"Old man," said Laing, penitently to his derelict friend, "I am used to this kind of a thing, but I am sorry if I hurt you."

The Water Holes, at that time, had a roadhouse on the slope north of the depression, and it was run by Wheeler & Son. Ordinarily the grangers would take along their "grub," but occasionally they would drop in for meals. There were unsophisticated strangers who occasionally stopped there for provender and who did not get much to eat but paid seventy-five cents for a meal.

As young Wheeler put it: "We are fixed for them all. When a granger conies along we give him his twenty-five cent meals, but when a traveling-man or tourist drops in, we give him a six-bit meal. We put prunes on the table for him."

Some years later, the elder Wheeler was bitten by a dog, and he literally went to pieces. He became a nervous wreck and died. The incident occurred at the ranch of Widow Smith at the head of Rush creek. All who knew Wheeler will remember that he was a nervous

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HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

sort of a person, and it is probable that he kicked or struck at the dog, before it attacked him. Wheeler, however, started a suit for damages, but it was never finished.

Just below Laing's ranch on "Lorren*s" Fork. about half way to the ranch of Adams & Redington, Sam Fowler, well known in the Democratic politics of old Cheyenne county, had his location, where he ran a bunch of horses.