A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



key wrench fallln' from a windmill an' givin' you 

 a sight o' the stars, or one of them Andy Jackson 

 fireworks clubs puttin' off Roman candles at a Fort 

 Worth parade! They're jest sensations; this here 

 show I'm telling about was real experience. We seen 

 things. 



"Obe Hogan hit the herd a cussin', and was cir- 

 clin' between me and Sam Conroy, an' the way he 

 turned out new ideas in advanced profanity made my 

 blood creep. I was sure if lightnin' was goin' to hit 

 it would be purty close to where Obe was, so, bein' 

 in front, I kept movin'; an' Sam, havin' about the 

 same notions, tried to hole back, but somehow we 

 kept bunchin', and Obe kept rippin' out an' gettin' 

 better all the time. 



"Hold 'em? Well, we tried. We circled with 

 the drift, and when they broke we tried to slick 'em, 

 but the storm kept getting worse an' when one of 

 them hot-off-the-griddle boys come they was off an' 

 we was flounderin' over unknown ground, trustin' to 

 heaven more than enything else. It was either black 

 as pitch or the lightnin' blinded you so you couldn't 

 see. I rode old Blutcher, an' when one of them out- 

 law shocks would come he'd squat till my feet trailed. 

 Three of us tried to head a big bunch an' I knew 

 one of us was Obe. He hadn't got tongue-tied none 

 during the storm ; seemed like he'd caught his second 

 wind. Onct for a while I didn't hear him, an' I sez 

 to myself: 'Mage, it's lucky you didn't git hit, too.' 



[174] 



