The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1915-01-01
The HARO-HEAOED man
BY DON MARK LEMON.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
(Copyright)
The water in this here well Is as
hard as rocks, but that amt to be won.
dered at, seeing as how the well was
dug by the hardest-headed man in all
creation and Hampshire county.
About ten years ago, and for about
twenty years before that, old Jim
Clark and his son Bill lived here. They
were two of kind, and that kind was
rocks. They were hard-headed from
the socks up. They had such hard.
headed notions about most things that
people around here just concluded that
they were born "sot-"
One day old man Clark thought he'd
like to have his well over nearer the
barn, and it was a blessed thing he
decided to dig a new hole instead OF
moving the old one, or he'd have done
it. He says to Bill: bill, I'm going
over to Berkshire to look after some
cows, and while I'm gone you hustle
bit and get the well started"
"WhereIl l begin the top of it,"
asks Bill, kind of sarcastic like, as the
old well his dad had dug slanted a
good bit going down.
Right here" says old man Clark
pointing at this particular spot.
A hard-headed look came into Bills
face "This amt no place for the
WE'LL" he says, and he walks round
to the other end of the barn and starts
the we'll where he thinks it ought to
be-
What are you doing there?" calls
| old man Clark
Digging WE'LL" says Bill.
"Who told you to dig it over there?"
| shouts the old man.
Common sense" says Bill.
Then hard-headed look came into
old man Clark's face. "You dig the
well where l tell you to-" he says, "oI
I'll make you"
"Shoo, dad" says Bill, who was a
great, strapping fellow of twenty.
''You think l cant?" says old mar
Clark
81 do" says Bill.
You'll dig the we'll here" says tbs
old man, and about month later he
fills up the new well that Bill dug in
the wrong spot, and goes off with the
remark that he'll be back in about five
or ten years.
Bill watches him go over the hill
and then he goes back and digs out
| 1T loI bod
Well, about six years after that, old
man Clark comes home.
Hello, dad" says Bill.
Hello, Bill" says old man Clark
Then he sees that the well hasn't
been dug where he wants it, and he
says: Are you going to dig that well
where told you to-"
NO." says Bill, 81 amt"
You'll dig that we'll where l want
you to-" says old man Clark. and he
goes into the house and says not an
other word about 1t for ten years
when, as he was dying. he calls Bill
In and asks:
"Have you changed your mind abou
digging that well?"
mo, dad" says Bill 81 amt"
you'll dig that well where l tolt
you to-" says the dying man, and ther
he turns over and dies
But first he gives Bill letter, ant
after the funeral Bill opens it ant
reads that, since he wouldn't dig thu
well where his dad wanted him to, oil
man Clark had drawn out the tel
thousand dollars that used to be il
the bank, and he would now have t.
hunt around and find where it wa
hidden, according to directions, Thu
first direction was to dig under bi,
stone in the pasture, which Bill did
and found piece of paper in a lea'
box telling him to go to place il
South America, up in the Andes, AM
dig in a certain spot near river, an,
he would find further directions.
, Bill left the farm in the care of
neighbor, and after months Of trave
and adventure and danger of all kind
he reached the Andes and dug wher
he had been told to, and unearthed ar
other little lead box. Inside it was
strip of paper, which told him to g
to Alaska and dig at certain plac
near Dawson City and he would lear
more.
Bill tucked the directions away yer
carefully, and when he reached Alas
ka, he found the spot mentioned b
} old man Clark and dug for further II
formation.
He unearthed another of those III
tie lead boxes, and inside, in the hand
writing of his dad, was the cheerfu
, Information that, since he had bee
so hard-headed about digging tina
we'll, he would now need to go
Africa and dig in a certain spot
which he found on the map was abou
: the middle Of that country-and he
find where the ten thousand dollar
were buried.
: Well, Bill tucked this informatio
| away careful like, and about thre
/ years later he found the box, and il
side was slip of paper telling hill
| that if he would go home to New En-,
4 land and dig the well where he ha
/ been told to dig it, he would uneart
II box containing ten thousand dollar
II in hundred-dollar notes.
II 1t took him seven years to reac
II New England, but finally he got bac
home, and after going out to see tn
old mans grave, he got shovel an
started to dig the well where his da
had told him to dig it. After a spe
he came on the box and ten thousan
dollars.
60 Won see he dug the we'll aftt