The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1902-03-01
HOW THE DEACON WAS SOLD.

Among his neighbors Job Haines
was considered pretty fair sort of
man. He had settled in little town
in the southern part of Kansas, where
he lived as an immigrant from New
Hampshire, and he brought his Yam
kee sharpness with him, but as he
dealt fair and attended to his own
business he passed. The only men,
Der of the family besides Job and his
wife was Ike, a nephew whom Job
had taken to bring up, as he had no
children of his own. Ike was typi-
cal New England boy about fifteen
years old. He had been brought up
in one of the coast villages of Maine
and had great love for the sea.
Job, like the majority of Yankee
farmers, was a firm believer in cattle
and did most of his work with oxen.
One day he said to Ike, like, if you
will take that pair of yearling steers
and break them to work, you can
have them" Ike was exceedingly
we'll pleased at that and at once as
sumed charge of his new possessions.
If ever pair of young oxen were
we'll taken care Of, they were. He
groomed them as carefully as the
horses, SO that their sleek coats shone
as glossy as silk, and he was so kind
with them that they were as gentle
as sheep. He named them Jack and
Billy.
In his western home he never for
got the faroff ocean. 1t had been
the one hope of his life to be sailor,
but his being sent west had destroy
ed it. When his uncle gave him the
steers to break, the idea came to him
that though he could never expect to
tread the deck of his own ship he
could use ship phrases in the educa-
tion of his oxen and thus always be
reminded of his own home beside the
sea. Thus it was that Jack and Billy
were educated to work, broken, ;"
totally ignorant of the usual COM
mands by which oxen are managed.
Gee" and ''haw," "git up" and
whoa" had no meaning for them
whatever. 1t was haul away and
"port" and "starboard" and "be-
lay" Stern alp was back. The
oxen grew and waxed strong, and
his uncle often remarked that he
never saw a team that could do more
work than those oxen and Ike. No
one but Ike ever thought of handling
them.
The nearest neighbor to the Haines'
was Deacon Merwin, good man and
pillar of the church. The good dea-
con saw that Ike's yoke of oxen were
workers, and desire came over him
to possess them. He offered to buy
them several times, but Job always
said that they belonged to Ike and
were not for sale. The deacon asked
Ike if he would sell them, but met
with such an indignant refusal that
he felt angered, but did not give up
the idea of possessing the cattle.
Finally he went to Job and said:
"Neighbor Haines, if them cattle II
work good every way I'll give you
$500 for 'em. They're too much
property for boy like Ike to have,
and it is apt to create in him a bad
sperrit and make him feel above his
elders"
"Well, don't know, deacon. The
boy sets deal by them cattle, and a
promise is a promise. / gave them
to him if he would break 'em and he
has, so I'm bound to keep my part. !"
"That's all true enough, Neighbor
Haines, but Ike's only a boy, and
then, remember, $4oc amt offered
every day for yoke of cattle. Why
not sell me these and give him an
other pair to break; that 'ud do him
jist as well?"
The deacon's $500 and persuasions
finally weakened Jobs scruples, and
he gave in. The deacon was to try
them, and if they worked all right
he was to have them for $500. How
to tell Ike what he had done was a
poser to his uncle. His aunt declar-
ed it downright mean piece of bus
mess and told Job plainly what she
thought of him.
It was finally decided not to say
anything to Ike until after the sale
had been made and the cattle gone.
In order that Ike might not be on
hand to see his pets sold he was CIV
en- holiday and sent to spend the
day at neighbor' S, couple of miles
away, where there was boy of his
age who was sort of a chum of his.
The next morning Ike was off
bright and early, and the deacon was
on hand shortly after. 1t would not
be fair to Job to say that he did not
have any misgivings. He would have
backed out of the bargain at the
least chance, but he really hoped that
the deacon would not be satisfied
:4t. 49,. The oxa,1 xx,are hr0,1u11t =