The Watertown news. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1917-1919, 1918-05-20
THE SPITE FENCE
By GLADYS e. SALTER.


Robert Lane took a dislike to his
new neighbor Burton Price, within
week after the latter had moved from
another pert of the town next to the
Lane home. Price was quiet, unaS-
Stunning man with large family, his
children happened to break one of Mr..
Lanes windows in playing ball. their
dog rooted up some of the garden stuff
Mr.. Lane had carefully planted and
that was the start of Mr.. Lanes i'll
feeling.
1t is true that Mr.. Price stepped
over to his neighbours house, insisted
on paying for the window and having
the garden damage repaired. That
Modified Mr.. Lane somewhat, but the
next evening Mr.. Lane stepped over
ito the Price home and returned, his
brow like a thunder cloud.
"What is the trouble, Robert?" in
Quired his wife.
"That Pricet I'm through with him.
Netta," to his eighteen-y ear-old daugh-
ter, 81 hear that you let that Price cub
walk with you to the seminary. Cut
| 1t out AS to the smaller children, l
look to you, Martha, to see that they
don't associate with that brood next
| door,"
"Why, Robert !" echoed Mrs. Lane,
| "whatever has crossed you?"
"Price has, and I'll see that he re-
| grets it. l stepped over in kind
of neighborly way to ask him to vote
| for Waller for sheriff. Price informed
| me calmly that Waller was not the
| kind of a man he could recommends
"Well-could he?" challenged Mrs
| Lane, significantly. you know Wal
| Ter associates with the worst class in
| town."
I "Never mind. I'm going to try for
| mayor this fall, amt II" demanded
Lane "By catering a bit to Waller in
! the spring county election, he'll return
the compliment and help me win out
In the fall, won't he?"
So within a week there was set
condition of feud between the two fam
! lilies.
"Ill fence those vandals in" he vo-
ciferated, and hired a carpenter to
build fence twelve feet high.
Mr.. Price continued to bow courte-
ously to Lane, although the latter re-
butfed him with a scowl. 1t nettled
! the latter to the point of distraction
when he discovered that the spite
| fence made an excellent surface for
the Price children to play handball.
He nearly collapsed one evening when
he came upon Meta, receiving through
a knOthole in the spite fence a rose
poked through by her ardent lover,
young Dudley Price.
1--WE won't have to stand that fac
tious brood much longerl" he remark
ed to his wife. "Soon as I'm elected
to the mayoralty Pm going to move to
a better part of the town."
One evening Lane arose to face a
decidedly unpleasant incAent. During
the night some nimble burglar had
scaled the spite fence, climbed into
the upper room and made off with a
lot of jewelry and money.
eff it had not been for the fence"
began Mrs. Lane, and then thought it
wiser not to further disturb her dis
gruntled husband.
week after that Lane came home
to view wreck and ruin. There had
been furious windstOrm about noon,
and fully 80 feet of the fence had been
blown down.
eff it hadn't been for the fence" be-
gan Mrs. Lane again, but again sub
sided, for Lane was boiling over with
Ill humor as he began to realize that
his unneighborly tactics were bearing
bitter fruit.
The fall election neared and the
town was split up between the two
main political parties and an indepen-
dent group, comprising the workers in
the plant at the other end of town,
where Mr.. Price was employed. One
day the manager in charge of the Lane
campaign came to him with a rather
anxious face.
"Tell you, Lane" he said Its go
ing to be close shave"
"Why, how can that be when we rep
resent the usual majority party?'
| w Gil, W NC pain Will you. there
a detection. A good many are shying
away from you"
"What for?"
"That spite fence business hasn't
made very good impression with the
conservative class. It's true your op-
ponent will lose a good many votes be-
cause he has antagonized the mill peo-
pie, but their independent votes count
up in the hundreds"
AS the days went on Lane began to
realize that his manager was a pretty
shrewd analyst. Lane became gloomy
over the prospect. The night before
election he came home restless and
pessimistic. It was q foregOne cOnclu-
sion that he had lost weight in his own
party. About eight o'clock someone
called him up on the phone.
"Mr. Lane? Yes? l am about to adj
dress the Independents at the MILL" a