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HAPPY DAYS. 9‘f
THE CQNCEITED COINS
“I'm just as good as silver!"
The nickel proudly cried;
‘The head of Madame Liberty
Is stamped upon my side.
am as white and shlnin
a any dime can
lie needn't put on any airs.
I‘m twice as thick as he!"
“I'm every bit as good as gold!‘
The penny blustered loud:
I d not give a tag;
l‘m burnished just as bright as be,
And half again as big." '
And when the cent and nickel
Went out upon their way.
Alas! the world still held them cheap,
Whatever they might say.
The double-eagle smiled. “ ou'll iind,”
He said. “that par is par;
It doesn't matter how you boast,
But what you really are." A ,
The Boy Brqnclio Buster
By Come us Shea
' CHAPTER I.
READY FOR THE BRDSCHO-BUSTING LIATCH.
“Come on. you rip-snortin' galoots, what
thinks yer knows it all. Step up an‘ have
your names put down. This here broncho-
busiln' contest is a charitable affair, an’
every two-legged critter what's got an idea
that he kin ride ought ter go in. Ther
prize is a. brand new saddle what's ther
best that kin be bought down in Cheyenne.’
It‘: a regular loo-loo, an‘ thcr one as car-
DJHCD; W
Widdcr Donnlvan is ter git ther proceeds
of the broncho-bustln’ match, an’ if ever a
poor woman needed some money jest now
Step right up an‘ put down your
name, now! Ten cart-wheels is tlier price.
There! that makes ther twenty-oneth man.
Who’s thcr next victim?”
The speaker was Texas Bob, foremnn of
'6 A Ranch, and his remarks were addressed
to a. crowd of cowboys gathered on the prai-
rie at the outskirts of Crooked Fork.
town of fifty inhabitants, Fn the county of
Sweetwater, Wyoming.
It was the first of the month. and con-
sequently pay-day at the burrounding
ranches. The cowboys had been coming
into town since noon, and now there were
sixty or seventy of them gathered there,
some of them pretty well filled with the bad
whisky sold at Pete 0'Brien's saloon.
Texas Bob was a sort of leader when the
cowboys got together, and when he came
into town and learned that Pat Donnlvan,
the blacksmith, had died, leaving his widow
penniless. and that the said widow was
anxious to go back East to her relatives.
he decided to raise enough money to send
her there.
It so happened that a drover bad Just
brought in a herd of wild bronchos, and
Texas Bob was struck with an idea right
or
awn).
“We'll git up a buckln' broncho contest.”
er let us have that brand new saddle of his
fur Jest what he paid fur it, an’ put it up
we'll do, Jedge
me long ter raise enough coin ter send ther
widder on her way East. I'm a big, home-
ly gaioot, I know. But I've got mighty
persuasive Ways about me-" .
“That's right, Bob," answered the Judge.
‘I ca.n't ride no buckin’ horses, 'cause In
rheumatiz won't allow it; but I'll chuck
in that six-dollar fine I put on old Decker
this mornin’ fur callin' his wife a phono-
graph. You go ahead an‘ sit up the; game.
I'll help yer along all right.”
In less than two hours Texas Bob had
‘<
twenty-first cowboy, and taken his ten dol-
lars, as our story opens.
‘ Tack Hoover had parted company with
his new saddle, which, by the way. he had
just taken from the express office that
morning. and had not even tried it. and
there it hung upon the back of the black-
smith shop, so it could be seen by everyone.
- “Com " called out Texas Bob. looking
over the crowd. “There's more of yer there
next galoot what thinks he's a broncho-
buster?"
‘I'll go in on.that. I reckon," spoke up
a handsome young cowboy of eighteen, as
he pushed his way through the crowd and
stepped up to the foreman. “A new saddle
is something I need badly, and if I can
win that one it will come in might handy."
“It's ther kid from Bazler‘s ranch," called
out one of the cowboys, who had entered
in the contest. ‘‘What’s he expect ter do?"
“lilaybe he'll fool yer." Nnswered another
of the contestants. “I've heard that he's
putty smart in titer sadd1e."'
The boy paid no attention to tl1eseAre-
the required
the sheet of paper Judge Cady was in
charge of. .
“Jim Barler, eh?" said the Judge, as he
read the name. “All right, youngster. You
are number twenty-two."
