The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-04-16
A Village Tale
,rs-
By NJ. QUAD
By N. QUAD
Copyright, 1915. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

" was ~ 0SS
Silas Thompson and Ben Goodheart
met at the postof1ice one evening, and
as they sat around and whitfield and
waited for the mail to come in Silas
lazily queried:
'Eben, you've been to Cat Hill a
hundred times. l reckon. and jest how
far do you Gull it from Hopeville?"
LEST US far as 1t Is" answered Eben
after thinking for about three minutes.
And that's ten miles"
who said it was:"
Il say so. l carried the mail on that
road fur three long years, and l reck-
on | know the distance purity well. I
asked you because some n said you
call it only nine and u half miles"
And that's what I'm sayin' this
mint. It's nine miles and a half to an
inch"
Say. Eben. didn't you measure it
with a purity short tapeline?' asked
Silas as he whitfield away.
Its Jest nine and a half" answered
Eben in a dogged way.
Its exactly ten"
Not an inch over nine and a half"
Not an inch under ten miles!"
"Silas. are you crazy or u born fool?"
asked Eben as his hair began to curl.
Il amt u big nuff fool to cali it nine
miles and u half to Cat Hill!"' yelled
Silas in reply.
They jnwed about it half an hour
longer. and they parted bad friends.
In the course Of two or three days
Eben put up a sign reading. Cat Hill
Nine and a Half Miles," and as soon
as Silas heard of it he put up another
reading, Cat Hill-Ten Miles," That
made things worse, and u half dozen
families We're mixed up In the quarrel.
Almost every night in the year the two
men mel at the %postofice. and, though
they wouldn't notice each other. they
had their ways Of hurting each others
feelings. Silas would look around to
Ezra Billings and giggle and chuckle
and say:
Did you hear that Cat Hill had
moved inland u half a mile. Ezra? She
used to be ten miles from Hopeville.
but she moved up to nine and a half
to accommodate sartiq smart folks"
Eben would be hurt and want to
| get even. and he'd look at Jabez White
and say:
Heard about that escaped lunatic.
Jabez? They say he's measurin' the
road from here TO Cat Hill with q tow
string and that 1t keeps him crazy be-
cause be can't make but nine and q
half miles Of it."
The two men never came to blows.
but they never me- without trying to
hurt each others feelings. II N ia
vored anything the other opposed It.
and they were contrary in politics, re-
ligion and all public improvements.
| One day Eben got buried in his well
| by q cave-in. and though Silas helped
| to dig him put the chance vas n to
say:
"Mebbe this narrow escape from
death will make him turn to the truth
in the future and admit it's ten miles
to Cat HILL" .
1t wasn't four weeks after that when
Silas had a saw log roll over him. and
MS he lay there all flattened out Eben
came up md looked on him and said:
HE seems to be a goner. but If the
Lord lets him live 1t will be that he
may take half n mile of the distance
to Cat Hill and save his soul from per-
dition."
Folks thought the dispute might
wear itself out in a year or two. but
1t didn't. 1t kept right on for twenty
long years and never grew cold. Eben
would have gone to Indiana to live. but
he didn't want to leave Silas behind to
crow over him. and Silas would not
go to Syracuse to run n sawmlll for
the same reason. At length Eben lay
on his dying bed. and just the minute
the doctor told him his case was hope
less he sat up and said:
''Then I want you to send for Sllas
Tompkins. I've got something ! want
to say to him before l die"
Silas didn't hang back about coming.
and after he'd arrived and said he was
sorry Eben said to him:
"Silas. how fur is 1t to Cat Hul?"
Its Jest ten miles. Eben. jest ten"
But I'm a dyin' man."
"Yes. l know. but it's Jest ten miles"
Its only nine and a half. silas. and
you are az big a fool as you was TWEEN
ty years ago."
''Ten miles,"
"Nine and q half!!"
Silas went away, and Eben died.
and a year later Silas was called to
20. When he realized It he said to t,s
wife: 4
Martha. don't let anybody blur you
when I'm gone. It's ten miles to Cat
Hill. and you stick to 1t II you have to
live on cold taters."
III do 1t. Silas." she answered.
In a day or two he was dead and
buried. and as the usual crowd met at
the p~osto6ice in the evening the talk
was all about the two men and their
lifelong dispute. Some said one was
| right. and some said the other. There
was a stranger present, and BY and BY
he pricked up his ears and asked:
was you folks talkin' about the
distance to Cat Hill?'