The Washington herald., 1920-05-15
Eacs Fiction Fashions and Features Of Interest to Womens
Modern Rural Sports = = 0. HHsRY ss

that you can't get my proxy for
your remedy. whatever 1t may be-
'sWeii. sir. all I could think OF
to do was to go out and get in
the buggy. The horse turned
round and took me back to the
hotel. / hitched him and went In
to see Andy. In his room I told
him about this farmer, word for
word; and ! sat picking at the
table cover like on bereft OF sa-
gaciousness.
st don't understand it, says /,
hnmming a sad and foolish little
song to cover my humiliation.
ANDY walks up and down the
room for a long time, biting the
left end of his mustache as he
does when in the act of thinking.
Jeff.' says he. finally. I be-
lieve your story of this expur-
gated rustic; but am not con-
WINGED. 1t looks incredulous to
me that he could have inocuiated
himself against all the preor-
dained systems of bucolic bunco.
Now, you never regarded me as
man of special religious procliv-
tiles, did you. Jeff?" says Andy.
Well says /. No. But says
j. not to wound his feelings, I
have also observed many church
members whose said proclivities
were not SO outwardly developed
that they would show on a white
handkerchief IL you rubbed 'em
with it,
~ have always been a deep
student of nature from creation
down. says Andy. and i believe
in an ultimatum design OF Provi-
dence. Farmers was made for a
purpose; and that was to furnish
a livelihood to men like me and
you. Else why was we given
brains? II is my belief that the
mama that the Israelites lived on
for forty years in the wilderness
was only a fgurative word for
farmers; and they kept up the
practice to this day. And now,'
says Andy, I am going to test
my theory "Once a farmer, always
a come-on," in spite OF the ven
eering and the orifices that a spu-
rious civilization has brought to
him.
You'll fail. same as I did,
says /. This ones shook OF the
shackles of the sheep-fold. He's
entrenched behind the advantages
of electricity. education. litera-
ture and intelligence
"I'll try said Andy. There
are certain Laws of Nature that
Free Rural Delivery can't over
come
Andy fumbles around awhile
in the closet and comes out
yellow checks as big as your
hand. His vest is red with. blue
dots, and he wears a high silk
hat. i noticed he'd soaked his
sandy mustache in a kind of blue
ink.
Great Barnums? says l.
YOU'RE a ringer for circus
thimblerig man
Right says Andy. is the
buggy outside? Wait here till l
come back. won't be long
Two hours afterwards Andy
steps in the rccm and lays Il wad
of money on the table.
Eight hundred and sixty dol
lars" said he. Let me tell you.
He was in. He looked me over
aud began to guy me. didn't
say a word, but got out the wal
hut shells and began to roll the
little ball on the table. / whis-
tied a tune or two. and then 1
started up the ole formula.
Step ur lively. gentlemen"
and watch tho little hall. 1t
costs you rothing to look. There
you see it and there you dnL't.
Guess whore the little joker S.
Tine quickness of the hand deceives
the eye
Il steals a iook at the farmer
man. l see the sweat coming out
on his forehead. He goes over
and closes the front door and
he says: I'll bet you twenty I
can pick the shell the balls un-
der now
After that goes on Andy,
there is nothing new to relate.
He only had ss6e in cash in the
house. When 1 left he followed
me to the gate. There was tears
in his eyes when he shook hands.
Bunk" says he. thank you
for the only real pleasure I've had
in years. 1t brings UP happy old
days when I was only a farmer
and not an agriculturist. God
bless you."'"
Here JEFF Peters ceased, and
inferred that his story was done.
Then you think"-I began.
Yes" said jeff. Something
like that. You let the farmers go
ahead and amuse themselves with
politics. Earnings a lonesome
life: and they've been against the
shell game before"
Copyright, 1870. by Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.)