Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1910-06-17
A SLEEPY
HEADED MAN
BY M. QUAD
Copyright. 1910. by Associated Lit
erary Press.
BY M. QUAD


another basin and so reported to the
Sunshine Crude Oil Producing CON-
pany, capital $1,O00000. That CON-
pany had gobbled up all the best wells
In a large district and was rapidly
controlling production.
Moses Perkins was young man of
twenty-six. He was a farmers son
and a farmer himself, and he was not
yet married. He had left his farm for
few months to help drill oil wells
for the Sunshine company. Moses
was hard working and honest He
would put in long days work. but
he wasn't smart. From the day be
began work at $3.50 a day until the
day he was discharged. a period of
twenty days, the foreman over him
applied to him such terms as sleepy.
head, idiot. blunderbuss. born fool.
and so forth.
One day Perkins was sent for a can
Of nitroglycerin. On his return he was
seen coming along tossing 1t In the
air and catching it when 1t came down.
This was too much. Perkins was dis.
charged.
1t was a geologist who differed from
all the other biologists that found
new dip" on the Widow Carson's
farm. Her farm was the center OF
the basin. 1t was a stony, sterile old
farm of 100 acres, and the widow her.
self was almost as dilapidated as the
farm. She was forty years old and
gaunt and homely, and she had three
gaunt and homely children. The geol.
oglst staked his reputation that there
was oil beneath her land, and the Sun.
shine company took him in on a pro-
viso. The first thing was to get the
legal privilege of sinking a we'll, and
this was to carry with it lease in
case oil was discovered. There must
be more or less beating about the bush
to prevent the widow from taking the
alarm. The preliminaries were in.
trusted to a lawyer disguised as a ped.
dler.
When Moses Perkins had got it into
his head that there was q Widow Car
son somewhere on earth who was Of
interest to the Sunshine company he
figured that it could mean only one
thing. Then he began to inquire
around, and after week he lighted
on a man who could tell him. Then
he put a shirt, collar and pair of
socks into an old satchel and set out
for the forty mile walk. In the even
ing of the second day he arrived at the
Widows. He found her and her chill
dren as above described. 1t was next
door to poverty. Moses had often
dreamed Of the wife he was to marry,
and he was taken aback. He might
have given up his project and retreat
ed in good order had not peddler ar
rived the same evening. He was the
disguised lawyer of the Sunshine COM
pany. He seized on Moses Perkins for
a dunderhead and went ahead and
talked. The widow didn't catch on,
but Moses did. A company wanted her
farm for quarry. and she was ready
enough to sign any sort of paper the
next day.
Moses had been asked to stay over.
night. The peddler must go farther,
| This left the coast clear for a few
hours. Moses had never made love to
a woman, but he began while yet the
| peddler's coattails were fluttering
| through the gate. he told of his OWL
farm, his prospects, his good health
the woman Of his dreams, but had
| found her at last. He needn't have
done half as much talking. The wild
ow was ready to lease her farm, and
she was also ready to marry again
Before midnight she was the promised
bride of Moses Perkins. At 10 O'Clock
the next forenoon she was his wife
and her children were calling him pop
At IL o'clock the peddler arrived with
certain documents and a witness. He
found the bride sitting on the bride
| groom's knee. He intimated that the
papers were all ready to sign and that
he had a certain sum of money tc
pass over, but fool Moses had some
thing to say. He was the husband
and the man of the house now. AS
soon as the wedding trip was over
he was going to take off his coat and
vest and make those 100 acres hump
and hustle. The big powders lying
around would take q roll. and the
stony ground would blossom as the
rose. Mrs. Carson would have beer
willing to sell the old place for most
anything, but Mrs. Perkins didn't care
to even sign lease.
For six weeks longer Moses was TAX
en- for chap with sawdust in his
head The lawyers and Spectator!
and rings tried in every way to get thu
best of him, but what they cursed a.
his stupidity helped him to hold hi.
own. Then he woke up one morning
with his head all right. He had found
oil eXuding from a spring, and he an
nounced the fact to the world at large
also that the farm was for lease or sale
The Sunshine people were not the only
ones to rush. Three leases were made
and three companies pledged them
selves to pay royalties, and inside of ,
| Vaor MOcac Darlyinc moO tni1lion oi r.