Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-05
The Argus Daily Short Story
A THREAD in THE WOOF-BY WALLACE SNOW.
Copyrighted. 1908. by Associated Literary Press

Pietro Vincenzo Riga was discour-
aged. 1t had been bad day In fact,
it had been bad month. Generally
when he and Gambietta took to the
road and Travelled through this section
the nickels and dimes and quarters
fell into Pietro's old felt hat in a most
alluring stream.
But this year the weather had been
for the most part rainy, and somehow
Gambietta seemingly had lost his
knack of coaxing coins from stubborn
pockets.
What few pleasant days there had
been had proved far from profitable.
for the dimes and nickels and quar-
ters were conspicuous by their alb
sence and Pietro and Gambietta must
both eat, fair weather or dull.
In vain did they plod the dusty
highways; in vain whenever they
could find a possible audience did
Gambietta do his cumbersome tricks.
Waltz turn somersaults, die. &c
lame, wrestle with Pietro as he would
but few scattered pennies had lodged
in the old felt hat. Bankruptcy, grim
and CHASTITY, stared them In the face.
Moreover, Gambietta was growing
painfully thin, even as If he had but
, recently come from one of his long
| beginning to learn all too frequently
| that a handful Of berries gathered
| from the roadside made most unsat
isfactory repast.
They plodded up the long hill slope
the man shutting along with his Shout
| ders stopped and his head bent ant
F, the bear following along at the erd o.
his chain, his head rolling from sid
to side and his scuffling feet sendin:
up choking clouds of dust that set hin
| to wheeling and coughing in miserabl,
| fashion.
They were nearing the top Of the hill
when a wagon with portly, well fet
man on the seat drew up beside them
The we'll fed man glared at them IL
undisguised contempt.
Hey, you dago," he called, "wha
yer dom with that bear here on TIL
highway? Don't you know there's
regulation against it in this town
Scares bosses, 1t does! Take hin
through the woods or the fields, blu
keep off the roads-you hear?'
Pietro pulled off the old felt hat ant
bowed respectfully. Then as best h
could in broken English, PLENTIFUL
interspersed with Etruscan dialect, b
tried to make it plain that neither b
nor Gambietta would willingly o
knowingly transgress the law. Blu
the man In the wagon understood n
word of the servile harangue.
"None Of your lip, now" he inter
rupted irritably, at the same tim
pulling open his coat to display ii
star. "Pm deputy sheriff, l an
You and that bear keep off the road
or I'll run you both in. Seer
He waved his arm meaningly tt
ward q little wooded path that lie
from the highway to the left and So
, in his wagon watching the sorry pa
until they had turned into 1t and wei
lost to view in it's shady depths.
Beneath a giant oak tree that stoo
beside the little path Pietro sat dow
| miserably, his head in his hands an
a great despair in his tired eyes.
Gambietta collapsed beside hir
rolled about luxuriously for a m
, ment, then turned on bis side IN
went calmly to sleep.
, Pietro sat there for q time. a pre-
| to his bitter musing. Then he, to
, stretched himself beside Gambietta
rusty brown bulk and fell into tro
bled slumber.
Now, It happened that the path
] winding wood road-which the tv
t had chosen, or, rather, which the we
, fed man had chosen for them, as I
e treat led to a cascade, where lit
0 stream fell over a series Of grant
3 lodges.
1t was one of the beauty spots
the vicinity, a place much frequent,
J. by the summer people who came
J. the little town.
Even, as Pietro and Gambietta sic
4 in the shadows Of the oak sma
e trap came slowly down the windil
n road from the cascade.
:. In the trap were stern faced you
man and an unsmiling young woma
And it took no very great intellect
a see that everything was not entire
r pleasant between them.
" Indeed, they had fallen into silenc,
that bitter silence which Is harder
lendure than threats or recriminatio