Ottumwa semi-weekly courier., 1902-07-29

8
Keever's.
Colonel" he observed, carefully,
Concord is the county seat of Good
will county,"
Col. Keever replied that he had no
reason to dispute his honorable
friends statement. He concurred in
it fully.
Colonel" went on Dingle, "Har-
mony would like to have the county
seat"
Keever averred loudly, in answer
to this remark, that Col. Dingle was
truthful man and man of un-
doubted ability. They had had their
little differences, of course, yet Col.
Keever knew how to grant honor
where honor was due. When it
rained, Col Dingle knew where to go
to keep out of the wet.
Dingle laughed, his natural eye
glowed, and he nudged Keever with
his elbow. The other three gentle
men joined in the merriment, liquid
refreshment was again bountifully
administered and the good feeling
prevailed to an extent that was al
most morbid.
Dingle hung languishingly on
Keever's shoulder while the three
others huddled about, anxious to
laugh at any joke however old, and
silently imploring an opportunity to
express their unbounded affection
for everybody.
"a special election has been called
for the purpose of shifting the coun-
ty seat from Concord to Harmony" :"
Dingle resumed, "and two-thirds
vote is necessary to the consumma-
tion of such change. Now it is i'm
possible to deny that Harmony is q
favorite with two-thirds of the coun-
ty, but we"-Dingle designated him
self and his three companions-"tho
oughly understand how utterly vain
it would be for Harmony to attempt
to secure the county seat without
the good will and assistance of one
whose ability is undoubted, whose
virtues are the envy of his fellow
men and whose congenial nature is
theme of general remark. In
short, Col. Archibald Keever, of Con-
cord"
Col. Keever smiled his qualification
and desired to state that it had
never been his extreme good fortune
to run across so truthful man as
Col. Dingle nor such whole-souled,
appreciative set of companions as
had accompanied him; and he hoped
that, knowing him as they all did,
they would take this little apostro-
phe for what it was worth. In the
meantime, as the national debt was
oppressive, why not give it another
lift?
The four gentlemen from Harmony
readily understood this hint and four
TASKS were stretched out stimuli
taneously towards Col. Keever. The
latter bowed, and to the end that
none might feel aggrieved, paid due
and heightened attention to each
flask, supplementipg each draught
with peculiarly happy remark rela-
tive to the generosity of the donor
and the excellence of his gift.
This small formality over, Col.
l
Dingle once more resumed his topic
in voice that was growing husky
| by very apparent degrees.
"Col. Keever, you have managed
the townsite of Concord and man
aged it well. Among other things
you have gone ahead, like an able
| tactician, and have rushed into this
precinct certain men to build bridges
and houses, and repair roads and
heaven knows what. Now, every
body is aware that the roads are all
| right, the bridges in good condition
and that you have more houses than
| you can use. Well, then, why have
you brought all these men here? Oh,
we know! That fertile brain, that
intellect that labored and brought
forth the Blizzard, has hidden its
purpose well, but we have discovered
it. Haven't we, boys?"
eve have" came chorus Of thick
voices.
Col. Keever wore perpetual smile
very childlike, very bland; and he
would wink his right eye now and
then and shake his head with a great
deal of feeling.
whats the purpose?" he inquired
evincing tendency to run his words
together.
"It's this. That special election is
called for tomorrow. These men
will have been in the county 80 days
and in the precinct 20 days; conse.
quently they can vote and, naturally
they'll vote for Concord"
Shouldn't wonder much" re.
marked Keever, with dry hiccough
"Twenty men, and l pay 'em two dol.
lars day for 60 days-that's $2,4oc
that it costs us to save the county
seat. And who's to the fore in the
enterprise? Col. Archibald Keever!
J. declare, gentlemen, my throat is
parched. Would it be asking toe
much"
1t was not asking too much. Col
Reever was welcome to the best they
had in the shop and all there was of 1t
"And this brings us back to where
we started" said Col. Dingle. 'Har
znony would like the county seat an6