| OCR Text |
Show H The Hon. Lafo Gleason of Delhi, B 'head helper ot Senate Clerk Whipple' B 'and dispenser In chief ot Republican B spellbinders In 'Now York, bad 'In his HI ;X budget of Delaware county wonders H on his last visit to the Amen Corner 0V at the Fifth Avenue hotel (nothing kfs that ho thought so much of ns the B news of the cutting down along tha B 'headwaters of the Delaware somo- B whero of a willow tree eight feet In B dlametor which had gono hollow at B tne uutt and stood as a monaco to all B 'w'10 might pass that way. fl "And the wonder of that tree was," Hj said ho, "that It had grown from a B "tick a raftman cut sixty years ago Hj from a willow trco fifty miles down B tho river and used as a cano to aid B nlm on hla homoward trip to Dela- B waro county on foot, and, which on B ns arrival there, he stuck In tho rich, B eoft so" on tho ruargln of tboirlvor. B "There, as It Is well known that HJ willow cuttings will do, It took root B Rnd thrived and became tho mammoth HE tree now no more. Next to Ullly Lcary B tho willow treo beats all for catching fl on and thriving," added the Hon. B Lafo. IB "Don't I know It?" remarkod Col. B Jim Jones, In mournful memory of HE whom tho fishes at the Aquarium B still kcP the water salt with their Hg tears. "Don't I know It? And tho B tannin In willows! It would knock fB hemlock out of tho market for making (jHj leather, If thero was only enough wll- B lows. Let mo tell you something . h9J "Thero wero pickerel In n marshy RA pond up In old Steuben and frogs! JKfe My, myl what frogs. Bit "But tho biggest ot theso big frogs KCf; lived In a collection of sloshy bogs fijB whero It was Impossible for anyono to kB get at them, much to tho. aggravation PB ot a" wno wcnt frogglng In that pond, Wm and particularly to Uncle SI Stevens, kH & robust and honest citizen who lived jHj near ono side of tho pond and loved m9 to gather frogs. IER "Ono day ho caught a pollywog of B amazing size, which was just putting B on tho finishing touches to make it a H full frog, and somehow tho Idea struck B him to take It home and seo what' It Hj would develop Into. Ho put It In his spring, and as it grow ho made a pet V "It got so It knew SI as well as It B ho was a frog, too, and SI found that ho could teach It tricks. It under- stood everything Uncle SI said, and used to go with him to tlio pond when ho wont frogglng, hopping along at I his side llko a kangaroo. 1 "Undo SI used in his frog-flshing a I piece ot red flannel tied to a hook, I and his pot frog would sit and watch I him flit It under the noses of wild I frogs and split its mouth from shoul- dor to shoulder whon SI would haul I ono In, just as if It was laughing at the fun, I "Ono day tho frogs out on those i swampy bogs had been moro aggra- tmtl vatlng than over, and Undo SI nnd his toJPT Pot frog had mndo things bluo around Y there. In tho nftornoon Joshua SI had named tho frog Joshua seemed to bo kcoplng up an unusual lot of thinking about something or other. "Suddonly ho made- n break for tho woodshed, whero Uncle S always kept his lines nnd hooks with flannol on 'cm. Joshua wont, humping into tho shod, and pretty soon came humping hump-ing out again. "Ho had ono of Sis linos wound around his body, Just below his foro 81 found that ho could teach It tricks. 1 logs, with a foot or so streaming out I behind, that end having tho hook nnd I tho red flannol on it. Ho went bounc-I bounc-I Ing along down to tho pond llko a I rubber ball flred out o a cannon, I souBod in and struck out for tho I swampy part whoro tho big and sassy frogs lived, and whero no mnn could got, whllo Uncle Si Just stood and stored aftor him with bulging eyes and open mouth. "'Joshua's gono crazy!' said he. 