Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-07-22

bacon that went to replenish the weal
of bis hard worked muscles. AS W.
pushed back our stools, withdrawing
from the hopeless competition, he woulC
calmly dip out brimming bowl of hast,
pudding, ''to top off WITH" and put j
out of sight with as little concern as thu
Giant of "Jack and the Bean Stalk.
He was the Oldest man in the camp, ant
his work was the heaviest, yet in the
evening time of rest and talk he was the
freshest of us all, and when be had pu
in his night of solid sleep he was the
first out in the morning, to start the
fire, or do, without being asked, any
little extra work incident to an outfit o
bachelors. When Saturday evening
came he would start off afoot on hi:
twelve mile walk to his home anC
family, and on Monday would turn NJ
before sunrise. ready for work.
RISING SUPERIOR TO MISFORTUNE.
He had been one year in Kansas wher
he came to work with us, and it mac
been an experience fit to break the cour.
age of an average man. Long delayed
on the journey from Illinois by an ac
cident which broB the leg of one of his
boys he had hardly settled into work or
his rough and lonely claim when one oi
his two horses died. On a cold night oi
the early winter his shanty caught fire
and burned to the ground. A great
part of the store of his household neces-
saries which the hard toll of man and
wife had slowly acquired were lost with
the house. There remained of their
capital one blind mare, wagon and
harness, a plow. and perhaps drag, a
COW, scanty supply of damaged cloth
ing and household utensils. There was
no money left to build a new house, al d
work was hardly to be had. The seat
tered neighbors, who had recognized
the mans industry and honesty, gave a
hand to put roof over the frost bitten
family, and in some way they contrived
to live through the winter When
spring came, occasional employment
was found at neighboring ranch, where
Bunting had a chance to show his value
as faithful and skillfui laborer. This
advertisement was, in the end, as useful
to him as the sorely needed dollars that
the labor brought him.
But the home farm-work had to be
done in its season, and the earnings of
the days that could be spared were a
scanty support for the large family.
Throughout the hard harvest work man,
wife and children lived on a straight
diet of wheat middlings. The small
crop once gathered, the resources of food
were more abundant, and the carefully
tended garden began to help ont the
dinners. Work was more readily found.
now that the mans force was better
known, and from that day on there has
been steady gain in the prosperity of
the gritty household. With his growing
reputation as an extra hand, worth extra
wages, there is no more fear of want for
Bunting, and he will go ON steadily
adding to the capability of his farm.
He contrived, that first year, to get
dollars enough ahead to buy decrepit
Texas pony, which he speedily traded
for the smallest mule in Kansas. With
this energetic pigmy hitched up beside
his blind mare he did more work than
many well-matched teams. 1t was an
oddly pathetic sight when that gro
tesque but serious outfit used TO arrive
with n load of lime for the building.
They had one eye between them-it be-
longed more particularly to the mule
and 1t seemed to be a very sufficient
guide to their sedate walk. The eldest
BOY would be in charge, accompanied
perhaps by two or three of his young
brothers and sisters, who came for the
pleasure of the long ride in the bitter
cold wind. The little shivering things
really enjoyed it, pluckily despising bod
lily discomfort for the exhilaration of
change and travel. Seated at one table,
silent, solemn, they bent their souls to
their dinner. No time to waste with
words was there when such an oppor-
tunity was passing.
The gray eyes would now and then
take brief rolling glance about the
room, but only at moments when the
work in hand could possess acquaint-
ance. A neglected dog or cat about the
house was sure to be fed if Bunting was
at hand. Yet, with all this practical
kindness, if any killing had to be done,
he was the man first called on. He
despised the sentimentality that shrinks
form the needful blow, while inattentive
to the daily suffering of living creatures.
No such weakness should hinder him
from any necessary action. On slaugh-
tering days, with the sleeves tucked up
above his elbows, the sharp knife in his
firm grip, Bunting was a grim and
inexorable figure. There was no coarse
jest of heartlessness, but mans pur-
pose to do the business with dispatch
and we'll.
His eyesight was as true and sure as
the rest of him. He would sight mile
of stakes for fence posts without the
least variation from the true line. For
measuring tracts of plow-land, his
legs were as accurate as the tape. They
seemed to be set like a carpenters COM
passes, to open to certain span. But
if asked to take the tape and measure
by the figures, he at once lost conf
dence. With an exaggerated idea of
the mysteries of book learning and of
his own ignorance therein, he would
not trust himself to deal with letters or
figures.
FAITHFUL TO MAN AND BEAST.
His fidelity was entire. He cared for
all the interests of the farm as if they
were his own, ever finding something
that needed doing, and doing it, without
orders, when his appointed tasks were
finished. He was disinterested econo-
mist, loving good work and good results
for their own sake.
He was man of peaceable habit. No
one ever knew of his having a quarrel,
but everyone knew that he was com
pletely on hand whenever the occasion
should demand, and few men would
venture to give the necessary provoca-