Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
HAPPY DAYS
(This story commenced in No. 1081).
SAM SPRY
THE NEW YORK DRUMMER
—OR——
_ BUSINESS BEFORE PLEASURE
By TOM TEASER
CHAPTER XXV.
It might not be said that Spot wanted
the tame. performing bear that the Italian
had,-but it is safe to say that he hed much
rather have him than his horse.
And the Italian evidently was in that
condition of mind that he would attach
himself to almost anything but. the bear,
and so it is not to be wondered at that
when they began cautiously to compare
notes that a bargain was reached, and that
Spot swapped his fiery steed for the per-
forming bear, thinking that after all he
might sell him for enough to realize what
he had hoped to get for his horse.
m had quietly sanctioned the thing,
although Spot had not really told him in
so many words that he thought of trading.
But early the next morning that Italian
mounted his swap and was immediately.
run away with in the direction of New
York, but as that was exactly the way he
wanted to go, and as he had the faculty of
clinging on, he raised not the slightest ob-
jections, feeling certain that he could ride
as fast as the’ horse could possibly run.
Spot watched him out of sight, but as
it was early yet, Sam was not there.
how he did laugh!
His mouth seemed to be trying to take
in one of his ears on either side.
“Oh,-by golly, look at him!” he roared,
as the landlord joined him. “Look at dat
Italian! -I bet he am de sickest man in dis
yer State befo’ dis time,” said he.
Swanped for that bear?”
my, you bet.”
ee out of the frying-pan into the
fire.’ And what are you going to do with
him, I'd like to know?’
“Sell him fo’ money. “Oh, you bet dat 1
get hunk fo’ de cash dat hoss cost me.”
“Oh, you will, hey?” -
“Don’ you forgot it, boss.”
“What can he do?”
“Do mos’ eberything. You oughten see
him play champion Sullivan.”
“Well, I “stouia like to see him spar,” re-
plied the landlord, and just then Sam Spry
joined them. .
“Hello, Spot. Where’s your horse?”
“Dar he am,” replied Spot, proudly, as
he pointed to ‘the tame bear.
“What! Did you swap your kicker for
that bear?. Well, I'll be hanged.”
“Yes, an’ fo’ dis time dat Italian am half
de way to New York or dead by de road-
side,” replied Spot, laughing heartily.
“You had better have kept the horse and
bought the bear right out, then vou would
have had something to feed
“Dat’s all right.. I’s gwine ober heah to
de butcher’s to get him some meat, ” said
he, starting off resolutely.
m and the landlord enjoyed a good
laugh while he was gone, and on taking a
closer look at the bear it was very evi-
dent that he stood very much in need of
being internally upholstered with meat or
something else.
Spot soon returned with a pound of cat
meat—just about a good mouthful for the
beast. *-
“What did you buy so much for?” asked
Sam, as he and the landlord swapped
winks, .
“Oh, I b'lieves in feedin’ animals well,”
said he, throwing the meat down before
him.
The bear snapped it up, paper and “all,
about as quick as a hen would have col-
Jared a grasshopper. He didn’t even grow],
as bears generally do when eating anything,
but looked up earnestly for more.
“You want at least ten pounds of meat
for that bear said the landlord.
“Ten pow
“Yes, ten erands three times a day,”
added Sam, at which Spot opened his eyes.
“Why, dat cost mo’ den a hoss,” said
e.
“Of course it- does. Costs as much to
keep a bear as it does four horses.”
“Oh, heavens—oh, my!” he groaned.
“And if you don't give him all he wants
he’s liable to eat you, or some sheep, which
you wa have to pay for.”
, heavens—oh, my! No wonder dat
he vant to swap him fo’ a hoss,” he mut-
tered, and away he started for.some more
meat. . .
But he only invested in five pounds more,
and even that made him feel poor and
ad.
That. bear jumped for it so ferociously
that it nearly frightened the life out of
Spot, and the growls uttered over the re-
past frightened also every animal on the
premises.
