Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1895-06-06

ran through me that made my teeth
chatter. But / recognized these symp-
toms as the after-effects of my nearly
so fatal illness, and l paid no atten-
ton to them. A few weeks rest under
my wife's loving care, and | knew /
should be as Well al ever. stepped
on bravely. For some time | met no
one, but at last / overlook a small cart
laden with freshly gathered grapes.
The driver lay on his seat asleep; his
pony meanwhile cropped the green
heritage by the roadside and every
now and then shook the jingling bells
on his harness as though expressing
the satisfaction he felt at being left
to his W devices. The piled-up
grapes looked tempting, and / was
both hungry and thirsty. l laid a
hand on the sleeping mans shoulder;
be woke with a start. Seeing me his
face assumed an expression of the
widest terror; he jumped from his
cart and sank down on his knees in
the dust, imploring me by the MadOn-
ma, st. Joseph and all the saints to
spare his life. l laughed; his fears
seemed TO re ludicrous. Surely there
was nothing alarming about me be-
yOnd my paucity of clothing.
Get up, man. / said. II want
nothing of you but a few grapes, and
for them | will pay" And l held out
to him a couple of francs. He rose
from the dust. still trembling and
cycling me aSkance with evident sus-
picion, took several punches of the
purple fruit and gave them to me
without saying a word. Then. pocket
ing the money / proffered, he sprang
into his cart, and, lashing his pony
until the unfortunate animal plunged
and reared with pain and fury, rat
tied off down the road at such "a
break-neck speed that l saw nothing
but a whirling blot of wheels disap-
pearing in the distance. / was amused
at the absurdity of this mans terror.
What did he take me for, | wondered?
A ghost or a brigand? / ate my grapes
leisurely as | walked along; they were
deliciously cool and refreshing; food
and wine in one. i met several other
persons as l nearcd the city, market
people and vendors of ices; but they
took no note of me; in fact, | avoided
them all as much as possible. On
reaching the suburbs l turned into the
first street 7 saw that seemed likely to
contain a few shops. 1t was close and
foul-smelling; but l had not gone far
down 1t when l came upon the sort Of
place l sought-a wretched tumble
down howell, with a partly broken win
dow, through which a shabby array
of secondhand garments were to be
dimly perceived strung up for show
on pieces Of coarse Irvine. 1t was one
of those dirty dens where sailors re-
fJIninu from long xnyraTnS frnn,,nnfIr
go to dispose of the various trifes they
have picked up in foreign countries, so
that among the forlorn specimens Of
secondhand wearing apparel many
quaint and curious objects were to be
seen, such as shells, branches of rough
coral, strings Of beads, cups and dishes
carved out of %cocoanut, dried gourds,
horns of animals, fans, stuffed para
keets and old coins, while a grotesque
wooden idol peered hideously forth
from between the ~stretched-out por-
tons of a pair of old nankeen trousers,
as though surveying the miscellaneous
collection in idiotic amazement. An
aged man sat smoking at the open
door Of this promising habitation, a
true specimen of a Neapolitan grown
old. The skin of his face was like q
piece of brown parchment scored all
over with deep burrows and wrinkles,
as though time, disappearing of the
history he had himself penned upon 1t,
had scratched over and blotted out az
records, so that no one should hence
forth be able to read what had once
been clear writing. The only ANNA
ton in him seemed to have concen-
trated itself in his eyes, which were
black and bead-like, and royed hither
and thither with a glance Of everest
less and ever-suspicious inquiry. He
saw me coming toward him, but he
pretended to be absorbed in a pro-
found study of the patch of blue sky
that cleaned between the closely-lean-
ing houses of the narrow street. / ac-
costed him, and he brought his gaze
swiftly down to my level, and stared
at me with keen inquisitiyeness.
II have had a long tramp" I said
briefly, for he was not the kind OF a
to whom l could explain my recent
terrible adventure, land I have lost
some of my clothes by an accident on
the way. Can you sell me a suit?
Anything will do. 1 am not particu-
lar"
The old man took his pipe from his
mouth.
do you fear the plagueT" he asked.
~ have just recovered from an at
tack Of It," / replied coolly.
He looked at me attentively from
|. head to foot, and then broke into q
row chuckling laugh.
"Ha! ha!" he muttered half to HIM
self, half to me. 'Good-good! Here
Is n like myself; not afraid, not
afraid! We are not towards. We do
not find fault with the blessed saints;
they send the plague. The beautiful
plague! ] love 1t! 1 buy all the clothes
l can get that are taken from the
corpses; they are always excellent
clothes. i never clean them; / sell
them again at once: yes, yes! Why
not? The people must die; the sooner
the better! l help the good God as
much as / can" And the old bias
phemer crossed himself devoutly.
l looked dows upon him from where
/ stood drawn up to my full height,
with a glance of disgust. He filled me
win something Of the same repulsion
i had felt when l touched the un-
M Ila fhynn that factnnoJ an rr-