Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1913-09-05
FATE; AND A.
i. COW : (: J ' IF. !.
BY M. QUAD
Copyright, 1913, by Associated Lit
",.*..~.s erary Press.

ii s"ss&-.,.s erary Press.
Professor Slocum of the college a
Madison was fifty years old at a Ger
tain date. He was tall and stool
shouldered and ungainly. He was ret
tcent and undemonstrative, and socie
ty knew him not at all. Miss Deboral
Day of the same town had reached tn,
age Of fOrty-five. She was plain O.
face and frigid of attitude, and he
charms were missing.
1t was one Sunday in church tha
fate brought the old bach and the OLE
maid together in the same pew, ani
they sang from the same hymn book
Fate, through mutual acquaintance
INTRODUCED them after the sermon. A
few evenings later the professor call
ed. The talk was of philosophy. HI
called again, and they talked of theoso
ply. He made third call, and the agt
of the world was under discussion TO,
an hour. After that it was for the
cow to do her part.
One evening, just at shutdown, Mis-:
Day walked forth in meadow t.
gather a few daisies. At the same
hour it singularly happened that Pro
ow in search of geological specimens
The lady discovered her daisies, the
professor discovered his pebbles, the
two people discovered each other. and
together they discovered COW. A
COW may be simply an animated object
on the landscape or she may be dis.
covery because she is enraged over
the loss of a horn knocked off in some
way and because she has her head
down and her. tail up and is charging
the pebbles and daisy gatherers.
Then the fifth discovery showed up.
1t was COW shed twenty rods away,
a rough affair that had seen bet
ter days. The meadow was retired,
and the shed was more so. They
reached it just in time for the pro-
fessor to find board and bar the en-
trance against the cow and later on to
further strengthen it. There was no
doubt about the bovine being in ear
nest. She made frantic efforts to tear
down the shed with her remaining
horn, and when she could not effect
an entrance she stood on guard to keep
her victims from coming out. Dark
ness suddenly fell, and then the per-
turbed couple suddenly realized their
situation.
Professor Slocum, must leave here
this Instant" exclaimed the horrifed
Miss Day.
And 60 must II" was the reply.
ut is not propery
Certainly mott"
II shall be laughingstock!'
And i the same!'
II can't 60, but you must!" said Miss
Day as the cow, quieted down.: PRO
lessor, you must see that yon must 60
you must see it!''
II do see it" he replied, ':and, while
cannot depart from the shed, I can
climb on the top Of it."
This he accomplished by making his
way through gap in the roof. He
was now in position of propriety,
but there was the cow again. When
she saw him perched up there, SO near
and yet SO far, she tried to climb up
after him. and at the end Of two min
utes Miss Day was shrieking for pro-
lection. Down scrambled the pro-
fessor, and the COW took to running
around the shed to find where he
had disappeared. The interior of the
shed had now become so dark that
nothing could be seen. In trying to
strengthen the door some more the pro-
lessor fell down and rolled over. In
trying to 60 to his assistance Miss Day
suddenly found herself sprawling.
Can person maintain Brightness
when surrounded by cow shed, with a
mad cow battering away at the door?
Can person be stilted after rolling in
the straw and dirt? Can he or she be
severely ceremonious when it is i'm
possible to see each other? The pro-
lessor wisely decided that they could
not, and he reached out and clasped
Miss Days hand. She returned the
clasp. Then he put his arm around her
in protecting way, and she did not
shrink. Then the old COW made up
her mind to melt the frost and bring
out the turtledoves if she had to
break her neck to do it. She gave a
below Of warning, and retreated eight
or ten rods and then came for the side
Of the shed like runaway locomotive.
She hit it fair and square, and two
thirds Of it caved in like a house Of
sand. In the caving she was mixed up
with beams and boards, and the pro-
lessor took. advantage of the occasion
to tear the door aside and then pull
his companion out into the open. Then
they ran for the nearest fence. 1t
wasn't dignified to fall down three or
four times, but they fell. 1t wasn't
eminently proper, when the fence was
= IL