[Illustration: decorated line] TALL TALES _from_ TEXAS By MODY C. BOATRIGHT _Illustrated by_ ELIZABETH E. KEEFER _Foreword by_ J. FRANK DOBIE [Illustration: tales around campfire] THE SOUTHWEST PRESS _Publishers in and of the Southwest_ DALLAS, TEXAS COPYRIGHT 1934 SOUTH-WEST PRESS .. _To_ .. MY FATHER TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface--J. Frank Dobie vii Introduction xix Pizenous Windies 1 Speed 18 Birds and Beasts 28 Wind and Weather 40 By the Breadth of a Hair 53 The Genesis of Pecos Bill 68 Adventures of Pecos Bill 80 The Exodus of Pecos Bill 95 [Illustration: landscape] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS “I feels somethin’ tappin’ me on the leg” 12 “Jist as he pulls the trigger, he runs to beat hell” 23 “Purty soon the whiffle-pooffle gits interested and pricks up his ears” 33 “Jist as I teched the crown a feller yelled out” 47 “Well, sir, them birds jist naturally lifted me right out of that sink hole” 63 “A settin’ on that tornado and a-spurrin’ it in the withers” 85 “That gal come ridin’ down the Río Grande on a catfish” 93 A PREFACE ON AUTHENTIC LIARS