Year: 1877

Settled BY the Men who sit On the Cormr


storc DoN.


"What is the latest news from th


warp" asked the thin man, who sat oi


the corner of tho store box, nearest til,


sunshine, and idly polishing one, tn


nail heads with the end of woode,


tooth-pick.


The man in brown overalls who occn


pied the other end of the box tilted hi,


hat little further forward over his eye,


and looked little higher up at Unior


hall, and squinted rs much with hii


mouth and chin as he did with his eyes


The man with the straw hat who was


sitting in the doorway, whiting O
match, shaved carefully at the sulphu,
end, and then regarded his work very
intently, as though there was some errol
in effect that didn't exactly come up to
his ideal. The man in the cheviot shirt,
who was perched on the area ratings,
earnestly engaged in measuring one foot
with the other, bent his head still lower
over his task for n moment and then
looking up, with the air of man who
had made up his mind that they were
twins and there was no use worrying
over it or denying il, said:


"Well, reckon them Turks has kind
O got the start o the Roozhuns, down
there at Pelevenny."


A long silence followed, during which
the man with the straw hat had got one
side of the sulphur end of the match
trimmed down and polished to suit the
most fnstidious taste, and the thin man
got nearly all the new rust off the nail
head and would probably have finished
his task had not the tooth-pick broken,
and the man in brown overalls got his
face twisted up into such fearful and
wonderful squint that some of the giddy
young clerks over in the insurance offices
began to laugh Mt him. Finally the THU
man rallied from the fit of profound
despondency into which the breaking of
the toothpick had thrown him, and said {:


eyes, but the affair Mt Plennavy
didn't settle the war. There's old Kru-
dener comm up with lot OF Rouman-
yuns yet"


"Yes, said the man in brown overalls,
who looked down for n moment to rest
his face, "but look at the way they're
doin' in Burglary. Plevanny amt
nothin'."


There was so much suggestion of an
intimate geographical knowledge of the
seat of war, and as wide acquaintance
with oriental politics in this remark that
no one knew Just what to say, nor which
side to take, but it appeared to be the
general impression that the man in
brown overalls was Russian sympa-
thizer. The thin man shot the pieces
of his tooth-pick at vagrant fly, and
looked idly around him like man in
search of job, willing to take hold of
that might turn up. His eyes
fell longingly upon the match, which
was gradually approaching state of
perfection, and the man with match
catching Il glance, felt called up to say
He said with some haste,
and apparently without due preparation:


"I reckon the Prushins II lip in if the
Rushins git licked again."


The man with the twin feet checked
in the act of renewing his
anxious and painstaking measurement,
md after waiting for any other remarks,
said:


"Prooshy want no friend of Rooshy."


This was such direct contradiction |
If the match mans statement, that every
oody looked up, except the man in
brown overall, who was again wrinkling
lis face Mt the cornice on Union hall,
md had to look down. The discussion
to become interesting and
exciting. After a long pause, during
Which all the members of the convention
to be thinking up fresh argyll
nents, the thin man, who was medi-
atively rubbing his chin with the back
If his hand, said


81 b'lieve I'll go git shaved"


He got off the box and walked slowly
way, dusting his coat with his hands
& he went. The other delegates watch
ID his retreating figure until he turned
he corner. Then the man on the rail-
ng placed the heels of his two feet to-
ether and began the most careful meas
rement of his series, while the anxious
Expression Oh his face told how fearful
70 was lest one foot should come out
bout three inches larger than the other.
'he man with the match having got four
ides dressed down to suit him, began a
ystem of decorative matches along the
dges. The man with the brown over
lis tilted his hat clear down over his
ose and looked right up at the top OF
Jnion hall until his face was SO covered !
ith wrinkles that you couldn't tell !
here the mouth ended or the eyes be-
mn. The man who had to go and get
laved, went around the corner and sat
own on pair of skids ana staid there
ntil sunset, rubbing his chin and think
lg about the war. Ha,ck- :
Je. ,
Unpleasant Encounter with a Bear.
A settler near Mlagnetawan, named
~ ~ Z