The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-01-29
SAM AND THE BULL
BY NJ. QUAD.


down from the mountains one sum
mer's day, and as we sat on the steps
of the village postofiice he told this
story:
my naybur, Jim F'ilkins, is havin'
heaps of trubble with his two boys
just now. One Of EN- was over to
the railroad t'other day and wanted
to fight the bullgine, and t'other went
to town and got his eye almost put
out in fight. Reckon they'll grow
up to be cantankerous pair. | had
a son-Sam, the only child we ever
had--and he died some FIVE vars ago.
In one way I'm sorry and in another
way glad 1t made me kinder lonely
to hev him go, but | could f1gger up
that It was fur the best.
"That boy had a powerful good
heart In him as gineral thing, but
thar was days when the devil seemed
TO hev possession of him. II wasn't
no good TO switch him, and when he
was outer sorts 1t wasn't no good to
argy with him. He was fifteen vars
old when / cum home from the wah,
and his head was swelled up big huff
fur man of fo'ty He finally got so
that he felt like rubin up agin me-
1 was at work IN the garden one day
when he Gums home from the Corners
a-spittin' right and left, and bimeby
he Gums out to me and SEE:
"Pop. mebbe yo' calls yo'self the
best man on this yere mounting
"'Mebbe ] do seq ! as | looks at
him outer my left eye.
"'But you amt, though, and | kin
prove it.
Then who isT
"'He stands right here befo' yo',
and his eognomen ar Sam. Dad, I'm
goin' to whop yo'.'
Better git into the house, boy, and
hev yo'r mother gin 20 some bread
and butter and 'lasses on it,
"But that boy had the wust kind of
swell head" said the old man, land he
was airnest In thinkin' he could whop
his pop. He gifts higher and higher,
and bimeby he sails fur me. knowed
what was cumin', and before he could
wink twice Topped him on his back
and then whopped him till he hollered
fur mercy. He lived two vars arter
that, but he didn't try that game on
me any mo-.
1.-THE older he growed the more can
tankerous he got, and one day the ole
woman cum to me with tears In her
eyes and seq:
"'Sam's a-gittin' wusser and wusser
all the time, and I'm almost hopin' the
Lawd will take him away
1.-The Iawd couldn't manage him If
he did git him. seq l.
"Mebbe he could Mebbe he's got
pen up thar in heaven TO put Sam into
and keep him till he's bin made over.
I'm goin' to dye my shawl black and
fix up a mournin' bonnet, fur that hoy
of ours will be brung home dead befo'
he's a month older
well, so he was--so be was" said
the old man, with touch of pathos in
his voice. HE was down to the Corners
one day to blow and brag with the
crowd a-hangin out thar in them days,
when man Gums ridin' on q mewl to
say that Bill Clark's bull had broken
out of the field and was comm up the
road That bull was a big un and had
hooked two bosses to death. AS the
man was giyin' the alarm the bull
showed up down the road. He was
PAWN the afrth and maxim the heav-
ems quake with his heller, and sich as
had bosses tied up was mighty spry
to turn EN- loose and git 'em away.
Nobody didn't propose to git in the
way OF that bull and take chances
nobody but my son Sam. 1t was a
chance fur him to show off. and he riz |
up and yelled:
"'This is the day hev been livin'
fur. III go 10th and take that bull by
the horns and flop him on his back
THE men tried to argy with Sam,
but he was sot. and, pullin' off his |
coat and fiingin' down his hat, he
walked out and begins to paw and bel |
er same as the bull. The critter stops I
. look at him, and fur mint or two
he must hey wondered what ii was /
Then his eyes began to glare and his
TAIL to stand out, and the crowd hol-
cred to Sam to git over the fence,
lie never minded 'em. but with roar
Ind heller he run in on the bull, was
ossed twenty feet in the air, and when
he animal got through with him there
wasn't much left to bury. A man
,um up to break the news to us. I
wasn't home at the time, and he seq
o the ole woman:
Mrs. Sneed, ar yo'r son Sam home
oday?"
He amt says she.
"'And do yo' know why he ain'tT
Not exactly, but l reckon it's kase
les sumwhar else
That's right, Mrs. Sneed-perfeck.
Y right and proper. Yo'r son Sam
int home and amt comm home. kase
les got bizness up thar in the land of
ngels and golden streets. which win
etain him fur sum timer
1T was a sad case, but me and the
lie woman hev allus reckoned that ,
'rovidence had a hand in It. Sam
ad got that cantankerous that thar
yas no holdln' him back. He'd got to
uss around or bust. If he hadn't
lckled the bull he might hev got into
row in town on 'leckshun day and :
in the means of a dozen men bein' /