Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1907-04-04
A Warming
COnVeyed&

Advice of Knob County Native
Regarding Trapping of
Chicken Thieves.

lugged IL away. KNOWN IL was mine
and that he hadn't no more right to
do il than he had To shoot one o. my
cows" said the man from the Knob
country, "and yit now he goes and
summonses me To be defendant in
lawsuit he's bringin' agin me fol-
Islander! Hain't spoke to him MOI
mentioned his name in better than
I four years, and here he goes and
summonses me To be the defendant
in suit for SANDER!
Josiah come in tother day and he
was considerable glum. l asked him
what was achin', and he says:
Its them chickens o. mine he
says. Half dozen o. my best ones
was stole last night. Half a dozen
was stole the night afore that, and
j s'pose that half dozen II go ag'in
! tonight, and then won't have none
left he says. That's what the ailin
is, Dan'l,' says he.
Josiah is old Jason's son-in-law
and a consarned nice young fello
he is, too, for all o. that. And Jason
lives neighbor to Josiah.
"T'm goin' to put a bar trap in
that hen coop tonight says he, and
| jest find out who it is that's unpop.
ulatin' of it, says he.
H II sot and thunk awhile, and then
/ says:
Josiah I says, before you set .
trap for your chicken thief, let me
tell you little recollection about
somethin' that happened in the Knob
country somethin' like a good many
years ago. Then says /, If you
want to set your trap, why set it. 1t
won't make no difference to me,
says.
"'The time I'm referrin' to- saws
i, 'Sackrider & Jupp was in pardner.
ship in the shingle splittin' and lad.
der maxim business, over back o. the
Knob. Sackrider had daughter
jimmy. She want more than IS when
this happened, but she could fill out
calico dress like sugarcake dough
run into a mould.
'Sackrider's pardner, Judd, was a
tiptop, strappin' youngster of % or so
He was an orphan on his mothers side
but his poor old father, Abner, was
left to be a isolation and a comfort
to him. The old man lived on the boy
and had the rheumytis most o. the
time, with now and then a call from
plumbago in the back, and similar
cheerful ailin's.
"'Abner was a fine old man, but
there was folks mean enough to say
that though he was always sufferin
terrible when his boy was around
which the youngsters name wa.
Caleb-he was clipper enough wher
the boy was away in the woods, shingl,
splittin' and could walk three miles tt
the tavern and absorb more rum anC
tanzy that any other citizen o. tina;
bailiwick. That's what there wa,
folks mean enough to say about Abner
but you'll find jest setch meddlin' folk,
everywheres, Josiah, everywhere
"'Caleb, he never knowed of thei
talk, though, and was always worryin
, about his poor old father, and feelin
sorry for him, and saying that he wa
afeared he wasn't dom enough I,
} make the old man comfortable on hi
way to t'other shore.
"'The ground that Sackrider'
, daughter jimmy walked on was wortl
somethin' like $4,000 squire inch t,
Caleb and the price mark that Jim,
put on Billy was so high that the Queer
O. Shelby couldn't a carried enough
treasures and things in her chist t.
pay it, and setch bein" the case, O
course, it was settled thing, all owe
the destrict that them two was goin
to marry one another when the tim
come right.
"'There was considerable O. shee'
stealin' and chicken stealin', and setcI
pastimes as them going on back c
the Knob in them days, and nobod
was more dead sot ag'in 'em thai
J. Sackrider's daughter jimmy.
"Why, says jimmy to Caleb on
!, day, 81 wouldn't think no more {
shootin' sheep thief" says she, ''tha
] would O. shootin' skunk, and l gi
mad" says she, every time think {
one!"
{ Caleb he said that he did, too, an
' that he didn't want nothin' to do wit
d anyone that belonged to sheep thiei
d "'"Me neither" says jimmy. II
as soon fetch p'isen!" says she.
Along early that spring ma
:. came through there buyin' up shee,
: Caleb had some O. the choicest kind I
sheep, but none of 'em was for sale
1.-The sheep buyer he sort O. dep,
tiled Uncle Lijer, at the tavern. I
pick up all he could and forward e,
to him at the Eddy. Now, someho,
or other, of all the sheep that ha
been stole in the deestrict the most G
j 'em had always been took for Calel
=. and somehow when chickens was levie
on, Caleb's seemed to be the favorit
!. brand O. chickens that was called TO