New Ulm weekly review., 1886-12-08

buggy, and you'd best look one side
and I'll take t'other.
We rode along in silence for about
a hundred yards when the old man
pointed ahead. saying:
I" There It's
You may be sure it did not take
me long to get out of that buggy, and
there right in the wheel track lay the
unfortunate book. l turned with Joy
to shake Uncle Phin's hand, when he
arrested me by saying:
Look to your money
Then, for the first time, I saw that
the binding strap was loose, and the
book open. With trembling fingers
sought inside for the packages OF
money, but to my dismay they were
gone, there was nothing left inside but
some papers, and in one OF the small
pockets the eighty dollars snugly
tucked down just as it had been put
away.
Il was quite in despair, for there
seemed to me no other way for it thar;
to lay the disappearance of the six
packages to some one who had found
it previously and concluded that they
needed them more than the owner,
but when l expressed the suspicion to
Uncle Phin, he only said:
(" Mighty big fool to leave eighty
good dollars 7
'For full five minutes stood there,
trying to plan to myself how l should
go back to the dear ones at home
with the story OF disappointment and
loss.
''My companion seemed to be lost
in meditation; lifting his tanned face
up into the sunshine and waving his
hand through the still air, he said:
'Taint blowed awayE
Finally he reached for the empty
book at which l was still staring
blankly, and looked it carefully over.
See any critter on the road this
morning. he asked.
cat first l said no, but on sec.
ond thought remembered passing
half dozen yearling calves belonging to
one OF our neighbors, as I came from
Mr.. Williams.
Guess we'd better hunt them up
said uncle Phin.
81 could not see what possible good
to me there would he in finding the
calves; but any delay in the dreaded
home going was welcome, SO l climbed
into the buggy with him.
"We found the herd down by the.
bridge, quietly feeding
"Uncle Phin got out and went
among them; passing from one to the
other. he slapped them. pushed them,
punched their pody stomachs, and
finally made careful examination OF
their mouths; this last gave me ink
ling to his thoughts. After going over
the six with the same maneuvers, he
laid his hand on plump little heife1
and said
There's your theft
"'You don't think it possible that
she has swallowed the money! l in
terrogated, not whit comforted with
the thought.
Looks like it," he replied.
We'll, what can we do about lt?'
l asked, disconsolately.
BEST take her up to my barn and
cut her open; she amt chewed it yet
II thought, at first, that it would
be better to get the consent of the
owner, for, indeed, I had very little
faith that the search would bereward.
ed with any success, but the old man
seemed confident and would not hear
OF any delay.
"With some difficulty we separated
the poor creature from the rest and
drove her away. By this time he had
been joined by another neighbor, who
assisted to take her life. Itseemed to
me pity to sacrifice so fine an ami
NAL, so foolishly, for l had no doubt
that should have the additional loss
OF paying for her out of the eighty dol
lars remaining.
eve did not stop to remove her
coat, but made at once for the object
of our search; opening the first stom-
ach, according to Uncle Phin's direc-
tions, we examined the contents, and
there, among numerous balls Of fresh
ly cropped grass, we found the pack
ages of money, every one of them, pins,
paper and all; six Of them were in no
wise the worse fo- their unusual Jour
ney and after they were opened and
dried were restored to their proper
place; the seventh package had become
loosened and some of the bills were
considerably torn, but after picking
each one carefully out and drying them
all in the sun, there was one of twenty
dollars which was not plainly recog-
niZable.
$50 you see the habit of a ruminat-
ing animal to swallow it's eeood with
out chewing, saved me what in those
days was a large sum of money!" con-
cluded grandpa.
"Well, should think that was an
unusual and rather expensive diet for
a calf" said Fred.
"How IN the world did that old uncle
know so well, grandpa?" asked Earl
"Well, he was very chary of explana-
ton, when I asked him thesame uues-
tion," said geandpa, land only said
in reply that it did not require great
deal of wisdom to conclude where the
money had gone to when he saw part
OF the bills in the calf's mouth
"And what became Of the poor little
cow" asked Cora.