The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-07-16


ssAevR 1iwsgzrd = laayss silsios: 4 cd j
have always rspesnbered whas he, said.s =
and he chnckled merSily, and nodded :,
the delicious looking pastfy before him.
Carrie wondered . EtkIe 6t the taEle
MANNERS of the man Who haA tains1 wash
Grant, but she stespsd bic tsa, Favored Il
with rich cream and saBaE, and passed Il
to him.
%" / ann not much ofa hand for tea
said the man ~ he drained the Gun. = bgGi
doctors say / must DIRK e 7lor naydiwe.
tion. Ruined my digestion while IN th<
army, You zee - and he winked solemnly
BY the way" he continued, picking ur
the silver teaspoon from his saucer. " have
you any more of thesef They are ~ neal
pattern % / ever saw, and odd, tee. ? ]
should like to zee the rest of the doaen i
You have them" Wtr
Mother has only eleven" said Carrie
in her innocence, I" and she 'is very proud
Of them, bat will show them to YOU
Then she brought the little box with
the precious table-silver ~ eleven tea,
spoons, four tablespoons and an ancient
Dream jug ail pure silver, and shining
brightly-and plsced them before her IN.
quisitive visitor to admire. He had I'm
ished his light lunch. That is the Die
was demolished and the teapot was empty.
As the little girl handed him the treasures
he arose, took the box TO the window, ex.
amined its contents with . critical eye
for moment. and then, as if in joyful
surprise, cried:
81 am right! They are the very spoons
The very same identical spoons that my
friend lost when he was boyi How
lucky it is that have found them at
last ["
With these words and Q very low bow,
the rascal opened the door and slipped
away with the spoons and the silver
cream pitcher down the path towards the
gate.
For an instant Carrie stood motionless,
then rushing after him she shrieked:
"Give me those spoons They are my
mothers spoons, and you are trying to
steal them! You are thief, thief, bring
them back bring them back -
The man, however, paid no attention
to the child's cries, but ran rapidly down
the path, carrying the box in his arms,
and the spoons and pitcher would have
been lost forever if q new party had not
appeared on the scene.
Old Dan was quietly nibbling the grass
near the gateway. Hearing his little mis-
tress' voice he looked up at the very instant
that the tramp passed. What he saw
about the man that disturbed him, don't
know but erecting his head with hoarse
Ba-a-a he shot after him like cannon ball.
The man turned to receive him and de-
fend himself, but the ram struck him
fairly in front and knocked him half sense
less, fiat on his back, scattering the silver
in all directions.
For an instant the fellow remained
sprawling in the dust, then he slowly
arose, limping and .groaniDg, and without
a glance at his enemy began to gather up
his stolen spoils.
He had partly completed his task
when old Dan. who had all this time been
watching the proceeuIng IIUm Dr..--l-
his shaggy eyebrows, shook his long
beard and with another tremendous Ba-a
dashed at him again, and over he went a
second time, his treasures flying from his
hand,
And now began strange battle. With
cries of rage and pain the man recovered
his feet and turned upon the ram, kicking
and striking at him furiously, while Dan,
accustomed to such warfare from years
of experience with the boys of the coun-
tryside, easily eluded him, and in return
butted him to the earth again and again.
The spoons and the cream-pitcher were
knocked hither and thither as the COM
batants struggled, the road was trampled
into something like race course, the cir
was filled with very bad language, very
angry ba-a-s and great cloud of dust.
But after some FIVE minutes, victory de-
clared itself upon the side ofthe quadruped;
and bruised and bleeding, with clothes in
rags, minus hat and shot the vanquished
man suddenly turned away and ran limp
ing down the road, leaving his antagonist
in full possession of the field and the
stolen silver.
Old Dan remained motionless, gazing
after his enemy until he disappeared
around distant turn in the road then
shaking the dust from his coarse wool he
gave utterance to low grumble of salts
faction, and wagging his tail, returned to
his dinner in front of the house.
Half an hour later rs Carrie washed
the coveted spoons and the bright little
pitcher and laid them carefully away once
more, she told her brother the story and
how the robber was foilcd and Ned, full
Of enthusiasm cried:
1--WE will not kill old Dan at all, for /
do not believe father would shoot him
now for hundred dollars"
And the boy was right. The old ram
won more than he knew when he fought
the tramp and conquered him. He won
his masters regard, and free, happy life
for the remainder of his days.