The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-08-04

don't KNOW how GOOD Slf seems
TO see 1 woman and talk to her. and
we talked and talked until midnight,
after all the rest were asleep. Il
lot me hold the baby IN my lap until
Il was put to bed. How good It felt
to have i little warm body In my
arms again and feel 1t breathing III
all my life I never saw q prettier
baby. Il felt good to be In a real
house and sleep Ia 4 soft warm bed
and to eat Jelly and cookies and fresh
meat and potatoes and bread and but
ter. samson played for them ana
kept them laughing with his stories
until bedtime. They wouldn't take
a cent and gave Us 4 dozen eggs In a
basket and Z piece Of venison when
we went away.
On 9 warm, bright day In the sand
country they anne to q crude, half
finished, frame house ut the edge of
a wide clearing. The sand lay IN
drifts on one side Of the road. #
had evidently moved in the last wind.
A sickly vegetation covered the field.
"A ragged, barefooted man and three
scrawny, ill-clad children stood in the
dooryard. II was noontime. A mon
grel dog, with bit Of the hound in
him, came bounding and barking to-
ward the wagon and pitched upon
Sambo and quickly got the worst Of
1t. Sambo, after much experience
In ~self-defense, had learned that the
best way out Of such trouble was to
seize q leg and hang on. This he
did. The monsrsl began to yelp. Sam
son lifted both. dogs by the backs Of
their necks. broke the hold Of Sambo
and tossed aside the mongrel, who
away whining. II.
That reminded me Of a bull that
tackled q man over in Vermont" he
said. 1.-THE man had q club tn his
hand. He lodged and grabbed the
bulls tall and beat him all over the
lot. Al the bull roared, the man hoi-
Tered: I'd like to know who began
this fuss anyway"
The stranger laughed.
IFS that your house7" Samson said.
The man stepped nearer and an
swered Ia q low, confidential tone:
"Say, mister, this is a combination
~poorhouse and idiot asylum. I am
the idiot. These are the poor"
He pointed to the children.
"You don't talk like an idiot" said
Samson.
The man looked around and leaned
over the wheel as II about to impart
4 secret.
"say, I'll tell We" he said in a
low tone. "A real, first-class idiot
never does. You ought to see my
actions"
This land Is An indication that
you're right" Samson laughed.
1T proves IT, the stranger whis.
pered.
"Have you any water herer Sam.
son asked.
The stranger leaned nearer and
said in Lis most confidential tone. "Say,
mister, it's about the best In the
United States. Right over yonder IL
the edge o. the woods-a springfield
% ice-Simon-pure water. Bout the
only thing this land'll raise - water
'AThis land looks to me about q
valuable as 80 much sheet lightnin
and I guess It can nov Just about
O quick" said Samson.
The stranger answered In q Low
tone: 'Say, I'll tell ye, It's . WILD
cow-don't stand still long 'nough tt
give ye time to git anything out Of
It. I've toiled and prayed, but it,
hard to get much out Of 1t"
Praying won't do this land any
good Samson answered. "What II
needs Ii manure and plenty Of it
You can't raise anything here but
feas. It isn't decent to expect God
to help q q flea farm. he knows
too much for that, and IL you keeI
It up He'll lose all respect for ye. Il
you e to buy another farm anG
bring 1t here and put It down or