The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-11-20
Pm afraid I've done bad thing?"
he rnnlicd rerretfiIllY fcar [ huvn


shot Brackett's dog"
"Oh, John"
But didn't know whose dog it was
| saw him coming out from the shed-it
was too dark to sec more than that it was
a dog. I only thought of the sheep had
lost. and fired"
L am sorry, John. O, how Mrs.
Brackctt and the children will feel. They
set everything by old Carlo But you
can explain it."
Yes-1 can explain it,"
Half an hour later Mr.. Welton was
going to his barn with lighted lantern
in his hand. He was thinking. of the re
cent unfortunate occurrence, and was
sorcly worried and perplexcd. What
would his neighbor say? He hoped
there might be no trouble. He was
rejecting thus when Mr. Bracket ap-
pcarcd before him, coming up quickly,
and stopping with an angry stomp of the
foot
Now there may be volume of electric
influence even in the stamp of Il foot, and
there was such an influence in the stamp
which Brackctt gave; and Wclton felt
it, and braced himself against it. There
was, moreover. an atmospherc cxhaling
from the presence Of the iratc man at
John Welton! YOU have shot NV
dog J" The words were Kissed forth
hotly.
Yes" said Welton, icily.
How dared you do it?"
l dare shoot any dog that comes
prowling around my buildings, especially
when | have had my sheep killed by
thcm."
But my dog never troubled your
sheep, and you know it."
How should know it?"
You know that he never did harm to
Il sheep. 1t wasn't in his nature. 1t was
Il mean, cowardly act, and Gan oath) you
shall suffer for. it"
:" Bracket, you don't know to whom
you arc talking"
90 ho!" (anothcr oath) "IVc'n find
out! Well see! Don't put OH airs,
John Wclton. You amt Il saint. ri
have satisfaction, if have to take it out
of your hidcw
g Peter, you'd better 60 home and cool
OIL You are making yourself ridicu-
lous." s
Now, really, this was the unkindest
cut of all. Not all the mad words O
Bracket put together were so hard as
this single sentence; and John Welton
put all the bitter sarcasm of the COM
mand into it.
Braekctt burst forth into torrent Of
lnvcctivcs, and then turned away.
Half an hour later John Wclton ac-
knowlcdged to himself that he had not
done exactly right. Had he, in the out
set-in answer to Bracketts first out
burst-told the simple truth--that he
had shot the dog by mistake; that he
was sorry and that he was willing to do
anything III his power to make amends
had he done this, his neighhor would
probably have softcncd ut once. But it
WAS too late now. The blow had been
struck he had been grossly insulted;
and he would not back down.
Mr. Bracket was not SO much renec-
tive. He only felt his wrath, which he
nursed to keep it warm. That evening
he hltchcd his horse to a job-wagon and
went down to the village after barrel
of flour Having transacted Ehis store
business, he called upon Laban Pepper,
Il lawyer, to whom he narrated the facts
of the shooting of his dog.
Pepper was man anxious for fees.
He had no sympathy or soul above that.
:" You say your dog was in company
with two of your children?"
YES"
"And this passage over Mr.. welton's
land, and through his she'd, has been
freely yielded by him MS a right of way
to his ncighbors 2"
" Yes sir, ever since / can remember
Then, my dear sir, Welton is clearly
liable. If you will come with me, we
will step intoaMr. Garficld's and have q
suit commenced ut once"
Mr.. Garfield was the trial justice.
All this happened on Friday evening.
On Saturday it had become noised
abroad in the farming district that there
was not only serious trouble between
ncighbors Wclton and Brackett but that
they were going 30 law about it.
On Sunday morning John Wclton
told hiswifc he would not attend church.
She could go if she liked. She had M
need to ask her husband why he would
not 60 out. She knew he was unbapnv
and that he could not bear to meet h;;ss
old neighborin the house of God while
the dark cloud was uron him. Nor did
she wish to meet either Mr.. or Mrs. Brack
cit. 80 they both stayed at home.
Peter Bracket was even more miscra-
able than John Wclton, though perhaps
he did not know it. He held in close
companionship the very worst demon y
man can embrace-the demon of wrath.
tul vengeance; and in order to maintain
himself ut the strain to which ne had set
his feelings, lie was obliged to nurse the
monster. He did not attend church on
that day, nor did his wife. Two or three
times during the calm, beautiful Sab
bath, as he glanced over toward his
,ncighbor's dwelling, he found himself
beginning to wish that he had not gone to
sec John Wclton in such a heat of anger: