His cries
attracted some companions, one of whom he commanded (as he had a gun) to
fire a bullet at the limb and try to break it. This the boy did, after
much coaxing on Putnam's part, and was so successful that his friend
came tumbling to the ground. He was bruised and lamed, but no bones were
broken; and the very next day the intrepid boy climbed up to the nest
again, and this time secured it. That was the "way with 'Old Put,'" the
man who in later years succeeded "Young Put" the youth. His motto was:
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
He always tried, and with his utmost endeavor, to accomplish the task
that faced him at the time. What is more, he generally succeeded; and
that is the chief reason why he is considered worthy a biography. There
are few men, perhaps, who did so many things worthy of emulation, and so
few unworthy. Dangerously near the latter, however, was one act of his
youth, when he caught a vicious bull in a pasture, and, having mounted
astride the animal's back, with spurs on his heels, rode the furious
creature around the field until it finally fell from exhaustion, after
seeking refuge in a swamp.
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