Page:The Dial (Volume 68).djvu/802

"We'll do it this way," said the secretary. "We'll build a siding at least six feet from the main line and if he sits on one, the cars will run on the other. And as he is less than six feet tall, he cannot occupy both at one time."

And so it was decided; work was at once started. The mayor of the town dug the first spadeful and the spade was later bandaged with a red ribbon and hung on a wall in the city hall.

Ivan sat on his box and watched the whole process. The workingmen left their coats in his charge as they worked on the siding and for this convenience they shared their food with Ivan.

The next day some of the impatient people tried to frighten Ivan off the box. The fire brigade was called out and as they ran past shouted:

"Hurry, Ivan! Your house and store are burning. Hurry!"

But Ivan sat firm to his box.

The real reason why Ivan was sitting on the box was because he had quarrelled with his wife. He had asserted his individuality, and in reply his wife had turned over a bowl of soup on his head.

The next day Ivan's wife thought that her husband had been away long enough, so she called upon the blacksmith to fetch Ivan, who, she supposed, was playing checkers, as the smith and Ivan always did after quarrelling with their wives. But this time she was told of a new Ivan, Ivan the terrible obstacle.

The driving of the last few spikes into the ties was a great ceremony and Ivan would very much have liked to take part. He thought to himself: "If I had only been a better fellow they would have let me hammer a spike. But then, were I a better fellow, there would be no siding and therefore no spikes to hammer!"

Suddenly he saw his wife coming down the street with anger in her eyes and nothing in her hands. Ivan quickly left his box and went to the siding, where he mingled with the crowd. With one good spring the barrel figure of Ivan's wife pounded upon the box and splintered it to bits. Only one board was saved and this the wife held firmly aloft as she ran Ivan home.

The day after this fable appeared in the newspaper the long awaited changes in the cabinet took place. Two of the conservative ministers were removed for obstructive tactics.