The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1896-11-10
WHICH DID SHE MEAN
HOW MEMBERS OF A RURAL PARTY
GOT TO MoRALIzlNG.

ana Other members of His Family How
Easy 1t Is to Rob the Unsophisticated
The Result Wasn't Just as He Calculated
II was a truly rural party that waited
In narrowing suspense for the trair
which was to leave in two or three
hours. They had been to q fair
and in their periods of comparative re.
pose passed the time recounting thei,
experiences and observations
Il can't hep bein anxious" the old
gentleman said apologetically to a gate
tender Eye see, there amt nobody tc
home, an somebody up in our country
is deyelopin teri bic appetite fur Leg
horn chickens, which is my speciality. ]
don't like the idee Of stayin here over
night, dodgin bunko steerers when we
Crter be chasin chickin thieves. -
Haven't you got hired man on the
placer
"We brought i'm along. He was
willin to pay his own way, an ez hed
OF quit eff he'd told i'm he'd gotter
stay. thort it 'ud save trouble in the
end
Eyes Stree" chimed in the hired
man, who came up just at that point in
the conversation. ~ had TO move weth
the percession. An wouldn't of missed
seein what l did fur nothin. 1 guess l
got through weth more sights than any
body else in the hull outfit. -
reckon &c aidn't como across any
more that was new an startlin than
some of the rest of u.s. replied the old
gentleman in blase tone of liberation.
II know Of one thing tibet We didn't see,
fur mother says she had her eye on We
all the time. Hev ye got any money!"
1.-Two dollar an sixty cents" was
the self satisfied response.
"Then ye didn't see whit I'm talkin
about. Ye run over to tibet store an
buy 8 cents with of English walnuts
an I'll show it toye. I'll be over whur
mother an Zeb is, cause it'll interest
them too. "
When the hired man came back from
his errand, the old gentleman was saying
to his wife: Il was out fur experience,
an ye can't git experience without its
costin leetle somethin. l learnt new
game, an want Zeb an the hired man
ter know about it, SOS ter put 'em on
their guard again the wickedness of this
here world. All ye need is some walnut
shells an paper wad.
Tine members of his household fol-
lowed him to the window ledge, and.
after few preliminary passes to loosen
up his muscles for feats of legerdemain,
he paused to remark:
y Now, yell understan, of course,
tibet this here amt no lesson in gam
bin. l jes' wanter show ye how it's
done. When ye go ter town, yell
know Jes' ez much about it ez them
sharpers does an be on yer guard. It's
game whur the man ez does the guessin
ain { got no show whutsomever.
He manipulated the shells and the
paper wad in imitation of the man he
had seen at the fair, and stepping back
said:
Course, l don't want ye ter bet
nothin, cause that 'ud be jes' like rob-
bin yer, But it won't do no harm fur
ye ter make guess, SOS ter show ye
how the dag -oned swindle operates. A"
"I'll bet We my new knife agin that
buckhorn handled one Of yer'n thet /
kin pick out the shell ez hez the paper
wad under II, - remarked the hired man.
81 wouldn't let ye do it. Don't We
onderstan tibet this is skin game I'm
a-showin ye?''
81 don't keer nothin bout that. I've
got that ther paper wad located an ye
da 'sn' bet tibet l amt"
Il da'sn't, da'sn't |? l don't like ter
take NO advantage of ye, but ye're
man growed an responsible fur yer own
acks Put up yer knife.
The stakes were laid on the window
ledge, and the hired man promptly Sc
lected the right shell.
BY hockey" exclaimed the old gen.
tleman, "ye've guessed it'll 1t must "a
been by miracle"
He tried it again. and this time not
only the hired man, but Zeb and the old ,
lady, risked all their available small
change. Again the amateur thimble ,
'igger juggIed the shells, and with the ,
'ame result. ,
Better own up an quit, father" ,
Zeb. ...
II won't do nothin of the kind" was
he reply 3
In the course of time he issued +
,romissory notes for a saddle blanket, a |;
'air of boots, six pearl collar buttons, a
alico dress, pair of bearskin gloves, +
even plugs Of tobacco and 81. 80. But n
le was not discouraged. He was pre- q
'aring for another shuttle of the walnut n
bells, when his wife exclaimed =
"Elihu, amt it purity near train n
ime?' ... =,
There was a simultaneous rush for
he gate Their train had been gone I,
nearly II minutes ...... cha. .,
WAL, said the old gentleman, sits a
isapp 'intin ter hev ter set here tell the II
ex' one goes, but we've had the benefit ~
Il the exposy, anyhow. Ye kin allus
ror a moral from most anything that al
appens 1t all goes ter show tibet there n
int any way Of bein rely safe in q,
ames Of chance, no matter which side r.
ere on. ~
"Yes, " said Zeb, sit all come ter pass n
ong Of hevin ter kill time in this here W