THE COWARDLY COUGAR 



when he'd go for them I'd run in. I tried to 

 kill him left-handed with a rock, but I didn't 

 do very well at it. I was plumb tuckered out 

 when a cowboy heard us rowin' down there and 

 rode out to the rim. 



'"Shall I shoot?' he hollered. 



"We was all mixed up together, but I yelled 

 back, 'Gosh, yes!' 



"He was all of three hundred yards above 

 us, but he shot that cat right through the 

 heart. Prettiest shot I ever saw. Then he 

 put up his gun and rode away, and I never did 

 know who he was. Funniest thing about it, 

 he was the only man in those parts except me." 



Fred and Paul and I discussed this story 

 later. 



"It beats the deuce how some people can 

 lie," one of us said, and the others agreed. 

 We were not referring to Uncle Jim his story, 

 we knew, was true in every detail we were 

 thinking of "Buffalo" Jones. Roping moun- 

 tain lions was a whole lot different to roping 

 trunks. 



A word here regarding Uncle Jim's dogs. 

 Not only are they his helpers, but also they are 

 his friends, and he treats them as such. He 

 feeds them well, no matter how scanty may 



177 



