~ FRONT ~

• A Close Call

~ BACK ~

• A Close Call
  

TRANSCRIPTION: The chances that an old-time cowboy had of being hurt were many. His horse might trip in a prairie dog’s hole and break his or his rider’s neck. He might be unseated in a night stampede and trampled by a thousand cattle. He knew these things and accepted them. One danger that an outsider would imagine to be one of the worst, the cowboy thought the least of. The sharp horns of the cattle among whom he continually had to go at close quarters never alarmed him. He put great trust in the dodging powers of his pony. Besides, he knew that the charge of a steer is not like the attack of an angry cow, who advances with her eyes open. The steer, when he gets fighting mad, shuts his eyes and comes on in one blind rush. The pony and his rider can sidestep. If the angry bull or steer is really dangerous, it may be necessary for the cowboy to shoot his .45 near him, or even at him, but this case, which the artist has illustrated, is an exception.