'The stratn has heen too much for Joshua, and he's lost his mind!" "And thnt's the way It looked, too, but it wasn't so, as Uncle Si discovered discov-ered whon Jo-hua camo sailing back by and by, having' In tow a frog almost al-most as big as himself with tho flannel-baited hook In its Jawl "Joshua had mado up his mind that he'd had about enough of tho sass of those frogs out in tho swamp, and had rigged himself up with a hook and Stumping around 'the place first rate, line, swum out and Hashed tho flannel under tho noses of somo of 'cm, hooked ono and lugged It home. Ho brought in twenty-nlno that afternoon. after-noon. "Thero wero pickerel in that pond, I think I told you. I should say thero was! "Ono day Joshua wob returning from a frogglng excursion to the swamp, fetching In a prize, and when It was half way homo Uncle SI Baw a big splash in the water In his wake, and saw Joshua give a tromendous hump to himself. Ho camo right on, though, and landed his catch; but his left leg was off at tho kneo. "Ono of thoso pickerel had fastened on as much of Joshua ns it could get Into its mouth and took It along. "Undo SI was a handy man, and ns soon as ho saw what ailed Joshua he cut a stick off of a tree nnd fastened It on to tho frog as a wooden leg. Tho wound healed up, tho skin grew down over tho wooden leg, and In a few days Joshua was stumping around the plnco first rate. "His swimming days wero over, though, and with them his usefulness ns a frog catcher was gono, although, unfortunately, Joshua did not think bo himself, and ono day Uncle 81 almost al-most fell in a faint when he saw that frog seated on a big slab and paddling over toward tho swamp, bis frog tackle with him, and his wooden leg sticking out In front ot him llko a ictoran of tho wars." " 'Somethin' will happen to that un-compromlsln' un-compromlsln' frog ylt, suro as settin' hens!' said Uncle SI, soon as he could catch his breath. "Ho wob right. Day after day for a week Undo Si gazed out over tho pond toward tho swamp, watching for Joshua, but Joshua novor camo back. "'I knowed them nggravatin' frogB over there was p'lson mean, said Uncle Un-cle Si, at last, 'but who'd 'a' thunk they'd 'a' took advantngo of a cripple?' "Years passed. There came a time when it was to tho advantage of that part of old Steuben that Undo Si's pond should bo drained, and it was. "Tho swamps bogs bocamo dry land and wero covered with n nice growth ot timber. Ono day Undo SI was tramping through It, and ho saw a treo with a funny-looking object near tho top. "Curious to know what It could bo, ho chopped tho treo down. Words can't express tho astonishment of Uncle Si when ho discovered that tho strango object was tho skin of a tromendous tro-mendous frog, ono leg of which was fast to and part of tho top of a branch of the treo. "Undo SI was puzzlod, but tho minute min-ute it camo to him that tho trco was a willow and that It had bcon a willow wil-low treo from which ho cut the wooden wood-en leg for Joshua years boforo, all wu . plain. " 'It's lost Joshua,' said ho, 'and nil wooden log!' "And so it was. The poor frog bad got stuck by his wooden leg In tho Tnlro 'dl "the -swamp that flay lie unO-dlod unO-dlod over to resume his frogglng. He couldn't oxtricato hlnrsoit, and tfaor ho dlod. "Tho willow cutting bad takon Toot there, of courso, nnd had grown with tho years, lifting Joshua along -with it, and preserving his skin with 'the tannin tan-nin In Us sap. Undo Si hnd thought tho world of Joshua whllo nlitj, and so II always thought It was qucor the uso ho .put tho skin to after 'ho took it homo. Ho sowod up tho mouth and, used tho skin fur a feed 'bag tor yonrs. "Wonderful, wonderful, how willow will tako root and thrive! Simply wonderful!" Tbo Hon. Lafo 'Qlcason couldnt deny .It, and Col. Ed Qilmoro, seclns there was a frog In Col. Jones's throat, sent Sharkey, the proud waiter, with n wireless message to Jimmy Gray at the high ball rofectory. Now York Sun. |
