Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-12-22


WsfS SrsSn. Her nefghbor on rne N
sida Of q partition was Kentucky bred
mare which cut a rev noufs ago had
been the property OF Captain Campbell
Within doors the Christmas tree with
its unshed mask stifl m~onopolized oM
room. but In the other cheerful hands
worked a metamorphosis. Cobwebs. lit
ter and soil disappeared. and furniture,
country made. but adapted to its purpose.
o It's place. In one corner they corded
together q bedstead in the good old fash
ION OF their OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. and the
bed they reared upon II was a marvel
There was O mattress OF oat straw and
one OF corn husks. a bed Of stripped hens
feathers ~ one OF goose feathers. and
holsters n pillows In numbers sufficient
70 accommodate a family Of hydras. Aunt
Dicie furnished blankets. and among .
collection of quilts was q wonderful one
OF old Miss Jimson's piecing. II contain
Cd by actual count 3.17s pieces. and she
called II the foundation OF the great deep.
When at last that bed was made up the
turkey red cherubs on the pillow shams
almost the only shams that civilization
had introduced among those artless peo-
ple) lay very close to the rafters' ls
ma GERS viewed It with admiration ana
complacency. but Deacon Higgins iooKea
dubious.
They're a toIlable spry old couple
he said, but And he wheeled a parrel
Of potatoes alongside as a suggestion OF
way and means.
II would take a reader pen thar mine
to enumerate and describe all the shls
that were brought to that piehishnhs'
The cupboard door refused to close upon
the array of ham, hominy and money tlh.
three his Of the mountaineer)' the san
risings bread and the soda biscuit. When
bagfuls Of had been empueu
into the new meal bin II was "plumO
full" and they all surveyed II with satHs-
faction and "~reckoned the SCOOP wouidh !
scrape the bottom OF that before spring:
All day long pedestrians and vehicles
had been coming and going before ne
the old house, n yet when the sun had
set the sky on fire behind the Bald the
gathered people were still awaiting an
arrival.
They scanned a mountai road above
visible only In short lengths where \
emerged from the forests into the clear
ings.
81 see 'emr' a farsighted old man
shouted with a boys enthusiasm. II ss
old a Ledbetter's white mules! Nos
they're behind Mays peak. Yon see
EN- come ont on t'other side"
At last the white mules stood befors
the door. Colonel Ledbetter and Grove
Cleveland sat on the front seat of tns
wagon, and on chairs behind them sal,
Preacher Carr and his wife. Strong hand
assisted the wife to alight. but M
preacher sprang over the wheel TO greet
his people They crowded round him.. ana
the young cried Merry Christmas," ana
the Did said Welcome home" The!
seated the pair beside their old believes
Preside. They were eight years Older
than when they left It. The preacher has.
held his own" but when they too Of
the goodwife's bonnet her hair shove
very white. A tende hand amoothed H.
I'VE are growing DID," said the preach
o.. but they told him thar the gospel thai
he preached and lived would never gros
old. They told him. too. Of repairs to 81
made In the old church. II would loos
Just al It used to look. but over the doc
there would be an inscription. "Thf
Church Of Christ"
The tree was stripped. the white mule
were headed homeward. old III Leo
better gathered up his reins, and a Tires
little lad nestled close to his side.
wake up. Grover Cleveland. wake w
Don't yo' hear 'em singin'f Jine -
Grover Cleveland, Jine in!'
Within the cabin q chorus swelleo
without, one thin little voice piped fS
and clear:
"Crown him. crown him. 3
Grown him Lord Of allf'