The Adair County News

Truthful James.

"Speaking of cold weather," remarked truthful James, "I spent one winter in North Dakota. I supposed that I had seen some cold weather before that but, as a matter of fact, I never had.

"Along about the middle of February the weather got down to business. It had just been foolin' along before that time with the mercury standin' at from 30 to 40 below zero, but when the 'cold weather commenced to hump its back and do things, that spell of weather when it was only 40 below seemed to hev been like the warm spring-time. Gentle Anna.

"You may dispute my statement, but I want to say to you that one day I was b'lin water to make coffee when the door of the shack blew open and let the cold in right sudden. Well, that b'lin water in the kettle froze sittin' right there on the stove while it was b'lin to beat the band. The fact is that it froz so sudden that when I went to pick the chunk of ice out of the kettle the ice was so hot yet that it burned my hand.

"There are a good many people I hev told that to, who don't believe it. That is one of the most discouragin' things, in this world, to know that a thing is true and yet have your friends doubt you just because they never saw anything like it. And yet all of 'em believe any amount of things that they never saw and never will see.

"That same winter all the seed potatoes I hed froze hard as so many bones. I didn't know what to do at plantin' time, not havin the coin necessary to pay for more potatoes and I hed my doubts about them frozen potatoes growin' well. However. I said to myself, says I, 'I will just try 'er a whirl, anyway.' I planted the potatoes and they grew all right, but when I came to dig 'em in the fall blamed if I didn't find that I had raised a crop of snowballs. Yes, sir, that field run a hundred and fifty bushels of snowballs to the acre. It was one of the most discouragin' things I had to meet that year.

I had a favorite dog that I raised till it was 4 years old He was a good dog and generally sensible. but had a fool habit of barkin' at the moon whenever it was moonlight. The coldest night the moon was full. It was nearly as light as day.

"The dog was anxious to get out and do his regular stunt of barking at the queen of the night, but I was afraid he would freeze if he got out, so I kept him in the house. He was all broke up about it and whined and cried to get out. I never saw a dog really shed tears before.

"Finally, he worked on my feelings till I consented to let him out and just take one bark. I thought when he got out and found how everlastin' cold it was he would be satisfied to come back into the house and stay. So I opened the door and the fool dog jumped out. He lit barkin' and got the full force of the norther right in his mouth. It just solidified him right there. He never got his mouth shut. I reached out and pulled him inside the door, but he was froze so stiff that he broke in two when I dropped him on the floor.

"The next morning when I went out to investigate I found two of the dog's barks froze out there in the yard. I laid 'em on a shelf in the woodshed, but they didn't thaw out till spring.

"There was a snake that got caught out in that blizzard and, of course. it was froze stiff, all right. I concluded that I would fix it good and plenty, and so I just broke it in four pieces and threw the pieces away.

Well, I never thought any more about it till warm weather in the spring when, one day I seen a piece o' a snake crawlin' 'round with somethin' in its mouth. Well, when I got a little closer I see that it was the piece of that snake that had the head on it, come to life. It had found the tailpiece and was carryin' it 'round till it could find the two center pieces.

"By and by it found 'em lyin' in the grass and then it laid 'em down in regular order and backed up ag'in' 'em and stayed there till they had all growed together.

And yet there are people who will contend that a snake hasn't any sense."