The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-09-15

morning he had SObcrcd up sufficiently
to appear before the court. which In
POttersville meant Judge Weaver
Two Of the constables swore to hav-
ing seen John Grant very drunk and
disorderly Mt the Come Inn. There
was no defense. The blacksmith even
pleaded guilty with certain amount
of citation. Apparently the one uncom-
Portable feature Of the affair to him
was the long and maliciously worded
harangue which. behind the dignity of
the law. Judge Weaver delivered to
the prisoner, closing by sentencing him
to sixty days In Pottersvile Jail and
fning him SOTO costs.
There was beatific smile on the
highly colored face Of the prisoner as
he was led off to the lookup. closely
guarded by quite unnecessary conSta-
bles, after Offering to work out the
fine by shoeing the yoke of oxen kept
to aid the paHpers In their work on the
town farm. The proffer had been re
fused with great show of dignity.
1t would have required no great Of
fort for the burly prisoner to tear down
the bars which covered the windows
of the Jail and which were rather more
| for decoration than for anything else,
| but other thoughts were in his mind.
| He was for the first time in his life.
| prisoner. It was the duty of the town
| to which he had paid poll and property
| taxes for more years than he could
really remember to provide him with
bed and board. The experience was
| not only novel. but also distinctly
pleasing. vcSting him with sense OF
| new Importance.
It was easier than working. this jail
| life, and after the first week i'll the
well warmed lookup he began to look
| forward with regret to the Tins when
he must leave it.
With the passing of the first fort
night of the sixty days coHtinemeN
this state of affairs. however, began to
pail on him. He found that a vacation
NAV be of too long duration. Vie be-
| gan to pine for work. Furthermore,
his pride was seriously affected. On
| two or three occasions lailerGfibson on
| leaving the lookup after bringing in
| the blacksmith's supper had forgotten
| to lock the door after him. 1lR prs
| oner demonstrated in forcible language
at this inattention to duty.
I'm coin' to he locked up nights
| hereafter Jim Gibson" he said, knit
| ting the red skin of his forehead into
| Il mass of frowning wrinkles. AN !
| r., tnn
me stayin' in Jail without bein' locked
up. Amt 4 got right O. be locked
up?"
"I'l put Il spring lock on the door
| tomorrow JOHN. an then if | go away
an forget to lock the door You can
close it an lock it any time You want
"Well, jim. all asks to be locked
up like | ought t" be- answered the
| notified prisoner That's all ask"
Yes, an I'll do more than that"
| continued the. constable. III have
| that lock sos you can open it from the
inside with Il nail. Nobody but rs
need know. an you can step outside
any time you want to. I'm dom this"
| he went on hastily. "'cause | don't
| WANT yeH to get sick while Won re in
my charge Prisoners get all the eX-
| ercise they want in cv'ry we'll regu
| lated JAIL an l amt goin' to have no
one say the Pottersville jail's benin
the times
NO nor nuther." agreed the black
smith heartily. Have some tobacco,
| JIM
Jailer Gibson took pipeful of the
| contents of the blue and tinscl pack
| age extended to him. and. rolling it i'll
| the palm of his hand, sat down to have
further chat with the prisoner.
"See here. John" he began, ''the
| boys arOur' Pottersville are gettin'
mighty hard up FIR a horseshoer They
don't want to go out of town FIR one
thing sides. they couldn't get nobodT
nearer nor Spencer. an that's most
forty mile away. We've been a-talkin'
| it over at the grocery store. an we de-
cided to ask you if you wouldn't like
to do little work here. We could fix
up place where you could do shOein'
real Slick
Il don't knows I'd object to it, jim"
deliberated the blacksmith. ''providin'
the boys didn't think twas lettin' me
down on my sixty days"
mo one would think that, john" in
terpolated the constable. why. 'twOu!d
be just favor to you, if you'd do it.
It's mighty slipp'ry on the roads, an
it's hard on the horses feet. There's
more'n fifty on 'em need sharpenin'.
'Twould be just a stroke Of common
humanity on your part, John, if you'd
do it,
"Well, you go ahead an fix the things
up" agreed the prisoner. IAN reckon
twill be all right"
The next day portable forge was
obtained, and a huge pair Of bellows
set up. The smith donned his apron
and did a rafting business. On the
day following he shod Judge Weaver's
trotting horse Kelleck. 2:1S, who had
earned his record at the county fair
the previous year. The blacksmith al
so shod the yoke of oxen from the
town farm For Il week he was forced
I