Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-02-03

q bali hoeshead and got in; was scrubbed
and rubbed, and scraped with an old iro,
candlestick to open my pores. Then 60
to bed, and'presentlv began to sweat.
sweat through the feather bed, and through
the straw bed, and through the sackine
down on to the floor the room in a strean
to the door. sill, and out through a crac,
under the into the street. Said | to ban
nah (that's nv wife, Hannah. / can
stand this; won't be drowned in my owr
bed So got up and dressed me. anc
put on my has to go out. 1t was acold da,
in January. As opened the door no
ticed the raln-drops falling last on m,
clothes. SaidfI Hannah, what suddeI
showerr Why. husband, it don't rain. sb,
said. Gentlemen. it was nothing but tn.
prespiration streaming off ny foreheadr'
Mr.. Spencer then procee led to detail hi
experience with mesmerim and the gal
vanlc belt, till at last saiC that he seemed
TO have been treated for almost every
known disease, and hence might venture
TO inquire IL he had ever been bitten
by q mad dog. mo, SIR" he promptly
rephed, with an air OF severity: '.but / saw
a man once who was bitten by a massassu.
ger. Perhaps you've never seen one of them
prairie rattlesnakes, stranger? Oh? YOU
have. Well, you Yankees do learn some
new things out here. As was saving. we
were binding after McCormick's reaper
down on Section IS. The little bundles.
you know. Die ont day or two before we
pick them up and make the shocks. Over
night, the snakes curl up underneath TO
keep warm. 1t was about noon. and one
OF my men mad just reached round a bundle
10 hit II and bind it, when he took big
nlassasauger right by the tail. The reptile
wriggled round his fat head and struck
the poor chap in the side, and he roared
out with pain. l started off a boy for the
doctor. and staid to watch the fellow. He
began to swell up right away, and IN ten
minutes be was bigger than pork barrel.
But he kept right on, rounding out and
rounding out. TIL finally turned nv back
On such sight All at once heard an
explosion. and he was gone He'd blown
spen, and bust all abroad, s,Ti'
''What did you do, Mr.. Spencer"
me? / collected his fragments and
gave him decent burial" =. ~
Fearing every moment that l myelf
should explode with my suppressed laugh
ter, 1 thought to chang the subject By ask
ing about the doctors bills. To my relief
Spencer again withdrew his attention from
me and launched out into another series of
great moral truths" After saying that
he had paid $1,000 to various physicians.
he spoke of the property he had sacrificed
to meet these bills. In particular he siwelt
mournfully upon the sale of span of
horses and q yoke of oxen. Here he
frightened up, as he said. Gentlemen, "Ih
tel. you two or three facts about those
beasts, to give you some idea of their
value.
Il started one day with nv span of grays
and load of corn, to Drive to jackson
nine miles, to market. Brought back IL
bags OF meal and barrel of four
Well. just as / got out of the town. and
bad abont eight miles of prairie 'twixt me
and Hannah. heard a rattling noise be-
hlRd me, and when | looked round, there
was bouncing hail storm right upon me.
L yelled at the grays and flung NV chaw OF
tobacco at Billy, for he was the LATEST. and
we swung along at what you Yankees call
a good Hiram Woodruff pace. never quit
yelling. and they never stopped running.
till We struck Felderkin's Corner. richt
where you biaxed that big burr-oak this
morning. Then / found the storm WAS
over, and when looked to see if fhe load
was safe, there was two bushels and a half
of hailstones in the hind end of nv wagon.
but not one Of EN- on my sacks or on mel
Gentlemen. i had raced on the edge of thai
hail-storm all those seven miles home
Now it's my opinion that you coulin't do
that little trick to-day with any two horses
In Illinois, not if you oak their tails in
turpentine the night before, and touch a
match to EN-, just as you say-Git out of
Taking furtive survey Of his audience,
and hooking his heel firmly on to TIE round
OF his chair. the truthful Spencer braced
himself for final tale. - =
"When first came here in lSI9. those
oxen we're steers Stock was rather scarce
then and worked the critters in early
Well, one day, old Tennessee Smith, down
by the Lillycachs had cut a red elm and il
got logged in the Sloo, and none OF them
dared venture out to cut it clear. So they
hitched on all the oxen they had and tried
to dr. g it upon to the bluff But with six
yoke they couldn't make it let CO. Then
somebody said send for Spencer's steers.
When Smiths boy came, / told him, YOU
can have the steers, Charley, but no one
ever drives em besides me. So yoked
up and went down. When got there /
said, gentlemen, take away your oxen, and
they did. Then told 'em to cut welt ali
around the log. so that my chain would lie
In smooth with The outside of the bark
Then cut slif from this welt to the end
OF the butt, so that the taut of my chain
wouldn't catch In the hazel brush. Then
put the chain round and hooked en-. ana
took up my whip and Just give the critters
a cheerful start with the lash. They sprung
10 it and jerked the log about two feet and
there it stuck fast. Then yelled and put
on the string and those two little fellows
leaned into their ork, and Just shivered
minute and then they went like shot for
two or three rods, With long red stick be-
hind 'em, and everybody shouted and then
just shut up their hy traps and said not a
word. For. gentlemen. would You bell We
1t, those two little bucks had drawed the
heart night out of that log!" ? p
Yes, sirl" repested Spencer, as he wiped
his forehead With q bandanna. "Yes sir
and If that Yan.ee don't believe it, / can
show bim the very same log to-day at Jack
SOIL The road commissioners took il for
town pump. 1t was all bored out for
USE"
How long Mr. David Spencer would have
continued to deal out these s.preat moral
truths" I know not But Felderkin. who
had evidently heard these tales before, gave
signs Of uneasiness, and hinted broadly
that the 'wimmen folks" wanted us out of
the way. -r.r.rr.-. --rx--.-
At this, the story teller rose with an in
jured air, and saying that be would call In
the morning to pay his share of my 8 irvev-
or's bill, abruptly lett the house. I have
never seen him since, nor heard of his
whereabouts. He owes me SIS with inter.
eet since December. 1859.