Don Edwards - Little Joe the Wrangler's Sister Nell lyrics

She rode up to the wagon as the sun was going down A slender little figure dressed in gray We's ask her to get down a while and pull up to the fire And red hot chuck would soon be on the way An old slouch hat with a hole on top was perched upon her head Wore a pair of bullhide chaps well greased and worn An old twin rig all scratched and scarred from working in the bush And a slick maguey rope-tied to her saddle horn She said she'd rode from Lyano, four hundred miles away Her pony was so tired he wouldn't go She asked if she could stay awhile and kind of rest him up Then maybe she could find her brother, Joe We could see that she'd been crying, her little face was sad When she talked her upper lip it trembled so She was the living image, we all saw it at a glance Of our little lost horse herder, Wrangler Joe We'd asked where Joe was riding, if she knew the outfit's brand Yes, his letter said it was the circle bar It was mailed from Amarillo about three months ago From a trail herd headed north to Cinnabar I looks at Jim, he looks at Tom, and Tom looks back at me There were something in our hearts we couldn't speak She said that she'd got worried when she never heard no more And things at home got tougher every week "You see my mother died," she said, "when Joe and I was born And Joe and I was twins," her story ran "Then Dad he ups and marries, and gets another wife And then it was our troubles all began "She beat us and she abused us, and starved us most the time 'Cause she never had no children of her own Nothing Joe or I could do would ever be just right Then Joe pulls out and leaves me all alone" I give the kid my bedroll, and I's bunks in with Jim We planned and schemed and talked the whole night through As to which of us would tell her the way that Joe was k**ed And break the news as gently as we could "I'll wrangle in the morning, boys," she said as she turns in "I'll have the horses at the wagon 'fore day" As the morning star was rising I saw the kid roll out Saddle up the gray night horse and ride away Soon we heard the horses coming heading into camp It weren't daylight but we plainly heard the bell And then someone a-crying a-coming on behind It was little Joe the wrangler's sister Nell We couldn't quite console her; she'd seen the horses' brands As she drove them from the river bank below From the looks upon our faces she seemed to realize That she never again would see her brother Joe