Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-07-30
AND THEN HE KEPT ON PAINTING.
A Man Who Has Painted a Fence Tolls
of the Pleasing Interruptions

A Man Who Has Painted a Fence Tolls
of the Pleasing Interruptions.
He was painting a fence, and the fencs
was directly beside the highway. When
he commenced he had said to his neighbor,
1T will be jest like some darn fools to
come and stick themselves into this paint"
and the neighoor agreeably said that he
didn't won Ter, one mite"
The painter swabbed steadily for an hour,
and section of the fence looked first rate.
The artist Strengthened with a sigh, stepped
back. eyed with critical admiration the
vista Of cleaning fence Stats, touched
dull place here and there that had been
skipped in the first round and was about
to resume Just then an admiring friend
walked up.
Good job you're doing therer said he
Hasn't dried bit, has it?" he wisely que
ried, swabbing finger across a picket.
The painter agreed with very vicious
No" as he ran his brush over the finger
trail
The next man who came along was en-
tirely oblivious to the fact that scientific
job of painting was in progress. He wanted
to talk about the weather and to rest while
he was doing so. Therefore he crossed is
feet and with a huge sigh planted his broad
"Gol ding We, can't We sect Pm painting
this fence2' sulphuriously inquired the
artist.
The other said nothing until he had
twisted himself into a freak, trying to get
a squint at his own back. Then a look at
the fence showed to him that he had taken
off full dose from four pickets
He was so per cent. madden than the
a l-r
yer did That's cunning joke, that war;
to coax friend up against N old fence and
slush white paint all over him. I'm good
mind to cuff yer head up to pick-that's
what | am, dad quizzle yer
The next man had a dog, and while the
owner stopped to assert, Painting your
fence, | see," the dog stood up with his
forepaws against the fence and peered
through the pickets at a cat. The cat
moved along and so did the dog, dancing
along on his hind legs and literally bespat-
teriDg each picket in his course with sill
houette dog paws. The paint brush didn't
hit the canine, but it did spoil a picket
Painting operations were barely in prog
ress once more when a woman and small
boy came along The boy Jagged behind
and furtively touched his finger to a picket.
Then he swabbed his hand across two.
The result pleased him. He picked up
stick and adorned the palings with several
grotesque personages provided with round
heads and spike legs His mother got out
of sight, but he didn't care He was Just
finishing up a cat with Il body like Il san
sage and a head like a ten cent piece when
the painter spied his volunteer frescoer
He tiptoed along and inspected the work
Then something happened. There was
the flirting of childish garments, the swirl
ing Of a childish form and the smothered
squawl of a childish voice. At a distance
It looked as though red faced man was
hopping off 4 fence with big bundle of
rags Hecommenced where the inquisitive
man had intruded his finger, went carefully
over the dog paw art work and ruthlessIy
scrubbed out the etchings made by the
young volunteer.
Five minutes later when smell of paint
and a sound Of squalls had died away in
the distance, Il painter was lighting his
pipe and grinning grimly at the scrubbed
surface of a row of pickets; and, strange TO
say, as he reprinted the fence he smiled
with such intense satisfaction that owe
might suppose that he was putting the
finishing touches to a $4,000 painting
Holman F. Day in Lewiston Journal.