"Prince Hal is curryin' a pony when this yere invader comes crashin'
down the sides of the divide. His eyes burn red, he evolves his
warcry in a deep bass voice, an' goes curvin' out onto the level of
the valley-bottom to meet the enemy. Gin'ral Jackson, couldn't have
displayed more promptitood.
"Thar ain't much action in one of them cattle battles. First,
Hotspur an' Prince Hal stalks 'round, pawin' up a sod now an' then,
an' sw'arin' a gale of oaths to themse'fs. It looks like Prince Hal
could say the most bitter things, for at last Hotspur leaves off his
pawin' ail' profanity an' b'ars down on him. The two puts their
fore'ards together an' goes in for a pushin' match.
"But this don't last. Hotspur is two years older, an' over-weighs
Prince Hal about three hundred pounds. Prince Hal feels Hotspur out,
an' sees that by the time the deal goes to the turn, he'll be shore
loser. A plan comes into his mind. Prince Hal suddenly backs away,
an' keeps on backin' ontil he's cl'ared himse'f from his foe by
eighty feet. Hotspur stands watchin'; it's a new wrinkle in bull
fights to him. He call tell that this yere Prince Hal ain't
conquered none, both by the voylent remarks he makes as well as the
plumb defiant way he wears his tail. So Hotspur stands an' ponders
the play, guessin' at what's likely to break loose next.
"But the conduct of this yere Prince Hal gets more an' more
mysterious. When he's a safe eighty feet away, he jumps in the air,
cracks his heels together, hurls a frightful curse at Hotspur, an'
turns an' walks off a heap rapid. Hotspur can't read them signs at
all; an' to be frank, no more can I. Prince Hal never looks back; he
surges straight ahead, climbs the hill on the other side, an' is
lost in the oak bushes.
"Hotspur watches him out of sight, gets a drink in the Caliente, an'
then climbs the hillside to where I'm camped, to decide about me. Of
course, Hotspur an' I arrives at a treaty of peace by the bacon-rind
route, an' things ag'in quiets down on the Caliente.
"It's next mornin' about fourth drink time, an' I'm overhaulin' a
saddle an' makin' up some beliefs on several subjects of interest,
when I observes Hotspur's face wearin' a onusual an' highly hang-dog
expression. An' I can't see no cause. I sweeps the scenery with my
eye, but I notes nothin'. An' yet it's as evident as a club flush
that Hotspur's scared to a standstill. He ain't sayin nothin', but
that's because he thinks he'll save his breath to groan with when
dyin'. It's a fact, son; I couldn't see nor hear a thing, an' yet
that Hotspur bull stands thar fully aware, somehow, that thar's a
warrant out for him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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