Sharp County record., 1903-08-28
The Good Bears
Temptation
Uncle Hiram Relates tils E=d Of
Deacon Todqer's Pet. q


~ y fore. hi1u," said Uncle Hiram
A. mseu. mournfuIlv when it Was
81 tlt OH, or rather blown 90
4, is The temperance people -
Bk:Ir town laid the blame 90 whisky.
y ,eouIds't agree with them.
, whisky properly applied said
- Deacon Todgers. trying t1 COM
Bort him over his loss, ..rsr harmed
J.an OF beast. But o ,ruu..lt.aa vi
ON Wilson'S JOY producer nitro
T. Ivcet rs and n irgl0us and e'ii-uluae1
| p make would bring 20 a sudden end
No career of the most cultivated
-.fcs. that erer tr0d the rirh to t1r-.
The deacon had caught the rear
4llghen it was a cub and had trained 1t
~ carefully IN the way good bears
lc houm 90. ptare's 30 denying that
r lie made % success OF his exp rinnHt-
3el 9Wheu N approached the period OF
= ,dult beaghood that bear had for
l.tf6Sten more than any other bear IN
2. 6be count. had ever known. He
nould. appreciate the. excellence or
dlyood whisky and play several games
RI l1f cards. Besides that he would run
: lorrands for the deacon, aet as watch
. dog at night and sec that the good
ItiIeacon didn't get the worst end Of 1t
/, If he got mixed up in little scrap
I Def any kind.
I lone little fault that bear Of mine
T. nosqesses the deacon used % say,
I. admiringly, though With just little
i touch Of regret, but I haven't the.
4 heart TO blame him, seeing how few
II men who pretend to intelligence can
i ever be taught to play the national
n game properly.
y "But IL the bear was Exhibit A IN
:. the ursine family Tom Wilson's pet
/ blacksnake could cash in nearly as
|. well at his own game. a good many
: people thought the snake knew as
{ much as Tom himself did OF course,
!; Tom wouldn't quite agree 20 this
I; protosition. But he was monstrous
!; proud. of hhat snake, just the same.
! A-Peo-, Eye, Tom used to say, in
, sort Of 2 Eegretful mannor. If the
! original serpent in the Garden had
the intelligence Of this cultivated
animal Of mine, 7 don't wonder she
Yielded to temptation. Ever since
began to appreciate the ability Of
properly trained snake, l have felt
that she had been blamed too much
kor that apple affair
The good old deacon. thinking
that he really needed a little stim-
ulant to keep himself in condition
for doing his duty in an efficient
manner, used TO drop down to Toms
tavern quite frequently in the even
ing. Naturally he took his cher
tshed bqar with him.
~Ordinarily the snake was asleep
in the back Eoom IN the evening.
But one night ae happened to be
performing in the. barroom when the
deacon and the bear came in. After
the snake hrd finished his exhibition
almost every one apphuded.
"'rhe snake swelled out what chest
he had and looked proud and happy
like a snake who has done his duty
and more than has duty. But the
deacon shifted sort Of sCOrnful.
For a crawling reptile, he said
sarcastic like, I'm not denying that
snake Of yours does fairly we'll But
of course. he is not TO be mentioned
in the same breath as my bear when
it comes to real animal Intelligence.
TON Wilson sneered at this and
allowed that the only place where
there was any belief in the bears
ability was under the deacou's own
hat.
"A good bear, well-meaning
bear, he observed, scornfully, but
for true culture not to be mentioned
with my snake
The deacon was almost dazed with
honest Indignation at this attack on
the pet he cherished like o son, lie
allowed that the snake wouldn't be
one, two, left at the post, If the boar
geally showed what he could do.
ITO make things interesting he put
up pretty good wager with Tom
Wilson on the relative merits Of tho
bear and snake, Then he cleared an
open place on the floor and put the
bear through hrs tricks.
II don't know that the bear was
really any smarter than the snake,
although. OF coarse, their talents lay
in different directions. But every
body loves a good bear and maybe
that prejudiced the boys n little, At
any rate, when the bear finished, the
unanimous opinion was that the
snake had been beaten
TON paid over the bet, though he
didn't show any cheerful alacrity
about doing it. The. defeated snake
crawled away in humble manner.
Bus there was a-look in his little
beady eyes that didn't promise any
Christmas presents for the bear if
Mr.. snake ever saw any chance 60 get
even.
~ couple Of days later Tom WI
son went 20 a corner Of the barn