Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch,
they need to purchase a bull from the stockyard in a far town so that they can breed their own stock. They only have $600 available.
The older sister says, “I’m going to take the bus to the stockyards since you need the pick-up truck. When I get there,
if I decide to buy a bull, I’ll contact you to bring the pickup truck and trailer and haul it home.”
The older sister arrives at the stockyard, inspects a bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less.
After paying him, she makes her way to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram telling her the news.
She walks into the telegraph office and says, “I want to send a telegram to my sister, telling her that I’ve bought a bull for our ranch.
I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home.”
The telegraph operator said he’ll be glad to help her, then adds, “It’s 99 cents a word.” Well, after paying for the bull, she only had one dollar, enough to send one word.
After a few minutes of thinking, she nods and says, “I want you to send her this word: comfortable.”
The operator shakes his head. ‘How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to the pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her just the word “comfortable?”
She explained, “This is a big word for my sister. So she’ll read it very slowly … sounding it out as com-for-da-bull.”
