The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1903-10-08
THEIR LITTLE CANE.


te Was voellefously 0h0eeae1 r. Dut
the Participants Kept It 0eSng
Right Along.
Dingenvort was tired and went to
bed early: consequently he was not
pleased when he was awakened from
his flrst stage Of slumber by the sound
Of serenade in the alley. It vas .
mans voice singing and the voice in
itself was not particularly unpleasant.
relates the Chicago Daily News. What
disturbed him especially was the mo-
notony Of the melody and the rapidity
with which the words were uttered in
some unknown tongue. 1t was more
Of chant than song and 1t contin.
ued without breathing pause-longer
than Dingenvort could have imagined
possible. There's one comfort about
It," he reflected; 1T can't last long at
that rate
That consolation had scarcely &C.
CURED to him when suddenly another
voice took up the chant without the
break Of . note in the connection,
while the first one ceased. 1t was tho
same sustained gable and the same
seesaw Of tune. From time to time
q continuous shout of laughter,
pitched in many keys. came from the
alley. but through it all the song con-
tinued.
Mighty odd" thought Dingenvort.
II wonder how long that COMPOUNDED
.HOyv ia on{ncr s<n Loop ,,n9ss
He got up and raised the window.
He saw half dozen men grouped
around the singer. who looked up at
the sound Of the opened window but
did not stop for an instant. Dingen.
wort watched him curiously and in q
minute or two saw him drop out of
the circle. while q third man ad-
vanced, singing II possible even more
rapidly than the others had done. BY
the light Of the street lamp at the end
of the alley Dingenvort saw police.
man stop and listen without making
any attempt to bring the entertain
ment to close.
I'm not going to stand for this"
said Dingenvort Here. you fellows!'
he called. "Cut that out and move
along.
The men looked up, but the song
continued amid fresh bursts Of laugh.
ter.
'Raus NIT you!" shouted Ding
envort. "Allez! Git! Vamos!"
One or two Of the men clapped tho
singer on the shoulder. and with
much merriment directed his atten-
ton to the indignant householder. Blu:
the singer was not to be interrupted
until fourth man took his place;
then he stepped back with CLEAN OF
white teeth directed upward at the
man at the window
Hey, of1icer!" shouted Dingenvort,
and the policeman moved forward.
The man who was now singing saw
him, but the torrent of gibberish that
burst from him seemed to double its
rate Of speed. 1t was like the crackle
Of gatling gun. The policeman was
now close to him and he backed away
little, still singing, and it was only
when he felt the policeman's hand on
his shoulder that he stopped. and the
instant he did so his companions
bounced on him with noisy mlrth and
bore him away down the alley at "a
run.
"Well!" gasped Dingenvort, as the
policeman stood looking after them.
What kind of lunatic asylum do
you call that. ofhcer?"
ITS a game they have" explained
the officer. 1--WE heard 'em many's tho
time. One Of 'em starts 1t an when
he's got to some word the next takes
1t up an the man that quits or doesn't
come to time sets 'em up to the gang.
They're some kind of foreigners"
"Why didn't you stop them before?''
demanded Dingenvort.
''Why should II" said the police.
man, tolerantly. They're good-na-
tured an tbs their way. We can't all
be Irishmen."
Dingenvort shut the window and
went back to bed. There are some
disadvantages in living in cosmo-
politan CITY," he told himself.