A STRANGE BET. 311 



the stone on which it rested. How Old Bill could 

 pull it out was more than I knew ; but Carey had 

 planned it all out in his mind while up in the bush. 

 Taking me to one side he said : "Now, don't you 

 offer to bet any money, as the neighbors do not know 

 what that kind of business is, and at the same time 

 they might think I brought you here to cheat 'em. 

 At the same time remember that while they are strong 

 and hearty, they are a bit shy on the matter of strang- 

 ers, as some of them have been nipped by lightning 

 rod fellers and chaps that sign your name to a piece 

 of paper for one kind of a book and then have some 

 other one come along with another kind and your 

 name on a note to pay for it. They don't come near 

 me, as they cannot find their way to the clearing, but 

 somehow they haunt the Corners. Lige, that is him 

 in the big straw hat, says they can smell proof like a 

 bear can a bee-tree, and I guess it's so." 



After inviting everyone, including what Lige 

 termed "the stranger," to have something, Carey 

 began to make preparations for the pull. Old Bill 

 was unhitched from the wagon and stripped of all his 

 harness except the bridle, collar, names and traces. 

 These were fastened to a heavy second growth 

 hickory whifBetree which Carey pulled from under 

 the seat in the wagon, while a chain was at the same 

 time unwound from the stakes over the back axle. It 

 was plain that Carey had come prepared to make the 

 bet, and as Old Bill had never been worsted in a 

 pulling match, everything looked favorable. Pulling 

 against another horse or a pair, however, was dif- 

 ferent from snatching a dead weight or wrenching a 

 sill from under a tumble-down shed. At the time, I 



