Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-03-25
Where Joe MeriWether Went.

HHefe Joe MerlWetnef WtHL
| aWhar is Joe, Mr.. Meriwether?
| Us he sick?"
ooh ii, no!' groaned his mourning
brother.
eIs he dead, tn en-? Poor Joel''
faintlyenquired the old lady.
Il don't know that was the bro
ken reply. 4
"The Lord ha' mercy on our sinful
souls. then mhqr is he?'' cried the Wild
ow, breaking out afresh. us he run
away to Orleans-or gone to Califor-
ny? Yes, that's it! an the poor boy'll
be eatin up by them 'diggers' that
they say goes rootin' round that out
landish country, like a set Of mean,
stinlin' ground-hogs. Poor Joe! he
was fine little fellow, an it was ont
ly the other day last year, when you
was on your rounds, that he eat all
my little bo-"
"No, he amt gone to Californy as
I know, . interrupted his brother.
'.Then, fur nercy's sake do tell a
body what's become on him." rather
tartly enquired the good old lady.
@Why, you see Mrs. Harris" re-
Piled MIR. Meriwether. still keep
ing the same position, interrupting
the narrative with sundry bursts of
grief, (Which we'll leave out)-"you
see, Mrs.. Harais, Joe and / went up
airly in the spring to get a boat-load
of rock from Boone county, to. put
up the foundation of the new house
we're a Hbuildin', fur there amt ND
rock down in them rich silly bottoms
in our parts. We'll, we got along pret-
ty considerable, fur we had five kegs
ov blast along, and what with the hire
ov some niggers, we managed to get
our boat loaded, an started fur home
in about three weeks. You never
saw any thing rain like it did the fust
day when we was foatip down, but
+ we worked like corn-feld niger loY
a Christmas week, and pretty near
isundown we'd made a matter ov nigh
twenty mile afore we were ashore and
! tied up. Well, as we didn't have any
shelter on the fiat, we raised rous-
in big fire on the bank, close to whar
she was tied up, and cooked some
grub, and I'd eaten a matter ov two
pounds ov side, and half ov a possumy
and was settin' on a log, smokin' q
Kaintud k regaly, and talkin' to BROTH
er Joe, who was standin' chock up
agin the fire with his back to it
You rec llex Mrs. Harris, brother
Joe alters was a dressy sort ov a
chap; fond ov brass buttons on his
coat, and the farinst kind ov red
neckerchers; and this time he had
on pail of buckskin breeches with
straps under his boots. Well, when
| was a talkin' to him ov the prospect
fur the next day, all ov sudden /
thought the little Teller was CROWN
uncommon tall; till ] diskivered that
the buckskin breeches, that wur
as wet as "a young rooster in a
spring rain, wur beginnin to smoke
/ am draw up kinder, and wur a lftin'
brother Zoe off the ground!
Brother joe sez !, "you're ago.
in up"
sBrother Tom,' SEE he, II ain
dom anything elsel''
'And he scrunched down mitey
hard, but it warn't oy no use, fur afore
long he Wur a matter oy some fifteen
feet up in the air."
"Mereiful Power!!'' interrupted the
widow.
Brother Joe..' SEE 1.
E1'm here!!' SEE he.
"Catch hold ov the top ov that
blackjack" seq l.
"Talkr seq brother Joe, and he
sorter leaned over and grabbed the
saplin', like as may be you've seed a
squirrel haul in an elm switch ov a
June nae rnin'. But it warn't ov no
use, fur; old 'oman, eff you'll believe
me, it gradually begun to Civ way at
the roots. and afore ed got five foot
higher, it jist slipt oat'n the ground,
as easy as you'd pull up spring red
dish.
Brother Joel seq I agin
sI'm aNlis ming" SEE he.
sCut y our straps seq | fur / seed
it was his last chance.
Talk seq brother Joe, tho he
1ooIo1 co,.f n ,.o,,roo 81, cuI lilo Of mo