Haint Mistur Carlisle, who is drawin $8,000 a year (for work he ort a be a doin in the money department at Washington), spendin lots of time makin speeches for gold mortgages down in Kaintuckey? Haint Carlisle a Dimicrat? Dont Mistur Cleveland set up of nites and write letters favorin “gold mortgages,” and some nites like as not lets Mrs. Cleveland sleep all by herself? What more has John Sherman done, or McKinley? Jobe thinks because McKinley has spent all spring outside of Ohio, talkin “gold mortgages” and workin to git elected to the best payin office in the country, that he is intitled to all the credit for bringin about “gold mortgages.” Now, I dont believe it, though he was so bizzy at it that he had to have his salary as governor sent to him by mail for months. [Illustration: “‘John Sherman is the greatest financier on airth.’”] Suppose my dream was true, and instid of us havin to give the banker a mortgage drawin seven per cent. interest (“interest and principal payable in gold”), that we, that is, Jobe and me, could have gone to the county treasurer of Tuscarawas County and a borrowed the same amount of paper and silver money (the same kind we got from the bank) at two per cent. interest, payable in any money of the government. Who would it a hurt? Wouldent it a been better for Jobe and me? Wouldent we a had only $36 a year interest to pay to the county instid of $126 in gold to the bankers? Wouldent we a had more money to pay toward our home or to buy store goods with? If we could spend $90 a year for store goods that we now have to pay as interest, wouldent that help the storekeepers a little? Which would be the best for the storekeepers, for Jobe and his likes to have to pay high interest in gold, or low interest in any kind of good money? There is another question I would like to ask you. It is this: If the pay of the post-offices is big enough to pay a feller to buy them from Congressmen, and pay big money for them, haint it about time that the pay of such post-offices was cut down? Why is a feller’s time what is glad to clear $300 or $400 a year doin anything else worth $1,500 or $2,000 for keepin the post-office? Does it hurt their character so much? And why is it that all them fellers what sells post-offices, and most of them what buys em, favor a gold basis and gold mortgages and sich? Are they afraid they will have to go back to their old jobs and less pay if they dont holler as the big fellers holler? [Illustration] CHAPTER XVI. JOBE IS SCARED. JOBE he is in a critical condition. Day before yisterday, when Jake Stiffler brought our mail out from town—it consisted of the two noosepapers that we have took for years, that is, the _Ohio Dimicrat_ and the _Tuscarawas Advercate_—I played a trick on Jobe that nearly cost him his life, and nearly made me a weepin and mournin widder.