Though he was but a boy, Jim Bader
looked to be as strong and agile as the
average cowboy. Handsome and wel1-forn;,-
cd, and attired in a new cowboy rig. he
certainly made a picture. '
im was a newcomer to that section. He
had lately come up from Texas, Where his
father had died. leaving him nothing worth
speaking of, and he had accepted a posl-.
tion on his uncle's ranch.
But few had seen what he could do, but
the fact was that Jim had been nicknamed
the “Boy Broncho Buster" down in Texas,
and he was a. real wonder at the business.
As he was known to but a few of the
men gathered there, the boy had hesitated
about entering the contest, though he felt
that his chance of winning the saddle was
as good as anyone’s.
Jim did not have very much money, as
might be supposed, so when he paid over
the ten dollars his pile looked like the hole
p in a dough-nut, so to speak
e was surveyed by those who had en-
tered the contest in all sorts of ways, but
he did not appear to notice their looks at
Some looked at him pltylngly; some with
genuine curiosity. and others grinned, as
though they thought the “kid” was simply
wasting his money. ‘ x
There was one young fellow there who
scowled when the boy stepped up and had
his name put down. This was Tack Hoov-
er, the cowboy who had sold his new sad-
much better than the majority of those
present, for he was the foreman at Bader’s
ranch, and really the boy's boss.
ew of his friends called Tack the
champion cattle roper of the range, and he
prided himself on being a boss broncho
us er.
There was no doubt but that'he had
strong hopes of winning the saddle until he
saw Jim Bader enter his name.
Could the boy have seen the glance the
cowboy foreman shot at him at that mo-
ment he might have known that he had at
least one enemy there.
But he did not, and he stepped aside for
the next one to put down his name.
Texas Bob proved to be very “persua-
sive,” as he had told the judge, and the
result was that he got thirty to enter into
the contest. ‘
When he found he had got to the limit
he got down from the barrel he had been
standing upon, and headed for the saloon
to “liquor up" before he did anything fur-
h r '
e .
The judge limped along close after him,
and then the majority of the cowboys con-
cluded that they would do the same thing.
5 our hero did not drink whisky, he re-
mnined.where he was, standing near his
horse, which was nibbling at the short
grass.
Tack Hoover had also remained, and
was not long before he walked over to the
boy and said:
What did “you put up ten dollars ter
have a try fur that saddle fur. Jim l3ader?"
“Because I thought I stood a chance to
win it,” was the reply.
“Oh, yer thought yer had a. chance, did
yer?‘ and the cowboy’s eyes dashed in a
peculiar way. “Do yer think that way yet,
im"
“Yes. I think that way yet, Tack. Why,
you didn't think you would stand any show,
did you? There are men here who can han-
dle bronchos better than you can, I reckon.
I've seen you at it, and I know [what you
can do.
“I've seen you at it, too. Jim Bader. an’
“You know what I can do,” said the boy,
interrupting him, and not showing the least
bit of surprise at the way the foreman was
acting. “Dro it, Tack. I don‘t want you
tolthlnk that I am going in for the purpose
of beating you. I am uite sure that you
wouldn't stand a. ghost of a show with some
of those here. But I know what's the mat-
ter with you. You can't get over what some
of the boys said yesterday. They said that
you and I were the rival rovers of the
range. and it is sticking in your craw yet.
I never said so. did I? And what's the
odds if I can rope cattle as well as you can?
Drop it, Tack. You have got a1ealous,dis-
position, and that‘: the only bad thing I
know about you."
“Well. Jim Bader, if you win that saddle
to-day, on‘ I happen ter be second in thcr
game, you'll find out what's bad about me.
You're a. mighty fresh kid, you are. You're
goin' it nltogeiher too fast!" '
The words were fairly hissed by the cow-
boy, and the venomous gleam in his eyes
' made a bitter enemy. and really Wmmut
cause, as far as he eoul see.
“All right, Tack," he answered coolly. ‘I
was born in Texas, and you'll find that I
am made of the right kind of stud, I reck-
on." ' ‘
CHAPTER II.
rm: RANCH onzl. AND rmzgrciviimroo-r noon.
