The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-06
As Told by the Good Man.


a preacher told this story al a wedding
supper on the South Side the other even
ing. says the Chicago Tribune
-, was riding along country road near
bloomington, he said when ] noticed
a group OF sheep in a pasture There was
a large open space in the midst Of the
noch; and at either end OF the space
stood two rams In the center, but stand
lng little TO one side. was a third ram.
Ram No. seemed 10 be acting as Judge,
umpire-what do you call III Referee
les, tnat IT. the third ram was the
referee- l don't know under what rules
me meeting took place; il may have been
QueensDerry or Rosebery. You see. ! am
not up on these technical matters when
all the preliminaries had been arranged.
ana both contestants had been cautioned,
apparently. that there was to be no foul
ing = think have seen that word in
me newspapers occasionally. and, there
lore, suppose IL is a correct word TO use
IN this connection-each backed OF to the
Lurthest 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
tnelr heads came together there was a
terrlnc crash. and the force of the con-
cusslOn 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 per
spectlVe, and then at the preacher in the
middle distance, but nobody said any
Then" continued the preacher. they
TOOK their places, apparently none the
worse tor the encounter Again, evidently
az Preconcerted signal from the referee
they dashed together. This time the shock
was even more terrific than the first, and
notlced as one Of them went back to his
wah' what do you, call it, corner?-he
was a little unsteady on his legs"
''Groggy!" ventured the bride.
beileVe that is the technical term" re-
plied the preacher, although, as l have
intimated before. ! am not at all familiar
with sporting phraseology. When the
time was called for the third round
ahem-that isl mean, when the rams had
recovered strength for a third collision,
thore was another rush. a crash and
one OF the rams, the one you so aptly de
scribed as groggy'-with an acknowledge
ment to the bride-feI to his knees His
adversary did not seem inclined to follow
UP his advantage, but, possibly, he may
nave been restrained by the rules of
the meeting. At any rate. after contem-
plating his fallen foe gravely for a mo-
ment he walked back to his place The
other ram. after resting briefly, struggled
70 his Feet. The third ram, the one
nave called the referee. looked at him
rather enquiringly. as it seemed to me.
Dut the warrior showed no sign of recog-
milton. He ambled to his side of the ring
ana faced about A murmur of some sort
seemed to go through the flock The odds
were apparently three to one in favor of
the orher ram; that IS to say, II seemed
TO be the general opinion that the ram
with the weak knees had been outclassed,
as the other one was decidedly the heav-
Ter OF the two.
However. the smaller ram seemed TO
nave wonderful recuperative power When
the proper interval had elapsed he came
up smiling, as IL were. i even thought l
could see twinkle in his eye, for i 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 DO
sition between the meetings the other
Two rams drove at each other pell-mell.
AT the very instant when their hard horns
ram suddenly changed his course to the
rlght and the other went through the
ranks IKE catapault. Just as he turned
about. evidently boiling over with indig-
nation at the trick which had been PLAYED
on MIN, the other one, with the added
force given by the longer run from one
slde OF the circle to point several feet
mentum had carried him, shot at him like
a cannon ball, striking him full in the
race ana driving him several feet away
Mncre ne lay limp and helpless The
thiru ram, who was promptly on the spot
as think every competent referee should
be, nodded his head several Unrestricted.
II looked to me as if he was counting
the whole flock marched away toward a
Knoll in another part Of the meadow,
with the victorious ram at the head
Presently the defeated ram got on his
Ieet ana made his way to a secluded SPOT
down by little run. where / saw him re-
Ginning in the shade of large willow
tree as l rode away
What an interesting study natural his
tory is" said the brides grandmother, as
she adjusted her glasses.
1t IS. indeed said the groom's father.
coughing behind his napkin.