Daily inter mountain., 1900-11-26

"doin's," they said. True. his efforts
were emphatically seconded by the colo
nel who declared. IF it's chance for
Nebraska, let's expose"
The colonel had been twenty five years
running the little yellow hotel which bore
his name, 'The Wright" The colonel
and his hotel We're a pair of monuments
to the fat preachers influence: ana the
co,onel's nose was a more delicate shaue
of red than formerly-all in the short SIX
months since the fat preacher had come
to town.
So when the latter proposed that
Plattevile make AN exhibit at the st.
Louis fair simple good fellowship de-
manded that. the colonel step forward
ard indorse the idea.
Its a id wild goose fool scheme"
said the colonel to his court at the ho-
tel, but Docs friend O. mine. and
what he says goes"
Said the fat preacher in church and
out: I hear you all planning the great
times you will have when you go down
to ST Louis. What are you going to
contribute to that exposition? Nothing
but the admission fees and smiling faces?
Then 1T won't do much good. If you are
are going to this as somebody else's
show, you're on the wrong track. It's
your show. your exposition your chance
to fly colors. / say, send the best of ev-
erything your green valley produces. and
then go down there yourselves and stand
off and be proud with a good right"
The preacher was young yet, at forty.
His hearers wore the marks of the work
collar-were old before their time. To
their view the fat preacher was dream
Ing. '''''.'' '.' ''..'-..'
WHAT" cried the colonel, when he
first heard of it. "Send an exhibit from
this hole in the ground of busted coun-
try? Might as we'll try to get up an exhi-
bition from the Sary Desert. STILL" he
added. Docs all right, though. He can
have my vote for any old scheme. He's
Rl right"
Which being about the way all Platte
willie looked at It, the town was actually
Rstir about a common enterprise for the
first time since the grasshoppers ate the
linen off the clotheslines and gave the
community a start down the grade Of
bankruptcy.
Gee, Ma" said Jimmie, "O'm got to
go to town: theys all sorts O doin's
about that there st. Louis exhibition-it's s
that fatty prea Il er's schen1e-hes a
peach. Gee! y ought to see him once.
He's the differentest preacher; why, he
smokes pipe, like mani"
Jimmie and his Ma We're newcomers
Platteville called them squatters. They
lived alone in a semi-gypsy fashion on
Big Island, two miles from town. The
widow had known better days. This life
was not at all what she had foreseen
when she threw over her first lover and
schoolmate and married the plausible
stranger. But she was stout and red
haired and met her fate half ~ay, grit
armed. She and Jimmie were really do
ing we'll on the Island before Platteville
knew so much as her surname. Jimmie,
indeed, had impressed himself upon the
community by means of a fight with
young Alec, who sold papers and inclin-
ed to be smart about town. Now, how
ever, the two kids" We're amalgamating
in an iron friendship. Alec was becom-
ing less obnoxious and Jimmie was
learning to smoke. At home with his
mother "Me and Alec" was Jimmie's
constant refrain. Me an Alec's got a
date Ma" The widow was not without
decided views on the laissez-faire policy
of rearing the young, but she was wise
enough also to know that Jimmie had tc
have boy compa anionship these long sum.
mer months. So. regularly on Saturdays
Jimmy went to Platteville.
"Only see that you keep out of mis-
chief. young man-and Jimmy" she
called after him invariably-a practice
taught rather by experience with Jim
nie's talent for getting himself int
trouble than by contemplation of tn,
pricple of poetic justice-remember, i
you hurt yourself, Til whip you!
Thus, on this particular Saturda!
Saturday morning Jimmie and Alec
barefoot, lay en- the floor at the Hote
Wright, 'leg- g-wrestling' for the enter
tainment of the loungers.
The fat preacher passed on the othe
side of the street, waving his hand t.
the hotel crowd
There's the best fellow ever strucl
this town, by crackie." exclaimed tn
colonel. Reckon he's out workin' vi
that fool scheme of his'n." The mel
in the room laughed. The cross-eye
churn agent looked out from behind
last weeks newspaper and shed ligh
upon the subject. Tell you what's TIL
trouble with Doc" he drawled. Doc h
ought tgit married. Now if he had
wife-and SC forth-he wouldn't alway
be gittin' these ideas in his head-least
ways they'd be harmless. He woudn'
have no chance to worry the rest of u
trying to work 'em out"
Why don't you take your own medi
cine?" demanded the colonel "you'r
of age amt you?" Everybody snickerei
the Colonel laughed uproariously. TIL
churn agent was not only crosseyed, h
was beak-nosed and inclined baldwart
At this point the fat preacher entered
seedy and rosy, shook hands hearth
with the colonel, and made himself on
of the company by perching upon tn
correspondence table and lighting pip,
That's all right" said the churn ager
not bit abashed by the coloners jal
''Talk as f'cetious as you like, 'tain't m