The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-03-27
The Faithful Ok.

Tile Faithful OX.
Not the OF in the ditch. l NEAR. the
OK whose owner is in the ditch, and will
never get out unless some friendly OK
pulls him out. Not the OK in the butch
er's stall. he ought never to have gone
there-at least, not until be had served
his day and generation; and if the
survival of the fttest" had held good,
in some cases, the OK and the owner
would have swapped placesin the butch
er's stall. I mean the meek.eyed OK
that has been such boon to man ever
since the latter began to "eat bread by
the sweat of his brow )" the patient OK
in yoke, in shafts, in plough if not under
saddle; the patriarchal OK "knoweth his
owner" and never fails to serve him
"the OK that treadeth the grain "the OK
that treadeth on the corn; )" the OK that
was such a factor in national prosperity.
Civilization hes outlived him, but it has
not outgrown him. 1t is none the better
for having left him in the race. five
ever get back to universal prosperity
again, the OK will be there, too. But for
the present he is an unknown factor in
the problem. Tie truth is, he is not
at all. That's what is the matter.
To be superseded at all is not pleas.
ant; but to be superseded by a muls-a
long cared mule-the symbol of stub.
bornness, the synonym of treachery to
be supplanted by creature that God
never made, and that has slipped into
the world since be said creation was
"good 5" to be dropped entirely out of
civilization and to have his place filed
by such a moDgrel, is an indignity that
the noble OK ought never to have suffer-
ed. Yet not one word of complaint has
ever escaped his lips.
The mule has an imperious will, and
it is always will of its own. When
you want him to 60, he wants to stay; /;
when you want him to stay, be wants to
go; when you want to turn to the right,
he wants to turn to the left; when you
want him to turn to the left be sings:
"Keep to the right, boys, keep to the
right" Ifyou insist on his going last,
he insists on going slow, aud carries his
point in spite of you. A preacher called
to me across the street yesterday, "Fray
for me, pray for mel" He vas driving
mule, and the mule had settled the ques.
tion of speed against him. The mule
has a head and heels of his own. He
does as he pleases with both.
The OK rarely shows any other desire
than to do his masters will. When be
does it is only to rush into q cool shade
from the heat, or to running brook to
quench his thirst. And then the only
difference between him and his maste: is,
the OK runs to water, and the master
runs to something stronger" Bless.
iugs or the noble OK with his perspiring
nose That nose will never turn red.
Would I could say as much for his mas.
ter's. Did you ever smell the breath of
an OK. A bed of violets-as pure as
tuberoses. But comparisons are odious.
Noble OK.
The mule is not safe companion.
The first one ever mounted, I am sure,
had more brains in his head than he had
on his back. I gave my brother every
marble I had to help me on him. l had
just got settled good on his back and my
brother had turned NE loose--for
"Mikeo seemed half asleep in spite ofall
our digging aud scrambliug up his sides.
Then there came O second when I did
not know what was happening-it was
happening too fast. TIE next second I
found myself sitting fat on the ground,
directly underneath the spot in the air
where I had been sitting, and "Mike"
was three PAGES forward, with one eye
and one ear turned back, laughing at me.
I never blamed him for laughing. I
have SET a higher value on my marbles
since that day.
Josh Billings says: II never take any
chances. If lam going to weep al the
funeral of a dead mule, always stand at
the other end" The Bible says: "a
mules mother is vain thing for safety"
I know not what it would have said of
the child. The book never said any
such thing of an OK, or any of his lins.
folk.
The OK is seldom known to kick-and
when he does, it is always with one foot
and never like thunderbolt at that.
Meek eyed OK! How glad I am to speak
Thy praise.
Go to your cowpen end apologize to
every COW you've got for killing all her
boys before they had time to make their
impress upon the world. Then turn to
every calf, Of tender age, that is Of the
OK persuasion, and pledge him that you
will give him chance to redeem this
poverty stricken land. He will do his
part, ifhe has chance.
Listen to me, you hard run farmers.
You pay $3.50 to 5000 for mule-on
credit. Then you mortgage that mule
and the one you had left over from last
year, to make good the money, and
sometimes you pay interest on the whole
amount until it is paid. If you are not
in the ditch, don't know what ditch is.
Yet 1 know not if the dealer could give
you better terms. I very believe it is out
of his power to help you out. Bat my
meek-eyed OK can pull you out without
bit of trouble. He will costyou only
$2O-eyen less if you raise him. And
there is no credit, no interest, no mort
gage. That last is terrible word /:
NforIoa pe-a death nlodoe