Texas_Voice of Liberty

🤠 NEGLIGENT NED & TALL-TALE TILLY: THE GREAT LEAD CHASE A fictional sequel from the tall-tale trail. Ned’s promised witness was running behind, So he hired on Tilly to see what she’d find. “I’m great with a lead!” she announced with delight, Then chased her own shadow till well after night. They found an old boot by a fork in the creek. “This proves,” hollered Ned, “what I told you last week!” “But it’s empty,” said Tilly. Ned grinned ear to ear: “That means somebody LEFT—and the question is WHERE?” They knocked on a door at a quarter past eight, Then circled the house and stood out by the gate. The rancher said, “Folks, I’ve got nothing to say.” “Write ‘MYSTERY DEEPENS!’” Ned whispered. “We’ll stay.” They questioned a cow and interrogated geese, Till the whole barnyard wished they would give it some peace. The goose gave a hiss and the cow gave a moo. Said Tilly, “That sounds like a cover-up, too!” When somebody answered, “That isn’t quite right,” They worked on the wording till late in the night. By dawn, “I know nothing” had somehow become: “A SOURCE CLOSE TO THINGS SAYS THERE’S MORE YET TO COME!” They followed a rumor clean over the hill, Then back to the porch of the fellow named Bill. “Who told you?” asked Bill. “Why, you did!” said Ned. “No, YOU told ME Tuesday.” Both scratched at their head. An old cowboy chuckled, “You two ought to know, A lead ain’t a lead just because you say so. And knocking till midnight won’t make something true— Sometimes a shut door means they’re tired of you.” But Ned checked his hat, and Miss Tilly declared, “We’ve nearly got proof that the proof isn’t there!” So off rode the pair in a great cloud of dust— With a saddlebag full of “JUST WAIT! TRUST US!” Cowboy logic: If you have to put words in a witness’s mouth, you’re writing a script, not following a trail. 🤠