The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1890-07-05
LAS. WONDERFUL COLT.

LAS WONDERFUL COLT.
The Story Of the Trials Of an Old Hero
Told by . Maine Man.
81 remember tho first time that l saw
Elias Perkins" said the man from Maine
to the New York Tribune. HE was
sitting on o fence-rail, whiting a stick.
The next time I saw him he was
perched on the same rail, and tho stick
In his left hand seemed to be the same
one as before. saw him many times
that summer, and he always sat on the
fence, and he always whitfield.
"He was one of those pieces Of hickory
that one meets iii my State. I1c was
over sixty years old, but during the
winter he could swing an axe with any
man in tho woods. lie never worked in
the summer. He had picked up a deal
IF knowledge somewhere, and his brain
was like an iron box. for he never for
got anything which no once got into his
head. He would discuss 'algcbree, trigo-
nometree and tho classics,' as he cx-
pressed it, with equal willingness, but,
be would add, 4 prefer tho old poets;
they get down to business without
many flourishcs.' I havo heard him
quote Homer by the hundred lines with
out a break, his long arm making I'M
calmly gestures, and his whitened head
bowling with IL solemn dignity at the end
of each verse. In geometry he would
rattle away at any thing, winding ur
with an impressive quad erat demon
strandum.'
"Lias, every body called him, and he
was often caliol upon to act as the final
referee in cases Of dispute. for 1t was ad.
mitted in that part of tho country that
'Lias knew every thing. But 'Lias was
destined to Slow his weakness latc in
life, and the i";ult of it was moro Sc.
we're than years of chopping at pines in
the coolest Maine weather.
SIT was the second summer of. my &C.
l%uaintance with him that l found him
one day, as usual, on Tho fence, but his
knife was not at work as usual on a piece
of wood. lie was pcgg;ng away in an
absent-laindcd fashion at tho rail itself.
"I went into the village day before
yesterday said Elias, looking up with
a weary look in his faded blue eyes,
and I / bought colt. I'm going to raise
him, and have the finest horse in this
township
"'IVell, Elias I said, what are you
going to do with him? What do you
need of . horse?'
"I just want to raise him. he an
swered. But he's a tough one to
handle. I think that's why I want to
raise him.
"Two days afterward. when l saw him
again, both his knife and whiting
stick were gone.
"'IIow's tho colt, Elias?:' / asked. "
"'Ile got up in tho hills yesterday,
and 1 was out looking for him Ill night.
He's back now.' Tho old man showed
signs Of fatigue.
"Pcrhaps there nevcr was a colt more
vicious than Elias. I heard OF the ami
mails capcrs every day, and it kept
Elias continually busy looking after his
new pet. But one day / found him back
in his old position, looking like himself.
"'Wherc's the colt to-d;y": asked.
"'He's lost said Elias, with satisfac-
ton, and he quoted some verses to show
his submission to fate.
sin three days Elias had gone back to
MS old friends, tho knife and the stick.
But on the morning Of the fourth day
when he got up he found his colt stand
.ng at the door Of his little house.
Henceforth troubles came thick and fast
lpon tho old backwoodsman. His back
began to bend over, and nothing could
induce him to talk of tho old poets! The
Did man went to pieces rapidly, but he
would not give up tho colt. This con-
1ition of affairs continued until it was
difficult for Elias to drag himself around.
One night the vicious colt, while jump
ing a fence, caught n Of its legs and
broke it.. Some one took q rifle and
ended the bruto's suffering. When 1
heard of this the next day 1 called on
Elias. He was lying on his bed, with
his eyes closed, but there vas a supreme
look of rest on tho yellow face, and a
smile Of content about the thin lines at
tho corner Of the mouth.
"'Elias,' 1 said, it was too bad about
tho colt
eyes said the old man, with a
smile. Il think I was teaching him a
little dccency. 1t was too bad to be dis
appointed
elias got out again in Q few weeks,
out he was eye able to go back to the
woods. He never ceased to tell, how
aver, how ho was %conquering his colt
when the animal was killed. And as
time went on tho virtues of the brute
seemed to grow on Elias, for such a pa
tent, docile, intelligent and wonderful
,olt as tho described by Elias two
years a%fterward, as he sat on the old
tcnco n evening, man never before
heard praised"
A Consclence-Stricken Man.
A sad-eyed man walked into q store
in Beloit the othcrAday, says tho James
Vile Gazette, and, planking down q $40
note, ~tcarfully said: ':Just four years
ago to-day I stole a 81 pair Of shoes
from your store. Tho matter has been