The Muskogee cimeter. [volume] (Muskogee, Indian Territory, Okla.) 1901-19??, 1908-10-02

IOh W HTe his inventive nina, re-
spondcd:
That's It, Dicky, well do it,"
do what?" asked Dick.
why, burn the bugs" said Dolrh.
Well get our old wash-pan, half fill
1t with coal oil, knock the bugs into It
with our paddles, put in sawdust, and
have a bonfire. 'Twon't be cruel.
cause the oil will drown 'em sense.
less, and they'll be burnt up before
they knows it. If they amt dead.
it'll serve 'em right for playin pos.
sum- They had observed that The
potato bug, when disturbed. will draw
in his legs and remain for some time
motionless.
The new plan worked admirably,
with four times the rapidity of the
old method, and in a short time
enough bugs had been collected to
form the first autoda.fe. So down
they went 10 the Waters wood yard
for combustibles, carrying the pan of
bugs and the oil can. Here they ofund
sawdust in plenty. but it was too
damp to ignite, even when soaked with
kerosene. All the chips had long ago
disappeared from the bare space,
gathered by the boys themselves to
kindle kitchen fires. But in the corner
Of the lot, by the board fence next The
alley, was a rank growth OF catnip
and wild mustard which undoubtedly
hid many splinter from the vigorous
AK Of Mr.. Waters. Into this tangle
the boys plunged together, and out
of it they came with simultaneous.
but diverse. discoveries.
"Bumblebees!" cried Dick, and
Dolph held up a jug half-flled with
liquid whose odor proclaimed it
whisky.
Now, these events took place in the
days Of the Crusade" a movement
inaugurated by Mother" Stewart and
other Ohio ladies, against the liquor
traffic. The wives and daughters of
a village would go about from one
drinking place to another, singing and
praying in front of each, and sta
tioning, when they departed, two of
their number as "pickets' to take
dowl the names of all persons enter
ing the saloon. In the face of such
organized publicity, 1t was only a
very hardened or very independent
man who passed the picket lines. For
time, back doors gave access TO old
| customers, but the vigilance of watch
ers from overlooking piazzas or other
points of vantage. soon cut off this
method Of secret access to the daily
dram. So recourse was finally had
! by confirmed town topers TO jugs hid
| den in convenient and secluded spots.
1t was upon such resort that the
boys had stumbled
The boys were just heroes enough
to delight in a variety of victims for
! the coming holocaust. So they poured
out the whisky in the jug, filled it
with oil, put 1t back uncorked in its
hiding place in the fence corner, then
! jumped over into the alley, and, by
violently shaking the fence post, in
the rotting base OF which the bees
had built their nest, reused the in
mates to sally forth on the other side
against their supposed enemy, the
jug.
But when the boys were about to
return to watch the result Of their
maneuver they were deferred by the
appearance of Col. Corcoran, whom
they at once OWNED to be on visit
to the secret abiding place of his cher.
ished comrade and only enemy-John
| Barleycorn. In earlier and more
sober days the colonel had been the
pride of the community, first as a gal
liant officer in the civil war, and later
as a representative of the district in
congress, and though he had fallen
grievously from his high estate. he
still carried himself with a soldierly