The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-03-15
HARD LUCK IN NUGGET
BY HAROLD CARTER.

Crawford who kept books for jim
Riley. First he thought he'd got her
and then he thought he hadn't, and
then, just when he thought he had
well!
We'd heard a new preacher was
coming to Nugget, and naturally the
boys were interested. Doctor Hadley.
who had been with US six years, had
been thought good deal of. His Sat
urday night illustrated lectures on the
wonders Of nature had proved live
wire. Jim Riley had won the prize
Doctor Hadley offered for the best col
lection of lizards and Tom Bullen's |
wife got the prize he gave for the best |
cake baked for the chuGch sociable; |
and SO, with the parsOn gone, we saw |
all our innocent pastimes nipped in |
the bud unless Mr.. Frank Cunning |
ham turned out a sociable sort of man |
like his predecessor.
The minute he steps off the train,
however, he looks so queer we see
something is wrong. He looks about
him surprisedlike.
Where's your outlaws?" he asks.
There amt been none here for
these ten years, not since they passed
the antigambling laws" says Tom.
why don't you carry pistols?" the
parson asks, still more surprised.
''They's taxed too high" l explains
Times is hard in Nugget"
What, don't you shoot up tender
feet who take drinks of Iemonade?"
| he demands.
Everybody drinks lemonade, mis-
ter explains Jim Riley. This is a
prohibition county"
| Naturally this didn't make too good
an impression on US, especially when
| he preached a sermon against outlaws
| from the pulpit the first Sunday The
boys had another thing against him,
too. He'd asked Miss Rose to go bug
| gy-riding with him on the Wednesday,
and as Jim Riley had been monopoliz-
ing her a good deal we didn't like the
| butting-in feature However, Miss
Rose went with him.
He didn't talk about nothing but
outlaws" she said TO US He thinks
we're hiding the vice of Nugget from
him to prevent his breaking it up
He says if he spots it he's going to
smash it"
so that's why he come nosing
round my back door on Sunday before
church," exclaimed jim. hotly Want.
ed to see if l was violating the tenn
| perance laws, eh?'
Well, after another week had gone
by things was getting urbearable.
None of US wanted to lay hands on the
parson, but we saw he hadn't come to
/ Nugget in an understanding spirit
, Moreover. he was bothering Miss
Rose, and we didn't like that
, Now | tell you how it is, boys,
says Tom BuIlen. What he wants is
to prove himself He's like a young
horse that hasn't been broke He's
like a soldier going into battle, who
u thinks he's hero and has to Learn
. that it will take all his heroism t
keep from running away. If once h,
l. gets up against what he's looking fol
he'll sing pretty small and possibl!
u turn out to be a good Teller"
And then he outlined his plan to US
~ We were to stage an attempted ah
T. duction
VI 1t was three nights later, before tn
10 moon come up, that we carried out til
y plan. Jim and Tom lay in wait at tn
parsonage corner. about the time whe
Miss Rose used to walk home fror
the store We knew the parson woul
" be waiting for her. to say good eyt
ne ming and to offer to escort her, an
q the rest of US was hiding i'll Ephraim
store across the street, to see the fun
. Just as Miss Rose was passing tn
~ parsonage Jim and Tom leaps out an
ma | grabs her Scream? | never heard
girl holler like it. Jim said afterwar
ng it scared him into thinking he wa
really trying to abduct her.
ed Help. Help" she cried at the tc
Of her voice
al Suddenly the parsonage door opene
and Mr.. Cunningham came out
"Wh-whwhat's the NATTER"
stammered
1t was so dark some of us had take
ng the opportunity to creep up close, al
de- | tell vow it fairly scared me stiff
think man could be such a cowar
TO The parson was positively shakil
with fright, and he looked as if
'ou was going to turn tail any instant.
you leave that young lady alone
n ne he mumbled; and then he caught sig
10 of Miss Roses face.
70 Next instant he had landed like
catapult right into the pair of the
Before he knew it, Jim was lying
am the road with a cut lip and Tom W
unit leaning against the wall with a bruis
the eye. But the parson was at the
ney again, and there wasn't nothing to
sta but to turn tail. We ran, the lot
! US, and we was afraid, every insta
ON, the parson would land one CT us bio
~, across our necks. But he tailed
aIly and went back to Miss Rose, and Il
IIus was the last we saw, except that
mes heard he took her home and told |
she wasn't never to go out alone at
of | dark in such vicious town again.