But he got away with it surprisingly
quick, and stood licking his chops and
winking at his new master for more.
“You gets no mo’, an’ dat’s got to last
you fo’ one day at least,” said he, at which
the bear gave a savage growl.
“Now put him through some tricks,” said
Sam, intent on having some fun
_ “Yes, make him show his sparring sel-
ence,” added the landlo
“Oh, you may bet that he's a good bear
if he can get away with Spot in sparring,
for he has downed some of the best in the
land,” said Sam, half aside, but so that
Spot could overhear him.
“All right. Put him through his courses
the same as the Italian did,” said the land-
ha’ I know ’bout sparrin’ wid a bar?”
“Oh, I'll risk you. They box just the
same as Sullivan did, and you know you
always sald that you wanted a piece of
him,” said Sam,
Thus encouraged, Spot walked up to the
bear and put himself into boxing attitude, '
at which Bruin rose upon his hind legs and
did the same thing, as he had been trained
to do.
t was a comical sight, but Spot evi-
dently felt much better than he would had
the bear not been chained, for now he
could dance out of harm’s way after. get-
ting in his work. .
Spot pranced around for some time, as
if watching for an opening, and it made
the spectators laugh to see the bear do the
same anne
Finally Spot became bolder, and to,show
his) selence still more, as well-as his fear-
Jessness, he gave Bruin a slap alongside of
his jowl, hard enough to make him shake
his head and utter a good-sized growl.
“Go for him, Spot!” cried Sam.
“Yes, it will make him afraid of yo
‘0 that you can manage him easily,” said
the landlord, earnestly.
Again did Spot dance around the bear,
and once more the bear danced before him.
“Oh, you’se a boxer, eh? Take dat!” he
said, again getting in one on the bear's
mug, much to the delight of the spectators,
several more of whom had come to see the
s) -
Once the bear gave his guard a whack
with nis powerful paw that knocked it
down, but Spot managed to give him a
[hack alongside of his conk at the same
tim:
tt was getting awful funny for the spec-
tators as well as Spot, but it somehow
didn't seem a bit funny for the bear, whose
former master had evidently never hit him
a hard blow. He growled and showed his
teeth, but Spot gave him two or three good
ones, for which he was cheered by the on-
lookers,
“Oh, c come see me! Come hab some fun
wid me!” cried Spot, dancing out of reach
the greater part of the time and getting
in a good showing of blows with seeming
ease. “Come see me!” he cried again, he-
cause the crowd laughed.
Bruin seemed willing and even anxious
to do so, for he pulled fiercely at his chain
and showed a fine set of teeth for the meat
business.
Spot.was winning more laurels than ever
Sullivan did. Sam was thinking that most
likely ‘the bear would get Square on some
other occasion, when all of a sudden the
chain snapped and the enraged brute
sprang toward Spot.
Uttering a yell of dismay, that coon
made a break for somewhere else, as did
the spectators who had been enjoying the
set-to..
Over the first convenient fence he went
like a wild-eyed, frightened deer, closely
followed by the bear.
Murder was no name for what he yelled.
Even Sam was frightened for his man,
and whipping out his revolver, he ran In
pursuit of the late antagonists, while the
landlord ran to get his gun, and the ut-
most excitement, was manifested all over
the neighborhoo:
“Murder! murder!” yelled Spot,
help! Shoot him, shoot him!”
bear got near enough to claw the seat ae
ee
and
of his trousers just as he was vaulting over
another fence
Then Sam treated him to a bullet, while
he was waiting to see if there was an.
meat in Spot's trousers, at which he turned
and went for him, leaving Spot a chance
ie, leap into the highway and run for dear
ife.
&
Sam gave him another pill, seeing that
he seemed anxious for it, and then he re~
treated so as to give the landlord a ance
to fill his hide full of buckshot h
That, being a larger dose than oes “had
yet received, seemed to aieeoarage him,
and after attempting to stan
more, he conenaded that lying down to take
his pills was eas’
Sam gave him another one, and then he
weakened. He was a good bear then, but
not worth a cent at doing tricks. He was
tired.
