Show ja I 1 adventurers CLUB it HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF Fl 1 81 H high agh heels 13 iT JELLO ELLO EVERYBODY in this is a story about high heels and horses and about a ak i fellow who had one foot in the stirrup and one foot in the grave the guy is lee burgess of toms river N J and if any of A you fellows think like I 1 used to that high heels are no good for 1 anybody but women and not any too good for them lee will give v you an argument on the subject lee knows at least one good reason for wearing high heels and for men wearing them at that t when lee was in his early twenties and that was back in the fall io of 1919 he spent a few months on a ranch near the little town of walden colo A city greenhorn he was vastly impressed by the scenery by the cattle business and by the life he saw going on around him but most of all he says did I 1 admire the cow punchers and the easy way they handled the spirited cow ponies they rode I 1 fairly ached to emulate them at learned to stick on a horses back t lee says theres no finer more generous or more openhearted open hearted t class of men than the cow punchers they gave him their friend ship au p and along with it all kinds of good advice on the handling of horses they started him riding on safe docile ponies and al though he was quite awkward at it he soon learned to stick on a horses back well enough to go riding with the boys rounding up strays cutting out calves and doing the thousand and one odd jobs that man and horse have to do on a big ranch As I 1 progressed says lee 1 I quite naturally changed from the slower more patient ponies to faster more highly organized animals T my seat improved and with greater ease in the saddle my confide confidence ric 5 in myself grew by leaps and bounds I 1 and quite often its nothing more than a little too much confidence f that leads you into one of those good old fashioned hair raising adventures 5 one bitterly cold day says lee when the air was as clear i t and sharp as thin glass it was decided to move some head 4 of cattle from the home ranch down to the old ranch for winter feeding I 1 asked to be included in the crew and felt mighty proud when I 1 was accepted by the foreman with the temperature at forty below zero it was a job to keep warm I 1 dressed in heavy j underwear mackinaw blanket pants hair chaps wool lined coat mittens and cap it was all I 1 could do to navigate in all tins this haberdashery having put on two pairs of heavy woolen socks my feet were too large for the tight riding boots I 1 usually wore so I 1 slipped on some big work shoes and buckled my spurs to them t and that was an error that lee nearly paid for with his life for those shoes had flat heels and not the high ones with which western riding boots are generally equipped horse had bad disposition the horse lee had chosen to ride was bill a big rangy buckskin fast on his feet but not noted for his good disposition they rode over to the cattle corral and the boys left lee at the gate ready to swing it open when the animals were bunched up for the drive sitting on his ar ae k 4 f af felt as if his leg were being torn from its socket horse he got colder and stiffer every minute he waited finally the tha herd was bunched and headed for the gate big heavy hereford cattle lowing bawling and making wild dashes hither and yon hereford cattle says lee are peculiar they will not attack a mounted man but they are deadly to one afoot I 1 know this and since the gate was heavy and I 1 was all bound up in excess clothing I 1 slipped off bill to swin swing it it t open the next thing lee knew he heard a yell from the foreman and looked up to see the herd almost on top of him someone yelled get on that horse yuh want ta get killed and lee moved plenty fast he put his foot in the stirrup and swung himself on his horse but because he was stiff and cold and hampered by a lot of excess clothing his right foot quite swin swing clear instead he gave bill a rake across the hindquarters hind quarters with his spur and bill jumped lee lost his hold the next minute he was on the ground hanging by his left foot to the stirrup his low heel had slipped through and his ankle was held in the bow as if he had bad had on a leg iron bill started to run says lee with the cattle pounding right on behind my head was dragging at the horses heels and his steel shoes actually stirred my hair I 1 knew that to put my arms over my he head ad was to have them smashed my only hope was to work my foot tree free and take my chances with the cattle the horse ran faster and faster as he became more frightened at my weight dragging alongside contrary to reports my sins did not troop before my mind at this time all ali I 1 thought of was to get my foot free for my leg felt as if it were being dragged from its socket could feel death clutching at him lee says he could fai fairly aly feel death reach out and clutch chat at him one fate had him fast by the foot dragging him to doom another thundered along behind him if he wriggled from the grasp of the one he was sure to fall under the pounding hoofs of the other i to right and left he could glimpse the legs of other horses about him and knew his friends the cow punchers were doing their best to save him but I 1 knew too he says that help possibly come from them the cattle seemed to have fallen away somewhere but I 1 still had to get loose from my horse I 1 kept tugging on my imprisoned toot foot and suddenly there was a snap the lace broke my shoe came off and I 1 was lying on the ground quiet motionless believe me for a moment I 1 was the most comfortable man in the world I 1 the boys were around me helping me up ill never forget the foreman a young man with a fair skin for the freckles stood out on an his paper white face like legal seals on a state document they carried me to the ranch house and when the reaction set in I 1 was a pretty tick sick boy for a while the foreman told me he never expected to see me come out alive and that brings us around to lees argument about high heels you tee see when on a punchers boots not for show but to keep the foot from sliding through the stirrup and prevent just the sort of accident that almost had lee up before the celestial bar of justice cashing in his chips tor for a first payment on a harp copyright service a |