Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-10-13
CHAPTER ".

81 low, said Mrs. Means, as she stuff
| ed the tobacco into her cob pipe after
supper on that eventful "Wednesday
/ evening. "'low they'll anDint the
| Squire to gin out the words tonight.
! They mos always do, you see, kase
he's the peartest ole man in this dee
! Strick; aud | 'l"W some If the Young
| fellers would have to git up and dust
! eff they would keep up to him. And
! he uses such remarkable smart
! words. He speaks so polite, too. But
| laws dOnPt | remember when he WAS
| pOarer nor jobs turkey? Twenty
! year ago, when he come to these iere
! diggins, that air Squire Hawkins was
a pOaT Yankee schoOl-master, that said
pail iustid of bucket, and that call
| Ell 4 cow a 'caOW,' and that couldn't
| tell TO save his giZZard what we meant
I by Tor and by right smart But he's
| larnt our ways now, an he's jest as
| civilized as the rest us. IOu
| wOuld-n know he'd ever been Yam
| kce. He didn't stay pOar long. Not
| he. He jest stinarried "a rich girl He !!
| heu' and the OLD woman grInned at
| Ralph, and then at Miramdy, and then
| at the rest, until Ralph shuddered
Nothing was so frighttul to him as TO
be fawned on and griuned at by this
| old ogre, whose few lonesome, black
| ish teeth seemed ready to devOur him
He didn't stay poar, you bet hoss."
and with this the coal was deposited
on the pipe, and the lips began to
! crack like parchment as each puff
smoke escaped. L" He married rich,
YOU see" and here another significant
look at the young master, and another
food look at Mirandy, as she pufTGd
away rehectively. His wife hadn't
no book larnin. She'd been through
the sDellin-bonk wunst, and had got
as fur as asperity' on it n second time.
But she couldn't read word when
she was married, and never could
She warn't overly smart. She hadn't
hardly got the sense the law allows.
But schools was skase in them air
days, and. besides, book -iarnin don t
do no good to a woman. Makes her
stuck up. | never knowed but one
gal in my life as had ciphcred into
fractions, and she was 50 dOg-on stuck
up that she turned up her nose one
night at a app,e-pcelin', ehase [ tuck
IA sheet off The bed to splice out the ia
hie-clOth, which was ruther short
=
Had-n been siep on mOre-n wuust or
tWict. But / was gOin fer Ia say that
when Squire Hawkins married Nir-
giRuy Gray he got a heap o. money,
or, what's the same thing mostly, Il
heap % good land. And that's better-n
houk-IaTnin, saws |. IF a girl had
gone clean through all eddicatjOn. and
got to the rule of three itself, that
would'u buy a feather bed. Squire
Haw kins Jest put cddication agin the
gals farm, and traded even, an ef
ury one OF 'em got swindlcd, 1 never
heeTd no complaints"
And here she looked at Ralph in tri-
umph, her hard face splintering into
the hidcous semblance of smile. And
Mirandy cast biUshing, gushing, all
imploriu2. and all-cOr fiding look or
the young raster.
" | say. ole woman" broke in old
Jack, Il say, wut Is all this ere spout
in about he squire fer?" aud old
Jack, having biz oil All ounce of pig
tail, =" returned the plug To his pocket.
As for Ralph, he wanted 20 die. He
had a guilty .eeli 2 that this speech
of the old ady's had somehow COM
mltted him beyond recall 10 Mirandy.
He did not see visions Ot breach Of
J promise suits. But he tren'hled at the
| thought of an avengln~ big brother.
d" Hammer, YOU kin come along, too.
ef you've IA mind, when you git the
dishes washed" said Mrs. Means TO
the bound girl, as she shut and latched
the back door The Means family bad
built a new hOnse III front of the old
one. as A sort of advertisement of bet
4 - N
shoddv feeling; but when the new
building was completed, they found
themselves unable to occupy il for any
thing else than a lumber-room, and
so. except a parl0r which Miriam ~ had
made an effort to furnish little in
hope of the biisSful time when some
| body should set up" with her of eve
nings), the new building was almost
unoccupied, and the family went
in and OuC through the back door,
also, for, according to a curious GUS
tom. the " 'front.' of the house was
placed toward the south, though the
:" bigroad" f" HOosier for highUoy) ran
along the northwest side, or, rather,
past the no th-west corner of it.
When the old woman had spoken
thus to Hannah and had latHhed the
UODf, she llutltISu, iltO Sdi ''pii I
never show no gratitude fer favors;:" to
which Bud rejoined that he didn't
think she had no great sight to lie per-
ticlller thankful fer. To which Mrs.
Means made uu reply, thinkingit il best,
perhaps, not to wax, up her duIiul son
on so interesting theme as her treat
memt OF Hannah. Ralph Ielt glad
that he was this evening 20 20 To an
other boarding place. He should not
hear the rest o. the controversy.
Rabbi walked to the SchOOl-house
with Bill. They were friends again.
For wnen Hank Banta's ducking and
his dogged obstiuacy in sitting in his
wet clothes had brought on Il serious
fpyer. Ralph had called together the
bio BOYS. and had said: " We must
take care of one anoIher, boys. W hO
will volunteer To take turns sitting up
with Henry ?'' lie put his own name
down. and all the rest followed.
William Means and myself viii
sit up tonight" said Ralph. And
moor Blu had been from that moment
ibe teachers friend. He was chosen
ia he Ralph's c0nTani II. He was
puppy Mraus 40 longer! hank could
moi br conquered uy kindness, and
"
ness si. his resentment long after, a.
we shall find. But BIZ Means was for
the time entirely pAca,ed, and he and
Ralph went 10 spciiing-sciIooi toSeth-
er.
Every family furnished candle
There were yellow dips and white dips
burning, smoking, and tiaring. There
was laughing, and talking, and gig
Cling, and simpering, aud ogling, and
flirting and courting. What a dress
party is to Fifth avenue, a spelling
:, huoI is 20 Hoopole County. Ii is an
occasion which is metaphorically in
scribed with this legend, Choose
YOUR partners" Spelling is only q
blind in fioopole County. as is dane
ing on Fifth Avenue. But as there
are some in society who love to dance
for its own sake, so in Fiat Creek dis
trict there were those who love TO spell
for its own sake and who, smelling
the battle from afar had GENE 10 try
/ their hands in this tournament, hope
ing TO freshen the laurels they had