The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1914-04-10
oooooooooOooOoooooooooooo
her FAD..AND HIS
BY CLYDE PARSONS.

BY CLYDE PARSONS.
II every man, old or young. has a
fad-and we know he has; II every
woman, old or young, has a fad
and we know she has-why blame
Miss Nora Lee for having one, too? 1t
wasn't a great big fad, and one to
keep the police busy and the babies
on the block awake O. nights. but
reasonable fad, and was not seriously
objected to even by people with a
crouch.
Miss Nora was not moving picture
fiend; she did not go to ball games
more than twice in a season; she
did not attend the races at all. Her
fad was-cats-dogs, rabbits? Not at
all! She lavished her affections on a
goat, and he wasn't anything Of a
beauty at that. In fact, he was a
scrub goat. He was built on the lines
Of a saw-buck. He was homely from
the tip of his nose to the tip Of his
tail. He remained gaunt despite the
food set before him. He evinced no
gratitude for her love and care, and he
wasn't bit proud when he was led
along the street with yards Of blue
ribbon streaming in the breeze and
a silver bell around his neck.
Mistress and goat we're bound to at
tract attention when they walked out.
Adults stared, small boys INDUCED In
levity, and dogs seemed to have a
longing to try conclusions with
| BILLY"
However, a fad wouldn't be much
of fad unless 1t attracted atten-
ton, and while Miss Nora tried to look
calm and unconscious, there is no
doubt that she felt CLOVIS of pride as
she caught such remarks as:
did you evef!"
Can you beat it,"
why don't she love hippo!"
| Hasn't she a father or a mother?'
"A hobble skirt and a pet goat
| thunder!"
Miss Morals father was dead, and
her mothers objections to her fad car
ried no weight.
Does Billie bite any one?" the
daughter would ask.
"Of course not"
Does he bark and disturb us?"
NO"
Does he cost any more to keep
than a dog?"
II guess not"
"He isn't handsome, but isn't he bet
ter looking than bull dog?"
Yes"
Then what's the matter with my
keeping a goat?"
IT'S so unusual"
Wasn't the split skirt unusual two
years ago?"
Living half a mile away was Mr..
Burt Wiltshire. He had a fad. In
stead of leading a goat about the
streets, he led a pig. 1t was black
pig with a red ribbon for a collar. 1t
had been trained so 1t could be led
like a dog. That pig was also
an innovation as well as fad The
police had tried to suppress it, but
the courts had held that 1t had the
same rights as dog and was not
half as dangerous.
Like the goat, the pig attracted
much attention when out for an air.
ing, and like Miss Nora the young
man at the other end of the lead re-
ceived such expressions frorn>the pub
lie as:
'Is he an escaped idiot?"
Does he belong to side-show?"
Can the pig tell fortunes with
cards?"
It might have ben figured out by
mathematician that there was Just
one chance in ten thousand that the
girl and her goat and the young man
and his pig would ever meet on the
street In head-on collision. That
one chance came to them. II was SO
willed by the Destiny that shapes our
ends. At nine o'clock one morning
Miss Nora and her goat we're taking
promenade for their health and 9TH
or reasons. There was an abandon
about them that was charming. That
is, they occupied most of the sidewalk,
and their motto was, the public be
hanged.
At the same hour Mr.. Burt wilt
shire and his educated black pig set
out for their stroll. They had here
tofore taken one particular direction.