Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-04-03
FOur-COIored
....HppIeS s..

pies, but when you ask her to add two
additional colors she wants time to
think the matter over. Every expert
lnent was q failure, but that only made
the colonel and his gardener the more
determined. especially the gardener.
1t was his duty as an employee
TO give his master all his ideas, but he
made an exception in this one case.
He chung to 1t with logged obStinacy.
but he kept il as secret as the grave.
He might have chung to Il year or so
longer had not the colonel become i'm
patient. He said something enc June
day about giving up the experiments,
and the gardener replied that he. would
have some news for him next day. He
asked the broker to come home an
hour earlier than usual and to come
directly to the large farm barn.
At the hour named the colonel was
there. He had scarcely entered the
barn when he received crack on the
head that made him unconscious for
the next quarter of an hour. When he
came to he had been stripped of coat.
vest and tie and was bound hand and
foot He had not caught sight of his
assailant before being struck, but now
found the gardener lowering over him
with Il murderouS look on his face.
'Will you tell me what this means,
Henry?" asked the victim.
Yes, sir. | have finally found how
to grow four-colored apples. 1t has
been long time, but / have struck
it at last. | hope to have fifty bushels
on the market this fall"
"Well. let's hear about it,"
'All the apple trees are now in BIOS
som. The red ones are all right. and
the yellow ones are all right, and |
have found a way to make the blue
and green ones all right. l have SIM
ply to sprinkle them with the blood Of
a man wearing side whiskers. A drop
of blood to a blossom will do the trick,
and once the apples start to growing
that way they will continue"
Now, the colonel had growth of
side whiskers that were the envy Of
Wall street and q matter of JOY to
uiIhSt.t. w hChCNCi SOu va" thC Noio-
mel you saw his whiskers. He might
forget his Communication ticket now and
then, but never his whiskers. The
two were one and inseparable. He
didn't like the gardeners reference to
those sacred objects. 1t smacked of
familiarity, and there was covert
threat behind the words. He was at
first inclined to buster, but another
look into the gardeners face satisfied
him that the man had become crazy.
He therefore changed his tactics and
quietly said:
the orchard and experiment. l am de-
lighted to find that You have achieved
success at last"
"But how can you go when | want
your blood?" asked the man. 'You
see, you are the only man around here
with side whiskers. If the coachman
or the butler had 'em, that would do,
but they haven't, you know. They are
fine ones, colonel-fine ones"
And Chapman bent down and ten
derly caressed the iron gray side
whiskers that floated away from each
cheek and were gently stirred now
and then by the June breeZes blowing
into the open door. Never had another
man on this earth except the barber
dared to lay his sacrilegious hands on
those reverenced objects of the money
center of the world
"But we will look up some one else"
said the colonel as he felt sinking Of
the heart. IL know of several men
with side whiskers, and will coax one
of them home with me tomorrow"
But l must have the blood today,
colonel. Besides, for this first expert
ment we must have the incest sort OF
whiskers. There is nothing in the state
of New York to compare with yours.
The papers have said so over and over
again. How soft they are. How lux
uriantly obey grow. How the breeze
toys with them, Your blood is all
right, and the first bushel of four color.
ed apples shall be deposited on your
grave"
But I want to see the trees you
have selected. | may decide 10 make
some changes"
The trees are all right, colonel.
Here is knife TO open an artery, and
here is Il pan to catch the blood. What
shall | do with your whiskers after
you are dead? 1t seems a pity To bury
'em like so much horsehair."
You blamed fool, this has gone
far enough exclaimed the colonel, go
ing to the other extreme. "Unbind me
at once or I'll have you sent to prison
for llfe!'
ut won't do" replied the gardener.
with n shake of his head and taking up
knife he had made ready for the pur-
pose. "You are as anxious for the four
colored apples as am, and you mustn't
bring all our labors to naught. Here
goes for the blood"
The colonel began yelling for help.
and fortunately the coachman was at
hand to respond. He entered the barn
on a run and narrowly escaped being
stabbed, and the crazy gardener had to
be knocked down with club before
he could be secured. He was found to
be clean daffy and was sent to an asy-
lum and Is there yet, and should you
ever visit the institution he will beckon
you aside and whisper
a n. - J..