Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1884-11-06
1.-THE KINGS BUSINESS"

Slowly and aimlessly out of the vii
lage wandered poor half-witted Nat
that pleasant summer afternoon. He
had no particular destination, "only
goin somewhere. his reply always
to any question in regard to his move
ments. During the morning he had
been parading the village street, his
hat trimmed luxuriantly with feathers,
while he sounded forth his own praise
through the medium of a tin horn, Of
course he had attracted attention. A
small army of urchins had surrounded
him, front and rear, and he had taken
their, shouts and teasing remarks for
applause and admiration. But now
his grandeur was gone. One by one
his followers had forsakcn him, until
at last he was ''lcft alone in his
glory" and with poor Nat, like the
rest of us, what does glory amount to
when there is no one to witness?
And so he moved onward in his
drifting, uncertain way across the
creek at the edge of the village, up
the hill, until his stalwart form stood
up against the sky - for Nat was
strong in body though weak in mind;
then he passed down on the other side
to where the road entered forest
which stretched for miles away. 1t
was here quiet and lonely, but Nat
fancied this. lie occasionally liked to
escape from human voices and human
habitations, to get away by himself
and talk with the birds, the trees and
the flowers. Here in the wood the
wild vagarics of his brain found full
play. Here no one disputed his
claims to greatness, no one denied his
being noted general. a gifted orator
or musician, when the fancy seized
him to be such. In fact Nat always
had greatness thrust upon him;" he
was never an ordinary man in his own
estimation, and he was not now.
But on this occasion new fancy
had taken possession of him--he was
on business for the King. What King,
or what was the particular business
he did not precisely know; but he had
derived his business from various SER
mons he had heard at the village
church and Sunday school, which he
attended with scrupulous punctuality
through all weathers, and although he
understood but little of the proceed
ings, yet chance sentences had
fastened themselves on the sluggish
brain.
"I'm on business for the King" he
muttered, reaching up his great strong
hand and wrcnching huge overhang-
ing branch from its place and speedily
converting it into walking stick.
"Yes, I'm on business for the King
the King of all around here, the birds,
the trees, the flowers, and the humble.
bees. He sent me. He did. Parson
said so t'other Sunday. He said the
King sent out his messengers TO do His
work. He sent out twelve of 'em
once't, an they wasn't to take no
money in their purse nor nothing to
cat. Guess He sent me, cause |
hain't had nothin' to eat all day."
He strodc onward, murmuring
his thoughts as he went, until after a
timo he came upon n public road
which ran through the wood. A pla-
card fastened to tree by the roadside
attracted his attention, and he paused
to consider it. He could not read, but
as his eyes were fixed upon the printed
characters, tinkle of cow
bell was heard down the road, and
presently COW came into view, fol-
lowed by the short sturdy figure and
round freckled face of Tommy Crock.
Tommy was fiourishing large stick
and shouting at the COW in his efforts
to keep her in proper homeward dir
ection. As he came up he exclaimed:
"Hello, Nat! What are you doin'
hereP"
"I'm on business for the King re-
piled Nat with dignity.
"On business for-who?" asked
Tommy in surprise.
"For the King. He sent me-" said
Nat again. "That his orders there, /
take it," pointing to the placard.
"What is it, Tommypn
"Thatp Why that's only an adver-
tisement, 1t says, GO to rracey's
Halfway House for square meal. "
eyes, l know'd it! / know'd it,"
exclaimed Nat exultingly. "The King
said take no money nor nothing to eat,
an He'd take keer of me. He says
Go, and III obey ORDERS" and in
stantly his tall figure was moving down
the road.
Tommy gazed after him minute in
bewildered silence, and then exclaimed
emphatically as he turned away:
"My! but amt he cracked!"
With rapid steps Nat hurried for
ward, swinging his huge stick aud
talking to himself. He had taken the
placard as a command to go to
Tracey's, and thitherward he directed
his steps. 1t was not the first time he
had been there. 0nprevious occasions
when he had passed that way he had
been kindly treated by Mrs. Tracey,
and perhaps that had something to do
with the alacrity Of his movement, and
be hastened down the road till 1t