Horace turned loose an’ told us what he thought of us, an’ it was edifyin’ to hearken to him—he hit the nail on the head so often. Finally I sez: “Well, a man can do no more than try—Go ahead, Tank, but don’t let her get by you, whatever happens.”
The cow, which was a homely grade-whiteface with a splotch on her nose which made it look as if most of the nose had been cut off, stood in the center of the park, an’ she was beginnin’ to get uneasy, although the wind was from her way.
As soon as Tank got to his entrance he shot in the air; an’ she came chargin’ down on me. I shot over her, an’ she charged back. We kept this up until Horace lost patience an’ called me a confounded dub. “Here,” sez I, “the’s two cartridges left. You fire ’em, I won’t.”
At first he refused, but he was desperate, and finally after I’d told him to use both hands, he took a shot. The cow was standin’ closest to us, but lookin’ Tank’s way, an’ Horace nicked her in the ham. Instead of chargin’ Tank, like a sensible cow, she came for us head on. Now, when a bull charges, he picks out somethin’ to steer for, then closes his eyes, and sets sail; but a cow keeps her eyes open, an’ she don’t aim to waste any plunges either. Horace stood out in the center of the entrance an’ banged away again, strikin’ the ground about ten feet in front of him.
“Run!” I yells to him, jumpin’ back behind a big rock, “Run!”
He forgot all about bein’ hungry, an’ he started to backtrail like a scared jack-rabbit. The cow had forgot all about havin’ had her hoofs pared, an’ she took after him like a hungry coyote. As she passed me, I roped her, took a snub around the rock, an’ flopped her; but she did just what I thought she’d do—rolled to her feet an’ took after me. She was angry. I’d have given right smart for a tough little pony between my knees.
The cow had forgot all about havin’ had her hoofs pared, an’ she took after him like a hungry coyote
The rock was too big to get a half hitch over, so I just ran at right angles from her, hopin’ to stretch out more rope ’n she could cover. I did it by a few feet; but she swung around into my rope head on, an’ this flung me up again’ her side. I managed to hang on to the rope, however, an’ this fixed her, ’cause she’d have had to pull that rock over before she could ’a’ come any farther. Horace had stopped an’ was gappin’ at us from a safe distance; but Tank arrived by this time an’ put another rope on her an’ we had her cross-tied between two big rocks by the time Horace arrived.
“What ya goin’ to kill her with?” he asked, his eyes dancin’ like an Injun’s at the beef whack-up.