Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-05-18

But his perseverance was stupen-
dous. With a horse which showed an
unwillingness to start, his plan of ac-
ton was simple; allowing plenty Of
time. he would mount his seat and Jake
the reins in his hand, urging the ILL
tempered steed to move forward by a
gentle movement of the bit. and If it
failed to respond he would wait pa
tiently. renewing his solicitations in the
same gentle manner at intervals until
the obstinacy was overcome or BUSH
ness would allow of NO longer delay, in
| which case the NINA would be re-
turned to it's stable and the perform
ance repeated at the next opportunity.
Nor in all these battles against the
w%illfulness of his horses did he eve
once lose control of his temper, but
white-faced and imperturbable sat
there. perched upon his odd looking
seat. seeming to be only a disinterested
spectator of the contest. 1t was his
unnatural calmness that people re-
garded as sinister. If the fellow had
he would only nave AXE his whip mt
given the Obdurate steed a beating it
would nave seemed more human to
them.
Nor was this the only grievance that
long suffering Passaquodmush held
agaist him: despite the superhuman
energy with which ne applied himself
w AstS NoSAS yOu Ao llSCu vi Jul JIG
eye to see that he was up to his neck
In poverty. Yet he had asked credit Of
no one. nor had he ever been known
to ask an abatement in the price OF an
article in his life. Nevertheless. his
poverty was Objectionable. rendered al
most crimina by the profound ;ndif-
ference with which he seemed to ig-
more the matter. not even going SO
far as to attempt to hide it from his
%neighbors.
This poverty had not always tor
inented lin In the early part Of his
career indeed a kind of artificial pros
perity had deluded those who wished
to be cheated into a belief that it was
going to continue.
Meanwhile there was preparing q de-
luge of misfortunes which were des-
tined to inundate him. First, bad crops
followed one another for several years
in succession. n some Of the best
horses which he had bought, died from
accidents of various kinds, always UNI
avoidable.
1t could hardly be expected hat the
most rigid economy beforehand would
enable him to Withstand these Grip
ping blows to his finances, those
who had no idea what his
might be beyond what their eyes told
them began to hazard conjectures. AL
ready their exaggerated imaginations
had pictured the sheriff selling off the
farm under a chattel mortgage, and
certain gossipy tongues had even hint
ed that such had been the case, while
oters averred that the horses in his
stable had nothing to live upon but pine
needles and might be expected to drop
down with the mails at any minute.
These troubles and prosecutions COW
cred a series of years. and amid all of
them the same undaunteex demeanor
continued to characterize sne victim,
who, to judge from his appearance,
might be a man OF marble or iron, in
stead of flesh and blood.
1t was evident that he was in fear |
fully straitened circumstances, and yet
his heartlessness was a theme of con-
slant comment. A lawyer from lewis |
ton was eventually seen in the act of
taking a memorandum of the farming
implements and n of the two horses
left to him turned up incurably lame.
Still he seemed determined to fight
it out to the bitter end, and without
moving a muscle; his stoicism was inn
pregnable.
But what was surmised and limited at
by the b~usybOdies bore only a thin re-
semblance to the actual and terrible
facts. By a careful calculation he had
found hat upon the eigth day of the
succeeding month he would have arr
rived at the limit of his
BY careful driving. his one remaining
horse might be relied upon to stand the
strain of double duty until then, but
on that date a crisis was inevitable.
The outraged bosoms of all Passa-
quodmush, burdened with a long accu-
mulating surplus of sympathy and
commiseration, We're waiting to dis
charge their spontaneous tribute.
There was almost a feeling of silent
eXultation over the fact that the VIC
tim who had SO long eluded them was
at last to be delivered into their hands.
1t was the morning of the long-ex-
pected eighth. and it had been a record
breaking morning for Miss Stotts. The
glow in her cheeks radiated health and
pleasure as h pulled up her horse at
the top of Fiddler's hill. She heard the
familiar sound of the mail-buggy just
behind, n waited to let it pass down
the hill before her. 1t came along with
what h fancied was an undue degree
of speed. and ratified on downward, but
she noticed with reinsurance that the
fmperturbable driver managed to slack
en- his pace before he was half way to
the foot of the sharp incline. But her
reinsurance was temporary only, for,
when the buggy reached the bottom,
the driver, either through wilful inten-
ton or some sudden paralysis, let his
horse deliberately describe q slanting
course toward the outer side of the
curve that carried the continuation of
the level roadway out of view; her
heart stood still, for she saw that the
obvious finish of the horses course
must be the tossing of the buggy over
the cliff that here bordered the road
way.
The horse. proceeding unchecked, had
by this time drawn the buggy about
haly way. in an oblique line. to the
cliffs edge-in a few seconds the horse,
driver and vehicle would be tumbling
two hundred feet into the limekilns be-
low! A horrible sensation, physical
and mental. seized Miss St0ffs. she