The Springfield herald., 1900-01-19

| III Tie eyes, ne ldlhlHs dAQ
Baldy listening with compacent inter-
est, till Bob shouted a second time
across the pasture that dinner was
waiting.
Look here, Baldy," the deacon said,
rising to his feet, "if you want to lay
there SO mighty bad, faint in me to
stop you. Only l give you fair warn
in'-the sweets of life do cloy, and you
kin git too much Of a good thing.
Layin' down in the furrer amt what
It's cracked up to be, an you'll git
Almighty sick on 1t before yer done
with me-"
Baldy gazed at him with stolid Inn
pudence, saying as plainly as though
he spoke. well, what are you going
to do about it,"
But the deacon never lost his tenn
per- I'm goin' to git bit to eat" he
went on. turning away, "an' when l
come back I'll give you one more
chance. But mark my words, Baldy,
it'll be yer last"
At the table Deacon Barnes, instead
of being at all irritated, radiated even
more genially than was his want, and
this in the face of the fact that Mrs.
Barnes had mild attack of tantrums
because he kept dinner waiting. After
ward, when he went out on the porch,
he saw Jim Wheeler had pulled up his
horses where he could look over the
fence at the victorious Badly. When
he passed the house he waved his hand
and smiled knowingly at the deacon,
and went on to spread the news that
the deacon and Old Baldy were "at It."
But there was certain unusual ex-
hilaration in the deacon's face and step
as he led off to the barn with Bob fol-
lowing In his footsteps. There he pro
ceeded to load up his eldest-born with
numerous iron and wooden pegs and
old pieces of chains and rope. Then,
with his ak in hand, he headed across
the pasture to the scene of the mutiny.
Come, git up, Baldy!" he commanded.
IT'S high time we got this furrer fln-
ished."
Badly regarded him passively. with
half-veiled, lazy eyes. Reckon 1t be
more comfortable where you are, eh?
| B'lieve In taking it easy, eh? All
| right. You can't say Deacon Barnes
| is hard master" AS he talked he
worked, driving pegs all about the
stubborn animal. Then from the pegs
he stretched the ropes and chains,
passing them across Badly till that
worthy was hard and fast bound to
mother earth-so hard and fast that
1t would have required steam der
rick to get him to his feet. Jest en-
Joy yourself, Badly" the deacon called
out, as he started away. "Tll come up
| tomorrer after breakfast an see how
you be-"
True to his word, in the morning
the deacon paid his promised visit.
But Badly was yet strong in his will,
and he behaved sullenly, as animals
we'll know how He even tried to let
on that 1t was real nice lying out there
with nothing to do, and that the dea-
con worried him with his chatter and
had better go away. But Deacon
Barnes stayed full quarter of an
hour. talking pleasantly, with CHEEKY,
whole-souled ring to his voice which
ve1ed Baldy greatly.
In the evening after supper he made
another visit. Old Badly was feeling
stiff and sore from lying in one posi-
tion all day with the hot sun beating
down upon him. He even betrayed
anxiety and interest when he heard his
masters steps approaching, and there
was a certain softening and appeal in
his eyes But the deacon made out he
didn't see 1t, and after talking nicely
for q few minutes went home again.
In the morning Baldy received an
other visit. By this time he was not
| hut hun and thirsty
we'll. He was no longer Indifferent to
his owners presence, and he begged
SO eloquently with his eyes that the
deacon was touched, but he hardened
his heart and went back to the house
again. He had made up his mind to
do what all Shelbyville during num-
ber of years had failed to accomplish,
and now that he had started he was
! going to do it thoroughly.
When he came out again after din
ner Baldy was abject in his humility.
His pleading eyes followed his master
about increasingly. and once, when the
deacon turned as though to go away,
he actually groaned. Sweets do cloy,
eh?" Deacon Barnes said, coming
back Even lynn in the furrer is
vanity and vexation, eh? Well, l guess
we'll finish this furrer now. What
d'you say, Baldy? And after that you
kin have somethin' to eat an couple
o. buckets of water. Eth? What d'you
say?"
1t can never be known for fact as
to whether Badly understood his mas
ter's words or not, but he showed by
his actions that he thoroughly under