Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1912-02-22
ENOUGH OF BUCKSKIN
NEW HARNESS NICK DEMPSEY
GOT WAS OF LEATHER.
Thereby Hangs q Good Story OF tho
west-How the Weather Helped
Sam MuIdrow TO Win Almost
Hopeless Bet

Nick Dempsey was ror q oertalney
.ha mSst talented teamster that ever
swung the ribbons over pair OF
horses" said the cab driver VINO nao
come in out Of the west to take .
nosition on the box Of metropolitan
tayi.whtzzer. He always had the best
team that be could combine, and the
care he took of them was a lesson 10
the S. P. C. A And his harness!
Well, Nick laid himself out on them
and they looked like circus nxin 8.
But pride goeth before fall ana NICE
cot his. bimeby. Somebody told him
that buckskin made the finest harness
in the world, and he didn't rest I'LL
he got a set Of buckskin harness. he
made It himself, to be sure 1t was just
right, and it was about the gayest
thing that ever got up to the foothills
not excepting Sadie McGinniss "eo'
ding toys, and they was some.
mick hadn't more than got his new
harness tried out till Sam Muldrow,
that drove q mule team, challenged
him for trip to the railroad and back,
thirty miles each way, and no turn
pike. neither. Nick fairly snorted al
Sam. but Sam shook a fifty-dollar bill
under his shorter and told him that
was what was what, and Sam took II
Mt q sulp, he was that willing. we
got all our goods by team and they
was going back and forth every two
or three times q week, but nobody
ever thought Of making a speed record
till Sam put it up to Nick and his new
harness.
"They got away all right and the
whole road was out to see them as
they trekked along. 1t was the big
gest thing we'd ever pulled on and
betting was frequent all around, odds
on Nick about forty-seven to one.
People said Sam was a fool, but he
said he was trusting to Providence
and the weather. 1t did look like rain,
and mules is hard to beat in the mud,
but it was a mighty long shot for Sam
and the few hackers he had. They
pulled in at the railroad about even
and going easy, both of them taking
care Of their critters for the haul
home next day with load.
They was to leave next morning
ut seven, and no jockeying on the
start. That night 1t rained, cleared
of and turned colder, just right for
travelling. There wasn't anything at
the railroad but a station agents
house and a shed alongside OF the
house, and the shed wasn't any shell
ter to brag on. When Sam got to It
at about six next morning he found
Nick there cussing forty ways for the
Sabbath and repeat. He was slam
ming that fancy buckskin harness all
over the ground and swearing every
time It hit, and every time 1t hit II
made q noise like cracking a chicken
coop.
Tho rain during the night had
bowed in on it, and when it dried II
was harder than a board and wouldn't
fit boss any more than an iron cage
would Prompt at seven Sam pulled
out for home, leaving Nick In the shed
still cussing and banging his harness.
Nick got back that night about four
hours after Sam had gone to bed, and
the strings and ropes and wires and
pieces of galluses and strips Of boot
legs and sections Of buckskin that
made up his harness was sight t O
see. And Sam Muldrow was a gentle
man. He let Nick keep $25 Of the
bet to buy new harness with, and
Nick didn't get no buckskin harness
with 1t, neither, mind that now"