Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-06-24

"That's IL /; stop shafnming. fthsuShi
I'd make you sSj,salr although 4 AUST
: own you are q plucky kind of girosts.
can soon nut you into the way ct
rich Joke, girls. Old Finiey's coming
, along. back there. on his mule Ssiy
right here In the ,fencc-corner. and
walk out as he comes up. IL may be
possible you may succeed In soaring
him ont of the even tenor of isis way.
The effect of such thing would rtbe
simply sublime" This little piece Of
intelligence put us into perfect trans
port OF delight, for be IL known that
"old Finley as he was Familiarity
called, was = "thorn In our flesh " in
fact, we had always considered IL n
great and undescrved kindness that he
was permitted, TO live. Such crnsty
old fellow rs he was. never so much rs
giving you n civil !" howdy" when you
passed him on the road, and secmingto
think the bony. vicious old animal he
rode the only being worthy OF notice.
don't think anybody cared. At least,
however curious we might have been,
not one of MS had ever found the cour-
age to approach the old log cabin,
guarded as IL was, day and night, by tho
| fiercest of dogs. All we knew was,
that each night we saw him ride past
on his old mule. and every morning,
just at dawn, back again, and Mt no
other times, never lifting his head TO
speak to living soul. never looking
any one in the face, but keoping on his
lone, solitary way from choice, rcpelling
all attempts ut acquaintance with
gruf, Don't know you, sir" And
so, because he was surly, and old. and
poor. we young folks hated him. and
counted an opportunity 10 persecute
him one Of the choicest privileges which
could fall to our lot ,..''...,...s
He certainly was n queer looking
object as he came over the brow OF the
hill. astride the long-eared. old mule;
his broad-brimmed straw hat, tattercd
and torn, tapping OYER his yellow.
wrinkled face, while every other
the poor creatures sides with '.Git
along by" Indeed, we found Il
matter of great difficulty TO preserve
the decorum considered a necessary
adjunct to ghostly character; but by
dint Of half smothering ourselves with
our shrouds. we were enabled TO keep
from betraying ourselves; although 1
laughed so hard that the tears flowed
down my cheeks, wetting
the dough into very sticky and un-
pleasant consistency. .,.
As he came slowly down the hill we
staiked from our hiding-placc. andwith
a hideous groan, arrayed ourselves
before him. We had no idea II would
happen the way it did, of course, but
as we appeared before the eyes of the
mule old Finley was riding, the tertfd-
ed creature stopped short, then wheeled
about with frightened snort. and
clearing the low fence with bound,
galloped away, leaving his master I'm
IN the middle OF a frog-pond TO lookout
AT first we laughed in triumph oyer
our successful venture, but when two
Or three minutes had elapsed, and the
old man still lay on his back where he
had fallen, apparently motionless. our
hearts grew still for fear. and we called
viii. who had stopped TO see the fun,
and throwing Off our encumbranees,
aelped him draw the dripping old man
% dry spot. To our horror we found
hat he had sustained n serious injury,
ma conveying him to the house. sent
or physician And then, such night
Is followed. Oh! how we worked. and
low willingly we obeyed every CON-
nand given, while our hearts failed us
or fear of what might yet be. But
when morning dawned, It found him
much more comfortable, but uneasy
md anxious to get home. Jimmy
will wake and fret" was his constant
Try. and, at last, we were obliged 10 re-
move him to the old log cabin IN the
woods. And then the story of his
teady tramping to and fro under cover
4 darkness was revealed. IL seems
hat for many years he had sheltered
nd cared for an idiot brother, and, un-
BILE to leave him during the day, spent
he hours Of the night nc work In the
aper mill about four miles away, there
y earning sufficient to cover all their
rants. Indeed, he hsd contrived to
~ up quite little sum, which, to-
ether with what our parents were
bliged TO furnish for damages, occa-
ioned by our thoughtlessness, made
1e two quite comfortable for the rest
I their lives. Bat we had learned a
'sson we were not likoly TO forget.
ant sometimes true hefoism hides be.
cath ragged vest, and. you may be
IRE, that was the last Of our dou Oh
.ces.--Mrs. T. H. Griffin, IN Rsral
ev Yorker. u