Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-02-23
vhelmcd him and made him sullen for a

vhelmed him and made him sullen for a
| time, his wit being no match for the az
scmbled township. With few exceptions,
the people in that part of Washington
County then were of Scotch-lrish cx-
| traction. and their humor was of the dry
| biting. sly sort peculiar to that breed Of
! jOkcrs; kccnly effective rs uttered, but
almost impossible Of even approximately
! fair reproduction In cold type. Words of
innocently simple purport were convert
cd into barbcd and cnvcnomcd darts of
meaning by an arch look, Il suggestive in
tonation or. oftencr yet. 10y their covert
alusion to some purely personal matter
which had become popular knowledge.
Soon all were busy ut work. The
| echoes were stirred by the ringing sounds
of AK strokes and the shouts of the driv-
crs to their horses. Young squirrels. high
up in the oak and hickory trees, yclpod
inquiries to their elders rs to what they
thought of the strange proceedings going
on away below: and the wise ones barkcd
back that, strange as it was true, no pres.
cnt harm to the squirrel race was threat
encd. Inguisitivc crows. having thor.
| oughly satisfied themselves. by sharp OBJ
scrvation from a safe distance, that there
were no guns near at hand, came impu-
IDENTIFY close. pcrchcd over the merry.
makers heads and cawcd down theft
| criticisms upon what was going on. The
horde of dogs accompanying their mas
tcrs. having formally opened the ccrc-
monies. in conformity with ancient Gus.
tom, with promiscuous free fight. came
to an amicable understanding with one
another. and joining forces in pursuit of
minks. rabbits and chipmunks, made the
forest ring with their hunting choruscs.
At noon the men suspended their work.
and the dogs temporarily abandoned their
booticss hunting. Each man had brought
his dinner with him. and in sunny spot,
well sheltered from the wind. they all
sat down near together to eat and chat.
The entente cordialc among the dogs was
violently rupturcd in their eager rivalry
for the first bones thrown them. but re-
established upon their general recognition
that their masters were leaving TO them
much more food than they could dcvour
After quickly finishing their meal. the
younger men. to kill time during the re.
naming portion of the dinner hour enter.
cd into u series of competitive contests
Of strength and skill, putting" heavy
stone. tossing the cabcr." jumping and
throwing stones ut n mark. In each of
these exercises the competitors gradually
but surely dropped out until but two
were left, John Cameron and Rufus
Goldic. between ,chom there was n strong
feeling of rivalry that spurrcd them to
efforts far beyond those Of their fellows
II was not simply personal but rather
the concentration 20 two focal points of
the antagonism long existent between
those opposing factions, the Camcrons
and the Mulvcils. by inScnsiblc degrees,
from the time Rufus came to live in this
ncighborhood. he and John had grown
into prominence rs the very nearly
matched champions of the young men
who. according to traditional duty, were
keeping alive the ancient grudge of their
ancestors. Yet Rufus WAS not exactly Il
Mul,cil. but only "relatcd TO them" His
connection was admittedly no closer than
that his mothers first husband. who was
Bcasclcy--shc being n Mcl,ridc-had
brother married to girl who half.
brother took one Of the Baker girls to
wife. aud everybody knew that the Bak.
crs were related to the Mulvcils from
away back" though few could tell OK.
acily how. That was the way In which
most of the old women figured ont his
distant cousinship," though there were
some who claimed To have found conncc.
ton in another way, through the Clan
cys--n claim against which much could
have been. and was. said. without reach.
ing any gertrude. At all events, he was
recognized as Il relative and welcomed as
IN adhcrcnt Of the Mulvcls. But hc was
Il ''nc'cr-do'wcll,' working pretty faith.
fully ut Sim Mulvcil's sawmll or on his
farm. but never. somehow, accommodating
anything for himself, not even acquiring
possession Of Il saddle horse. II was
whispered that he gamblcd. or course.
he WAS expected to have vices. for it was
well known that he worked in l'ittsburg
several months before coming out To
Washington County to live, five years
ago, and the contamination of city life
was beyond question, Every one had TO
admit however. that he was cookbook
Ing young fellow, lacking in the open
frankncss of countcnuncc that character
lied John Cameron, hut with tine ath'
lctic figure, regular features and n hand
some head of straight hair, black as coal.
Each of foldic's fca,s in the athletic
contest was loudly applaudcd by the Mul'
wells, and each time he was defeated 10y
John, the CumcrOns shouted for joy and
triumph over their nclghbors. From these
indicative manifestations OF feeling. pro-
grcss was easy tothc uttcrance of taunts
and Insulated threats.
Several of the older men present,
mindful of the promises given two years
before by the recognized heads of the
factions. when Squire McCalmont
brought about formal agreement OF
peace between them, intcrfcrcd 10 pre-
vent the tight that seemed immncnt-and
for which abundant precedent had been
established ON other "ltoud.taX Days.
Their ondcnvors, nj least, caused the hot
headed youngsters 10 hesitate. and fortu
uat"ly IN incident occurred which divert,
rd their attention and avcrtcd the threat
cncd danger, 10y restoring general good
humor
Danny Mulvcil and the mail rider sud
denly came daShiug down the road riding
fnriou>ly aud bowling like Comanchcs
THE imp whose saddle was simply Il
ShecpSkin. was mounted upon bright
bay twoycar-old with bnzcd face. that
everybody recognized at u glance rs the
property of minister Mcleod. The mai
ridcr-a hoy only two or three years old
cr than H,nny--rOlr n good horse, with
which he had, in succession of semi
wcckly races, repeatedly beaten every an
imal in the Mulvcil stnblcs-or, at least
i,,h Al q Ip,,t