Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, May 3, 1902, Page 9

THE OMAHA D AILY ?’The Wisdom of Nicodemus Short Story by L. H (Copyright, 1902, by L. H. Bickford.) R The Sunrise Limited swept past the lower €ture of Mrs. O'Hearn's Nebraska farm BWvery afternoon at 3 o'clock and Mre. Hearn's dog, Nicodemus, sallled down to ffhe fence and barked at it. He was an nlovely animal of no breeding whatever, ® canine outcast deserted by an emigrant, and his hostility to all rallway movements ‘was pronounced and even excessive, al- though his best effort and longest run were reserved for the flying vestibuled train that came 8o fleetingly out of the east and shot by him with contemptuous roar and shriek, | leaving a black cloud to hover over landscape long after the cause of it had disappeared from sight and hearing. The seemiug ambition of Nicodemus was to some day overtake this disturber at a moment of dowpspeed when, he no doubt calculated the he might scale the fence and cripple it by | an attack in some vulnerable spot among | the little revolving things that sped it along the ralle. In this hope the dog had made his energetic, It resultless, race every day | for three months, and that he was encour- | aged, if not abetted, by Mrs. O'Hearn her- self was county goesip A year after Mrs. O'Hearn's husband had | she | been snatched from the fleld of toll Yort the companionship and nourishing daily gift of her only cow. That the double calamity distressed her was not phenom- enal, but the departure of Michael O'Hearn ‘was within the number of things recon- cllable since the movements of Providence to be mccepted without question and indeed, but instances of the expected Mrs. O'Hearn, a falthfully and notoriously religlous person, resigned herselt to the simple hope that Michael was to be met in another country. The taking off of tha cow left no euch solace, since. its spiritual Juture did not concern her. From the day the engine of the Sunrise Limited swept the animal in all literalness 'trom the face of the' earth—it had been Father foollshly fnvestigating the nutritious qualities of the cinders—Mrs. O'Hearn faced & world that appeared to be sthgularly un- sympathetic. Where it had condoled with her in her first bereavement it merely smiled over her second. Obvlously, in the eyes of the community, the least fitting place for a cow to browse was in the line of a lightning express. The station agent at Exeter intimated as much when Mrs. O'Hearn called upon him and deplcted, with admirabla detall, the circumstances of her ‘mistortcne. He would, he declared, lay the matter before the proper officials, but this concession came only after her angry in- sistence had shown him the folly of at- tempting to pass lightly over her loss and after ehe had somewhat freely given voice 1o her opinions of himself and the company he so modostly represented. When the conversation prolonged to the point of tedlum to the station agent he closed the ticket window and retreated to the baggage | yoom; she withdrew, reiterating her senti- ‘ments throughout the town. A week later she came again and her visit lett memories of lite, color and action. She demanded to know whether the equlvi Jent had been sent. The equivalent, she Bad somewhat exactly figured, was $39.15— .this ftemization iucluded $39 for cow and 16 cents for the purchase of milk thrice |weekly from a peighbor. Her following visit disclosed fully as close calculation, , for the equivalent had mounted to $39.30 and [it was plain to the agent that her arith- ymetic carried with it rules of interest and .equity that would never be accepted by the _company, even if it delgned to recognize [her claim for the cow itself. AOm-thiy besa- _slon, and on many occasions thereafte {he, mentally coavinced that his prevaric | tion would not outlive his tenure of offic asaerted that only the president of the road had authority in the matter of destroyed and, having made it clear to her that her clalm had been duly forwarded, Jbesought her to follow methods less spec- |tacular and to exercise some patience. At {the same time he expressed his grief that she should select a mere minion of the grest corporation—who had in himself no power of restitution—to make the object of her expressions of disapproval. For by jthis time the agent was annoyed over sundry sailles of village wit that expended \itself In solicitous inquiries regarding the visits of Mrs. O'Hearn. Having so frankly thrown himself on her _mercy, he made a personal truce with the Jady, but each week a new