The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1905-09-20
Shrewd Jabez Crowfutt
[Original.1

of it, whereas if he thinks he possesses
gift he is usually mistaken At any
rate, Jabez considered his faculty for
making shrewd deals so pronounced
that he left his wife 10 do al the work
on his little farm while he traded il
ho:ssfesh, cattle AMI such live stJci. as
farmers use. All the money t,iIt was
!rafln canae from the woman esocts.
One s,IsG:>r evening ia q AS
smoking his pipe o. h,s 5to1p WIN a
man dove Up in bu<5g,' and asked if
! ne could be accommodated vi III i sup
per ANA a bed for the Eig.It. J&b2l
was about to turn him away when lie
noticed that the horse he drove VA,
built for speed. lie IT orca conceiyel
tie idea Of gatting the animal ;EtJ his
possession by trading III, Toores, hose
in his barn for ii and acceuei TO the
strange r's request. During The even
ing he pumped the owe. Of tie AMI
nal TO discover if lie VS. aware Of its
value The man id not appeal. TO pm;
much value on lis horse. and J aba2
thoIgin if he cJull keep him III the
! house long enough he m.glt MAKE the
trade,
5ao;z he'd 10 difficulty il pe"sulding
the strange, II rcllGil over Il day. and,
for the matter Of that, h sh WED he
deposition to depart at the Cd Of a
week OF month or six n 0iiths.
He IVES I'll fiis time making III, his
| mind whether he NiS,lcd II swap
horses. Thea ,Jalea told him to ~ Ike
up his mind Of get out, wh@rc7:rol the
stranger Swapp2i horses wi,ho,;t any
TO boot" and Jabez was del GIFTED
The horse ho gave was not worth $50,
while the one he received he finally
sold 70" 500. This fine bargIia. the
only one .iai.ez ever made. confirmed
| him in the opinion that he WAS a born
| trader
One day the stranger told .IaheZ that
| he was staying il the region for his
| health; that he had been greatly bcne-
! fitted and proposed 10 remain fndeti-
nitclv IF .IabeZ would lei him bald a
| small house on his premises he would
| pay a fine rental and turn over his
| house to .JabeZ without cost ca his
/ departure. JabeZ was delighted. The
stranger asked him to fix his own
! rental, and JaheZ named an enormous
I price considering that in Il short time
/ he TaS to have the building. The
I lessee consented at once.
.Iabez supposed that as soon as the
! lease was siGrod the bCillinG would
! go M. hut by the terms the lessor was
! entitled to put his structure wherever
/ he pleased on Jabez'S property. lie
spent several weeks making up his
/ mind. then astouiShed .iabez by cho0s-
/ ing spot which included the well.
/ The well was about ten feet in the
/ rear of JabeZ's dwelling. and the
! new structure would be diSa grccahIy
! close. shutting off all light from the
rear windows. IabeZ protested. where
| upon the lessor. instead Of claiming
( his right under his lease. cfferel
/ handsome bonus. which satisfied ,IahcE
/ and gave him great confidence in The
way he managed his Affairs: also Il
certainty that tie stranger was either
crazy or f01l.
With the final payment. lumber be-
gan to arrive ami a structure to 20 Up
over the we'll house. There were few
windows and none in position where
I any one in the old hou#e could lpDlz
/ into the new one This made the arrlii-
/ tectural effect peculiar. In due time
! TIE building WAS finished and the
stranger moved in. After that he stayed
at home . great deal. Jabe2 wondered
what he was doing in his house aid
one day condesccnded to ask his VIE
what she thought about it. Size replied
that the stranger had paid enough 10
do what he liked. Then one day Jabez
noticed Il crack in his wall, but when
he called his wifr'S attention to it Sic
made light of it. Finally tie hearth
stone. which had lain on the ground
i'll tie same position for forty years.
showed signs OF sinking. Then .IaOcZ bis-
gan 10 suspect something was wrong.
After noticing this last peculiarly
JabCZ looked for the stranger 10 colCc
out of his house to ask him some quaa-
tons. But the stranger did not coi,"
out. Jabez waited three days. then.
thinking the man might have died. t0]1
his VIE ,h1t he proposed 10 0pea II"
door and Investigate. The WIFE TOT.
him that he had best 60 80 b aii
lacaus. .Jabez went into the new house
! and found It filed with di>t. II Tie
miaG!e was the Wei oGt Of wiz. tn
dirt appeared To have come. Ja5@.
looked down and saw that tAora E
"a, WIZ -. IN .slan Wy r. had - ,s..