were the day when I could run, when It was an exhilaration to sail over (he prairie. The Importance of my position as res cuer, which any one who has leen a boy will understand, leut springs to my feet. It wa well for Hteve that mine were apeedy leg. When I got there his face was grny and mottled, like an old man's, and hi mouth had a weak droop, very unlike the devil-may-care Steve, The two had pawed up the ground fur roils around In the fight. The deer's horn beneath where the man gripped Ihem were wet with the blood of hi torn palm. Steve's knees, anna and head were trembling as If In an ague lit. He was all In physically, but tlie Inner man arose strong above defeat, "llore'a your-Ueer Kid!" he gasped. "1 - -kept blm-fur you!" I yelled to blm to hold hard for one second, tmik a running Jump and lurid ed on Mr. Hack's flank with both feet. It wa something of a shock. Over went deer, man and boy, I was on my pins In a Jiffy, snapped the 11000 over the deer' hlud legs, tangled blm up anyhow In the rest of tint rlnta and siiulilK'd him to the nearest tree. Then Hteve got up and walked away to where he could be 111 with comfort, And he wa good and sick. When bo felt letter he arose and j opened hi kulfe, swearing that he would silt that critter's throat from ear to ear, but Hteve. Jr., who before this bad arrived on the scene, pleaded so bard for the lift, of the put that big Hteve relented and Mr. Billy Buck was aaved for further mischief. Tint sftenioon two of us rode out and roped him, "spreading" him be tweeu 11 as we dragged htm home He fought every step of the way. My companion, a hot beaded Montana boy, was for killing him a half dozen times. Ilowever, feeling that the deer bad vindicated me, I bad a pride In blm and kept him for a timely end. We turned him loose. In a corral with 11 blooded hull calf, some milk cows, work steer and other tame animals. "And I bet you be has 'em all chew ing the rug Inside of twenty-four bours." said my companion. That night Hteve made ample amend for his former mirth. Indeed, be prals ed my fleetneas and promptness of no tloii so highly that I was seized by nn access of modesty us unexpected an It wiih dlxorgnullug. The next day Steve stood on the root of the shed at the end of Wily Buck's corral. Suddenly be straightened up and waved bis hat "Peer and bull fight!" he called. "Conic n-runulug, everybody!" Wo dropped our labors and sprinted for the corral, there tc alt upon the shed and watch the com bat. Steve didn't know what began the trouble, but when I got there the young bull wa facing the deer, his bead down, blowing the dust in twin clouds before blm, hooking the dirt over his buck in regular fighting bull fashion and anon saying, "lih-ur-ur-ooor!" lu au adolescent bass profundo, most ridiculously broken by streaks of soprano. Wheii these shrill notes oc curred the little bull rolled bis eyes around as much us to say, "Who did that?" and we, swinging our legs on the shed roof, laughed gleefully and encouraged him to sail In. The bull, having gone through the preliminaries of bis code, cocked bis tail straight In the air and charged. The buck walled until be was within throe feet; then ho shot sideways and shot back again, his antlers beating with a drumstick sound ou the bull's ribs, "llaw-aw!" snld the bull. Prob ably thnt hurt. Again bull faced buck. This time the bovine eye wore 1 n look of troubled wonderment, while one could mark an evil grin beneath the twitching noso of bis antagonist, and his bleat had changed to a tone which recalled the pointing linger and unwritable "H'nh hn!" thnt greets misfortune in child hood. "I told you so!" it said. The bull, however, Is an animal not easily discouraged, Once more he lowered his foolish head and braved forth like a locomotive. But It would take too long to tell nil the things Billy Buck did to that bull, lie simply walked all over him and jabbed and raked and poked. Away went the bull, his erstwhile proudly erect tall slowed sideways In token or struck colors, a sign of surrender dis regarded by his enemy, who thought the giving of signals to cease fighting a prerogative of bit office. Away went the old cows and the work steers and the horses In a tHundertng circuit of the corraT,' the hornea stock nawung in terror and Billy Buck "boosting" every one of them impartially, We cheered blm. "Cud, I'm glad I didn't allt bit wind- nlnat" M Hlava 'ift v.rburf BlIJj drove Ids circus parade aroancf itruct the legislation of Meillnger. Ten nay aay there was three of us, for me and Iloury, simultaneous, declared New York city and the Cherokee Na tion In symputhy with the weaker party. "Then It was that Henry Horsocollar rose to a point of disorder and Inter vened, showing admirable the advan tages of education as applied to the American Indian's natural Intellect and native refinement. He atood up and smoothed back bit hair on eacb tide with his hands as you have seen little girls do when they play. " '(jet behind me, both of you,' says Henry. "'What is It to be?' tasked. "'I'm golug to buck center,' says Henry, In his footbull Idioms. 