The Washington herald., 1915-02-28

, "A Icctlc speech which folcred the IRE.
S''uar' pdmvers said that Rome In her
Iallni"st days never euualcd the occa-
sion. and Philctus johnson declared that
the thanks OF Congress would be a poor
reward for such hcroiSm.
The day the tiremen got their uniforms.
Ierich" sol up on her hind legs and
howled. There was sicn excitement in
tn" town that soft soap WIS allowed TO
| boil over. bread was burned up in the
ovens, and most folks forgot to feed their
hogs. Some idea of what sort of royal
jubilation it WAS kin be- gathered from
the fact that on" grocery alone sold six
teen lemons and seven cocOanutS durin
the day. II WAS Reube Holdfast's idea
that fireman should always be on duty.
and he advised every member of the
company TO wear his uniform day and
night. When the first thunderstorm came
| along. the fire bell rang. and the COM
pany turned out and stood ready to rush
To the spot if liShtnin' hit anythin.' If
there was a dog fight in front of the
town hall, the company came rushln' In.
and if anybOdy's team ran away or
kitchen stove got red-hOt there was a
dash of red-shirted heroes. Jericho was
boOmin, but RCuDe was not satisfied
with her progress. He got his company
out and marched them to sunday church
and to Thursday evenin' prayin' me"tin'-
Their" WAS lawsuit over q COW between
Jim White and Aaron TompkinS. and the
fire company was present in full uniform.
Old Mrs. Hopkins WAS taken sick. and
the doctor said she must go. and Reube
felt IL his duty to march the company
up TO her house and bid her a last fare
well. Her sickness took turn fur the
hettcr. and she began to get well. and
Reube marched his company up aG'in to
Civ" her three cheers fur not dyin'.
After about a month there was only
one thing lackin'. The fire company had
turned out fur cverythin' hut a funeral.
but death had obstinately refused to gin
it show. There was a lot of old folks
with asthma and liver complaint and
lot of babies with whoOpn' cough and
measles. but none of EN- would die.
Rrubo used to go around aChin' fur il.
and he'd drop into the postofficc Occa-
Sunally to say to me:
Pap. if some one would only die. I'd
turn out the boys in way to jump
Jericho loo years ahead. Them red pals
offset to the mournin'. and the way the
boys would stand around on one leg and
look solemn would be a picture TO beat
an old master. How's your heart dis
ease. Pap"
Better. thank you"
Il was in hopes that it was wuss,
TharS wuss men nor you. Pap Per-
kins. but if you'll only die our fire COM
pany will give ye n send-off to make yer
wilder proud fur the rest of her DAYS"
Reube was on the watch day and night
fur funeral and he'd almost made up
his mind TO turn out the company for
the next cow that died of holler-hoTn,
when crisis came like flash. OWN
to his lame leg Lish Billings hadn't
] lIltu the IRE company, Out ne WIS an
old respected citizen who could beat
everybody in town at a game of check
crs. Therefore, when the news came
that his well had caved in on him and
fire bells runS and red shirts went
whoopin' down the road. Mrs. Billings
didn't seem to care very much whether
they got Lish's body or not. ben' ii was
I" h"v it fur a funeral They worked all
the AFTERNOON and all the night and at
intervals Rrube had the bells tolled fur
the dead. Nobody in Jericho slept The
well kept Gavin in. and the firemen kept
workin like heroes TO clear 1t out. 1t
Was o'clock next morning when they
found Lsh's old hat AS 1t was passed
mp to Reubn he shed tears and turned his
head away Philetus johnson was jest
r"markin that Lish's loss was our gain,
or something of that sort. and the dig
arms and legs, when Lish himself APP
p"ar"d in the crowd. He seemed to De
in good health and speerts. and he care
lcSsiy remarked to IN" fire company that
he WuS mulch ohleeC"d fur Sdvin' him q
Week : work. Nuthiu WIS said fur about
miuit, nut presently Rcube Holdfast
wiped the tears from mis- eyes and asked
'i.ish. whar' YOU bin since yesterday
noon
upstairs in tho house" says Lish.
What WAS YOUR objecx?"
IT" boom Jericho by Gettin' up ~
moral. Thsr's my old hat and you kin
tax" II along and bury it IN good shape"
R.ul'.n called off his company and they
marched back 10 town with solemn
tread. They hadn't put away their red
pals before folks were lauShin' at EN-.
and before shutdown the doom of the
tire company was sealed. Iish Billings
had thrown 'em down, and the public
was guyin ana rdiculin'. When o'clock
mail had bin distributed. Reube stood up
i'll the postoffice and said:
'Frller citizens. whereas, this ere
town of Jericho don't seem to apprrci- :
ata enterprise, vigilance. heroism and
Blooms. and whereas. she'd ruther be at
III" mercy of the fire iiPnd than to have
her disastrous Conflagration squirted
out, now and tharfore resolved that this
band Of heroes be disbanded, and Jeri- 4
ChU kin 80 10 thunder.
OLD PAP PTNkHAM.
tIunored Postmaster |