The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-05-07

that occurred to her. and informally christened hna
"Hobson'
Since that hour Hobson has led life of such un-
broken serenity that beside the of the Trappst
monk under his vow of perpetual silence may be de-
scrbed as glittering round of excitement To lie IN
the water with his head on his log, about once in
twenty-four hours to slowly draw his body up on the
log at long intervals secretly to absorb small por-
ton of the raw meat provided for him, two or three
times week to be dropped by the tail into the bath7tubs
there to swim laziy about for few minutes willis
the water in his tub is changed-these incidents form
Hobson's round of life Though he "scorns delights"
he cannot be said to live aborous days." and should
he ever return to his native swamps, could say
more truthfuy than he with Canning Knife Grinder.
STORY? God bless you, l have to tell, sir"
Social attentions have gradually ceased, he is
codly unresponsiye The children used to gather round
his tub and ascribe various emotions to him. He likes
it when scratch his back with my hoopstck" See,
now he's mad when tickle his tall But his pleasure
and his rage were characterized by such subtle shade
of difference that the unmaginative grownup eye could
not distinguish between them If you teased him long
enough he would eventually slip back into the water
from his log; at the extreme provocaton of white
string tangled on his nose he has been known once
or twice to open the wide mouth which almost meets at
the back of his neck and to emit faint squeak.
This we have decided rage-but this is merely
theoretical There is, however, distinct magnancy
OF effect when he lowers the skin which his pale
and expressoness eye though he is Qte apt to do
this when he at the sight OF his
meat
There was portly and foridy handsome boy who
lived upstairs and who much frequentej the society
OF Hobson and his small and agile owner. Out of /
deep fund of nexperence he gave many instructions
about Hobsons nature and habits and surveyed him
In his tub with dauntle courage He wasn't afraid
of alfgators" when Hobson grew large he would
take him out of the tub for us etc But when famili-
arity had bred intrepity, and the proud proprietor
would take her unattracve pet by the tip Of his TAIL
and display him wreathing himself up toward her
panion in stiff curl, the undauned Boy would always
suddenly remember an engagement elsewhere and
swiftly vanish.
But in spite of his terror Hobson laid his silent
spell upon him, anj when we were to be away for
few days the Boy begged to entertain him in his apart
ment. / compelled to admit that the invitation
not very cordially seconded by the Boys mother,
and that she heard remark that she wished
he would take the horrid thing away But New York.
ers who live in apartments are known to be nhos-
pitable, and Hobson was not sensitive.
During Hobson's sojourn with there are few of 4
our friends who have seen or heard of him without
giving some advice on the proper nurture and train
ing of alligators We have been informed alternately
that starved and that stuffed him, though the
first theorst could suggest method Of forciby adj
miristerng the food when he haughty ignores it, as
he does much of the time. One who claims great IN
tmacy with agators tells us the tub should be nearly
full of water all the time they like plenty of water
TO swim. in Another who. like Brer Rabbit was
this by saying he should not be confined to his tub
but be allowed to run at large-a suggestion which
followed, would rid us of visitors as efectually az
if had diphtheria sign on the door Another
authoritative voice is raised to say that Hobson will
soon expire of loneliness; that, like Emerson's Man
the alligator is made of social Earth Child and
Brother from his BIRTH that if there are hundred
alligators in swamp the whole number will invariably
be found assembled together; that in short like many
fashionable ladies, Hobson cannot live without so-
ciety and that it is warton cruelty for us not to pfo
m with a HOc Of "A.
way, our critics say, cherish him while you may for
you cannot expect to have him long He may live
through the Summer, but he never couId survive
northern Winter. In spite however of all our sins
of omission and commission throughout the past Win
ter Hobson has appeared precisely the same as he did
in the heat OF July, when he was boarding with the
jantor during Summer absence It is true he has
spent much time an chair by the radiator with HE
feet so to speak to the fire. but let the mercury soar
to the nneties this first cousin to the Sphinx slu-
berS unapprecatively on his log; let it drop TO those
llsounded depths it reached last Winter @not wave
OF trouble rolls across his peaceful breast"
In this age of hurried and restless activity this
Buddha-ike calm IS soothing to contemplate But az
the same time it has somewhat depressing effect
am sure that Caspar Hauser or any other nrisoneg
known to fame would long ere this have trained Hob
son to walk tghrope to say his prayers or at least
to squeak many times for Yes and No Having had
no training in the methods of teaching seem 70 ~
incapable OF imparting these simple accomplish
mens Worse even than this, in day when the cbiid
at his mothers knee prattles of the frogs gang1;. 9
dssects the alimentary canal of the lobster he ts
dnfet can be trained to penetrate into natures secets
cannot even guess what subtle intellectual processes
are going on in Hobson's brain. When with that
world-weary air he closes his eyes he medtat;ng
upon the raceproblem he dreams Of some nure
and careless little Niger falling into tte water w;thn
reach OF that spreading jaw? If Mr.. Long wera
here or Mr. Ihompson-Seto or even tbas rst,,.f;s@
Of an earlier day whom recently heard a.ded !.
buffoon no doubt he could tell us with precision
but alas y do not know.
SIT IN the sun and sew and Hobson s;ts h.s;S. -
on his log and thinks And thnl - th 80 rs
epose that marks the caste Of We're de vers -
Abo Ben Adhem in his deep dream Of peaee. ,oss
OF all Of CaverIeys parrouoret = peees 4 u'ose
never loved fond gazelIe
But had once parroo,,et.
How did nurse him If unnVei
Hes imbeciie but fingers VET.
Hes green with an enchanting tuft
He melts me with h;s e,ratf 80 8s2