The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1871-10-20
The Towns Paupers.

Inc IoWns fauperS.
THE STORY TOLD ny DEACON NOSES, KEEPER
OF THE HIcROKYTOwN POOR FARM.
"Wall-yes-they'rea queer lot, them
town paupers; but then-wall-the is
a master sight Of queer folks in this 'ere
world, N | dunno 3 paupers is any
queerer n the bulk on 'em. / dunno y
they'er any strangern folks ill aver
age. Sometime | think they be, n
then ag'in I-don't-know"
Deacon Moses took of his hat and
gazed fixedly into il like a witch into
pot, as though expecting TO find there
the solution of the perplexity. Then he
drew, from the hats depth, a pocket
handkerchief, so called by the cOmpli
ment of custom, the which, however,
10 pocket ever did, would. or comforta-
bly, could contain, by reason of its size;
in fact, very marvel of magnitude and
gOrgeOUsness was this pocket or hat
handkerchief. So large, indeed, was il,
that Mrs. Deacon Moses was reported,
and commonly believed, to have worn
il, folded "kitterin," on her connubial
shoulders, one afternoon, to the "lecture
preparatory" which assemblage was, in
HickOrytown, n sort of undress solemn
ity, neither requiring nor admitting of
fun pontificals. As to color, this same
article inevitably suggested a millennial
union of the flags of all nations, their
combined hues and mingled designs be-
ing brought together to produce a kalei-
dOscOpic effect, which was, in an emf
nent degEse, unique and startling.
If have seemed, in this description
of the handkerchief, TO lose sight of the
man, it is because the man is, at the
present, lost sight of behind the hand
kerchief, his wrinkled, grizzly face be-
ing, for an instant, obscured in the gor-
geous folds of the bandanna. From this
brief eclipse, however, Deacon Moses
emerges, and with fresh strength, picks
up the thread of conversation, if, in
deed, that can be called conversation
which is not dialogue but mOnOlogue
not cOlloquy but soliloquy.
"But | set out to tell We bout Aun
Reeny. You see we don't hev mucl
company up to our 'ous' m ef / do gi
anybody tn talk to Pm apt to run on
but you see Aunt Reeny,-yer gran
mother would know Aunt Reeny,-
Irene MantOr size that was merried (,
Uncle Macajah Bangs. An an old brut,
he was, an a beasts life he led her, y
bimeby he had cancer N that mad
him forty times crOSser N he was before
which warn't necessary no how. Bea
all how long he lived arter that thin
took holt on him. Seemed as ef h
didn't die coz the Lord warn't i'm wan
o. just such. But he did die finally, al
twarn't long arter that fore his widde
come to our place. l tell you she was
woman?
"'Cross% Blass yer dear heart, no
She was just the meekest, cleverest
blessedest lettle ole critter I ever Iii
live. From the day Z she come to GU
house, remember it Is ef I was thi
'ere morning, come settin in an oil
rocker, the only property she owned il
the wOrld,-frOm the day she came int
my house a-settin in that ole cheer Z
the day I she went out on I a layin il
her paupers coffin, that air wOmal
never said or did a thing TO trouble an,
livin crittur inside ont Ginrall,
speakin' women paupers is more pester
IN than men paupers. ! donnO why
only they be. There's Bash now
She'll hev her tantrums ter this day
Like 'nOugh she'll git mad an won
open her head, erspeak word to non
on US from one weeks end to mother
Iaint woman's way, mostly, o. show
IN her spunk, but she'll talk to herself
an 10 Jerry-that's her brother, Vol
know,-he has 10 take it them times
Now, | don't never pay no attention [,
none Of her fractiousness, but my wifi
she don't like it.
you see ther was good deal T. WI
Extraordinary about Aunt Reeny
Mebby j sh'll tire We out with this warn
Thank ye-much obleeged for the com
pliment. I'll go ahead.
"HOu see Aunt Reeny warn't N
common woman. Poor rs poverty
back door n he'd hen, all her born davs
You know most O. the towns poor 'hav
seen better days IF they haint, the
sware they hev, an tn come long :
se' down 'mOngst 'em, m hear 'em run
min on, why, bless my soul, YOU
think they'd all ben kings m queen
once. But Aunt Reeny warn't worth
dollar in the world when she came ther,
IN yet she hadn't ben there month bC
fore everybody under that ruff respecte
her : ef she'd ben the grandest lady i
the land. She WIS so kind N loYin' ,
iorgivin N Onselfish like. IF / wus
goin' off some 'ers il was, Deacon Moses
can't git down yer overcoat. and can
l ilnd Yer amberel fur you p An whe
got back, she'd come a-walking :
SOW an soft like-she was lame-ou
On lne piaZzy to meet me, pears to m
solhetlIiies can see her lest as she US
10 look, her face all peaked and wrin
hiSu' anu iler halr white like the uude
slGe oi a sllver-leaf poppler tree. Green
IN OuG ollt Ihe stOOp a-smilini an,
askin'i Have you had rooJ tiToe
Deacon Moses Did YOU find Sonb, ,,rILs
well and the children - Then ,,I'Il.l H.
got in she'd come an Sc down with bo
knittin' an she'd want tn Eno-,, ne ni
about Sophy, and little Jack, and slI !
'em. An her wOrds-wall, / CAN'T 81
you nOthing-ther amt no sort q, NJ
tryin' to tell you nothin' 't all about I
Their aint no givin' you no sort of a
idea what Aunt Reeny was any how. n
way nor shape. But theirs somethin'
must tell, cause Il was sort o remark;
bic. An that was the way she died.
"You know SOphy's my merrie
daughter. She's wife to young Ne
Langley, the storekeeper down u IL
Falls. Ever been in q that store o. h
'en? 1 s'pOse it's bout the neate
thing o. that sort ther is i'm these part
Sophy allus was proper smart giT
Fakes after her mother, Sophy doe
But then, that aint neither here NJ