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:epe two
G pretty touph bronc on a round -IL:, he •ran away witIl me
tale left tie Shreds of Ey trousers hon-ing on the mes-
quites. I was certainly in e fix when I went home and
the v.ife Lau:lied at me. I had a suit but it wee not
fit to ride LI, so I went to Cooper's store at
-ontvale and invested in the only pair of pants he had
in the store. 1 yore 31 waist size and the nom nurehase
was a size 40. Next morninc v. hen i donned my new trous-
ers the wife snickered again but i had no choice, I had
to wear them. The seat of these breeches, after I was
in them, had room for a negro family. Truly, they hung
low and wide as I rode off to a round -up on Lacy Creek.
I had to cross a mountain and as I started down on the
other side E dismounted and led my horse, because it was
so steep and rocky. I had just stepped off a led7e of
rock when r‘y horse shied and pulle6 beck on the reins,
sucpcneinp me for e moment with one foot on the rock
and the other one stretched out over open space.
big six foot rattler which was coiled on the side of
the rock struck just at this moment a.Jd hunp his
fangs in the spacious seat of my net breeches. Drop
pine my bridle reins, I went down that mountain at a
rate that any modern speed fool might envy. I was
yelling, 'walks! :.)nuke:' just as if i. expected to be
heard and I don't supoose there was a human being with-
in five miles of me. I turned somersaults and rolled
Pa ge three
and kicked and uid all the maneuvers of the big Apple,
I'm sure, but that booger held right on. At last I
leaped over a catelaw and dragged that snake loose
on the thorns, but kept on running until I reached
level ground. khen I had regained 00USOLOAMOSO and
enough breath to start bask I cautiously made my way
back the trail and found that monster about as angry
as I was scared. I threw a big rook at him and he
coiled himself under a catelaw and declared war, with-
out leaving it to a votes After pounding him with many
rocks, which only angered him the more, I chanced to
remember my carbine on my saddle and made quick work
of blowinp off thet rasoars head. I have often shud-
dered to think what mirht have happened had I not had
on my big, baggy breeches. I hesitate to,relate the
story because it sounds so much like what could be
classed as only a "snake story", but it is true, every
word of it, and I have dreamed of that snake at least
a hundred times, always awakening with a severe case
of the jitters.
"tveaking of losing my breeches calls to mind a
noted cowhand of Conoholand, one Julius meRinney who
like "Wimpy" was always hungry. It was °common know-
ledge among the denizens of ranchland that Julius
could eat more food than any four men. He was a good
eowhand but always preferred the job of "floosie" at
the chuck wagon because he could get plenty to eat
Page four
there. Being a good cook, Julius was always popular
at the round -ups. One day as he was preparing the
noon noel, he decided to wash his clothes, which con-
sisted of a pair of ancient ducking pants and a hickory
shirt. He was cure he could get them dried end back
on before the boys got in off the range for dinner, so
he proceeded to out holes in some corn sacks for his
neck, arms, and legs, and got into them while he wash-
ed his shirt and pants and hung them out on the fence
to dry. He was "soaring up chuck!" for the boys and
had just finished a pan of biscuit dough when he
thought to go see if his clothes had dried. To his
dismay the shirt and pants wire gone. Looking down
toward the river he spied two old U cows standing
under the shade of a big hatokberTy tree, oonplacently
ohewing on his pants and shirt. These two bovines
were noted as the worst chewers on the ranch. Dis-
mayed at his plight, Julius gave ehase to those old
cows, trying to recover his raiment because without
them be could never face the boys, all dressed up in
his corn sacks; they would razz him to death. After
exhausting himself in the futile chase he gave up in
despair and returned to camp. Knowing that he could
never be seen in the corn sack suit he determined to
get away somehow, so he mounted one of the wagon mules
and rode for sen Angelo, fifty miles away, the nearest
place at which he could purchase shirt and pants,
Rangtowlore
aizobeth Doylo
sea Angelo, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Iv. F. Kellis„ Eterling City, Was*, interviewed,
Nevomber 23, 1937.