Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1906-09-06
Some Theories
And a Bear Trap
BY c. B. LEWIS
Copyright. 1906. by VI. VI. Cunningham !

lost his good wife, and his daughter
Jennie kept house for him. He had got
| to he fifty years old and iincky. while
she had GOT to be twenty and was
| called one of the incest girls in Adams
| county
| Tom Barlow, the Youngest of the vii
| lage merchants. agreed with all others.
| He had driven out To see Jennie on half
| a dozen occasions on Sunday after
| Moons and il was whispered around
| that marriage would come of it. The
| father had scratched his head and said
| nothing. but in his own mind he had
| regarded it as good match.
All was going well when an Interrupt
| ton suddenly occurred Mr.. Barlow
| dealt In hoes. rakcs and shovels as well
as in dry goods and groceries Uncle
| Peter bought hoe of him and started
| into the cornficld one morning to make
| the dirt fly The hoe pleased him, the
air was balmy and the corn was knee
| high and still growing. He was hum
ming to himself and wondering how
long before he would lose Jennie when
| he pulled over a sod with his hoe and
| caught sight of big fat mole under
| Meath
The life or death of that mole had
| little to do with the future prosperity
| of Adams county. but Uncle Peter
| jumped IN with intent to slaughter. He
made three or four blows with the hoe
| and finally one tremendous blow. The
mole was inundated, but ut the same
| time the handle of The hoe was broken
| and the old man fell forward and
| plowed his nose into the ground, He
| got up mad. He WAS mad at the mole,
the hoe and himself, and he jumped up
| and down and used cuss words.
One does not remain mad 1T himself
very long. lie finds some one else 10
blame for the whole th.ng. In this
! case Uncle Peter put the calamity on
| the shoulders of Mr. Barlow He had
sold him hoe handle that was weak
| In the back-sold 1t with intent to de
fraud and deceive Uncle Peter had
sold short tons Of hay more than once.
but when any one cheated him he look
| ed upon it as wrong TO all humanity.
| Ilc W as litul tlt lO't'lNitV lNil'N WYNN
he massacrcd the mole, and he had
| Just got the dirt out of his mouth after
the fall when man he knew came
driving along In his buggy.
He naturally asked what was the
matter, and the old man cut loose. He
| called the merchant a cheat. fraud and
| swlndler and vowed by the whiskers
of his ancestors that he would never,
never buy aught more of him He
| wanted his words repeated, and they
| were
When the father went up to the
| house after another hoe and the daugh-
ter asked what was the matter he had
| more to say about the merchant and
something particular to say TO her. He
made more fuss about that broken hoe
handle than the county commissioners
had In building n bridge over Goose
creek, and he ended off with:
"Now, you gal. listen to me- If that
swlndler ever sets foot on my land
ag'in III crush him as | would a-a-a
| mouse"
| Jennie argued and protested and
tried to soothe, but the father was OBJ
durate. lie told her of the message
he had sent to town, and she wrote a
few lines of excuse to Mr. Barlow and
sent them by n passing boy. That aft
ernoon several persons had several
theories to advance to themselves
| Uncle Peter held to his anger. His
| theory was that Mr.. Barlow would
drive out in the evening and try to get
speech with Jennie and seek to excuse
his disgraceful conduct in selling for
% cents a hoe not worth a dime
| Jennie's theory was that the mer-
chant would drive out with half q doZ-
en- hoes in his buggy and tell her ia
Their to take them all, but she feared
the result. The old man was mad ali
through, and it always took him at
least week to get over one of his fits.
Old Mrs. Davis who lived just across
the road, heard something about the
| broken hoe. and her theory was that
| there would be n row of some sort and
that she would be there to hear and
| to see
| The merchant didn't have any par
ticular theory. He simply made up his
mind to drive out TO Uncle Peters and
tell him to come in and help himself
TO hoes, rakes and shoyclS without
| stint
Nothing further of moment happened
| during the day. 1t was after supper
| when Uncle Peter was milking the
| brindie COW that he got another the
| DRY. 1t might have worked we'll had