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
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