'
"'Now yer talkin',' says Burns. 'Just hand me eighty-six dollars due
fer lumber on them new stalls--you claim to own em.
"'A-he-m!' says the judge. 'That's a different matter. The
Agricultural Society is responsible for those stalls. The man you
should see about your claim is Alf Dingle. I happen to know there is a
certain sum of money in the treasury and I kind of think Alf will pay
this claim. Why don't you try to get him to come out here?'
"They argue a while 'n' then it's thought best to send fur Alf Dingle.
But Orphy has took the street-car 'n' went.
"'That's the way it goes,' says the old Jasper they call colonel.
'He's a-chasin' around town with that car instead of stayin' here
tendin' to his business!'
"'I'll go in and get Alf,' says Harry Evans, startin' fur his machine.
"Nobody says nothin'.
"'I ain't got the heart to tell Butsy,' says Peewee.
"Harry Evans begins to turn the handle on his machine. He turns it fur
ten minutes. When he's all in, he straightens up.
"'Somebody'll have to help me crank her,' he says.
"The crowd goes to work. They all take turns. But she don't start.
"'Er--it occurs to me there may be something wrong with her,' says
Harry Evans, 'n' starts to lift off the cover where the machinery is.
Peewee gives me a poke in the ribs.
"'I expect he's right,' he says.
"'I'm gettin' all-fired tired of this putterin' around,' says the old
Jasper. 'Tom', he says to a guy in overalls, 'get a crowbar an' knock
them padlocks off.
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