San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-07-31

Presently he ventured furtlve glance IN
my direction; then, as if satisfied with
the result, he threw off his disguise, and
resumed his original occupation. Two
minutes more and he was free. know
it has the appearance of coming 1t
strong" to say that he had gotten the
mastery over rolling hitch, and | throw
upon the facts of the case the response
bility for the statement For certain it
is that by his own unhagging industry
he had jiggered out q enforcement of
tongue and buckle, line and line, and was
at liberty.
But the first use to which he put his
enlarged estate was mistake.
Now lying close by in semi-torpid con-
dition was nasty tempered butting ma
chine, owned by our Scotch doctor. This
battering engine was an African ram that
had black and white hair for a covering
instead of wool, and that was liable to
run amuck at any moment The doctor
had aptly named his brute for certain
illustrious Gaelic chicken thief, Graham
whom history calls Donald Nan Ord. And
beautifully did the sheep assert with his
name, for he was a veritable son of ham.
mer, and though a pet, was esteemed a
hard wad. With brow made on the
mold Of a stock turnip, front OF solid
bone, and q bad moral way about him,
Donald was known to be a bit of a whanger
when he once got rocking. Without
giving the situation q moments study
that sheep deserved consideration-my
monkey grabbed up the end Of his string,
dropped stealthily from the floor of the
veranda, and went sagging gently off over
the ground toward the doctors ram. Evil
IDENTIFY going to monkey" bit, Thought;
also, I conjectured that he didn't half
know the fourth part of what he had TO
deal with | ventured this much even
before l guessed the suicidal extent to
which the prank was to be carried.
IF monkey may be tied up, nice
monkey at that, why not this sodden, stu
pid creature?'
But wait bit Which end of that
cord are you going to use, you little crab?
That theory, like your string, has right
and u wrong end, and if you get hold of
the wrong one, you are lost Exactly
what are you going to tie that sheep tor"
In this way | sat silently questioning and
specializing while the misguided little
| thief hoped nearer and nearer Nan Ord.
Once alongside, he dropped the end of the
cord over Donald's upper hind leg, tshed
| it out below, and set earnestly to work to
make it fast. How gentle and silent he
was in and out, up and down back and
| forth, he pushed, pulled, twisted and
fouled that linel Not sound did he make
or utter until he had succeeded in accom-
| plishing that which, if it would not level
up with any known knot, was yet good
tangle This finished, with a shrek of
delight which demonstrated that his
wicked little heart was being destroyed
Crlaa tho cd fnY1,,lliDp of the
forest made dash for his original posi-
ton. Once there he proposed, presume,
to wind himself up in the fun afforded by
the situation
Yes, he had tied up Nan Ord, but al
ready the quality of satisfaction originally
achieved had dwindled until it graded up
rather badly. AS we have seen, there was
a mistake, and pretty predicament my
! nice monkey was in Poor little Humbug
SIM had already named him sO-he
| found himself safely caught in the blight
| of trouble, and the glee snuffed out, just
as the mirth went out of Graham the night
he put his hand on a black cobra's coil.
| Whang! went the taut line. Baai pht!
phtI blew Donald, as he sprang to his feet
and stamped an angry inquiry.
momentary glare on the part of the
| Hammerer, a quick dash, dodge, and
period of mutual contemplation filled the
| first half minute
One, two, three, scoot Then followed
the most cheerful occasion of my life.
| Surely mortal man never beheld the like
before. Around and over. hither and
| yon, flew little Humbug, with the ram
finishing good second at every turn. 1t
was my monkey and Grahams sheep,
| United States against Caledonia, and a
blue day for Uncle Sam. Around they
went, and back they came, Donald doing
his best to score a hit, and taking his
shots, "quarter" or straight away" just
as they came, and the monkey straining
every fiber to keep up system of vanish
| ing targets. It was a tumbling match, a
bull fight, a swift chariot race, and a fit
| apiece. Sometimes the ten feet of cord
would foul and shorten. so that for the
moment it looked as if Donald was going
to come aboard. Then it would reel of
again. and the dance take up it's furious
measure once more Now and then
brief cessation of hostilities would tran
spire, which occasions both parties filed
in with earnest inquiries as to the
exact shape of the next evolution; espe-
cially did little Humbug seem anxious to
keep track of these little details. Per
haps he thought it vital for him to know
in time to get up some sort of makeshift
counter that would last him around the
ring and back again Then, with rush
and snort, a shrek and wild leap, the
two would go revolving and whirling
about like chain shot once more, one of
them trying to slack the line, and TIE
other to haul it taut The Hammerer's
| to III 10 Eorh+