Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: The Cow-Puncher's Yarn ONE night 'way back in eighty-six, Me an' the Sawyer Kid, An' Howlin'-Hank of the Circle-C, I'll tell ye what we did. A-wranglin' broncs gets tirin' some, An' so we hit the trail Fer a little spree to Porcupine, 'Way down on Beaver-tail. We got to soakin' up the booze As peaceable as hell, But jest when things is goin' to change Is mighty hard to tell; The Cow-Puncher's Yarn Fer some folks pack a brandin'-iron In places mighty strange, But only fools brand mavericks Astray on trouble's range. An' they fergit that ownership Begins in this here land When once the critter's ear-marked An's wearin' of their brand. Old Hank were always keerless, An' with devilish intent He went an' staked a trouble-claim 'Twere hard to represent: A bunch of fellers up the bend Blowed in an' mixed with us, An' 'mong 'em were a lantern-jawed An' 's omery-lookin' cuss The Cow-Puncher's Yarn As ever forked a buzzard-head Er burned a critter's hide, An' devils plainly kept their spurs Agin his temper's side. He seemed a walkin' challenge To creation's sneakin' deeds, An' I knowed his soul were fertile Per a patch of trouble-seeds. Now, Hank's got education— Hain't no denyin' that— Got Shakespare all by heart, I guess, An' Scott, about as pat. The booze had got to combin' him Fer thoughts them poets had, But when he got his rope on one, His choice was mighty bad. The Cow-Puncher's Yarn I see him swellin' out o' shape, An' pretty soon says he: "It's time all honest men's abed, An' it's a cinch they be." Ye could of heered a hoss-fly think Twere that quiet fer a spell But when she got digested good, I guess she wasn't hell! The snake-eyed cuss from up the bend, He sk... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.