Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-03-29
The Water Riz.

y
itor that makes auction bilis?' he said
with sigh that resembled a wind moan
from the dismal swamp, as he quietly
closed the sanctum door and drew q
chair to the writing-table.
20, yes, we are the editor. Sitdown.
Wonder where my pen is? o, here it is
in the paste can. Wait till | wipe er
oil. All right ahead Let's see.
The undersigned, residing Where
do you reside?''
--''You mean whar do / live?r the bill
applicant queried in an uncertain way.
Eyes. How far from somewhere
"Wall you see | used ter live in Ken
lucky; but | heern how as things were
drivin straight for fortune up North, so
! KEN here TO see a fellow who had a
farm to sell on Grant river. / asked
the man if the water didn't bother sum-
mat. He said thar want no trouble
from high water; in fact, high water
war what made the farm valuable.
Didn't have 10 put 'nure on the land.
Water brought all the 'nure down from
other farms up river in the spring rise,
dryin' up an leavin' the ground rich
an ready for to pillow soon after. So |
bought the place. Was mighty glad to
git a farm that you didn't have TO 'nure
every year. Spected snake spawn to
hatch inter golden pheasants, you know
The man | bought the place from was
rich; but YOU could have put his soul
inter an empty twenty-five cartridge |
shell an it would ratified round some |
considerable then. | asst him, if the !
'nure washed from one farm onto an
"A. a Al.
first farm at the head Of the river put |
ON his land that would grow, an he |
said that that man had lived there so |
long he had got web-footed, an that he |
put mortgages on his land that growed |
right along after the snow flew Just the |
same as in summer SO | paid the |
money, and sure nOugh the water riz |
and fetched two feet Of rich soil from
summers up the river After it dried |
off | tackled the old mare she's right |
peart boss to the pillow, and got ready
10 put in crop o. tcrbacRer A nabor
man from down the river on farm be-
low mine came up where | was workin'
an said, Hold on thar, | don't want
you To put in terbacker. Put in corn
Scz /, Cit often this land, alfred quick!
m gOin' to put in what | please. He
remarked that ] wasn't onto the cos
tums OF The country and mosied back
10 his own plantation Likewise II man
KEN down from his farm above mine
an asst me if thar war anything partick-
lar / wanted he was ready to plant.
Told him | didn't want anythin' but
rest, SO he meandered. Wen, Colonel,
got III my terbacker and went back to
Knnfnaiyv fnt. ba old
dreD. My old oman had a misery in
her stummuck, an 1T took us month
TO git back here. A man | met near
the house said the water had riz an
gone down again since | left so went
TO the field to see if my crap was up an
all right. Nary bit of terbacker was
thar, but ten acres of onions spread out
before my stOnished orbs. walked on
down the river an found my fifteen
acres of terbacker growing pretty on
the man. farm that wanted me to plant
corn. He said want onto the costums
of this country-that that terbacker
want no use to him So
Hold up hold upr' broke in the ed
itor. The undersigned, residing -.
How far did you say it was from here?n
'Wall, Colonel, | reckon it's four
miles" answered the Southern gentle
man, sinking back into his chair with
dreaiy groan, and it was evident the
Colonel had him headed OFF. He
read:
1.-THE undersigned, residing four
miles west of Lancaster, will sell at pub
lie auctiomthe following described prop
erty: Now, what have on got to sell?'
tsAIun (faiopat 1,Vf down, siN btcLois |
of onions. You see the onions growed
fine till it was time to harvest 'em.
Thar war seven foot of water over the
whole field the mornin' | went to gather
'cm in. 1t had riz in the night.
Walkin' over the bluffs down to my ma
boris, saw him gathering the terbacker
/ had planted. | yelled and asst him
how | was to get my onions out of the
water. lie said he guessed | want onto
the costums of the country-to get them
the same way he was gettin' the ter
hacker felt kinder sick and lone
some like, but came to town an bought
II skiff and some grapplin' hoops, an
dragged the field the whole forenoon
'thOut gettin' even the skin of a onion;
though | caught onto some other truck
and towed it in to the shore. | stood
thar regardin' my morning work part
OF an old wagonwheel, Il dead calf an a
pig that was too far gone for home con-
sumptiOn-when my terbacker nabor
came up an remarked that | want onto
the costums of the country, an
offered to give me lift. We
had rowed the skiff part way
cross the field, wen the hooks Crap
Piled holt Of southin hefty, an pulled
back to the shore with my nabor holdin'
the rope for dear life. Well. Colonel,
what dye think we had? Shoot my
picter. if we want hitched onto the end
OF
i've got the six bushels of onions"
gaspod the Quill, ut the same time look
ing round under the table for a ''snipe"
to use as \ nerve cooler. ''What else
do YOU want to sell?'
Il was comm to that pardncr. You
see we was fast onto the eend of some
barbed wire We got the old mare (put
the old mare in the bill, too. Say, 'splen-
did brood mare, three years old I'VE got
her hitched TO the wire and pulled over
two miles Of it outcn the water. Sure's |
| live, on every barb of that wire was
stuck an onion. Next day was pickinN
the onions often the barbs and the young
ones was totem em to the house in bas-
kets, when police came from town and
rested me for stealth wire fence from
the man who sowed mortgages on his
farm ut the head of the river. | give
the man all but six bushels of onions to
let me of. Colonel put at the bottom
of the bill, An many other articles too
numerous TO mention that will kiver |
the calf and other calamity | fished up. |
Well, good day. Tine goin' to locate
on Boice Prairie till Git onto the cos
tums of river farming" COLBY.
.---
Creating Il Character.