The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-02-07

The advance Of tho circus towards
tho cattle country had not Ill been at
tended BY good fortune but, as the
armed cowboys dashed up, the mana
ger feared he was about to sustain his
browning misfortune The tales he
had heard Of their reckless disregard
for the persons and property oil
strangers were fully as Munchausen-
like Is those the cowboys had heard oil
tho elephant The weapons drawn. as
tho manager felt sure. to slaughter
any opposers, were but as protective
measures against the anticipated
charge Of the elephant The mama
gers fears seemed realized Ms there
was . nervous rush upon the part OF
the cowboys which hurried the Gle
phant, driver and all out Of the pro-
cession- Perhaps. il he had behcld the
bank-bill that found Its way into the
ready hand Of the clephant-driver, he
would not have wondered at the slight
resistance Of the latter.
When he had recovered from the
establishment into which he had been
thrown by the summary proceedings,
tho few words spoken. and the bank
bills old Slade dropped as he hurried
past, the old elephant was numbering
rapidly away IN tho midst Of the
frightened and Houncing cayuses
The turtle-dovc dew from the pieco
OF fence as the elephant and his cap
tors hurried up to the shack. The
grass mufaed the footballs Of the ami
mails.
The granger was still on his knees,
with his face buried In the quilt Of the
poor bed, and the morning breeze
that famed the sick child's face and
futtered the pictured bill on the wall
ruffled the unruly tufts Of his hair till
It felt like the touch Of baby fingers.
The little face was less iiuehed now,
and the gasping fecbler. The child's
dim thoughts wandered still more, and
his dim eyes could hardly see the fiut-
tering bill "Pappy," the weak voice
whispered, "will the ole elephant over
come?''
A great bulk barred the sunlight
from the little window. and the long.
snaky trunk glided in. and the finger
like protuberance ut the end very
softly clasped the sick child's hand.
"Oh. pappy!-pappy! The ole Gle.
plant has GOMEZ
The bowed head of the granger was
raised. The child had started half
upright and the little hands were
clasping the caressing trunk Of the old
elephant
Then, before the granger could give
expression to establishment, the cling
ing hands relaxed, and the old ele-
plants trunk eased the child's weight
softly back to the pillow again.
And the turtle-dove that had re-
turned to the piece OF . fence uttered
her mournful COO.
When the elephant went away, the
granger was kneeling beside his dead.
and on the pillow near the still face
lay the bank bill that had been given
to old Nero's driver. and beside it
were other bank-bills.
Az the little cavalcadc journcyed
back towards the place where the Sec
tion-road wound into the Buzzard
creek timber, old Slade said: I'm
agin this runnin' -out business!''
And me. too!' answered every
cowboy Of the group. and the subject
was dropped.
In the audience &C tho circus. that
afternoon. was little squad OF broad
hated and beweaponed cowboys, who
surprised the neighbors by being on
their good behavior during the entire
performance. Only once did they APP
plaud with any thing like cowboy
boisterousness, and that was when
tho children laughed and clapped
their hands as the old elephant Nero
came into the ring.-Tom P. Morgan,
In Leslie's Newspaper.