Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-06-28

/ Ltg-!l,,l Ny heart was beating til Il
Gurt me. shut any eyes tight, that
IS hen / opened them | might see there
were no shelves about me. There must
be a beauty in buying and selling If
there is beauty In everything but II 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, ! the other and he would
hire another person to drive the third.
.'At the places where we 'outspanned'
there We're sometimes rare plants and
flowers the festoons hanging from the
bush trees, and nuts and insects. such
us we never see here, but after a little
while | never looked at them. was
too tired | ate as much as | 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 II went, SO 1t went.
I think sometimes when we walked by
my oxen | called TO them In my sleep,
for | know thought of nothing |
was ike an animal My body was
strong ana we'll 10 work, but my
brain was dead. If you have not felt It.
Ivndall. you cannot understand it. You
may work and work and work till you
are only a body, not soul. Now, when
I see one Of those evil looking men that
come from Europe-na navvies, with the
bcastl!kc sunken face, different from
any Kafiir's-I know what brought that
look into their eyes. and IL have only
II is work, grinding, mechanical work,
that they or their ancestors have done,
that has made them into beasts. You
may work n mans body so that his
soul dies. Work Is good have work
"a nj the old farm from the suns rls-
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 n
man till he Is devil. | know II, be
cause have felt II. You will never
understand the change that came over
me. No one but | will ever know how
=
BILE When | could keep my oxen from
sticking fast and when | could find a
place to lie down IN, had all | want
ed. After | had driven eight months q
rainy season came. For Is hours out
Of the - we worked In the wet. The
mud went up to the axlcs sometimes,
and we had to dig the wheels out, and
we never went far In u day. My mas
ter swore at me more than ever, but
when he had done he always offered
me his brandy flask. When first
came, he had offered 1t me, and | had
always refused. but now | drank an
my oxen did when gave them water
without thinking. At last ] bought
brandy for myself whenever we passed
a hotel.
zone Sunday we 'outspanncd on the
banks Of a swollen river to wait for Its
going down. 1t was drlzzlIng still, SO
/ lay under the wagon on the mud.
There was no dry place anywhere, and
all the dung was wet, so there was no
fire to cook food. Ny little flask was
filed with brandy, and drank some
and went TO sleep. When | woke. 1t
was drlzzling stlll so | drank some
more. was stiff and cold and my
master, who lay by me, offered me his
flask, because mine was empty. | drank
some. and then thought | would 20
and see If the river was going down.
/ remember that | walked to the road,
and II seemed to be going away from
me. When | woke up, | was lying by "a
little bush on the bank Of the river. II
was afternoon. All the clouds hnd
gone, and the sky vas deep blue. The
Bushman boy was grllling ribs NJ the
fire. lie looked ut me and gIlnned
from ear to ear. Master was a little
nice he said, and lay down In tho
road. Something might ride over mas
ter, so carried him there lie grinncd
at me again. 1t was as though he said:
You and | are comrades. | have lain
in road too know all about IT,
When turned my head from him, l
saw the earth, 80 pure after the rain,
50 green, so fresh, 40 blue, and | wns
a drunken carrier whom his leader had
picked mp In the mud and lain ut the
roadside to sleep out his drunk. re-
membered my old life, and l remem-
bered you. saw how one day you
would read In the papers: "A German
carrier, named Waldo Farbcr, was kill
cd through falling from his wagon, be
ing Instantly crushed under the wheel.
Deceased was supposed to have been
Arm uf Ha az nHniIHtt
There are those notices In the paper
every month. | sat UP, and took the
brandy flask out Of my pocket, and /
flung II M far M | could into the dark
water. The IIottcntot boy ran down
TO see If he could catch II. 1t had sunk
to the bottom. never drank again.
81 do not know why l kept on work
Ing so hard for that master. | think
II wns as the oxen come every day and
stand by the yolles-they do not know
why. Perhaps would have been with
him stIll, but one day We started with
loads for the diamond fields. The oxen
were very thin now, and they hnd been
standing about In the yoke all day
without food while the wagons were
being loaded. Not far from the town
was hill. When we came to the foot,
the first wagon stuck fast. | tried for
Il little while TO urge the oxen, but !
Boon saw that one span could never
pull It up | went to the other wagon
to loosen that span TO join them on In
front, but the transport rider. who wns
lying nj the back of the wngou. jump
cd out
"'rhey shall bring It up the hill. and
ir half Of them die for II they shall DO
IT alone Inc said.
"1lc was not drunk, but In bad tenn
before. lie sworc at me and told me
TO take the whip and help him. We
tried for n little time. Then told
him Il was no use. they could never
do IT,. He Hworc louder and called TO
the leaders 20 come on with their
whips. nnd together they lashed. There
was one OK, blnck or, 80 thin TINT
the ridge Of his backbone almost cut
his flesh
1T is you, dcyil, il II, that viii not
pullr the transport rider gaid. 4 win
show you something Hc looked like
IA devil.
"Hc told the boys To leave Off fog
ginR, mud he held tho OK by the horn
mud took up round s.onc and knock
pd ita nose with It I'll the blood came.
when he had done. they called TO the
oxen nnd took up their whips again,
and the oxen strained with their bnckB
bent. but the wngon did not move nm
inch.
$50 you won't, WON'T your he said.
m help you