Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-05-20

"nen tney were out of sight.
e see that rooster, Julius Caesar? 2
he would inquire, with a look of prid,
illuminating his face. That's tn,
smartest critter they is in three coun
ties Maybe you don't know that JuIiu:
foretoP this mornin's rain, jes' as plair
as eff he'd a-talxed, an been done Will
it. knowed when that rooster started
! to bed las night that he had somethin
| on is mind; an he hadn't been there
more'n half hour before he foun' out
what it was An then he crew five
times, jes' as loud Us he could crow
SOS to let me know; an right then
knowed we was a-goin' to have rain
Julius has been in the foretelIin' bust
ness some time, an he amt never made
mistake yet. Jes' look at i'm a-strut
tim aroun' there like as eff he owned the
earth. He knows ever word l been
a-sayin' as well as eff he'd a-said it his.
self. There amt no critter nowhere
smarter than Julius"
And, indeed, Julius Caesar strutted
ABOUT with full sense of his own i'm.
portance as a rival of the weather bu-
reau, which has, like him. been in the
''foretellin' business for some time,
but which has this disadvantage, that
it has been known to make mistakes.
What mysterious thing it was that
whispered to Julius when it was going
to rain no one knew; but there was in
him some close kinship TO nature which
gave him prophetic knowledge of the
times and seasons. He was not an es-
Pecially beautiful fowl. His comb
dropped over to one side in a rakish
and slouchy manner and his legs were
scaIy and disreputable; yet this Weary
Watson" of the barnyard absolutely
seemed to close one eye in most sig
nificant manner as his master talked.
Another of old Gabe'c companions
was the cat. "Jes' look at that cat"
he~would say, with a smile wrinkling
his thin face. "Tll tell you, ole Abe
knows a lot. He jes' sets there an ticks
is paws, an you couldn't tell from
lookin' at i'm that he was thinkin' of a
single thing; but all of a student Abe
he sticks lis years up an growls, an
know in a minute he hears somebody
a-comin'. He done that jes' now when
he heerd you. He amt got much con-
fidence in folks, Abe amt. I'm the only
one he'd trust fur a minute as fur as
you could throw a cow"
But the chief object of old Gabe's
affection was the dog. No shaggier
and more plebeian dog ever palmed
himself off on an unwary mortal as a
dog to be fostered and made much of:
but the deception succeeded. Old Gabe
pointed him out triumphantly to every
Eeighbor who would stop long enough
to hear his many wonderful virtues re-
counted.
81 tell We that dogs a sharp one,"
he would say, with chuckles of delight
THAT Prince O. mine, he's got more
sense than a lot O. folks; O. course 1
don't mean nothin' personal by that.
He jes' simply will not go a-huntin',
Prince won't. He's that tender-hearted
that he can't bear to see anythin' killed,
and when l say: Come on, Prince, less
go a-huntin',' right then Prince is ago
in to crawl under the bed
And he beamed upon the villainous
Prince, who was too lazy to walk half
mile to hunt anything, but who had
just stolen a squirrel from his masters
game bag and had devoured the last
morsel of it.
"Me an that ere dog is fust-rate
friends" he explained. HE dom pear
to let hisself out before strangers, but
the way that dog can hold is own in
a conversation would s'prise We. Him
ard me sets here some nights an talks
bout mos ever'thin' they is a-goin'
1 says to him last night: Prince says
1, this ere worlds boiler mockery,'
says I. An what We think that dog
said? Jes' raired back his head an
gaped a mos tremenjus cape. Jes' the
same as eff he'd a-said: Well, now, this
business makes me tired!'"
There must have been in this rusty
and rugged old man some faculty which
brought him into strange nearness to
all dumb creatures. 1t was easy for
him to find out things that were hidden
from common mortals, and as he went
about his work he kept up running
fire of conversation with the creatures
he met. Some one found him one day
crouching down in his garden and
laughing the silent laugh with which
he greeted some new discovery.
"I wisht you'd look a-here," he
cried. Here l go an mighty nigh
break my neck paclIin' up palms to
pale in this ere garden, SOS to keep
the rabbits outen my peas, an now jes'
look at this" And he parted the little
heap of gray hair at the foot of the pea
rines and showed the two young rab-
pits crouched within the little hollow
below, their bright eyes shining and
heir small bodies shaken by the wild
oeating of their hearts.
"Now did We ever see anythin' to ekal |
that?" the old man asked jubilantly. |
1T does heat all how cunnin' these crit |
ers is. Along comes that ole rabbit, |
IN says to herself. I'll show that ole |
customer that he amt anywhere nigh |
is smart as he thinks he is An then |
'he jes' deliberately goes to housekeep- |
n right under the shadder of my |
oeavines. KNOWN well enough that l
want a-goin' to poster her after them
,abies was in the nest. Well, ef that
lon't beat all for cute"
And the wrinkled old face was twisted
With a smile of delight, rs though the
ab6it had conferred special favor on
i'm by setting up squatter sovereignty
n his garden.
'Oh. you're here, are ye?" ne queried.
s he looked up into the little maple
rec when he was clearing the new
-ro,,p,1 and saw the b;rsI'S most With n |