Show r I I I y e I I I r LITTLE TEX 11 A cowboy tragedy in the far par off owyhee owahee mountains A story showing nsf the batter Better side of a much abused class of men menan an ini coffin for a favorite Unil Orce onlan it was just ft a year ago today to day that two young ment named clark and benton employed on one of those largo large cattle cattie ranches that are now to be found only in tho the territories started out from the home nation station of beef beff steers thai that to hunt up lip a band hail been beer roaming in the hills nearly a doe dozen miles dwail away winter w wan coming on n and the san francisco butchers were w ere clamoring tor more steers the two youngsters were employed by john callow an old tinier timer who had not been east of the in thirty mirty years or more barly in the small fifties ho he was wa away up made in northern cali arnia where he b ta made good wages wage a tut ut like all the rest of the big heart J men of the era spent it as he went along etric in the sixties he be was one of the intrepid band who crot crowed aed the sacramento river near ol 01 id fort reading and struck out OA over the old emigrant trail for ahrea hundred odd miles thia party of eight gallant proe every danger that arave brave men ever met their line of march lay through a trackless wilderness berness der ness nes where bears were thicker than raccoons are in any part of the cr memo mento Vs valley the large bands of hostile indians now fortunately extinct the Wj Wy lackas and Ta achas tas then the n ra ranged I a up and down tho the streams whai which X u united to form the sacramento and every night the cam camp p WB was gur girded an jed ded as though the cohorts horts of ta t no threatened to swoop down u it after untold hardships haid ships tho the party reached jordan creek where they found the great llo of war egla egle E gla mountain years rolled toiled by and the diggings were honeycombed john callow begun to invest in attie and a few saw him rich tich and prosperous with a domain extending further than a horo hore could ga lop in a da day Y the business of hia hh ranch called for an a army my of rii riders ers men expert in the saddle and born to some other feel inte than fear of personal danger in the morning while the lads were eating breakfast a long row of caddie saddle horses hitched in front of the door made an appearance as it a company of dragoons had halted and were foraging upon the hospitality of THE TOE IDAHO CATTLE KINO KING who had the entire range of sixty mile vividly pho toga h d i in hi hig a mind just as is a river pilot pilo t knows aws every rock and snag in the river and can rely upon esca escaping ping them on any night light enough to I bee ea the water without a wind ripple breakfast over the cattle king walked slowly to tho fireplace and filling ailing his monstrous inong meerschaum wi h tobacco en enough ough to make an elephant drowsy shoveled up a lire live coal and tamped camped it down with his thumb I well boys guess well ba be gittin ready for another drive to winne muck carroll you and bill howard atay stay boma today and have the wagon lborges shod look well to the grub wagon for I dont want it tc break down with toe tue fodder and have bare to leave it in the middle of tho the beiert packard pickard will set the shoes oboes on eight horses for you today to day and dun dan will go for cook what ball I do sir air asked natian nat an dark clark a dark a and nd swarthy young herdsman ber daman known as little fex tex well tex you and frank benton go over into juniper flat and rouie rouse out them steers over there bring them over as far as the french corral cross the river easily now while the wafers waters low and no ice ice a when you get to the french corral you will find blie blue reer re pe er in in there tie him to tho the fence before you turn in the steers or he lie will be nag glin them to death deth blue peter waa was a dark blue roan bull from the once famous whipple herd at san mateo he ile owed his is name to his peculiar color and mr callow catlow owed a large abai chaio e of his am pie fortune fort urto to the lusty old sultan whose kens and daughters were nibbling the succulent bunch grass on a hundred but the veteran was in in the acre and yellow leaf loaf of life and the herd needed an infusion of new blood show old john a b bull u 11 that suited him and he would pay five hundred dollars dollan for him as quickly as he woud would three he knocked the jibes out of the pipe and said il cobley you ride up the bogy bo gy m meadow endow above the french corral and find blue peter in there with about a dozen cows drive em all up into the corral und then drive the cows out then you go on and make the best of your way aaros althe nver river to meet benion benton and little tex with the at teri coming in irom from juniper flat fiat they will get tier there ab about outten ten and take rem em seven hours to get tie vie steers back to the corral for the night right we WO can easy bring them thern up h re in the m anini ef I have time ill rile ride down iowa to the corral aud lead old peter rete home rhome pete slays stays in his barn lor for the rest of hia days ue ile wan was a good d anve ament and he he hant tn to be fe leac f to starve on the hillsides hill sides two