Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-03-05

good, lido skilled work like that, re-
quirin' brains, for one cerJifkite a
day. The least I will work for is ten
certifkits.''
At first the Brotherhood was speech
less, then all the members talked at
once. The matter was discussed for
the better part of a day. Hapgood
was appealed to in vain. All talk of
eqality of man, eternal justice, the
Tramp of Progress, and the PROSTATE
Poor, made not the slightest impress
sion on him. He simply folded his
arms and replied:
"You bushwackers ignore the great
law of supply an demand. With forty
OK shoers an one OK certifkit would
prob'ly be all o. K, but with forty
oxen an one sheer the price material
ly takes a jump. Ten certifkit or you
don't see old Peter Hapgood hangin'
on to the leg of no OK"
OF course there could be but one
outcome of the matter. The consti-
tuition was stretched and Hapgood al
lowed ten certificates q day. Accord
ingly for the next three months he
worked industriously at mailing shoes
on the unwilling foot of the struggling
OK. He drew his ten certificates each
night while everybody else drew but
one. He spent but little money and
lived quietly. The belief that he was
the proper man for chairman of the
board of managers grew, two men
that Hapgood occasionally gave a
lesson in OK shoeing being particular
ly outspoken in his favor.
About the middle of February the
snow became so deep that it was i'm
possible to get to Yankton or any
where else. Blizzard followed biz
zard, and the Progress Cooperative
Brotherhood was cut off from the rest
of the world. Even the mail bearing
The March of Progress ceased to
come. Early one morning, just as
another blizzard was beginning to be-
come excited, Hapgood appeared at
the Brotherhood store and said to the
man in charge:
'sPrices the same, I s'pose, whether
a Teller buys much or little?"
eyes sir" replied the man.
"That's right-equalerty of man,
everlastin' justice, progress humpin'
herself! Figure up what yer whole
stock is WORTH want to buy it.
The man was somewhat astonished,
but complied. Hapgood sat on box
by the stove and whistled cold Hun
dred," and occasionally stopped to
dump a half scoop of brown sugar in
to his mouth. In an hour the man
told him that the entire stock footed
up exactly $1,000.
''Here's yer money!" said Hapgood,
pushing a stack of certificates over
the counter. 81 shan't need you. I
think can run their yer business my
self,'' and he pulled out his piece of
chalk and began to figure on his boot
leg. The man took the certificates
and started out. He paused at the
door, came back, and said:
"Come to think of it, reckon we
need bag of -four at our house. I'll
be your first customer" and he hand
ed out two certificates.
"You'n hev to act dif'rent frum
that if you be,'' returned Hapgood, as
he continued to make mysterious
marks on the leg of his boot.
"What do you mean?"
IT mean that OWN to the skercity
of flour that the price of the same has
riz. Best quality flour is now six dol
lars bag, cash money, as OWN to
the stringency Of the times and the
financial distrust certifkits will no
longer be received"
The man was dumbfounded, but as
he had to have the flour, he took it
on Hapgood's terms, and went out
into the storm with the bag on his
shoulder.
The guileless believer in equality,
who had wished to get away from a
world OF injustice, now went out and
got the two men to whom he had
given lessons in OK shoeing and in
stalled them as clerks. He next got
out the half dozen repeating rifles
which were in stock, polished them
up, loaded them, and placed them on
the shelves behind the counters in
and accessible positions.
Then he wandered about the store
with blue pencil resolutely doubling
and trebling the price of everything
Of course the news of Hapgood's
actions soon spread, and produced
the most intense excitement. The
Brotherhood charged the store, but
found the new proprietor calm and
CIR hi