While the cowboys were “liquoring up.”
preparatory to taking part inpthe broncho
busting contest, four riders reined in their
steeds in trout of,the post odlce. t
They were John Evans, owner of the 2-X
Ranch,'hls wife and daughter May, and a
young man named Horace Crary, who was
boarding at the rranch tor the summer
months.
Crary was from the East, and one of the
dandlfied sort of young men at that.
e wore eye-glasses. a stylish-looking
straw hat, and knickerbockers and fancy
leather leggings.
But the way he rode the broncho he was
mounted upon brought out yells of deri-‘
sion from the few cowboys who hppened
to be outside the saloon at the time
He was a tenderfoot of the decidedly raw
species, and they all knew it.
But it was not the first time Horace
Crary had been in town. so the people liv-
ing there were getting used to him.
But everybody declared that they could
not understand why May Evans, who was
a typical ranch girl, managed to stay in his
c pan)’. for he was that soft that he was
in danger of “runnin'
as the postmaster put it.
John Evans was a good-natured man, and
one who took a humorous view of thin
as he oftenideclared, and that was prob-
ably why he was so willing to have the ten-
derfoot for a boarder.
He knew that the young man was in love
with his daughter, but that only made him
more amused. since he also knew that May
almost detested the advances that were
made to her, and that she merely treated
him right for the sake of politeness.
“W'hat's goin’ on to-day?" the ranchman
asked, as he dismounted and stepped over
to assist the dude from his horse.
“A game of broncho bustin’ is on ther
carpet, John,” answered the postmaster,
grinning as he saw the tenderfoot allow
himself to be assisted to‘ the ground.
‘Evans’ wife and daughter did not give
him a chance to assist them. They dis-
m0l1med quickly, and with the ease that
only women of the West can. a
e mother smiled‘ when she saw the
postmaster grinning, but the daughter look-
ed disgusted. .
It was evident that she had become tired
of Crary's soft actions, and that it angered
her to see him made fun of by the cowboys
and others. ,
“Broncho bustin’, eh?” said the ranch-
man. “What started that?"
He was told how Texas Bob had formed a
Plan to M up the Widow Donnivan and
send her on the way East, and then both
Evans and his wife nodded approvingly.
"A 800d idee,” said the ranchman. “I
reckon we're lest in time ter see t
HOYBCE, so in an’ mail them letters you've
been so anxious about sendin’, an’ then we
will get over there an’ see ther beginnln' ‘oi!
ix. There's some mighty good broncho
busters around these digg'ln's, an‘ two of
‘em hails from our ranch." .
“There's thirty of 'em entered ' replied
the postmaster, “an’ they each ‘paid ten
dollars fur ther chance. Ther pr‘
new saddle which Tack Hoover bought fur
himself. but turned over to ther committee.
away. to nothin', ”
an
F‘
“I lust love excitem t," h '
Evans, as he mountedehis hoers?x:w‘l:rnvv:E-:3
ly. “This broncho busting, as it is caued
out here. is rather rough play, but it 15 an
righyt for thlose who look on." "
“ ou oug t to learn it, M . ..
U19 YEP”. “Of course, you 5;: Cl-my’ was
tg‘i;oxigvh'asirle your glasses before you did
if you kept them on, a th
fall all the harder. la‘;houl;nh?t’: I103:
youxbgeak your neck.” - .
“ n eeil you would. May," lh t .
foot declared. “You think too mifch eonfdiie
to want anything like that happen 1
ow ” '
E’
"1 E-aid 1 should hate to see iumppeni
not that I would care if I were not around’
Mr. Crary.” '
“Ah! By Jove! I don't k ;
ya“? May‘. now how to tal e
“Well. if you do know, there I no .3
of your taking me." was the quicsk retoizger
he ranch girl was certainly having her
Datience tried. and she could not help an-
3“'9"”‘E "H? dude in that way.
They rode on arou d t h
blmiksmilh 511017. Wiiiclli w':s tvi'leie:atrhemct3'1111:
mittee had their quarters.
The commiitea really consisted of Texas
told the Boy Droncho Duster that he had
-.
Bob and Judge Carly, .1 (
full charge ogghe urrai: me hey were in
It so happened that Tack Hoover, from
had shown is displeasure because 5 move
Bader was going to take part in the r as me
test for the saddle. came along just as ti
party were dismounting. '
Hoover was a. vicious sort of a. man, ,1
how, and since he had become angers‘
ouir hero, he was ready for almost 3
ng.