hundred and ten steers for miller lux cowler if them fellers h tini got pretty near money enough A OV boeske there was mounting in hoi hot haste about this time hearing eomy loud talk among his cowboys the old gid man walked down to in quire the cause phosa doin all this brandlin brin dlin pd id caro care to know I its red bluff yarn sam sir air hesayo he says he wont ride Clial kline sir air after t mo me the saddle on him cos hii I own horse is sick sir air replied bill farr the stable bogs I i let 11 me have him suggested MT 64 little tex id rather ride him than any other horse on the ranch hes been a ca airy alry horse and wa wu told by the government when fon fort crook was abandoned ab you see I the vent on hit yet though I it wa is pretty well grown ver over shall shift conr saddle on to t ains aked asked bill farr aliw e and give my horse to sam I hell suit him better to ride down is in the muddy bottom bottoms along I I mussel creek anyhow replied yr na than clark as he lie vaulted d into the a tiddle and blow tho the smoke of a ci garetto from bis his nostrils come along webfoot he called and the bo he and frank benton n next at moment were bounding along over the floity trail toward the river owahee pair fair and lovely ri er I thi think n h I can hear tho the musical ri pie of your laughter aa as you dance in in mad dee over the arn rn bowl boulders ders e rs when asthma dethroned dethroner my strength your cloar clear mateis and life givin abr breezes dezes caused my blod to be b born orn know anoil dkxon AND pythias somo some six years previous to the period of this story a man name french bad had owned a portion of the range ange of which catlow is now sole mister he built a strong corral bt be iween een himself and bia h neighbor with the flie understanding that should have free use of it in consideration of the water right 11 wes aves from a a spring pring on callows Cat lowa lows land hence the ca corral aral cot ot ita its name and retained it In long gafter after its builder had fold sold out and q quit the country the lads rode a along long by it and altor allor dod ded a s strange t p contrast as they galloped a side d by ride mide nathan dark clark was wag a plump plumi muscular young man with dark hair and eyes betraying his nation ali ly in the gulf states slates benton the on only I y native of oregon in the whole outfit of cowboys en or old johns john g ranch was of slight figure and features delicate enough for a school girl his frame was orthe of the stub and ind twist order however hom everl and he was active as a cat at first Wb fool wa ww ahe general butt of the camp but as ho be was very C conscientious in the discharge of his duty he soon gre grew win in to favor wi wih it the elder older h orders and the major domo w who bo kept the sow accounts of the ranch apparently alight light in figure and delicate of constitution ution tion ho lie was aa as sinew sinewy y an and d pow w erful a man of hia his weight as coufa coufa he be found born on the banks binks of or the grand old Colt columbia imbia at hood flood river jut just when oregon was knocking at the door of congress for admission nd miggion into the union he had shared the drudgery incidental to the life lire of an oregon farmers ton pon until when be went out to snake river with a parly party of prospectors from the dalles dallee the placers proved worthless worth leso and nd the party djs disbanded at silver city where ho he entered into the per er vice of hia his present employer bo be tween him hint and little tex had grown up a brotherly affection they rode tog together ethar at all hours and were the first in the caddie and tho the last lo 10 dismount one day bill farr said tex text I think you and webfoot had orter get married nate darks clarks face flushed with anger for a moment and then ho he laid said in a quiet way if I knew a woman that I thought a as much of aa as I do of or frank benton I marry her tomorrow on they galloped past the french corra lover rocks and through slushy bottoms up hill bill and down dale it w was as nearly 11 II when they reached juniper flat and found about a hundred head bead of steers browsing among the trees riding up the sumit of tho the steep hill and looking northward to the line of timber which marked the course of the boise river there was not a hof or a horn in sight eight reckon all h re frank yes all there is to get replied his hit corn compi pinion nian IS IN THE TUE ICY WATERS OP THE the two men now dash dashed d in and out the stunted trees with loud cries of lal git home old out of that look artye at ye Broad hornal sl and soon the whole toll band were e can ering slowly down the hill bill toward the owahee river it was a lovely autumn day clear and cod the cloudless sky above and the air purer than can be found anywhere f f ise he tinged with front froit even at noon betokened an early and severe Tv winter inter from juniper flat to the th chome home station of the ranch was about twenty two miles southeast sout while the tle old and decaying in town called silver city was about afi a like io distance at last the band reached a grove of cottonwood cotlon woods is on the bank of the owyhee owahee and tex rode ahead to the watery edge to keep tho the herd from going down stream above the ford the