Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-07-10

Jerry loves Fool Luck.

git along IN this world without
quarrelin'. We had an awful feud here
years ago, an the end amt in sight
yet. An yaller dog started 1t. What
old man Bascom saw In the dog, an
what the dog saw in old man Bascom
is more'n l know. 1t jes' seemed to
he sort Of mutual admiration society;
one Of them beautiful an touchin IL
Illustrations of dogs devotion to man
that folks are always talkin' about,
losin' sight of the fact TINT 1T some
times shows a lack of common sense
on the part Of the dog.
Old man Bascom an Jerry Lowe
used ter be ez thick ez two feas on a
dogs tail. Like every self-respectin'
community we have story of buried
treasure, an them two was always
lookin' fer 1T together. 1t was com
mon sight to see the old man diggin'
Ter dear life with Jerry sittin' not far
away piayin' 'Downin Coal Nine on
cornet that he had 1t never seemed
to occur to the old man ter let Jerry do
some of the work, an folks said that it
was jes' some of Jerry's fool luck.
But one day the dog got under Jerry's
feet an he gave 1t kick. That started
the feud an they never hunted fer the
treasure together again. Old man Bias.
come swore that he would git even
with Jerry; but somehow or other 1t
did not seemSez If he never would, jes'
because Jerry had SO much fool luck.
Once the old man threw a dead cat
under ,Ierry's house, an when he
crawled under ter gilt 1t out he found a
hens nest with sixteen eggs in it. An
once Bnscom tied n cord across path
when Jerry was comm with pail of
water, an he fell and split the water;
but I'm bowed If the water didn't
wash up n two-bit piece that somebody
had lost. But Bascom stuck to 1t that
he would git even.
IT did seem ez though the old man
had trouble enough of his own without
worryin' Jerry. fer 1t was his misfor-
tune ter be married to a female buzz
saw. II man ever wanted an excuse
to remain single old man Bascom's
wife furnished 1t. The way them two
at an fout was awful to see. Jerry
lived near them an when he heard the
racket start he would git out his cornet
an play Home, Sweet Home an .Jes'
Before the Battle, Mother' AM tunes
Ike them. / amt denyin' that 1t was.
sort of aggrevatin' to have neighbor
throwin' out insinuations through n
cornet; but that's what he did Folks
got SO that they knew from Jerry's
playin' 1cs' how things was goin' on
down at Bascom's. An when they
heard Jerry playin' See, the Conquer
In Hero Comes they knew that the
light was over an that the old man
was sum fer peace.
Well, one day the neighbors heard
Jerry playin', we Shall Meet Beyond
The River That wasn't in the code, an
nobody knew what he was drivin' at
till they heard that old man Bascom
was dead. Assumin' that Jerry was
right, an that they do meet, give IL
out ez my humble opinion that there
will be 4 fight!
"Well, after the funeral was over 1
was called upon In my official capacity
! az justice of the peace ter read a paper
that Bascom had left. knew what 1t
was, cause drawed 1t; so gave out
the tip. mn everybody was there, in
cludin' Jerry. 1t read like this:
ITO all those present l wish to sol.
EMMY declare that I believe in the
sacred bonds of wedlock; that don't
believe that 1t is good for man Tor
woman either to be alone. 1t is my
last an most sacred wish that my wife
should marry again, an hereby de-
clare that have no objections to her
SO dom. To hasten this end leave
to the man who shall marry her the
contents Of the brass box that is in the
corner of the room. l make but one
condition. an that is that the man.
must play the cornet. To my neighbors
with one exception leave my kind
regards an this advice: Waste no more
time lookin' fer the buried treasure.
My dear friend Seth Bugby has the key
to the box an command him to hand
~ " lllt man Muo Suall lueeI I'LL IueSe
conditions
Hold on, said l, ez everybody start
ed talkin' at once, this here paper has
an error in 1t! l drawed it an know!
This paper is in old man Bascom's
handwritin, an guess that when he
copied 1t from the one that wrote he
dropped out word. What wrote an
what he wanted me particularly to
write was: That the man must not,
play the cornell"
Pm thinkin'," said Jerry. that the
dockymint stands"
There amt no gittin' around that
said 1, but 1t amt what Bascom
meant!'
well, sir, it did beat all what rum
pus that dockymint kicked up. The
single men an the widderer was fer
goin' ter law an try an have 1t cor
rected. But the married men grinned
an said it was no use tryln' to buck
agin Jerry's fool luck, an they give It
up. OF course everybody saw at once
that Bascom had found the treasure.
an in tryin' ter keep Jerry from ever
gittin' hold of 1t he had thrown it right
into his lap!
"Well. the next day Jerry kim ter me
an said: Seth, what's in that there
box?'
81 don't know said 1.
"sSeth,' said he, kinder excited like,
4 tried ter lift 1t an l couldn't bulge
1t an inch! There amt but one conclu-
sion. That there brass box contains
the hidden treasure that everybody has
been lookin' fer! Just cool 1000, 900.
an the man that marries the wilder
gifts it!'
"'He'll earn his money saysI.
"Jes' cool 81, 600, 900? says he, kind.
err dazed like.
GERRY says l, we amt gcin' ter
take advantage of a mistake, be you,
en- marry old man Bascom's wlddera