Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-04-23

out the story of the fsherman's ouest.
and when they rose to part he said with
quaint earnestness:
Long time ago dar whar a cotton
WOOD tree, an un time in de spring dar
whar two lille brudder cottonwood
seeds crowd on de way top branch. Dew
was happy as de day was long, kase dey
seed all ober de woods, an was higher
up dan any oder cottonwood chil'en.
DE bees didn't fly so high 'cept dey war
goln' to dar nest wifi pack OBJ honey in
dar arms an de woodpeckers KEEP way
down blow.
But un day lille wicked wind war
out peekin' bout an he saw how happy
de cottonseed brudders whar an he sed:
l lowlt's time fur dem to go out an hoe
dey's own row. so he blowed an he
olowed, and pritty soon un lille cotton
seed brudder he'd to lef' go he grip, an
de lille summer win LATED an LATED,
an he blew de lille seed way off ober de
trees an de fields an de ribber, so far
way dat he didn't know whar he wur or
how to fin he way back. An de lille
cottonseed brudder dat whar lef' on de
tree, he cry an cry an cry fur he brud-
der, but pritty soon he say, 4 Sc goin' to
I'M my brudder,' an he guy lille hop
an tried to tex down de same way
he brudder done. But de wicked lille
summer win he'd done gone off an de
lille brudder cottonwood seed fall to de
groun'. But Lor', dat didn't 'scourage
him. Oh! Uh! So he lay still, an
pritty soon de rain cloud KEN " IN Il
looked down an saw lille cottonseed
crying all to hisself, SO 1t cried too, an
one big drop frum de clouds scrouched
up eye fell on de lille orphan cotton
wood, an it fell so far an it fell so hard
dat 1t knock lille cottonwood seed down
fru de grass to de groun'.
Den de sycamore tree fru down
big leaf and covered he all up to keep he
warm. Pretty soon de cottonwood seed
put down lille white root in de groun'
an lille green un up toward de sky,
an de sun shined on it an de rain cum
when it whar thirsty, an arter while it
wuz big tree, an it fru a lille seed
from de tippy top limb, an it went off
as far as de longest later row an fell, an
was buried an growed up, an it fru off
a seed an it growed up, an so it KEEP
a-goin' an a-goin' till it got cross de
cottonfeld and de ribber, an pretty
soon it kotched up wifi a great big cot
tonwood tree, an it sayed to a fuzzy
white seed on de way top branch, WHO'D
yu be?' an de cottonwood seed on de top
branch sed, TIE seed what longs way
up dar by Massa Washburn's place, but
l blowed way a powerful long time
ago. Who ez yu? An de lille cotton
wood seed dat he'd blowed in cried an
sed, TIE de lille brudder what yo' lef
dar; don't you know me? So dat after
all dey got togedder agin, an dey staid
dar an IL ez happy ez dey ken be-
But they couldn't hev ben brothers."
slowly and gravely quoth Zeb, who
had listened with great interest, ''cause
they'd growed up an gone into the ground
an died an growed up agin, an done it
over en- over agin."
But how yo' know dey warn't brud-
ders?" queried the garrulous narrator
with emphatic earnestness. ''Dey didn't
die, dey jist Srowed up. 1t whar de same
lille cottonwood seeds, only dey he'd
spit on dere hands an taken fresh start
each time, OATS all"
Zeb wondered much what the old dar-
ky meant, and as he rowed down the
tortuous channel of Deer creek he pom
dered over and over again the strange
fable of the cottonwood seed, until at last
think a ray of hope came to him from
its shadowy moral, and he realized that
the whimsical "Uncle" was wiser than
he. So with fresh courage Zeb Poseylay
down by his campfire that night, and roll
ing himself in his blankets, went to sleep
with the vision of Cordia before him.
ITO be cnrtinnedN