The Press., 1905-11-22
SAVING JIM PETERS By Mary Donaldson Copyright, 1905, by R. B. Mcclure
By Mary Donaldson

a ne'er-do-well who is pitied and con- demned in the same breath. In the village of Glenville Jim Peters was the man. He was constitutionally lazy, was a toper. from head to heel and his wife and two children often wanted for clothes and food. Mir. Pc ters had been struggled with on nu- merous occasions. Women had given him tongue lashings, and men had hint ed at tar and feathers. He had been induced to sign the temperance pledge on twenty different occasions, only to break it each time anybody offered him a drink, and he had been provided with work many times over, only to show his general laziness.
 One day when the Woman's Mission society was holding its monthly meet ing Aunt Hanna Davis brought up Jim Peters case anew and declared that something should be done. She was given license to go ahead, and she pro- ceeded to go over the old beaten track. Jim signed the pledge, agreed to stop chewing plug tobacco and go to work, and he even expressed an anxiety to ''get religion" and become in time a deacon of the church. His good resolu- tions carried him along for two weeks, and then he fell down, and he fell hard; i; not only that, but he boasted around that Aunt Hanna was an easy person to deal with.
 The good woman lived about a mile out of the village, having a farm of her own and enjoying the life of a spinster, and one morning she got up, to be told by the hired man that some body had robbed the smokehouse over night. Jim Peters was the only per son for ten miles around who could be suspected, and when the hired man told his news he added that Jim ought to be arrested and his house searched for the plumber.
 we must not accuse any one with out evidence" replied Aunt Hannah. "It may have been Jim Peters or it may have been a dog. Pm rather of \ would suggest that you get out the old bear trap and set it in front of the smokehouse tonight. If a dog steals meat once he will twice, won't hep
 That's what have heard" observed the hired man as he started for the barn to hunt for the old trap.
 Aunt Hannah had started in to re- form Jim Peters in earnest mood, and she bragged that she would accom- plish what others had failed to do. When the man backslid she was Fe- buked and criticised on all sides, and, although she seemed to take it in good part, she felt something of spirit of revenge.
 The bear trap was oiled and set, but it was a week before any game ap- peared. It was the hired man again who brought her news. AS he came into the Kitchen with the milk pails he observed laconically:
 "Well, Mrs. Davis, we have caught the dog"
 q see," she replied after & look from the window.
 "It's a dog that looks exactly like Jim Peters"
 "Yes? I'll go out after breakfast and have a closer look. wish you would cut me three or four switches from a peach tree before you go to work. If you hear the dog bowling, you needn't stop hoeing corn on that account"
 The woman fingered over her break. fast as long as she could, and when she finally donned her sunbonnet and wandered out to the smokehouse she had several switches, pail of water and dipper in her hands.
 Good morning, MT. Peters," she sa- luted when she had come to a halt"
 "I was looking for my jackknife here last night, and walked into this old trap" he said by way of expla- nation.
 "Yes, I sec. Is Mrs. Peters wellT
 About the same as usual"
 And the childrenT'
 Hang it, why don't you call Joe up and tell him to get me out of this2 This internal trap has about cut my leg off. If twas anybody but you I'd have the law on lem. Who knows how long I'll be laid up with this legT
 "Mr.- Peters," said Aunt Hannah in very sober tones, do you remember your promises to me?'
 "How am I going to keep promises when all the town is agin' me7 You are agin' me, too, or you wouldn't have set this trap for me-"
 ''You have been coaxed, bribed, pleaded with and fairly bought but you still loaf around and get drunk. It is time that some other plan was resorted to. Drink this."
 She handed him a dipper of water, and he drank about half of it. He was about to pour the rest on the ground when she said:
 "I know it has a strange taste to you, but you'll have to get used to it. Don't waste a drop. Here-have some more"
 'T've had a-plenty."
 Aunt Hannah picked up one of the switches and proceeded to lay it over Jim's shoulders in q vigorous manner. As 1t was summer and he had only ragged cotton shirt across his back he was speedily reminded of his boyhood days. He reached for the dipper and downed a quart of water, and then said:
 'I say, want this trap taken oR. Do you think I'm a man of wood or iron? When I tell folks that Aunt Hannah Davis is pizen mean 'nuf to set bear traps for innocent persons you'll be hauled up in law"
 "T'Ve heard on good authority, Mir. Peters, that you lick your wife"
 "If do she needs It."
 Well, we'll see how a licking goes In your case. We'll try one anyhow as an experiment"
 'I'll holler and raise the hull coun- typ
 "Then the whole county will be here to see"