Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-25


there lot of little shoe shops in that town.
We sat glaring at each other like so many cats
cleaning themselves, each using handful of
grass instead of a tongue. We had other employ
ment for tongues.
Did you hear what Capn Sile Cole done last
week." shouted one of the Bears He stood one
of his paint ladders up end right out in the open
field up the ladder quick it didn't have
time to tip over, stepped out the air, histed
the ladder up another length, to the top,
ketched the upper rung and held himself right
out arms length by the slack of his britches and
then got down again before the ladder had time
to fall. That's what Capn Sile Cole done
and we're all of good for one length of ladder,
and then tell us-can ye?-that yeve got a man
in Starks spry enough to fght!'
That's only a monkey trick replied Stall
wart. " 1t amt test of real man. Here's what
Cap'n Nose Britt done last week. The
two boom in the l-pond were standing
a log arguing whuther McCorrisons bat-eared
bulldog can lick Todd's brinde terrier Nose Britt
hollered to 'em from the mill door to hitch that
log onto the slip chain, cause he wanted it. But
they busy chawin tObacker and talkin'
dog they didn't hear Nose and so he stood there
in the mill door, tied a rope to the end of pick
pole and throwed spearfashion and it went forty
rods and stuck right into the end of that log those
standing on, and Nose give it such quick
and almighty yank that the log come right out of the
bark and left the standin' that bark and
still takin'. And they never knowed that log
gone till they heard Nose calm for another
Now talk about your havin' muscle in Byronl"
Aw, it's spryness what counts" said Bear.
We'll lick we and be mile away before you can
get your fists up"
LET me tell you one thing" broke in Stall
wart eff our Cap'n Nose Britt had been Central
George Washington and had come to the Delaware
River that time, Nose wouldn't have waited for
boat. No, sir! He would have just kicked up a
bubble, stood it and let the wind blow him
hot how 1ubt prI++ {
and all take after him, and if it's being spry
you're countin on out of your dream!
That's only a sampe of it. 1t was every moment
getting clear that there was no chance of COM
promising the thing. That question of spryness
and muscle had got to be settled. We sat there
and scruffed away at clothes with grass tufts
and holered louder and louder and waited for night
to come and the people to away for the feelings
of the girls always first to be considered in
the old militia days
And Captain Nose Britt stood with his arms
folded and scowled across at Captain Sile Cole and
Captain Sie Cole stood with his folded and
passed back the compliments of the season-not
saying them, but looking them.
They let the rest of us do the talking.
And that being in the good old times when new
steady beverage even for the best of folks,
and pepper-sass hot and the standing up for your
rights and your town a matter of duty,
most of the folks that and hung around the
place said things to make us mad, just people
like to cuff and wopse a dogs ears hard before
ste'-boying him That is, all except the two
ministers, the parson from Byron and the parson
from Starks. They down to and talked
and talked, soothing and deprecatory, and every
body very quiet and let them talk and nobody
said a word when they got done. Captain Nose
Britt unclinched either his eyebrows or his
mouth, nor did Captain Se Cole
So the ministers hurried away and tackled
Colonel ZacCheus Jordan who was then standing