LET 'ER BUCK 



the line of saddles. His left hand steals to nurse his 

 right which is hurting so bad Lee a second time re- 

 fuses hypodermic, remarking, "I'm too mad to take it 

 — I want to be a little mad — a man always rides better." 



"L-e-e C-a-l-d-w-e-1-1 r-i-d-e-s L-o-n-g T-o-m," 

 clearly enunciated Fred McMonies through the great 

 megaphone announcer from his crow's nest on the pole 

 top. 



A great roar of satisfaction goes up from the bleach- 

 er and grandstand. They are the five magic words 

 which the crowd wants more than anything else to 

 hear. They have always wanted him to draw Long 

 Tom in the grand final to see if he dares scratch him. 



It is barely five minutes since Two Step was taken 

 up, and now Caldwell is ordered to tackle Long Tom. 

 He walks to where big Bill Ridings and the other 

 wranglers are cautiously tucking the blind under the 

 halter leathers of the big brute holding him snubbed. 

 The snubbing rope, see, is run through the fork of the 

 snubbing horse's saddle; then it passes through the 

 halter of the outlaw beneath his jaw, and now the end is 

 brought back and made fast with a couple of half 

 hitches around the saddle horn of the snubbing horse. 

 Caldwell pauses, and, as is his custom, sizes up his 

 worthy antagonist. He has that remarkable ability of 

 sizing up a horse just by looking at him, and knowing 

 within two or three inches how much he will have to 

 let out or take in his cinch before he saddles on. But 

 for the first time he is absolutely deceived. Allen 

 Drumheller has the saddle on, but Caldwell finds the 

 end of the cinch comes only to the middle of his belly, 

 and they have to "off saddle" again. Caldwell com- 

 ments to Drumheller that old Tom has the greatest 

 lung capacity of any horse he has ever ridden. 



212 



