Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-03-05

cheered by his own happy spirit of
optimism Captain Tuttle tossed down
Il small mountain of hay to the unap-
peasable Annie and pumped up bucket
after bucket of water to quench her
remarkable thirst. The fact that she
playfully squirted a few quarts of the
cold liquid down his neck did not in
crease his affection for her. In return
he punched her in her soft ribs and
Annie tapped a frayed gray ear at
him.
By the time the pony had been fed
and soothed to quietness and the
chickens had gone to bed for the night.
the captain locked the barn door and
YEARLY trudged into his cosy house to
prepare his evening meal.
Sitting there over his platter of fried
han and eggs there came a happy
thought
'arhunderationi' he exclaimed glee-
fully. IF | do that not a soul in Lit
tie River will ever know what became
of the %critter. and l shan't tell. Get
ting off before daylight is just the
lulnS. ACt IuC See liz PuRCL DaA0 bAC
circus was to play in Sandville Friday
and Saturday, and tomorrow's Friday.
l better turn In now. I've got a-plenty
to do"
At 2 O'Clock the next morning Cap
tain Perley Tuttle locked the door of
his bachelor abode and went to his sta
BILE. BY the light of a lantern the
drowsy elephant was coaxed out into
the barnyard. where she submitted to
having a blanket tossed across her
broad back. On top of this Captain
Tuttle dashed a spare wagon seat from
the blackboard and tied it with many
an intricate sailor knot. Two ropes
were slipped over Annie's short tusks,
securely knotted, and then Captain
Tuttle was ready for business.
To mount upon Annie's high back
was another problem, but the captain
solved 1t in his own ingenious way.
Annie stood patiently before the barn
door.
Captain futile closed the doors. went
upstairs and opened the doors to the
hayloft, extinguished his lantern.
caught hold of the rope and pulley
hanging at the end of the hosting
beam, slid down the rope and landed
squarely on the seat above Annie's
quivering body.
The beast moved uneasily under his
weight, but when he picked up The
guiding ropes and sawed at them.
while he prodded her with Il broom
handle, Annie swung slowly about
and moved majestically through the
darkness toward the open gate.
"She steers as easy as the old Paler
NO." muttered the delighted captain
as Annie padded heavily down the
road toward the stretch of woods that
lay between Little River and Sand
before these here l~andlubbers are
awake, and | guess none Of 'em will be
lafin' at Captain Perley Tuttle be-
cause he had to take the elephant back
all on account of Heppy Tewks' on
trapted notions about menageries. The
elephant will be gone. and there won't
be a soul know how or when. Gee up.
there. Annie! Port your helm! Ho-
upl'
Annie logged slowly along the dark
road, while the captain kept a wealth
er eye on the light streak in the east,
where the dawn was coming In swift
pursuit of. night.
Captain futile chuckled when he APP
preached the little cottage where Hep
by Tewks lived. 1t was light enough
to distinguish objects, and he was
amazed and somewhat disconnected
when he discovered the dumpy little
form of Heppy stepping around the
dew drenched garden.
She uttered a shrill squeal Of fright
when she saw the great gray bulk
with the captain sitting atop come
close to the palings of her fence.
She was wearing a crisp calico wrap
per, and her hair was curled close to
her head with the dampness of the
morning. She was quite pretty and
had a lively manner.
"Whatever" she shrieked as she
rushed to the fence. "Perley futile,
you'll be killed sure as fatel Are you
crazy, to go riding off on that dreadful
creature2"
The captain lighted his pipe and
pulled slowly at 1t, while Annie MUNICH
ed the fresh green buds from Heppy's
Rose of Sharon trees along the fence.
"Just going for a little morning ride.
Heppy," said the captain soothingly.
Now, don't get excited. and it amt
necessary to spread the news from Old
Mans mountain down to the grist
MILL" he added warningly. I'm 60
ing to buy that wedding ring today.
Heppy." he added bashfully.
Heppy laughed Historically. "Wed-
Ing ring! There won't be any wedding
at all, Perley Tuttle. if you don't get
rid Of that there beastP' She pointed
a quivering finger at Annie and turned
AWAY