Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1883-10-12

Il VII
Well, I thought that fortune wa now
mine. But one night n bad fire broke
out and | was burned u Fires &C.
Cured IN Sacramento every night and
were the work " thieves. / gathered
togcthe- the few pairs of boots ! could
put my hands IN, aud placed them with
my money, oil In gold. In a trunk. and
! carried u out Of the wooden shaniy
just rs the roof fell in. For better 80
curity J sat on my trunk. and gazei be-
wildcred-likc at the flames. " have
something left" I said, latter all. 10
begin the world with" Just then /
was struck n heavy blow over the head
with a club. and lost all cunsciouspcss.
When | came 10 / found myself on the
ground and my trunk gone. me
thieves had done the business for me.
Ali then ] rave myself up. Just for a
moment. 30 despair. 81 am ruined
ruined for ever. Poor daddyr' /
thought. But | was not ruined. for that
crack on the head was the means Of my
making my fortune.
| didn't cry over things much, for /
am n good shoemaker. aud that j. al
ways a solid capital. / had n little
money IN my pocket. and went TO San
Francisco. knew my old master
would take me back. and be- did 10. !
resumed my old place. There was an
%nuctionecr among his customers with
the tcndercst feet ! ever saw. and. ~ /
am a shoemaker. shat explains al my
good luck. This aucti0ncsr had been
gtumbling ever since ! left San Fran
cisco. When he saw mo be was de-
lighted. AT least now" be said. -
am out Of my great misery. | shall
limp no longer" AZ once I made him
n pair o. shoes. and he was delighted.
One day be said 10 me: Il had an
auction yesterday. and I put up, with
out getting a single bidder. a lot Of very
fine French boots. They won't sell be-.
cause there's a glut Of boots on the
market. They were imported n wear
ago, but the shape j. out Of fashion
now 10 was a sIuarc toe then, now il 4.
n round one. DO you want TO buy themgf
Glow muchgi 1 asked. .sr.ske vour
price" ''But | have a.. money!
That makes no difference; y1u may
have them on credit; pay me when YOU
can. ! went to look at those eases Of
boots. They were 81 the finest quality,
and excellent a. 10 make. some II
them were cavalry boots. and such n
oniy dandy horscmcn or general officers
wear. Remember. / am a good shocmak-
cr and know my trade. thought those
boots at one dollar a pair. Tho leather
alone was worth twice that. Al NIGHT
] used to work on them. made the
square toes ~pointed-for | am n good
shoemaker. some ~ them / cut down
into bootees. OH / worked night after
night on them after hours. Then I
hired a small shop. and hung up a few
pairs in the window.
AMeSican cans first. 'Hoy muchP''
Ten dollars He took The boots.
Then n miner passed "sHOw muchPr
Fifteen dollars" Then a gentleman
on n fine horse came hy and looked
from his horse nc the boots. and he tied
up his horse aud asked How much3f'
''Iweniy dollars.' He put a double
eagle down. | must have male $500
clear on those boots. Then I found
Of thcm-a mine Of these boots.
and ! put in my pocket $1,000 ia tbn.e
weeks. ! worked on for a wear and
made money in my trade steadily. for |
am = good shoemaker. Then | got
married in San Francisco to a woman |
loved and my married life has l..en a
very happy one. Il WAS a pang when |
said Ia my wife: II mus, leave YOU. my
love. for ashort time only long enough
10 pay my dear old daddy a visit - I
left my business in her charge. II wa
a voyage II business and pleasure. for I
went - Paris 10 buy goods.
Poor old daddy. There Was the same
magpie In the wicker-work basket. and
be s@luied me, for he remembered me.
When ! was a little boy | stuck a tail Of
false feathers on him with some cob
bier > way. lie never forgot me. and
ruhied his feathers NJ me n soon a. he
saw me. a. II my insult 10 him had been
Of recent date. There wa hardly =
chang in the room. There hung faith.
crs old watch. a. big a. a saucer. tick-
ihS aNHy' with q spray Of lockwood
over u Tor luck. Then there was on
The shelf the same Old carhenware ing.
The handle 1 broke une unfortunate
day. and a PIECE Of leather was bound
round H. aud il hung on a nail by a
thong. He had the same awl in his
hand least il was the same handle.
Tor once came near getting a thrash
ing for having Whitfield il. Even an old
almanac Of a year long gone past was
there, tackled 10 the wall with sho. brnds
lie had ON the same apron. only il was
worn thinner.
The dear old father was bending over
his work. pounding slowly at some bii
OF leather on a last. You could count
one, two, three. four between the ham.
merings. In my time Il was rat-tai tat.
Ike a drum beating, with no interyR, be.
tween the strokes. ! strobe in and the
old gentleman first looked Al mn f,et.
that was a way ne had. Al glanc.
for he was the king Of shoemaRers-b.
cpuld take In al the difference between
your loot AMI the feet Of the rest OF
the world. He looked and looked
again. He must have recognized a
family foot, for | saw his hand tremble.
ulen he pushed up his great steel
Trimmed spcctarles aud the tears ran
down his checks as he rose and totterod
and Then Tell into my arms. How we
kissed u another. my son. nv sor.
YOU never would have succeeded had
you not been a good shoemaker, Won
never scamped anything: YOU aid the
best you could all the time was what
be SAID when | told him Of my Good
luck. Like my dear old daddy did
before me-, | added. Then 1 Kicked
over his work bench. and said; mo
more work tr'u. old pappy. for | am
rich. have awife; ! have a baby-a bow
baby named after you-and You are to
take the cars first class tomorrow
Or the day siterward, aud come post
haste out Of the old country TO Caiifor-
MIA 80 that grandchild shall sit on your
knee and you shall tcach him tai Ice
honest and pious, and to love YOU"
"And may ! not make him a good shoe
makerF' he asked. ''But YOU 90 too
fast. Let me think over n. Yon ask
me 10 leave this old Luxembourg. whore
! was born. | should never see awnin
Tho mrnNn Mhnrn ,.n,,r nnuAL