Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-11-01

of its keepers. Gearl!ng calves have
caused the recording angel more trouble,
broken up more old friendships, pro-
duced more family jars, and, in the
form OF veal, begotten more indigestion
and the insomnia resultant therefrom,
than-bus this is not an essay on the
sinful, sportive steerlet and his short.
cOmings.
The Walkers and the Benedicts had
been Old neighbors for years, "6ack in
lcway." In fact, the elder Walkers
and the elder Benedicts had been
married about the same tine, at the
beginning of the war, and had lust
settled on adjoining homesteads when tho
first gun was fred on Fort Sumter.
The men enlisted in the same company.
fought side by side, ate and slept aud
suffered together; and at home their
young wives waited and wept together.
When the little Walkers and the little
Beuedicts grew large enough to run
about, they were playmates and boon
companions; the children of one ia nilv
felt as much at liberty in the home of
the other as they did in their own-ror
twenty eight years the two families had
lived in peace and amity, and then tha.
miserable calf precipitated an irreparable
row. 1t was too bad, all the neIghbors
said, but 1t Is a noticeable fact that none
of them attempted to patch up peace
life in Hic.ey Township and at
Hickey Corners would have been dull,
indeed, but for the feud; so everybody y
sat by and watched each new phase OF
the affair with nervous, morbid interest,
and commented thereon, but not in a
manner likely to prove conducive to q
truce on the part of the disputants.
It vas this way "The Benedict aud
Walker houses had been built on aiia.
cent corners of the homestead quarters,
and were quite close together; IN fact,
one well, sunk on the quarter-scction
line between the two homesteads, had
furnished water for both families for the
first four years after coming to Dakota,
and it was only a short distance from
either house.
But it came to pass that on the Walker
domain there was born, and grew, and
waxed fat and sassy" brindle calf,
with g right smart chance OF white in its
eye and a plethora of deep-dyed mischief
in its soul-and he (for it was Young
gentleman "critter"), while yet OF ten
der age but tough record, engendered,
the feud. He had wandered away the
day before, and when he returned at
night the gate of the calf pen was shut
against him; and in the morning, when
Papa Benedict arose from post breakfast
family prayers, and, followed by the
younger male Benedicts, hied him to-
ward the stable, he beheld his neigh
bors incipiens steer nipping in the bud
sundry young and toothsome cabbages,
and kicking out OF the earth, in his
bovine abandon all he could not eat.
Then was Papa Benedict wroth, and
thereupou did he give way to naughty,
profane words, while the young Bene-
diets surrounded the offending calf and
brought him up for judgment.
Now, Papa Benedict was a man OF
hasty temper, but easily calmed; so,
when the calf was rendered him at the
end Of a long picket rope, his wrath had
decreased several degrees, and be wound
the rope around his hand and started to
lead the calf home.
1t was while he was ponderiug on
what to say 10 the Calls owner that the
calf suddenly remembered a previous
engagement, and started, in some haste,
to keep it, heading directly across the
croquet ground. Papa Benedict wished
TO follow with more dignity than the
calf desired; and, presently, his feet
were scraped from Under him by a
wicket, and he was being handled the
way the vaqueros in South America are
supposed to make but:er-at the end Of
a lssso. lie did not look very neat
when. a few minutes later, he reached
the Walker residence and called his
neighbor out. He was holding the calf
up short, but MS temper had slipped its
tcther, and caused him to say bad words,
to which Papa Walker replied in kind
whereat Papa Benedict seized a conyen-
lent neck yoke and killed the cause of
the trouble.
OF course there was fight and con-
siderable ill-choscn language; then, as
soon as possible, Papa Benedict sued
Papa Walker for the damage to his cab
bsges, and Papa Walker sued Papa
Benedict for the value of the calf. After
that they prosecuted each other for as
sauls and battery; the younger members
of both houses "sassed" eacn other at
every available opportunity; Mrs. Walker
and Mrs. Benedict did no more "neigh-
bOrin' -; and Mort Benedict and Nellie
Walker "busted up" with each other.
That is, Nellie broke with Mort, who,
for his part, had a wholesome contempt
for feuds and such nonsense, and would
faiu have ignored the. state OF affairs, SO
far as Nellie was concerned, except for
the opposition any overtures from him
would have received on all sides, aad
especially from Nellie. SO he had to
grin aud bear it, leaving, however, all
Lostilities to the others, and speaking
pleasantly to any Of the Walkers ne
caauced to meet.
But, fuslly, through rash act of his
own, he was forced into the feud. There
was hu.king bee, CT the good old fash
.oued sort, at Thompsoa's, one night,
hlu INC lOuu.eI AtllDtIS VI bs4t hpSt4le
houses attended. During the evening,
Mort found red ear in his pile, and
lie never knew what impelled him to do
it, unless it was that Nellie looked so
pretty and tenptIng-ho took his former
sweetheart in his arms aud kissed her,
Got once, but three times.
As soCn as It could be done without
knowing Of it, Bad Walker aud Harvey
Free invited Mort aud Pei HorIer out
into the moonlit pasture, where Bud in
sisted Oh "havlng t. out" Mort de-
INJURED, but in vsin, aud, much to his
regret, was iorcel 70 'lick" to stand
s.aI, not osly the man he hoped some
5ay 10 call lis brotheT-iB-,lw, but the
-ait,r's secoal as xeil; Pei Horner being
= cripple aal unable 70 acco noiate
Young Free, wEo was "pInin' on ac-
count Of his prizoirai's dstest.
Tl1t settled il. Thereafter. even