The Van Buren press., 1895-09-14
RAM WON BY STRATEGY,
Thereby Giving His Big Adversary Usef
Lesson In the Art Of War.

Thereby Giving His Big Adversary Useful
Lesson In the Art Of War.
A preacher told this story at we'd
ding supper on the South eide the
other evening:
II was riding along a country road
near Bloomington" he said, when I
noticed group of sheep in pasture.
There was o large open space in the
midst of the dock, and at either end
Of the space stood two rams In the
center, but standing little to one
side, was third ram. The two rams
had evidently had falling out about
something, or else they had come to
settle in a friendly contest which was
the better ram. Ram No. 3 seemed to
be acting as judge-umpire-what do
you call it? Referee? Yes, that's it,
the third ram was the referee. don't
know under what rules the meeting
took place; it may have been Queens
berry or Rosebery. You see l am not
up to these technical matters.
"When all the preliminaries had
been arranged and both contestants
had been cautioned, apparently, that
there was to be no fouling'-I think l
have seen that word in the newspapers
occasionally, and therefore l suppose it
is correct word to use in this connec-
tion-each backed off to the farthest
limits of the circle, which, by the way,
was not squared circle. The referee
stepped out of the way and the rams
dashed toward each other. When
their heads came together there was
terrific crash, and the force of the con-
cussion threw them as far apart as the
length of this table"
All the guests looked the full length
of the table from the passion flowers
at one end to the brides cake in the
far perspective, and then at the
preacher in the middle distance, but
nobody said anything.
"Then." continued the preacher,
"they take their places, apparently
none the worse for the encounter.
Again, evidently at a preconcerted sig
nal from the referee, they dashed to-
gether. This time the shock was even
more terrific than the first, and l no.
ticed that as one of them went back to
his-ah, what do they call it, corner?
he was little unsteady on his legs"
"Groggy!" ventured the bride.
81 believe that is the technical
term" replied the preacher, although
as have intimated, l am not at all
familiar with sporting phraseology.
When time was called for the third
Lo,~ hot sc- IN "
when the rams had recovered strength
for third collision, there was an
other rush, crash, and one of the
rams, the one you SO aptly de-
scribed as 'groggy'-'with an ac-
acknowledgement to the bride'-fell to
his knees. His adversary did not seem
inclined to follow up his advantage,
but possibly he may have been re-
strained by the rules of the meeting.
At any rate, after contemplating his
fallen foe gravely for n moment he
walked back to his place. The other
ram, after resting briefly, struggled to
his feet. The third ram, the one !
have called the referee, looked at him
rather inquiringly, as it seemed to me,
but the warrior showed no sign OF
recognition. He ambled to his side OF
the ring and faced about. A murmur
of some sort seemed to 60 through the
flock. The odds were apparently three
to one in favor Of the other ram; that
is to say, it seemed to be the general
opinion that the ram with the weak
knees had been outclassed, as the
other one was decidedly the heavier OF
the two
"Hcwever, the smaller ram seemed
to have wonderful recuperative pow
ers. When the proper interval had
elapsed he came up smiling, as it were.
I even thought could see a twinkle in
his eye, for l was quite close to the
fence and this thing took place only a
little distance away. As the referee
stepped back from the center OF the
ring, where he kept his position be
tween the meetings, the other two
rams drove at each other pell-mell
At the very instant when their hare
horns would have met, however
the smaller ram suddenly changed
his course to the right and thu
other went through the ranks like {
catapult Just as he turned about
evidently boiling over with indigna.
tion at the trick which had been played
on him, the other one, with the added
force given by longer run from one
side of the circle to a point several fee
outside of it, where the larger ram
momentum had carried him, sho
at him like a cannon ball, striking
him full in the face and driving hin
several feet away, where he lay liml
and helpless. The third ram, who wa
promptly on the spot, as l suppos
every competent referee should be
nodded his head several times-indeed
it looked to me as If he was counting
and then, the fallen ram failing to ris
the whole flock marched away towar'
knoll in another part of the meadow
with the victorious ram at the head
Presently the defeated ram got on hi
feet and made his way to a secluded
spot down by little run where saw
him reclining in the shade of larg
willow tree as rode away"
what an interesting study natura
history is," said the brides grandmoth
er as she adjusted her glasses.
at is indeed" said the groom's faith
er, coughing behind his napkin. --Ch
cago Tribune.
Hope Deferred.
There is something about you
verses that's quite nice, Miss Buddy,
said the aged but truthful editor O
the Clarion, ''and l am sorry we ar