Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1912-02-29
Q
The Bones Of a
DinOSaur
They Came Very Near Making
a Corpse Of Museum
Curator
BY F. A. Mitchell
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.
y . = q 4. y . 80.
By F. A. Mitchell
by American Press Asso-
Fg1s

Diggers in the earth are of various
kinds. At one extreme stands the mole,
at the other the hunter after buried
treasures, such as the bones Of extinct
animals or the palaces of kings long
dead. Professor Upton belonged TO
the delivers for fossils He was barely
thirty years old small Of stature.
tride bald on the forehead and wore
glasses. There was nothing beautiful
about the professor except his smile.
and that was beautiful because it was
chldike. One seeing the Innocent
parting Of his lips. accompanied by a
soft look that appeared in his eyes, felt
Immediately like taking up the little
man and huggIGg nim.
Now. it having been reported TO the
directors of the museum of which Pro-
fessor Upton was curator that the tip
of the tail OF some enormous animal
had been struck in digging n well in
a western territory, the curator was
directed to repair to the spot. take a
look at the protrusion, determine to
what animal 1t belonged. whether it
was worth digging for and the cost Of
elimination.
In due time the professor reached
a settlement some five or six miles
from where the fossiIized bones were
located and, learning that the only way
to reach them would be on horseback,
called for a horse, mounted him and
proceeded on his way. He had pro-
ceeded about half the distance when
he saw ahead of him what looked like
the dim outline Of a cowboy, but as he
and the coming object drew nearer he
noticed that the rider was feminine.
How do?" she said as she refined in
her steed.
The professor had never heard this
form of greeting before and did not
understand it. However he refined in
his horse and smiled.
The smile was, something very new
to the girl, The coarse gutfaw of the
plainsman or the diabolical grin of the
Indian was the only expression of a
genial disposition she had ever seen.
What y doin out here strangerY
she asked
I'm goin' to the fork Of the river
he replied
what y goin there forI'
A reply to an uneducated person was
difficult, but the professor explained
his object as well as he could
~ think it's some kind o varmint7"
she asked
81 don't know what a varmint is,
but suspect what I'm going to look
at viii turn out to he either a masto-
don or a dinosaur."
Aud | don't know what them are.
l don't see no shootin' iron about "
Where do y carry itT'
IL didn't think to bring a weapon
Do | need oneT
We'll now, y are the most inno-
cent kid ! ever seen. Need a gun?
III go with " 1t would be a pity to
leave little Teller like v TO wander
about with not even a toy pistol"
Turning her horses head, she rode
back with Professor Upton. There
was something odd in the defenseless
man being under the protection Of this
armed girl. He found her especially
useful as a guide, for she knew the re.
gion perfectly and took him to the
point he wished to find There was
no one on the ground to locate the ex-
act spot, but the girl told him she had
seen some men digging and landed him
where they had begun to bore the well
The moment the professor caught sight
Of few mammoth vertebrae that had
been exposed he clasped his hands.
ioised his mild eyes to heaven, and
as lips moved In thanks,
It's a dinosaur," sale the professor.
"Y' don't mean itr'
Judging from these few vertebrae,
1t must be sixty or seventy feet long"
"Goshr'
And, Judging from The horizontal
position Of what IS exposed there viii
be little cost In getting it out"
''Will it payf"
The professor Mid not hear this ques-
ton. He had picked up a stick lying
near and was scraping away the dirt
INV iohS hdS ~ Dtell lueEeF asked
the girl
Not less than 10000 years"
Don't Y think it's rather late in
the day 70 disturb it?'
AT that moment there was a clatter
OF hoofs In the distance. and a small
party Of men were seen galloping to-
ward them.
"By gum" exclaimed the girl. ITS
Sheriff Glenn Barker! / wonder what
he's after"
Hello, Kate" exclaimed Barker as
he rode up what y dom cavortin
around With a boss theft"
Now, Il IS time TO explain that the
professor, after having left the settle
ment stopped at a farmhouse for o
drink OF buttermilk. He had ridden q
gray horse thus far, but when he left
the house mounted a roam without no
ucing the change in color A man who
had stolen the roam. being hard pressed
by the sheriff and a posse. seeing
comparatively fresh mount hitched f.
a post, changed horses.
He aiut no boss thief" replied the
girl He's a. What air y anyway
Il am A."