The daily Alaskan., 1908-08-19
EXPERIMENTING ON A TRAMP.
rCopyrlght 1908 by T. c. Mcclure ]

Copyright 1908, by T. C. McClure.l
 The widow Gregg was d natural re- former One afternoon she left her farm for the village to do some trad ing" At 4 o'clock, when she returned and drove into the yard, strange spectacle greeted her. What might be called the north end of man was pro truding from kitchen window. The case was plain. Ills trousers and shoes showed him to belong to the genus tramp. He had called and, finding the house alone, had forced up the sash of the window and started to climb In. At the halfway point the sash had come down on the small of his back. and he was held as securely as if be had been handcufred and shacl;led
 The widows face beamed with sat- isfactlon as she entered the house to take a look at hls phiz, Yes, 1t was a tramp, and hulklng big fellow at that She went outdoors with look of anticipation in her eyes and hunted up a bit of board of just the right shape. and for the next half hour she was a busy woman. She stood of ot just the right distance from the win dow, and the board rose and fell with amazing regularity and vigOr. The tramp kicked his legs about and In. dulged in remarks, but the walloplug did not end until the woman had tired herself out. Then she took down the clothcsllne and wrapped 1t around the tramps legs about forty times, en- tered the house and tied his wrists securely, and then raised the sash and let him fall backward on the grass. As he lay there she came out to bend over him and ask: t
 Well, how do you feel now"
 1T don't exactly know" was the reply.
 "This is an experiment on my part. I want to bring you to a state of hum- blcness. Do you think l have accom- pllshed it?"
 '.Xes; l feel number than did. It's 9 new feelIn', and you must take the risks of it."
 "Oh, I'll look out for the risks. Just make yourself as comfortable and as humble as you can, and when the hire" man comes up I'll see to your case fur ther."
 Two hours later the ramp's hands were unbound and food set before him The food consisted of bread and water There was consistency iu a humh'c man eating humble fare When he had finished eating he was again made SC cure and dragged to the barn and lock cI up in the granary for thc night
 "Thc next step Is to arouse your ann bltion." said the widow as she lr. him. and I'll tell you my programme in the morning. l hope to lind yo"I humblcncss greatly increased by then Do you still feel humility buhbjng up in your soul?'
 "I do, marm, and am sortcr afraid of it. It's a new fcelin, and l don't know what its going to lead to. It' an experiment, is it?'
 Tt is."
 "Thcn you must take the risks, as ] said before. understands myself as a cheeky tramp, but when you come to make humble tramp of mo that's diff rcrcnt"
 Next morning the fellow was hauled out of the barn and asked ii any adIi tional feeling had come to him during the night, and he replied:
 "I think there has, marm. I think I'm feeling what you call ambitious this morning. find myself thinkm of work without the usual feclin's of dread accompanyln' 1t. That's umDi' ton, I take it."
 Yes"
 But don't blame me, marm, if any thin happens. When you go for to i'm plant new fecllns In the breast of q tramp you can't tell what he's goin' to do"
 win you take a hoe and go to work l1 the field fl ] give you good DreaA' tast?"
 "I will, marm. I'm sortcr curus my. self to see what's goin' to result from |, this new fcelln'."
 The first result was d breakfast tnM should have done for three hired men It kept the widow on the jump to l;ccR the table supplied. He wasn't eating on his humility appetite, but on his ambitious one. When he had finished at last he was asked to cut some wco0 before going to the field. In the course uf ten minutes he Shivered two .aX handles and gave d cherry tree mor' tai blow. Started for the field to as sISt the hired man. he tramped over the tomato and cucumber patches, tore down panel of rail fence getting over 1t and in the course of another half hour had wleldcd his hoe so vigorous ly among the turnips that he had dug up two bushels with the weeds apd broken the blade Inc hired man sought to curb him. He was a lusy hired man that had licked over score