Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-04-05
the third and fourth generation. was

the third and fourth generation, was
gathered around his table on Thanks
giving day. 50, under the burning
sun, whose only shadow was cast by
the fiocks o. carrion birds that circled
above the remnant of the outfit, they
stood over the grave OF their dead
companion, waiting for like fate, or
death by their own hands, to be torn
by coyotes perhaps before the breath
was out of their bodies, the six paunt
men with bowed, uncovered heads,
while "East-Side" pronounced in SOL
emn tones:
''Oh, Lord, for what we are about
to receive make us devoutly thankful.
Amen"
A prayer was a prayer to s'East-
Side" Anything that began with
Lord in reverent terms and ended
with ''amen" was prayer. His
grandfather had been godly man, and
he had said it, therefore it was appro
pirate on this occasion. The effect
was the same upon the others, for the
words smacked of the phraseology OF
the wandering exhorters they had
heard.
After the passing of the Missourian
there was even less to do; the men
were moe taciturn with each other.
but thei g was noticeably less profanity
among them, possibly because they
harbored their strength more jealous
ly and the exertion was unnecessary,
or because their mouths were too dry
to articulate manv words. It was now
six weeks since they had set ont across
the "sink," expecting to get the cattle
off their hands and have little ''time"
in the city before starting back to the
camp, but the wild-eyed, sorry looking
things seemed unpromising enough
now even for glue factory
AS "East-Side" lay on the ground
looking up through the holes in his
hat-they stood upright and walked
no more than was absolutely ne necessary,
for that required an expenditure OF
strength -lazily wat ching the Hocks OF
birds that swooped and poised in the
air above him, he discovered, OF
thought he did, that they cast shadow
against the sky-a tiny gray shadow
that he watched for the utter lack oi
anything else to watch. When the
birds few lower, the shadow seemed
to grow larger, but when finally they
flew away there was still the shadow,
larger and darker. With wild whoor
he sprang to his feet. forgetting the
value of harboring his strength as he
grasped the import of that shadow. IT
was a cloud Every man sprang up
at that tiny speck and went to work
with white face and unsteady hands.
The speck grew larger, and the men
worked harder; every hole or trough
that led to the basin was cleared for
might be lost. Their words were few
but kindly as they scraped away, with
one eye OH the ground and the other
on the cloud slowly but unmistakably
growing larger and coming their way.
During the night those un-scorched
dreamers dreamed of moist winds, and
rain clouds fo egathering over the
moon, then of raindrops pattering
gently until they made soaking
downpour. But they had often
dreamed that--dreamed it when their
parched tongues hung out OF their
mouths and cracked for dryness. BY
this time they had grown wary; even
in their sleep they were on their guard
and not to be beguiled into believing.
When at last in the early morning g
the rain did come, with the first pat
tering drops every man forgot every
thing in the world but the all consu m
i"~ passion to slake his burning
thirst; until their hats had caught
eaoagh to drain, they sucked their
shirt sleeves. Then, because his own
need for that hast charge was no longer
imperative, the outfit boss drew a bead
on the likeliest animal in the herd, and
they feasted royalty, ioyously, uproar
iously on steak and waite. And in the
exuberance of their glee no one no.
ticed that for convenience they had
chosen the mound that covered the
Missourian for their table.
After the feast every man lay down
in his trench, which was now filled
with water, aud soaked, soak ed through
to the marrow, rousing himself only
to drain his hat, then falling back and
soaking more. And when, after "a
hours of soaking they got up out OF
their trenches, each water-logged man
was firm believer in the efficacy of
prayer. San Francisco Argonaut.