He took notice of two things, andt
very quickly. , Tac
one was that the ranchmazrs daugl;
was a very pretty girl, and the ‘other i went.
the young man with her was a dude i But
derfoot. will)
Tack also noticed that the girl, by ears.
actions, did not take much stock in Me:
young man. lng J
He styled himself on being a dandy 5 “Yr
of a. cowboy. and ever ready to make lrind
impression, he dniied his hat to May: he gr
then, turning to Horace Crary,-he ca‘ don't
ut: ‘ l‘in v
“Hello, there, you tenderfoot! Ain't) in‘ h
afraid of gittin’ hurt around here?" ther
“No,", was the ready reply. “I am Vi "Vi
people who wouldn't see anything like i‘: up,"
happen. know you cowboys. yr
try to scare strangers. You'll find me derf(
right. I guess, it 1 do come from the E235 lacti
As May did not know what sort oi Taci-
znan Hoover was, she laughed. He 1
bus encouraged, the rascally cowl. “V
rode up quickly to the dude, and catclii ’ 59014
him by the collar, pulled him up suiiicle: [Om
ly to‘ get hold of him with his other liar YOIL
and then drew him across the horse's in 1
in front of him. my
With a yell on his lips, he galloped aura i 3N
Crary kicking and squirming as though‘ “I
though his last moment on earth had: “'19
vecl. > - 1110‘
“Hey, there! ” shouted Eanchnian Eva N“
“That's gain’ a little too far. Come in
w‘ him."
But not until he had made a. big cirt f 5011
did Hoover come back, and when lied ‘ 59%
he let the tenderfoot drop in a. heap ‘ -
the ground.
“There he is, Miss Good-Lookin',"
called out, taking his hat off to the gi
“I reckon it done him good. I'm like In
I ain't got no use fur dudes.’
May's face reddened.
Though a ranch girl, she was not in I’ '3 “hi
habit or being addressed too familiarly: I
half drunken cowboys, and she did notil
the way the man talked.
‘Slide along, young man,” said her fat .
er, motionlng Hoover to go on and 182 2 5“
them “You've been drinkin', an’ you" 7
gonea bit too far. Don’t make no trout . Se:
here, ‘cause it won't do." . r ,
“ 'd like ter see anyone here make I “H
slide along till I git good and ready." W‘
the retort. “If yer keep on talkin‘ Uh 35
Way I'll kiss (her gal, jest ter make tli mi
tenderfoot mad."
Tack Hoover was getting into it ties?‘ 119
M.
.E’..’.?
all the time. “'4
Being an old-time Westerner, John Eva: lh
couidvlnot let an insult like that pass. EV
He reached for his revolver without 37-
waste of time. ‘
"I'll put holes through yer!" he exciaiil
ed. “I'll make ‘er--" I ,
Then be checked himself, for he saw th ’
the cowboy had been quicker than he WL
and a six-shooter was looking him square
in the eyes. -
At this juncture Jim Bader rode up 3
came to a halt before them. ,
T119 110? had seen and heard all that to 1
ace. .
The ranchman and his family were strz
gets to him, as well as the tenderfoot; 1
since he knew that Tack Hoover was i
ellflmy, and that he had over-run the lir
with the people, he did not hesitate to ‘
terfere. -
“P“'- “P that gun, Tack." he said. cool
as he covered the cowboy with his a
revolver. “I reckon you're altogether t
fast. You've interfered with somebo
else’s business. and just to save you frc
getting in the lock-up I'll interfere. Put '
your gun and so on. You've been drin
his a little too much, and you don't kn
What You're doin ." ‘ ,
“The face of the cowboy turned livid wi
ge.
Buthelostn ii i d i I:
back into the n.%..e’‘.‘,%3’we$Z%’.‘’ “ ” “
“ nu know what I said a little while ag
t's Eoin‘ hard wit
an, and when I once git agin' .
1032111 ll him.” 3?
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“mv Tack. I come from Texas, where 17
grow the real stuff in the line of hun
beings.‘
Iliat he ain't right in what he F331 "1 .
do Ihey‘ll hear from me, right hanrlso ‘
ton " ‘ '
Then the cowboys wlio'li3d come a V
