The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-09-20
Of his smoking. But when a person


considers it, II was rather an unusual
right TO see an owl smoke a pipe. ana
the stranger was considerably aston.
ishcd. He hunted up Eben and wanted
to buy the owl. Then the stranger
wanted To rent the valued bird.
".fhis is no bird-renting establish.
ment,' said Eben, surprised like. III
you think am running q trained bird
livery stable there is another guess
due you. That owl of mine wonl,
pine away and die IL he couldn't see
honest old Eben Brown every day.
And he's accustomed to the woods
and mountains and wouldn't be of any
use in city. where there is no game
to be hunted
"The stranger explained that he was
the agent for cigarette factory and
wanted the owl as an advertisement,
for his line Of goods. Eben was
shocked
DO | look like man who would
smoke cigarettes, or train an owl to
use them?' he asked. Since he left
the egg not drop of liquor or Il
cigarette has touched the beak of that
virtuous owl. And you want me to
let him go to the city where he
would learn all kinds OF bad habits?
How would l feel il that owl cam.
back to me at the end of the sea
son wearing golf stockings, putting on
cigarette and with an appetite for
mixed drinks?'
'The agent had set his heart on get
ting the owl, which he said would be
"a unique advertisement for his line
of goods. lie offered $50 week rent
for the use of the owl and promised
the end Of the season. While Eben
was in doubt l called over at his
house. The agent was trying to per-
suade Eben to part with the owl
warned him against 1t.
"'You're making good income out
of the earnest, honest efforts of that
owl as il is / told Eben. BY trying
to grasp too much you will lose good
money and ruin the owls health and
morals. If that owl is used for an
advertisement, he will be putting cigar
cites from morning 10 night. \
smoke once in awhile may not hurt
him, but whoever heard of young
owl who became addicted to the cigar
cite habit and lived to green old
age?'
"'And how many owls did you ever
know that was hurt by cigarette
smoking" inquired the agent, sarcas-
tic like.
81 never had an extended acquain'-
ance with owls who used the weed.
/ replied sternly. Pike county owls
are birds of good morals and better
habits. If / met an owl coming
through the woods with a cigarette in
his mouth would cut him dead
But the agent insisted that the
line of goods he was selling never
injured anyone, man or owl. The rent
the agent offered was considerably
more than Ebcn was getting from the
sale Of game birds, and at last he
agreed to let the agent have the val
ued bird for ten weeks. But he was
filed with misgivings.
"'Take good care of him. he said
70 the agent That bird is the pride
of my heart and my chief source Of in
come. If anything should happen &c
him il would break my heart and
make It necessary for me to do a con
siderable amount of unwelcomc toll.
"The first week after the owl left
Eben was lonely and downhearted,
and didn't know what TO do with him
self. He tried to do little hunting.
but having become accustomed 10 de-
pending upon the owl he was out of
| practice and didn't meet with much
success. At the end of the week he
received check for $50. one week :
rent for the owl This cheered him
up quite a bit. told him no good
would come of the money.
That's blood money said, coin
that's paid you in exchange for the
physical and spiritual good of your
feathcrcd pet, who is now exposed to
clouds of cigarette smoke and the
temptations of life in a great city.
No blessing will come to you from
that check
"Eben sneered and said that he no
ticed that the check cashed for as
much as il il had had whole bunch
of blessings attached to il. But in the
end he was punished for his greed and
lack of moral principles.
For two weeks Eben received
checks regularly and cxulted in the
easy money he was making. At the
end of the third week box came by
express directed to him. The box had
air holes in it and evidently contained
some living creature. Eben pried off
the cover and there was his pet owl.
But how changed from the strong.
healthy animal that had left home a
few weeks before. His feathers were
RULED up, his eyes were dim. and ev-
cry few minutes he would give a
pathetic owl cough that was painful
to listen to. Too many cigarettes, and
the temptations of city life had proved
too much for the trained owl and
he had been sent home to die.
"Ebqn lifted the moor bird out of