Men see the light when seriously moved emotionally. Even the simplest things may change their minds. An old gray mare, blind as a bat and wearing a cow bell, caused a man's vile soul to sweeten.

It was a sultry, August day in Spink County. Two brothers were digging a well for Olaf and Irena. They were from Sweden, strong and skilled at digging surface wells. Irena was tired of carrying water from the river to wash clothes.

These two Swedes were no strangers to picks and shovels. One stayed in the well. The other pulled up dirt in the bucket. A job like this would take more than a few days, sometimes a few weeks.

The well-digging routine was well established. One was a pious man, the other given to vile utterances, a man with firm opinions. They worked and grunted. The opinionated brother punctuated his grunting with English words and some in Swede that were unfit for the faint of heart.

Olaf and Irena had an old gray mare living on the place. She had enjoyed a good life, first as a plough-horse, then as a pet. By common agreement, she was to be tethered a safe distance away from any activity where she posed a threat to herself or to others. Affixed with a loud cow bell, you could always know where the blind mare grazed, or was tethered.

One day that Swede's nature changed. Whenever it was his turn in the hole, the Swede who cursed out loud would strongly insist on inspecting the knot securing the poor blind mare before he climbed down. Today, however, would be very bad for him, because of a small joke.

The brothers were accustomed to bringing each other lunch, lowering it in the bucket to whomever was in the hole. The man on top usually went inside to eat with Olaf and Irena. But that day was different. Careful not to disturb the old gray mare, he gently removed the cow bell. Asked what he was about to do with it and why he did not come in the house to eat, he told Olaf and Irena to wait and watch, but be quiet about it.

From listening to the mare and watching her movements, the brother waiting on top of the hole could duplicate exactly how she would sound to someone sleeping at the bottom of a well-shaft.

It was his habit, after eating, for the one in the hole to take a short nap, a sweet time of rest and meditation. He had just dozed off, when a strange sound began, softly at first. The

sounds grew suspiciously louder. Pawing, snuffling, and soft snorting sounds crept ever closer to the freshly dug hole in the ground.

The Swede sleeping down at the bottom was sure it was a dream. Then suddenly he sat bolt upright and said, "No. Oh, Lord. No."

He began calling for his brother on top of the hole. He realized it was no use. His brother must be in the house eating. There was no way to climb out of the hole, so the brother in the bottom of the unfinished well dropped to his knees.

Olaf and Irena gathered atop the shaft, staying a little ways back and stifling laughter. Snort, snuffle, clank, clang, continued the sounds. Louder prayed the brother in the hole. Finally as a last desperate act of contrition, he prayed the words, "Father, save me. I ask in the Name of Jesus. Oh, please, save me."

The poor Swede down there stopped to listen. The bell's sounds were receding, going farther away. Finally, there was silence. He could only hear the beating of his own heart. Taking a chance, he yelled for his brother.

After Olaf and Irena helped him out of the hole, noting that he was white as a sheet, they asked what had happened down there. Vowing never to say a vile thing about anyone, ever again, the victim of this prank hugged his brother.

"Vell, it yust look like you struck water," the rescuer said, pointing at his brother's pants leg.

"No, by yimminy. I bed-wetted. That old hoss, she scare me. Real bad," said the embarrassed brother.

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