water was so deep that they would not at tem t it at last the leaders of the bans band bad had crossed safely to the op ops cosite bank benton was bringing up the rear and the last of the lers was already in the water which was as cold aa as ice and swifter than a millrace mill race nathan dark clark started to urge his horse forward and ag as he did so the brute stumbled and threw bis his head back wildly in hia his effort to re sim hi his is footing As he did so his cin head ead struck poor dark clark full in the uce face and knocked him out of the aa saddle idle before he could recover himself bebas thirty yards down stream when besack he sank into a deep hole he cime up with a frantic scream and sank pak back to risa rise no more morg poor frank benton was nearly crazed with anguish as he saw his friend dis disappear in the angry waters and belie the terri terrified fid horse galloping home ward with the saddle turned under his belly it was past noon but the day bad never grown warm frank droe drove the last of the ottila over knewing they would not choss back again A RIDER 1138 aoese in the nio mean an time cobley had blue peter from the quadruped houns of his hi harem barem sand a nd wa about to ride down to the ford to meet cl dark a rk and benton when he ed that it was nearly noon and there was tabea ben potpie pot pie for din dine ner at the ranch house moreover lt it was w M to be prairie o cowe cobley must take it in so he hew lej the old bill up to the stables and got there in in time to get a plate at the mind table see anything of tes tex and webfoot in your travels cobley asked the proprietor of the ranch no I reckon they had a iob job huntin the band 19 waa was Co coblens Cob leya bleys reply PI I think so replied mr callow catlow on cold days like this they generally get et in among the ju eipers ii pers and it don t take long to get lent cm to 10 kether gether ride down and meet them after you finish dinner cobley I mounted again as soon is ris he gehad had 11 finished rode kack oward toward the river As he be emerged irom from tha the hollow where tho the french corral stood he saw the tle bandoff steers coming coining down the ii hail ail which which led over the lew low divide I boliere so hero liere they are at lat last why I I I I they are way ahead of the boy boys taint right to run runa a band of offal attern as hard bard ax as that the old man will hive give them fit fits for that ats some ot of Web foots a boins by jinks of harr aint aap t old ft goin like a comet with the saddle under his bel ly up J wonder the he terrified horse galloped gall up to the corral and abley dismounted I approaching carefully he first firs t putted patted him on tho the neck k and then began to extricate him from the macs mass of wrt ck with which he be wai was eu tangled mn the horgos horses knees wore badly skinned indicating that be he had a severe fall cobley led him back to tho the stables saying theres something tom ehing gone wrone with little tex for caught near the corral with the saddle turned the cattle are around there and pretty well bet up but I rode rods up to the head of thelow di vide and could see nothing of the boys matter said mr catlow with a look of alardi alarm tex and web never would haveran have run tho the steers like that and then the sorrel horse comin home alone I too wait waity nad and ill go with it you an iron fron gray stallion a son of the mighty i aty lodi stood at the barn door vaulting into with a light tesa not to be expected in a man of his years old john and cobley rode down to the corral where they spent an hour in penning up the steers then they started lor I or the river but not a could they sect of the bol a it was now pas past t three aal ibe the dull gray leaden sky foretold a cold and piti pitiless lees night LASSOING TUB THE DODT BODY meanwhile frank benlon benton had bad u r sued his search for the body of hit bib F axt t companion it waa was too late in tho the year for hydraulic min mining ing and the river was quite clear he ile rode slowly along the bank and looked into every bole hole everywhere he could see the bottom but not a it glimpse of the body of his friend A bright thought struck him the big drift below the muddy crossing be said and put epurs spurs to his horse for a point five miles down the river from chero little tex lost his life half fair an hour later he be stood besida besids a vast jam of log of every imaginable kind of timber there was a hat swirling about in the foaming caay the poor lad scarcely knew know chatto what to do the water was forty feet dee deep p behind the jam and probably hia his dead friend lay at the bottom of it in his despair bo he gave a glanco glanca up tho the stream and aw taw an object rolling down through a riffle it caught against a snag it wis the body of nathan dark clark swift water and a tired man are not easily reconciled benton felt that if he alighted from bis his horse and undertook to lift bis his dead friend out of the water he might become paralyzed with cold and lose the body altogether so hu be rode in as close to the snag as be he could and made a noose of his rista which be he slipped slipped over v er the dead man mans shoulder then I h e n purring spurring his hone horve he dragged the corpse out on to the river |