Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1900-01-03

have been trained TO go through such a
performance. Music had nothing to do
with it; Bee had merely raped on the
floor as a signal for the dance to begin,
and had ratified louder for the "High-
land Fling"
at must have taken no end OF time
and patience to teach them" l remem-
Der saying to my companion.
Maybe; but l doubt it," he replied.
ST don't like the looks OF that 'Bez,'"
he continued. 81 think it's a trick"
Some discussion ensued; then we
went back TO ask him how he had
trained the turkeys.
The fellow looked at us attentively,
I and then gave an account of the gift"
he possessed of communicating his
will to birds and animals. 1t re-
| quired months, he said; but kindness
and perseverance accomplish wonders.
We said to him that-it was truly q
wonderful gift, and left, well satisfied
that he had not told us the truth.
Hes a fraud" remarked Tom, as we
walked away. "If he had said fatty
that he did not wish to tell us about it
! shouldn't have blamed him, for OF
course it's his secret. II he wants to
keep it, he has a right to. l wouldn't
spy round to find it out, either; but
now that he has gone on and told us
such a falsehood I'll find out his trick
il | can"
/ have always felt ashamed Of the
a%rtifice to which we resorted, for | do
not think that it vas quite honorable,
even with the motive of exposing a de-
ception. What we did was to go put
side the fair grounds fence ard come
round in the rear of the cage. Bee
"show" was placed on one side Of this
grounds near the fence. Through a
chinkint the upright boards we watched
his operations for an hour or more. 1t
was some time before we gained the
least hint as TO the true nature of his
gift, but we noticed that the cage had
n double bottom, or rather two bot
toms, about three inches apart, each
VI llbis uui ildl ltu x NlSUtu
to set the turkeys dancing he thrust
the iron rod between the two bottoms
and ratified it against them. But this
was no adequate explanation, and we
were still in the dark.
Three or four successive exhibitions
OF the dance were given while we were
watching. Probably the poor turkeys
were getting tired; for we observed
that during the last dance Beg had to
rattle vigorously two or three times.
After Il few minutes another 50 cents
was subscribed; we could hear the
crowd calling out: ION with the
dance! Keep it going!" Then we saw
Bee step back between the cage and the
fence, so as to be concealed from the
spectators by the curtain. AS he poked
the fire under his oven he slyly threw
three hand-shovelfuls Of the burning
coal from the stove between the two
sheet iron bottoms of the cage. Then
he ratified with the shovel, and, step
ping out, pulled open the curtain. In a
moment the turkeys were dancing
smartly; we could hear them hop and
tlutter very plainly.
/ smile even now when l recall the
look of mingled triumph and disgust
on Toms face as he glanced at me to
see if |, too, had comprehended.
That's his gift" he whispered.
THE cruel little scoundrel! That's the
way he's taught the poor things TO
dance-by roasting the bottoms of their
feet! I'll wager that he blistered them
more than once before he educated
them tc hop I Highland Fling!"
But he doesn't seem to put in hot
Goals every time" said.
But that part is plain enough" re-
piled Tom. "He has got the poor crea-
lures in such terror of a scorching that
the very sound of the shovel or poker
will set them hopping"
1t was pretty evident that we had di-
vined the nature Of Bez' gift. As we
stood there we could hear him talking
glibly of the different fairs at which
he had exhibited his turkeys. "Next
WEN L sidll slph tlItlh " AlC DCbplt
of Franklin county at their annual cat
tie show at F." we heard him add.
"les," said Tom, II am much obliged
for that bit of information. | have a
cousin living there who is n lively sort
Of fellow. I'll drop him a hint as TO
what's coming. Something will be sure
10 follow"
AS we went past the post office Tom
stepped in, bought an envelope, and
sent the following note:
Dear Nose: Look out for a fellow with
seven dancing turkeys at your cattle show
next week. He's tricky and cruel. He will
tell you he has a peculiar Gift fer teaching
them: but the way he does 1t Is by putting
live Goals In at the bottom Of the cage
We caught him at II. Get the boys together
and expose his trick and cruelty.
The manner in which the Franklin
county boys exposed Bee was described
in the Franklin Gazette, in its account
of the fair, the following Saturday. ]
give the item verbatim:
Prominent among the side shows was .
cage of wonderful dancing turkeys, cx'
hibitcd by one Bee Samuels, a youth mo-
unknown to fame, who also rcgcled III
multitude with fresh-roasted peanuts am
sweet cider. The dancing exploits OF III,
turkeys were really astonishing. an,