The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-31
CONSCIENCE AND
HORSE TRADE
Each Tried to Cheat the Other and
Each Felt That He Had Succeeded.

Chicago Reeord-Herald.)
once there We're two men who traded
lioIs,s- Each traded for the purpose OF
Snsallng the other, and after getting
Lly1ihe ana examining his property each
ieit mat he had succeeded i'm his design.
after that they would take roundabout
Ways 70 avoid meeting and in time each
came 10 have a hang-dog look People
wondered at che change which had come
over these two men. They had formerly
I oeen 5000 citizens and steady church
members. Both had been genial hale fell
/ lows, who had cracked their honest coun-
uy Jokes and laughed lOudest at them
themselves, but after the horse trade they
IoSI their old gayety of spirits.
Aaey kept away from church: they
I avoided not only each other. but their
nelghbors and from cheerful old souls
they became sOur-looking fellows, who
went ABOUT continually dreading some
| thing that they thought was sure to hap
pen or that might happen if it didn't turn
out otherwise
But one cav the horse that Brown had
/ traded to White lay down and die White
was filled with joy. He felt that after
all ne had not cheated the other man. His
conscience seemed to pull a large. jagged
prod out of him. He even went out be
hlnd the barn and Whistled, Just to make
/ sure that he hadn't forgotten how He
was glad that he was not a cheat after
in the face
I'll go to Brown" he said to himself.
and forgive him for gouging me. I can
dIIOrQ 20 be magnanimOus, for wicked
ness Is its own punishment I wish some
( body knew about this I hate to go
around just keeping it to myself. / never
thought before that I'd ever be glad to
get cheated, but it's one of the pleasant
est hlnSs ] know of. I wish I could af-
ford IL right along. The old worlds all
right It's the finest place I've ever seen
and one of the best things in it is that old
dead horse out there"
Now, it happened that while White was
having al this pleasure Brown too, was
happy His horse had fallen dead of old
age ana general debility and he, there
fore, supposed that he was the cheated
one He was so glad that he ate five or
SIX green apples without noticing what he
0id. The sour look left his face and ne
ran out to the road where a boy was ria
ing past on milk cart to cut up with
him and plague him about the Addison
girl with the wart on her chin.
Il must go and forgive White for
wronging me- he said TO himself 'and
Wen be friends again il he has the cour-
age TO look me in the face. and at night
won't bear the Crickets all saying,
Cheat. cheat. cheat any more.
So he set off down the road humminE
Nelly Gray as he went and surprising
the people he met by joking with them in
the old way
Presently he saw White coming toward
him.. He was sorry that a large crowd
would not be present when they met He
wanted other people 10 see how pleasant
he was going TO be while shOveling Goals
or fire on his Old friends head. At the
same time similar thoughts filled the
Inind OF w htte. As they came nearer
each ran forward with happy counte-
nance and an Outstretched hand not quite
understanding why the other didn't hang
back and look guilty.
My dear old friend" said Brown as
they met. ''I want to forgive YOU
I was Just going. over to forgive YOU"
replied White. THE horse you traded me
dropped dead this morning You cehated
me but III nor hold a grudge against
What. Ne cheat .ou! Not muchr
You cheated me. The horse I got from
YOU in that trade died Of old age a couple
OF hours ago. But I forgive you. Let's
let bygOnes be bygOnes."
Then they stared at each other for
moment and began backing away. while
the guilty looks returned
When he got home Brown sat down and
thought. At length ne seemed TO have
il figured out
by jing" he said. 'I believe a man
that wants to cheat and can't get the
chance is Just as bad as the fellow that
does and gets caught at it."
But White looked at it in another way.
Darn it, he said to himself now /
won't have q chance to 90 to church and
look at Browns empty seat there and
feel like a boy that got licked for stealing
a piece Of pie that they've just found out
somebody else took
MANY mans conscience is in his liver