'There Itu't a tackle lu the lot of them. Keep close behind me and rush the game.' "That cultured red man exhaled an arrangement of sounds with his mouth that caused the Ijitlu aggregation to pause with thought fulness and hesita tion. The mutter of bis proclamation teemed to Is? a cooperation of tho Cherokee follcgn yell with the Carlisle war whoop. He went at the chocolate team like the (lip of a little My's nlg- ger shooter. Hi right elbow laid out the governor man on the gridiron, and be made a hi no the lengt h of the crowd that a woman could have carried a stepbidder through without striking anything. All me and Meillnger had to do wa to follow. "In five minutes we were out of that street ond at the military headquar ter, where Meillnger had thing hi own way. "The next day Meillnger takes me and Henry to one side and begin to sheil tens and twenties. "i want to buy that rdionoKranb.' he say. 'I l!kcd that Inst tune It play- ed. Now, you liny better go back I home, for they'll give you trouble bore j before I can get the screws put on 'em, ! If you happen to ever see Billy Hen frow again, tell blm I'm coming back to New York a soon as I can make a stoke - honest" " "J'bl I more money,' says I, 'than the machine Is worth.' " ' 'Tl government expense money,' says Meillnger, 'and the government's getting the tune grinder cheap.' "Henry and I knew that pretty well, but we never let Homer P. Meillnger know that we had seen bow near he! came to losing bis graft. "We laid low until the day the steamer came back. When we saw the captain's boat on the beach me and Henry went down and atood In the edge of the water. The captain grin ned when he saw us. "I told you you'd be waltln',' be says. 'Where's the Hamburger ma chine? '"It stays behind,' I says, to play "Home, Sweet Home." " 'I told you so,' says the captain again. 'Climb in the boat' "And that," said Klrksy, "Is the way me and Henry Ilorsecollar Introduced j the phonograph In that Latin country along about the vicinity of South America." Do Yea Know That the bolder of a check cannot render the maker liable, should the bank on which It Is drawn fall, If he has neglected to present It for pay ment within a short time after receiv-! Ing It? ' 1 That, except lu four states, the hold-1 er of a check cuuuot sue the bank ou ; which It Is drawu should It decline to ' ..... .... 1 pay, though having an ample deposit Ix'longlug to the maker? Thnt a purchaser lu good faith of a negotiable note or check obtains a , good title thereto even though the sell-' er hud stolen It? i That, unless relieved by statute or I express agreement, a tenant Is liable , for the rent of his store after It has j burned down, although he waa In no way negligent? j That an agreement for the sale of ' land must be In writing and that the j payment of a part of the purchase money will not render the agreement ; a whit more effective: That If nn inukeeper loses or waives I bis-Hen for keeping bis guest'a prop- j erty the lien Is not revived by regain ing the proferty? St. Louis Post-Dls-oatcb. Tho Name of Reptile. Of the word frog we kuow nothing, although through the medium of many , languages it has bud as thorough an : evolution as lu Its physical life. At j one time or another It bus been frogs, frosk, frosc, fro, vroscb and fiuikr, the ! latter nn Icelandic word. We must 01-' nilt our ignorance In regard to toad j also, backward research revealing only I tade, tode, ted, toode and todie, the! root bnllllng nil study. Tndpolo Is do- j Ilgbtfully ensy. Old forms of tlie for-1 nier word are polly wig, polewfggle and pollywlggle. The last gives us the clew In our spelling, pollwlggle, which re versed and interpreted In a modern wny Is wiggle head, n most appropriate term for those lively little black fel lows. Tadpole is somewhat similar'. Toadpoll or tond's hea'l is also very apt when we think of these amnll bodied lnrvnl forms. Salamander Is a Greek word of east ern origin, applied in the earliest times to a lizard which was considered to; have power of extinguishing fire. Newt I bat a strange history, originating In a ' wrong division of two words, "an ewte," the latter being derived from eft, which la far more correct than newt, though In use now only la a few places. This Is an interesting examplt o( word (Mngetv-OuUnf Magahw. A Wonderful Booh of 400 Pastes I J y W' ,CQMPLEfrST6RSi mm Hli1 MfMlH Thoroughly Illustrated By 265 Actual Photographs taken at the time of the Awful Catastrophe This great book which retails at $1.50 and so much desired by every one is now offered as a premium with The Morning' Astorian In order to get the Book subscribe for the MORNING ASTORIAN at the regular subscription rate, 65c a month and 50c addditional to cover cost of express age. Old subscribers can get this book by paying the additional charge of 50c. Only a limited number of books will be given awaycome early and avoid the rush.