The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1919-12-17
Ef3 ~eSfS9 TIE
AplS COW PUNCHER
"a ~ By Robert &c. Stead
81 * yS0&aX&zS& kitchener. and otksr
y kvnl vsrs

Dave told his name and shook
hands. Coward offered his cigarette
box. and the two smoked for few
moments In silence.
"What kind of job do you want?"
Coward asked at length.
"Any kind that pays wage" said
Dave.
IL know the fellow that runs an
employment agency down here" Con-
ward answered. Lets go down. Per
haps / can put you In right"
Coward spoke to the manager of
the employment agency and intro
duced Dave.
Nothing very choice on tap today"
said the employment man. "You can
handle horses. Il suppose?"
II guess / can" said Dave, "some."
AZ cnn place you delivering coal.
Thirty dollars month, and you board
with the boss"
sIll take It." said Dave.
The boss proved to be one Thomas
Metford. He owned half dozen
lCMkiiC dnQ 10 ChSdSCn Ia tAAt NOA AdSC
business. specializing on coal. He was
a man of big frame. big head, and
vocabulary appropriate to the pur-
poses to which he applied II. Among
his other possessions were a wife, nu-
merous children and house and barn.
In which he boarded his beasts of bur
den. Including In the term his horses,
his men and his wife. In the order of
their valuation. The children were a
by-prsluct. valueless until such time
as they alss would be able to work.
Dawes duties were simple enough.
He had to drive q wagon to a coal
yard. where q very superior young
man, with q collar, would express sur
prise that he had been so long gone,
and tel1 him to back In under chute
number so-and-so. IL appeared to be
always a matter OF great distress to
this young man that Dave did not
know which chute to back under until
sition a door was opened. There was
a fiction that the coal In the bin should
then run into the wagon box. but. as
Dave at once discovered, this was
merely fiction. Aside from a few
accommodating Jumps near the door
the coal had to be shoveled. Then
Dave had TO drive to an address that
was given him, shovel the coal down
a chute located in the most inacces-
sible position the premises afforded.
and return to the coalyard. where the
young man with the collar would face
tiously inquire whether Mrs. Blank
had invited him in to afternoon tea,
or IL he had been waiting for a change
in the weather.
His work and supper were over by
seven o'clock each evening, and now
was the opportunity for him to begin
the schooling for which he had left
the ranch. But he developed sud-
den disinclination to make the start;
he was tired in the evening, and he
found 1t much more to his liking to
stroll downtown. smoke cigarettes OH
the street corners. or engage in an
occasional game of pool. In this way
the weeks went by, and when his
month with ,->tford was up he had
neglected to find another position, so
he continued where ] } was. He was
being gradually and unconsciously
submerged in an inertia which. how
ever much 1t might hate Its present
surroundings. had not the spirit TO
seek more favorable environment
So the fall and winter drifted along;
Dave had made few acquaintance and
no friends. II we except Coward.
whom he frequently met In the pool
rooms and for whom he had developed
a sort of attachment.
One Saturday evening. as Dave was
on his way to their accustomed resort,
he fell In with Coward on the street.
"Hello. old manr' said Coward
cheerily. II was just looking for you.
Got two tickets for the show tonight.
Some swell danes In the chorus.
Come along. There'll be doings."
There were two theaters In the
town. one OF which played to the bet
ter-class residents. In II anything OF
a risque nature had to be presented
with certain trimmings which allowed
1t to be classified as art" but In the
other house no such restrictions ex-
listed. II was to the latter that Con-