Evening star., 1897-01-23

1 heard of Capt. Martin that night. He lay
down in the road close alongside of the
house and was asleep and snoring the snore
of the just in less than a minute. Then L
went to bed myself considering that there
wouldn't be any more performances that
night.
The captain woke up before I did the
next day. and when 1 came out of the tent
he was nowhere to be seen. having unlock
ed his door and gone into his house. About
room he came out on the veranda, looking
pretty savage, and l remarked to one of
my men that nobody but born fool would
put his house in the middle of the public
road. for he would be certain to be fined
for obstructing the road. Martin didn't say
anything, which sort of riied me, so l said
to the man who was nearest to me that l
wanted him to go straight up to Lucullu3
ard tell the sheriff. with my compliments,
that Captain Martins house was standing
directly across the road SO that l couldn't
get by it with the oxen, and that it was
the sheriff's duty to see that the road was
kept clear. The man naturally did as he
was told. and in the course of the day the
sheriff rode down and investigated things,
and ordered Martin to take his house out of
the read.
:. I didn't put it in the road said the cap
tain; and there amt no possible way of
taking it out OF the road without putting it
on the property of that there individual
standing alongside of you.
Heaving cuss words at one of our lead
ing citizens, says the sheriff. won't help
you. I'll give you two days to take your
house out of the way. and if at the end of
that time 1 find it still in the road. I'll
make kindling wood of it. and arrest YOU
into the bargain. You hear me-
The captain heard him well enough and
knew that he meant business. However, he
didn condescend to make any answer, and
l could see that he was determined to let
his house stand where it was. The truth is
ne couldn't do anything else. He couldn't
haul 1t back on to my land without COM
mitting a tIeSpass. and he couldn't haul il
with 6rct
across the river. which was more than he
or any other man could do. MY own idea
Is that If it hadn't been for the cloudburss
that happened the next afternoon CaDtain
Martin would have waited for the sheriff
with shotgun, and the sheriff. being one
OF the brightest minds in our section of
country: would have had his revolver ready
ana before the work of demolishing the
mouse could begin there would have been
one or two corpses ready for the coroner.
ou don know what a clOudburst iso
wen. thaf is astonishing. A cloudburst is
what we call sort of Noahs flood without
any ark You see, some big cloud that
holds perhaps million IONS Of water. sud
denly goes to pieces. and the water all
comes down at once, the same as 1t does at
Niagara Falls. There's the same difference
fetWeen an ordinary rain and a cloudburst
that there is between sprinkling a cab
page with a watering-pot and dumping a
whole washtub full of water over it, Thish-
yer cloudburst that I'm speaking of took
place thirty or forty miles above here. and
the whole lot of water ran into the Pom
pohoesuc river and swelled it into a raging
torrent that swept everything before it. /
heard 1t coming just before it reached me
and l went for that hill yonder as fast as
l could run, and just managed to reach ii
IN tlne. Before l started 1 hailed the
captain and told him to run while he
could, but he pretended not to hear me.
and remarked, as il he was speaking to the
universe and all the rest of mankind. that
the curse of thishyer country was the con-
of fhe.J
tie was one Of those men that nobody can
heip except with a club, he was that ever
asSngly obstinate and conceited.
Martin saw what was going to happen
as wen as L d1d and just before the flood
struck his house l saw him trying TO rifr
up a sort OF steering-oar by lashing a
PRANK TO one of the veranda posts Then
the Hood, which came down like q wall civ
feet high. burst on the house and away II
whirled. The captains steering oar wasn't
OF the least use, and before he went ont of
signt ne dropped 1t, and sat down on the
railing OF his veranda with an arm around
the post and his pipe in his mouth. as COM
Portable as you please. 1 watched him for
the best part of a mile, and l couldn't SEQ
out @ Wna' @ the mousse was doing very well.
ana that the chances We're that 1t would
hr1ng up in some safe locality before rearh
ing the Muskingum Falls, which are forty
seven miles from here. Anyway 1 says
10 myself, here's end of trespassine IN
my property. and blocking up the public
road and an end of a mighty disagreeable
neighbor.' The sheriff, when he came the
next day and found that there wasn't any
work for him to do said pretty lnuci, 1hs
same thing.
What became of Capt Martin? Well.
his house f1oated ashore down nigh on to
seventeen miles from here, and the cap
tain never so much as got his feet wet.
When the water went down 1t left the
house on the most valuable corner lot In
West Antioch. just where the peonle had
calculated to put up a new opera house
or course the owner of the lot made trouhje
for Martin. and Martin made trouble for
him. There was no less than fifteen sen.
arate law suits going on at the same time
between them. and the prospect was that
they would both die of old age before the
courts would fnd out who was in the right
Capt. Martin made an arrangement with q
grocer in the town to heavesin all his sup
plies through q window, and he loophoIed
the walls of his house. and made 1t shot
proof. and swore that he would never leave
1t alive. He never did, for one day he got
so particularly mad that he had a stroke,