The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-02-22
centage. / didn't get to know any one

centage. I didn't get to know any one
else.
when my time in that shop was
done, hired myself to drive one Of a
transport riders wagons.
'That first morning when l sat in
the front and called to my oxen and
saw nothing about me but the hills
with the blue coming down to them
and the karroo' bushes | was drunk.
| laughed. My heart was beating till 1t
hurt me. l shut my eyes tight, that
when opened them l might see there
were no shelves about me. There must
be beauty in buying and selling IL
there is beauty in everything, but it is
very ugly to me. My life as transport
rider would have been the best life in
the world If had had only one wagon
to drive. My master told me he would
drive one. l the other, and he would
hire another person to drive the third.
AT the places where we 'outspanned'
there were sometimes rare plants and
flowers, the festoons hanging from the
bush trees. and nuts and insects. such
as we never see here, but after q little
while l never looked at them. / was
too tired. l ate as much as l could
and then lay down on my face under
the wagon till the boy came to wake
me to inspan,' and then we drove on
again all night. So it went, so 1t went.
I think sometimes when we walked by
my oxen called to them in my sleep,
for l know l thought of nothing. l
was like an animal. My body was
strong and well to work. but my
brain was dead. If you have not felt it,
Lyndall. you cannot understand it. You
may work and work and work tin you
are only a body, not soul. Now, when
1 see one of those evil looking men that
conhs from Europe-navvies, with the
beastIike, sunken face, different from
any Kaffir's-I know what brought that
look into their eyes, and if have only
one inch of tobacco l give them half.
1t is work, grinding, mechanical work,
that they or their ancestors have done,
that has made them into beasts. You
may work a mans body so that his
soul dies. Work is good. l have work
ed at the old farm from the suns ris-
ing till it's setting, but have had time
to think and time to feel. You may
work a man SO that all but the animal
in him is gone, and that grows stronger
with physical labor. You may work a
man till he is devil. l know it, be-
7 Iox fD1f
understand the change that came over
me- No one but l will ever know how
great it was. But l was never misera-
BILE. When l could keep my oxen from
sticking fast and when | could find
place to lie down in, l had all l want
ed. After l had driven eight months
rainy season came. For IS hours out
of the "a we worked in the wet. The
mud went up to the axles sometimes,
and we had to dig the wheels out, and
we never went far in day. My mas
ter swore at me more than ever, but
when he had done he always offered
me his brandy flask. When l first
came, he had offered it me, and had
always refused, but now l drank as
without thinking. At last | bought
brandy for myself whenever we passed
hotel.
"One- Sunday we 'outspanned' on the
banks Of a swollen river to wait for it's
going down. 1t was drizzling still, so
lay under the wagon on the mud.
There was no dry place anywhere, and
hn dim
fire to cook food. My little flask was
filed with brandy, and l drank some
and went to sleep. When | woke, it
was drizzling still, so | drank some
more. l was stiff and cold, and my
master, who lay by me. offered me his
flask, because mine was empty. drank
some, and then l thought | would go
and see if the river was going down.
| remember that l walked to the road,
and it seemed to be going away from
me. When l woke up, l was lying by
little bush on the bank of the river. 1t
was afternoon. All the clouds had
gone. and the sky was deep blue. The
Bushman boy was grilling ribs at the
fire. He looked at me and grinned
from ear to ear. Master was little
nice,' he said, and lay down in the
road. Something might ride over mas
ter, so carried him there He grinned
at me again. 1t was as though he said:
You and | are comrades. l have lain
in a road too. / know all about it.
When l turned my head from him, l
saw the earth, so pure after the rain,
so green, so fresh, so blue, and l was
drunken carrier whom his leader had
picked up in the mud and lain at the
roadside to sleep out his drunk. l re-
membered my old life, and l remem-
bered you. l saw how one day you
would read in the papers: A German
carrier, named Waldo Farber, was kill
ed through falling from his wagon. be-
ing instantly crushed under the wheel.
Deceased was supposed to have been
drunk at the time Of the accident"
There are those notices in the paper
every month. l sat up, and l took the
brandy flask out Of my pocket, and
flung it as far as l could into the dark
water. The Hottentot boy ran down
a. t. ho1