The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1917-10-12

i
dog. She was just fitting her key into
her front door, on her return, when
Mrs. Phelps, the dressmaker, stopped
in front of the house, and spoke to her.
"Myl yu just got homer" she in
quired. On being assured that this
was the case, she went on. "S'pose yu
hain't got yer s'peeny yet"
Vida looked blank, and asked what
she meant by "s'peeny."
"Why, one O. them papers that gets
yu before the judge an the court" she
explained. ",They was lookln' fer yu
with one"
Vida's amazed expression prompted
Mrs. Phelps to say: "Why, hain't yu
heard nothing?"
Vida assured her she had not, and
invited her In.
''My land such COINS on as there's
been, an all on account O. that pigp
"Plg?' exclaimed Vida.
Eyes, yu see Hiram Briggs said you
give 1t to him. Wal, he took it home,
and it kept up such a squealin', Miss
Akin, next door, bein' sort O. cranky
an nervous, made such row that
Hiram goes and tells Jake Flynn about
1t, an he puts it up to Hiram to get
up rattle for him, right there in the
grocery, an he starts in sellin' shares
on that pig fer fifty cents share.
Wal, If he didn't take in ten dollars
fer that pig, nobody havin' seen 1t, an
not KNOWN it was runt. When the
rattle come off, Joel Stone, he drawed
the pig. Joels an awful good-natured
feller, an instead O. bein' mad at bein'
took in that way, he jest about
laughed his head off, an he set Jake
to startin' another rattle, sayin' he
wanted to help Hiram to get some
new clothes, an he was willin' to put
up the pig again. Wal, my conscience
1t was pdssin' belief to see how an
other lot Of suckers bit at the bait, an
Jake had got in another ten dollars,
an invited the folks to the drawin',
when in walks Henry Spears, an
stops everything. He yells out that
he is the owner of the pig, an all
that money belongs to him. Then HI
ram he ups an says you give him
the pig, an he can prove 1t. An old
Spears says he'd like to see how he
was goln' to do it. Yu see he knowed
you was gone, and he laid out to get
that money fer the pig all right.
"Wal, If that mean old skinfint
didn't go an get Hiram arrested, an
hauled up to court. But Hiram, he
remembered how them folks, that
Mr.. Grice an his sister, sot out on
your porch, and heard you tell him
to take the pig, an he got them for
witnesses. Wal, everything was COM
in fine fer Spears, an dead ag'in
Hiram at the trial, when Mr.. Grice
got mad, an he ups and tells the
Judge that Hiram was all right in
takin' the pig, and 1t was give to you
all right, an you'd had trouble enough
with that pig to collect damages from
Spears. And he ends by calm Spears
a skinhinty old hippycrit. Well, then
the Judge he pounces on him, an fines
him ten dollars fer contempt O. court.
Grice amt more'n paid his fine when
he lights in, and gives Spears another
slam, and when the Judge tries to shut
him up, he goes on to tell what he
thinks of the brains an the justice Of
the hull court as 1t shows off in the
town of Norton. Then Mr.. Grice he
gets fined another ten dollars, an the
trial O. Hiram Briggs gets sort O. for
gotten, and sidetracked In the trial O.
Mr., Grice fer contempt o. court. Pret-
ty soon the judge, seemin' to think the
flnln of Mr.. Grlce is gettin' monoto-
nous, adjourns the court Wal, when
the Judge comes out, Mr.. Grice is
layin' fer him, an he steps up, an
says: Courts over now, l s'pose,' an
the Judge lows that it is. Then Mr..
Grice fetches him one in the eye, an
the Judge hits back, an there's no
knowin' what might have happened IL
some men hadn't got between 'em i. i.
The Judge couldn't hold court the next
day, 1t not lookln' jest right to be on
the bench with black eye. Every
body's talkin', an takin' sides, an
gettin' into scraps. Yes, the town is
Jest all ripped up over that pig"
II Think said Vida quietly, II can
straighten this out"
Vida anneared DrOmntly In court