The fellows looked at each other, ami Cof-

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

fee broke the silence. "Come on, boys, I'll buy."

The coming of prohibition will forever end certain of the rough pranks and jollity of men. Much of the good fellowship and humor of the west was where the spirits were enlivened by frequent and sundry libations. Not all of the early men drank, but those who did not, frequented the places where those bent on revelry were inclined to congregate. Comical incidents that were common in the bar room, would be inappropriate in a soda parlor or a grocery store. Valentine King and Charley Nelson, initiating a newcomer into the glories of the west, would be out of place in a candy kitchen.

These old time gentlemen had a tenderfoot in Zig. Gudfreund's saloon at Sidney, and their conversation drifted into the mysterious power of mind. Nelson declared he was a mind reader and the stranger, as expected, disputed the existence of such power. A small wager was put up, and Nelson retired. The stranger was to hide some article, selected after Charley, had left the room, and Nelson was to find it upon his return.

The stranger was looking for some suitable article to hide, when King innocently suggested an egg, there being a number in a dish behind

the bar. The unusual article Valentine suggested could be hid in the stranger's cap, which would be an unlikely place to look for it.

Charley was then called in, and he experienced some difficulty in getting his mental apparatus in working order. He maneuverated about, and reached up his arms, for a while, and finally, when it was in the right position, he said : "Well, whatever it is, I have a feeling that it is right here." His hand went down with a slap upon the tenderfoot's head and smashed the egg.