bill was pre- ,sented with its accumulation of figures, together with verbal expressions of disre- gord for the president of the company and his lax methods of business. During the Jinterim and while on her own acres Mrs. (O'Hearn had Incited her watchdog to mani- Testations of violence as, in dumb show, she shook one very red fist In the direction ©of each passing train. Quick to observe and with the rare wisdom of the dog, Nico- Mdemus concelved that loyalty to his mis- tress demanded some outward expression n his own part and that these noisy and disturbing mionsters, hitherto unnoticed, were by some process of reasoning con- sidered enemies to the house. And he, too, missed the cow, for her absence left noth- Ang 1n particular to be barked at. At first the efforts of Nicodemus amused the trelght crews, who threw lumps of coal ot him. This was to the advantage of Mra, O'Hearn, since coal was & luxury, and the \dally performance resulted in a small meas- mre of the preclous fuel to add to her store of wood. She began to wish, indeed, that the attention of the passenger en- gineers might be equally attracted and that thelr resentment might take the same form. After a time, however, aad from long famillarity, the sport ceased to in- terest the passing tralnmen, and but for a0 occasional missile the dog barked with- ABSOLUTE SECURITY. Qenuine Carter’s Little Liver Pills. Must Bear Signature of | time tables with amazing | felds, BICKFORD. out purpose, although he never relaxed his éndeavors. The flight of time brought no epirit of charity to overcast the bitterness of Mrs. O'Hearn. And it was quite by way of coineidence that on the day she had prepared her weekly statement—which now bad $1.80 added to the principal—some thing entirely unusual in rallway equip- ment should engage, although tardily, the attention of Nicodemus. This was an ab- breviated edition of the despised ‘‘Flyer,” for the engine drew but two cars, the last & wonder of luxurious construction and painted g0 high a vellow that it vied with the ripe corn in the fields through which it passed. It was a still summer day and the special came Into view without the knowledge of the dog. who now knew the accuracy, and was consequently off guard at this unex. pected advent. His slumber was Inter- | rupted by voices that floated up from the pasture and he arose and scented the air. Then he strolled to the corner of the barn and with head cocked to one side viewed that which amazed him greatly. The train had stopped, and around one of the sets of wheels etood three men va- rlously engaged in drawing smoking cot- ton trom an aperature, poking it about with a stick, or dousing water upon the steam- ing mess. A venerable gentleman who had | descended from the gorgeous car to watch the operation, finally strolled over to ths fence, and, attracted by some wild blos- soms, scmewhat awkwardly scaled the bar- rier and ambled pleasantly about the green lost In contemplation of th: sim- plicity of nature’s wonders Nicodemus came into action by a spring in the air, a shrill bark and a series of con- “INTO THIS EXCITEMEN’ came to a halt just beneath the branch on which the Venerable Gentleman was perched, and the dog wagged her a wel- come and made another dash for the fenc describing as he returned, a circle. The man in the tree viewed her advent with positive pleasure. He at once connected Mrs. O'Hearn with the ownership of the dog, and he was also Impressed that his position was absurd; so, although' bis tones were pleasant, chagrin was somewhere avrarent ‘My dear woman, if you will your dog you wiil oblige me greatly. confess to trespassing here, but dent forced us to stop, and I tracted by eome wild flowers, and o in- vaded vour domain.’* call off 1 mu an acc He smiled genially, consclous that he had | put the case concisely at least O'Hearn, with an authoritative “but shut now,” forced Nicodemus to lie down, al- though his body still quivered from the exertions of the chase and the consequent canine delirlum. His owner was at once tmpressed by the Venerable Gentieman, whose manner was seemly, and who sug- gested aristocratic courtliness even under the embarrassing condition of maintaining a balance on the tree limb. He won her as he looked benevolently through his eye- glasses which, by great fortune, he had not lost in this sudden adventure. At the moment Mrs. O'Hearn experienced a pang while Mrs. | of feminine regret at the absence of her best apron, and the rolling pin hung heavily in her hand. It was clear that this unfor- tunate