Show TALL TALES 88 As told to FRANK E HAGAN and I 1 ELMO SCOTT WATSON A splitting tale ian SUTTON of colorado aprin sprin springs gel B colo has an uncle jim who never splits an armload of kindling for his wife but that he thinks of the ufa over on the western slope when he be was wag working for a man splitting logs one morning he had fin an immense tree halfway half balf way split open when 26 ute indians surrounded him and their chief old holey I 1 moccasin told him held hed have to go back to camp with them uncle jim knew darned well chev intended to burn him at the stake but lie he sold said all rig right lit ill go but first ive got to get this log split my bosi bogs will fire me it if lie he finds ive gone olt oft and left eft it undone now if you want me to go very soon sno n youve just got to turn to in slid and help me the chief agreed to help so uncle jim put 13 of tile the utes on one side of the log and 13 on the other othe r now all of you got get adeep B deep holt and pull he said take both hands bands and ill drive the wedges in while you hold the split open the redskins red skins did just as he directed and began pulling as hard as they could while uncle jim began tapping at this the wedges cut but instead of driving them in he be began loosening them suddenly he knocked the weames out one two to three just like that the log snapped shut like a steel trap and there were the weis with their hands caught in it so uncle jim just took his maul and went up one side of the log and down the other tapping the indians on the hend as lie he went then lie he left lent cm he know whether he just gave them a bad headache or killed them because he never saw any of those utes again |