Show tox af X X XV i FOLLOWING THE it t GOAT 9 V A by B THOMAS ARKLE CLARK P dean of men university of A illinois y af V 4 tt it was sheep shearing time when I 1 was in montana all through the gallatin valley the sun was chinin shinin shining the buttes were green from the abundant spring rains and the sheep were feed S ing thousands of them tens of 0 thousands in fact ready tor for tile the yearly shearing 6 0 it Is not an 1 easy cary matter to get t them li e m into tile the pens where the shearing Is done they 3 hey listen reluctantly to the voice of the shepherd but they are followers if there Is a leader among them with out thill thinking king they will follow him anny where on one of the big ran ranches clies I 1 noticed a goat wandering about among the sheep and I 1 on the fact the goat Is s trained one of the natives explained to me lie he can be let led anywhere and the sheep follow jilin peacefully ally one another without thought or questioning it Is quite easy muei very much like human beings these Pl pimp ivel 1 I thought most of us have a goat gannt or two which we e follow without working our brains at all flora Is smoking now she like it she do it well nod and she knows it Is a dirty habit find and not at all good for her nerves dont you smoke delia asks her riella della Is the goat coarse vulgar but the leader of the flock the one who sets bets the pace and gets all the rest into the corral how strange she says and laughs it a little satirical laugh and flora drops into line and follows the goat the glenna glean did not taste liquor in pre days they had been brought up differently it just respectable to have liquor about then things began to change a little when they went out toone to one social affair or another there were vere cocktails served and the odor ador of gin in the air and scarcely a social evening passed without a cliance chance to get a shot or two of 0 something stimulating respectable people too church members and the once conservative members of society did not say no when the cocktail shaker came into the room well what were the glenns to do it would look queer and people would laugh if they hung back so meekly and quite in line they followed the gout goat lawton had never been a plunger what modest sums he could gather together to invest lie he put into government bonds or the most con serva tive of securities ile he was wise enough not to fall tor for any of the getrich quick schemes to which some of his friends become became an easy prey when some smooth tongued salesman expressed a willingness to let him in on something that would not net him 15 per cent lawton shook his head ne ile would not know what to do with tile the money lie he averred it if it came in that fast bit stocks were booming all his friends friend were taking a chance and counting their profits it was v us the op port unity of a lifetime and lie he was being ridiculed for not being a sports man so lawton followed the goat he was taken into the corral the bottom tom went out of the stock market and lowton was sheared close to the skin like any other foolish sheep ea M 19 1810 30 western new News Daver union 1 |