The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1899-10-13

eQ 10 GIT III Oh the proposition, 50 tOlu
HIM to take off his coat an sail in. 1
put him down in the lower end of the
orchard with Hop Sing, so if he both
cred anybody it wouldn't be nothin' but
a Chinaman. l reckon" he added with
u laugh, tibet he must have picked at
least one box if he worked right hard"
They had been slowly walking to-
ward the house where the orange pick
ers had gathered in the protecting
shade of an immense pepper tree to
await the count that would finally de-
eide who had won the prize that was
so much coveted.
The pickers, following the usual GUS
tom when oranges are picked by the
box, had placed in each box as it was
filed small card bearing their name.
Muggins gathered these tickets to-
gether, and placing them in his hat,
proceeded to assert them.
''Now, here" said he, as he took out
the first ticket and looked it over, ''here
is a ticket what looks as though a hen
with muddy feet had been walkin' over
HIT
'All the samee me-" answered Hop
Sing with cheerful smile.
eyes, l reckon them hen tracks be-
long to you. Arthur Pearson Bray"
read Muggins, going on with the count.
'Wul, now!" he. exclaimed in mock sur
prise, $50 We did pick one whole box all
byyourseif? Wul, I call tibet pretty good
for tenderfoot!''
Muggins went on with his count, max
ing caustic comments now and then
which caused the pickers thus singled
out to squirm while the rest laughed.
THAR" said Muggins finally, as he
took the last slip out of the hat and
added it to the tally he was keeping on
a pine board. 'Now we will arrive at
the interesting conclusion of this yere
contest!"
Slowly and laboriously Muggins
counted the marks opposite Hop Sings
name. Three times he counted the
marks before he raised his head and
stared at the grinning Chinaman.
"Twenty-six!" he calculated.
"All lite" answered Hop Sing, cheer
fully.
':Do you mean to say" demanded
Muggins, "thet you hev only picked &c
when you hold the record around yere,
which is q hundred and three?'
"Belly Sick" replied the Chinaman,
drawing down the corners of his mouth.
Feel belly bad. No pick oranges when
feelee bad"
"Humph,'' grunted Muggins, 81 sup
pose a Chinaman can git sick like
white man, but I'll be hanged if ever
heard of one before. Where are you
sick?"
"Feel belly bad here" answered Hop
Sing, making a general movement with
both hands that covered his entire per-
son.
"Humph," growled Muggins, looking
critically at Hop Sing, who commenced
to shrink into his clothes like fright
ened turtle. "Your eyes look as though
you had the collie an your skin is yal-
Ter, but they are always tibet way; SO
I'm hanged if I can see any way from
telling a sick Chinaman from well one.
Well, L suppose hit is all right, but hit
seems tibet even sick Chinaman ought
to pick more boxes than tibet.
"Thar!" exclaimed Muggins, as he
finished the second count, "thet is
more like hit! One hundred an one!
1 reckon you have won, JUAN"
The Mexican grinned and glance
sheepishly DIT Beth, who bit her III S
and locked defantly at her father.
"Them's ALL" said Muggins at last.
throwing down the hat, IAN Juan has
W.
81 think" put in Bray, modestly,
"that you have overlooked my account"
"Wul, swear, so have! Everybody
hold their breath while L fgger up
what the tenderfoot has picked"
This would have been a difficult mat
ter had any one tried it, for Muggins
counted and recounted the marks that
he had placed opposite Bray's name.
"It's-it's-"' he began, but he could
get no further.
"lt's one hundred and twenty-fve!"
cried Beth, triumphantly, glancing over
her fathers shoulder. 'Mr. Bray has
won!"
"'Tain't no such thing!" roared Mug
gins. my eyes are weak an I've been
countin' 'em over twice! You git my
glasses"
Beth brought the glasses, and her
father, putting them on, started re-
count. But it only resulted in adding
one more box to the credit of Bray.
"Hit's broke the record!" gasped
Muggins, IAN hit wuz done by tender
foot, too! Tenderfoot, shake! I've al
ways known tibet you couldn't tell how
far a frog could jump by looltin at him,
but 1 never rated you higher than pol
lywog, an thar wuz where made mis-
take"
That night when Bray led Beth out
for the first dance he was telling her
something that amused her greatly.
Muggins for once in his life was mute,
and Hop Sing, from his seat in a corner,
grinned cheerfully and jingled five good
American dollars hidden in some mys-
terious receptacle in his clothes. But
what he thought of the crazy American
who gave him those dollars for picking
7Oboxes of oranges will never be known.
Detroit Free Press.