Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-11-19

: Between Two Thieves !
! : -os..s. Record ..,.,s /
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! Bill Griscom of Clarinda. Ia. was del
esate to the last democratic national con-
| vention ut Kansas City, but he didn't at
1 tend to politics Very much, because he was
! too busy telling some of his old stories
TO a new. enlarged and ever varying au
dience. The conversation turned upon
| the respective merits of different western
states, and when the praises OF Kansas
| had been duly sung Fill took fresh cut
al his black navy and said:
Il don't know about that Fact is,
haven't been out of Page coun-
| ty, Iowa, for years, but unless
| Kansas has changed a lot in i've
| past twenty Years don't think I'd
Ike TO live there again. did try 1t once.
| did my best to help 'upbuild the common
| wealth and ali that sort o thing, but l
come as close to being lyncfeCi as Il white
man can and live to tell the story.
| II was past 30 when 1 set sail from
/ zAmity, Ia, and took up Il claim in Kansas
| WAS as green and innocent as hard
| working and honest for a fact as if
| wasn't telling about it myself. ] had a
| few hundred dollars, and ] struck in for
| farming on the square. / put up my
| fences made dug-out, got me some tools
q team and wagon and put in about
| eighteen hours {; day working It was
! about twenty miles TO the nearest town.
| and, as Id Eever been away from home
| before, L had a pretty lonesome time till l
| got acquainted with Ed lieffernan and
| Tom Peabody, who lived over the HILL and
| kept up Kind of bachelor hall on q joint
claim of theirs. i met EN- in the road
| one rainy day and asked en- into my
| place. 1t was Sunday and as l was
! ticls!ed to death to have company / killed
| two chickens and laid 'em u spread that
made us all happy.
They made q pretty good-looking pair,
| and ! liked en- from the start cut. lIef-
fornan was Il big, bread -shoulderea, laugh
| ing lilshman, and Peabody. who seemed
| q web educated, self respecting kind OF q
| chap, llad all the poise and confidence of
an experienced man of the world
| showed en- my farm and asked their adj
| vice about crops ard things. but, though
| they seemed surprised al my progress
and praised the Showing made, they
didn't seem especially well informed about
| agricultural matters. Eut when they left
me they insisted that | drop in for dim
| rer next Sunday, and ] was glad enough
| to promise. That started it. ] Went TO
their shack one Sunday and they came to
| mine the next, and in this way we man-
AGED to lead very nei6liborl5 and salts
| factory life for four or five months.
Il often wondered how they made out,
| fer they didn't seem to plow any, there
| were no crops in evidence, and vet the two
/ friendly ranchmen were dressed we'll, their
/ iardcr was loaded with good things and
1 they were satisfied to keep within the re-
| Quirenent Of the homestead law so far
| as toll was concerned. L esViod them their
! leisure and their good horses. They had
| as many IS ton head The first time / called.
| and during tho five months which followed
/ i remember counting as many as twenty
| FIVE good animals in their corral. They
| had two COWS. u few chickens and a cgu-
pie q dogs, but 50 far as / could see they