The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-04-15
TIE wRLL IN rHE Hay NOW.

An untenanted farm lay in one of our
rural towns, the hay Of which had been
harvested and stored in;the barn upon the
premises One dayin late autumn, sever.
al boys'driven to seek shelter from the
min without, met here, and, as matter
of course, soon engagedln playing games,
tricks, and projects. firing alter while
Of the common routine, one, with more
invention than the Others, proposed 10 get
upon the hay NOV and "dig a we'll" No
sooner proposed than acceded to by the
Others, and climbing up they set about the
proposed swell" with alacrlty that would
be very pleasing in something more useful,
They succeeded by dint Of bufrowiug,
tugging, and tucking to sink their work
several feet in short time, Success nj.
ways makes US bolder, and 50 they per.
severed those in the "pit" throwing out
the looscned hay, leyeling It abOut till the
"welI reached nearly the bottom Of the
NOV, distance Of some twelve or four.
teen feet. With assistance of those above
the "miners" were drawn out, and then q
consultation held. Again the boy of in.
ventive genius put his power into action,
aided, l fear, by that spiritof Mischief
that stalks abroad seeking tools to carry
out its designs and fools who worship It
rashly md blindly.
"Lets put some small sticks across the
top Of our well, and then cover it over
nicely with hay, and some day we will
get Jim Hill, that great lubber that thinks
he's so smart. into 1t, and then, won't 1t
be fun" So said John Lyman, the lead.
ers of these well diggers.
"Capitalw ,"GO0lw "Bully" "Take
some of the conceit out Of him, Ireckon!"
were the EXPLANATIONS that seconded this
piece Of mischief. (SEind you, don't up.
hold these boys in. their plan for taking
the conceit out oil Jim Hill. Yet We
shall sec how 1t will worh.)
Tho mex dull day found the boys, and
lin with them, assembled at the lone
barn with talk and brag and buster.
The secret OF the well digging rested
with Its makers, jim being in profound
ignorance OF its existence. After various
games and ieats had gon0 the round oil
those present, Jim, Tor reasons OF their
own, being victor each time, 1t was pro.
posed to 60 upon the great beams aud
see WHO could leap farthcst upon the
now"
Eagerly it was accepted, and Jim, with
his self conecit not at all diminished by
his late victories, declared that liz could
Jump iurder nor eny tew boys In the
heap"
John Lyman could not afford to tail
now Of his anticipated triumph. With
tue Dir OF q general, mastering his forces
for decisive struggle, hc assigned each
one his station.
"Now, boys, when l give the word one,
two, three, jump, you must oil go togelh.
cr like Il thousand oil bricks Jim, you
see that lock OF hay thereT If you Jump
0rcT that you beat us. Are you readyP
One, two, three, jump" a1..' r
Down they came, like 0 flock Of sheep
over a wdll-no, like cataract, mean,
jim right over that very lock Of hay"
rebounding like bat.ballJ from n pave.
ment, except Jim, who with a crash, q
shriek terrific, which the cavernous
depths Of tho well sInOthersd 10 roar,
sank from sight.
"Jim's knocked tho bottom out of the
hay now" they shouted on recovering
breath after an indulgence in the widest
laughter at the success Of the trick.
Between the scare, and violence Of
bringing up alter a protracted leap, jim
was rendered for minute hardly corpus
mentUs. Soon recovering he beloved
Justify to he taken out. But his comrades
had hardly given him all tho lesson III.
tended, ms yet. l',
: "Jim, don't you remember that story
you told us t'Other day bout the old mans
cat that sat on the ridge orthe barn, aud
when swaller came along jumped of Of.
ter him, and Il he didn't catch him would
jump back AGAIN. Can't you come that,
Jim, like tho old cat didf"
With like consoling talk and many al.
lusiOns to big stories Of biz" they bGguil.
cd some minutes oil his captivity. till Jim
began 10 show signs Of repentance, and
that much oil conceit was taken out Of
him. They then procured rope and
lrwerGd it down TO him, retaining one end
to draw him out by. Jim's first attempt
ut scaling the "hayey wall" was not en-
COuraging, for when halt way out he felt
the rope slacken prone 10 the dust again. "
This raising hopes to suddenly thrust
them down again was cruel; yet as q
faithful narrator, VIC can not omit them.
Several lettings down" served to "let
down" also, what little conccit there was
lett inside Of Jim's Uranium. He begged
Justify but humbly and was heard and
stood again free fellow upOn." solid hay"
With the sweat Of recent exertion rolling
down his face, and modification mirrored
in every feature, he made small speech:
"Boys, that WAS good I'm; and l hope
this lesson will not be lost upon me. l
think you've taken the swell out Of me
good Shall VIC quite" ...
"Hurrah for Jimw "Hurrah for Jim p
Bully for you old boy" "Give us yer
handr
And I would add that Jim became, II
not cured, greatly helped Of his self con.
ceit. Itany Of his old traits show them.
selves, the mere allusion 10 the "hole in
tho hay NOV" was sufficient TO produce u
most agreeable change in his conduct.
Perhaps should end this verlta6lc tale
here, yet should like to follow the 'hole"
u lille further. MIR. Spruce, from the
city, n nice, fine, faShionGbly dressed,
smooth spoken, velvety young dealer in
prpduce in securing the county for "trade"
fell upon lot OF bay that was offered for
sale. The owner being absent he was di.
rected to the barn by the housewife, and
drove of to examine, and test the article,
Arriving at the place he hitched his team
and proceeded to investigate.
Now, to cover up tho Mischief" Of
making a "wclr' in the hay NOV, the
boys, before leaving, Ind replaced the
sticks and hay over lis down below" and
tue top Of the NOV had very innocent
appearance. At least so thought Mr..
Spruce, who, alter examining the aide,
assembled to the top and commenced q
promenade over It's Surfce. Dir. Spruce
q.