The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-05-22

AZ
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 vi ..e.
Keever averred loudly, in answer
to this remark, that Col. Dingle was
a truthful man and man of I'M
doubted ability. They had had their
little differences, of course, yet Col.
Keever knew how to grant honor
where honor wasa due: When it
rained, Col. Dingle3k knew where to 60
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 beautifully
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, land a two-thirds
vote is necessary to the consumma-
ton of such change. Now it is i'm
possible to deny that Harmony is a
favorite with two-thirds of the coun-
ty, but we''-Dingle designated him.
self and his three companions-"th
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
fnever been his extreme good fortune
| to run across so truthful a 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, supplementing 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.
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 1abored and brought
forth the Blizzard, has hidden it's
purpose well, but we have discovered
| it. Haven't we, boys?"
1--WE have" came chorus of thick
| voices.
Col. Keever wore perpetual smile,
| very childike, very bland; and he
would wink his right eye now and
| then and shake his head with great
deal of feeling.
whats the purpose?' he inquired,
evincing tendency to run his words
together.
cts this. That special election is
called for Tomorrow These men
will have been in the county 60 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 pay 'em two dol
lars a day for 60 days-that's $4,000
that it costs us to save the county
seat. And who's to the fore in the
enterprise? Col. Archibald Keever!
I declare, gentlemen, my throat is
parched. Would it be asking too
much"
It was not asking too much. Col.
Keever was welcome to the best they
had the shop and all there was of it.
"And this brings us back to where
we started" said Col. Dingle. liar
mony would like the county seat and
she would like it just $4,000 worth -
Dingle gave Keever a playful push.