Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-10-06
A Tramp's Dream
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4
the kitchen door preparatory to the
MONDAY meal Il tramp turned IN from
the highway and asked for bite to
eat. Ee was asked II he would WORK
for 1t. and after II look in the dircc.
ton Of the cornfield and shake Of the
head he replied:
I'm Just out OF the hospital with
three broken ribs and am not strong
enough. but III do heap better thai
TO handle hoe. turned In here be,
cause | dreamed Of this place last
night while | was slccpin' in barn
| ive miles away. Yes. it's the same
place house. barn. orchard. blue pump
u the we'll ana everything else. It's
.uSt as II my dream had been photo.
,raphed."
| What sort Of dream?'' asked the
farmer. bat without much curiosity.
| Il thought ] stood right there under
that pear tree and saw you come up
! from the barn. You had an iron bound
box On your shoulder. and you could
| hardly stagger under it. You threw
It down just where that old hen is
scratchin' and got the OK and broke
it open. Gee whlzr'
And whatg"
well. the $50 gold pieces went fly
| In all around here like snowflakes in
| winter 1t was the beautifulest sight
my eyes ever beheld-great big yaller
coins. and how they did chink togeth-
or. 1t was their chinEin' that woke
me up"
But there's nothing In dreams" said
the farmer. although he was beginning
to turn pale around the mouth.
"Mebbc not, mebbe not. but never
had one yet that didn't come true Are
you willin' to let me search your barn
and gimme half what 1 fndY'
you sit down here and III bring
you out some dinner, and then we1l
talk further about It,"
Farmer Bingham was no fool. He
was young man of twenty-five and
was accounted above the aye.age I'm
sharpness. but the dream hit him. He
had scarcely related It to his wife
when she exclaimed:
"You carry that tramp out the big
gest dinner he ever had and then pump
him dry and get rid of him"
After the tramp had eaten his fill he
offered to help them about the box
They made excuses.
Ladies and gentlemen" he said, II
underestimate perfectly understand.
You don't want me around when the
box is found and opened. You don't
want me to hear the chink-a-chink of
them yaller boys. You think I'd claim
a sheer for dreamin' WAL. I'll move
on and let you have all the fun TO your
selves"
The tramp was watched out of sight,
and then the couple went to the barn
and began their search. They had put
in two hours and were still at 1t when
Mrs. Bingham's mother arrived. The
idea was not to give her the slightest
hint about the treasure, but in the
course of half an hour she had picked
the information from her daughter.
Then she said:
Amelia, you want to see that you
get your rights in this thing Half that
money belongs to you, and you want
to stand up for it,
"But George will do what's right
about 1t. of course"
There's no of course about it The
minute he gets that box in his hands his
greed viii be aroused He won't want
to give you enough to buy an apron out
of it."
That old barn was almost turned bot
tom side up, but no box was found.
The farmers brother came around
next morning on an GRAND. and when
he found George crawling out from I'M
der the hogpen he wanted an explana-
ton and had to have It, AS soon as he
got it he said
You look out for Amelia. If ever /
saw avarice in a woman's eyes it's In
hers. She'll want at least half of the
moneyto buy gimcracks with"
Before noon the wife's father and two
brothers and sisters were on hand, and
after them came the husbands father
and other brother. There were wran-
Cling and quarreling from the start.
When the dirt floor of the smokehouse
was spaded up and the spade struck
an old tomato can, there were pushing
and showing and swearing. When the
farmer prepared to drain Off the wa
tiers of the goose pond and refused to
pledge himself to an equal division,
there was fight, out Of which grew
bloody noses and black eyes. or
course the affair attracted the atten-
ton of the neighbors, and they came
by the dozen to mix in and help along
things The barn was pulled almost
to pieces, the ground dug up in fifty
different places and an old well on the
premises cleaned out. The house and
cellar were searched, straw stacks
tipped over, and there was fever In
the veins of the searchers. The farmer
and his wife had reached the point
where they no longer spoke to each
other, their kin were quarreling at
every possible excuse, and the county
sheriff had about concluded to take a
hand in 1t when the old tramp who had