The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1875-11-16
] "No. Go on"

's+"No. Go on.'' 81 1
And thereupon the good old clergys
man drew up his chair, and laid his
hand upon his friends arm, and told
him jnst what he would have him dol
He spoke earnestly, and with tears in
his eyes.
"Brother Welton, have you the heart
and the courage to do this Y fs...l,-
The farmer rose and took two or three
turns across the floor; and finally he
said:
81 will do it."
~
On the following day, towards the
middle of the forenoon. Peter Bracket
stood in his door-y ard with his head
bent. He was thinking whether he
should harness. his horse, and be off be
fore thinner, or whether he would wait
until afternoon. He could not work !;
helcould not put his mind to ordinary
chores. s..f ,r..s
II wonder," he said to himself, show
the trialiwill come out 2'',s Is'pose Wei
ton II hire old Whitman to take his
case. OF course the office II be crowded
Tom Frost says its noised everywhere,
and that everybody II be there. Plague
take it! l wish-,' iod -. -. -,
His meditations were interrupted by
approaching steps, and on looking up,
he beheld Neighbor Welton. ~ =,
aGood, morning, Peter : i.s ''n. . T
Bracket gasped and finally answered: !:
"Good morning" though rather crns
iily. -. '''''oI hfh
Welton went on, frankly and pleas
antlv:a ~ esfa51 e'.' 20 i"ub 9iii 10 gH
n'You will go to the village to-day2'
81 s'pose So" 81 - -f''t.iii'.
81 have been summoned by Justice
Garfield to be there, also; but really,
Peter, Idon't want to- go: One of US
will be enough 4 Garfield is fair man,
and when he knows the facts, he will do
what is right. Now, you aRsstate them
as we'll as can, and whatever his decis-
ion is, Twill abide by it. You can tell
him that / shot your dog, and that your
dog had done me no harm" 4s..5.
"Do you acknowledge that old Carlo
never harmed you--thst he never troub-
led your steep2' inquired Bracket,
with startled surprise, a,i -4.f,
'slt was not his nature to harm any
thing ! am sure he would have sooner
saved one OF my sheep than killed it"
sThen what did yeu shoot him for p
"That is what was just coming at
Peter. You will tell the Justice that |
had lost several Of my best sheep--kill-
ed by dogs,-that l had just been taking
the skin from fat valuable weather that
had been SO killed and mangled, that
was on my way from my barn to- my
house, with my gun in my hand when ]
saw q dog come out from nv shed. My
first thought was that he had come from
/ my sheep fold 1t was almost dark, and
II could not see plainly. Tell the jus,
Esice that T. had nesideasitlwas syenrad dog
I never dreamed that 4 had fred that
cruel shot a. old Carlo until Tom Frost
told me-
4How2 You didn't know it was my
dog3"
sPeter, have you thought so hard OF
me as to think that could have know
ingly harmed that grand old dog2
would sooner have shot one Of my own
oxen"
"But. you didn't tell me 30 at first
Why didn't you?" 65.@ ~ I,
.Because you came upon me $3.50
suddenly -, : = -.
20 pshaw!'' cried Bracket, with a
stamp of his foot why don't you
spit it out as it was? Say came down
on you like a hornet that yeu haden't a
chance to think l was a blamed fool
that's what ! was.' re > i'it7' 7sli9aA
"And was another, Peter; i'll hadn't
been, I should have told you the simple
truth at once, instead of faring up. But
we will understand it now. You can
see the Justice" - !. 81 2'.j 10 7H1
Justice be hanged ;-John-Dang it
all! what's the use2 There Lets end
liz so!" Jti." ic fas .8g
From her window Mrs. Brackett had
seen the result By ard by she saw her
husband, as though flushed aud excited,
put out his hand Mercy was he going
to strike his neighbor? She was rea dy
to cry out with affright-the cry was al
most upon her lips-when she beheld g
scene that called forth rejoicing instead
And this was what she saw: :vaj
- She saw those two strong men grasp
one another by the hand, and she saw
big, bright tears rolling down theil
cheeks and she knew that the fearful
storm was passed, and that the warm
sunshine of love and tranquility would
come again. El5e