Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-08-12
The Catnip NJ an

plain, then. On the edge of the curb,
! just in front of the door, stood little
old man in clothes that We're faded
| but reasonably whole, and at his feet
was market basket partly filled with
| little punches of catnip and other
punches of sweet grass, such as the
| Indians used to weave into their bas-
| kets.
/ The old man, as I discovered after
ward, had been a fixture on that cor
ner for many years; but so oblivious
does city life make us of those who
! are nearest to us in mere physical po-
sition, that l had never noticed him
before.
The old man was about five feet
four inches tall, thin, with sandy hair
and beard, and pair of bright blue
eyes under heavy, bushy brows. His
shoulders had the stoop of age for he
must have been 70 or more, but there
was a quality Of wiry strength about
him that made me think Of those stunt
ed wind twisted spruces that grow on
the tops of mountains. No hurricane
can uproot them and no frost can kill
them. The face of the old man bore
out that impression. 1t was not a
stern, forbidding face, but it was de.
termined, reserved and self reliant.
My first business dealing with the
catnip peddler convinced me that my
impression of him was not far wrong.
He caught my eye as was looking at
him and with little gesture toward
the basket, he said: Fresh catnip,
sir? Five cents a bunch. If you have
cat you ought to take him a little
now and then
Well, l did have cat and one that
thought much Of.
"All right" said l. Give me a
bunch"
1t happened that I had no nickel
among my coins, so | passed the man
a dime. That's all right. It's near
enough" said, and was turning away
when he stopped me short.
wait! I said five cents and he
looked me straight in the eye as he
gave me the change.
Peter, my cat, enjoyed his little
treat so much that fell into the habit
of stopping occasionally to get
bunch of the catnip, and so the old
man and became somewhat acqualnt-
ed; but his reserve remained always
unbroken. 1t was by accident that l
learned what little know about him.
One evening, when I had stopped
for my usual purchase, gust OF WIND
whisked open the old mans faded
jacket, and saw, pinned on the upper
part of his waistcoat, where 1t was or
dinarily quite hidden, the little copper
button Of the Grand Army.
"Hello!" I said You were in the
civil war?'
He pulled the coat impatiently back
into place. Yes, he had enlisted.
When? In 81. Discharged? In '65 when
the army was disbanded. Pension?
No! What should he want of a pen
sion? Was he not able to take care OF
himself? Did he not earn his living!
Did I suppose he had volunteered FOR
what he could get out of it? When he
could not work any longer the govern
ment might take care Of him If 1t want
ed to- but until then
left him, with new respect Tor MS
independence. 1t was still further IN
creased week or two later by an acct
dent that l CHANGED to see. heavy
motor-car was coming over the cross
ing at fair rate of speed, when Wo-
man stepped off the sidewalk almost IN
front of It, The driver swung the car
sharply to the left. 1t struck the curb |
stone. rose over it, and ran for twelve i
or fifteen feet with two wheels on the
sidewalk. and in that distance it ran
over, and crushed to pulp the old mans
basket of herbs.
A number of the passerS-by laughed
heartily, but the owner Of the car was
a gentleman. He stopped, got out ana
went back to the corner. The old man
e,,ll,, IN
his wares.
I'm sorry, sir" said the motorist.
and his hand went into his pocket. "lf
make it right"
THANK YOU" said the old man, "but
you don't owe me anything. 1t was an
accident I don't want man to pay for
a thing that couldn't be helped
It was a ouixotic point of view, but
I said that the motorist was a gentle
man. He showed it then, for he never
questioned the old mans position.
ut was an accident he admitted. |
but YOU have suffered some loss. You
were no more to blame than I was. If
You won't let me pay for all Of it. We'll
divide it, /
"Well," said the old man. that's fair.
| had fourteen punches of catnip left.
and eight lunches of sweet-grass-
that's dollar and ten cents. and the
basket cost me fifty-that makes dol
lar sixty. Half of that is eighty cents
What an old Spartan he is!'
thought to myself. and somehow the in
cident made me feel sort of pity for
the old man. One who is SO uncom-
promising with ones self Is seldom less
lenient toward others. ! wondered If he
had a soft spot in his heart for any
one.
| found out. also by accident. some
time later. An unusual press of work
kept me at the office late during the
greater part of a month. Going out
about o'clock one night, l found the
catnip man still at his place; but this
time he was fondling a poor, bedraggled
month eaten skeleton of a basement
cat and was breaking up one Of his
punches of catnip for her to eat. She
|, ate and rolled, and rolled and ate, and
rubbed against the old mans legs in
way that showed that she understood
him. if did not.
On two other occasions during the
month l saw the same old cat creep out
| - +l,c ,nrYor ,f pvaoipOr when the