Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-12-09

&C.
Debble jes laff1n' ~
When he git yo' down; -
Tink he sholy hab you, ,.sgt
Ready TO- de groun',
Don you. glib up easy
Thresh aroun' like sin;
Keep kickin' honey,
Fight 1t out an win.
Townsend Allen in the American
Cultivator.
A LEGEND. $50 4
It was summer tina and tiea fields
grew fine crops of wheat. barley and
oats. The wheat was the most flour
ishing, but it bent its GOLDEN head
IN humility and mecknesss Not SO
the buckwheat; 1t stos,d up proudly
and held its head high in the air.
II am quite as good as the best of
them" 1t said. and much more
beautiful. Do you know anything
that can compare to me, yoa Sleepy
old Willow"
The willow merely nodded itsi head
and the buckwheat continued more
boastfully than before: That stu
pid tree is so old that weeds are grow
ing all over It's body. Ill pay no
attention to it, isss
A dreadful storm was brewing, aand
all the flowers either folded up their
tender leaves or bowed their; heads
to the ground, but the naughty, buck
wheat looked up.
Bend your head as we do" wills
pered the kind flowers.
II see no reason to-. replied the
buckwheat.
Bend down your head, as we dot"
cried the wheat, and the oats and
barley said: THE angel of the storm
Is coming, and he will destroy you
ere you have time to cry for mercy"
Let him. answered the buck
wheat, II will not humble myself
even for hint" Then spoke the, old
willow: Shut up your flowers and
draw in your leaves. Please don't
look at the lightning when the clouds
burst. Men who are less feeble de-
sist."
Less feeble, you say!" cried the
buckwheat. scornfully. Nov, what
ever happens, I'll LOOK right intoithe
heavens!" 49, ifs
When the storm had passed, the
flowers lifted their heads, refreshed
by the rain, but, alas! the buck%heat
was so scorched by the lightning that
1t was as black as coal.
The old willow wept from pity, and
the sparrow stopped in its flight to
ask the reason. The willow then told
the story I have told you.
| Next time you pass field OF buck
wheat after thunderstorm, you can
see. that 1t looks BLACK and scorehsa.
7 Nov syUh WIN know the reason, and
Twill learn a lesson from this legend,
namely. not to be boastful or vain.
/ Philadelphia Ledger.
GRANDMOTHER GRAY,s STORY.
When ] was of your age, Amy, we
lived on a prairie not far from the
great Mississippi River. The near
est house to ours was mile OF, and
there lived my cousin, Ruth.
One cloudy day in winter my moth
er said might mount our old horse
Major, and go and bring Ruth. to
pass the night with me; for we had
a saddle which. was large enough for
both of us.
l had no playmate but Ruth, for
! was an only daughter; and glad
enough was l, therefore, to have her
come and be my companion. Sc. off
started soon after dinner, though
the sky was gray and the air was
chilly.
When got to Ruth's house, there
was much to detain us. She wanted
to change her dress, and then she
had a new book to show me. The
minutes few by more swiftly than
l had supposed. Flakes OF snow be-
gan to fall, and at last l said, Come,
Ruth, we must go or there will be
a storm before we reach home"
At last she was ready; and about
i've O'Clock in the afternoon we
mounted to the back OF old Major,
and started. The ground by this time
was covered about an inch with
snow. SO that we could not well see
the line of the road Ruth said
was going wrong; SO turned the
horse in another direction, though
Major did not seem to like this at
ALL
We had not ridden far when we
looked round on all sides for a house,
4 but no holSe was to be seen; and
now the snow was falling thick and
fast, and sweeping into our faces SO
as to almost blind us. 80
Il thought l was right, and you
were wrong" said /, turning the
horse in direction more to the left.
But in five minutes concluded was
going wrong. I began to get alarm
ed, when Ruth said: How stupid
we have been! Drop the bride, and
let old Major choose his own path.
and take US home as he will. He
knows best" =
did as she advised, and, sure
enough in Ave minutes he trotted up
to the barnyard with US and with
/ q loud neigh told the folks we had
arrived. Father and mother had
been quite anxious about us; for 1t
was seven o'clock, and had grown
quite dark. Glad enough were they
to receive us safe and sound.-The
NnrcnrU