Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-08-10
By M QUAD

was ready to take advice. on all points
but one. There she was singularly OBJ
stinate and seemingly foolish.
During his lifetime Farmer Hender-
son had been the victim Of bank
failure. True, he lost only SIT in it,
but it was lesson to last him the rest
OF his days and to be handed over to
his wife when he departed. She had
been a widow for three years, when
sister died and left her thousand
dollars in cash. There was then a prt-
vate banker in the nearest village, and
he was spoken Of by all as God fearing
and strictly honest. There were peo-
pie who had known him from infancy.
and they vouched that there was not a
blot on his character. When Aunt
Sally got her thousand she was ad-
vtsed to bank it. She declined. After
she had been talked to by her neigh
bors. her minister the justice of the
peace and others she did consent to
drive into the village one day and take
look at the banker. He looked good
to other folks, but after five minutes
Aunt Sally turned from him and said:
Il wouldn't trust that man with a
single dollar!'
"But why?" was asked. :
because he toes in when he walks.
You take my word for it, he'll turn out
to be rascal"
She was laughed at but she said
no toe-in banker for her thousand dol
lars. Shed keep it in the house. OF
course she was warned of the danger
OF robbers, but she smiled in her baby
way and replied that they could come
on as fast as convenient. In a month
1t was known pretty much all over the
county that Aunt Sally Henderson had
thousand dollars in the house. Some
said it was buried in the cellar, others
that it was hidden in the garnet, 9TH
ers still that it was in trunk under
her bed. With everybody talking there
was bound to be results.
1t was big tramp who came limp
Ing along the highway at shutdown
one day and talked of his hunger and
Affections. Besides his limp he had
his left arm in sling. No friends, no
home. nothing in the future for him.
He wept as Aunt Sally questioned
him. BE was fed and given quarters
In the barn. At midnight he came out
Of the barn without his limp or his
sling and raised kitchen window and
stepped in. AS he stepped In he also
stepped into beartrap yawn1ng for
Weary Willie, and the jaws closed on
one OF his legs. He was a big man.
and he made fuss according to his
size. Aunt Sally dressed and came out
OF her bedroom, and had him carried
out on the lawn. There be was tied
up and the trap removed. and she said
she would see him later. After break
fast his case was attended to. The
hired man brought up some blue beech
gads, and while he laid them on Aunt
Sally stood by and sang "Shall We
Gather at the River?''
The next conner foated in from the
village. He was travelling with a cir
Gus as seller Of pink lemonade. Al
though he was making 500 per cent on
his liquid he sighed to get rich faster.
Hearing of that thousand. he walked
out to cooper it and buy some cold
storage stock. No kitchen window for
him. In. the first place he was too
tony, and in the next he found a par
lor window open. It looked good to-
him. he went in. The same beartrap
was there. Aunt Sally had simply
shifted it. The. victim had a good
voice on him, and he used it to arouse
the house. He was taken out and laid
on the grass as the other had been.
but when morning came his punish
ment was a bit different. The rain
barrel at the corner of the house was
full, and he was lifted up and ducked
until he had swallowed about half the
contents and was nearly drowned In
the rest. It was the hired man and
girl who did the ducking.
The last attempt on that $1,000. SO
far as heard from, for the widow still
lives and keeps it in the house, was a,
pretty fair plot. A stranger called and
introduced himself as q minister, who
| wanted board in a quiet place for a.
month while he composed half dozen
sermons and rested up. He toed in,
but Aunt Sally took him in and De-
termined to watch. One afternoon att
the end Of the second week she had to
spend an hour at the barn with q sick
horse, and he was left to finish ser
mon on the sin Of dancing and circus
going. When she came back to the
house he was hunting among the cob
webs Of the garnet for an old oyster
can holding thousand dollars. He
claimed to have gone up there to be
nearer heaven, and his claim was not
disputed. He was tied up. however.
and lowered down the well. It was a
deep we'll and cold well, and he had
no fur coat. he was left there for
three hours. while the widow sang
Beacon Lights" for him. He was
then hauled up and thawed out with q
thorough good licking. handed his
manuscripts and headed out into the
world. He had flashes of heat and cold
as he went, and he heard Aunt Sally
singing "Watchman. What of the
Night?" until he was half a mile away.
And two days later the good banker.
the honest banker. the banker who toed
in as he walked. walked OF with all
the deposits in bank.
| -. TRUTH.
TnIh Il alwavs con,;.hen, with