Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1873-10-02

of mind, so I'm going to pack up my
traps and mosey. When the folks at
Maxfeld knows what he's dom, they'll
make him a constable or a justice, an
I'm too much of O man to live nigh any
SIGH"
And the next day the patriarch
wheeled his family and properly to
parts unknown.
A few days after Jim Merrick, brisk
farmer a few miles from the Bend, stood
in front of his own house, and shaded
his eyes in solemn wonder. It couldn' t
be-he'd never heard of such a thing
before-yet it was-there was no doubt
of it-there was Pike, riding right to-
ward him, in open daylight. He could
swear that Pike had often visited him
that is, his wheat-field and corral--after
dark, but a daylight visit from Pike
was unusual as a social call of a Samar-
itan upon Jew. And when Sanl-for
it was he-approached Merrick and
made his business known, the tanner
was more astonished and confused than
he had ever been in his life before. Sam
wanted to know for how much money
Merrick would pillow and plant hum
dred and sixty acres of wheat for linn,
and whether he would take Sans horse
"a fine animal brought from the States,
and for which Sam could show bill of
sale-as security for the amount until
he could harvest and sell his crop
Merrick so well understood the Pike
nature that he made very liberal oder,
and afterward said he would have paid
handsomely for the chance.
A few days later and the remaining
Pixies at the Bend experienced the
greatest scare that ever visited heir
souls. A brisk man came into the Bend
with tripod on his shoulder aid awire
chain and some wire pins, and qeer
machine under his arm, and before dark
the Pixies understood that Sam had de-
iberately constituted himself a iene-
gade by entering a quarter sectitn OF
land. Next morning two core residences
were empty, and the remaining fathers
of the family adorned not Sans log,
but wandered about with faces vacant of
all expression, save the agony of the
patriot who sees his home invaded by
corruptiug influences too powerful for
him to resist.
Then Merrick sent up plow-gang
and eight horses, and the tender green
OF Sans quarter section was raiidly
changed to dull brown color, which is
odious unto the eye of the Pike. Day
by day the brown spot grew larger, and
one morning Sam arose to find al his
neighbors departed, having wrecked
their vengeance upon him by taxing
away his dogs. And in his delight at
their disappearance Sam freely forgave
them all
Regularly the children were carried
TO and from school, and even to Sunday
school. Regularly every evening Sam
visited the grave on the hillside, and
came back to lie by the hour watching
the sleeping darlings. Little by little
farmers began to realize that their prop
erty was undisturbed. Little by little
Sans wheat grew and waxed golden,
ard then there came day when a nan
from Frisco came and changed it in1o q
heavier gold-more gold than Sam had
ever seen before. And the farmers be-
gan to step in to see Sam, and their
children came to see his, and kind wo-
men were unusually kind to the orphans
and, as day by day Sam took his solitary
walk up the hillside, the load on. his
heart grew lighter, until he ceased to
fear the day when he, too, should lie
there. Exchange. - ~