The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-04-17
A TRUTH SEEKER.

A TRUTH SEEkE R.
He was q seeker after truth, and as
he shivered up the snowy stairway in
which the wind was blowing blindly
there was a look Of worried anxiety in
his face. He knocked at the door of the
slate writing medium, and after wait
ing for a moment in an anteroom was
ushered into the "presence."
Il DESIRE" said the seeker after
truth, ITO speak with Philip Augustus
ST France. 81 Frederick Barbarossa of
Germany. or Richard Of the Lion Heart.
They are now in the spirit world and
have been for 700 years, more or less I
can't Just recall their numbers.
The medium went through the usual
form required by the spirits in such
cases and said:
II find that the gentlemen you want
are all talking now. but there is q
young man at Richards instrument
who says he would like t o communicate
with you"
"All right" said the seeker after
truth, maybe he will do. There is a
little matter l want explained, and he
can do it as we'll as anybody. What l
want to know is how on earth the peo-
pie got along in the days Of sheet iron
armor when the snow and the cold
winds came"
Then there was a scratching on the
slate. aud the medium handed it over to
the truth seeker. 1t read:
"Goodi That's just what l want to
tell you. My name is Ichabod Potts. l
lived ON earth in the twelfth century
and was with Richard the Lion Hearted
and Frederick Barbarossa and Philip Au-
gustus in the crusade that lasted from
1889 to 1892, and I'm the man you
want to see. There's q lot about that
crusade that history has botched up. In
the first place, we called Richard Our
Dick, and Frederick, Reddy, and Philip
oh, we called him several uncompli-
mentary things. Do you want the story?
Let me know at nce how many words"
LET her go, said the truth seeker as
he looked over the slate and arranged
with the medium for the use of the line
all day.
"Well, began the slate, las l said,
! am Ichabod Potts, yeoman. l left
London in 1888, or such q matter, to 60
t Jerusalem with Our Dick. The boys
always called him that just before a
wal. Several thousand Of us pulled out
and marched ACROSS country in the fall
and got down into southern France for
the winter, and by good luck got through
that winter without misfortune. Then
we fiddled around France and Italy and
Germany, drumming up q crowd, when
the fall of 1889 found us over in Aus
tria. with a lot Of Dagos. Dick got gay
Italian armor-a job lot, with automatic
clasps and q lot of duplex levers and
swivels that he was mighty proud Of.
He kept US drilling in those old base
burners all fall. and Reddy-him they
call Frederick Barbarossa in the book
looked ON mighty Jealous, for his men
only had one dog chain armor that
didn't clank nor glitter, nor nothing.
Its only advantage was it was comfort
able Well, to make a long story Of
magazine length, the winter Of 1889
came on-you remember Of course the
cold winter-but of cours you don't.
Well, it was fearfully cold-rained all
December and took the stove polish off
them armors and rusted 'em up ome
And then Oh the 9Th Of January there
vas the worst blizzard on the % years
record Of the University of Vienna. The
hinges Of them automatics were wet
and rusty, and, by Johnnie, when we
got up the morning Of the 9th, we had
to tbaw 'em out to get 'em on. 1t kept
getting colder and colder, and at 10
o'clock Thursday morning it began to
snow Say, but it did blow and snow!
Dick, he had some tin ear muffs and
didn't care a cent for the cold, so he or
dered the boys out for dress parade.
1T was awful The snow drifted into
the c~revices of their breastplates and
leg guards and iron shoes till every man
was a walking snow blockade. But
Dick wanted to make the Dutch dog
chain armor look sick, wanted to show
Reddy that his job lot of armor was
good for all kinds Of weather, sort of
general purpose armor, and he put US
through the Knights Templars' drill.
and the fire drill, and the X. Of p, and
the Sicilian circle, and the cheat or
swing, and the ring around the rosy,
and all the rest of it. But l saw old
Reddy. who was looking on, wink the
other eye. and one of his head men rode
of to our camp. l say l noticed this at
the time. but | didn't think Of it until
after.
"Wen. the rhine frost was a~-gathering
on their breastplates and arm covers
and sheet iron helmets and hauberks OF
our'n an inch deep, and the thermome.
ter was getting down deeper and deeper
in the tube. When We broke ranks and
went back, You could see the steam
come up from under them iron breast.
plates and through the bars in on,
visors like the steam CONES out of the
manhole Of . sewer on a cold morning.
Il was awful. The snow had drifted
through the slashes in our boots, ant
we had to empty 'em out before tn.
track was open"
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