The Flying Outlaw
Curley Fletcher
(excerpts)
Come gather 'round me, cowboys,
And listen to me close
Whilst I tells yuh 'bout a mustang
That must-uh been a ghost.
Yuh mighta heard of a cayuse,
In the days they called 'em a steed,
Thet spent his time with the eagles
And only come down for his feed.
He goes by the name of Pegasus,
He has himself wings to fly;
He eats and drinks in the Badlands,
And ranges around the sky.
Seems he belongs to an outfit,
Some sisters, The Muses, they say,
And they always kep 'im in hobbles
Til he busts 'em and gets away.
Fer years they tries hard to ketch 'im,
But he keeps right on runnin' free;
The riders wore way too much clothes then,
Cowboys was knights then, yuh see.
He sure bears a bad reputation,
I don't sabe how it begin,
Part eagle, part horse, and a devil;
They claims he's meaner than sin.
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[the cowboy manages to rope him
hobbles his wings,saddles and a puts a hackamore(raw hide bridle)
on him--
and gets on and ready to ride the diablo]
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Wolves, and panthers, and grizzlies,
Centipedes, triantlers, and such;
Scorpions, snakes, and bad whiskey
Compared to HIM wasn't much.
I got deep seat in the saddle
And my spurs both bogged in the cinch;
I don't aim to take any chances,
I won't let him budge me an inch.
He acts like he's plumb full uh loco,
Just ain't got a lick uh sense;
He's weavin' and buckin' so crooked
That I thinks of an Arkansas fence.
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By golly he starts gettin' rougher,
He's spinnin' and sunfishin', too.
I grabs me both hands full uh leather;
I'm weary and wishin' he's through.
He hits on the ground with a twister
That broke the wing hobbles, right there;
Before I can let loose and quit him,
We're sailing away in the air.
He smoothes out and keeps on a climin'
Til away down, miles below,
I gets a look at the mountains
And the peaks all covered with snow.
Up through the clouds, I'm a freezin'
Plumb scared and I'm dizzy to boot;
I sure was a-wishin' I had me
That thing called a parachute.
And then I must gone loco,
Or maybe I goes sound asleep,
'Cause when I wakes up I'm a-layin'
Right down on the ground in a heap.
He may-uh had wings like an angel,
And he may-uh been light on his feet,
But he oughta had horns like the devil
And a mouth fit fer eatin' raw meat.
I've lost a good saddle and bridle,
My rope and some other good things,
But I'm sure glad to be here to tell yuh---
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To stay off a horses with wings.
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