Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1883-04-04
Independent u All Thnss-Nsutral ID Nothing
The Dab7's Shoes.

lie was \ rough. hOrne-spun looking
man. and rs he tfanpye.i up and fown
the depot platform among some other.
waiting passengers, lie gave occasional
utterance to disjointcll sentences, such
as, ..Wcll, dew declare! vuw to,
gracious!" and seemed greatly puzzled
over some kno'ty problem.
At last he felt in his pocket found an
oids tub Of lead pencil and approaching
the Of the depot sl,uilding began to
scratch something on SMOOTH space on
the boards, sllarr.ing passengers jostled
him, tlit c,tt news boy yelled IN his car,
b,st he paid % attention till man OF
his own stripe, farmer neiSabor with
an honest glowing c,,nntcnancc locked
over his shoulder and pointing to the
scratches he was making, asked,
..fissers, : ' said ths .ri.lme,;ciau. I, III
..and iiggsrs dt,if't ia; now. YOU add
sem up and rects,ni tlie sum tcetotal.
and see what 1t maltes.. - e.e ,1;r,
This was the sum:
One pound Sallorufes. .................. ~
one pound kreniet asear. 4 ..s......... ~
Barol Lam wicke. ................... II
three pounds sugar. .,...........,. >, .......N -
Iour !Ards cnnke:- ke:-.......-......... .s..... ~
Ticket to beAnsviiie. ..........a. ......... ~
Thar! it reads ali right" said the
man. as his friend footed 1t up, but there
is balance an I've got my ticket n all;
there's balance left over Of . hull dol
lar an 1t had no dizziness 70 be, cas-
Hunnah calkilatcd the expense. nnd Civ
me just enough and none to spare. You
see what's troubling ME IS tie fact that
there's somethin' haven't got"
His friend persuaded him that 1t was
aA right, that he had paid less than he
expected to for some articles, and that
accounted for the balance ana he finally
took his seat in the cars and piled up
Lis bundles in the scat between them.
Then he began search for his ticket
~ First shcSt0ok oHt the surplus dollar,
then. y new almanac. and at last he un-
eHitl,ed the bitOf pastcboard; then be put
his traps back again, and as he did SO
there. fell from smong them narrow
slip cf write paper. &M
q whats that?" he asked aloud,
spreading the tiny bit of paper out ON
the brown surface OF his toil-worn hand
where it lay white and pure like some
fair lily's petal. He turned il over in a
vain attempt toreinember what be had
il for. and read some pencil marks on
the other side. Tnen he gave loud
whoop and grabbed his hat. 1ly.
Look at that" he shouted. holding
the strip pf paper mp to the inspection
OF his friend; "read II! Hannah writ
It, and I'll be hanged cf I didn't go and
forgit It. Length of baby's sole, that's
it. was to get 9 pair Of new shoes for
baby. an ef Id.gone home without EN-
Hannah wouldn't have give me house,
room sl1o! Whoa. there conductor!
Lemmc out! I'm going clear back up
town to get the lilby's shoes. an II I
amt back in halt an hour ye needn't
wait this train for me. III take the
next" and he went of. looking ns
pleased as possible, while bis friend re-
marked to the rest OF the passengers:
.'Sol never did have much sense, bus
It seems cz il that air baby Of his, a has
took away what lccfls he used 70 i,cv.
I never SEQ such idiotr' E9a ~
But there were several just such idiots
In that very car and ~ tho Lroad back
OF the happy father disappeared in the
distance they snuiicd suspiciously and
locked after him with talf-rcgretfui,
half envious longing expressed in their
moistencd yes.-Afrs. l.. Rayns ~"