The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-12-23
The
Presidential Wager
By M. QUAD
Copyright, 1872. by Associated Lit
erary Press.
By M. QUAD

no ETuIIerS, anu Ile CdnuludleS SeieCt-
ed to run for town offices were of the
best. and it made little difference who
| was elected.
| A change was at hand. however, but
no one suspected II until it came down
upon the town like roaring lion.
Henry Jackson was one of the men
who travelled the country over, taking
| orders for the articles turned out at
the factories, and one morning, as he
returned from a trip, he met Elder
| Scott in front of the postOffice:
"Howdy, elder?" says Mr.. Jackson
"a little rheumatic. thank you" re.
plies the elder.
politics warming up here anyT
mot that / have heard of"
Its red hot outside"
"Well. let em go it. I've made up
my mind who | shall vote for for presi-
dent, but I'm not going to do any yell
ing about it
| BLANK is your man, of courseY'
HE is that. He'll sweep the coun-
try"
Hell sweep nothingl You oldidozers
here had better wake up as to what IS
going on. Your man won't be knee
high when the votes are counted"
Now, what followed the elder could
never clearly explain. He had never
done the like before, and he didn't
mean to do it then. Something came
over him of a sudden. and he got mad
for the first time in seventeen years
and raised his voice to say:
Don't call me an old dozer don't
care what they say outside. My man
is sure of election"
so is Tom JOnesl"
Don't imagine you know it all.'
"And don't imagine you know any
thing at all about it, Why, man, your
party leaders gave the thing up weeks
ago"
By this time a score of men had as
sembled to hear the discussion, and the
elder was put on his mettle He was
the only man in German who had ever
predicted a blizzard and had it arrive
on time, and he didn't want to lose his
prestige. He drew a long breath and,
to the horror of his friends, called ont;
My candidate will be elected, and
I'll bet on it,
How muchf' asked Mr.. Jackson as
his hand went to his pocket.
"A dol-thut is. | will bet 10 cents!'
"Hoot mon, but that is not even a
baby'S bet"
Then, by gosh, I'll make it 15'
"Say $40"
mo. Fifteen cents is my limit
AS Mr.. Jackson could not get the
figures raised. he accepted them, and
the money was placed in the postmas
ter's hands II was spoken Of as the
highest election bet ever made in that
town. and Inside Of two hours it seem
ed that POO men had heard of IT, Some
complimented the elder on his nerve,
and some shook their heads and pre-
dicted that it would turn out bad
thing for the town
The enormity Of his onenSc did not
occur To the elder until the next day.
when his good wife heard OF the wager
and tackled him with.
And YOU made an election bet with
Mr. Jackson the same as a loafer
wouldw
1T was only for II cents"
"But could have used it to buy a
roller towel. and then look ut the pru-
ciple of the thing ! can't believe it
OF you. What are Christian men and
women going to say"
But Jackson tried to blum me
down"
"S'posin he did, It's the duty Of an
elder of the church to be bluned"
Darn him. he tackled me when folks
were around
"Seel See exclaimed the wife
First you make bet and then you
swear The next thing will be swap
ping horses"
You know didn't mean to be
wicked" pleaded the elder
but it was wicked TO bet. and you
20 straight 10 the postmaster and get
that money back and give it to me"
"Oh, NO, you dont!' replied the post
master when the good man sncaked
into the office and whisperingly asked
to draw his money down.
But it was what they call bluff"
81 don't see 1t that way. You must
have Mr.. JaekSon's consent Have YOU
got cold feet 80 soonfr
The elder looked down at his feet
and shuhied them around as he would
feel OF them aud said.
MY wife wants the money"
But she won't get it,
Il don't know what our church will
say"
Sorry for YOU, elder. but in time
you may become real old sport You
may win ont ou this and scoop in Jack
sons cash
To the establishment Of a large share
OF the VOTERS Of German. the elders
candidate won out. and he was on
hand at an early hour to claim his
stakes. His rejoicing was darkened.
however. when charges were brought
against him in his church ana he was
for trial. lie expected the
worst, but he didn't get IL. The find