Show THE GREAT SANDTOWN TURKEY THEFT 4 story of a mean man and n led was hs own reward noah skittle was a mean man one of those mean people who hate to see others prosperous even though it does not interfere with them at all he lived in sandtown Sand town and raised turkeys like ever body else he earned a lot of money because he fattened his turkeys well it was his only generous deed for he begrudged even the food that he gave himself and as for others well deacon van der tassel once said that noah warn skittle was so mean that he would walk three miles to borrow a match rather than use one of his own to light hi fire in the morning noah skittle did not like dea con Vander tassel at all and he liked him even less after he heard this so some days before thanksgiving day he went to a poor man in sand town and said to him you know that we will all have to ship our turkeys to morrow now you have only 50 and if you do not get a good price for them you will be ahard pressed for money this winter well I 1 know a way to make the prices higher tor you it you will go to deacon Vander tassel s place with I 1 see it all he moaned me to night we can cut holes into his turkey houses and let all his birds fly into the woods he will be quite un able to catch them again in time tor shipment and the people in the city will be glad to pay you high prices tor yours the poor man whose name was bill leggo made believe to agree with the mean man but really he did not agree with him at all for he came of poor but honest parents and was very much like them himself so he devised a cunning plan that night he went to noah s house and said to him let us go to do this deed but we will have to go into the woods just behind your house and work around through them for sev eral miles so as to approach the dea con s place through the underbrush in the back it would never do for us to be seen that Is a good idea said noah but I 1 do not know the way through the woods I 1 will guide you said poor but honest bill I 1 fear however that you will find it rough going for we cannot dare to carry a lantern he took hold of noah s arm and off they went up and down and in and out through thick and thin and thorn and swamp this way and that wa twisting and turning till noah was nearly dead and only his great mean ness kept him going at last scratched and bruised and full of mud weary and suffering he tell into a deep which strangely enough had been avoided cleverly by poor b t honest bill never mind whispered bill help ing him up we have arrived oe noah looked through the under brush but he could nothing ex capt a black mass of something in the darkness those are the barns said bill here take this saw and saw holes into the walls there and I 1 will creep around the other way and scare the turkeys so they will come out noah madder and meaner than ever worked hard and saed big holes out of which the turkeys tied then as bill scared them up off they flew into the woods until the whole big flock had vanished As soon as the last one had gone poor but honest bill seized noah and said we must hurry back and we must go the same way we came oh dear oh dear groaned noah but he followed and once more he was dragged through m and creeks and over stumps and rocks until his shins and nose were skinned and every part of him was sore at last they emerged on a road and in a few moments they were at noah s front gate and the mean man hurried to bed the next morning he could hardly get up because he was so sore but he crawled out to teed his when he got to the barnyard his heart nearly stood still there was not a single solitary turkey in the place he stood with his mouth open won dering then slowly a terrible sus biclon entered his mind he limped as fast as he could to the back and sure enough there he found great holes in the walls of the houses I 1 see it all he moaned sitting right down in the mud that all lain took me through the woods and back to my own turkey houses he ras quite right when poor but honest bill went by the house carting his 50 turkeys to the town noah shook his fist out of the window but bill leg go only laughed and so did every body else in sandtown Sand town when they heard ot it |