The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1908-06-18

\ burned up yet. eh ODD alanT' he said
/ Jehu dId not reply. but stool With his
\ hack turned until Dan replaced the
bars and went away, when be laid his
rhin upon the topnost rail and watch.
vi his youthful master With a medita.
! tive eye. What bis reflections were q
man may only guess: but. Judging from
, the expression Of bis countenanee, they
! were gloomy mixture Of skepiicism,
! eynicism and despair OF life. After be
! had ruminated for long time upon
the mysteries of existence Jehu turned
away to break bis fast The weather
had been moist, and the grass In the
meadow was succulent Into Its cool
sweetness he dug his aged nozzle aud
chewed the few shreds which his worn
and widely scattered teeth could tear
away. with mild regrets for vanished
youth. After he had satisfied bis ap.
petite he looked about. A flock OF
sheep were pastured In the field Some
OF them were lying down. blinking at
the sun and renectively chewing the
cud. Siding up TO these, one after an
other, be poked bis nose into their ribs
and reused them up Was II spirit
OF innocent mischief like Dams that
made him do It or envy OF their hap
plness or restlessness OF hearth And
why was 1t that he crept quietly be-
hind young colt and kicked him In
the thigh. lifting up his raucous voice
In loud, triumphant honk as the
frightened Oily squealed and started
down the pasture on a rum or all the |
inartlculate and untranslatable sounds |
OF nature that honk was the most star. |
tllng and mysterious What was Its
true significance7 An outpouring OF |
Joy, sorrow, anger or despair,
Amid the traditions floating around
the school yard there was one about
old Jehu's honk. The teacher had been
accustomed TO dismiss the school at
the sound of steam whistle which al
ways blew at noon. One day 1t blew
too soon. she thought. but closed the
recitation. opened the door and let out
the eager throng Of little people, only
to learn that II was the voice OF Jehu
she had heard!
More than once during the morning
Jehu lifted up his deep, incompre-
hensible and fnrreaching voice, but
had the jenkins family not been com.
pletely absorbed In their tasks they
would have noticed that In the after.
noon It suddenly assumed q different
tone. Not only did 1t become more fire.
quent, more inslstent and more remote,
but had plainuye and pleading
quality that had never been heard in 1t
before. And, worse than this, 1t final
ly had ceased to sound at ALI
But In the multitude of sounds that
fell upon the family ears from ROSTERS
cattle, sheep and farm machines Jehu's
voice was mingled and lost When 1t
ceased, 1t was not missed. No one had
bestowed n thought upon the old gray
donkey until Susie and little Bob went
hand In hand down the long lane to
drive the cattle home.
"Where's my Zehoof" asked the
child, whose sharp eyes detected his
absence from the crowd OF living
things about the bars
Casting her eye over the pasture,
Susie saw that he was gone Inex-
plicable as this seemed at first, she
quickly found the reason why. Just
inside the bars there was an old well
which had mysteriously gone dry and
been covered up by heavy planks.
With a start Of terror, she observed
that this covering had been broken
through and that In the splinters OF
the boards were long tufts of Jehus
almost snow white hair.
Help, helpl" she screamed, putting J
her pretty hands to her lips and shout.
Ing to her brothers In a neighboring :
field.
whats the matter2" they inquired,
down their hoes and starting G
on run.
"Jehu's fallen In the we'll! Quick! e
Quick" she cried. In few moments u
The news. had Travelled all around the .
farm, and the different members of the
family came running from the fields, y
The barn, the house, to find Susie 2
her hands In helpless grief U
Ind little Bobbie bowling through his
ears. "My -fallen--in-ze- .
well; ze-naughty-ole-wellr e
1t is one thing to discuss the prob u
EN- Of what to do with an old and
aithful servant like the donkey when "
he Is alive, and It is quite another to d
tand by deep well into which he has u
allen and where he may be suffering
gonies from broken bones
Ere's pretty 'ow-de-dow piteously
reclaimed the kind hearted Yorkshire
nan, who that very morning had pro-
'osed to shoot him In cold blood.
"Who knows how much you are to
lame yourself" exclaimed the I'm
lacable Mrs. jenkins, wiping her blue
yes with a checked apron whose color
natched them TO shade.
do you think he's deadT asked
,an In CHASTITY whisper, remember.
~ with remorse that bis last act had
cen one Of disrespect, II not unkind,
ess.
"As doornailr' Tom sententiousIy
spilled.
How deep's the welIi" the mother
sked.
Some thought II ten and others twen-
, feet but al agrsed that at Jshus
dvanced age even q donkey could not
'ossibly survive 70 hard q fail. On
uestionably the faithful ass was dead.
Strange solution OF the problem
vhat to do with Jshu, isn't itr Mr..
enkIns asked In q voice whose tone
{ too affected grief led Mrs jenkins
D remark:
Il do believe you're glad he's deadv'
"oh. no. my DEAR he said. resenting
er reproach with a quite sincere an.
er. I'm not exactly glad he's dead;
ut then. you know. be had 10 die
ONE time and In some way. and I
eckon he found this one bout as sat.
factory as any. He's been good .,,
iule. and I'm as sorry as anybody,
nly I'm honest enough 10 say that hes ex'
seu sagsd n lnf nj xuHarfov ar.d fro