Show OLD BUCK HOKKIJSI I Cy Thomas P Montfort HHHK 1 WH n time I I 1 when the eowtooyi 1f pretty nearly card r r15 car-d thing thlr x5C l < W J nwlr way 011 the i Ilalrloa of western hHiiini That WM 1 y a long while 1 ago before the hardy 1 ± i neaten came to lllf arrk claims awl IS tttt j lii IM home In that country and while the cattlemen grazed their great herd on the million of ai rn of imbllc land anil amaaaetl quick fortune from the free government pMtunun In thoee daya the rnwboyi rode the skin free ilnreatrulned dleregard hag all law governed In their conduct con-duct by nothing aSOII pt ihdr deem They were wild InipuUlve creature omflotrlng with Ihr pill of liberty which they caught from the boundloea prairie ono breathed In with the pure exhilarating air that Intoxicated the blood with life vigor and treiiRtli Of all tho cowboys on the plain of Kanaaa at that time old luck Honor na perhnii tho must Inipulalva And reekleM lie had for yenra lived n ranch life and had rhaed ateera In every port of the tattle range from the doer Hlo Irande to the Ilalle lie I Idea ho had fought Indiana and Meal ran dresser and had helped lluffnlo lllll round up the meat which ho waa aupplylng under contract to tho men who were conitriictlng the KaiiNu Pacific Pa-cific railroad At that time Dodge City waa pre emt ntntly a cowboy town They mcd to I round up thire ntler payday blow their money Into every folly they laW get uproarioinly drunk and procMd to paint thlnca ultra rat It waa nothing nntiiual for n gang ot initi lo rare upend up-end down the atreta yelling Hie Co tnanche Indiana and hooting nt the tUna and terrifying itomcn and children chil-dren and the palo tenderfoot almost out of life They had full powewilon of the town and they ran U to their own liking lik-ing If old Iluck Ilngerr happened to be preatnt bo wn turn to lead In nil this deviltry It wna n paying that went undliptited that ho could drink more whliky yell louder and hoot itralghl er than any other man on the range And ho certainly did everything that lay In hla power to juitlfy thla slate men menOften nnd often as he land nt tho bar of the aaloon and In rapid surrey lion towf I glaaa otter glaaa of whlaky I down ids throat until the hnrdeet I drinker In town looked on In fear and amazement Then ho would go out and mount hit broncho and throwing hit hat to tho wind would charge up and down Ibo ttrrct nt a mad gallop hla long hair flying out behind each of hla handa working n pUtol with oitonlih InR deftncH whllo from lilt throat there came n aerlea 01 the mmt terrific and unearthly yclla thai ever emanated from a human being And flghtt There wit nothing that old Muck wouldnt aland up before and It wan hla boast that he had never met anything either man or liean that ho bad not been able to lay on Ito back SWUNG TIm CJ Ltaltll It Olm illS I ImAII The I boldcat and moat mini cowboy even thixo who iuoere rl IIn nvhble I I reputation at filthier Vang very law I i of their peewee when liick I llogcra was around lie woo not Only hint and recklcua but ho woo n > IronR nt an 01 and a blow of hli iaktil list fairly fair-ly planted wna Itiotixh wlllo a man for nil time to come j I I Ono day down nt Uolie City a lot of cowboyt were talking 3r outold t hack I remarkable strength and rciiuntliiK I I acme of the lain he tad performed when 0110 of their number a man who had recently come up from the tomb MlJ Never heard nliotit thi trick old neck played on a chap dual In Tunas one time I reckon OttcM not somebody ripllwl Then Ill tell you about II It flU one night jail after pay diat Ihe Xl ranch ami Iho boys were al 1 dnnti at I town blowing In their ninny TUwo Will jutt ono aaloon In the ilace and I of conrBc that win where bo crowd rouiulinl up I Well when the boys tmliot prelly well loaded with liquor n tltrt stronger I made hit appearance nt the uloou nnd opened up with aome kind if u flimflam I flim-flam game The gam we n clean trot from flrat to lal but Iho buy bucked It mad were onq alter another an-other cleaned out to quick hat It almost al-most made their hmdt awto The lotera didnt feel bit Rood wer being worked that way and thu OWl n looil deal of muttering must ouralki In soy nothing of menacing aoowliand nor MM lingering ot platol Hut the pauibier a thin wiry little to had isle nerve wlih him and hi iroceedexl wllh hi gum na coolly ai tough he had been aurroiimlod by frtdila At last old Mils k mutt Inr to the table un1 I put IIP a twenty i > U tar gold piece 1 a itiM the gang ahuwilwin I Do I atnnd saw iM > wO win In I this builnettf he oiliest I 011 > near H Oh yes the Rambler answered You atonal an Oflual chance to win or tee luceThen Then I ua either going to win OD tIll Investment otd flack Mid ov I am going to mesh the mme Well the play WM made aul In lit tie more than a eecond 1 Hack money went Into the