The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-02-26

A TALE or THE HEROIC ACE.
By EDWARD EGsLrsroN,
1athor ef.7Ae Hoos;er SCHOOL. Mas
ser.r End Of the World" etc.
From the Christian uniou.l
CHAPTER N.
] fnR c0atxa - rnE cIecsrr RmEE.
Colonel Wheeler was the standard
bearer Of the Tag of Independence in
the Hissawachee Bottom. He bad
been Captain in the Revolution,
but Revolutionary titles showed >
marked tendency to grow during the
quarter Of . century that followed
the close Of the war. An ex. officers
neikhbcrs carried him forward with
his advancing age; a sort Of ideal
prumotion BY brevet gauged the
appreciation Of military titles As the
Revolution passed into history and
hevoes became scarcer. And emigra-
tion always advanced man several
degrees-new ncighbors in their un-
certainty about his rank being prone
to give HIM the l,enc6t Of all doubts,
and lcxalt, as far rs possible, the
ls&ter which the newcomer con-
ferred upon the settlement. Thus
Captain Wheeler, in Marylsnd, was
Major Wheeler in Western Penn
sylvania, and full-blown Colonel by
tho time he had made his second
move, into the settlement on Hitsa
wachee Greek. And yet l may he
wrong. Perhaps it was not the
transplanting that did it. Even had
he remained on the "Eastern Shore"
he might have passed through pro-
cess Of canOnization as he advanced
in lie that would have brought him
to colonelcy-other men did. For
what is Colonel hut d Captain gone
to seed?
s.Gone to seed may be considered
. slang expression. and, AS con-
scientious writer, far be it from me
to use slang. And ! take great
credit to myself for avoiding it just
now. since nothing could more per-
.fecsly describe Wheeler. His hair
was grizzling, his shoulders had a
chronic shrug, his under lip protruded
in IN expression Of perpetual resist
ance, ard his proniaent chin and
brow seemed 10 have been jammed
together-the space between was too
small He had an air Of defense. his
nature was always in 'gnard against
cavalry" attitude He had entered
into the spirit ,f Colonial resistance
from childhood, he was horn in an
tsgcnism to kings and all that arc in
authority; it WAS family tradition
that he had been fogged in boyhood
for shooting pop gun wads into the
face Of a portrait Of the reignlng
monarch.
When he settled in the Hissawa-
chez Bottom, he OF course looked
about for the power that wss to be
rcsistea. and was not long in finding
II in his neighbor, Captain Lnmsdcn.
He WAS the one oppOntn, whom
Lumsden could not annoy into SUBJ
mission or departure. To Wheeler
this fight against Lunsdcn was the
one delightful element Of life in the
Bottoms. He had now the comforta-
Bile prospect Of spending his declin-
ing years in . fertile valley where
there was 4 powerful foe, whose en-
croachments on the rights and priv
ileges of his neighbors would afford
him m inexhaustible theme for de-
nunciaiion, and a delightful incite-
ment to the exercise of his powers Of
resistance. And thus for years he
had eaten his dinners with better
relish because Of his contest with
Lumsdon; Mors!ccai could not have
had half so much pleasure in staring
stiiay at the wicked Haman AS Isaiah
Wheeler found in meeting Captain
I.umsden on tho road without SO
much ss nod of recognition. And
Haman's feelings We're not more
deeply wounded than I.umsden's,
Colonel Wheeler was not very
happily married. For at home he
could tind no encroachments TO re-
sist The perfect temper of his wife
disarmed even his opposition. He
had begun his married life by fight
ing his wife's Methodism, but when
he came to the Hissawachee and
found Methodism unpopular. he took
up arms in its defense.
Such WAS the man whom kike had
selected rs GUARDIAN man who,
with all his disagreeableness, was
pf honesty. n virtue not
Inconsistent with oppugnsney. But
Kike's chief motive in choosing him
was that he knew that the choice
would be . stab to his uncle's pride.
Moreover, Wheeler was the only man
who would care to brave Lumsden's
anger by taking the trust,
Wheeler lived in log-house on
the hillside, and II was to this house,
on the day after the return Of Nor
ton and Hike, that there rode q stran-
ger. He was q broad -shouldered,
stalwart, swarthy man, Of thirty-6ve,
with a serious but aggressive counte-
nance, a broad-brim white hat, coat
made Of country jeans, cut straight
bressted and buttoned to the chin,
rawhide boots and "linsey" leggings
tied shout his legs below the knees,
He rode . stout horse, and carried
IN ample pair Of saddle bags.
Refining his horse in front Of the
UOIOnel's double cabin, he shouted,
aft4r the Western fashion, "Hello!
Hello the house!''
Al this quartette of dogs set up
. vociferous barking, ranging in key
I'll the way from the contemplate
treble Of an ill-natured "ice" to the
deep baying Of . huge bulldog.
sslIeIlo the house," cried the stran-
Rer. a
ssHello! hello!" answered back
Isaiah Wheeler, opening the door
and shouting TO the dogs, "Yon hull,
4 = E4 = n Il