The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1878-03-29

II
without getting pocketful o apples for
Nancy Vance, Jim. Let's see. I'll put
'em in the basket" But the second sup
ply of apples never reached Miss Nancy.
Jim had queer sense of justice, and a
squirrels love for nuts and fruit. He
had done good work with the other
apples, and lost them, as far as his own
delectation was concerned: these others
he would keep for his own eating and
his very simpleness made up for wisdom,
for second supply of fruit would GER
tainly have led to awkward explanations,
while as it was, when the two ladies met
on the church steps next Sunkay, smil
ing and beaming, to make their mutual
acknowledgements, there was no oexplana-
tions to ask or answer, and they parted
in friendliest fashion, to remain firm al
lies thereafter.
Not far from the Ellery farm there
lived bad tempered, cross grained old
fellow, John Dekin by name, who had
driven his boys away from home long
ago by dint of being everything father
ought not to be and whose wife stayed
with him simply because she was his
wife-a fact which is of some virtue to
good woman. Now this man was great
stickler for his rights he had right to
do as he liked in his own house, no
doubt and the neighbors agreed that
they had an equal right to keep away
from it All but good Mrs Ellery, whose
great, kind heart could not see woman
suffer as she knew Mrs Dekin must and
not try to alleviate her sufferings. She
would go there pers:stently, though she
trembled before the big dog, and CULVER
ed at the sound of his masters voice; for
it was one of John Dekin's rights" to
keep the fiercest dog and the cross t
bull anywhere about Sawyer. Jericho
Jim volunteered to go with Mrs Ellery
when she paid her visits to the Dekin
farm, and, as there never was dog who
could Withstand Jimis way with the
brute creation, he and Tige soon became
the best of friends.
"HullooI" said the farmer one day, as
he came suddenly round the corner of
the house and found Jim, who had just
escorted Mrs Ellery to the door, sitting
on the step and fonding the great bull
dog, who, with watery eyes and slobber-
ing jaws, rested his muzzle on Jims
keen, and looked up into the thin, kind
face above him, @Hulloo, you feller!
look out for that critter; he'll be into We
md chew We up fore you can wink"
II guess not" said Jim, with one ofhis
halfsilly, gentle smiles. "He knows real
well | don want to hurt him none ; so
he don keer to hurt me no more he
will, will We, Tige?"
The dogs stump of a tail wagged af
fectionate answer.
"WeIl, mebbe it'll do with dogs; you
seem to kinder get round that one but
it amt folkses' ways" growled the far
mer.
@Aint itl" said Jim, looking up inno-
Gently; "why, / thought folks knew
morn dogs!"
There was no answer to this John
Dekin walked away; and there ran
through his mind, oddly enough, a scrap
of text he had heard somewhere per
haps his mother read it to him; may
be he had heard it at meeting, though he
generally went to sleep there: ais thy
servant dog, that he should do this
thing?" 1t clung to him with that curi-
Gus persistence peculiar to texts, which
defes philosophical explanation, and
more than once thereafter modified
some currish act, or silenced some growl,
before he fully recognized the invisible
restraint upon him. Not long after, that
violent bull of Mr. Dekin's broke into
Deacon Elleryis lot of winter wheat, just
about two inches high, and male gen
eral mess of the whole field, already
soaked by wet autumn. Jim discov
cred the creature in full tide of devasta-
ton. browsing on the tallest spires, and
trampling down the rest into undistin-
suishable mud. He sat down a moment
and considered then filed his pockets
with potatoes, left in the next lot after
digging as too small to save, and careful
ly tossed one over the fence just before
the old bulls nose the bait was too
tempting, the creature nipped it up at
once; another fell about foot in front
of him, then another still further offand,
following the fence, which tended to-
ward the barn yard, Master Taurus, be-
fore he really understood the snare, was
beguiled into his own quarters and the
gate shut fast behind him. Then Jim
hunted up the farmer.
Say, Mr. Dekin, he'd you just as lives
keep that splendid old bull of your'n in
the barn a spell, till get our folkses'
fence sot up?'
"Why, what harms he ben doin'?
Hain't 1 right to keep bull in my own
lot, want to know"
"Sartinlyl sartinly, but you see the
poor creture wanted fresh bite, an he
kinder pushed down the fence like, and
got into some winter wheat; so guessed
I'd git him out ont fust-"
"Howin thunder did We get him out?
that's the pint"
"Well, 1 coaxed him leetle; sorter
tolled him along with a mess O raw
potatoes t'other side the stun wall. l see
he hankered after fresh victuals, so to
speak, n l duno's, blame him."
John Dekin could not hep a laugh,
but Jim went on quietly: so eff you'd
jest lives keep him spell, I'll hurry
up an fix the fence, and then he can go
out to pastur agin, leastways while there
is pastur; 'twon't last no great now, that's
fact"
Now the fence between the lots was
Dekins, as he very well knew; and he
could have been made to pay well for
the damage his beast had done; but he
also knew Deacon Ellery was laid up
with an attack of rheumatism, and Jim
had all the work to do. If the fence was
once up it would be hard work to make
the bulls owner pay for 1t, so he grimly
assented.
@Yes, I'll keep him tetheredi but you
hurry up with your old fence"
Jim went to work directly; hauled the
rails, dug the post holes, and hired few
hours help to set them. Before the
next night that winter wheat was safely
rallied in, and Deacon Ellery, feeling
little better, has his factotum into the
bedroom to hear an account ofthe days