A great crowd gathered around the de-
funct, but Spot was not among them, nor
was he much missed, so long as the bear
had been rendered harmless, but there was
great excitement.
However, they found Spot not long after-
ward in the top of a tree where he had
climbed for safety, but the life was nearly
frightened out of him.
“Come down out of that!” called Sam.
hh, my, whar dat bar?” moaned Spot,
at which there was a loud laugh.
“He’s dead, so come down,” said
“Oh, my, oh, yes!” he moaned, and began
slowly to descend. «
But he was a sight to behold, with his
clothes nearly all torn off, and his eyes
bulging out, cand they gave him the grand
laugh all a
And what. a oe man he was!
There lay the last of his.horse trade with
all that good meat inside of. his skin, be-
sides the ruin he had yet to pay for. Oh,
he wanted to go off somewhere and die!
But Sam braced him up, and encouraged
him with a new suit of clothes, and finally
made a dicker with the landlord to take
the carcass of the bear in payment for the
damage the horse had wrought in the barn.
Of course the affair became the laugh-
ing talk of the town, but they soon got
out of that and | into the next one in the
pursuit of busin
But you needn't “bet a nickel that” Spot
ever indulged in any more trades ane
speculations, for you would lose, No,
sa weary coon, and from that
time forth attended strictly to business.
did Sam Spry, although, of
course, he had his fun as he went along,
and Spot was occasionally tapped for that
purpose,
That cirenit kept them on the road for
two months before it was finished, and he
found: that the money he made at the
lightning-rod business knocked drygoods
drumming right out of water, besides af-
fording quite as much fun,
But finally the season was over, for you
can't sell a lightning-rod when there is no
danger ‘rom jlgntuing, and being on the
road home New York once more, he
concluded to Ove it up until the next year,
and, in the meantime, do something else
—perhaps try drumming again.
But he had something else in view for
the future that perhaps the reader does not
dream of, and he felt as jolly as a big
sunflower after closing up business and
they were on the road back to New York.
~ It generally makes a New Yorker feel
first-rate after a Jong absence from home
to find himself on the road back to it again,
but Sam Spry felt unusually jolly because
of something else.
And Spot began to act like himself again,
for he was also going back to New York,
and his old haunts and friends, with the
prospect of little or nothing to do during
the winter, as Sam had assured him of a
good job in the spring, and that he would
take Sood care of him during the winter.
“Oh, not!” he would chuckle to
himself while thinking of it, and thinking
also of the yarns he would have to aston-
ish his colored friends with.
y were out altogether nearly three
months, but during this time don’t forget
that Sam Spry was in communication with
his friends, and knew exactly how the land
lay in more places than one.
And on his arrival home, he received a
grand reception from Smith, his employer,
and congratulated muchly upon the success
that had attended him on his first trip.
And his old friends at Jub & Spud’s gave
him.a hearty weleome, and a supper on
his return, at which he kept them in con-
vulsions nearly all night, relating the ad-
ventures of Spot, who always had been a
source of fun, but never thoroughly de-
veloped until now.
But the old friends of the store were not
the only ones to welcome him home, for
none of them could have greater admira-
tion for the handsome drummer than did
Mr. Spud, the junior member of the firm.
“Come right home with me, my boy. It’s
allright. I understand it. I was a young-
ster once myself. It’s all right. Of course
you know all about it, and don’t care a
bent pin for what old Jub says, Come
right along!” and, in spite of his gentle
protests and blushes, the vivacious old
merchant hustled him along toward his
mansion.
I said that Sam blushed, so you must
know that there was some occasion for it
more than ordinary. It requires something
very fine to bring the blush to a drum-
mer’s cheek.