amblera pocket luck wails a moment then he Mid slowly I remarked that I woo goln to win or else mesh the game Well I dldn win no Ill foot Ant before anybody knew what he Intended to do he had reached over ought iie gambler Iy the arm awutiR him oter hla head nnd brought him flown broadalde acro a the table with all the strength he pteneaol The goes was anuieheO the hoards In the table I wire ap1lntere 1 nnd the gambler gam-bler lay on the floor na limp at n rag Kvir > bndy thought at flrat that llurk had killed the fellow but they were mlntaken Tim chap lived but It waa a long time before he was able to walk B 1 rep or oven to land ou hit hi-t It In I carte to bet though that ha never tried any more akin game on erwlmi The old saying that tooner or later every man will meet hit match proved true In Iluck Honor cane For ynara he rmle the mange unronqticretl and Invincible and victor In every context con-text with man or limit Uut he nt last met bin match He 1 went up agnlnet n thing In comparison to which he won wo-n mere feather In plain word he bucked a cyclone One Balurday afternoon In July Due waa don n at Dodg Clty The to n was full 01 cowboy but they were not 1 I very lively The day was Intensely hot I and aultry and oven a cowboy did not feel Inclined to exert himself imn < c < vi mrlly The utiial amount of liquor I woo dlinoieil of however and old Muck i managed lln tnkn rare of hla portion Along about the middle of the afternoon after-noon a blurb elottd rome up from tho com and another from the weat Throe cloud aihanced and met overhead aced then began to conduct thcmitUea In a moat ferltlbr l manner They rolled and tumbled and pltchnl lost churneil and twitted In and out nmong thorn arIes Tho street was llneil wllh people who wntcheil then clouda nnxloiitly for every toe felt nttuml that n cyclone waa brewing 1mple had left their home and the toN and ihopa nnd the cawboyt had left tho aaloona at trust these ol them who were not too drunk Old Iluck hail mounted his broncho and win atnndltift In the road In front of the poatofflce Pretty toon there came awceplng icroM prairie from the weal n rnitut of black cloud funnelihnpcd and brlttlliiF with electricity Every I one knew In an instant what that meant Tha dreaded cyclone had appeared Some of the people lied In aeaich of j places of lately Home dropped downriGht down-right where they Mood and began to wall and pray while othcra stood open mouth and dumb utarltiK atupldly at the terrible engine of dcttrtictton Hut old luck huger did none of tbeta thine At the Oral cry that n cyclone Will coming ha tore off Ida lint and throw It 1 down la the road gave ono long unearthly un-earthly yell of 0ancc and dashed I I down the street right toward the cy clonet track At ho went ha cried I Ive never aecn tho thing yet tlmt wa able to do old Iluck Rogers up and Ive fought white men Indiana and bear Im not the man In be scared at n little wad of wind and cloud Who 0 opre eel The people watched him aa he raced out acrM the prairie hli long hair flying and his loco tot aqtmrely to tho front They inw him ni ho bore down toward the cyclone and above the roar of the wind they heard the about of defiance which ho Gun out Tho next I moment they saw the mighty moving monitor and the man meet They aaw I thn latter awallowcd up In that black I cloud That was all I In a minute tha cyclone had paused It had tnlucd the town and the people breathed easy once more I Immediately n pony went out In ranch ot old luck and niter n long hunt lomebody found him Ho woo hanging In tha forks of n cottonwood tree I about twenty feet from the I ground l n red jammed 1 down to tight between I be-tween tho llmba 1 that he could I not I mote Ills broncho lay ten yards away atone dead luck was readied and carried back to town more dead than alive The doctor examined him and found that while hli Injuries would not prove fatal he would be a cripple for life When he heard the announcement announce-ment old Muck groaned lie looked at the cowboys who collected about him and lAid lloyt Im done I went up nenltut n critter nt IlIIt that WAR too much for me I Vila licked fair and from now 00 Im gentle aa a lamb When llttlo wad ot wind and cloud cnn pick n man up and ton him Into tho fork of a tree like that dona me Its time for that man to pull 1 In his horns and abut up ahoy aa a fighter 1vo got no more to aay nnd ntler this If n 10yearold boy want to lick me ho can do It In Ihe course of time old Duck wan able to get about but ho soon never the amp man Ills spirit woo completely broken He hid lout all nest for fighting fight-ing and Inatead of being the raiheat and most obstreperous character In the icctlon he had become tho quIclMt and moat demure He lived n good mnny ycrtra but ni It wtti neceunry for him to UM n crutch he never returned turned to ranch life |