The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1909-08-04

One of the saddest deaths that ever
occurred in Betzville took place last
Friday at p NJ, and Ezra Claggin
is almost broken hearted. For % years
of his married life Ezra slept on
corn-husk mattress, and by the end
of the twenty-ninth year the corn
husks were so matted down that few
corncobs that had been put in by mis-
take sort of poked through and made
stone-bruises on his back, and his
wife, FluenZa, who was a good old
soul, swore that Ezra shouldn't sleep
that way for another 20 years, so she
went over to che store and traded Is
yards of dried apples for live goose.
She did this unbeknownst to Ezra,
meaning to surprise him with good
feather bed inside of eight or ten
years, according what kind of feather
crops the goose grew, but when she
took the goose out to the woodshed to
pluck out the first crop Of feathers the
goose looked up into her eyes so soul
fully, and squawked so pitifully that
Fluenza hadn't the heart to pluck. So
she Just plucked one small feather, as
a sort of warning of what the goose
had to expect when she could get her
courage up, and took that feather into
the house and hid it in the garnet.
The next day she thought maybe
she could harden her heart, and she
went out to the woodshed and inter-
viewed the goose again, but it was no
use, she couldn't bear it, so she just
picked another feather to show what
was coming to the goose some day,
and went into the house and hid that
feather in the garnet.
So when the next day came she
made up her mind that she was fool
ishly tender-hearted, and she went out
to the woodshed again, but when she
was half way there the good old goose
came waddling up to her, and, when
she looked down, there was the goose,
and there was feather in the goose's
bill, and the dear intelligent bird was
| craning it's neck to reach the feather
up to Fluenzas hand. Well, it was so
touching that Fluenza just sat right
down en- the soap kettle and clasped
the goose to her bosom and wept.
And there they sal, tears running out
of Flrenza's eyes, and tears running
out of the goose's eyes.
1t vas white goose with gray
| markings, and every day after that
The goose would waddle up to the
| kitchen door with one of it's feathers
in it's bill and hand 1t to Fluenza, and
i Fluenza would kiss the goose, and
take the feather up into the garnet
and hide it, and all would have been
we'll and in time Fluenza would have
had enough feathers to make feath-
| er bed if death had not carried her
off.
| So the next thing anybody in Betz-
Vile knew Ezra Claggin went out into
| the back yard to sit on the soap kettle
| and think how sad he was, and while
he was sitting there up came the
goose and laid its head on his knee
and wept. So Ezra looked down and
patted the goose kindly on the head,
| and the next thing he noticed was
that the goose had feather in it's
bill. He didn't think anything of it.
| But when ne got up to so away that
| old goose just tagged ut his heels,
! lool-!ng up With sad, sad eyes, and
Offering the feather. 1t annoyed Ezra
| considerable. He couldn't make cut
wh4. the goi-se wanted, but presently,
| lust oif-hardlike. he took the feather
| and then she goose sQuawked ioyfu,ly
md wen, back to the wooGshed as
"cntcaset Us lamb. And still Ezra