And that “something very fine’ was*
right there in Mr. Spud's house, visiting
her friends, just as the sly rascal knew
would be the case on this particular oc-
casion, being no less than the glad, beau-
tiful, plump and blushing Annie Jub. .
Nor was it any surprise to the Spud
family to see Annie and Sam meet as en-
gaged lovers, for they had known pretty
well for some time which way the wind
was blowing. They knew it was a south
wind, ladened with the perfume of flowers,
and they were pleased with the prospect.
Mr. Spud and his wife were delighted,
as well as his children, for they detested
old Jub and the moldy old money bags he
was trying to marry his beautiful and only
daughter to, and the prospect of his being
bested in the game of love against ducats
pleased them wonderfully.
That night while Sam was walking home
with her certain arrangements were com-
pleted, for Annie had been secretly at work
preparing for this a long time before.
The next day they met at: Mr. Spud's
house again, where a dozen or more of
their friends were in waiting.
Presently some carriages arrived, and the
entire party rode away to the residence of
Rev. Dr. Houghton, who gracefully re-
sponded when asked by Sam Spry. to make
him and Annie Jub man and w
Then they rode back again to Me Spud’s,
where a wedding breakfast awaited them,
and Mr. Spud felt so delighted that. he
wanted to dance.
Here Annie wrote her father. a letter,
while Sam was dispatching notices of the,
marriage to all the afternoon and next
morning’ S$ papers.
This done, the happy couple took a car-
riage for the Grand Central Depot, where
they started off on a month’s honeymoon
tour, followed by old shoes and the good
wishes of everybody in the secret. And
so we Will leave them for the present and
turn to old “Jub.
As for his partner, Spud, he felt so much
like dancing and cutting up that his wife
wouldn’t allow him to go to. the store that
day, for fear he would slop over, so he
remained at home and pounded himself so
as to keep from exploding over the thought
of what a joke there was in store for Jub.
Next morning Jub was reading his paper
when his eye caught the following notice
in the marriage column:
“Married, by Rev. Dr. Houghton, at the
parsonage, Samuel Spry to Annie, daugh-
ter of Abel Jub, Esq. No e:; ”
It is a wonder that he dian rupture a
blood-vessel before he got the strength to
howl and yell and kick.
The first thing he did was to read that
notice over again. Then he yelled and
kicked over a chair; then he picked up
the chair and threw it through the glass
partition, creating a rush of employees to
the scene, and a general consternation.
The old bookkeeper ventured to go into
the private office to see what the trouble
was, but Jub went at him like an infuri-
ated bull at a red petticoat, kicking him
out and calling for somebody else to kick.
Of. course there was only one conclusion,
and that was that the boss had gone off
his nut, and they were about to send for
an officer, when they heard him howl:
“My daughter, my only child, married ta
a lightning-rod peddler! Why
earth open and swallow me? Why don't
somebody else come here and get kicked?”
Then they all took a tumble, and knew
that Sam Spry had married the old man’s
daughter, and so they all went down in
the cellar to laugh and shake hands over
the hurrah. Big thing for Sam Spry!
Finally, after the irate father had
howled and whooped around for about half
an hour, he crushed his hat down over his
head and gartea out to see about this ter-
rible thin, ~
But wherever he went he found it pers
fectly regular and everybody glad of it,
even his own wife, and he kicked himself
until he hadn't strength enough to do so
any more. Whenever he tried to "get sym-
pathy he got laushed at, at least by every-
body but the old fossil who expected to
marry-Annie, and it threw him into a fit
of sickness. -
But there was no help for it, of course,
and finally he was persuaded to make the
best of it and send his blessing to the young
couple, who were then at Niagara Falls.
“But I say, Spud,” said he, a week or so
after he had cooled down, “I can never
have my son-in-law a lightning-rod agent,
or even a drummer. What do you say?”
“Why, take him right into the firm, We
want some young -blood in it, and it may.
not be e, long before I have a son-in-law to
admit,