The Red Cloud chief., 1878-10-24
''CAIL 4 MANI"

AshStt Wv o'ff" . 49, ''ff
mother on u good farm, lcf, him by his
father, who was dead. They were in
excellent circ instances, and John was
IA happy IA n wcll-,o-do farmer eau he.
He was no fool, either, for he had u
good library-and read u. too-and
gained agrcat deal Of useful knowledge.
John was good looking, not n handsome
man Qfor there are none), but u tall,
finely formed man. But John had one
falling In my eyes; he was twonty-siy
years old and not married. Nor was
there any prospect Of any such event
h, ppcning very soon, for all the bash
full men that ever wore u shirt collar.
John Eldrcd was the worst, The girls
In that immediate vicinity were stran.
gers Ia him. John always avoiding cv.
erything that wore n dress, ave his
mother and sister.
Johns mother was "A quiet. loving
woman, who ever had uppcrmost in
her mind the happiness Of her chill.
dren, consequently she had for some
time secretly wished that Jon was mar.
ricd.
Gertrude, Johns sister. was a very
pretty young lady. and a,so shared her
UIOttttt y NI~u, Vut npW w W lfE " tUout
she could not imagine.
In the same n~cighborhood lived Judge
Clark, who had II daughter named Ma
bel. Now. John had for II long time
admired Mabel, and although he had
ley betrayed IT,, his sister had guess
cd his secret. and resolved To bring
about a match between the two. but
Just how to do IL she was ut u loss to
determine.
II happened in July, the anccdotc |
am now in shape to relate. Gertrude
had invited "A number Of girls to- u quilt
ing party one afternoon. Mabel among
the rest. She told John they were COM
ing. and then added:
"NOw, JohN, for my sake, do come
into tea this afternoon. You know all
the girls that will be here. and -"
But, Gertrude, that patch Of tin,o-
thy by the north wood must he cut. and
rs Jim has gone to stay eve Sunday, |
shall have To cut IT,"
And so, much to Gcrtrudc's chagrin,
he took his scythc ovcr his shoulder af.
ter dinner and started for the patch Of
timothy. But he fingered around the
orchard until he saw the plump figure
Of Mabel Clark coming, and then. hcav-
ing u sigh, he started for his work.
The patch If timothy referred To was
. newly-cleared piece of land, nearly
surrounded by woods. and so full Of
stumps and log piles that il was impos-
sible to use the machine, Here we will
leave John moving and return to the
party.
1t was u very warm day. so tho girls
had moved the chairs out doors in the
shade Of some large naples. and there
they sat chatting. joking and laughing
as only n party of light headed girls
can.
Meanwhile John had moved several
times across the patch, and it began "a
be quite hot. The sun poured its rays
down with great intensity and tho thick
wood on all sides kept of any brecz,
that might be stirring. John was NOR,
than hOt-he was fairly boiling. and II.
thirsty rs an old topper. So John. think,
ing that no n could possibly see him
sat down on y log and took on his shoe,
and pantaloons, and then. with hi.
long gingham shirt and wide rimmet
straw hat and his socks, resumed NOW
ing. He had moved twice across tn,
piece, and ~ picking u the higl
grass around a decayed log pile. whe,
right beside him he ~ u pair Of blu
racers.
John was no coward. but no wa
afraid of snakes. II he had been warn
before, he was u chunk of leo now
With 4 dash of his scythe he cut of tn
head Of n of them, and the other on
raised his head and darted toward him
John dropped his scythe. turned An
jumped just rs the hooked teeth Of tn
snake caught above the wide, tirr
hem of the ear end Of his ginghar
shirt.
He cas- one look behind him and IA,
his dreaG .d enemy--streaming out Xix
apenant from 4 steamship-and, think
ing only of the terrible fate that avail,
ed him II he stopped, bounced towar
the house with the speed Of an expires
train.
On he q through the north meade,
and orchard, and, rs he neared tn
house, the thought of the party fashe
on his mind. But there was no othe
way, and so on he ran.
He dashed down past the west end {
the house, and as he rounded the co
ner the whole party of girls met h
view.
''Call a man!' he yelled. and the
turned the corner. So great was h
momentum that the snake swun
around and struck him on his bare leg
like the sharp sting of a raw.hide r
ding whip.
The girls screamed ami jumped, an
the quilt went over on the ground. III
vision sped around the corner, and one
more came the cry:
"Call a manH'
No quicker did he disappear aroun
the corner of the house than he woul
appear at the other corner Every tim
he turned the corner he would receiy
q heavy blow from the cold, wet snak'