Lefty and Shady were sitting around after a long day of work just shooting the breeze a bit before hitting the hay. As ranch hands typically do they got to talking about what they would do when they hit the mother lode; things like winning the lottery and such.

Lefty: “Yeah if I won that there lottery I’d have me a big O’ spread. I’d get me a new truck, a new pair of boots, and I hire me a bunch of no account hands like you Shady, so all I had to do is drive around and wonder what all the poor people where doing.”

Shady: “Well is that right, no accounts like me huh?” (kind of indignant like) “Well I’ll have you know that I put on my own lottery once.”

Lefty: “Really… do tell.”

Shady: “Well I reckon it was about 6 or 7 yrs back, I had this big O’ Buckskin, I was riding fence with for the B bar B up in Montana at the time. He had to be the most pig head and ornery thing that ever every wore a saddle. I tried to sell him to every hand on the place and there wasn’t a one that would even offer me a nickel for him.” He stops for a moment and takes a draw off of his Lucky Strike; “for effect”.

Lefty: “And that has what to do with a lottery”?

Shady: “Don’t get your Wranglers in a bunch there Pard, I’m getting to it. So anyway I come up with this idea I just hold me a lottery and sell tickets for a buck a piece. I made me up some tickets and that next Saturday when I went to town for feed I put up some filers in the Stockman’s and the Keg and when to selling tickets. Guess I ended up selling about 500 all and all.

Lefty: “Sounds like you made out pretty good.”

Shady: “Not bad, not bad… Once I got the winner settled down.”

Lefty: “Settled down? Why would he be upset with getting a horse for a dollar?”

Shady: “Well as I recall about three or four days before the drawing that O Buckskin got sick on me, real sick I’m telling you, I didn’t think he was going to make it till the drawing.” But when I left for town the night of the drawing he was still holden on.

Lefty: “Huh, what you do, call off the drawing?”

Shady: “Are you kidding, I had $500 riding on the deal.”

Lefty: “Well, I can see why he was upset now, winning a sick horse and all.”

Shady: “Actually the horse wasn’t sick when he came out to the ranch the next morning to get him.”

Lefty: Really, he recovered?”

Shady: “No, he died”

Lefty: “Oh, I can see why he was just a little mad, what you do?”

Shady: “What could I do, be the honest type of guy that I am… I gave him back his dollar!”

hlq

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