La Junta tribune., 1908-01-11


er forced the unwilling. consiables, aft
or considerable goadins. to aciion. The
blacksmith. snoring In slunber. was
dragged out vt the weris and east into
the new Lookup. On the following
morning he had >ohers>i up sufficiently
TO apsscnr lsfo-- the court. which In
POttersviiie meant Judge Weaver.
Two Of the constHh.es swOve tn hav-
Ing r4.en John Grant very drunk and
1is"rsieriy 1T the Come Inn. There
WAS no defense. The blacksmith even
pleaded xniity with n certain amount
Of citation. Apparently the one uncom.
Portable feature. "f the AFFAIR to him
was the long AMI ma,Icioisiy worhcd
haraugi. which. behind the ,ilgulty OF
the law. Judge Weaver delivered to
fhc prisoner. closing 10y sentencing him
To sixty days in P"t,ersviIle jail anil
iiniug him $3.50 costs.
There wss 4 hcatiiic smile on the
highly coiar..i face OF the prisoner as
lie was led on to the iA,kup. closely
guarded Iy quit" unnecessary c"nsta'
bics after offering to work ont the
fine by ~hHcing III. yoke of oxen kcpt
to si.l the paupers in their work on the
town fsr,u. The prosrcr had been re-
fused with a great sh"w of dignity.
II would hav" required no great eff
fort for the hurry prisoner to tear down
the bars which covered iii. windows
NJ the jail and which We're rather moro
for decoration than for anything else.
but other thpi-liiS We're in his mind
He WAS for the first time In his life. a
prisoner. II was the duty of the town
to which he hal paid poll and property
taxes for more years than lie could
really remember Ia provide him with
led and board The experience" was
not only nov.I. hut al>o distinctly
pleasing. vcsiing him with sense "f
new importance.
II was easier than working. this jail
life, and after the first week IN the
we'll warmed lookup he began to look
forward with regret to the time when
he must leave 1t.
With the passing " the first fort
night of the sixty days confinement
this state of affairs. however. began 10
pail on him lie found that vacation
may lie OF too long duration. He te-
gan to pine for work. Furthermore.
his pride WAS seriously affected On
two or three occasions Jailcr Gibson on
leaving the Lookup after bringing In
the bi;,cLsniitl'> supper had forgotten
| to lock the door after him. The pris-
ouer demonstrated in f"rcibie language
Mt this innttcniion to duty.
"I'm yutu' to be locked up nights
hereafter. Jim Gibsoi,.'' he said. knit
ting the rel skin of his forehead into
mass Of frowning wrinkles, AN !
want you to uu.lcrStan' 1t. Think OF
me stayin' in jail without hcin locked
up. Amt got right To lie locked
up:"
I'll put IL spring lock on the door
tomorrow. John. an then II go away
an forget Ia lock the door you can
close It an lock 1t any time you want
..WelI. Jim. all asks I" be locked
up like l ought to l.,,' answered the
mollifie,i prisoner. That's all ask"
Yes. an I'll do more than that"
continued the constable. I'll have
that lock SOS you can open 1t from the
inside with = nail. Noissiy hut MS
need know. an you can step outside
any time you want TO. I'm doin' this"
he went on hastily. cause ! don't
want you to get sIck while you're In
nv charge. Prisoners get all the ex-
erci.e they want In ev'ry well regi-
lated jail. an l ain't xoIn' to have no
one say the PotterSville jail's benin
the times"
NO. nor nutller!!" agreed the black
smith heartily. Have some tobacco.
Jlm.'
Taller Gibson took \ III,eful Of the
confc,Ifs Of the blue aud tinsel pack
age extended 1" him. and. rolling II In
the palm of his hand. sat down to have
q further chat with the prisoner.
.See here. John" lie began, 'thc
boys sroun' I'ottersville are gettIn'
mighty hard up f'r liorseshOer. They
don't want To xO out OF town fr one
thing. Sides. they couldn't Eet nobody
nearer nor Spencer. an that's most
forty mile away. We've been a-talkIn'
1t over Mt the grocery store, an We de-
cided to ask You IL you wouldn't like
to do little work here. We could fix
up a place where you could do shOein'
real slick"
II don't knows I'D object to It. jim"
ieliberuted the blacksmith. .'providin'
the boys didn't think twas lettin' me
down ON my sixty days"
no one would think that. John" In
terpolstesi the constable. why. 'twOuM
be just favor to you, II you'd do 1t.
It's mighty slipp'ry on the roads, an
It's hard on the hOnses' feet. There's
more'n fifty on 'em need rharIenin'.
'Twonld be just n stroke Of common
humanity on your part, John, II yor'd
do IT,"
well. you go ahead an fix the things
up" agreed the prsoner. .'an' reckon
twill i.e all right"
The next day q portable forge wnx
obtained. and huge pair OF bellows
MT nm I.h.s ninIfI annnssl hls nnrnu