And you have but one halt,
Jump to earth and shoot your horse,
Crouch under his carcass and take your chance,
And if those steers in their maddening course
Don’t batter you both to pieces at once
You may thank your stars, if not good-bye,
With a quickened kiss and a long-drawn sigh
To the opened air and the open sky
Of Texas, down by the Rio Grande.
The cattle were gaining and just as I felt