prisoner had at once the sympathy of this honest woman, and but for an unfor- tunate admission on the part of the Ven- erable Gentleman, and a rash attempt at levity, the incident might have closed | torthwith “Ye're bein' wan of these flower-pickers | that preserves them in schrapbooks, meb- be,” ventured Mre. O'Hearn in & spirit of conciliation, as she grasped Nicodemus T CAME MRS. O'HEARNE. ~77: tortions that brought his haunches almost | to his chin. When he felt the ground after | the first flight he had made two yards and | his hair swept the wind as he rushed on. Here, in his dog's comprehenson, was comething tangible, something not only to bark at, but to bite. The venerable gentle- man dropped the flowers he had gathered and turned unsteadily to the fence. but made such poor progress that Nicodemus, | with terribly gleaming teeth and a bounce llke a kangaroo, ran into his legs. There was then a fall of dog and man, with a singularly active display of man, consider- ing age and lack of recent athletic train- ing, and as the venerable gentleman came upright he did the only thing that seemed to his bewlldered mind of raticnal purpose. The fence was still a great way off, and the speed of the dog had Impelled that animal on a few feet, but be was even now reversing himself. Nearer than the fence branched a tree. Two comforting knobs, within easy reach, prcjected from the trupk. And before he quite knew how he ddl it, the venerable = gentleman, wih amaziog agility, was seating himself on a lower branch of the tree, while the dos was making earnest and savage eficrts to reach his dangling legs. The man breathed heavily, and, spirit of conciliation, enapped his childishly, smacked his lips and ured Nicodemus that he was a good and a sweet and an altogether estimable doggle, in none of which compliments did the ven- erable gentleman actually belleve: nor did the dog accept them. Contrarily, and knowing that the pantomime and expres- sions of this stranger were intended. in effect to be friendly, the miserable animai pleastd that he had treed the victim who. for all the dog knew, was the very person who had formerly thrown coal at him. took thess manifestations as signs of rage, and when the prisoner dropped a handkerchief he selzed and shook it victoriously, The Interest naturally served to Interest the men at the car wheels. They came to the fence In & body, calling out to the dog to desist, and one, braver than his fellows, mounted the ralls fn an effort to distract Nicodemus from his prey. He put one foot down on the opposite side as if he would come into the pasture. It was withdrawn almost on the instant, for the dog, now animated by a desire to engage all comers, sprang at the would-be intruder and his white teeth closed on a boot heel. The man of coura giving way to reasonable pro- fanity, fell back into the arms of his com- panions. The turee stood in doubt and con- ference, but made mo new move, while Nicodemus returned to guard the tree with, now and then, sudden sportive excursions fn their direction. Thus, with tall wag- €ing, he kept alert, while suggestions passed from the Venerable Gentleman to hie distant companious. Something . was said of firearms, but none appeared, and after the engineer had for some minutes poked & long iron rod through the femce to be growled at by the beast, pacific overtures were renewed and there was more snap- ping of fingers, calls apd whistles. The porter on the car came forth to view the proceedings, but was equally vague in sug- | gestions, although he referred to hot water.) some minutes, came Mrs. O'Hearn, her arms bared to the | elbows, and a rolling pin in one hand. She | waddled down, red and breathiess, her fiour- smeared aprom telling of baking day, ber/ bearing that of ponderoys surprise. She| in a fingers by one ear and shook him roughly, “or p'raps wan of theSe professors that can till ye the vorieties av the posies by the schmell ov thim.” “I am not a botanist,” sald the Vener- able Gentleman, preparing to descend, but eyeing the dog warlly, “although you muat confess that either a botanist or a rallway president would appear equally out of place in & position such as I have found myself— & position,” he added to show that he had @ sense of humor, “that I never thought possible out of the pages of a comic weekly, The manner of Mrs. O'Hearn changed as changes the face of nature under the sudden burst of the tempest. She released the dog, which sprang in at the tree trunk, and her utterance was one long inspiration. emitted with a slight