| Show DANS PRIVATE MARK FaUNa aNI A MOSQUITO IT SAVED HARDINS LIFE Neither Knife Nr Branding Iron Wad VI on That Itnh a thn Olivier W o Iry Ial hot od Allergy Kept I Jmel Them was pretty I good shots nilil tho old sheep raiser wheat the boys had luUhed telling about soiio glass hal hooting they had doao at the Run club tournament but folks nowadays dOIt uo no snootm like they slid a leI years ago llaro wnq Dan Hardln now who run n shfcp ranch in west Texas Ili 1881 ho could rhoot11 Pretty good shot wag he asked ho Los to drnw tho old mtu out Well ho was a Rood fair shot for horn times nail locality A Colts 45 W24 Dins favorite He run about 0000 sheep and u Rood lau cattle and horses Tho ranchers all marked the ears of their stock each man in n different dif-ferent way to distinguish their property proper-ty Dans mk wris u little III tile left ear and an undcrbit in the right still i lie never allowed a knife to b used au lis ranch Ho marked every uuimal himself with hU Fix shooter and hen he-n 11 I mistake It wa n night to tea him Kjllopiu across the prlrio ou his mustang after it bunch of lamb or a round up of spring cnUes plclo his marks with his 45 and never varyin a sixteenth of nn inch from where they belonged Dan marked moro mavericks than nuj body else iu the country put toijcthcr From Icleln P much Drift got 10 be a frt rate shot Ho as1 to rid along In liii pasture and put his ron r-on the coyote and jack rabbits just to keep his hand In I got so that nine times out of ten when n nun killed I deer with his Winchester ho would find I liolo in its lift and an nmlcrhit in IL right car and hell always send Dan ocr a quarter of venison when got it home I been Dan will a bet of f50 one day Crnw I tenderfoot Wu wn ridin along the road nn1 wo seen the ground hntnplu up whero a molo wa ehovlii along out of sight under the earth Dw made his proposition the Underfoot took him up and Hans old 15 went oft I couplo of time Vo dog the nioln up and there wn the Inks Iu Ills cars right whcro they belonged After awhile I dont think there was a living thing ou Dans ranch except Ilia wiles that didnt haul hU mark iu its ears This habit of Dans got him out of a pretty bad srrapo one time Along about 1882 when free range commenced gcttiu scarce the fence cutlets got 10 cuttin tho wiro fences around tile pas turcs and give the sheep len lots of trouble Dins had been cut half n dozen times and ho was mad One lay ho rodn out without his nolw 10 rOlo gnu saw I low down rustler named Tompkin slicin his wires HU fiddlciitriugs wit I pair of nippers Tompkins got on Ilia horso and let out and Dan rodo back tobin to-bin ranch and got his gun Ho struck out 00 Tompkins trail and Oorhuld him about sundown iu the little town that was tho count scat Dan shot him quietly and wits about to get n cup of coffee and start back homo when 110 was surprised by the MierifTs nrrcsti him You see that a about tho tint HID law and order gang got to ralsin Cain in tho west And trjiu to set down on promiscuous shoottu and pcrsoun liberty They scared up n judgo aud II jury fcomowero and hold n kind of court right away to try Dan TornpUus hall a lotoof find in town among the hot thioTCs and Iron grassers And they como in ly the dozen nud aworo that Tompkins hadnt been out of town for I 1 week and that Dans story about his cnttin the fence didnt Dan Jmd go uo witnesses and It began to look kind of funny for him They had Tompkins laid out on n table iu Ibo courtroom Directly Dan wont over and landed pretty klmrp at Tompkins and then ho I ok1 one of the deputes to go out to n little jewelry taro across the ttrcet mad bring a magnifying glass The deputy went and got I and Dan handed it 10 the judge and nuked him to step dow and look at something a 1 inlnnto There was u mosquito with his bill fait In i Tons pk noeur 10d Du asked the Judge to take a good look at it with tho glints Tho judge did eo and blest if that mosquito mos-quito didnt have hole Iu its left aDd aa uiiderblt Iu Its right ear as Photo aIm a-Im sitting hero Everybody knew Dans mark und the court was cou vinced that Tompkins most have been prowlln round his runch It was who you would cal good circumstantial dcncc nnd ten mluutos afterward Doug was on his way bore Tliiru was n little silence among the boys and then tile ono who had broken 45 glass balls out of n possible n sug ficskil that some lemonade b bonded around Star at his expense Washington |
