The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1904-03-29

2
nothing.
At last the same idea occurred TO
John that had occurred to me. lie
went a few rods above my spring, on
his own side of the fence, of course,
and dug into the ground exactly as
! had done; and when he had finished
you can use me for a cancelled postage
stamp If the water in my spring didn't
refuse to "gurgle."
He had cut of the main channel in
precisely the same manner as | had
done, andlSd stolen the whole Of that
spring back.
Well-or-or-this may seem funny
to some; but | could never quite real
ize just where the fun came in.
In the first place, | didn't steal Johns
spring-not intentionally-it was a
case Of pure accident. But John-why
what John done was an exemplifica-
tion Of spite on the face Of it.
And told him so!
What did John say? Why-the-
the old cripple! He said If | would
toss that iron paling and cut granite
over the fence 10 put around his own
EIi lux AN NRAlAh EANN W bNNhA AZ Z
Think Of that!
Insulted me right to my face. Said
/: "You old hayseedl If | had you
over in this pasture l would mop you
MI over it if It killed every spear of
grass there was in it,"
And he replied, just as sneeringly
as he knew how; %''Tompkins, I'm a
goin' tn wall this spring up, an lock
it with an iron kiyer; but when you
feel so inclined you kin come over,
an though you can't get at the water
you have my full permission to hear it
'gurgle,'"
To which l went w-r-r-r-r-r-rh! And
when a man goes w-r-r-r-r-r-rh he's so
mad he can't use the Anglo-SaXCn lam
guage.
/ watched John wall that spring up,
attach his new iron cover, and
w-r-r-r-r-r-rh'd all the way through it.
And all the while Tom Lamkin
stood leaning over his own fence,
smoking his pipe, and watching us,
and saying-nothing.
Finally, after Johns work was all
completed, it occurred to me that
possibly l might strike that same vein
of water again.
So / went a little above Johns
spring, just as he had gone above
mine, and began to dig; and | hadn't
dug long before the water began to
"gush' ans "gurgle" with the same
impetuosity as ever; and soon
knew by the expression on Johns
face, who had been watching me,
and his spring at the same
time, that | had stolen the whole
of that blooming spring back again.
1t did seem strange how, the chan
mel of that water wound serpentine-
ly back and forth under the soil of
Johns pasture and mine, and both
of us living in total ignorance of
of that fact.
Well. | transferred the iron paling
and cut granite from my first spring
and arranged them as artistically
as ! knew how around the second.
John watched the proceedings, BON
harding me with numerous ex-
pletiyes while the work was pro-
crossing, and of course | let him
lombard. l finished the whole thing
up grand, planted my Crystal
Spring sign so its front faced to-
ward Johns pasture, then snapped
my fingers at John and told him to
whistle.
"And Tom Lamkin stood leaning
over his own fence, smoking his
pipe, and watching us, and saying
nothing.
Then John began to wake up and
show signs of activity. Hardly was
my work completed before he spat
on his two hands, grasped his spade
firmly by the handle, and, with the
same determination as before, start
ed in to steal that spring back.
And he made his work count. too.
Hang me if right up in the corner
of the fence close to Tom Lamkin's
land and mine, that old cross-grained
lshmaelite didn't strike water again;
and when he did and | inspected my
own spring, the water began to
gurgle less and less until finally it
died out and stopped altogether.
| knew it was then or never with
me, so, grasping my spade, | darted
into my own corner of the fence
and began to dig dirt, too.
Holy smoke! how the soil did fly.
Some of Johns mud plastered me,
and some Of my mud plastered John.
And that water, as if trying to
please both at the same time, first
~'gurgled1 on one side Of the fence
and then "gurgled" on the other.
IT was mud and water flying here,
mud and water flying there, mud and
water shooting in every conceivable
direction, and with John and my
self right in the center of attrac-
ton.
And in the end, to serve us both
right, Tom Lamkin, who at divers
times had been leaning over his
fence, smoking his pipe and watch
ing us, and saying nothing, went to
work on his own land, found that
same channel, cut it or, dug a ditch
up over the hill and down to his WI
premises, put in a ram, and took
nearly every drop of that blamed
49, ....IA AWa a.. IL