The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1878-12-20

sa ~ilt lnt ~isn shs ssrss nasms shs
| '1pFsss issslas Maria Nj s@Av Ass rasf~
Ahe bal fs8ss sislA ~sll, snA wna saifsf
\ snF lfuna sisyhf hr~slmshr, she s#sA
I whsTh wAa snslrs4i, she ssa#i trathl wv
| is,snT sAr nsght sle haA stasn fssssn hsf
imsl, al~ma The lsassl sltarf AnA admit.
ieA lwn nun. ~hn lsute isnlhs sisSest
~ the l~flst. whssv II wn. ssirnsls IL.
l~rsssesl lhe Ars n The saum ~~s IN
SnsanA pelst everything Ms safe s,s
iaf. lsus the fear II hiring detected .lnt
ine The m#l. and ll.r .leeplessnrss whieh
iullu~esi, hal ialen away a little ~ hrs
tslH.s sis~nvth. III .hr hal at
Iw~svtl I'm Hnshel The lsvsiuns ,las.
Abe wns lem pale now rni l.uisr
Maria lfirA III rvnsrml~r whether this
wHs an.il,es ssmItnsn III thu t,rhns,
A. lhr rel III the dawn hfsrhsrnra
in,n clear gnld, amt The rlnmIw III hare
ash anl maple trees along The vslgts III
The mra,luw lNgan Ia ,lriarh Themselves
frnm The lark, farinless mass n the
landscape. Jeremiah stood a. The stable.
door l.oaking st the sky. hc remarked
~ himself that Ii WAS gninp to bca hean.
tiful day. the cold. sweet mir touched
his palate nni suggested, beyond the
coming breakfast. the cheer " the later
dinner; he felt glad tha, Il was Christ.
mas. His prnpo~nl the afternoon bo.
forr, although postponed w Lydia Ma
rims elder authority. nevertheless salts
ilcd his Mnsr III justice: Susan hence.
forth should not always give them the
holiday, Int they would take turns In
giving II 1. her. Jcrrmial,'a brain
worked slowly. and with many variations
hither and thiihcr; hut Il generally fell
into thc right groove nj last.
Hc thrrw open the door aud entered
thu stable. lle first put his hand. nc.
corling to old habit. npon the back of
Harry. the near plow.horSe; hut. surely,
TINT was not linrry's hack? II was
nearly hand higher. and the hide had
4 different quality. Utterly h~wil-
lcrcd, he gfored his way, In
the dark stable. 10 tho head ~ tho
animal; TIM rtifi. smooth leather
betrayed, to his tonch, a new halter.
II united the rein, led tho horse more
by instinct thnn hy reasoning ont Of
the stable, and, io! there WIS u new
creature, n stalwart, strung -limbcd hay.
with large. intelligent eyes! Jeremiah
was No aatoMntcd nj this phenomenon
TINT he stooI dumb. thnndcr.s struck.
Tho horse sniirrd at him cnriously. and
then he first noticed piece IL paper
attached 10 the hendxtall. Hc tore n
oti, nnh read these words. In large.
awkward, unknown hand: MY name
is Hob. | belong 10 Jeremiah Lane!
What Jeremiah said. Must not bc
written. The words were forced ont vi
him by surprise, hut they Ind profanc
rather tlinn pious sound. He meant
no harm by them quite tho reverse; he
bccausc NJ many of them were prohibit
cd by thu custom of tho neighl,orllood.
| have no doubt TINT he did the best he
could, under the circumstances. and the
Recording Angel, inst cad of blottinR II
ont with tear did not even think II
necessary IL write Il down.
Jeremiah waa aroused ont ~ his Htn.
por by 4 piercing scream from Lydia
Maria. This was q thing which had not
happened for many years, and II came
upon him las lir nftcrwarl said like
streak o lightning"
.Jrrry,-ol,, Jerry. tio come hcrc!' .
The tone In which she uttered the
words denoted great surprise possi.
bly,, anguish. He rushed into the
stable. hurriedly fastened the halter of
the stranger lIoh." and lcapcd across
the passage which separated the horses
stables from the cows. asking. while on
tie way What's the matter, Liidy-
Maria" /"
"Ol,, Jerry, just look nj that !" she
answered lint now her voice was
faint anl weak. She stood In the
stable, beside the COW. with her milk
pail on the litter, held firmly between
her rigid feet.
"l.ook nj WHAT" said he; hut, even
m she spoke, he saw, in.listinctly. that
tho familiar cow, Spot, had Shr,lnk In
her proportions: that her dapplcd rcd
and white sides had changed into MI
cycn, dim monsc.color; that her horns
hAd grown short md her muxxlc slcn.
dor.
well, III bc -" hc began, Int
ala not finish tho sentence.
"Who In sho? How did Sl,c come
hcrcf cried Lydia Maria. The min.
ntc I took hold of her. 70 milk. | felt
that II wasn't Hpot. Bmt she held still !:
shc turned around and locked nj me,
and ! conld sce her big eyes In the
dark And then, somehow, ] got fright.
cncd. I'm MI of q trcmblcl"
Lets have q look nj her! KAid Jcrc-
miah, lending the COW from the stable
into the barn-yard. The dawn hasl
meanwhile frightened. and each object
began 10 take its proper color and dis
tancc. Tho beauty of the creature was
clearly recognized by both.
An Alslerncy- Just what Two always
wanted said Lydia Maria.
Jeremiah took from tho left horn a
crumplcd label, smoothcd II out. and
read My name II Polly; I belong 10
Lydia Maria Lnne."
did anybody cycr?" WA NIL the
apinHtcr could way.
! SEQ how II II" xnid Jeremiah. after
a moments reflection. Two found 4
new horse In my stable; they're both
meant to bc Christmas giilx. hut that
doesn't make II any rAAier N guess"
6uAAnI 0N&k0bssN LYNN NsNAAMs
No not ~ amy meHnA!' kaid hci
brother. II William wasn't Ia such i
hx Gathers heard Ill about I'LL ont III
Colorado, II would te likc him but The
more | think on II thc more dom
know what ~ make of H."
"Call father" Jcrcmial, finally com
mandsd.
30 old Gideon Lane was summoned
~ the barn The other cows narrowI,
escaped being left nnmilkcd. and tht
other horsrs nnfed, whilc thc two NJ
QUESTIONS were tnrnrd about and exam
ined In tho early sunlight. aud III.
mott hopeless conjrctnrcs made In r.
gard 10 tho source from which thcj
ranle. When, finally, they returned q
tho house. they found Susan rather Inn
patient. The bonntiful breakfast w,
| getting cold.
Bhc waA not No surprised ~ they cx
/ t,cctud IN hearing the wonderful news