fered him twenty dollars per month to go and work for him.
Arndt accepted his proposition, and agreed to report at the Irishman's
farm the following Monday, this being Thursday when the bargain was
made. That night the German settled up with his uncle, and received the
balance of his wages, some $75. He had been in America long enough to
reach that point in our civilization that, after working awhile, and
getting a balance ahead, he must take a rest and go on a "spree." He
started for the nearest town. For a couple of days he fared sumptuously,
constantly drinking. He at length reached a point below zero. Half
crazed, he staggers off to the fence across the way where the farmers
who had come to town to do their shopping on Saturday had hitched their
teams, and, untying a horse that was hitched to a buggy, Gus thought he
would take a ride. Lumbering into the buggy, as a drunken man can, he
drove down the main street of the town in broad daylight and out into
the country. In an hour or so the owner getting ready to return, misses
his horse and buggy. Making numerous inquiries about them and getting
nothing satisfactory, he places the matter in the hands of a sheriff,
who commences a search for the missing property. Not finding it in town
he sends men out on the roads leading to the country, himself taking
one. In a very short time he overtakes the noted horse-thief. Gus was
sitting in the buggy sound asleep; the lines were hanging down over the
dashboard, and the old horse was marching along at a snail's pace. He
was out some two miles from town, and, no doubt, had traveled at this
gait all the way. He was faced about, and, assisted by the sheriff,
drove back to town. He was then placed under arrest and sent to jail,
subsequently had his trial, and for this little drive was sent to the
penitentiary for five years. Of a more unjust sentence I never heard.
Gus served his time out and a better behaved person was never behind the
walls. When he regained his liberty, instead of returning to Wabaunsee
County, and to his uncle's house, he finds his way to Marysville,
Kansas. Here reside a number of prosperous German farmers, and the
ex-convict soon got work. When he applied for work he forgot to tell
his employer that he had just finished up a contract for the State
of Kansas. Some months had elapsed and Gus had worked hard and
industriously, had accumulated a neat little sum of money, and began to
feel happy once more. At this ti