questioning Inflection, and her blue eyes showed the glitter of steel. *0, ho-0-0-0-0!" Arms akimbo, she looked up at him. “‘80 ye aire the prisident uv the rallroad?” The Venerable Gentleman, reconsideriox his determination to come down. clutched the tree branch firmly and called out a warping to the engineer, who had again sought to climb the fence and again found himeelf beset by Nicodemus. “That,” he answered, “is my office. Now—' He wondered why the woman was so in- terested in this fact, but his afrmation, calculated to impress, was cut short by an exultant cry from the squat figure beneath him “Thin ye alre the same wan that's been kapin' me out uv the price uv a cow this t'ree months,” proceeded Mrs. O'Hearn Yo' She cast about for an expression that would at once comvey her contempt and r. © murtherer,” she concluded. The trio at the fence, now enjoying the exclusive attention of Nicodemus, since it was obvious that the woman commanded the situation at the tree, resorted to missile throwing. The Venerable Gentleman looked Jpon my soul, my good woman, he ventured, “you surprise me. I know noth- ing of your cow! You have surely mis- taken me for some one else. 1 do mot recall that I have ever before been In this locality.” “Ye'll remimber it, thin, from this J'yous dhay, for it's not from the place ye'll be sthirrin’ till I've me equivylint an’' me reshtitition for the evil ye've done me. ‘It's the prisidint of the road, says the station nt, ‘that Is coumsiderin’ your claim, Mrs. O'Hearn, an’ it'll be all roight in tolme, but he's a very busy man! Ye're not so busy but ye cam put your hand to yer pocket an' projuce the 339 for the cow ye've murthered in cold blood along uv your ignarant Injine dbrivers an' she doin’ no harrum to thim or anny wan. A’ it's the extra money I want for the milk I've bought since me breavement." The situation seemed clearer. ““You do not, then, accuse me of driving off your cow? asked the Venerable Gentle- man. “Dhrivin’ her off?" repeated Mrs. O'Hearn, striving to compass her scorn by raising her volce to its highest pitch. “It's makin' mincemeat uv her an’ wid no sthoppin’ for an apology that I claim ¥ye to be the rid-handed assassin ye are.’ “I o mot run the engine,” msseried the Perfect Beer is not of age until it has been “on lager” for at least four to six months. capacity to continually store 375,000 bar=- rels provides ample facilities to properiy age brews of Anheuser-BuschBrewing Ass n us Budwelser, Anheurer-Stai A. 1 b, Bl l‘e“ :t Pale and Exqu All orders promptiy filled by GEO. KRUG, Manager Anheuser-Busch Branch, Omaha, Neb, Venerable Gentleman, uselessly., “If you have lost a cow, Mrs. O'Hearn, through any carelessness of the employes of the road, you may be sure your claim will re- ceive due consideration. You can hardly expect to advance It, however, by keeping me here. And you have been misinformed. The president of the road does not adjust these matters that come out of the—the misfortunes of cows. Your claim has prob- ably been delayed." Mrs. O'Hearn glared,” while Nicodemu: rushing past her in gleeful pursuit of a rock thrown by the engineer, came wiggling back, licked the rolling ipin and returned to the fence. “Consideration!” exclaimed the woman. “It's today that me equivylint comes to forty dollars and elghty cints, an' it's in the three ye'll sthay an’ ye're hired mur- ehers looking on from the fence beyant like gorillas in a cage before I sthir from the aphot or call off me dog—an’' luck to bim for knowin' a thafe whin he sees wan." The Venerable Gentleman started to par- ley, looked bewlildered, sighed and fumbled in the breast pocket of his coat. He finally withdrew a somewhat worn pocketbook, bulging with papers. From these he ex- tracted two greenbacks. Then he searched, as well as he could in personal safety, the pockets of his trousers. He finally gave up in dismay. “I am sorry to say that I haven't the amount you ask. If you will eccept $20 I essure you the remainder will be forth- Mrs. O'Hearn raised the rolling pin. “It's the equivylent or not one cint,” she declared. “But, as I have told you, I do not pos- sess the amount. I rarely carry with me any ready money,” he added with a shade of exasperation, as if Mrs. O'Hearn could have been previously acquainted with his habit In that regard. “You can git it inflexibly. The venerable gentleman sighed again and lled out to the engineer: “I say, Hawkins, do you bappen to have any money?”’ “A few dollars, sir."”" “I have a little change,’ suppl:mented the fireman, while the conductor reached into a pocket. “It the three of you could make up a puree—the thing Is absolutely absurd, but we cannot remain here arguing with this woman. [ shall ask you to loan me $20." “An’ 80 cints,” interrupted Mrs. O'Hearn. “Exactly,” acknowledged the Venerable Geutleman, although not agreeably, “and 80 cints. There was a search of overalls and blouses, and, in the moment of suspense, the president considered that it would not be at all unlikely that the ridiculous situas tion would be further complicated by the discovery that the combined wealth of the crowd did not make up the meager sum required. He wae also consclous that Mrs. O'Heard’s “equivylint,” even If forthcom- Ing, was financially small beside the sums he would consider it a pleasure to spend on gold watches and other presents for gt least four of his employes. There are Inc‘- dents in the lives of rallway presidents that should not become common gossip, and the Venerable Qentleman particularly d'a- liked to be featured in anmecdote. He was consequently relieved when the forthcoming, to the final 10- a contribution from the porter. direction, was thrown over the be guarded by Nicodemus. The two bllls fluttered from the hand of t president, and Mrs. O'Hearn, plcking them up, turned them over carefully. Then she moved over to the secand collection, and, the accuracy of her count, vot quick at coln values, lled the dog, grasped it by one ear, and ambled back toward the bouse with mno concluding word. But she evidenced her faith by locking Nicodemus in the barm, whereupon the Venerable Gentleman de- scended. When the dog was released and shot off down the pasture to renew the sport, the special had gone. He sniffed at the tree, and, presumably living over the late adventure in his imagination, barked in a paroxysm of joy. erted the amazon by fence, to Revolver Mateh by Telegr ST. 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Tecescscsssestncee Cgll up 238 and a Bee Advertising Man will call on you to get a Waut Ad or a Halt Page. *etee ,0'0 teoee e L4 * * * * Ld . * - . . b - . . . - PP P 200000000000 FOR 1902 The Twentieth Century Farmer No other agricultural weekly can point to a similar record of fulfilled promises or make a prospective as inviting, SBome of the Eminent Specialists who will be repre« sented by articles on timely subjects in the firet few issues of the new year. Col. F. M. Woods, Leading live stock auctioneer of the west. Prot, C. F. Curtiss, Director Iowa Experiment Station. Dr. A. T. Peters, Animal Pathologist Nebraska Experiment Station. E. A. Burnett, Director Nebraska Experiment Station. Elias E. Nelson, Horticulture and Agrostology. Lawrence Brumer, Nebraska State Entomologist. J. Sterling Morton, Prof. Hon. Father of Arbor Day. Prof. 0. V. P, Stout, Irrigation Engineer. F. E. Bone, Prise Hog Breeder, Tallula, Il B. Sotham, Noted Hereford Breeder, Chillicothe, Mo, Here are a few of the regular departments contributorss : Live Stock, J. J. EDGERTON, lows Agricultural College. Household, MRS. NELLIE HAWKS, Dairy, Friend, Nebraska. 0. H. BARNHILL, Bhenandoah, lowa. JAMES ATKINSON, E. F. BTEPHENS, Crete, Nebraska. A. H. DUFF, Larned, Kansas. N. J. HARRIS, Bec'y. Am. Horse Registry Ass'n. H. A. CRAFTS, Fort Collins, Colorada W. 8. KELLY, Mondamis, Tows DR. H. L. RAMACCIOTTL Omaha City Veterinarias. H. W. CAMPBELL, Holdrege, Nebrasks. Crops. Horticulture, Bees, Horses, Irrigation, Live Stock, Veterinary, Soil Culture, In addition to these special features each is/ sue of The Twentieth Century Farmer containss Frank G. Carpenter’s entertaining and instructive let. ters of travel. Short Stories, by the best known writers of the day. Market Quotations, most accurate and latest on every- thing the farmer wants to know about, Editorial Discussion of live subjects, treated from the standpoint of intelligence and progress. Best Illustrations, from fine half tone engravings, repro duoing actual photographs, made speclally by out own artists. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FARMER, as its name indicates, is a weekly farm paper for uprtordate farmers, designed to be helpful in every branch of his work., and appealing strongly at the same time to the domestic circle on the farm, Itis a well printed, 24-page pe- riodical, high class in every respect, re. flecting as no other paper the rapid forward strides of this section of the west. The price is only $1.00 a year Subscriptions or requests for sample copies should be addressed to THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FARMER.