The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1911-01-13

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i. And the next morning 40 he went
to work, after getting his own break
fast, Joe. safe on his own porch, cat
called at him and made q gesture Of
scorn. It was awful to be ignored.
Used to raising trouble, Joe would
have preferred an open row to silence
and a fence.
1t was not long thereafter that, in
some indescribable manner, the
Jones' chickens got over the fence
m~iraculously, since they were clumsy,
heavy fowls without power of flight
They uprooted several f1owerbeds and
gobbled of the tops of the peas, now
we'll above the ground. Reuben Farr
sowed more peas, and lifted the hens
over the fence. ;
That night he called on the widow,
casually as If in passing. She well
coined him on the porch, and babe
him smoke If he liked. He did not
talk more than a word or two, but
Name came out in white and impui
dence, and inwardly much excited!
She wished her mother could learn to
know when she was not wanted. But
Mrs. Jones stayed, rocking intermt-
nably. When he rose to 60 she stam-
meringly mentioned the matter of the
chickens and the rabbits. It was a
new thing to have a neighbor who
did not resent things. She was so
sorry, but it was accidental. and
children must have pets, and so forth.
After a voluble discourse in her
pleasant Irish voice, Mary Jones, nee
Ryan, finished with her favorite bit
Of wisdom, Boys" she said, will be
boys" !
Eyes, Boys will be-boys," he said,
dryly. Then he went away uptown.
The next evening he added an *
ira foot to the height of his fence.
The neighbors grinned, knowing
Joseph would simply consider himself
challenged. Natural history tells us
that the rabbit will bore its way I'M
der almost anything on earth. IT
also teaches us that, like most use
less things, 1t multiplies very rapidly
There had been originally some seven
or eight rabbits. Now there were, it
seemed, dozens of them. One night
they worked steadily, having somei
how escaped from their alleged
hutches, and the morning found them
in Reuben's garden. They were keen
and hungry, and the young cabbages
and cauliflowers suffered. !
The presumably irate, but outward
~ calm gardner, let Mrs. Jones come
over, and, with the aid of her Off,
spring, remove the offenders, still
nibbling. She raj frustrated, and for
once her volubility failed her. Some
thing in the tall bachelors attitude|
shamed her to a partial silence. She
broke previous records by Offering tot
pay for the damage. She would buy
new plants for him. He said 1t would
be too late now-and he would use|
the space for something else.
Joe was fascinated into decency for
a week or two. He did not UNDER
stand. And now, every few evenings,
Reuben would saunter over to the
| Widows porch and sit on the steps
and smoke. He got. to exchanging
dry jokes with Name, who wal so ex1
cited about this wary new specimen
that she forgot to bereave SADIE Dud
gan, four doors on, Of her latest beau
1t was Reuben Farr's custom each
night to paddock his front gate-alsd
made Of wire like the fence. One
dawn, early in May. he arose to nnd
the gate wide open, The Jones' Jer
sey was peacefully browsing. on the
last Of the young sweet corn stalks;
the Jones' hens were scratching In
the beds, the rabbits were busy with
the clover planted to protect the
newly sprung up lawn grass. It was
pretty bad. 4
/ Farr called Joe over and sternly
Ehelped bilttp get the creatures out.
His eyes we're klazing, and his lips
close set. Old Dugan. who came
along, said he heard the outraged
gardener swear, but Dugan had 9
fine imagination.
This time, Mrs. Jones dared not
even apologize. To do her Justice,
she was sti6 with fear. And the mis-
chief was not all intentional. Piqued
BY the paddock Joe. like all boys, had
tried all the keys which he could
md. He had . large assortment. One
i Of them did At the paddock, which
opened with -tdimculty-but which
would mt lock again. He had shut
the rate, but the COW. pulling up he'd
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