The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-08-29
TRIPPING up "cY'
Lob Is Done to Entire satisfac.
ton of His Hearers. w. ~.
Spinner Of Yarns, Always More Re-
markabIe. Than Those Told by
Others, Is Beaten at
His Own Game,

Sour John Marvin glanced out Of tn
window Of the shop where he was max
Ing an afternoon call. ICY Pelton
headed this way. he announced, ian,
l will make a prediction. If anyon
here present ventures to speak of any
thing out Of the ordinary that he ha
heard or read, about, Cy will follow
with something in the same line, onl.
a little more remarkable, that he ha
been an eyewitness Of, and he'll b,
sure to place It in some place prett,
far from this town. But Cy Peltor
needn't fatterr himself that he. evel
fools me-; I have sense enough tt
know that he always makes up his
story as he goes along, and I live II
hopes Of seeing him tripped up some
day."
At that moment the door opened and
the reputed spinner Of "yarns" walked
In. At his heels came Uncle Noah
Briggs, the acknowledged oldest In.
habltant.
1--WE just been reading an inter.
esting piece about Abraham Lincoln"
Uncle Noah began, as he accepted the
easiest chair. ~
"When he was young man clerk
Ing in a store, someone stumped him
one day to pick up a barrel Of rum
of the floor and hold 1t up to his
mouth and drink out Of the bunghole :;
and he did 1t. But after he laid the
barrel down again, he spit every drop
Of the liquor out Of his mouth. That
goes to show how strong Mr.. Lincoln
was in his arms and also how strong
temperance he was" a..
Uncle Noah would have continued.
but he made fatalpause, and Cyrus
PeltOn got the floor.
II had an uncle, on my mothers
SIDE" he said, that I guess was full
as strong in his arms as ever Mr.. Lin
coin was, and even stronger in tenn
pcrance. He was a blacksmith in the
town Of Industry. ~
some time, when I was n small bOy.
Hiram Quint, one of Uncle Lifa,s near
ncighbors, was building Il big barn, and
he had asked lot of men to the rails
Ing. i'' ~, r@.'3 a..
"In those dnys almost everyone
drank hard cider, and thought nothing
of it, but Uncle Life&w dead set
against It. When he came along TINT
day and saw the big barrel of cider
that Mr.. Qulnt had provided for re-
frcshment, he says. Hiram, your rails.
Ing would come on full rs we'll, and
some chans here would he better off,
If yo,i would cnrry that cider down to
the brook and dump Sit.'o ,..:,''s .
Il saw Hiram wink dt the bystand-
ers, and says he, I'm hardly strong
enough. But II you are says he,
you're at liberty to do it, r.
"'All right says Uncle Life, and he
made for his blacksmith shop. In a
few minutes back he came, bringing
horseshoe that he had hammered out
In such way that he could make the
heel calks fit into the bunghole Of the
barrel as 1t lay there III the ground.
Then. with the horseshoe as handle
he lifted that barrel Of cider as If It
had been a carpetbag and carried It
to the brook and emptied It,"
Snow. II you will give me chance
I should like to put In word" said
Uncle Noah, with a show Of impa.
thence. ut 50 happened that was at
the raising Of Hiram CUNTS barn."
II didn't know that you were &C.
quainted in the town of Industry" said
Cyrus in evident surprise.
John Marvin's eyes sparkled. $50
there was such raising" he said.
"Well. that bears out Cy's story, so
far. | suppose the rest Of It was
equally correct. Uncle NoahT' :.
mo. It wasn't replied the old man
emphntically; whereupon one of John
Marvin's rare smiles lighted up his
grim features.
"Now. 1aiways try to be accurate"
said Cyrus. hitchtng uneasify in his
chair. "but I was only a little shaver
at the time, and mebbe my recollection
Is little ut fault" ~ 49,:
mo. you were wrong, Cy," said
Uncle Noah firmly. "When you brake
in on me, l was about to tell the story
and tell It as twas. It wasn't bnrrel
Of cider that your uncle carried down
and dumped In the brook in the way
and .mnnner, that you described IT. It
was two barrels Of cider one In each
Companion.